I was watching Seinfeld today, and look at what I found in Season 4's episode, "The Airport".....

It's the same green "Viscount" ad we see on the back of every magazine in Three's Company. Must be a commonly used prop in TV.

I was watching Seinfeld today, and look at what I found in Season 4's episode, "The Airport".....

It's the same green "Viscount" ad we see on the back of every magazine in Three's Company. Must be a commonly used prop in TV.

There's a tendency among filmmakers to reuse props under the (disproven) impression that the viewer will be distracted by the focal point of each shot. They never considered VCRs or DVDs, until digital filmmaking. Since film was always the biggest expense, digital has freed up budgets to make sure it doesn't happen. At least, when it gets budgeted for.

Recycling of props, actors, and even stories was common until the mid-80s, when home video was taking off. You can find almost any series and see some level of reuse, like the magazine ad you mentioned. An even better example is Battlestar Galactica--the original from 1978--which reused several shots in at least five episodes each. Or Al Bundy always used the same copy of Big 'Uns.

Some are still common. For example, a director might use the same cars going by in several shots because it's a bigger expense. Sometimes, an actual magazine might be used with a cover over the brand name to rename it. It will never entirely go away.

Seen that in many shows, and even some movies from back then.

I always wondered what Viscount was. I guess that answers my question.

I knew about the recycled newspapers---there's an article floating around about the recycled prop newspaper that's been in movies and TV since the 30's. Al Bundy can be seen reading a version of it. However, I think Three's Company used the real LA Times, because in a few scenes you can see headlines that correspond with then-current events. Also, the trio's newspaper does not have the same layout as the usual prop newspaper, which leads me to believe they just used whatever was handy.

The magazines, however, were obviously fake. "Persons" magazine instead of People, etc.