Roseanne

*In the first episode featuring David Healy, he is introduced as Kevin Healy. However, in the episode "Everyone Comes to Jackie's", Roseanne says (speaking of Darlene's control over David), "David isn't even his real name - she just made that up!" On another episode, Darlene and David are filling out their college applications in the car, and Darlene points out that David left the space for his middle name blank. He admits that his middle name is Maurice. (I remember that!)

*Shelley Winters plays Estelle Parsons' mother in the show, but she is only seven years older in real life.

*Featured the first same-sex kiss on American network television.

*Even though Sal Barone played D.J. in only the first episode, his name continued to appear in the credits for most of the first season.

*All the exterior shots going to and coming from commercial breaks are shots of various city streets and buildings in Evansville, IN. This is where Matt Williams, the executive producer, attended college.

*DJ stands for David Jacob

*Alicia Goranson's request to wear her hair shorter as Becky was originally turned down by the producers. Goranson took her case to Roseanne, who solved the issue by taking up a pair of scissors and hacking Goranson's hair short then and there.

*In Alicia Goranson's first episode after her absence, she's in the kitchen and Darlene comes in and says, "Where the hell have you been?", referring to her replacement by Sarah Chalke.

*Not only did two actresses play Becky (Alicia Goranson and Sarah Chalke) but there were also two D.Js (Sal Barone and Michael Fishman), two actresses playing Dan's mother Audrey Conner (Ann Wedgeworth and Debbie Reynolds), three actors playing Crystal's son Lonnie (Josh C. Williams, Luke Edwards and Kristopher Kent Hill) and two actors playing DJ's best friend Todd (Troy Davidson and Adam Hendershott)

*'Sara Gilbert' received story credit for the 1992 episode "Don't Make Me Over"; she was 17 at the time.

*"Corn" (the vegetable) is shown or mentioned in every episode. (usually creamed corn)

*The Rooster shirt is in almost every episode. In one episode, each cast member ends up wearing the Rooster shirt. Even Andy.

*All three of Roseanne's husbands (Bill Pentland, Tom Arnold, and Ben Thomas) made at least one guest appearance on the show.

*The show's original title was "Life and Stuff".

*In "The Courtship of Eddie, Dan's Father", Crystal's blind date Donald asks Dan about the design of the Conner's kitchen. Dan says he didn't design it, and when asked who did, Dan responds, "Some guy named Garvin Eddy." Garvin Eddy is the production designer on a number of sitcoms, including this one.

*During the last four seasons of the show, recurring guest stars Johnny Galecki (David) and Glenn Quinn (Mark) actually appear in more episodes than their on-screen girlfriends/wives Sara Gilbert (Darlene) and Sarah Chalke/Lecy Goranson (Becky)

*Early during the first season, Roseanne frequently butted heads with the show's creator Matt Williams. Williams worked as the executive producer for the show's first thirteen episodes, but quit when Roseanne vehemently refused to say to her on-screen husband, "Well, you're my equal in bed, but that's it." Roseanne felt it was a line her character would never say.

*Although Alicia Goranson returned in the eight season to play Becky, Sarah Chalke, her replacement, still played Becky in some episodes that season. When Goranson left the show again at the end of the season, Chalke took on the role of Becky full time again.

*Sal Barone was originally cast as D.J. and appeared in the pilot. However, there was some friction on the set between Barone and Sara Gilbert so his mother took him off the show.

*George Clooney appeared in the first season, as Roseanne's boss at the factory where she worked.

*In the episode "Father's Day" Ed mentions that Dan's mother was eight months pregnant when Dan was three, meaning he has at least one sibling. A sister was referenced in one of the earlier episodes but never talked about again. The reference may have been cut out when the series went into syndication.

The role of Archie Bunker off tv's All In The Family was to be played by actor Mickey Rooney.

Actress Telma Hopkins was to star opposite Bill Cosby as his wife in CBS's Cosby but the two couldn't get along, so Cosby insisted on teaming once again with Phylicia Rashaad.


Late actress Mabel King was written off tv's What's Happening!! due to contract disputes and wanting to venture in other projects such as movies.

The ideal concept of tv’s Good Times came from Eric Monte and Mike Evans, better known as the first Lionel off The Jeffersons.


Family Matters was a spin-off of Perfect Strangers.

Gilligan's Island
*Carroll O'Connor (Archie Bunker on "All In the Family) tested for the role of the skipper, Dabney Coleman (Mr. Drysdale in the Beverly Hillbillies Movie) tested for the role of the professor, and Jayne Mansfield was offered the role of Ginger but turned it down.

