Late To The Party: Obvious Things About Shows You Realized Embarrasingly Late

[magicdog]

How's this for embarrassingly late:

When I was in single digits, I used to watch Mission Magic, a Filmation cartoon featuring a young Rick Springfield.  The show revolved around a magical teacher named Miss Tickle, and a class of students who used to accompany her and Rick on various magical adventures.

Then I finally realized, Miss Tickle was a variant on the word, Mystical!!!

[Dr.OO7]

That the clicking stopwatch displayed during 60 Minutes is meant to tell you how much time has elapsed.

Don't give me that look, you didn't know either.

[Guest]

15 minutes ago, Camille said:

That the clicking stopwatch displayed during 60 Minutes is meant to tell you how much time has elapsed.

Don't give me that look, you didn't know either.

I didn't know that either.  An you are right, it does.  Just rewound the show to double check.

[Blergh]

3 hours ago, magicdog said:

How's this for embarrassingly late:

When I was in single digits, I used to watch Mission Magic, a Filmation cartoon featuring a young Rick Springfield.  The show revolved around a magical teacher named Miss Tickle, and a class of students who used to accompany her and Rick on various magical adventures.

Then I finally realized, Miss Tickle was a variant on the word, Mystical!!!

I hadn't thought of that cartoon almost since it was on (back in '73) but you inspired me to catch it on that site that rhymes with Crew Snoob! Anyway, guess what else that went over my head - parts of that cartoon would be used by later live-action shows! Yeah, really. I mean, this was had a cool teacher trying to lead high school students to expand their horizons (well, at least for a cartoon) JUST like the  1975 live action superhero show Secrets of Isis (which was about a reincarnated Egyptian goddess). Oh, and she had a pet cat named Tut while Isis would have a pet bird by that name! No one got sued for copywright stuff due to both series being made by Filmation. But, this cartoon had the character of a clueless principal named. .. .Mr. Samuels (and I have no idea how the producers of Head of the Class got away with that)!

[Blergh]

It wasn't until I was in my own teens that I thought there was anything odd re the premise of Scooby Doo: four underage  opposite gendered teens travel all over the country in a van with no real goal and never even mentioning whether their parents had given them permission much less anything about school or jobs to pay for gas + Scooby snacks!  But even as a kid, I thought it funny that none of them or anyone they encountered thought it odd that Scooby was a walking, talking dog who had hands for front paws! LOL

[Blergh]

While watching The Bionic Woman (1975), I used to envy Jamie Sommers's cool loft apartment that was over Steve's stepdad's and mom's ranch barn!  However; despite having visited folks in the country from early childhood onward, I never put together until much later  that, no matter how nice a barn make look, if it's in use, one has to deal with very strong ODORS that  can waft a very long distance!  I guess this proved that Jaime didn't have a bionic nose! LOL

[DrSpaceman]

On ‎3‎/‎19‎/‎2019 at 11:37 AM, Blergh said:

It wasn't until I was in my own teens that I thought there was anything odd re the premise of Scooby Doo: four underage  opposite gendered teens travel all over the country in a van with no real goal and never even mentioning whether their parents had given them permission much less anything about school or jobs to pay for gas + Scooby snacks!  But even as a kid, I thought it funny that none of them or anyone they encountered thought it odd that Scooby was a walking, talking dog who had hands for front paws! LOL

You ever watch the New Scooby Doo?  ANd by new, even those are several years old now.  Its actually pretty funny how they bring up and make fun of many of the odd things about the original series. 

It took me several years to realize Shaggy was obviously a stoner and that is why he ate all the time.  Wish I knew how he stayed so thin doing it though. 

There is a whole lot about that show that is just weird and we all overlooked as kids. 

[biakbiak]

4 minutes ago, DrSpaceman said:

why he ate all the time.  Wish I knew how he stayed so thin doing it though. 

Having the metabolism of a teenager helped.

[GreekGeek]

On 3/3/2019 at 4:31 PM, DrSpaceman said:

I don't recall the specifics of Charlie Brown and that story, though it does sound bad.

