"If I met actors and actresses of the period of Hollywood film... when I was growing up..." "I think I would have trouble communicating with them." "Calm down, take your time." "You really love them, but they don't know you." "But you love them." "You love, I think, what you imagine they are." "I love this guy." "Always coming up with these great lines." "I love him." "You put more into the person than they may be giving out on the screen... because they represent dream." "You lose yourself in those people." "I'd be taking a bath, and I'd say to myself:" ""I wonder if Jerry is taking a bath right now."" "Celebrity can be dangerous." "Something that is extremely volatile and uncomfortable... to be constantly involved with." "Jerry, I'm a little short on cash." "But if you don't mind just appetizers..." "I'd love to take you to dinner sometime." "Finally, when you satisfy the request of a "fan"... after saying a few things, after saying, "I loved you in that film." ""You were great." "You meant a lot to me."" "What next?" "Seriously, you ever want lunch, my treat." "Ultimately, what do they want?" "What do they want from you?" "Okay!" "Stand back!" "I was given the script by Robert De Niro..." "I think around 1974." "I knew Paul Zimmerman through having been interviewed by Paul." "I read it, I liked it, but I couldn't be excited about the material... because I'm not an actor, I was not in the public eye." "I wasn't living with the same scrutiny." "After Raging Bull..." "Bob asked me to look at the script again, during the editing of Raging Bull..." "A number of years had gone by." "I began to understand certain things." "And I said, "Okay, I'll do it with you."" "People expected, from the combination of De Niro and Scorsese... something different, obviously, like a Raging Bull or Taxi Driver." "My name is Rupert Pupkin." "The name doesn't mean very much to you." "But it means an awful lot to me." "Bobby's performance as Rupert Pupkin allowed him... to drop a lot of the macho, tough-guy posing that he had to do... to elevate those other characters." "I think he allowed himself... to be a geek." "That's not easy for a guy like De Niro." "God forbid he should see me with you." "Jerry and I have a real relationship going." "You know what I mean?" "No fantasy world." "Nothing has been as needy or desperate... as the Rupert Pupkin character." " Jerry!" " Nobody's gonna help you!" "I think that was kind of a defining moment for Bobby's career." "I think Rupert is a passionate character... but his passion only runs for completely selfish reasons." "Why didn't you listen to the tape when I asked?" "A few minutes of your time to listen to my whole life's work." "I think Rupert just simply wanted to be out there... for any reason he could possibly be out there." "Because you want to let all those kids and teachers who didn't like you... know that you are really a great person, and they were wrong." "None of us dreamt he'd amount to a hill of beans, but we were wrong." "And you, Rupert, you were right." "You have a value they didn't see, that you know you had." "It's like some childish fantasy." "We'd like to apologize to you personally..." "That's the poignancy." "The living out of the fantasies, and Rupert wanting to be justified... in the face of his high school principal." "And to beg your forgiveness for all the things we did to you." "It was about your self-esteem." "A lot of it had to do also with what is the nature of celebrity... what is the hunger?" "This hunger where people would know who you are." " What's your name, dear?" " Dolores." "Dolores?" "That was my father's name." "Even if Jerry gives him his validation as an artist..." "You've got it and you're stuck with it." "I don't care if you wanted to get rid of it." "You couldn't." "It's still not enough." "He wants to bury Jerry." "His so-called "admiration and love" for Jerry Langford... was misguided because he wanted to be Jerry." "He didn't admire Jerry." "He wanted to be Jerry without the work." "He wants to be better than Jerry." "He wants to hurt Jerry." "I really wish you would think about it again, okay?" "I'm thinking about starring in it." "I think both my character and Rupert had this huge..." ""love" for Jerry." "But underneath it, it's a fine line between love and hate." "Between the love and the violence." "Sit down!" "I said, sit down!" "Taxi Driver, Travis, Rupert... the isolated person." "Is Rupert more violent than Travis?" "Maybe." "Therefore, for me, the whole movie, every scene... had levels of hostility... as to how he was expressing this hostility." "Thank you very much." "When Jerry finds a moment." "When will that be?" "The key scene for me is Shelley Hack and De Niro... where she comes out and tells him about his tape." "And he has one line that was very important." ""Excuse me, but are you speaking for Jerry?"" "May I ask you a question?" "Are you speaking for Jerry?" "That's a hostile line, like, "Who the hell are you?" ""You don't know what goes on between Jerry and me." ""You're just a lackey."" " I don't trust your judgment." " I'm sorry you feel that way." "Shelley's great." "She's doing her job... and she's also doing something very good for him." "Who is he?" "He just came in the guy's car one night." "He just jumped in." "Why should she have to look at a tape?" "We mean it when we tell you you can call us when you start work." "All right?" " Goodbye." " Goodbye." "But it's a very moving thing... particularly when the security guard takes him out." " I'm waiting for Jerry." "It's personal." " We'll talk outside." "Please..." "I know he's expecting me." "It's moving." "He tries to be nice, but he's really hostile." "He's really got bad intentions." "He went up there just now?" "Of course." "Go back up!" "Assert yourself a little bit." "He's up there right now." "We did a long search for the Masha character that Sandra Bernhard played." "We were told she was interesting, and so she came in." "Where I was in my life was very similar to where Masha was." "I think we had parallel lives, and it just made sense for me." " It's driving me nuts!" " Just a minute." "Can you be quiet for one goddamn minute and let me rest with this gun?" "She was a kind of sexual predator, in a way." "I would say Sandra Bernhard was sort of like a sexual terrorist." "You never know what's gonna come out, what she'll say or do." "I feel completely impulsive tonight." "Anything could happen." "I was young then." "I was running on adrenaline." "I didn't have any formal training." "So it wasn't like I thought it out in some sort of..." "Strindberg, method acting." "It was just what I connected to, and what I knew..." "I could do with a role that nobody else could possibly bring to that role." "I just want to dance." "I just want to, like, you know... put on some Shirelles." "I wanna be black." "I wanted her to take the Masha character and just go with it." "I had quite a unique relationship with Marty... that was wonderfully nurturing for me." "She is a very dangerous character." "I think Masha was somebody who was extremely impetuous  not really interested in relationships of any cliché manner." "She was looking for something in life that was gonna pull her... out of her own insecurity and inadequacy." "How did you get this number?" "I didn't know what else to do..." "It's highly unlikely that a young girl would find Jerry Langford... appealing sexually." "But there was something about the kind of attention that it was gonna garner her." "She felt she was somebody who was... not attractive enough and overcompensated by bravoseness... and over-the-topness that she needed to get herself noticed." "She's imbalanced." "Jerry has nothing to do with it." "It's who she thinks he is." "I don't know where to start." "I want to tell you everything about myself." "That could explode in violence." "It was a deranged kidnapper." "She had her partner in crime in tow." "So they were a team." "That was like her brother she was torturing, and he was torturing her." "It was this whole, weird kind of familial, psychotic... dysfunctional experience." "Excuse me." "I wasn't getting thrown out of the building." " You're a constant embarrassment." " They walked me outside." "I think he was very attracted to my character." "I think it was probably a turn-on for him... to have a woman be as audacious as his male characters have been in the past." "I think Marty is one of the few guys who can handle it." "It scared the shit out of every other director I could have worked with." "Which is why I never got another fabulous role... except the roles I've created for myself." "Now Jerry, I just think this is the way he is." "He's from another generation, another school of acting, directing... auteur, French, award-winning sensibility." "Is there anyone here from Jersey?" "Big deal!" "He understood without reading it." "He knew it inside out." " Jerry Langford, right?" " Right." "Morris, please hold on." "This has actually happened to Jerry." "Would you please say something to my nephew, Morris, on the phone?" "I had him direct that." "Jerry worked it out in terms of the timing." "How she stopped him." "He would tell her, "No, one, two..."" "You should only get cancer!" "I hope you get cancer!" "Out of the two people..." "Jerry was definitely the more intimidating character for me to work with." "I was so fascinated by him, and when he did his shtick, you laugh." "I wouldn't lie!" "I wouldn't lie to you, Rup!" "Now, look." "He's like my father times a thousand." "My dad's from that same generation of Jewish men who..." "You know, they like women, but women have their place." "He's gonna come across a woman like me... and it's gonna freak him out." " You couldn't have cared less about me." " I'm to hold this thing till the next Shavuot?" "You gonna make some decisions here?" "Will you make some moves?" "Can you knock off the talking for two minutes?" "Marty wanted improvisation in the film." "He wanted it to have the feeling of urgency... and immediacy that you don't get from the word on the page." "It was 90 percent of the reason I was hired for the role." "I can just walk in and do it... and make it seem like it's real." " Do you want one?" " I'd love one." "Could you save it?" "It's a little inconvenient at the moment." "Thank you." "It was interesting as a comedy of manners... excruciatingly embarrassing situations, like when he shows up at Jerry's house." "Hi, we were just freshening up upstairs." "Some was improvised." "What's interesting there is, again, what does he want from Jerry?" "Anyway, I've brought the work." "It's right here." "All ready and set to go." " Where is everybody?" " What everybody?" "So many aspects." "A gesture..." "I'd say, "That's very interesting."" "Look at that body language." "My arms are like this." "That means..." "I'm in a defensive position." "Why did we do it that way?" "Let's work on that, after we work on this, of course." "How did you get here?" "It's so tightly woven that there's no room to explode... which is what happens in those situations naturally." "You have to be able to improvise to make that happen." "If I didn't tell you that, we'd still be standing on the steps of my apartment." " All right, I made a mistake." " So did Hitler!" "It just worked because these guys were open to it." "Especially with the wonderful actor, Kim." "You better come back here." "He's touching everything." "He's ruining the house." "Like violation, "I'm going to get a heart attack."" "I'm getting a heart attack already." "He really felt it, Kim." "Kim was great." "What's wrong?" "Everything's wrong." "Jerry and he had a good time working together." "We even left in the scene where he couldn't open the door." "Jerry started yelling at him." "The door got stuck." " Are you gonna open the goddamn door?" " Mr. Langford." "Standing out there for eight minutes." "I took five days to shoot that sequence." " Jonno, lock that door." " You did good, Mr. Langford." "Even to the extent of working with non-actors." "Rupert, who are you talking to?" "Mom!" "What is it?" "Who's played by my mother, by the way, off-camera." "It was the only time I saw De Niro crack up." "He couldn't continue." "He started laughing." "I thought something was wrong." "He'd turned around, and his shoulders were moving." "I said, "What's he doing?"" "When he turned back, I could see he was trying to..." "He just couldn't keep it straight." "Rupert Pupkin, the new king of comedy!" "Rupert, are you crazy?" "What's the matter with you?" "Come on, Ma!" "People are sleeping." "My mother had no idea... of him rehearsing with Jerry down there... and she's wondering who he's talking to, what he's doing." "Rupert, the bus is here." "It's early!" "Try to be on time for once!" "She treated him Just like one of Marty's friends." "No!" "This is one of the greatest actors in the world, you know?" "We're doing something, okay?" "That's what the scene needed." "We didn't realize." "I don't mind you playing it." "But lower it!" "Each scene had to have a humor to it... even though it was dealing with these realistic overtones." "I should say unpleasant, ugly overtones." "I think you could see that in the scene when Jerry's tied up." "Let's just take everything off the table, and do it right here." "It'd blow your mind, wouldn't it?" "It would blow my mind." "I've never done anything like that." "I haven't had anyone over for dinner, let alone made love on the table." "The improv brought a certain amount of "uncomfortability" for everybody." "We kept it definitely interesting." "I want to be crazy!" "I want to be nuts!" "I want to have some fun!" "Jerry didn't know where she'd go with certain things." "That's right!" "Having some fun!" "Never had this much fun before." "What could he do?" "He was stuck there." "He didn't know what she was going to do." "I can't believe I'm gonna kiss you." "Masha... take the tape off." "When Jerry knocks me out, originally he wanted to knock me out... and expected me to do a pratfall into a glass table... that was lit with 100 candles." "He's a genius at physical movement... and comic timing." "He would say, "One, two, three, hit!"" "I