Fan Request: The $41,000 Pumpkin Cannon Fail | Letterman

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 [e-mail]
#PumpkinCannon #FanFriday #Letterman
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[@elec123]

I miss ending my evenings with Dave.

[@HipsterDoofus100]

That what his female employee say

[@r.edward5701]

@@HipsterDoofus100 sick burn...

[@Animal_lives_matter]

Today's late night hosts are a bunch of wet noodles trying to score political points. Pretty pathetic actually.

[@r.edward5701]

@@Animal_lives_matter I can't believe Colbert... refering to high gas prices....

[@Youngstown529]

There has never been a better late night host than Mr. David Letterman. I treasure our many years together!

[@Heyjuststfu]

“Go ahead and jump sir” joke is underrated.

[@NoOne-kr4jc]

Great joke

[@caesandraseawell1518]

“It’s not like we do this show at noon.”😂

[@billnix1864]

Have seen the Aludium Q36 perform in person a couple of times in Illinois. When there was a pause in the distance competition, they put an old car out in the field about 100 yards or so from the cannon. The Q36 lowered the barrel and fired a few pumpkins at the car. Did an impressive amount of damage--very entertaining.

[@benjaminabercrombie6807]

Now all we need is a compilation of Dave freaking out over Nine Inch Nails the week after Woodstock 94.

[@emilegeorge6225]

That epic music at the moment of the launch already had me laughing like crazy. But then showing that ridicious amount of $41,000 just killed me. Pure gold this segment.

[@Jericho5255]

I'm literally crying here, this is so hilarious! Failure = Comedy

[@craigrussell3062]

"But Max, seriously, all kidding aside, have you ever killed a guy?"

[@GrymWorks-A.I.]

And, Of course the name of the launcher is a nod to WB's Marvin The Martins *Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator*

[@PIXPromosMore]

I remember a Similar bit that aired on Halloween of 1995; only instead of a Cannon, the Pumpkin Launcher was more of a Slingshot...I also remember one of the pumpkins hitting a Taxi, and Dave casually yelling "LAWSUIT!"

[@bodyslamhimjeff]

This is a great example of making hilarious comedy from nothing happening. $41,000 worth? Arguably!

[@DaneOrschlovsky]

This stunt is undoubtedly in the All-Time Late Night Top Ten Stupid Human Tricks

[@ruthecker399]

love dave miss him

[@MrEScience]

I imagined one of the specks of dust on my phone was the pumpkin soaring majestically. 10/10

[@johncornell3665]

So awesome. Thanks Dave!

[@GoLightly01100]

THANK YOU!! I needed that!

[@tonygunk6795]

I miss TV like this man, it sucks now

[@mhmrules]

I saw the pumpkins at the very end. XD

[@gluecement]

I didn't realize the killer from the Halloween movies was such a big fan of Letterman.

[@whoamellie5610]

Ha ha, good call 😅😅 What's also funny, is that today your comment is 2 comments underneath the Mike Myers who submitted this request! 😝 I was wagering if 'Mike Myers' was possibly the actor we all know from 90s SNL, Wayne's World, and Shrek 😄 Apparently he's not that one either, at least by his picture, haha

[@sugarmuffin319]

"this thing is huge and it shoots pumpkins" What could POSSIBLY go wrong?

[@hamsandwichson]

This was definitely worth $41000!

[@mikemyersmusic]

Hey, Thanks Walter! Told you it was hilarious!

[@davewestner]

The music at 6:13 is brilliantly funny

[@kerryrobinson9947]

Gotta feel sorry for the pumpkins. 🎃

[@bluebear1985]

1:00 Dave loves saying that name, doesn't he?😁

[@UberNeuman]

What would have made this bit great is if they had those cheap tiny gopro cameras that could be attached to the pumpkin, and oh, some daylight. lol.

[@patriciamorgan6545]

OK, we'll just have them redo this bit, now that GoPros have been invented.

[@UberNeuman]

@@patriciamorgan6545 - lol.