But Charlie Brown/Peanuts never directly involved the adults except for the "Waaa Wooo Waaaa Waaa wooo" from the teachers, so I can see why the story did not involve the parents helping him out, even though that is a sad situation.  The parents were pretty non-existent to these kids at all times. 

Yes, I always thought it was weird that Charlie Brown was expected to prepare a Thanksgiving feast just for the kids by himself (with a bit of a hand from Snoopy and Woodstock). Also that he had to read War and Peace during break. Who on earth assigns War and Peace to grade school kids? I'm guessing it was some kind of normal length assignment, but Charlie Brown built it up in his head as something that might as well be a 1000+ page book.

[Crs97]

48 minutes ago, GreekGeek said:

Who on earth assigns War and Peace to grade school kids? I'm guessing it was some kind of normal length assignment, but Charlie Brown built it up in his head as something that might as well be a 1000+ page book.

I hated the New Year episode for so many reasons, and this was a top one.  Throughout the movie we see him lugging that book around and actually trying to read it while all his classmates are just having fun.  Then he fails the assignment while they all seem to have done well.  It always bugged me.

[Constant Viewer]

1 hour ago, GreekGeek said:

Yes, I always thought it was weird that Charlie Brown was expected to prepare a Thanksgiving feast just for the kids by himself (with a bit of a hand from Snoopy and Woodstock).

I was was concerned by Charlie Brown's admission that he couldn't butter toast.

35 minutes ago, Crs97 said:

I hated the New Year episode for so many reasons, and this was a top one.  Throughout the movie we see him lugging that book around and actually trying to read it while all his classmates are just having fun.  Then he fails the assignment while they all seem to have done well.  It always bugged me.

Maybe the teacher assigned a different book to each kid and poor Charlie Brown got the longest one.

[SVNBob]

8 hours ago, DrSpaceman said:

It took me several years to realize Shaggy was obviously a stoner and that is why he ate all the time.  Wish I knew how he stayed so thin doing it though.

8 hours ago, biakbiak said:

Having the metabolism of a teenager helped.

Plus there's all the running away from the "monsters" that he did.  Keeping pace with a Great Dane too; that's Usain Bolt speed.

[paulvdb]

6 hours ago, Constant Viewer said:

Maybe the teacher assigned a different book to each kid and poor Charlie Brown got the longest one.

Or maybe the other kids just read the Cliff Notes.

[Crs97]

1 hour ago, paulvdb said:

Or maybe the other kids just read the Cliff Notes.

Which was the option that made me so angry - cheat and do well; do the right thing and fail!

[Snow Apple]

Remember The Brady Bunch when Greg had a goat in his room and Mike thought it was a girl? I had no idea how "racy" the dialogue in the confrontation scene was until I was an adult. Not even a teen, an actual adult.

[Blergh]

2 hours ago, Snow Apple said:

Remember The Brady Bunch when Greg had a goat in his room and Mike thought it was a girl? I had no idea how "racy" the dialogue in the confrontation scene was until I was an adult. Not even a teen, an actual adult.

True that but I guess it shows that the shows PTB's  were trying to be more 'relevant' (and Barry Williams himself would liken it to something akin to what Jack Tripper and Mr. Roper would later parlay in Three's Company). Well, let's keep in mind that, despite six minor Bradys having been conceived by two couples and the senior Bradys sharing a double bed, the ONLY time the word 'sex' got uttered  on the show was by Cousin Oliver(!?!) in the  last episode" Hair-Brained Scheme") who  also would utter the very last line on that show ( "Me. Cousin Oliver!" )! LOL

[Oosala]

On ‎3‎/‎17‎/‎2019 at 1:50 PM, magicdog said:

Then I finally realized, Miss Tickle was a variant on the word, Mystical!!!

Same thing on the Simpsons, with Bart's teacher, Miss Krabappel (Miss Crab Apple).  "I've been calling her Crandall."

