# Help with niggling plot points tv/film **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [June 20, 2025, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-niggling-plot-points-tv-film/1019880 "2025-06-20T08:57:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![colinfred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colinfred/32/21338_2.png) [@colinfred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colinfred)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2025, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-niggling-plot-points-tv-film/1019880/1 "2025-06-20T08:57:47Z")
I don’t know if anybody else gets the case where they remember a vague plot point/conversation fragment from something they’ve watched and it keeps buzzing around until it gets resolved. I get this quite a bit, I’m hoping for this to be an ongoing thread but 3 to start off if anybody can help: colinfred1: I don’t think I even saw this show, just an advert for it. It looked interesting but I I’ve forgotten what it was. A women is being interrogated, her inquisitors are saying that they know there are 5-6 people in her group, she appears to crack “Mickey…” “Mickey who?” “…Mouse” colinfred2: Some low rent detective show, the title of which is somebody’s surname, I don’t know the role of this person. The plot of the episode was that somehow these 2 guys had got a lot of FPS fans to play for real. The 2 plot points I remember is that one guy survives buy just staying on a bus 24/7 as “buses are safe” in the rules and that the eventual winner was a woman, but instead of paying her out the 2 guys tie something heavy to her and push her off something high to her death. colinfred3: Some sitcom. Someone wins a “beauty contest” (maybe not a beauty contest per se but a competition where the only ever winners are attractive young women). It becomes clear that as a tradition the “winner” of this contest gets to take out a local bigwig and pay for it herself. One of the main male characters is chosen as the bigwig, it’s implied that all the truly influential people have already had their turn. A main female character takes on the audience proxy viewpoint about how crazy and demeaning this is. The beauty contest winner is not a main character, may not even actually appear in the episode. ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2025, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-niggling-plot-points-tv-film/1019880/2 "2025-06-20T11:23:06Z")
> [@colinfred](#): > > It becomes clear that as a tradition the “winner” of this contest gets to take out a local bigwig and pay for it herself. Are you thinking of the Father Ted episode where he judges the ‘Lovely Girls’ contest? ---
**Author:** ![colinfred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colinfred/32/21338_2.png) [@colinfred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colinfred)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2025, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-niggling-plot-points-tv-film/1019880/3 "2025-06-20T11:24:07Z")
> [@JacobSwan](#): > > Are you thinking of the Father Ted episode where he judges the ‘Lovely Girls’ contest Probably. It sounds right, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2025, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-niggling-plot-points-tv-film/1019880/4 "2025-06-20T13:06:19Z")
Scene from a late 90s/early 00s sitcom: in a recording studio, an actress is supposed to say the line “This is more than a dream come true!”, but she keeps intentionally ruining every take. Finally, the engineer says “Let’s take a short break so I can go outside and bang my head against the wall.” ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-niggling-plot-points-tv-film/1019880/5 "2025-06-21T04:35:18Z")
> [@colinfred](#): > > colinfred3: > Some sitcom. Someone wins a “beauty contest” (maybe not a beauty contest per se but a competition where the only ever winners are attractive young women). It becomes clear that as a tradition the “winner” of this contest gets to take out a local bigwig and pay for it herself. One of the main male characters is chosen as the bigwig, it’s implied that all the truly influential people have already had their turn. > > A main female character takes on the audience proxy viewpoint about how crazy and demeaning this is. The beauty contest winner is not a main character, may not even actually appear in the episode. This sounds like the episode of _ **Frasier** _ in which a fashion model selected Frais as her date at a charity bachelor auction. With him being Frasier, of course, the date did not end well. It seems to me that Roz objected to the idea of such an auction but participated anyway. She may have ended up with Bulldog, but I can’t be sure without watching the episode again. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-niggling-plot-points-tv-film/1019880/6 "2025-06-21T04:42:51Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > Scene from a late 90s/early 00s sitcom: in a recording studio, an actress is supposed to say the line “This is more than a dream come true!”, but she keeps intentionally ruining every take. Finally, the engineer says “Let’s take a short break so I can go outside and bang my head against the wall.” Could this be the episode of _ **Two and a Half Men** _ in which Charlie tries to help old girlfriend Mia launch a recording career, but it turns out she can’t sing worth a damn and he walks out of the studio? ---
**Author:** ![gre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d78d45/32.png) [@gre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gre)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-niggling-plot-points-tv-film/1019880/7 "2025-06-21T17:37:48Z")
A man has some wild story, maybe claiming he’s an alien or has special powers or similar. A son, pre-teen or early teens, does not believe him. It turns out to be true, and the son cheerfully/matter-of-factly says something like “Sorry I ever doubted you, Pop!” or “I’m sorry for ever doubting you, Dad!” It could be from film or television from a few decades ago, or an imagined scene from a novel, I really don’t know. I start to wonder whether I could have dreamed it. In my memory, the kid, or his line delivery, is something like David Faustino in the earlier Married with Children years. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-niggling-plot-points-tv-film/1019880/8 "2025-06-21T17:50:28Z")
