# Movies/TV Shows/etc moments that seem really dated now... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 13, 2002, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226 "2002-09-13T04:39:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2019, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226/181 "2019-02-15T14:13:22Z")
There have been cases of people updating the effects in some old movies. Long before George Lucas released his “special edition” of the original Star Wars movies, people were re-shooting the special effects scenes for the 1950 movie **Rocketsjip X-M** ( [Rocketship X-M - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocketship_X-M) ) Personally, I wouldn’t have a problem with them re-doing the effects from **the Hunt for Red October** , which I thought looked hopelessly cartoony when the film was first released, and which look terrible now. I similarly wouldn’t mind if they redid the CGI for **The Last Starfighter** , an excellent film overall. but whose CGI wasn’t quite up to the task set for it. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2019, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226/182 "2019-02-15T14:30:10Z")
EDIT: erroneous post. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2019, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226/183 "2019-02-15T16:47:22Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > There have been cases of people updating the effects in some old movies. Long before George Lucas released his “special edition” of the original Star Wars movies, people were re-shooting the special effects scenes for the 1950 movie **Rocketsjip X-M** ( [Rocketship X-M - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocketship_X-M) ) > > Personally, I wouldn’t have a problem with them re-doing the effects from **the Hunt for Red October** , which I thought looked hopelessly cartoony when the film was first released, and which look terrible now. I similarly wouldn’t mind if they redid the CGI for **The Last Starfighter** , an excellent film overall. but whose CGI wasn’t quite up to the task set for it. I forget–did ny of the SW special editions update the original “hologram” of the Death Star that had the gunhole\* centered on the equator? \*technical term ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2019, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226/184 "2019-02-15T21:25:07Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > Fashion is different. In 2011, audiences will rent old DVDs from the turn of the century and laugh their heads off to see guys wearing shorts and cutoff jeans and swim trunks where the legs go nearly down to their knees. No one would be caught dead in anything so old-fashioned in 2011, except maybe Grandpa. And don’t even get me started on those baggy-ass jeans! And in 2019 grown men will be wearing “shorts” that go below their knees. And not be embarrassed. > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > It was a punchline back then because the idea that a young woman would have a tattoo seemed crazy back in 1975. Sigh. I miss those days. ---
**Author:** ![Alfishius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@Alfishius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alfishius)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226/185 "2019-04-25T03:27:26Z")
I dont mess with tatted chicks. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226/186 "2019-04-25T07:50:12Z")
here’s a scene that wouldn’t happen in a show today Ok in murder she wrote for the first 4 or so seasons a running story was her nephew couldn’t keep a job or girlfriend well he finally found both but they broke up for 5 minutes when they were engaged because one reason was "she hated being a career woman all she wanted to do was stay home have kids and make cookies " and he was all "well what’s wrong with the old ways yadda yadda ya " If someone said that in a series on a major series today twitter would burn for days … ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226/187 "2019-04-25T09:35:47Z")
Something you never see anymore. Crime drama where the detective/police sticks his finger in a pool of blood to gauge how long it had been there. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226/188 "2019-04-25T12:11:29Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I forget–did ny of the SW special editions update the original “hologram” of the Death Star that had the gunhole\* centered on the equator? > > \*technical term As far as I can tell, they haven’t tampered with the “holograms” in either _Star Wars (A New Hope)_ or _Return of the Jedi_ in any of the re-edited and “updated” editions. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226/189 "2019-04-25T14:36:18Z")
> [@Alfishius](#): > > Heroin isn’t a brand name…(neither is granola). Heroin was answered above. Now, about Granola… > [@Wikipedia](#): > > The names _[Granula](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granula)_ and _Granola_ were registered [trademarks](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trademark) in the late 19th century United States for foods consisting of [whole grain](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whole_grain) products crumbled and then baked until crisp, in contrast to the, at that time (about 1900), contemporary invention, [muesli](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muesli), which is traditionally neither baked nor sweetened. The name is now a trademark only in [Australia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia) and [New Zealand](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand), but is still more commonly referred to as muesli there.[[1]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granola#cite_note-1) The trademark is owned by the Australian Health & Nutrition Association Ltd.'s [Sanitarium Health Food Company](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanitarium_Health_Food_Company) in Australia[[2]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granola#cite_note-2) and Australasian Conference Association Limited in New Zealand. