Question: When Colonel O'Neill is telling the scientist not to go after the unknown alien and Teal'c tells them to listen to him, he says "thank you, Rocco." Who or what is O'Neill referencing?
Bishop73
6th Jun 2021
Stargate SG-1 (1997)
5th Jun 2021
Stargate SG-1 (1997)
24th May 2021
The Dark Knight (2008)
Question: Near the beginning, when Alfred sees Bruce is not in bed, he goes to the Wayne Enterprises private property. There a weirdly shaped metal structure that looks like it's tilting over and what looks like a dilapidated building in the middle tilted to the side. What is the structure supposed to be?
Answer: It looks like a large panel on the side of the huge crane. I think it has openings for access to the crane machinery or something like that. Maybe a crane operator could describe it better but that's what it looks like to me.
17th Apr 2021
Last Man Standing (2011)
Question: Does this show have the "record" for most times they recast a main character? There's been 2 Ryans, 3 Boyds (not counting them as twins), 2 Kristins, 2 Mandys, and 2 Carol Larabees. I know there's countless shows with 1 or 2 recasts, but what other shows come close?
17th Apr 2021
Monk (2002)
Question: How exactly does Monk afford to pay Natalie? Would he still get a pension after being discharged for psychiatric reasons? Is it ever mentioned (in-universe or otherwise) if he's independently wealthy or something? On several occasions Natalie tried to get the department to pay Monk more and tells Monk he can't afford things at times or his check will bounce, like he's broke.
Answer: Like a certain Poirot, he is paid by the case and thus has a lot of cases = lots of income.
Answer: He gets paid by the city on a case by case basis, and she gets paid out of that.
Answer: He would have received a disability check, suffering from a mental illness qualifies you, the same as a physical injury, but would be limited to his therapy and living expenses.
Except he would be limited in what he could earn to receive payments and that wouldn't be enough to pay a full time employee.
17th Apr 2021
Monk (2002)
Question: Is it ever stated (in-universe or otherwise) if Natalie has a second job, or how she can afford everything, including all her new cars (I've seen her in at least 5 new cars, including an Audi)? She's always complaining she's broke, even after it's revealed she's a Davenport. But she also claims she doesn't take money from them. Plus, she's always trying to get Monk to pay her and/or pay her the full amount she's owed.
Answer: Through the entire show, I don't recall her ever mentioning another job. The two explanations I had for being able to afford those cars, was there might have been a life insurance policy after her husbands death (or Mitch left her quite a bit after he died). The other may have been she had accepted some money from her family willingly or unwillingly asked for it. But in truth, I would imagine it was for product placement in the show. Most shows like Monk tend to keep the characters moderately wealthy or financially healthy, so they can insert products or items for the characters to use. Phones, food items, cars etc.
Answer: In one of the episodes it shows her going back home and that she came from money. Her parents are wealthy. Maybe that is the answer.
But in the show after it's revealed she comes from money, she states she doesn't take money from her parents, despite still visiting them.
30th Mar 2021
Monk (2002)
Mr. Monk Goes to Jail - S2-E16
Question: I think this is a mistake, but I'm asking as a question because I don't know enough about the TV in question. In the prison library, the inmates are looking for the remote, which the librarian had hidden. But the TV looks like one where the channels can only be changed by turning the dial. It appears to be a TV with VHF and UHF dials. Can a remote be used with that type of TV?
Answer: Normally no but it could have a cable box that we can't see.
24th Mar 2021
Monk (2002)
Mr. Monk and the Leper - S5-E10
Question: At the end, when the doctor is pulling Monk up, the camera pans down well past Monk's feet, but was there a reason for that? Was there something on the cliff side the audience was supposed to see? It felt like the camera was about to linger on the weeds growing out, but then the camera angle cuts back to Monk's feet. Was there something I missed, or was it just bad/odd camera work?
Answer: From an editing background, I think it was likely to cover up the shot once Monk is being pulled up. The shot was panning down, and they likely extended the shot in the editing. The fact he was pulling up Monk with one hand is very tough to do, so they may not have had a clean shot of him pulling Adrian onto the ground. Additionally, it may have not looked right so cutting to the shot panning for a couple more seconds before showing Monks shoes would likely fit the time it would take to pull him all the way up.
27th Feb 2021
Stargate SG-1 (1997)
Question: Maybourne threatens Daniel with a court-martial if he continues to disobey orders by helping the Tollan. The driving force of him helping is the idea that since he's a civilian he can't be court-martialed. But how accurate is that? Can a civilian who works for and/or with the military be court-martialed, especially if he or she has participated in military operations? The Stargate program is essentially a black-ops program and Daniel signed an NDA, so how could he ever face a non-military court?
