David Letterman and the Gnat Who Sank the Love Boat

The idea was simple, Jimmy Carter, former president of the United States, was right across the hall plugging his new book on a local chat show called Live at Five, so why not take a camera across the way and interview him — just like that. No preparation, no announcement. Just like that. It was not even a new idea: Late Night with David Letterman had raided Live at Five before — surprising Sophia Loren as she smoked a cigarette, stealing the Stanley Cup from the New York Islanders, spray-painting the Live at Five door so Letterman could demonstrate an organic paint remover made from orange peels. But at about a quarter after five, fifteen minutes before Late Night was to be taped, Letterman was saying he didn't want to interview Carter. "What will I do?" he asked. "Sure, it sounds like fun, but I don't exactly see where the fun comes in."

There was a backup segment ready, "Brush with the Law," in which audience members would tell weird police stories, but "Brush with the Law" had been done before, and face it — Jimmy Carter was across the hall. He had even agreed to the encounter, asking only, "What is David going to do?" Barry Sand, the producer of Late Night, replied, "I don't have a clue, Mr. President." And Carter said, laughing, "That's pretty much the appeal of the show, isn't it?" So Carter was willing, but Letterman, who admits to having "more apprehensions than the average medium-sized American community," wasn't. "What is my angle?" he kept asking. "What's the joke?"

Finally, with only ten minutes to spare, something clicked. "I know," Letterman said. "I'll bring Al Frisch over to meet Jimmy Carter." Everyone agreed, and at 5:40, Letterman took Al Frisch, a shy audio technician, out the door and across the hallway to meet former president Jimmy Carter. Paul Shaffer and the band played "Hail to the Chief," and Letterman practically begged a Secret Service agent to frisk him. Then a dressing-room door opened, and there was Carter, amiable and polite, with a copy of his new book nearby. He shook Al Frisch's hand and told David, "This will make my day with Amy. Being president isn't much, but being on the David Letterman show is something." The crowd went wild, Al Frisch looked confused, and Letterman was clearly pleased.

"If you're going to talk to Jimmy Carter," he said afterward, "you just have to bring Al Frisch. And whatever that detail is, where you bring along Al Frisch, that detail is this show."