# ID this 80s SF Comedy Scene

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-80s-sf-comedy-scene/852883>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [April 30, 2020, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-80s-sf-comedy-scene/852883 "2020-04-30T07:58:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2020, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-80s-sf-comedy-scene/852883/1 "2020-04-30T07:58:09Z")

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I just watched the printer at my office dump some copies directly into a recycling bin, apparently not by design. It made me think of one of those movies from the 80s ( **Back to the Future, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Real Genius, Short Circuit,** _etc_.) that showed a comically intricate robot arm that opened a can of dog food, scooped it into a bowl, and instead of setting it where the dog could get to it, dumped the whole mess on the floor. Can anybody identify this scene?

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**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2020, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-80s-sf-comedy-scene/852883/2 "2020-04-30T08:04:04Z")

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I think you already got it with [Back to the Future](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjX1jU9pQeY). Not exactly as you described though, so maybe there was another 80s take on “robot arm that opens can of dog food to be dumped in a mess.”

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**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2020, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-80s-sf-comedy-scene/852883/3 "2020-04-30T08:20:35Z")

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No, this was it, thanks!

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**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2020, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-80s-sf-comedy-scene/852883/4 "2020-04-30T08:43:28Z")

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Here is my redundant post to offer after it’s been solved, but there are a few gadgets in _Gremlins_ that go wrong in a similarly gross way.