Movies are *bleep*in' great and being alive is so awesome

April 18, 2015 9:03 AM

7 Most Overused Props In Hollywood History (SLYT)
posted by griphus (43 comments total)

First comment ever for me here on MF, but I feel I must mention this, which went unnoted in the section about the dental props.
posted by John Emton at 9:11 AM on April 18, 2015 [4 favorites]

Sam Raimi's '73 Oldsmobile wagon. It even showed up in The Quick and the Dead.
posted by infinitewindow at 9:39 AM on April 18, 2015

I could only last this charmless putz and his terrible delivery for two minutes before wishing I could just read this. C'mon, Cracked. You had written lists across two pages for a while there, right?
posted by barnacles at 9:45 AM on April 18, 2015 [13 favorites]

Yesssss they got the newspaper in there!
posted by phunniemee at 9:45 AM on April 18, 2015

Did they get The Lassiter?
posted by Artw at 9:50 AM on April 18, 2015

I could only last this charmless putz and his terrible delivery for two minutes before wishing I could just read this.

I enjoyed it and thought he was funny.
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 9:54 AM on April 18, 2015 [9 favorites]

As a life-long Suburban Commando fan I am pleased that the Hulkometer was first on the list.
posted by grumpybear69 at 9:58 AM on April 18, 2015

If you enjoy this, you'll love The Earl Hays Press (mentioned in the video). They're the makers of the famous Smeat can. The whole site is worth a perusal, but the CDs are particularly entertaining.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 9:58 AM on April 18, 2015 [8 favorites]

He's a professional Wil Wheaton impersonator!
posted by The Underpants Monster at 10:26 AM on April 18, 2015 [1 favorite]

He needs to get a shirt that fits. YOU'RE NOT FOOLING ME - BEHIND THAT UGLY BIG TIE KNOT I CAN SEE YOUR UNBUTTONED TOP BUTTON.
posted by Guy Smiley at 10:37 AM on April 18, 2015

I was kinda hoping to see the necklace Tangina wore in Poltergeist. It was, at the very least, also worn by Spotted Horse in The Quick and the Dead. I'm sure I've seen it other places, too.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 10:39 AM on April 18, 2015

Ooh! Can we talk about tv for a minute? I noticed the Le Corbusier couch in an airport scene in Californication. Since then, I've seen it used in at least three other shows. I think it's so popular because the cushions are easy to swap out for other colours.
posted by TorontoSandy at 10:54 AM on April 18, 2015

> He's a professional Wil Wheaton impersonator

But funny!
posted by The corpse in the library at 11:15 AM on April 18, 2015 [1 favorite]

Related: Recycled Movie Costumes is a web site that tracks the re-use of specific movie costumes in different films.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 11:35 AM on April 18, 2015

Starship Troopers is a shibboleth.
posted by ethansr at 11:46 AM on April 18, 2015

I can't believe they didn't mention the grand-daddy of all re-used movie and tv props...
posted by Thorzdad at 12:11 PM on April 18, 2015 [1 favorite]

Dan is fantastic.

That is all.
posted by Time To Sharpen Our Knives at 12:41 PM on April 18, 2015

No Robby the Robot?
posted by Kirth Gerson at 12:56 PM on April 18, 2015 [3 favorites]

Most Overused Props In Hollywood History

Guns.
posted by the quidnunc kid at 1:01 PM on April 18, 2015 [10 favorites]

That Earl Hays Press link that escape from the potato planet posted is treasure trove of off-brand awesomeness. The Johnny Walker Black Label liquor bottle look-a-like "Bar Fly Label" MUST come into my possession.
posted by KingEdRa at 1:03 PM on April 18, 2015 [3 favorites]

I can't believe they didn't mention the grand-daddy of all re-used movie and tv props...

I think they mean "made specifically for movie/tv" props, though.
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 1:47 PM on April 18, 2015

Dan is fantastic.

That is all.

I watched a couple of his other videos and -- as they say in the biz -- that kid is going places.
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 1:57 PM on April 18, 2015

These are cool and all, but that presenter guy in this vid is totally annoying. His delivery is terrible. I could have read this in a fraction of the time it took to watch this.
posted by Catblack at 2:33 PM on April 18, 2015 [1 favorite]

No IBM AN/FSQ-7?
posted by Reverend John at 2:37 PM on April 18, 2015 [1 favorite]

Kinda related: the roving plants of the Enterprise.
posted by Mezentian at 3:29 PM on April 18, 2015 [1 favorite]

How about the same sci-fi franchise? A few years ago I binged through 10 seasons of Stargate SG-1 and 5 seasons of Atlantis. In the later seasons of SG-1 and all of Atlantis, they start reusing actors, sets and probably other things I forgot. I used to have a whole mental list of this, but nowadays it is mostly forgotten. The most startling one is a village set that was used once in SG-1 and once in Atlantis.
posted by KTamas at 4:23 PM on April 18, 2015

That Earl Hays Press link that escape from the potato planet posted is treasure trove of off-brand awesomeness. The Johnny Walker Black Label liquor bottle look-a-like "Bar Fly Label" MUST come into my possession.

