June 19, 2007: Season 3 — Episode 3
I feel like I just went to the funeral of one of my own family members. I knew this wasn't going to be an easy one to watch since Bravo sent out a press release last week announcing that this episode was dedicated to Kathy's father, John Griffin. As I've expressed in my
Grey's Anatomy blog multiple times, I'm a crier. But crying while watching George deal with his dad dying on
Grey's is one thing -
Grey's is a fictional show. Watching Kathy deal with the death of
her father was just devastating. However, she did it with such dignity and gave an absolutely beautiful tribute to him towards the end. You could tell Kathy inherited her father's sense of humor: "He truly passed his sense of humor down to me. That's what I'm gonna miss the most."
When Kathy heard the news from her sister Joyce that their dad had passed, and Kathy had to get on a plane to L.A., it really hit home for me, especially when Kathy referred to it as "that moment I have been dreading my whole life." I say it hit home not because it has happened to me, but because I, too, have been dreading that I will one day get a call from one of
my brothers about one of
our parents and I would need to get on a plane to Chicago from L.A. So, needless to say, I was a mess watching this. What made it better as a viewer was what made it better for Kathy: She performed two gigs in Las Vegas days after her dad's memorial service. Luckily, the Mandalay Bay audiences were supportive and enthusiastic (unlike that corporate meeting Kathy emceed in the first half hour). Laughter is indeed the best medicine, so it helped for Kathy to get her mind off the grief by doing those Vegas gigs.
Speaking of that disastrous Redken sales convention, I actually wrote in my notes: WTF? Why would people at a sales convention in Vegas get offended and ask Kathy to tone down her act, requesting that she swear less? Who were they expecting -
Kathie Lee Gifford? One of the reasons that Kathy is a goddess to me is her potty mouth. I can't imagine her having to edit herself. I love that Bravo airs her specials as is and just bleeps the "bad" words out, but in a way that we can totally tell what she is saying. Can you imagine if Bravo asked Kathy not to swear in her stand-up specials?
The funniest part for me was the footage from Kathy's Santa Ynez performance when she impersonated her mother (which is something I could watch Kathy do for hours). Maggie Griffin reminds me of several of my aunts and my own mother rolled into one, especially when Kathy imitates Maggie on the phone swearing (in response to Kathy asking her to go on a "lesbians and their children" cruise): "Jesus Christ! Son of a b--ch! God dammit! Moses and the tablets and Peter and Paul and the other ones! For Christ's sake! I need a drink (click)!" That scene was a variation of the one featured in her hilarious Bravo special
Kathy Griffin: Everybody Can Suck It when she added: "Pontius Pilate at the Last Supper!" It cracked me up that Kathy felt she needed to try out her lesbian material in Santa Ynez before doing
Rosie's cruise (even though she wasn't able to do the cruise because her dad died).
My second-favorite funny moment was what Kathy said after
Jackie Warner from
Work Out gave her lesbian-humor advice. After mentioning that her straight guy friends love to imagine two women together sexually and they picture hot "girl on girl" action, Kathy added: "Yes, that happens (record scratch)... with Billie Jean King and Janet Reno.
Now picture it, fellas." It was interesting to hear Jackie tell Kathy that lesbians don't appreciate sexual humor as much as gay men do, but sex
toy humor was fair game.
Although the laughs weren't, obviously, as prevalent as the average episode, other funny parts included:
- Kathy announcing that her assistant Jessica has come out of the closet: "Hot news flash! Jessica's gay now!" Seems that MySpace turned her gay, according to Kathy. But she warned that Jessica better not pull an
Anne Heche: "Don't pull that fake dyke s--t with me!" And after being at a dinner party with
Ellen and Anne a while back: "I knew that was a fake dyke a mile away."
- Kathy's comments about that religious guy named Christian with the bangs at the Redken convention who thought she swore too much, calling him "Jesus with the weird bangs" and then asking: "What would Jesus do? He wouldn't wear bangs."
- After she heard
Mariah Carey was giving
Britney Spears advice: "That's the blond leading the bald."
- Kathy, recalling her father's reaction years ago after his best friend, Mr. Gillian, redesigned his rec room: "What a s--t box!"
It's good to know that Maggie will continue to be featured in future episodes, like next week when Kathy asks her to move in. The spirit of the great John Griffin will live on, through Maggie and through Kathy's humor. As an almost weekly contributor to his daughter Kathy's show, he will be missed.
You can watch more Kathy Griffin videos in our
Online Video Guide.
