Answered general questions about movies, TV and more

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Are there any TV series that were cancelled before a complete first season was even aired? I am mostly curious about sitcoms and dramas/thrillers, not reality shows.

Answer: Honestly, there have been numerous TV shows cancelled before a complete first season was aired. Another great example is cult-favorite sci-fi series "Firefly," which was cancelled before the 14 produced episodes finished airing. "Emily's Reasons Why Not" is another good example. It's a romantic comedy series that was cancelled after only one of the six produced episodes aired. (The remaining five episodes never aired on TV, but were quietly released on a DVD set.) "Viva Laughlin," a musical comedy-drama series produced by Hugh Jackman was cancelled after only two episodes, and none of the remaining episodes have aired or been given a DVD release. "Mockingbird Lane," a re-imagining of "The Munsters," was cancelled after it's pilot was aired as a TV-special, so the remainder of the first season was never produced. There's honestly probably hundreds of shows that were cancelled before a complete first season was aired.

TedStixon

I was wondering if there are contracts that require the entire first season to be shown, before a network can decide not to show another season. I guess not, based on the answers here.

Shows being pulled mid-season isn't indicative of what other shows' contracts consist of. Some shows may have had it in their contracts that the entire season be aired (there are shows that get pulled mid-season beyond season 1). I don't have personal knowledge because that would be a lot of contracts to read to find out. So maybe someone does. But there's plenty of shows that don't produce an entire season prior to being picked up, so it's possible all the episodes produced were aired.

Bishop73

The "Friends" spinoff, "Joey," with Matt LeBlanc reprising his Joey Tribbiani character, was one such show. LeBlanc had a contractual guarantee that the new show would air for two full seasons, regardless of ratings. It was canceled after season 2.

raywest

Answer: So, so many. Drive comes to mind - Nathan Fillion thriller about an illegal road race, only had a few episodes before being pulled off air. "Selfie" (2014) with Karen Gillan and John Cho was cancelled by ABC after only 7 episodes. "Do No Harm" (2013) cancelled after 2 episodes. The Dictator (2012) starring Christopher Lloyd only had one episode.

Answer: One of the shortest TV shows ever was the 1997 series "Lawless," starring former NFL player Brian Bosworth. It was cancelled after the first episode. Also, "Cop Rock," a TV show in the 90s, was cancelled after only 11 episodes. "When The Whistle Blows," a TV sitcom in the 80s, also only lasted 11 episodes.

raywest

Answer: There was a police drama roughly 10 years ago called Golden Boy. It was about the youngest police Commissioner in NYPD history and kept hinting at a department-wide shootout that led to the man's promotion. It lasted 13 episodes.

Answer: Another show was called "Brimstone" and had actors Peter Horton and John Glover. The show only had 13 episodes.

The 1963 ABC "The Jerry Lewis Show" was originally planned for 40 episodes in the first season. It went off after 13 shows.

Leicaman

Answer: Outlaws 1986, was cancelled after a few episodes. Sitcom In Case of Emergency, with Kelly Hu, was cancelled after only a couple of episodes.

My husband watched an episode of a new series in 2021 or 2022. Humans are living on a large, multi-level space ship, maybe more of a "space station." The ship has realistic, Earth-like places, such as a beach room. They have been living there for several years, so the youngest children have never touched real grass, beach sand, etc.

Answer: Answering my own question since I stumbled across a page on IMDB. It's "Ascension", a mini-series from 2014. Only three episodes were made. Stars Tricia Helfer, Gil Bellows, and Brian Van Holt. Humans are living on a ship that was launched in the 1960s. A hundred-year voyage will take them to a new planet, which they are supposed to populate.

Answer: The TV show "The Orville" has an episode similar to this. In s01e04, "If the Stars Should Appear", is about a 2,000 year old bio-generational ship with an Earth like ecosystem and land features. The crew of The Orville find it adrift heading towards a star and after investigating find the inhabitants of the ship thinking they live on a regular planet and don't know they're on a spaceship. This episode was from 2017, but the third and final season was released by Hulu in mid-2022 (and Disney picked up the series later), so maybe it just seemed a new series.