*The theme song for Gilligan's Island refers to Mr. Howell as a Millionaire, but in several episodes he's referred to as a Billionaire.

*Bob Denver (Gilligan) was cast on another TV show 5 years before Gilligan's Island. He played the part of Maynard Krebs in "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis".

*The original pilot episode never aired due to changes made after it was shot. The professor, Ginger and Mary Ann were all replaced with new actors. Ginger and Mary Ann were changed from secretaries to a movie star and a farmer's daughter.

*The Gilligan's Island theme song lyrics originally went: ... The movie star, and the rest ... and was changed to ... The movie star ... The Professor and Mary Ann ... After all, it wasn't fair that all of the actors except the professor and Mary Ann were referred to in the song!

*Jim Backus (Mr. Howell) provided the voice for the well-known cartoon charachter Mr. Magoo.

*Gilligan was the only character that never had his full name mentioned on the TV show. Some of the people associated with Gilligan's Island say his first name was supposed to be "Willy" but Bob Denver insists that he always believed that Gilligan was his first name!

WKRP in Cincinatti
*WKRP was suppossedly at 1530 on the AM dial and the station's mascot was a Carp (fish).

*There was no real radio station in Cincinnati with the call letters WKRP but, after the show began, a station in Georgia applied for those letters and got them. The producers of the TV show wanted to sue but the FCC said that only a legitimate radio station can own the rights to call letters. By the way, there was a "WKRC" in Cincinnati before the show started.

*Several times during the show a character would talk about "Mayor Springer." Today, we know his as "Jerry Springer" the talk-show host. Yes, he was actually the mayor of Cincinnati at that time!

*Loni Anderson was the 1st runner-up in the 1964 Miss Minnesota contest.

*In the pilot episode, it's stated that WKRP is a 50,000 watt station. In the rest of the series, it's referred to as a 5,000 watt station.

*Doctor Johnny Fever had been fired from a job in Los Angeles for saying the word "Booger" on the air.

*The TV show was nominated for 2 Emmys and 3 Golden Globes, all for Loni Anderson as Best Actress. Unfortunately, she didn't win any of them.

Love Boat
*This series was based upon Jeraldine Saunders' novel titled, "The Love Boats". She wrote the book from her personal observations while serving as a hostess on a cruise ship.

*The Love Boat was actually filmed on two ships. In addition to the "Pacific Princess", filming was also done on the "Island Princess" although that name was never used on the series.

*Filming took place while on actual voyages ranging from the Virgin Islands to Alaska. Those cruises were always booked solid very far in advance! Passengers not only found it exciting to watch a TV show in production, they were also eligible to appear on the series as "extras"!

*In order to maintain interest in the show, in 1981 the Love Boat travelled to Austrailia, in 1982 to the Mediternanean and to China in 1983!

*A musical segment was also added in 1982 called the "Love Boat Follies" where the regular and guest cast would sing and sometimes dance.

*More changes were made in the fall of 1985 in an attempt to stop the slowly worsening ratings. The theme song sung by Jack Jones was changed to a "hipper" version sung by Dionne Warwick. A group called the "Love Boat Mermaids" were added to perform a musical number each week. (One of them was Teri Hatcher ... Who would later star on "Lois and Clark" and "Desperate Housewives"). A casino was added to the ship. Airtime was also moved from 9:00 to 10:00 PM. Those changes didn't help. By the spring of 1986, a final attempt to save the show was made by giving Captain Stubing a love interest and eventually having him marry.

*The Love Boat Mermaids were played by: Teri Hatcher (Amy), Nanci Lynn Hammond (Jane), Tori Brenno (Maria), Beth Myatt (Mary Beth), Debra Johnson (Patti), Macarena (Sheila), Andrea Moen (Starlight) and Deborah Bartlett (Susie). You probably know Teri Hatcher better from her roles on "Lois and Clark" and "Desperate Housewives"

*It was sad for hardcore viewers when the series ended in 1986 but that wasn't the last time we saw the crew of the Pacific Princess. In addition to a number of TV specials the following season and a TV reunion movie in 1990, they also got together on October 30, 1998 for Vicki's Wedding on episode #10 of "Love Boat: The Next Wave"! Julie and Doc were also pretty "Lovey-Dovey" on that episode. Only Fred Grandy did not appear. He had become a politician by that time and was trying diligently to lose his "Gopher" image!

