TV Trivia, maybe you knew, maybe you didn't

[lostnfound117]

THE FACTS OF LIFE
*This was the longest running TV show with an all female main cast.
*Kim Fields was only 9 years old when she portrayed "Tootie" (who was supposed to be 12 years old) on the series. In order to make her appear older, during the first season, she wore roller skates to increase her height on camera.
*Kim Fields was the first female, minority child star. She is also a graduate of Pepperdine University with a degree in communications.
*Nancy McKeon got her start in show business at the age of two by modelling baby clothes in the Sears catalog. She and her brother did more than 65 commercials! She decided to not take part in the Facts of Life reunion movie. Like many others, she felt that reunion shows just don't live up to one's memories of the series and since she won't watch such TV shows, she wouldn't appear in one either.

GOOD TIMES
*Good Times was a "spin-off" of the TV show, "Maude". Maude had also been a "spin-off" of the series, "All In The Family".
*John Amos was fired from the series after the third season after comments he made about the backstage fights in an interview. He had become a partner in a garage and, just as things might be looking up for the family, he was killed in an auto accident! His character was one of the first comedy sitcom characters to ever be killed off.
*Before the next season began, Esther Rolle pretended to be ill so she could leave the TV show. In truth, she was upset over the way that Jimmy Walker's "jive-talking", womanizing and dishonest character (on screen) had become such a bad role model for black youth. The show explained her absence by saying that her new husband had developed cancer and they had moved to the South where the weather would better suit his condition.
*Then, at the beginning of the sixth season, Esther Rolle reappeared on the show, back with her children and without her husband. No reason was ever given for his absence!
*Good Times was cancelled due to low ratings in December of 1978 and the "final" episode aired on January 3rd of 1979. Then in May, the network decided to air the final nine episodes which had already been taped and the series truly ended.
*Both Jay Leno and David Letterman were writers for the show.

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DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES

*The Desperate Housewives first episode was actually the 2nd pilot episode. The first pilot starred Michael Reilly Burke as Rex Van De Kamp, Sherly Lee as Mary Alice Young, and Kyle Searles as John Rowland. The scenes with those characters were re-shot for the pilot we all saw on the air with Steven Culp as Rex, Brenda Strong as Mary Alice, and Jesse Metcalfe as John.

*Desperate Housewives' creator, Marc Cherry, first attempted to sell the series to the networks as a comedy series about frustrated housewives. Everyone rejected the show including HBO and Lifetime. When he just slightly rewrote the pilot, adding the sexual undertones, ABC said, "SOLD"!

*Marc Cherry got the idea for Desperate Housewives from his mother! She mentioned to him that operating their household and raising children with Cherry's father away so much, sometimes made her feel "desperate".

*Teri Hatcher had some pretty stiff competition for the role of Susan Mayer! Mary-Louise Parker, Calista Flockhart, and Heather Locklear were all considered for the role! Teri was extremely happy to get the role. She has stated that she was nearly resigned to being a "has-been" when she got the part on the hit series. Welcome back Teri!

*While shooting the scene where she stumbles into a wedding cake, Teri Hatcher actually broke two ribs! With everyone on the set concerned about her obviously serious injury, Teri refused to get medical attention until after she finished shooting! What a trooper! Nicollette Sheridan read for the role of Bree Van De Camp, but was hired to portray Edie Britt. Marcia Cross tried out for the role of Mary Alice Young, but was hired to play Bree Van De Camp.

*At least as of the time this was written (end of first season), every episode except the pilot was named after a song and in every episode, someone says, "So here's the deal".

*In the pilot episode, Martha Huber says that she has to take care of Edie Britt's son, but then there was no more mention of Edie having a son for the rest of the first season.

[lostnfound117]

DIFFERENT STROKES

*The original concept for the show was different from what would come on the air. It would have been on ABC and set in an upscale Long Island town, not in Manhattan. There was no older brother, originally, and the housekeeper would have been younger and sexier. The production company balked, and ABC lost interest.