[ratgirlagogo]

12 hours ago, Oosala said:

Miss Krabappel (Miss Crab Apple)

And of course she was a variant on the classic Hot Teacher from the Little Rascals, Miss Crabtree:

[Blergh]

6 hours ago, ratgirlagogo said:

And of course she was a variant on the classic Hot Teacher from the Little Rascals, Miss Crabtree:

 Of course the irony was that the cranky nemesis  MRS. Krabappel actually wound up having been married twice (the latter time to the neighbor Ed Flanders) while the sweet and understanding Miss Crabtree  stayed single during her teaching career! Of course, part of the humor about Miss Crabtree was that the boys in the class thought she'd have to be a mean fusspot solely due to her surname before she made her appearance (which I did NOT get the first time I saw the movie short repeated on a kids' program).  Oh, and I have to mention that  Tommy Bond who played the bully 'Butch' said that June Marlowe who played Miss Crabtree was SO nice off-camera that when the class burst into tears for having been mean to her as per the script - those tears were REAL on everyone's parts! 

[Rescue Mama]

It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out that Sanford and Son was the name of their junk business.  I always thought it was just the name of the show.  

[Blergh]

8 hours ago, Rescue Mama said:

It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out that Sanford and Son was the name of their junk business.  I always thought it was just the name of the show.  

Now don't feel too bad. It was well into adulthood that I FINALLY figured out that the metal headboard they were loading into the back of their truck in the closing credits was a headboard and not a bridge railing! LOL.

[Melgaypet]

I was another kid who thought money laundering involved putting money in an actual washing machine. I think this made sense to me because I had a habit of leaving loose change and dollar bills in my jeans pockets and so my money frequently got laundered.

What's embarrassing is that I'm still not sure how it works. I know money laundering means turning your illegally made money into money you can put in your bank account and declare on your taxes, and I know it involves some kind of "front" business, but I don't grasp the process beyond that, despite my lifetime of TV watching. I would make an absolutely terrible criminal.

[Katy M]

4 minutes ago, Melgaypet said:

I would make an absolutely terrible criminal.

This is not a bad trait.

4 minutes ago, Melgaypet said:

What's embarrassing is that I'm still not sure how it works. I know money laundering means turning your illegally made money into money you can put in your bank account and declare on your taxes, and I know it involves some kind of "front" business, but I don't grasp the process beyond that, despite my lifetime of TV watching.

The "front" business is usually something like a restaurant or convenience store. Side note: what I loved was that General Hospital actually had a Laundromat for laundering money (Tumble Dry), which even more confirmed by belief that it was actually washing money.  Anyway, some kind of business where you would take in a lot of cash.  Then you take your ill-gotten cash and add it to your legitimate receipts and pay taxes on it so you at least don't get Al Caponed.

[Stats Queen]

7 hours ago, Melgaypet said:

I was another kid who thought money laundering involved putting money in an actual washing machine. I think this made sense to me because I had a habit of leaving loose change and dollar bills in my jeans pockets and so my money frequently got laundered.

What's embarrassing is that I'm still not sure how it works. I know money laundering means turning your illegally made money into money you can put in your bank account and declare on your taxes, and I know it involves some kind of "front" business, but I don't grasp the process beyond that, despite my lifetime of TV watching. I would make an absolutely terrible criminal.

What I have learned since I was a kid and thought money laundering involved washing old coins with soap...

From Office Space: they didn’t know either

From Breaking Bad: car wash 

From Ozark: It’s complicated but includes nudie bars, funeral homes, and other various business and sometimes putting money in the walls.

In general: the Cayman Islands and Switzerland.

In my house: what’s under the sofa cushions.

[andromeda331]

4 hours ago, Stats Queen said:

What I have learned since I was a kid and thought money laundering involved washing old coins with soap...

From Office Space: they didn’t know either

From Breaking Bad: car wash 

From Ozark: It’s complicated but includes nudie bars, funeral homes, and other various business and sometimes putting money in the walls.

In general: the Cayman Islands and Switzerland.

In my house: what’s under the sofa cushions.

