TVSquad

On The Late Show with David Letterman last night, Dave finally showed the infamous 1993 appearance by comic Bill Hicks that Letterman thought was too controversial at the time and decided not to air. The routine itself is probably a little tame compared to a lot of the stuff we see today, 15 years later, though I don't think it's without it's blunt edginess. Hicks talks about having a TV show where you hunt and kill certain celebrities, pro-gay textbooks, and religion. It's a rather sad video, in a way, because you can tell Hicks was sick and you know that this never aired and Hicks was heartbroken. He died only five months later.

But Dave did more than show the routine. He also had Hicks' mom on to apologize to her and help introduce the video. Letterman took responsibility for not airing the routine (though it's not clear who actually pulled it, Letterman, his producers, or CBS) and said he doesn't even understand why he pulled it because there is nothing wrong with it. They had a very nice talk, and you can tell that she doesn't have a showbiz bone in her body, just a down-to-earth mom who was upset that Letterman hurt her son. She accepted the apology and you can see they genuinely like each other, but you can also clearly see that Letterman's decision in 1993 really hurt the family.

Bill Hicks was only 32 years old when he died of cancer in 1994. If you've never heard of him, or heard of him but didn't get a chance to see any of his work, tune into The Late Show with David Letterman this Friday night.

One of Letterman's guests will be Hicks' mom (the show was taped earlier this week). She'll be there to mark the 15th anniversary of Hicks' death. Now, this may seem like an odd thing for a talk show to do, have the mom of a deceased comic on, but there's special meaning behind this appearance. Just five months before his death, Hicks appeared on The Late Show and did a scathing stand-up routine (the kind he usually did) which attacked everything from religion to politics. Unfortunately, it was too hot for the show and the performance was never shown, and this really hurt Hicks. On Friday, Letterman is finally going to show the performance.