Bishop73

Thank you for responding, but it was not "The Orville." It was definitely an entire new series. The overall tone was more dark and serious. And Seth MacFarlane was not in it. We watch "Family Guy" somewhat often, so we would have remembered him. Also, as my description says, these characters knew that they were living on a ship.

When movies or TV shows are filmed on location, how do they manage to film a scene without interference from the local public?

Answer: They will typically have areas closed off. If it is filmed in an area with heavy pedestrian traffic, there will be notices displayed that anyone in the area could end up on camera and is giving consent to be filmed by being in the area. The film crew will have security measures in place to prevent people from disrupting the production.

Phaneron

Your description is accurate, though I once wandered into a scene of the TV show, "Northern Exposure," that was filming in Seattle. I didn't realise I was in the shot. The film crew didn't notice me. When the director yelled, "Action", I just walked away. I've also driven by several movies filming on the street with traffic passing through, such as "Sleepless in Seattle." I drove by Meg Ryan who was in a car. Tom Hanks was on the beach. Was commuting to work as "Fifty Shades Freed" filmed a car chase on the now-gone Alaskan Way Viaduct. Traffic was temporarily stopped during filming.

raywest

Answer: Some big budget shows like the Law and Order franchise have recorded outside scenes with green screens to block out the public but keep natural lighting, building exteriors, sidewalks etc. They add a nondescript city background later.

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?

Bishop73

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.

This show had an episode about a dad becoming friends with a tough-guy actor, a Chuck Norris type. He was disappointed when "Chuck" wasn't exciting in real life. They mostly talked about their kids and parenting advice. I probably saw it in the late 2000s.

Answer: It was Chuck Norris. It's from an episode of "Yes Dear," S04E09. Chuck plays himself, who is going to play a security guard in his next movie. So he follows Burt Hummbel "Jimmy," who idolizes him. He's thrown for a loop when Chuck acts like a wimpy dad, who wants to show pictures of his kids.

Thanks. I haven't watched all of that show's episodes. Do you know if any streaming services have it?

Answer: I forgot to add that at the episode's epilogue, a bully laughs at Chuck Norris for gushing about his kids. Chuck gets mad and Kung Fu's his butt and Jimmy is dumbstruck to see his hero in action.

Anyone recognize this horror movie/TV show from 1990 or earlier? A surly preteen is walking down a street, when he's accosted by a strange man who says the boy is upset because it's his birthday and his parents forgot. The boy runs off, but obviously the comment hit home. He walks into an abandoned building to find a party with cake and presents all set up for him. He keeps calling for his family to come out, but instead, strange toy robots come clanking out of the darkness. When the boy opens the cake box, there's a severed human head inside which smiles and says 'hi', causing the boy to scream and run off. I was babysitting when I watched this and it was upsetting my charge so I turned it off, and I never got to see the ending, and it always bothered me.

Brian Katcher

Answer: The movie is called Spookies.

Thank you.

Brian Katcher

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?

Bishop73

Answer: They're real. TPS stands for test procedure specification. However, I suspect their use in other shows was inspired by "Office Space."

Ray

This 90s movie has a part where the main character talks to a group of kids, then the kids' teacher/counselor says "Children, that brings me to my next point: don't smoke crack." They all nod quickly, as if the main character seemed crazy to them.

Answer: Adam Sandler's "The Waterboy" (1998). After Bobby is done talking to the kids, football star, Lawrence Taylor delivers the line.

Bishop73

I'm looking for a '90s, maybe '80s movie about a female president having an affair, or a relationship that people didn't approve of. She and her boyfriend were photographed outdoors one night. Another woman referred to the president's behavior as "putting on a sex show." I only saw the preview on a VHS tape.

Answer: It could be The Contender from 2000. Joan Allen plays a vice-presidential candidate who is dragged through the mud by political rivals. There are rumors about orgies, prostitution, and other.

af4dable

That seems to be it. I did a search for the script, and it contains the "She was putting on a sex show" line. Thanks.

Why do some movies list the cast in order of appearance, or in alphabetical order? Most movies don't - the order seems to depend on top billing - so is there a specific reason?

