Harvey Pekar's On-Air Implosion | Letterman 

From Harvey's wikipedia page- After Pekar's death, Letterman reflected in 2017 that "He was great.... He would just go after stuff. He ... would go after me, he would go after the network, he would go after everything, in a very committed way. It wasn’t a gag, it wasn’t an act, he would really go to work on you.... [Pekar] was anti-establishment in a way that you don’t see guys like that anymore. And that used to really upset me, because I just thought 'Come on Harvey, don’t do this to us, just play the game, blah blah blah blah.'... I’m a completely different person now. And I would be so much more better equipped to view the immediate surroundings of that show now, than I was [then].... Now, jeez, I wish I could have had Harvey on every night.

"Sneakers and a suit -- that looks weird, man." THANK YOU, HARVEY.

Dude reminds me of Andy Kaufman doing a character. This was awesome.

"I want you to savor this appearance" is such a great line

When you insult a man before he even comes on stage you’re bound to get something back

The unblinking stare. Right into Dave’s soul. Absolutely amazing.

Every now and then you can see a twinkle in Pekar's eye that says, "This is fun as hell."

"How about another joke, Murr-Ray?"

I remember this. Harvey's beef was that Dave didn't honor the writers' strike that was going on at the time.

Pekar calling Letterman a shill for General Electric hit him right in the gut. Letterman later reflected that Pekar was right about a lot of things, especially his anti-establishment positions. Letterman had to play that game in order to protect his show.

I admire how Pekar succeeded in dragging out Letterman's unflattering side into the open from behind the glib facade, live on camera, in Dave's control room.

"meditation is silent..... *Dave* ....." 😂

I watched this episode when it aired. Harvey was truly fearless, and you'll never see network TV like this again.

Where was the implosion? That was just Harvey being himself. Seemed like Dave imploded, if anything.

I think the "you're in a rut, you do the same thing every night" stung a little for Dave, hence him falling back on his well used "thanks for dressing up" line .. and I love Dave

my eyes are burning just watching him not blink!

'Dave, you're wearing sneakers with a suit'. Dave quickly puts his sneakered foot behind the desk.

This dude knew how to get under David's skin... it's wonderful

I hope Dave still has that autographed comic from Harvey. What an amazing collectable it is now

If Michael Keaton and Andy Kaufman had a baby.

I can imagine Dave getting extremely uncomfortable here, once that line is crossed it’s hard to pull back! Hahaha. Tough gig. Loved the guest.

Him and Crispin Glover are the only two guests that I know of who have made Dave visibly lose his temper

I have the great pleasure of meeting Harvey pekar at the San Diego Comic-Con in 1995. We were both in the artist Ali section. This is an area in which famous artists and writers of comic books can get a table for free and sell their work to the attendees. Few people seem to recognize him as he has never been at the Comic-Con before, it was also his first time in California. He was such a nice person and he was impressed with my ability to do sales. He was so interested that he put me in his next issue of American Splendor comics published in June 1996.

An old fashioned fight with just words, something you rarely see anymore.

Harvey actually grabs Dave's pencil from him. That is the true source of Dave's power....notice how Harvey's demeanor changes to calm when he has it and Dave loses control.

I met Harvey around this time. This was his normal. You never knew what to expect. My ex-husband illustrated a couple of Harvey's stories in American Splendor. Weird times it was.

I remember watching that show. I didn't know Pekar, but he certainly grabbed my attention. This was during the days when Letterman was at the top of his creative period. He had very intriguing guests who were completely unpredictable. Pekar was one of the most audacious of this type

It's awkward as hell and amazingly fun! This guy is having a blast!

Harvey was one of the few people who would have no problem with talking to Dave the way he spoke to his guests and called BS anytime he smelled it!!!!

"Sneakers and a suit" really got me ☠️

One of the best interviews I've ever seen. Harvey just being Harvey and Dave trying to navigate the storm on live TV. Brilliant for as long as it lasted. RIP Harvey

If anyone is wondering what the donuts were about they were used in a comedy bit earlier in the show. The bit started with a stage light crashing down next to/on Dave's desk and it turns out it was Biff Henderson's (stage hand) plan to kill Dave so he had more donuts to himself in the breakroom. So the bit ended with the camera fixed on a disappointed Biff thinking about the extra donuts he's missing out on. Some genius in the control room decided to bust out the donut graphic again to use on Harvey. I saw this when it first aired and I lost my mind laughing 😆 It's been quite a while but that's the way I remember it.

Anyone who can rock that hairstyle does not care what anyone thinks of him.

Harvey lived to flip the table over and he pretty much did that on every appearance. Still remember him complaining about not getting dounuts and then there's that thought-bubble picture of dounuts - I about died laughing that night. RIP, HP, you beautiful bastard.

Harvey was one of a kind. Loved his visits to the show. I saw him once at a literary festival. He was just himself and I loved it.

When he said "who's next" i laughed out loud. That was a good line + facial expression.

Nowadays you would never see a Harvey Pekar on late night TV. It's sad. Now it is just a bunch of actors and pop stars pretending they are excited to lip sync with Jimmy Fallon as he fake laughs and ruins every joke that every guest tells.

Ordered 3 of his books last month! Thanks to you, Dave!

The "implosion" is Harvey knowing that Letterman was scabbing for Disney during a strike and not letting up on it.

I watched this live, one of those many interviews on Late Night that you never, ever forget.

The unpredictability of the guests - and the sheer eclectic variety of who was appearing - made this show must-see each night.

Priceless. Someone who saw hollywood for what is was long before now.

New to Harvey today - the intensity in his eyes is amazing, you knew he was going to bring it - Glad to see him fight the power, whatever the cost

I saw this when it happened when it was broadcast. I'm sure he meant it. He was always off the hook.

