View Full Version : "Pick A Con, Any Con" connection to the "The Sting"


chipsaugratin
05-07-2025, 11:09 PM
This late first season episode has Coach being cheated out of thousands of dollars by a card sharp. Harry the Hat is recruited to get back Coach's money in a poker game.
On a recent rewatch of the 1973 Best Picture, "The Sting," I noticed some references dropped into this episode.
Coach rubs his nose to give a sign to George, just like the nose rub used by the mob of conmen.
In the last 2 hands, Harry has four 3's is his hand. During the movie, Paul Newman has four 3's which were dealt to him in the final hand in an attempt to cheat him.
The plan was to cheat at cards to beat a card cheater.
George loses all of his and Coach's money to Harry after Coach made a big blunder, and he storms out angry at Coach. But the we find out that in fact Coach was working with Harry to scam George. So just like the film, the finale involved executing a con without ever letting the mark knowing he was conned.

Did you notice any others? Or other episodes connected to other big movies?

Alan Brady's Hair
05-08-2025, 08:17 AM
That's a good analysis.

Or other episodes connected to other big movies?

I don't know. They did some obvious reworkings of episodes of classic TV shows. One clear example is "Suspicion," which is a reworking of The Dick van Dyke Show's "The Impractical Joke." In one similar scene, Buddy destroys some jelly donuts, while in the corresponding Cheers scene Diane destroys a muffin. "Scream like a chicken!" is a punch line in the DvD episode, while in the Cheers episode there's actual screaming like a chicken.

I think sometimes the writers will retain little details from a previous show/movie just to alert curious viewers that it's not coincidental that the scripts are so similar.

chipsaugratin
05-21-2025, 10:37 PM
How about "Spellbound" from season 5 and "Casablanca"?

As Nick Tortelli tries to charm Diane, then Loretta, then Carla, he is wearing a white tuxedo jacket (like Bogart) and the violinist plays "As Times Goes By."