I remember seeing this live when I was a kid. Michael Richards tossing the cue cards in front of him is one of the funniest things I've ever seen on live TV.
James France trolling is a recent term but it's pretty specific. But there's a lot of older terms- "Pranking them", "messing with them", "pulling their leg", "putting them on", "having a laugh", "just joshin", "yankin their chain", "winding them up", "goofin around", "breaking their balls", "throwing their boots off a roller coaster", "dancing on their grandma's grave", "sending their sons to die for Israel", "sacrificing their virgin daughter to the volcano", "just kidding", etc. etc. What would you call it?
Trolling has always been a thing it's just that these younger morons think renaming something means they invented it and if it happened before the internet was around it doesn't exist. Who knew being horrible at English could make an entire generation such creators!
The big debate THE NEXT DAY was whether it was planned or not. My opinion was then(& still is watching it all these years later) is that it was staged. 2 main reasons: 1) If Jack Burns had really wanted to catch Andy Kaufman (at the end) and (presumably) punch him in the nose or whatever, he easily could have. That thing at the end = the kind of phoneybaloney 3 Stooges chasing where someone is just attempting to LOOK like they're trying to catch up to the other person. 2) If this were really impromptu, once it went south they would've cut to commercial waaaay sooner. No one in charge would just let this thing run live while the players were (presumably) gonna start duking it out on camera.... But exactly who was (or wasn't) 'in on it' --- everybody or just AK & JB --- is hard to tell. My opinion then, and still my opinion watching it now.
The incident was planned by Kaufman, who concocted it with his sidekick Zmuda, and was meant as a prank. The only individuals aware of the plan were producer/director Moffitt, producer/announcer Burns, and the three comedians acting in the sketch along with Kaufman: Richards, Chartoff and Burrell.
But that was the beauty of Andy Kaufman...like a master magician, you question whether its real or fake. Even though you're always telling yourself it's staged. Man was a genius and waaaay ahead of his time.
kind of funny that the cue cards, though largely unread during the sketch, still served their purpose of "cueing" the primary comedic climax. When Michael Richards just slams them down on the table you know whatever happens next is going to be insane.
@@crashman27 nah...he got it. You didn't. Andy was being contractually forced to play in a skit that was not only poorly written but stupid. He was 100% against drugs and alcohol but the writers made him do the sketch, which was why he got fed up. It just wasn't funny. But hey...obviously you don't have an easy time processing thoughts, so, maybe if you took this info and shoved it up your ass it might eventually reach your brain.
@@capone70 it doesn't matter how the "skit" was written, because it wasn't the point of the skit. But hey, obviously you cant form a coherent thought without going off on some childish tangent👍
Michael Richards spoke about this on The Rich Eisen show. He and Andy were the only two in on Andy going off script . Everyone else was in the dark and the fight real.
Michael Richards reacted perfectly. That's exactly what the scene needed to be lifted to another level. I bet Andy was really happy with him for that. Then Jack Burns takes it to another level with the play fight.
I agree. I feel like Michael Richards response actually made the scene what it is. Grabbing the cue cards and throwing them on the table was funny and definitely sparked the rest. Otherwise it’s just Andy sitting there saying “I feel stupid” for another 5 minutes
You're right. He went to diffuse the situation. You can see towards the end when they are in the fight he goes over and grabs Kaufman and steers him away from the central area with his hand on Kaufman's back to break it up.
Lol you idiots who think this and everything Kaufman did was staged. On top of that it wasn’t even funny. Dude sucks. God bless Michael Richards for making the only somewhat funny joke.
thejobloshow Doesn't matter, you still roll with it. Kaufman clearly didn't know his lines, which is ridiculous on a show that obviously used cue cards.
I went to the dress rehearsal for this episode of FRIDAYS. I can tell you that in the rehearsal, Andy did NOT go off script and hold the show hostage as he did in the live broadcast. I remember watching it live that night and knew I was seeing something incredible.
Richards has already admitted several times that Kaufman refusing to go on with the sketch was planned. He and Kaufman knew, but no one else did. The subsequent fight was NOT planned.
After he went away and smoked weed, he started to see things in 4 dimensions and realized he was playing character that people watch on tv and laugh at, so he didn't wanna do it anymore. tfw he was in character the whole time
This sketch is even more hilarious knowing that Seinfeld, on the record, has stated the only other person who could have pulled off Kramer was Andy Kaufman. Personally, I feel Richards is the better physical comedian, but Kaufman might have put him out of a job if he was still alive in the 90’s 😂
I doubt Andy would have wanted to do any sitcom, even one as well done as Seinfeld. He'd already done Taxi and wanted out of that pretty early on, and Taxi was the best sitcom of its time.
Not every sketch had drug references in it. Diner of the Living Dead had zombie gore and cannibalism. Some of the political sketches they did were more about Reagan trying to make 1980s America feel like the 1950s again. Some sketches even had sex in it or were an excuse to do musical numbers or break the fourth wall and show people that nothing they did was real.
@@joegriego3091 But considering how horrible SNL was between 1980 and 1982, some people did turn to Fridays as a substitute to SNL. Unless they lived in or near Canada, where they could just watch SCTV.
What gets missed in all this is that Andy Kaufman was actually really good at playing stoned. Just look at that walk to the table after coming back from the restroom!
I was probably like one of 20 people watching this show in Dallas in 1981, and I distinctly remember seeing this and laughing my 9 year old ass off at the insanity of how this skit fell apart. And of all of the skits from this show, this one lives on forever. Now THAT'S pure Kaufman genius!
@20thcenturyfilmdocs Yeah, I saw it live too. I actually loved both Second City Television & Fridays better than I liked SNL. It was fun having all three to watch. I totally believe this incident was real both then & now. I'm only recently getting into doing a serious re-evaluation of Andy Kaufman's work. I didn't know that it was confrontational performance art par excellence. I just thought he was an asshole, which is still mostly true.
I was 17 and watching it in Dallas on channel 8, WFAA...I was freaking out...was this real or part of the skit??? Andy also had a thing where said he was reborn, and he and a woman with him started singing christian songs...I also remember a skit (though I'm not sure it was the same episode) where he interrupted Mark Blankfield's drug store character (who is on drugs) skit he often did, saying that drugs were bad...he also refused to leave the stage at the beginning of one show...Andy was not a comedian...he was an performance artist...
Andy was the first comedian to punk everyone . A fearless pioneer and I love him for it. A real rebel ."I can't play stoned " This is stupid." This was just Andy having fun with live TV.
My God! There will never be another as brilliant as Andy Kaufman! He died when he was only 35 years old. I'm 53 years old now, and I would trade places with him in a heartbeat! He makes me feel as though I've done nothing with my life.
I was there! I was there for the rehearsal and the performance of this show. I was there the following week for the apology. The rehearsals were always longer than the show and one or two of the least funny scenes would be cut from the show to bring it in on time. Unfortunately, this was the one of the longest and least funny scenes to ever make it to the live rehearsal phase. It needed to be cut, but it was so long that would have left the episode very short on time. The only way to keep the show on time was to leave it in and augment it and it's length. A solution that saved a boring skit and kept the show on time.
That can't be right, at least not completely, even if you were there, because this was a planned improvisation which Andy, Richards, Burns and Moffit were in on for Andy to break out of character, and it was approved in a meeting with Program Practices and the network executive in advance. And that's according to Richards, Burns and Moffitt. First you say the skit was "too long" to take it out. But then you say the decision was made to "leave it in and augment it and its length". You mean after taking out another skit? Because otherwise what you said makes no logical sense. There's no question that this bit was planned ahead of time, for Andy to break out of character. But could you clarify some more what went on during and after the rehearsal? You had a ringside seat, so tell us more. Even Andy's own brother, sitting in the audience, thought it was real.
