umathegreatstationarybear

15th Apr 2009

Friends (1994)

Show generally

Question: I remember the first episode of F·R·I·E·N·D·S that I saw was probably the best one, and I would like to know which season and episode number it is. It is one where Ben says "Monka Bang," meaning Monica banged his.

2nd May 2008

Armageddon (1998)

Question: Does anybody know who was originally asked for the soundtrack instead of Aerosmith?

Dragon

Chosen answer: Assuming you mean 'asked to record the song I Don't Want To Miss A Thing'? According to an article in this month's Empire magazine (June 2008) it was originally written with Celine Dion in mind.

umathegreatstationarybear

4th Apr 2006

The Parent Trap (1998)

Question: When Hallie and her mom are on the way to the studio, they are showing crossing the street. On the road behind them, the white lines are zigzagged at the beginning. Why are they like this?

Answer: They are crossing on the zebra crossing on Abbey Road in London. The Zigzags are a warning for drivers that the crossing is near. They serve as both strict 'no parking' and 'no crossing the centre line' warnings.

umathegreatstationarybear

22nd Dec 2005

The West Wing (1999)

Posse Comitatus - S3-E22

Question: After Special Agent Donovan is shot and killed, the remainder of the episode is played out over an extremely haunting tune. I think the title may contain the word "Hallelujah." Does anyone know the actual title and the artist?

Answer: Yep, It's called Hallelujah it was written by Leonard Cohen, and performed on this occasion by Jeff Buckley (from his album Grace), although it can also be heard it in Shrek, The O.C. and Scrubs performed by various different artists.

umathegreatstationarybear

22nd Dec 2005

Blackadder (1986)

Show generally

Question: At the end of every series, except the third, Blackadder dies. Then he's alive at the start of the next one. Is this the same man? I once heard he's sort of his own descendant. How does it work?

Answer: The Blackadder in each series is a descendent of some description of the previous Blackadder. However, from the second series onwards he is essentially the same person transplanted into a different time and lower social class - mocking the original character's wish to be king by taking him further from the noble life until he becomes simply 'cannon fodder'. Check out Blackadder's Wikipedia entry for pretty much everything you need to know.

umathegreatstationarybear

25th Jul 2005

General questions

I'm looking for the name of a TV-show, which I saw about 15-20 years ago on IIRC a British channel. It was a futuristic puppet series in outer space, and there were three pilots in three mainly red ships who could combine into one big red Megazord-ish robot (one ship became the head, the second became arms plus torso and the third was the legs). The three ships belonged to one mothership which could lift its cockpit to fire a giant laser. I have no idea about plot or stories as I was too young to understand English back then and there were no subtitles. Does this sound familiar to anybody?

Answer: Oh yes, that's very familiar. It was the fantastic Star Fleet and was a Japanese show dubbed into English. Check out The Star Fleet Homepage for a blast from the past.

umathegreatstationarybear

6th Jul 2005

General questions

I remember seeing a film on the Sci-Fi channel ages ago. At the start of the film, there's a shot of a spaceship that looks like an earth vehicle (a car or something, and I'm not thinking of Spaceballs). It was a comedy film, with the main "funny" thing being that aliens that look like humans have either hijacked or accidentally stolen a ship of their species (I can remember a scene where a hi-ranking one of these aliens is pretty angry about them), and they crash land on earth, but turn out to be stupider than the average human. The scene clearest in my mind is where one of the "aliens" is trying to show off his advanced technology, which turns out to be a pen, by drawing a squiggly line on a piece of paper. Does anyone know what this film is called?

Gary O'Reilly

Chosen answer: That'll be 'Morons From Outer Space' then.

umathegreatstationarybear

Spam - S2-E12

Question: In the courtroom scene, the first question Eric Idle asks Michael Palin is "You live at 46 Horton Terrace?", to which Palin replies in the affirmative. A few questions later, Idle says "You did say 46 Horton Terrace?", Palin says he did, and Idle says "Got him.", he bangs a small gong, and the courtroom (and the studio audience) laughs uproariously and applaudes. I do not get the joke here. The address is the same in both questions. I have watched this scene many many times and am still at a loss. Can someone help me?

Answer: Eric Idle bangs the gong because Michael Palin said 'Yes' - They're playing the 'yes-no' game, where the idea is to answer questions without using the words yes or no. At the time there was a quiz show called Take Your Pick, the first round of which was the 'yes-no' game - contestants had to answer questions for 60 seconds to pass through to the next round.

umathegreatstationarybear

30th Apr 2005

Shrek (2001)

Answer: The actors' names do not appear because the actors do not feature in any of the international versions where the voice track is dubbed rather than subtitled. As only their voices are used, not 'live action' performances, the non-english language releases are essentially different movies with a totally different cast list.

umathegreatstationarybear

21st Mar 2005

General questions

What is the job of the "best boy" that is sometimes listed in movie credits?

Answer: The best boy is traditionally the assistant to the Gaffer (head electrician), although now it is a common term for the second in command of any department, so you may see 'best boy rigging' or similar. It's not even mandatory to be a boy either, female best boys include Julie Fife and Kristina Gore Trevail (who was billed as Best Girl).

umathegreatstationarybear

1st Mar 2005

General questions

There was a cartoon programme years ago, and I really want to know the title. All I know about is the main character is a fat lady in a pink dress, who is in the woods mostly. I remember her saying "Coo-ee, Arthur." alot, and I'm sure she had a pet dog.

