Thank you so much for posting this! I not only saw the episode of Mr. Wizard (I believe I was 9 at the time) but also destroyed a whole bunch of bananas in the process (my mom was not pleased). No matter how clean the needle, the banana will always have brown spots where the needle goes through. Unless the banana is pretty old to begin with, I can't foresee anyone falling for this 'trick'.
Master, I have acheived laying in sun looking for a stomach rub enlightment. Do you think I am ready to move on to laying on people who are uncomfortable with me?