Here are breakdowns of intro #1 , intro #2, and intro #3 for anyone who's tried to spot which episodes the shots come from.
It's surprising that even though many of the shots look like they're taken from an episode, they're actually an alternate take.The changes made between the three intros are:
Intro #2 replaces two of the action scenes between Gloria and Jane's segments with two different ones - now Miss Nance has a scene in the intro.
Intro #3 replaces the scene of the Fundae after the title card with a different one, El's segment and Dick's segment have different scenes, and Jane's segment is replaced with action scenes, since Jennifer Holmes was no longer in the show. The added scenes have different sound effects over the top.
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Johnny B was originally called 'Johnny Ray', a.k.a. 'Ray-Man'. It was changed during production and is noted in a revision of the script for the pilot:
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Billy's mother was played by two actresses, Kathleen O'Malley in episode 01-02 and Meg Wyllie in episode 17.
Kathleen O'Malley
Meg Wyllie
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Carl Ciarfalio appears twice in the series. In episode 05, he plays one of the construction workers at the Burger Barn table, without any dialogue. In episode 16, he plays Joe, one of the men working for Mr. Rogers, this time a bigger role with dialogue.
'Lost Link'
'The Avenging Angel'
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Miss Nance is seen reading the same Screen Idol magazine in more than one episode, and it even crops up in Dickie's pocket in episode 15.
'Your Place Or Mayan'
'Center Of Attention'
'Against All Oz'
Production ran 5 ½ weeks at an expense of $1.5 million.
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Filming locations included the Universal Studios lot and Palmdale, CA.
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Received an Emmy nomination in 1986 for "Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series".
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[continuity nitpick]When Billy and El are standing beside a recently knocked out Beef, Billy takes off his insulated gloves and sets them down, the shot changes and he's taking them off again.
(0:18:34)
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Cindy, the reporter doing the coverage of the neutron beam cannon, was played by real-life news anchorwoman Tawny Schneider.
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[nitpick]In the scene where Billy, El, and Johnny B have just pulled up outside the County Juvenile Correction Facility, Johnny B asks if his eyes are glowing. El says yes and comments: "You sound funny too." The script also shows that his voice should have a 'buzz' to it. But Johnny B doesn't sound any different - not when he's asking the question, nor in his previous sentence. This is odd since it's really obvious in other episodes when Johnny B's voice is funny because of a high charge (08, 11).
(0:36:35)
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[continuity nitpick]During the getaway from Humanidyne, the far shot shows Johnny B wearing his black jacket, then the shot changes and Johnny B has given his jacket to El, but there's not enough time for him to have taken it off in between.
(0:57:34)
(0:57:35)
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[continuity nitpick]During the sequence where the Misfits are driving through the desert being chased by the squad cars, the shots alternate between far shots of the Fundae with its driverside door slid shut, and close-up shots from inside the cab where the door is clearly seen behind Billy's shoulder and it's open.
(1:10:59)
(1:11:03)
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The set used for the tunnel that's blocking the way to the neutron beam cannon was originally part of the 'Glacier Avalanche' attraction on the Universal Studios Tour; it was called 'The Ice Tunnel' and opened in 1975. It was a 200-foot long rotating tunnel with a stationary platform in the center for a tram to drive along. The tunnel has also been used as a set in other TV shows from the same era.
The Ice Tunnel
'Deep Freeze'
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End credits have magazines with the Misfits on the covers. See In Show Props.
Donald Todd, writer of this episode, remarked that it was "the Misfits play Romancing the Stone".
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A doll wearing the Michael Jackson outfit was used in the scene where Angel has just set El down after freeing him from the crack.
(0:43:29)
[continuity nitpick]When Harry reads aloud the message on his screen, he says 'activate', but the screen says 'active'.
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Jane's husband is named Mark, which is the name of Jennifer Holmes' real husband, Mark Tanous.
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[editing nitpick]In the scene where everyone at Garden Grove is turning to look at the incoming light, there's a reversed shot of Johnny B, his jacket number is on the flip side (though the number doesn't look wrong since it's an eight!).
(0:38:14)
The Oviatt Library in California was used for the exterior shots of the Anthropology Department. The library has an extensive history as an exterior for many television shows and motion pictures.
Oviatt Library
'Lost Link'
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There are scenes over the end credits, here's a breakdown.
Working title was 'Subterranean Homesick Blues'. Al Bucher was originally called Everett Janus.
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In the script, Johnny B and his band are rehearsing Sting's "Every Breath You Take" at the beginning of the episode while Gina watches, not Elvis' "Hard-Headed Woman" like in the filmed episode. This change is interesting, considering Gina's comment later in the episode when Johnny B holds up one of his records and Gina counters with, "Could you buy me Sting instead?", and also the fact that Zack listens to that very same Sting song on his headphones while recovering in the hospital.
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The second column of the picnic ticket scoreboard is all names of people from the crew.
(0:05:02)
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[editing nitpick]In the sequence where the four Misfits and Gina go down in the sewer to rescue the kids, there is a reversed shot of Billy, El, and Gloria running around the corner (the word 'methane' is backwards on the tank). This shot is actually a duplicate part of a longer shot later in the episode (0:39:08) that continues and shows Billy, El, and Gloria reaching the fountain doors. This instance (the one that's reversed) cuts before the point where it would become obvious that only three of them are in the shot, so it fits in with the sequence of all five of them.
