An Inside Look at Bob Dylan's 'Dharma & Greg' Cameo

1999-10-12, 20th Century Fox Lot, Los Angeles, CA

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Update June 2023: This interview is included along with 40+ others in my forthcoming book ‘Pledging My Time: Conversations with Bob Dylan Band Members.’ Buy it now as hardcover, paperback, or ebook here!

On today’s date in 1999, Bob Dylan made one of the most surprising appearances of his entire career, popping up unannounced on ‘90s sitcom Dharma & Greg.

Though on a certain level there’s probably no good answer to the obvious question - why? - Dylan did have a connection on the show. One of the show’s writers, Eddie Gorodetsky, was friendly with Dylan (he would go on to produce Theme Time Radio Hour). The show made the ask, Bob’s manager asked for tapes of a couple episodes, and a month later he agreed.

The clip of Dylan’s appearance is below. I watched the entire episode - not something I’d necessarily recommend - to put it in context. Dylan’s appearance comes right at the end. It has practically nothing to do with the episode’s central plot: Dharma (played by Jenna Elfman) joins a teenage boy’s rock band until one of their moms kicks her out. The mom (played by Jane Lynch) is treated like a buzzkill, but, honestly, I’m on her side. Why are you trying to hang out with a bunch of kids half your age, Dharma? Weird.

Anyway, the plot wraps up with three minutes left to go. Then, out of nowhere, Dharma tells Greg, “Oh, by the way, I’ve got another audition.” Cue this final scene:

Yep, that’s it. Bob gets in a couple jokes - totally unable to keep a straight face - but much of his appearance is simply the band jamming. It feels especially odd in context; 20 minutes of snappy sitcom editing followed by a few minutes of musical ambling. But since it is a live musical performance, it qualifies for this newsletter.

I wanted to learn more about what that day was like, so I spoke with one of the band members, John Fields. He plays organ, having never met Bob before. Here’s John in between Bob and T-Bone Burnett: