Recap / Birds of a Feather CS5: It Happened in Hollywood

Sharon: Mum an' Dad weren' married, Trace.

Tracey: Oh, lovely. First we're a pair o' Bullocks, now we're a couple o' bastards!

Sharon: Yeah... and lucky ones at that! Trace, you're never gonna believe who our ol' man is.

Tracey: Who?

Sharon: It's... it's...

Tracey: Yeah?

Sharon: George Hamilton!

— Sharon Theodopolopodous and Tracey Stubbs discovering their true lineage.

• Date First Aired: 25/12/1993

At their Auntie Sylvie's funeral, an old male friend of hers gives Sharon and Tracey the key to a safety deposit box, which contains their real birth certificates. Their father's name is George Hamilton - who they believe to be George Hamilton, the Hollywood actor. Thanks to Dorien, the girls fly out to Hollywood in a bid to track him down. Their plans to confront him do not go well as they are chased off a film set, whilst Dorien is mistakenly imprisoned for stalking the actor George Wendt. Fate eventually intervenes and they get to spend an afternoon with Hamilton, who turns out not to be their father after all. Though they never learn it, the truth is far less glamorous.

---

Tropes in this Episode:

• Accent Upon The Wrong Syllable: Chris offers Darryl some "or der-ver-ous".
• Accidental Misnaming: Sharon calls Butch Cassidy "Butch Casserole".
• Affectionate Nickname:
  • Dorien calls Richard Branson "Dick".
  • Sharon calls Sydnee "Syd".
• All There in the Script: Inverted; While the tour guide isn't named verbally and is credited as "Tour Guide", his name tag calls him Gordon.
• Angry Guard Dog: Dorien has her shorts ruined by one.
• As Himself: That was the real George Hamilton playing himself, the same goes for George Wendt, Richard Branson, and Lionel Blair.
• Big Fancy House: The girls go on a tour of celebrity mansions.
  Sharon: Look at that, Trace. Makes your gaff look like a fleapit.
• Birthday Episode: Melanie Fishman's birthday party is important to Dorien's sub-plot, yet it is never shown on screen.
• Call-Back:
  • The previous reveal that Tracey and Sharon were adopted plays an important role in this episode when Auntie Sylvie reveals in a letter the names of their true parents.
  • Fat Stan's son helps Tracey and Sharon try to find their father by hacking the electrical register.
• Celebrity Crush: Dorien has been holding a torch for George Hamilton ever since she was a young girl.
• Celebrity Paradox: When Sharon brings up Emmerdale, she doesn't seem to realise that Vic Windsor has more than a striking resemblance to Darryl.
• Character Death: Tracey and Sharon's Auntie Sylvie dies before this episode, which starts on her funeral.
• Child Hater: Dorien is annoyed by a disruptive child on the tour.
  Dorien: Belt up you little germ or I'll sew your lips together!
• Christmas Episode: The fifth in total, although the plot has little to do with Christmas.
• Clothing Damage: Dorien's shorts are ripped by an Angry Guard Dog.
• Comically Missing the Point: Darryl tries to stop Tracey from going to LA by saying Garth needs someone to look after him, so Tracey explains he's going on a skiing trip with his mates, but Darryl still doesn't like the idea. Tracey then reassures Darryl that he's done it before and he'll be fine, not realising he was talking about her going to LA.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Sharon still believes that Auntie Sylvie could see the future.
  • Dorien mentions Tracey and Sharon's fighting could be great material for her next novel.
  • The dress Dorien wears when she goes out with Roger is her funeral dress from "Dead Loss", minus the veil.
• Copycat Mockery: Sharon picks up an accent when mocking Roger.
• Dead Man Writing: Auntie Sylvie leaves a written message for the sisters to be read after her death, mainly containing the names of Tracey and Sharon's true parents and their true birth certificates.
  Sharon: There's a note an' all. "Dear girls, by the time you read this, I will have shuffled off this mortal coil. If on the other hand, I'm still alive, and you are a couple of tea leaves, then get your stinkin' hands off my property, you toerags".
  Tracey: She always 'ad a lovely way with words.
• Deadpan Snarker: Tracey isn't ready to listen to Sharon complaining at Auntie Sylvie's funeral.
  Sharon: I hate funerals. Well, it's so depressin'.
  Tracey: They're meant to be. You could 'ardly 'ave a DJ an' a puppet show, couldja?
• Drives Like Crazy: Tracey does so when trying to escape security after another failed attempt to meet George Hamilton.
• Electrified Bathtub: Alfie Conroy apparently dropped a heater in his mum's bathtub.
