What was the name of this screwball movie (not TV show) about competing funeral homes from the late 80s or early 90s? I only saw the commercial. In one scene, two funeral directors have arrived at the scene of a bad car crash. "There's enough bodies for both of us!" "But we got here first!" In another, there's a dead woman at a fast food drive-in. "She didn't even finish her fries." The tagline was 'Kiss your ash goodbye.'
Brian Katcher
1st Mar 2024
General questions
15th Feb 2024
Cheers (1982)
One for the Road (1) - S11-E26
Question: Is it true they wanted to get Glenn Close to make a cameo as Vera Peterson in the last episode? I swear I saw photos in an entertainment mag of her filming a scene for the final episode, with the joke being Norm's long-insulted wife was actually very beautiful and classy.
5th Jan 2024
General questions
Does anyone remember this after-school special type show from the early 80s? Some popular high school students convince a nerdy kid that an uppity popular girl likes him, causing him to humiliate himself in public. Shortly after, all three of the popular kids start receiving messages from an alien being on their TV. The kids freak out and tell the world they're communicating with a spaceman, only for the alien to actually be the nerdy kid who hacked the TV broadcast as revenge.
5th Jan 2024
General questions
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.
19th Dec 2023
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Question: Did Christmas Eve used to be a regular work day? The bank is open, the bank examiner is at the building and loan, and Zuzu had school.
Answer: Did they used to have school on Christmas Eve day?
Answer: Agree with the other answer, but would add that Christmas Eve was never a Federal holiday. It really depends on the individual company or organization on whether to give employees the day off. When I worked for the state, we used to get Christmas Eve off, but that was eliminated when MLK Day became a Federal holiday. Employees then had to use a vacation day if they wanted Christmas Eve off.
Answer: Yes, and it still is. The standard work day was 9:00 - 5:00, and Christmas Eve (not a "holiday") starts at 6:00 PM - after work. Christmas "breaks" may have been extended over the years, though.
13th Nov 2023
High Anxiety (1977)
Question: What is the name of the song that blasts in Dr. Wentworth's car and causes his ears to rupture? Or was it something created for the movie?
Answer: It was a song written by Mel Brooks for the film. It's called "If You Love Me Baby, Tell Me Loud."
4th Sep 2023
Asteroid City (2023)
Question: What is the pile of silvery objects behind the diner? They're there from the very first scene.
7th Jun 2023
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Question: When the typist realizes that three Ryan brothers have died, they eventually take the information to an officer with one arm. Would someone with such a permanent disability be allowed to stay in the service, even in a non-combat role? Was it a wartime measure?
Answer: There would be absolutely no reason for him not to remain in the service; he's a colonel, an important officer, and as you say, he's not in combat, so how would it disqualify him? As it's not a disability that would (significantly) affect his ability to discharge his duties, it would be strange to not allow a high-ranking officer to continue in his role, wartime or not.
14th May 2023
General questions
What was the name of this music video I saw on MTV in 1998 or 99? A young man works in a hellish office, where everyone is unhappy and miserable. He dies, suddenly in the parking lot and the afterlife is yet another office, only this one is wonderful and heavenly. He works there as a suicide hotline operator who is talking to a living woman. The video was shot chronologically backward, starting with him in heaven and going backwards through his day.
6th May 2023
General questions
There was a cartoon I saw in the early 80s but was probably a lot older, which opened with a roster of boxers. The shtick was they all looked like their nicknames: The Mountain was a literal mountain, The Phantom was invisible, etc. Ring any bells for anyone?
18th Mar 2023
Night Court (1984)
Question: In nearly every episode there are two bailiffs standing in the back of the courtroom, a blonde white guy and a black man with glasses. They also appear hanging out in the cafeteria, walking in the halls, etc. However, I don't think they ever had a single line during the entire series run, even in episodes that prominently featured the building's entire bailiff staff. Any reason they made an effort to keep these two extras for the entire run, but never had them say anything?
Answer: Most likely, they were stand-ins for members of the main cast. When lighting sets, rather than have the main actors stand around while they adjust the lights, they will get someone with similar physical characteristics to fill in. Since they are already on the set and have nothing to do during the actual shooting, it is more convenient, and probably cheaper, to also use them as extras.
Answer: Most likely it was about money. Actors who have speaking parts, even if it's only one word, are paid more than "extras", who do not have any dialogue. As the two characters played no part in any of the plots, there was no reason to have them speak lines. Therefore, they were paid less money.
So why hire an extra to play a messenger or bailiff from another courtroom when that pair was already on the set and could have easily said the lines?
