# Unanswered Questions from TV **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 22, 2000, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-from-tv/42328 "2000-11-22T18:10:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Formerly\_Bandersnatch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e36b37/32.png) [@Formerly\_Bandersnatch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Formerly_Bandersnatch)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2001, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-from-tv/42328/101 "2001-09-07T12:57:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Laughing Lagomorph \* > \*\*And what was up with the station’s format? The music Venus played was completely different from what Johnny played. > \*\* Andy used to work for AFRTS (Armed Forces Radio and Television Service) and brought the “something different every hour” format with him. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2001, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-from-tv/42328/102 "2001-09-07T16:11:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by N0sfura2 \* > \*\*1. Why is Charles in charge of our days and our nights? \*\* Because our parents hired him to be our live-in nanny. > [@](#): > > **2. What kind of parents name their daughter Punky?** Punky was named after a real-life childhood friend of NBC programming head Brandon Tartikoff. They had to get permission from the real Punky to use the name. I’m not sure if the real Punky was actually Penelope, although the televison one was. The in-joke was that Punky’s dog on the show was named Brandon. ---
**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:** [September 7, 2001, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-from-tv/42328/103 "2001-09-07T16:27:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Number Six \* > \*\* > How about disappearing children? Besides Chuck, the youngest daughter on “Family Matters” disappeared after a couple of seasons, and Mrs. Torkelson had two children disappear when “The Torkelsons” changed locations and formats (can’t remember the new show, though.)] \*\* What about the daughter on _Boy Meets World_? Cory’s sister. She disappeared for a season or two, I think, then reappeared, telling her mother that’d been alseep for a LONG time. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2001, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-from-tv/42328/104 "2001-09-07T16:35:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shirley Ujest \* > \*\*Why wouldn’t Ricky let Lucy play at his club just to get her to shut the hell up? Unless, it was a strip club… > \*\* One, she had no musical talent whatsoever. Two, every escapade she gets into ends in hilarious disaster. So he was saving himself a heart attack by not letting her perform but giving himself an ulcer by having to hear about it daily. > [@](#): > > \*\*What did Fred Mertz do for a living, besides wear a wife beater shirt all the time and get hen pecked? \*\* I thought he was the building’s landlord or super. I seem to remember him collecting rent a time or two. ---
**Author:** ![Voorvie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/22d042/32.png) [@Voorvie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voorvie)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2001, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-from-tv/42328/105 "2001-09-07T17:14:29Z")
I believe that Agent 99’s real first name was “Karen”. I just saw this episode a few nights ago on TVLand. Also, I do remember the cartoon “Shmoo”. I loved him! He was so cute! I believe that Shmoo was a spin off from the cartoon that had the rock monster, a taradachtyl (sp?), two shmoos, and a human family living in a cave or something. Does anyone remember what that show was? Also, on “Magic Garden”, where did Paula and Carol live? And where did Flapper come from? ---
**Author:** ![Lyllyan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@Lyllyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lyllyan)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2001, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-from-tv/42328/106 "2001-09-07T20:50:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Voorvie \* > \*\* > Also, I do remember the cartoon “Shmoo”. I loved him! He was so cute! I believe that Shmoo was a spin off from the cartoon that had the rock monster, a taradachtyl (sp?), two shmoos, and a human family living in a cave or something. Does anyone remember what that show was? > \*\* The Herculoids, as seen here… [http://www.yesterdayland.com/popopedia/shows/saturday/sa1087.php](http://www.yesterdayland.com/popopedia/shows/saturday/sa1087.php) ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2001, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-from-tv/42328/107 "2001-09-07T22:10:55Z")
Larry Mudd > [@](#): > > “The Owls Are Not What They Seem” – Yet another TP Wizard of Oz reference. (When Dorothy, the Tinman, and the Scarecrow first enter the forest, Dorothy looks up and sees two owls sitting in a dead tree. There is a flash