On number 86:

[theladyrose]

Apparently in the TV series Get Smart, the principal character Maxwell Smart was known as Agent 86. According to Wikipedia, the number 86 for Smart was presumably chosen because it was bartenders' slang for not serving an inebriated customer, having been derived from clerks' slang for "We're all out of the item ordered." One explanation of the origin of that usage is that 86 was rhyming slang for "nix." Just brilliant, isn't it?

Comments

Re: Heeeeeee!

[theladyrose.livejournal.com]

I vaguely remember hearing something about Get Smart being available on VHS, but last time I heard fans are still petitioning to release the show on DVD.

Heh, you know, I never realized that there were actually sitcoms that showed both parents working. I don't tend to watch current TV shows very much, so the closest I could think of is Alias. Still, that's a *slightly* sketchy situation.

Hee, thanks!

Re: Heeeeeee!

[a-mire.livejournal.com]

Hee, yes, Alias is a special case. (*whispers* I am always a year behind on those, though, so don't say anything!)

The thing is, I haven't watched an actual broadcast of anything of note since December of 2003-- election night, a couple of baseball games, the Simpsons once or twice-- so they could have made up 5 shows and I would have had no idea, lol.

I think it may have been Malcom in the Middle and one other one, and even that's a stretch because MITM is filmed like a drama.