Typecasting...
Local story, but too funny to pass up. Comedian Gallagher was in town and did a 20-minute studio interview with a local sponsoring radio station that has sports talk all day. So, what do you ask about if you're basically a wanna-be jock and you have 20 minutes with Gallagher. Hell, if you're anybody what do you ask about? Watermelons, of course. That's just what Mark Howard did...that's when all hell broke loose and Gallagher went on a tirade:

Gallagher accused Howard of not doing his research and said that type of question was akin to what a high school newspaper reporter would ask. He said his fans know that he no longer smashes stuff. Seems he's more into political humor these days.

"You would have thought I was asking the president about stem-cell research,'' Howard said. "It was like I was asking about a really controversial subject. I had the nerve to ask Gallagher about watermelons.''

Maybe the ol' Sledge-o-matic backfired on Gallagher one too many times.

Howard kept his cool attempting to salvage the interview since Gallagher was scheduled to be in the studio for 20 minutes or so. But it didn't get much better.

"I basically let the guy beat me up for 20 minutes,'' Howard said. "We were sponsoring his deal (with Zanies), so I wasn't going to go on the attack. At one point he said, 'Who paired you two guys up?' intimating that we were just awful.''

The 58-year-old funnyman wasn't intimating when he returned the next day seeking a meeting with Citadel officials. His agenda was crystal clear.

"He wanted people fired, and he was very upset," said Nashville Citadel Market Manager Dave Kelly. "Apparently, he is a comedian who likes to pick on people but doesn't like to be picked on himself. He was in my office about 30 minutes, making it clear that he does not want to be known as the guy who smashes watermelons."

No word on whether the radio guys got wet from spittle during the attack. But, really, I think it's a little too late to be trying not to be known as the melon-smasher.