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226/190 "2019-04-25T14:46:22Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > Fashion is different. In 2011, audiences will rent old DVDs from the turn of the century and laugh their heads off to see guys wearing shorts and cutoff jeans and swim trunks where the legs go nearly down to their knees. No one would be caught dead in anything so old-fashioned in 2011, except maybe Grandpa. And don’t even get me started on those baggy-ass jeans! With the benefit of hindsight, I don’t see a huge difference in 2000s fashion compared to 2010s fashion. I think of the 2000s as the low-rise jeans faze, and then the 2010s as the tragedy of the pixie cut combined with skinny jeans, but generally speaking, when watching a movie from 2004 or 2017, the general aesthetic and fashions seem pretty similar. By contrast, anything from the 90s screams “90s!!!”, anything from the 80s screams “80s!”, and so on. (70s? Oh yes. 60s? So much. 50s? Almost too much…) 20 years ago, in 1999, I would have said the opposite about 1984 vs 1997: Such a completely different world in terms of aesthetic and fashion that it’s immediately obvious which year you’re watching. ---
**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 25, 2019, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226/191 "2019-04-25T17:44:35Z")
Our one-episode-a-night sitcom is _Mork & Mindy_. Almost done with season 3. (It’s going to take some determination to continue with season 4.) Lots of “Oh, I guess things were different back then.” moments. E.g., Mork has a job at a daycare. One of the kids has an eating disorder which is used for laughs including multiple ones said to the kid. Um, really? Robin Williams goes on several tears using various voices. Including ethnic ones like Indian, Black, and Hispanic. I don’t think that’d go over well now. And the most absurd one: Mindy had been going to college as a journalism major. After graduation she actually gets a job that _uses her degree_. Heavens to Betsy! ---
**Author:** ![mplo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mplo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mplo)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2019, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226/192 "2019-04-26T14:37:44Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Well, I guess my nominations got eaten. > > _West Side Story_. The idea of clean shaven gang members _grand jeteing_ their way down the streets of Manhattan and then agreeing to a fist fight instead of guns…how quaint. > > _War Games_ The huge floppy disks, the monotone computer screen…the phone handset modem…also very quaint. I never saw _“War Games”_, but I **dis** agree with you about the idea of the 1961 film version of _“West Side Story”_ being dated. This is a great, golden oldie-but-keeper of a classic movie-musical that is very relevant, even today, plus it’s my all time favorite film, hands down. There’s an upcoming re-boot of the film \*“West Side Story” \* by Steven Spielberg that I plan to boycott when it hits the movie theaters sometime next year, because re-makes of older classic films generally come out awful, and absolutely nothing beats the original. If I’m a bit of an old-fashioned stick-in-the-mud due to my opinion, so be it. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2019, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226/193 "2019-04-29T09:58:15Z")
> [@mplo](#): > > There’s an upcoming re-boot of the film \*“West Side Story” \* by Steven Spielberg that I plan to boycott when it hits the movie theaters sometime next year, because re-makes of older classic films generally come out awful, and absolutely nothing beats the original. If I’m a bit of an old-fashioned stick-in-the-mud due to my opinion, so be it. Jesus, why would they do this? The “Cool” scene is absolute perfection (it was also absolute hell for the dancers, but the end result is insanely good). STOP SHITTING ON THE CLASSICS, HOLLYWOOD. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2019, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226/194 "2019-04-29T14:22:24Z")
You want to update West Side Story? Then you need drug trafficking and automatic weapons, drive by shootings, police helicopters hovering with searchlights all night. Please leave me my nostalgia, thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2019, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226/195 "2019-04-29T17:05:51Z")
Updated _West Side Story_: Cop: Why the hell are you dancing in the streets, are you on bath salts? And wipe off that brown makeup, you’re _white_, you racist assholes! ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2019, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226/196 "2019-04-29T17:11:19Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > You want to update West Side Story? Then you need drug trafficking and automatic weapons, drive by shootings, police helicopters hovering with searchlights all night. > > Please leave me my nostalgia, thank you. I believe I read that the remake of West Side Story is set in the same time as the original (late 1950s, I think). ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2019, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226/197 "2019-04-29T21:09:26Z")
Notice how in those “future” movie, you dont have half the people always staring at their phones. Gilligan’s Island will always be funny. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2019, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226/198 "2019-04-29T21:30:48Z")
Pretty much everything written during the 2000s Bush adminstration about how the “mainstream news media” and the Government were colluding and how you shouldn’t trust CNN or MSNBC. There was some awful Rosario Dawson movie made during that time about how CNN was basically run by the government. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2019, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226/199 "2019-04-29T23:48:43Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I believe I read that the remake of West Side Story is set in the same time as the original (late 1950s, I think). What, not 1500s Verona? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2019, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226/200 "2019-04-30T01:40:14Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > What, not 1500s Verona? [What, not ancient Babylon?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramus_and_Thisbe) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226.md?page=11)