What's the (plot) point?
ungvichian
enough to be a plot point (in other words, something that matters to
the plot). However, there have been cases where they mention or show
something, and it never gets a chance to be a plot point, leaving the
question... "What was the point?". Here are some (they're all from
cartoons, thus the crosspost, and granted, you'll disagree with some
of them):
* Lloyd in Space: the title character and his friends want to get a
good look inside a girls' sleepover party. One character has made
(what is essentially) a flying mini camera, and tests it. It gets
swatted in the test, and the character tells Lloyd that it has to be
planted at the sleepover party instead (and Lloyd doing this is the
main bulk plot in this ep). In other words, he might as well have just
given Lloyd a mini camera.
* The Simpsons: Infamous perhaps for dropping potential plot points
like flies, but this example stands out: Lisa and Bart are looking
through old law books to save the bankrupted studio that produces
Itchy and Scratchy (their fave toon). Lisa spots something in one of
the books... but the (unrevealed) discovery proves to be ultimately
pointless as the studio head is not interested in their plan...
becaused the studio has already been saved, by suing the USPS (at the
suggestion of two kids who look like the way Bart and Lisa were drawn
on The Tracey Ullman Show).
* Road Rovers: A character (the only female of significance on the
show) uses a contraption of mirrors to deflect a bunch of laser beams
to allow some dogs to escape from a cell that had said laser beams as
bars. It ends up not mattering once another dog runs ahead of her.
* Hey Arnold!: In one ep, it is established that one character
requires glasses for her eyesight problems. However, it is only in
that one ep that we see her in specs. It is sort of explained away in
another ep when the character says that she's searching for a lost
contact lens (in a dumpster... seriously).
If you want to add some more, just reply to the thread. Thank you.
RA
> * The Simpsons: Infamous perhaps for dropping potential plot points
> like flies, but this example stands out: Lisa and Bart are looking
> through old law books to save the bankrupted studio that produces
> Itchy and Scratchy (their fave toon). Lisa spots something in one of
> the books... but the (unrevealed) discovery proves to be ultimately
> pointless as the studio head is not interested in their plan...
> becaused the studio has already been saved, by suing the USPS (at the
> suggestion of two kids who look like the way Bart and Lisa were drawn
> on The Tracey Ullman Show).
Like the 'spirit guide' at the Indian Casino told Bart:
Segue to the flames in the manager's office, where the manager says
the vision gets hazy after that. Bart wonders why his vision
includes the story of Homer searching for Lincoln's gold, and the
manager figures the spirits thought the main story line was a little thin.
best regards,
RA
Michael Black
> One rule of TV writing is that anything shown/mentioned is worthy
> enough to be a plot point (in other words, something that matters to
> the plot). However, there have been cases where they mention or show
> something, and it never gets a chance to be a plot point, leaving the
> question... "What was the point?". Here are some (they're all from
> cartoons, thus the crosspost, and granted, you'll disagree with some
> of them):
> through old law books to save the bankrupted studio that produces
> Itchy and Scratchy (their fave toon). Lisa spots something in one of
> the books... but the (unrevealed) discovery proves to be ultimately
> pointless as the studio head is not interested in their plan...
> becaused the studio has already been saved, by suing the USPS (at the
> suggestion of two kids who look like the way Bart and Lisa were drawn
> on The Tracey Ullman Show).
But it doesn't matter what they found. The whole point was that they
were going to save the studio, the way they so often do, but a couple of
other kids who looked a lot like them came up with another solution.
If Bart and Lisa had not gone to the trouble of figuring out a solution,
they would not have rushed over to the studio, and see the other two in
such vivid form. The other two's impact would not have been the same
if Bart and Lisa had merely read it in the paper, or saw it on TV.
If Bart and Lisa's solution had been used, we'd never see Lester and
Eliza. The latter were far more interesting than any solution Bar
and Lisa could have come up with.
If you're looking for lost opportunities, then the show should bring
back Lester and Eliza. What's their world about? Is it a mirror image
of Bart and Lisa's, or is it an anti-world?
Michael
jere7my tho?rpe
ungvi...@thaimail.com (ungvichian) wrote:
> * The Simpsons: Infamous perhaps for dropping potential plot points
> like flies, but this example stands out: Lisa and Bart are looking
> through old law books to save the bankrupted studio that produces
> Itchy and Scratchy (their fave toon). Lisa spots something in one of
> the books... but the (unrevealed) discovery proves to be ultimately
> pointless as the studio head is not interested in their plan...
> becaused the studio has already been saved, by suing the USPS (at the
> suggestion of two kids who look like the way Bart and Lisa were drawn
> on The Tracey Ullman Show).
The dropped plot point _was_ the point; that episode was a fine
example of self-parody (and, by extension, a parody of "kids save the
day" series like the Bobbsey Twins). It was a meta-episode about
cartoons which followed a classic cartoon storyline -- and then called
attention to the cliche by sidetracking it and having Lester and Eliza
(themselves based on early designs for Bart and Lisa), characters we've
never seen before, save the day.
----j7y
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