Jiminy Glick

About Jiminy Glick

Jiminy Glick is a fictional character portrayed by Martin Short in the Emmy-nominated TV series Primetime Glick (2001-2003), the subsequent film Jiminy Glick in Lalawood, and Short’s Broadway show Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me. He began as a recurring character on The Martin Short Show; when that show was cancelled, he was spun off into his own series, Primetime Glick.

In the show, Glick is a famous television interviewer who has been around Hollywood for a long time. Despite this, he remains laughably ignorant about pop culture and most entertainment news, though he considers himself just the opposite. His interviews with stars are characterized by his patronizing attitude, often bizarre questions about obscure matters, and awkward body language. He is extremely forgetful, and takes ginkgo biloba as a memory aid (although, as he often points out, the only problem is he doesn’t remember to take it). Glick is also very overweight, and during interviews he will sometimes aggressively stuff his face with junk food (which is always present on the table) at a moment’s notice. Glick would occasionally offer food to his guests, but if they reached for it without being offered, he would snatch it away, growling, “No! All for me!” On top of his many other eccentricities, Glick has an unforgettably peculiar voice, shifting within a single sentence from a high, effeminate whine to a deep growl.

On the series, Glick is joined by long-suffering, heavily made-up announcer and band leader, Adrian Van Voorhees (Michael McKean). Adrian plays the harp, leading a band of scraggly-looking immigrants (they do a very poor job of synching up their “performance” with the music that is playing), and while he generally attempts to conduct himself in a professional manner, he occasionally loses his patience with Jiminy’s idiocy and constant, usually unintentional put-downs. He can sometimes be heard muttering disgustedly about Jiminy (“You are fat...sloppy fat”) but Jiminy remains blissfully unaware of Adrian’s hostility. Glick is also often assailed by Short’s long-running, Bette Davis-esque drag character, Miss Gathercole, a bitter, ancient woman who is a regular in Glick’s studio audience (alongside her increasingly short-tempered nurse) and freely offers commentary on Glick’s various failings and her own latest adventures.