# 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:** 357
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2026, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7127 "2026-07-23T22:04:28Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > but in the movie the train looked just fine Hence my often used quote when painting for movies/theater…“Looks great from my living room.” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7128 "2026-07-24T00:29:26Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > For clarity, are you talking about actual antique period clothes seen in a museum of history, or displays of costumes from a TV show or movie in a museum of TV? IIRC, the specific example I’m remembering was a work uniform worn by Captain Kirk. So, not an extra, but that costume might not have been used in any close-ups. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7129 "2026-07-24T03:07:14Z")
Mike Myers’ character Linda Richman has a healthy obsession with Barbara Streisand, and uses the phrase “like buttah” often. I thought that was a generic NY accent thing, but Streisand sings “buttah” very clearly in the opening lines of _Don’t Rain on my Parade_ from **Funny Girl** and I assume that’s where Myers got it. ---
**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:** [July 24, 2026, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7130 "2026-07-24T17:07:50Z")
The Star Wars show/ ride at Disney World uses what are obviously beer barrels as Scifi props. I think it’s more of a joke but in at least one scene of Babylon 5 the alien ship looks like a roulette wheel ---
**Author:** ![Galactus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galactus/32/3581_2.png) [@Galactus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galactus)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7131 "2026-07-25T01:58:58Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > I know Roddenberry and crew were on a tight budget, but wasn’t there _something_ laying around that would have been more convincing than plywood? Star Trek TOS was a relatively high-budget show for the 60s’. But, maybe most of the budget was probaly spent on Shaner’s hairpiece. ---
**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:** [July 25, 2026, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7132 "2026-07-25T02:07:26Z")
I have a compulsion to post this when someone mentions Shatner’s toup: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/dTsvw_NpfcU/maxresdefault.jpg "Warp Speed Wig | Robot Chicken | Adult Swim") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTsvw_NpfcU) ---
**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:** [July 28, 2026, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7133 "2026-07-28T13:06:02Z")
I was watching a collection of Warner Brothers cartoons the other day, and the first one was Chuck Jones/Michael Maltese’s classic _One Froggy Evening_. I have no doubt that this is one of the greatest cartoons ever made. (One of the things that makes it great is that it proceeds completely without dialogue, and there are few written words that have to be understood – you could show this cartoon in any country and they’d get it. As cartoon historian Joe Adamson observed, the comic discipline is that you never hear anyone say anything except the Frog.) Except… I noticed that the lyrics to one of the songs, sung by the Frog as he performs on the high wire, come off as …sorta creepy these days: > Won’t you come over to my house? > I want to play things a dolly or two, > We live in the house cross the way, > I’ll give you candy and sweet things, > I’ll put your hair in a curl, > Won’t you come over to my house > And play that you’re my little girl. It’s evidently a popular song from 1906 (all the songs in the cartoon are old-time standard, except “The Michigan Rag”, which was an original song written by Chuck Jones, Michael Maltese, and music director Milt Franklyn) > “Won’t You Come Over to My House” is a popular **1906 nostalgic American waltz written by songwriter Egbert Van Alstyne and lyricist Harry Williams** (the same duo behind “In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree”). The sont\_smile: g tells a touching, sentimental story about a passerby comforting a crying child. [[1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAaWKPUT42k), [2](https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=51472)] It might have been an innocent song in 1906, but bribing a child with candy to come to your house has a definite stalker vibe in the 21st century. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2026, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7134 "2026-07-28T13:12:50Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > As @robby says, no one expected it would ever be seen at 4K resolution. Hell, they probably didn’t expect to ever be seen in _reruns_. It wasn’t that insanely popular, and was on the verge of cancellation for a lot of its run. Its longevity probably came as a surprise to most of the people working on it. ---
**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:** [July 28, 2026, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7135 "2026-07-28T21:15:00Z")
I was listening to “Do It Again” by Steely Dan yesterday and for the first time I realized the opening line is _“In the morning you go gunning for the man who stole your water.”_ All this time I thought it was _“the man who stole your wallet.”_ ---
**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:** [July 28, 2026, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7136 "2026-07-28T22:35:53Z")
Back in the late 80s or early 90s I had a toy that was similar to this: [![](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/cXkAAOSwegFmFuaK/s-l1600.png) ](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/cXkAAOSwegFmFuaK/s-l1600.png) It’s essentially a ring with some LEDs on it. The ring spins (in the same orientation that you’d, for example, spin a coin on a table) while the LEDs turn on and off for different lengths of time, adjustable by the user, making designs. This morning I was watching something about Ghostbusters 2 and, there it is, right there on the back of Egon’s Giga Meter. [![](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/spooky-kids/images/9/9a/Gigameter.jpg) ](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/spooky-kids/images/9/9a/Gigameter.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7137 "2026-07-29T02:24:22Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I was listening to “Do It Again” by Steely Dan yesterday and for the first time I realized the opening line is _“In the morning you go gunning for the man who stole your water.”_ > > All this time I thought it was _“the man who stole your wallet.”_ That’s one of the reasons I detest that song as much as I do. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7138 "2026-07-29T13:12:46Z")
If you’re in a context where stealing water makes sense, then a water-thief is absolutely someone you go gunning for. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7139 "2026-07-29T20:56:41Z")
Yeah, I don’t know the song (and from what I’ve heard of Steely Dan, I doubt I’d like it) but “stole your water” is immensely more evocative than “stole your wallet.” As a sf nerd, I immediately went to some sort of _Dune_-esque scenario where water is literally more valuable than gold, but even a more prosaic “saving the family farm from greedy developers buying up all the water rights,” is still got a strong _Grapes of Wrath_ populist anger to it. “Stole your wallet” just sounds like a violent asshole who wants to kill somebody because they lost maybe a couple hundred bucks and had to spend an afternoon canceling credit cards. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7140 "2026-07-29T23:00:21Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > “[S]tole your water” is immensely more evocative than “stole your wallet.” As a sf nerd, I immediately went to some sort of _Dune_-esque scenario where water is literally more valuable than gold, but even a more prosaic “saving the family farm from greedy developers buying up all the water rights,” is still got a strong _Grapes of Wrath_ populist anger to it. I’ve always envisioned it as someone trekking through the desert who was robbed of his water and left for dead, only to survive and, upon returning to civilization, inflict violent revenge on the thief. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7141 "2026-07-29T23:01:25Z")
Also a solid take on it. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2026, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7142 "2026-07-30T00:10:34Z")
Agreed, it’s obviously set in the desert! Near Vegas. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2026, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7143 "2026-07-30T00:11:27Z")
Aren’t Steely Dan Australian? Still, a lot of desert in Australia, too. ---
**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:** [July 30, 2026, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7144 "2026-07-30T00:18:16Z")
Steely Dan are from New York state — Annandale-on-Hudson. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2026, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7145 "2026-07-30T00:20:17Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Yeah, I don’t know the song (and from what I’ve heard of Steely Dan, I doubt I’d like it) but “stole your water” is immensely more evocative than “stole your wallet.” As a sf nerd, I immediately went to some sort of _Dune_-esque scenario where water is literally more valuable than gold, but even a more prosaic “saving the family farm from greedy developers buying up all the water rights,” is still got a strong _Grapes of Wrath_ populist anger to it. Like this? [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/kFHwiZtVgZE/hqdefault.jpg "RANGO 2011 - dance") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFHwiZtVgZE) ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2026, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7146 "2026-07-30T14:59:56Z")
Huh. Well that’s my millionth-time revelation for the thread, I always just assumed Steely Dan were British. Prog-art-rock is just so…un-american. [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=356) [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=358)