That stare though, no blinking.😂😂😂

Kudos to Pekar. Love the guy.

The way he kept saying Dave's name...reminiscent of the talk show scene in the Joker.

I remember when Dave used to have actual psychos on the show. We at home were never really sure how much was real or fake. BEST TELEVISION EVER!

I loved this one. I remember staying up late in college to watch this episode. Amusingly, right from the get-go Pekar's body language and the way he shakes Dave's hand is very telling. And it goes downhill from there...

3:25 “Harvey, I want you to savor this appearance” 😂😂😂 you will not be asked back.

Harvey, completely geeked out of his mind.

Harvey was a simmering volcano of saccharine contempt, God love him!

Pekar covered the whole thing from his perspective in an issue of American Splendor labeled “David Letterman Exploitation Issue” showing Dave telling Harvey (in front of the audience) “You f-cked up a great thing!”.

I’ve been wanting to see this ever since I saw American Splendor. Glad they released it.

I love the comb over

since I saw this dude on the first upload they did of him on this channel, hes become my fave guest ever. surpassing all the guests I ever saw on the show while it was on the air

“Harvey, I want you to savor this appearance!” Ooof…savage. Dave telling him he ain’t ever gonna be on again.

Dave can't even look him in the eye. Lol Pekar FTW.

Being from the other side of the pond, I'd never heard of Harvey Pekar before tonight. Which is a shame, seemed like a good guy.

0:52 I had forgotten about his deal to star in movies for Disney. Almost as soon as he signed that deal, he started making jokes and giving interviews saying he didn't intend to fulfill it.

There's a very funny, well-made film about Harvey, with Paul Giamatti playing him. American Splendor.

One of my favorite unpredictable guests. I never knew what to expect to guests like him, Brother Theodore, Bill Murray, Crispin Glover, Charles Grodin, Cybill Shepherd, Teri Garr, and Andy Kaufman.

I’ve seen Letterman get irritated at people but he usually hid it very well and maintained professionalism enough to focus on entertaining the audience. He actually stopped trying at some point in this interview and just engaged one on one with Pekar as though he forgot he was live on the air. Not many people got the better of Letterman but Pekar sure did.

Ordinary life is pretty complex stuff.

Harvey was one of the greatest comic book writers in history. His American Splendor comics are absolute genius. I cannot recommend them enough. Anyone interested in him should check them out and also watch the great Paul Giamatti bring him to life in the American Splendor movie.

the look of a man who has been up every night thinking about his interview since the day he was born

Harvey makes me proud to be a left-handed person. What a strong person to do an appearance like this and just stick it to all the stupid systems of this right-handed world. *hides from fire and pitchforks*

I would pay good money to see Eric Andre flip his own script and do a whole season where every guest is combative and angrily talking over him like in this interview.

Love Harvey, and love his comics. Kudos to Dave for keeping this interview in the show. I thought it was one his best interviews, ever.

"Three and a quarter Dave, but for YOU - two fifty. We'll settle up after the show, you got it on ya?!" Man, Harvey was fantastic!

I finally bought my own copy of American Splendor after checking it out about once a month from the library. Harvey was going thru a rougher time than usual in his daily life during that appearance.

Letterman was so much better when it wasn’t just about spoiled celebrities.

Unmatched intensity.

Harvey was a genius captured David held him hostage for like 15 minutes a thing of beauty.

Bros intensity is insane i love it

‘What’d you do during the strike?’ Perfect. A man with a strong moral compass meeting a man, at the time, without. The rest of the interview is by the by and the repeated superficial insults of clothing and petty laughs from the audience just sound weak and confused. Rare to see television like this which is a shame.

I gotta admit, that’s the first I saw Dave loose an interaction. But he got owned.

The perfect guest for Dave.. Wish there was more authentic folks like him which you don't see anymore.

This is not a On-Air Implosion, this is a man who is correct in every way spewing the truth.

I don't know him or anything about this, but I like Harvey.

I remember watching this. Harvey was a character.😆

I love Harvey, straight to the point.

Paul Giamatti played Harvey brilliantly

The comic store I own had the pleasure of selling books for Harvey at a New York Comic-Con 20 plus years ago. On the first day, one of our managers showed up and gave Harvey a two liter bottle of Sunkist, which pleased Harvey to no end. Harvey's wife at stop by the booth and it kept asking her if she wanted some pop, and she was like "Harvey Do you have a glass? " Which of course he didn't. He was insisting she just drink some straight from the bottle like he was!

I used to love watching Letterman growing up, even though I didn't get half the jokes. I have never heard of Harvey Pekar before, he's awesome!

I miss this kind of confrontational interviews on late night talk shows. Those were the good old days.

Harvey Pekar was always on edge. I always loved how Dave had a particular way to egg someone on. He did the same thing differently with Charles Grodin and Richard Simmons. Dave would just wind them up and watch them spin out of control. 😂

Harvey was 100% correct and Dave was going thru this real douche phase. He wanted to mock Harvey and Harvey wasn’t having it.

From off the streets of Cleveland! Keep the Harvey Pekar vids coming!

This guy is amazing! Absolutely brought little davie to task. Oh man, lol!

You could see him nearly break when Letterman said 'I could have guessed half of that' lol.

I think calling him "whining" in his intro is what started it.

actually this is the first time ive seen Dave visibly losing patience at 5:14, very rarely have i seen him shaken... You can see he isnt happy at all

Who wishes it was 1988 all over again?!

Letterman was the best late night talk host ever.

He had an Andy Kaufman vibe to him here

"You're a dork, Harvey -- relax!" Classic Dave. 🤣

This is gold

In 1999 i won a post card mail in contest on Dave Letterman's show. I set beside Tony Randall and it was a blast.

One of the best interviews in history of all time ⏲️🙌👌👏