Harry's tv trick...bogus?? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

McFly121 · 11-04-2005, 03:31 AM

Seemed really far-fetched, his responses pre-taped to Mrs. Cunningham, perfectly timed and with the right questions.

I think a more realistic approach would've been to have him talking live in the hallway, and pre-tape the "Am I the real Harry Stone?" I thought he might have but he said "I taped this just a few minutes ago." Well, which part? The questions, or "Am I the real...."?

ekkostar · 11-04-2005, 01:17 PM

I actually thought he was filming out in the hallway until he said otherwise.

By the way, I loved how Dan kept breaking TV's 4th wall by talking directly to the camera. It reminded me of Malcolm in the Middle, but he was hamming it up.

HaskellGirl · 11-04-2005, 04:05 PM

I agree with ekkostar...I think he was filming in the hallway until the end there...it WAS pretty tricky and something not everyone could pull off, but the fact that Harry is a magician means he can do cool tricks that most people can't...he can fool someone and get away with it. I mean, it was obviously taped for the show, but I think if someone else had tried to do it, it woudln't have made much sense. But since its Harry, I'm not surprised it went so smoothly, if that makes sense.

nitcrt1 · 11-04-2005, 05:22 PM

I thought the process was a bit odd myself. I know there is a trick to it. I'll pose this question to my brother. (He used to work for a local news station.) He may know how this could have been done. I'll get back to you all if I get an answer.

ClassicTVGal · 11-04-2005, 09:01 PM

I actually liked it. I've seen it preformed on other programs on TV. Of course it *is* a television show, so they can fake a lot of things. lol

MikeLutton · 11-04-2005, 09:49 PM

anyone Notice she used her last name on Night court as she did on Happy days Miss Cunningham did she mention Happy days or refrences in her list of shows that would been funny

HaskellGirl · 11-04-2005, 09:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeL

anyone Notice she used her last name on Night court as she did on Happy days Miss Cunningham did she mention Happy days or refrences in her list of shows that would been funny

She did refer to Happy Days...when she was listing off characters, she ended with "The Fonz", which got a big laugh, although I thought it was kinda cheesy.

nitcrt1 · 11-05-2005, 02:31 PM

Ladies and gentleman....what Harry did is not bogus. According to my brother, who has a degree in communications and worked for a lacal tv station, what Harry did is absolutely possible. He said if Harry anticipated certain questions Mrs. Daley was going to ask I believe he did have an inkling), he would have had no problem taping open ended responses. All you would have to do is leave pauses for any type of resopnse on her end. Now, if they were having a full conversation (like you would person to person) then it would be far fetched. However, Harry's comments and responses were very logical to the situation. Therfore, I feel he knew what he was doing given the situation. I think he did know or feel what she was going to ask. The trick was in knowing what order she was going to ask the questions. There is where he took a gamble.

So, in short, what Harry did was not bogus. It was smart!

nitcrt1 · 11-05-2005, 02:34 PM

Ladies and gentleman....what Harry did is not bogus. According to my brother, who has a degree in communications and worked for a local tv station, what Harry did is absolutely possible. He said if Harry anticipated certain questions Mrs. Daley was going to ask (I believe he did have an inkling), he would have had no problem taping open ended responses. All you would have to do is leave pauses for any type of resopnse on her end. Now, if they were having a full conversation (like you would person to person) then it would be far fetched. However, Harry's comments and responses were very logical to the situation. Therfore, I feel he knew what he was doing given the situation. I think he did know or feel what she was going to ask. The trick was in knowing what order she was going to ask the questions. There is where he took a gamble.

So, in short, what Harry did was not bogus. It was smart!

McFly121 · 11-06-2005, 02:06 AM

I'm not doubting it was smart (it proved to Mrs. Daly that tv and reality are two different things), but if you watch the sequence, if he pre-taped his responses, they were awfully perfect to be real. "Was he sick..no...did he die...no" all came so quick. His questions were appropriate like being sick, or dying, and "What happened to him?". My real complaint was with the timing of it all. And there seemed to be no wire leading into the courtroom. Though there would have to be a tv plug wire, but I've already erased the ep so I don't remember.

nitcrt1 · 11-06-2005, 09:17 AM

Again, I don't disagree with you here either. I'd have to watch the episode again. Yet, I think there may have been a possible connection with the fact that they were filming on closed circuit TV during the episode as well. It's a good question to investigate further. The writers had to know what they were doing technically though. They worked in television, so I imagine they had an idea of how something like this could be pulled off.

McFly121 · 11-07-2005, 08:13 AM

Yeah, sometimes they're funny on sitcoms. Family never has a tv visible, then when something tv-related is shown, all of a sudden a tv is there, then the next episode its gone. Plus you can see no wires leading off-camera, I guess it looks tacky. Hehe.

11-04-2005, 03:31 AM	#1
McFly121 Member Forum Regular Join Date: Feb 18, 2004 Location: calif Posts: 812	Harry's tv trick...bogus?? Seemed really far-fetched, his responses pre-taped to Mrs. Cunningham, perfectly timed and with the right questions. I think a more realistic approach would've been to have him talking live in the hallway, and pre-tape the "Am I the real Harry Stone?" I thought he might have but he said "I taped this just a few minutes ago." Well, which part? The questions, or "Am I the real...."?
	__________________ "That was Bob's donut!"

