Do networks only make money by selling commercial/ad time? A relative of mine has long insisted that they need to create "hype" and "shock value", because companies will race to pay more for an ad slot during a certain show or news coverage. No content/subject matter will be in a TV show, or on the news, if it "doesn't sell advertising." I know that networks look at ratings, but does everything really revolve around selling the ad spaces?
General questions about movies, TV and more
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What TV character approached two people and said "Good morning" to one, then "Good afternoon" to the other, pointing out that the time had changed to noon in between? I know it's a trivial moment, but I suddenly remembered it and now I'm curious.
Answer: In the Simpsons Treehouse of Horror VIII, Professor Frink points this out to the family in a parody of "The Fly".
Thanks.
What is the name of this possibly Japanese cartoon I saw in the 80s? Futuristic soldiers are converted into cyborgs to work in space. It follows an elite team before and after the conversion. One was an alien from the planet 'Mime' who never spoke. Another were a twin brother and sister who had the code names 'Iron Heart' and 'Iron Will.' During conversion, they realized Iron Heart had a defective heart, so they replaced it with machinery, making his name more appropriate.
Answer: "SilverHawks" (1986). The twins were called "Steelheart" and "Steelwill," who had artificial hearts put in during their transformation. Steelheart was the sister, though; Emily Hart, and her brother was Will Hart.
Thank you! Me confusing iron and steel made it impossible to Google.
What soap opera (or maybe another type of show) had a young woman character called "Mouse" in the early 90s? I know someone who went to high school with the actress. She got the role shortly before graduation.
Answer: On General Hospital, in 1989, when the character of Frisco Jones returned to the show, there was a new teenaged character named Mouse who slept inside the catacombs in Port Charles. Mouse and Frisco had numerous scenes together for about a year on GH. Perhaps this is the young woman.
Thank you. I spoke to the person who knew her, and they do think it was "General Hospital".
This was a late '90s or early 2000s show. I saw part of an episode where female characters were at a club, and another girl kept having the same Enrique Iglesias song played. I think it was "Rhythm Divine."
For a period of time starting in the mid-2000s, it became common for most major DVD releases to have both 1- and 2-disc editions. Typically, the 2-disc edition just had more bonus content and cost a few dollars more, while the 1-disc edition had less content and was cheaper. I never understood this. This was before streaming became huge, so it didn't incentivize buying the DVD, nor did the 2-disc edition cost much more, so it couldn't have had much impact on profit. So why was this even a thing?
Answer: OP here. From everything I've been able to find, it pretty much just looks like it was just a bit of a gimmick. Put some extra bonus content on a second disc, call it a "Special Edition" or "Collector's Edition" or "Limited Edition," and charge an extra $5 for it. People who wanted just the movie could buy the single disc for the standard price, and people who wanted more special features paid a slightly more expensive "premium price." And it would subtly boost profits.
I think you're right - the extra content largely existed already, there was no significant cost to produce it, and mastering a second version of the DVD wouldn't cost much in the grand scheme of things either, so any extra amount would have been pure profit. Showgirls (first example I found) apparently made $37m in cinemas and $100m in DVD sales. A couple of extra dollars per unit would add up. It might also serve as "anchoring" if that's the right term - having a more expensive 2 disc version makes the single disc version look like better value to the casual buyer (while also appealing more to the movie buff). There are certainly some films I splashed out on for the fancier version because I was a fan (and then of course never really watched the extras much!), but going back a while there was literally no other way to see this extra content unless you bought the special edition.
From the perspective of why they were simultaneously released (and with a relatively small difference in price), I'd agree. But this is different from why two-disc versions were released some time after the one-disc version (and with a substantial difference in price). That is, the reasons why this initially happened are different from why it continued to happen.
I was trying to refer to concurrent releases in my question. Unfortunately, the character limit meant I could not give any examples. I was referring to titles like "Spider-Man 3" or "Transformers." I used to go to the store at midnight to buy new DVD releases around the time those movies came out, and there would almost always be a single disc DVD with just the movie and a few features, and a 2-Disc set with more special features released on the same day. (A 2-disc special/anniversary edition being released a few years later for an older title makes sense, and is a different matter entirely. I'm referring to when multiple editions of the same new release were put out at the same time.)