On Leverage the Mile High Job they end up on a flight to the Caymans because the company their trying to take down put everything on the Caymans flight which they think means all proof of their crime. They search through all the bags trying to find it. They find a bunch of other stuff uncut diamonds, Stradivarius violin and hat box full of euros from various passengers, but not anything from the company. 

Edited July 9, 2019 by andromeda331

[Snow Apple]

I recently watched a rerun of Gilligan's Island where a robot landed on the island. They were trying to figure out how it can help them get rescued. Ginger tried sexily flirting by saying "I've been on this island for a long time and... I want you to get me off."

Woah. Saw that episode dozens of times and all of a sudden realized what the writers did.

Edited July 9, 2019 by Snow Apple

[Blergh]

34 minutes ago, Snow Apple said:

I recently watched a rerun of Gilligan's Island where a robot landed on the island. They were trying to figure out how it can help them get rescued. Ginger tried sexily flirting by saying "I've been on this island for a long time and... I want you to get me off."

Woah. Saw that episode dozens of times and all of a sudden realized what the writers did.

 I never realized that Ginger was trying to get what she wanted without having to worry about birth control! LOL

[danderson400]

I've always wondered about the "full figures" opening of The Doctors- Young and the Restless-influenced head drawings of each of the cast principals that would be arranged in a circle that represented an "O" in the word "doctors" in the new title modernized logo while the late Mel Brandt says "The Doctors will return in just a moment."  Maybe they were trying to copy Y&R?

[danderson400]

The Doctors also had a orange version of the opening too

[danderson400]

Another thing about The Doctors; I like the  new pop flavored arrangement of the Bob Israel 1971 theme, with a melody carried by vibes and electric harpsichord. I'd use that one, but have the voice-over be "The Doctors, a daytime drama series dedicated to the brotherhood of healing."

[danderson400]

In 1979, the TD opening changed...

[Dr.OO7]

It was a few years ago that it finally occurred to me that the "Today" show is named as such because it airs. . . today, and the "Tonight" show because it airs. . . tonight.

[biakbiak]

39 minutes ago, Camille said:

It was a few years ago that it finally occurred to me that the "Today" show is named as such because it airs. . . today, and the "Tonight" show because it airs. . . tonight.

There was also The Tomorrow Show because it originally aired at 1 am after The Tonight Show.

[ABay]

It didn't occur to me that Orac, the name of the computer on Blake's 7, was short for Oracle until someone pointed it out on a mailing list.

[Dr.OO7]

It started after 9/11 and revved up after my sister died, but it wasn't until recently that it really hit me how ludicrous soaps are and that no one in real life could get away with the vast majority of things these people do or say.

[Haleth]

17 hours ago, Camille said:

It started after 9/11 and revved up after my sister died, but it wasn't until recently that it really hit me how ludicrous soaps are and that no one in real life could get away with the vast majority of things these people do or say.

It's kind of funny that the interest in soaps has waned to nearly the point of extinction, only to be replaced in popularity by ludicrous reality shows where no one in real life could get away with the things these people do or say.

[Blergh]

19 hours ago, Camille said:

It started after 9/11 and revved up after my sister died, but it wasn't until recently that it really hit me how ludicrous soaps are and that no one in real life could get away with the vast majority of things these people do or say.

Actually, it was only when I grew up and joined the workforce that I realized that there are LOTS of folks out there who live their lives as soap characters or are one relative or friend away from folks who do. Then, it hit me WHY soaps were so popular: the characters are similar to them/ their cronies AND they get to wear fancy clothes and go to the exotic locales! 

FWIW, soap operas got termed the term from when they started out as radio serials about dramatic characters and situations which often were sponsored by soap manufacturers. This despite the characters rarely if ever singing! LOL

[Homily]

I was watching an old rerun of Bewitched today and it occurred to me how cruel Samantha and her family were in the sense that they performed magic in front of people who saw what they were doing but were then led to believe they were nuts!  