They're not just " those claims", they're summaries of actual FACTS , stated by the actors and producers, themselves. Michael Richards said that both he and Andy came up with the idea. And Melanie Chartoff herself, explains in detail, how she was in fact TOLD ahead of time what was gonna happen. It wasn't all scripted, which is why it seemed so real. The other statements by Burns and Moffit are also available . The original sources are out there. I'm not looking up those links again after all this time, but I read Melanie 's own account, in her own words, in addition to checking other sources, with direct quotes. BTW, notice how Vann Frazier, who was there, ( which I don't question), never disputed what I said to him, "That can't be right, at least not completely.....", or anything else I said, because he can't, nor did he even explain anything more, like I asked him, because I was genuinely interested. Funny, how you're not questioning him ! LOL. He never explained his obvious complete contradiction about it being both " too long" and " needing to be augmented", which made no logical sense. Just read his ridiculous negative bias about the sketch, which he calls " one of the longest and least funny scenes to ever make it to the live rehearsal phase." Really? According to him? That still doesn't contradict the fact of it being a setup. Many great comedy sketches are worked on and modified right up till the last minute before airtime - there's nothing new about that. I can only tell you what the actors and the producers themselves, said. I wasn't there, but neither was he, in Melanie's dressing room, when she was told by Burns, what was gonna happen, nor was he there for the meeting with Programs and Practices, who approved it. People tend to think that just because they "were there", that they automatically know all the facts, including what went on behind the scenes. He also says "I was there the following week for the apology", ridiculously implying that it supposedly backs up his explanation, without even realizing that the "apology". was also fake and typical Andy Kaufman genius. Duh. 😎😎😎
@@Marathonracer Maybe Vann doesn't want to waste his time trying to convince a wall. I mean, look how much you typed just to say that this guy wasn't there and he was wrong.
@@gangstaflo12 Maybe your brain needs rewiring. Here's suggestion for ya. Find a licensed electrician to do the work. I mean, look how desperate you were to post the inane bullshit of a blithering idiot, with the maturity level and attention span of an unborn amoeba, just to get your 3 secs of infamy on RUclips. I mean, people who start sentences with "I mean, ..." give their age away as under ten, with the edumacation of a special ed preschooler. 🙄😏 Btw, Munchkin, you don't read too good, since my entire reply to Vann consisted of exactly two short paragraphs- hardly a " wall". 😂 And THAT is what I referred to when I said to Chris Wilson, " BTW, notice how Vann Frazier.... never disputed what I said to him....because he can't, nor did he even explain anything more, like I asked him, because I was genuinely interested. " The "wall" of explanation of the facts, which your laughingly short attention span couldn't deal with, was in response to Chris Wilson, who specifically asked: " Anything to back up those claims?" So I told him. Got it now? I doubt it. 😎😎😎
In the movie they portrayed Michael Richards as being more of an ass about it, than what really happened. He was actually the coolest about it on the stage.
Michael Richards has said before how he was in on it. You can see him trying to not laugh. If Andy didn't die, it would be interesting to see if they worked together again.
Kaufman, Richards, and associate producer Jack Burns (the guy in the blue jacket) were in on it and no one else. Andy throwing water at Richards is very much like him throwing coffee at Jerry Lawler on the Letterman show. If you examine both events you can see that Andy is careful not to be too direct with the liquid. He makes eye contact with Lawler with cup drawn back to signal what's coming. He does much the same with Richards here. Although Andy was careful with his "attacks" he did ask Jerry Lawler to really smack him hard.
@@sr-ty7gb Are you serious? It is well documented that Lawler and Kaufman were partners in all the hijinx they were up too. Lawler himself admitted this many times. Do some research man.
@@ylekiote99999 Research? I lived it. Of course Lawler, now, is saying that. He wants to cover up what happened to Andy. Andy did not die of "cancer." Andy was murdered by sone very powerful men in Memphis. He was set to sue and expose what really happened to him in Memphis and on Letterman. You need to stop believing everything you see and read man.
I was 16 and remember seeing this live. It definitely didn't look staged and I had the impression at the time that Andy Kaufman was near sighted or something and couldn't read the cue cards (through the whole show he seemed to be having this problem). I had a crush on Melanie Chartoff back then. So fine!
I remember it live also. Also, EVERY MAN had a crush on Her!! I was a couple years younger than you but oh Melanie! I was always a fan of Andy, but this whole show just seemed so staged.
Really cool that you’ve uploaded this. The thing I always loved about Kaufmann was that he could care less about what people thought about anything. He just didn’t care. There’s a certain freedom in that I really admire. And it’s a shame that he’s not more widely known. Videos like this will help change that. I really appreciate your hard work getting these videos out.
I disagree. Andy cared, but he cared because he knew the RIGHT people would understand what he was doing. He may not have cared about what others thought, but he cared about the people who knew him and knew what he was doing.
Scobey scobe First off, what? Secondly, based off what I think you said. His idea wasn't sitting doing nothing. it was to ruin the skit and create Chaos. That's his thing man.
Scobey scobe Then go be as famous and successful as he was doing "nothing". if it's as easy as you say and that your neighbor could do it, whatever the fuck that means, then go do it. If not, you really should just stop talking. Because to someone like me who's actually studied the history of American Comedians in University, you sound incredibly stupid. Put up or shut up.
I did not say everything he did was not funny but there is nothing funny about what he just did. I could up with the idea of just sitting and doing shit and what kind of moron goes to a university to study comedy, let me guess you are one of those dumb asses that goes to a university and gets a bullshit degree and than whines about not being able to find a job and whines about student loans. You know what is funny though? Someone that goes to a university to study comedy.
I'll never forget watching this live as a Teen! I was watching comedy history. I also was at my Aunts house watching the Dating Game episode and my Aunt was like" bless his heart"! He got her to! LOL!
Without Kaufman, this sketch would have sucked ass. You could see it was dull from the start. Andy saved the day! God Bless You, Andy Kaufman, you brilliant son-of-a-gun.
you like to repeat yourself, don't you. "True comedy", "true comedic genius". If you'd be really old enough you would know comedy - like all things - is highly subjective and there is no "true" or "false". You find this funny, others might like Carlin, Rickles, Conan O'Brien, Chappelle, Robin Williams, Gervais and Merchant, Steve Martin, Brian Regan, even Jim Carrey. Personally I like all of the above a million times more than this unfunny guy (who imo only got famous because of his admittedly great Elvis-impression and his untimely death), check out Steve Martin's early stuff, or Robin Williams stand-up if you want to know what I see as "true comedic genius". But hey, that's just my opinion.
I watched this show regularly, but I might've missed this. I was in the third grade, and even then I knew that Kaufman was capable of dangerous comedy. You never sure what was real when he was on tv.
Kaufman was the king of blurring the lines. He lived for that. Everywhere he went in his art he got the same reaction. This is further proof that he was a genius
Just that look on Andy's face, no matter what he does. Even in a straight talk show interview, he has a way of bracing us for something so oddball. Even if the oddball was just playing it straight and nothing else happens. What a unique comedic genius, irreplaceable.
More and more I think Kaufman was on the autism spectrum, which can work fine with comedy, but I think it was a difficult sticking point when he worked with other people, because it created a surreal zone that only he was in. Everyone else had to either play along, or get out of his way--and that's not a great way to continue working with others.
