White Collar "Dentist of Detroit" OAD 6/28/11

tiassa said:

Lots of information on Mozzie's backstory, and a fun riff on "The Sting" with a nice "Twist on the Twist" ending.

HOWEVER . . .
If you are going to show Horse racing footage that is supposed to be from the US, can you at least use footage from a US racetrack? Not only does Finger Lakes (a real track in upstate NY) not have a grass course, but the horses finish left to right as opposed to the right to left that is common at most European tracks.

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Well I think 99% of the viewers probably don't know this. I certainly didn't.

I thought this was a fun episode and we finally learn why Mozzie is well, Mozzie. Loved that we find out where the name Mozzie comes from

Steveknj said:

Well I think 99% of the viewers probably don't know this. I certainly didn't.

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I'm curious, did you look at that footage and say "OK that is a horse race" or did you think "there is something strange looking about that horse race?". All North American race tracks run counter-clockwise (except for one race per year at Calder) and so from the stands the horses run left to right. European tracks are more variable in that respect, but the majority of them run clockwise and the horses finish from right to left. That was something so easy to get right, and yet they got it so wrong. I'm willing to believe that if they had asked the "real" Finger Lakes would have given them some footage to use for the promotional benefit.

tiassa said:

I'm curious, did you look at that footage and say "OK that is a horse race" or did you think "there is something strange looking about that horse race?".

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"That is a horse race." I didn't even pay close enough attention to realize that they provided a specific track name. Even now that you told us the difference, I doubt I would really process the difference in the context of a TV show.

Never gave it a second glance. It's a horse race; that's all I needed to know. But little about this show can stand up to a second glance.

Good episode, although buying that Mozzie was the DoD was a bit of a stretch.

I love Mozzie. He's my favorite character on this show but this episode was ridiculous.

They could only afford one or two minutes of Ernie Hudson?

tiassa said:

I'm curious, did you look at that footage and say "OK that is a horse race" or did you think "there is something strange looking about that horse race?". All North American race tracks run counter-clockwise (except for one race per year at Calder) and so from the stands the horses run left to right. European tracks are more variable in that respect, but the majority of them run clockwise and the horses finish from right to left. That was something so easy to get right, and yet they got it so wrong. I'm willing to believe that if they had asked the "real" Finger Lakes would have given them some footage to use for the promotional benefit.

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I think it is natural to pick out mistakes, especially if it is a subject you are familiar with.

I had one friend that hated seeing military movies with me and another friend because we'd pick out all the mistakes. (ie. he called him by the wrong rank, that's not the right unit patch, that is not a military haircut, etc,)

However, I didn't catch the race track mistake. I guess most American races are "drive/ride fast, turn left".

tiassa said:

I'm curious, did you look at that footage and say "OK that is a horse race" or did you think "there is something strange looking about that horse race?". All North American race tracks run counter-clockwise (except for one race per year at Calder) and so from the stands the horses run left to right. European tracks are more variable in that respect, but the majority of them run clockwise and the horses finish from right to left. That was something so easy to get right, and yet they got it so wrong. I'm willing to believe that if they had asked the "real" Finger Lakes would have given them some footage to use for the promotional benefit.

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I looked at it like it was any horse race. I watch maybe 3 races a year (the Triple Crown) and maybe go to the track every 10 years or so. So to me, and I'm sure most people who don't follow horse racing, there was nothing strange about what they saw. Think of it this way. Say you don't follow baseball, and they show a game on TV and the uniforms are not authentic to the teams they are supposed to be. Think a non-baseball fan notices this? As a baseball fan, I'd notice, and I'd notice that the shot isn't even the two teams in question. Same deal here, you would have to follow horse racing to notice this.

cheesesteak said:

I love Mozzie. He's my favorite character on this show but this episode was ridiculous.

They could only afford one or two minutes of Ernie Hudson?

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Did we NEED more than two minutes of Ernie Hudson? Where there ghosts that needed capturing or something?

Steveknj said:

I looked at it like it was any horse race. I watch maybe 3 races a year (the Triple Crown) and maybe go to the track every 10 years or so. So to me, and I'm sure most people who don't follow horse racing, there was nothing strange about what they saw. Think of it this way. Say you don't follow baseball, and they show a game on TV and the uniforms are not authentic to the teams they are supposed to be. Think a non-baseball fan notices this? As a baseball fan, I'd notice, and I'd notice that the shot isn't even the two teams in question. Same deal here, you would have to follow horse racing to notice this.