*Charlotte Rae was promised a smooth return back onto this series if her spin-off, The Facts of Life, had failed. But it was renewed, so she was replaced.

*The episode "The Girls School" (episode #1.24) was the pilot for the spin-off The Facts of Life.

*Dana Plato was written out of the series when she became pregnant in 1984, and it was agreed that it would be out of character for the same to happen to Kimberly Drummond. However, she was allowed to return for guest appearances after the birth of her son.

*When Conrad Bain signed on to do Maude, the production company promised him his own show when that one ended. By then, Gary Coleman was also signed to the company. When the planned updating of the "Our Gang" comedy series, which Coleman would have been in, was aborted, they paired them and decided to come up with a suitable premise.

*Gary Coleman wanted the show to end in 1985, when it moved to ABC, but was persuaded into signing on for another year, after which it was cancelled.

*When ABC picked up the show, the producers contacted 'Dixie Carter' to return to play Maggie Drummond, but she was unavailable because shortly after NBC canceled, she had landed her role on Designing Women, so Maggie was recast with Mary Ann Mobley.

*Alan Thicke, who wrote and sang the theme song, had to record a new version of the song for ABC because NBC owned the copyrights to the original.
*Mr. Drummond paid $3,500 a month for his Park Avenue apartment.

*Gary Coleman, who played loveable Arnold Jackson, was born with a defective kidney and received a transplant at five years of age. The abnormal functioning of his kidney during his first five years of life is what caused him to be smaller than normal for his age.

WEBSTER

*Webster Long's parents were killed in a car accident. The Papadapolis couple took him in because George was Webster's godfather.

*Emmanuel Lewis was discovered by a network executive while appearing in a Burger King commercial. He was immediately signed to a contract and then the TV show was designed around him.

*Webster called Mr. Papadapolis, "George". He called Katherine, "Ma'am" because it sounded a lot like "Mom".

*Jerry Seinfeld was on the writing staff for the show but was fired after only a few episodes. In a newspaper interview, Jerry said that was one of the most humiliating experiences of his life.

*The original title of the show was to be "Another Ballgame" (which instead became the title of the first episode). Then the name was changed to "Then Came You". When the name was finally changed to "Webster", Alex Karras and Susan Clark were understandably upset. They signed on to do a show about a nice white couple who accept and love the afro-american son of a former friend. The producers and audiences fell in love with the "cute as pie" Emmanuel Lewis, however, and the TV show soon centered around "Webster".

*Emmanuel Lewis may have been a little too cute for his own good! His mother regularly complained about him constantly being picked up and carried around by members of the crew. They treated him as if he were 6-years-old (as he appeared) rather than his actual age of 12-years-old. He was so cute that people couldn't help themselves even after the complaints. Finally, the head of Paramount television had to order the crew to stop.

[lostnfound117]

A DIFFERENT WORLD

*Originally, the character of Whitley was to only appear in just the pilot. However, she became so popular that not only did she become a regular, but it helped to make Jasmine Guy the star of the show.
*Darryl M. Bell inherited a large sum of money and controlling interest in a Fortune 500 company; however, he blew through the cash in a matter of months buying friends ridiculously expensive gifts and was forced to declare bankruptcy soon thereafter.
*The show's theme was sung by Phoebe Snow in the first season. It was sung by from season's two through five was sung by Aretha Franklin. In the final season, it was sung by Boyz II Men.
*Dawnn Lewis, who played Jaleesa on the show, was one of the songwriters of the show's theme.


THE JEFFERSONS

*The picture on the Jeffersons' desk by the telephone changes in every episode. It alternates between shots of Louise, George, Lionel, and Mother Jefferson.
*The building in the opening sequence is located at 185 E 85th Street in Manhattan.
*CBS never gave "The Jeffersons" a proper series finale. The cast, bitter that they never got a chance to say goodbye, reunited years later for a stage play based on the sitcom.
*When the show first started George constantly referred to Tom as a honky. After a few seasons Sherman Hemsley asked the writers to stop having George call him that, as he felt that the characters were friends and he felt George would not use a racist term on a friend. When the writers refused to stop Hemsley simply mumbled the the word every time he said it, forcing re-shoots. Eventually the writers stopped using the word.

