# Small TV Coincidences **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [June 3, 2021, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-tv-coincidences/943538 "2021-06-03T13:08:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2021, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-tv-coincidences/943538/41 "2021-06-06T03:55:11Z")
After watching Wrath of Khan in the theater years ago, I turned on the TV at home and found the old Start Trek episode Space Seed was on. I’d never seen it, even though I was a huge trekkie. ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2021, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-tv-coincidences/943538/42 "2021-06-09T16:31:19Z")
A small coincidence from last night. My wife was watching an episode of The Love Boat while I was watching an episode of The Jeffersons. One of the guest stars on The Love Boat was Sherman Hemsley. And George Jefferson made a joke about “taking the Love Boat to Fantasy Island”. ---
**Author:** ![Cayuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cayuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cayuga)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2021, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-tv-coincidences/943538/43 "2021-06-13T13:27:30Z")
Back in the 70s, I once (OK, many times, but only one that’s relevant) spent an entire evening in front of the TV. Five shows, and three of them had one-off characters named Millard on them that night. ---
**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:** [June 13, 2021, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-tv-coincidences/943538/44 "2021-06-13T13:34:41Z")
Not as interesting as some of the examples given here. But I remember once watching an episode of _Law and Order_ and there was a commercial break. One of the actresses in the commercial was also guest starring in the _Law and Order_ episode. She had just been in a scene before they cut to the commercials. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2021, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-tv-coincidences/943538/45 "2021-06-13T16:18:39Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I wonder how long it would have taken the FBI to nail the Jenningses if Columbo had been on the case instead of Stan. I’d be more afraid that Columbo would end up folded into a suitcase and dumped in a toxic landfill. I don’t suspect he’s very good at hand-to-hand combat. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2021, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-tv-coincidences/943538/46 "2021-06-13T16:47:00Z")
Obviously a mid-century cloning project that was hushed up. 😮 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2021, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-tv-coincidences/943538/47 "2021-06-13T18:26:02Z")
I started a thread like this nearly 20 years ago but it didn’t go anywhere. > [@What a weird time for that commercial!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-a-weird-time-for-that-commercial/148378): > > I hope I’m not in the wrong forum for this. I just heard a rather unfortunate placement for a promo of [Hunger Point](http://us.imdb.com/Details?0335163), which is a movie about eating disorders. Right before that was a spot about some drug company looking for underweight teens to test a new supplement. Yeah, I know this was purely by chance but my brain had a bit of trouble shifting gears that quickly. That wasn’t the first time I encountered that sort of coincidence, I remember having just finished watching an episode of “Quinc… ---
**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:** [June 13, 2021, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-tv-coincidences/943538/48 "2021-06-13T18:39:39Z")
In the movie _Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid_ Steve Martin’s character was named Rigby to take advantage of the fact that so many film noir movies had a character named Rigby in them. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2021, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-tv-coincidences/943538/49 "2021-06-13T18:40:15Z")
The other day I was watching an old episode of _Warehouse 13_, which is free with ads on IMDB’s streaming service. On the show, a nun was hypnotized into believing she could fly. She climbed up to the top of the church’s bell tower, proclaimed “I can fly!”, and then the show cut to commercial… and the commercial happened to feature the song “Come Fly With Me”. I was also watching something recently in which a character said something like “You never know when a virus will jump from bats to humans”, which aired years before the pandemic. Unfortunately now I can’t remember what it was. Maybe _Silicon Valley_. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2021, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-tv-coincidences/943538/50 "2021-06-13T22:48:56Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > I was also watching something recently in which a character said something like “You never know when a virus will jump from bats to humans”, which aired years before the pandemic. Unfortunately now I can’t remember what it was. Maybe _Silicon Valley_. End of February/beginning of March 2020, just as the pandemic was really taking off, I’m watching an episode of _ **Match Game** _ from the '70s. For once, Gene Rayburn doesn’t kiss a contestant, saying “I just got back from China. They have some weird viruses over there!” 😮 ---
