In 1990, a young(er) Bill O'Reilly took a seat at the soda fountain at Schwab's Drug Store and ordered his usual: A root beer float topped with Gummi Bears ("Only the green ones, you idiot!" he reminded the clerk, "Does that look green to you!?") and served with a spoon so shiny O'Reilly could gaze at his own reflection while slurping down the treat.
As it happens, a big-time Fox News Network executive was passing by when he noticed the wild-eyed man at the drug store counter, and the sight of O'Reilly made him stop in his tracks. There was just something about him—the pure flames of ego flickering behind his eyes, the jaw clenched in anger even as he sipped a root beer float, the way he would stare into the shiny spoon and endlessly fluff his thinning hair—this man had "it." So the Fox News Network executive triumphantly swung open the Drug Store door, took a seat on the stool next to O'Reilly, and whispered in his ear, "Hey Kid. How'd you like to be a star?" O'Reilly spit in his face out of pure instinct. And with that, Fox News Network's angriest bloviator was born.
Either that, or someone at Fox saw this clip of O'Reilly erupting at everyone and everything around him as an anchor on Inside Edition, and said, "He'll do."
I love the silent tantrum at the end of this clip: it's like O'Reilly is dancing to song made out of rage that only he can hear.