This Is What Happens When Monkeys Go On TV: Capuchin Slaps News Anchor On Air

At a live taping of "Great Day Houston," a local talk show, host Deborah Duncan got a surprise greeting from one of her special guests last week. Her visitor, a capuchin monkey named Wilson, best known for his role in the 1998 movie "Dr. Doolittle," slapped Duncan across the face during a live taping.

While "playing" before the lights, cameras and studio audience, Wilson got understandably worked up. It appears the monkey was just agitated enough when Duncan inadvertently teased him with a grape, so he reached out and whacked her on the head.

click to play video

It's great that Duncan can laugh about the experience and that "Great Day Houston" is writing off the faux pas as comical and unexpected. But it shouldn't have been either of those things. There are always risks to bringing wild animals on set, and there are always risks to forcing them to interact with untrained humans. It's lucky for both Duncan and Wilson that neither was hurt in the incident.