Question: In Dan's office, there's a framed picture of a woman (on the wall next to the window, seen when being interviewed). Who is she? Dan's mother was played by Jeannette Nolan in one episode, but I can't tell if that's a picture of her.
Bishop73
27th Jan 2024
Night Court (1984)
23rd Jan 2024
Night Court (1984)
22nd Jan 2024
Family Guy (1999)
Ocean's Three and a Half - S7-E7
Question: In Stewie's music video, there are scenes that seem to be a reference or parody of other music videos, like the part made from Lego being from a White Stripes video. What are the other references and which part are original (i.e., made up)? Like, I don't imagine there's a music video where someone's nipples become faces, but maybe I'm wrong. Is there another music video that uses pencil drawings because it doesn't feel like A-ha's video?
1st Dec 2023
General questions
In some English shows or movies, sometimes there's a scene where an English speaker can't understand a foreigner because of the language they're speaking. Like "I'm sorry, I don't speak/understand German." So what happens when these shows or movies get translated/dubbed into that foreign language? So in my example, if it was dubbed into German, would they dub all the German lines into a different language, like French?
1st Dec 2023
General questions
In shows or movies with some sort of "universal translator" (like "Star Trek" or "Doctor Who"), there is often a scene where a character says he or she is hearing whatever foreign/alien language being spoken is in English. Then it's explained it's just being translated into English. So when these scenes are dubbed into foreign languages, do the voice-over actors change the word "English" into whatever language it's being dubbed into?
10th Aug 2023
Coming to America (1988)
Question: When Akeem tells the taxi to halt at the airport, there's something red on the hood. What is it? It looks like something to mount a camera on that was left on, but I'm not sure. Is it something taxi/NYC related?
Answer: That is the taxi medallion, a license for the driver to operate the yellow cab. All NYC yellow taxi cabs must have one of these metal plates (there are different types) affixed to the hood of their NYC yellow taxi. This particular type is the red apple medallion.
10th May 2023
General questions
Has anyone noticed a trend of actors (especially A-listers) becoming producers on projects they're not otherwise involved in (no cameo or directing credits)? It just seemed that not too long ago, an actor would only produce a project he or she was starring in; or for TV shows, would later on become a producer. And I understand it can be a way to make money or is something they're passionate about, so why weren't they doing it before as much? Or am I just reading into too small a sample size?
Answer: This is not a new phenomenon. IMDb lists 28 producing credits for Michael Douglas, including many he did not star in such as One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Starman, and Face/Off.
21st Apr 2023
Seinfeld (1990)
Question: At the end, when Susan comes back and says she's been thinking about the wedding, and George has his hand on her shoulder, there's a framed picture (or painting) on the wall. What is it a picture of or suppose to be? (I'm sure the picture is in other episodes, this is just where I noticed it and it's fully in the shot.
10th Apr 2023
General questions
Are "TPS" reports a thing in the real world? It seems that ever since "Office Space", a variety of shows have employees or bosses mentioning "TPS" reports, the latest being "Titans" and "The Mandalorian." Or did Mike Judge make it up and everyone else throws it in as a joke?
Answer: They're real. TPS stands for test procedure specification. However, I suspect their use in other shows was inspired by "Office Space."
1st Apr 2023
Total Recall (1990)
Question: In the opening scene in the bedroom, after Doug wakes up, there's a poster over the bed. Where is it from? Or what does it mean? It looks like 160+ eggs with small markings on them, and some with no markings.
Answer: It's not a poster. It looks to be an original abstract piece of sculptural art. I tried to find out who the artist was, but couldn't find any online information. The piece may have been created for the movie. Artists usually convey some theme or concept in their work, but whatever it is in this piece is unknown. Of course, non-objective abstract art is also subjective to the viewer's own interpretation. I'm going to keep looking for more info, as I'm curious.
20th Mar 2023
Smallville (2001)
Question: Why does Clark keep burning his "S" symbol on the sides of buildings after saving someone? I get him doing it under the influence of red kryptonite, but at this point it just seems like vandalism that Superman would never do. Clark even saw Chloe having to scrub his mark off the wall of Watchtower, which wasn't an easy task. And if it's meant to be a symbol of hope against crime for the people of Metropolis, why burn it into the side of the refinery in Smallville after putting out the fire?
15th Feb 2023
General questions
How come in many animated TV series, during the end credits, the individual voice actors aren't credited with the character (s) they voiced? Movies do, even if one person voices multiple characters. For example, Dan Castellaneta is credited in "The Simpsons", but not as "Homer." But in "The Simpsons Movie" they show all the characters he voiced. And how did viewers know who voiced whom before sites like IMDb were around? Or how did people creating and editing IMDb find the information?
14th Jan 2023
Smallville (2001)
Question: In this episode, Lionel falls to his death. While still on the steps, covered with a tarp, the cop tells Lex that she needs a positive identification, so Lex must look at the dead body to confirm it's Lionel. Lionel was a well known public figure, and they obviously knew who he was well enough to get Lex to identify him. I've seen cops do this in other shows, so is it really a policy or practice to get family members to give a positive identification? Would they ever ask for it at the scene?
