Re: Marsh-Cope rivalry to be movie comedy and other news stories

[quailspg@frii.com]

Ben Creisler wrote:


> It appears it may be difficult to come up with a sustained comic take
> on the Marsh and Cope rivalry.

Well... for an *adult* audience, anyway. Plus, looking back at this, 
some of the humor was unintended.

> For a sort of comic take on paleontology in 19th century, this old
> episode of the Rin Tin Tin TV show "Rinty Finds a Bone" comes to 
> mind.
> I remember watching this as a kid. In this case, though, the two
> paleontologists are brothers (not rivals) and evidently come from
> Germany or some German-speaking region of Europe. Apologies to DML
> members in Germany and Austria for the stereotype.
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hen-mM8Bic

Fascinating on so many levels! This was an episode from 1956. I'm 
pretty sure "Rin Tin Tin" was a Saturday morning kids' TV staple for 
several years after its 1954-1959 initial run -- still, it's been 
[*ahem*] a few decades since I've seen Rinty in action.

I think we should appropriate the phrase "Rin Tin Tin Expedition," 
which was coined in the episode, and re-apply it to any research which 
begins in earnest but ends with preposterous results.

-- Donna Braginetz