# A Long Time Ago **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [June 26, 2021, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-long-time-ago/945057 "2021-06-26T12:09:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2021, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-long-time-ago/945057/1 "2021-06-26T12:09:35Z")
The Phantom Menace is now older than Star Wars was when The Phantom Menace came out. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2021, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-long-time-ago/945057/2 "2021-06-26T13:37:15Z")
One that floored me was hearing, a few months ago, that the time between now and the fall of the Berlin Wall is longer than the actual lifespan of the wall. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2021, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-long-time-ago/945057/3 "2021-06-26T13:40:17Z")
Cleopatra lived closer in time to now than she did to the building of the Great Pyramids. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2021, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-long-time-ago/945057/4 "2021-06-26T14:16:40Z")
Vote **Quimby**! ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2021, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-long-time-ago/945057/5 "2021-06-26T14:43:53Z")
The original Flash Gordon serials (1936) are closer in time to Episode IV (1977) than Episode IX (2019). ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2021, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-long-time-ago/945057/6 "2021-06-26T15:50:56Z")
Whoops…I forgot this is Cafe Society so… Elizabeth Taylor, who played Cleopatra (who lived closer in time to now than she did to the building of the Great Pyramids) in the film Cleopatra, also lived closer in time to us than she did to when the Great Pyramids were built. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2021, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-long-time-ago/945057/7 "2021-06-26T16:14:54Z")
In the original Star Trek episode _The Space Seed,_ which was first shown in 1967, Khan Noonien Singh (played by Ricardo Montalban) was the leader of a group of genetically-engineered “supermen,” who briefly ruled a large portion of Earth. After Khan and his people lost the Eugenics Wars, they fled into space in a “sleeper ship,” only to be discovered and revived by the crew of the _Enterprise_ in 2267. Khan and his people fled from Earth in 1996, which is now 35 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2021, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-long-time-ago/945057/8 "2021-06-26T17:37:42Z")
oh - this isn’t about [Micheal McDonald?](https://youtu.be/t45QGRSXS1I?t=243) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2021, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-long-time-ago/945057/9 "2021-06-26T17:45:46Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Khan and his people fled from Earth in 1996, which is now 35 years ago. D’oh. 25 years ago. Math is hard on Saturdays. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2021, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-long-time-ago/945057/10 "2021-06-26T22:41:29Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > In the original Star Trek episode _The Space Seed,_ which was first shown in 1967, Khan Noonien Singh (played by Ricardo Montalban) was the leader of a group of genetically-engineered “supermen,” who briefly ruled a large portion of Earth. After Khan and his people lost the Eugenics Wars, they fled into space in a “sleeper ship,” only to be discovered and revived by the crew of the _Enterprise_ in 2267. > > Khan and his people fled from Earth in 1996, And the Robinson family took the Jupiter 2 on a mission to Alpha Centauri in 1997. Questions abound Were the Robinsons also products of genetic engineering? Were the Robinsons allied with Khan? Or, were the Robinsons sent after Khan? Was Dr. Smith a failed genetics experiment who, rather than turn out to be a superhuman, became a ninny? Was the Eugenics empire the mysterious foreign power Dr. Smith was working for? Could Dr. Smith (or his employer) also have sabotaged the Botany Bay, causing Khan and his army to drift aimlessly in space? If so, was Smith actually a part of some sort of anti-space terrorist group? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2021, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-long-time-ago/945057/11 "2021-06-26T23:58:47Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > And the Robinson family took the Jupiter 2 on a mission to Alpha Centauri in 1997. Questions abound > > Were the Robinsons also products of genetic engineering? > Were the Robinsons allied with Khan? > Or, were the Robinsons sent after Khan? > Was Dr. Smith a failed genetics experiment who, rather than turn out to be a superhuman, became a ninny? > Was the Eugenics empire the mysterious foreign power Dr. Smith was working for? > Could Dr. Smith (or his employer) also have sabotaged the Botany Bay, causing Khan and his army to drift aimlessly in space? If so, was Smith actually a part of some sort of anti-space terrorist group? This is the most harebrained ranting I have ever read and I’m going to memorize every single letter so’s I can repeat it to my nerdy friends next time I see them; I love it! 😄 And just what is the significance of **Aeolus 14 Umbra**? ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-long-time-ago/945057/12 "2021-07-03T21:28:08Z")
All those scenes with a T Rex fighting a Stegosaur? The T Rex was closer in time to us than to the Stegosaur. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2021, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-long-time-ago/945057/13 "2021-07-20T00:31:42Z")
Here’s one that made me want to crumble into dust: Wil Wheaton is now older than Patrick Stewart was when Star Trek TNG premiered. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2021, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-long-time-ago/945057/14 "2021-08-10T11:39:33Z")
He is 49, while Sir Patrick was 47. I think his baldness makes him look older than he was for much of TNG.