Answer: In real life, under certain conditions, civilians working with military forces can be required to abide by military law as well as the civilian laws of their nation. This is usually when civilians (eg. scientists, contractors, etc) are deployed for a lengthy time as part of a military force at war (or similar operations). The requirement to abide by the law is usually explained carefully to the civilian and signed before deployment. This helps fit civilians into a chain of command and maintains discipline, without having to return to courts in the home country for infractions. There may be many parts of military law that don't apply to the civilian (e.g. alcohol is forbidden to all personnel, but the civilian does not have to have a regulation haircut). Also, very serious crimes by anyone in a force may be dealt with by civilian courts, if the military can't for some reason. So it is feasible that Daniel would be subject to at least some parts of military law (and civil law too).
24th Feb 2021
The Avengers (2012)
Question: I've noticed a few times in the film they mention "Phase 2." For example, when Fury is talking to the council they bring it up and Fury says "Phase 2 isn't ready." Given that the MCU was broken up into phases, with this being the last film in Phase One (with Iron Man 3 released a year later as the first film in Phase Two), was this an inside joke or nod about the MCU phases, or just coincidence and I'm reading too much into it?
Answer: Phase 2 in the movie refers to the plan executed in Captain America: Winter Soldier, Project Insight which is their next phase for total security of Earth (along with Stark's Ultron program). It is coincidental that it is the same term used for the MCU itself.
23rd Feb 2021
Black Sheep (1996)
Question: In the film, Officer Robbie seems to have heavily modified his police cruiser, including adding nitrous. In real life, could an officer actually modify his or her vehicle, even if it's at their own expense? The examples of modified police cars I could find online are never real cop cars (they're for a car show, just a stunt, or hoax of some sort).
Answer: A major police department would probably not allow modifications to an official vehicle, even if it was assigned permanently to a particular officer, due to safety or insurance concerns. That said, many departments do use high performance or exotic vehicles seized during crimes under various forfeiture laws. Most times these are for promotional purposes, but I do know of a Florida department that used a souped-up Dodge Hemi-Charger painted in standard department livery for traffic enforcement.
24th Nov 2020
Rick and Morty (2013)
Question: I'm rewatching "Rick and Morty" on Hulu. Season 1 and 2 the cursing was bleeped but in Season 3 nothing is censored (and it seems like there's a lot more F-words, at least in the first episode). Why the change? I don't remember if Season 3 on Adult Swim was censored or not, was it? Is there an uncensored version of "Rick and Morty" Season 1 and 2 or were the bleeps intentionally put in by the show's producers and not the network? I would think if an uncensored version existed that Hulu would air that version.
26th Oct 2020
3rd Rock from the Sun (1996)
A Nightmare on Dick Street (1) - S2-E25
Question: Don says if he nabs Karl Borsky he makes detective. (I'm pretty sure I've seen other shows where a cop says if he does something or brings someone in he'll make detective, or some rank). Is that how some police departments promoted officers to detective? I thought it just a matter of necessary years of experience and passing a test (and maybe having a vacancy) and not about having a certain number of high profile arrests or accomplishing a certain feat. Granted Don may be exaggerating, but taking what he said at face value, how true is it?
Answer: Being promoted within the police department is usually a result of time on the job, combined with demonstration of talent and ability. When a character "cracks the big case" or "nabs the bad guy" this means that their superiors will take notice and possibly promote them if possible. In Don's case, he may already have the required years of service, but has yet to show sufficient ability.
13th Oct 2020
3rd Rock from the Sun (1996)
Question: I'm watching this show on an app called "Tubi TV" and none of the 1st season episodes have the opening narration from James Earl Jones. I remember watching this on TV, but it would have been reruns and I can't remember hearing the narration then either (granted, I may have forgotten hearing it, but it's so distinct and unique that I don't think I would have forgotten it). When the show was in rerun syndication, was the narration removed? Why? Just to ad 30-seconds of ad time? Why would the narration be removed on streaming services where ad time isn't an issue? Do they not have access to the originals? Has anyone seen the narration removed anywhere else?
Answer: I have the entire series on DVD, and season 1 doesn't have the narration on it either. Perhaps the studio cut it to avoid having to pay residuals to James Earl Jones. Some episodes on my DVDs also seem to be missing scenes or parts of scenes that appeared in original airings, but were removed in syndication, so it seems just as likely that all episodes that were supplied for DVD replication or for streaming services received versions that were the edited for syndication.
Thank you for this insight. Interesting the DVDs don't have it.
9th Sep 2020
Johnny English (2003)
Question: When Johnny and Lorna are in the castle, before they go into the small room where Johnny accidentally announces his plans over the PA, Lorna is seen with a back tattoo. It looks like perhaps it's a number, "05" maybe? Was there a deleted scene where we see the tattoo more or where characters talk about it? Or was this Natalie Imbruglia's actual back tattoo? Later it seems to be gone.
6th Sep 2020
General questions
It seems some TV shows, especially in later seasons, will include a version of their own show or movie into the show itself. "Seinfeld" had "Jerry." "Stargate SG-1" had "Wormhole X-Treme." "Monk" had an episode where they were going to make a movie about Monk and the show "Crime Lab S.F." (but that's might have been more a parody of "CSI"?) And now "Lucifer" has "Diablo." What are other examples of TV shows doing this? And this is different then the normal show within a show trope, like "Home Improvement" having "Tool Time" or "Full House" having "Wake Up, San Francisco").
