Artie Lange didn’t take long to make an impression at his new gig.
The 49-year-old comedian last week began his new program The Artie and Anthony Show, with former Opie & Anthony personality Anthony Cumia, and it didn’t take long for the sparks to fly when former To Catch A Predator host Chris Hansen, 58, was a guest on Monday’s program.
Lange – who rocketed to fame as the sidekick of shock jock Howard Stern from 2001 until 2009, later leading to a gig on HBO’s Crashing – provided a barrage of zinger-laced interruptions that rattled the witty TV personality throughout the segment.
WARNING: Content may be offensive
The Odd Couple: An exchange between TV newsman Chris Hansen, 58, (L) and comedian Artie Lange, 49, got awkward at times as the funnyman zinged the former To Catch A Predator host on The Artie and Anthony Show earlier this week
The segment – also including Cumia and comic Dave Smith – started out with lighthearted banter with Hansen, who gained national profile in the mid-aughts with the controversial NBC program To Catch A Predator. On that show, men engaging in sexually-explicit online discussions were snared by chat room decoys posing as kids ages 12-14, in stings conducted in tandem with local police.
The targets would arrive to the sting house only to find themselves caught in the cross-hairs of the comically-pithy Hansen, who would confront them with the filthy chat logs and/or pictures they sent, prodding them about their motives and morality.
On The Artie and Anthony Show Monday, broadcast on September 11, Cumia asked Hansen where he was on the fateful day in 2001, when Lange blurted to Hansen, ‘You were f—ing a kid!
‘It’s a comedy show!’ Lange reassured a rattled Hansen, who shot back, ‘That’s not comedy – that’s offensive, why would you say that? I risked my life protecting children.’
Yukking it up: Host Anthony Cumia (L) and comic Dave Smith (2nd from L) chuckled amid the sometimes-awkward exchange
No holds barred: Lange directed cracks at Hansen on topics ranging from his celebrity friends to his time hosting NBC’s To Catch A Predator
The self-deprecating Lange, who has been candid about his longtime battle with substance abuse, shot back, ’Everyone knows it’s a joke, look at the two of us, I got about a year!’
As Hansen recounted his 9/11 experience in Toronto, Lange cut him off and asked, ‘Are you the Let’s Roll guy?’
‘The Let’s Roll guy was a hero, I’m just a journalist,’ Hansen told Lange, who responded, ’You’re actually a hero – you saved a lot of kids a–es!’
Credit where it’s due: Lange hailed Hansen as a guy with a ‘cool vibe’ who can ‘take a joke’ with the best of them
Good chemistry: Lange said of the segment with Hansen, ‘It was one of those things where it worked’
New avenue: Lange began his streaming endeavor with Cumia earlier this month
Lange zeroed in on Hansen’s frequent name drops throughout the appearance, groaning as the veteran newsman spoke of his relationships with big name colleagues such as Brian Williams, Tom Brokaw and Matt Lauer. Lange chimed in, ‘You know Matt Lauer, we get it!’
Cumia called the appearance ‘hilariously awkward’ after Hansen’s segment concluded, while Smith chimed in, ‘Chris Hansen hates Artie so much!’
Lange told DailyMail.com there were no hard feelings as a result of the tete-a-tete with Hansen, as ‘he was cool’ when the cameras were off after the segment.
Oil and water? The tension between Hansen (L) and Lange hovered over the segment, which Cumia described as ‘hilariously awkward’
‘He was such a good sport,’ Lange told DailyMail.com. ‘With some guys feel like you can’t mess with them, but some give off a cool vibe like they can take a joke and give it back – Hansen had that.
‘It was one of those things where it worked,’ said Lange, who had never met Hansen prior to Monday’s outing. ‘The show’s that much fun and loose.’
Lange in 2009 made news with a profanity-laced appearance on Joe Buck Live, as he was temporarily banned from HBO in the wake of the jaw-dropping outing alongside actors Paul Rudd and Jason Sudeikis. Lange subsequently made amends with the famed sports broadcaster, who wore the foreword to his 2012 tome Crash And Burn.
DailyMail.com has reached out for comment from Hansen on this story.
The Artie and Anthony Show airs live Mondays thru Thursdays at 4 p.m. EST, while Hansen can currently be seen on the syndicated program Crime Watch Daily.