was like, "No, thanks." "I'm not interested..." ""in breaking my coccyx in this scene."" "Marty kind of sat back, bemused... and, I think, just let him go through the motions... and then he stepped in and said:" ""Jerry, I think we better just put her against the wall..." ""put a pad down and pretend you'll knock her out, and she'll slide down."" "I would have loved to have been able to do that." "How fabulous and fun, and liberating... to be able to fall like that, but I couldn't." "A character in the film was the city." "The city is so alive, particularly the scene in the street." "You haven't done anything for me." "What are you talking about?" "Marty is one of the masters... of being able to manipulate the city around a scene... and make it fun." "He doesn't try to stop things from happening around." "The people are the people walking in the street." "We even had a couple of kids from The Clash at the time in the background." "There were moments that just felt genuine." "He embraces that." "He looks around and he laughs... and he just gets a big charge out of the craziness of the city." "You know something?" "I undress in front of you every night." "Sam doesn't mind at all." "I can't get anything going with her until you're off the air." "New York has become so gentrified." "You don't see as many marginal characters as you would've 10, 15, 20 years ago." "But, at the time, I would have believed those characters existed around the city." "They're real New York characters, they couldn't exist anywhere else." " How about putting me on your show?" " I could have used you last night." "Nobody expected those kind of characters... to disappear from the landscape of New York City." "Nobody expected Times Square to become Disneyland." "Will you please give your warmest welcome to the newest king of comedy..." "Rupert Pupkin!" "It was New Year's Eve, 1983-1984..." "I was dressing up in Jay Cocks' house, and I'm watching Entertainment Tonight... and they were summing up the year." "I was putting on my shirt and my tie... and they said, "And now for the Flop of the Year, The King of Comedy!"" "And I thought, "Okay."" "The King of Comedy ended a certain era of filmmaking." "I think it was the last really great film about culture." "The industry had changed and the day of the personal film... was gone." "So it was sort of the end, in a way." "I don't think a film like King of Comedy could ever be made today." "I figure it this way:" "Better to be king for a night, than schmuck for a lifetime." "I would never refer back to Andy Warhol's cliché... but a combination of that and King of Comedy... were the two most cutting-edge views into the future... about the media and about television, and celebrity." "It had a foresight and an insight to culture... into television, into the media... that it would become a monster, a self-serving entity." "Rupert Pupkin!" "Let's hear it for Rupert Pupkin!" "But what we have now in our culture is something much sleazier... and less passion driven." "It's like, "I'm going to rip my blouse off and show you my tits!"" "It's more that kind of thing." ""You're gonna love me and I'll make a million bucks..."" "and then, "I'll just go to some corner and cry 'cause I'm gonna be all lonely."" "I wish it was that interesting." "SCORSESE:" "If I met actors and actresses of the period of Hollywood film... when I was growing up..." "I think I would have trouble communicating with them." "Calm down, take your time." "SCORSESE:" "You really love them, but they don't know you." "But you love them." "You love, I think, what you imagine they are." "I love this guy." "Always coming up with these great lines." "I love him." "SCORSESE:" "You put more into the person than they may be giving out on the screen... because they represent dream." "You lose yourself in those people." "I'd be taking a bath, and I'd say to myself:" ""I wonder if Jerry is taking a bath right now."" "BERNHARD:" "Celebrity can be dangerous." "Something that is extremely volatile and uncomfortable... to be constantly involved with." "Jerry, I'm a little short on cash." "But if you don't mind just appetizers..." "I'd love to take you to dinner sometime." "SCORSESE:" "Finally, when you satisfy the request of a "fan"... after saying a few things, after saying, "I loved you in that film." ""You were great." "You meant a lot to me."" "What next?" "Seriously, you ever want lunch, my treat." "Ultimately, what do they want?" "What do they want from you?" "[Slow piano jazz music]" "Okay!" "Stand back!" "I was given the script by Robert De Niro..." "I think around 1974." "I knew Paul Zimmerman through having been interviewed by Paul." "I read it, I liked it, but I couldn't be excited about the material... because I'm not an actor, I was not in the public eye." "I wasn't living with the same scrutiny." "After Raging Bull..." "Bob asked me to look at the script again, during the editing of Raging Bull..." "A number of years had gone by." "I began to understand certain things." "And I said, "Okay, I'll do it with you."" "People expected, from the combination of De Niro and Scorsese... something different, obviously, like a Raging Bull or Taxi Driver." "My name is Rupert Pupkin." "The name doesn't mean very much to you." "But it means an awful lot to me." "BERNHARD:" "Bobby's performance as Rupert Pupkin allowed him... to drop a lot of the macho, tough-guy posing that he had to do... to elevate those other characters." "I think he allowed himself... to be a geek." "That's not easy for a guy like De Niro." "God forbid he should see me with you." "Jerry and I have a real relationship going." "You know what I mean?" "No fantasy world." "BERNHARD:" "Nothing has been as needy or desperate... as the Rupert Pupkin character." " Jerry!" " Nobody's gonna help you!" "BERNHARD:" "I think that was kind of a defining moment for Bobby's career." "I think Rupert is a passionate character... but his passion only runs for completely selfish reasons." "RUPERT:" "Why didn't you listen to the tape when I asked?" "A few minutes of your time to listen to my whole life's work." "I think Rupert just simply wanted to be out there... for any reason he could possibly be out there." "Because you want to let all those kids and teachers who didn't like you... know that you are really a great person, and they were wrong." "PASTOR:" "None of us dreamt he'd amount to a hill of beans, but we were wrong." "And you, Rupert, you were right." "SCORSESE:" "You have a value they didn't see, that you know you had." "It's like some childish fantasy." "We'd like to apologize to you personally..." "SCORSESE:" "That's the poignancy." "The living out of the fantasies, and Rupert wanting to be justified... in the face of his high school principal." "PASTOR:" "And to beg your forgiveness for all the things we did to you." "SCORSESE:" "It was about your self-esteem." "A lot of it had to do also with what is the nature of celebrity... what is the hunger?" "This hunger where people would know who you are." " What's your name, dear?" " Dolores." "Dolores?" "That was my father's name." "SCORSESE:" "Even if Jerry gives him his validation as an artist..." "You've got it and you're stuck with it." "I don't care if you wanted to get rid of it." "You couldn't." "SCORSESE:" "It's still not enough." "He wants to bury Jerry." "His so-called "admiration and love" for Jerry Langford... was misguided because he wanted to be Jerry." "He didn't admire Jerry." "He wanted to be Jerry without the work." "He wants to be better than Jerry." "He wants to hurt Jerry." "I really wish you would think about it again, okay?" "I'm thinking about starring in it." "BERNHARD:" "I think both my character and Rupert had this huge..." ""love" for Jerry." "But underneath it, it's a fine line between love and hate." "Between the love and the violence." "Sit down!" "I said, sit down!" "SCORSESE:" "Taxi Driver, Travis, Rupert... the isolated person." "Is Rupert more violent than Travis?" "Maybe." "SCORSESE:" "Therefore, for me, the whole movie, every scene... had levels of hostility... as to how he was expressing this hostility." "Thank you very much." "When Jerry finds a moment." "When will that be?" "SCORSESE:" "The key scene for me is Shelley Hack and De Niro... where she comes out and tells him about his tape." "And he has one line that was very important." ""Excuse me, but are you speaking for Jerry?"" "May I ask you a question?" "Are you speaking for Jerry?" "SCORSESE:" "That's a hostile line, like, "Who the hell are you?" ""You don't know what goes on between Jerry and me." ""You're just a lackey."" " I don't trust your judgment." " I'm sorry you feel that way." "SCORSESE:" "Shelley's great." "She's doing her job... and she's also doing something very good for him." "Who is he?" "He just came in the guy's car one night." "He just jumped in." "Why should she have to look at a tape?" "We mean it when we tell you you can call us when you start work." "All right?" " Goodbye." " Goodbye." "But it's a very moving thing... particularly when the security guard takes him out." " I'm waiting for Jerry." "It's personal." " We'll talk outside." "Please..." "I know he's expecting me." "SCORSESE:" "It's moving." "He tries to be nice, but he's really hostile." "He's really got bad intentions." "RUPERT:" "He went up there just now?" "MASHA:" "Of course." "Go back up!" "Assert yourself a little bit." "He's up there right now." "We did a long search for the Masha character that Sandra Bernhard played." "We were told she was interesting, and so she came in." "BERNHARD:" "Where I was in my life was very similar to where Masha was." "I think we had parallel lives, and it just made sense for me." " It's driving me nuts!" " Just a minute." "Can you be quiet for one goddamn minute and let me rest with this gun?" "SCORSESE:" "She was a kind of sexual predator, in a way." "I would say Sandra Bernhard was sort of like a sexual terrorist." "You never know what's gonna come out, what she'll say or do." "I feel completely impulsive tonight." "Anything could happen." "BERNHARD:" "I was young then." "I was running on adrenaline." "I didn't have any formal training." "So it wasn't like I thought it out in some sort of..." "Strindberg, method acting." "It was just what I connected to, and what I knew..." "I could do with a role that nobody else could possibly bring to that role." "I just want to dance." "I just want to, like, you know... put on some Shirelles." "I wanna be black." "I wanted her to take the Masha character and just go with it." "I had quite a unique relationship with Marty... that was wonderfully nurturing for me." "She is a very dangerous character." "I think Masha was somebody who was extremely impetuous..." "[Glass breaking] ... not really interested in relationships of any cliché manner." "She was looking for something in life that was gonna pull her... out of her own insecurity and inadequacy." "JERRY:" "How did you get this number?" "MASHA:" "I didn't know what else to do..." "BERNHARD:" "It's highly unlikely that a young girl would find Jerry Langford... appealing sexually." "But there was something about the kind of attention that it was gonna garner her." "She felt she was somebody who was... not attractive enough and overcompensated by bravoseness... and over-the-topness that she needed to get herself noticed." "SCORSESE:" "She's imbalanced." "Jerry has nothing to do with it." "It's who she thinks he is." "I don't know where to start." "I want to tell you everything about myself." "SCORSESE:" "That could explode in violence." "It was a deranged kidnapper." "BERNHARD:" "She had her partner in crime in tow." "So they were a team." "That was like her brother she was torturing, and he was torturing her." "It was this whole, weird kind of familial, psychotic... dysfunctional experience." "Excuse me." "I wasn't getting thrown out of the building." " You're a constant embarrassment." " They walked me outside." "BERNHARD:" "I think he was very attracted to my character." "I think it was probably a turn-on for him... to have a woman be as audacious as his male characters have been in the past." "I think Marty is one of the few guys who can handle it." "It scared the shit out of every other director I could have worked with." "Which is why I never got another fabulous role... except the roles I've created for myself." "Now Jerry, I just think this is the way he is." "He's from another generation, another school of acting, directing... auteur, French, award-winning sensibility." "Is there anyone here from Jersey?" "Big deal!" "He understood without reading it." "He knew it inside out." " Jerry Langford, right?" " Right." "WOMAN:" "Morris, please hold on." "This has actually happened to Jerry." "Would you please say something to my nephew, Morris, on the phone?" "I had him direct that." "Jerry worked it out in terms of the timing." "How she stopped him." "He would tell her, "No, one, two..."" "You should only get cancer!" "I hope you get cancer!" "Out of the two people..." "Jerry was definitely the more intimidating character for me to work with." "I was so fascinated by him, and when he did his shtick, you laugh." "I wouldn't lie!" "I wouldn't lie to you, Rup!" "Now, look." "BERNHARD:" "He's like my father times a thousand." "My dad's from that same generation of Jewish men who..." "You know, they like women, but women have their place." "He's gonna come across a woman like me... and it's gonna freak him out." " You couldn't have cared less about me." " I'm to hold this thing till the next Shavuot?" "You gonna make some decisions here?" "Will you make some moves?" "Can you knock off the talking for two minutes?" "BERNHARD:" "Marty wanted improvisation in the film." "He wanted it to have the feeling of urgency... and immediacy that you don't get from the word on the page." "It was 90 percent of the reason I was hired for the role." "I can just walk in and do it... and make it seem like it's real." " Do you want one?" " I'd love one." "Could you save it?" "It's a little inconvenient at the moment." "Thank you." "SCORSESE:" "It was interesting as a comedy of manners... excruciatingly