* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFjEvl43zYY His final appearance on David Letterman's "The Late Show"]] where he pays tribute to Letterman, the guy who gave him his first national gig 25 years earlier. It's disarming and very sweet to see someone who's usually as droll and deadpan as Norm become genuinely choked up with emotion.
* Oddly enough, Norm's bit on [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sh7QWBb2U2A suicide]], where he expresses incredulity at people who wonder why people kill themselves by pointing out how life can be very miserable at times. While certainly sardonic and cynical and blunt, Norm's straightforward acknowledgement of how existence can be cruel has been perceived by many fans as one of the most empathetic takes on suicide any of them have seen.
-->'''@filtercommittee7863''': Just recently had an acquaintance commit suicide, and, believe it or not, this joke came to mind. And, it was therapeutic as hell. I heard someone say "I don't understand...." and, all I could hear was Norm saying "You don't? what do you; live in a fucking cotton candy house? you don't understand life? how it only disappoints? and gets worse and worse, until it ends in catastrophe?" It's actually a really empathetic joke.
* Norm at one point planned to have a bit about Creator/CaitlynJenner in a Netflix special, but decided it cut it. Not necessarily out of regret towards mocking Jenner's appearance (though he admitted it also just wasn't a funny joke), but rather because he knew that there would be some idiots in his audience that would take his jokes as a cue and excuse to be horribly transphobic.
-->'''Norm''': You don't want to have a joke be misunderstood and then someone goes and beats up a trans person.
* While his death was certainly tragic, it was absolutely heartwarming to see the outpouring of love from his colleagues in the aftermath. Norm was shown to be so beloved, tributes poured in from outside the comedy world as well. Wide receiver Adam Thielen of the Minnesota Vikings rocked Turd Ferguson cleats, referencing Macdonald's famous role as Creator/BurtReynolds on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'''s "Celebrity Jeopardy". Rock band Music/BetterThanEzra [[https://twitter.com/betterthanezra/status/1437891309868658690?lang=en tweeted]] their condolences, along with a clip of Norm making a pun-based joke on the band's name during Weekend Update. Even Carrot Top, who Norm absolutely ''savaged'' during an appearance on ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' (see the Funny section for more details) ''played the clip for his audience'' at his Las Vegas show in tribute.
** Upon Norm's passing, Creator/CourtneyThorneSmith [[https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2021/09/norm-macdonald-carrot-top-courtney-thorne-smith-conan expressed her gratitude]] for Norm roasting ''Film/ChairmanOfTheBoard'' on ''Late Night'', as she'd realized it was a stinker and had been quietly worried about having to promote it. Creator/AndyRichter also commented on Conan's podcast that, "He was having fun with her, but he still was kind of taking care of her in a way."
--->'''Courtney Thorne-Smith:''' So when Norm took over, I’m like, ''Oh, thank you, God and Norm Macdonald''. It was a blessing. Look--had I thought that ''Chairman of the Board'' was my path to an Oscar, I might have been offended. I did not. ''[Laughs]'' So it was a joy to be teased about it. Because I didn’t know what I was going to say [on the show]. I was like, Good, Norm, you take over.
* When Creator/OJSimpson died on April 10, 2024, compilations of Norm tearing into Simpson (particularly on Weekend Update) on sites like [=YouTube=] saw increased traffic. Additionally, comedians like [[https://youtu.be/wsH5TsyFUEA?si=_Hpzf0ZDNXOBWDn3 Conan O'Brien]] praised Norm for having the guts to go after O.J. even though it ended up costing him Update and then his job. While public sentiment against O.J. turned on him more over time, Norm was remembered for being one of the early skeptics who turned out to be right and got more memorialized after Simpson's death than ''Simpson himself.''
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