What exactly is the "lowest common denominator" audience? I've heard people say this when they think a movie or show is bad - that it was made for the "lowest common denominator." But why would studios/networks deliberately make something that the majority of people will not like?
Jon Sandys
19th Mar 2024
General questions
5th Dec 2023
General questions
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.
11th May 2022
General questions
What film is it where two people are fighting in a mostly black corridor over an automatic weapon, and it fires, making a semicircle of orange over their heads, illuminating the scene?
Chosen answer: Found the answer elsewhere - I was thinking of The Matrix Revolutions, where Agent Smith in someone else's body is fighting with Neo over an arc weapon of some kind in a darkened spaceship.
Answer: It isn't very much to go on but the first thing that comes to mind is the 2011 remake of "Fright Night." At the end Charlie and Jerry the vampire fight over a shotgun in the underground basement of a building. When it goes off, holes in the ceiling, bring in the sunlight.
3rd Mar 2022
General questions
Are there any TV shows that had such bad ratings/view numbers, they were taken off the air rather quickly? After just one, two, three episodes?
Answer: "The Mike O'Malley Show" from 1999 was canceled after two episodes.
Answer: Tons. One random example which comes to mind is 2007's Drive, starring Nathan Fillion: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drive_ (2007_TV_series). Only 4 episodes aired before it was pulled off air. It was actually quite a promising show, but the ratings just didn't hold up. "Heil Honey I'm Home!" is one of the more notorious examples: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heil_Honey_I%27m_Home!, a sitcom about Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun living next door to a Jewish couple, cancelled after one episode. More here: https://tvovermind.com/six-short-lived-tv-shows/ and here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_television_series_canceled_after_one_episode.
14th Nov 2021
General questions
There's a movie or maybe TV show where at the end two little kids get adopted - a boy who's black and a blonde haired white girl. Someone crouches down to them, maybe in an airport, and asks if they want to come with them. Any clues what this is from?
Chosen answer: Something similar happens in one of the final episodes of the sitcom "30 Rock." Liz Lemon ends up adopting two children that she picks up from an airport - a black boy named Terry and a blond white girl named Janet - who humorously and ironically have almost the exact same personalities as her annoying co-workers Tracey and Jenna. Could that be it?
Aha, that's it! My wife sends her thanks, that was annoying her. :-).
10th Nov 2021
General questions
I need to know what movie 2 guys hold their hand over a candle to see who can last longer. I'm sure the record is like 2 minutes 25 seconds or something...the vet gives up and the other guy keeps going, and they say OK you've proved your point.
Answer: This also happens near the beginning of S3E3 of the British TV show Ultimate Force, exactly as you describe. They compete to hold their hands over a candle with a glass of water balanced on top. Henno (the leader) held the old record, at 2 minutes 20 seconds, but this time he loses. The other guy, Ed, keeps going until 2:32, even though Henno and the others are urging him to stop, saying he's won.
Answer: There's a scene in "Will: The Autobiography of G. Gordon Liddy" where he holds his hand over a candle flame. There's also a scene in "The Odds" (2018) where the first game contestants have to hold their hand over a candle flame the longest. But it's a woman and the contestants are in separate rooms.
Answer: Something like this happens in Lethal Weapon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm_0VN2T2no.
17th Nov 2020
General questions
Why is it that recent movie adaptations of old TV shows (specifically Starsky and Hutch, Baywatch and 21 Jump Street) were turned into parodies? Why weren't any of them played straight?
Answer: Because the filmmakers of today view therm as parodies. I admit the writing and directing style is not as sophisticated as today's work, but they told good fun stories. Back then they tried to keep costs down by any means necessary.
Answer: It hedges bets in case the action doesn't work, studio can claim they meant for this all along. Also the Mission Impossible films are played straight.
Answer: I'm not claiming to know the definitive answer, but I suspect it is for the same reason there have been remakes of old movies: Hollywood is out of ideas for original movies, tries to keep a steady supply of releases to make money, and it is easier/quicker. Playing them "straight" would require creating a new, meaningful story which is much more demanding than "making fun" of something already done. Moreover, the old TV shows turned into movies probably will do better (make a higher profit) if the audience is not largely limited to the older generation who may have watched the old TV shows. Presumably, the younger generation doesn't find old TV shows appealing and may even already make fun of them. Others do not even know what the TV shows were about, so making a contemporary version would not have the same meaning (or nostalgia) for those viewers. Comedy is something all generations can enjoy... or find more interesting than a lame story about old TV characters who have been forgotten.
