You Ever Notice...and What's the Deal...

[minor muppetz]

I was watching Monsters, Inc. last night, and there's a few things I've noticed or been confused about....

After Mike and Sulley get banished, they manage to get back to their world because of a nearby village. I guess they just found the homes of kids and came back through their closet doors, but it's still confusing.... The doors have to be activiated to get back, how would they know which doors would work or when a co-worker will come into the homes when they do? Also, when kids stop being scared they shred the doors to their homes... How do they know the village wasn't full of kids who were no longer scared by monsters?

This gets me to something else (which I didn't think about before I started posting this). When kids are no longer scared, they shred the doors. But what if the kids moved into a new home or a new bedroom (well, maybe the monsters don't consider this)? Also, just because they stop being scared of one monster (after watching again last night for the first time in years I get the idea that each kid gets scared by the same monster and they don't mix things up) they shred the door. Why not just assign a different monster to them (for example, Sulley is the top scarer, why not have him scare the kids?)?

Both bad guys get what they deserve (one gets sent to the real world, the other gets arrested), but in the monster world, I wonder which is worse, or even which bad guy is the more bad/evil one.

And the owner gets arrested for conspiracy as well as saying that he'd kidnap a thousand kids before his company goes under. But then they also banish certain monsters from the monster world... So a monster can get arrested for kidnapping a human child but not for banishing monsters to the real world, where humans are supposedly toxic?

 

[minor muppetz]

In Back to the Future, when Marty plays "Johnny Be Good" for the 1955 school dance, everyone seems to enjoy it, but by the time the song ends, they all stopped dancing and just give him odd looks. Why the sudden change of enjoyment for the entire school?

And what's with Mr. Strickland telling Marty he's too much like his father? They are both obviously very different, with the dad being pretty much a loser (until Marty goes back in time), though I guess we really don't really see enough of Marty in school to see if he was as cool or popular as he seems (though he does have a hot girlfriend).

And considering Biff constantly got what he wanted by bullying George and had the hots for Lorraine, how come Biff didn't use his bullying powers to get George to not marry Loraine (even if she still wouldn't marry Biff? Wait... Marry Biff... Mary-Biff! That's the name of one of Biff from Sesame Street's kids! Now that's, I say, that's a joke, son!)).

In the Family Guy episode Meet the Quaigmires, which spoofs the dance scene from Back to the Future, Brian points out to Peter that in the alternate timeline Lois said she fell in love with Quaigmire at the dance they go to, so they go to stop it from happening. They injure one of the musicians, so Brian fills in... But since they were trying to stop Lois and Quaigmire from kissing and getting married, why didn't Brian decide to just not play, so there wouldn't be any music or dancing, preventing the kiss from happening? Also, in that episode, Peter wished to go back to 1984 so he could be a single 18-year-old again, but did Brian really need to come with him, aside from the fact that without Brian Peter would have likely had a harder time figuring out what caused the alternate timeline?

And have you ever notice how it seems like Gilda Radner was the only successful female member of the original SNL cast, but it seems she didn't have any other successes? Did she star in any movies? I know that she did Gilda Live but I think I read that was a flop... Was her Muppet Show appearance her most successful non-SNL gig (well, to be fair, her episode is one of the best TMS episodes ever, definitely in the top 20)?

 

[charlietheowl]

And have you ever notice how it seems like Gilda Radner was the only successful female member of the original SNL cast, but it seems she didn't have any other successes? Did she star in any movies? I know that she did Gilda Live but I think I read that was a flop... Was her Muppet Show appearance her most successful non-SNL gig (well, to be fair, her episode is one of the best TMS episodes ever, definitely in the top 20)?

I think, though this a nebulous area to perhaps go into, that perhaps her personal problems might have prevented her from being a big star as other cast members from SNL. She dealt with an eating disorder and a failed marriage in the early eighties, then of course she got sick in the late eighties. I think that Haunted Honeymoon was her biggest movie.

