# Pop culture flotsam: things that long outlive the work they came from **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 5, 2007, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161 "2007-09-05T20:47:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2007, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/1 "2007-09-05T20:47:36Z")
Almost no one remembers **Breakin’ 2**. But everyone remembers the title–or, more specifically, the subtitle: **Electric Boogaloo**. It’s the go-to punchline for ridiculous sequels, as [Wikipedia notes](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakin'_2:_Electric_Boogaloo#.22Movie_Sequel_2.22:_Electric_Boogaloo) (and as you can see on the SDMB if you search for thread titles with “boogaloo” in them). The 1997 version of **Island of Dr. Moreau** is basically remembered for being a [fiasco](http://www.avclub.com/content/blog/my_year_of_flops_case_file_64_the). But it also had a wee little sidekick for Marlon Brando, which in turn inspired long-running gags on _South Park_ and the _Austin Powers_ films. I know there’s more stuff like this out there – little bits from forgotten or seldom-seen movies, TV shows, albums, and other works of pop culture that long outlive their origin. Other examples? ---
**Author:** ![xnylder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bbce88/32.png) [@xnylder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xnylder)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2007, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/2 "2007-09-05T21:01:18Z")
\ NERDS! \ ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2007, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/3 "2007-09-05T21:06:48Z")
Does it count if pretty much no one knows what the original work was? “Do? That’s the beauty of it–it doesn’t DO anything!” Although I do vaguely remember people finding out what it meant earlier on this year. I’m not even sure what it was, though. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2007, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/4 "2007-09-05T21:11:41Z")
^^^Someone traced it to an episode of “Burke’s Law,” spoken by Burgesss Meredith, if memory serves. Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2007, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/5 "2007-09-05T21:12:25Z")
Thanks, **Sir Rhosis**. I do remember seeing Burgess Meredith in that little clip now that you mention it. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2007, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/6 "2007-09-05T21:24:43Z")
You’re welcome. To the OP: I wonder, sometimes, how many “average” (intelligent, perhaps, but not as cinema savvy as most Dopers) folks quote things and have no idea of the source. Do most of the people who say a variation of “Badges! Badges! We don’t have/got/have to show you no stinkin’ badges,” know it was from “Treasure of the Sierra Madre,” or did they pick it up from the many parodies/imitations done of Alfonse Bedoya’s classic reading of the line (which I usually misquote myself, to be honest). Same with other classic lines: “What we have here is failure to communicate.” “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” “Go ahead, make my day.” Yes, we know their sources, and many people might, but too a greater number they are just flotsam that got stuck in their heads. Sorry for the hijack… Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2007, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/7 "2007-09-05T21:46:01Z")
[QUOTE=Sir Rhosis] I wonder, sometimes, how many “average” (intelligent, perhaps, but not as cinema savvy as most Dopers) folks quote things and have no idea of the source. [/QUOTE] Yeah, that’s an interesting question – but I suspect most of us frequently quote stuff we don’t really know the origins of. And of course, it’s not _my_ question… 😉 (Though the “it doesn’t DO anything” may be the ultimate example – incredibly obscure source, widely propagated quote.) ---
**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:** [September 5, 2007, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/8 "2007-09-05T22:11:16Z")
[QUOTE=Interrobang!?] I suspect most of us frequently quote stuff we don’t really know the origins of. [/QUOTE] Some quotes become such a part of our personal repertoire that we not only forget what we’re quoting, we forget that we’re quoting. I had been saying the line “It could be worse: it could be raining” for years until I bought _Young Frankenstein_ on DVD and remembered that I was quoting it. I watch _Silver Streak_ frequently enough now that I remember that “I left my Jag in Kansas City” is something I picked up from there, but there was a period of time in college when I went a few years without seeing it and forgot. ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2007, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/9 "2007-09-05T22:16:15Z")
A good example that isn’t a quote would be the classic _Perils of Pauline_ “man with long waxed mustache ties girl to the train tracks” bit. Everyone would recognise it, most would think it came from a cartoon. Almost none could refer to the original. [In fact, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to hear that _Pauline_ wasn’t the first to use it. I think there may have been a melodramatic play that did it before film came about.] I think a lot of people who use the word ‘grok’ would have trouble telling you where they got it. Most would think of _Casablanca_ when they use, “Play it again, Sam,” or “Here’s lookin’ at you, kid,” and many would even know that the first is a misquote. But I bet a lot don’t remember that “This could be the start of a beautiful friendship.” was from the same film. ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2007, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/10 "2007-09-05T22:39:10Z")
It was only recently that I discovered “Badges? We don’t need no stinkin’ badges!” didn’t originate with _Blazing Saddles_ but came from _Treasure of the Sierra Madre_. I don’t think I was alone in my generation, and compared to most of my friends I’m a veritable Bogart expert. I feel great shame. (I’m also not entirely sure this counts, but it was all I could come up with) ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2007, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/11 "2007-09-05T22:49:16Z")
The 80’s. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2007, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/12 "2007-09-05T22:58:02Z")
The movie _Unchained_ sank without a trace 52 years ago, but the _Unchained Melody_ lives forever. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/13 "2007-09-06T01:46:57Z")
> [@](#): > > Wherever you go in life, there you are. Thank you, Doctor. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/14 "2007-09-06T01:56:23Z")
My man Friday Malapropism Kiss me, you fool!\* Play it again, Sam.\* \*_Both are misquotes more famous than their correct antecedents._ ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/15 "2007-09-06T02:57:49Z")
“It was a dark and stormy night” is a cue to discuss horrible novels, but I can’t remember the book, think the author was Bulwer-Lytton, but most people wouldn’t remember that much. Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/16 "2007-09-06T03:31:40Z")
“Rio,” a song by some obscure '80s group with a double name. Gimme a minute, I’ll think of it… ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/17 "2007-09-06T03:58:10Z")
Wifom 😛 ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/18 "2007-09-06T05:35:18Z")
I have heard kids call a slow-witted person a “George”, and it came from the cartoon “I’ll hug him and squeeze him and call him George” but few know it is from “Mice and Men” and George was the smart one. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/19 "2007-09-06T11:01:03Z")
[QUOTE=Freddy the Pig] The movie _Unchained_ sank without a trace 52 years ago, but the _Unchained Melody_ lives forever. [/QUOTE] No shit? I did not know that. [/Johnny Carson] ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/20 "2007-09-06T11:07:44Z")
At this point, I’d say the vast majority of people who are vaguely aware that Tracy Ullman had a TV show only do so because _The Simpsons_ charitably reference it now and then. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161.md?page=2)