Return to Transcripts main page
Joy Behar Page
"Family Ties" Reunion; Charlie Sheen`s "Torpedo" Tour
Aired April 11, 2011 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coming up on THE JOY BEHAR SHOW, it`s a "Family Ties" reunion. Joy sits down with Meredith Baxter and the cast to reminisce about their iconic `80s sitcom and the ups and downs they`ve faced since the show ended.
Plus Sinbad was one of the biggest comedians of the `90s. Now he`s staging a comeback with his new show and he`ll tell Joy all about it.
That and more starting right now.
JOY BEHAR, HLN HOST: "Family Ties" is one of the most beloved sitcoms of all-time. The show revolved around the Keaton family, two former hippies raising their kids during the conservative Reagan years. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you going to that Barry Manilow concert tonight?
MICHAEL J. FOX, ACTOR: Better.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Better than Barry Manilow? Who?
FOX: Milton Friedman. He`s giving a lecture at the college auditorium tonight.
MICHAEL GROSS, ACTOR: Well, he is better than Barry Manilow.
FOX: See, a friend of Stephanie`s canceled us so she offered me the extra ticket.
MEREDITH BAXTER, ACTRESS: Who is Stephanie?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He delivered groceries to her yesterday. She`s very pretty. She goes to college. She has her own apartment.
FOX: You left out the color of her walls.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: With me now are some of the cast of "Family Ties": Meredith Baxter, Brian Bonsall, Michael Gross, Tina Yothers. You guys, you`re here for a reason -- the reason that you`re in town is because of an award you got last night.
GROSS: Yes, we did. We got a fan favorite award from TV Land last night. And 21 years after we filmed -- after we taped the last show, we`re thrilled to say that we`re still a favorite. So that`s wonderful. That`s very, very gratifying.
BEHAR: That`s great. It was a very good show, I remember it very well. But this is the first time you`re seeing Brian since he was about eight or nine. What`s it like to -- Meredith, what`s it like to see Brian again?
GROSS: Is that you?
BAXTER: Oh my gosh.
BRIAN BONSALL, ACTOR: This is me. It`s me. I`m here.
GROSS: Hi.
BAXTER: He`s so much taller.
BONSALL: It`s been so long, I know.
GROSS: And you had a beard when you were five or six. But it was a little darker, I recall.
BONSALL: Yes, now it`s turned kind of red, I don`t know. I think it`s the Irish in me. It`s the first time I`ve had a beard. It was a bet. It was a bet that went way too long.
GROSS: It`s a pleasure seeing you here.
BEHAR: so last time you saw this boy he was like five years old.
GROSS: It was the "Family Ties" wrap party. Maybe what -- six at the most, Brian, six or seven years -- six.
BONSALL: I think I was 7. I was 7, yes. A long time.
BEHAR: So Meredith, you know, TV shows, you know, they come and go. We forget about many sitcoms. This one has become a classic. What do you think, Meredith, what made "Family Ties" so special do you think?
BAXTER: Well, something that Michael has pointed out several times yesterday was we were one of the few intact families on the air. And I think the fact that we had such a great regard for each other and respect and affection, just in the work -- through the work process, I think a lot of that translated onto the screen. And people really enjoyed that.
And we had great writers. If it`s not on the page, it`s not on the stage. So we really benefited a lot, so much, from these great writers that we had.
BEHAR: Right. It`s all about the writing, mostly.
GROSS: Yes. It begins and ends with that, as far as I`m concerned. I`m not Robin Williams; I don`t make this stuff up.
BEHAR: Neither does he.
GROSS: I go along --
BAXTER: Some of it.
BEHAR: Robin makes some of it up. He doesn`t make everything up. He has an act also.
GROSS: Right, right. But we had wonderful writers. And by the way I just want to say it`s great to see Meredith on satellite today. I know you were originally going to have her here. You knew about the restraining order I had against her so she`s now on satellite.
BEHAR: Meredith is welcome to come here any time she wants.
BAXTER: Thanks, Joy.
BEHAR: I love Meredith.
GROSS: As long as we`re not in the same studio at the same time, it`s fine.
BEHAR: Now, you know, the show was interesting. It was -- originally the writing was around the parents.
GROSS: Right.
BEHAR: And then Michael J. Fox came in there, the little upstart sort of upstaged everybody a little bit, didn`t he? Then they started to rewrite it around Michael J. Fox.
GROSS: I was -- I don`t know, I was way beyond the teen idol stage. So yes. Yes, it was -- I knew it was not going to be on me very long. Meredith`s even older than I am.
BEHAR: No, she`s not.
TINA YOTHERS, ACTRESS: Only by a couple of hours.
BAXTER: Thanks, Joy. Just defend me, will you, because I`m not there.
BEHAR: She`s not.
YOTHERS: I`m rooting for you, Meredith.
BAXTER: Thanks.
BEHAR: Come on, I want to ask you the hard questions here. Was there a little jealousy around the fact that Michael was the breakout? I mean, he was.
YOTHERS: I don`t -- you know, I don`t remember any drama on our set. And most sets aren`t like what ours was like. It -- everyone had drama. And they wanted us to talk about it all the time. And I said, I`m sorry to bore you but it really wasn`t. We had a good time.
And I think we all enjoyed the success of the show and where it was moving. And it just got better and better and more chemistry as we went along. I didn`t feel it at all.
GROSS: If there was an issue at all, it wasn`t necessarily we`re sorry that Michael`s so big. It`s like, let`s make sure the rest of us don`t get lost in the process. For Meredith and I, if I may presume to speak for my former television wife --
BAXTER: Why stop now?
GROSS: It is that we wanted to make sure that the parents stayed very much alive and focused as individuals. You know, that we were not just generic parents, if you will --
BEHAR: Of course.
GROSS: Spouting the same homilies and, you know, the same good advice. And that our words were not interchangeable. That we were very individual characters ourselves. That as we went on became the important thing.
BEHAR: How did you convince Gary Goldberg? What was his name? Gary David Goldberg.
GROSS: Gary David Goldberg.