Hamster

Chosen answer: The show was the excellent 'Willo The Wisp' voiced by Kenneth Williams. The fat lady was Mavis the fairy, Arthur was a caterpiller and the dog was the Moog. Check out http://www.willothewisp.co.uk/ for more.

umathegreatstationarybear

3rd Feb 2005

General questions

I'm looking for a TV show I watched as a kid. The show was about a group of kids/teens who found a highly intelligent super computer that helped them carry out missions to save the world etc, it was of course a secret that the kids had the super computer. It was a kind of hacker/agent crossover show. I've narrowed it down to that the show must have been from somewhere between the late eighties to mid nineties. I know this description is very vague but I'm hoping someone out there knows what I'm talking about.

Andreas[DK]

Answer: Both of the current answers are wrong. I did eventually find the show and it was an Australian one called "Mission Top Secret."

Andreas[DK]

Chosen answer: The show was Whiz kids, but I can't remember much more than that. It was a long time ago (1983). Stick whiz kids into IMDb, there's a bit of stuff there about it.

umathegreatstationarybear

Answer: Whiz Kids was about a group of teens who use their computer skills to solve crimes. It wasn't really sophisticated as the computer hacking shows of today, it was more of a family friendly show. It was in the 1980's, at the beginning of the computer age.

No Thanks - S4-E9

Question: Marie teaches Debra to make something called Canopys (I'm not even sure that's how you spell it). Can someone tell me what Canopys are and give me the correct spelling? I assume it's some sort of Italian appetizer or dish.

rstill

Chosen answer: A Canapé is a cracker or a small, thin piece of bread or toast spread with cheese, meat, or relish and served as an appetizer.

umathegreatstationarybear

1st Sep 2004

She's All That (1999)

Question: There are two actress' I can't place and I am sure I have seen them somewhere before. I am not sure of their characters names but one of them i assume is Zach's sister, with the brown hair who goes to Ashley's as she has a cute brother and the other one is the blonde girl who was one of the girls who told Laney that it'd be better for her art if she committed suicide. Can anyone tell me their names and what else they have been in?

Answer: Zach's sister is Anna Paquin. She's been in tons of stuff like Almost Famous and she's the kid in The Piano, but she's mostly known as Rogue in the X-Men movies. The 'other one' is Clea DuVall who's been in 21 Grams and Girl, Interrupted. She was also the girl who disappears in a first season episode of Buffy. Stick the names into the IMDB to find out more.

umathegreatstationarybear

Question: What is the the song that is played around the last half of the trailer?

Answer: If I remember correctly, it's Mr. Blue Sky by The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO).

umathegreatstationarybear

14th Jun 2004

Charmed (1998)

Answer: The theme is a cover of The Smiths' 'How Soon Is Now' by a band called 'Love Spit Love'. The Soundtrack is available if you search around for it.

umathegreatstationarybear

10th May 2004

Friends (1994)

Chosen answer: Ross claims he came to the party as 'Spud-nik (the satellite)' but admits he's really 'doodie'. The flushed (as in toilet) remark is another 'Poo' joke.

umathegreatstationarybear

Caged - S2-E7

Question: In this episode, Catherine says, "I think I know the word that made her throw her coffee," and Sarah says she hates that word. While I could take a few educated guesses, I'm not sure what word they mean and I can't tell from Croft's mouth movements either. Can someone enlighten me?

Answer: I believe that she is referring to the 'C' word.

umathegreatstationarybear

Question: Why do the parents have two twin beds in their bedroom, instead of one double bed? I thought that was just a TV gimmick from the old days when they weren't allowed to show a man and woman in bed together. Did people really sleep like that, or was it just a production design decision for the film? The movie was made in the '80's after all.

Krista

Answer: It's most likely a reference to the twin-bed movie standards from the time in which the movie takes place (late '30s to early '40s).

Chosen answer: Many married couples did (and still do) sleep like this. For example, one may be a restless sleeper and not wish to disturb their partner. Or they may just prefer to sleep alone. It's all down to personal choice, I don't think there's a rule that says couples have to share a bed.

umathegreatstationarybear

The original poster has never been married. It is seldom that husbands and wives continue sleeping in the same bed after the first couple years of marriage.

Charles Austin Miller

Very interesting... I know of only one couple that sleeps in different beds. That is because they are on different sleep schedules. I know many couples and we all sleep with our spouses. Don't get me wrong, if we get a hotel room that has 2 full or queen beds, we are sleeping in individual beds. But other then that, we sleep in our bed together.

"Seldom" is a bit of an overstatement - studies seem to suggest about 15-25% of couples sleep separately.

Studies? Could you provide a link to such studies? I speak from decades of knowing many, many happily-married couples, the overwhelming majority of whom sleep in separate beds and even separate rooms.

Charles Austin Miller

15 per cent of Britons said if cost and space were not an issue, they would sleep in a different bed to their partner: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/uk-couples-sleep-separate-beds-partner-yougov-survey-a8504716.html. A 2005 National Sleep Foundation poll found that nearly one in four American couples sleeps in separate beds or separate rooms: https://sleepfoundation.org/sites/default/files/subscription/sub003.txt. Clearly many couples do, but many don't. Certainly the vast majority of couples I know share a bed, regardless of how long they've been together. "Seldom" is I think overstating it. The majority of people you know may sleep separately, and more power to them! No right or wrong, but that doesn't appear to reflect the broader picture.

Answer: Very common, especially back in the first half of the 20th century, for couples to sleep in separate beds.

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