40 Random Facts About Classic TV Shows and Movies

Only the finest facts for the finest movies and shows
40 Random Facts About Classic TV Shows and Movies

Since these movies and TV shows put in some serious work to become classics, it’s only fair that we put in the work to track down the finest facts. Are they classic facts? Only time will tell. These movies and shows weren’t considered classics until they proved to stand the test of time. 

Like those creators, we can wait patiently for that distinction and just keep banging out more great lists in the meantime.

Young Frankenstein

CRACKED.COM YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN USED THE LABORATORY FROM THE ORIGINAL FRANKENSTEIN. Mel Brooks' opus nailed the look and feel of the lab from 1931's Frankenstein-because it was the same lab. For authenticity, Brooks sought out Kenneth Strickfaden, who had designed the set of the original movie. As it turned out, Strickfaden had kept most of the props in his garage.

Scarface

Filming Scarface took almost monk-like dedication on Michelle Pfeiffer's part. She had to be super thin for the end of the movie, and filming that scene was pushed back over and over-she kept herself so thin for it, people brought her bagels. CRACKED.COM

Mork & Mindy

Mork & Mindy CRACKED.COM Mork from Ork originally appeared on Happy Days, attempting to kidnap Richie Cunningham. The episode was technically one long dream sequence, but people loved Robin Williams' performance so much, they edited the ending and spun off a four-season show.

All in the Family

The first content warning 1971 The program you are about to see is ALL IN THE FAMILY. It seeks to throw a humorous spotlight on our frailties, prejudices and concerns. CRACKED.COM All in the Family featured several of the first slurs to appear on TV, and was preempted by this warning to contextualize them-kind of like how Disney+ warns kids about their racist crows and cats.

The Danny Thomas Show

The First Major Character Death 570 Jean Hagen Actress Jean Hagen left The Danny Thomas Show in 1956. Producers decided an unexplained death would be less controversial than divorce. CRACKED.COM

Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin was the adorable Little Tramp of the silent film era. In 1972 he received an Honorary Academy Award for the incalculable effect he has had in making motion pictures the art form of this century. Не continues to be held in high regard, and his work is often ranked among the greatest films of all time. THE CRAZY: Не used to throw custard pies at naked women. Chaplin invented the casting couch in the sickest way possible. He'd audition actresses by having them strip naked so he could mime-fondle them. Then he'd pelt them with custard pies. CRACKED.COM

Sonny and Cher

The First Belly Button After half a decade being denied Barbara Eden's navel in I Dream of Jeannie, America got to see Cher's, like, all the time, on The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour. CRACKED.COM

Leave It to Beaver

Leave It to Beaver 1957 CRACKED.COM Although not quite the first show to feature a toilet (it was edited out for being too scandalous), it was the first show to show a toilet tank and certainly one of the first to even include a bathroom.

I Love Lucy

I Love Lucy 1953 CRACKED.COM The first televised birth (well, not graphic birth) goes to Lucille Ball, who wasn't even allowed to say the word 'pregnant' because it was too taboo.

Star Trek

Star Trek: The Next Generation was only made because Paramount couldn't afford the original stars. The sky-high salaries of William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy by the fifth Star Trek movie served as the trigger for Paramount to greenlight a brand new 'Star Trek' TV series featuring a fresh crop of far more affordable actors. CRACKED.COM

The Avengers

It's a wonder we didn't have an Avengers TV show in the '80s. The Incredible Hulk was the most successful, but Captain America, Thor, and Doctor Strange all had their own abortive TV attempts. CRACKED.COM

The Golden Girls

CRACKED.COM Blanche from The Golden Girls wasn't going to have that accent. Rue McClanahan decided she needed it, though.

Sigourney Weaver

CRACKED.COM sigourney weaver actually made that shot in Alien Resurrection. It took a few takes, but there were no tricks.

The Muppet Movie

Muppets started the trend of post-credits scenes. 1979's The Muppets Movie kickstarted the trend in the '80s, which Ferris Bueller's Day Off was a part of f-- and Ferris inspired the post-credits scenes in the MCU. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM

Mortal Kombat

The first-ever EDM record to go platinum was the Mortal Kombat soundtrack. 27% The filmmakers absolutely insisted on EDM, and got booted from two record companies for it -- but it paid off. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM

The Nightmare Before Christmas

The studio wanted eyeballs on Jack. Some people at Disney suggested he should have eyeballs, but Selick and Burton just ignored them. Selick says, We were never going to do that. CRACKED.COM

Peanuts

Charlie Brown's dinky little tree comes from a fairy tale. Producer Lee Mendelson suggested the idea of decorating a scrawny, ugly tree because he'd read Hans Christian Andersen's The Pine Tree, and that was on his mind. CRACKED.COM

A Christmas Story

It took Bob Clark 12 years to get the movie made. A period movie about a kid wanting a BB gun for Christmas? Hard pass, studios kept saying. MGM reluctantly agreed to pony up the money if Clark signed up to direct another movie for them. 8 CRACKED.COM

Breakfast at Tiffany’s

MARILYN MONROE COULD HAVE STARRED IN CRACKED.COM BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S. Truman Capote's novel had a more tragic tone than the Paramount production, and the author always pictured the character of Holly as a blonde. However, producers chose to put a more positive, innocent spin on the role, and chose Audrey Hepburn. And just like that, the world missed out on a breathy, sultry rendition of Moon River.

The Matrix

SANDRA BULLOCK TURNED DOWN THE ROLE OF NEO. CRACKED.COM DE I I RHOM BEY MBY The producers of The Matrix approached a number of actors in their long search to find Neo. One of them was Bullock, and they were willing to change Neo into a woman if she accepted. Bullock wasn't interested, deciding that starring in Forces of Nature, a now-forgotten romcom, was a better career choice.

Three’s Company

Suzanne Somers was fired from Three's Company for asking for equal pay. Her co-star John Ritter, was getting $150,000 an episode, so she asked to get that (and not the $30,000 she'd been getting). Instead, they fired her, saying that Ritter is the star. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM

Ghostbusters 2

Ghostbusters 2's fur coat gag was recycled. They were going to use the gag with the dead skins coming back to life in the first movie, but they just didn't get around to filming it. So they put it in the sequel. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM

Beavis and Butt-Head

Beavis And Butt-Head CRACKED.COM The boys got their first taste of televised idiocy with a series of shorts on MTV's Liquid Television, a collection of animations from indie producers. Their first short is about them brutally murdering increasingly larger defenseless animals.

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Mary Kay and Johnny

Mary Kay and Johnny 1947-1950 CRACKED.COM The very first U.S. sitcom featured the first time a couple slept in the same bed and the first time a woman's pregnancy was shown on TV.

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Twin Peaks

CRACKEDc David Lynch's Twin Peaks is a cult classic that altered modern TV more than 25 years ago in 1990... co.and featured David Duchovny as a trans

Happy Days

on HAPPYL DAYS, Richie HAD An OLDER BROTHER named CHUCK OR HE DID, UNTIL THE SECond season. Chuck was away at college for much of the first season, an

Titanic

THE ACTOR: Kate Winslet THE ROLE: Rose in Titanic WHY SHE Winslet says she's HATED IT: mortified by her performance in the iconic role. Especially her

Evan Almighty

In Evan Aimighty, God asks Evan to build an ark. So the crew built a full-sized ark. The wooden monstrosity was constructed to be 250 feet long, 80 fe

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