of lightning, and the owls are replaced with vultures.) Just reviewed the DVD. The characters enter the forest and look in a vaguely upward angle. Cut to a shot of two owls sitting on a branch. The Lion turns to leave and the Scarecrow and Tin man grab him and haul him back. There is no lightning flash. They characters look in what appears to me to be a somewhat different upward angle. Cut to a shot of two vultures. The sound track includes separate calls for the owls and the vultures and the trees on which they sit look like different trees to me. So I don’t think the owls turn into vultures. I have also never seen a canon TP reference indicating that the owls were a reference to this scene. Do you have a cite? Lagomorph > [@](#): > > Or with only two DJs? Those guys must have worked 12 hour shifts, 365 days a year. There was a DJ named Bucky who worked some of those hours (I think he worked the shift before Johnny’s). And of course at least some of the airtime was alloted to Brother Ed (or was it Brother Little Ed?) who sold John the Baptist shower curtains and such. Plus the station may have gone off the air at night. Lyllyan > [@](#): > > quote: > > * * * > > Originally posted by Voorvie > > Also, I do remember the cartoon “Shmoo”. I loved him! He was so cute! I believe that Shmoo was a spin off from the cartoon that had the rock monster, a taradachtyl (sp?), two shmoos, and a human family living in a cave or something. Does anyone remember what that show was? > > * * * > > The Herculoids, as seen here… Gloop and Gleep were not Shmoos. They were, as your cite notes, “shmoo-like creatures.” The original Shmoo is from the comic strip “Li’i Abner.” ---
**Author:** ![Kwyjibo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/59ef9b/32.png) [@Kwyjibo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kwyjibo)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2001, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-from-tv/42328/108 "2001-09-07T22:49:59Z")
Who doesn’t anyone remember [Automan](http://www.tvtome.com/servlets/ShowMainServlet/showid-1921/). (Or liked it, for that matter?) Come on…this [car](http://www.toyarchive.com/Automan/Automan.html) and [chopper](http://www.toyarchive.com/Automan/Automan.html) were cool! (Ok, it only lasted 12 episodes…) ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2001, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-from-tv/42328/109 "2001-09-08T01:30:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lyllyan \* > On “Earth 2”… Did they ever make it back home, did they decide to stay on the planet, and what was up with the kid being in contact with the aliens of the planet? The mom (what’s her name, Devin?) got some disease, she got put into cold storage and then the series ended. So we don’t know if they got a chance to leave the planet and the kid/alien contact was never explained. ---
**Author:** ![GENE\_STONER](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/2bfe46/32.png) [@GENE\_STONER](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GENE_STONER)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2001, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-from-tv/42328/110 "2001-09-08T02:04:05Z")
Did Ubu ever sit? ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2001, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-from-tv/42328/111 "2001-09-08T04:33:27Z")
Automan turns up on Sci Fi Channel’s “Superheroland” programming every couple of months. I can’t believe that I don’t remember it from its original airing because it would have been just the sort of thing I’d have watched in the mid 1980s. But MAN, does it ever suck. Oh, another unanswered question I had was, why didn’t Jarod (the Pretender) ever just expose The Centre to the media? He had boatloads of evidence of all sorts of illegal chicanery, not to mention being able to testify to his own kidnapping and wrongful imprisonment, so why not just go to the cops too? I bet if his mom saw him on the news she’d probably give him a call. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2001, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-from-tv/42328/112 "2001-09-08T21:57:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bad News Baboon \* > **2) On Alice, where did Flo go? Did any one take her up and kiss her grits?** She had her [own show](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0080216) for a season and a half. **I** heard that Columbo’s first name was Philip, but I can’t back that up by any means. ---
**Author:** ![Ross](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@Ross](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ross)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2001, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-from-tv/42328/113 "2001-09-08T22:43:59Z")
Dr Who? ---