[@andrewharris3293]

My remaining mortage is $40,925. Dave: if you send $41,000 to me, I will pay off my mortgage and spend $75 on pumpkins. Then I will set them on fire and send the footage to you. Thanks.

[@84CJ7]

Love it Dave good stuff.✌✌✌✌

[@ysgdhio]

Juan Pablo Montoya!!! :-)

[@bluebear1985]

$41,000 for this? Man, that probably would have bought at least a couple of cars to give away on "The Price is Right". 😁

[@hinthegroove9740]

Juan Pablo Montoya!😂

[@bluebear1985]

If you thought this was a disappointment, they had Regis Philbin scheduled on the show for the following night. 😁 Seriously though, I'm surprised they didn't take into account how dark it would be at that hour.

[@matthewpaluch777]

🤔reminds me of Evel Knievel & his jump over the Snake River Canyon jump.

[@commieRob]

Things going wrong we're always the best segments on David Letterman. But, honestly, I thought the pumpkin looked pretty cool. The way it disappeared into the darkness made it look like it was going into orbit or something.

[@peterj4741]

Letterman show was so great. He really was the perfect Late Night host. All the ones now are horrible. Kimmel obviously tries to emulate Dave to some extent and Myers is ok, but Dave was and is the gold standard.

[@DaneOrschlovsky]

You should've just stopped while you were ahead. All current late night hosts are horrible. Period.

[@peterj4741]

@@DaneOrschlovsky meh I don’t like to think in absolutes, and it sounds like you have a political point of view

[@DaneOrschlovsky]

@@peterj4741 did I say anything political? Seems like you made that jump. Maybe it's because those late night hosts are overtly political and nobody finds them funny anymore. Weird how shilling for pharmaceutical companies isn't considered comedy.

[@peterj4741]

@@DaneOrschlovsky ok, you’re right, congrats

[@4seeableTV]

@@DaneOrschlovsky "Did I say anything political??" Then goes on to say something political. You just can't fix stupid.

[@sharonsteigers4162]

41,100.00 CBS dollars, HAHAHAHAAAAA!!!! Thank you Dvid Letterman

[@matheus86871]

Man, I laughed my shit off

[@timi7844]

The joke is worth it.

[@timberwolf27]

They should of shown the landing spot, i guess they didnt really hit NJ though lol

[@MegaPianoplayer1]

Does the clip exist of Dave accidentally burping while talking? He started to say something and just belched and then covered his face while everyone laughed.

[@SaintMartins]

When i read "Cannon Fail" i thought the police would arrive & arrest them for starting a war with New Jersey.

[@QuantumBraced]

Money well spent.

[@thewrinklysheep]

Don't look directly at the pumpkin

[@andreo.7633]

I'm probably not the first to think k of this but If they got 41k for that Wouldn't they have at least some cheap Gershon of infrared pr might vision camera effect???

[@NoOne-kr4jc]

Man. What a fail.

[@Faruk_Yaz]

I wonder if Dave fired that guy too... like a pumpkin. so to speak...

[@greenspringvalley]

They couldn't film it in daylight and present it as a film segment? The money was probably in using separate trucks with wide load flag vehicles to get it there.

[@caryl2043]

Make it stop dave

[@BeerRains]

She's gone already, chief.

[@preesi1403]

Dave: "My show was lumpy and viscous" Seth Meyers: "Beautifully so..."

[@gubernatorial1723]

What a command of the language! Among other things.

[@johndavis3921]

CBS Accountant: SO How did the Pumpkin cannon thing work out? Late Show: Oh, Aaaaaah... Great CBS Accountant: Yeah, I wanted to watch But an unexpected problem occurred. Late Show: Oh, that's Okay we Understand. Things happen, but it went perrrrrrfectly. Just as we hoped. Thanks again for the $41,000.00.

[@alexmapp5444]

First

[@chiefscheider]

Didn't you get the memo, Alex? That's not a thing anymore