Groundhog Day...All Over Again

Watching The Good Wife this evening (yes, I'll admit I watch it), I noticed something familiar, a view of a street that looked straight out of Groundhog Day, one of my favorite movies. A couple minutes research on the 'net and what did I find? It's lifted straight from the film!

Exhibit A:

[The Good Wife - Real Deal, 02-08-2011 | image source, at 0:02]

Exhibit B:

[Groundhog Day | image source, at 1:02]

For all I know this is common, and most likely the makers of The Good Wife paid for the two-second clip and are using it legally, but it's funny how they make the figures walking in the middle of the street (they are further left in the Groundhog Day clip, which is a second or two later than the clip above) become the characters in the TV show when they cut to the next close shot. Check it out.

Comments

  1. I know that they do it with movies. Blade Runner did it with Legend and The Shining

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  2. But wasn't that unused footage? (At least with The Shining that's what I'm finding.)

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  3. The footage used in "Blade Runner" came from outtakes from "The Shining". I'm not sure about the "Legend" footage, which has always puzzled me (though not enough to actually watch "Legend" again..) For me, one of the most startling re-uses of a film came about 15 years ago in "Dash and Lily", a tv-movie about Dashiell Hammett and Lillian Hellman. At one point, the pair go to a movie, and the film cuts to an exterior shot from "Singin' in the Rain" showing the marquee for Lockwood and Lamont in "The Dancing Cavalier"...

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  4. Yes I saw that too. I pointed it out to my wife and she was like....okay, so what. I'm glad you posted this!

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  5. I thought the Groundhog Day clip was strange, but then I remembered: this episode was originaly scheduled to air last week, the day before Groundhog day. Because of the State of the Union address, the episodes are playing a week later than originally listed on
    NBC.com.
    Now it makes more sense. Very funy!

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  6. I totally noticed this as well and conveniently had Groundhog Day recorded on my DVR from the week before so I could do an imediate comparison. I was shocked how I recognized it so fast but obviously wasn't the only one!

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  7. I noticed the same thing (with the same reaction from my wife) and came here via Google. We had just rewatched Groundhog Day a few weeks previous. Very clever, another reason why I love The Good Wife.

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  8. Also filmed in Chicago was Hope Floats. The scene looks the same as the view from the Smithville home, except the seasons are different. Anyone else think that?

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  9. I believe it is the same street that Steve Martin's house is on in Planes, Trains and Automobiles, made years before Groundhog Day in 1987.

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  10. So I'm not the first to notice it ....

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  11. Isn´t it weird they are using a 17 years old clip for this? I mean look at the cars...

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  12. I’ve been re-watching the series on Hulu, and I was thrilled to notice this!!! Imagine my validation when I googled it and found this. Thanks for posting about it!

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  13. I noticed as well, Googled and ended up here. Rewatching The Good Wife but must have missed it the 1st time. Great show!!

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  14. Binge watching the good wife my husband noticed it right away! He doesn’t notice my new outfit or my new haircut, but caught this immediately!!! Wow!!!

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