Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2010 September 19

= September 19 =

How widespread are widescreen (16:9) TVs?
Are there any statistics on the ratio of widescreen TVs compared to the old-style 4:3 TVs that are currently in-use in US households?

I know this is a rather specific request. Any related information on TV sales figures or how much content is produced in what format would be helpful too. --Martinship (talk) 04:40, 19 September 2010 (UTC)


 * A May 2010 report puts US HDTV ownership at 65% of households; I'd think "widescreen" is roughly the same as "HD" for this purpose. Note also that only about half of those HDTVs are receiving HD programming. &mdash; Lomn 13:15, 19 September 2010 (UTC)
 * I can't vouch for TVs, but on a recent mission to find a 4:3 computer monitor for someone who doesn't like widescreens, there was precisely ONE model out of the probably 20-30 on show - all others were 16:9. Exxolon (talk) 17:33, 19 September 2010 (UTC)
 * If they were computer monitors may of them were quite likely 16:10. It's hard to tell the difference from 16:9 without playing a DVD to see the black borders at the top or bottom./Coffeeshivers (talk) 16:22, 20 September 2010 (UTC)

Looking for a specific video
Hello, I am looking for a video to which I can't remember the name of. It involves a man who sets up a turntable out on the street. When something bad happens to someone else, he uses the turntable to turn back time and make it right. He put his turntable away, but his actions (if I remember correctly) cause something else to go wrong to another person, so he has to get his turntable back out again and rewind time again, and the process repeats. Could anyone help me find this? -- 24.251.101.130 (talk) 06:43, 19 September 2010 (UTC)
 * I think it was SPIN by Jamin Winans (IMDb link). ---Sluzzelin talk  07:04, 19 September 2010 (UTC)
 * That was it! Thank you :) -- 24.251.101.130 (talk) 07:21, 19 September 2010 (UTC)

cast member on zula patrol
can someone please name me the cast members of zula patrol and who they play? just name which ever ones you find please. i know that greg bursan and the other guy who your article said voices bula are not main cast members, i don't even think they are in the show. so i put who the characters sound more like. answering this will help me clear it up. thanks. 204.112.104.172 (talk) 14:40, 19 September 2010 (UTC)

Please answer this soon. who are the cast members of zula patrol? I do know that it isn't michael bel or greg bursand as i heard their other roles. Bula and multo do have more of a cam clark voice then a michael bell or a greg bursand voice. listen to their voices. Please do answer my question, or put the right names in the voice cast section i left. thanks. 204.112.104.172 (talk) 21:40, 22 September 2010 (UTC)

What do the lyrics of the song "You Run Your Mouth and I'll Run My Business" (Louis Jordan) mean?
I actually don't understand first 4 lines of lyrics:

You catch me beatin' up your chops?

I ought to turn you over to the cops,

But dig this spiel I'm going to lay on you, gate,

Don't cop your broom, park the body and wait.

Thank you in advance. 82.209.60.54 (talk) 17:14, 19 September 2010 (UTC)
 * "Cop your broom" and "collar your broom" are slang phrases for "to leave fast" (like a witch on a broomstick). So he's telling the other cat, "Sit down and listen to what I'm going to tell you." Pepso2 (talk) 17:47, 19 September 2010 (UTC)


 * And do you know what does the "You catch me beatin' up your chops?" stand for? 82.209.60.54 (talk) 20:50, 19 September 2010 (UTC)
 * This book, unfortunately, doesn't seem to have the answer - but you might be interested anyway. Ghmyrtle (talk) 21:08, 19 September 2010 (UTC)
 * "Beating up your chops" means "irritating talk". See how it's used in Louis Armstrong's "Basin Street Blues". Pepso2 (talk) 21:44, 19 September 2010 (UTC)


 * In the United States spiel is used to describe the protean rap music vocalizations in the 1960s Lukipuk (talk) 09:52, 20 September 2010 (UTC)

As the World Turns
Can someone please tell me how the soap opera As the World Turns ended this past Friday (September 17)? What were the final story lines? What was the final scene? Thank you! (64.252.34.115 (talk) 18:50, 19 September 2010 (UTC))


 * Both YouTube and cbs.com have the final episode posted for viewing. -- McDoob  AU  93  19:03, 19 September 2010 (UTC)


 * Thanks! I did not know that.  Thank you!   (64.252.34.115 (talk) 19:14, 19 September 2010 (UTC))


 * The last scene shows Bob Hughes in his office at the hospital, packing up because he's retiring. He puts his name plate into his briefcase and walks out the door, then the camera focuses on the globe on his desk, which starts spinning ("world turns", get it?)  Everard Proudfoot (talk) 18:20, 20 September 2010 (UTC)


 * A sudden Proustian moment then, as I remembered Mad Magazine from the early 1970s making constant references to "As the Stomach Turns". It was full of gags that we British teenagers only half understood. Perhaps that was why it was so intriguing.Alansplodge (talk) 18:36, 20 September 2010 (UTC)
 * Me again, I've just found an aposite quote from the linked Mad (magazine) page: "Things that go over your head can make you raise your head a little higher" (Robert Boyd). Wish I'd said that. Alansplodge (talk) 18:47, 20 September 2010 (UTC)
 * Ah, but which Robert Boyd? DuncanHill (talk) 21:48, 22 September 2010 (UTC)
 * I'm guessing it's Robert Boyd (journalist), winner of the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting. Only a hunch though ;-) Alansplodge (talk) 16:58, 23 September 2010 (UTC)
 * I've often wondered that with The Simpsons, particularly as much of the praise it seemed to receive (at least when the first few seasons were showing on BBC2) was for the randomness, the originality, and unusual ideas. I've since become aware of how much was referencing real events or other media, and that somehow lessens it. That MacGyver is a real programme, that there was a news story with a child stuck down a well, that there was a real man who built a suit to protect him from bears, and so on. 109.155.33.219 (talk) 13:07, 21 September 2010 (UTC)


 * Referencing other things is part of its genius! It's PoMo! Adam Bishop (talk) 19:52, 21 September 2010 (UTC)
 * Quoting the WP Mad (magazine); 'Simpsons producer Bill Oakley said, "The Simpsons has transplanted MAD Magazine. Basically everyone who was young between 1955 and 1975 read MAD, and that’s where your sense of humor came from. And we knew all these people, you know, Dave Berg and Don Martin – all heroes, and unfortunately, now all dead. And I think The Simpsons has taken that spot in America’s heart."' Alansplodge (talk) 17:05, 23 September 2010 (UTC)