Best sci-fi TV questions of all time

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Chosen answer: I don't think it's ever said. I always assumed Pidge was a boy, and I'm not sure why. I think because it was a man who did the voice.

Kaite13

She is a girl it is made clear she is a girl in episode 5 season 1. It is also made apparent she is a girl in season 8.

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Question: I've been re-watching this show, and have noticed this in nearly every episode. In scenes inside GD, there's always one person, a background extra, who seems to have clear plastic wrap over their clothes. Do you know what that is all about?

Holly Halfman

Chosen answer: It's basically just a type of suit that's made for whatever special project they're working on. No different than a lab coat, hazmat suit, fire coat, etc.

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Question: Assuming that Moonbase Alpha is on the side facing the Earth (which is seen on the horizon over the base in the pilot episode "Breakaway"), making travel to it and back easier, and the nuclear waste on the far side, away from Earth, wouldn't the explosion propel the moon towards the Earth, thereby dooming Alpha to certain destruction?

Movie Nut

Answer: Not necessarily - The gravitational fields of Earth and the Sun could have deflected the moon away from the solar system.

Seniram

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Question: Does anyone know why Gambit was featured less and less in episodes as the show went on? He was one of the most popular characters in not just X-Men, but all of Marvel Comics around the time this series first aired, so unless it had something to do with his voice actor's contract, it seems odd they wouldn't have utilized him more.

Phaneron

Answer: Chris Potter, the original Gambit voice actor, did indeed quit the role in the 4th season. His last episode was The Phalanx Covenant Part 1 so it seems reasonable that Fox would limit the use of the character even though it was recast. It doesn't appear that Potter left the role due to animosity, he stated in an interview that he wished to play Gambit in the first live action X-Men film.

BaconIsMyBFF

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Question: I may have this scenario slightly wrong, since I haven't seen it since the show was brand-new, but is there a scene in one episode where Mork (just him-no egg) falls from the sky and into a lake or some kind of body of water? I slightly remember this as a kid but wanted to see if I was right. Anyone know what episode this was from?

Answer: Maybe s02e02, "Mork in Wonderland, Part 2"? Mork started shrinking in part 1 and continued till he became microscopic and fell down a space warp into the lake of another world.

Bishop73

Yes, that was it. I found it shortly after submitting the question, but thank you anyway.

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Answer: The Hulk is a giant brute who smashes everything in his path when he is angry. In Ang Lee's "Hulk," General Ross, played by Sam Elliot, explains it to his daughter.

Answer: Because he feels the Hulk is a threat to all life on Earth, and particularly his daughter's close relationship with Bruce Banner puts her at risk when Hulk enters the equation.

Phaneron

Why does Ross think the hulk is a threat?

Because the Hulk is nearly mindless and goes on destructive rampages with high risk of collateral damage.

Phaneron

If that's the case, what's the problem with the way general Ross judges the hulk?

It's nuanced. Ross is correct to recognize the potential danger the Hulk presents, but he's also too stubborn to realise that he usually exacerbates the Hulk's rampages by trying to engage him in combat instead of trying to calm him down.

Phaneron

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Answer: It was cancelled due to declining ratings. Season Two had about half as many viewers as Season One.

raywest

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Examination Day - S1-E14

Question: At the end of the episode, Dicky's parents are called and informed that the government has killed him? Why did they do this?

Answer: They live in a totalitarian state where people who are deemed too smart (and therefore a threat to the authorities) are done away with. That's the point of the test, to eliminate potential troublemakers.

Brian Katcher

Answer: It's the opposite - not smart but dumb. The voice said he failed to get a perfect score, less than one hundred percent.

Quote: "We regret to inform you that your son's intelligence quotient has EXCEEDED the government standard, according to section blah blah blah of the New Code." As in the original short story, they were eliminating intelligent people.

Brian Katcher

Where can I find the short story?

It's in the compilation "100 Great Science Fiction Short Stories" edited by Isaac Asimov.

Brian Katcher

It's by Henry Slesar and a quick Google search will show you some online copies. It's only two pages.

Brian Katcher

According to Wikipedia, it was first published in the February 1958 issue of Playboy magazine; it may have been reprinted elsewhere since then.

zendaddy621

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Answer: They came from Azarath aka Earth.

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Answer: While the series was undeniably successful, filming it is a long process, taking many months of often long days. Anderson, after several years of doing this, wished to spend more time with his young daughter, who he felt he was neglecting, and requested that his role in the series be scaled back. Ultimately, he decided to leave the main cast altogether and only make occasional guest appearances.

Tailkinker

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Question: Now that season 3 is out, has there been any updates about why Alara was written off, or why Halston Sage left the show, near the beginning of season 2? In 2019, she seemed to indicated her leaving wasn't her choice and it was what was best for the show. But, the fact that they replaced her character with another female Xelayan makes it seem like they weren't really making any changes. And with a 4th season unlikely, are there any rumors Sage will return in season 3?