I believe what Andy did was act stoned like he was told. Too stoned to perform as an actor trying to act stoned. To this day, I believe that was the overall joke. He couldn't do the lines and said he wasn't able to act stoned because he was already in a stoned character.
There was never anyone like him before he arrived. There will never be anyone else like him. An absolute one-off who was a complete comedy genius. The one thing that always takes this sketch down a notch is an audience who sound like they have just been released from lockdown and given nitrous oxide.
I can understand how millions of people thought that Kaufman wasn't funny; that's because millions of people don't have a sense of humor!!!! Kaufman was one of a kind and Tony Clifton lives forever!
+marc thibodeau Nah, millions f us love true original comedy from the likes of _real_ stand ups. Such as Sam Kinison (RIP), George Carlin, Bill Hicks & others. Kaufman was painfully overrated. But alas to each their own...
Jack Burns (who at one time played Warren on The Andy Griffith Show) was the one in the black jacket whom he got into the “fight” with at the end. Kudos to the late Jack Burns as well. Jack was such an underrated actor.
It actually was REAL, he was very serious about not wanting to portray someone who was on drugs. This is the reason why to this day I respect his work.
@@unicornmadness6286 Respect his "work"? That wasn't "work", it was self-consumed, sociopathic grandstanding. It had to be ALL about him. He wasn't "serious about not wanting to portray someone who was on drugs." If he were he would never have signed up for the gig to begin with. He was a fraud and a cheat. You don't want to do a job, don't sign the contract, go do something else. That's being "serious." What Kaufman was doing was sociopathic.
@@dan_hitchman007 No he wasn’t. That’s just revisionism, to make Kaufman into some sort of Comic “Genius” that he wasn’t. It’s so much simpler than that: Kaufman thought this was a Lame Skit that was Bombing, so he Quit The Skit. You can tell Richards wasn’t “in on it” because he says “Where are we now?” 4:49 He is ill-prepared for this situation BECAUSE IT WASN’T PLANNED. In fact, Kaufman didn’t know he was going to do it until he did it. He made the decision IN THE MOMENT, not in advance. An additional clue is the woman who plays his wife is SUPER PISSED: She says “You’re an idiot” 4:41 to Kaufman after she’s standing, and she also says “This is my big scene in the show” 5:02 in disgust. No: NO ONE in that scene was forewarned, especially not Richards. Another clue that Richards wasn’t told in advance is that he says “Cut out” 4:57 several times, meaning: Go to commercial. If he was “in on it,” why would he say that? NO ONE WAS TOLD, and Kaufman didn’t even think to do it till he did it. He did it because he felt “Stupid,” as he Clearly said. Kaufman was no genius. Rather, he was so uninventive that he thought the only way he could get a laugh is if he created CHAOS and Physical Fighting.
They were saying all those things to make it sound like they were not in on the joke. The joke was on the audience and you are so thick in the head that you still cannot believe that they were in on the joke even all these decades later. @@wildmercuryfilms
I was spending the night at my cousins (we were about 11 and older) when this aired. I remember us all after seeing this being left like "What just happened?"
Andy Kaufman relished on making people feel uncomfortable and confused. That was his shtick. His forte. That's why when he died (?) people couldn't believe it. Hell, I'm not even convinced he's dead. He liked to keep people guessing. 'Man on the Moon' really depicted much of who Kaufman really was. He was the king of uncomfortable and he definitely never colored within the lines.
I remember this show as a kid and I watched it a few times and thought it was lame and quit. I thought it was a poor mans SNL. Wish I had seen this episode though. I would have really fell for it.
One of the most memorable moments in t.v. history!! I wish I would have seen that live! Most likely I was was watching either the Incredible Hulk or The Dukes of Hazzard!!
That’s FALSE. The skit was obviously AWFUL, Andy knew it, and he quit the skit. The other actors WERE NOT “in on it.” Rather: They were angry and humiliated. ALL ACTORS ARE TAUGHT: YOU NEVER QUIT A SHOW OR A SKIT IN THE MIDDLE. It’s very unprofessional, and you’re making a fool of everyone else on stage. But THAT WAS ANDY’S MO: He broke all The Rules, and wasn’t constrained by RULES that other professionals lived by. I personally don’t think Andy was funny, except when he was CONSTRAINED, like he was in Taxi. I feel the same way about Robin Williams: Gus Van Sant kept William In-Check for Good Will Hunting, and that was Williams at his best. Most Directors aren’t as good as Van Sant. Kaufman may have developed into a Great Dramatic Actor, if he had lived long enough, and had a real Tough Director who kept him in his place.
Micheal Richards who was in the skit also confirmed that he was in on it and it was planned. It was just an Andy Kaufman thing. So sorry but it's true.
For my wrestling fans out there: Andy was equivalent to Brian Pillman. Also both unfortunately passed too soon, but amazing how similar they were in terms of unpredictability just to entertain us.
This was the genius of Andy Kaufman. He was perhaps the very first “performance artist” before anyone knew what the term met. I had the good fortune to see him in the late ‘70’s in person when we lucked into rehearsal tickets for SNL. Kaufman opened the show as “guest host” by “entertaining” the studio audience with “a reading of the Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald.” He proceeded to do exactly that. At first, there was nervous laughter, no one could believe this was his bit…he read on, and on well over the allotted time the hosts get…and then came the boos, and scattered heckling. People started shouting; after each interruption he’d stop and act indignant before doubling down and reading some more. It was said Lorne Michaels was furious as all this was ad libbed and appealed to Ackroyd and Belushi to haul Kaufman off the stage if need be, before Andy snapped the book shut and stalked off. Innovative, cutting edge, etc marked Andy’s act…such as later when he wrestled women. One further note…after the show aired live, we found ourselves in the studio corridors making our exit along with the cast of the show. Kaufman had an entourage, and part of the entourage was 2 dudes whose only job it seemed was to ferret reaction to Kaufman (without regard or query about anyone else): “hey how was Andy?” “Was Andy funny?” “What did you think of Andy Kaufman?” Hilarious in retrospect I still laugh even now.
A GENIUS? No, a character. Not a popular character either. I'm 61 years old and watched his rise and fall. His dry humor and his way of just pushing buttons wasn't funny, maybe humorous, but not funny. I remember thinking at the time that even a child knows better and I was a TEENAGER. I know much of his stick was planned but the plan was usually stupid. Not monty python stupid, but reality stupid. He didn't know what is funny he only knew what was annoying.
My Dude: This was NOT “planned.” It was a spur-of-the-moment decision to quit the skit because he didn’t think it was funny, and “he felt stupid.” It’s ad-libbing at its worst. From the moment he said: “I can’t play stoned,” till the end, it’s Kaufman ad-libbing. It’s not actually funny. It’s actually pretty stupid. Borat was MUCH BETTER because Cohen is much more prepared.
i watched this live the day it aired. on the same show they had a sword swallower in one segment and just as the guy had the whole blade down his throat, Andy walked in on him and startled him - causing him to gag. i dont know if the sword swallower cut himself but they also quickly cut to a commercial break. the cast of Fridays did not get upset at Andy for this one bit. he was messing around the entire live broadcast and i think the sword swallower bit was just before this sketch. nobody seems to ever recall the sword swallower, maybe they paid him off, but with the "accidental" injury to the dangerous sword act happening just before this sketch; it makes more sense why the regular cast members would be on edge not knowing how bad the sword swallowers injury was. or maybe it was just another Kaufman stunt to get the cast mad at him and provide an impetus for the adversarial halarity that soon followed after, in the typical Kaufman way. we will never know
Had Andy not done this there is no doubt in my mind no one would remember this skit today. It was bland and explained too much, The comedians were waaay to serious to be playing stoners and over-all the skit wasn't very funny in fact it was a dud. Andy Saved this skit.
it was a work, kayfabe. Some of them, including Michael Richard and the producer were in on it. Andy was a genius in applying the kayfabe principal to various aspects of comedy and life.
