"Guiness World Records Prime Time"

Boxtop presents

August 20, 1998

TV viewers in the Los Angeles area know Mark Thompson best as the weatherman on Fox News at 10. Now the rest of the country is able to enjoy his wit and charisma as he hosts FOX's smash hit "Guiness World Records Prime Time." Find out what Mark has to say about the guests on the show, and what it's like to come to work to find a man bathing with hundreds of poisonous snakes.

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JaxCCC: Tonight, please welcome our special guest Mark Thompson! Mark Thompson has been doing weather and news on FOXTV in Los Angeles and has a new show called "Guinness World Records Prime Time" on the Fox Network. Hello Mark!

Mark Thompson: Hello TalkCity!

Katccc: Mark, thank you for being with us today. I'll start off by asking you how you chose this career?

Mark Thompson: I had an interest in science at the collegiate level. And an interest in broadcasting and they merged in the media of TV weather. Also my personality could come through with my jovial upbeat attitude integrating with the information.

Nicely: How did you get involved in doing the Guiness Book of World Records show?

Mark Thompson: I had been approached by the Fox network before and hosted the New Years Eve and Dangerous MarkThompson Accidents shows. The network approached me to do the Guinness show and I was interested in the concept. It has proved to be very popular. It is not everyday you meet someone who wants to sit in a tank with 75 deadly rattlesnakes to break a world's record. There seems to be no limit to what people will do to break a record and be on Guinness Prime Time. Having said that we had the 'human tool box' on. This guy is going into the Guinness book calling himself the 'human tool box.' He hammers a nail thru a piece of wood into his face, then he takes an electric drill and proceeds to drill it into his nasal passage. It is not a trick - it is real! There is no limit to what people will do to get in the book. We tell people "do not try to do this at home." The show is also about human experiences. We had a show on about the tallest man ever recorded. Guess how tall we found this man to be? We found some old film footage about this individual. We talked to his family members and found out how this man lived and he proved to be 8 feet 11 inches. And he died at the age of 22. He died not from his growth but from infection. This occurred in the 1920's in the USA It is interesting to uncover these facts.

Teral: What was the absolutely FUNNIEST thing so far that you've run across?

Mark Thompson: Wow! Good question. We have something coming up next week on the show - 'Cricket-spitting' - with frozen dead crickets! Two guys are having a competition on the show to see how far they can spit a cricket! The other thing was a moment during a very intense interview with the 'most tattooed woman.' She has elaborate tattoos on her face. I was interviewing her very seriously and asked her, "How do you decide what tattoos you are going to put on your face?" Since most see your face everyday I assumed she would want to have her facial tattoos displayed for a reason. She responded, "I did not want to go with anything too crazy." I thought that was hilarious! I mean here is this woman with tattoos all over her body and she tells me "I didn't want to do anything too crazy?" It's amazing!

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