Letterman Airs Old Hicks Routine

And Also: The focus today should be on the game, of course, as well as the commercials. A somewhat sexist PETA ad was not accepted. So sad. Doesn't meet the standard of those Viagra type classics of taste, huh? As for the game, the Cards are the underdogs, again. Fourth times the charm? Go Cards. I see that his wife -- former Marine and a few years older than he -- no longer has that buzzcut. They both also have inspirational stories that seem fit for a Touched By An Angel episode.

Last Friday night's David Letterman, the night that tends to be taped earlier in the week and focuses on the lesser guests, was an interesting one. Dave aired a previously never aired appearance of a regular comic -- Bill Hicks -- who was a regular on the show (twelve appearances). This might have been the only time a comic had his act censored in this fashion, some suggesting in this case, Letterman was concerned that he was new to CBS and didn't want to risk things. We are talking 1993 here. Sadly, and it seems DL didn't know it at the time, though the comic was only in his early 30s, he would die soon after of pancreatic cancer.

It would be interesting to know why David Letterman decided, after all this time, to air the routine. Sure, who would think something that opens with him having a talk show coming out entitled "Let's hunt and kill Billy Ray Cyrus" (still topical, but probably use his oh so precious daughter, she of those slightly icky pics with daddy, instead) would be a problem anyway? The other stuff included gay jokes (pro-gay bad, pro-lesbian, great!), pro-life (why not picket cemeteries?), and how there are no chocolate bunnies in the Bible. The opening is rather strong, lol, but as a whole, it wasn't bad. After all, the guy was a regular, so deserved some slack. I didn't find it too funny, per se, but the guy had many fans for his off the wall stuff.

The guy was predictably rather upset at the time and wrote a 39-page angry letter to the New Yorker about the decision -- shades of the anguished rants of Lenny Bruce. But, this is not to begrudge the man any, especially one who would die of cancer in a few months. He had a right to be upset, especially given his relationship with David Letterman, who seemed above this sort of thing. As Bill Hicks noted at the time:

What I realised was that they don't want the people to be awake. The elite ruling class wants us asleep so we'll remain a docile, apathetic herd of passive consumers and non-participants in the true agendas of our governments, which is to keep us separate and present an image of a world filled with unresolvable problems, that they, and only they, might somewhere, in the never-arriving future, may be able to solve. Just stay asleep, America. Keep watching television. Keep paying attention to the infinite witnesses of illusion we provide you over "Luciferís Dream Box".

Dave had Hicks' mom on to provide a sort of introduction to the censored bit. Hicks died February 26, 1994, so it would seem more logical to air this show the day after, which also would be a Friday (02/27/2009), fifteen years past. Overall, Dave showed serious remorse for his actions, including the pain it caused Hicks and his family. Even without knowing the full story, which is a shame, it was a nice move on his part.