Clearly there had been some kind of confrontation before the cameras started rolling...I can already sense the tension between the actors. It seems that the other actors are worried about what Andy might say or do..
I remember seeing this live when I was a kid. Michael Richards tossing the cue cards in front of him is one of the funniest things I've ever seen on live TV.
It is?
@@zaha352 Your mama.
@@zaha352 Your mama.
Why is Norn Mcdonald in the film?
@@Strat-Kat It was funnier than that lame duck skit.
That's officially the most annoying audience I've ever heard during a show
They were probably high.
+Andy Portico not to mention that the skit is horrible by itself. Not one funny thing was said during the entire skit
+MatthewLedZepfan Agreed.
+Andy Portico I guess maybe that the was the point though? They thought the staged fight would be funnier if nothing else was funny beforehand?
Fun game. Count how many times people back in the 70's said "OW!"
To be honest, this skit was dying a slow death before Kaufman made his tirade and we wouldn't be talking about it now if it wasn't for Andy.
FYI.... This was ALL scripted.
mark medina Of course it was, you think Kaufman would ever break character?
@@zoewells3160 Yeah Kaufman was all about pranks like that.
@@markmedina5543 no it wasn’t.
People who think this was real. Priceless! 🤣🤦🏼♂️
Trolling before trolling was a thing.
Trolling was always a thing, we just spoke English and didn't call it trolling.
+James France but but my internet buzz words!
James France
trolling is a recent term but it's pretty specific.
But there's a lot of older terms-
"Pranking them", "messing with them", "pulling their leg", "putting them on", "having a laugh", "just joshin", "yankin their chain", "winding them up", "goofin around", "breaking their balls", "throwing their boots off a roller coaster", "dancing on their grandma's grave", "sending their sons to die for Israel", "sacrificing their virgin daughter to the volcano",
"just kidding", etc. etc.
What would you call it?
@Bagelbutcher Jenkins true.
Trolling has always been a thing it's just that these younger morons think renaming something means they invented it and if it happened before the internet was around it doesn't exist. Who knew being horrible at English could make an entire generation such creators!
Love how the waiter in the background never breaks character
5:18 Mark Blankenship re-filling the water glass while a "fight" is going on is the most OBVIOUS Tell that the entire thing is a planned bit.
YEAH SUPER FUNNY IDIOT
@@thevincentgonzalesplan Possibly, but let's not forget Blankenship was a total pro.
He breaks character at the end!
Why are you people calling him Blankenship? It's Blankfield, no?
The Kaufman-ized ending of this sketch is better than any ending it could've had.
It was staged. Kaufman, and Richards were in on it, and so was the guy who started the fight.
The big debate THE NEXT DAY was whether it was planned or not. My opinion was then(& still is watching it all these years later) is that it was staged. 2 main reasons:
1) If Jack Burns had really wanted to catch Andy Kaufman (at the end) and (presumably) punch him in the nose or whatever, he easily could have. That thing at the end = the kind of phoneybaloney 3 Stooges chasing where someone is just attempting to LOOK like they're trying to catch up to the other person.
2) If this were really impromptu, once it went south they would've cut to commercial waaaay sooner. No one in charge would just let this thing run live while the players were (presumably) gonna start duking it out on camera....
But exactly who was (or wasn't) 'in on it' --- everybody or just AK & JB --- is hard to tell.
My opinion then, and still my opinion watching it now.
Definitely staged
The incident was planned by Kaufman, who concocted it with his sidekick Zmuda, and was meant as a prank. The only individuals aware of the plan were producer/director Moffitt, producer/announcer Burns, and the three comedians acting in the sketch along with Kaufman: Richards, Chartoff and Burrell.
But that was the beauty of Andy Kaufman...like a master magician, you question whether its real or fake. Even though you're always telling yourself it's staged. Man was a genius and waaaay ahead of his time.
seems like he played "stoned" pretty well to me
Exactly! That’s what makes this sketch so brilliant
Jajaj yes
@Marty McFly II yes, the cancelled
WOW. You really don't get it at all. Just WOW.🤣😂🤣😂
kind of funny that the cue cards, though largely unread during the sketch, still served their purpose of "cueing" the primary comedic climax. When Michael Richards just slams them down on the table you know whatever happens next is going to be insane.
And how could they have been Andy's cue cards when they were situated behind where he is sitting?
Kaufman just acted like a sissy and threw water. Any meathead could've done that.
Oh stop. They were ALL read right up until Andy said, "I'm sorry I just don't know how to play a stoned person." Get a freaking clue.🤣
@@fourteengreen1213because they weren't Andy's. Duh. I'm agreeing with you btw, so...😉
Michael Richards is tall. He could kill Andy. He was in armed force.
I love how the waiter keeps pouring drinks in the background as all the chaos ensues.
Q: How can you tell when a sketch is poorly written?
A: When you have to have some guy explain it to the audience before it even starts .
Lol way to completely miss the point of the skit entirely🤣 woooooosh
@@crashman27 nah...he got it. You didn't. Andy was being contractually forced to play in a skit that was not only poorly written but stupid. He was 100% against drugs and alcohol but the writers made him do the sketch, which was why he got fed up. It just wasn't funny. But hey...obviously you don't have an easy time processing thoughts, so, maybe if you took this info and shoved it up your ass it might eventually reach your brain.
@@capone70 it doesn't matter how the "skit" was written, because it wasn't the point of the skit. But hey, obviously you cant form a coherent thought without going off on some childish tangent👍
@@crashman27 so tell us, what's the point of the skit
@@capone70 the skit was meant to be poorly written because this was planned ahead of time, only a couple people knew about it though.
Michael Richards spoke about this on The Rich Eisen show. He and Andy were the only two in on Andy going off script . Everyone else was in the dark and the fight real.
I came and watched it after seeing Michael Richards on Rich Eisen. I wasn’t sure what to expect…which is standard fare for Andy Kaufman 🤣
Michael Richards reacted perfectly. That's exactly what the scene needed to be lifted to another level. I bet Andy was really happy with him for that. Then Jack Burns takes it to another level with the play fight.
I agree. I feel like Michael Richards response actually made the scene what it is. Grabbing the cue cards and throwing them on the table was funny and definitely sparked the rest. Otherwise it’s just Andy sitting there saying “I feel stupid” for another 5 minutes
You're right. He went to diffuse the situation. You can see towards the end when they are in the fight he goes over and grabs Kaufman and steers him away from the central area with his hand on Kaufman's back to break it up.
@@bernieatkins5182 They weren't really fighting; it was all staged. A brilliant segment, but the crew was in on it.
He was in on what Kaufman did
Lol you idiots who think this and everything Kaufman did was staged. On top of that it wasn’t even funny. Dude sucks. God bless Michael Richards for making the only somewhat funny joke.
He was right though, that sketch was lame. Kaufman made it instantly memorable.
thejobloshow true
thejobloshow the whole show was lame
facts yell
The whole thing is the sketch. Andy, Richards & whoever wrote this as is.
thejobloshow Doesn't matter, you still roll with it. Kaufman clearly didn't know his lines, which is ridiculous on a show that obviously used cue cards.
