# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226/121 "2016-08-08T20:26:16Z")
In the 1990’s movie _ **Beautiful Girls** _, one of the characters is showing his friends around the restaurant he just opened. He says something like, “We’ve got a full bar, lots of seating, we’ve got apps…” “Apps?” “Appetizers.” “Oh.” Funny to think that 20 years ago, ‘apps’ had to be explained as ‘appetizers,’ when today it would mean something else entirely. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226/122 "2016-08-08T22:28:44Z")
> [@](#): > > I don’t know what you watched, but it wasn’t Adam-12! +1 ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226/123 "2016-08-08T23:02:41Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > My favorite line was when McGarrett asked Chin Ho how much a bunch of figures came to: _“I don’t know. I don’t have my abacus with me.”_ Used to work with a guy whose wife was from Okinawa (and she was always reluctant to say she was Japanese). He swore his wife was better with an abacus than he was with a calculator…and he was a pretty sharp guy. ---
**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:** [August 8, 2016, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226/124 "2016-08-08T23:21:48Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I don’t know what you watched, but it wasn’t Adam-12! > > I’ve seen all the episodes recently, not only is that not there, it doesn’t even fit the tone of the show. Jack Webb would never show characters doing crap like that. Let alone, them carrying a jar of peanut butter around just for jerk-assed tricks like that. I betcha it was POLICE STORY. ---
**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:** [August 8, 2016, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226/125 "2016-08-08T23:44:25Z")
One scene in **The Parallax View** is pretty shocking these days. Warren Beatty is following someone who gets on a plane, so he climbs a fence, sneaks onto the runway and onto the plane. After they have taken off, the stewardess approaches him, writes down the fake name he gives her into a legal pad, asks him if he’s flying Round Trip, and then says something like “That’ll be $73.” ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226/126 "2016-08-09T03:42:30Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I don’t know what you watched, but it wasn’t Adam-12! > > I’ve seen all the episodes recently, not only is that not there, it doesn’t even fit the tone of the show. Jack Webb would never show characters doing crap like that. Let alone, them carrying a jar of peanut butter around just for jerk-assed tricks like that. I don’t remember enough of the old cop shows to take a guess, but it was around the same era. I tried searching on YouTube for the scene, and the police cars in the show looked familiar so I figured it was that one. ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226/127 "2016-08-09T03:53:48Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > I betcha it was POLICE STORY. Winner, winner, chicken dinner! Found a post on another forum where someone mentioned it It was Police Story. The actor Don Meredith did it. ---
**Author:** ![yesanything](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@yesanything](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yesanything)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226/128 "2016-08-09T04:18:36Z")
In the apartment when Fred McMurray finishes getting his shoes shined he flips the colored shoe shine boy (actually a man) a tip! ---
**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:** [August 9, 2016, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226/129 "2016-08-09T06:41:09Z")
> [@yesanything](#): > > In the apartment when Fred McMurray finishes getting his shoes shined he flips the colored shoe shine boy (actually a man) a tip! Okay … he tips the guy who shines his shoes (and also happens to be black). So? :dubious: What was he supposed to do? Pat him on the head? Toss him a slice of watermelon? 😕 When I was in fifth or sixth grade, I used to go with my dad to get our shoes shined at a place downtown. The guy who did it was black, and we always tipped him, even though I’m sure he was paid to be there anyway. It was his job, fer chrissakes! I’ve never heard of anyone who provides a service (and is good at it) not being pleased when someone gives him (or her) a gratuity. ---
**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:** [August 9, 2016, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226/130 "2016-08-09T06:46:26Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > Used to work with a guy whose wife was from Okinawa (and she was always reluctant to say she was Japanese). He swore his wife was better with an abacus than he was with a calculator…and he was a pretty sharp guy. Not surprising. I’ve worked with abacuses too (until recently, they were ubiquitous in Russia), and I know they’re really fast! I don’t think that was quite what Chin’s line was intended to convey, though. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226/131 "2016-08-09T16:19:07Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Okay … he tips the guy who shines his shoes (and also happens to be black). So? :dubious: > > What was he supposed to do? Pat him on the head? Toss him a slice of watermelon? 😕 Hand it to him. :smack: I think the operative word in **yesanything** ’s post is “flipped.” Sheldrake flipped or tossed the shoeshine man his tip rather than handing it to him. ---
**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:** [August 9, 2016, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226/132 "2016-08-09T16:46:50Z")
> [@John\_Bredin](#): > > Hand it to him. :smack: I think the operative word in **yesanything** ’s post is “flipped.” Sheldrake flipped or tossed the shoeshine man his tip rather than handing it to him. So? He caught it, didn’t he? :dubious: This is a sign of disrespect? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226/133 "2016-08-09T17:25:47Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > So? He caught it, didn’t he? :dubious: > > This is a sign of disrespect? 😕 I’d argue so; why exactly won’t Sheldrake let his hand near the shoeshine man’s hand? 😕 Even if it’s not disrespectful, it’s definitely dated, which is the topic of this thread.:smack: When was the last time you saw someone (a) tip a server of any kind with only a coin, and (b) do so by throwing it at them? 😛 ---
