Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2009 April 21

= April 21 =

Beatles record sales
How much has the beatles made in record sales, merchandise and licensing. in $ figures) is there break down of these figures or a site with this information? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.98.64.15 (talk) 05:37, 21 April 2009 (UTC)


 * Probably not, and I don't think anyone here can reliably answer this question. It's not likely to be public information, first of all. One can always speculate, but without being privy to all of the deals that are or have ever been in place, as well as the sales figures and so forth, there's no way to tell. It's safe to say, however, that it's a vast amount of money: according to this article, in 2000 the Beatles made about 55 million pounds from record sales alone. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 11:07, 21 April 2009 (UTC)
 * To add to that, "The Beatles" are a group. Different people, however, make money out of their songs, films, merchandise etc. Until recently, for example, Michael Jackson owned the copyright to the entire Beatles back catalogue, so any performing rights monies went to him and not to any "Beatles"! --TammyMoet (talk) 12:56, 21 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Sony/ATV Music Publishing owns the publishing rights to the songs, so it gets a cut every time a Beatles song is sold or played, but the members of The Beatles/their heirs still get their royalties as performers from their own recordings of those songs. Piccadilly (talk) 01:03, 23 April 2009 (UTC)
 * I believe the Captain is correct; I don't think anyone knows exactly how much money was made or by who. I recall a quote from McCartney (from the 70s sometime) talking about their initial successes in the UK and the US. I can't quote verbatim, but it was something like, 'When we wanted something, like a car or a pool, it would just appear, but we'd never see an actual amount of money sitting in the bank.' Again, that's a paraphrase, but pretty close; the record company of course had a huge interest in making it seem like sales weren't as good as they were, which probably contributed to the creation of the Apple label. Matt Deres (talk) 12:56, 21 April 2009 (UTC)


 * Forbes publishes the Celebrity 100 with annual earnings for the top 100 celebrities, which shows how the data could in principle have been compiled; I don't see Paul McCartney in the list for 2007-08; they also have Top Earning Dead Celebrities with John Lennon gettting $9m in the most recent year. This might give some sort of idea of recent earnings for the band.  Forbes puts a lot of effort into compiling the results, which don't go far enough back in time to cover the Beatles' peak years.--Maltelauridsbrigge (talk) 12:18, 22 April 2009 (UTC)

Futurama Season 5
Will the complete fifth season of Futurama ever be available on a single DVD case?

Bowei Huang (talk) 07:38, 21 April 2009 (UTC)


 * There are only 4 seasons of Futurama. See Futurama--Brewfangrb (talk) 09:17, 21 April 2009 (UTC)


 * The movies might be considered season 5, but I don't think Fox has any plans of releasing them all together in a single pack right now. Livewireo (talk) 13:06, 21 April 2009 (UTC)


 * It is highly likely that there will eventually be a box set (as everything eventually gets a box set). However, we cannot predict the future to know if there will in fact be a box set and when it may happen.  Of note, there are slight differences between the 5th season episodes and the movies.  Perhaps a box set would give you the option to watch the movies or each episode - but that is just speculation. --  k a i n a w &trade; 14:33, 21 April 2009 (UTC)

Whats this song
Whats the song that plays when you go to pepsifootball.com after the loading is done? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 116.71.57.165 (talk) 09:41, 21 April 2009 (UTC)

Actor in Shameless
Hi. Can anybody tell me which actor played the leader of the gang/family that briefly took over the council house before being kicked out in episode 6.13 of Shameless (showing right now on Channel 4, and I think shown on E4 a week ago). He seems very familiar, but I can't place him. Many Thanks Wanted Hound (talk) 21:21, 21 April 2009 (UTC)

This page has a list of all the actors. Once you've found him just type his name into IMDb.Popcorn II (talk) 21:41, 21 April 2009 (UTC)


 * Thanks. But because he only played a very small part (maybe 10 lines) he doesn't seem to be in the list. Wanted Hound (talk) 22:05, 21 April 2009 (UTC)

This page has a load of clips from the series. Maybe he's in one of those clips and you could point us toward it?Popcorn II (talk) 22:10, 21 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Hi Popcorn. Thanks so much for taking the trouble to help me out with this. If you can see this video, he is the one is the leader of the group that breaks into the house at about 2:30. Thanks again Wanted Hound (talk) 23:22, 21 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Sorry. Here is the link episode 6.13. Thanks Wanted Hound (talk) 23:33, 21 April 2009 (UTC)

Sorry WH, don't recognise him and IMDb don't have anyone like that listed for that episode. :(Popcorn II (talk) 19:47, 22 April 2009 (UTC) Although he REALLY reminds me of this guy Popcorn II (talk) 22:25, 22 April 2009 (UTC)
 * No problems. Thanks for trying. He sure does look like that guy. I am gonna have to keep searching because it is driving me crazy! :) Thanks again. Wanted Hound (talk) 18:24, 24 April 2009 (UTC)

Mario vs. Sonic
How could a fat, middle-aged, slow plumber be a more popular character than a fast, super-sonic hedgehog? I don't get it.--Highly frenetic (talk) 21:52, 21 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Easy - Mario had ten years to establish his popularity before Sonic appeared on the scene. (First appearance 1981 vs 1991). Exxolon (talk) 22:05, 21 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Plus, his games didn't start to suck after his switch to 3D. Vimescarrot (talk) 22:56, 21 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Sorry, I suppose I should qualify that statement. The 3D Mario games are regularly billed as among the best games for their console by gaming magazines. The Sonic games, while some are reviewed well, don't get close - plus, they don't have their own console to which they are exclusive. Vimescarrot (talk) 22:58, 21 April 2009 (UTC)
 * I have to say, Mario is pretty ugly. If sonic was human, he would be one pretty hot piece of cake.68.148.130.72 (talk) 00:28, 22 April 2009 (UTC)


 * Failure to "get" that people have opinions and often those opinions are different than your opinions says a lot more about the questioner than the question. -- k a i n a w &trade; 01:57, 22 April 2009 (UTC)
 * I don't think questions like this one are necessarily about the difference between one's own opinion and that of others, but about the difference between one's expectations and reality. I don't prefer either character, but I probably would have expected the cute hedgehog to win a popularity contest against the fat plumber too, ceteris paribus. But all other things are not the same, as pointed out above. ---Sluzzelin talk  10:09, 22 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Looking at public and expert opinion, Sonic was voted most popular character ever in the UK; but the Japanese public, EMG, Inventorspot, Gamewad put Mario ahead. (I have to agree with the above posters that the quality of the games, as well as the high profile of Mario on Nintendo's consoles, is important - I'm sure many more people know Mario than Sonic.  But if it's all about coolness, how do you explain the popularity of Pacman?  He's just a circle with a bit missing.) --Maltelauridsbrigge (talk) 12:27, 22 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Pacman is Genesis. When people think of the timeline of games, it normally goes Pong -> Pac Man -> Donkey Kong -> Super Mario Bros. Pong has no main character. I have no citation for this, of course...it's just my experience of interacting with communities on the interwebs. Vimescarrot (talk) 13:30, 22 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Some of us would just cite personal experience - I guess I am dating myself. I wonder if my Sears Telegames still works. Rmhermen (talk) 18:17, 22 April 2009 (UTC)