Series 3: "Door Handle" (March 30, 1995): Not in this episode - although you'd rightly expect it would be, as the girls take the Concorde to New York City for a day. There are some great location shots on the East Side, but no World Trade Center.
Series 3: "The End" (May 11, 1995): In the first few minutes of the series finale (although they did come back with a two-part special, The Last Shout), a quick establishing shot of NYC shows the towers. You would expect to see the twins again in the second-to-last scene, with the great, circling helicopter shot of Patsy on the rooftop (which appears to be somewhere in Midtown), but - as one who has seen all the AbFab episodes countless times, believe me - the towers are not to be seen in that fantastic shot of the city.
A brief glimpse of the WTC is seen during the opening credits of the show, from the second through the eighth (last) seasons.
- JR
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Burt Wolf: Travels & Traditions
Where to find the Twin Towers:
I believe it's episode #212, "Manhattan," of this culinary PBS series in which Wolf talks at length about the dining habits of New Yorkers, with the WTC behind him. In truth, I could be wrong about the series itself (Wolf's done a few similar programs, including What We Eat).
In the pre-9/11 opening credits. Beginning with 2001-2002 season, NBC yanked all images of the World Trade Center; since SVU was not released on DVD until 2003, I'm assuming (I don't know, as I haven't watched the DVDs) that the WTC is missing from the DVD versions of the pre-9/11 episodes. I also don't know where the WTC can spotted within individual episodes, or if any WTC shots have been excised from the DVDs.
"The Cold War's over, John. But with no clear enemy to stockpile against, the arms market's flat. But bring down a fully loaded 727 into the middle of New York City and you'll find a dozen tinpot dictators all over the world just clamouring to take responsibility, and begging to be smart-bombed."
- Byers, Sr. Lone Gunmen pilot, March 4, 2001
Excerpted from the now-defunct Lone Gunmen Realm Web site:
The 12D plan is for a small group of government operatives to crash a jetliner into New York City in order to keep tensions high and increase arms sales. Bert is doing what he can and thinks he knows which flight they have targeted. ... The two Byers head for the airport to try to find the explosives in the aircraft. Both board the plane, but cannot find explosives, using hydrocarbon "sniffer" devices.
They realize that the airplane will be remote controlled, just like Bert's car was. Talking by phone to the Gunmen's office, Byers asks Langly and Frohike to hack into the aircraft controls. They do and discover that the plane is programmed to crash into the World Trade Center. Bert enters the cockpit and tries to warn the aircrew, but they don't believe him. Making a lunge, he deactivates the autopilot and the crew realizes that they are not in control. They have 22 minutes before they hit the building. ...
Where to find the Twin Towers:
There are many quick-cut nighttime shots of the WTC as the hijacked plane approaches Manhattan:
LANGLY: Byers. Your flight's going to make an unscheduled stop. In exactly 22 minutes.
(Cut to FROHIKE and LANGLY.)
FROHIKE: Corner of Liberty and Washington, Lower Manhattan.
CUT TO:
(Onboard the aircraft. BYERS and BYERS SNR are trying to keep their voices low.)
BYERS: World Trade Center. (He turns to his father) They're going to crash it into the World Trade Center.
. . .
(A shot of the aircraft from above then from underneath showing the Twin Towers getting closer. Then BYERS. Then the pilot. Then view through flight deck window. Then LANGLY with his head in his hands.)
(LANGLY's computer beeps. The message on screen reads: "ALERT: REMOTE ACCESS DETECTED. Port: 1080 offending IP: 256.65.9.127")
(Then another message: "Manual Override Unlocked")
LANGLY: Oh. B - I - N - G - O.
. . .
(We then cut to view of the Twin Towers approaching quickly, then to flight deck. There's a beep and a green light shows on the control panel.)
CO-PILOT: We've got manual override!
(Scene of aircraft rapidly gaining altitude. Passengers and belongings tumble to the cabin floor. Long scene of aircraft flying up and eventually over the top of the buildings.)
Watch the video:
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Matlock
Where to find the Twin Towers:
Episode: "The Investigation: Part 1," February 2, 1988. No other information available. Can you tell us where to find the World Trade Center in this show?
I saw Night Court on TVLand and the episode started with the Twin Towers in the opening scenes. Later the Towers were shown again. Date was Sept. 16, 2005.
- Thanks to Robert R. Cookston! ...who adds: "I will never forget."
There are brief glimpses of the WTC in numerous pre-9/11 episodes; for example, a shot from a yacht (on what appears to be the East River, judging by the angle) in "The Big Time" (2000) lingers endlessly on just the tops of the distant towers over Sarah Jessica Parker's shoulder.
Also: From the pilot up until nearly the end of the fourth season, the World Trade Center is seen under the series' title, and again behind Sarah Jessica Parker's credit. After 9/11, the switch was made to the Empire State Building. Unfortunately, it appears that the older (and edited-for-broadcast) episodes now shown in syndication use the newer opening credits.
- JR
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Simpsons, The
Where to find the Twin Towers:
Season 9: "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson" (September 21, 1997)
In this episode, Homer's car has somehow ended up illegally parked at the World Trade Center in New York City after being borrowed (for two months) by Barney. The Simpsons then go on a trip to New York to get it back, much to the dismay of Homer (many years ago, he had a bad experience in New York with pickpockets, pimps, C.H.U.D.s, and Woody Allen, who dumped trash on his head from an upper floor).
At the WTC, Homer is forced to wait from 9 to 5 for a police officer in order to pay the hundreds of parking tickets that his car has received. Unfortunately, he just misses the officer due to an incident of having to go the restroom after drinking too much crab juice he'd bought from a vendor's cart, and then finding the only working restroom to be in the North Tower (after going all the way up the South Tower). Frustrated, Homer ends up stealing a jackhammer to free his car from the boot and drive it away (though this incident causes much damage to the auto's front end).
Meanwhile, the rest of the family have a much more relaxing day at New York, visiting various attractions (including the Statue of Liberty, Little Italy, Chinatown, Broadway, and the offices of MAD Magazine).
This episode was made several years before the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Due to the central plot being a dilemma that Homer has at the World Trade Center, the episode was retired from syndication in several areas in the United States (many fans thought that the episode wouldn't air again).
After several years, some stations began to air the episode again. Examples include the San Francisco Bay area where the episode did not air again until the summer of 2005, and the United Kingdom, where the episode did not air again until August 7, 2005, with several cuts. Some stations have taken to airing a version with all references to the twin towers removed.
