producer Joe Menosky (qv) and was soon picked up by  the rest of the production team. Menosky said that he choose that  particular number because when he was a college student at Pomona  College, Professor of Mathematics Donald Bentley proved as a joke  that all numbers are equal to 47. Interestingly, the later series  _"Alias" (2001)_ (qv) also featured the number 47 many times, and  incorporated it into its ongoing storyline.