Tom's friendship with Al Franken nearly ended for good in the early 1990s, but in the Star Tribune, Oct 18, 2003, he claimed, "I still love Al Franken like a brother," going on to say, "I'm happy for his success. He's always been able to piss people off; now he's finally directing it at the right people. If he wants to come up and get a barbecue going, it's an open-ended invitation." They reconciled in 2001, and Franken frequently invited Tom to appear on the "The Al Franken Show" on Air America radio, where, among other characters, he portrayed a Native American who insisted that his tribe's beliefs ought to be taught alongside creationism in Christian-minded schools.