[Blergh]

3 minutes ago, Homily said:

I was watching an old rerun of Bewitched today and it occurred to me how cruel Samantha and her family were in the sense that they performed magic in front of people who saw what they were doing but were then led to believe they were nuts!  

Yes, especially Mrs. Kravitz. I know she was quite a nosy busybody but she truly didn't deserve to be needlessly framed as mentally off! Watching Mr. Kravitz being content to do nothing but stay at home to putt golf balls into cups and play the cello   can't have been a very fulfilling or stimulating  life! Oh, and I notice that Endora actually seemed to enjoy taunting Mrs. Kravitz!

[MonicaM]

I loved Bewitched when I watched it as a child.  However, later when I watched reruns as an adult, I thought Darrin was a big jerk.  Of course it made sense for Samantha and the rest to keep their witchcraft ways a secret from others, but Darrin didn't even want her to use it to make her life easier.  Things like washing the dishes by hand instead of getting it done with a twitch of the nose.   

It got even worse when they had baby Tabitha who turned out to have the witch powers.  Even Samantha warned her repeatedly NOT to use her powers.  

If Darrin hated the thought of Samantha's powers so much, he should have gotten a quick divorce, rather than spending most of his time yelling at his wife and her relatives.  Even worse, Samantha acted as the perfect, submissive wife, always deferring to her husband on the surface.  Meanwhile, she was constantly saving his butt in business deals because he was pretty much an idiot, and she did what she needed to do to make him look like a big success.

It probably didn't help that when I saw reruns as an adult, I was just getting out of an abusive relationship where my husband tried to stifle me in every way, just as Darrin stifled Samantha. 

[janie jones]

I hate Darrin.

[giovannif7]

Not to defend Darrin, who (even in the context of the 60s) was often a sexist controlling jerk, and deserved a lot of the torment he got from Samantha's relatives. Samantha, however, has to shoulder a good portion of the responsibility for setting in motion the whole 'witch vs mortal' battle by hiding her heritage from Darrin until after the wedding. Honestly, if I married someone, then found out that they had lied (by omission) to me about themselves regarding something as big as having tremendous powers and not being mortal, I'd feel blindsided and would need to process the revelation. I'm sure it'd take time to work through and move past that huge breach of trust. To Darrin's credit, he came to the conclusion quickly that he wanted to stay in the relationship even after learning the truth about her secret.

[SVNBob]

1 hour ago, giovannif7 said:

Samantha, however, has to shoulder a good portion of the responsibility for setting in motion the whole 'witch vs mortal' battle by hiding her heritage from Darrin until after the wedding.

I was about to say the exact same thing.  In the original first episode, Samantha tells Darrin she is a witch on their first night as husband and wife.  And she hadn't even intended on doing that.  It wasn't until Endora showed up to take Samantha home that she decided to tell Darrin.

On top of that, the idea for Samantha to "give up" her powers was originally hers.  When she tells Darrin she's a witch, she says that she "wasn't going to do anymore witchcraft for his sake."  She only started using her powers in front of Darrin when he insisted she prove she was a witch.   So when he said she shouldn't do witchcraft anymore, he wasn't asking her to do anything she hadn't already thought of herself. 

Now, over the years, he should have gotten used to the idea that she was going to use her powers anyway, and stopped insisting on her not doing so.  That part is on him.

[tribeca]

For the longest time when I was a kid I didn’t know that Elizabeth Montgomery was playing Sabrina.  

[MissAlmond]

5 hours ago, SVNBob said:

was about to say the exact same thing.  In the original first episode, Samantha tells Darrin she is a witch on their first night as husband and wife.  And she hadn't even intended on doing that.  It wasn't until Endora showed up to take Samantha home that she decided to tell Darrin.

True although it wouldn't surprise me if many are unaware of the first episode due to stations not airing the black and white episodes in reruns for the longest time.  When I finally saw the black and white episodes of Bewitched - as I believe I've stated elsewhere - I came to love them.  There is a sophistication to those early seasons; I personally liked the idea Aunt Clara touched on in one episode.  That witches and warlocks have always lived amongst humans.  That the great artists, athletes, scientists, etc. were indeed one of them. How could we humans be so stupid to not to realize this?  This early tone was later ditched because younger audiences liked the magic.  

