jimc@haddock.UUCP (08/23/85)
I always appreciate strict attention to detail in any film production.
In particular, one aspect of the movie _Back_to_the_Future_ has me
intrigued. Our hero, Marty McFly, went back in time to the date
November 5, 1955. One of the first things he did when he arrived was
read the date on a newspaper to ascertain that the time machine had worked.
I cannot remember if the viewer was shown the day of the week in that
newspaper, but, as the story unfolded, it seemed definitely to be
set on a Saturday. Note when Biff told George to get his assignment
ready by "tomorrow," but "not too early" because he "sleeps in on Sundays."
Well, just do a good ol' "cal 11 1955" on a UNIX machine, and it's evident
that that detail was correct:
November 1955
S M Tu W Th F S
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30
I have another question, however. That evening, when Marty
finally recovered from his accident and the members of Lorraine's
family were seated about the dinner table watching
_The_Honeymooners_, the episode was, coincidentally, the same one
which his father was watching at dinner in October 1985, before
Marty took his trip to the past. This episode featured Norton
wearing a spaceman's outfit in Ralph's apartment. Marty
recognized the episode, and claimed that he had seen it before,
but a child at the table contradicted him and said that he
couldn't have since that was the first time the episode had been
shown.
Question: did _The_Honeymooners_ really run on Saturday nights,
and, if so, did that episode really air for the first time on
November 5, 1955? My wife pointed out that it would seem likely,
given that Halloween had just passed and this episode featured a
costume.
I have placed this posting in both net.tv and net.movies, and I will
make sure that both newsgroups receive an answer, should I get one.
Jim Campbell
..!{allegra,ihnp4,harvard,bbncca}!ima!haddock!jimctommyo@ihuxw.UUCP (Tom O`Connor) (08/28/85)
I checked my book on TV shows for this one. In the `55-`56 series, the Honeymooners DID come on every Saturday night. It was when the reruns we all see now were FIRST shown, as this season Gleason exclusively did Honeymooner episodes, and did not do a variety show, on which the `mooners were regularly seen (that`s where the "discovered" tapes on cable come from). I can`t tell from my book which episodes were on which date, but there`s a 1 - 39 chance that the episode in question DID come on that evening. Tom O`Connor "Who was the composer of 'Swannee River'?" "Ed Norton?"
kmo@ptsfa.UUCP (ken olsen) (08/29/85)
. . > The Honeymooners first aired on October 1, 1955; from then until February, 1956, it aired on Saturdays from 8:30-9:00 p.m. This means that the show on Saturday, November 5, 1955 was the sixth one aired. The only reference I have lists the episodes in order of production, not teleplay. "The Man From Space" was the fourteenth episode *produced*, which makes it very possible that it was the episode shown that night. Reference: _Television_Comedy_Series__An_Episode_Guide_to_153_TV_Sitcoms_ in_Syndication_ by Joel Eisner and David Krinsky (1984) I hope this helped. ------------ | gait kpr | { dual, ihnp4, qantel }!ptsfa!kmo ------------ "Like olympic medals and tennis trophies, all they signified was that the owner had done something of no benefit to anyone more capably than everyone else."