embarrassing situations, like when he shows up at Jerry's house." "Hi, we were just freshening up upstairs." "SCORSESE:" "Some was improvised." "What's interesting there is, again, what does he want from Jerry?" "Anyway, I've brought the work." "It's right here." "All ready and set to go." " Where is everybody?" " What everybody?" "SCORSESE:" "So many aspects." "A gesture..." "I'd say, "That's very interesting."" "Look at that body language." "My arms are like this." "That means..." "I'm in a defensive position." "Why did we do it that way?" "Let's work on that, after we work on this, of course." "How did you get here?" "BERNHARD:" "It's so tightly woven that there's no room to explode... which is what happens in those situations naturally." "You have to be able to improvise to make that happen." "If I didn't tell you that, we'd still be standing on the steps of my apartment." " All right, I made a mistake." " So did Hitler!" "BERNHARD:" "It just worked because these guys were open to it." "Especially with the wonderful actor, Kim." "You better come back here." "He's touching everything." "He's ruining the house." "SCORSESE:" "Like violation, "I'm going to get a heart attack."" "I'm getting a heart attack already." "He really felt it, Kim." "Kim was great." "What's wrong?" "Everything's wrong." "Jerry and he had a good time working together." "We even left in the scene where he couldn't open the door." "Jerry started yelling at him." "The door got stuck." " Are you gonna open the goddamn door?" " Mr. Langford." "Standing out there for eight minutes." "I took five days to shoot that sequence." " Jonno, lock that door." " You did good, Mr. Langford." "SCORSESE:" "Even to the extent of working with non-actors." "MOM:" "Rupert, who are you talking to?" "RUPERT:" "Mom!" "MOM:" "What is it?" "SCORSESE:" "Who's played by my mother, by the way, off-camera." "It was the only time I saw De Niro crack up." "He couldn't continue." "He started laughing." "I thought something was wrong." "He'd turned around, and his shoulders were moving." "I said, "What's he doing?"" "When he turned back, I could see he was trying to..." "He just couldn't keep it straight." "Rupert Pupkin, the new king of comedy!" "MOM:" "Rupert, are you crazy?" "What's the matter with you?" "RUPERT:" "Come on, Ma!" "MOM:" "People are sleeping." "My mother had no idea... of him rehearsing with Jerry down there... and she's wondering who he's talking to, what he's doing." "MOM:" "Rupert, the bus is here." "It's early!" "Try to be on time for once!" "SCORSESE:" "She treated him Just like one of Marty's friends." "No!" "This is one of the greatest actors in the world, you know?" "We're doing something, okay?" "That's what the scene needed." "We didn't realize." "MOM:" "I don't mind you playing it." "But lower it!" "SCORSESE:" "Each scene had to have a humor to it... even though it was dealing with these realistic overtones." "I should say unpleasant, ugly overtones." "I think you could see that in the scene when Jerry's tied up." "Let's just take everything off the table, and do it right here." "It'd blow your mind, wouldn't it?" "It would blow my mind." "I've never done anything like that." "I haven't had anyone over for dinner, let alone made love on the table." "BERNHARD:" "The improv brought a certain amount of "uncomfortability" for everybody." "We kept it definitely interesting." "I want to be crazy!" "I want to be nuts!" "I want to have some fun!" "Jerry didn't know where she'd go with certain things." "That's right!" "Having some fun!" "Never had this much fun before." "SCORSESE:" "What could he do?" "He was stuck there." "He didn't know what she was going to do." "I can't believe I'm gonna kiss you." "Masha... take the tape off." "When Jerry knocks me out, originally he wanted to knock me out... and expected me to do a pratfall into a glass table... that was lit with 100 candles." "SCORSESE:" "He's a genius at physical movement... and comic timing." "He would say, "One, two, three, hit!"" "BERNHARD:" "I was like, "No, thanks." "I'm not interested..." ""in breaking my coccyx in this scene."" "Marty kind of sat back, bemused... and, I think, just let him go through the motions... and then he stepped in and said:" ""Jerry, I think we better just put her against the wall..." ""put a pad down and pretend you'll knock her out, and she'll slide down."" "I would have loved to have been able to do that." "How fabulous and fun, and liberating... to be able to fall like that, but I couldn't." "SCORSESE:" "A character in the film was the city." "The city is so alive, particularly the scene in the street." "You haven't done anything for me." "What are you talking about?" "Marty is one of the masters... of being able to manipulate the city around a scene... and make it fun." "He doesn't try to stop things from happening around." "SCORSESE:" "The people are the people walking in the street." "We even had a couple of kids from The Clash at the time in the background." "BERNHARD:" "There were moments that just felt genuine." "He embraces that." "He looks around and he laughs... and he just gets a big charge out of the craziness of the city." "You know something?" "I undress in front of you every night." "Sam doesn't mind at all." "I can't get anything going with her until you're off the air." "BERNHARD:" "New York has become so gentrified." "You don't see as many marginal characters as you would've 10, 15, 20 years ago." "But, at the time, I would have believed those characters existed around the city." "They're real New York characters, they couldn't exist anywhere else." " How about putting me on your show?" " I could have used you last night." "BERNHARD:" "Nobody expected those kind of characters... to disappear from the landscape of New York City." "Nobody expected Times Square to become Disneyland." "RUPERT:" "Will you please give your warmest welcome to the newest king of comedy..." "Rupert Pupkin!" "[Applause]" "SCORSESE:" "It was New Year's Eve, 1983-1984..." "I was dressing up in Jay Cocks' house, and I'm watching Entertainment Tonight... and they were summing up the year." "I was putting on my shirt and my tie... and they said, "And now for the Flop of the Year, The King of Comedy!"" "And I thought, "Okay."" "The King of Comedy ended a certain era of filmmaking." "I think it was the last really great film about culture." "SCORSESE:" "The industry had changed and the day of the personal film... was gone." "So it was sort of the end, in a way." "I don't think a film like King of Comedy could ever be made today." "I figure it this way:" "Better to be king for a night, than schmuck for a lifetime." "BERNHARD:" "I would never refer back to Andy Warhol's cliché... but a combination of that and King of Comedy... were the two most cutting-edge views into the future... about the media and about television, and celebrity." "It had a foresight and an insight to culture... into television, into the media... that it would become a monster, a self-serving entity." "ANNOUNCER:" "Rupert Pupkin!" "Let's hear it for Rupert Pupkin!" "BERNHARD:" "But what we have now in our culture is something much sleazier... and less passion driven." "It's like, "I'm going to rip my blouse off and show you my tits!"" "It's more that kind of thing." ""You're gonna love me and I'll make a million bucks..."" "and then, "I'll just go to some corner and cry 'cause I'm gonna be all lonely."" "I wish it was that interesting." "[Audience laughing]" "It's Jerry!" "Hi, Jerry." "You know something?" "I undress in front of you every night." "Sam doesn't mind at all." "I can't get anything going with her until you're off the air." "Your show is ruining our sex life." "If you're fast, maybe you can get it done during the commercials." " Have a good day." " Thanks, Jerry." "Now, from New York... it's the Jerry Langford Show... with Jerry's guests, Tony Randall..." "Richard Dreyfuss, Rodney Dangerfield..." "Dr. Joyce Brothers, Lou Brown and the orchestra... and me, little old Ed Herlihy." "Now say hello to Jerry!" "Thank you very much." "Good evening!" "You look like a great audience." "At least, I think you look like a great audience." "Lou Brown, ladies and gentlemen, and the marvelous Langford Orchestra!" "Splendid!" "That's a magnificent band, and I'm willing to bet... that every man has a zip-locked plastic bag in his back pocket." "This band just did a new album... and the record company is deciding whether to put a hole in the middle." "Louie, that's some fine outfit you're wearing." "It really is stunning and beautiful." "I have the feeling, since you got that outfit, some poor man is being buried naked." "Ed, how are you tonight?" "I'm very well, Jerry." "Wonderful!" "I'm sorry I woke you." "I won't say that Ed drinks a lot... but he woke up in a Long Island motel next to a duck." "What worried Ed was the duck was smiling and smoking a cigarette." "Don't try and make up." "Excuse me a minute, I really have to do this." "I wasn't able to get to my dentist today... and the dentist happens to be watching this show." "Check it out, Doc!" "You see a couple of thousand dollars worth?" "Sure you do." "I'm glad I kept my appointment with the proctologist." "Did you hear about the nearsighted vampire... that bit Dolly Parton in the neck?" "Two, three, four..." "Do you know what they call a Hebrew hooker?" "No, what do they call a Hebrew hooker?" "A Jacuzzi." "Moving right along!" "And so this nun goes to the doctor... because she knows that she has to get a physical." "She goes to the doctor, this nun, and she says:" ""I'm nervous." The doctor said, "Don't be nervous, Sister Teresa." ""Go behind the screen, take off the habit..." ""put a sheet around you." "I'll be there momentarily."" "She goes behind the screen... takes off the habit, puts a sheet around herself..." "She's apprehensive, uptight, a nervous wreck, sweaty palms time." "The doctor says, "Are you all right?"" "She said, "I'm fine." He said, "Good."" "He put his hand under the sheet, on her back... and he said, "Say 88." She said, "88."" "He said, "Very good." Then he put his hand under the sheet... on her stomach, and he said, "Say 88."" "She said, "88."" "Then he put his hand under the sheet a third time... this time on one of her breasts." "He said, "Say 88."" "And she said, "One, two, three..."" "I see what they want!" "So a man is in bed with his wife... and his wife is lying on her back." "He proceeds to rub her stomach." "As he rubs her stomach he says, "I love you."" "She said, "Lower." He said, "I love you."" "There's nothing better than when I see a nice lady in the audience." "Because when you have a lady in the audience... and she's smiling, it pumps up any performer." "It's a joy to behold... and you've smiled from the moment I came out here." "Didn't they tell you there's no soliciting?" "But I love a lady that smiles... and any lady that smiles deserves the very, very best." "Here's the good part, sweetheart." "Is there anyone here from Jersey?" "Yes." "Big deal!" "Now, the reason I picked this charming lady... is because I'm told it's her birthday." "Ordinarily, people sing Happy Birthday to the recipient of that birthday... but we sing it differently, if I may." ""M" is for the million things you gave me" ""O" is for the other stuff I had" ""T" is for the tears we shed a lot" ""H" is for the happiness, we're glad" "Put 'em all together, they spell "moth"" "You were the two people that were married just this afternoon?" "What the hell are you doing here?" "For the couple married this afternoon, we should sing:" "Night and day" "When you're married 10 years, we'll sing:" "Once in a while" "After 25 years, we'll sing:" "We did it before and we can do it again!" "As Ed told you, ladies and gentlemen, we have a super show for you." "We'd like you to sit back and relax, and here it comes!" "We'll be back in just a little while!" "Now, from New York... it's the Jerry Langford Show... with Jerry's guests, Tony Randall..." "Richard Dreyfuss, Rodney Dangerfield..." "Dr. Joyce Brothers, Lou Brown and the orchestra... and me, little old Ed Herlihy." "Now say hello to Jerry!" "[Enthusiastic applause and jazzy instrumental music plays]" "[Loud cheering]" "Thank you very much." "Good evening!" "You look like a great audience." "At least, I think you look like a great audience." "Lou Brown, ladies and gentlemen, and the marvelous Langford Orchestra!" "[Enthusiastic applause]" "LOU:" "Splendid!" "That's a magnificent band, and I'm willing to bet... that every man has a zip-locked plastic bag in his back pocket." "This band just did a new album... and the record company is deciding whether to put a hole in the middle." "[Laughter]" "Louie, that's some fine outfit you're wearing." "It really is stunning and beautiful." "I have the feeling, since you got that outfit, some poor man is being buried naked." "[Laughter]" "Ed, how are you tonight?" "ED:" "I'm very well, Jerry." "JERRY:" "Wonderful!" "I'm sorry I woke you." "[Laughter]" "I won't say that Ed drinks a lot... but he woke up in a Long Island motel next to a duck." "What worried Ed was the duck was smiling and smoking a cigarette." "JERRY:" "Don't try and make up." "Excuse me a minute, I really have to do this." "I wasn't able to get to my dentist today... and the dentist happens to be watching this show." "Check it out, Doc!" "You see a couple of thousand dollars worth?" "Sure you do." "I'm glad I kept my appointment with the proctologist." "[Laughter]" "Did you hear about the nearsighted vampire... that bit Dolly Parton in the neck?" "[Laughter]" "Two, three, four..." "Do you know what they call a Hebrew hooker?" "ED:" "No, what do they call a Hebrew hooker?" "JERRY:" "A Jacuzzi." "[Laughter and applause]" "JERRY:" "Moving right along!" "And so this nun goes to the doctor... because she knows that she has to get a physical." "She goes to the doctor, this nun, and she says:" ""I'm nervous." The doctor said, "Don't be nervous, Sister Teresa." ""Go behind the screen, take off the habit..." ""put a sheet around you." "I'll be there momentarily."" "She goes behind the screen... takes off the habit, puts a sheet around herself..." "She's