# Obvious things about a creative work you realize after the millionth time (OPEN SPOILERS POSSIBLE) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 24, 2009, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117 "2009-07-24T13:20:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 241
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2022, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4805 "2022-03-27T18:27:21Z")
If I remember correctly, that song also emphasizes the quality of the buns and pickles and leaving a tip on the dresser…er, tray. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4806 "2022-03-28T11:56:28Z")
As a kid, I could never figure out what the background singers were saying in The Clashs “Should I Stay or Should I Go.” It never occurred to me until almost college that they were singing in Spanish. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4807 "2022-03-28T15:48:35Z")
My wife is a _Friends_ fanatic. It’s on a lot in our house, and I’ve seen every episode multiple times. Here’s something I’d never pieced together until very recently: - Monica and Chandler’s wedding date is May 15th. - Rachel was about one month pregnant at the time of that wedding. - In the episode just before Rachel goes into labor, she complains that “It’s 100 degrees outside.” That’s quite a heat wave for New York City in… January. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2022, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4808 "2022-03-29T14:31:25Z")
I happened to catch the first 20 minutes or so of Room With A View, which is a film I’ve probably seen half a dozen times over the year. In all those viewings, I never noticed… In the early part of the film, our heroine Lucy Honeychurch meets her future love interest George Emerson while on holiday at a small pensione in Florence. In an early scene, she’s playing the piano in the parlor. As the camera zooms in on her hands, the piano is quite clearly labeled “ **Steinwal** ”. I’m not quite sure if this is because Steinway refused to allow the filmmakers to use their trademark or if it is a sly detail elucidating the downscale pensione trying to appear a bit more upscale while not spending upscale money to do so. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2022, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4809 "2022-03-29T18:28:18Z")
I was watching the Tick animated series from the 90s and got to the episode with The Terror. One of the villains that The Terror recruits is Joseph Stalin. Stalin admits that he’s actually a graduate student in Russian studies and is basing his work on Stalin. He calls himself Stalingrad. I totally missed hearing the pun back then. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2022, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4810 "2022-03-29T20:14:31Z")
It kinda fits… I was today years old when I learned Fox news anchor Chris Wallace is 60 Minutes’ Mike Wallace’s kid. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2022, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4811 "2022-03-29T21:55:49Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > I was today years old when I learned Fox news anchor Chris Wallace is 60 Minutes’ Mike Wallace’s kid Same here! ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2022, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4812 "2022-03-29T22:11:27Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > I could clearly hear Kate Bush singing, “she’s so popular”. She was actually singing, “ _Jeux sans frontières._ ” _Jeux sans frontiers_ was a popular TV show in Europe at the time. > **[Jeux sans frontières](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeux_sans_fronti%C3%A8res)** > > Jeux sans frontières (.mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}pronounced \[ʒø sɑ̃ fʁɔ̃tjɛʁ\]; "Games Without Borders" in French) is a Europe-wide television game show, based on the French programme Intervilles which was first broadcast in 1962. It was broadcast from 1965 to 1999 under the auspices of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), wh... ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2022, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4813 "2022-03-29T22:39:10Z")
Ha! I found that out when I googled the spelling. Also that the song was named after the show. ---
**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:** [March 29, 2022, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4814 "2022-03-29T23:02:51Z")
And just in case you missed it, the UK version of the show was called “It’s A Knockout” The lyrics of the song include the words : “It’s a knockout. If looks could kill they probably will in Games without frontiers, war without tears” ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2022, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4815 "2022-03-30T21:36:05Z")
The US version was called “Almost Anything Goes,” by the way (I watched it as a kid) ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2022, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4816 "2022-03-30T22:26:03Z")
> [@Ynnad](#): > > I spent years trying to figure out the female background vocals in Billy Idol’s _Eyes Without a Face_ ." Then one day, thanks to the Internet, I saw them in writing - “Les yeux sans visage.” There was French film called _Les Yeux San Visage._ Everytime I heard the Idol song I thought of it. ---
