Nagging TV Show Mysteries

[WMC2006]

and I'm not even mentioning the obvious 'using slow-motion photography to show running at high speed' technique!

That and the bionic sound effect were the best parts of the show. ;D

Here's the great opening to the show: stronger, faster, better: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HofoK_QQxGc


Don't forget they also had a bionic dog and, I think, a bionic son.

 

[RicoGregg]

Don't forget they also had a bionic dog and, I think, a bionic son.

In all probability, the bionic son and dog were trial balloons for a potential kids' Saturday morning show.

Betcha Flintstones Vitamins would have been a sponsor. Ten million strong, and growing!

 

[onairb]

The 'bionic boy' was a guest character on 'Six Million', a 'trial balloon' for a live-action spinoff that never materialised.
The 'bionic dog', OTOH, was past the 'shark jump' point of the concept. In 'The Bionic Woman's last season, after it had switched networks, they needed to do something to cover up the fact that Steve (whose show was still on ABC) could no longer be seen or referred to. So, Jaime suddenly had a new boyfriend, and one of them 'discovered' the dog, or something.

 

[WMC2006]

In 'The Bionic Woman's last season, after it had switched networks, they needed to do something to cover up the fact that Steve (whose show was still on ABC) could no longer be seen or referred to.

Yet they allowed Oscar Goldman and Dr Rudy Wells to cross over and appear on both shows on both networks. Nice work if you can get it. ;D

 

[biggguy]

Let's see...how did the characters in Happy Days get away with having long hair in the early 60's, especially Chachi? The rednecks would've dragged him out of Arnold's and give him a crewcut!

On The Brady Bunch, where did Alice Eat? :-\

On Family Matters (or, The Urkel, Carl and Laura show) what happened to the youngest daughter Judy? Seems like she went upstairs to bed, and never came back down! (Maybe she's doing a porn basketball fkick with Chuck Cunningham and Mike Douglas (from My 3 sons)!)

On the Partridge Family (second season onwards), how did the family manage to live in a middle class neighborhood with no stalkers and screaming fans waiting for them to come out of the house?

During the CBS run of Hazel, Mr. & Mrs. B are sent to the Middle East, and Mr. B's brother Steven takes her in. Trouble is, this is the first time we've seen or heard him! What was he in NBC, the black sheep of the family??

I almost forgot that "Hazel" changed networks, and that's probably why Don DeFore, Whitney Blake, and company
went to the middle east- their replacements- Ray Fulmer, Lynn Borden and the rest probably worked for a lot less money than DeFore and Blake- thus explaining their sudden appearance. Think about it. Have you heard of Fulmer or Borden since then?

I kept watching after they switched for Lynn Borden alone. She was younger, better looking, and seemed much more available than Whitney Blake- and at that point in time, such things were just becoming important to me.

My question about the whole thing is how could Steve and Barbara Baxter afford Hazel? They seemed far less prosperous than George and Dorothy were (in fact, I seemed to remember an episode where they were thinking about buying "a yellow convertible", and were not sure if they could afford it- George and Dorothy would never had to do that), and I would think a live-in maid would be a considerable expense- I doubt highly if Hazel worked for room and board alone! That's just another mystery!

 

[Braves2005]

How about the sudden kitchen stairway on Bewitched starting in 1970 after a fire had destroyed the old kitchen set? I know that the stairway went to the bedroom but I didn't see anywhere upstairs that would lead the other stairway to the kitchen.

 

[LKellerIII]

My question about the whole thing is how could Steve and Barbara Baxter afford Hazel? They seemed far less prosperous than George and Dorothy were (in fact, I seemed to remember an episode where they were thinking about buying "a yellow convertible", and were not sure if they could afford it- George and Dorothy would never had to do that), and I would think a live-in maid would be a considerable expense- I doubt highly if Hazel worked for room and board alone! That's just another mystery!

Along these same lines - any TV or movie portraying a struggling middle class family living in an upscale southern California, San Francisco, or New York City neighborhood. The parents have normal jobs - only their "house" (inside set and outside shots) is some huge place only a multi-millionaire could afford.

 

[BRNout]

Ummm, you mean like the million-dollar SOHO loft that the knuckleheads from Friends could all mysteriously afford?

 

[LKellerIII]

Ummm, you mean like the million-dollar SOHO loft that the knuckleheads from Friends could all mysteriously afford?

The Friends were probably renting, but yes - same thing. Let's invent a back story - it was rent controlled, because the first Friend moved in when his/her Grandmother died, and Grandma had been living there since 1957.

 

[gr8oldies]

Drug cops and private eyes really driving fancy cars and living the high life?

The CSI guys actually rounding up the bad guys and bringing them in?

 

[jh]

My question about the whole thing is how could Steve and Barbara Baxter afford Hazel? They seemed far less prosperous than George and Dorothy were (in fact, I seemed to remember an episode where they were thinking about buying "a yellow convertible", and were not sure if they could afford it- George and Dorothy would never had to do that), and I would think a live-in maid would be a considerable expense- I doubt highly if Hazel worked for room and board alone! That's just another mystery!

I think it was explained Hazel and the boy were just staying with Steve Baxter while George and Dorothy were overseas, sort of implying Mr. B was picking up the tab for Hazel.