Blossom
*In the pilot, the younger of Blossom's elder brothers was called Donnie. In the series he was renamed Joey. The role was played by 'Joey Lawrence' in both titles.

*ALF (from the series ALF) was a credited guest star as himself in episode

*According to the series pilot, the character 'Six' was named because of the number of beers her parents drank the night of Six's conception. This minutiae was downplayed later in the series, referring to her birth order instead.

*In the pilot Blossom's parents were married.

*A writer from the show named the character "Six" after a friend he knew from high school whose name is Seven.

*The show often contained references to another NBC show, Seinfeld, and vice versa.

Fantasy Island
*Michelle Pfeiffer made her 2nd ever on screen appearance on the episode "Elizabeth's Baby/The Artist and the Lady" which aired on January 17, 1981. It was her first "speaking" part. She had only one line and played the role of "Deborah Dare".

*Hervé Villechaize was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in 1982 for Best Supporting Actor in a TV Show, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV.

*The Fantasy Island plane (dee plane, dee plane) was owned by author Richard D. Bach (author of, "Jonathan Livingston's Seagull") before the series began and was put up for auction after the show ended. It should be quite the collector's item as it had been signed by all of the show's guest stars which included quite a number of the television stars of that time.

*Ricardo Montalban hurt his back in 1951 while filming "Across the Wide Missouri". He had to have an operation on his spine that took over nine hours to complete! He had credited roles in more than 80 movies (including TV movies) and has guest-starred on more than 50 TV shows! He also appeared on the series, "The Colbys (1985)". Also, he was Loretta Young's brother-in-law. Loretta had starred on her own TV show, aptly titled, "The Loretta Young Show (1953)" and it aired for 8 seasons!

*The show was filmed in Burbank, California and Kauai, Hawaii.

*Hervé Villechaize committed suicide in 1993 at age 50 by shooting himself.

*The producers considered doing one episode in "3-D" but unfortunately, they decided against the idea.

Where in the world are you finding these facts? I'll have to read them all when I have more time - guess the students waiting to register won't wait, huh? :rolleyes:

From another message board. Interesting, huh?

The Cosby Show
*Clair's maiden name, Hanks, is the maiden name of Bill Cosby's real life wife, Camille O. Cosby.

*In the Italian version, the family name has been changed from Huxtable to the more pronounceable Robinson. "I Robinson" ("The Robinsons") is the name of the show.

*The house in the pilot episode was different from the series. Cliff makes a remark having four children and not five.

*Joseph C. Phillips, who played Denise's husband, appeared in an earlier episode as one of Sondra's boyfriends.

*Phylicia Rashad was pregnant throughout much of the third season. As a result, her scenes were greatly reduced and what little she was used in, she had to hide her condition, such as sitting behind a desk.

*In real life Earle Hyman, who plays Cliff's father, is only 11 years older than Bill Cosby, who plays Cliff. Clarice Taylor, who plays his mother, is only 10 years older than he.

*Phylicia Rashad is only ten years older than Sabrina Le Beauf.

*Anna was the first name of both Heathcliff Huxtable and Bill Cosby's mother; Russell was the first name of Heathcliff Huxtable's father and Bill Cosby's younger brother, Russell Cosby.

*The first episodes in the show's next-to-last season had an opening in front of a "Mother Hale" mural. However, when there was a disagreement over what compensation would be paid to the kids who painted the original mural, the show switched back to its previous season's "Apollo Theater" opening, with an added graphic for Erika Alexander, who was now a regular on the show. Some episodes began with Bill Cosby and Raven telling the viewers that it was not a repeat. The final season used a slightly modified version of the "Mother Hale" opening.

*The character of Sondra, the Huxtables' eldest daughter, was added almost as an afterthought. They decided there should be another child that represented the results of a good upbringing, hence a daughter in college. When casting the role, it came down to two actresses: 26-year-old Sabrina Le Beauf and 21-year-old Whitney Houston. LeBeauf's theater experience won her the role.

*Before the opening credits in one episode, Olivia walks up to Cliff wearing a Bart Simpson mask, a reference to Fox's "The Simpsons" (1989) taking away so many of The Cosby Show's viewers.

*The black button that Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable (Bill Cosby) wears in some of the later seasons says "SD Jr," a reference to Cosby's close friend Sammy Davis Jr., who died during the series' run.

*In the first few episodes of season 1, the only son, Theodore, is referred to as "Teddy," a nickname that is never used again - "Theo" is what everyone calls him thereafter.