Anyway, IMO, while Darrin #1 may have come off at as a jerk, at least Dick York and Elizabeth Montgomery had chemistry.  Dick Sargent and Montgomery, close friends in real life, had a coldness on screen making Darrin #2 come off downright hateful and almost abusive.  

[Homily]

I guess they had to set up the premise that Samantha not using her powers was her own decision - I mean how much sense would it make otherwise? - but over the years they conveniently forgot about that and made Darren the stupidest man on the planet.  That's right, Darren, go ahead and badmouth your mother-in-law, go on, what could go wrong?  Idiot.

I didn't mind Samantha pretending to be the perfect '60s housewife so much, what drove me crazy was the selective way her  powers worked.  For example in the episode I saw yesterday much angst and hilarity ensued because Aunt Clara conjured up a pink elephant with polka dots just as an assessor from the bank was coming over.  Ok, I could buy that Samantha couldn't undo another witch's magic - but she couldn't even move the elephant to another room or make it invisible or something?  Yet clearly in other episodes she can do things like that.  

I know, I know, don't overthink a silly sitcom 🙂 .

3 minutes ago, MissAlmond said:

Anyway, IMO, while Darrin #1 may have come off at as a jerk, at least Dick York and Elizabeth Montgomery had chemistry.  Dick Sargent and Montgomery, close friends in real life, had a coldness on screen making Darrin #2 come off downright hateful and almost abusive.  

Totally agree!  Darren #1 did have a sweetness about him that came across even when you wanted to shake him!  I never had that vibe from Darren #2.  He was ungrateful, nasty and always seemed to have a sneer on his face.

Edited September 3, 2019 by Homily

[MissAlmond]

26 minutes ago, Homily said:

I guess they had to set up the premise that Samantha not using her powers was her own decision - I mean how much sense would it make otherwise? - but over the years they conveniently forgot about that and made Darren the stupidest man on the planet

There was no continuity in those episodic TV shows.  It's why they used to drive me crazy remembering friends and relatives who suddenly changed or disappeared.  The early Darrin used to be part of a sort of idle rich set judging by various conversations at Shelia's dinner party. However, later in the series, Darrin seemed more a typical 60's middle class product and a man who had never traveled internationally at least.  Hopefully TV shows today adhere to"bibles" where writers even for the silliest of shows keep track of main characters origins, family, friends  . . .

[Blergh]

2 hours ago, tribeca said:

For the longest time when I was a kid I didn’t know that Elizabeth Montgomery was playing Sabrina.  

Well, Miss Montgomery did throw things off a bit by  having them credit Sabrina's being portrayed by 'Pandora Spocks' and it wasn't until I was an adult that I realized what the latter name REALLY meant! 

[Katy M]

2 hours ago, Homily said:

I didn't mind Samantha pretending to be the perfect '60s housewife so much, what drove me crazy was the selective way her  powers worked.  For example in the episode I saw yesterday much angst and hilarity ensued because Aunt Clara conjured up a pink elephant with polka dots just as an assessor from the bank was coming over.  Ok, I could buy that Samantha couldn't undo another witch's magic - but she couldn't even move the elephant to another room or make it invisible or something?  Yet clearly in other episodes she can do things like that. 

That's really the problem of any TV show that uses magic or supernatural powers.  If the character with the powers is all-powerful, there's no conflict, or sense of urgency. The powers are always just as strong as you need them to be in that episode (or even in that scene).

[Cobb Salad]

9 hours ago, tribeca said:

For the longest time when I was a kid I didn’t know that Elizabeth Montgomery was playing Sabrina.  

Me too ... I watched the later episodes when they were first run when I was little.  Serena was more made up than Samantha so I guess that’s what fooled me.  Later on seeing the earlier episodes in syndication she looked more like Samantha with a dark wig so maybe it was more obvious then.