Answer: Supernatural famously had at least two instances of this. There's a running plotline through the series where they discover a series of "Supernatural" books based on their antics, which end up being written by God himself. Even more meta, in the episode The French Mistake they end up in an alternate reality on the set of a show called "Supernatural" where everyone starts referring to them by the real actors' names, their angel friend Castiel is now a goofy actor called Misha Collins (the real actor) and their demon foe Ruby is now actress Genevieve Padalecki, married to one of them (as she is in real life).
5th Sep 2020
Lucifer (2015)
Save Lucifer - S4-E9
Question: This is a question about when Maze walks into the room when Linda is giving birth. Is this what it would look like in real life in a hospital? It looks like Linda is giving birth in her hospital room (even though the sign says birthing room, the room looks set up for guests), there's only 1 hospital staff, and Amenadiel is in his regular clothes, no sterile or protective coverings. And, ignoring the fact that Maze would go wherever she wants, wouldn't a staff member at least try to stop her from going in or try to prep her for entry? Maybe the 1 staff member was prepping her, but it seemed like they added baby crying sounds to indicate she was in the process of giving birth.
Answer: At least as far as clothing goes, I was in regular clothes when my wife gave birth, only changing into scrubs when they thought we'd have to move to an operating room (but ended up not needing to), otherwise I'd just have stayed in them. The room was also pretty much a regular hospital room, but no doubt there were some birth-specific differences I wasn't aware of!
31st Aug 2020
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993)
Question: This probably spans the whole Star Trek series, but I noticed it specifically on DS9. How does the computer locate an individual on the station without a com badge, but at the same time, can't locate an individual if his or her com badge is taken off (i.e. the computer only locates the com badge)? Is it ever revealed, in any Star Trek show, if individuals (such a guest) without com badges are given something else?
Answer: The Com badges are Starfleet issue and most likely programmed for each individual. Most visitor's individual physical measurements are taken when boarding a ship or station for security reasons. Height, weight, age gender and nationality.
8th Jul 2020
Ford v Ferrari (2019)
Question: During La Mans, it shows Shelby taking a stopwatch from Ferrari's pit and dropping a nut on the floor. Is there any indication Shelby ever cheated during a race like this (whether at Le Mans or somewhere else)? Like, was he ever caught or accused of cheating? I get there's a lot of artistic licensing taking place in this film, so I understand if it was made up, just curious if it was based on anything from Shelby's life.
Answer: Technically, neither of these incidents would be considered cheating in the classic sense. Stealing the stopwatches would be just that, stealing. It's likely that some other members of a team like Ferrari had back up stopwatches. Dropping the lug nut in the Ferrari pit would just be a mind game to put doubt in the minds of the pit crew as to whether they got all the lug nuts on the wheels. Neither of these incidents would affect the performance of the race car. It was mischief, not cheating.
This doesn't answer the question at all (and seems like someone's trying to correct this thinking it's a mistake entry). I said "cheating like this" for the 2 examples I gave, because it's cheating (by definition) but not necessarily breaking La Mans rules. Plus I also asked about actual accusations of cheating.
It's called gamesmanship, how is dropping a lug nut to make the Italians think they had forgotten one cheating? Now if he had taken the lug nut so it delayed their pit stop or so it wasn't put on at all that's a different story. You seem like you never competed if you think those things are cheating.
And stealing a stopwatch is gamesmanship too? The question is was this based on anything. I've never competed in LeMans, but in a majority of sports there are rules against deceiving the other team (for example a balk). Seems like you've never played sports.
21st Jun 2020
General questions
There's often a trope in police dramas that an officer being suspended or put on leave is told to "turn in your badge and gun." The officer then just puts the gun and badge on the desk and walks away. How accurate is this though? I heard there's paperwork to fill out and firearms have to be properly returned. Plus, don't many officers carry their own personal firearm that they'd be more comfortable with? Obviously a movie/TV show doesn't want to be bogged down by boring red tape, but what really happens when an officer is suspended or put on leave? Wouldn't turning your badge in be the same thing as being fired?
Answer: Not the badge ("shield") nor gun makes a cop a cop so handing them in symbolically when suspended doesn't happen in real life. The badge is just your symbol of taking an oath. Police have what is called a "Police Identification Card" which is their legal document of authority, not the badge. As you mention a lot of cops have their own gun and their chief isn't allowed to take it unless the cop is convicted of a crime or the gun is to be used in evidence (like if the cop fired it at a crime scene). Indeed, handing in your badge is done when you are fired.
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Answer: In almost every gangster move from the 1930's, there was always a guy named "Rocco." A dumb but lovable guy who always agrees with the Boss. When everyone disagrees, he always says "Listen to the Boss." or "Do what the Boss says."