Dr. Joyce Brothers, the first television psychologist, died today, May 13, 2013. For decades she gave advice all over the TV airwaves, on her own program and others. She also appeared often as herself in guest roles on TV series.
Dr. Brothers was the subject of one of my favorite commentaries by Saturday Night Live correspondent “Roseanne Roseannadanna” (Gilda Radner). Roseanne would always start to tell a story and then go off on a tangent about some small, gross detail. In this case, she tells about how she found herself sitting next to Dr. Joyce Brothers in the sauna at a health club. The psychologist was oblivious to the fact that she had a drop of sweat on the tip of her nose that wouldn’t fall off, even when she shook her head to and fro. So Roseanne yelled, “Hey! Doctor! Flick that sweat ball off your nose! What are you trying to do? Make me sick?” Roseanne then closes by singing a little Thanksgiving song inspired by the incident.
Watch it here:
“Roseanne Roseannadanna” tells of her sweaty encounter with Dr. Joyce Brothers in a sauna. Saturday Night Live (Nov. 18, 1978)
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- Dr. Joyce Brothers dies (cnn.com)