**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:** [March 31, 2022, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4817 "2022-03-31T11:42:36Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > There was French film called _Les Yeux San Visage._ Everytime I heard the Idol song I thought of it. They showed this, unedited , on WOR’s _Supernatural Theater_ when I was a kid, including the plastic surgery/removing the facial skin scene. Gave me nightmares. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4818 "2022-03-31T17:22:11Z")
I saw it in college during one of the marathon movie things they’d do during finals week to relieve stress. It’s definitely different seeing it with a semi-rowdy college crowd. I remember the scene where the girl who was going to be their plant asked if she was going to lose something (can’t remember what she said now). Some wag in the crowd yelled out “Only your face!” ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4819 "2022-03-31T18:17:25Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > The Flintstones episode where Fred and Barney buy a drive-in restaurant, the little ditty the car-hops sing has the line, “Our burgers can’t be beat, 'cause we grind our own meat. Grind, grind, grind, grind, grind.” Then there’s a whistle like you’d hear at a burlesque house when the stripper does a bump or tosses a piece of clothing into the audience _after a rambunctious (hopefully) GRIND_! A small double-entendre for Dad? Not apropos to the thread, but this did remind me of the burger joint in the part of SF most identified as gay, whose out and proud slogan was “You can’t beat our meat!” ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4820 "2022-03-31T20:06:40Z")
The Flintstones was originally shown in the evening for adults (sponsored by a cigarette company), so any entendres were fully intended. It only became a “kid’s show” in reruns. > **[The Flintstones](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flintstones)** > > The Flintstones is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, which takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighbors, the Rubbles. It was originally broadcast on ABC from September 30, 1960, to April 1, 1966, and was the first animated series with a prime-time slot on television. > The show follows the lives of Fred and Wilma Flintstone and their pet dinosaur, Dino, and they later on have a baby... > Despite the animation and fantasy setting, the series was initially aimed at adult audiences, which was reflected in the comedy writing, that as noted, resembled the average primetime sitcoms of the era, with the usual family issues resolved with a laugh at the end of each episode, as well as the inclusion of a [laugh track](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laugh_track). Hanna and Barbera hired many writers from the world of live-action, including two of Jackie Gleason’s writers, Herbert Finn and Sydney Zelinka, as well as relative newcomer [Joanna Lee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joanna_Lee_(actor)), while still using traditional animation story men such as [Warren Foster](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Foster) and [Michael Maltese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Maltese). ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2022, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4821 "2022-04-01T01:18:22Z")
Kris Kristofferson’s [“Casey’s Last Ride”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUi_6mOZDFA) is a melancholy ballad that follows a man getting on the London Underground, and then stopping in a pub for a pint. The first and third verses describing this are interspersed with verses in the voice of an ex-lover, with whom he has just had a one-night stand, talking about being lonely and the simple pleasure of touch: _“Still,” she said “It’s so blessed good to feel your body.” “Lord,” she said "Casey, it’s a shame to be alone_ I’ve known this song for literally 40 years, and only last week realized that the title is a play on the British slang term “ride”: “sex”. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2022, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4822 "2022-04-01T01:48:11Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > Despite the animation and fantasy setting, the series was initially aimed at adult audiences, which was reflected in the comedy writing, that as noted, resembled the average primetime sitcoms of the era, with the usual family issues resolved with a laugh at the end of each episode, as well as the inclusion of a [laugh track](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laugh_track). I would say Family, not Adult audiences, but yeah, it wasn’t a kiddie kartoon. My Dad liked Huckleberry Hound IIRC ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2022, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4823 "2022-04-01T02:52:18Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > I’ve known this song for literally 40 years, and only last week realized that the title is a play on the British slang term “ride”: “sex”. Also used by The Beatle’s in _Ticket to Ride_, viz. a licensed prostitute. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2022, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4824 "2022-04-01T13:05:06Z")
You’re right. “Family” is a better term. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117.md?page=240) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117.md?page=242)