Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2020 October 22

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October 22

House (TV series)

What happened to Allison Cameron? Did she die? Did she quit? Did she get fired? Koridas 📣 02:09, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

According to the article, she was written out of the show, and not necessarily willingly, but she did a couple of episodes more before the series ended, so one would think it's unlikely that she got "fired". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 02:33, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

Baseball Bugs, Right, but I'm talking about how she was written off. I'm trying to figure out what happened to the character, not the actor. Koridas 📣 05:42, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

Per the penultimate paragraph in her article's Personality section, she quit. InedibleHulk (talk) 09:54, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

And since she appears in the season finale, not as a hallucination, she did not die.  --Lambiam 10:09, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

Dead people can also easily appear on TV as ghosts and zombies, but yeah, unlikely in this show's context. InedibleHulk (talk) 10:24, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

Flying cars

What popular culture media was the first to implement flying cars? I've got doubts it was The Jetsons (though it was the first thought that came to mind), and it most certainly wasn't Blade Runner, though the spinners most definitely had a hand at making them iconic in near-future city settings. --72.234.12.37 (talk) 08:32, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

It first appeared in Metropolis (1927 film), according to the Financial Times Koridas 📣 09:18, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

References

https://www.ft.com/content/242bcf42-eee5-11e6-ba01-119a44939bb6 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.198.187.35 (talk) 10:57, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

I suppose I should have specified flying cars as in "personal flying craft that retains the general shape of a traditional car" rather than the concept alone, which the most bare-bones would probably have to be a tiny privately owned plane. I know in Metropolis there are many small personal planes flying about, but I don't remember seeing anything similar to the likes of, well... a flying Rolls-Royce or Ford Model T. --72.234.12.37 (talk) 13:04, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

Can I assume that you're referring to cases in which such vehicles are common and widely used and not to one-offs, such as that in The Absent-Minded Professor? And that literature doesn't count as "popular culture"? Deor (talk) 16:27, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

While admittedly I would prefer a film or animation example, I never said the option of literature is off in concerns for what counts as popular culture. And no, the cars don't have to be commonplace in the fiction, though that would be preferable. Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang did cross my mind at one point. --72.234.12.37 (talk) 17:36, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

A... flying car. Nothing to see here.

We have an article on Flying car. I'm a little surprised we don't have an entire article devoted to the fictional version, but the section on "in fiction" led me to this The Flying Car (1920 film), beating Metropolis by seven-odd years. The pic in the article makes it clear it's definitely a flying car rather than a personal place sort of situation. Matt Deres (talk) 16:41, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

I saw and read that article but I don't recall the "Popular culture" section mentioning what the first known example of a flying car in a work of fiction was. It simply mentions Blade Runner, Back to the Future's DeLorean, and The Fifth Element as prominent examples of fictional flying cars, among many works of fantasy and science fiction that have them. --72.234.12.37 (talk) 17:36, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

D'oh. Actually, you're correct; I got it from clicking on the disambiguation link at the top in hopes of finding the Flying cars in fiction article I assumed we had. That got me here, where I saw the film listed. In fact, I don't know if that is the first mention or not; I just knew it was earlier than what had previously been mentioned. Matt Deres (talk) 22:12, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

See also Sky car. Alansplodge (talk) 08:09, 23 October 2020 (UTC)

Famous vs Fictional

Are there any instances of famous people who happen to have the same names as a character in a book or movie, without changing their names. So, Daniel Defoe (actor) and David Copperfield (magician ex husband to Cindy Crawford) will not qualify. Thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.198.187.35 (talk) 10:55, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

See today's Tom Sawyers, to start. InedibleHulk (talk) 11:03, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

Richard Rich vs. Richie Rich. Michael Bolton vs. Michael Bolton. --Jayron32 12:03, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

Peep this peck of Peter Parkers. InedibleHulk (talk) 12:56, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

Steve Rogers is not necessarily Steve Rogers. I expect there are many others from the superhero universe, given many of them have very generic names (see Peter Parker above). Xuxl (talk) 13:10, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

We have articles on several Walter Whites, though these real ones all became famous before Bryan Cranston's character in Breaking Bad. We also have articles on a judge and two actors named Elizabeth Bennett (but Jane Austen's heroine is spelled Bennet). ---Sluzzelin talk 15:01, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

Such a list would probably run into thousands. If by famous you mean notable, then Wikipedia has about 1 million articles about living people alone. Most of those names will not be unusual or unique, and neither will most fictional names, and there must be millions of those.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 15:38, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

• Actor Matt Dillon shares his name with the main character from Gunsmoke, which confused the heck out of me when I was young. --Metropolitan90 (talk) 16:06, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

• Jack Ryan. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 20:54, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

• John Malkovich shares his name with the fictional protagonist of Being John Malkovich.  --Lambiam 21:11, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

• That last one definitely doesn't qualify as "happen to", since the character was named after the actor. This may be true for some of the other cases mentioned as well, but I don't know. --174.89.48.182 (talk) 21:19, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

• Joseph Smith (disambiguation). Clarityfiend (talk) 22:36, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

Paul Hogan (darts player) and regular Paul Hogan are both nicknamed after Crocodile Dundee. It's not exactly what you're after, but I found the first guy in a Tom Sawyer article I'll probably never read nor think about again, so might as well use this fun fact while it's fresh. Also, despite "Adam" allegedly being the oldest man's name in the book, there has never been a live-action Prince Adam figure of note! InedibleHulk (talk) 01:46, 23 October 2020 (UTC)

