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The Public Domain Channel
- 149 statements
- 28 feature instances
- 18 referencing feature instances
| The Public Domain Channel | type |
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| The Public Domain Channel | label |
The Public Domain Channel | |
| The Public Domain Channel | page |
ThePublicDomainChannel | |
| The Public Domain Channel | comment |
When movies or TV shows need an establishing shot of the characters watching TV, especially when it has no bearing on the plot, the producers will often try to save money by having the characters watch something whose rights they don't have to license. So all too often, what you'll see is people incongruously watching old, old, old programming that hasn't even been shown in syndication since the late 1980s, like silent movies or, more often, ancient Max Fleischer or Paul Terry cartoons for that extra visual kick. For bonus incongruity, sometimes it will be out of character for the character to even be watching the show in question. However, this can be justified if the movie or TV show takes place during a specific time period, and the producers choose a film from that place and time that is now public domain to further emphasize when and where the story is set. In a related move, many TV documentaries and biography shows will use footage from a theatrical trailer rather than the film itself. Even if studios carefully protected the copyrights for their movies, most of the trailers were ignored and fell into public domain. Though they often occur for different reasons, this trope is sometimes related to Pac Man Fever. May sometimes overlap with Unabashed B-Movie Fan, as cheapie genre films from before 1964 are particularly likely to have lapsed into the Public Domain. So have some telefilms, such as The Woman Hunter from 1972. |
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| The Public Domain Channel | fetched |
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| The Public Domain Channel | parsed |
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| The Public Domain Channel | processingComment |
Dropped link to KillBillVol2: Not an Item - UNKNOWN | |
| The Public Domain Channel | processingUnknown |
KillBillVol2 | |
| The Public Domain Channel | isPartOf |
DBTropes | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_1e1f03c7 | type |
The Public Domain Channel | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_1e1f03c7 | comment |
This was a regular occurrence on Pee-wee's Playhouse, with the "King of Cartoons" (although some early season one episodes called him "King Cartoon"), although he was eventually dropped towards the end of the series, with later episodes just playing cartoons. | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_1e1f03c7 | featureApplicability |
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| The Public Domain Channel / int_1e1f03c7 | featureConfidence |
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| Pee-wee's Playhouse | hasFeature |
The Public Domain Channel / int_1e1f03c7 | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_2787e29c | type |
The Public Domain Channel | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_2787e29c | comment |
Two segments in Campfire Tales (1991) feature public domain films playing on television sets. The one about the dangerous weed appropiately has the characters watching Reefer Madness at one point. | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_2787e29c | featureApplicability |
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| The Public Domain Channel / int_2787e29c | featureConfidence |
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| Campfire Tales (1991) | hasFeature |
The Public Domain Channel / int_2787e29c | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_2be70437 | type |
The Public Domain Channel | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_2be70437 | comment |
A kid watches the old cartoon "Balloon Land" in Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders. | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_2be70437 | featureApplicability |
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| The Public Domain Channel / int_2be70437 | featureConfidence |
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| Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders | hasFeature |
The Public Domain Channel / int_2be70437 | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_2dfaf313 | type |
The Public Domain Channel | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_2dfaf313 | comment |
Many characters are seen watching Night of the Living Dead (1968) in Halloween II (1981). | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_2dfaf313 | featureApplicability |
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| The Public Domain Channel / int_2dfaf313 | featureConfidence |
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| Night of the Living Dead (1968) | hasFeature |
The Public Domain Channel / int_2dfaf313 | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_3a11262b | type |
The Public Domain Channel | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_3a11262b | comment |
Bobbi Stakowski is shown watching an old Three Stooges clip in the pilot episode of Profit. The creators admit it wasn't a likely choice for her character but they didn't have a licensing budget. | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_3a11262b | featureApplicability |
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| The Public Domain Channel / int_3a11262b | featureConfidence |
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| Profit | hasFeature |
The Public Domain Channel / int_3a11262b | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_4260bf19 | type |
The Public Domain Channel | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_4260bf19 | comment |
Will Ferrell's character in Wedding Crashers is introduced watching old cartoons in his mother's house. | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_4260bf19 | featureApplicability |
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| The Public Domain Channel / int_4260bf19 | featureConfidence |
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| Wedding Crashers | hasFeature |
The Public Domain Channel / int_4260bf19 | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_5b2f178f | type |
The Public Domain Channel | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_5b2f178f | comment |
In The X-Files Game, you could turn on televisions which showed The Keystone Kops, which is a reference to a much earlier episode, "Syzygy". There, the old movie was actually a metaphor for how off-base the agents were in their investigation. | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_5b2f178f | featureApplicability |
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| The Public Domain Channel / int_5b2f178f | featureConfidence |
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| The X-Files Game (Video Game) | hasFeature |
The Public Domain Channel / int_5b2f178f | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_60508e35 | type |
The Public Domain Channel | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_60508e35 | comment |
Twilight Zone: The Movie features a clip from a Heckle and Jeckle cartoon on TV at one point. This one is a bit more justified, due to the fact that Anthony could just will the TV into automatically playing old school cartoons. | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_60508e35 | featureApplicability |