I went to the dress rehearsal for this episode of FRIDAYS. I can tell you that in the rehearsal, Andy did NOT go off script and hold the show hostage as he did in the live broadcast. I remember watching it live that night and knew I was seeing something incredible.
This looks like the most rehearsed, "unrehearsed" improvisational skit, ever.
Thank you!
Richards has already admitted several times that Kaufman refusing to go on with the sketch was planned. He and Kaufman knew, but no one else did. The subsequent fight was NOT planned.
So how was the sketch supposed to go?
After he went away and smoked weed, he started to see things in 4 dimensions and realized he was playing character that people watch on tv and laugh at, so he didn't wanna do it anymore. tfw he was in character the whole time
Yeah I was thinking he ironically does the only perfect portrayal of a high person
@@deluxeclavier345Uh... NO. Stop commenting. This is over your head.🙄
Yes, but not the character the scene writers wanted him to be. He was 100% Andy Kaufman here. Pure and simple.
This sketch is even more hilarious knowing that Seinfeld, on the record, has stated the only other person who could have pulled off Kramer was Andy Kaufman. Personally, I feel Richards is the better physical comedian, but Kaufman might have put him out of a job if he was still alive in the 90’s 😂
Andy Kaufman is still alive.
He would have ruined Seinfeld either accidentally or on purpose.
Melanie Chartoff and Marellen Burrell all eventually did Seinfeld with Michael Richard
@@robertclarkyoung9141 lol what
I doubt Andy would have wanted to do any sitcom, even one as well done as Seinfeld. He'd already done Taxi and wanted out of that pretty early on, and Taxi was the best sitcom of its time.
That guy had serious balls. No entertainer today would dare do anything like this.
Yes, no comedians today have the balls to be not funny. Andy Kaufman was a seriously overrated talent.
Obviously fake
@Roger Edgerton He isn' trying to be funny. He is entertaining. Nothing more, nothing less.
They wouldn't be allowed back in the illuminati if they pulled something like this!
Yeah the chick laughing hysterically gives it away that she knew about the prank.
Wtf was the audience laughing at half the time?
I remember that show very clearly. Every sketch was drug references. It became old very fast. Even then!
kyle d; Which explains why Fridays didnt last very long. Poor imitation of SNL.
All fake
Not every sketch had drug references in it. Diner of the Living Dead had zombie gore and cannibalism. Some of the political sketches they did were more about Reagan trying to make 1980s America feel like the 1950s again. Some sketches even had sex in it or were an excuse to do musical numbers or break the fourth wall and show people that nothing they did was real.
@@joegriego3091 But considering how horrible SNL was between 1980 and 1982, some people did turn to Fridays as a substitute to SNL. Unless they lived in or near Canada, where they could just watch SCTV.
Okay, boomer.
What gets missed in all this is that Andy Kaufman was actually really good at playing stoned. Just look at that walk to the table after coming back from the restroom!
Just noticed that, he was like, a perfect stoned!
Whenever I watch live TV, I always hope that something like this will happen.
I was probably like one of 20 people watching this show in Dallas in 1981, and I distinctly remember seeing this and laughing my 9 year old ass off at the insanity of how this skit fell apart. And of all of the skits from this show, this one lives on forever. Now THAT'S pure Kaufman genius!
@20thcenturyfilmdocs Yeah, I saw it live too. I actually loved both Second City Television & Fridays better than I liked SNL. It was fun having all three to watch. I totally believe this incident was real both then & now. I'm only recently getting into doing a serious re-evaluation of Andy Kaufman's work. I didn't know that it was confrontational performance art par excellence. I just thought he was an asshole, which is still mostly true.
I saw it live too....was about 13
There was no genius of Andy Kaufman. He was awful. This show was terrible, and he just added to it.
This was staged by Kaufman. It was all part of an act
I was 17 and watching it in Dallas on channel 8, WFAA...I was freaking out...was this real or part of the skit??? Andy also had a thing where said he was reborn, and he and a woman with him started singing christian songs...I also remember a skit (though I'm not sure it was the same episode) where he interrupted Mark Blankfield's drug store character (who is on drugs) skit he often did, saying that drugs were bad...he also refused to leave the stage at the beginning of one show...Andy was not a comedian...he was an performance artist...
Andy was the first comedian to punk everyone . A fearless pioneer and I love him for it. A real rebel ."I can't play stoned " This is stupid." This was just Andy having fun with live TV.
No, it was Kaufman being a completely self-absorbed, self-centered prick with little or no respect for anyone else.
Now if only it had been funny as well.
@@ploppyploppyYou probably prefer the all female Ghostbusters, huh?
My God! There will never be another as brilliant as Andy Kaufman! He died when he was only 35 years old. I'm 53 years old now, and I would trade places with him in a heartbeat! He makes me feel as though I've done nothing with my life.
I see where Eric Andre gets his inspiration from
Ostoja Ivanovic I KNOW RIGHT
Hell yea. And Tim/Eric
Joe Pera as well, just opposite energy.
he ripped off Tom Green
@@spankytag more Tom green than Tim heidecker but yeah
I was there! I was there for the rehearsal and the performance of this show. I was there the following week for the apology. The rehearsals were always longer than the show and one or two of the least funny scenes would be cut from the show to bring it in on time. Unfortunately, this was the one of the longest and least funny scenes to ever make it to the live rehearsal phase. It needed to be cut, but it was so long that would have left the episode very short on time. The only way to keep the show on time was to leave it in and augment it and it's length. A solution that saved a boring skit and kept the show on time.
That can't be right, at least not completely, even if you were there, because this was a planned improvisation which Andy, Richards, Burns and Moffit were in on for Andy to break out of character, and it was approved in a meeting with Program Practices and the network executive in advance. And that's according to Richards, Burns and Moffitt.
First you say the skit was "too long" to take it out. But then you say the decision was made to "leave it in and augment it and its length". You mean after taking out another skit? Because otherwise what you said makes no logical sense. There's no question that this bit was planned ahead of time, for Andy to break out of character. But could you clarify some more what went on during and after the rehearsal? You had a ringside seat, so tell us more. Even Andy's own brother, sitting in the audience, thought it was real.
@@Marathonracer Anything to back up those claims?
They're not just " those claims", they're summaries of actual FACTS , stated by the actors and producers, themselves. Michael Richards said that both he and Andy came up with the idea. And Melanie Chartoff herself, explains in detail, how she was in fact TOLD ahead of time what was gonna happen. It wasn't all scripted, which is why it seemed so real. The other statements by Burns and Moffit are also available . The original sources are out there. I'm not looking up those links again after all this time, but I read Melanie 's own account, in her own words, in addition to checking other sources, with direct quotes.
BTW, notice how Vann Frazier, who was there, ( which I don't question), never disputed what I said to him, "That can't be right, at least not completely.....", or anything else I said, because he can't, nor did he even explain anything more, like I asked him, because I was genuinely interested. Funny, how you're not questioning him ! LOL. He never explained his obvious complete contradiction about it being both " too long" and " needing to be augmented", which made no logical sense. Just read his ridiculous negative bias about the sketch, which he calls " one of the longest and least funny scenes to ever make it to the live rehearsal phase." Really? According to him? That still doesn't contradict the fact of it being a setup. Many great comedy sketches are worked on and modified right up till the last minute before airtime - there's nothing new about that. I can only tell you what the actors and the producers themselves, said. I wasn't there, but neither was he, in Melanie's dressing room, when she was told by Burns, what was gonna happen, nor was he there for the meeting with Programs and Practices, who approved it.
