Wikipedia:Reference desk/Entertainment
of the Wikipedia reference desk.
Main page: Help searching Wikipedia
How can I get my question answered?
- Select the section of the desk that best fits the general topic of your question (see the navigation column to the right).
- Post your question to only one section, providing a short header that gives the topic of your question.
- Type '~~~~' (that is, four tilde characters) at the end – this signs and dates your contribution so we know who wrote what and when.
- Don't post personal contact information – it will be removed. Any answers will be provided here.
- Please be as specific as possible, and include all relevant context – the usefulness of answers may depend on the context.
- Note:
- We don't answer (and may remove) questions that require medical diagnosis or legal advice.
- We don't answer requests for opinions, predictions or debate.
- We don't do your homework for you, though we'll help you past the stuck point.
- We don't conduct original research or provide a free source of ideas, but we'll help you find information you need.
How do I answer a question?
Main page: Wikipedia:Reference desk/Guidelines
- The best answers address the question directly, and back up facts with wikilinks and links to sources. Do not edit others' comments and do not give any medical or legal advice.
August 17
editWhen was the song "Sigma Boy" recorded?
editI was trying to search for the exact date of when the song was recorded (not the release date), but I couldn't find anything. Generally speaking, since the song was released on October 4th, 2024 - what would be typically the date of its recording in the music industry? Are we speaking in terms of weeks, months? If anyone knows the specific date, that would be much appreciated it! Corseta Bazaar (talk) 18:10, 17 August 2025 (UTC)
- I can't find anything either, but it was probably recorded in a home studio and, having only two voice tracks plus what I think is digitally generated music, probably needed minimal editing, not exactly a "typical" situation for top-charting songs. The song was originally released digitally in solely audio form on the Rhymes Music site, so the delay between recording and release could have been as little as one day. ‑‑Lambiam 11:06, 18 August 2025 (UTC)
Can someone help me research Hexpressions a bit more?
editI'm working on merging Hexpressions into List of systemless fantasy role-playing game supplements per the official AfD ruling, but the original article doesn't provide a lot of useful info about a couple of things.
Therefore, I have two questions:
- In the original Hexpressions article, there is a confusing statement: "...[E]ach hex [has] a dimension of 5/8 inches across [in order to] make them fit between 15mm and 16mm." What exactly is meant by "fit between 15mm and 16mm", and why does it matter for people using Hexpressions?
- The article states that "Hexpressions is a large rubber stamp with a pattern of seven hexes". How would a Hexpressions user benefit from possessing such a stamp?
The entire article is quite vague and I'm not sure how exactly I'm supposed to reword it with so little information. GrinningIodize (talk) 23:18, 17 August 2025 (UTC)
- I'm not sure the topic is of sufficient importance to enjoy any encyclopedic attention. Originally, the defunct article Hexpressions had this: "the hexes are 5/8" across, which makes them between 15 and 16mm". Indeed, 5/8″ = 15.875 mm, which is between 15 mm and 16 mm. The word "fit" was added later by an editor who apparently did not understand this. FYI, here is the full text of the review on which this all is based:
- HEXPRESSIONS (Days of Yore, P.O. Box 814, Doylestown, PA 18901); $9.95. First offered 1981.
This is a large rubber stamp that prints a seven-hex pattern. The hexes are 5/8” across, which makes them between 15 and 16mm. They are intended to be used wherever an “instant” hex pattern is needed.
According to the manufacturers, it’s useful for dungeon mapping. I had a great deal of trouble lining up each impression with the last ones; the stamp can produce big, but sloppy-looking maps. If the rubber hex pattern had been mounted on a clear lucite backing, as many stamps are nowadays, it would have worked much better. And $9.95 will buy a lot of hex paper.
On the other hand, this would be VERY useful for play-by-mail gamers, for “monstergaming” referees needing to explain a move or give a limited amount of data. And the potential for stamping out mapsheets on which some hexes are differcnt colors will certainly interest gamers.
An interesting gimmick! The stamp itself is well made and looks as though it will last a long time. Ill leave it to you whether you need it.
— Steve Jackson
- HEXPRESSIONS (Days of Yore, P.O. Box 814, Doylestown, PA 18901); $9.95. First offered 1981.