I'd concur with this - it's the "four quadrant" idea: movies which appeal to both male and female audiences, and both over - and under-25s. An action-comedy has broader appeal than a pure action/drama, and especially given the three examples referenced are viewed as somewhat cheesy throwbacks now, regardless of the appeal at the time, it makes sense to take a more light hearted approach. Miami Vice is once example that was played straight which could have been ripe for mockery - it got mixed reviews and didn't set the box office aflame.
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).
24th Jul 2020
General questions
There was a movie that had both Angie Harmon and Charlie Sheen. In the movie, Angie is friends with a woman who writes an advice column but, the friend doesn't really offer any useful advice. Charlie Sheen plays a guy, who after coming across the letters, decides to write some real advice using the woman's name and the advice he gives actually helps people.
Answer: "Good Advice" (2001). Angie plays the newspaper editor that hired Charlie's girlfriend, who writes an advice column. When his girlfriend leaves him for another man, he takes over without the editor knowing (since he needed a job). It's only when the girlfriend returns and wants her job back does it turn out she isn't as good as Charlie.
Answer: The film is "Good Advice" from 2001: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Advice.
14th Jul 2020
General questions
I'm trying to remember what movie it's from when the bad guy (I think) says "you find something that's important to them, and...you squeeze." Drawing a blank. Anyone know?
Chosen answer: "Mission Impossible." Kitteridge says it to his colleague, Barnes (when the Feds turn up at the place where Max and her team were, and find them gone) when describing how he's going to get Ethan to come out of hiding.
That's it! Fantastic, thank you. :-)
10th Jan 2020
General questions
Which movie has the least amount of mistakes on this site?
Answer: Trouble is the database here has a LOT of films which have 0 mistakes (over 2000). But that of course doesn't mean they don't have any mistakes, just that nobody's submitted any yet. :-) And plenty of those are somewhat obscure titles which someone might have submitted a quote for or asked a question for. That said, a few mainstream titles leap out, based on the number of people who've visited the pages recently but the film *still* has no mistakes: Early Man, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, Sleuth (2007), Rashomon, I Love You Man, Super Troopers 2, Black Water, Logan Lucky, The Lighthouse, Margin Call, Ghost in the Shell (2017), Hard Candy, The Babadook, Detective Pikachu, Six Degrees of Separation. And many others! But if anyone wants to start mistake hunting in those movies, go for it.
Answer: Just to expand on my answer, not counting short films and documentaries, it is estimated that there are over 500,000 feature-length movies in existence. For it to be determined which film has the least amount of mistakes, every film would have to be closely analyzed. Continuity mistakes are the most common and unavoidable type of mistake, and even older and extremely popular movies such as "Star Wars" still have newer continuity mistakes being discovered even to this day.
Answer: The movie with the least amount of mistakes? Easy, any movie with 0 mistakes! Can't have less than that. So, any movie not yet on this website is automatically 'the movie with the least amount of mistakes', until proven differently! I am kinda being facetious of course. This question is generally posed as "is there a perfect movie / a movie with no mistakes?" I think it's safe to say that the more complex a movie is, the more likely it is to have mistakes. Especially in term of editing, as the so called continuity mistakes are almost inevitable. I remember in particular a movie from Greek cinematographer Theo Angelopoulos, "The Suspended Step of the Stork." Angelopulous had a filming style based on long continuous shots, and he was extremely precise. Plus the movie was mostly shot in landscapes.The only mistake I ever found in that movie was simply a translation error in hard captions, so not really the cinematographer's fault. Hope you can find a 'perfect' movie too.
13th Mar 2019
General questions
What action or otherwise "exciting" movies have quite a low-key ending? It's fairly standard now for action movies to build to a massive crescendo, a final all-out action sequence with CGI destruction running rampant. Do any relatively modern movies buck that trend?
Answer: I would add, "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo." Lizbeth Salander exposes Martin Vanger as the serial murderer. He is killed when Lizbeth chases him, resulting in a car explosion. That is the film's climax, but in the side plot, Lizbeth then goes on to expose Wennerström's corruption, as well as removing billions of Euros from his secret accounts.
Answer: First one that comes to mind is The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 (if the ending is the same as in the book, that is-not 100% sure), but ending with a battle of words instead of an action sequence like most of the other Twilight movies.
Answer: Doctor Strange comes to mind - not *that* low key, but the actual climax is him in a time loop negotiating Earth's safety rather than a massive epic battle.
