His big break came on HBO's "Rodney Dangerfield's Ninth Annual Young Comedians Special" in August 1985. After noting the performance of Bob Nelson, reviewer Stephen Holden of "The New York Times" wrote, "the most interesting of the other eight comedians is the savagely misogynistic Sam Kinison. Mr. Kinison specializes in a grotesque animalist howl that might be described as the primal scream of the married man." Later, during Kinison's appearance on "Late Night with David Letterman" in 1985, Letterman's introduction of Kinison warned his audience, "Brace yourselves. I'm not kidding. Please welcome Sam Kinison."