Post by drystyx on Jun 13, 2018 17:31:50 GMT
The mainstay is the recognizable one, not necessarily the best one. So, a fair warning to elitists and the dorks who think anything over 10 years is old, that they may want to avoid a thread on "mainstays". They hate the idea that their little world isn't the world of mainstays around the world.
If it's a mainstay, you don't get a single blank look when you mention a character from it to four or five people in the "first world".
Take the number one "mainstay" of all time in film, across the globe. If you're speaking to a hundred people, over ninety of them will instantly recognize most of what you say about Toto, the scarecrow, and the cowardly lion. They'll recognize over half of the instances, such as the singing coroner, the flying house, the yellow brick road, and the waking from the dream.
There are few mainstays we won't know much about. I admit I don't know much about SEINFELD, but it's a mainstay, probably because the people making it made darn sure most of the scenes were easy to remember, for better or worse.
I can say with certainty that over 80% of the IMDB top 250 don't even come close to being mainstays, but don't feel bad. I know over 90% of my top 250 aren't mainstays. "Iconic" doesn't always come from "classic" or "great". There's no way I'd call PLANET OF THE APES a great film, but it's a mainstay.
A look at the obvious mainstays:
Film:
THE WIZARD OF OZ
ROOTS
STAR WARS A NEW HOPE
GONE WITH THE WIND
CASABLANCA
PLANET OF THE APES (1968)
DELIVERANCE
SUPERMAN I and II
THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951)
WAR OF THE WORLDS (1953)
SHANE
HIGH NOON
THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY
NORTH BY NORTHWEST
CHARADE
THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW
MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL
BLAZING SADDLES
KING OF KINGS (1961)
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
BEN HUR (lump all versions together)
THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI
ALIEN (entire series)
TV SHOWS:
GILLIGAN'S ISLAND
THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES
I DREAM OF JEANNIE
BEWITCHED
I LOVE LUCY
ALL IN THE FAMILY
SANFORD AND SON
THE JEFFERSONS
THE WALTONS
GUNSMOKE
BONANZA
THE RIFLEMAN
THE UNTOUCHABLES
COLUMBO
HAWAII FIVE O
MURDER SHE WROTE
PERRY MASON
STAR TREK
LOST IN SPACE
LITERATURE:
TREASURE ISLAND
THE ILIAD
THE ODYSSEY
A CHRISTMAS CAROL
CANDIDE
TARZAN
FAUST
The comedy of:
THE MARX BROTHERS
ABBOTT AND COSTELLO
THE THREE STOOGES
BOB AND BING
JERRY LEWIS AND DEAN MARTIN
LAUREL AND HARDY
STEVE MARTIN
CHEVY CHASE
MIKE MYERS
ROBIN WILLIAMS
RICHARD PRYOR
GENE WILDER
MEL BROOKS
Some that I think have made it to identifiable mainstay status, though debatable, of films, TV, and others.
LORD OF THE RINGS
RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY
12 ANGRY MEN
TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE
THE AFRICAN QUEEN
THE CAINE MUTINY
FORT APACHE
THE OX BOW INCIDENT
ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST
PULP FICTION
DIE HARD
BIG JAKE
RIO LOBO-EL DORADO-RIO BRAVO considering as one bunch
THE SEARCHERS
THE THING (all versions as one entity whose very variations make them subjects of discussion and therefore mainstays)
VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA (tv)
GREEN ACRES
WKRP IN CINCINNATI
THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW
THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW
HAPPY DAYS
THE X FILES
THE BRADY BUNCH
THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY
BATMAN (tv series)
People who have witnessed my ratings may note that I include many as mainstays that I don't like, some that I absolutely can't stand..
One thing that has to be taken into account is that it takes at least 20 years to become a mainstay. There are the elitists who make up the first world of the first world of the first world of the first world, total bubble boys and girls, who think their world is the world. And even those of us in what is just the first world feel that way when we're teenagers. It takes a lot to be conscious of the others, even for those of us who moved around a lot when we were young, though we weren't quite as insane about it as those who always lived amongst their close relatives.