apprehensive, uptight, a nervous wreck, sweaty palms time." "The doctor says, "Are you all right?"" "She said, "I'm fine." He said, "Good."" "He put his hand under the sheet, on her back... and he said, "Say 88." She said, "88."" "He said, "Very good." Then he put his hand under the sheet... on her stomach, and he said, "Say 88."" "She said, "88."" "Then he put his hand under the sheet a third time... this time on one of her breasts." "He said, "Say 88."" "And she said, "One, two, three..."" "I see what they want!" "So a man is in bed with his wife... and his wife is lying on her back." "He proceeds to rub her stomach." "As he rubs her stomach he says, "I love you."" "She said, "Lower." He said, "I love you."" "[Repeats "I love you" in a low-pitched voice]" "[Laughter and applause]" "There's nothing better than when I see a nice lady in the audience." "JERRY:" "Because when you have a lady in the audience... and she's smiling, it pumps up any performer." "It's a joy to behold... and you've smiled from the moment I came out here." "JERRY:" "Didn't they tell you there's no soliciting?" "But I love a lady that smiles... and any lady that smiles deserves the very, very best." "Here's the good part, sweetheart." "Is there anyone here from Jersey?" "MAN:" "Yes." "JERRY:" "Big deal!" "Now, the reason I picked this charming lady... is because I'm told it's her birthday." "Ordinarily, people sing Happy Birthday to the recipient of that birthday... but we sing it differently, if I may." ""M" is for the million things you gave me" ""O" is for the other stuff I had" ""T" is for the tears we shed a lot" ""H" is for the happiness, we're glad" "Put 'em all together, they spell "moth"" "You were the two people that were married just this afternoon?" "What the hell are you doing here?" "For the couple married this afternoon, we should sing:" "Night and day" "When you're married 10 years, we'll sing:" "Once in a while" "After 25 years, we'll sing:" "We did it before and we can do it again!" "[Enthusiastic cheering and applause]" "As Ed told you, ladies and gentlemen, we have a super show for you." "We'd like you to sit back and relax, and here it comes!" "We'll be back in just a little while!" "[Jazzy instrumental music plays]" "And now, from New York, The Jerry Langford Show, with Jerry's guests:" "Tony Randall, Richard Dreyfuss," "Rodney Dangerfield, Dr Joyce Brothers, Lou Brown and the orchestra, and little old me, Ed Herlihy." "And now say hello to Jerry!" "Thank you." "Good evening." "You look like a great audience." "Louis, how are you?" "Lou Brown and the marvellous Langford orchestra." "Group." " Ed, how are you tonight?" " Very well." "Wonderful." "I'm sorry I woke you." "I shall adhere to your request, sir." "You want Jerry's autograph?" "Gimme the books." "Gimme the books, gimme the books." "OK." " Have him write something personal." " Half an hour." "Goodbye." "I'll give you Mia Farrow for it." "I'm not gonna give you anything else." "I'm not wasting my time going in to get it." " Hi, Rupert." " Hello, Rupert." " Who'd you get?" " Nobody." "I got Rodney Dangerfield." "I'll trade for Barbra." " You're wasting your time." " Robin Williams." "Sidney, it's not my whole life." "That supposed to mean it's my whole life?" "It's not my whole life." "It's yours, but not mine." "Jerry!" "Don't go, Jerry!" "Will you stop shoving, please?" "Will you stop pushing?" "I'm not gonna take this, Jerry!" "No!" "Please." "OK!" "Stand back!" "Stand back!" "Please let Mr Langford get some air!" "Didn't you get my message?" "Jerry, I'm sorry." "I don't mean to disturb you." "I just wanna talk to you for a minute." " This is not the time." " If we could just drive away." "You can drop me off anywhere." "No, I have a very strict rule about people getting in the car." "I hate to bring this up, and I don't mean to be rude, but I did put myself on the line for you." "Go ahead, Harvey." "Hit it." "Here." "Thanks." " Is that your initials?" " Yeah." "I just wanna tell you, my name is Rupert Pupkin." "I know the name doesn't mean very much to you, but it means an awful lot to me." " Calm down." "Take your time." " I'm a little nervous." "You might have wondered who I am." "I've been outside your show many times." "I'm in communications now, but the point I'm trying to make is by nature I'm a comedian." "You're gonna say "Not another one." But, believe me, I'm very good." "I'm dynamite." "I wouldn't take one minute of your time if I wasn't convinced I'm dynamite." "You're probably wondering "If he's so good, how come he hasn't caught my act?"" "That's a very good question, and I'll tell you why." "You know why?" "I've been biding my time, slowly and carefully, so that when my big break came..." "Like the night when Jack Paar got sick?" "Your big break?" "That was the night that convinced me I wanted to be a comedian." "I walked out of that show like I was in a dream." "After that, I caught all your guest appearances on Sullivan." "I studied everything you did." "The way you built to your one-liners, nice and relaxed." "How you delivered the jokes without leaning too much on 'em." "How you didn't say "Folks, here's the punch line."" "You know what I'm talking about?" "You don't say "Folks, here's the punch line." You just do the punch line." "Exactly." "That's what I loved about what you did." "So what I'm trying to say is that, you see, now I'm ready." "I'm ready, and I've finished the course." "And I'm thinking as I'm sitting here now, maybe this is my big break, my big chance." "You know what I mean?" "What do you think?" " What'd you say your name was?" " Rupert Pupkin." "This is a crazy business, but it's not unlike any other business." "There are ground rules." "You don't just walk on to a network show without experience." "It's an old hackneyed expression, but it's the truth:" "You've got to start at the bottom." " That's where I am, at the bottom." " That's a perfect place to start." "I know that, but..." "There's gotta be a..." "It looks so simple to the viewer at home, those things that come so easily, that are so relaxed and look like it's a matter ofjust taking another breath." "It takes years and years and years of honing that and working it and..." "There's only one problem." "I don't mean to interrupt you." "I'm 34 years old." "That's why I'm asking you if you'll listen to my act and tell me what you think about it." "I'll tell you what." "Why don't you call my office?" "You ask for Cathy Long." "She's my secretary." "And we'll make time to listen to you." "I've had this conversation in my head." " Did it always turn out this way?" " Yeah, it did." "I really believe this." "I think once you get over the initial shyness, you're gonna be OK." " I hope it works out for you." " Thanks, Jerry." "Thanks a lot." "It's a pleasure meeting you, Jerry." "Jerry?" "I'm short on cash, but if you don't mind just appetisers, I'll take you to dinner sometime." "I got people waiting." "I don't know what my schedule is." "Maybe we can." "Thanks, Jerry, thanks." "Jerry!" "Jerry." "Let me show you a picture of my pride and joy." "That's good." "Hey, Jerry, take it." "Take it." "Go ahead." "Take it." "Consider it a gift." "It'll work for you." " I will." " Not that you need the help." "Jerry." "Seriously, you ever want lunch, my treat." " Call my office." " OK, OK, OK." "OK." "Jerry, you're a prince." "Hey, Rupe, before I forget, I really appreciate you meeting me for lunch." "I know how busy you are and how tired you are." "What are friends for, Jerry?" "You're the one who looks tired." "Yeah, I know." "It's the show." "The pressure, the ratings, the same guests, same questions..." " I'm just not enjoying it any more." " That's... the worst." "Listen, I really wish you would think about it again, OK?" "You're starting again." "You're starting up again." " It's not that big a deal to think." " I am thinking." "I'm thinking." "That's all I do, is think day and night." "How can I not think about it?" "I'm here at lunch with you, which I knew was the reason you invited me, and all I'm sitting here for is to get guilty with you." "I'm asking you to take over the show for six weeks." "I mean, what's six weeks?" "Anything, but don't ask me to do six weeks." "I can't take over the show for six weeks." "I can't even take over my own life for six weeks." "And you're asking me to do something that's impossible!" " It's impossible." " Rupert!" " What?" " What are you doing down there so late?" "It's impossible!" "I'm trying to tell you that." "You want the tears to come out of my eyes?" "There's gotta be a way you can work it out." "It's just six weeks." "Excuse me, Mr Pupkin?" "Do you think you could..." "Yeah." " Sure." "What's your name, dear?" " Dolores." "Dolores?" "That was my father's name." ""To Dolores, who sensed greatness."" "There you go, sweetheart." " Thanks, Mr Pupkin." " Don't mention it." "Rupert!" "Rupert, who are you talking to?" " Mom!" " What is it?" "Please stop calling me!" "It's terrific." "It's great." "There's only one problem, though." " He made you bigger." " Will you give me an answer?" "You got the six weeks!" "I'll give you the six weeks." "Don't bother me." "What can I say?" "Are you happy now?" "You're a tough man, Rupe." "You gotta be in this business." " Hello." " Hello." "It's Masha, Jerry." " Did you get my note?" " Who is this?" "It's Masha." "Did you get the note?" "I left it on the back seat." "I dropped it there before they dragged me out of the car." "Those guys really hurt me." "I think that was a bit much." "I really do." " How did you get this number?" " Don't be angry with me, Jerry." " How did you get this number?" " I didn't know what else to do." "How have you been, Rita?" " Do I know you?" " I think you might." "Rupert." " Rupert Pupkin, right?" " Right." "I brought you a little present." "Oh, yeah." "I remember." "Mr Romance." "Put an aspirin in." "It'll last longer." "So, what are you up to these days?" "You're looking as beautiful as ever, Rita." "Well, here I am." "Local cheerleader makes good." "You know, it's funny, but I..." "I voted for you" " Most Beautiful." " Did you?" "That was sweet." " I didn't have the nerve to tell you then, but..." "Yeah, now you can tell me." "It's OK, we're both adults." "When you're younger, you're afraid to say those things, but when you get older, 15, 20 years later, you can say all those things that you should have said 15, 20 years ago." "Isn't that the final irony of life?" "Isn't it?" "I guess." "Are you happy in this place, Rita?" " Why?" "You got something better?" " Maybe." " Really?" "Like what?" " Well, what are you doing tonight?" " What am I doing tonight?" " Yeah." "What's so funny?" "It only took you 15 years to ask me for a date." "Don't you think it's a little late?" "Really?" "Well..." "Waiter?" "Can I have a fresh one?" "Rita." "Who is your favourite movie star?" "This some kind of a game?" "You gonna tell me something about my character, my future?" "You'll see." "Tell me." "Everybody has a favourite movie star." "Well, I better come up with somebody or we'll never get out of here, right?" " That's a little test." " Let's see..." "Marilyn Monroe." "Perfect." "Talent register, huh?" "That's her name." "She signed this when she was in New York on her publicity tour for The Misfits." " That was her last movie, you know." " Yeah?" "She wasn't a great actress, but she did have a real gift for comedy." "She died tragically alone, like many of the world's most beautiful women." "I don't wanna see that happening to you." " Who's this?" " Burt Reynolds." " This?" " Mel Brooks." "He's what you call "on" funny." "Others are just regular." "That's Sid Caesar." "He's remarkable." "I really like him." "He's great." "Woody Allen." "He's a personal friend of mine." " Of course he is." " No, he is." "That's Ernie Kovacs." "He was wonderful." "He was a great comedian, a great innovator, and it was a great, great loss." "I bet some of these are worth money." "Oh, yeah." "Especially this one." "Just hold it." " Who's this?" " Well, just take a guess." "It looks like a retard wrote this." "The more scribbled the name, the bigger the fame." "That might be true, Rupert, but who is it?" ""R" is the first letter." " Come on, Rupert." "Who is it?" "I'm tired." " Well, I'll give you a little hint." " R..." " Robert Redford." "No." "No, no." "That's Rupert Pupkin." "Rupert Pupkin." "I surprised you, didn't I?" "Take this as a gift." "Take good care of that." "In a few weeks, everyone's gonna want one." "Rupert, you have not changed." "Just a couple of hours ago, do you know who I was talking to?" "Guess." " Your shrink?" " That's very funny." "No." "Jerry Langford." "That's right." "The Jerry Langford." "He gave me the go-ahead, Rita." "You know what?" "Don't tell anyone yet, but you're looking at the new King of Comedy." "Why not me?" "Why not?" "A guy can get anything he wants, as long as he pays the price." "What's so funny about that?" "I mean, crazier things have happened." "You don't understand what a shot on Langford means." "That's coast-to-coast national TV, a bigger audience than the greatest comedians played to in a whole lifetime." "A shot at a free ticket on the comedy circuit." "A comedy show of my own." "The Rupert Pupkin Show." "Everything." "All that leads in one direction:" "Hollywood." "A beach house in Malibu on the ocean." "And we'll keep a suite at the Sherry." "Everybody stays there when they make it big." "Up top, so we can look down and yell" ""Hey, tough luck, suckers!" "Better luck next time."" "Come on." "What do you say?" "It sounds wonderful, Rupert, and I wish you the best of luck." "But it's getting late and I'm a working girl." "I gotta go home." "I don't get you." "Here I am offering you a way out." "Rita, every king needs a queen." "I want you to be mine." "This is a nice street." "Nice building." "Thanks for yourjacket, Rupert." "I guess you're entitled to come up and have some coffee." "I wouldn't wanna impose, really." " I know I can be..." " What do you want, Rupert?" "What?" " What do you want?" " What do I want?" "Rita, you still don't understand?" "I love you." "I wanna help change your