The Cavett epi never ran, although Cavett’s talked about it in interviews. There was an RN in audience.
My octogenarian father still subscribes to Prevention.
That answers my question, thanks.
I remember watching a show that was shot, I think, shortly after that. I forget who the guest was, some old drunken raconteur, I really forget who it was.
Anyway, this guy keeps saying: I feel awful, I feel like I could drop dead, blah blah, etc. (and he looked it, truly)
And Cavett’s saying to him: don’t say that, that exact thing happened a few days ago.
But you know, the old guy was really full of himself and he wouldn’t lay off it, Cavett was kind of freaking out, not that I blamed him! Once is enough and that’s too much as a great gal used to say.
I can understand why they didn’t air that episode, though one could argue that Cavett “died” many times on that stage.
On a (slightly) related note, there seems to be a certain danger for performers who pretend to be having a heart attack on stage. Dick Shawn (remember him?) occasionally subbed for Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show until one night he faked a heart attack as part of a comedy bit. He turned over the desk as he flailed around, and that was enough for Carson. I don’t think Shawn ever appeared on the show again-—he certainly never hosted again. Years later, Shawn died of a heart attack on stage.
And Redd Foxx, famous for his “this is the big one” line from Sanford and Son, suffered a fatal heart attack while rehearsing for a CBS sitcom in the early 90s. His fellow actors initially paid no attention to Foxx’s actions, believing it was just part of his schtick.
I saw an interview with Dick Cavett a number of years ago where he talked about this incident. He realized pretty quickly what had happened, and said he almost blurted out the words "is there a doctor in the house?", but caught himself, knowing that the audience would think it was a joke.