*In one of the earlier episodes, Theo buys a shirt by designer Gordon Gartrelle. Throughout the series, the real-life Gordon Gartrelle worked in various jobs for the series and is listed as a producer of the show during the last few seasons.

*The show's theme was composed by Bill Cosby and Stu Gardner.

*In episode #1.13 ("Father's Day") we learn that Cliff's birthday is in October.

*Rudy was originally going to be a son, but when a suitable boy could not be find, girls were allowed to audition.

*Nobody gave this sitcom much chance for success partly because it was on Thursday night against Magnum P.I. (1980) (TV), a very popular CBS drama series at the time. The sitcom eventually became the #1 show on the air and routinely out-rated Magnum. In one episode of the show, Cosby wore a "Magnum" baseball cap.

*The character Cliff Huxtable was ranked #1 in TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time" (20 June 2004 issue).

*At the start of the show, Cliff's name was Clifford. In later episodes, he is referred to as Heathcliff. Finally, in the first episode of the last season, Clair calls him Heathclifford.

*Carl Anthony Payne II, who played Theo's friend Cockroach, was fired from the show for refusing to cut his hair.

*Bill Cosby insisted that the show be filmed in New York due to his dislike of working in Hollywood.

*The show was initially rejected by ABC but later picked up by NBC where it became a huge success.

*Theo was found to be dyslexic, just like the late Ennis Cosby in real-life.

*Much of the artwork that hangs on the walls in the Huxtable household is by renowned fine artist Synthia Saint James.

*The episode "Mr. Quiet" (episode # 1.23) was actually a pilot for a proposed spin-off starring Tony Orlando as a man who runs a community center and Ada Maris as his girlfriend. The series never came to fruition.

*Winnie and Nelson Tibideaux are named for Winnie Mandela and Nelson Mandela, the first Black president of the Republic of South Africa and his then-wife.

*Bill Cosby's real-life family was the basis of the Huxtables. Both families consisted of four daughters and one son, the son being the middle child.

*In the final episode of the series, Cliff rings the door bell and dances Claire off the stage to the song "Embraceable You". This scene was totally improvised. The doorbell was a reoccurring theme throughout the final season. (I remember Phylicia said she didn't know what he was going to do, she was just following along)

Welcome Back Kotter
*The original title of the series was to be simply "Kotter," but that was before composer John Sebastian had difficulty writing the theme song lyrics. He couldn't find enough rhyming words for the title. Giving up on that tack, he decided to compose lyrics that illustrated the premise of the show in a song called, "Welcome Back." The producers were so impressed with the song that they decided to change the series title to "Welcome Back, Kotter." The song was also released on a single which went to #1 on the charts.

*The show always began and ended with Gabe Kotter telling his wife Julie a joke, except for the last episode. In that episode, Marcia Strassman had left the set after a dispute, so Gabe Kaplan tells the last joke to a stuffed bear.

*The show was originally banned in Boston. The Boston ABC affiliate did not want to air the show at first because they thought it was about busing, a very heated topic at the time. They eventually ran the show with no problems.

*Gabe Kaplan and John Travolta both left the show after the third season. Kaplan left over creative differences with James Komack. Travolta left after the massive success of Saturday Night Fever (1977). Kaplan appeared rarely in the final season but his name was still featured in the opening credits as being the star of the show. John Travolta appeared occasionally in the final season. When he did appear he was listed as "Special Guest Star".

*A spin-off was planned starring Ron Palillo titled "Horshack". The show was to feature Arnold Horshack and his family. Episode #2.19 "There Goes Number 5" served as the pilot for the proposed series but the show never materialized.
This sitcom was not aired in Italy until John Travolta's big smash on the silver screen as Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever (1977), whose title was literally translated as "La febbre del sabato sera". This is why Italian adaptors decided to rename this sitcom "I ragazzi del sabato sera", i.e. "Saturday Night Guys".

Out of This World
*Evie's dad was an alien who lived on the planet Anterias on was never seen on the show. Evie did, however, talk to him using a crystal cube.

*Evie's alien powers were; the ability to stop and restart time, materialize things into existence from nowhere, and she could also transport herself instantaneously from one place to another.

*Evie lived with her mother in Marlowe, California.

*The Mayor of Marlowe was the honorable Kyle Applegate who was played by Doug McClure. Doug is probably best known for his role of Trampas on the 1962-71 series, "The Virginian". Doug was one of the top stars in western movies during the 1960s but was versatile enough to accumulate nearly 60 guest-starring roles on TV series during his career, most of which were not western roles. Doug had good, boyish looks playing roles of twenty-somethings well into his forties. He worked in movies and on television practically to his dying day in early 1995 from lung cancer.

