In the land of great public meltdowns, this clip from a 1975 local L.A. television show called ‘Both Sides Now’ is royalty. George Putnam and Mort Sahl faced off in what was supposed to be an invigorating hard-ass debate. But things went south almost from the get-go, as you’ll see, and the taping was halted. Except not really. Somebody in the control room was having too much fun watching the fracas and let the tape roll. And so, thank goodness, we have this marvelous little segment. It stands proudly beside other classics such as Buddy Rich ranting on the band bus, Casey Kasem being pissed off at the commercials he’s recording, Orson Welles beef-burger commercial session takedown, Paul Anka’s music rehearsal tantrum and of course Bill O’Reilley’s immortal: ‘Fuck it! We’ll do it live!” As for ‘Both Sides Now’, the show aired from Jan. 6, 1975 to May 2, 1975. George Putnam quit the program at the end of February 1975 (this clip is from a Jan. 15, 1975 taping – the day of Gerald Ford’s State of the Union address). A sobering truth lies within this clip: punditry is really just a load of crap. No issue that they seem to be passionately addressing is of any meaning to any viewer today. So turn of the 24 hour news and spend some quality time on YouTube finding stuff like this. You’ll be much happier in the long run.