Question: Beginning with the "Convicts at Large" episode in season 3, full width window boxes appear at the bottom of both front windows on the inside of the Sheriff's Office. Prior to this episode, they did not exist. Window boxes are often used to display decorative plants but I don't see any plants. And if they were supposed to partially block the background, the blinds were long enough to accomplish that. I find it hard to believe that the producers would spend additional money (for material and labor) for something that seems to serve no purpose. So why were they added?
Answer: As noted in the previous answers, in real life, things like this provided wind and/or rain deflection, and also maintained a bit of privacy when blinds were raised somewhat. The interior courthouse set was located in the studio, so the "outside" Main Street didn't exist. I believe these things were added to the courthouse windows for practicality, to avoid some crew movement being visible on the opposite side of those windows. These are not "window boxes" to hold anything, as they're actually bottomless; we can see the Venetian blind's long pull cords under them. They're made of plywood and simple to build, so the "material and labor" was inexpensive. Similar variations made of different materials are in other movies/shows. In 1957's "12 Angry Men," textured chicken wire glass panels are in the jury room windows, and in "Jesse Stone: Night Passage" another type is in Jesse's office windows.
Answer: I suspect these were common, as to block the wind from blowing the blinds and papers on the desk.
Question: Would someone please explain to me why Marcia did not just simply remove her dangly bracelet that endangered the girls standing in the house of cards competition after Carol said "Oh Marcia, Marcia, your bracelet"? It would have made it less stressful on her not to mention her team, and she wouldn't have had to restrain it with her other hand.
Answer: The dangling bracelet was used for dramatic purposes - to keep the audience on edge.
Answer: There were several episodes throughout the run of the show where Marcia was infatuated with a guy she went to school with. This bracelet could have been a gift from her then-boyfriend; as such, she would not want to take it off, as a sign of loyalty. A stupid thing to do, of course, but it's not a mistake for a character simply to be dumb.
Gordon Takes a Tumble - S6-E17
Question: How did they get Gordon's tender back on the tracks even though it was in a field very far from the rails?
Answer: Butch the breakdown truck must have pulled Gordon's tender all the way up the rails so the breakdown train can reach it and also Butch helped to get Gordon close to the winch.
Answer: Ropes and a winch.
Question: At the start of every episode, it shows a man dressed in black carrying a black briefcase with the name R.L. Stine on it. Is the man in black really R.L. Stine or a crew member, and we are meant to only think it's Stine?
Question: Does anyone know why Janet Hubert-Witten was replaced? I've heard rumours that she didn't get along with the rest of the cast, is this true?
Answer: Yes. It's very true. Janet quit at the end of the third season because she claims that Will acted horribly, bullied cast and crew on the set and got her fired for no reason. Alfonso Ribeiro however has called her "cuckoo" and stated that her claims were baseless. He also stated that she was very difficult to work with on set. Even James Avery agreed and often had to remind her that the show was called "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" and not "Philip and Vivian of Bel-Air."
Answer: To avoid the confusion, I mentioned "Good Times" only in response to a former submission on here that she was on Good Times at one point (that submission was deleted shortly afterwards, but my Good Times response somehow stayed on here causing the confusion.
Answer: She was never on Good Times. She didn't start acting until the early 80s. Good Times ended in 1979.
This question isn't about Janet being on Good Times. It's about her being replaced.
To avoid the confusion, I mentioned about "Good Times" only in response to a former submission on here that she was on Good Times at one point (that submission was deleted shortly afterwards, but my Good Times response somehow stayed on here causing the confusion).
Answer: She became pregnant in real life, which would have messed up the story line. They would have had to add a fifth kid.
They did add a fifth kid.
Question: I believe I heard that the Olsen twins acted side by side in four different episodes. Does anybody know what the four episodes are?
Chosen answer: The first time was in the first season, episode 19 "The Seven-Month Itch", the second was in the fourth season, episode 1 "Greek Week", the third time was in the fifth season, episode 19 "The Devil Made Me Do It" and finally in the very last episode of the series, "Michelle Rides Again", season 8 episode 23.
Question: Was the actor who played Cal Boreland really Richard Karn's brother in real life?
Answer: No the guy sent in a picture of himself because he thought he looked like Al. So they brought him on the show as his brother.
Answer: According to imdb.com: Richard has only one sister. http://uk.imdb.com/name/nm0439781/bio.
Answer: It should also be noted, Richard Karn is his stage name as Karn is his middle name. His real name is Richard Wilson. Cal was played by Keith Lehman.
Siblings can have different last names. One might have a different father. Maybe one legally changed his name for some reason, or a man took his wife's last name (not as common, but it happens). Of course, these two actors are not actually related, but I just wanted to point this out.