 

[D'Snowth]

See what I mean? This is turning into "Did You Ever See That Episode of THE SIMPSONS or FAMILY GUY Thread".

 

[minor muppetz]

See what I mean? This is turning into "Did You Ever See That Episode of THE SIMPSONS or FAMILY GUY Thread".

First of all, in this thread I've never asked "Did you ever see this episode of...", I bring up things that happen in episodes with the assumption that somebody else on the forum has. Those are two shows that I've seen many episodes of (there's only one Family Guy episode I haven't seen) and watch frequently, so it's easy for me to come across things that I wonder "what's the deal?" about. I think it's been just as common for me to make "what's the deal with.../ever notice" posts about Back to the Future and episodes of King of the Hill.

 

[minor muppetz]

I've read that one reason why old TV shows were not saved for reruns sake was because people thought nobody would want to watch a program again. But many old movies had been rereleased and were obviously successful (quite a few animated Disney movies weren't successful until they were rereleased in theaters). And what if somebody missed an episode of a show? Didn't the programmers think maybe people would want to see episodes that they missed?

And I wonder why residuals have to be different when it comes to certain formats. Home video wasn't around when old TV shows were made, and even after video became popular many shows weren't put on VHS (and certain rights still weren't cleared). But if they didn't exist, then why WOULD they have to renegotiate residuals? I know I've seen people explain this before but they pretty much said what I asked, which wasn't very helpful.

And it's interesting how many programs, when released on video, had to reclear music rights, possibly rights to video clips, use of outside copyrighted characters, and sometimes celebrity guests, but it seems like the companies rarely have any problems when it comes to the regular staff. I never hear any issues regarding paying residuals to regular cast members, writers, directors, use of original music, and so on.

 

[minor muppetz]

There was a series of Peanuts strips (which were adapted into a segment on The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show) where Lucy kicks Linus out of the house, and at one point Charlie Brown asks why the parents allow it, only for Linus to reveal that their mom is in the hospital (and the parents didn't send somebody to watch them overnight?), without knowing why... And then Lucy gets a call learning that they have a new baby brother. So their mom was pregnant for nine months and she didn't tell her kids until the baby was born? Or did she actually not realize she was pregnant until she went into labor?

And in It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown, Lucy keeps pulling the football away just before Charlie Brown kicks, in a very important game, even during the final kick-off which would have otherwise won her team the game, and she is never disciplined. Only Charlie Brown gets chewed out. The first time she mentions that it's an important game, to trick him, but is pulling the ball away really more important than winning? For at least the final kick they should have had Lucy wrestle with her conscience over which was more important to her.

I know, both of those are really explained by "rule of funny"....

Also, at one point in E.T., the mom has to go to Elliot's school and leaves the daughter behind, with no babysitter. Did parents do that back then? Especially given the girl's age.

 

[D'Snowth]

I've read that one reason why old TV shows were not saved for reruns sake was because people thought nobody would want to watch a program again.

Well, that's really the reason why most shows back in the old days seldom did proper farewell/ending episodes, because many executives felt that such an episode would kill a show's chance at being syndicated in reruns. Apparently, that's what happened with THE FUGITIVE; they did a proper ending episode for the series, and apparently viewers were outraged over that, and as such, not only could they not sell it in syndication, but apparently, based on that alone, almost all TV shows were prohibited from having an ending episode. Back in those days, shows never really officially ended, they were just canceled after certain amounts of time, such as the Rural Purge, where the three major networks (CBS especially) were canceling shows right and left because they felt those shows were no longer appealing to contemporary audiences (THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES, PETTICOAT JUNCTION, GREEN ACRES, LASSIE, HEE HAW, even shows like BEWITCHED and HOGAN'S HEROES), and then that's when more edgy shows started coming into vogue like ALL IN THE FAMILY, SANFORD AND SON, THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW, among others.

