There’s a joke among my friends in the entertainment industry: “if it’s on IMDb, it’s gotta be true.” Which, as you’re probably already aware, is just a corollary to the mistaken notion that anything on the interwebs can be trusted. Except this here stuff you’re reading, of course, which is totally and always true.

Anyway, a private (and not very guilty pleasure) of mine is to check out the plot keywords to beloved film entries on IMDb. Take, for example, Fight Club, with main-page keywords of “Gore, Cigarette Smoking, Exploding Building, Actor Talks To Audience, Sex Scene,” all of which are, indeed, present in the plot, but none of which would be the first words you’d use to describe the film.

Even not-so-beloved movies have mysteriously-derived, main-page plot keywords. Like Hostel: “Female Frontal Nudity, Dead Friend, Missing, Toilet, Scissors.” Um, right. Clicking on the expanded list of keywords reveal “Laughing,” “Water,” “Dancing,” Bubble Gum” and “Male Nudity,” though I can’t quite remember any male nudity in Hostel. I certainly remember the male nudity of hunky director Eli Roth in the DVD extras, but I don’t think that’s what the plot keyword list is for.

A more detailed perusal of Hostel’s keyword list reveals the presence of both “underwear” and “male underwear.” Now we’re talkin’. Clicking on “Male Underwear” reveals this 51-title list:

1. Burti da moedani (1961) 8.8/10
2. “Quantum Leap” (1989) 7.9/10
3. The Ice Storm (1997) 7.5/10
4. Mala educación, La (2004) ”
5. Medium Cool (1969) 7.3/10
6. Koroshiya 1 (2001) 7.2/10
7. Bijitâ Q (2001) (V) 7.0/10
8. Gokudô kyôfu dai-gekijô: Gozu (2003) ”
9. Respiro (2002) 6.9/10
10. Swimming Pool (2003) 6.8/10
11. Spelen of sterven (1990) 6.6/10
12. Yôjû kyôshitsu gakuen (1990) (V) 6.5/10
13. Jamón, jamón (1992) ”
14. Summer of Sam (1999) 6.4/10
15. Fautes d’orthographe, Les (2004) ”
16. Suburban Girl (2007) 6.3/10
17. Magical Twilight (1994) (V) 6.1/10
18. Eight Days a Week (1997) ”
19. Bullet (1996) 5.8/10
20. Hostel (2005) 5.7/10
21. Tuff Turf (1985) 5.5/10
22. 1-Ichi (2003) (V) 5.4/10
23. Angel Eyes (2001) ”
24. Kickboxer (1989/I) 5.2/10
25. Arderás conmigo (2002) ”
26. Mr. Woodcock (2007) 5.1/10
27. Booty Call (1997) 4.9/10
28. Denied (2004) 4.7/10
29. Calendar Girl (1993) ”
30. American Shaolin (1991) 4.6/10
31. Deathstalker II (1987) (V) 4.5/10
32. Silver - shirubaa (1999) (V) 4.3/10
33. Code Name: Wolverine (1996) (TV) ”
34. The Dead Hate the Living! (2000) ”
35. Patrizia (1980) 4.1/10
36. Camarero nocturno en Mar del Plata (1986) 4.0/10
37. The Brotherhood 2: Young Warlocks (2001) (V) 3.6/10
38. Voodoo Academy (2000) (V) 3.5/10
39. Samouraïs (2002) 3.4/10
40. Hunk (1987) ”
41. The Brotherhood (2001) (V) ”
42. Curse of the Puppet Master (1998) 3.1/10
43. The Killer Eye (1999) ”
44. Talisman (1998) 3.0/10
45. Minas de Salomón Rey, Las (1986) 2.8/10
46. The Frightening (2002) 2.5/10
47. Prison of the Dead (2000) (V) 2.4/10
48. The Journey: Absolution (1997) 2.2/10
49. The Brotherhood III: Young Demons (2002) (V) 1.9/10
50. Never Submit (2009) -
51. “The Greatest American Hero” (1981) -

Now, many of these I neither recognize nor have much dispute with, as far as the plot-crucial presence of male underwear is concerned, though calling male underwear a key plot element in Bad Education is kind of a weak claim, no matter how hot Gael Garcia Bernal looked in his white Y-fronts. And The Ice Storm? I need to watch that movie again, I think.

But if, after looking over the list above, you’re wondering whether I’ve conspicuously omitted one particular, eyebrow-raising entry, wonder no more. Who can forget the non-stop parade of male underwear on TV’s Quantum Leap?

I can’t.

Quantum Leap’s Scott Bakula