Bill Murray always goes above and beyond for late-night TV. For David Letterman, he dumpster dove, swung from the rafters like Peter Pan, jumped out of a cake, pulled a Liberace, and pretended to run a marathon. For Jimmy Kimmel, he’s gone for a canoe ride and popped onstage wearing a dress and cowboy boots, but when it comes to a quarantine Kimmel visit, Murray kept things simple, not to mention super real, by hopping into the bathtub. The interview was geared toward promoting the Stripes star’s upcoming, four-way “Nacho Off” competition with Guy Fieri for restaurant worker relief during the pandemic.
Hey, one needs to be clean before visiting Flavortown. That rule matters even more these days, and Kimmel praises Murray for knowing the value of soap, long before our current situation rolled around. The interview doesn’t dig deep into the cause until the final minutes, which is when Kimmel pays lipservice to how Bill and Guy’s sons, Homer Murray and Hunter Fieri, will join them for the virtual chip-and-cheese competition on Friday. The cause, though, is a vital one that hopes to raise even more money than the many millions raised by Guy Fieri himself. Anyone who wants to view the competition can do so from Food Network’s Facebook page while (ideally) donating $10 to the Restaurant Employee Relief Fund.
The above interview stays mostly bubbly and upbeat. “For the purposes of today, it’s kind of a celebration, because I haven’t seen you in a while,” Murray explained. “I thought a bubble bath would be appropriate.” He also talked about how much he misses sports, especially Chicago Bulls games, and the Space Jam actor wanted to remind everyone that he immeasurably helped out Michael Jordan in the film. “People forget I got the assist on the game-winning basket,” Murray offered, but “I wasn’t even interviewed after.” Well, this bathtub interview makes up for everything.