• Extra-Long Episode: The run-time of the episode clocks in at 60 minutes, twice the length of an average episode of the series.
• Get Out!: Tracey tells Dorien to sling her hook so she and Sharon can discuss Auntie Sylvie's envelope.
• Going Commando: When checking if a woman is Sharon Stone, Tracey, Sharon and Dorien all check to see if she's wearing underwear.
• Gratuitous Italian: Dorien says "Ciao" to Tracey and Sharon before going to first class.
• Hoist by Their Own Petard: Dorien refusing to invite Tracey and Sharon to her silver wedding anniversary party comes back to get her when they refuse to let her know about their real parents.
• Hypocrite: Tracey calls Dorien one for throwing a party for her silver wedding anniversary, despite the fact she'll cheat on Marcus with anyone she can find.
• Irony: Dorien has sex on a Virgin flight.
  Tracey: Dorien, you didn't.
  Dorien: I did. (Beat) Twice.
  Tracey: 'Ow could you? On Virgin of all airlines!
  Dorien: I know, isn't it ironic?
• It's All About Me: Dorien only pays for Tracey and Sharon's trip to LA not because she wants them to find their father, but rather because she wants to try and get George Hamilton as a guest at her silver anniversary party.
• Killed Off for Real: Auntie Sylvie had been a recurring character earlier on in the series, only for this episode to reveal that she had died off-screen.
  Sharon: Poor old Auntie Sylvie. Whenever I smell cabbage boilin', I'll think of 'er.
• Killed Offscreen: Auntie Sylvie died offscreen when she was ran over by two buses.
• Lots of Luggage: Dorien brings far too much luggage with her.
  Dorien: Only the poor travel light, Tracey.
• Mile-High Club: Dorien has sex with a man twice in the airplane toilet, but Sharon doesn't count it because they're still on the runway.
  Dorien: I've always wanted to join the mile-high club. Hopefully, that should earn me honorary life membership.
  Sharon: I doubt it, you daft tart. We ain't taken off yet. We're still on the flippin' runway!
  Dorien: Oops.
• Malaproper: Dorien says "cackheads" when she means "crackheads".
• Missing Mum: It's revealed that Mavis Bullock, the sisters' true mother, died 10 years prior to the events of the episode.
• One-Shot Character: Richard Branson, Gordon, George Hamilton, George Wendt, Sydnee, Roger, Charles, Lionel Blair, Alfie Conroy and the other George Hamilton.
• One-Steve Limit:
  • A One-Shot Character is named Roger, which was the name of two of Dorien's off-screen lovers back in "Time and Tides" and "All Gone Pear Shaped".
  • As it turns out, the sisters' real father shares the same name as actor George Hamilton, although they themselves don't realize it, thinking that they're one and the same, until the very end of the episode.
• Opening Shout-Out: One of the pictures of the sisters seen in the British George Hamilton's room is a picture used during the show's title sequence.
• Playing Sick: Sharon fakes a turn so she, Tracey and Dorien can get off the tour bus.
• Plot-Triggering Death: Auntie Sylvie's death and subsequent funeral leads Tracey and Sharon to find out the names of their birth parents, and think their father is George Hamilton.
• Posthumous Character: Mavis Bullock, Tracey and Sharon's real mother.
• Potty Emergency: Before she can "recycle two pints of lager", Sharon has to wait for Dorien to have a shag in the airplane toilet.
• Precision F-Strike: When Dorien claims she was improvising the dingo story, Sharon remarks she was bullshitting.
• Pretentious Pronunciation: Dorien and Sharon pronounce their names "Dori-anne" and "Shar-own" when pretending to be from Hello! magazine.
• Really Gets Around: Tracey is disgusted that Dorien would throw a party for her silver wedding anniversary, knowing how many affairs she's had.
  Tracey: Well, if your guest list was to include half the blokes you've 'ad since we'd known ya, you'd 'ave to 'old the party at Wembley Stadium!
• Recognition Failure:
  • Sharon thinks Tracey doesn't know who George Hamilton is, leading Tracey to remark she knows who the George Hamilton is, but the man on their birth certificate can't be the actor.
  • Dorien doesn't realise she's talking to Richard Branson, while on a flight that his company owns.
    Dorien: Now, have you flown before, Dick?
  • Tracey thinks James Caan owns a newsagent's shop in the high street.
• Rich Bitch: Dorien mocks Tracey and Sharon for not flying first class.
• Running Over the Plot: The whole episode begins with the funeral of Auntie Sylvie, now dead from having been run over.
  Tracey: What a way to go. (Beat) Run over. (Beat) Twice. (Beat) By two consecutive buses.
