1994 produced one of the most memorable moments in The Tonight Show's history. The specific episode is well remembered for an on-air fight between Marc Summers and Burt Reynolds. Both of them engaged in a verbal altercation before a bizarre pie fight broke out.
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For years, fans have stated that the incident was scripted. That The Tonight Show had the two go at it for entertainment purposes. However, when speaking with PEOPLE, Summers pushed back on the narrative that his head-to-head with Reynolds was a ruse. Instead, he explained how and why things went down.
"My entire life, I wanted to be on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. I was obsessed with Johnny and I got to interview him. I was working at a radio station in Indianapolis when I was 15, WBMP FM, which I did on weekends, and by the way, when I left BMP, a guy by the name of Dave Letterman took my place," Summers said.
While Summers' dream of getting onto the show with Carson never came true, the opportunity to appear with Jay Leno did arise. Unfortunately for Summers, things didn't go as planned, which is what ultimately led to his run-in with Reynolds.
"Burt started to make fun of me, and I said I was a neatness fanatic," Summers recalled. "He said, 'Who told you you were a neatness fanatic?' and I said, 'My wife did,' and then I said, 'and by the way, I'm still married.' Well, the whole audience went, 'Whoa,' and he had a glass of water and he poured it in my crotch. And then I tried to counteract that and take the water and pour it in his crotch, and he straight-armed me, and he hit me in the face with the cup."
Things Escalated Between Marc Summers and Burt Reynolds
For whatever reason, Leno decided to bring out some pies. The idea was that the pies would be used in a physical challenge. Reynolds and Summers clearly had other ideas.
"All hell broke loose after that. Jay brought out some pies, and we got into a massive pie fight," Summers said. "It was not fixed. Trust me. I was fighting for my life on that show, and, yeah, this is what happened. We got into a pie fight," he said. "Dave Letterman was beating Jay every night; that's the first night that Jay tied Letterman, and, yeah, it was a night I'll never forget."
Sometimes, unscripted television can go off the rails. It's even worse when recorded in front of a live audience. So, while Summers did get to live out his dream of appearing on The Tonight Show, it certainly wasn't what he planned.
Now, that episode will always hold a special place in television history, for all the wrong reasons.