Answer: This is a common TV/movie trope that sets up a dramatic "reveal." It mostly streamlines the plot and eliminates the need to film an entirely separate scene. In real life, identity is handled at the morgue. A photograph of the corpse would be shown to family, a close friend, or other associate. This is done in a visitor's room and not in the lab. The family can supply photos that the coroner could compare with the body. A person's identity can be verified by other physical traits-birthmarks, scars, medical conditions, etc. In extreme cases, DNA testing would be used.
14th Jan 2023
The Pink Panther (2006)
28th Dec 2022
Smallville (2001)
Question: Ignoring the meteor metahuman powers, couldn't Jonathan Kent say the signature was a forgery, and he didn't sign it? It didn't seem to be notarized. He doesn't remember signing it or know what Rickman said to him to get him to sign it, so what would the courts or a lawyer say if Kent just said that's not his signature, or he didn't sign it? And how ironclad could the contract be without the date filled out?"Twentieth" day is typed out, but the month and year is blank.
28th Dec 2022
Smallville (2001)
Question: How realistic is Lana's physical therapy scene? She says she broke her leg in 4 places and hasn't walked in a month. She's seen struggling to walk using the metal bars to support herself, which Adam seems to suggest she could do "another lap" but that she quit. But then after struggling to walk, she's given her crutches and the therapist leaves, leaving her to walk on her own with crutches. If she struggled with the bars, could she use crutches? Or would she be in a wheelchair?
11th Dec 2022
General questions
In some movies/shows, a "bad guy" will visit someone in the hospital with the intent of killing them. One method is to smother them with a pillow until they die. Often their death is signified by us hearing the heart monitor beeping normally and then flatlining. But in reality, if someone was hooked up to hospital monitors, wouldn't other alarms go off as they struggle to breathe before they die? Wouldn't their heart-rate increase in the panic? Doesn't disconnecting monitors set off alarms?
Answer: Absolutely. If the person is awake whilst being smothered and hooked on to a monitoring machine, both heart rate and blood pressure will skyrocket whilst the smothering is taking place. This will send nurses rushing in. It's a common mistake in movies. Unplugging the devices will also indeed trigger alarms. Only thing you can do is turning the machine off properly (if possible without triggering anything) and do the deed before people come to check. If someone is in a coma though, the only alarm that might go off is the heart monitor when the heart stops. Then again, a coma patient usually is attached to a breathing apparatus. Detaching that also gives off alarms. Another far fetched solution is putting the devices on yourself before killing a patient. Or simply setting off a bomb or something.
Answer: They could time it so no-one would be at the nurse's station, do it quickly before anyone arrives or have someone stand outside the door as look out. Also make it look like a natural causes.
11th Oct 2022
Morbius (2022)
Question: Did I miss something in the film? It seems that the artificial blood's effect is slowly losing its ability, implying Morbius will have to drink human blood. But he'd rather die than turn into a murderous monster. So why doesn't he just drink donated human blood? He doesn't have to murder anyone for that. Did he try drinking animal blood, such as pig's blood? Or is he suggesting when he drinks human blood, that makes him murderous? And drinking artificial blood keeps him from wanting to kill?
Answer: He still had a compassionate side, the donated blood was for people who had blood diseases. The reason he did all this in the first place. As for animal blood, that's only for undead vampires, he was a living vampire, who needed specific fresh blood to combat his disease. Plus, vampires drinking animal blood was made up in movies and TV shows.
13th Sep 2022
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
Question: I tried to read up on what kind of accent Russell Crowe was doing, I assumed it was a Greek accent. But I don't know the accent well enough to know if it come across authentic or sounding like a stereotype. How realistic is his accent? Does it sound natural to someone who is Greek? At times, it sounded like someone does a bad Italian accent by pretending to be Mario.
Answer: I can't say how authentic Crowe's accent was, but to me it sounded like an Aussie Greek accent. There were some popular Greek comedy characters on Aussie TV in the 80s when Crowe started acting. Some were caricatures, and some exaggerating their own ethnic backgrounds, and they were generally good-natured portrayals. Crowe being a New Zealander who worked in Australia, may have been influenced by them.
26th Aug 2022
Kevin Can Wait (2016)
Question: Kevin is wearing a T-shirt that says "Long Island" with some sort of mascot on it. At first I thought it was Dumbo with the big ears, but it looks like a mouse with a hat on (I'm assuming those are whiskers and not 6 legs of an insect.) What is this animal suppose to be? A character or mascot from some show, team, restaurant, etc? Or just a silly shirt with a random silly animal? Has anyone seen it sold anywhere?
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Answer: It really depends on the show and the circumstances. In the Airplane! movie, for instance, the Black characters speak with a thick Bavarian accent in Germany and a thick Neapolitan accent in Italian dubs. In some Spanish dubs, however, I've heard characters say 'I don't speak Spanish' in Spanish. It's understood by the audience that the characters are actually speaking English.
Brian Katcher