People Are Remembering How Great Gilbert Gottfried Was At Trolling Contestants On ‘Hollywood Squares’

On Tuesday, news broke that legendary comedian Gilbert Gottfried had passed away. He was 67. A king of insults with arguably comedy’s most distinctive voice, the performer died, his family said, after a “long illness.” They also told people that, while it’s a “sad day for all of us,” people should “please keep laughing as loud as possible in honor.” And so they did. Tributes poured in, as did copious sharing of his prolific stand-up work and his countless TV appearances, from awards shows to hosting gigs to game show stints.

One of them was a particularly wild appearance on the late ‘90s revival of Hollywood Squares. In an episode that aired on October 1, 1999, Gottfried, who was a recurring guest on the show, occupied the top right square. At one point, his spot became the deciding square in a showdown in which whichever contestant nabbed it won the round.

But Gottfried made it difficult for them. For five full minutes, Gottfried kept feeding them incorrect but right-seeming answers. For example: When asked what piece of women’s clothing a French designer called “the atom” due to its small size, Gottfried replied, “The tube top.” (The correct answer is the bikini.) Nine times Gottfried gave trolling answers and each time the contestant in question thought they were right, meaning they were wrong.

Gottfried eventually starts shouting “You fool!” when they agreed with him — a line that had previously been used by Penn and Teller, perched in the box next to him. After five minutes, he finally took pity and fed one of them a correct answer.

Upon news of Gottfried’s passing — and a time when game show contestants keep flubbing answers, too — the clip was among the most shared clips featuring his special brand of funny.

You can watch Gottfried’s most famous Hollywood Squares bit in the video above.