People tend to think that just because they "were there", that they automatically know all the facts, including what went on behind the scenes. He also says "I was there the following week for the apology", ridiculously implying that it supposedly backs up his explanation, without even realizing that the "apology". was also fake and typical Andy Kaufman genius. Duh. 😎😎😎
@@Marathonracer Maybe Vann doesn't want to waste his time trying to convince a wall. I mean, look how much you typed just to say that this guy wasn't there and he was wrong.
@@gangstaflo12 Maybe your brain needs rewiring. Here's suggestion for ya. Find a licensed electrician to do the work. I mean, look how desperate you were to post the inane bullshit of a blithering idiot, with the maturity level and attention span of an unborn amoeba, just to get your 3 secs of infamy on RUclips. I mean, people who start sentences with "I mean, ..." give their age away as under ten, with the edumacation of a special ed preschooler. 🙄😏
Btw, Munchkin, you don't read too good, since my entire reply to Vann consisted of exactly two short paragraphs- hardly a
" wall". 😂 And THAT is what I referred to when I said to Chris Wilson, " BTW, notice how Vann Frazier.... never disputed what I said to him....because he can't, nor did he even explain anything more, like I asked him, because I was genuinely interested. "
The "wall" of explanation of the facts, which your laughingly short attention span couldn't deal with, was in response to Chris Wilson, who specifically asked: " Anything to back up those claims?" So I told him. Got it now? I doubt it. 😎😎😎
I remember watching this LIVE on my black and white tv set at 10 yrs old, LAUGHING my ass off at Kaufman. I loved everything he did.
To see a moment like this live must have been a damn treat.
You were LMAO?
I remember listening to the show every Friday night on my transmitter radio , it was great
In the movie they portrayed Michael Richards as being more of an ass about it, than what really happened. He was actually the coolest about it on the stage.
Michael Richards has said before how he was in on it. You can see him trying to not laugh. If Andy didn't die, it would be interesting to see if they worked together again.
That's why all those biopics are so lame.
MIchael Richards is played by Norm Macdonald in the film.
Yeah true but hey that happens in bio pics
I love Jim Carey but he was not a good Kaufman.
Kaufman, Richards, and associate producer Jack Burns (the guy in the blue jacket) were in on it and no one else. Andy throwing water at Richards is very much like him throwing coffee at Jerry Lawler on the Letterman show. If you examine both events you can see that Andy is careful not to be too direct with the liquid. He makes eye contact with Lawler with cup drawn back to signal what's coming. He does much the same with Richards here. Although Andy was careful with his "attacks" he did ask Jerry Lawler to really smack him hard.
The producer has already admitted that Andy did this on his own.
Hogwash on Lawler! You have no clue what you are saying.
Andy and Lawler where intense enemies and it cost andy his life!!!!!!!
@@sr-ty7gb Are you serious? It is well documented that Lawler and Kaufman were partners in all the hijinx they were up too. Lawler himself admitted this many times. Do some research man.
@@ylekiote99999 Research? I lived it.
Of course Lawler, now, is saying that. He wants to cover up what happened to Andy.
Andy did not die of "cancer."
Andy was murdered by sone very powerful men in Memphis.
He was set to sue and expose what really happened to him in Memphis and on Letterman.
You need to stop believing everything you see and read man.
@@sr-ty7gb Oh man.....
I was 16 and remember seeing this live. It definitely didn't look staged and I had the impression at the time that Andy Kaufman was near sighted or something and couldn't read the cue cards (through the whole show he seemed to be having this problem). I had a crush on Melanie Chartoff back then. So fine!
I remember it live also. Also, EVERY MAN had a crush on Her!! I was a couple years younger than you but oh Melanie! I was always a fan of Andy, but this whole show just seemed so staged.
The tension... What a weird sense of humor.
Really cool that you’ve uploaded this. The thing I always loved about Kaufmann was that he could care less about what people thought about anything. He just didn’t care. There’s a certain freedom in that I really admire. And it’s a shame that he’s not more widely known. Videos like this will help change that. I really appreciate your hard work getting these videos out.
I disagree. Andy cared, but he cared because he knew the RIGHT people would understand what he was doing. He may not have cared about what others thought, but he cared about the people who knew him and knew what he was doing.
Who cares what you admire. Who are you.
The man was 40 years ahead of his time
Ugh.
You mean he “couldn’t care less”.
Saying he “could” care less implies he did care u simp.
It was setup a head of time by Andy, Michael, and the stage producer. Andy and Michael pulled it off perfectly!
The epic showdown Latka vs Kramer!
LOL!
I bi Da!
Giddy Up!
@@jamesscottselfdefense47 LOL! 😁😁
4:33 i like how that girl just lights a cigarette in the middle of everything like ''welp''
Totally done on purpose by Andy to fuck with everyone. I love his sense of humor
MegaShpoople Than you would like my neighbor down the street. Even he can can up with the idea of sitting saying nothing.
Scobey scobe First off, what? Secondly, based off what I think you said. His idea wasn't sitting doing nothing. it was to ruin the skit and create Chaos. That's his thing man.
Like I said even my neighbor can come up with the idea of sitting there and saying and doing nothing.
Scobey scobe Then go be as famous and successful as he was doing "nothing". if it's as easy as you say and that your neighbor could do it, whatever the fuck that means, then go do it. If not, you really should just stop talking. Because to someone like me who's actually studied the history of American Comedians in University, you sound incredibly stupid. Put up or shut up.
I did not say everything he did was not funny but there is nothing funny about what he just did. I could up with the idea of just sitting and doing shit and what kind of moron goes to a university to study comedy, let me guess you are one of those dumb asses that goes to a university and gets a bullshit degree and than whines about not being able to find a job and whines about student loans. You know what is funny though? Someone that goes to a university to study comedy.
I'll never forget watching this live as a Teen! I was watching comedy history. I also was at my Aunts house watching the Dating Game episode and my Aunt was like" bless his heart"! He got her to! LOL!
It was half staged. Only some of the cast members, and 2 producers were in on it, as explained below in longer post.
Without Kaufman, this sketch would have sucked ass. You could see it was dull from the start. Andy saved the day! God Bless You, Andy Kaufman, you brilliant son-of-a-gun.
Nothing about this is funny at all. And we have no idea in which direction the sketch would have went.
Michael Kupfer micheal kupfer, you are obviously an ignorant human being who doesn't have the brain to recognize true comedy.
Rileigh Downey
Wow, how eloquent, how old are you?
old enough to recognize a true comedic genius.
you like to repeat yourself, don't you. "True comedy", "true comedic genius".
If you'd be really old enough you would know comedy - like all things - is highly subjective and there is no "true" or "false". You find this funny, others might like Carlin, Rickles, Conan O'Brien, Chappelle, Robin Williams, Gervais and Merchant, Steve Martin, Brian Regan, even Jim Carrey.
Personally I like all of the above a million times more than this unfunny guy (who imo only got famous because of his admittedly great Elvis-impression and his untimely death), check out Steve Martin's early stuff, or Robin Williams stand-up if you want to know what I see as "true comedic genius". But hey, that's just my opinion.
I watched this show regularly, but I might've missed this. I was in the third grade, and even then I knew that Kaufman was capable of dangerous comedy. You never sure what was real when he was on tv.
Michael Richards handled that like a champ.
Kaufman was the king of blurring the lines. He lived for that. Everywhere he went in his art he got the same reaction. This is further proof that he was a genius
he gets so high he can't be in the skit anymore!! That's so genius. He gets so high he can't act!
