On the podcast episode, the group gets around to discussing a scene where Dennis (Howerton) asks Mac (McElhenney) to feel his nipples because they’re as hard as “diamonds” and “could cut glass,” all in anticipation of hunting down Rickety Cricket (David Hornsby). Frank is already upset about the guy’s intent to hunt a man, claiming the plot of “First Blood” as his own past, but he’s also totally perplexed by the whole nipple-rubbing display. McElhenney explains to the listeners that DeVito would ask, “Your generation and your idea of what’s funny, what is this?” with regards to them touching one another’s nipples (and balls, according to Olson). Howerton apparently took it a step further, teasing DeVito by touching the elder actor himself:
“I would occasionally, every once in a while, just touch Danny’s nipples to see how he — […] He hated it. He f***in’ hated it. But then eventually he realized that I was getting too much satisfaction from him hating it. […] So he had to start letting me.”
Howerton’s trolling managed to make it into the series, albeit through another person touching him instead of the other way around. While DeVito may not have understood the humor, many fans did, and “Mac and Dennis: Manhunters” is a beloved early episode.