Prince Adam would like to have a word with you. --Jayron32 15:34, 23 October 2020 (UTC)

Oh crap. I not only overlooked that mighty skeleton lord, but his fully-animated spinoff. I'll show myself to the Slime Pit. InedibleHulk (talk) 16:00, 23 October 2020 (UTC)

There's even more of them. --Jayron32 17:01, 23 October 2020 (UTC)

I'll kneel before Jerzy's ancient throne and grovel for sweet Polish mercy if I must, but Ludwik can sit his bony plastic ass down till his loyal followers dig up at least one source vouching for his noble notability! But yeah, no disrespect to your research skills. Long like King Jayron, 32nd of His Name! InedibleHulk (talk) 19:14, 23 October 2020 (UTC)

First movie released on VHS videocassette?

At Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/The Young Teacher there is a discussion going on about a South Korean film, The Young Teacher, which is claimed to have been the first movie ever released on VHS videocassette (presumably in Japan, where the format was invented and first introduced). However, the sourcing for that claim seems to be rather weak, and it seems odd that the first videocassette released in Japan would be of a Korean film, and not a particularly famous one. (By contrast, the first three VHS releases in the U.S. are said to have been The Sound of Music, MASH, and Patton, all of which were popular and acclaimed films in the U.S.) Does anyone have any good sources to prove that The Young Teacher was or wasn't the first film released on VHS? Preferably these would be 1976-vintage sources. --Metropolitan90 (talk) 16:32, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

If it wasn't the first, it's an often repeated statement, since I can find numerous sources stating it as such: this 2009 article notes it, AMC, a reliable source, notes it as well under the Korean name Cheongchun Gyosa. --Jayron32 17:47, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

The problem with the 2009 Primer article (cited in our Wikipedia article) is that it says, "The first theatrical film ever released to the public on VHS was the South Korean drama, The Young Teacher, in 1976. Anyone – supergenius or not — could learn this rather easily, via Google." Primer saying "you can Google it" is what I mean by weak sourcing. --Metropolitan90 (talk) 01:15, 23 October 2020 (UTC)

The AMC source is scrupulous, however. --Jayron32 12:16, 23 October 2020 (UTC)

Should this be under Humanities

In a show such as Judge Judy it is clear that some of the defendants are broke and have no money to pay. They're clearly unemployed, on Social Security and probably most of them live in trailers. My query is; if someone is in such a destitute situation and is found wonting by Judge Judy, how is this person supposed to actually make the payment? If they have zero bank balance, how do they pay? What is a procedure in US a small claims court. Thank you — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A00:23C6:6884:6200:D453:B0D7:E160:7942 (talk) 23:29, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

See Judge Judy#Inner workings, where it says that "The award for each judgment was paid by the producers of the show from a fund reserved for the purpose", so it didn't matter if the defendant was broke. I've watched some these shows occasionally and I remember a notice in the closing credits of one of them (but I don't remember which one) that explained that they did this. --174.89.48.182 (talk) 23:49, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

I watch the show, and they're not all broke by any means. But whatever their financial status, having their dirty laundry aired internationally for the world to mock at is the price they're apparently prepared to pay to get out of paying their debts. I'm sure the producers carefully screen applicants to weed out those who obviously have no case and just want a free ride and a few moments of screen fame. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 00:31, 23 October 2020 (UTC)

And no, it shouldn't be under Humanities; these shows are just for entertainment. (I confess to finding them mildly amusing myself, though I prefer Judge Rinder's humour.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 10:14, 23 October 2020 (UTC)

Thank you, but what about non-TV law in the US, how does this work when the defendant is ordered to pay but does not have any money? What is a procedure in US a small claims court. Thank you — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.150.105.98 (talk) 16:37, 23 October 2020 (UTC)

Every state is going to be different. A little Google goes a long way, I found this overview fairly easily. It applies specifically to the State of Nevada, so other states may have some variance in the rules of small claims court, but there are not likely to be huge differences. --Jayron32 16:58, 23 October 2020 (UTC)

None of the participants on Judge Judy pay a single penny whether they win or lose a case. Everything is paid for by the show. In fact, there have been instances where both parties worked together to create fictional cases against one another just to receive payment (the highest amount that can be awarded is $5,000 in damages): Fake Case on Judge Judy. However, if it is a case in which the return of personal property is at stake; I believe the plaintive / defendant can either choose between receiving the property or the monetary equivalent of the item. Maineartists (talk) 21:28, 23 October 2020 (UTC)

The particularly part the OP may want to read is [1]. While it doesn't directly deal with what happens when the defendant can't pay, it does deal with how a judgement can be enforced including garnishing wages and taking control of property. Of course if a defendant has regular income, they may come to an agreement to pay a certain amount of their wages or a certain amount over defined periods without needing it to be enforced. Ultimately if a defendant truly cannot pay, they may file for bankruptcy [2] [3] and the procedures that deal with that will then apply Personal bankruptcy#United States & Bankruptcy in the United States#Personal bankruptcy. (Many plantiffs may give up before then, but it really depends e.g. as mentioned in some of the refs, they could turn it over to a debt collection agency.) Nil Einne (talk) 05:02, 24 October 2020 (UTC)