4:42 “Hey, this is funny.” I think Michael Richards tried that line at the Laugh Factory with little success.
Just that look on Andy's face, no matter what he does. Even in a straight talk show interview, he has a way of bracing us for something so oddball. Even if the oddball was just playing it straight and nothing else happens. What a unique comedic genius, irreplaceable.
That was the beauty of Andy's style, he blurred the line between act and reality so well and so genuinely that only Andy really knew.
More and more I think Kaufman was on the autism spectrum, which can work fine with comedy, but I think it was a difficult sticking point when he worked with other people, because it created a surreal zone that only he was in. Everyone else had to either play along, or get out of his way--and that's not a great way to continue working with others.
HE'S AN IDIOT! THE END!
Andy was a douchebag.
I believe what Andy did was act stoned like he was told. Too stoned to perform as an actor trying to act stoned. To this day, I believe that was the overall joke. He couldn't do the lines and said he wasn't able to act stoned because he was already in a stoned character.
god what a lame sketch. kaufman was right to break it up.
It was fake
@@THEdenzelhoward the whole thing was fake. And poorly fake. Whoever didn't see through that is thick in the brain. The fake fight at the end lol.
@@PlateletRichGel You can see Michael Richards trying not to laugh the whole time
It was supposed to be lame. It was all a setup for the fake fight.
Fooled you
The waiter is the character 'James the actor' from Saved By The Bell
Holy cow. I wouldn't have known.
There was never anyone like him before he arrived. There will never be anyone else like him. An absolute one-off who was a complete comedy genius. The one thing that always takes this sketch down a notch is an audience who sound like they have just been released from lockdown and given nitrous oxide.
No....there is another.....
I can understand how millions of people thought that Kaufman wasn't funny; that's because millions of people don't have a sense of humor!!!! Kaufman was one of a kind and Tony Clifton lives forever!
I think he should be crowned as the Original Troll ... Great Laughter for Dark Comedy Lovers
+marc thibodeau Nah, millions f us love true original comedy from the likes of _real_ stand ups. Such as Sam Kinison (RIP), George Carlin, Bill Hicks & others. Kaufman was painfully overrated. But alas to each their own...
And still people have sence of humor like us!!
It was a skit inside a skit. Kaufman, Richards and the producer were the only ones in on it.
Jack Burns (who at one time played Warren on The Andy Griffith Show) was the one in the black jacket whom he got into the “fight” with at the end. Kudos to the late Jack Burns as well. Jack was such an underrated actor.
Father of Trolls
Andy would absolutely love just how many people still think this was real 40 years on lmao
It actually was REAL, he was very serious about not wanting to portray someone who was on drugs. This is the reason why to this day I respect his work.
LOL right?? Andy is a fucking legend. He knew what he was doing. His comedy can never be duplicated. He's the real deal.
@@unicornmadness6286 wasn't Michael Richards told that it was fake?
@@unicornmadness6286 all the actors knew it was staged. The crew did not know.
@@unicornmadness6286 Respect his "work"? That wasn't "work", it was self-consumed, sociopathic grandstanding. It had to be ALL about him. He wasn't "serious about not wanting to portray someone who was on drugs." If he were he would never have signed up for the gig to begin with. He was a fraud and a cheat. You don't want to do a job, don't sign the contract, go do something else. That's being "serious." What Kaufman was doing was sociopathic.
This is where Michael Richards got his start being mad at people for ruining his comedy.
I always equated what Andy Kaufman did in acting to what Frank Zappa did in music...
you are either very obtuse or you're being ironic
Wow, someone else who sees that too. I thought I was the only one! 8)
deweypug at first on Andy"s stand up. then Kaufman flaked out.
Never got either one of them.
Yeah but the diffrence was that Zappa was actually funny
This is the progenitor for Michael Richards getting mad at people who don't know their lines.
Except in this instance, Richards was in on the joke.
@@dan_hitchman007
No he wasn’t.
That’s just revisionism, to make Kaufman into some sort of Comic “Genius” that he wasn’t.
It’s so much simpler than that:
Kaufman thought this was a Lame Skit that was Bombing, so he Quit The Skit.
You can tell Richards wasn’t “in on it” because he says “Where are we now?” 4:49
He is ill-prepared for this situation BECAUSE IT WASN’T PLANNED.
In fact, Kaufman didn’t know he was going to do it until he did it. He made the decision IN THE MOMENT, not in advance.
An additional clue is the woman who plays his wife is SUPER PISSED: She says “You’re an idiot” 4:41 to Kaufman after she’s standing, and she also says “This is my big scene in the show” 5:02 in disgust.
No: NO ONE in that scene was forewarned, especially not Richards.
Another clue that Richards wasn’t told in advance is that he says “Cut out” 4:57 several times, meaning: Go to commercial.
If he was “in on it,” why would he say that?
NO ONE WAS TOLD, and Kaufman didn’t even think to do it till he did it.
He did it because he felt “Stupid,” as he Clearly said.
Kaufman was no genius.
Rather, he was so uninventive that he thought the only way he could get a laugh is if he created CHAOS and Physical Fighting.
They were saying all those things to make it sound like they were not in on the joke. The joke was on the audience and you are so thick in the head that you still cannot believe that they were in on the joke even all these decades later. @@wildmercuryfilms
@@wildmercuryfilms Richards just wrote a book saying he did know and planned it with Charlie
I was spending the night at my cousins (we were about 11 and older) when this aired. I remember us all after seeing this being left like "What just happened?"
"You have all just participated in a happening" lol
Funniest part lmao
Haha I was looking for that line!!
I thought he was an idiot back then but have really come to appreciate his absurdism, so many memorable and uncomfortable moments!
I still hate his guts and would beat him up on sight.
He wanted reactions, good or bad. That's mine. I'm serious.
I still dislike him that much.
@@TheBandit7613 I just think it’s funny 😂
@@TheBandit7613 you must be a blast a parties.
When an announcer has to explain the skit before it starts, that’s a clue it was going to bomb
Most annoying and undisciplined audience I have ever heard.
Especially that one hyena... I mean woman
It's Kramer!! Bahaha😂
michael richards (Kramer)was a pussy he pushed Andy as he had his back turned like a coward.
Kramer hadnt become kramer yet... probably taking notes from Andy..
The second best Michael Richards routine ever.
Michael Richards was in on it the whole time. So was Jack Burns the guy who ran in at the end with the Friday's jacket. Andy was one of the best rip
Andy was an adorable, mad, comedy genius.
Andy Kaufman relished on making people feel uncomfortable and confused. That was his shtick. His forte. That's why when he died (?) people couldn't believe it. Hell, I'm not even convinced he's dead. He liked to keep people guessing. 'Man on the Moon' really depicted much of who Kaufman really was. He was the king of uncomfortable and he definitely never colored within the lines.
LisaDawnn thanks captain obvious
I didn't know wether to love or hate his acts but he always got a reaction out of me whenever I watched him.
andy kaufman was the most comedic genius I think of all time. He makes me laugh til i cry.
A good thing "The Fonz" came to the rescue!
Ayyyyyyyy...
0:15 Wtf? Was Salacious B. Crumb in attendance that night?
BAHAHAHA!!!
Best
Comment
Here
No shit ! Hahaha
LMFAO
Is that weird?
I like how she's still in character lol. The first one to light the doobie
is the other man kramer from Seinfeld?
+Nichlas Johansson It is!
thanks
And Michael Richards is Kramer in Seinfeld.