BEHAR: He was the creator. Meredith, how did you convince him to make sure that you were not wooden characters at the service of the young boy?
BAXTER: Well, I don`t know that there was any convincing. I think that they realized that that was the issue. You know, the strength of their show is going to be on how clearly defined the characters are. I think they realize that that was a problem and did the best that they could to address it.
GROSS: Gary being the talented man that he was knew that. We just had to make sure that, you know, there was an acknowledgement. And they understood that from the get-go, I think.
There was a period for all of us at that point in which they were trying to refined the show and define ourselves. And we were very fortunate in those days to have -- network executives who gave you time to find yourselves.
BEHAR: Right.
GROSS: It was not just seven shows --
BEHAR: They can`t afford it now, I guess.
GROSS: I don`t know that they have the patience. Maybe they can afford if --
BEHAR: It`s always about money, Michael.
GROSS: I suppose but there was big money involved back then too. And yet there were people who had kind the vision to say, let`s see if this can -- let`s nurture it a little bit.
BEHAR: Brian, what`s your opinion on this? Do you think the show would be as popular today if it was running?
BONSALL: I think a lot of the shows out today are -- the jokes are to shock people, I think. And I think "Family Ties" was a family that people could relate to at the time. And, you know, you got young girls watching it, Meredith and Justine on the show, could relate to them and the situations.
I think today`s shows, I don`t know, my personal belief is that a lot of shows are being written and so to shock people and things like that. So I don`t know. I`m not sure about that.
BEHAR: There were some other sitcoms. But, you know Meredith, Alex Keaton, the boy played by Michael J. Fox, he was a teenage Republican with a briefcase and a hero to conservatives at that time. And Reagan, I understand, even wanted to come on the show. Right?
BAXTER: I heard that. I don`t really know much details about that. I learned everything afterwards.
BEHAR: So do you think that that concept would work now? I mean, the concept alone is interesting. He would be a Tea Partier maybe, now.
BAXTER: I like the idea of having characters that have, you know, topical issues that relate to stuff outside of that immediate family. I think that that`s very -- it places us in time in a way, makes us a little bit more -- of current interest. I think it`s a good thing.
GROSS: And I think -- go ahead.
YOTHERS: I know as a mother of five kids, I would love to have a show like "Family Ties" on the air today so that they could watch something wholesome and nice.
GROSS: I agree with that.
YOTHERS: I don`t know how many times I watch TV, watching a show that my daughter`s watching, and I cringe to think that -- we used to have a censor on our show. He was there all the time. He was from the network. If we ever stepped out of line as far as our speech and what we were talking about, it was written differently. It was cut from the show.
BEHAR: Those days are gone. There`s nothing now. You can do whatever you want now.
GROSS: I think the difference --
BEHAR: A lot of sex.
GROSS: I don`t want to sound as if I`m an old foggy or anything. But I`m not a conservative myself. I am all for free speech and all that sort of thing. But I do think that parents often feel these days, as opposed to some time ago, they`re at war with the media as opposed to the media reinforcing what they want their children to know.
BEHAR: Right.
GROSS: So they have to protect themselves from the media as opposed to saying, "Here`s something you can watch." And I think there`s a kind of -- maybe there`ll be -- and I think there are great lessons to learn not just about being, you know, values and things like that but the thing that made it I think very special -- do I come back and do you want to talk about this later?
BEHAR: Finish your sentence.
GROSS: The thing that made this very special was the people could disagree with each other, hugely, in the same family, and still care about each other.
BEHAR: That`s right.
GROSS: I think our present -- our present politicians could learn something about that.
YOTHERS: Vital point.
BEHAR: A vital point.
GROSS: Yes.
BEHAR: I think the cast of "The Cosby Show" was like that too.
GROSS: Yes.
BEHAR: Another great show. Ok, we`ll have more with the cast of "Family Ties" when we comeback.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL J. FOX, ACTOR: When you look back at those seven years and we knew when we were living it that it was amazing. And we knew how lucky we were. We knew how blessed we were. And -- and that we caught lightning in a bottle and we enjoyed it. And so now looking back all these years later, we don`t -- we know we didn`t really miss anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: That was Michael J. Fox accepting the fan favorite TV land award for "Family Ties" last night.
YOTHERS: Yes.
BEHAR: And I`m back with some of the cast of the show now. You know, Tina, did -- I read somewhere that they made you eat carrot sticks on the set because they wanted you to lose weight. Is that true?
YOTHERS: No, not at all.
BEHAR: It`s not true.
YOTHERS: No, never.
BEHAR: Why do I read these things and then they`re not true?
YOTHERS: It was cucumbers, not carrot sticks. Just kidding. No. No.
BEHAR: All right. All right.
GROSS: It was cocaine for all of us, not carrots.
BEHAR: And you also, you just -- that`s a whole other conversation.
GROSS: No, no, no, no. Good family show.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: Dennis Quaid has a whole thing about that right now. Dennis Quaid has a whole thing about that. We`ll talk about that later.
GROSS: I know nothing about that.
YOTHERS: No.
BEHAR: But anyway.
GROSS: No, no, we were clean.
BEHAR: But Brian, you had a little trouble, didn`t you, as a -- growing up as a child star? You had a little trouble. You got into DUIs and stuff, didn`t you?
BONSALL: Well, yes, that was -- that was well after I`ve stopped acting, actually. When I was about 13, I moved to Colorado. And I -- and I didn`t pursue acting anymore. I think I entered another chapter of my life that was very rebellious.
And -- and I do think I`m on the third chapter of my life is the way I look at it now. I`ve been sober for a year and a half. And doing -- doing all I can to -- to live a good, honest life. I`m living, you know, very laid back. Booking bands at a bar and -- and you know, cleaning vacation homes and doing all the repairs and booking them and just normal stuff.
I`m pursuing music personally with a -- with a band and --
BEHAR: Good for you.
BONSALL: And yes. But I -- but -- but I did have some troubles. And I don`t blame anything on acting or anything else like I`ve seen other child actors do.
BEHAR: Ok.