life, if you'll just give me a chance." "What if I set something up between me, you and Jerry?" "What if we went out to dinner one night?" "What do you think?" "You know what's even better?" "We'll go to his summer house for a weekend." " He wouldn't wanna meet me." " That's not true." "Jerry is a very nice guy." "He's a very, very nice guy, and we had a terrific meeting." "You shouldn't sell yourself short." "You have too little faith, and you're a wonderful person." "Why don't you go to sleep and get a good night's rest, OK?" "OK." " Good night, Rupert." " Good night." "Go to sleep right away." "I'll tell you, boy." "Hiya, Liza." "Good seeing you." "Jerry, good seeing you." "Don't get up." "Oh, boy, I'll tell ya." "Every time you come back from a tour - there must be something in the air - it really becomes you." "It's like you become rejuvenated." "Isn't that so, everybody?" "Isn't that so?" "That's the truth." "I'll tell ya." "It's amazing." "You look wonderful." "Yeah, I know." "You look wonderful too, Jerry." "I wasn't leaving you out." "What?" "Yeah!" "Oh, Jerry." "I love this guy." "Always coming up with these great lines." "I love him." "I love him." "He's wonderful." "You're wonderful." "I don't know what I'd do without you." "Rupert!" "The bus is here." "It's early." "Try to be on time for once!" "I can't believe this." "I gotta go now." "Yeah, I gotta catch a bus." "Jerry, take care of yourself." "Baby, be good." "Good luck in Rio." " Good morning, Rupert." " Good morning." " How are you?" " This is for you." "Work." " What time is it?" " It's 10 o'clock." "Is it 10 o'clock?" "Could I use the phone for one second?" " Is it local?" " Yeah." "Sure." "Just dial 9 first, and make it short." "Hello." "Jerry Langford, please." "Rupert Pupkin." "Thank you." "Yes, is Jerry there, please?" "Rupert Pupkin." "Yes." "Just tell him it's Rupert calling, and he'll know what it's about." "He is?" "Well, that's OK." "I'm in a meeting myself." "Just tell him I called." "Thank you very much." "And I'll call later." "Thank you." "Bye." "Was that the Jerry Langford?" " I'll see you, Roberta." " Sure." "Hello." "Jerry Langford, please." "Rupert Pupkin." "Yes, Rupert Pupkin calling." "Jerry Langford, please." "Which, the first name or the second name?" "P-u-p-k-i-n." "It's often mispronounced and misspelled, so that's why..." "Yes." "Jerry knows I'm calling." "He knows what it's about." "Sure." "I see, I see." "I see." "Yes, you can call me." "I'll be here for the next hour and a half." "I'm at my office, and the number is JL54321." "I am waiting for a phone call." "It'll only take a few minutes." " All these phone don't work." " The phone does not work." "I cannot make a call." "I am expecting a call." " Let me try." "I'll make a call." " It doesn't work." "Wait." "Let me just slide in and make a call." "Let me just make a call." " It's important." " This phone don't work either!" "I can't do that." "Because we're gonna be working late." "Hold on." " Yes, sir?" " Jerry Langford." " Your name, please?" " Pupkin." "Rupert Pupkin." " Rupert?" " Pupkin." "P-u-p-k-i-n." "People often misspell it and mispronounce it." "There's a man here by the name of Rupert Pumpkin who wants to see Mr Langford." "I'm sorry, Mr Pumpkin, but Mr Langford's secretary has no record of your appointment." "Pardon me?" "We have no record of your appointment." "Technically speaking, I don't have an official appointment, but he did ask me to call him personally, and I was in the neighbourhood." "I was having trouble calling for some reason." "The line seemed to be busy." "He has no appointment." "His secretary wants to know what this is in reference to." " Mr Gangemi, go right in." " Hello?" "Yes." "Jerry and I discussed my being on the show last night." "He told me to call." "Yes." "No, sure, sure." "Sure." "I'm supposed to wait." "Is that cork?" "I don't know what it is." "Is it dripping on you?" "No." "I was looking at the patterns." "You know, cork is good for sound." "It's very quiet in here." "Reception." "No, you got an hour or so before they come in." "Yeah." "He hasn't come back from the meeting yet." " Mr Pipkin?" " Pupkin." " Sorry." "I'm Cathy Long." "Can I help you?" " You are?" "I'm Bert Thomas's assistant." "He's our executive producer." "I'm sorry." "I've already spoken to Jerry about my being on the show." "He said to get in touch with him personally." "I'm here to follow up on that." " What is it exactly that you do?" " I stand-up comic." " Where are you working now?" " Right now I'm working on new material." "As soon as you do start working again, why don't you give us a call, and we'll send someone to check out your act." " Jerry and I went over this last night." " Does Jerry know your work?" "Yes." "I don't think he does." " Do you have a tape I could listen to?" " A tape?" "Naturally." "Whatever you'd like." " Why don't you drop me by a tape?" " I will." "I can see where Jerry would need that." " Of course." "Nice meeting you." " Nice meeting you, too." "This is really what's right." "This is great." "This is..." "See you again." "Nice talking to you." "Bye." "Rupert." "Hey, Rupert." "I gotta talk to you." "What happened last night in the car?" " Did he talk about me?" " No, he didn't." " He talked about me, as a matter of fact." " He must've said something about me." "What's he gonna say about you after what you did in the car last night?" " You must be really loving this." " You were schmucko supremo last night." "Hold on a minute." "I'm the schmuck?" "Me?" "You're wrong, buddy." "You're very wrong." "If I hadn't gotten in that car, you'd never even have had the chance to talk to Jerry." "What?" "I don't wanna be cruel, but we're in front of Jerry's building." "God forbid he should see me with you." "Jerry and I have a real relationship." "No fantasy world." "After what you did last night, I don't even wanna see you any more." "Fine!" "That's the way you want it?" "See if I care!" "Just get it to him." "I'm not giving him anything." "You're the one who's so friendly." "You give it to him." "We're having a communication problem, and I need you to get this to him." "You're always bragging about how you broke bread with Jerry." "Just do this for me, Rupert." "I've done things for you." "You haven't done anything for me." "What are you talking about?" "How about Howard Johnson's?" "I bought you food." "I bought you coffee night after night." "You got your mind screwed up." "I bought my own coffee." "You never bought anything!" "What about things I did for you that no money can buy?" "What about the time I gave you my spot?" "I let you get right next to Jerry!" "I waited for eight hours and you went right next to him cos you were crying at me!" "And what about the time I gave you my last album of The Best of Jerry?" "What about that?" "I didn't even ask you for money, and I can't even pay my rent!" "I live in a hovel!" "And you live in a townhouse!" "I can't believe this girl!" "Here, I got money for ya." "I can't believe how long I've been your friend and listened to your tired, stale, boring jokes!" " Here's $900." " Will you be quiet?" "Take this and give it to Jerry." "All right, this is the last time." " When are you gonna get it to him?" " You're a wacko." "You make sure." "I'll know if you don't." "I know where you are, where Jerry is!" "I cover the waterfront!" "Remember that!" "What are you lookin' at?" "!" "Beat it!" "You scum!" "You're street trash!" "First, Miss Long, thank you for your help at the office and for passing this on to Jerry." "I appreciate it more than you know." "Jerry, thank you for listening to this material and for the opportunity you've given me." "Lots of people think that guys like you, people who've made it, lose their feeling for struggling young talent such as myself." "But now I know from experience that those people are just cynics, embittered by their own failure." "I know, Jerry, that you are as human as the rest of us, if not more so." "No point in going on about it." "You know how I feel." "So let's get on with the show, The Best of Rupert Pupkin." "Jerry, I've sketched out this little outline in order to save you a bit of time." "It's a little introduction." "So close your eyes and imagine it's exactly six o'clock." "You're standing in the wings, and we hear the orchestra strike up your theme song." "And now from New York, it's The Jerry Langford Show, with Jerry's guests:" "Richard Pryor, Ben Gazzara," "Elizabeth Ashley, Carol Burnett..." "And the comedy find of the year, making his television debut," " Rupert Pupkin, the new King of Comedy!" " Rupert!" "Rupert!" "Are you crazy?" "What's the matter with you?" " Come on, Mom!" " People are sleeping." "Lower it!" " What's the matter with you?" " Mom!" " Take it easy." "Lower it." " I'm not gonna lower it!" "I have to do this now!" "I don't mind you playing it, but lower it." "You come on, Jerry, and do your monologue." "When the time comes, this is how I see you introducing me." "Something like this." "Will you please give your warmest welcome to the newest King of Comedy," "Rupert Pupkin!" "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen." "My name is Rupert Pupkin." "I was born in Clifton, New Jersey..." "Is there anyone here from Clifton?" " Mr Pipkin." " Pupkin." " Pupkin." "Sorry." " You'll get it right one of these days." " I'll bet you have a tape for me." " Right here." "Got your name on it?" "We'll listen to it and return it as soon as we can." "Thank you very much." "When Jerry finds a moment." "Good." "When will that be?" "Actually, you can try me tomorrow." "We might know something by then." "Otherwise, Monday." "Monday?" "Miss Long, what I might do is just wait here a while." "Maybe Jerry'll find a minute." "You're wasting your time." "We won't know until tomorrow at the earliest." "That's all right." "I don't mind." "I'm not wasting my time." "I'm glad to do it." "It's important to me, so..." "I really don't mind." " It'll probably be Monday." " Monday?" "Well, I'll still wait." "Really, I don't mind." "It's OK." "I'll tell you what." "Why don't you try me tomorrow afternoon for sure?" "Tomorrow?" "What time tomorrow?" " 4.30." " 4.30?" "I'll be here." "Thank you." " You're welcome." " And thank Jerry." "Goodbye." "Goodbye." "At least once in his life every man is a genius." "And, Rupe, it's gonna be more than once in your life for you." "It's gonna be a number of times, because you've got it." "From what I've heard here, you've got it and you're stuck with it." "I don't care if you wanted to get rid of it - you couldn't." "It's always gonna be there." "Now, I know there's no formula for it." "I just don't know how you do it." "And I'm not curious, mind you, because I wanna use the material." "I'm just curious to know how you do it." "I really have to ask you." "How do you do it?" "I think it's that I look at my whole life, and I see the awful, terrible things in my life and turn it into something funny." "It just happens." "Were the first few one-liners strong enough?" "If they were any stronger, you'd hurt yourself." "They're marvellous." "Leave them alone." "I remember a man..." "A man said..." "Listen to me." "Listen to me." "A man said something very profound some years ago - which I later originated." "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." "You wanna know how I know it's so good?" "Yes." "Cos I envy you." "I hate you, but I envy you." "Because it's purity, it's marvellous, it's humour based on you." "No one else could do it but you." "I wouldn't lie." "I wouldn't lie to you, Rupe." "Now, look, this weekend would be a perfect time for you to come out to the house, if you care to, and we can hash it around." "Only cos I wanna know how you do it." "There'll be people there, but we can still work." " It sounds great." " Terrific." " I would really like to come." " Wonderful." "Could I bring somebody?" " A young lady?" " A very special young lady." "Of course." "I'd like to meet her." " Hey, Jerry, how ya doin'?" " How are you?" " You're looking good." " You should see me in my white taffeta." " You're doing some great shows, Jerry." " Thanks a lot." " How about putting me on your show?" " Yeah." "I could've used you last night." "Come on down!" " Hi, Jerry." "How are you?" " Hi there." "Morris, you will not believe who's coming down here." "Jerry Langford, right?" "Morris, please hold on." "Jerry, could you please sign my magazine for me?" "You're just wonderful." "I've watched you your entire career." "Would you say something to my nephew Morris on the phone?" "He's in the hospital..." " I'm sorry." "I'm late." " I hope you get cancer!" "Jerry?" "I can't." "I'm late." "Yes, sir?" "Oh, hi." " Hi." "How are you?" " Not bad." "Good, good." "I'm fine." " Can I help you?" " Yes." "I'd like to see Jerry, please." "You are?" "Pupkin." "Rupert Pupkin." "Mr Potkin is here." "That's right." "She'll be with you in a minute." " Who's that?" " Miss Long." "I'd prefer to see Jerry." "Miss Long will take care of you." "OK." "I'll wait right here." "As a surprise to Rupert for being on the show with us tonight, we'd like to present to you someone in a form that we've never presented before." "A mystery guest." "Would you please welcome our mystery guest." "Let's hear it for him." "Jerry, this is the mystery guest?" "This is the mystery guest." "Let me see if I can place him." " Don't you remember me?" " No, I don't." " I'm George Kapp." " George Kapp." "My high-school principal!" " You guessed it." " Well, how are ya?" "You used to fail me." "What do you have him on the show for?" "He's an enemy." " Only because you deserved it." " Thank you." "But I'm ajustice of the peace now." " I perform weddings." " Do you?" "Jerry, what are you doing?" "I can't believe this." "Believe it." "It's part of the surprise." "How would the audience like to see the King of Comedy marry his queen on the show?" "I can't believe it." "I don't know what to say!" "He's too much." "He's too much." "Dearly beloved, when Rupert here was a student at Clifton High School, none of us - myself, his teachers, his classmates - dreamt that he would amount to a hill of beans." "But we were