# Lines That Don't Play as Well as They Used To **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 4, 2002, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714 "2002-04-04T03:51:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2002, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714/1 "2002-04-04T03:51:45Z")
A while back I was forced to watch an episode of _1-Adam-12_, and in it there was a crazed sniper shooting at people, so the cops show up and shout at the screaming people running away from the sniper bullets, “Remain calm! This is the police!” It struck me as being hysterical because I can imagine a lot of places today where if the cops were to shout such a thing it would only scare people more! Any other lines from movies and films that you can think of which just don’t quite cut it these days? ---
**Author:** ![whistlepig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/73ab20/32.png) [@whistlepig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whistlepig)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2002, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714/2 "2002-04-04T03:59:02Z")
“So, what’s your sign, baby?” ---
**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:** [April 4, 2002, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714/3 "2002-04-04T13:40:20Z")
“You must have been vaccinated with a phonograph needle.” ---
**Author:** ![jlzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@jlzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jlzania)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2002, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714/4 "2002-04-04T13:50:33Z")
“He’s such a gay blade.” ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2002, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714/5 "2002-04-04T20:27:29Z")
“Leaps tall buildings with a single bound!” –Nott ---
**Author:** ![PatrickM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7feea3/32.png) [@PatrickM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickM)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714/6 "2002-04-05T00:04:27Z")
In these PC, domestic violence conscious days Ralph Kramdem waving his fist and bellowing “To the moon, Alice!” isn’t quite as funny as it used to be, however, Norton’s golf technique as regards “addressing the ball” remains hysterical. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714/7 "2002-04-05T00:20:54Z")
Many movies from the 70’s that I watch again these days make me cringe with all the blatant racism. One example: _Silver Streak_. The scene where Gene Wilder puts on shoe polish and acts like Stepin Fetchit is painful. ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714/8 "2002-04-05T02:22:06Z")
“Hop in my Model T…we’ll 23-skiddoo out into the country, and I’ll explain to you what a `hummer’ is.” ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714/9 "2002-04-05T02:31:02Z")
“How.” (From a _lot_ of “serious” westerns, including a couple of John Wayne flicks.) ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714/10 "2002-04-05T10:23:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ftg \* > \*\*“How.” > > (From a _lot_ of “serious” westerns, including a couple of John Wayne flicks.) \*\* “Fried.” ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714/11 "2002-04-05T10:28:39Z")
How about these after 1999: “A young Jedi named Darth Vader, who was a pupil of mine until he turned to evil, helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi knights. He betrayed and murdered your father.” and “The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It’s an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together.” ---
**Author:** ![LorieSmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a587f6/32.png) [@LorieSmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LorieSmurf)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714/12 "2002-04-05T11:00:54Z")
Not sure if I’m following the subject here, but the first thing I thought of was “show me the money” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Red\_Menace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/82dd89/32.png) [@The\_Red\_Menace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Red_Menace)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714/13 "2002-04-05T15:02:12Z")
From the Simpsons episode where they travel to New York: “They put all the jerks in Tower 2.” (In reference to the World Trade Center buildings.) ---
**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:** [April 5, 2002, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714/14 "2002-04-05T15:59:06Z")
Tuckerfan writes: \> It struck me as being hysterical because I can imagine a lot of \> places today where if the cops were to shout such a thing it \> would only scare people more! There have always been a lot of places where the police weren’t trusted. There’s nothing new about that. Incidentally, the program was called _Adam 12_. The 1 was part of what the dispatcher would say in calling the car, but it wasn’t part of the name of the show. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714/15 "2002-04-05T18:43:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wendell Wagner \* > \*\*Tuckerfan writes: > > \> It struck me as being hysterical because I can imagine a lot of > \> places today where if the cops were to shout such a thing it > \> would only scare people more! > > There have always been a lot of places where the police weren’t trusted. There’s nothing new about that. Incidentally, the program was called _Adam 12_. The 1 was part of what the dispatcher would say in calling the car, but it wasn’t part of the name of the show. \*\* Geez! Lighten up, dude! Back when the show was made it would have been unthinkable to portray cops on a TV show as the bad guys. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2002, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714/16 "2002-04-06T00:09:47Z")
“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” From [http://www.rhino.com/features/liners/72269lin.html](http://www.rhino.com/features/liners/72269lin.html) : > [@](#): > > The Production Code Administration, the industry’s self-regulatory body of the time (the Hays Office), prohibited profanity of any kind. Selznick appealed to Will Hays in an eloquent letter in which he stated “that this word as used in the picture is not an oath or a curse.” Permission was granted to use “damn,” and the picture was given a Code seal–but a $5,000 fine was imposed for violation of a Code provision. Times sure have changed. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2002, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714/17 "2002-04-06T02:09:06Z")
The wrestler Sabu’s tagline–“He is suicidal, homicidal, genocidal”. A shame, because he influenced pro wrestling in terms of in-ring work more than anyone else in the past decade. ---
**Author:** ![JDeMobray](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85e7bf/32.png) [@JDeMobray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JDeMobray)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2002, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714/18 "2002-04-06T02:13:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Silentgoldfish \* > \*\*“Fried.” \*\* I love that stupid joke, and I can’t believe I’m seeing a reference to it somewhere. Wow. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TheeGrumpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@TheeGrumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheeGrumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2002, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714/19 "2002-04-06T02:16:03Z")
Another Simpsons line, from Treehouse of Horror, uh, III? The Devil (Ned Flanders) summons Richard Nixon to serve in the Jury of the Damned. “But I’m not dead! In fact, I just wrote an article for _Redbook_.” Say it again, corpsey. ---
**Author:** ![dreamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@dreamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dreamer)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2002, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714/20 "2002-04-06T04:49:19Z")
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