UPDATED BELOW!
Okay, so it's Friday night and by now you should have a drink or two in ya (if you drink). I think it's time to take this conversation south. Way south.
I think all of us know what I'm talking about when I ask you who your Bad Crush is. It's that person out there who, for whatever reason, lights your fire, but who you know in real life you would probably cross the street to get away from. The person who if by some freak mischance you actually hooked up with, you might not necessarily tell your friends about. Someone completely unlikely. Someone from a world entirely different to your own.
I used to know this biker dude named Frank. He was built like two Henry Rollins-es standing on each other's shoulders. A wall of tattoos and bits of metal. I think I actually saw him wear parts of his motorcycle as clothing. He was totally enamored with one of the women on the Weather Channel. I can't remember her name now, but she was this petite dark haired woman, nothing special to your average viewer, I suppose, but she just melted Frank's butter. He would sit there on the couch and just wait for her to come back on.
Then you'd ask him what the weather was going to do and he would look at you like a dog hearing a high-pitched sound, "The weather?"
"Yeah, Frank, you're watching the Weather Channel. What's the weather going to do?"
"Aw, I dunno. Gonna be hot, I guess."
I knew this kind of empty-headed gay boy named Brandon. Really. A mind entirely unencumbered by facts, details, or ideas of any kind. He could discuss the relative merits of Madonna or Mariah Carey's latest albums and accompanying photo shoots, but beyond that, he was just a lot of hair gel and a pair of Banana Republic khakis.
But he looooooooved Benjamin Netanyahu. Knew absolutely nothing about the Middle East. Couldn't tell you Gaza from Giza from Qatar, but if the news was on and he saw Benjamin, he made everyone in the room shut up so he could listen. The Newsweek with Netanyahu on the cover disappeared into Brandon's room and never returned.
And then there was my friend Michelle, a sweet little clarinet-playing lesbian girl from a big noisy Greek family. Michelle always ate with her napkin in her lap, always wore lipstick, never stayed out past midnight, and practiced the clarinet from five to eight hours a day.
Michelle went absolutely berserk over Courtney Love.
I never understood it, either.
And I guess by now you all realize where this conversation is headed. I'm going to tell you about my Bad Crush.
Sigh.
I have fought this for as long as I can, but clearly I am helpless in its thrall. It almost sickens me to tell you all this.

Johnny Freakin' Knoxville.
The guy who makes a living doing things that eighth graders find juvenile.
Whooo-hoooo.
There. I feel better.
It's your turn.
UPDATE: From Spin magazine:
One would expect differently after watching a few episodes of Jackass, perhaps the most (intentionally) squirm-inducing TV show of all time. Knoxville and producer Spike Jonez sold the concept to Mtv after Knoxville's DIY stunt videos were passed along by two key taste-making demographics: pro skate-boarders and suburban delinquents. But immediately after the shows' 2000 debut, parents and other critics went on the warpath, claiming it was encouraging kids to be reckless. Senator Joseph Lieberman even called for the network to yank the show entirely, "He wrote a letter once," says Knoxville, "We corrected the spelling and sent it back."
Uh.
Mah.
Gawd.
Stick a fork in me, y'all. I'm done. D-U-N, done.
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TRex! Hi!
angie @ 0
Hi!
Everyone’s going to kill me for this post.
hey my bad crush was a decade ago and he sounded like Chimpy. I shudder now whenever I think about it.
TRex, Fitz, Ned, Big Dawg!
…’Johnny Freakin’ Knoxville’.
Was it the Pocket Ass?
;>)
and I’ve always had this yen for Charlie Rose…
Probably 80% of the people who read this post are going to be, like, “Who the hell is Johnny Knoxville?”
This Joan Jett song takes on a whole fun new meaning when you realize it’s about Lesbian Drama.
Susan in Iowa @ 5
Really, truly? Well all righty then.
Pre-Fed Britney Spears.
newspaperbrat @ 9
Speaking of Jim Carrey…
Kill you? hell no, but I’d love to see you in Jackass III. Let us write a scene, please please.
Coincidentally, as fate would have it, my only girl crush ever….
Joan Jett.
Don’t tell anyone.
Ain’t nothin’ wrong with liking the Joan Jett.
This post by Jack Balkin of Balkinization is one of the best. And it contains a link to the full text of the Bush/McCain compromise act, for us legal geeks.
Once again our legislators are trusting our president to do the right thing. (Fat chance.)
brainfaht @ 11
Heh. That’ll be Internet Only.
