The Most Foul/Dumb/Outrageous TV Moments

From unclebarky.com

10. Jessica Simpson — Adding her own deft twist to the dumb blonde syndrome, Simp got MTV’s Newlyweds reality series off to a roaring start in 2003 by asking then husband Nick Lachey, “Is this chicken, what I have, or is this fish?” Chicken of the Sea brand tuna apparently can confound some of America’s best minds. Boop boop be doop.

9. Howard Cosell — “Look at that little monkey run!” he exclaimed during a 1983 Monday Night Football game between the Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys. The “little monkey” was Redskins receiver Alvin Garrett, who is black. Cosell later retorted that he calls lots of people “little monkey,” but the comment dogged him for the rest of his oft-embittered life.

8. Tom Cruise — His crazed, cuckoo-for-Katie Holmes couch-jumping on a 2005 edition of Oprah led many to perceive him for the first time as three parts nut case and maybe just two parts action star. Cruise’s subsequent dustup with Matt Lauer on Today and his fervent embracing of Scientology prompted Paramount Pictures to sack him last August after his third Mission: Impossible film fell short of box office expectations. He married Holmes earlier this month after signing a new, big-money movie deal. So we’ll see how this all plays out.

7. Howard Dean — “Not only are we going to New Hampshire, we’re going to South Carolina and Oklahoma and Arizona and North Dakota and New Mexico, and we’re going to California and Texas and New York …” And so on and so forth, punctuated with a banshee-like “Byaaaah!” In other words Dean had finished a deflating third in the Jan. 19, 2004 Iowa caucuses. His nationally televised “Dean scream” killed the presidential candidacy of a man who was deemed to have the Democratic nomination all wrapped up just a month or so earlier.

6. Geraldo Rivera — His live 1986 special, The Mystery of Al Capone’s Vaults, turned up a couple of empty liquor bottles after demolition experts doggedly blasted away at the underbelly of the gangster’s old haunt, Chicago’s decaying Lexington hotel. A sheepish Rivera had promised untold booty, but no. Still, the two-hour bait-and-switcher drew record ratings for a syndicated program, leading to the host’s signing of a lucrative contract to keep ‘em coming.

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