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| The Public Domain Channel / int_60508e35 | featureConfidence |
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| Twilight Zone: The Movie | hasFeature |
The Public Domain Channel / int_60508e35 | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_691be369 | type |
The Public Domain Channel | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_691be369 | comment |
The X-Files pulled this all the damn time. In the episode "Syzygy" the televisions in Mulder and Scully's hotel rooms play nothing but The Keystone Kops 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, on every single channel. This is implied to have been caused by the supernatural forces of the week, and gives the distinct impression that the TV is deliberately mocking our heroes. | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_691be369 | featureApplicability |
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| The Public Domain Channel / int_691be369 | featureConfidence |
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| The X-Files | hasFeature |
The Public Domain Channel / int_691be369 | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_78d6f120 | type |
The Public Domain Channel | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_78d6f120 | comment |
Destroy All Humans! features a snippet of Plan 9 from Outer Space and the entirety of Teenagers from Outer Space as an unlockable extra (which was inexplicably removed in the remake). Justified example, since the game takes place in 1959, the year that both of these movies were originally released. | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_78d6f120 | featureApplicability |
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| The Public Domain Channel / int_78d6f120 | featureConfidence |
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| Destroy All Humans! (Video Game) | hasFeature |
The Public Domain Channel / int_78d6f120 | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_7e1c6569 | type |
The Public Domain Channel | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_7e1c6569 | comment |
In Scream 2, Cici Cooper (Sarah Michelle Gellar) watches the original silent Nosferatu. | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_7e1c6569 | featureApplicability |
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| The Public Domain Channel / int_7e1c6569 | featureConfidence |
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| Scream 2 | hasFeature |
The Public Domain Channel / int_7e1c6569 | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_83d357a1 | type |
The Public Domain Channel | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_83d357a1 | comment |
Appears near the end of ThanksKilling, where the protagonists are watching Night of the Living Dead. | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_83d357a1 | featureApplicability |
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| The Public Domain Channel / int_83d357a1 | featureConfidence |
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| ThanksKilling | hasFeature |
The Public Domain Channel / int_83d357a1 | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_84edf220 | type |
The Public Domain Channel | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_84edf220 | comment |
Though in one episode they used a clip from The Tracey Ullman Show era The Simpsons shorts, and in another they used the Title Sequence of the show itself. | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_84edf220 | featureApplicability |
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| The Public Domain Channel / int_84edf220 | featureConfidence |
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| The Tracey Ullman Show | hasFeature |
The Public Domain Channel / int_84edf220 | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_8d817ccb | type |
The Public Domain Channel | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_8d817ccb | comment |
Lost: When they hold Jack prisoner, The Others let him watch an old Heckle and Jeckle cartoon on a TV set they provide. In the fifth season premiere Aaron is shown watching an episode of the public domain Superman shorts. |
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| The Public Domain Channel / int_8d817ccb | featureApplicability |
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| The Public Domain Channel / int_8d817ccb | featureConfidence |
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| Lost | hasFeature |
The Public Domain Channel / int_8d817ccb | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_929f2c66 | type |
The Public Domain Channel | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_929f2c66 | comment |
In the movie Killing Zoe, during the early sex scene between protagonists Zed and Zoe, the hotel television plays the silent classic Nosferatu. | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_929f2c66 | featureApplicability |
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| The Public Domain Channel / int_929f2c66 | featureConfidence |
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| Killing Zoe | hasFeature |
The Public Domain Channel / int_929f2c66 | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_945c894f | type |
The Public Domain Channel | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_945c894f | comment |
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai has old cartoons playing somewhere in almost every scene featuring the Vargo family, symbolic of their bumbling and (relative) toothlessness. After Louise takes over and has Ghost Dog killed, her last act in the film is to turn them off. | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_945c894f | featureApplicability |
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| The Public Domain Channel / int_945c894f | featureConfidence |
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| Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai | hasFeature |
The Public Domain Channel / int_945c894f | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_97abe183 | type |
The Public Domain Channel | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_97abe183 | comment |
In the The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius episode "The Incredible Shrinking Town", everyone tries to adjust to their new heights in various ways. One scene has Jimmy's parents watching a "drive-in movie" in a toy car, the movie being Gulliver's Travels. | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_97abe183 | featureApplicability |
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| The Public Domain Channel / int_97abe183 | featureConfidence |
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| The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius | hasFeature |
The Public Domain Channel / int_97abe183 | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_9f787183 | type |
The Public Domain Channel | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_9f787183 | comment |
In the fifth season premiere Aaron is shown watching an episode of the public domain Superman shorts. | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_9f787183 | featureApplicability |
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| The Public Domain Channel / int_9f787183 | featureConfidence |
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| Superman Theatrical Cartoons | hasFeature |
