I’ve always been a fan of the old Bob Newhart Show from the early ’70’s. His dry delivery and deadpan wit used to crack me up as a kid, and I’m pleased the effect has lasted well beyond that period. Photographically, it was lit like the inside of your refrigerator, but it was never meant to be about that. Instead, we’ve become so desensitized to raunchy humor today that it’s hard to believe the spotless banter central to the program could remain so clever and funny.
On that note, I flagged a little inside joke that only cinematographers will appreciate.
In Season 2\Episode 24 – titled A Matter of Principal – Bob is helping his wife Emily (Suzanne Pleshette) move out of the classroom where she has been teaching for some time. One of the cartons he carries caught my eye because of something printed on its side. The logo, with its big yellow ‘K’ encased by a field of red, instantly rang a bell despite being half-obscured by a strip of packing tape. If the art department had done a better job of covering up the Kodak trademark, I wouldn’t have noticed. But the profile of the box also clued me in. It was designed to hold ten 1000′ rolls of film (5254 in this case) and was unmistakable to anyone who’d put in some time around the camera truck.
Does being one of an infinitesimal number of people to pick up on this since the episode first aired in 1972 make me a weirdo? Probably. And so what? I’m in good company. If you’re reading this blog, you must be one, too!
I believe the art department did a fine job. The one strip of packing tape obscures the label but allows a bit to show through, telling the viewers that it is a used box but not a liquor box. Did you catch that the first time you saw the show when you were still in short pants or much later in your career?
Hanging out with a cinematographer long enough, I picked it up too! And I, also, appreciate the old Bob Newhart shows on Prime…I think it takes me back to happy times as a kid.
Hey Greg – Just spotted this the other night…
Richard, I’m always studying the backgrounds of tv
shows and movies and
trying to find unusual or out of place objects in the background.
I was wondering what was drawn on the chalkboard behind
Bob Newhart. Looks strangely like a man holding
balloons with words on them? Recently by chance, I saw an episode of
the Brady Bunch visiting the Grand Canyon. I happened to be at the Grand
Canyon last weekend and had to identify the location where they had a group
photo of them taken along the rim. By studying the stone wall they were sitting on, and knowing generally where it was it was located, I located the same spot by identifying the same shapes and sizes of stones from 55 years
ago adjacent to where they were sitting. It took a little bit of walking to find it but it satisfied my curiosity. The same trees nearby are still there but much larger. I guess I’m a little weird too.
Oh, you definitely qualify as weird Ken…! 😉