Slice of Turkey: Phil Hartman, 1996

In today’s clip, which I assume is from some sort of Thanksgiving Day parade pregame show, Phil Hartman gives us a bird’s eye view of the parade route from the cockpit of a helicopter. This was back in 1996, post-SNL, when Hartman played Bill McNeal on News Radio.

The video quality is not fantastic and some of the banter is a little weird and stilted, but dammit, Phil Hartman is bulletproof in my book. He’s one of my favorite comedic actors ever, and I’d listen to him read the telephone book, if only he was still around to do so. Gone too soon. Try not to think about the fact that he only had a little over a year to live when this video was made, even though I’ve just put that thought in your head.

Bonus Hartman! A Thanksgiving-themed SNL sketch from 1988, featuring John Lithgow, Fargo accents, and some window-rattling burps.