[lostnfound117]

WHAT'S HAPPENING?

*Fred Berry had his middle name legally changed to "Rerun."

*According to writer Eric Monte, ABC had originally planned to do a TV version of Cooley High. After a poorly received pilot, ABC retooled it completely; "What's Happening!!" was the result.

*In the initial draft, the role that became the character "Rerun" was going to be a skinny white kid.

*The Thomases' house is actually the recycled Sanford and Son set (minus the junk).

*Mabel King wanted the Thomas family to have a mother and a father (on the air Roger and Dee's parents were divorced, and their father remarried in 1977 and was not seen again). The producers' refusal contributed to her decision to quit her role in 1978.

*The character 'Dee Thomas' was ranked #5 in TV Guide's list of "TV's 10 Biggest Brats" (27 March 2005 issue).

[lostnfound117]

SEX AND THE CITY


*The medicine cabinet in Carrie's apartment was first spied by Sarah Jessica Parker at a flea market shortly before filming began on the series. She and Matthew Broderick didn't buy it but reconsidered. When they went back, the cabinet was already sold to "some TV show". When she showed up for filming, the medicine cabinet was there.

*The naturally blond Cynthia Nixon dyes her hair red to play Miranda on the show.
*On the day she shot the scene where she goes to the Paris Cinema to see "Joy for Two" and it later rains very heavily, Sarah Jessica Parker wasn't feeling well, so she sent her assistant to fetch her a home pregnancy test. She learned she was in fact pregnant just before shooting the scene; scripted as a rather giddy, happy scene (it is in the episode, "Anchors Away!"), this obviously helps explains why she is extra-smiley.

*The ballerina tutu that Sarah Jessica Parker is wearing in the opening credits cost only $5 from a vintage store. The episode "I Heart NY", which is a "love letter" to New York according to Darren Star, was assumed by many to be a reaction to the terrorist attacks on the USA of 11 September 2001. The episode however, was actually written, filmed and titled before September 11, and shown soon afterward. The timing was a coincidence.

*The final word spoken in the very last episode was "Fabulous". The show became so popular that a tour was setup to view the New York City locations of the series by bus.

*In the very beginning of the show the last thing "Mr. Big" says to Carrie is Abso-f***in-lutely. And in the very last episode, he says that after he and Carrie return from Paris.

*Kim Cattrall turned down the role of Samantha Jones twice before being convinced by Darren Star's boyfriend to give it a try and shoot the pilot episode.
*The Versace "dress of a thousand layers" that Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) wore in the final episode has a retail price of $79,000.

*In the episode where Carrie is invited to Mr Big and Natasha's engagement party, the props department decided to make up a first name for the character to appear on the invitation, knowing that it would never appear on screen. Sarah Jessica Parker opened the envelope to find she had been invited to the wedding of "Boris and Natasha" (named after the villains in Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends), she reportedly couldn't stop laughing for five minutes.

*The early episodes of the show had characters looking directly at the camera lens and commenting on the events in the story. This element was dropped in later episodes.

*Cynthia Nixon does not have pierced ears. All of her earrings on the show were clip-ons. Sometimes the costume designers would send away earrings they liked to a jeweler to make them clip-on earrings.

[lostnfound117]

THE GOLDEN GIRLS

*Rue McClanahan was to play Rose and Betty White was to play Blanche but they switched roles because they didn't want to be typecast.

*Estelle Getty (Sophia) is 73 days younger than Beatrice Arthur (Dorothy), even though Sophia is Dorothy's mother.