Gives a whole new meaning to the term “viral video”.
Ew.
I think he was on TV the other night.
I don’t think this is a terrible confession! I was expecting, oh I don’t know…
Scottie?
Kidding (and ducking)…
Eli @
14
Long as Balrog can watch… (After slapping the entire Bush Admin a new smile).
newspaperbrat @
9
He’s just so bright, and connected with life, and interesting, and he laughs. I’m not sure I can explain.
Margot @ 16
From the crew of the “Enterprise”?
No, that would be Mr. Sulu.
Susan in Iowa @ 18
You don’t have to explain. We all have at least one Bad, Weird Inexplicable Crush.
I bet Sharkbabe’s got a hum dinger or two.
TRex @ 20
I liked poor lovelorn Yeoman Rand. And I seem to recall that the girl in the Gamesters Of Triskelion epi was quite fetching. And Ice Age Mariette Hartley in the episode with the Library, whose name escapes me at the moment (All Our Yesterdays, maybe? Something like that?).
Jane Hamsher @
13
Mine…Diana Rigg aka Emma Peel.
Mommybrain @ 22
Cor, who DOESN’T have a crush on Emma Peel?
Mommybrain @ 23
*Both* fine choices. That catsuit… Ow.
TRex @ 20
No no. Scottie McClellan, from the Bush Maladministration (TM, someone at dKos).
OK, ducking now…
Susan in Iowa @ 18
Bright as in quick?
Are you southern by any chance?
Scottie MCCLELLAN??!!
The McClellatron 3000?
ICK!
EW!
NO WAY!!
You might as well have a crush on a tube of pre-made cookie dough.
TRex @ 28
That would be kinda understandable, actually…
Okay mommybrain, Diana Rigg did it for me too. I watched the reruns on channel 5 in L.A.
Susannah Hoff…but Emma Peel is waaaay up there.
Anyway, dating Scottie would totally suck, because every time you’d try to have sex with him he’d just keep repeating that he had *already* had sex with you…
TRex @ 7
Okay. I’ll bite. Who the hell is Johnny Knoxville?
hahahahaha
TRex lol
Sorry
But really, I was expecting bad. And I got…huh? Who he?
newspaperbrat: Bright as in incredibly smart and well-read, interested in lots of subjects, always wanting to learn. I have been watching his show for years, although not every night. Did I mention my Weird Bad Crush on John Stewart, who appears at the same time on DISh network?
(How is a crush on Jon Stewart bad?)
Eli @ 32
707
Eli @ 31
He would just keep doing the same ineffective thing over and over and over until you were ready to bludgeon him.
Oh, and I’m from Tucson originally. It’s not South. It’s west.
TRex @ 38
But that implacable monotone is soooo sexy!
Johnny Knoxville in Wikipedia
I had a picture of Peter Jennings in my locker in high school.
I was a weird kid.
Jodie Foster. Me, Travis Bickle, and John Hinckley. And yes, I know….
UptownNYChick @
42
I totally get it.
Does anyone remember Xuxa? She was very attractive, but a complete loon, IIRC.
Hmm…”Bad crush”.
Was it my ex, who tried to destroy my life or the exotic dancer that I left my ex for, only to return to my ex so as to complete the destruction…?
Choices, choices
;>)
darkblack @ 46
Oh, my!
How scandalous.
darkblack @ 46
ooh if we are going into bad relationship choices let me put my money down…..
UptownNYChick @ 48
I fold.
darkblack, I see Darth Cheney crushing Sour Grapes with his claws
I gotta work tomorrow, so good night all. Gonna go dream about Peter Jennings now
I had a biker, too, TRex. Johnny Cross was his name. His friend Buzzard used to eat bugs from the porch light at parties.
Johnny had baby-fine brown hair to his waist, tatoos, bad teeth and a Bulldog .44, which he taught me to shoot. Nearly broke my arm. He turned out to be a wuss and a weenie, not to mention married, but for a while I was one of the wild bunch.
My friend Elissa had a crush on Alan Rickman, particularly as Professor Snape.
I had to think about that one.
I know there is a Snape-is-cool train of thought, but I’m afraid I can’t get with it. I think he’s bad. I think he’s got something personal against Harry because of James Potter and he hated Dumbledore for loving Harry like a son.
Phew. I said it.
If this turns into a Harry Potter thread, Jane will kill us.
