MovieChat Forums > Paul Williams: Still Alive (2012) Discussion > Anybody remember the fight with George P...

Anybody remember the fight with George Peppard?

posted 11 years ago by PattyGJones
4 replies | jump to latest

It was Peppard's last appearance on the Carson show, I think (if not, it should have been). He was literally falling-off-his-chair drunk, and Paul Williams came on as the next guest. I don't remember the topic, but Peppard disagreed with Williams about something and called him a midget. Williams went ballistic. It was the closest I've ever seen to one star punching out another on nationwide TV, and in this instance I think Williams (5'2") would have decked Peppard, the 6-feet-tall "A-Team" hero, to the overwhelming cheers of the audience. As I recall, Williams did give him the verbal beating of a lifetime.

"I'm only in Show Biz by injection"

[–] puirt-a-beul 11 years ago

Not American, so never saw it, but you make me want to!

Wish someone would put it up on YouTube.

You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment.

[–] kinchradio 11 years ago

I was watching that night. I remember George saying something about short people, but not calling him a midget. Paul Williams laid into him verbally. My memory is his reaction was over the top.

[–] wheresjohnny 11 years ago

I saw it that night and Peppard did call him a midget, but was trying to be funny. Peppard was always weird and arrogant when he was on the Tonight Show and acted like he was a close personal friend of Carson and always tried to have an outrageously personal conversation on camera. Once he said he was offered the services of a hooker who was said to be a 12 on a rating of 1 to 10, and he wanted to know what Carson thought he should do. So, anyway, this time Williams came out after him and said something that ran counter to what was said earlier and Peppard interrupted, took over, and went off on a tangent trying to be funny. He said something like "...then a midget comes out and says..." and Williams cut him off with "I'm not a midget and if anybody calls me that again I'll put 'em on the floor, and I don't care who they are." There was a dumbfounded silence on the panel, as the audience went nuts, and Carson finally filled space with "Oh, I like this" to wrap it up. It did seem like a possible overreaction by Williams -- but maybe not -- and, like I said, Peppard was typically a very arrogant guest on the show. And he was this time too.

[–] WarpedRecord 9 years ago

Thanks for your recollections. I vaguely remember the show when it aired, but like a lot of television lore, it took on a life of its own in the decades since.