Only a Handful of People Know What The Pepsi Syndrome Means—Maybe Soon, Everyone Will Know

Saturday Night Live, April 7th, 1979:

Carl: There’s been an explosion in main housing.

Brian: Listen, we’ve got to release the number three or that pump’s gonna blow.

Carl: If the pump blows that could mean a meltdown.

Brian: What is happening?

Matt: I’ll tell you what’s happening. The Pepsi Syndrome.

[ shows title: “The Pepsi Syndrome” ]

Brian: Pepsi Syndrome? I’ve never heard of it.

Matt: Only a handful of people know what the Pepsi Syndrome means. Maybe soon, everyone will know it.

Carl: But, what is it?

Matt: Well, the Pepsi Syndrome. If someone spills a Pepsi on the control panel of a nuclear power reactor, the panel can short-circuit, and the whole core may melt down.

Brian: But, you spilled a Coke.

Matt: It doesn’t matter. Any cola does it.

Carl: Any cola? What about RC Cola?

Matt: Yeah, RC does it.

Brian: Canada Dry?

Matt: Sure.

Carl: 7-up?

Matt: It’s harmless. It’s an un-cola. [ smacks his hands to his forehead ] Oh, wow! I could have had a V8!

New York’s Fox 5 station today: “A United Airlines flight from Chicago to Germany was forced to make an emergency landing in Canada after a pilot spilled coffee on the plane’s radio equipment.”

Add that to the return (as if they ever went away) of 1970s-era fashions, and you just know that Jimmy Carter’s killer rabbit is warming up, just off stage.