Did time really stop for Paul and Jamie at New Years Eve?
In the romantic storyline that was episode [4.8], time stopped for more than 2 minutes on New Year’s Eve 1995 as the lighted ball at Times Square got stuck on its way down, and the delay allowed Paul and Jamie to get together on that rooftop for the New Year kiss. The problem was with the ropes used by two workmen (Bill and Ernest) getting entangled as they tried to accomodate Paul’s directions as he started filming the sequence. Reality on the night of December 31, 1995 was less extreme but not that different. Time did stop for the revellers in Times Square. A new high-tech ball was introduced that day along with a computerized mechanism controlling its descent, replacing the (six, not two) men who had manned the ropes practically since time began. And as is wont to happen with every new technology put to work when subject to Murphy’s Law, there was a glitch lasting a few seconds. Not 120 seconds, but just under 10 seconds. An additional delay for a leap-second also had to be factored
