Don Rickles had completed his 10-episode webseries, Dinner with Don, for AARP Studios before he died on Thursday at the age of 90.
The series finds Rickles sitting down in restaurants with the likes of Sarah Silverman, Zach Galifianakis, Jimmy Kimmel, Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler, as you can see in this first-look series of unscripted moments.
In a statement from Jeffrey Eagle, Vice President, AARP Studios: “All of us at AARP Studios are immensely saddened with the passing of Don Rickles. We had the distinct pleasure of recently working with Don on our upcoming series “Dinner with Don.” Don was known for his biting, acerbic humor and we feel lucky enough to have experienced that first-hand. He was also a thoughtful, kind and generous colleague and friend. Don continued to make audiences laugh throughout his life and career and his legacy will live on. We send our condolences to his family and longtime industry colleagues.”
Dinner with Don hadn’t yet found a distributor or announced a release date, but you’re sure to hear about soon now.
In the meantime, getTV (do you get getTV? I don’t know) announced that this coming Monday (April 10, 2017), the cable channel would pay tribute to Rickles with a block of late-night programming starting at 10 p.m. Eastern, celebrating his memorable appearances on the old Friar’s Club Roasts, including The Friar’s Club Roasts Don Rickles (featuring roastmaster Johnny Carson with Henny Youngman, Dick Cavett, George C. Scott and Milton Berle), followed by The Friar’s Club Roasts Johnny Carson and The Friar’s Club Roasts Jerry Lewis.
Last night on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Kimmel was visibly moved to tears and choked up remembering his dear friend.
Perhaps it also helped get Adam Sandler in a suit in public for the first time in ages, too: