We’re coming up on the 20th anniversary of Elliott Smith’s death, and the man’s life and career are increasingly fading into the mythic mists. So it can be a little shocking to be reminded of a day when Elliott Smith was a musician who was trying to make a living during a ridiculous time in American life. Case in point: Smith’s recently-unearthed appearance on the FX morning show Breakfast Time, which might be the most awkward and fascinating video that you’ll find online today.

Breakfast Time aired live on FX — then fX — every morning from 1994 to 1996. One of the hosts was Tom Bergeron, future host of America’s Funniest Home Videos and Dancing With The Stars. Another host was Laurie Hibberd, now Laurie Gelman; Wikipedia tells me that she published a novel called Smells Like Tween Spirit last year. The third host was a puppet named Bob. (Shout out to Stereogum’s Scott Lapatine, who either did all the research on Breakfast Time before dropping it into our shared spreadsheet or who actually remembers everything about Breakfast Time; both seem equally likely.) Here’s the Breakfast Time promo that used to air on FX:

Elliott Smith appeared on Breakfast Time on July 28, 1995, exactly one week after he released his self-titled sophomore LP. That episode of Breakfast Time had been up on YouTube, unnoticed, since 2019. Yesterday, someone on Reddit was looking for a different musical appearance, and they happened across the image of a profoundly uncomfortable Elliott Smith sitting on this couch with this puppet behind him. This Redditor then made a supercut of all the moments where Smith is on camera.

Tom Bergeron’s conversation with Elliott Smith is a true time capsule of how it used to look when people from the underground rock world had to interact with people outside of their bubble. It was rough. Smith, quiet and downcast, mutters all his answers sheepishly. Tom Bergeron, meanwhile, brings the sort of glibness that would make him a broadcast-TV staple. Bergeron notes that Smith’s album is out on a label called Kill Rock Stars, and he adds, “Feeling a little hostile, are we?” Smith: “It’s not my label.” Later on, when asked to describe his music, Smith says, “It’s not really folk, but it’s sort of like… that.”

Everyone is having such a bad time! Tom Bergeron notes a couple of times that Elliott Smith is not a morning person, but there is no time of day when Elliott Smith would’ve been warm and chatty with Tom Bergeron. These days, we’re all media-trained to some extent; it’s a function of being alive in an internet age. This was not the case in 1995. In the interview, Smith and Bergeron are both clearly suffering. Then Smith plays a quiet, hypnotic version of “Clementine” while this janky puppet nods along behind him. It’s a truly surreal sight, and you can behold it below.

That Elliott Smith segment aired between an interview with 1001 Ways To Be Romantic author Greg Godek and a long segment with frequent Friends guest star Jessica Hecht. (She’s better known for Breaking Bad and The Boys now, but this was a couple of months before she started in her series-regular role on The Single Guy.) Shout out to the end of the video, where Elliott Smith is literally reading a newspaper on camera, presumably counting the seconds until he can be anywhere else.