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OK, I guess, but this is less like "uniforms not being authentic" and more like "Batter hits ball and runs to THIRD base". The grass vs dirt thing I can see people not getting.

tiassa said:

OK, I guess, but this is less like "uniforms not being authentic" and more like "Batter hits ball and runs to THIRD base". The grass vs dirt thing I can see people not getting.

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True, but i guess if you don't follow baseball, you might not even notice that. (although maybe baseball is a bad analogy as most American youth have at least played it at some point in their lives and understand the rules....bet you asked 10 people on the street which direction horses run in a horse race, and probably half wouldn't know, and even if they did, they'd have to think about it )

Steveknj said:

Did we NEED more than two minutes of Ernie Hudson? Where there ghosts that needed capturing or something?

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I would have cast some generic actor if he was only going to get two minutes of screen time. Ernie's probably not the most expensive actor in Hollywood but he's got to cost more than some dude from central casting.

tiassa said:

I'm curious, did you look at that footage and say "OK that is a horse race" or did you think "there is something strange looking about that horse race?". All North American race tracks run counter-clockwise (except for one race per year at Calder) and so from the stands the horses run left to right. European tracks are more variable in that respect, but the majority of them run clockwise and the horses finish from right to left. That was something so easy to get right, and yet they got it so wrong. I'm willing to believe that if they had asked the "real" Finger Lakes would have given them some footage to use for the promotional benefit.

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I'm sure they used whatever stock footage they already had in the "system". Probably not worth the time it would take to even make the phone call.

I'm with the posters who were happy to have background footage of a horse race and who don't care about authenticity.

I might agree with the posters if this was a movie. Cable original shows have lower budgets. My guess is they were able to edit in stock footage in less time then a phone call to the right person at Finger Lakes would take.

Steveknj said:

Did we NEED more than two minutes of Ernie Hudson? Where there ghosts that needed capturing or something?

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That's why he was going to the Statue of Liberty

Steveknj said:

bet you asked 10 people on the street which direction horses run in a horse race

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Forwards!

tiassa said:

Lots of information on Mozzie's backstory (...)

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If you ask me, way too much information on his backstory. Don't get me wrong, I found it interesting and all, but I can't see Mozzie really sharing all that about himself with the "suits". It would be one thing if all that came out in conversations with Neil, but his openness with the cops really seemed out of character...

...as was the way that Neil quickly told Peter that Mozzie was the dentist. Even if Neil was a little in shock because of the dentist's reputation, he is enough of a con man to be able to keep that to himself. It just was very much out of character for him to give up Mozzie like that, especially since as far as Neil knew, there were outstanding crimes for which Mozzie could still be prosecuted.

Amnesia said:

If you ask me, way too much information on his backstory. Don't get me wrong, I found it interesting and all, but I can't see Mozzie really sharing all that about himself with the "suits". It would be one thing if all that came out in conversations with Neil, but his openness with the cops really seemed out of character...

...as was the way that Neil quickly told Peter that Mozzie was the dentist. Even if Neil was a little in shock because of the dentist's reputation, he is enough of a con man to be able to keep that to himself. It just was very much out of character for him to give up Mozzie like that, especially since as far as Neil knew, there were outstanding crimes for which Mozzie could still be prosecuted.

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And that would mess up their plan to fence the Nazi art.

OMG this is getting WAY too complicated for me! Too many plots and subplots and -- well, it doesn't entertain me as it did in the past. When I want complexity, I'll read!

tiassa said:

If you are going to show Horse racing footage that is supposed to be from the US, can you at least use footage from a US racetrack?

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That glitch struck me immediately. And, doesn't NY have off track betting? If so, the betting parlor thing struck me as odd.

I hesitate to ask this, given how badly this topic has been handled in other threads.... but were we the only ones who noticed that Tiffani Theissen seems to have really gained some weight? It was particularly noticeable when they showed some clips featuring her in season 1, and there was a rather marked difference in appearance. My sister guessed that she may be pregnant, but I can't find any indication of that in my search.