wrong." "And you, Rupert, you were right." "And that's why tonight, before the entire nation, we'd like to apologise to you personally and to beg your forgiveness for..." "for all the things we did to you." "And we'd like to thank you personally, all of us, for the meaning you've given our lives." "Please accept our warmest wishes, Rita and Rupert, for a long and successful reign together." "We'll be back to marry them right after this word." "Mr Pupkin." " How are you today?" " I'm fine." "Thank you for your tape." "We listened to it with great interest." "Good." "I'm glad." "We see a lot of good things in what you're doing." "We think you have potential, which is why I'm gonna be absolutely honest with you." "That's the way you should be." "Absolutely honest." " We don't think you're ready yet." " Not ready yet." " We don't feel you're right for Jerry." " Right for Jerry." "Some of the material is good, but some of the one-liners, for instance, are not very strong." "Not very strong." "You didn't like some of the jokes." "Is that it?" " That's right." " I can take care of that." "Just tell me the ones you don't like, and no problem." "Actually, that's a great help." "We think you have a good potential." "Your timing is excellent." "But you should keep developing your act." "You ought to test it in a few live situations." "I think that'd be very good for you." "There are a number of clubs that you can try." "When you start working in one of those, give us a call." "We'll send someone down." " Thanks." " You're welcome." "Bye-bye." "Thank you." "Miss Long, may I ask you a question?" "Are you speaking for Jerry?" " Yes, I am." " You are?" " He has complete faith in ourjudgment." " Well, I'm sorry to have to say this." "I have to tell you, I don't have faith in yourjudgment." "I'm sorry that you feel that way." "But I guess there's nothing we can do about that." "No, I'll have to disagree with you again, Miss Long." "That's your privilege, Mr Pupkin." "Now, would you excuse me?" "I have a great many things to do." "Miss Long, when will Jerry be back?" "Mr Langford won't be in until very late this afternoon." "Mr Pupkin, we mean what we say when we thank you for stopping up." "And we mean it when we tell you that you can call us when you start working." " Goodbye." " Goodbye." "Is there anyone else you'd like to see?" "No." "That's all right." "I don't mind waiting." "Which reminds me about the man who waited so long, he forgot what he was waiting for." "Well, would you mind waiting outside, Mr Pupnick?" "This is a reception area, not a waiting room." "I understand." " Did you ask him to leave?" " Yeah, but he won't go." " What's his name?" " Rupert Pumpkin." "Hi." "I'm Raymond Wirtz, in charge of security for the Langford organisation." "Let's go outside and talk." "Is this your bag?" "Yes." "I'm waiting for Jerry." "It's personal." " We'll talk about that outside." " I know he's expecting me." "Listen, we'll talk about that outside." "Please take your bag." "I'll explain company policy to you on the way, OK?" "Now, I'm pretty sure you understand that we have certain rules here that are essential to the smooth functioning of our operation." "Right?" " If I could just say that..." " Now just listen, please." "OK?" "And that without these rules, we really wouldn't be able to function at our best." " You follow my point?" " I get the point..." " Please, Mr Puffer." " After you." " After you, sir, please." " If I could just say that Jerry is..." "Just listen to me." "I checked with Miss Long." "You do not have an appointment." "Now, company policy is that only authorised personnel and those persons with official business with our organisation are permitted on our premises." "In other words, you want me to leave the building?" " Well?" "Did you get it to him?" " What?" " Did you get my letter to him?" " He's not in there, OK?" "Now that you're so in with him, you can't do me a favour?" "Don't bother." "Just give me the letter." " He wasn't there." " I saw him go in myself." " Who?" " Jerry!" " He's up there right now." "Wanna see him?" " That's impossible." " They assured me that he was out." " And you believed them?" "You're so naive." "I would expect that from you." "So inexperienced." "You're such a chump." " He went up there just now?" " Of course." "Go back up." "Assert yourself a little bit." "He's up there right now." " Would you tell Jerry I'm here?" " He's not in." " I know he is." "Would you tell him I'm here?" " He's not in." "You're putting yourjob on the line, lady." "You hear me?" "Security." "You too." "Mr Pupkin, what are you doing here?" "Mr Pupkin?" "Mr Pupkin." "Get security on the telephone." "There he goes." "Hold on." "Grab his other arm." "Hold on to him." "Right." "All right, right out the door." "You wouldn't listen, huh?" "Jerry?" "Jerry?" " Nobody's gonna help you." " You're gonna have a lot of explaining to do." " You had your warning, Krupkin." " My lawyer'll be calling." "Make sure he gets my name right." " Say goodbye to our guest, Miss Long." " Wait till Jerry hears about this." "I will mention your name to Jerry, Pupper." "Listen good, because if we see your face again, we're gonna call the police." "Thank you." "Thank you very much." "Terrific." "I suppose that you got the letter to him?" " No, but I'll get it later." " Great." " You just got thrown out of the building." " I didn't get thrown out." "What do you call that?" "Excuse me." "I wasn't thrown out of the building." " You're a constant embarrassment." " They walked me outside." " You can't handle the simplest things." " I'll tell you something else." " Jerry invited me for the weekend." " Great." "I'll go with ya." "Do I look OK?" " Wonderful." " Does this look all right?" " That I'm not sure about." " What do you mean?" " You look wonderful." " What's wrong with it?" "Nothing." "I just don't think you need it." " You don't think it looks nice on me?" " No, it looks wonderful." "Hello." " You must be Jonno." " Yes." "I'm Rupert Pupkin and this is Rita Keane." " Would you let Jerry know we're here?" " Mr Langford asked you to come?" "No, we just thought we'd drop in uninvited for the weekend." "Come on in." "We'll be staying in separate rooms." "The blue bag is mine." " But Mr Langford's not here." " Where is he?" "Out playing golf?" " Yes." " Yes, of course." " I hope he's finally gonna break 100." " 100?" " Perhaps better you come back." " No, we'll just wait." " But Mr Langford is not here." " That's OK." "We'll just wait." "That's OK." "We don't mind waiting." "Isn't this lovely?" "Table's only set for one." " How do you like it?" " I could live here." "Mr Langford, I'm sorry to disturb you, sir." "What's wrong?" "Everything's wrong." "There are a couple over here." "His name is Pumpkin." "Pumpkin, yes." "Do you know a name Pumpkin?" "Didn't you tell him what time we'd get here?" "We didn't have time to iron out the details." "But that butler wasn't even expecting us." "Jerry has more important things to think about than what to tell his houseboy." "Really?" "Well, excuse me." "He knows everything." "He knew you were playing golf." "I don't know what he want." "He wanna spend the weekend over here." "You better come back." "He's touching everything." "He's ruining the house." "And I'm getting a heart attack." "Here's a famous one with the youngest clown in the world, Zippo." "Remember this one with Ray Charles on Jerry's special?" " That's famous." " I know." "There it is." "Here's a famous one when he was a kid, 12 years old." "Someone sent this in as a part of the show, "I Knew You When" section." "They thought they were playing ajoke." "Now Jerry shows it to everyone on the show." "Let's get a little life into this place." "It's like a funeral parlour." "You should really turn that off." "You shouldn't put that on." "It's not polite." " How about a little spin, handsome?" " We shouldn't be dancing." " A little fun never hurt anybody." " What if Jerry walks in?" "He'll be happy to see us having a good time." " What if he walks in?" " So?" "You're his friend." "He won't mind." " I wonder what the rest of this place is like." " Well, I'm sure it's very nice." "No, Rita, I wouldn't go up there." " Rita?" "Rita?" " Come on." "I don't think it's a good idea..." "Rita, they're watching us." "Rita, I don't think you have the right to go upstairs." "Rita, please don't go up there." "Would you open the goddamn door?" "I was standing out there eight minutes." "What was with the door?" "Jesus!" "Where are they?" "I was gonna call the police, but I wait for you." "Hi, Jerry." "Hi, Jerry." "How are you?" "We were just freshening up upstairs." "Rita, I want you to meet the Jerry Langford." "Jerry, I want you to meet the Rita Keane." "Come on down." "Don't be ashamed." "Attagirl." "Come on down." "What's your pleasure, Jerry?" "It's hot out there." "I wanna get something nice to drink." "Jerry, what would you like?" "Jer?" "Jer?" "Excuse us, but it's not every day that a girl like Rita meets a man like you." "I mean, this is part of your success." "You have to live with it." "How was your golf game?" "Was it good?" "Did you finally break 100?" " I told them you were not here." " He did." "They did." "They were really very helpful." "We took an earlier train." "There wasn't anything else until after one." "Anyway, I brought the work." "It's right here." "All ready." "All ready and set to go." "So... where is everybody?" " What everybody?" " What everybody?" "The guests, Jer." "To tell you the truth, we're getting a little hungry." "You know I could have the both of you arrested?" "Well, of course you could have us arrested." "There's no way we can prove that we belong here." "He's great." "When he comes up with an idea, he's terrific." " I never thought of that." " You should have." "We can set up a story where you invite all your friends out and you throw 'em all in jail!" "That's terrific." "That's terrific." "What's the matter?" "Lighten up." "Let's get to work on that." "After this, of course." "How did you get here?" "We walked in the door." "Jerry, what's the matter with you?" "How did you get here?" "I think you're upset." "I'm gonna leave my material here." "We'll talk later." "You've got more important things to worry about." " We'll just stroll around, wait till lunchtime." " Did anyone ever tell you you're a moron?" "You know, Jerry, ordinarily I wouldn't allow anybody to speak that way about Rita." "But since it's you, I know you're only kidding." "He's a real character." " Rupert, he's saying he wants us to go." " No, he's not saying that." "Jerry, tell her that." "You're not saying that." "He's not saying that at all." " Call the station, Jonno." " Where are you going?" "Rita?" "There'll be a cab here in five or ten minutes." "Wait at the gate and use it." "Why?" "You going someplace?" "No, you are." "Did I say something wrong, Jerry?" "Cos if I did, could we chalk it up to inexperience?" "Rita?" "I have my stuff right here." "We could do it in a half an hour." "Then you'd have the rest of the afternoon to yourself." "I want you outta here." "I want you outta here now." "Is that plain enough?" " I understand." " Is that clear?" "Look, you're tired." "That's OK." "I'm gonna leave the stuff here." "Read it and let me know what you think." "Don't be so dopey." "Use your ears." "The man is telling us to go." "He is not telling us to go." " Mr Langford, I knew nothing about this." " Tell her she's wrong." "I don't even know him." "I haven't seen him in years." "He told me you were friends." "Rita!" "I feel terrible." "I'm so humiliated." "If there's anything I can do..." "She works in a bar." "She wants to spoil everything." "Come on, Rupert." "Let's go." " Jerry..." " OK, come on." "Come on, come on." " Let's go." " Sorry, Mr Langford." " Here you are." "Take your things and go!" " I can take a hint." "I just want you to listen to my stuff for 15 minutes." "Is that asking too much?" "Yes, it is." "I have a life, OK?" " I have a life, too." " That's not my responsibility!" " It is when you tell me to call you." " I told you to call to get rid of you!" "To get rid of me?" "OK, I can take a hint." "If I didn't tell you that, we'd still be on the steps at my apartment!" " All right, so I made a mistake." " So did Hitler!" "This is the way it is when you're famous." "Now I see." "That's how you guys are, huh?" " Not them." "Me." "Yeah!" " That's how you are." " When you reach the top." " No, I was that way before." " Now I know how people like you are." " Goodbye and good luck!" "And, Jerry?" "Jerry, I just wanna say one more thing, Jerry." "I'm glad what you did to me today." "Because now I know I can't rely on anybody." "Not you, not anybody." "And I shouldn't rely on anybody." "And you wanna know something else?" "I'm gonna work 50 times harder and I'm gonna be 50 times more famous than you." "And have idiots like you plaguing your life!" "That's right." "Come on, Rita." "We're wasting our time." "Goodbye, Jerry." "Jonno, lock that door." " You did good, Mr Langford." " Thank you." "It looks real." "That's the whole point." " Is that him?" " No." " You sure?" " Sure, I'm sure." "It looks too much like him." " What do you mean?" " When it's him, it doesn't look like him." "God, it feels like it's taking him for ever." "How much longer?" "It's him." "Yeah, that's him." " Don't go too fast." " OK, OK." "Stay on this side so you're not all over him." " I'm getting over as soon as I can." " Get in the next lane." "OK, OK, OK." " Not yet." "There are too many people." " I know." "I'll keep going." "He walks in crowded areas." "You'd think he'd wanna stay away." "Because he doesn't wanna be alone." "Tell me why." "I know." "You tell me why." "Don't get an attitude with me." "Explain it to me, cos you know so much about him." "Fill me in." "Let me learn from you." "All right." "Because when he walks on crowded streets, he feels safe, that's why." "Is that what it is?" "Thanks for telling me." "Go past him and stop." "OK, Jerry." "Get over." "Get in there." "I'm not fooling around." " What are you doing?" "Are you crazy?" " Get in, Jerry." "Get in." "Hi, Jerry." "She's gonna hold a