BONSALL: You know, I think -- I think it was -- I was just going my own way. But --
(CROSS TALK)
BEHAR: All right, very good. I`m happy for you.
YOTHERS: Yes.
BEHAR: It sounds like you`re doing very well. I mean, Meredith, you told me --
(CROSS TALK)
BONSALL: I am. Thank you.
BEHAR: You`re welcome. When you were here, Meredith, we talked a little bit about your struggles with alcohol during the time -- during this time on the "Family Ties" and all of that stuff.
BAXTER: And after.
BEHAR: And after. I mean, you were so honest in your book and the way you spoke to me last time. It was really refreshing to have you here - -
BAXTER: Thank you.
BEHAR: -- I must tell you that. Were you aware of any of that?
(CROSS TALK)
BAXTER: I want to say congratulations to Brian. I just want to interrupt for a second.
(CROSS TALK)
BONSALL: Thank you very much.
BAXTER: Congratulations to Brian.
BEHAR: Good for you, Brian.
GROSS: And we absolutely -- and we absolutely wish you well.
BONSALL: Thank you very much. You too.
GROSS: I mean I`m just delighted to hear this.
BEHAR: But people have issues.
BAXTER: Yes absolutely.
BEHAR: Tina, you seem to have escaped of the -- any issues.
YOTHERS: I have no issues.
BEHAR: How did you do that? You have five children I hear.
YOTHERS: We sure do all have issues. No, you know, I had good parents. And I had a good upbringing. I wouldn`t trade it for anything. I was a working actor as a child. But it wasn`t -- I didn`t consider it a job. I didn`t consider it a career. It was a place I used to show up and have a good time at and got paid for it.
GROSS: Chased me around the set with the water balloons if I recall.
YOTHERS: Absolutely.
BEHAR: It`s interesting what you said. Because you say you had good parents. Because a lot of times you`ll hear about child stars going crazy and going awry.
GROSS: Right.
YOTHERS: But -- but --
BEHAR: And then you find out that their parents did not really pay attention. It`s really about that.
YOTHERS: So the children that grow up with bad parents in any situation, they`re going to make bad choices. My parents were good and they were on top of me. I didn`t go partying in Miami Beach with my mom.
GROSS: I did.
YOTHERS: You know, when I was 12.
BEHAR: And was she fabulous?
GROSS: She was great.
BONSALL: I made some bad --
(CROSS TALK)
GROSS: Tina -- Tina have --
(CROSS TALK)
BAXTER: But I don`t blame it on my parents.
YOTHERS: Yes, I mean there`s -- yes bad choices are just bad choices.
GROSS: Now, Tina had a wonderful ma`am and dad. And they were just always there and very much a part of our extended family in the studio.
YOTHERS: Yes.
BEHAR: Well, that`s nice.
YOTHERS: Yes.
GROSS: I was just asking about her mom today. And she`s very well.
BEHAR: So you had nice real parents and then you had Meredith and Michael as your fake parents. Who`s better than you?
YOTHERS: No one.
GROSS: And we gave her the weekends off.
YOTHERS: Yes.
BEHAR: Yes. But the show is interesting to me because you know -- and the other thing about Meredith, Meredith when you were here we talked about how Meredith came out as a -- as a lesbian in 2009.
GROSS: Really?
BEHAR: Yes.
GROSS: Meredith?
BEHAR: All that time --
BAXTER: You`re always the last to know.
BEHAR: Wait a second, all that time you were turning him down, he was taking it personally.
GROSS: Very courageous.
BEHAR: What do you think Alex B. Keaton would have thought about that, you being gay? Crazy question because it`s all fake. But you know the little conservative.
BAXTER: Yes. You know, I would like to think that he would say to me what I would like all parents to say to their kids. If they find out they`re gay. You know, I just want you to be happy.
BEHAR: Right. You would hope that.
What about Ronald Reagan? He wanted to be on the show. What do you think he would have said?
BAXTER: If he were gay?
BEHAR: No, if he was either gay or not gay, but you know, about you being gay. I don`t know, whatever.
GROSS: You know, I do have a --
BAXTER: You`re so into hypothetical`s here.
GROSS: Yes.
BEHAR: I am. It`s true.
YOTHERS: Joy, I just think that seeing Meredith`s glow in the last couple of years that -- that --
BAXTER: Yes.
YOTHERS: I`ve known this; everyone deserves that happy place in life. And she found it. And she`s happy and she`s glowing. And it`s beautiful.
BEHAR: She had a tough time.
BAXTER: Everyone deserves that.
YOTHERS: I know the story.
BAXTER: Thanks, Tina.
YOTHERS: You`re welcome. You`re beautiful.
BEHAR: She`s -- she`s a wonderful girl, I like her very much. And she had a very tough time, as did Brian, apparently but not you two.
GROSS: I -- well, I mean -- no, I have no issues either. No, but --
YOTHERS: No issues.
GROSS: -- right he`s perfect. Homes issue. No, we -- I -- I was oblivious to a lot of what was going on because Meredith was a very private person and Meredith also put on a good show.
YOTHERS: Yes.
GROSS: I mean she and David were the golden couple of Hollywood. The perfect --
BEHAR: David Bernie, who was a nasty, nasty husband.
GROSS: I wasn`t around him very much. I take her word for it. But I didn`t see him much.
BEHAR: Right. Ok, I`ve got to go.
GROSS: For seven years I didn`t see him much.
BEHAR: It`s been delightful seeing all of you again. I hope you enjoyed having your little reunion.
BAXTER: Thank you.
BONSALL: We did indeed.
(CROSSTALK)
GROSS: Brian, best to you, come see us sometime.
BONSALL: Best to you, thank you so much. Nice to see you.
GROSS: Bye-bye.
BAXTER: Take care, Brian. Thank you, Joy.
BEHAR: Ok. You can catch the TV Land Awards Sunday at 9:00 p.m. on TV land.
Be sure to pick up Meredith Baxter`s book, "Untied: a Memoir of Family, Fame and Floundering.