Hmm… Bad girlfriends, that’s one thing. I can’t think of any bad crushes like this, though.
But Johnny Knoxville’s not such a bad choice. Despite being a professional idiot, he’s actually pretty good looking and smart.
laughing too hard to figure out my bad crush(es)
My best friend’s wife dated Mike Eruzione (the captain of the 1980 Miracle On Ice US hockey team) and, I *think* Matt Suhey, the fullback on the ‘85 Superbowl Bears.
I’m so sorry to have introduced the “ick” factor here.
This was my secret crush:
David McCallum
TRex @
49
Not with a pair of Johnny Knoxvilles, you don’t
;>)
Susan in Iowa @
50
How about Lord Chequeeg crushing strawberries in the witness box, Susan?
;>)
Mommybrain @ 52
Ah, yes, MB. Those outlaw types. I have a song about one such character on the Eli album we did in 2000.
I have found they are better loved from afar. It’s one thing to feel like you would bail your man out of jail at 3:00 o’clock in the morning and another thing entirely to have to actually do it.
TRex @ 53
I can understand that. I saw him in Private Lives in NYC several years ago and he was definitely a hottie. Actually, he was pretty sexy as the evil terrorist in Die Hard. Nothing like bad boys to make your heart go a twitter.
I don’t think Emma Peal counts as a “bad” crush…
OK, going way out on a limb here. Tricia Nixon.
Does it matter that I was about 14, and she was 8 years older than me, and I hadn’t yet figured out what a Republican was?
Mike Eruzione is way cool, that ESPN special about the 1981 Olympics always stops me dead in my tracks.
Siun @ 55
As sexy as I think Johnny Knoxville is, I still can’t be arsed to sit through a whole episode of “Jackass”.
Ay, Captain, Alan Rickman floats my boat in a big way, but not so much as Snape. The original Die Hard; Truly, Madly, Deeply; Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, his most deliciously over-the-top role.
TRex @ 53
But Alan Rickman is so damn cool. Even as Snape. There’s nothing even remotely embarrassing about that, even factoring in the dorky Harry Potter thing. That’s how I answered my wife, too, and I’m sticking to it.
Margot @
57
No, that’s AWESOME!! THAT’S the kind of thread I wanted to get going here.
Remember, it’s the crush you might not necessarily tell your friends about.
James Woods.
Totally James Woods.
Crushes…. When Teddy shows up he will give me a bad time….. Mine is Joseph Wilson….
Thanks Teddy for not letting me make an ass of myself at Yearlykos..
katymine @ 67
Heh.
*studiously keeps mouth shut….*
Ahem. Another vote for Courtney Love.
And she is aware enough to have figured it out herself. Here’s a quote of hers from an article in Spin magazine: “I’m the kind of girl you wanna fuck, but then you don’t want to tell your friends.” I think that, as we say, says it all.
TRex @ 63
The Kenny Rogers version is very good.
estiv @ 69
Here comes the quote of the century
estiv @ 69
I hate when she makes sense. Happens every now and then and it always unnerves me. Like a talking dog or something.
Margot @ 57
No ick factor at all IMO. I think he’s cute and I love his accent.
darkblack @
58
Can’t. stop. giggling.
Wish I could say Bill (cat murderer) Frist or Tom (hot tub) Delay to liven up the conversation because they certainly would qualify as embarrassing and shameful, but just can’t work up any enthusiasm there
Kewalo @ 73
OMG I forgot that he was my first crush…. I think I watched every episode of the man from UNCLE
How about Fran Drescher?
dab from CT @ 75
GHGSDKLWBJ:ADG:LN!!!!
never
mention
those
names
in a sexual context
E.V.E.R.!!!
katymine and Margot … I worshipped David McCallum … omg!
bad crushes … hmmmm…. good crushes are robie robertson and mos def … bad … not sure
TRex @ 68
Now T… there is nothing wrong with window shopping… is there?
dab from CT @
75
Shameful is one thing, but sheer depravity unleavened by any shred of attractive..not so much.
I’m going to bed.
Eli @ 77
My brother thinks she’s hot. That’s his Bad Crush! He tries to deny it, but then when he talks about how obnoxious she is, it just has a hollow, insincere ring and his eyes get that misty look.
She has him in her powaaaaahh…
TRex @ 82
I also think she’s hot, and I actually kinda *dig* the voice. Loved her in Spinal Tap and Dr. Detroit (very underrated movie, BTW).