I’m thinking this is a movie, probably late 70s-early to mid 80s: Rich woman gets out of a limo, wearing a fur coat, in front of a high rise apartment building. Rich guy meets her, and offers to take her coat. She replies (this may not be exact, but it’s damn close), “don’t. I have nothing on under this coat.” ---
**Author:** ![colinfred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colinfred/32/21338_2.png) [@colinfred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colinfred)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-niggling-plot-points-tv-film/1019880/9 "2025-06-21T17:55:11Z")
Adding your own is is good but could you label them for reference later like in the OP? (qq1, gre1 superdude1 etc.) ---
**Author:** ![gre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d78d45/32.png) [@gre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gre)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-niggling-plot-points-tv-film/1019880/10 "2025-06-21T18:16:24Z")
It won’t let me edit that post now because it’s been too many minutes, but here’s another: gre2: Overheard on television while in another room doing homework. Early 1990s. Seemed like the beginning of a TV movie. A teen boy has special powers of some kind and feels down, maybe from the responsibility that comes with it. A friend, another teenaged boy, was trying to cheer him up, to get him to feel fortunate about his situation. I hope that’s not so general that I wouldn’t be able to recognize it. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-niggling-plot-points-tv-film/1019880/11 "2025-06-21T18:21:39Z")
> [@colinfred](#): > > I don’t know if anybody else gets the case where they remember a vague plot point/conversation fragment from something they’ve watched and it keeps buzzing around until it gets resolved There’s multiple subreddits for just that. [r/tipofmytongue](https://www.reddit.com/r/tipofmytongue) is a popular one. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-niggling-plot-points-tv-film/1019880/12 "2025-06-21T19:31:45Z")
I’ll repeat this one because it’s never been resolved to my satisfaction. Saw it on TV before such language was common, so it was memorable. I’ve seen scenes that were very close, but not right. Anyway, 50s or 60s Europe. A bickering couple pass through a checkpoint in their car. Once on their way the man says, “bitch!”, to which she replies, “bahstid!”. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-niggling-plot-points-tv-film/1019880/13 "2025-06-21T20:10:26Z")
**[Two for the Road](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062407/quotes/?ref_=tt_dyk_qu)** ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-niggling-plot-points-tv-film/1019880/14 "2025-06-21T20:29:41Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > I’ll repeat this one because it’s never been resolved to my satisfaction. Saw it on TV before such language was common, so it was memorable. I’ve seen scenes that were very close, but not right. Anyway, 50s or 60s Europe. A bickering couple pass through a checkpoint in their car. Once on their way the man says, “bitch!”, to which she replies, “bahstid!”. Hi SoaR. Interestingly, [you asked about this scene in 2015](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/350), and in that post mentioned that you’d asked the question before. You got the same answer (_Two for the Road_) in 2015, from @Wendell_Wagner. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-niggling-plot-points-tv-film/1019880/15 "2025-06-21T20:44:49Z")
And like I said, the scene didn’t line up with my memory, which admittedly is shit if I asked the same stupid thing three times! Actually, not the first time I’ve re-asked questions, it’s just too bad they aren’t more interesting. That’s the _real_ offense. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-niggling-plot-points-tv-film/1019880/16 "2025-06-21T21:27:58Z")
All cool, and it’s actually pretty interesting… [A bickering couple? Traveling through Europe? 1960s? Stopped at a checkpoint? Man says “Bitch”, Woman replies “Bahstid” (kinda like Aubrey Hepburn might enunciate it)?](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9Uyt9PSQMIo&pp=ygUXVHdvIGZvciB0aGUgcm9hZCBlbmRpbmc%3D) Maybe it got edited for TV? ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-niggling-plot-points-tv-film/1019880/17 "2025-06-21T21:55:00Z")
> [@Baal\_Houtham](#): > > [A bickering couple? Traveling through Europe? 1960s? Stopped at a checkpoint? Man says “Bitch”, Woman replies “Bahstid” (kinda like Aubrey Hepburn might enunciate it)?](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9Uyt9PSQMIo&pp=ygUXVHdvIGZvciB0aGUgcm9hZCBlbmRpbmc%3D) Localized entirely within your kitchen? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-niggling-plot-points-tv-film/1019880/18 "2025-06-22T15:28:44Z")
A longer version of the scene can be seen at [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXVBGwq40eA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXVBGwq40eA) . ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-niggling-plot-points-tv-film/1019880/19 "2025-06-22T15:48:58Z")
ra1 Someone is stealing a painting. As part of the heist, the painting is put in a container (think it was light blue) with a hinged top, and then passed through a wall where someone is waiting to receive it. For some reason, there is a mechanism within the wall which unclips a latch, opens the top of the container, extracts the painting, replaces it with a copy, and closes the lid. I probably saw this in the early '70s. My best guess is that it’s from an episode of _Mission: Impossible_, but I don’t know for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-niggling-plot-points-tv-film/1019880/20 "2025-06-22T16:49:31Z")
Not the one I’m thinking of, but thanks for the tip - love Will Sasso’s performance as the brutally honest engineer. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/tWMtNESZ8nc/maxresdefault.jpg "Two and a Half Men - Mia "sings" in recording studio") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWMtNESZ8nc) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-niggling-plot-points-tv-film/1019880.md?page=2)