(0:38:03)
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[continuity nitpick]In the scene where Billy, El, and Gloria are underneath the fountain, El is being lowered through the opening in the locked door on what looks like a shoelace. The camera cuts between El being lowered inside and Billy and Gloria outside, but it doesn't look as though either of them are lowering El.
(0:40:24)
(0:40:29)
[editing nitpick]In the sequence where the Misfits are in the boat, there is a reversed shot of the boat making a left-hand turn.
(0:39:16)
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There are scenes over the end credits, here's a breakdown.
In the scene where the Misfits are leaving Humanidyne to go to the nuclear reactor, right before Johnny B walks past Dick, Johnny B does his sunglasses trick to drop them from his forehead into place. Only it doesn't work and he instead reaches up and does it manually (then he walks past Dick and gives him a great smirk). According to production order, this episode was filmed first, so maybe the trick wasn't perfected yet or just didn't work on cue. (Other episodes where the trick does work: 04 - [0:04:52], 12 - [0:16:56])
(0:29:03)
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There are scenes over the end credits, here's a breakdown.
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The original title, according to this promo photo, was "Old Folk".
[continuity nitpick]When Johnny B is telling off Brick, he incorrectly refers to Gloria's power as telepathy instead of telekinesis. It's this way in the script as well:
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[continuity nitpick]In the sequence where El is on the serving tray, he's clearly visible when the guard lifts the cover, but when the camera cuts back, Kevin is no longer blue-screened on top. Perhaps Johnny B put El on the ground in those 6 seconds and the guard is just still too stunned to look away from the tray.
(0:36:08)
(0:36:14)
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There are scenes over the end credits, here's a breakdown.
One of the race commentators, Keith Hampton, was played by real-life sports commentator and journalist Roy Firestone.
Roy Firestone
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[continuity nitpick]When Johnny B is doing the qualifying run, he has to weld a piece on the motorcycle and his glove gets burnt. A few minutes later when he gets off the motorcycle, the fingertips of his glove aren't burnt. Later, he's holding the glove and it's back to having burnt fingertips.
(0:25:12)
(0:26:33)
(0:28:37)
[editing nitpick]In the montage of the Misfits checking the Happy Day Inns, there's a shot of Johnny B wrapped in the yellow blanket with Gloria feeling his forehead. This isn't right, since he hasn't yet told them he's sick, and Gloria hasn't yet put the blanket around him.
(0:23:18)
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[editing nitpick]In the scene where the Misfits are in the Fundae driving after Vince, there is a reversed shot – the steering wheel is on the flip side, and the words on the hood are backwards.
(0:38:10)
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There are scenes over the end credits, here's a breakdown.
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The working title was "Funny Bunnies".
The magician helping Nikolai escape in 1973 was played by real-life magician Nick Lewin, a London-born entertainer who also appeared in other TV shows.
Nick Lewin
There are scenes over the end credits, here's a breakdown.
This episode was written by Sara Parriott – any relation to creator James D. Parriott?
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Though Kevin Peter Hall has to portray El as being all thumbs when it comes to basketball, Kevin was quite good at it, even earning a basketball scholarship & playing with a South American team in Venezuela.
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Chick Hearn, the popular sports announcer, is doing the announcing during the basketball game, uncredited.
The flashbacks are not identical to the episodes they're taken from. The differences are mostly minor, such as ADR, alternate edits, and differences to the score. However, the two flashbacks that belong to episode 10 have extra content – funny exchanges between Billy and Dick. And the sequences from episode 05 involving the shuttle have had the dialogue changed to say 'rocket' in place of 'shuttle', with Johnny B's line of "Yeah, but we're talking the space shuttle" cut entirely. This was presumably done in deference to the Challenger disaster, which had happened only days prior on January 28th. Here's a breakdown of the flashbacks.
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Alt Gloria has quite an accent – did Courteney Cox get to drop back into her own Alabama accent?
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After Alt Billy tells how the other El wasn't any good at basketball, Alt El responds: "Are you kidding? I was the star center at George Washington." Kevin Peter Hall really did play basketball at George Washington University.
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There are scenes over the end credits, here's a breakdown.
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It's fun to see Dean Paul Martin pick up a guitar and sing in this episode, since he was a singer before acting – playing bass and singing in Dino, Desi, & Billy from 1964 to 1970.
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It's interesting to have Billy's dad only ever be a voice from off-screen, since Dean's real dad was so famous and all.
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End credits have faux home movie footage.
Production order:
| 83516 Deep Freeze 60801 Steer Crazy 60802 Guess What's Coming To Dinner? 60803 Your Place Or Mayan? 60804 Sort Of Looking For Gina 60806 Lost Link 60807 Sonar... And Yet So Far 60808 Twin Engines 60810 Grand Theft Bunny 60811 Fumble On The One 60812 Grand Elusion 60813 Once Upon A Night 60814 Three Days Of The Blender 60816 The Avenging Angel 60817 Center Of Attention 60819 Against All Oz | Laboratory:Technicolor Film negative format:35 mm Cinematographic process:Spherical Printed film format:35 mm Aspect ratio:1.33 : 1 Sound mix:Mono Production company:Universal TV TV distributor (USA):NBC |
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