This morning on Regis & Kelly, Bryant Gumbel was subbing for Regis and Kelly suggested they dance. Bryant declined and said he couldn't because he was undergoing treatment for lung cancer. Last month he had a malignant tumor removed from his chest. That sounds awful. I can't even remember the number of times I saw pictures of Bryant Gumbel smoking and as much as I think he is generally a prick he still is an excellent journalist and made for some of the best television of the 80's when he and David Letterman were locked in a feud. Get better soon Bryant.
If you have never seen the video that started the feud, you need to watch the two minute video below.
Letterman looks so young in that clip! When did that happen? Bryant sure knows how to hold a grudge.
ReplyDeleteI DON'T WISH SMOKING RELATED DISEASE'S ON ANYONE....I KNOW FIRST HAND (MY DAD) JUST HOW NASTY THEY ARE.
ReplyDeleteNO FAN OF BRYANT GUMBEL...I AGREE HE'S AN ASS....BUT I WISH HIM A SPEEDY RECOVERY.
My parents both died too early because of years of smoking. Cigarettes... I hate the filthy things. Even though Bryant's a dick, I wish him good health.
ReplyDeletewhat? huh? really? bryant's an ass? i so missed out on this little morsel of pop culture...i have no idea what this is about or where it comes from.
ReplyDeleteboo hiss on smokers...but i hope BG has a full and speedy recovery.
Statistics on lung cancer are grim.
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw that BG was subbing for Regis yesterday and not Andy Cooper, my blood boiled. I've hated that asshole for-bloody-ever.
ReplyDeleteBummer about his illness; but it doesn't make him any nicer of a human begin.
I was overseas during most of the 80s and missed many things including the feud. Looks like it was pretty funny. I wish BG a speedy recovery even if he is a creep.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand that first sentence at all.
ReplyDeleteThat little clip sparked years of feuding? Wow, BG doesn't must not have ANY sense of humor at all!
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ReplyDeletePeople make me laugh. The guy is an ass. That has been proven over and over.
ReplyDeleteSmoking can kill you. That too has been proven over and over.
Wishing him a speedy recovery? Why exactly? Not that I'm wishing him a speedy death, but really, I don't waste my good wishes on mean smokers who die of lung cancer.
I don't mean to offend those who have lost loved ones to lung cancer. I have and know the pain it can cause.
ReplyDeleteJust in the case of Mr Bryant Gumbal, he wouldn't be wishing YOU a speedy recovery. He's that kind of mean.
I still love Letterman. Too bad this worl is so lawsuit-happy. I would love to see Letterman do snarky stuff like this again.
ReplyDeleteDon't care whether BG is an a** or not--I hope that he is able to beat the cancer, even if he comes back as an even bigger a**. And I have to say that I admire him for continuing to work while he undergoes treatment and is recovering from (probably major) chest surgery (hello? Calling Mischa Barton!). I know that if I had his money and had lung cancer, I would not have the strength to go into work every day, let alone sub for someone else.
ReplyDeleteOld school Letterman was hilarious. I remember when this happened and everyone at the time thought BG was a humorless ass.
ReplyDeletenot that anyone said this, but pet peeve of mine:
ReplyDeleteperson number 1: I have lung cancer (or my mom has lung cancer or whoever)
person number 2: Oh, no! Were you (was he/she) a smoker?
DOES IT MATTER?!?
If someone says they lost a loved one to a car accident, do people ask if they were a bad driver?
Just something that people do that is unsensitive that really bothers me.
i'm with you, chihuahuense. it's like hearing someone is HIV+ and asking 'oh, are they GAY?' people get lung CA who never smoked---andy kaufman died of it.
ReplyDeletethere are a lot of 'self-inflicted' diseases. type 2 diabetes many times is one of them---'oh, are you FAT?'
i know people who smoked and lived well into their 80's. everyone's going to die of something.
considering 2/3 of the country is obese and therefore causing numerous potentially life-threatening conditions for themselves, i'm sick of this particular thing being demonized every fucking time i turn around.
to say anything other than 'i'm so sorry to hear this' just makes you look like a judgmental, arrogant asshole.
*rousing round of applause for Gladys Kravitz* well said.
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ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments,Chihu and Nancer. Well said. You see why Paul Newman's family (for example) were so reticent about this? But the facts are: Most people who develop lung cancer never smoked or stopped decades before.Lung cancer seems to be associated with a genetic error that is activated by something--apparently it is often pollution, smoking, or other exposure to noxious substances in your environment,but there may be other factors. Smokers are more likely to die of emphysema. It kills more women breast, ovarian, uterine, and cervical cancers combined. Yet lung cancer research gets less funding than any of these--12% of what is spent on breast cancer research alone. The American Cancer Society and even American Lung Assn don't focus on it except through smoking cessation campaigns. No early detection test has been developed, so it's nearly always diagnosed as inoperable.
ReplyDeleteI won't go on, except to say that, as with early days of AIDS,secrecy among victims contributes to underfunding of treatment.If you're concerned about this disease, take a look at the Lungevity Foundation.
right on, bookjacket!
ReplyDeleteI mentioned that on a national breast CA awareness month post. Hopefully things ($) will even out soon, so some of the lesser publicized cancers can get some funding.
also, I meant "INsensitive" not "UNsensitive" :P