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Norm, Letterman Attack NBC
June 3, 1998 Norm Macdonald needed little prompting from David Letterman Tuesday night to open up about NBC, which has refused to air ads for the comedian's soon-to-be-released movie, Dirty Work. In fact, the CBS late-night talk show host (and former disgruntled NBC employee) seemed more upset than his guest over the ban, which was allegedly ordered by NBC West Coast President Don Ohlmeyer, the man who fired Macdonald from the "Weekend Update" segment on Saturday Night Live. "Now, Norm, let's just do the math on this," Letterman said. "NBC is owned by General Electric, maybe the single biggest global corporate entity on the globe. And they're generating several billion dollars a year. What the hell could they possibly care about you and your movie?" It turns out that they care a lot. The peacock network says that
falling ratings and the declining quality of Macdonald's broadcasts
led to his dismissal from the anchor chair in January. But some have
speculated that the comedian had directed a few too many barbs at
Ohlmeyer's friend O.J. Simpson— Either way, NBC didn't take kindly to Macdonald going public with
his less than fuzzy feelings towards the network. "If he had just
come after me, this would not have happened," Ohlmeyer explains to
the New York Times. "But he started going after Saturday
Night Live and NBC, and that just wasn't acceptable."
Chances are good that Ohlmeyer didn't find much to like about
Norm's appearance on Late Show. "I don't understand it at
all," Norm told Letterman. "First of all, [Ohlmeyer]'s best friends
with O.J. Simpson. And that's fine.… Letterman suggested that Ohlmeyer was "jealous" of Macdonald. "He
doesn't have to kiss up to Jerry Seinfeld now, so that's freed up
his whole day," he said. "This is terrorism. This is completely
uncalled for." Letterman added, "They're afraid because they fired
you, that you're going to come back and bite them in the ass. That's
what they're worried about."
Explained Macdonald, "In this movie, I actually get revenge
against this rich jackass who makes my life a living hell."
Responded Letterman, "Well, there you go."
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