We`ll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: Charlie Sheen bombed Friday at New York`s Radio City Music Hall. But he turned things around Sunday. James Lipton, the host of Bravo`s "Inside the Actor`s Studio" was in the audience and got pulled up onstage at one point. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES LIPTON, HOST, BRAVO: What`s your favorite curse word?
I think it`s pretty obvious.
CHARLIE SHEEN, ACTOR: Oh, no. It`s (EXPLETIVE DELETED) or Denise.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: With me now is Charlie Sheen`s Sunday night stage partner James Lipton. We couldn`t hear his curse word but it starts with an F I bet.
LIPTON: You bet your life.
BEHAR: Of course. Are you friends with this guy?
LIPTON: Yes.
BEHAR: You are friends with him.
LIPTON: He was on my show.
BEHAR: Yes.
LIPTON: The people who are on my show are on there -- it`s a school. It`s the actors who go to drama school at (INAUDIBLE) university; it`s a class. Master`s degree candidates. They`re with me for four, five hours. There`s a certain bonding that goes on.
I feel very, very strongly about him. I like him a lot. And he was wonderful on my show and I asked a lot of the questions that are being asked of him today and it was a tough show for him.
His answers were sensitive then -- this is only about 3 1/2 years ago -- sensitive, smart and there was no nonsense, absolutely no nonsense. And he`s a very good actor. Of course I like him.
BEHAR: So what happened?
LIPTON: The manager called, said Charlie would like you to come see the show which was nice, I thought. Then would you talk to him afterward. I thought, maybe he`s going to ask me, do you like the show? Do you think I`m on the right track, wrong track? I got answers for that.
Anyway, my wife and I went, we sat there in the audience. Then he did what people do. He introduced Darryl Strawberry who was in the audience. He introduced me. Just routine.
The audience started to yell and chant. Up on the stage. At me. Go up on the stage. Go up on that stage. We were both at that point stuck. And he came to the edge of the stage and he said, "Will you come up? One question, please, come up."
I`m not going to say go to hell. That would have started a riot. And so I went up on the stage. And you saw what happened. It was just a moment.
BEHAR: What happened to Charlie? I mean, do you think he`s bipolar?
LIPTON: It`s very dangerous for us -- we`re not psychologists -- to assume that every moment that he speaks is the absolute truth and that he means it entirely. He changes his mind the next day. That doesn`t mean he`s bipolar. I don`t know what bipolar -- I can`t define bipolar.
BEHAR: Well, whatever -- you know. Manic-depressive, whatever you want to call it. Somebody who`s high one minute, low one minute, drugs --
LIPTON: I don`t want -- the point is I didn`t want to call it anything.
BEHAR: Ok.
LIPTON: What I want to do is say -- you and I have both dealt with a lot of actors. It`s a very pressurized life. People can crack. I think he cracked. I think something happened to him. I don`t like what he`s been doing lately. And I worry about him because I like him.
And I think that in time this is going to work itself out. It`s working itself out on the stage. That`s when are he`s doing it. He`s getting better and better at what he`s doing. 6,000 people were on their feet cheering him. Not one person booed on Sunday night.
BEHAR: They booed Radio City though quite a bit.
LIPTON: This was Radio City.
BEHAR: Oh, Sherri Shepherd said there was a lot of booing on Radio City --
LIPTON: Friday night.
BEHAR: Friday, yes.
LIPTON: Sunday night was when -- when I walked in they said, Jim, look at the stage. There were two chairs and a table. What does that remind you of?
BEHAR: Your show.
LIPTON: Inside the Actors Studio. They said after the opening in Detroit we talked to each other, we said let`s do Jim Lipton`s show. That`s all we can do. Do a question and answer.
BEHAR: That was good. That was a good idea because it --
(CROSSTALK)
LIPTON: It was a good idea. And I`m respectful of it. He`s trying to do something. He`s trying to work something out in front of the public. Is he way over the top? You bet he is.
BEHAR: Ok. All right, James. Sit there because we`re going to have you back the next segment, talk about some other topics in the news. All righty?
LIPTON: All righty.
BEHAR: We`ll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: The great Helen Mirren hosted Saturday Night Live this weekend and her boobs appear to be the subject of many jokes. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can I touch them?
HELEN MIRREN, ACTRESS: Yes, of course.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is this heaven?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`re in a place that`s much better than heaven. You`re in Helen Mirren`s titties.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: With me now to talk about this and many, many more subjects, James Lipton, host of "Inside the Actors Studio" on Bravo. Giuliana Rancic, host of E! News, and Don Jamieson, comedian and co-host of "That Metal Show" on VH1 Classic.
OK, guys, do you think that was funny? Was that funny?
JAMES LIPTON, HOST, INSIDE THE ACTORS STUDIO: Just now?
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: Yes. Touching her boobs.
LIPTON: I didn`t see the show, so I don`t know.
BEHAR: Well, that scene that you just saw?
LIPTON: OK.
BEHAR: Wouldn`t it have been funnier if a guy did it? What was the point of a woman doing it? I don`t get that. Can someone explain?
DON JAMIESON, COMEDIAN: Maybe she didn`t want a guy to touch her, you never know. But you know, she`s kind of gotten this thing going over the years of like that her boobs are like these magical things. You know?
BEHAR: Oh, I see.
JAMIESON: And I think it`s cool that she`s poking fun as herself. She`s known as such a serious actress. She`s a dame, she`s won all these awards. And she`s -- because she`s not just -- it would be sexist to me if she was just famous for her boobs like Pam Anderson, Kim Kardashian, Rush Limbaugh, whatever.
BEHAR: Rush Limbaugh.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: You mean he is a boob. I see.
GIULIANA RANCIC, HOST, E! NEWS: But the whole show -- she made fun of herself the whole show. She had fun the whole show. And I think it`s funny. I agree, she has a gorgeous body. The thing with SNL --
LIPTON: She was famous for that when she was young, and for exposing it.
(CROSSTALK)
RANCIC: And I think, listen, it`s SNL. Whether you`re old, young, chest, no chest, it doesn`t matter. You could be targeted any time. Know what I mean?
BEHAR: Betty White was on--
(CROSSTALK)
LIPTON: Really? I`m astonished.
