When legendary local journalist Brandy Simms wished Arsenio Hall a happy 70th birthday on Facebook, he also asked a great question… “Who remembers an episode of Hall’s late-night talk show that was filmed right here in Montgomery County?” That curiosity sent us digging into one of the more fun and unusual TV moments in local history.
The episode was taped at a private home in Derwood on August 13th, 1993, turning a quiet Montgomery County neighborhood into a full-blown late-night television set. Guests for the night included DC native musical artist Johnny Gill, actor and comedian Bobcat Goldthwait, and legendary singer Patti LaBelle.
The Montgomery County taping was the result of Hall’s nationwide “Arsenio in the House” contest, which invited viewers to send in videos explaining why the show should be taped at their home. According to 1993 reporting from the South Florida Sun Sentinel, thousands of entries poured in, but the winning pitch came from the Payton family of Montgomery County, proprietors of Peachee Klene carpet and upholstery cleaning service.
Their secret weapon was simple and very Maryland. They promised a crab feast. “They uttered the magic words … Maryland crabs!” Hall said in a statement released by his publicist at the time. “‘Nuff said. I am not going to DisneyLAND, I’m going to MaryLAND.”
Hall made the winning call live on his August 4 show, personally telling Freddie Payton and his family they had been selected. Payton, 47 at the time, later said the family was so excited they whooped and yelled so loudly that Hall had trouble hearing him on the phone. “It was very exciting,” Payton said, noting the only famous person he had ever met before was Baltimore Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke. “He was himself, there was no phoniness.”
On taping day, Hall arrived with his house band, the Posse, a few hundred audience members, and a sizable production crew armed with lights, cables, and plenty of gaffer tape. The show was taped at the Paytons’ four-bedroom brick home around 7pm and aired that same night in its usual 11pm time slot.
The Payton household at the time included Freddie’s wife, Selena, then 48, an administrator for C&P Telephone Co., and their two children, Freddie Jr., 27, who worked as a supermarket cashier, and Devin, 19, who was preparing to start his freshman year at Old Dominion University.
There was also a brief and unrelated bit of controversy surrounding the taping. On the same day the episode was filmed, the Four Seasons Hotel in Georgetown, where Hall was staying, was surrounded by police after a guest allegedly threatened another person with a handgun and refused to come out of his room. A police official confirmed that Hall was registered at the hotel but was not there at the time of the incident, according to the Washington Post.
More than three decades later, the idea of a major late-night talk show broadcasting from a living room in Derwood feels almost surreal, but it remains a uniquely Montgomery County moment. All it took was the promise of Maryland crabs to bring late-night TV home. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to find a recording of the show.