  Sharon: Typical, innit? You hang about for ages, then two come at once.
• Season Finale: Of Series 5.
• Seers: Sharon still believes Auntie Sylvie had this gift.
• Self-Deprecation: George Wendt claims he has no female admirers, including his immediate family.
• Separated by a Common Language: Sydnee doesn't understand British slang.
  Sharon: Uh, uh, 'scuse me, Syd. Could you tell me where the khazi is, please? (Beat) The toilet.
  Sydnee: The bathroom's over there.
  Sharon: I want a slash, not a shower.
• Sequel Episode: To "Someone Else's Baby" from Series 2.
• Series Continuity Error: Sharon mentions that Chris taught her everything he knows about driving, yet "Non-Starter" established that Sharon can't drive.
• Serious Business: George Hamilton never kids when sunbathing is concerned.
• Shout-Out:
  • The name of the episode is a reference to the movie It Happened In Hollywood.
  • Sharon compares Darryl and Chris to "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid".
  • Tracey briefly mentions Mensa.
  • Sharon sarcastically mentions that for Dorien and Marcus' silver wedding anniversary, Elizabeth II is going to give him a Victoria Cross for bravery.
  • Tracey tells Dorien that she's spent more time staring at ceilings than Michelangelo Buonarroti.
  • As she tries (and fails) to track down her real father, Tracey moans that "Another one bites the dust".
  • Melanie Fishman plans to get half the Arsenal team to appear at her birthday.
  • When Sharon tells Dorien that she and Tracey are celebrity children, Dorien remarks that she didn't know King Kong was allowed to mate.
  • Dorien brings up that George Hamilton would date Mavis Bullock, considering the beautiful women he also dated like Joan Collins or Elizabeth Taylor.
  • Darryl tries to warn Tracey about going to LA by telling her about what happened to Rodney King.
  • Darryl complains he'll be in prison so long that by the time he gets out, Macaulay Culkin will be the American President.
  • When the girls drive past Grauman's Chinese Theatre, there are banners advertising Harrison Ford in The Fugitive and Mel Gibson (presumably in The Man Without a Face).
  • Sharon calls the crappy motel the "Hotel California".
  • Sharon thinks Mickey Mouse would fall in love with Dorien at first sight if he saw how she was dressed.
  • George Wendt guards a beer cooler, referencing how he played the beer-loving Norm Peterson on Cheers.
  • Dorien fangirls over James Caan.
  • Tracey mentions that Madonna and Barbra Streisand are included in the tours of stars' homes, while on said tour, the bus passes the home of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore.
  • Tracey and Sharon watch Hollywood Tonight!, where they learn that George Hamilton is making a new TV mini-series for Universal.
  • "Oh, Pretty Woman" by Roy Orbison plays when the girls' shopping trip begins, referencing Pretty Woman.
  • Tracey, Sharon and Dorien pass the clock tower from Back to the Future when trying to escape security.
  • Dorien briefly mistakes a woman at the restaurant for Sharon Stone, but realises she isn't because she's wearing underwear, unlike in her famous scene from Basic Instinct.
  • When Sharon realises Dorien only brought her and Tracey to LA for selfish reasons, Dorien remarks they should've expected it as after all she isn't Cilla Black.
• Speak in Unison: When Tracey lies that the girls are from Hello! magazine, Sharon and Dorien give a cheery "Hello" to Sydnee.
• Special Guest: George Hamilton and George Wendt as themselves.
• Stalker without a Crush: Through the girls' attempts to meet George Hamilton, they have several run-ins with George Wendt which results in Dorien being mistaken for a stalker and arrested.
• Starts with Their Funeral: The opening scene of this episode is Auntie Sylvie's funeral.
• Take That!:
  • When Sharon starts yelling, Tracey warns her that they are at a funeral, not Petticoat Lane Market.
  • Dorien tells Sharon that if she wanted to embarrass herself, then she'd be a contestant on Stars in Their Eyes.
  • Dorien tells a tired Tracey and Sharon that they look like they should be selling copies of The Big Issue.
  • Sharon remarks that even Emmerdale is exciting compared to being married to Chris.
  • Dorien doesn't like to be associated with tourists:
    Dorien: Tourists come from Basildon, wear cheap knitwear an' watch GMTV!
• Wardrobe Malfunction: Dorien's rear is exposed when a guard dog rips her shorts.
• Yiddish as a Second Language: Auntie Sylvie's letter mentions she had to "keep shtum".

---