Norm was the best at making people think he was stupid and then totally surprising them in the funniest way, didn’t even matter that he did that constantly.
Really pleased Norm got the chance to show just how smart he actually was. His whole career he was a master of pretending to be the dumbest man in the room when he was normally the smartest.
such a shame i started to become a fan of his only a couple of months before his passing. takes a true genius to convince others they’re not a genius while simultaneously being a genius; comedically or not. rip to a legend
For me it happened literally right after he died. I never got his comedy from the bits I saw of him and now that I'm watching him I can't believe I never watched him religiously before.
Norm bringing Kato Kaelin is absolutely hilarious. They had only known each other for 15 days when Norm called him a few weeks before and asked him if he would like to be part of his never ending OJ gag... Not 15 years! LOL
There are other times as well. Rarely when he talks about mathematics and life, he lets it out that he is very well read. But he thinks that giving it away would stop making him funny.
@@praisejesusrepentorlikewis6218 That's true, but I don't know how many people are going to take that seriously on a comment section of a video unrelated to spirituality
@@praisejesusrepentorlikewis6218 I try to repent of my sins all the time. I recommend an examination of conscience every day. That said, is quoting scripture here the best way for evangelizing? Or might it turn off more people who could otherwise be open to conversion?
That was Norm's mistake here but what makes it so compelling. Regis didn't know the answers here. Norm said in interviews later he mistakenly got into a blackjack/poker mindset and was trying to read him. Whereas Regis didn't know Norm and thought he was just a dumbass comedian because that's his act. So what we're watching here is Norm thinks he's playing poker face with a casino dealer and Regis thinks a dumbass gambling addict is screwing around with charity money impulsively.
5:08 By far the best part. Which Norm later admits he kinda like Madrid for the answer but wasn't sure, but he knew 100% Lisbon's not, and he knew how the show works. So he baited them to keep only Madrid & Lisbon. That's crazy genius on the spot.
I found out about this ep. b/c, when it aired, my father et. al. watched it while I was in a different room, where I did not hear the show but did hear Dad say, "Oh, he's pissed!"
Well, Regis was acting all weird. If he just did his job and hosted the show, there wouldn't have been an issue. But Norm does do a great job of making the guy holding the mic feel very uncomfortable.
@@mtjanglefins781 yeah that’s the point lol to make people second guess themselves. It’s not like Norm didn’t have the choice to answer it, he just played it safe
This is all the more poignant because Norm was a degenerate gambler. He turned away a chance to gamble for 1 million dollars cause he knew he was playing for kids. The self-control...
He really was, but random knowledge and keeping up with the news is very much one of the more important parts of being a comedian. Also he reported news, mostly to make fun of people and the news itself, but still.
I heard Norm say that the show is insured whenever someone wins the million dollars, so winning half a million is actually the worst outcome for the network.
@@BowHunter87 it makes sense that Regis wouldn't know the answers before hand, so I really think he was trying to get the most for the kids. Norm has a beautiful way of appearing dumb, and it seemed like he was just throwing out a random answer so Regis wanted to stop him and get the money to charity.
I watched this live as a kid and was pissed off for 2 days straight that Norm didn’t get to answer that final question. Come to think of it I’m still pretty upset😂. What a legend.
To question the audience's intelligence, if they know the question, is not a mark of one's ego. Instead, to question the move before using the lifeline and using the audience is a mark of intelligence and prudence. Of course, Norm is ten times smarter than the audience and the one million viewers combined, and he's funnier too!
@@mirkomarjanovic3234 He was really really closeted dude. Like he wasn't gay but like deep deep deep deep deep deep deep down there was some gayness lol
Seeing the 50/50 moment as it happened is something I will never forget. You know, the more I learn about this Norm Macdonald guy, the more I miss him...
As a person who believes Norm was a legitimate genius, not just in comedy, I have a hunch Norm knew most of these answers immediately, but chose to milk the show for every comic opportunity he could muster, which is the kind of thing Norm would do, which is why I love Norm. Not to mention the fact that he rarely acts the least bit surprised when he's told he was right.
@@intercoursehandguns851 Norm graduated at 14 from high school, then went right into college where one of his majors was actually math. You could say he knew math...
@@jkt4748”what was he good at math or something?” Is what Norm said in response to someone in the SNL writing room saying they thought that Matthew Perry was a genius.
@@schmeegledorf Dude, you need to chill the fuck out. Your in a comment thread where a year ago, you went after another username. Now you’re coming at me with the same f’king attitude when I actually responded to you back when and gave you facts. Now you’re throwing Mathew Perry Rip- into the equation for what purpose exactly? And yes, when Matt hosted SNL he told the entire writing crew that his skits would be called “ Matt talk” to which Norm-Rip without missing a beat said “ you mean sarcasm?”
Every single time he used a lifeline he already kinda knew the answer, and on the last question that he walked out on, he woulda guessed the right answer. Norm might give off the silly comedian fool image, but he studied mathematics and philosophy in college at just 16, the guy's a genius.
@@xrphoenix7194 that's how our fella passed away a couple years back if you aren't super familiar w him I recommend watching some of his stand-ups or some voice acting he did, his deadpan was as good as it gets
@@epicjourney84 i never realized how similar my comedy is to norms until i started seeing him more and more after seeing ihm as pigeon in mike tyson mysteries, im a smart dude but i never tried in hs and got caught up with the party scene, but i have to say norm def seems like a smart ass dude
He actually admitted later, he really only chose the charity because he wanted to meet Paul Newman and thought it would get him a meeting. Norm actually did decide not to ask for it when the charity sent him a thank you letter because he legitimately felt bad about the insincere original motive. Probably one of the few times Norm broke Kayfabe when he talked about it.
Reminds me when my grandpa was ranting about "this horrible modern music!!!" and they were literally playing Mke Jager who is like 2 years younger than him max😂
Even back then, the show was in dozens of countries. Celador and Sony would have lawyers in multiple countries beating them up if one version rigged anything. What happened was, the question writer picked the most likely guessed wrong answer ahead of time. That was locked to the question data. Later on, an RNG picked a random wrong answer. ABC had to get a lot of leeway to make the celebrity versions as cheaty and easy as they were up to 32k.
He was on camera for half an hour for sure. I wonder if kept chewing on the same gum all that time or if he spat it out during a commercial break and then pulled a replacement out of his pocket.
I like to think that Norm is such a genius that on the 250k question, he wasn't debating between Madrid and Lisbon, he was debating between Madrid and one of the other 2, but manipulated the showrunners into narrowing it down to Madrid and one that he knew was incorrect.
@@obscure.reference I beg to differ. Wouldn’t the episode kind of suck if your famous guest who’s winnings are intended for a charity loses after 5 questions? And I’m not saying all the lines were scripted. They were riffing back and forth naturally. But writing in set ups for jokes is to be expected if a comedian were coming on. I’m sure Norm had Regis pitch some set ups to him
@@evanh.6462 as i say, it’s a game show. it really doesn’t need scripting to be what it is. its not complicated. and especially with norm, he’s good on his feet, doesnt really need it. this specific episode is pretty awkward, the “riffing” between regis and norm could just as well be called “ribbing” since norm is fucking with regis for so much of it. to me that doesnt imply scripting.
Knowing Norm he probably asked/brought Kaeto as a bizarre joke. Infact I'd bet their whole "friendship" was just for giggles. For those who dont know Kaeto is a celebrity hangaround who got 15 minutes of fame thanks to the OJ trial; Norm was one of the most relentless OJ-did-it-jokers, to the point he even got fired once for refusing to tone it down :)