12th Oct 2018
General questions
A random movie or TV quote has occurred to me and I can't place it. It's delivered in a faintly Al Pacino way, but I don't think it's him, saying "I will not let...these animals...", then something like "ruin my city", but I only remember the first part. Any clue what it's from?
Chosen answer: That's from the movie Bad Boys II (2003), Captain Howard played by Joe Pantoliano says it at the end of this scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aw6WIbR1eQw.
Thank you! Not seen that in far too long.
7th Aug 2018
General questions
I am looking for a film, likely from the 80s/90s with a poster depicting a skull impressing from behind fabric e.g. https://tinyurl.com/y8kz22wp.
Answer: The Frighteners is one of the better known examples of that: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116365/.
11th Feb 2016
General questions
I am after the name of a movie where a woman goes through a day trying to escape people after her. In the end it turns out the whole town has been acting to scare her. In the end she is tied to a chair and we find out she murdered a child and as punishment she receives an injection at the end of each day and when she wakes up she has to relive the same traumatic day again. I have searched everywhere for this movie.
Chosen answer: This is an episode of the TV show "Black Mirror", called "White Bear". It's season 2, episode 2.
3rd Dec 2014
General questions
What movie features a scene where a baby's pram is witnessed rolling away downhill (possibly down steps)?
Answer: Most famously probably The Untouchables, although that took its cue from a sequence in the silent movie Battleship Potemkin, which has been referenced in several movies since.
3rd Dec 2014
General questions
There's a movie I watched half way through. I never got the title. It had two gentlemen, young and old. The young man knocks on the old man's door, which is opened. He is having an affair with the old man's wife and in love. The whole movie it was just the two of them in the house. Please help what's the title, I want to look for it and see what happens at the end?
Answer: This sounds exactly like "Sleuth". There have been two versions - one in 1972 with Michael Caine as the young man and Laurence Olivier as the older one. The 2007 version featured Michael Caine as the older man and Jude Law as the younger one.
29th Oct 2014
General questions
There was a movie that starred Tim Daly and Sean Young. The movie was about Tim Daly convicted of a crime and he is sentenced to be executed. His execution would be televised around the world. Sean Young portrays an attorney who finds holes in the case and tries to prove Tim innocent.
Answer: The IMDb says they both starred in Witness to the Execution: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111737/.
29th Dec 2013
General questions
Trying to find a movie. I saw just bits of it on STARS years ago (pre 2001). The part I remember was a girl with blonde hair walking up to someone in the dark in the desert or outback or something. She's naked and she stops and pees right there in front of the person. It's driving me crazy that I can't remember the name.
Answer: Fairly sure this scene is from "Holy Smoke", featuring Kate Winslet and Harvey Keitel. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0144715/.
26th Dec 2013
General questions
I am trying to find a movie set in early Russia during the famine. Bad guys break in and kill parents, but while robbing they are starving. The bad guys end up killing the younger brother and eating him. The older brother later hunts each of them and kills them. Which movie is this?
Answer: Sounds a lot like Hannibal Rising, about a young Hannibal Lector (his younger sister gets killed and eaten).
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.
Answer: It's actually the reverse - the lowest common denominator audience is meant to be the simplest, least demanding, lowest-expectations audience. Basically an audience that might want some special effects or a generic sexy plot, without being that bothered about creativity, artistic merit, etc. The broad idea is that that covers quite a large section of the population, just not a "highbrow" section. It's often applied to films or shows that might have a high commercial appeal (but not always) but get low critical ratings. Some/all of the Transformers films might fall into this category, for example. The people who like them really like them, but a lot of people don't, and they don't get good reviews, but still make a lot of money.
Jon Sandys ★
There is also a segment of "guilty pleasure" viewers. Unlike the lowest common denominator, they claim to be aware that a movie/show is poor quality, however, they get a smug satisfaction from watching. Low-budget thriller movies and "trashy" reality shows are good examples. Many people will watch those "ironically" and believe that they are superior to the audience ("I'm smart enough to know better"). Networks probably have these viewers in mind, too.
Totally agree with your assessment, but would add that many moviegoers prefer familiar and predictable plots because they think they've figured everything out, know "who did it," who ends up with the girl, that the hero saves the day, and so on, without realizing they've seen the same story in dozen of movies. I have friends like this who only want to watch one or two types of movies (romantic comedies for women and action/superhero movies for guys) where they don't have to think too hard about the plot. It's also formulaic. Hollywood knows what audiences like and will make the most money. They rehash familiar plots with minor changes, knowing it sells to the widest audience.
raywest ★