# 1950s TV Show Device: cheap Hotel Rooms With Blinking Signs?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1950s-tv-show-device-cheap-hotel-rooms-with-blinking-signs/674999>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [November 28, 2013, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1950s-tv-show-device-cheap-hotel-rooms-with-blinking-signs/674999 "2013-11-28T13:37:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\
**Post date:** [November 30, 2013, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1950s-tv-show-device-cheap-hotel-rooms-with-blinking-signs/674999/21 "2013-11-30T02:14:13Z")

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Someone (I think Truffaut) asked Hitchcock about a dark scene in one of his movies, “Where is that light coming from?”  
Hitchcock answered, “The same place the _music_’s coming from.”

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**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\
**Post date:** [November 30, 2013, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1950s-tv-show-device-cheap-hotel-rooms-with-blinking-signs/674999/22 "2013-11-30T06:00:18Z")

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Hitchcock also said, “My lead characters don’t call the police because that would be no fun.”

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**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\
**Post date:** [November 30, 2013, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1950s-tv-show-device-cheap-hotel-rooms-with-blinking-signs/674999/23 "2013-11-30T07:41:40Z")

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To bring things full circle, adverts for the upcoming TNT mini-series _Mob City_, set in 1947, heavily feature shots of a hotel with a blinking neon sign. So, you know, scene-setting shorthand.

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**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\
**Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1950s-tv-show-device-cheap-hotel-rooms-with-blinking-signs/674999/24 "2013-12-04T16:19:22Z")

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Inevitable (related) TV Tropes link: [Signs of Disrepair](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SignsOfDisrepair)

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**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\
**Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1950s-tv-show-device-cheap-hotel-rooms-with-blinking-signs/674999/25 "2013-12-04T17:04:56Z")

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It predates TV by quite a long time. Films of the thirties often used it as a setting, and it was pretty routine in film noir.

**The Hot L Baltimore** was an award winning play and a short-lived TV series that nodded toward the concept and was set in a rundown hotel.

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**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\
**Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1950s-tv-show-device-cheap-hotel-rooms-with-blinking-signs/674999/26 "2013-12-04T18:17:32Z")

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> [@randwill](#):
>
> Some instances are so obviously day shots that the only way to tell it is supposed to be night is the cricket chirping that the sound guy laid in there.

I have a habit of yelling at the T.V. “Turn off the cricket machine!”

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