- ‑‑Lambiam 10:46, 18 August 2025 (UTC)
- Thanks so much for the help @Lambiam! I appreciate the research that you did, and I'm impressed that you were able to find the original review! GrinningIodize (talk) 17:09, 18 August 2025 (UTC)
August 18
editTV drama that exists in its own universe?
editHas there ever been a TV drama that explicitly exists in its own universe - e.g. a character refers to it or is seen watching it? AndyJones (talk) 12:16, 18 August 2025 (UTC)
- St. Elsewhere showed it was in a unique universe all it's own (in a snowglobe). A more explicit example would be the Gary Shandling show. 68.187.174.155 (talk) 13:49, 18 August 2025 (UTC)
- There was that recent episode of Doctor Who, "Lux", if you count that. It was technically a "false reality" within the show, but the main protagonist comes across fans watching Doctor Who (they also have merch, apparel, and literature based around the programme). Clip on YouTube. TheDoctorWho (talk) 03:12, 19 August 2025 (UTC)
- Are you referring to a show within a show? There are a bunch of examples there, though they're mostly comic. Matt Deres (talk) 14:01, 19 August 2025 (UTC)
- In lit history, samples may include Hamlet (The Mousetrap, play-in-play). The Bard is using such self recursive constructs a few times. There are bits in Quixote II where protagonists reference their role as personae dramatis in an "external" oevre of fiction. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 06:34, 20 August 2025 (UTC)
- Not exactly, but the Stargate SG-1 episode "Wormhole X-Treme!" features a TV series that is based on/a parody of SG-1. Clarityfiend (talk) 10:09, 20 August 2025 (UTC)
Thanks, all. Yes, with hindsight my question wasn't very clear, and several people have answered a different one from that which I thought I was asking. The Doctor Who example is the kind of thing I was thinking of. Hamlet (if it were a TV drama) would only have qualified if, instead of arranging an enactment of The Mousetrap, Hamlet had arranged a performance of Hamlet in order to trap his uncle. I was wondering if this was a widely-used trope: although it seems not. AndyJones (talk) 12:30, 20 August 2025 (UTC)
- If Hamlet literally did that, would it create an infinite recursion? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 17:15, 20 August 2025 (UTC)
- In the pop psychology notion that your entire flashes before your eyes just before you die, that flashback should end with a flashback that ends with a ...
- But if the enactment of Hamlet within Hamlet does not show the entire play, but only scenes that do not contain the enactment, it avoids the Droste effect of this strange loop. ‑‑Lambiam 21:49, 22 August 2025 (UTC)
- I admit I misunderstood the request. That would be tough to put into a drama; it's an extreme kind of meta-reference, drawing attention to the fictitious nature of what's being presented. It would mostly be a comedic element and better suited there. Like, if the detectives on Law & Order sometimes sat down to watch Law & Order it would kind of cease being pure drama at that point. Now, fourth wall breaks are another kind of meta-reference and they are sometimes used in dramas (for example, Alfie's constant speaking to the audience), but there it's used to reveal the character's inner thoughts, like a soliloquy. Matt Deres (talk) 19:45, 20 August 2025 (UTC)
- I vaguely rember (I'd have to watch the entire series to pinpoint the exact place) that on the 1970s Polish show Being Forty there is a scene in one of the episodes, in which two women notice the main protagonist in the street and come to realise that they have seen him on TV - explicitly mentioning the title of the actual series. --Ouro (blah blah) 19:58, 20 August 2025 (UTC)
- One more thing. How would the movie 24 Hour Party People fit into all this and how Steve Coogan can be Tony Wilson in one second and speaking as a narrator to the audience in another? I don't have the film handy so I'm just using my memory. One point actually has Howard Devoto, playing a cleaner, commenting to the cammera on a situation that involves an actor playing him. --Ouro (blah blah) 20:03, 20 August 2025 (UTC)
- Three more words and I'm done: The Truman Show. --Ouro (blah blah) 20:05, 20 August 2025 (UTC)
- It's up to the OP to decide if that qualifies. It is certainly different from most other examples, but it's still a kind of "show within a show", albeit one where both shows share the same name. Matt Deres (talk) 18:37, 21 August 2025 (UTC)
- One of the Roger Moore films in the James Bond series had him in India, near the Taj Mahal maybe, and a local was playing the James Bond theme on a flute. Moore said, "Catchy tune!" ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 04:07, 21 August 2025 (UTC)
- Fourth wall breaking has always been common and can refer to the television series itself. For example, on Mork and Mindy, they sneak into a Robin Williams show and it turns out that Robin Williams is a fan of the Mork and Mindy show. Very absurd and makes no sense. It was all played for laughs as Robin Williams joked with himself for half the episode. There is no way that would be a plot to carry on for multiple episodes.