**Author:** ![Ross](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@Ross](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ross)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2001, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-from-tv/42328/114 "2001-09-08T22:57:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by xizor \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by RealityChuck \* > > \*\* > > 5. Where did King Arthur get the cocoanuts? \*\* > > He found them.\*\* In Mercia? The coconut’s _tropical._ Mercia’s a _temperate_ zone! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Bitterdrunk\_Kid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@The\_Bitterdrunk\_Kid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Bitterdrunk_Kid)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2001, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-from-tv/42328/115 "2001-09-09T17:14:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Otto \* > \*\* > > Oh, another unanswered question I had was, why didn’t Jarod (the Pretender) ever just expose The Centre to the media? He had boatloads of evidence of all sorts of illegal chicanery, not to mention being able to testify to his own kidnapping and wrongful imprisonment, so why not just go to the cops too? I bet if his mom saw him on the news she’d probably give him a call. \*\* Not only that, but how is it that the government doesn’t know anything about The Centre? My guess is that the federal government would want to shut down any organization that threatened their monopoly on horrible experiments and information hoarding. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2001, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-from-tv/42328/116 "2001-09-10T13:44:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ross \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by xizor \* > > \*\* > > > > > [@](#): > > > > > > \*Originally posted by RealityChuck \* > > > \*\* > > > 5. Where did King Arthur get the cocoanuts? \*\* > > > > He found them.\*\* > > In Mercia? The coconut’s _tropical._ Mercia’s a _temperate_ zone! \*\* The swallow may fly south with the sun or the house martin or the plover may seek warmer climes in winter, yet these are not strangers to our land? ---
**Author:** ![lurkernomore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@lurkernomore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lurkernomore)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2001, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-from-tv/42328/117 "2001-09-10T15:02:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Voorvie \* > \*\*I believe that Agent 99’s real first name was “Karen”. I just saw this episode a few nights ago on TVLand. > \*\* I’m pretty sure they never did give it. In one episdoe she was going to quit to get married, and used the name Susan Hilton. WHen Max said he never knew her name was Susan, she said “You never asked.”, but at the end, when the groom-to-be was revealed as a nefarious KAOS operative, Max called her Susan, and she said it wadsn’t her real name. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2001, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-from-tv/42328/118 "2001-09-10T16:23:44Z")
IIRC, there was a brief Flintsones cartoon from the 80’s, probably, in which Fred and Barney were police officers partnered with a Shmoo. I have no idea how they came up with that one. (Then again, what was a shmoo doing in Dogpatch?) Also, the TSR sci-fi game (Star Frontiers, I think) allowed you to play various races, one of which was very shmoo-like. I never played the game, but I did create a shmoo character. As for Twin Peaks, several characters discuss what BOB is in the episode after the incident with the sprinkler system. (That sentence is very vague, but hopefully spoiler-free.) As for “Invitation to Love,” I think it was partly based off of the SCTV soap parody, “The Days of the Week.” The bad guy character on ITL, Montana, was IIRC dressed exactly the same as the bad guy character on DOTW, Rocco. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2001, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-from-tv/42328/119 "2001-09-10T16:52:37Z")
> [@](#): > > As for Twin Peaks, several characters discuss what BOB is in the episode after the incident with the sprinkler system. Ah, but do we believe them? Are any of them right? ---
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2001, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-from-tv/42328/120 "2001-09-10T16:59:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by xizor \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Ross \* > > \*\* > > > > > [@](#): > > > > > > \*Originally posted by xizor \* > > > \*\* > > > > > > > [@](#): > > > > > > > > \*Originally posted by RealityChuck \* > > > > \*\* > > > > 5. Where did King Arthur get the cocoanuts? \*\* > > > > > > He found them.\*\* > > > > In Mercia? The coconut’s _tropical._ Mercia’s a _temperate_ zone! \*\* > > The swallow may fly south with the sun or the house martin or the plover may seek warmer climes in winter, yet these are not strangers to our land? \*\* Are you suggesting that cokey-nuts migrate? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-from-tv/42328.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-from-tv/42328.md?page=7)