Yes, I finally figured this out! You are asking about a specific time period and looking for a straightforward answer, without putting things in historical perspective (the developing technology and decreasing costs of mass-producing DVD movies). The extras (plus a little more) that used to be included on the standard editions were now on a second disc with the package costing about $5 more. It probably came down to "will customers [be stupid enough to] pay extra money for this two-disc DVD?"
It probably came down to 'will customers [be stupid enough to] pay extra money for this two-disc DVD?' "and unfortunately when I was a teenager, I was, hahahaha. But yeah, the more I look into it, the more it does just seem like a total gimmick. (I feel like a good modern comparison might be steelbooks... cool packaging, but usually sold for a very high markup even though it's the same exact discs.)
My "victimization" came much earlier. I had the standard release versions of movies and, later, when I started to see much more expensive two-disc versions, I thought, "Who would buy these now?" Well, I think I ended up buying 3 versions of "Terminator 2." [Why?]
Answer: From my experience, the 2-disc versions provided two different formats. Typically, the 1-disc version was Fullscreen and, depending on its release, did have additional content like commentaries and deleted scenes. The 2-disc version included a Widescreen version as well as extra materials, extended cuts, remastered versions, or special edition, etc. Later, when Blu-Ray came out, the 2-disc set usually included a standard DVD version. Some DVDs were sold as 2-sided without a lot of extra content but having a Fullscreen and Widescreen version.
This doesn't really answer the question. I'm not referring to those. I'm more so referring to titles like "Spider-Man 3" or "Super 8". Their DVDs only came in widescreen, but had two versions. A single-disc edition with just the movie and a few special features, and a 2-disc edition that had more special features. I'm curious as to WHY many titles had single and two-disc editions with the only difference being the amount of special features. It just seems more logical to release just the 2-disc edition. This answer basically just explains that 2-disc existed.
I apologise for misunderstanding the question, because what you described in my experience was atypical. And in my opinion, it makes sense to release two versions, but I'm afraid to answer why if I turn out to still not understand the question.
No problem. It's a very weird, specific question, hahaha. Wouldn't surprise me if there isn't even really an answer beyond just "they decided to try it for some reason."
Answer: Simply put MONEY.
Profits are almost always, if not always, a factor. The two-disc versions with "extras" might have been enough to get certain movie buffs to buy them, even though they already had the single-disc version - but I doubt very many people actually did so.
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?
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.
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?
I remember a sitcom episode in which a man got angry if someone mentioned David Letterman. He would shout something like "David Letterman? Slowly I turn around!" I don't think he was a main character, though.
Answer: It's from the TV series "Cosby", s02e17, "Fifteen Minutes of Fame." Hilton and Griffin are in a jail cell and Griffin tells the guard they need to get to the David Letterman show. Gilbert Gottfried (who's credited as playing himself) gets angry hearing David Letterman's name and goes into a rant about how David Letterman ruined his life.
Thank you! That sounds like what I saw.
Before the mid-2000s or so, people used to joke about bribing the cable guy to hook up the premium channels (movies, adult channels, etc). Was that always just a misconception? Today's technology prevents the installer from doing it without the cable company knowing.
I know companies pay a lot of money to advertise during events such as the Superbowl, but what about "regular" TV? Did they choose to have their ads run during particular shows? I am mostly thinking of broadcast TV, before streaming was popular.
Answer: Companies typically pay to run their ads during times when their target audience will be watching TV, such as toy companies running ads during Saturday morning cartoons, and in particular, a popular company like McDonald's would run their Happy Meal commercials during that time as well.
Answer: To add to the other fine answer, TV advertising costs are determined by how many viewers watch a particular program. TV networks set advertising rates based on different programs' ratings. Those with the highest viewership are the most expensive to advertise on. TV ratings were (and still are) determined by the Nielsen Media Research Company, who measure who and how many people watch each TV show. Companies naturally want to advertise their products and services when the largest number of viewers are watching and also to their target market.
