Talk:I've fallen, and I can't get up!/Archives/2013

Comments

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.

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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)

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"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?

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)

I don't know the episode, but I remember the sketch. The concept was to answer the old question of, if a tree fell in the forest and no one was around to hear it, would it make a sound? Johnny purportedly left a tape recorder in the woods to find out and would play the tape for the first time on air. Johnny later revealed that he wanted to see how long the audience would go along with it. After awhile, the audience started to get a little restless. A few shouted things like, "It already fell!" The that audience member shouted his line, and everyone cracked up. Not sure that really belongs in the article, though. --72.34.180.42 (talk) 17:05, 14 November 2010 (UTC)

The show went as follows... In the opening monologue, Johnny mentioned that a huge redwood had fallen, this was the setup. Then after the first commercial and had moved to his desk, Johnny showed the article and said that a naturalist happened to be recording nature sounds at the exact same time the tree had fallen. This naturalists name was John Madup (madeup). So he pulled the tape recorder out and pressed play. Nothing. Collective laugh in the audience. Johnny signaled to the audience to be quiet and then moved the microphone closer. Still nothing. Collective laugh, someone yelled "press play" - more silence, then someone yelled... "I've fallen, and I can't get up." The audience laughed hysterically, Ed, who already moved over to the couch in prep for the first guest was laying on the couch laughing. Johnny laughed to the point of a tear in his eye and made his chair circle around and then said... "Thank you ma'am, we had no idea how to get out of this!" The reason I know this in detail, is that I was the person who yelled "I've fallen, and I can't get up!" This was my "brush with greatness." I also have it on video taped because we called my sister to tape the show that night. This was in early to mid-April, 1991, Johnny retired the next year. I still have the video tape of the show. I looked it up, it is Episode 4322 April 4, 1991 Super Dave Osborne, George Segal, Rita Rudner were guests and it lists the "Falling Redwood" as the bit. My name is Dianna Weber Schepers and I made Johnny Carson and Ed McMahon laugh. This is something I will never forget. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.235.10.120 (talk) 06:06, 20 October 2013 (UTC)