*Early on in the series, Beatrice Arthur carved a large exclamation point on the set's front door.It can still be seen anytime a character opens it. [I always wondered why that was there]

*The girls consumed over 100 cheesecakes during the show's 7-year run. And Beatrice Arthur hates cheesecake.

*It took 45 minutes in make-up for Estelle to be transformed into Sophia.
*Estelle Getty suffered from stage fright, every Friday night for 26 weeks during the show's taping.

*Two of the prop men on the show used to play practical jokes on the cast and once took nude and semi-nude pictures of themselves and put them into the Blanche's Boudoir calendar which was used on the episode "'Twas The Nightmare Before Christmas".

*Rue McClanahan was found asleep in all sorts of places on the set.

*When the original pilot script was submitted to Disney/Touchstone, Michael Eisner liked it but he felt something was missing. He thought a show about three old women living together might scare away younger viewers. He asked Susan Harris to keep working on it. Harris then added the character of Sophia. When she was added, Dorothy became just another woman dealing with her mother and Eisner loved it. After Sophia was added and a pilot was shot, a character named Coco, a gay male servant was cut from the series. [I wondered what ever happend to that character]

*The writers of the show always tried to give Sophia the raciest lines. They did this because her character had a stroke earlier in life, which made her unable to control the things she was able to say.

*The idea for the show came from NBC executive Brandon Tartikoff, who was visiting his elderly aunt one day and saw how she and her next-door neighbor, who was also her best friend, interacted with each other. Even though they would argue and bicker a lot, they were still best friends and loved each other. Tartikoff thought that would make a great show, and "The Golden Girls" was born.

*It was not originally scripted for Blanche to have a Southern accent. Instead, it was Rue McClanahan's idea to do so.

*Estelle Getty was the second youngest of the four women, yet she played the eldest.

[treblk]

wow, these are great. I did't know half of this stuff.

[lostnfound117]

Originally posted by treblk
wow, these are great. I did't know half of this stuff.

I know, right?

[lostnfound117]

Three's Company
*The final episode of the series didn't air until the beginning of the 1984-1985 season when it served as the lead in to its spin-off Three's a Crowd.
*Janet and Chrissy had another roommate named Eleanor before Jack moved in.
Billy Crystal auditioned for the role of Jack Tripper.

*At the end of the second episode, first season, Jack says: "Goodnight, John Boy." This was a direct wink at John Ritter's former performance on The Waltons as Reverend Fordwick.

*Suzanne Somers was fired midway through the show's run due to salary disputes, amid a very public lawsuit and loads of publicity.

*Any time Norman Fell said an especially funny or witty line, he would look directly into the camera as he laughed.

*Priscilla Barnes (she was Terry) said her years on this show were the unhappiest in her professional career. She almost quit as soon as she was cast because she did not like the backstage atmosphere.

*The exterior shots of the Roper's apartment was an actual corner apartment-house in Santa Monica. Permission was obtained by the owners for filming rights.

*Audra Lindley and Norman Fell left the show after the third season for a spin-off about their characters. They were promised by the ABC network that if their show didn't make it past its first season, their spots were secure for a permanent return to "Three's Company". Their spin-off lasted a season and a half, so ABC was not obliged bring them back. They were permanently replaced by Don Knotts.

*The first season DVD set was rushed onto the market due to the demand after the death of John Ritter in 2003.

*In the opening credits, the brunette that knocks Jack Tripper off his bike was Suzanne Somers in a wig.

*The 1980-1981 season was very difficult for the cast and crew. Suzanne Somers began to demand higher pay than her fellow cast members and part ownership of the show. When she was refused, she would often not show up to work. John Ritter and Joyce DeWitt refused to work with Somers any longer. So her character Chrissy was written out of the season except for a 60-second scene at the very end of the episodes. In these scenes, Chrissy was visiting her family and she would call Jack and Janet on the phone. These scenes were filmed early in the day so Somers would be off the set by the time Ritter and DeWitt arrived as they wanted no contact with her. At the end of the season, Somers was fired and Chrissy was never mentioned again.