What lines? Your question specified that they never spoke any lines and you wanted to know why.
Lines that other extras playing bailiffs said.
If an actor speaks any dialogue, they are billed as "co-stars" and paid at a higher rate than "extras" (also known as Background Actors), who are uncredited. The two you mentioned were regulars who were merely silent background characters used to "dress the set", making the courthouse look more realistically populated. Extras often have no acting ability and are unsuitable for speaking lines. Some people work exclusively as extras in various TV shows and movies and do not actually act or have dialogue.
26th Feb 2023
General questions
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.
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.
10th Feb 2023
Cheers (1982)
One for the Road (3) - S11-E28
Question: When I streamed this episode, there were a couple of small scenes missing (Sam explaining that his cigars were a gift from Fidel Castro via Reggie Jackson; Sam kissing Rebecca goodbye). I know they used to cut scenes to cram in more commercials after the initial broadcast, but with a streaming service, you're not limited to a time slot. Why not air the whole thing?
Answer: They sometimes acquire episodes from syndicated reruns. The ones with the cut scenes. Sundance channel have some episodes of M.A.S.H. uncut.
23rd Jan 2023
General questions
Looking for a cabinet game I played in an arcade in the early 1990s. It was a first person shooter, where you used a plastic gun to shoot the screen. The premise is you are in a city that's been taken over by ghosts and demons and you fight possessed items rather than monsters. The final boss on the first level is a movie poster where a actor and actress' face jump out of the poster and attack you. The second level is a restaurant where you fight flying plates and coats.
Answer: Maybe "Laser Ghost" (1990)?
That's it! Thanks.
1st Jan 2023
Night Court (1984)
Ladies Night - S5-E4
Question: Christine asks Roz if she ever hangs out at a tavern or café or a 'bwot' (I am absolutely misspelling that). Then Roz starts calling the strip club she frequents 'a bwot' as a running joke. I've heard the term on Frasier as well, but I can't google it because I have no idea how to spell it. What is it?
Answer: The word is "boîte." It's a French word and just means a small restaurant or cafe. "Boîte de nuit" would be a nightclub.
15th Dec 2022
Night Court (1984)
Question: I swear when this episode first aired, Bull broke Roz's Mr. T coffee mug. I remember seeing it with gold chains hanging off it. When I just watched the rerun, it was just an ordinary floral cup and Mr. T was never mentioned. Did they film two versions?
15th Oct 2022
General questions
There was a short cartoon I saw in the early 80s where every time the guy used a figure of speech, it would happen literally: I combed the beach (with an actual comb); I put my foot in my mouth (literally); She had a lot of little ones (tiny numeral 1s).
Answer: "Symphony in Slang" by Tex Avery (1951).
Thanks. You just solved a 40-year-old problem for me.
You're welcome.
11th Oct 2022
General questions
What was this science fiction movie from the early 80s or earlier? An earth man is undergoing a procedure by aliens (or future people) to make him super intelligent. I just remember the aliens chanting 'Think about the brain...think about the brain...' over and over again.
Answer: Maybe "Starship Invasions," (1977) two alien races bring their war to Earth. One set experiments on humans, while the others ask for their help.
I don't think that's it either. I'm pretty sure I saw it in the theater and that was before my time.
Answer: There is a 1977 TV-Movie, "The Man with the Power." A man discovers his father was an alien from another planet. He has super powers. An alien emissary appears to advise him on how to use his powers to help mankind. I don't know about the "think about the brain" scene. It hasn't been broadcast in twenty years. There are a couple of other movies, but I believe this is the one your looking for.
Thanks, but after googling it, I don't think that's it. The man in my movie was older, they definitely were performing some sort of medical procedure on him, there were in some sort of futuristic hospital, there were multiple aliens, and I'm almost certain I saw this in the theater.
11th Oct 2022
General questions
What was this science fiction show or movie I saw in the early 80s? There was this eclectic group of aliens, including, strangely, an earth cowboy. Some of the group were identical aliens who did everything exactly the same. When the cowboy offered an alien a hot dog, they all began chewing, and reciting the ingredients ("and artificial flavoring").
Answer: "Battle Beyond the Stars" (1980).
7th Sep 2022
The West Wing (1999)
Question: Whose portrait is hanging behind Santo's desk in the newly redecorated Oval Office? (to the right of the desk from the viewer's perspective).
Answer: The painting hanging on the wall to the right of Santos' desk is a portrait of Abraham Lincoln.
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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.
Bishop73
Thank you! Me confusing iron and steel made it impossible to Google.
Brian Katcher