Geez, it would help if someone who had actually seen the episode he’s talking about would post! But since none of those people are around, I’m posting instead.
If I’m not mistaken, Spin City, like most sitcoms, is know for its sarcastic and supposedly witty characters. (Wasn’t Charlie Sheen on there after Michael J. Fox retired? No one does sarcastic and supposedly witty better than him.) I suspect that part of the humor in the Magic 8-Ball scene was that the character was obviously making up answers himself, since even people who don’t own a Magic 8-Ball (how do they get through life?) know what the standard answers are. (See, e.g., Cervaise’s post.)
BTW, I was in a toy store recently, and I saw a NEW Magic 8-Ball tied to Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events books (which I gotta start reading now that a movie’s coming out soon!). All the answers were depressing and unfortunate! I want one (but again, I gotta read the books first)!!
I’m not familiar with The Dukes of Hazzard, so I cannot comment. Regarding Knight Rider, no car starts without the use of a key without explanation, which is what I said.
Actually, the humour was that the character trusted the Magic 8-Ball explicitly, not that he was making it up, unless I’ve suddenly become too stupid to watch sitcoms, in which case God help us… God help us all!
I knew all this already. I was talking about the purely physical methods used. The character simply held the 8-Ball in his hand. No shaking, turning or rolling. This is the method used in every cinematic or televised 8-Ball portrayal I’ve seen, although I’m afraid I can’t name any others offhand. I remember a Simpsons episode where Bart had one and you literally saw the messages “fade” into existence.
I seem to remember that Simpsons episode, and I, too, thought it was odd how the mesages just appeared. Then again, how exactly would you animate the actual mechanism in the crude Simpsons style. I’ll bet they tried doing more accurately, and it just didn’t look right.
As for shaking, I just tested my own 8-Ball, and it randomized just fine by merely turning it upside down and back. Maybe you got a dud.
What you saw on The Simpsons was a crudely drawn attempt at showing the icosahedron float up through the liquid to the little window. Since the liquid is colored, the message gradually appears as it floats up.
The reason they don’t shake the 8-ball hard enough on television is the same reason why they hold the telephone mic in front of their chin instead of their mouth. They think it looks better.
My friend growing up had a magic 8-ball in which the fluid had all mysteriously turned clear yellow. Maybe her older brother played a joke on her, but it made the nature of the ball plain to see. They used to be mysterious to me before then, as I was about 7 or so and never owned one myself.
