PIERRE BERTON VS. THE CUISINART
The real-life Canadian inspiration behind a riotously famous TV gag.
SAVE THE LIVER!
During his stint on Saturday Night Live, Ottawa-born Dan Aykroyd famously parodied Julia Child in a 1978 sketch where the TV chef cut the dickens out of her finger and proceeded to bleed all over her kitchen set. Although fellow chef Jacques Pepin has claimed that the sketch was based on a real incident which took place while he and Child were prepping for an appearance on Tomorrow with Tom Snyder, a not-entirely-dissimilar situation—this one in front of the camera—unfolded during an episode of CBC-TV’s 90 Minutes Live.
Host Peter Gzowski’s guests that evening were comedian David Steinberg and esteemed journalist Pierre Berton, with Berton taking the opportunity to demonstrate the then-new Cuisinart and its remarkable ability to simplify the process of making scalloped potatoes. In the process of slicing spuds, however, Berton accidentally sliced two of his fingers open while trying to stop the device’s blade. “Now, you see, that’s what you shouldn’t do,” muttered Berton before quickly asking the age-old question, “Is there a doctor in the house?”
A BLOODY MESS
Attempting to laugh it off, Berton continued onward with his potato preparations, but Gzowski’s nervousness about the increasing amount of blood was palpable. Steinberg quipped, “I think I’ll pass on eating those potatoes, thanks,” but only in an effort to keep things light after having already nervously suggested that Berton slip backstage to have someone look at his wound. Although citing the classic line “the show must go on,” Gzowski nonetheless cut to commercial. The following evening, Berton reappeared on the show, his fingers profoundly bandaged, and soldiered on with the demonstration, but the original moment of bloodshed remains a highlight of Canadian TV history.
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