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Mysterious post-dubbing on 'Poison' episode

posted 17 years ago by LCShackley
3 replies | jump to latest

This episode deals with a friend of Rossi's who dares to blow the whistle on dangerous practices at a nuclear facility. The company is called something that sounds like "Tucor" (although we never see it in print). If you watch everyone's lips, you can see that "Tucor" was not the original word used. You can even hear a different acoustic on the Rossi lines in which he had to post-dub the new word. I wonder what the original company name was, and why it had to be changed. (Probably was something too close to a real company.)

There's a MAN FROM UNCLE episode with a similar problem. The script had everyone saying "freon," but it turned out that was a patented product so they had to insert the word "hydro" instead, sometimes using different voices.

[–] thxdave 15 years ago

Hey LC, it looks like you never got a reply to this question. It has bugged me for years, too. I rewatched "Poison" this morning and might have a clue. I remember seeing this episode in its' original, first-run on CBS and (IIRC) they ran it as it was originally recorded. However, later airings had the dialogue dubbed over. I'm not sure if this happened during CBS's repeat airings or when it went to the CBS Late Movie or whatever they called it before it went into syndication.

One big clue I only noticed today was the scene where Rossi was interviewing the company doctor (who looked a bit like Meryl Streep!). If you look at the exterior wall behind her, the word "Nuckon" is plainly visible. Could that have been the original name?
Dave

[–] LCShackley 15 years ago

Thanks for the clue, Dave. I've been posting a lot on this bulletin board because I just watched seasons 3-5 on cable for the first time in almost 30 years.

I'll have to wait until that episode comes back again to look for the company name. Good eye!

(There's a guy who's done a good episode guide. He mentions the dubbing problem but doesn't provide your solution: http://epguides.lougrant.net/season1.html )

[–] racestaffer 14 years ago

Grasping at straws no doubt, but...

So I have Mad Money (w/ Jim Cramer) on TV right now. Half listening while playing on the computer... and I hear him mention a company called Nucor. Totally caught my attention. I had to do a web search and landed at... where else... Wikipedia. It's kind of interesting. Although Nucor adopted that name and became a steel producer in the late '60s - early '70s, it had been a player in nuclear energy prior to that time. Perhaps the similarities between Tucor, Nucor and Nuckon are purely coincidental. Then again, even coincidental similarity could cause legal problems, huh?

This also has me wondering when the dubbing actually occurred because in 2000 Nucor reached a $100-Mil settlement with the Justice Dept and the EPA with respect to emissions of toxic chemicals. Although it's not immediately clear from Wikipedia or the one link I followed, when the violations actually occurred, It would probably have to have been after 1986. This would have been many years after the episode was filmed and it was when the company was into steel not nuclear energy.

But how funny would it be if they dubbed in Tucor because Nuckon sounded to much like Nucor? Yeah, cuz Tucor sounds nothing like Nucor (LOL)!