I like the "Cutters Ark" pun label. Wouldn't want to try "Snotliknaya" vodka, though.
posted by traveler_ at 4:36 PM on April 18, 2015 [1 favorite]

Star Trek:TNG...look for the tubes of red and blue "goo" (4 plexiglas cylinders, 2 lined with red gels, 2 with blue, approx 1ft dia.x18"h) ...they mostly lived in sickbay...mostly.
posted by sexyrobot at 4:49 PM on April 18, 2015 [1 favorite]

In the later seasons of SG-1 and all of Atlantis, they start reusing actors, sets and probably other things I forgot.

That used to be common on TV shows back in the pre-VCR days when nobody knew if it'd ever be seen again. Everyone on Maverick had the same distinctive barrel-sided suitcase, and every female guest star wore one out of about six rotating dresses.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 5:05 PM on April 18, 2015

Here's a whole page of architectural/art props that Star Trek (mostly TNG) and some other shows re-used. Alas, they don't have that spiky abstract metal wall sculpture that showed up again and again and again (you know, the one that looks like an actor's workmen's comp lawsuit waiting to happen), and which I swear I recently saw in something completely unrelated that had no apparent relationship to Paramount, so I had to wonder if it was actually mass-produced.

I've googled my heart out and I can't find it, but you all know it.

Minor add: there's actually a whole page of other props and issues, a nerd's dream. That is all.
posted by dhartung at 6:21 PM on April 18, 2015

o wow a lot of dan obrien hate? I don't get it. I find him adorably awkward.
posted by FirstMateKate at 6:31 PM on April 18, 2015 [3 favorites]

I do really want to learn more about the red tube light thingy, since I had been recognizing it reappearing before and was disappointed the video didn't actually explain anything about it.

I hope some props guy got an award for that.

the propie. it is an electric toothbrush with the head replaced by a spork, hot glued to a dime store base, painted gold, and sprinkled with LEDs
posted by ckape at 6:43 PM on April 18, 2015 [2 favorites]

I can't believe they didn't mention the grand-daddy of all re-used movie and tv props...

You don't re-use Greek coffee-cups. You buy them by the case at the restaurant/catering supply.

* I do have a ceramic one I thing I got from The Met or MOMA...
posted by mikelieman at 7:03 PM on April 18, 2015

I thought the scary dental equipment as torture devices was a reference to Marathon Man, which the host didn't seem to be aware of.
posted by Harvey Kilobit at 7:21 PM on April 18, 2015 [1 favorite]

That Crazy Doomsday Device
posted by eamondaly at 2:11 AM on April 19, 2015

Also, Dan O'Brien is great and After Hours should be required viewing.
posted by eamondaly at 2:28 AM on April 19, 2015 [1 favorite]

the propie. it is an electric toothbrush with the head replaced by a spork, hot glued to a dime store base, painted gold, and sprinkled with LEDs

You show up with that thing at Logan Airport, it'll probably trigger a Terror Alert, and everyone in Boston will be sheltering in place for a couple of days. So don't.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 5:18 AM on April 19, 2015

This Romulan Disruptor rifle was used over and over and over in TNG episodes. And not just by Romulans. It was the generic rifle for any race, any planet.
posted by Fleebnork at 7:49 AM on April 19, 2015

Have prop. Will travel.
posted by mightshould at 1:15 PM on April 19, 2015

One prop that I've seen in a LOT of movies is the steel pan into which the doctor drops the bullet he pulls out of someone with tongs. Probably not the same pan each time, but who can say?
posted by TreeHugger at 4:33 PM on April 19, 2015

Yeah, the host is playing a character. Basically most of Cracked's videos take place in a fictional universe where people from Cracked's staff play fictional versions of themselves. Since it's just people talking to each other most of the time the research is half-assed and flawed BUT the shows are extremely entertaining and the flawed reasoning and research and such are used for laughs at times. The whole thing reminds me of British tv and the reason why Top Gear was so popular: It put people who have good chemistry together and are funny (good comedic skills) together.
posted by I-baLL at 12:04 PM on April 22, 2015

Oh, and the Millenium Falcon appears in Blade Runner.
posted by I-baLL at 12:10 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]

...and now I know why he says that "bustin' makes you feel good."
posted by I-baLL at 9:41 AM on May 13, 2015