Elitists I speak of are on this board, though not all elitists are ignorant of the outside world. The elitists see movies soon upon release. There are the definitive "dorks" who try to be elitists and insist on seeing every new movie on the first day, and know every new fad the first day. The "dork" will say a movie made just 10 years ago is old. Now that's a true dork who believes a movie or TV show is old when it began just 10 years ago.
Today, it's even more true that it takes time to become a mainstay for a very logical reason. Somewhere around 1980-1990 the American first world entertainment system began the drastic change.
Before 1980, nearly every American had antenna TV, not the kind we have today, but the kind that gave the American 3 stations that weren't total fuzz until about 1970, and then four or five TV stations that weren't total fuzz. Less than 10% of Americans had cable. Take it from someone who was alive then.
That changed with cable advancing more and more, then the DVD, then suddenly there were satellites, then the internet, and even those of us who couldn't afford those were seeing someone's pick from thousands of stations at the gym, the sports bar, the doctor's office, etc..
So, it was "diluted" beginning around 1980, and this dilution made it impossible for any TV show to become a mainstay. MASH probably wouldn't have even been one if it was made after 1990. That's not a snide remark against MASH. It's simply the mathematical logic of the fact that if people are choosing from thousands of options a second, it's ridiculous to believe over 90% will take the same option, or even recognize it after only 20 years.
And obviously the same for movies. I conservatively estimate that in this day and age, counting facebook amateurs with cell phones, over 100,000 movies are made a day, including shorts.
I'll further make an estimate I think is fair, that of movies, TV shows, anything on camera, with a budget over $5000 (which is a lot to most people, though I know elitists and their dorks scoff at that amount) there are easily over 1000 made a day, and I'm probably incredibly low on that estimate considering all the rich kids out there.
So now it takes a lifetime for something made after 2000 to become a mainstay. I conservatively estimate 100 years. This hits the elitists hard, so that's why I warn them to avoid the thread. We're not talking about "good shows". We're talking about "mainstay" shows.
So, there's more to the lists, but one gets the general idea. You can safely speak of these in most first world places without people going "Huh, what? Who?"
If it's a mainstay, you don't get a single blank look when you mention a character from it to four or five people in the "first world".
Take the number one "mainstay" of all time in film, across the globe. If you're speaking to a hundred people, over ninety of them will instantly recognize most of what you say about Toto, the scarecrow, and the cowardly lion. They'll recognize over half of the instances, such as the singing coroner, the flying house, the yellow brick road, and the waking from the dream.
There are few mainstays we won't know much about. I admit I don't know much about SEINFELD, but it's a mainstay, probably because the people making it made darn sure most of the scenes were easy to remember, for better or worse.
I can say with certainty that over 80% of the IMDB top 250 don't even come close to being mainstays, but don't feel bad. I know over 90% of my top 250 aren't mainstays. "Iconic" doesn't always come from "classic" or "great". There's no way I'd call PLANET OF THE APES a great film, but it's a mainstay.
A look at the obvious mainstays:
Film:
THE WIZARD OF OZ
ROOTS
STAR WARS A NEW HOPE
GONE WITH THE WIND
CASABLANCA
PLANET OF THE APES (1968)
DELIVERANCE
SUPERMAN I and II
THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951)
WAR OF THE WORLDS (1953)
SHANE
HIGH NOON
THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY
NORTH BY NORTHWEST
CHARADE
THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW
MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL
BLAZING SADDLES
KING OF KINGS (1961)
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
BEN HUR (lump all versions together)
THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI
ALIEN (entire series)
TV SHOWS:
GILLIGAN'S ISLAND
THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES
I DREAM OF JEANNIE
BEWITCHED
I LOVE LUCY
ALL IN THE FAMILY
SANFORD AND SON
THE JEFFERSONS
THE WALTONS
GUNSMOKE
BONANZA
THE RIFLEMAN
THE UNTOUCHABLES
COLUMBO
HAWAII FIVE O
MURDER SHE WROTE
PERRY MASON
STAR TREK
LOST IN SPACE
LITERATURE:
TREASURE ISLAND
THE ILIAD
THE ODYSSEY
A CHRISTMAS CAROL
CANDIDE
TARZAN
FAUST
The comedy of:
THE MARX BROTHERS
ABBOTT AND COSTELLO
THE THREE STOOGES
BOB AND BING
JERRY LEWIS AND DEAN MARTIN
LAUREL AND HARDY
STEVE MARTIN
CHEVY CHASE
MIKE MYERS
ROBIN WILLIAMS
RICHARD PRYOR
GENE WILDER
MEL BROOKS
Some that I think have made it to identifiable mainstay status, though debatable, of films, TV, and others.
