Answered questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

These are questions relating to specific titles. General questions for movies and TV shows are here. Members get e-mailed when any of their questions are answered.

Question: When this film was being released, I read a rumour somewhere that Lucas originally wanted actor John Houseman to play Indy's father. Given that at the time Houseman was in his mid-80s and in poor health (He passed away when the film was in production), was there any truth to this story?

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: Not at least according to the "making of" DVD included in the trilogy box set. According to Spielberg, he always wanted to direct a James Bond film. In Spielberg's thinking, a 1930s action hero could only have one father - James Bond, and also according to Spielberg, he thought only of Connery.

The Cincinnati Kids - S5-E11

Question: Two part question: Mike throughout the series is someone depicted as a person of intelligence. So when he puts both of his sketches into one cylinder and puts Jan's Yogi Bear poster in the now empty identical cylinder, why does he place them right next to each other under the table? More importantly why doesn't he check to see if he has the correct one when he leaves for the meeting? When he returns to the Manager's office to inform them he hasn't found the sketches, why does he carry the cylinder with the poster with him?

jairodrigue

Chosen answer: Intelligence does not necessarily correlate to wisdom or common sense. He simply doesn't think to do these things.

LorgSkyegon

Answer: Robert Reed, the actor playing Mike Brady, frequently complained to the writer (Sherwood Schwartz) that the "slapstick comedy" in many episodes was ridiculous and he could NOT perform some of the behaviors in a scene because of its absurdity. Reed was under contract, so ended up reluctantly playing his role against his better judgment (until the last episode when he was written out of the scene at the last minute because of his complaints and requests to change the script to something reasonable). In the movie "Growing Up Brady", the ongoing disputes between Reed and Sherwood were portrayed, as well as six-year-old Susan's ("Cindy") meeting with Sherwood when she asked him why Cindy had to be so stupid and how Cindy could forget her favorite sandwich was peanut butter and jelly. Susan said the kids at school were teasing her over this and asked Sherwood why Cindy could not be smart and funny. The basic answer to your questions is because the writer, Sherwood, thought the slapstick comedy was very funny and believed it was one factor that made "The Brady Bunch" a popular TV show that ran for many seasons. Mike Brady (Robert Reed) was merely following the script that he had no control over. Also in "Growing Up Brady", when Barry ("Greg") went for his audition/interview with Sherwood, he told him he loved "Gilligan's Island." Guess who wrote "Gilligan's Island"?

KeyZOid

Question: This is a question regarding the scene where Ali tells Dr. Gordon over the phone to not believe Adam's lies. How does Ali know about Adam in the first place? From what you gather, it is only Detective Tapp that knows Adam since he was the one who paid Adam in secret to follow and take pictures of Dr. Gordon. So, was it Zep that told Ali about Adam? If so, how did Zep know about Adam? From Jigsaw? Any further details would be appreciated. Thanks.

mrbench71

Chosen answer: Yes. You pretty much guessed correctly. We can assume that Jigsaw told Zep to tell Ali to tell Dr Gordon, "do not believe Adam's lies..." Don't forget that Jigsaw spends hours planning his tests so it would be safe to say that he had planned it all in the beginning.

Question: What was the heinous metal contraption placed on Wade's head, prior to him being sprayed with hot wax, supposed to insinuate? The needle-like probes did not appear to puncture him. Was it simply for effect?

Answer: It is simply a contraption to keep Wade in place so he doesn't move and the wax can be applied. It's also used to keep the wax out of his eyes, ears, nose and mouth.

Question: Not including the animation sequences, why did this film only have 3 live stories (unlike the original which had 5).

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: Beacause the ones from the first ones are short, but the ones from this one are long. So they probly cut it to three to save the budget.

tetracore99

Question: Wouldn't the city have found out that someone was using the hotel when there was electricity being used but no-one to pay for it?

Answer: Not until there's a 3 month period where the electricity usage is much higher than normal. Even then, it takes another few months to get it noticed, and another couple of months to send someone out to investigate it.

rswarrior

Show generally

Question: I remember some early episodes that have Mr. Needles, a sick dog Angie takes from a homeless guy. When does he disappear from the series, and why?

Answer: His last appearance was in the episode "God Needles George. He had a tumor in that episode, but in the end was better, and that was the last appearance of him on the show. He was occasionally mentioned afterward, so it is assumed that they still had the dog for the rest of the series.

Chosen answer: Farina is a hot wheat cereal like Cream of Wheat.

Ingabritzen

Question: When Clyde is about to die from the bomb, why didn't he just end the call on the phone he was calling from? He could have probably cancelled the detonation.

tetracore99

Chosen answer: Unfortunately, that wouldn't have done it. Once the phone on the bomb received the signal there was no going back.

Phixius

Oh, and you know this how?

Because that's generally how cellphone bombs work. Nobody's on the other end to answer it, so it's not triggered by being answered. As soon as any call signal is received, game over.

Unless I'm misremembering, when they find the bomb at city hall, the bomb expert even mentions that the bomb can't be disarmed once the call goes through.

Phaneron

Question: When Marty wakes up in the new 1985, the clock changes from 10:27 to 10:28. Why would his siblings be eating breakfast and preparing to go to work this late in the morning?

geezer

Chosen answer: It's Saturday. A lot of office jobs, if you're going to them on the weekend, would start later and end earlier.