gun on your head." "Don't make any false moves." "I'd hate to do anything drastic." "If everything works out, you should be out of here by the very latest 12, 12.30." "Well, maybe one. 1.15 at the very latest." "What I want you to do is call your producer." " Call what?" " Bert Thomas." "I want you to call him." "I'm gonna give you a phone right now." "Get him on the phone, and I'll tell you exactly what to say, OK?" "Now, if you don't do it, I don't know what to say - there could be a problem." "Watch your eyes, Jerry." "I'm gonna take these off now." "It's a little bright in here, OK?" "OK." "Are these yours?" " Jerry, these are yours?" " Yeah." " Do you mind if I have one?" " I don't mind." "Thank you." " Masha, do you want one?" " Save it for me." " You want one?" " I'd love one, but will you save it?" "It's a little bit inconvenient at the moment." "Thank you, Rupert." " Do you want one?" " No." "I'll just take one for later, then." "There's no reason to get mad." "I'm just trying to ease the tension." "Even though this is a strange situation, there are moments of friendship and moments of sharing or whatever." "OK, let's go." "Jerry, I mean business." "Get on the phone." "Let's go." "The fun is over." "Let's go." "Come on." "Bert Thomas, please." "Jerry Langford." " What happened?" " They hung up." "Phone 'em again." "Why did they hang up?" "Thought it was a gag." "We get that all the time." "Well, I find that strange, you know." "But it's typical." "Cos that's the way they treat even you." "Cos I'll let you in on a little secret." "That's the way they treated me." "And now look where we are." "Bert Thomas." "Audrey, this is Jerry Langford." "Get Bert Thomas on the phone, quickly." "Martino, I know it's you." "I'm too busy for games today." "Did you hear what I said?" "This is Jerry Langford." "Get Bert Thomas." "It's not a gag." "It's serious." "Now move it!" " Why don't we have somebody else?" " Like what?" "It's Mr Langford." "He says it's urgent." "Tell him I'll call him back." "I'm busy." " It's Martino, the impressionist." " He's a pain in the neck." "Will you do what I tell you?" "And do it quick." "I'm sorry, Mr Thomas, he insists on talking to you." "I cannot get rid of him." "OK, I'll take it." "Martino, you know better..." "Bert, I said this is Jerry." "Jerry Langford." "And I'm in deep trouble." " Now you'd best pay attention." " Yeah, I am listening." "Would you give me that again?" "Now wait a minute." "I wanna ask you something." "What do we call our second cameraman?" "We call our second cameraman Helen Keller." "His favourite colour is plaid." "Helen Keller?" "Plaid?" "What is that?" "When someone does an impression of me on the phone, the only way they're gonna know it's really me is by that clue." "If I didn't know what we called him, then he would know it's not me." "Say no more." "I understand." "Now, listen, Bert." "Listen carefully." ""I have a gun... at my head."" ""If a man who identifies himself as... the King..."" "Card's upside down." "Sorry." ""Is not allowed to be the first guest on..."" "You got a blank card there." "Hold on, Bert." "I'm reading from cue cards." ""Tonight's show..."" ""you will never see me..."" "Go back." ""Alive again."" "It's not grammatically correct, but I think you have the idea." "It's clear, but let me break in for a minute." "Let me talk to you." "Don't do anything silly." "OK." "I'm OK." "I'm OK, Bert." "Just get it done." "He wants you to call at five." "I have the private number." " They'll do whatever you want." " OK, that was very good, Jerry." "Turn around, let's see how it looks." "Oh, I love it." "I'm sorry." "The sleeves aren't quite right." "Do you like it on him?" "What do you think?" "I think it looks pretty good." "To guess on it and have it turn out like this..." "I'm very pleased with it." "The colour's great, and I like to see him more casual for a change." "This is a look I like to see on him." "Not so uptight, not so..." " OK." "I gotta get started here." " What do you think?" " It's wonderful." " Be honest with me." " I'm being honest." " Would you wear it?" "I like it." "I'm so glad I went with red." "It looks so good on him." " It looks good, Jerry." " Gorgeous." " Come on." " What?" " Take it off and let's go." " OK." "You want me to take it off?" "Why can't he wear it for a little while?" "Will you take it off, please?" "I know he's in a meeting, but this is an emergency and I gotta talk to him." "You'll interrupt him, or I'm gonna come busting into that meeting." "No." "Forget calling me back." "I'm on my way." "Why didn't you listen to the tape when I asked you to?" "It wasn't that hard, was it?" "A few minutes of your time to listen to something that I worked on my whole life." "If that's what's behind all this, let's go to my office and we'll play the tape right now." "Are you crazy?" "You know what would happen to me if I went there now?" " I'm not stupid." " Nobody's calling you stupid." "You pulled this off." "That makes you smart." "You know, Jerry, I'm gonna tell you something." "Friendship is a two-way street." "You know that?" "And you couldn't have cared less about me." "Am I gonna hold this till next Shavuoth?" "You gonna make some decisions here?" "You gonna knock off the talking for two minutes?" "When you dressed him, did I bother you?" "It took one minute." "You have a long night ahead." " I have something to say." " You've got more than enough to say." "You're driving me nuts!" "Can you be quiet for one goddamn minute and let me rest?" "With this gun?" "You're driving me crazy!" "You have not shut up since we walked into my house." "This is my house." "This is my domain." "Jerry is my guest and you're my guest, and you're lucky to be here!" "You get to change in my house, to get your head together for the show tonight..." "Why can't you give me a little break?" "!" "Shut up!" "You shut up!" "I did give you a break." "I listened to you talk about that sweater." "Worrying about the sleeves, the colour..." "Did I say anything?" "I didn't make it for you." "I made it for Jerry." "Whose idea was this anyway?" "If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't even be here." "Why didn't you listen to the tape when I asked you to?" "Was that so hard to do?" "I'm sure you can understand, doing the kind of show I'm doing, it's mind-boggling - there's so much stuff that comes down, you can't keep your head clear." "And if that's the case, I'm wrong." "You're right, I'm wrong." "If I'm wrong, I apologise." "I'm just a human being, with all of the foibles and all of the traps." "The show, the pressure, the groupies, the autograph hounds, the crew." "The incompetents behind the scenes you think are your friends and you're not sure if you'll be there tomorrow because of them." "Wonderful pressures that make every day a glowing, radiant day in your life." "It's terrific." "OK." "If all of that means nothing, if I'm wrong, in spite of all that, then I apologise, I'm sorry." "If you accept my apology, I think we should shake hands and we'll forget the whole thing." "I won't press charges." "You two could be in deep trouble, but I will not press charges." " That's easy for you to say, Jerry." " But I mean it." "I mean, I'll go to the office and tell them all it's a gag." "They'll understand that." "If I tell them that, they'll buy it." " And then we'll put the tape on and listen..." " Sit down!" "I said sit down." "You heard what he said." "All of a sudden with a gun on him, he wants to be friends?" " What happens when he walks out the door?" " What happens then, Jerry?" " You get to his office, and they jump you." " Is that what happens, Jerry?" "Not if I tell them not to." "They won't jump you." "No one's gonnajump you." "If I tell them to do something, they do it." "No one's gonnajump you." "That's the truth." "You have to take my word for it." "If you think I'm not telling you the truth, then don't respond." "If you think I'm telling you the truth, then let me get the hell outta here." " He gives me his word." " And what else?" "And what else, Jerry?" "There is nothing else." "Just my word." "Isn't my word good enough?" "I'm sorry, Jerry." "Suppose we tape him, he doesn't talk, it gets to be 11.30." "Do we put him on, no matter what?" "You can go ahead and tape him." "It won't hurt anything." "You always can erase it." "We may learn something from it, and it'll also buy us time." "But we will not put this man on the air." "This lunatic is threatening Jerry's life and you're not gonna put him on the air?" "Let's not get too excited." "I don't think you understand." "We'll tape at seven." "We won't have to make a decision about putting him on the air till 11.30." "This gives us four hours." "Hopefully, by that time, we'll have Mr Langford back safely." "Harry, that's it." "We're suing." "We're going to sue." "We're gonna sue everybody." " Who is this man?" " Jerry's lawyer." "What do you mean, who am I?" "I'm the one who's suing." "I'm the lawyer." " Jay..." " Don't "Jay" me, please." "Jay, who are you going to sue?" "You." "We're suing you - personally!" " Who else are you suing?" " The FBI." "We have a serious situation and I want it dealt with rationally." "Unless we start talking politely, there'll be serious consequences." "There is nothing polite about kidnapping." "It is one of the most stupid offences ever." "Where's the defence of kidnapping?" "How can you say "I was crazy"?" ""I didn't know what I was doing." "I did it on the spur of the moment"?" "Who cares?" "Only an idiot kidnaps." "And only an idiot decides to do what you guys are doing." "Jerry, I'm gonna go now." "Pretty soon you'll be able to go." "About 12, 12.30, as I said." "Have a good time." "I know you will." "Bye." "We don't know whether we're dealing with kidnappers or terrorists." "Terrorists?" "What do you mean, terrorists?" "You might have this man go on the air, deliver a coded message, and 50 people around the country could lose their lives." " You're out of your mind!" " I'm not out of my mind." "That guy is gonna be taped, and we'll listen to what he says." "Unless something horrendous is on that tape, we're gonna put that tape on the air." "All we're dealing with here is ten minutes of talk-show time against a man's life, and I don't see that as any argument." "Hello." "How are you today?" "Well, I'm calling..." "Mr King calling collect long distance for Mr Thomas." "Mr Thomas, there's a long-distance call." "Let's go." "If this is it, remember, keep him talking." "Hi there." "Who is this?" " This is Mr King." "I'm calling for Mr King." " Well, you're right on time." "Yes, of course." "We're always punctual." "We're fine, thank you." "I wanna make it brief, and I wanna tell you..." "Could I break in and ask you - could I speak to Jerry?" "Jerry's not with us." "We're at a payphone." "Don't have the call traced." "I noticed you just did, cos I heard the sounds, which I know." "It's kind of important, so that we know that he's in - what'll I say?" " Your care?" "We've taken care of that by bringing along an article of clothing that you will recognise." "It is not as easy as you thinkjust to walk in the studio, go right on the show..." "No, Bert - if I could call you..." "Well, if I could just say, there is no problem." "The material is clean material." " Do you know of Standards and Practices?" " No, but that can be discussed." "All I can say is don't have any press leaks." "You must keep the audience there until 11.45 or 12 o'clock, after it's been aired nationally." "Thank you." "We'll discuss the other things..." "That's your problem." "Nice talking to you." "Boy, he's shrewd." "He just wouldn't buy anything." "I feel completely impulsive tonight." "Anything could happen." "I have so much to tell you." "I don't know where to start." "I wanna tell you everything about myself, everything you don't know." "Do you like these glasses?" "Crystal." "Beautiful." "I bought them just for you." "There's something about them." "Just the simplicity of them." "But if you don't like them, if there's even an inkling, even a doubt in your mind..." "Sometimes during the day I'll just be doing the simplest things." "I'll be taking a bath and I'll say to myself," ""I wonder if Jerry's taking a bath right now."" "And I'll just hope you're not drowning or something." "I just get really worried about you, like something terrible's gonna happen." "And I have these daydreams that I'm out with you at the golf course, driving your cart, just driving around." ""You need a putter, Jer?" You know?" ""Need an iron?"" "I don't even know how to play golf." "I played with my parents once, my dad, but..." "I love you." "I've never told my parents that I love them." "They never told me that they loved me either, which was fine with me." "But I love you." "Want some wine?" "No?" "OK." "I'm not in the mood to drink either, though." "But I'm sure in the mood to be alone with you." "Why don't we just clear off the table?" "I was thinking why don't we go upstairs, but that's so predictable." "Let's just take everything off the table and do it right here." "That would blow your mind." "It would blow my mind." "I've never done anything like that." "I've never even had anybody over for dinner, let alone made love on the table." "But I just wanna do that." "I just wanna dance." "I just wanna, like, put on some Shirelles." "I wanna be black." "Wouldn't that be insane?" "God." "You know who I wish I was tonight?" "I wish I was Tina Turner, just dancing through the room." "Please have your tickets ready." "Good evening." "My name is Clarence McCabe." "I'm the writer." " Are these people with you?" " This is my wife." " These people here?" " Her parents, from Cleveland, Ohio." " I'll check your name, sir." " I'm gonna be on third." "I'll check your name, sir." " I'm sorry, sir." "I don't see your name, sir." " You just went past the M's." "I'll go back again for you, sir." "There it is again, sir." "Let me just check." "This isn't possible." " Did Miss Long call you?" " No, sir, she didn't." "She didn't tell you about my book and that I was gonna be on?" " Not according to this list." " She told me to be here at a quarter