I spent New Year’s Eve at a friend’s house, playing a little low-stakes poker with a group of folks that included my wife and brother-in-law. Our plan was to leave in time to get back home by midnight, but the game dragged on just a little bit and we missed by a few minutes.

As a result, on the way home, we tuned to CNN via satellite radio to hear the Times Square ball drop. Hosting the event for CNN were Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin, the oddest couple imaginable for hosting a television event of any kind.

Adding to the joy: They started reading Tweets on the air. That’s when the payoff came.

“Anderson, one of our Twitter users wants to know: What’s your ‘safe word’?” Griffin asked.

I have looked around desperately for actual video of that moment and have yet to find it. The dead silence from Cooper on the radio feed was worth a million bucks, though.