History Trivia / TheyMightBeGiants

** They had a new song (Details are currently unknown) created for use in ''WesternAnimation/RecessSchoolsOut'' to play while T.J. rode his bike alone after his friends left for camp. The song was replaced with "One" by Three Dog Night for the final film.

** Music/ElvisCostello was apparently supposed to produce ''Apollo 18'' at an early stage. The Johns disapproved due to thinking they'd earn the chance to produce it themselves and to the tension that would occur from working with a hero of theirs.

* SampledUp: The saxophone hook in "Number Three" is a loop taken from Lou Monte's "Skinny Lena." The band found it on a record they discovered while cleaning out an abandoned apartment.

** A couple of the songs also have this going on. The version of "Four Of Two" that you hear on ''No!'' is much more child-friendly than the original, and "Robot Parade" [[PlayedWithATrope plays with the trope]] with a HeavyMetal version called "Robot Parade (Adult Version)" that has the exact same lyrics.

* BlackSheepHit: Thoroughly [[AvertedTrope averted]]. The band's biggest mainstream hits ("Birdhouse in your Soul", "Istanbul" (from ''Music/{{Flood}}''), "Boss of Me") remain fan favorites.

* HollywoodNewEngland: Both Johns are originally from outside of Boston, so they both will slip into the accent on occasion in songs. Linnell most blatantly does it in "A Self Called Nowhere," and also in "Wicked Little Critta."

* NoHitWonder: Never hit the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, though they scored hits in the UK and Australia
** They also didn't have a Top 40 album until ''Join Us'' in 2011, 25 years after their debut album.

* ShrugOfGod: Related to EpilepticTrees above, the band doesn't often confirm or deny theories about a given song.
** An example: when asked what their first single "Don't Let's Start" was about, they responded that it was "about not let's starting"...
* SoMyKidsCanWatch: Their four children's albums, ''No!'', ''Here Come The [=ABCs=]'', ''Here Come The [=123s=]'', & ''Here Comes Science''.. Then subverted when the puppets made for the latter two were then used for a video of their cover of "The Long Grift" from ''Theatre/HedwigAndTheAngryInch''.
** The puppets have, in the past, also been used for a ''very'' child-unfriendly song in a few live performances. The title? "''Puppet's Gonna Fuck You Up''".
** They've now released a fourth, ''Here Comes Science''. The band is now at a steady clip of alternating regular albums and children's albums.
** There's an EP that goes with the book ''Bed Bed Bed'', too. Four tracks, the title one later reworked for ''No!''
** A couple of the songs also have this going on. The version of "Four Of Two" that you hear on ''No!'' is much more child-friendly than the original.
* TheWikiRule: [[http://tmbw.net/wiki/Main_Page This Might Be A Wiki]]. It's been approvingly (though a bit backhandedly) [[AscendedMeme cited]] by both Flansburgh and Linnell (who referred to it in an interview as "the site that tracks all our crap").

** Music/ElvisCostello was apparently supposed to produce ''Apollo 18'' at an early stage.

* HeyItsThatGuy: Aside from the obvious Mr. Scrooge playing Justin, Grandpa from TheMunsters makes an appearance in the film.

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: An attempt to politely [[AvertedTrope avert]] it. As they were coming up on the end of filming the documentary ''Gigantic: A Take of Two Johns'' one of the last scenes was a show for their new album, "Mink Car", which was at 11:30pm on September 10th, 2001 in New York City. On the DVDCommentary they say they had a rough time figuring out what to do - [=9/11=] wasn't important to the story so to mention it would be "cashing in" on it, but to not mention it when it affected the lives of those present[[note]]one attendee actually stayed near the World Trade Center and was evacuated from their hotel room the next morning. They were uninjured, but they lost all their belongings from the room[[/note]] would also be rude. A compromise was made to simply have a TitleCard listing the date, letting astute viewers make the connection, but leaving [=9/11=] intentionally OutOfFocus.

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: An attempt to politely [[AvertedTrope avert]] it. As they were coming up on the end of filming the documentary ''Gigantic: A Take of Two Johns'' one of the last scenes was a show for their new album, "Mink Car", which was at 11:30pm on September 10th, 2001 in New York City. On the DVDCommentary they say they had a rough time figuring out what to do - [=9/11=] wasn't important to the story so to mention it would be "cashing in" on it, but to not mention it when it affected the lives of those present[[note]]one attendee actually stayed near the World Trade Center and was evacuated from their hotel room the next morning. They were uninjured, but they lost all their belongings from the room[[/note]], so a compromise was made to simply have a TitleCard listing the date, letting astute viewers make the connection, but leaving [=9/11=] intentionally OutOfFocus.

* OldShame: They don't believe the album version of "She's Actual Size" stands up so well anymore, especially compared to the live versions they've performed since then.

* BlackSheepHit: Thoroughly [[AvertedTrope averted]]. The band's biggest mainstream hits ("Birdhouse in your Soul", "Istanbul", "Boss of Me") remain fan favorites.

** Four songs, titled "Dawn Divine", "Stalker In Reverse", "Prepare", and "Lucky You", were recorded for ''Nanobots'', but scrapped before the album's release. Little about these songs is known, except that Dawn Divine was to feature Mike Doughty. Of course, knowing TMBG, there's still a good chance they'll be released someday...

* TheWikiRule: [[http://tmbw.net/wiki/Main_Page This Might Be A Wiki]]

* FanNickname: When referring

* SampledUp: The saxophone hook in "Number Three" is a loop taken from Lou Monte's "Skinny Lena." The band found it on a record they discovered while cleaning out an abandoned apartment

* * {{Defictionalization}}: [[http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/lights/e791/ Blue canary in the outlet by the light switch.]] They also sold blue nightlights as promotional material for Flood, but they didn't really look like canaries.

** They also didn't have Top 40 album until ''Join Us'' in 2011, 25 years after their debut album.

* SoMyKidsCanWatch: Their four children's albums, ''No!'', ''Here Come The [=ABCs=]'', ''Here Come The [=123s=]'', & ''Here Comes Science''.. Then subverted when the puppets made for the latter two were then used for a video of their cover of "The Long Grift" from ''HedwigAndTheAngryInch''.

** Music/ElvisCostello was apparently supposed to produce ''Apollo 18'' at an early stage.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: They had a new song (Details are currently unknown) created for use in ''WesternAnimation/RecessSchoolsOut'' to play while T.J. rode his bike alone after his friends left for camp. The song was replaced with "One" by Three Dog Night for the final film.

* TheWikiRule: [[http://tmbw.net/wiki/Main_Page This Might Be A Wiki]]

* HollywoodNewEngland: Both Johns are originally from outside of Boston, so they both will slip into the accent on occasion in songs. Linnell most blatantly does it in "A Self Called Nowhere," while Flansburgh intentionally heavily does it in "Wicked Little Critta."

* SoMyKidsCanWatch: Their three children's albums, ''No!'', ''Here Come The [=ABCs=]'', and ''Here Come The [=123s=]''. Then subverted when the puppets made for the latter two were then used for a video of their cover of "The Long Grift" from ''HedwigAndTheAngryInch''.

** A couple of the songs also have this going on. The version of "Four Of Two" that you hear on ''No!'' is much more child-friendly than the original.