Answer: Generally when the cast is listed alphabetically it's because there's an ensemble cast or no-one with top billing, despite what any movie poster or cover may show. It's a way to be as fair as possible to all cast members involved. When the cast is listed in order of appearance, it's much the same way, because no-one is getting top billing. But it's also generally done when the order of appearance plays a part in the film or to make it clear which character is which. For example, the 1990 film "Slacker", most of the characters don't have names, just a description.

Bishop73

Trying to remember a movie in the 80s or 90s where a young man learned to play saxophone from a blues expert. He played twinkle twinkle little star.

Answer: It could be from an episode of "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles." It was the one episode with Harrison Ford. In 1950, Indy and a friend are being chased by henchman in the Wyoming mountains. After losing them and hiding out in a cabin, he tells the story of working in a jazz club in 1920' Chicago. While learning to play the Sax, he and his college roommate Eliot Ness investigate the murder of a local mobster.

Is there a movie/show in which a male character says "Hey, it's me. You're probably wondering how I ended up in this situation"? I've watched a couple of Instagram videos that had this quote.

Answer: It's a common trope, taking various forms. Seemingly the first occurrence of this specific type of voiceover/flashback is from Sunset Boulevard (1950), starting with someone dead in a pool, and the dead character is the one who takes us back to show us what led to that situation.

Yep. Various films start with something similar, like start of the movie Ratatouille (2007), the movie Holes (2003), The Emperor's New Groove (2000), Spiderman (2002) and most episode intros of My name is Earl (2005-2009). None actually use that exact sentence though.

lionhead

In the 90s or early 2000s, I was watching an episode of a TV show. Apparently the characters were discussing small things that make them feel good. A twenty-something woman said "wearing bikini-style underwear backwards." It *might* have been "Two Guys, A Girl, And A Pizza Place", or a show that was airing before/after that. Sorry for not having more details; just wanted to see if anyone recognizes the scene.

Answer: There was a TV sitcom that ran for two seasons in 1999, titled, "It's like you know." A west coast version of "Seinfeld." A group of thirtysomethings sit around talking about the little things of life, while living in the lap of luxury. One is a dot-com billionaire, the other is Jennifer Grey. She plays herself and makes jokes about her nose job. In one episode her father Joel Grey makes a cameo.

What is the name of this point and click video game I played in 1986 or 87? You follow your dog through a portal in your uncle's (?) lab and wind up in a world where everyone (including the dog) is super cool. It being the 80s, that meant they dressed like martians. I could never get very far, because after a couple of minutes of game time, the bad guy would feed you to a carnivorous zoo animal.

Brian Katcher

Answer: Some of this description sounds a lot like "Pepper's Adventures in Time" but that came out in the early 90s. Also the game didn't have any Martians in it.

If it came out in the 90s, I didn't play it in the 80s.

Brian Katcher

In a lot of movies, whenever somebody gets into a fight and gets hit hard enough in the mouth to have blood practically spurt out, how is the effect achieved?

Answer: Blood packet in the mouth, usually a small plastic pill or bag that the actor bites into then spits out.

How long does a typical half-hour sitcom episode take to make?

Answer: It depends on what you mean by "make." Are you referring to the writing of the script through filming? Or just filming the episode?

From writing throughout filming.

In that case, it can take between 7-10 days. The writers generate a script anywhere from 1-3 days. It gets reviewed and edited in roughly one day. The actors have a one day table read where more revisions are located and made and that's normally the same day. Once the script is approved, rehearsals and blocking are done over the course of the next 3-4 days until filming is done in one day. Hope this helps.

How can I get better at spotting movie mistakes on my own? Especially the revealing mistakes and visible camera crew and equipment type ones?

TerrenHurley

Answer: Honestly, what made me start to notice revealing mistakes/visible crew was just learning about those types of mistakes on this very website and figuring out what to look for. Watching behind-the-scenes materials and learning how movies are made also helps. If I'm specifically going through a movie or show looking for mistakes, which I do sometimes for fun, I usually load up a Blu-Ray copy or the streaming service I'm using, and just scan through every shot, frequently rewinding and looking at all the little details. It can be subtle, so you may have to watch the same few shots 3, 4, 5+ times before you notice things. And even then, I'm sure I miss a lot of them.