(CROSSTALK)
LIPTON: A target on SNL?
BEHAR: When Betty White was on, all they did was talk about her vagina. I mean, it seems to be like a running joke that you take these older actresses, who are very straight-laced really in many ways, and talk about their gynecological areas.
LIPTON: I want you to know that when she was on my show just a few months ago, the subject of her vagina did not come up.
BEHAR: It did not?
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: What did you talk about? Her pancreas?
LIPTON: No, her boobs. No.
BEHAR: But I mean, I don`t know, it`s fine.
JAMIESON: I think it`s funny. I think genitals plus time equals funny. It`s an old comedy maxim, you know that, Joy.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: OK, so now --
LIPTON: Aristotle.
BEHAR: Here is another story. January Jones, you know the wonderfully beautiful actress from "Mad Men," she`s really good, I love her, she`s such a little ice queen, it`s fabulous. She just did an interview in Marie Claire UK magazine. And this is her quote. She said, "the bitches in high school were bitches because I was pretty." That`s true of all of us, isn`t it?
(LAUGHTER)
LIPTON: It was especially true of me, but go ahead.
BEHAR: It was especially true of you. What do you make of the comment, first of all?
RANCIC: Here`s the thing. She`s right. I think she`s probably right. You know, they were probably a little mean to her because she was pretty. But you don`t say that. You know, that`s something you might think in your head. We all have things we think in our head. It`s something you share with maybe your boyfriend, your best friend, your mom. Not something you say in a magazine, because you seem like a shallow--
JAMIESON: I disagree, I disagree completely, because all these Hollywood actresses, they all say the same thing. I was the ugly duckling in high school, no one liked me. Come on, you expect me to believe you were Susan Boyle in ninth grade, and you grew up and you`re Gisele Bundchen? Give me a break.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: It`s like a Hans Christian Andersen--
(CROSSTALK)
JAMIESON: Of course not.
LIPTON: OK.
BEHAR: Now, I read her comments and I immediately thought of this ad. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don`t hate me because I`m beautiful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: That was Kelly Lebrock (ph), OK? Who sort of jumped the shark after that commercial. I think people sort of held it against her.
RANCIC: Absolutely.
BEHAR: You know, that she`s saying, don`t hate me because I`m beautiful. I remember Brett Butler had a great joke, she said, oh, there`s so many more reasons to hate you, darling. And we never saw Kelly Lebrock anymore.
RANCIC: No one wants to root for the pretty girl. You know, look at Pia Toscano, seriously, from American Idol, the beautiful girl who was just eliminated the other night.
BEHAR: And talented girl.
RANCIC: Very talented, but a lot of people say there`s a theory going around that she was eliminated because she was too perfect and too beautiful, and no one voted for her. Who the heck wants to vote for the perfect girl who`s got life by the you know what? You want to vote -- aside from you. You got -- the one vote for her.
BEHAR: You never hear men bragging, you know, don`t hate me because I`m hung like a horse. You know what I mean?
(CROSSTALK)
JAMIESON: There goes my line.
RANCIC: Unless you`re my husband.
BEHAR: You never hear that unless--
(CROSSTALK)
RANCIC: I`m kidding.
BEHAR: I thought it was a little bit refreshing. You know, like, we`re comics, right, Don?
JAMIESON: Yes.
BEHAR: So women, even women who are funny will say, well, I was funny as a kid. No one gets mad at you for saying that. Why?
RANCIC: Yes.
BEHAR: George Clooney`s not walking around going, I couldn`t get a prom date in high school. He`s a nice actor, but he probably took the queen of the prom. Paul Giammati, phenomenal actor. Right, Mr. Lipton? Probably went with his sister.
(LAUGHTER)
LIPTON: I happen to think he`s very pretty.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: Well, maybe you need to get your eyes checked.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: He`s a great actor. But pretty is not the word that jumps to my vocabulary.
LIPTON: To each his own.
BEHAR: That`s right.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: OK.
LIPTON: Or her own.
BEHAR: We were talking the previous segment about Charlie Sheen. And we often talk about Lindsay Lohan, because she`s always in trouble, that girl. If it`s not one thing, it`s a necklace.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: And so -- but Betty White has now actually come out and said something about both of them. She said, "I cannot stand the people who get wonderful starts in showbiz and who abuse it. Lindsay Lohan and Charlie Sheen, for example. Although there are plenty of others, too. They are the most blessed people in the world and they don`t appreciate it."
You know, it reminds me of the time Helen Hayes called me a ten-cent whore.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: Do you think what Betty says is true, James? That they`re ungrateful brats, the two of them?
LIPTON: No.
BEHAR: No? Because you will defend Charlie Sheen to the death, I have a feeling.
LIPTON: Look, I defend any actor whom I respect. Period.
BEHAR: No matter what they do?
LIPTON: No. No, I am critical of what Charlie`s been doing. But I happen to have a great respect for talent and craft. And look, I`m founding the Actor Studio Drama School at Pace University. You know what we teach our master`s degree candidates? The three words that they hear all the time, respect your talent. Sure, you can screw it up. You can wreck--
BEHAR: But that`s her point, I think. She`s saying they`re blessed in this world to have -- to be young people, to have all this money and adoration coming at them. And to just blow it as if it`s nothing. There are people in this country who would love to be in those positions.
JAMIESON: Betty White`s the only one of the three of them working right now. You know, so good for Betty to say that, you know?
(CROSSTALK)
JAMIESON: She`s no angel. You know how many coke and hooker parties I`ve been to at her house? She can party like it`s 1899.
(LAUGHTER)
LIPTON: I`ve had a lot of people who were on my stage who have had problems.
BEHAR: An old joke.
JAMIESON: Sorry.
LIPTON: Who have had drug problems. And I always wind up asking them the same question. With all that you have going for you, with the wonderful life that you lead, why do you take the risk?
BEHAR: And what is their answer? Because they can. Because they can. Because I have money, because I have fame and fortune. That`s why.
