TV Land Survey

[Fred Shapiro]

On Tue, 28 Nov 2006, Geoffrey S. Nathan wrote:

> I'm sure we all can have fun with this (not to mention that they're
> missing 'Beam me up, Scotty')
>
> http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/TV/11/28/tv.catchphrases.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

It was fascinating for me to compare this list with my list of Television
Catchphrases in The Yale Book of Quotations.  No less than 51 of the 100
on the TV Land list are not in my book.

The TV Land list is a little odd, including as it does a small number of
advertising slogans and a handful of real-news quotes like "I am not a
crook."  But I wish I had had this list when doing my book because it
would have strengthened my coverage of TV shows of recent decades and
reminded me of some lines that I am very familiar with, indeed some that I
grew up with and regularly use in my own speech.  If I had had this list
earlier I would have added the following for sure to my book:


Good night, John Boy (The Waltons)

Heh heh (Beavis and Butthead)

Hey hey HEEY! (Fat Albert)

Holy ---, Batman! (Batman)

I know nothing! (Hogan's Heroes)

I want my MTV! (MTV ad)

No soup for you! (Seinfeld)

Now cut that out! (Jack Benny Program)

You eeeediot! (Ren & Stimpy)


Fred Shapiro


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Fred R. Shapiro                             Editor
Associate Librarian for Collections and     YALE BOOK OF QUOTATIONS
   Access and Lecturer in Legal Research     Yale University Press
Yale Law School                             ISBN 0300107986
e-mail: fred.shapiro at yale.edu               http://quotationdictionary.com
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