And...if she wasn't so invested in her ego and status, didn't take herself so seriously, and was a better sport, this whole thing could have gone smoother. ;~)

Yeah. It wasn't a bad interview at all. I was thinking it was going to be a trainwreck.

I guess I’m crazy, I thought Dave was more at fault since he started it. He refused to move on from the past lives thing when Shirley asked him to. He clearly wanted to keep ridiculing her about it, so she became a shit right back. Both refusing to back down. But I’m glad it happened this way too; it was great TV and Dave is so sharp and hilarious when he’s pissed. “Can I check for real things on you now Shirley?” That line alone was worth everything. I wish they had her on more. She brought out the best in Dave just by being her weird self.

@@carlodave9 Dave's definitely the a-hole. It's like he got hung up about her not doing things according to plan when he could have just let it go. Yeah, it was probably stressful for him and the staff, but he got his ego involved. And saying those violent things to her, even in a joking way, was messed up. He needed to just chill, it would have been fine.

@@carlodave9 I stopped watching Letterman after Rosie Perez was on. I'd had enough. I understand that his whole schtick is making fun of his guests, but he took it too far that night. He constantly made fun of her accent, and that would have been ok to a point. However, every time she tried to answer his question, he interrupted her with ridiculing the accent. She couldn't get more than a few words out before he was on the attack again, and again, and again. Decidedly unfunny, at least to me. As far as Shirley goes, it was heart-warming to see her make him squirm. I read somewhere that he ended the interview because he didn't know how to handle her. It's so annoying to answer a question, only to have it asked again and again, like the person asking expects a different answer. People like Letterman need to learn when to move on. The big turnoff in a nutshell: total lack of respect. I only watched this today because I wanted to see Shirley give it to him again. LOL

Thank you!! And the same to you and yours!

Here’s the full, raw interview, pre-edits - kzfaq.info/get/bejne/bt-DicSBvpzacoU.html

Not a dream. June 13, 1990: Dick Tracy’s Top Ten Peeves. #1. Talk show hosts who pick on your sister. Damn. Wish I had remembered that. But you did, thanks. :)

Don’t watch!

that's not quite what happened

Not from my viewpoint. He really was sweating.

He was the one who was acting the fool. She was about as gracious as you can be in a situation where someone is trying to goad you.

i agree. dave picks at the whole thing wayyyy too long. sure, shirley was too peevish too soon, but dave didn't do anything at all to smooth it over. plus, making fun of the whole reincarnation thing was tired already at that point, anyway. the joke was done to death.

This was bound to go badly. Shirley MacLaine is a talented woman who takes herself quite seriously. At this time, Dave took nothing seriously. Had they first met later on, say on Dave's Netflix show, things almost certainly would've gone differently. That said, the blame for how badly it went goes to Letterman. She was invited as a guest on his show. When your guest asks you to move on, you move on. Her feelings that she didn't want to dwell on that aspect of her life were understandable. And, you know, here's a woman who won an Oscar, worked with Hitchcock and Billy Wilder, hung with Sinatra and the Rat Pack- there were literally dozens of interesting topics they could've broached.

I feel Maclane was at fault.If she is so spiritual, could she not kindly refuse to talk about the subject instead of calling him an asshole?

@@superaa6779 Yeah, kind of what I thought. Calling him dirty names and making fun of him just created bad karma for herself.

All of which might have been avoided had she lowered herself to do a pre-show interview.

I think it was a sideways reference to how people who claim to be reincarnated are always royalty or some other exceptional profession or personality. They never seem to be peasant farmers from Ukraine or Chad. So he just picked an unglamorous profession and a random historical figure to both poke fun of himself and make fun of reincarnation.

Letterman had not bothered to research his guest, a woman who has lived a fascinating life. As far as leading the conversation away from the only subject on his to do list, that was his job. Normally I enjoyed his shows. Certainly he had the last word.

Why would he give Anton Fig anything?