Letterman fan Mike Myers wrote:
As a viewer of the entire run, having watched all the shows, I sort of relished the times where something would go astray and Dave was left out there all by himself to navigate the ship. I always thought that was when Dave was at his very best, and funniest, when he was put on the spot and had to come up with something. This request is in that vein.

It was fall in the late 90s, around Halloween/Thansgiving and Dave thought it would be a good idea to book a certain farmer who had a famous pumpkin cannon, to fire pumpkins into the Hudson river during the show. He planned to check in with the guy several times throughout the show. So, it was all setup. However, no one had the foresight to remember that the US had just set the clocks back for standard time. Consequently, it was dark in New York at 5:30 PM when the show taped.

So, the remote went live. There were lights on the farmer and his cannon but you couldn’t see anything other than the pumpkins flying out of the cannon.

This was one of those times where big bucks were spent getting this guy and his cannon into NYC and setup for the shot. And then there was all the time and expense it took for the show production to be setup and ready to do a live remote from the Hudson. So, the time came and the remote went live. Dave had a bunch of time on his hands with a farmer and a cannon that didn’t amount to much, in pretty much total darkness. I’m sure Dave panicked and then went into the mode that I think was him at his best. He basically interviewed the guy about his cannon and made fun of him. It was absolutely hilarious. Dave had the guy shoot some pumpkins and marveled at how impressive they looked coming out of the cannon.

I just remember this episode as one of his best. I’m sure that Dave would disagree. (From "Late Show," air date: 11/4/99)

Thanks for the deep cut, Mike! If you have a clip you’d like to see, please email us at [email protected]

#PumpkinCannon #FanFriday #Letterman

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