*The alien ships you saw during the opening credits were "borrowed" from the 1979-81 TV series, "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century". In the first episodes there were scenes of aliens on the planet Anterias. The robes they were wearing were the same ones worn by the Time Lords in the 1963-89 series, "Doctor Who".

All in The Family
*This tv show broke new ground with the first "toilet flush" ever heard on a tv show.

*Jean Stapleton turned down the role of Jessica Fletcher on "Murder, She Wrote". Then Angela Lansbury was cast in the role.

*Rob Reiner is the son of Carl Reiner; a huge star during the beginnings of television and perhaps best known by baby-boomers as Alan Brady on the Dick Van Dyke Show.

*All in the Family spun-off three other tv shows ... "Maude", "The Jeffersons" and "Archie Bunker's Place". "Maude" had its own spin-off ... "Good Times".

*Rob Reiner is best friends with Billy Crystal. They met while appearing on All In the Family. They were born just minutes apart from each other in New York!

Charlie's Angels
*At one point, the series was getting 18,000 fan letters each week!

*Originally, the producers of the tv show wanted a blonde, a redhead and a brunette for the three Charlie's Angels cast members but they wanted both Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith so bad that they gave up the idea.

*John Forsythe was not the first choice for the voice of Charlie. The originally hired actor showed up drunk for work and John agreed to take the job.

*The hair style worn by the charachter "Jill Monroe" was so popular that shortly after the show began, a large percentage of America's females were wearing "Farrah Fawcett Hairdos".

*Robert Wagner reluctantly accepted 45% ownership of the series as payment for a prior contract he had with Aaron Spelling. He said that he felt the show was the worst idea he'd ever heard!

*Charlie's Angels was the only immediately obvious hit of the 1976-77 season. By the end of the season, 59% of all tv viewers were watching the show in its time slot. It stayed in the Nielson ratings "Top Ten" for the first three seasons.

*Two of Charlie's Angels cast posed in Playboy magazine. Tanya Roberts in October of 1982 after the series was cancelled. Farrah Fawcett posed in December of 1978 (not nude) and bared it all at age 48 in December of 1995.

*Originally, the show was to be about three female cops and would be called "Alley Cats". Kate Jackson suggested that the women be detectives instead, that the name be changed to "Harry's Angels", and that Harry should be a voice on an intercom and never be seen. The producers used all of her suggestions except they changed "Harry's" to "Charlie's" because the tv series "Harry O" was already using that name. Ironically, Jackson was ultimately fired from the show for constantly complaining about how lousy the scripts were.

*Due to the popularity of Charlie's Angels, it was the first show to break the $100,000 per minute barrier for advertising.

The Honeymooners
*Jackie Gleason and Art Carney were first cast together on "The Cavalcade of Stars" program. Art's character "Ed Norton" was introduced on that series.

*According to Jackie Gleason, Orson Welles was the first person to call him, "The Great One".

*In addition to Audrey Meadows and Joyce Randolph, several other actresses played the roles of Alice and Trixie. Pert Kelton, Sue Ane Langdon and Sheila MacRae played Alice. Elaine Stritch, Patricia Wilson and Jane Kean played Trixie.

*Jackie Gleason did not originally want Audrey Meadows to be cast for the part of Alice Kramden. He thought she was too young and too pretty. She sent him pictures of herself dressed as a poor housewife and he changed his mind.

*In 1956, Art Carney won an emmy for the tv show as best actor in a supporting role. Jackie Gleason and Audrey Meadows both earned emmy nominations that year too but did not win.

*You know how you're always hearing that some series is filmed in the same studio where the Ed Sullivan Program was done. Well, The Honeymooners episodes were done there first!

*Jackie Gleason was born in a poor part of Brooklyn, NY pretty similar to his home on the Honeymooners.

*The often heard of "Lost Episodes" of the series are actually the sketches of the Honeymooners that were performed on the Jackie Gleason Program. They were in Gleason's possession all those years (30) and he always knew where they were. He had copies because it was in his contract that he would receive copies of all shows.

*The inscription on Jackie Gleason's headstone is his trademark phrase, "And Away We Go!".

*Everyone knows that Jackie Gleason starred in the movie, "The Hustler" in the role of "Minnesota Fats". Many people know that Jackie did not use a "double" for the pool shots as he was an excellent pool player himself. Few people are aware, however, that he got his skill by actually working as a pool hustler in his younger days!