TedStixon

Answer: First, it's imperative you watch a film or show with the ability to rewind (DVD, On Demand, Streaming, etc). Second, you should be familiar with the different types of filming techniques and procedures so you can visualize how the scene is being shot and where equipment and crew might be that could accidentally get in the shot. A lot of wide shots are going to expose revealing mistake, often time just briefly. While a continuous shot (where the camera doesn't cut) isn't going to have continuity issues. When the camera angle changes, that's when you can pick up mistakes. Finally, you can't be a passive viewer, if you're texting or looking at your phone, you're going to miss mistakes. And if you're really out to find mistakes, you'll probably miss the show (so it's best to look for mistake on your 2nd or 3rd viewing).

Bishop73

I've seen this in a few movie/TV scenes. A man wants to ask a woman out on a date, but he expects her to say no and make an excuse. One common excuse is "I'm washing my hair that night." What is the origin of this? I am a woman who was born in the late '80s, so, for as long as I can remember, girls and women have washed their hair a few times per week.

Answer: According to my research, this was a more reasonable excuse before the 1980s. Many women wanted time for their hair to dry and "set", i.e. for a perm style in the 1950s. Some preferred to have this done at a salon, so an appointment could actually prevent them from accepting a date. Also, families in rural or low-income areas might conserve water. A girl/woman would not always have the luxury of going to a salon, or washing her hair every couple of nights.

Answer: They are making a lame, flimsy excuse to avoid going out with the guy. Washing one's hair doesn't take that long and isn't something that couldn't be rescheduled. Instead of coming up with a plausible excuse, they're basically letting the guy (and the audience) know they just don't like the guy.

Brian Katcher

This doesn't explain why it has become such a common joke/excuse in movies and TV.

The line "I'm washing my hair" is a way to tell a guy she's not interested. Example. In the movie "Back To The Future", Biff asks Lorraine out to the school dance and she says she's busy washing her hair. This is because she doesn't want to go out with him. Using this line in other TV shows and movies has become something of a trope.

Answer: Before the invention of shampoo conditioner, women would use lye soap. It would take literally a day for a complete washing, cleaning and grooming of hair.

Hardly something that happened after the advent of TV.

Brian Katcher

Sometime in the 2000s, I read a mention of this upcoming movie. A teacher suspects that another teacher (also female) at her school is having an affair with a student. I think the story would mostly be told from the friend's point of view. Hayden Christensen (younger adult at the time) was going to play the student, but I can't find anything like this on his IMDB page. Could this be a movie with a different actor?

Answer: This could be the 2003 TV movie "Student Seduction." Actress Elizabeth Berkley plays Christie Dawson, who is accused of sexually assaulting Josh Gaines who is portrayed by Corey Sevier. Although Christie denies the allegations, Josh keeps insisting that she did it.

Answer: I think this is "Notes on a Scandal" from 2006. Judi Dench plays an older teacher who befriends a younger new teacher (Cate Blanchett). She suspects that her friend is having an affair with a student (Andrew Simpson). If Hayden Christensen had played the student, he would have been 23-24 years old during filming. It's not unusual for actors of that age to do teenage roles.

Answer: It could be "The Good Student," (2005) Tim Daly plays a widowed and depressed teacher, who has a small crush on a student, Hayden Panettiere. Who disappears after he gives her a ride home. There's also "Dirty Teacher," (2013) Josie Davis plays a mentally unbalanced teacher who has an affair with one of her students. When his girlfriend finds out, the teacher sets her up for a murder.

Neither of those plots sounds like an answer to the question. This movie involves a female teacher and male student, so it's not the one with Tim Daly. A movie released in 2013 would probably have been made too late for Hayden Christensen to play the student.

Why do some TV shows have different directors and producers throughout a season? Don't networks order/approve an entire season at once - meaning that a regular director and producers could join the crew? For example, I am currently watching the first season of "Melissa and Joey", and there have been six different directors for the episodes I've seen so far.

Answer: The workload of making a TV show is usually intense, and they often film multiple episodes simultaneously or back-to-back in order to save time. It's basically like filming multiple feature-length films. Having a single director or the same producers working on every single episode would be borderline impossible and would take way too long, especially if the season is more than 10 episodes. They have a schedule to keep.

TedStixon

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