*In the show's opening (beginning with the sixth season), a toddler walks up to Joyce DeWitt as she is feeding a deer. The toddler is Jason Ritter (son of John Ritter). This is revealed by DeWitt in a bonus feature of the Season 4 DVD.

*Nick at Nite began airing reruns of the show in 2001. A viewer called the network and claimed that in the episode "The Charming Stranger" (ep. #8.11), John Ritter's genitals can be seen very briefly in one scene where he is wearing boxers and sitting on his bed. Nick at Nite deleted that scene from subsequent repeats. Ritter told The New York Observer: "I've requested that they air both versions, edited and unedited, because sometimes you feel like a nut, and sometimes you don't."



227
*Series was based on a play of the same title by Christine Houston. It had been presented at the Crossroads Theatre and Arts Academy (Marla Gibbs's company) prior to being adapted as a series.

* Countess Vaughn got her role after mentioning on Star Search in 1988 that her dream was to appear on the program.

*Sandra Clark was never intended to be a regular character. She was added to the cast after testing positively with audiences.

[lostnfound117]

A-TEAM


*George Peppard probably felt fairly comfortable in his role as the tough guy "Hannibal" as he had served in the Marine Corps.

*The very first episode of the A-Team TV show aired immediately following the 1983 Super Bowl game.

*Many of us may be much more familiar with Dwight Schultz in his role as "Reg Barclay" on Star Trek The Next Generation and Voyager.

*On March 31, 1985, during the very first "WrestleMania", Mr. T and his tag team partner Hulk Hogan defeated Paul Orndorff and Roddy Piper.

*During the opening credits of the series, you can see a "Cylon Warrior" pass by Dirk Benedict. Cylons were his enemies as "Starbuck" in the cast of the 1978-1979 series "Battlestar Galactica".

*General Hunt Stockwell (Robert Vaughn) came to the series in the 5th season episodes. He kept promising that he would help the A-Team clear themselves with the law if they would just do a few more little jobs for the government. He never fullfilled his promise. Maybe you remember Robert Vaughn in his best-known role as Napoleon Solo in "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

*The "B.A." in B.A. Baracus (Mr. T's character) stood for "Bad Attitude" and it sure fit the role!

[lostnfound117]

I LOVE LUCY

*I Love Lucy ran for 6 full seasons. During the entire stint on television the show never fell below No. 3 in Nielsen ratings.

*In January of 1953, the "I Love Lucy" introduced an eyebrow raising episode in which Lucy gave birth on the air to "Little Ricky." Pregnant with her real life first son, Desi Jr. at the time, a record 44 million viewers tuned in to watch the live birth.

*Ball and Arnaz's coupling had been labeled tumultuous with the couple having fist fights literally on the set on several occasions.


*Lucille Ball was a communist

*Desi Arnaz used to cheat on Lucy left and right. One time she beat up one of his lovers right on their yatch knocking her in the water.

*Their real life nanny was a black woman who once punched Desi in the face for hitting Lucy.

*The character that played Fred was an alcholic who stumbled to the set several times drunk as a skunk.

*After 20 years of marriage, Ball and Arnaz divorced in 1960. While Arnaz turned to alcohol and was rarely seen in public again, Ball took out a loan for $3 million and bought her ex-husbands half of Desilu. At the time, Desilu was the world's largest production facility and Lucy's take-over made her the first woman in history to hold such a position.

[lostnfound117]

Beverly Hills 90210
*To make the show last longer with the characters in high school, the gang did junior year twice.

*Tori Spelling is not listed as part of the main cast in the pilot.

*Jackie Taylor was played by Pamela Galloway in the pilot and by Ann Gillespie for the rest of the series.

*Lyman Ward played Jim Walsh in the pilot. The scenes were cut and re-shot with James Eckhouse.

*Brandon Walsh was also the name of Josh Brolin's character in The Goonies.

