History YMMV / HenryIVPart1

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: The starling is mentioned just once in passing as part of a joke, and nowhere else in any of the Bard’s plays. So you’d expect no one to think anything of it. Unfortunately, the bird is not native to America, and in the 19th century a group of American Shakespeare fanatics imported a mating pair of starlings and set them loose in Central Park, so that every species of bird mentioned in Shakespeare would have a presence in the New World. [[GoneHorriblyRight It worked too well]], the population skyrocketing due to a lack of natural predators, while driving out native species from their habitat, wrecking the ecosystem, and generally being pests. Environmentalists and birdwatchers alike wind up wishing the Shakespeare had chosen ''any'' other songbird for Hotspur’s line.
* GrowingTheBeard: The ''Henry IV'' plays are widely considered to be the point when Shakespeare became ''Shakespeare.''

** Hotspur as well. It's easy to forget, but there was a time where every stage actor wanted to play him, rather than Falstaff.

* GrowingTheBeard: The ''Henry IV'' plays are widely considered when Shakespeare became ''Shakespeare.''

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Is Falstaff a sad, old, cowardly man looking at the Crown Prince as a meal ticket, or is he an indefatigable mound of life and bombast who genuinely loves his Hal like a son? Is Hal a defiant, young hedonist living out the last flames of irresponsible youth before the weight of the crown comes crashing down on him, or is he a cold, calculating politician using the denizens of Eastcheap to craft his public image so he can appear so much finer in his reformation? Do Hal and Falstaff even really like each other? There are so many ways to play both characters. Compare the scene where Hal and Falstaff practice Hal's future encounter with his father the king in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1wfzBqAhWQ the 2012 BBC production and the 2010 Globe Theatre production]].

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: The starling is mentioned just once in passing as part of a joke, and nowhere else in any of the Bard’s plays. So you’d expect no one to think anything of it. Unfortunately, the bird is not native to America, and in the 19th century a group of American Shakespeare fanatics imported a mating pair of starlings and set them loose in Central Park, so that every species of bird mentioned in Shakespeare would have a presence in the New World. [[GoneHorriblyRight It worked too well]], the population skyrocketing due to a lack of natural predators, while driving out native species from their habitat, wrecking the ecosystem, and generally being pests. Environmentalists and birdwatchers alike wind up wishing the Shakespeare had chosen ''any'' other songbird for Mortimer’s line.

** Sir John Falstaff, who instantly became the play's most beloved character, and remains a perennial favorite among Shakespeare lovers all the way up until the present day. He was so popular that Shakespeare gave him the starring role in another play, ''Theater/TheMerryWivesOfWindsor''. Indeed, the Bard himself may have had a certain special fondness for the old knight -- he has more lines of dialogue than any other of his characters aside from Hamlet.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Sir John Falstaff, who instantly became the play's most beloved character, and remains a perennial favorite among Shakespeare lovers all the way up until the present day. He was so popular that Shakespeare gave him the starring role in another play, ''Theater/TheMerryWivesOfWindsor''. Indeed, the Bard himself may have had a certain special fondness for the old knight- he has more lines of dialogue than any other of his characters aside from Hamlet.

* TearJerker: Hal's [[AntagonistInMourning eulogy]] to [[WorthyOpponent Hotspur]].

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Sir John Falstaff, who has more lines of dialogue than any character aside from Hamlet

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Sir John Falstaff.

* TearJerker: Hal's [[AntagonistInMourning eulogy]] to [[WorthyOpponent Hotspur]].

* FanDumb: In the eighteen-hundreds, someone decided that America needed the birds of Shakespeare. Thank heaven he didn't get as far as the cuckoo, but he remembered the line about [[PollyWantsAMicrophone teaching a starling to say nothing but "Mortimer"]] and common starlings are common as dirt in the States, and a major aggravation to bluebird and purple martin landlords.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Is Falstaff a sad, old, cowardly man looking at the Crown Prince as a meal ticket, or is he an indefatigable mound of life and bombast who genuinely loves his Hal like a son? Is Hal a defiant, young hedonist living out the last flames of irresponsible youth before the weight of the crown comes crashing down on him, or is he a cold, calculating politician using the denizens of Eastcheap to craft his public image so he can appear so much finer in his reformation? Do Hal and Falstaff even really like each other? There are so many ways to play both characters. Compare the scene where Hal and Falstaff practice Hal's future encounter with his father the king in [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1wfzBqAhWQ the 2012 BBC production and the 2010 Globe Theatre production]].

* FanDumb: In the eighteen-hundreds, someone decided that America needed the birds of Shakespeare. Thank heaven he didn't get as far as the cuckoo, but he remembered the line about [[PollyWantsAMicrophone teaching a starling to say nothing but "Mortimer"]] and common starlings are common as dirt in the States, and a major aggravation to bluebird and purple martin landlords.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Is Falstaff a sad, old, cowardly man looking at the Crown Prince as a meal ticket, or is he an indefatigable mound of life and bombast who genuinely loves his Hal like a son? Is Hal a defiant, young hedonist living out the last flames of irresponsible youth before the weight of the crown comes crashing down on him, or is he a cold, calculating politician using the denizens of Eastcheap to craft his public image so he can appear so much finer in his reformation? Do Hal and Falstaff even really like each other? There are so many ways to play both characters. Compare the scene where Hal and Falstaff practice Hal's future encounter with his father the king: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1wfzBqAhWQ the 2012 BBC production and the 2010 Globe Theatre production]].

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Is Falstaff a sad, old, cowardly man looking at the Crown Prince as a meal ticket, or is he an indefatigable mound of life and bombast who genuinely loves his Hal like a son? Is Hal a defiant, young hedonist living out the last flames of irresponsible youth before the weight of the crown comes crashing down on him, or is he a cold, calculating politician using the denizens of Eastcheap to craft his public image so he can appear so much finer in his reformation? Do Hal and Falstaff even really like each other? There are so many ways to play both characters. Compare the scene where Hal and Falstaff practice Hal's future encounter with his father the king: the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8k1Fg_Oquk&list=UU3On2n4-IiMVbuqxhVEITXA&index=6&feature=plcp 2012 BBC production]] and the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRmSvaSes7U 2010 Globe Theatre production]].

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Sir John Falstaff.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Is Falstaff a sad, old, cowardly man looking at the Crown Prince as a meal ticket, or is he an indefatigable mound of life and bombast who genuinely loves his Hal like a son? Is Hal a defiant, young hedonist living out the last flames of irresponsible youth before the weight of the crown comes crashing down on him, or is he a cold, calculating politician using the denizens of Eastcheap to craft his public image so he can appear so much finer in his reformation? Do Hal and Falstaff even really like each other? There are so many ways to play both characters. Compare the scene where Hal and Falstaff practice Hal's future encounter with his father the king: the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8k1Fg_Oquk&list=UU3On2n4-IiMVbuqxhVEITXA&index=6&feature=plcp 2012 BBC production]] and the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRmSvaSes7U 2010 Globe Theatre production]].