The Public Domain Channel / int_9f787183 | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_a183d57f | type |
The Public Domain Channel | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_a183d57f | comment |
The opening title sequence of Futurama always included a different clip of an old cartoon. Though in one episode they used a clip from The Tracey Ullman Show era The Simpsons shorts, and in another they used the Title Sequence of the show itself. |
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| The Public Domain Channel / int_a183d57f | featureApplicability |
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| The Public Domain Channel / int_a183d57f | featureConfidence |
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| Futurama | hasFeature |
The Public Domain Channel / int_a183d57f | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_bac37992 | type |
The Public Domain Channel | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_bac37992 | comment |
Skinamarink has a TV that plays exclusively public domain cartoons. | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_bac37992 | featureApplicability |
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| The Public Domain Channel / int_bac37992 | featureConfidence |
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| Skinamarink | hasFeature |
The Public Domain Channel / int_bac37992 | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_bfba9e44 | type |
The Public Domain Channel | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_bfba9e44 | comment |
Bubba Ho Tep has an interesting example. At one point, a TV is showing an ad for a marathon of Elvis movies. But the movie was too low-budget to afford Elvis movies, and so it's a bunch of clips featuring Elvis-lookalikes. | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_bfba9e44 | featureApplicability |
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| The Public Domain Channel / int_bfba9e44 | featureConfidence |
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| Bubba Ho-Tep | hasFeature |
The Public Domain Channel / int_bfba9e44 | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_c43df4d8 | type |
The Public Domain Channel | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_c43df4d8 | comment |
Doctor Who: The TV movie shows the morgue guard watching Frankenstein, which seems to match the trope, but the movie was used for a reason (to compare to the Doctor coming back to life) and the movie is not public domain — the rights are owned by Universal, who produced the TV movie. In "Midnight", the entertainment screens on the shuttle bus only show old black-and-white movies and music videos from The '70s. Unlike most examples of the trope, the characters are aware that they're old movies, and aren't especially entertained. In the opening of "The Impossible Astronaut", Rory is watching a Laurel and Hardy movie, The Flying Deuces, which is out of copyright. Presumably this has something to do with the fact that the Doctor shows up in it briefly to wave at him — getting permission to alter something under copyright is going to be a lot more difficult than merely getting permission to show a clip from it. The other reason is probably because of the fezzes. |
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| The Public Domain Channel / int_c43df4d8 | featureApplicability |
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| The Public Domain Channel / int_c43df4d8 | featureConfidence |
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| Doctor Who | hasFeature |
The Public Domain Channel / int_c43df4d8 | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_c741ef71 | type |
The Public Domain Channel | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_c741ef71 | comment |
In The Garbage Pail Kids Movie, the title characters sneak into a movie theater showing the Three Stooges short Malice in the Palace. The movie was made (and set) in 1987; the short's copyright was not renewed. | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_c741ef71 | featureApplicability |
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| The Public Domain Channel / int_c741ef71 | featureConfidence |
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| The Garbage Pail Kids Movie | hasFeature |
The Public Domain Channel / int_c741ef71 | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_e10d8dba | type |
The Public Domain Channel | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_e10d8dba | comment |
Laurie Strode watches more PDTV in Rob Zombie's Halloween II. | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_e10d8dba | featureApplicability |
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| The Public Domain Channel / int_e10d8dba | featureConfidence |
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| Halloween II (2009) | hasFeature |
The Public Domain Channel / int_e10d8dba | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_e293455a | type |
The Public Domain Channel | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_e293455a | comment |
In Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Faith was often watching old movies in her motel room. | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_e293455a | featureApplicability |
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| The Public Domain Channel / int_e293455a | featureConfidence |
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| Buffy the Vampire Slayer | hasFeature |
The Public Domain Channel / int_e293455a | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_e689486b | type |
The Public Domain Channel | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_e689486b | comment |
In The Darkness, there are several televisions around the area. On one of the channels, an old Max Fleischer cartoon is playing. Near the start of the game, you can watch the entirety of To Kill a Mockingbird in the love interest's apartment. You can watch The Streetfighter in its entirety as well. | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_e689486b | featureApplicability |
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| The Public Domain Channel / int_e689486b | featureConfidence |
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| The Darkness (Video Game) | hasFeature |
The Public Domain Channel / int_e689486b | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_ea9e59b | type |
The Public Domain Channel | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_ea9e59b | comment |
On Starstuff, Chris is a huge fan of Laurel and Hardy, and he shows Ingrid one of their shorts from his video collection Once an Episode. | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_ea9e59b | featureApplicability |
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| The Public Domain Channel / int_ea9e59b | featureConfidence |
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| Starstuff | hasFeature |
The Public Domain Channel / int_ea9e59b | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_f6eed39 | type |
The Public Domain Channel | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_f6eed39 | comment |
The Sopranos: Christopher Moltisanti watches an episode of The Little Rascals while getting high. | |
| The Public Domain Channel / int_f6eed39 | featureApplicability |
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| The Public Domain Channel / int_f6eed39 | featureConfidence |
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| The Sopranos | hasFeature |
The Public Domain Channel / int_f6eed39 |
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