Best comedy TV questions of all time

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I Love Lucy picture

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Question: I know this show is from the time period when a lot of couples had two beds in their room. Just out of curiosity, when did it become acceptable to show a couple's bedroom with a single bed on TV?

Answer: According to Snopes.com, there is no definitive answer, but the mid-1960s is the most verifiable date with "The Munsters" being cited as the first, although others claim "The Brady Bunch" showed the first couple seen in a double bed. An early TV show from the late 1940s titled, "Mary Kay and Johnny" is also thought to have shown the married couple's bedroom as having a double bed, although probably not with them in it. However, this was when TV was aired live, and there are no surviving episodes, only anecdotal accounts.

raywest

Something that is funny is that in the movie "A Christmas Story," they show the parents having two twin beds in their bedroom. In a real situation, they should have shown them having a double bed. Lucy and Ricky had twin beds pushed together in an early episode, which would have been pushing television boundaries in that time.

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Good Morning Saigon - S2-E12

Question: At some point Ari asks to Vince: "You want to be Shaq or Kobe? Michael or Scotty? Damon or Affleck?" Who are "Michael or Scotty"? (The other pairs seem quite obvious in comparison).

AnthonyA

Chosen answer: Michael Jordan and Scotty Pippen of the Chicago Bulls.

Bishop73

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Question: Could someone translate into English the chant that Laverne and Shirley do at the start of every episode?

Answer: After counting to 8, the next two words are yiddish. A "schlemiel" is an inept clumsy person. A "schlimazel" is a chronically unlucky person. For example, if you are in a restaurant, and you see a waiter spill soup on a customer, the schlemiel is the waiter who spilled the soup, and the schlimazel is the guy who got the soup spilled onto him (and the schmegeggie - not part of the chant - is the doormat who gets stuck paying the check!). Hasenpfeffer is a traditional German stew made from marinated rabbit. Pfeffer is not only the name of a spice, but also of a dish where the animal's blood is used as a gelling agent for the sauce. All of it is just a silly phrasing that's part of a children's game.

Michael Albert

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Jimmy Was Kung-Fu Fighting - S1-E12

Question: How can Sister Helen give Lily detention when she sees Lily's tongue ring? She is at the Finnerty's house. Piercings are often a violation of school dress codes, but Sister Helen has not seen the piercing while at school.

Answer: It happens. One of my middle school/junior high classmates was suspended for fighting another classmate during the weekend, at a location nowhere near the school. Also, after Jimmy and Lily created the fake image of Sister Helen, it's easier for Sister Helen to get away with assigning an unfair detention.

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Answer: Yes, the boy was an intentional reference to the film.

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Chosen answer: "The One Where They Build a House," S2E2.

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Dick and Taxes - S4-E12

Question: When Mary asks Dick what he expected for not paying his taxes when he learns he owes thousands to the IRS, he responds with, "I certainly didn't expect my girlfriend to wear my ass as a snowshoe!" I'm not sure I have ever understood this joke. What is the meaning behind it?

Phaneron

Answer: The writers often have Dick respond to Mary with a retort that he thinks is in the common vernacular but makes a mistake in wording that is often funny. Dick seems to be imputing a criticism from Mary and responds with a corruption of the more common "I'm going to wear your ass like a hat!" I doubt it has anything to do with owing taxes. Probably just one of the writers assuming a common regional phrase would be universally recognized.

That makes total sense. I always interpreted it as perhaps snowshoes are an expensive item, and given that he was blaming Mary for his newfound financial woes, he was equating her living off his generosity and used snowshoeing as a metaphor.

Phaneron

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Chosen answer: The "H" stands for Hector. The "M" is never explained in the series.

dgemba dgemba

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Chosen answer: She was finally shown at the very end of the last episode of season 8, continuing into season 9. The actor's name is Cristin Milioti: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2129662/.

Knever

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Answer: The show never says.

Brad

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Question: If Dustin, Dana, and James don't appear in a lot of episodes in the show, why are they still considered main characters?

Answer: Dustin was only considered a main character from season 1-3, and probably just because he's Zoey's brother. Dana was only a main character for season 1 and James didn't become a main character until season 4.

Bishop73

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Question: I may have this scenario slightly wrong, since I haven't seen it since the show was brand-new, but is there a scene in one episode where Mork (just him-no egg) falls from the sky and into a lake or some kind of body of water? I slightly remember this as a kid but wanted to see if I was right. Anyone know what episode this was from?

Answer: Maybe s02e02, "Mork in Wonderland, Part 2"? Mork started shrinking in part 1 and continued till he became microscopic and fell down a space warp into the lake of another world.

Bishop73

Yes, that was it. I found it shortly after submitting the question, but thank you anyway.

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Question: Where is the bathroom in Michael's loft? I have seen every season, every angle, and I never see anything resembling it?

dizzyd

Chosen answer: It might not actually have one, in which case, he'd have to go down into the club and use theirs. As for showering, going to his mother's house or a gym membership would take care of that.

Captain Defenestrator

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Question: I've been re-watching this show, and have noticed this in nearly every episode. In scenes inside GD, there's always one person, a background extra, who seems to have clear plastic wrap over their clothes. Do you know what that is all about?

Holly Halfman

Chosen answer: It's basically just a type of suit that's made for whatever special project they're working on. No different than a lab coat, hazmat suit, fire coat, etc.

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Answer: The ratings had declined in its last few seasons, and the series was cancelled.

raywest

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Question: Re "The Suite Life Movie", I have two questions. One: Zack is flirting with a girl named Nelly throughout the whole movie, but he has a girlfriend, Maya. Is he cheating? Two: (SPOILER ALERT!) Near the end, when Zack and Cody are free from becoming merged, they return to their normal life, but they still have stages 1, 2, and half of stage 3 still in them. Does this wear off, or are they still like that?

M0vi3

Chosen answer: One: Zack doesn't meet Maya until after the movie. Two: There are 2 possibilities. The first one, the steps might worn off after they got to the ship. and the second answer, London said she talks to animals since she ate them, it never worn off.

Zack definitely met Maya before the movie takes place, SPOILER in the final episode when they break up Zack says they've been together for 3 months, and not only does the movie take place during spring break which is less than 3 months from normal graduation, but also their graduation date gets moved up since the ship got sold.

The movie is set between the last two episodes; they had already met.

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Bunk Off - S1-E2

Question: Why do the boys decide to steal their parent's booze? They have three bottles of spirits between four of them, which is more than enough for them to get drunk. In fact, in Will Is Home Alone, they share twenty cans of beer between the four of them (five each, all things being equal), and are dreadfully hungover the next morning. Assume this is classed as a character mistake, it just makes no sense.

Answer: Jay, Si and Will steal Simons dad booze as they are planning on meeting Carly later on and have lost their own supply when kicked out of Neil's place by his dad after being caught and insulted.

Ssiscool

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Answer: Coach Sylvester is generally bullying to most staff and students but she particularly dislikes the glee club because they compete with her cheerleading squad for limited school funds.

raywest

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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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Answer: He [Richard] drives the car because Hyacinth has not learned to drive, but claims he only steers while Hyacinth drives by "word of mouth."

Ssiscool

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