**Author:** ![alfonzos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4bbf92/32.png) [@alfonzos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alfonzos)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2021, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-tv-coincidences/943538/51 "2021-06-14T02:17:03Z")
The last story of a segment of a newscast in Cleveland Ohio was about capital punishment. The first commercial of the following commercial break was for new brand of frozen pizza. It began, “What would like on your Tombstone?” ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2021, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-tv-coincidences/943538/52 "2021-06-14T14:47:26Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > I was also watching something recently in which a character said something like “You never know when a virus will jump from bats to humans”, which aired years before the pandemic. Unfortunately now I can’t remember what it was. Maybe _Silicon Valley_ . You sure it was a TV show? Because the movie **Contagion** talks about that, and in fact shows the bat - pig - human tracking. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2021, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-tv-coincidences/943538/53 "2021-06-14T16:31:20Z")
Yeah, I’m sure, mainly because I haven’t seen the movie _Contagion_. Actually, the scene has come back to me now, and I am certain it was _Silicon Valley_. The main character is at his doctor’s office for an STD test. The doctor expresses shock that he actually _needs_ an STD test, and makes a comment like “There are bigger things to worry about, like you never know when I virus will jump from bats to humans.” ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-tv-coincidences/943538/54 "2021-06-16T03:45:36Z")
Not a killer coincidence, but… I watched two recorded episodes of Jeopardy! the other day, one current, one a year old. Both had clues whose questions were “The Good Earth”. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-tv-coincidences/943538/55 "2021-06-16T04:00:32Z")
Already mentioned in another thread: The other day, I had the TV tuned to an episode of _ **Hawaii Five-O** _ (the original, not today’s pale imitation) as I was working on the computer. While I was typing the words “wasted time,” Steve McGarrett told Danny Williams not to “waste time” following certain leads. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-tv-coincidences/943538/56 "2021-06-16T05:48:05Z")
I was making an online payment this evening, and the website asked for my “CVV.” I was unfamiliar with the term—I’d always seen/heard it called a “three-digit security code.” Half an hour later, I was watching _ **Jeopardy!** _ There was a question about credit card CVVs. (“Credit Verification Values”?) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-tv-coincidences/943538/57 "2021-06-16T23:39:00Z")
Watching _ **Funny You Should Ask!** _ this afternoon, I learned that the state of Kentucky has twice as many barrels of Bourbon than it does inhabitants. The same thing was revealed on _ **Jeopardy!** _ a few minutes ago. ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-tv-coincidences/943538/58 "2021-06-20T04:30:24Z")
Not exactly a coincidence, but something cool : decades ago, I was watching an “all-new” episode of _Fantasy Island_ in which Jack the Ripper realises he’s slipped forward in time when he sees the date on Roarke’s desk calendar… which was the date I was watching it. [IMDB confirms it](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0577851/) in the Trivia section : November 29, 1980. Of course, it was probably possible for the writers to know in advance when it would air, or maybe somebody at ABC shuffled up the broadcast order so that this date would match. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-tv-coincidences/943538/59 "2021-06-20T13:26:38Z")
> [@Heracles](#): > > Of course, it was probably possible for the writers to know in advance when it would air, or maybe somebody at ABC shuffled up the broadcast order so that this date would match. The first is highly unlikely (scripts are not churned out on a regular schedule, only when the final rewrite is finished, and that can take a long time). The second, only less so, since no one really cares much as long as the show is in the can. **My latest entry:** Last week, I watched an episode of _ **Matlock** _ in which the perp put a body in a sauna to create a fake time of death. Last night, I watched an episode of _ **Death in Paradise** _ in which the perp put a body in a sauna to create a fake time of death. ---
**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:** [June 21, 2021, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-tv-coincidences/943538/60 "2021-06-21T01:32:36Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > **My latest entry:** Last week, I watched an episode of _ **Matlock** _ in which the perp put a body in a sauna to create a fake time of death. > > Last night, I watched an episode of _ **Death in Paradise** _ in which the perp put a body in a sauna to create a fake time of death Well, to be fair, who _doesn’t_ do this once or twice a week??? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-tv-coincidences/943538.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-tv-coincidences/943538.md?page=4)