From: Brad Templeton (brad@templetons.com)
Date: Mon Feb 07 2000 - 16:30:00 CST
On Mon, Feb 07, 2000 at 11:17:05PM +0100, Erland Sommarskog wrote:
> <COMPLETE OFF-TOPIC>
>
> Brad Templeton <brad@templetons.com> writes:
> > Somehow I think it's a bit different when Jim Ellis and Steve Bellovin
> > are saying it, and when I'm saying it, since I coined the phrase
> > "imminent death of the net predicted."
>
> OK, here is a question from a completely clueless newbie. When I
> joined the net in 1985 everybody kept talking about "Film at 11"
> in conjunction with this phrase. Now, where does this film come in?
> --
Tee-hee. In the USA, there are national newscasts at around 6pm,
and typically local stations do a local newscast at 11pm. Local newscasts
tend to be more lurid and they love to do "teasers" which, rather than
telling you the news, tell you to watch the newscast at 11.
So these teasers, which run throughout the prime-time viewing period
will just be a voiceover before a commercial break saying
"Local building explodes! Film at 11"
Eventually the phrase "film at 11" became a cliche to say after
anything that sounds like news reporting.
Of course, nowadays the teasers get really ridiculous, as in
"A horrid disease may be eating away at the insides of 80% of
area residents. We'll tell you what at 11."
"One major area town will be destroyed by nuclear bomb at midnight.
Find out if it's your town at 11."
And of course my favourite.
"Celluloid factory burns down. No film at 11."
(Of course they hardly ever use film any more in local news.)