RANCIC: But there are people who do turn it around. You know, who have had their dark days.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: I know it`s my opinion. I give my opinion freely on this show.
(CROSSTALK)
RANCIC: Good for you.
LIPTON: But remember, they also live under the scrutiny of the whole world. There`s a spotlight on them all the time. And if they`re young, if they haven`t had enough life experience really to be able to cope, they make mistakes. I`m not saying--
BEHAR: Charlie Sheen, what is he, almost 50?
LIPTON: I was talking about Lindsay Lohan.
BEHAR: Oh, Lindsay.
LIPTON: But the point is that with the emphasis today on youth in movies, you`ve got to have young, young, young faces on the screen so we can get young, young, young audiences to the theaters and they`ll go more than once to see the movie, the fact remains that these kids come up and they`re like young athletes who are making $20 million a year and haven`t learned yet how to live their lives.
BEHAR: But that`s Betty`s point. Get with the program, grow up. OK, here`s what Lindsay Lohan responded--
LIPTON: That`s like saying just say -- just like Mrs. -- who was it who said --
BEHAR: Just say no.
LIPTON: Mrs. Reagan, just say no.
BEHAR: Well, then get some therapy. If you can`t handle it, go see a shrink. If something`s bothering you, your arm hurts, you go to a doctor. All right, I`m a little strict on this.
LIPTON: I see that you are.
BEHAR: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: OK, now, Lindsay Lohan --
LIPTON: I had a drink last night.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: I`m not judgmental, I`m just saying they`re brats. OK, Lindsay Lohan has responded, she -- to Betty White. She goes, "wow, I`ve always been a fan of hers. It`s just a bit strange when people feel they must speak publicly about others, especially a grown woman." Who`s she referring to, herself or Betty White as the grown woman?
RANCIC: Betty White.
BEHAR: I don`t even know. Who`s your money on? Betty or Lindsay?
JAMIESON: I think she`s referring to Betty.
BEHAR: So it`s strange when people feel they must speak publicly about others. What is she --
(CROSSTALK)
RANCIC: You`re in the public eye. This is what you signed up for. It is. And my whole thing is, I agree with the ungrateful comment. I do feel like when you`re a celebrity, you have an incredible platform to do something with it. And in addition to being talented, help people, do something. Look at Angelina Jolie. She had some dark days.
BEHAR: That`s right.
RANCIC: She turned it around. She was in Libya last week, God bless her, do something with your celebrity.
BEHAR: What the hell was she doing in Libya?
RANCIC: She was at a refugee camp. God bless her, Joy. We`re not in Libya. Let her be--
(CROSSTALK)
LIPTON: She`s trying to help.
BEHAR: There are armed forces in Libya.
RANCIC: But my point is--
BEHAR: There`s a war there.
(CROSSTALK)
JAMIESON: She thinks she`s Lara Croft.
RANCIC: She doesn`t need to be there.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: She`s confused.
RANCIC: She doesn`t need to be there and she is there. She chooses her celebrity, her name, to help people. And I`m saying, so don`t be -- you know, I think if you`re a celebrity and you don`t help people, even just a little bit, you`re selfish. You`re a selfish twit.
BEHAR: What do you think, Don? I know what you think. You think they`re lovely people and we shouldn`t be talking about them. Right?
LIPTON: Like hell I do.
BEHAR: What are you thinking right now?
LIPTON: What?
BEHAR: What do you think about all this, what we`re saying?
LIPTON: I`m very critical of young people who blow it and who piss on their talents.
JAMIESON: Oh!
BEHAR: There you go.
JAMIESON: Go, James, go!
LIPTON: We teach it at a school, I`m a dean.
BEHAR: All right, thank you, guys, very much. And a quick note, Giuliana has teamed up with Excedrin, so go to Excedrin`s Facebook page to enter the contest. And Don Jamieson has a new album out, whatever they call it these days. CD. "Live and Hilarious." It comes out on April 26th. We`ll be back in a minute. And of course we know where James is going to be, on Bravo.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are taking over.
SINBAD: I`m not taking over.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your stuff is taking over.
SINBAD: Excuse me. Let me use my magical powers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You cannot live ...
SINBAD: Now I`m OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now make fun of me.
SINBAD: I`m not making fun of you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is not right.
SINBAD: I just got here today.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have been here one day. You have that room, you have that room, you have the guest house, everywhere.
SINBAD: Take it inside!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: That was comedian Sinbad on his new reality show "Sinbad Is Just Family." Some say this is his comeback, he says he never went away. I say who cares, I`m glad he`s here. How are you?
SINBAD: I`m good, I`m good. Thank you.
BEHAR: Now, I saw the trailer of your new show. You got to -- you didn`t work for ten years, according to the--
SINBAD: Funny. I worked -- I did comedy since 1983. I`ve never stopped. I guess they`re talking about TV.
BEHAR: TV, right.
SINBAD: So, we`re comics -- we can do ...
BEHAR: But you had a ten-year sort of like a dry spell ...
SINBAD: Yes.
BEHAR: ... on television and the movies, right?
SINBAD: Yes.
BEHAR: And you remarried your ex-wife. That`s very Liz Taylor and Richard Burton now.
SINBAD: No, she married 900 people, though, so that`s different.
BEHAR: But she remarried Richard Burton.
SINBAD: Yes.
BEHAR: OK.
SINBAD: Because he owed her some money. A lot of people know the back story.
BEHAR: Is that true?
SINBAD: Yes, he owed her some money.
BEHAR: No.
SINBAD: No, he did.
BEHAR: You made that up.
SINBAD: He told me.
BEHAR: OK. You`re lying. All right, so now you`re living together with your wife and your kids.
SINBAD: Yes. Yes.
BEHAR: In another house. What happened? What happened all those years? What went on there?
SINBAD: Well, since -- since we taped the show, they moved off into their own place. But what happened is -- let me give you the whole thing.
BEHAR: Oh, they have?
SINBAD: Yes, we were together for six, married for 12 ...
BEHAR: Yes.
SINBAD: ... divorced for ten, now we`re back for eight.
BEHAR: OK.