And Andy’s wife in the sketch is the same woman George dated in Seinfeld with Jon favreau as Eric the clown.
@@deekaye9403 Miss Musso!
Andy is like Eric Andre before people were ready for Eric Andre
Tim and Eric also
@@alexpalko2247 I was going to say, More like Tim and Eric.
He was the inspiration for Tim and Eric for sure
Who’s Eric Andre?
@@EFunkRock google
I remember this show as a kid and I watched it a few times and thought it was lame and quit. I thought it was a poor mans SNL. Wish I had seen this episode though. I would have really fell for it.
One of the most memorable moments in t.v. history!! I wish I would have seen that live! Most likely I was was watching either the Incredible Hulk or The Dukes of Hazzard!!
I saw this live in 1981. Was 15. Couldn't believe what I had witnessed.
I can't tell; does the audience like weed?!
+Coach McGuirk This was back in the early 80s, when everyone smoked weed, so most likely, yes
More people smoke it now and dont act like that
For those who don't know, apparently this was a prank set up by Andy Kaufman. The actors in the skit and the director were all in on it.
Ha ha, I heard that wild rumor myself.
Not true that was 100% not planned.
That’s FALSE. The skit was obviously AWFUL, Andy knew it, and he quit the skit. The other actors WERE NOT “in on it.” Rather: They were angry and humiliated.
ALL ACTORS ARE TAUGHT:
YOU NEVER QUIT A SHOW OR A SKIT IN THE MIDDLE.
It’s very unprofessional, and you’re making a fool of everyone else on stage.
But THAT WAS ANDY’S MO:
He broke all The Rules, and wasn’t constrained by RULES that other professionals lived by.
I personally don’t think Andy was funny, except when he was CONSTRAINED, like he was in Taxi.
I feel the same way about Robin Williams:
Gus Van Sant kept William In-Check for Good Will Hunting, and that was Williams at his best.
Most Directors aren’t as good as Van Sant.
Kaufman may have developed into a Great Dramatic Actor, if he had lived long enough, and had a real Tough Director who kept him in his place.
Micheal Richards who was in the skit also confirmed that he was in on it and it was planned. It was just an Andy Kaufman thing. So sorry but it's true.
Everyone is in on it, Andy gets us all the time! Amazing
Nobody is in on it. It’s real.
everyone was in on it. @@vika0194
I remember watching this live. Yeah, I’m old.
This is honestly genius.
@@ssean1290 only dumb people would claim they were acting.
For my wrestling fans out there: Andy was equivalent to Brian Pillman. Also both unfortunately passed too soon, but amazing how similar they were in terms of unpredictability just to entertain us.
Andy was better at wrestling than Brian
That's such a Larry David premise. I love it. Love that old 80's stoner counter culture
The guy in the sun glasses is Jack Burns who played Warren on the colorized Andy Griffith Show episodes.
One of the best pranks ever. Classic.
5:10, 5:15 - “Bobby, go to commercial!"
This was the genius of Andy Kaufman. He was perhaps the very first “performance artist” before anyone knew what the term met. I had the good fortune to see him in the late ‘70’s in person when we lucked into rehearsal tickets for SNL. Kaufman opened the show as “guest host” by “entertaining” the studio audience with “a reading of the Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald.” He proceeded to do exactly that. At first, there was nervous laughter, no one could believe this was his bit…he read on, and on well over the allotted time the hosts get…and then came the boos, and scattered heckling. People started shouting; after each interruption he’d stop and act indignant before doubling down and reading some more. It was said Lorne Michaels was furious as all this was ad libbed and appealed to Ackroyd and Belushi to haul Kaufman off the stage if need be, before Andy snapped the book shut and stalked off. Innovative, cutting edge, etc marked Andy’s act…such as later when he wrestled women. One further note…after the show aired live, we found ourselves in the studio corridors making our exit along with the cast of the show. Kaufman had an entourage, and part of the entourage was 2 dudes whose only job it seemed was to ferret reaction to Kaufman (without regard or query about anyone else): “hey how was Andy?” “Was Andy funny?” “What did you think of Andy Kaufman?” Hilarious in retrospect I still laugh even now.
A GENIUS? No, a character. Not a popular character either. I'm 61 years old and watched his rise and fall. His dry humor and his way of just pushing buttons wasn't funny, maybe humorous, but not funny. I remember thinking at the time that even a child knows better and I was a TEENAGER. I know much of his stick was planned but the plan was usually stupid. Not monty python stupid, but reality stupid. He didn't know what is funny he only knew what was annoying.
there has never been a greater planned moment in live TV.
Kaufman owned the night. Brilliant. Comedy within comedy.
your standards are pretty low
My Dude: This was NOT “planned.” It was a spur-of-the-moment decision to quit the skit because he didn’t think it was funny, and “he felt stupid.” It’s ad-libbing at its worst. From the moment he said: “I can’t play stoned,” till the end, it’s Kaufman ad-libbing. It’s not actually funny. It’s actually pretty stupid.
Borat was MUCH BETTER because Cohen is much more prepared.
Seeing a young Kramer !
i watched this live the day it aired. on the same show they had a sword swallower in one segment and just as the guy had the whole blade down his throat, Andy walked in on him and startled him - causing him to gag. i dont know if the sword swallower cut himself but they also quickly cut to a commercial break.
the cast of Fridays did not get upset at Andy for this one bit.
he was messing around the entire live broadcast and i think the sword swallower bit was just before this sketch.
nobody seems to ever recall the sword swallower, maybe they paid him off, but with the "accidental" injury to the dangerous sword act happening just before this sketch; it makes more sense why the regular cast members would be on edge not knowing how bad the sword swallowers injury was.
or maybe it was just another Kaufman stunt to get the cast mad at him and provide an impetus for the adversarial halarity that soon followed after, in the typical Kaufman way.
we will never know
+youBoob
HA! "would be on edge"
I watched it happen on a Friday night in 1981 live. On my little black and white tv set. I couldnt believe it.
Haha weed.
+FrankJavCee ty based frank
+FrankJavCee I knew you'd come here some day. Always knew.
Didn't expect to see you see you here
I love you and Andy
I shouldn't be surprised to find you here Frank
Comedic GOLD! I never say this, BUT Andy Kaufman and (KRAMER) oh yes!
Had Andy not done this there is no doubt in my mind no one would remember this skit today. It was bland and explained too much, The comedians were waaay to serious to be playing stoners and over-all the skit wasn't very funny in fact it was a dud. Andy Saved this skit.
Fridays was an otherwise lame show with bad writing, saved by occasionally good musical acts.
I watched this when it aired. The next week was more shenanigans, Fridays was a great show !!
The absolute brilliance of Andy!!!
it was a work, kayfabe. Some of them, including Michael Richard and the producer were in on it. Andy was a genius in applying the kayfabe principal to various aspects of comedy and life.
Tommy Glick yes he is
But unlike wrestling it wasn't really funny
@@hankkingsley2976 lol
I'm here from the Jim Carrey Movie
me too
me too
I'm here because of Andy Kaufman
I'm here because of Ted Nugent.
I´m here because of my balls.
I watched this live as it originally aired.
I hope others understand the genius here. He blurs the line between comedy and reality. A true peerless genius.
Clearly there had been some kind of confrontation before the cameras started rolling...I can already sense the tension between the actors. It seems that the other actors are worried about what Andy might say or do..
You idiot. It was staged. There was an article about it a while ago. Kaufman and Bob Zmuda wrote it and the actors and everyone were in on it.