Bishop73

Answer: No official reason has been given. Halston Sage has only stated in an interview that leaving the show was not her choice. It is considered that her possible return is "open ended", and while there has been no official announcement, she did make a reappearance at the end of Season 2.

raywest

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Answer: The transformation twirling was invented for the 1970s TV series only, to explain her quick change from Diana Prince to Wonder Woman. However, it would have been nice to do a little spin homage in the movie.

Answer: She does. However, if she were to use any of her abilities as Diana Prince, everybody, including her enemies would be able to make the connection that Diana Prince and Wonder Woman are the same person which could be used to get revenge on her. By not using her abilities in her civilian disguise, nobody would suspect anything at all and she could keep herself and her friends safe.

So it was more a choice that she decided an Ice Skating move was less conspicuous than say, ducking in a phone booth like Superman? If Clark Kent enters a a phone booth, and Superman comes out, don't you think even the dull of mind would get the connection?

That's because Clark Kent has super speed so he can easily run into a phone booth quickly and leave as Superman as quickly too or whenever Clark does need to change into Superman out in the open, there's never around to see him change. It's a plot device that's really effective.

Could one man or gal. We're supposed to just believe almost everyone these two are around can't figure out of the obvious. Characters like Spider-Man and Batman can do this because of their masks, so these excuses just don't pass with me.

Rob245

Answer: As Diana Prince she didn't have the super powers that Wonder Woman has, although as an Amazon princess she does have greater strength than normal humans. Diana's mom taught her how to transform her ordinary clothes into her Wonder Woman outfit (as opposed to just doing a quick change like Clark Kent does). Her outfit, which her mother gives her when she leaves includes the "golden girdle of Gaea." The girdle provides enhanced strength and heightens her other abilities. As to why she spins, it was a stylized choice to add something extra to the show and hadn't been done in the comics. Although they did change it up a bit due to budget and time. Later, Wonder Woman comic writers would include the spin into the comics, but by then it was generally to put her into her secret identity, not to give her her powers. But as to why Diana Prince doesn't have super powers in the 70's show, as opposed to other incarnations of her; the original TV movie pilot had Diana powerless like the character was during the Bronze Age of Wonder Woman (late 60's) when Diana decided to stay on Earth and became mortal. That series was not picked up, but a 2nd attempt at it, starring Lynda Carter, was and the series loosely based Diana on the first pilot but through magic could transform into the superhero Wonder Woman.

Bishop73

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Chosen answer: Bruce has always been the character's middle name. In the comics he is Robert Bruce Banner, here he is David Bruce Banner. Apparently the executives behind the show preferred the name David.

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Chosen answer: In this series, Hal Jordan never became Green Lantern. Kyle Rayner did instead. John Stewart is Rayner's partner and serves as Green Lantern in the Justice League.

MasterOfAll

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Doomworld - S2-E16

Question: When Mayor Damien Darhk puts up the mask in his collections, who do the other masks individually belong to? I recognize Flash and maybe Diggle and Green Arrow.

Bishop73

Chosen answer: Black Canary, Spartan, Wild Dog, and Ragman.

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Answer: Gleaned from the Internet: Much of the negative reaction was due to the poor, simplistic, and outdated quality of the animation where the characters moved stiffly and clumsily through scenes. There were also some obvious animation compositing gaffs. The animation colors were also criticized as being overly bright and cheery and out of character to the established story's darker tone. The broad humor of the first season was replaced by a more mature narrative between the characters.

raywest

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Question: Can someone PLEASE explain the ending? The whole show was pretty confusing, particularly why everything disappeared at the end, why people lost their memories, etc.

Azureth

Chosen answer: The show was originally planned to have a second season, but then it was dropped because of low ratings in Japan, thus the abrupt ending leaving everything unexplained and out in the open. Still, the show was so popular on TV in the US that The Cartoon Network decided to finance the production of the second season, which is right now coming out on DVD (I think the first three volumes are already out). This should end up tying everything nicely.

Sereenie

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Question: Is there any reason they have to go to that particular time to start their colony? Why not say 64 million years ago? Since it's after the dinosaurs, but before the evolution of sabertooths and mammoths? It'd be a lot safer.

dizzyd

Chosen answer: Because that's where the rift led. They don't have a time-travel machine, capable of taking them wherever they please - all they have is a hole in time leading to one single time period.

Tailkinker

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ALF (1986)

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Keepin' the Faith - S1-E5

Question: When Al is holding a stack of towels, the Tanners say that he is "carrying towels through the damp." What does that mean?

Answer: Mr Tanner actually asks Alf, "Why are you carrying our towels through the den?" The streaming subtitles are wrong when it substitutes "damp" for "den" twice. It's possible the error originated from the VHS or DVD, which occurs often.

Super Grover

Yes, I was re-watching episodes, and I heard "den" the next time. Thank you for answering, though.

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Chosen answer: Its continuity follows with the first film (K's still being in the MiB is fleetingly addressed), but because it aired before the second and third films were produced, it is stand alone in relation to them.

Phixius

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