SINBAD: Yes. So comes in groups of tens and eights.
BEHAR: So that makes you like 85 years old, according to my math.
SINBAD: That`s right, I know. So -- yes, 12, 18 -- that`s a lot -- no, that`s almost half of my life.
BEHAR: But you -- you -- what happened to you in your career? Let me hear about that, the ten years.
SINBAD: You know, I don`t know. If I could -- if I could put my ...
BEHAR: Because you were hot as a pistol, you were going to be the next Bill Cosby. And then ...
SINBAD: I thought I was too. I had (inaudible), I would pick out jets.
BEHAR: Yes.
SINBAD: I would look at - I am going to get this mansion. I would sit here and it`s just -- for whatever reason, I mean I couldn`t ...
BEHAR: You are -- I remember Oprah Winfrey was, she had a whole show with you.
SINBAD: Yes. Yes.
BEHAR: Sinbad is the next big thing.
SINBAD: Yes.
BEHAR: And then we didn`t hear from you after that.
SINBAD: I should have done those shows.
BEHAR: What? What happened?
SINBAD: I don`t know, I really believe comedy changed. And TV changed. And Def Comedy Jam came on. They were looking for different kind of comics, and different -- a different swagger. Like what I did wasn`t funny. You know -- they always did -- black comics, like is he clean or is he dirty? I said, doesn`t matter. Richard Pryor is a genius. Bill Cosby is a genius. You know, Lenny Bruce, all these guys are geniuses.
BEHAR: Yes.
SINBAD: George Carlin is a genius. It doesn`t matter if you`re clean or dirty.
BEHAR: But you are not -- you`re a clean -- you were clean?
SINBAD: I was dirty when I started.
BEHAR: Yes.
SINBAD: And I changed -- I just changed up. I realized by being -- come clean that Hollywood would go like, oh, there`s nothing there we need.
BEHAR: How do you go from being dirty to being clean? That is [EXPLETIVE DELETED]-ing amazing.
SINBAD: I know, it`s just wild. It`s wild, man. My father -- my father is a preacher. He came to one of my shows. And I said, I`m not going to curse because he`s here. Although if I had, he wouldn`t have cared. My father is a cool guy. But -- but that night, I just -- I actually talked about more subjects. I can talk about everything, sex, drugs, everything. I actually could push it close to the edge ...
BEHAR: Right.
SINBAD: ... for any kind of audience there.
BEHAR: Yes.
SINBAD: I said, I`ll just keep it clean.
BEHAR: I see. OK, now. You also were on Celebrity Apprentice ...
SINBAD: Yes.
BEHAR: ... in the old days, right?
SINBAD: Back in old days.
BEHAR: And you are -- What do you think of what`s going on there now?
SINBAD: He picked right.
BEHAR: Meatloaf had a meltdown the other day.
SINBAD: He picked the right -- Donald loves fights. Donald loves, he loves playing celebrities.
BEHAR: He loves ratings.
SINBAD: He loves playing celebrities, too. He loves watching celebrities fight. I said, don`t let that man play you like that. And Meatloaf -- I didn`t realize Meatloaf -- Busey -- Gary Busey is making everybody knocked (ph) down.
BEHAR: Yes.
SINBAD: But you know Gary is crazy?
BEHAR: Is he certifiably crazy?
SINBAD: I mean, after that motorcycle accident, he`s never been the same. I mean, he hit his head on the concrete. Not saying anything bad about it. But he`ll just say anything. Gary will say anything.
BEHAR: But in the scene that I saw, Meatloaf was having the meltdown, and Gary was just -- he was like Gandhi.
SINBAD: Yeah, but you don`t know how -- you don`t know how they edit it. You don`t know. You don`t know what the edit was behind the scenes.
BEHAR: Right.
SINBAD: Sometimes they know what they`re going to do, they`ll edit the Gandhi scene that originally was like being terroristic Attila the Hun scene ...
BEHAR: I see ...
SINBAD: They give you the other scene later.
BEHAR: I see. What about now -- you were with Bret Michaels and Sharon Osbourne.
SINBAD: Yes.
BEHAR: Got any dish on those two?
SINBAD: You know what, Sharon`s funny and cool. Sharon got a foul mouth, but she don`t care. That`s just her. I mean, she was like whoo, what this woman just said. But she is real. And I think she`s a great manager. I mean, she does her thing. You know, Bret -- Bret is just -- Bret was in a band that women love. And he`s I think kind of a baby. But that`s not bad. He`s just one of the girl -- the bands that girls fell -- he was cute.
BEHAR: Yes, yes, yes.
SINBAD: I think that affects you.
BEHAR: Right. Well, he was -- he`s been on my show. I like him. He`s very nice.
SINBAD: No, one of the nicest cats in the world. But he knows -- he knows what women -- he knows it`s a different flavor.
BEHAR: Right.
SINBAD: Yes.
BEHAR: Now, what about these rumors that you died?
SINBAD: I know.
BEHAR: Who started that?
SINBAD: I think somebody who hated my show.
BEHAR: But they mean -- did they mean you or just your career?
SINBAD: No, they said me. The career could have been all right. But he killed me. He killed me twice.
BEHAR: Well, what are you talking about?
SINBAD: On Wikipedia. On Wikipedia. The reason Wikipedia works, everybody`s allowed to put any information up there.
BEHAR: Yes.
SINBAD: So, in that same case anybody can kill you, and put up false information. He put information up on Thursday to kill me and it didn`t take. So he killed me again Monday.
BEHAR: Who? Who was he?
SINBAD: Don`t know who he is. I would have found him, I would have killed him.
BEHAR: Somebody did that to you.
SINBAD: Yes.
BEHAR: And so, big deal. So you take it off of Wikipedia. You can edit Wikipedia.
SINBAD: Yes. I didn`t care.
BEHAR: And there was a point in your life where the IRS took everything away from you.
SINBAD: They found out I wasn`t dead.
BEHAR: But when you were dead, supposedly, did they come after you then?
SINBAD: No, see, if I had stayed dead for two more years, I`d have been free.
BEHAR: You didn`t want to do that because ...