It wasn't until M*A*S*H reached its final season that a show really attempted to do a proper final episode, and CBS FREAKED OUT about it, because M*A*S*H had become their cash cow (like TWO AND A HALF MEN today), and they feared a deja vu like THE FUGITIVE, but luckily, because M*A*S*H was a period piece, and people knew the Korean War ended, it wasn't like their final episode was going to kill any suspence or audience interest. And at the time, M*A*S*H's final episode was the most-watched program in television history (though thanks to recent Super Bowls, that record had been shattered); the final not only wrapped up the show well, but the show was still popular, and did very well in syndication, so since then, having proper final episodes for shows have become more common place. They're still a gamble though, some shows have had final episodes that people hated like CHEERS, and other shows had final episodes that received a mixed/love-hate reaction from viewers like SEINFELD, but that's the real reason why they networks felt people wouldn't watch shows in reruns, because of final episodes wrapping the whole story up.

 

[Oscarfan]

In Back to the Future, when Marty plays "Johnny Be Good" for the 1955 school dance, everyone seems to enjoy it, but by the time the song ends, they all stopped dancing and just give him odd looks. Why the sudden change of enjoyment for the entire school?

And what's with Mr. Strickland telling Marty he's too much like his father? They are both obviously very different, with the dad being pretty much a loser (until Marty goes back in time), though I guess we really don't really see enough of Marty in school to see if he was as cool or popular as he seems (though he does have a hot girlfriend).

And considering Biff constantly got what he wanted by bullying George and had the hots for Lorraine, how come Biff didn't use his bullying powers to get George to not marry Loraine (even if she still wouldn't marry Biff? Wait... Marry Biff... Mary-Biff! That's the name of one of Biff from Sesame Street's kids! Now that's, I say, that's a joke, son!)).

Point A: It's because of his crazy guitar riff, which is more "hard-rock" than what they'd be used to at the time. Hearing "Johnny B. Good" around that time wouldn't be nearly as jarring as hearing, say, any trash song then.

Point B: They're both just "slackers" in his opinion. "You remind me of your old man, he was a slacker too."

Point C: Because when George punched out Biff, the powers shifted. Biff was clearly the toughest guy in school and even though Marty had the guts to stand up to him, George was the only one to completely lay him out like that. George would've become more popular after that and Biff's name wouldn't carry as much pull.

 

[minor muppetz]

It wasn't until M*A*S*H reached its final season that a show really attempted to do a proper final episode, and CBS FREAKED OUT about it, because M*A*S*H had become their cash cow (like TWO AND A HALF MEN today), and they feared a deja vu like THE FUGITIVE, but luckily, because M*A*S*H was a period piece, and people knew the Korean War ended, it wasn't like their final episode was going to kill any suspence or audience interest. And at the time, M*A*S*H's final episode was the most-watched program in television history (though thanks to recent Super Bowls, that record had been shattered); the final not only wrapped up the show well, but the show was still popular, and did very well in syndication, so since then, having proper final episodes for shows have become more common place. They're still a gamble though, some shows have had final episodes that people hated like CHEERS, and other shows had final episodes that received a mixed/love-hate reaction from viewers like SEINFELD, but that's the real reason why they networks felt people wouldn't watch shows in reruns, because of final episodes wrapping the whole story up.

Of course, there were a number of shows between the finales of The Fugitive and M*A*S*H that had proper finales, like The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, and The Odd Couple. And I am bothered by what happened in the Cheers finale. Would it have really been a bad thing if Sam and Diane didn't get back together in the last episode?

Point C: Because when George punched out Biff, the powers shifted. Biff was clearly the toughest guy in school and even though Marty had the guts to stand up to him, George was the only one to completely lay him out like that. George would've become more popular after that and Biff's name wouldn't carry as much pull.

I was talking about in the original timeline, before Marty went back in time and changed the way his parents fell in love.