MovieChat Forums > Legion (2017) Discussion > Email in the 1980s?

Email in the 1980s?

posted 7 years ago by PhilAdams1960X (4)
14 replies | jump to latest

Not sure if these continuity "glitches" in the show are intentional or just accidental but I'm seeing more and more of them like David's sister asking if she can send her husband an email or maybe go use a PAYPHONE? What decade do these people live in where they still have payphones but also have email?

And when Ptonomy says he remembers playing on the kitchen floor as a child of 7 while "99 Luft Ballons" was playing on the radio. That song came out in 1985 and I'm not good guessing ages but I'd guess he is in his mid-twenties "now" (at least the time the show is taking place) maybe so that would add maybe 15 years to the timeline putting the "present" around 2000 or so?

That seems abit late given the scenario as a whole. Also if David was born in the mid-1960s he'd be in his mid-30s by 2000. Maybe that fits. Again, I'm not great at guessing ages of actors.

[–] MovieManCin2 (26342) 7 years ago

I read somewhere that Noah Hawley said he wanted the exact time period to be nebulous.

😎

[–] PhilAdams1960X (4) 7 years ago

Well he succeeded then. :-)

[–] PhilAdams1960X (4) 7 years ago

Well he succeeded then. :-)

[–] MovieManCin2 (26342) 7 years ago

😎

[–] MEMOREX (3031) 7 years ago

There was email in the 70s.
http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/6116/first-e-mail-sent-by-ray-tomlinson/

🇲🇪🇲🇴🇷🇪🇽

[–] PhilAdams1960X (4) 7 years ago

Yes, technically there was but not where the general "non-techie" public were aware of it. Didn't really happen until AOL and Compuserve and the like hit big in the late '90s I seem to recall. And David's sister certainly would fall into the category of "non-techie" I'm sure.

[–] Nipsey_Russell (1339) 7 years ago

Don't forget Juno,excite and Pegasus Mail

[–] aristide (260) 6 years ago

I was using email to submit my uni assignments in the early-mid 80's

[–] MinaVladimir (4077) 7 years ago

The time period is purposfully obscured. I don't think we're supposed to think it's set in any particular decade.

Though the e-mail thing did take me out of the show a bit. Because of the way Amy is styled, for some reason, I didn't imagine her using e-mail.

[–] Popcorn Kernel (2368) 7 years ago

The time period is really not consistent with any normal time period of earth. The hairstyles and fashions are like late 60s but the cars and some other things are much more recent.
The technology they were using in the last episode in Summerland was super old timey looking, radio tubes and analog buttons and switches. It reminded me if steampunk and mid-century modern had a baby, it would be Summerland's control room.

[–] Gastonian (946) 6 years ago

Not to mention the very modern computers in the scene where Hamish Linklater is getting his new assignment from D3. Its obviously more close to the present than we think. So when Professor X shows up it will likely be Patrick Stewart playing him

[–] Popcorn Kernel (2368) 6 years ago

If it is close to the present day then the Summerland control room needs an upgrade! It looked very mid-20th century, like the computers that Mission Control used in the moon landing.

[–] gcronau (4) 6 years ago

Email was available to the tech savvy by the mid 70's and to the non-techie by the mid to late 80's. Pay phones were still very much present well into the early 00's and you can still find them in various places(airports, hotels, etc) though they are getting to be a rare animal.

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

Noah Hawley wanted the time period to be nebulous, but what was the reason for that? Well, probably to provide the viewer with a weird picture of people living in the 60s and 70s BUT with e-mails and modern weapons. This is some sort of a twisted retro-futurism and I definitely like it!

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

99 Luft Ballons came out in 1983.

Email definitely not a common thing until mid 90s, even then it was not widespread.