**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:** [August 9, 2016, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226/134 "2016-08-09T17:39:55Z")
> [@John\_Bredin](#): > > When was the last time you saw someone (a) tip a server of any kind with only a coin, and (b) do so by throwing it at them? 😛 To tell the truth, I’ve never really given the matter much thought. Back in 1960, though, a 50 cent piece was worth at least $2.50 in today’s money, so tipping with a coin wasn’t exactly cheap. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226/135 "2016-08-09T18:25:21Z")
The first one that came to mind was the ending - in fact, pretty much the entire premise - of the Peanuts special _Charlie Brown’s All-Stars_, where Charlie Brown decides not to accept sponsorship for his team into a “better” league because… No Girls (or dogs) Allowed - which was a firm (as in, “Your choice: don’t let any girls into your league, or don’t bother sending a team to the tournament that leads to the Little League World Series”) regulation in Little League until 1974 ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226/136 "2016-08-09T20:40:34Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > One scene in **The Parallax View** is pretty shocking these days. Warren Beatty is following someone who gets on a plane, so he climbs a fence, sneaks onto the runway and onto the plane. > > After they have taken off, the stewardess approaches him, writes down the fake name he gives her into a legal pad, asks him if he’s flying Round Trip, and then says something like “That’ll be $73.” Speaking of Bell-Bottom Paranoia, pretty much anything to do with the phone system in _Three Days of the Condor_ is just wonderfully dated. Really, anything where it takes time to trace a call and someone can defeat a trace by hanging up really fast is indicative of either ancient technology or ancient minds, with the latter being more in evidence these days than the former. Speaking of, there’s some interesting and historical information about payphone phreaking in the 1995 cinematic classic _Hackers_, when Razor and Blade teach you how to trick payphones into thinking you’ve deposited money by recording the sounds played in the handset when you deposit coins and playing them back into the mouthpiece later. Aside from the fact payphones in and of themselves are indicative of a previous epoch, that specific trick was likely all but obsolete by the time the film came out, and is certainly useless today. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226/137 "2016-08-09T21:34:13Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Speaking of Bell-Bottom Paranoia, pretty much anything to do with the phone system in _Three Days of the Condor_ is just wonderfully dated. Really, anything where it takes time to trace a call and someone can defeat a trace by hanging up really fast is indicative of either ancient technology or ancient minds, with the latter being more in evidence these days than the former. > > Speaking of, there’s some interesting and historical information about payphone phreaking in the 1995 cinematic classic _Hackers_, when Razor and Blade teach you how to trick payphones into thinking you’ve deposited money by recording the sounds played in the handset when you deposit coins and playing them back into the mouthpiece later. Aside from the fact payphones in and of themselves are indicative of a previous epoch, that specific trick was likely all but obsolete by the time the film came out, and is certainly useless today. There’s actually an interesting scene in the original version of **Black Christmas** where they show how they traced calls, albeit with very dated equipment. And once I thought about that, I began to think about how dated the premise of the original BC was – the main heroine is pregnant, but adamant that _she wants to have an abortion._ She even breaks up with her boyfriend because he wants her to keep it and for the two of them to get married. You would NEVER see that plot-line in a movie today, especially with the main character with whom the audience are meant to identify with and root for. ---
**Author:** ![Alfishius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@Alfishius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alfishius)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226/138 "2016-08-10T10:35:31Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > There’s actually an interesting scene in the original version of **Black Christmas** where they show how they traced calls, albeit with very dated equipment. > > And once I thought about that, I began to think about how dated the premise of the original BC was – the main heroine is pregnant, but adamant that _she wants to have an abortion._ She even breaks up with her boyfriend because he wants her to keep it and for the two of them to get married. You would NEVER see that plot-line in a movie today, especially with the main character with whom the audience are meant to identify with and root for. I was a camp counsellor for years. Young people today are very anti-abortion which is surprising. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226/139 "2016-08-10T12:24:02Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > Used to work with a guy whose wife was from Okinawa (and she was always reluctant to say she was Japanese). He swore his wife was better with an abacus than he was with a calculator…and he was a pretty sharp guy. When I was in college, I needed a good calculator, so my dad bought me one. We set up some test problems, and I worked them with the calculator and he with his slide rule. He beat me to the answers every time. He was GOOD with that thing! ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226/140 "2016-08-11T01:25:18Z")
> [@Alfishius](#): > > I was a camp counsellor for years. Young people today are very anti-abortion which is surprising. Selective effect- the people born today are the children of people who didn’t abort them? 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-etc-moments-that-seem-really-dated-now/128226.md?page=8)