This question has been plaguing my husband and I for about 10 years
now (sad, I know!).  There is a movie that has a "crazy,
plays-by-his-own rules" cop with a more straight-laced partner.  The
"crazy" one ends up going up to the roof of a building to talk a jumper
down.  He takes up a brown paper bag with him, telling some who asks
that it's "lunch".  When he gets up there, he ends up dropping the
contents of the bag, which is actually a watermelon, over the side of
the building.  The "jumper", upon seeing the watermelon smash open,
decides he no longer wants to jump.  What movie is this from???  We're
pretty sure it's a movie, but since no one has been able to come up
with a title, I'm starting to wonder if it was a tv show.  If so,
which one?  What episode?

The scene you've described is from the "Hooperman," a wonderful but
short-lived television series that starred the late, great John
Ritter. I believe the watermelon incident occurred in the pilot
episode.

"It had some very fine moments indeed; my favorite being where
Hooperman convinces a would be suicide jumper to leave his perch by
demonstrating what the impact on the human body would be by using a
watermelon as an example. I think this is entertainment industry's
best effort in dealing with suicidal jumpers, besting even Mel
Gibson's madman tactics in Lethal Weapon."

Jump the Shark: Hooperman
http://www.jumptheshark.com/h/hooperman.htm

"I still remember him from the dramedy 'Hooperman,' in which his
character convinced a suicidal jumper not to jump by dropping a
watermelon from the ledge, pointing at the smashed and pulped remains,
and saying, 'Is that really what you want to wind up looking like'?"

PeterDavid.net: A Couple of Johns
http://peterdavid.malibulist.com/archives/000925.html

"It had some very fine moments indeed; my favorite being where
Hooperman convinces a would be suicide jumper to leave his perch by
demonstrating what the impact on the human body would be by using a
watermelon as an example."

Rotten Eggs: "Hooperman" (1987)
http://www2.rotteneggs.com/r/show/se/219666.html

My Google search strategy:

Google Web Search: hooperman watermelon jump OR jumper
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=hooperman+watermelon+jump+OR+jumper

I hope this helps! If this is not the correct show, or if anything is
unclear or incomplete, please request clarification; I'll be glad to
offer further assistance before you rate my answer.

Best regards,
pinkfreud

---

Clarification of Answer by pinkfreud-ga on 23 Jan 2006 15:50 PST

Please excuse an editing error on my part. My first sentence, "The
scene you've described is from the 'Hooperman..." should read "The
scene you've described is from 'Hooperman..."

I have no idea how that extra "the" snuck in there!

~pinkfreud

Thank you, thank you, thank you!  Peace at last! ;)