Show Rundown: December 12, 2005
Remembering the Legends
A Monstrous Good Time
Howard Doubles His Pleasure
Ears to the Ground
Questions About a Story
Baba Booey to You All
Baba Booey to You All
Morrie, the man behind two of, arguably, the most famous prank calls in show history, came into the studio to say goodbye.
Howard noted that after making the two calls, Morrie called it quits and went out on a high note. Morrie responded that he didn’t make a conscientious decision not to make anymore calls, but that the inspiration never hit him again.
Morrie added that he has been a fan of Howard’s for 20 years, and that he was honored to have been a contributor to the show.
The first clip that Howard played featured Morrie speaking to Peter Jennings live on the air shortly after “The O.J. Simpson Chase.”
In the tape, Morrie, who made the call using an over-the-top impression of a black person, pretended to be a witness to the event, before finishing the conversation with, “Baby Booey to you all.”
Al Michaels, who was also on the line, had to tell Peter that the call was a fake.
In the second clip, Morrie, who this time impersonated a Jamaican man, called into a news program on WABC and claimed to have been a passenger on the LIRR train that Colin Ferguson opened fire in.
During the call, Morrie told the show’s host that Colin kept saying, “Baba Booey, Baba Booey” during the rampage and that he didn’t know what it meant.
The show’s host was so clueless about what Morrie was saying that he kept him on the air for such an extended period of time that Morrie actually hung up on him.
After playing the clip, Howard recalled that someone who had heard the phony call approached him on the street and wondered what he thought about the fact that Ferguson was blaming the show for his action. Howard went on to say that before he realized the person didn’t know the call was a joke, he wasn’t sure how he was going to take the heat for being blamed for the incident.