What a Creep: Norman Mailer (Controversial Writer & Creep)
What a Creep
What a Creep: Norman Mailer Season 14, Episode 3 Writer, Activist, & Wife-Stabber Norman Mailer has been in the news lately due to the fact his son John Buffalo Mailer who is partnering with Mailer biographer J. Michael Lennon on a new trove of Mailer writings with the later writers’ ideas on what American democracy will look like in the future. The man died in 2007 at the age of 84 and lived as big a life as any (we will get into it all today.) Yet, Mailer’s longtime publisher Random House said they will not be associated with this work, instead, Skyhorse publishing (which...
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What a Creep: Rush Limbaugh (Talk Radio Creep)
What a Creep
Rush Limbaugh was one of the most popular talk radio hosts and leading voices of the conservative movement in the United States. He was the prototype to Fox News trashcans like Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity, and even disgraced former president Donald Trump.
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What a Creep: Canada's Residential Schools (Non-Creeps: Dan Levy & Eugene Levy)
What a Creep
Margo & Sonia talk about the Residential Schools of North America in this episode which lays out why it happened, how it kept going on for several decades, and the collateral damage of seven generations of cultural genocide. THEN, we talk about Canadians who are NOT Creeps. TW: Child abuse and SA.
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What a Creep: (Bonus!) Reality TV Talk with the "Book of Lies" Podcast
What a Creep
Margo & Sonia talk with two of our favorite podcasters, Sunni & Brandi of the Book of Lies podcast about all things reality TV-related including Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Selling Sunset, Love After Lockup, 90 Day Fiance, the Duggars and more!
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What a Creep: Dov Charney (Former CEO of American Apparel)
What a Creep
Dov Charney is the creator of American Apparel, a retail clothing chain that sold the building blocks for your hipster wardrobe - leggings, plain T-shirts, and pants. But it had really sleazy marketing and a dedication to not make their clothes in a sweatshop which made them kinda cool. Unfortunately, Dov Charney is probably more famous for his sexual harassment than he is for American Apparel.
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What a Creep (Bonus!): Interview with Trashy Divorces podcast & celebrity divorces
What a Creep
Margo & Sonia talk with two of our favorite podcasters Stacie & Alicia from Trashy Divorces! We talk about the latest celebrity divorces in the news, their new podcast launching this month (Love Letters…), and what they each believe helps make a marriage stronger. Just a bonus episode of fun with a couple of amazing women in podcasting.
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What a Creep: Robert Durst ("The Jinx" Creep)
What a Creep
In 2015, HBO released a docu-series that took the nation by storm. The first media interview with Robert Durst, the son of billionaire real estate magnate Seymour Durst, in decades at the time. The then 72-year-old Durst has been accused of three murders in his life and seemed to use his money and privilege to avoid any real penalty. He is now serving time for first-degree murder and will soon be on trial for the murder of his first wife. Will he make it long enough to face a jury of his peers again?
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What a Creep: Altamont "Creepy Concert Tragedy" Not Fade Away Replay
What a Creep
The real-life concert tragedy at the Altamont Raceway took place on December 6, 1969, and this replay of "Not Fade Away" digs into what really happened and how this could have all been avoided.
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What a Creep: Frank Sinatra (replay)
What a Creep
Margo & Sonia talk about the lifelong creepiness of one of the biggest voices of the 20th Century--Frank Sinatra. A singer, actor, lover, cheater, gambler, and one of the angriest people in show business. (That is really saying something!)
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What a Creep: Rex Harrison (Old Timey Hollywood Creep!)
What a Creep
From Henry Higgins to Doctor Doolittle, Rex Harrison is one of Hollywood’s most popular leading men of the 20th Century. With his tall stature, deep booming voice, and his undeniable confidence—audiences ate him up whether he was playing a deceased sea captain in The Ghost and Mrs. Muir or Julius Caesar. “Sexy Rexy” as he was known led a life full of swagger, luxury, success, and often—tragedy.
info_outlineWhat a Creep: Johnny Carson
“King of Late Night Creep”
Season 10, Episode 2
Johnny Carson was known as the King of Late Night with NBC’s The Tonight Show which he hosted between 1962-1992. He was so popular that the phrase “going to bed with Johnny Carson” was part of the vernacular.
In his lifetime, he won 6 Emmy Awards, the Peabody Award in 1985, The Presidential Freedom Award in 1992, and the Kennedy Center Honor in 1993.
When Johnny retired from show business on May 22, 1992, it was such a big media news story that some outlets refused to run new episodes so that he could have as large of an audience as possible.
The Tonight Show was considered key in the careers of comedians like Joan Rivers, David Letterman, Jay Leno, Roseanne Barr, Ellen DeGeneres, and Jay Leno.
Having a set on the Tonight Show was considered quite the coup—but it was even better when Johnny invited you to the couch afterward. People like Drew Carey, Tim Allen, and Ray Romano had television deals after appearing on the Tonight Show. He had power!
He was flirtatious with women (a habit David Letterman picked up from him) and a famous story from the 1960s had actress Ava Gabor as a guest who brought her Persian cat sitting on her lap. She supposedly asked Johnny “Would you like to pet my pussy?”
Johnny said, “Sure if you move that damn cat out of the way!”
Turns out, that is not true. But what is true is that Johnny challenged her to a game of Twister in 1966, and the popularity of the game skyrocketed.
Johnny was famous for being suave, handsome, married a few times, liking a drink in the evenings, and having feuds with random people. He was a man who could talk in front of 20 million a night but if he had to have a conversation with ten people—he was so awkward that it would make the experience uncomfortable for everyone.
When he left the Tonight Show he basically disappeared except for one appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman.
There is a whole story about the Tonight Show, David Letterman, and Jay Leno that we will talk about on our next Patreon bonus ep.
Anyway, mainly due to his decades-long addiction to cigarettes, Johnny Carson died of respiratory failure on January 23, 2005, at the age of 79. He was survived by his 4th wife, Alexis Maas, 2 sons, and his younger brother. A nonreligious person who was quietly a part of the Skeptics movement—he had his body cremated with no public service or memorial.
His legacy is he was one of the best television performers of all time. He kept his act (mostly) fresh with the changing times and was a big believer in promoting new talent. Behind the scenes, he was known for being shy and awkward and could carry a grudge that lasted for decades. Some of that behavior puts him in the Creep category which is why he is the subject of our show today.
Sources:
Johnny Carson by Henry Bushkin
"American Masters” Johnny Carson (2012)
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