Best TV questions of 1979

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The Facts of Life picture

Shoplifting - S2-E6

Question: Jo, Blair, Natalie, and Tootie look for a birthday present for Mrs. Garrett. When they find a shirt for her, Jo decides to try it on. When she comes out of the dressing room to show it off, why did a security guard immediately walk up to them?

Answer: The dramatic reason is to move the plot along. But in real life, store workers can be suspicious of groups of teens because of the perceived higher risk of Shoplifting. So the security guard may have seen them go into the changing room and decided to see what they were up to.

Answer: To let them know one of the exits was blocked off and told them to use the other one. Oh and Blair wasn't with them - she bought her own gift for Mrs. Garrett.

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The Ropers picture

Show generally

Question: In the pilot episode, Helen says to Stanley that he's now going to have to get a job (assuming to afford living in this pricey townhome), but throughout the entire two-season series, Stanley is shown never getting a job and sits around at home all the time. How did they never run out of money?

Answer: Assuming they made enough income from rentals fees, Helen may have wanted Stanley to find a job solely to get him out of the house and out of her hair. Many women dislike having their husbands home all the time, and, if they're retired, encourage them to find some work or activity outside of the house.

raywest

That's possible, though a bit doubtful since they lived in their old apartment building (the Three's Company one) for 14 years. That was 14 years of Stanley being at home without Helen wanting him to get a job "away from home."

She also isn't shown telling him to get a job for any reason after the pilot episode. Rather than continually nagging him, Helen apparently accepted that he wasn't going to get one. Also, it's a TV show. Writers continually change character dynamics, plot lines, running gags, etc. as the show progresses, which can create either deliberate or unintentional inconsistencies. It was probably something the writers saw no reason to pursue.

raywest

Answer: He owned the entire apartment complex in "Three's Company." Even the sales prices back in the 1970's were in the millions.

But if that's the case, why would Helen tell Stanley he'd have to get a job when they first moved to their new place? Even Stanley gave a worried look when he was questioned that. If they had all money, that scene would not have taken place and Helen never would have brought that up.

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The Dukes of Hazzard picture

Double Sting - S1-E13

Question: In this episode, Jessie, ticked off that he had to pay the boy's bail, says that the mortgage payment has to be made to Jason Higgins. I thought that J.D. Hogg held the mortgage to the Duke farm. Has my memory got a hole in it?

Answer: Hogg didn't own the farm and hold the mortgage until that episode. He says that he "bought aII Jason's hoIdings Iast week", but the Dukes didn't know about it and thought they still had to pay Higgins.

Sierra1

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