Fans debate whether Jerry made an error in his dialogue about the millennium and when Newman's party would occur, with disagreement over whether the party on 12/31/99 would be early or late.
I watched The Millenium episode last night and couldn't help but notice a huge error in one of Jerry's lines. When he and Neuman (I prefer Neuman to Newman) were talking about the party and Jerry says something like "since there was no year zero, the millenium begins in 2001. So your party will be a year LATE". If Neuman's party is Dec. 31 1999 then his party will be a year early. Did I dream this?
Mike
Oh, here we go again...
Jerry was right.....my roommates and I argued this one back in college when it aired and I think we figured it out. Jerry asked Newman if he booked the hotel for the millenium new year, and Newman said he did. Jerry was merely pointing out that since there was no year zero the hotel would assume Newman meant Dec 31 2000. Everyone will be partying for the new millenium on Dec 31 1999 which means Newmans party will be a year late. It is correct in theory but I bet that if you asked to reserve something for the millenium party 99.99% of people would know you meant 1999 and not the true millenium switch......
I think you missed the point of the question. He said that if Newman's party is 12/31/99, instead of the correct 12/31/00, then it would be *late*, when in fact, the party would be a year early. He wasn't asking when the millenium ends.
I think you are right -- I don't have a tape of the episode, but I think Jerry misspoke the argument he was trying to make.
Newman booked the party for the "Millennium" New Year, which is actually 12/31/00.
Everyone else will have their parties (erroneously) on 12/31/99.
Newman wanted his party on 12/31/99, like everyone else.
No one else will celebrate on 12/31/00 but Newman.
Newman's party will be one year "late".
....and thus, quite lame!
I'm not sure I understand Rick Streeters Logic. You say that the hotel would assume that Newman meant Dec 31, 2000 because that is the true milenium, but most people don't know that. The movie Strange Days was based entirly upon the milenuim but they overlooked the fact that the new milenium begins in 2001 and not 2000. That just shows you that if they can base an entire movie on the wrong thing then certainly not many people working at a hotel wouldnt know. 9 times out of ten when you say that people assume 1999 so it would make his party a year early and even if it was Dec 31 2000 then it would be on time so either way its wrong.
Rick Streeter wrote:
Wow....and you didn't understand MY logic????
You should read what Steven Gould says about this millenium thing in _Dinosaur in a Haystack_. He basically says that the argument over when the millenium ends/begins is pointless discussion. The beginning of the millenium was a human concept and so is the end of the millenium. Several people built calendars and some were adopted, some were not.
Who cares?