32 Years Ago, Burt Reynolds Got Into a Real On-Air Fight With a Nickelodeon Host on βThe Tonight Showβ
On October 17, 1994, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno welcomed Burt Reynolds and the host of Nickelodeonβs Double Dare, Marc Summers. Reynolds was going through a divorce with Loni Anderson at the time, and was reportedly unhappy that Leno had made light of the situation. For whatever reason, when Summers was brought on toward the end of the episode, Reynolds decided to take his frustration out on him, of all people. Though the pairβs exchanges were amusing enough at first, things quickly escalated when Summers refused to back down from Reynoldsβs taunts.
Summers started off by revealing that, despite all the messy stunts featured on Double Dare, he was actually a neatness fanatic. He then described a segment heβd previously put together for the show, telling Leno and Reynolds, βWe once filled a container with 4,000 pounds of baked beans and made kids dive into it, which was great.β But before he could finish his sentence, Reynolds sarcastically replied, βGee, I wish Iβd seen that.β Apparently, in Summersβs mind, the gloves were off at that point.
Burt Reynolds Once Got Into a Bizarre On-Air Fight With βDouble Dareβ Host Marc Summers
After Reynolds asked Summers who told him he was a neatness freak, Summers replied, βMy wife tells me that often,β adding, βIβm still married, as a matter of fact.β Reynolds then proceeded to pour the water from his coffee mug into Summersβs lap. Summers attempted to retaliate with his own drink, but Reynolds just smacked the mug out of his hand, soaking Summers even further. βYouβre not a neatness freak anymore,β Reynolds quipped.
Some other uncomfortable moments followed, and Summers eventually got his revenge by dousing Reynolds with water when he wasnβt expecting it. This all culminated in the staff bringing out pies for the two to settle their score with. However, Reynolds had the upper hand there, too, and hit Summers so hard with a pie that he nearly knocked him off of his feet. According to Summers, the legendary incident wasnβt staged, and ultimately resulted in Leno tying David Letterman in the ratings for the first time.
You can check out the full segment for yourself below.
The post 32 Years Ago, Burt Reynolds Got Into a Real On-Air Fight With a Nickelodeon Host on βThe Tonight Showβ appeared first on VICE.
