Why Bob Dylan Agreed to Be the Punchline of a ‘90s Sitcom
Despite its major Dewey Cox overtones, the new Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown seems to be a big hit with audiences and critics. Sadly, the movie ends after Dylan goes electric at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, meaning that we never get to see Timothée Chalamet perform at the Rolling Thunder Revue, mumble his way through “We Are the World” or randomly show up at the end of a ‘90s sitcom.
That’s right, back in 1999, Dylan appeared on Dharma & Greg, the Chuck Lorre-produced comedy that dared to ask, “What if a lawyer married someone who takes yoga classes?” In the episode “Play Lady Play,” Dharma (Jenna Elfman) takes up the drums and starts hanging out with a garage band made up of teenage boys (kinda weird, Dharma).
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At the end of the episode, she gets an invite to audition for another group, and Greg turns down the chance to tag along because he’s had his “fill of garage bands.” But in a surprise twist, the audition is for music legend Bob Dylan, who jams with Dharma for several minutes in a scene that clearly had no script whatsoever.
Pawn Stars appearances aside, Dylan doesn’t do many cameos, so why the hell was he in Dharma & Greg?
The episode was co-written by longtime comedy writer Eddie Gorodetsky, who previously wrote for shows like SCTV, Saturday Night Live and Late Night with David Letterman. According to Dylan scholar Ray Padgett, Gorodetsky was “friendly” with Dylan, and would later go on to produce his excellent satellite radio show Theme Time Radio Hour.
Dylan’s team requested a few tapes of the show, and he eventually agreed. The session’s organist, who had never met Dylan before, explained that the studio audience wasn’t present for the scene, and Dylan seemed to enjoy himself. “I actually think he was having a fun time,” John Fields told Padgett. “Jenna is super charming and funny and makes you feel relaxed. She’s not some big superstar or something. Obviously, Bob’s a superstar, but I don’t think he looked at himself like that.”
Elfman once told Harry Connick Jr. that she, too, was mostly at ease. “I didn’t know enough to be nervous,” she recalled. “It wasn’t like I was an aspiring musician where I take myself so seriously on the subject, I was just like, ‘Oh my god. I lost my virginity to a Bob Dylan song.’”
Dharma’s friendship with Dylan was actually brought up in a later episode. In Season Three’s “The Trouble with Troubador,” the singer calls up Dharma and asks her to help Lyle Lovett out with his “personal problems.” Lovett played himself, but Dylan presumably didn’t want to reprise his role.
Unfortunately, Dylan neglected to follow up his Dharma & Greg appearance by popping up on Mad About You or The King of Queens.
