# 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:** 353
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2026, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7047 "2026-05-08T22:35:48Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > I was well into my teens before I realized **Tennessee Tuxedo and his _TALES_** was an oh-so-clever pun on “tails.” Especially because tuxedos don’t really have tails. But penguins have no fashion sense, so what are you gonna do? For my own contribution, I currently have Simon and Garfunkel playing in loop mode on my Amazon Echo. Every time it plays “The Underground Poet” (a thrilling tale of a graffiti vandal on the subway), the songwriter mentions that the “artist’s” medium is a colored crayon. Wouldn’t a can of spray paint be more effective? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2026, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7048 "2026-05-08T22:43:24Z")
TIL, a tuxedo with tails is called a “tailcoat” or a “full dress tailcoat.” But the look is quite different from the standard tuxedo. Still, it would have to make time travel difficult, to say the least. So, should we address Chumley’s poor choices for evening attire? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2026, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7049 "2026-05-08T23:04:29Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Unfortunately, no questions are really answered. They don’t show you how they get the horse’s head or how they plant it in Woltz’s bed without him waking up. It’s hidden behind cut-scenes. Rocco goes into the stall, you hear a bunch winnying and a thump and he comes out with a “package” - the head in a burlap sack. Then they sneak into the mansion - leaving a trail of dead guards behind them - and then Rocco sneaks into the Woltz’s room and it cuts right to him screaming. > > Maybe they did just pull the horse’s head off. Who knows? Collect horse’s head ??? Profit ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2026, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7050 "2026-05-08T23:05:13Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > **Jay Gould, 1836-1892** , had a 24-hr armed guard team at his country estate. But the notoriety of that arrangement suggests that it was unusual it the time. Was he writing Dick Tracy comics from beyond the grave? 😳 > [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > So, should we address Chumley’s poor choices for evening attire? Cholomodeney, please, if it’s not too much trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2026, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7051 "2026-05-08T23:07:30Z")
No, that was his partner, Silent Bob Fisk. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2026, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7052 "2026-05-08T23:14:35Z")
Wanna bet he lives in Featherstonehaugh off-season? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2026, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7053 "2026-05-08T23:15:13Z")
No bet. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2026, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7054 "2026-05-08T23:21:49Z")
Late 40s - early 50s producer Probably had several martinis before dinner, wine with dinner and brandy as a nightcap. He’s sleep through anything. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2026, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7055 "2026-05-08T23:24:43Z")
I hadn’t watched the show, but I feel like I should have seen sooner that _Mad Men_ is a play on “ad men.” ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2026, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7056 "2026-05-08T23:32:21Z")
Also _Madison Avenue_ Men. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2026, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7057 "2026-05-09T01:49:30Z")
I had the same revelation a few years ago re: the _Goon Show_ episode “Tales of Men’s Shirts.” ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2026, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7058 "2026-05-09T23:48:01Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > . Wouldn’t a can of spray paint be more effective? Yes and no. Early NYC graffiti was with markers, marking inside walls, and often surreptitious. They didn’t want people to smell the paint, even if they had thought of the idea. They moved to spray paint cans to do the outside of buildings and trains, where they wanted “large”, and then, another new idea, started customizing the spray paint cans so that they could get hard edges or wide coverage – default spray nozzles not giving what they wanted. Of course, spray paint cans were a relatively new idea to most people at the time (c) 1970, for most people the obvious way to apply paint was with a paint brush. ---
**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:** [May 11, 2026, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7059 "2026-05-11T12:19:03Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Collect horse’s head > ??? > Profit Maybe they took it from the State Eal of New Jersey, which features a horse’s head at the top. I tell people that the Seal of my Home State has that to represent our ties to the Mafia. > **[File:Seal of New Jersey.svg](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seal_of_New_Jersey.svg)** ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2026, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7060 "2026-05-11T12:51:32Z")
Whereas New York had to give them their own town: > **[Horseheads, New York](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseheads%2C_New_York)** > > Horseheads is a town in Chemung County, New York, United States. The population was 19,412 at the 2020 census. The name of the town is derived from the number of bleached horses' skulls once found there. > Horseheads is north of the city of Elmira, upon which it borders. There is a village named Horseheads within the town. It is part of the Elmira Metropolitan Statistical Area. > On September 1, 1779, General George Washington and Nickolas Steven Webb ordered the forces of General John Sullivan ... ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2026, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7061 "2026-05-13T21:01:15Z")
The Scottish Rite was founded in Charleston, South Carolina. (The name says it all?) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2026, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7062 "2026-05-15T19:09:21Z")
I watched _The Wild Wild West_ a lot as a kid and I never noticed that the colors in [the opening credits](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuCuf5tvTqE) are designed to resemble an American flag. I can’t take credit for belatedly figuring this out either. I read it in an online post. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2026, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7063 "2026-05-15T19:11:48Z")
They’re proud of this too. I used to live nearby and Horseheads has a big billboard as you enter the town, explaining the origin of the name. I think if I lived in a town that was named after what was essentially a garbage heap, I’d make up a story about a famous general named Isaiah Horseheads or something. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7064 "2026-05-20T01:48:53Z")
Over the weekend I watched The Martian for the third time. I never noticed that Donald Glover was essentially playing his character as Abed. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/EvDDvgC-mvw/maxresdefault.jpg "Every DONALD GLOVER scene in THE MARTIAN") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvDDvgC-mvw) ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7065 "2026-05-20T19:08:57Z")
I just noticed that Nintendo uses the “A” botton for accept. “A” “OK” ---
**Author:** ![Past\_Paper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/past_paper/32/21268_2.png) [@Past\_Paper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Past_Paper)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2026, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7066 "2026-05-21T19:53:19Z")
I’ve been doing a deep-dive on _The Sixth Sense_ recently (I saw it in theaters in '99 as a kid, recently became infatuated with it), and I realized a few things that are cool enough to share (**SPOILER ALERT for all those who (perhaps because of young age) HAVE NOT SEEN THIS VERY OLD 90s MOVIE**): - The a-hole kid who’s in that Pedia Ease cold medicine commercial is probably a foreshadowing of the Dead Girl Whose Bedridden-Eaten Food Was Poisoned By Munchausen-By-Proxy Mother (cleaner poured in soup), and also a darkly humorous homage to the event. He’s sick and in bed so his parents give him spoonfuls of the medicine to get him better; damn Shyamalan you used to be so talented 😄 - When Bruce Willis is walking with Haley Joel Osment in the school hallway, Haley stops short because he notices the hanging dead people. When this happens, we get a surprise shot of Bruce stopping and turning around, but the surprise is that Haley Joel Osment seems to have disappeared from right next to him (he’s like “What? Where’d the kid go?” and turns around), and that image of Bruce suddenly finding his walking partner vanished is a great foreshadower (maybe only in my mind, but it’s still really cool) that Bruce Willis is actually the one of the two walking together who is invisible/“disappear-ed” (if a normal person saw the two of them walking together in that hall, Haley Joel Osment would appear to be walking by himself, just like Bruce Willis appears to be when he turns around after realizing Haley Joel Osment stopped a few yards behind him) - At the end of the movie Shyamalan is replaying some audio from the earlier “I see dead people” scene, but he edits out the word “dead” this time because I’m guessing he doesn’t want the audience to figure out the twist that’s just moments away. [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=352) [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=354)