Talk:I've fallen and I can't get up!

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Articles for deletion This article was nominated for deletion on 15 October 2007. The result of the discussion was keep.

If you look at the 1980's and 1990's fad categories, this page definitely needs to be added in there along with the clapper and chia pet, which are already there. These were probably the three most popular daytime television commercial campaigns of those decades.

I'd like to see a source on the rumors that Saddam Hussein used this phrase after his Gulf War defeat. I'm not saying it couldn't have happened, but where is the rumor from? What is the source of the rumor? It would be useful to know this information; not to mention, increase the believability quotient that it actually might be true. Moncrief, 1 Feb 2004

I did a lot of editing to this page way back when, and the Saddam Hussein piece was already in there when I arrived. So I personally can't say I've ever heard of a situation where he used it, but maybe someone else has. Skybunny 18:07, 1 Feb 2004 (UTC)

"Weird Al" Yankovic's website gives a different name for the actress who said this line. His song "I Can't Watch This", from the 1992 album Off the Deep End, includes a sample of this line that sounds just as I remembered it, but a page at his site gives the actress' name as "Edith Fore", whereas this article says "Dorothy McHugh". Could there have been two different commercials (with different actresses) with the same famous line? Anyone know? -- Arteitle 17:02, 13 Feb 2004 (UTC)

I'll start by saying I don't know. I suspect though. The name "Edith Fore" rings a bell for some reason. Dorothy McHugh's name was added with the summary "More detail in uses, actress, and Lifecall Canada". So I'm guessing maybe there were different actresses in the U.S. and Canada. - Hephæstos|§ 17:05, 13 Feb 2004 (UTC)
I found a recording (at the bottom of [1]) that's a compilation of TV ad catch-phrases, including "IFAICGU!", and it's a different actress and different performance than the one I'm familiar with from TV and Weird Al's song. So there were definitely two different performances of this famous line. It doesn't do much to clarify who was first, or whether they were for different companies or countries, though. -- Arteitle 17:16, 13 Feb 2004 (UTC)
(For comparison, the version I'm familiar with, apparently by Edith Fore, can be found here, as fallen.wav.) -- Arteitle
I found the name Dorothy McHugh while Googling for the name of the actor who said this line, and came across pages like this:http://www.omnishortfilms.com/imchannel/films1.htm http://www.monstersatplay.com/review/dvd/f/fusion.php http://www.westcoastindependent.com/program2000.html ...etc. A few websites had McHugh's date of death as 'notable' because of said line...and yet there are others who believe it's Edith Fore. Perhaps two people are believed to have said it, but there is certainly plenty of evidence to suggest that Edith Fore was 'the one' as well. (Anyway, just so it doesn't look like I pulled that from nowhere...) Skybunny 17:56, 13 Feb 2004 (UTC)

I thought the famous catchphrase was for the LifeAlert bracelet

while I can't speak for the rest of the world, in Australia the phrase "I've fallen and I can't get up" is virtually synonymous with "I'm got so drunk that I just can't stand any more" - while the majority of the Australian population would probably recognise it in that situation, the reference to some old American TV ad would be completely unknown. Probably worthy of mention?

Contents

[edit] Removed POV from this article

In the last several months, a great deal of revisionism has been done on this page; I have undone most of the pointing to Life Alert, restored the fact that the company (whether or not it became Life Alert later) was called LifeCall at the time of the original airing of these commercials, and removed multiple web links and assertions that a similar phrase is still used today by Life Alert. Most of how the line was actually popularized had been removed, and that information has been restored. Skybunny 22:01, 11 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Changes made with respect to LifeCall

Greetings. I do not believe it is appropriate to use this page as a basis for legal trademark status for Life Alert. As such, I have reverted changes which seem to push the trademark of the company Life Alert.

Whoever 'did it first', 'copied who', or owns the trademark now, this is a pop culture page focusing on the phenomenon from the early 1990s, when the company who popularized the phrase was LifeCall, and that company (bankrupt or not, bought or not) deserves full credit for its popularity. History is not rewritten to say that Howard Hughes ran American Airlines just because they bought TWA in 2001, and I see no reason that that should be done here either. I believe LifeCall deserves full credit.

Life Alert has been given a nod in this article for owning a current trademark on the similar phrase 'Help, I've fallen and I can't get up!' which I believe to be a completely reasonable compromise on this matter. If actual proof can be provided that LifeCall was acquired by Life Alert (and not just the expired trademark taken, which has less relevance), then a 'path' can be established from one company to the other in ownership - but LifeCall in that case still came first with respect to pop culture. Skybunny 00:53, 12 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Sentence

I always liked the sentence that appeared in the article when I first read it: "Roseanne once fell down and spoke the words". I mean I dearly loved it. I'm kinda sad to see that it's gone. I want to congratulate Duoraven, who put it there, it was one of my favourite sentences of all time. Maerk 01:19, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Actor playing dispatcher

Maybe its just me, but the actor that plays the dispatcher looks remarkably like Stephen Collins. I think you'd have to watch a recording and get a voice sample to be sure. I remember seeing the commercial but I can't remember what the voice sounds like. At the time, Stephen Collins was kinda in a lull in his acting career. -- Suso 19:35, 16 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] McHugh vs. Fore

We ever settle this? Thanos6 00:57, 9 October 2006 (UTC)

I don't believe so, but then, I haven't looked this up lately. Skybunny 14:53, 9 October 2006 (UTC)

There is a link to a signed picture of Edith Fore here: http://cgi.ebay.com/Signed-photo-8x10-Size-Edith-Fore_W0QQitemZ7631577734QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting and she signs the famous phrase on the picture. This could be taken as more proof, assuming the signature is truly from Edith Fore. My current best guess is that LifeCall used two actresses during the life of their company, both McHugh and Fore. But that is just a guess at this point. Ddrose 05:27, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] YTMND Parody

I'd like to post a link to fallenrave.ytmnd.com, but the spam filter blocks it. It's just as relevant as the youtube link posted. --Hoovernj 02:23, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The Tonight Show (with Johnny Carson)

There's the show where Carson (and the audience) are waiting to hear on Carson's tap (at his desk), a tree falling. The sound never occurs, after sometime of silence, someone in the audience yells out I've fallen and I can't get up (meaning the tree). Thus causing Carson & the entire audience to fall into hysterics. Does anyone know what episode that was & do they have a 'source' for it (to add to the article)? GoodDay 20:38, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Proposed standard for inclusion in "uses of the line" section

We can probably make this section a lot shorter by only allowing referenced additions. By this I mean: the fact that this line appeared in the movie Suburban Commando is not notable enough unless there is a secondary source (like a newspaper, etc.) that thought fit to mention it.

This would make the Tonight Show incident mentioned above worthy of inclusion, if a reference can be found. If to include an item you would have to say 'Go watch the movie, it's in there', that's the sign that it's not notable enough to be included.

Can we agree on this standard? Doing so would have the dual purpose of not making this section "trivia", but instead "culturally significant uses of the line". Skybunny 22:01, 29 August 2007 (UTC)