Remembering When Bob Dylan Popped up Out of Nowhere on a Sitcom in 1999

Bob Dylan made an unexpected appearance on the sitcom *Dharma & Greg* on 12 October 1999, despite being at a career high after the acclaim and Grammy success of *Time Out of Mind*. The cameo stood out because he had little apparent need for publicity and the show was an unlikely setting for the celebrated musician.

The appearance came about after Jenna Elfman, who played Dharma, asked to perform drums on the programme; the writers gave her character a job with Dylan’s band. Dylan agreed after a request from his friend and the show’s writer Eddie Gorodetsky, and T Bone Burnett helped assemble the musicians. The cast improvised during a roughly two-hour session, with just over three minutes used in the episode; Dylan kept the unused tapes, later returning them to Elfman.