 

[oldiesfan6479]

I think it was explained Hazel and the boy were just staying with Steve Baxter while George and Dorothy were overseas...

Ya think that when Mr. B and Missy got to Saudi, they bowed to the king? ;D

 

[gr8oldies]

Well at least when Mr. B and Missy were in Saudi, gas was cheap!

 

[mleach]

WKRP in Cincinnati. No one wore headphones, Dr. Fever was slip cueing records while on the air, the whole gang including Venus would leave the station to go to a bar during Venus's shift, leaving no one to run the station (before teh days of hard drive automation).

Also who did the midday and afternoon shifts at WKRP? Weekends?

Only one sales person for a big city radio station? Now I have worked at a few small radio stations where that was the case even though often the GM and even the PD would sometimes go out and sale, but those stations were in tiny towns, hardly big cities.

Alice....I have always thought it was strange that so many people hated the food ( I believe there was even one episode where Henry the phone guy actually got sick from eating the "bad" food )...yet they always come back to Mel's Diner to eat. Don't most independent restaurants live/die based on the quality of their food? Now chains on the other hand.........

 

[gr8oldies]

The never seen Moss Steiger did overnights on WKRP but no one was ever mentioned for the other dayparts.

 

[bpatrick]

In Superman, no one ever seemed to recognize how much Clark Kent looked like Superman when he had his glasses off. There were several episodes when that happened, such as when he would be in bed, getting out of bed, etc. when Jimmy Olson, Lois Lane, etc. were there and he would not have his glasses on.

------------whoa! you mean I missed the rarely-seen "3 Way" episode with Superman, Jimmy and Lois in bed? Doggone it! (LMAO)

As in the episode "Panic In The Sky," when Superman had amnesia.
Jimmy comes over to Clark's apartment; Clark decides he doesn't
feel well and that a shower might pick him up. He sends Jimmy out
for sandwiches, but before Jimmy is out of the room, Clark is undressing,
revealing his Superman costume. However, Jimmy's back is to Clark,
and he doesn't see that Clark and Superman are one and the same.
Later in the same episode, Clark collapses in the shower from the strain
of the Kryptonite which gave him amnesia. There's broken glass everywhere,
but Clark doesn't have a scratch on him. "He must be the luckiest guy
who ever lived," muses Jimmy, never suspecting the obvious. Then Clark
is in bed when Lois and Perry come over. Clark doesn't have on his glasses;
they look at him strangely, and he asks, "What's the matter? Don't
you know me?" If you think anyone answers, "Yes, you're Superman,"
you've never seen this show.

I have a couple of mysteries of my own. On "The Millionaire," John
Beresford Tipton always seemed to know how "our next millionaire"
was going to use the money, as suggested in the opening conversation
with Michael Anthony each week. How? And how did he pick the
recipients? (I've always heard at random from the phone book.) And
how did he know when the recipient spilled the beans about where the
check came from, so he could send Anthony to retrieve the unspent part?

Likewise, on "Fantasy Island," Mr. Roarke always knew how each person's
fantasy would turn out, as suggested in his[/i opening conversation with
Tattoo, as the people were getting off "de plane, de plane." And how did
he stage those elaborate fantasies on $10,000 (scaled down from $50,000
in the pilot so that more people could come to the island)?

One last one: Amos Burke of "Burke's Law" was a millionaire cop. Since
he was never known to have taken bribes or done anything else dishonest,
where did his fortune come from?

 

[therealjm12]

On WKRP there were mentions, time to time, of the other jocks that worked at the station. One episode was about the mid day guy having a little drug problem and a sleazy record rep.(payola). Remember: I've got a monkey on my foot!

 

[landtuna]

I have a couple of mysteries of my own. On "The Millionaire," John
Beresford Tipton always seemed to know how "our next millionaire"
was going to use the money, as suggested in the opening conversation
with Michael Anthony each week. How? And how did he pick the
recipients? (I've always heard at random from the phone book.) And
how did he know when the recipient spilled the beans about where the
check came from, so he could send Anthony to retrieve the unspent part?

Yes, the recipient was selected from the phone book. However, AFAIK nothing suggested the person was unknown to The Millionaire although that was kind of an unspoken premise.

I don't remember a recipient ever having to return the money but it might have happened (it was a long time ago). The big suspense in the series was how the recipient would explain how they suddenly came into a ton of money (and it was a TON back in the 50's).

I'm still sort of surprised this series hasn't been covered since the original aired. Lots of room for neat story lines. Not too many of us remember the original.

 

[gr8oldies]

IIRC, the jock with the drug problem was "Doug Winner", who replaced Dr. Fever in mornings when he left for L.A. Of course the LA gig lasted about 5 minutes and Johnny was back, but the only work available was filling in overnights for Moss Steiger. Johnny became "Heavy Early" until the new morning man's drug problem surfaced, Winner was fired and Johnny was back in mornings. Of course I may have blended a couple of episodes.

 

[landtuna]

I remember seeing Howard Hesseman on stage at the Improv in S.F. circa 1968. One of his funniest routines was as the driver of a car (smoking those funny little cigarettes with no brand names ala Cheech & Chong) who gets pulled over by a cop. I'm not sure I could laugh like that again without dying. WKRP was a let down after that.