11-04-2005, 01:17 PM	#2
ekkostar Coffee, Tea & Larroquette! Senior Member Join Date: Apr 16, 2005 Posts: 1,077	I actually thought he was filming out in the hallway until he said otherwise. By the way, I loved how Dan kept breaking TV's 4th wall by talking directly to the camera. It reminded me of Malcolm in the Middle, but he was hamming it up.
	__________________ "All my sitcoms had an audience, with four or five cameras, so working this way has always been appealing to me." - John Larroquette A living legend, five Emmys and a Tony award! Your favorites could never...

11-04-2005, 09:49 PM	#6
MikeLutton Mike Lutton DVD Legend! Forum Veteran Join Date: Jan 05, 2005 Location: usa pennsyvania Posts: 6,888	reply anyone Notice she used her last name on Night court as she did on Happy days Miss Cunningham did she mention Happy days or refrences in her list of shows that would been funny

11-04-2005, 04:05 PM	#3
HaskellGirl Member Forum Regular Join Date: Jul 15, 2002 Posts: 590	I agree with ekkostar...I think he was filming in the hallway until the end there...it WAS pretty tricky and something not everyone could pull off, but the fact that Harry is a magician means he can do cool tricks that most people can't...he can fool someone and get away with it. I mean, it was obviously taped for the show, but I think if someone else had tried to do it, it woudln't have made much sense. But since its Harry, I'm not surprised it went so smoothly, if that makes sense.

11-04-2005, 05:22 PM	#4
nitcrt1 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Oct 22, 2003 Posts: 482	I thought the process was a bit odd myself. I know there is a trick to it. I'll pose this question to my brother. (He used to work for a local news station.) He may know how this could have been done. I'll get back to you all if I get an answer.

11-04-2005, 09:01 PM	#5
ClassicTVGal Traveler Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Oct 26, 2004 Posts: 3,457	I actually liked it. I've seen it preformed on other programs on TV. Of course it is a television show, so they can fake a lot of things. lol

11-05-2005, 02:31 PM	#8
nitcrt1 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Oct 22, 2003 Posts: 482	Ladies and gentleman....what Harry did is not bogus. According to my brother, who has a degree in communications and worked for a lacal tv station, what Harry did is absolutely possible. He said if Harry anticipated certain questions Mrs. Daley was going to ask I believe he did have an inkling), he would have had no problem taping open ended responses. All you would have to do is leave pauses for any type of resopnse on her end. Now, if they were having a full conversation (like you would person to person) then it would be far fetched. However, Harry's comments and responses were very logical to the situation. Therfore, I feel he knew what he was doing given the situation. I think he did know or feel what she was going to ask. The trick was in knowing what order she was going to ask the questions. There is where he took a gamble. So, in short, what Harry did was not bogus. It was smart!

11-05-2005, 02:34 PM	#9
nitcrt1 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Oct 22, 2003 Posts: 482	Ladies and gentleman....what Harry did is not bogus. According to my brother, who has a degree in communications and worked for a local tv station, what Harry did is absolutely possible. He said if Harry anticipated certain questions Mrs. Daley was going to ask (I believe he did have an inkling), he would have had no problem taping open ended responses. All you would have to do is leave pauses for any type of resopnse on her end. Now, if they were having a full conversation (like you would person to person) then it would be far fetched. However, Harry's comments and responses were very logical to the situation. Therfore, I feel he knew what he was doing given the situation. I think he did know or feel what she was going to ask. The trick was in knowing what order she was going to ask the questions. There is where he took a gamble. So, in short, what Harry did was not bogus. It was smart!

11-06-2005, 02:06 AM	#10
McFly121 Member Forum Regular Join Date: Feb 18, 2004 Location: calif Posts: 812	I'm not doubting it was smart (it proved to Mrs. Daly that tv and reality are two different things), but if you watch the sequence, if he pre-taped his responses, they were awfully perfect to be real. "Was he sick..no...did he die...no" all came so quick. His questions were appropriate like being sick, or dying, and "What happened to him?". My real complaint was with the timing of it all. And there seemed to be no wire leading into the courtroom. Though there would have to be a tv plug wire, but I've already erased the ep so I don't remember.

11-06-2005, 09:17 AM	#11
nitcrt1 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Oct 22, 2003 Posts: 482	Again, I don't disagree with you here either. I'd have to watch the episode again. Yet, I think there may have been a possible connection with the fact that they were filming on closed circuit TV during the episode as well. It's a good question to investigate further. The writers had to know what they were doing technically though. They worked in television, so I imagine they had an idea of how something like this could be pulled off.

11-07-2005, 08:13 AM	#12
McFly121 Member Forum Regular Join Date: Feb 18, 2004 Location: calif Posts: 812	Yeah, sometimes they're funny on sitcoms. Family never has a tv visible, then when something tv-related is shown, all of a sudden a tv is there, then the next episode its gone. Plus you can see no wires leading off-camera, I guess it looks tacky. Hehe.