I watched this movie recently, but I think it was a miniseries first. A woman reads an erotic novel. The author is mysterious and has never revealed his appearance. Some fans speculate that "he" is actually a woman. After a book club meeting, a man introduces himself to the woman. He is the author. Later, it turns out that he is lying - he is actually an editor employed by the author. The roommate meets with the real author, but only his or her shoulder area is shown.
Answer: "Submission" (2016). It was a mini-series, but is now showing as a movie on the Tubi app.
I am looking for a documentary about prehistoric sharks. The signoff has the line (against a backdrop of such), "sharks so bizarre/strange, if they had never been, would we have dreamed them?"
I am looking for a documentary from the '80s or '90s about a stranded baby beluga left by the tide. What is its name and how did it end?
I participated in an online survey about a possible new TV show. In the "pilot" episode, a woman's boyfriend proposed to her, but he and another girlfriend/wife were actually scheming to steal her money. However, he sent her a German Shepherd puppy, which she had always wanted. The ending implied that he had mixed feelings and really cared about her. I think I watched this sometime between 2016 and 2021 (I know I didn't see it in the past two years).
Answer: I want to add: I think I remember the main character woman having red or reddish-brown hair. Her fiancé's "real" girlfriend (the other scammer) was blonde. Of course, if this show continued after the pilot, there might have been changes to the cast.
When I was a kid in the 60's, I saw a movie I swear starred Peter Falk as an American impersonating a German officer in WW2. At the end of the movie, Falk is sitting in an opera house next to a beautiful actress in a box seat. German soldiers enter the opera house and Falk knows he is about to be arrested, and gently puts his hand over the actress' hand. Was this a Peter Falk movie? And what the heck is the name of this movie?
Did any anthology series have a story about an old man in a nursing home, who wants his roommate's bed by the window? This story is in the "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" book series, but the version I saw was not the show from 2018-2019. It seemed to be from the 90s or early 2000s.
What is the name of a movie about a teenage girl having a "crush" on a writing/English teacher, and he claims to have had books published? Eventually, after they have sex, she finds rejection letters and discovers that none of his writing was published. I think the movie ended with her leaving town.
Answer: "Blue Car" (2002). Agnes Bruckner plays the student, and David Strathairn plays the teacher.
I watched this movie on TV in 2006-ish. A woman was pregnant, and the father was one of three or four guys. Somehow, none of them really knew which one had slept with her; only she knew.
Answer: After some searching, I think this is the 1999 movie "Kimberly", also called "Daddy Who?"
Answer: You saw it in 2006, did you mean it was set in 2006? Because I know two movies with that plot but made in the 1960s. "Doctor, You've got to be Kidding?" Sandra Dee plays a young woman who is pregnant, and three different men want to marry her. "Buona Sera, Mr. Campbell," an Italian woman, Gina Lollabridga, who had an affair with three different men during World War II. She had a daughter but doesn't know which one is the father. She solicits support money from each of them. Then all three men return to Italy for a G.I. reunion.
I watched it on TV in about 2006. It was probably made before then, or it was a new TV movie. It was not set in the '60s, probably in the '80s or after. The setting was "modern" (not necessarily what we call modern in 2023 but more modern than the '60s). I appreciate your suggestions, though.
Looking for a late 2000s, early 2010s show involving humans and alien species living together. I don't remember if it was a new city on Earth or a different planet. One family of aliens was human-like, but with white-blonde hair. The husband openly visited prostitutes because it was the norm for males of their species. His wife had a brief affair with one of his regular prostitutes. The couple had an adult son, who married a human woman.
Answer: Submitter here. It's "Defiance" from 2013-2015. I found clips on YouTube.
Answer: It sounds like Alien Nation.
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Answer: Selling advertising space is a major revenue source for networks but they also profit from cable and satellite fees, syndication and licensing fees, product placement, home entertainment sales, streaming services, event sponsorship, etc.
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