SINBAD: No.
BEHAR: ... you needed to work.
SINBAD: I needed to work, so it`s a catch-22, but what happened with them is I owed some money. What happens is, you know it`s comics, it`s my production company, but really the production company is my money ...
BEHAR: Yes.
SINBAD: ... from what I`m working, I`m paying out salaries.
BEHAR: Right.
SINBAD: Then when jobs would come in, I`m still paying out salaries.
BEHAR: Yes.
SINBAD: So I can`t take a vacation. Because I take two weeks off, I`m still paying out salaries.
BEHAR: Whose salaries? Who was on your payroll?
SINBAD: People -- I have family, and people -- my family worked for me, I had other people worked for me, and we were all working together, we were doing well. And then things changed. We kept thinking, we`ll catch this movie, we get this movie and everything will turn around, and I`ll hedge some money here and we`ll be OK. And it just didn`t happen.
BEHAR: All right. You know, when we come back, I want to talk to you about comedians, what`s going on these days in standup.
SINBAD: OK.
BEHAR: Like Charlie Sheen, he is ...
SINBAD: He`s not a comic, man.
BEHAR: All right.
(CROSSTALK)
SINBAD: But I`ll tell you...
BEHAR: We`ll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SINBAD: Do you speak English?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: English, yes.
SINBAD: OK. Just tell the guys -- I only have boxes to be sent (ph). Some will say Sinbad`s office, and some will say instruments. OK. Those go this way. So tell them that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Boxes, some says Sinbad, some say Royce, you know?
SINBAD: OK, I (inaudible).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: I`m back with comedian and reality TV star Sinbad. What`s your real name, Sinbad?
SINBAD: Sinbad.
BEHAR: No, come on.
SINBAD: Devere (ph).
BEHAR: Devere (ph) is your name?
SINBAD: George.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: George W.?
SINBAD: Wendell (ph). James.
BEHAR: Where did Sinbad come from?
SINBAD: Watching Sinbad movies, I was a kid, I loved all the Sinbad movies.
BEHAR: What if you watched "Popeye?"
SINBAD: I would have been Popeye.
BEHAR: OK.
SINBAD: That was my daughter. I call my daughter Popeye.
BEHAR: And sweet pea.
SINBAD: Yes, sweet pea.
BEHAR: So -- so what - what were you going to say about Charlie Sheen? He`s been on the road. He did really badly in Detroit and then he killed in Cleveland and Chicago.
SINBAD: See, the thing about Detroit, it was more him. So what if they boo you. You`re Charlie on a tornado, volcano tour of death and destruction, so be that guy. But then he produced - I got mad. They sat down and they refigured this. Then you know what, you`re not yourself anymore. You`re being produced. So just call it a show and get yourself a reality show. Because now you want people to like you. Now you want to be liked. So you go to Cleveland, you wear the Cleveland Indians shirt. And they go, oh, he loves us. I said, no, man, he`s playing you. But it`s genius. I ain`t mad at him. He`ll be back on CBS with a show, triple (ph) figures.
BEHAR: You think so?
SINBAD: Oh, yes.
BEHAR: Don`t you think there`s something wrong with him?
SINBAD: Of course he is.
BEHAR: What`s wrong with him?
SINBAD: Right now, either bipolar or too much coffee. I`m not sure which one it is yet.
BEHAR: You never know the difference. Now, what about Obama? You supported Obama, did you not?
SINBAD: Yes, I did.
BEHAR: Do you think he`s losing traction?
SINBAD: No. I think he`s losing traction with people because they thought too much. I knew after all the partying was done, I told my wife and my family, we know this man has -- where the country was at, to climb that slope, I`m so glad it wasn`t me and I think people who lost are glad it wasn`t them. They`re sitting back like this, oh, I wish I won, but I`m (ph) so happy.
BEHAR: Do you remember when he won?
SINBAD: Yes.
BEHAR: There was a headline in one of the newspapers that says, "black man gets worst job in America."
SINBAD: Thank you. I felt -- I felt this was not the year to be a black president. This was not the one.
BEHAR: What`s the year? What is - following George Bush?
SINBAD: The year with a surplus of money. Follow Clinton. If he could have followed Clinton, all the money, everything would have been cool. But this country was stripped. It was stripped.
BEHAR: Do you think a black guy could have won when the country was in good shape?
SINBAD: No, because people would have been too aware. See, the country was so jacked up, they didn`t notice. People turned around, is he black? By that time, he snuck in. He was light-skinned so they didn`t know.
BEHAR: And when they ask for his birth certificate, do you think that`s racist or not?
SINBAD: Have they ever asked anybody?
BEHAR: No. Never.
SINBAD: Nobody, never. A black man in Hawaii - the thing is, there are some people in America who actually think Hawaii is not America. We have people who don`t do well with geography. And they didn`t finish school. And they sit there and all it takes is one person with sense to get to the dumb people. You know, he`s not from America. That`s right! And then you got the whole thing going. That`s what they do.
BEHAR: The big lie.
SINBAD: The big lie.
BEHAR: You can convince anything -- I have a couple of Facebook questions before we go, I only have 30 seconds left. If you could be a woman for a day, who would you be?
SINBAD: I would be somebody I want to see naked, so I could stand and look at myself naked. And go back to being Sinbad the next day.
BEHAR: How about Oprah Winfrey? She`s rich.
SINBAD: Oh, Oprah. If I was Oprah for one day, I`d take all my money out the bank and give it to Sinbad and put it in Sinbad`s account.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: OK. April 15th is Friday. What do you do to celebrate tax day? Since you don`t have exactly the best relationship with the IRS.
SINBAD: I die. And you`ll hear about it on Wikipedia, I`ll be dead.
BEHAR: OK. Listen, it`s wonderful to see you.
SINBAD: Thank you.
BEHAR: Good luck with the reality show.
SINBAD: And congratulations to you. Everything Joy, right on, girl.
BEHAR: Thank you very much. OK, "Sinbad, It`s Just Family" premieres April 12th on Wetv. Thanks for watching. Good night, everybody.
END
