"I'm not a doctor but I play one on TV"

Jonathan Lighter wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM
Tue Nov 16 18:08:38 UTC 2010


I'm still hearing jocular allusions to this TV line from nearly a quarter
century ago. The most recent was this morning. They take the form of "I'm
not an X but I play one on TV." Fred wisely included it among the undated
"Advertising Slogans" in YBQ.

The original aired in 1987:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x36pho_vicks-44_ads

GB offers 200 exact cites, surely making this one of the best-known
quotations in current use.

JL

--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



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