- Separately, there are plots where the movie itself is a plot within a plot. For example, Monty Python's The Holy Grail is a movie with a specific plot. Within the movie, there is a police investigation into a murder which results in the police arresting all the characters, ending the movie. 4.17.97.234 (talk) 11:43, 21 August 2025 (UTC)
- I find it enjoyable when characters on a TV show or in a movie say something along the lines of this is not something you see on tee-vee, this is real life. --Ouro (blah blah) 12:21, 21 August 2025 (UTC)
- "Magic for Beginners", by Kelly Link. Kind of. DS (talk) 17:51, 21 August 2025 (UTC)
- I'm reading a book whose co-protagonist is a novelist, and at a certain point he reflects on how you can silently get away with things in RL that require a novel to spell out, and vice-versa. -- Jack of Oz [pleasantries] 21:42, 21 August 2025 (UTC)
- I find it enjoyable when characters on a TV show or in a movie say something along the lines of this is not something you see on tee-vee, this is real life. --Ouro (blah blah) 12:21, 21 August 2025 (UTC)
- In the movie E.T., one of Elliott's friends makes some man-from-Mars comment and Elliott's older brother rebukes the guy: "This is reality!" Not! About the Robin Williams and Mork dual role, it's not a new idea. In one of the Jolson Story movies the actor (as the actor) meets himself (as Jolson). ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 01:03, 22 August 2025 (UTC)
Name of this animated short series featuring a dog
editDoes anybody know the name of the show that features a dog and his companion and they speak gibberish?. I saw two shorts. One short was about a ping-pong competition with a panda and another one with Russian-speaking bears, even though it is gibberish, and mentioning sputnik. I saw it on YTV, here in Canada. --Donmust90-- Donmust90 (talk) 16:04, 18 August 2025 (UTC)
- Martini & Meatballs? 68.187.174.155 (talk) 18:50, 18 August 2025 (UTC)
- Yes....that is the one. Thank you. Donmust90 (talk) 20:39, 18 August 2025 (UTC)
August 21
editBrendan Fraser - no filmography
editI just wanted to share that there's no filmography section on his article. Thanks. 2405:4803:C866:82F0:61ED:2CFF:4AEE:660D (talk) 09:49, 21 August 2025 (UTC)
- It is a link on the page to List of Brendan Fraser performances 4.17.97.234 (talk) 11:45, 21 August 2025 (UTC)
- It might not occur to a reader to look for a link to such a list in the infobox or in a section entitled "Awards and nominations". Usually, it is a section on its own. As a stopgap, I've added "See also: List of Brendan Fraser performances" at the top of the section Brendan Fraser § Career. ‑‑Lambiam 12:52, 21 August 2025 (UTC)
- Easy enough to fix by splitting into two sections. Clarityfiend (talk) 05:19, 22 August 2025 (UTC)
- I see many articles have a highlights section with a link to a full list article. I personally don't like it. Why not list the full one in the article? But, it makes it easier to locate. 68.187.174.155 (talk) 08:58, 22 August 2025 (UTC)
- That is not a question for the ref desk. Bring it up on the article talk page. Shantavira|feed me 06:31, 23 August 2025 (UTC)
- It might not occur to a reader to look for a link to such a list in the infobox or in a section entitled "Awards and nominations". Usually, it is a section on its own. As a stopgap, I've added "See also: List of Brendan Fraser performances" at the top of the section Brendan Fraser § Career. ‑‑Lambiam 12:52, 21 August 2025 (UTC)
August 28
edit"I Love Lucy" episode
editWhich episode of "I Love Lucy" contains the lines: "Mr. Ricardo, will you honor us with a song?" "Me, sing a song?"?
I googled the query: "will you honor us with a song" "me sing a song" "i love lucy", and got no results. I tried changing "will you honor us with a song" to just "honor us with a song", and tried googling with the British spelling of "honour". I tried just "me sing a song" "i love lucy", but got no relevant results.
I even went to https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/episode_scripts.php?tv-show=i-love-lucy-1951 and went through each episode in chronological order, searching for the word "honor" on each page, but couldn't find the episode. I'm stumped. Which episode is it, why can't I find it by searching, and where can I read the transcript? 2601:644:4301:D1B0:551D:6ABE:DA9E:30D2 (talk) 04:54, 28 August 2025 (UTC)
- What makes you so sure there even is an episode of this show containing those lines? --Viennese Waltz 08:13, 28 August 2025 (UTC)
- Since Ricky was singing all the time to audiences in these episodes, such as his signature song "Babalú" but also other songs, either alone or performed in duets with Lucy, the response would have been somewhat peculiar. ‑‑Lambiam 13:11, 28 August 2025 (UTC)
Who was the first actress?
editHello! Who was the first professional actress to perform onstage in Germany? I assume it was around the mid 17th century, when women started to perform on the stage in neighboring Netherlands? There appear to have been actresses working in Germany (then called The Holy Roman Empire) around the 1690s, but I do not know who was the first. Can anyone help? Thank you.--Aciram (talk) 14:21, 28 August 2025 (UTC)