Phixius

Question: How did the Terminator manage to find a hotel room already equipped with surgical tools and bandages? Doesn't seem like he set it up with supplies earlier since the first we see is him breaking in via the fire escape.

Answer: He isn't breaking in via the fire escape, hes just using it as a means of coming and going without being seen by the hotel staff, so at any point during the movie, he could have equipped himself with those tools. It is not necessary for a movie to show every intervening action onscreen.

GalahadFairlight

Question: This has been an endless point of debate among my friends and I; how sensible is the placing of the pulse rifle's ammo counter? It seems to me that it'd be very problematic since, if the operator were right handed, they'd have to turn the weapon on its side to read how many bullets they had left.

Answer: A digital ammo counter, like the ammo indicators on magazines, wouldn't be useful in the heat of battle. However, it would be very useful while not in battle. For example, with a real firearm, you would need to remove the magazine to check how many rounds remained in it. With a digital display, you could simply look. The larger issue, of course, is that with a display on the gun, your enemy would also know how many rounds you had left.

If you had the counter on the top of the weapon facing you, you could immediately see how many rounds you had left and the enemy could only see it if he were behind you.

Answer: Yes you're right, the ammo counter is badly placed, but then again a seasoned marine wouldn't need to rely on it in the first place as they'd know through experience when they are about to run out.

GalahadFairlight

Answer: In all honesty you really wouldn't need an ammo counter. Either you shoot until the weapon runs dry and then you have to reload or you shoot until the threat is gone in which case you would do a "tactical reload" where you remove the partial mag and insert a fresh mag to ensure you have max ammo again for the next firefight.

That is, if you have another mag to do a tactical reload with. Real life is not like in videogames where you reload and only count bullets, you gotta have magazines.

lionhead

Question: Can a helicopter do barrel rolls and loop-de-loops like Murdock is doing after the A-team leaves the hospital and are being chased to the US border by Tuco?

Answer: They can, but only if they have a set of modified rotor blades to be able to do it. The Apache for one is able to do it. The Huey in the movie however is unlikely in reality to be able to do it - there would be no need to fit the modified rotors to what is essentially a transporter.

GalahadFairlight

Question: Is he actually sane at the end? I ask this because it looks like he makes them think he is insane so they will give him a lobotomy, and in that way he could forget about killing his kids indirectly.

toby1kenobi

Chosen answer: I think it's meant to be ambiguous, as nothing's explicitly stated either way. My take was the same as yours, namely that he'd rather die as a good man than live as a monster, to reference the line he says, but him still being actually insane also fits.

Jon Sandys

Question: I don't fully understand the Game Show part in the beginning. What was the significance of that?

jackdawson

Chosen answer: It's a recreation of when the real Frank Abagnale, Jr. appeared on the TV game show, "To Tell The Truth," that ran on CBS from the mid-1950s to late-1960s. A celebrity panel would try to pick out the genuine contestant who had an unusual secret from among two other imposters, who gave bluff answers to questions.

raywest

Question: After Rinzler "destroys" Clu, Flynn suddenly develops the urge to switch disks with Quorra. Why? As far as he is concerned, Clu is dead. He has no reason to think otherwise.

Brad

Chosen answer: He doesn't know Clu is dead. And a little prudence never hurts. Flynn knows Clu and clearly it was entirely possible that Clu was still alive. If they all got back to the portal, it made no difference. If Clu showed up to stop them, Flynn knew what he had to do and needed to make sure that Sam had his disc to get out.

Garlonuss

Show generally

Question: Why is John's Farscape-1 module able to navigate wormholes where some other, more sophisticated craft, notably Peacekeeper Prowlers, cannot without liquifying passengers?

Socks1000

Chosen answer: It's never explained. John mentions a theory that his less technologically developed craft simply interferes with the wormhole less than the "superior" Vipers, but they never make a concrete determination on that point. But we also have to take into account the fact that Moya traverses wormholes with no ill effect as well.

Garlonuss

Chosen answer: Yes, he developed a way to test for Cylons. He even figured out Boomer was a Cylon, so we know it works. But in a later episode, he specifically tells Head 6 that he hasn't been doing the testing that he claims to have done because he actually prefers not to know, because it only breeds paranoia and fear. His opinion of Cylons is, after all, not typical.

Garlonuss

Answer: That's the updated comic book version. In the movie and the original origin story their red sun was going super nova and caused Krypton's orbit to shift.

Jor-El's conversation with the Science Council in the movie is all about the planet's core.

Captain Defenestrator

You must be thinking of a different movie. There wasn't any mention of the core and when Jor-El says the planet will explode, the reply is the planet is just shifting orbit. Later, Jor-El tells 18 year old Clark they will enter the realm of the red Krypton sun, the cause of their destruction. The answer about Krypton's sun is correct.

Bishop73

I went and looked up the script and it DOES say orbit. OK, you're right.

Captain Defenestrator

Chosen answer: An atomic chain-reaction in the planet's core. The explosion also irradiated the fragments of the planet, which is why kryptonite is deadly to Superman.

Captain Defenestrator

Answer: On top of not being able to see while you're still grieving, Shannon Doherty cost too much for the Charmed budget to bring her back in that sense.

Chosen answer: They are allowed to see a dead relative, just not as soon as they die. It gives the sisters time to grieve. Grams and the mother have been dead many years, therefore they are not grieving for them as much.

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.