*Many changes after the pilot episode: The Walsh house changes to a different building (which explains the odd scenery behind James Eckhouse in the re-shot pilot scenes... it matches the Walsh house used in the remaining 10 years of the series, not the house used only in the pilot.) Also, Brandon's car changes from a Chevy Chevette in the pilot to a different model car in later episodes, referred to as "Mondale". Also, 'Luke Perry' does not appear in the series pilot, he is first featured in the 2nd episode.

*The main characters attended the same non-existent college, California University, as the main characters on Saved by the Bell: The College Years.

*In its early seasons, the show's episodes were issue-based until the producers decided it should become a teen soap opera.

*The character of Dylan was only supposed to be on for one or two episodes.

* Dylan's house exterior changed without him moving. The first outside shots showed a white house in a comfy neighborhood. Later it showed at dark wood house set back from the street and down a slight incline.

* The name of the fictional series that Steve's mom was the star of was "Hartley House".

*The role of Valerie Malone was given to Tiffani Thiessen after Alicia Silverstone had already turned it down.

*Aaron Spelling created the character of Gina Kincaid especially for Vanessa Marcil.

*The character 'Jim Walsh' was ranked #41 in TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time" (20 June 2004 issue).

*Terence Ford and Arthur Brooks portrayed Dylan's father, Jack McKay, in two episodes before Josh Taylor assumed the role.

*"West Beverly" does not exist. Beverly Hills High School would not allow the use of their name in the series.

[lostnfound117]

Sanford and Son
*Based on the BBC series Steptoe and Son. Several first season episodes of "Sanford and Son" were based on episodes from the earlier series.

*In the second episode it is revealed that Lamont's middle name is Grady. But in a later episode Fred admits that Lamont is his middle name and that he actually has no first name because he and Elizabeth never got around to it.

*In the episode, "The Lucky Streak", it was revealed that Lamont has no first name. "Lamont" is his middle name because Fred and Elizabeth couldn't think of a proper first name for him.

*The producers' original choice for Fred Sanford was Cleavon Little, who turned it down due to prior commitments. He suggested Redd Foxx to them for the role of Fred Sanford.

*The character Fred Sanford was named after Redd Foxx's brother.

*Whitman Mayo's character "Grady Wilson" is actually named after actor Demond Wilson (Lamont Sanford). Demond Wilson's full name is "Grady Demond Wilson."

*In the midst of filming episodes for the 1975 season, Redd Foxx had a feud with NBC when he demanded a salary that the network could not afford. Unable to reach an agreement Foxx walked off the show for the rest of the season and the producers were forced to create episodes around his absence. The continuity of the show explained that Fred Sanford was away in St. Louis attending his cousin's funeral and leaving his friend Grady (Whitman Mayo) in charge of the business. Oddly enough, this would turn out to be the highest rated season of the show's entire run.

*Fred originally came from St. Louis, Missouri, which was the birthplace of series star Redd Foxx.

*Besides Esther, Fred had three other sisters-in-law, Flossie, Minnie and Ethel.

*In the closing credits, the phrase "Sanford & Son was recorded on tape before a live audience" is spoken by Demond Wilson.

*In one episode, Fred makes a reference to the Mayo Travel Agency. This was an actual business run by cast member Whitman Mayo who played Grady.

*Chico, Julio's goat, was actually a female.

*This show held the same time slot for its entire run, Friday nights at 8pm on NBC.

*This was the only Norman Lear-produced sitcom that didn't air on CBS.

*The front of the Sanford House, which doubles as the entrance to the Junk Store, appears in the opening credits but was never seen in an actual episode.

*Redd Foxx was a huge fan of the '30s vocal group The Ink Spots and sang many of their songs on the show. NBC would not pay the royalties because the cost was astronomical. So out of his love for the group Redd Foxx paid them out of his own pocket.

*Redd Foxx and LaWanda Page had been friends since childhood, and she was his first and only choice to play Fred's sister-in-law Esther.

[DSTinguished1]

Wow these are great!!

Give us more!! Give us more!!!