Inspired by Cracked.com’s article on publicity stunts that fooled everyone (can we throw the Heidi & Spencer shenanigans in there as well, or is that just really good ‘reality TV’ writing?), I thought it was time to reminisce on the career of Geraldo Rivera. The man is a legend not so much for his reporting, but for his sensationalism, and because of that his career is earmarked by some classic moments caught on tape. Here are five of them.

Geraldo has his nose broken by a flying chair. I mean what do you expect when you put skinheads up on stage and spewing hate at everyone? Naturally someone is going to get pissed off, a fight will break out, and when that happens the first thing the skinheads are looking for is a chair and Geraldo’s mustache.

Hurricane Ike Turner takes out Geraldo on live TV. We get it, there’s a lot of rain, a lot of wind, and lots of flooding. Was there really a need for him to be out there other than to fall down on live TV?

Geraldo opens up Al Capone’s empty vault on live TV. Oops, there’s nothing but an old stop sign and a couple bottles of Gin. Sounds a lot like the vault I have in my apartment that I refer to as “The Fridge”.

Geraldo uses journalism as an excuse to smoke Pot on camera. Cut him some slack, he had medical professionals there and it was in the name of science and journalism. How else would we ever get to the bottom of whether or not Pot makes you feel funny? The government? Pffft.

Geraldo “conveniently” spots a man in distress during Hurricane Gustav. A man with a life preserver on, and a line attaching him to a boat. Nice try Geraldo.