Ooooooh, this one I don’t entirely comprehend, but my heart goes all melty every time I see DJ Danger Mouse from Gnarls Barkley.
And he used to live in Athens!
I knew Lauren Tewes(pronounced Tweeze) when she was a waitress at the Original House of Pies restaurant. We knew her as cyndi, it was a stop my friends and I made everyday after school and I developed a schoolboy crush on her. She used to love to tell us how we were never going to amount to anything hanging out at a restaurant, and later she had a lot of success as the social director on the “Love Boat” television series,of course at some point she turned to cocaine and ruined her career and I inherited a shitload of money. maybe someday I’ll go up to Seattle where she’s working as a gourmet chef and say hello.
Sascha Baron Cohen (Ali G.)
Santino.
Shhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Erica Hill, Alison Stewart, Chris Jansing.
I watch way too much cable news.
katymine @
67
that could be dangerous. Mrs. Wilson is said to be an expert markswoman…..
estiv @
69
“let’s do it and say we didn’t.” eh ?……..
fahrender @ 89
More like, “Let’s do it and pretend we were in a blackout and don’t remember it.”
dab from CT @
60
I still have a crush on Alan Rickman from Truly, Madly, Deeply. What a voice! And truly, madly, deeply unavailable.
TRex @
72
Courtney could never be accused of ” a foolish consistency…..”
TRex @ 78
707 - I thought that would get a reaction.
At least I didn’t add Cheney to the list of the most disgusting, shameful crushes possible. And yet, after his debate with Lieberman there were females out there swooning over his manliness. Gak.
The amazing thing to me is that anyone would think any of those slimeballs were attractive and appealing. Power? Money? Terrific personalities?
Oh, yes, David McCallum. On his current show, NCIS, a young female character asks, “What did Ducky (McCallum) look like when he was young?”
Mark Harmon’s character immediately replies, “Ilya Kuryakin.” My kids didn’t get it.
The amazing thing to me is that anyone would think any of those slimeballs were attractive and appealing. Power? Money? Terrific personalities?
Clearly A and B, but certainly not C.
TRex @ 90
i never drink and drive……… ;-)
Mario Cuomo.
David McCallum could never be a BAD crush, if nothing else because of Illya Kuryakin, and his extraordinary reading of Wind in the Willows that he did years ago.
I got a really nice email from my boyfriend after he read the article in GC “Kiss of Death”
Amid the crush of people around him, I say to Ned, “In your wildest dreams, did you ever picture yourself up there with Jesse, in a black church, rocking the house like that?” He throws his head back with a smile, and I’m sure he’s about to say, “No way,” but instead he says, “Yes. Yes. In my wildest dreams, I did.” And then: “You feel the hope of everybody on every pew, and you know you owe them your heart and soul. It’s not like that in Greenwich.”
Mark Lester in Oliver! He’s my exact age. Of course, then he showed up on The Brady Bunch or The Partridge Family and the balloon popped.
Aw, for me it was Bret “The Hitman” Hart. Something about those WWF guys…
Pierce Brosnan, in the Remington Steele days… hot, yet impossible….
I’m deleting that last comment of mine.
katymine - that’s a heartwrenching response and a powerful image. You really should post it on the Lamont blog - they need feedback like this.
http://nedlamont.com/blog
David Cassidy, of the Partridge Family.
There, I said it, are you happy now?
TRex @ 103
now, now, T, Bull is the kind of guy you could take home and introduce to your mom ………
TRex @ 102
No fair
I want to know more about Bull from Night Court.
Bull was pretty dang cute.
Oooo, Pierce Brosnan. I got a story…
During the Remington Steele days, I lived in Hollywood. One day I was at ABC Premiums, a discount electronics store, in the middle of the day. The sole customer. The bored clerk and I were desultorily comparing clock radios when this green Triumph pulls to a screeching halt outside.
We both look out as a tall, unshaven bloke vaults from the driver’s seat and strides manfully into the store. My jaw is at my knees as he makes a beeline for us. Gently taking my hand and kissing it, he said, “Pardon me, dear. I’m in an awful hurry. Do you mind if I steal him for a moment? You’re a luv.”
Turns out he was on his way to a Bond call-back and needed a razor he could plug into the car lighter. (Swoons just thinking about it)
Oh, well, cat’s out of the bag on Bull, I guess.
I dunno. I just wanted to feed him and look after him. He was so earnest and sweet.
And that jawline. Boy howdy.