Question: In various episodes, Steve Zodiac, Venus and Matt use odd slang, such as "tootie" and "tooties" and "toot," usually in a demeaning or disparaging way. Venus says, "I'm a tootie!" when she forgets to make the coffee, for example, and Steve says "I'm a tootie!" when he forgets to press a certain button or something. In at least one episode, Matt is called "a cheating old toot." I gather that saying "toot" or "tootie" is like saying "fool" or "doofus" or something similar. Is this slang that producer Gerry Anderson just arbitrarily dreamed up? Or is it part of an English dialect that I've never heard elsewhere?
Answer: Been living in the UK, man and boy, for 70 years and "tootie" is not a word we have ever used. So why Gerry Anderson uses it is a complete mystery.
Question: Was the script for the sixth season written before this show was cancelled?
Answer: Yes. Many things that would have been in the sixth season would have had Norman Osborne returning from limbo and reclaiming the title of the Green Goblin, Richard Fisk, the son of "The Kingpin" Wilson Fisk would return as a crime lord known as "The Rose", Ghost Rider would have appeared to help Spider-Man stop Dormammu from returning to Earth and Madame Web and Spider-Man would rescue Mary Jane from limbo.
Question: Why did the Howells, Ginger and Mary Ann have so many changes of clothes with them? It was only a three hour tour.
Answer: Bob Denver answered this when he was on a talk show hosted by Pat Sajak. He said they were going to write into an episode where the castaways found all these clothes, but it got too complicated, so he said, they decided, "who cares, it's only a TV show," and forgot about it. So the writers and actors even asked this, they just never bothered to address it.
Answer: I've been binge watching it, and a couple of times trunks with costumes have washed ashore, and in one episode the professor figured out how to make thread for weaving cloth.
Question: How could the play "The Rainmaker" still be performed after Fonzie scared off the director?
Answer: If all the actors and hands know their roles well enough they could perform the play reasonably well even without a director.
Question: Why did Jade break up with Beck?
Answer: Jade breaks up with Beck because he was hanging out with another girl, which she didn't like.
Question: I have a few questions. One: When Carly and Gibby are using Spencer as a test subject for their science project, they start doing different things that Spencer freaks out about. I'm no expert, but it sounds like abuse to keep him hostage in a box, even starving him, and then destroy his food. Two: Since Sam kissed Freddie, are they going to be a couple, or does this episode continue? I heard the next one was the iCarly/Victorious crossover, but I'm not sure.
Chosen answer: I don't know how to answer the first question but for your second question, there is going to be an episode after iPWV, called IDate Sam & Freddie which will deal with their kiss from iOMG. IParty with Victorious will not be related to IDate Sam & Freddie.
The I date Sam and Freddie proves that they are a couple.
Question: Does Salem ever become human again?
Answer: In the S6 E18, "I, Busybody" Salem got permission from the Witch's Council to be human for one day to meet his pen pal, Roxie. It was all a point of view camera shot.
Chosen answer: No. In the show he was sentenced to 100 years as a cat and only served 25 years at the time of the pilot (all episodes of him being human are flashbacks). The comics did several retcons to change Salem's backstory to fit the show's, and as of 2015, he was still a cat.
Question: In the very beginning of the series Zach, Lisa, Screech and Mr. Belding all live in Indiana and attend the same junior high. Somehow they all end up in Malibu, California attending the same high school. Does anyone else find this a little odd?
Answer: The show that took place in Indiana that you are referring to was titled "Good Morning Miss Bliss." This show only lasted one season. The kids on the show, however, were popular so they decided to create a spin-off titled "Saved By the Bell," that aired on Saturday Mornings. I'm sure they changed the location because they thought the California setting would make the show more fun and watchable for pre-teens and teens.
Question: There was supposedly one episode that ended with SpongeBob, Patrick, Squidward, and Mr. Krabs all laughing in a boat. The laughing then silences, eventually to a stop. Then SpongeBob, Patrick, and Mr. Krabs walk out of the boat, and Squidward eventually walks out too. Which episode is this?
Answer: I believe this is the Season 6 episode "Spongicus".
Question: At the bachelorette party, Lorelai gives Emily a box of pasta. I didn't really get the joke here?
Answer: The pasta was was made into naughty shapes.
Answer: "Club Mario" was reruns of the original show repackaged with new live action segments. It was a cheap way to present the old animated episodes as a new show. Club Mario was incredibly unpopular and eventually reruns of the original show with the Captain Lou Albano segments were aired in its place.
Answer: To my eye, she resembles a pre-pubescent Barney-like dinosaur, with inexplicable antennae and a case of pink-hued vitiligo. However, as her name implies, she is actually a unique fabrication of the program creators, and reflects no actual animal. The series uses the word "Uniqua" as both the character's name, and the designation for her species.
Answer: Those "boxes" are valences that used to be very common, before air conditioning. They allow for windows to be open during rain storms. They permit air circulation, without letting the rain in.