I’ll admit it: I’m an annoying person to watch movies and television shows with.
Thankfully, I’m not a constant question asker (Wait? What’s happening now? Wait, why is he going in there? What’s she going to do?!? *shudder*). No, I’m the person who during movies and TV shows is constantly shouting things to her kids like, “Oh my god you guys – do you know what that guy is from? He’s from the first episode of Small Wonder! And you see that school? That’s the same school that was on The Wonder Years! And Grease! And Fast Times at Ridgemont High!” — while they stare at me saucer-eyed, with expressions suggesting a mixture of confusion and, yes, just a tiny bit of fear.
But seriously, how am I expected to NOT notice things like the same locations being used over and over again in movies and TV? For example, there’s Torrance High School, which is better known as West Beverly High School AND Sunnydale High AND the school in Clueless, She’s All That and Bring It On and Less Than Zero.
RIGHT?
I also notice weird editing mistakes—like when in the middle of a scene the position of someone’s collar or necklace or buttons or hair changes several times. (See: Molly Ringwald’s hair in The Breakfast Club. The movie takes place over one day and her hairstyle changes at least six (hundred) times.)
And you know that image that’s floating around—the one that shows Ed O’Neill using the same newspaper on Married With Children AND on Modern Family? I noticed that before I saw the photo. And I saw it once on That ’70s Show too. That newspaper gets around, man.
(You’re really excited to run out and see a movie with me now, aren’t you?)
So, what I’m saying here is that I notice the little things that producers, directors, editors, and actors would actually rather I *not* notice. Goofs, continuity errors, factual errors, etc. I’m a noticer.
But this blew even MY mind.
Have you heard of the Quality Cafe—a now-defunct diner in downtown Los Angeles? It stopped serving meals in 2006, and is now the home of basically every single diner scene to ever be filmed in L.A.
No. REALLY.
Ghost World. Yes.
Training Day
Old School. Indeed.
500 Days of Summer too.
Even Mad Men!
And thanks to this amazing mash up, we’ll never be able to watch a diner scene ever again without looking for the familiar cups and mugs and backgrounds and booths of the Quality Cafe.
source, source, source, source, source, source, source
About Ali Martell
