Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2011 June 22

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June 22

Arcade game about collecting fast food

I remember playing an old arcade game in which the player must collect junk food and avoid healthy food. For the longest time, I thought it was Fast Food or Burger Time, but after watching videos of those games, it's not them. The game I'm thinking of was not like Pac Man or Donkey Kong. Does anyone remember this classic? Thanks 70.101.46.217 (talk) 18:09, 22 June 2011 (UTC)

It might be Fast Food Hero. ---Sluzzelin talk 18:49, 22 June 2011 (UTC)

What Detroit skyscrapers appear in Eminem's Super Bowl commercial?

There are two really attractive classic skyscrapers in the commercial where a Chrysler is driven through Detroit. Someone who lives there and has seen the commercial would surely recognize them.Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 20:30, 22 June 2011 (UTC)

The biggest and most recognizable skyscraper in Detroit is the Renaissance Center, so I bet that's one of them. StuRat (talk) 20:36, 22 June 2011 (UTC)

The two places with the most screen time are the Marathon Oil refinery at the beginning and the Fox Theater at the end. Could you give us a time reference from the clip? Rmhermen (talk) 05:35, 24 June 2011 (UTC)

I don't know where to find the clip. There's a totally different commercial running on TV now, but I finally remembered to ask about this one.Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 17:56, 24 June 2011 (UTC)

And I need to be more specific in the first question.Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 17:58, 24 June 2011 (UTC)

There is one at [1] Rmhermen (talk) 20:20, 24 June 2011 (UTC)

Thanks. I'll have a look next time I go to a library where the Internet is fast enough for videos. And right now my Norton Antivirus is acting up. I shouldn't even be here until it finishes "fixing".Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 15:31, 25 June 2011 (UTC)

In this clip, :38 (with the doorman), and 1:09.Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 13:08, 28 June 2011 (UTC)

The one at 0:38 is the Penobscot Building (see File:Archway.jpg), once the tallest building outside New York or Chicago. There is an amazing Lego version: [2] I think 1:09 the center building is the other side of the Penobscot (see the image "Skyline looking North" at [3]) with the Penobscot Annex on the left and the Ford Building on the right. Rmhermen (talk) 22:16, 28 June 2011 (UTC)

Michael Palin sketch

Reading something today reminded me of a UK comedy sketch from about 30 (but not 40) years ago - Michael Palin (and I'm fairly sure it _was_ Michael Palin, or someone of very similar appearance) gave a monologue dressed as a policeman, including the lines "[We're up against lots of things today (or words to that effect)] ... a laser beam aimed right down the top of my helmet from a satellite 200 miles in orbit..." "When I see a baby now, I put it in a plastic bag and send it off to Forensics!" "People say I'm mad, you know - friends, strangers, doctors, psychiatrists, experts in the field of mental health..." It wasn't a Python sketch, that much I'm certain of. Can anyone identify the show? And, if by any chance there's a copy available anywhere... Tevildo (talk) 23:55, 22 June 2011 (UTC)

This makes me think of the Secret Policeman's Ball, but I don't know if Palin did anything like that there (although both he and John Cleese were involved, at least). Adam Bishop (talk) 09:48, 23 June 2011 (UTC)

Thanks to TreasuryTag (see below), while doing some research on his question, I found the sketch ([4]). It's from The Innes Book of Records (on which we don't have an article! One of the less-important British cult comedies of the late 1970's! What is the world coming to‽), and is (unfortunately) a great deal less surreal now than it was in 1981. Still very funny, though. Tevildo (talk) 20:49, 23 June 2011 (UTC)

Ah, but we do have Neil Innes#The Rutles, Rutland and Innes Book of Records; "seek and ye shall find..." Alansplodge (talk) 21:50, 23 June 2011 (UTC)

A sentence, true, but not an article. :) We have a full article on Rutland Weekend Television, and (surprisingly) an article on the IBOR _album_, but not on the series itself. I suppose some cats ought to think about writing one... Tevildo (talk) 22:17, 23 June 2011 (UTC)

I'll pass on that one. I loved Python but the Innes Book of Records never made me laugh. It either went over my teenaged twenty year-old head or (as I thought at the time) wasn't very good. Alansplodge (talk) 22:54, 23 June 2011 (UTC)

A perfectly valid opinion - the late 70's weren't a great time for British comedy, dominated as it was by cosy sitcoms (Terry and June, Porridge) and traditional variety (Morecambe and Wise, The Two Ronnies). It took Margaret Thatcher to revive political satire and get things going again - a remedy worse than the disease? ;) Tevildo (talk) 23:14, 23 June 2011 (UTC)

"A less-important cult comedy" - fascinating expression. Cult shows are, by definition, beloved by a relatively small coterie of fanatic admirers, and pretty much unknown to the rest of humanity. To the respective admirers, all cult shows are supremely important. So, I'm wondering what constitutes a "less-important" example. -- Jack of Oz ^{[your turn]} 21:19, 23 June 2011 (UTC)

Perhaps "influential" would be a more precise word to use in this context. I'll try and come up with an example... Tevildo (talk) 21:34, 23 June 2011 (UTC)

How about Blue Jam (more important) vs They Came From Somewhere Else (less important)? Tevildo (talk) 21:37, 23 June 2011 (UTC)

But more or less important to what? Cult shows, while important to their followers, are very unimportant in the overall scheme of things. A small or relatively small audience is a necessary feature of a cult show, at least in the traditional meaning of the expression*, so no cult show is ever going to be important, except within the world of cultdom itself, where I suppose there are shades of importance. (* As we've discussed here before, the term "cult film/program" is often perverted by being applied to enormously popular films and shows, the exact opposite of what it's supposed to mean.) -- Jack of Oz ^{[your turn]} 09:08, 24 June 2011 (UTC)

I'm not sure that I'd agree that unpopularity is a necessary attribute of a cult show - our article Cult film includes such positive blockbusters as The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Blade Runner. However, IBOR passes any such test quite comfortably, so the issue is whether or not a cult show can be "important". Night of the Living Dead might be an example to consider - certainly not mainstream, and not excessively popular on release, but the template for every zombie movie for the next 40 years. Tevildo (talk) 10:35, 25 June 2011 (UTC)