to six." "It's now ten to six." "I've only got ten minutes." "Only authorised personnel are allowed in." "That's the rules and regulations." "You never heard of the book?" "The Vanishing Siberian Tiger?" " Can I call Miss Long?" " You cannot call Miss Long at all." " Can you call her?" " No, sir." "Your name is not on the list, so I cannot let you in." "That's the rules and regulations." " I'm gonna try to get her." " Stop him." "Miss Long?" "Clarence!" "Miss Long!" " What is this Clarence McCabe?" " That's who I am." " Is that your real name?" " Well, technically, it's my real name." " No, it's a pseudonym, actually." "An alias." " Why do you use a pseudonym?" " I'm an author." "That's my business." " Author of what?" "I told you." "I wrote a book called The Vanishing Siberian Tiger." "I spent two years in Russia, two years in China, researching it." " Two years in Russia, two in China?" " Right." "Does that make me a Communist?" "We have one more light to preset." "That'll be number 47." " Hello." "I'm the King." " What?" " The King." " What can I do for Your Highness?" "Really, I'm the King." "Your dressing room's backstage." "Your throne is in there also." "You'll recognise the door." "Very funny." " There's a half-moon, stars..." " Who's in charge?" "Mr Ding." "He's a little fella with an ice-cream cone nose, a couple of bells." " Miss Long." " Mr Pipkin?" "No, it's Mr Pupkin, Miss Long." "Mr Pupkin." "How are you?" "What are you doing here, Mr..." "Pupkin?" "I'm the King." "I think you're expecting me." " Yeah." " Yes." "Mr Thomas around?" " Mr King?" " Yes." "I'm Inspector Gerrity from the FBI." "Do you understand?" "What is your name?" " Rupert Pupkin." " Your real name?" "That's my real name." "Rupert Pupkin." "Well, Mr Pupkin, are you gonna tell us where Jerry Langford is or not?" " Are you from the show?" " I'm not in the show." "This is my assistant, Agent Giardello, and Captain Burke of the New York City Police." " I'd like to meet someone from the show." " Not until I get to see Langford." " I'd like to see someone from the show first." " Not unless you tell us where Langford is." "Well, then Jerry Langford is dead." "Get Thomas." " I'm Bert Thomas." "Are you Mr King?" " Yes." "How do you do?" " Did we talk on the phone today?" " Yes, we spoke a few moments ago." "And Jerry spoke to you earlier." " Where did you get this?" " That's Jerry's, as you can see." " What's that?" " That's my blood, not Jerry's." "I'll buy this." "What have we here?" "This is my introduction, and I'd like Mr Randall to speak it word for word." "Randall's introduction to your monologue?" "Could I have a copy of your monologue?" "Actually, I have it memorised, so I don't have a copy of it." "I need a copy." "We have to make sure you don't say anything obscene or anything that could cause a problem in the audience." "No, it's all right, really." "It's a wholesome monologue." " You guarantee it?" " I guarantee it." "Make sure the audience stays till after 11.30." " The man gets everything he asks for." " Nice meeting you." "Sit down, Pupkin." "Pupkin, I gotta tell you this." "From this point on, you have the right to remain silent." "You understand?" "Cos anything you say from here on out might be used against you later on in a court of law." "You understand?" " Say you understand." " I understand that." "Did you participate in the abduction of Jerry Langford?" "Yes, I did." "I abducted him." "You abducted him?" "Do you know where Mr Langford is now?" "Yes, I do." " Will you lead us to Mr Langford?" " No, I won't." "At this time, Mr Pupkin, I wanna advise you to consider yourself under arrest." "Fine." "I think I should get made up." "You need some make-up." "Put some colour on his face." "I'd like to put some colour on your face." "I should get made up." ""...sad news for you." Turn the card." ""I have some sad..."" " Did you wanna see me?" " Have you seen this stuff?" "I've gone over it." "I think it's fine." ""My writing staff was executed in Central Park by the network firing squad."" " It's good." " You're laughing at that?" " Do it, please." " Why do I have to say this?" "Exactly as it's written." "It'll play for us." "It'll be good for you." "Trust me." " You're the director." "Can you help me?" " Take the tissues out and let's go." " A few more minutes." "Let's go." " Turn the cards fast." "Are you listening?" "OK." "Let's do something crazy tonight." "Just get insane." "I wanna be crazy!" "I wanna be nuts!" "I wanna have some fun!" "Goddammit." "My doctor says "Don't have any fun." "You're not allowed to have a good time."" "I have to be in control." "I like being in control." "But for one night I'd like to see myself out of my head!" "Wouldn't you?" "Wouldn't that be great?" "!" "Wouldn't it be fabulous?" "!" "I'm havin' a good time." "I'm havin' fun." "Fun is my middle name." "I'm having fun." "That's right." "Havin' some fun." "Never had this much fun before." "That's right." "Good, old-fashioned, all-American fun." "And now, direct from New York, it's The Jerry Langford Show, with guest host Tony Randall and his special guests:" "Shelley Winters, Gore Vidal, Tony Bennett, as always, Lou Brown and the orchestra and little ol' me, Ed Herlihy." "Now say hello to Tony!" "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen." "I have some sad news for you." "Earlier today my writing staff was executed in Central Park by the network firing squad." "So there will be no sensational Randall monologue this evening." "No embarrassing display of emotion, please." "Instead we'll do something a little bit different - a lot different, if you ask me." "We're going to give you a glimpse - turn it over, please - into the future." "It isn't often you can call someone a sure thing in the entertainment business." "After all, the verdict is always in your hands, isn't it?" "But I think tonight, after you've met... my first guest, you'll agree with me that he's destined for greatness, in one way or another." "So will you please give your warmest greetings to the newest King of Comedy," "Rupert Pupkin!" "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen." "Let me introduce myself." "My name is Rupert Pupkin." "I can't believe I'm gonna kiss you." "Masha." "Take the tape off." "Really?" "Go on." "Take it off." " I'm ready now." " Take him back down." "With pleasure." "Why did you do this?" "Tell me why and then maybe I'll be able to believe in you." " Why did you do such a thing?" " Do you know what time it is?" " It's five minutes to 11." " We better go." "Cos otherwise - and I don't like to say it like this" " Jerry's gonna be unavailable." " You'll understand when we go." " Why will I understand?" "Where are we going?" " That's part of the bargain." " Part of what bargain?" "That's my understanding." "I just want to see it in this other place." "And once I see it, that's it." "I'll give you Langford." "But you don't understand my position." "I have you right now." " That's true." " If I have you, I have a shot at Langford." " But you don't have Jerry." " I understand that." "I'm getting it off as fast as I can." " That's good, Masha." " Yeah?" " You all right?" " I'm doing fine." "I know you are." "Come on." "One more thing, please." "I can't walk in here with you." "If you could just wait here and let me walk in by myself, that's all." "I'll break your ankles if you make a wrong move." "I promise, OK?" "But make believe you don't know me, too." "Go ahead." "Jerry, you seem a little bit..." "Jerry!" "Jerry, wait!" "Jerry!" "Jerry!" "Jerry, come back here!" "Jerry!" "Oh, God." "What do you want now?" " What are you doing?" "I'm watching that." " Just a minute." "Direct from New York, it's The Jerry Langford Show, with guest host Tony Randall and his special guests:" "Shelley Winters..." " What's going on here?" " Do you know him?" " Unfortunately, yes." " Just sit tight." "Relax." "Everything'll be OK." "...my first guest, you'll agree with me that he's destined for greatness, in one way or another." "So will you please give your warmest greetings to the newest King of Comedy," "Rupert Pupkin!" "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen." "Let me introduce myself." "My name is Rupert Pupkin." "I was born in Clifton, New Jersey, which was not at that time a federal offence." "Is there anyone here from Clifton?" "Good, we can all relax now." "I'll begin by saying that my parents were too poor to afford me a childhood in Clifton, but the fact is that no one is allowed to be really too poor in Clifton." "Once you fall below a certain level, they exile you to Passaic." "But my parents did put the first two down payments on my childhood." "But they did also return me to the hospital as defective." "But, like everyone else, I grew up in large part thanks to my mother." "If she were only here today, I'd say" ""Hey, Mom!" "What are you doing here?" "You've been dead for nine years!"" "But you should've seen my mother." "She was wonderful." "Blonde, beautiful, intelligent, alcoholic..." "We used to drink milk together after school." "Mine was homogenised, hers was loaded." "Once they picked her up for speeding." "She was doing 50." "All right, but in our garage?" "And when they tested her, they found out that her alcohol had 2º/% blood." "But we used to joke together, Mom and me, until the tears would stroll down her face and she would throw up!" "Yeah." "And who would clean it up?" "Not Dad." "He was too busy down at O'Grady's, throwing up on his own." "In fact, until I was 16, I thought throwing up was a sign of maturity." "While the other kids were off in the woods sneaking cigarettes," "I was hiding behind the house with my fingers down my throat." "The only problem was I never got anywhere, until one day my father caught me." "And just as he was giving me a final kick in the stomach for luck," "I managed to heave all over his new shoes!" ""That's it!" I thought." ""I've made it!" "I'm finally a man!"" "But, as it turned out, I was wrong." "That was the only attention my father ever gave me." "He was usually too busy out in the park playing ball with my sister Rose." "But today, I must say, thanks to those many hours of practice, my sister Rose has grown into a fine man." "I wasn't interested in athletics." "The only exercise I ever got was when the other kids picked on me." "They used to beat me up once a week, usually Tuesday." "And after a while, the school worked it into the curriculum." "And if you knocked me out, you got extra credit." "Except there was this one kid." "Poor kid." "He was afraid of me." "I used to tell him "Hit me, hit me!"" ""What's the matter with you?" "Don't you wanna graduate?"" "As for me, I was the youngest kid in the history of the school to graduate in traction." "But my only real interest, right from the beginning, was show business." "Even as a young man, I began at the very top, collecting autographs." "Now..." "A lot of you are probably wondering why Jerry isn't with us tonight." "I'll tell you, the fact is he's tied up." "And I'm the one who tied him." "I know you think I'm joking, but that's the only way I could break into show business, by hijacking Jerry Langford." "Right now Jerry is strapped to a chair somewhere in the middle of this city." "Go ahead and laugh." "Thank you." "I appreciate it." "But the fact is, I'm here." "Tomorrow you'll know I wasn't kidding and you'll think I was crazy." "But I figure it this way:" "Better to be king for a night than schmuck for a lifetime." "Thank you." "Thank you." " How'd you do that?" " Did you like it?" "Thank you." "I'd like to buy everyone here a drink, and I hope you all enjoyed the show." " Rita, you keep the change." " We can go get Langford now." "Just because I made it big doesn't mean I'm gonna forget about you." " I'll call you..." " No more speeches!" " What's happening?" " Take care." "That's the same guy who was just on television." "Just now." "Same guy." "I'm just getting even." "Those jokes." "Those jokes were murder." " You didn't like those jokes?" " No." "I'm looking for whoever wrote the material." "I'd like to pick him up and take him along." "I wrote the material." "I disagree with you." "I thought they were very good jokes." "If you wrote that material, I got one piece of advice for you." "Throw yourself on your knees in front of the judge and beg for mercy." "That's very funny." "You'll see." "In the most bizarre debut in recent times, a self-styled comedian named Rupert Pupkin appeared on The Jerry Langford Show..." "The incident has made the name Rupert Pupkin a household word." "His performance has been viewed by a record 87 million American households." "Rupert Pupkin, the kidnapping King of Comedy, was sentenced to six years at the minimum-security facility in Allenwood, Pennsylvania, for his part in the abduction of talk-show host Jerry Langford." "On the anniversary of his appearance on the show," "Pupkin told reporters he still considers Jerry Langford his friend and mentor." "He reported that he has been writing his memoirs, which have been purchased by a leading New York publishing house for over $1 million." "Rupert Pupkin was released today after serving two years and nine months of a six-year sentence." "Hundreds greeted the 37-year-old comedian and author, among them his new agent and manager, David Ball, who announced that King for a Night, Pupkin's autobiography, would appear as a major movie." "Pupkin said he had used his stay at Allenwood to sharpen his material." "He said he and his people were weighing a number of attractive offers and he looked forward to resuming his show-business career." "And now, ladies and gentlemen, the man we've all been waiting for... and waiting for." "Would you welcome home, please, television's brightest new star." "The legendary, inspirational, the one and only King of Comedy, ladies and gentlemen, Rupert Pupkin!" "Rupert Pupkin, ladies and gentlemen!" "Let's hear it for Rupert Pupkin!" "Wonderful!" "Rupert Pupkin, ladies and gentlemen." "Rupert Pupkin, ladies and gentlemen." "Let's hear it for Rupert Pupkin!" "Wonderful!" "Rupert Pupkin, ladies and gentlemen." "Visiontext Subtitles:" "Sally Lewis" "ENGLISH"