LORD OF THE RINGS
RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY
12 ANGRY MEN
TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE
THE AFRICAN QUEEN
THE CAINE MUTINY
FORT APACHE
THE OX BOW INCIDENT
ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST
PULP FICTION
DIE HARD
BIG JAKE
RIO LOBO-EL DORADO-RIO BRAVO considering as one bunch
THE SEARCHERS
THE THING (all versions as one entity whose very variations make them subjects of discussion and therefore mainstays)
VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA (tv)
GREEN ACRES
WKRP IN CINCINNATI
THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW
THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW
HAPPY DAYS
THE X FILES
THE BRADY BUNCH
THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY
BATMAN (tv series)
People who have witnessed my ratings may note that I include many as mainstays that I don't like, some that I absolutely can't stand..
One thing that has to be taken into account is that it takes at least 20 years to become a mainstay. There are the elitists who make up the first world of the first world of the first world of the first world, total bubble boys and girls, who think their world is the world. And even those of us in what is just the first world feel that way when we're teenagers. It takes a lot to be conscious of the others, even for those of us who moved around a lot when we were young, though we weren't quite as insane about it as those who always lived amongst their close relatives.
Elitists I speak of are on this board, though not all elitists are ignorant of the outside world. The elitists see movies soon upon release. There are the definitive "dorks" who try to be elitists and insist on seeing every new movie on the first day, and know every new fad the first day. The "dork" will say a movie made just 10 years ago is old. Now that's a true dork who believes a movie or TV show is old when it began just 10 years ago.
Today, it's even more true that it takes time to become a mainstay for a very logical reason. Somewhere around 1980-1990 the American first world entertainment system began the drastic change.
Before 1980, nearly every American had antenna TV, not the kind we have today, but the kind that gave the American 3 stations that weren't total fuzz until about 1970, and then four or five TV stations that weren't total fuzz. Less than 10% of Americans had cable. Take it from someone who was alive then.
That changed with cable advancing more and more, then the DVD, then suddenly there were satellites, then the internet, and even those of us who couldn't afford those were seeing someone's pick from thousands of stations at the gym, the sports bar, the doctor's office, etc..
So, it was "diluted" beginning around 1980, and this dilution made it impossible for any TV show to become a mainstay. MASH probably wouldn't have even been one if it was made after 1990. That's not a snide remark against MASH. It's simply the mathematical logic of the fact that if people are choosing from thousands of options a second, it's ridiculous to believe over 90% will take the same option, or even recognize it after only 20 years.
And obviously the same for movies. I conservatively estimate that in this day and age, counting facebook amateurs with cell phones, over 100,000 movies are made a day, including shorts.
I'll further make an estimate I think is fair, that of movies, TV shows, anything on camera, with a budget over $5000 (which is a lot to most people, though I know elitists and their dorks scoff at that amount) there are easily over 1000 made a day, and I'm probably incredibly low on that estimate considering all the rich kids out there.
So now it takes a lifetime for something made after 2000 to become a mainstay. I conservatively estimate 100 years. This hits the elitists hard, so that's why I warn them to avoid the thread. We're not talking about "good shows". We're talking about "mainstay" shows.
So, there's more to the lists, but one gets the general idea. You can safely speak of these in most first world places without people going "Huh, what? Who?"