20 Things You Somehow Missed In The Truman Show

Though The Truman Show was released in 1998 and continued to feel pressingly modern in the years that followed, the film itself actually doesn't directly state the year in which it's set.

However, those who keep their eyes peeled might notice that numerous dates are visible within the show, printed on newspapers and magazines, all pointing to the show's present year being late 1996 - the same period that the film actually started shooting.

Yet the "real world" away from the set is clearly at least a few years ahead of Truman, with a magazine cover about the show being dated for 1999, while a lunch menu is dated for early 1997.

Given the enormous logistical challenge of a corporation not only adopting a child but building such a colossally expensive set, it's totally reasonable to assume the movie was actually set a little in the future.

As such, 1999 makes total sense - it's a few years ahead, but not far enough as to create a clash between Truman's hermetically sealed existence and the real world product placements shoehorned within it.