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40 Random Bits of Pop-Culture Trivial That Actually Taste Better Reheated

It’s an unpopular opinion, but they’re not as tasty when they’re fresh

40 Random Bits of Pop-Culture Trivial That Actually Taste Better Reheated

February 16, 2025

One guy launched an acting career because he was a really, really good audience member at a podcast taping.

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40

Saturday Night Live

CRACKED.COM SNL is a traumatizing gig. Sabotage, backstabbings, degradation, performers refusing scripts written by women/younger members, drug-fueled BS, even fistfights - those are the kinds of horror stories former SNL cast members often recount. Toxic working environment? Hell, this is the Chernobyl of comedy. — Source

39

The Price Is Right

THE PRICE IS RIGHT RATINGS BOOST CRACKED.COM That Bob Barker fight had a huge cultural impact in the mid 90s. Not only did it become comedy legend, Nielsen ratings indicated a significant increase in viewership after Happy Gilmore premiered, particularly in the young viewer demographic. — Source: screenrant

38

Power Rangers

CRACKED.COM Power Rangers The Blue Ranger left because of homophobia. David Yost left the show after being constantly attacked for being gay, with some even saying gay men shouldn't be heroes. Не said he was called the f-slur too many times. — More: 4 TV Shows You Loved That Were a Nightmare Behind the Scenes

37

Snakeweed

PLANT-BASED FICTIONAL CHARACTERS TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES SNAKEWEED A villain from the 2012 cartoon, Snakeweed not only has plant powers, but also insect-like traits to add to his gruesome look. CRACKED.COM — TMNT Wiki

36

A Clockwork Orange

A Clockwork Orange Prison life imitates art. Alex going round with the other prisoners is a recreation of Vincent Van Gogh's Prisoners Exercising (based in turn on an engraving by Gustave Dore). — Source: The International Anthony Burgess Foundation

35

Jussie Smollett

Fallen Celebrities Then vs. Now JUSSIE SMOLLETT had a somewhat solid career for around 30 years, THEN НЕ MADE UP A HATE CRIME FOR ATTENTION, spent less than a week in jail, and dared to appear in 2022's BET Awards like nothing happened. Truly a champion of black liberation. CRACKED.COM

34

Naruto

Right-Hand Foils Sasuke Uchiha to Naruto Uzumaki Dark, mysterious, naturally gifted Sasuke is the perfect foil to the loud, boisterous, hardworking Naruto. Their rivalry creates not just interesting friction, but a unique friendship. In fact, it's Sasuke's status as a highly skilled ninja that pushes Naruto to become greater early in the series. Naruto CRACKED.COM

33

Kill Bill

CRACKED.COM FG DM KILL BILL: VOL. 1 The Bride's name is in the first movie. While her real name is bleeped until Kill Bill: Vol. 2, eagle-eyed movie viewers with a pause button can see it printed on her plane ticket to Tokyo. BOARDING PA KIDOO SEATRIX - EL PASONTENXE OKINAMAR JAPAN AIRO со C6 978 1945 best CHECK IN RESSIRED G-SMO 001 2115497747 ATAC — Source

32

Ben Kingsley

Celebrity overseas gigs Sir BEN KINGSLEY in Teen Patti This Bollywood film completely tanked at the box office, but Kingsley said he has no regrets. Teen Patti is a poker-like card game, and a mathematician and his students get caught up trying to exploit it. Yes, a lot like 21. CRACKED — Source

31

Spider-Man

The Amazing Spider-Man has a cut scene that changes Peter's character. In the scene, when Uncle Ben goes looking for Peter, he finds him-but Peter turns away. CRACKED.COM — Source

30

Planes, Trains and Automobile

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles was supposed to be over 3 hours long. That was John Hughes' original cut, but it was lost, and his guess was that it was rotting away in a vault somewhere. CRACKED.COM — Source

29

Chris Coulfer

CHRIS COULFER IS OLDER THAN DAKOTA JOHNSON. Born in the same year, the baby-faced Glee star is somehow older than the 50 Shades of Grey leading lady.

28

Black Panther

40 Random Bits of Pop-Culture Trivial That Actually Taste Better Reheated

27

Citizen Kane

WEIRD WORLD An 80-year-old review surfaces to drop Citizen Kanes 100% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. After Rotten Tomatoes added the negative review for the 80 year old picture, it drove down the Tomatoemeter score from a 100% to a measly 99%. The review, originally published in the Chicago Times Tribune, says, Citizen Kane' Fails to Impress Critic as Greatest Ever Filmed.OM — BoingBoing

26

Lost Tropes

Lost Tropes Funny suicide Suicide (by gun, train, etc.) was used as comedy in old cartoons. But suicide is serious business (unless you're Hitler in the bunker, in which case cue the Benny Hill music and fart sounds) CRACKED.COM

25

War of the Worlds

Tom Cruise WAR OF THE WORLDS CRACKED.COM Tom Cruise asked for a fully-staffed Scientology tent to be available on the set of War of the Worlds. Wait, Tom Cruise is a Scientologist?! Who knew! — 22 Bizarre, Real Demands Made By Celebrities Behind-The-Scenes

24

Rom-Com Tropes

Tired Rom-Com Tropes (That Still Make Us Swoon) Awkwardness Snappy banter can be fun, but no one talks like that, let alone teens. So we really enjoyed the clumsy awkwardness in Love, Simon and To All the Boys I've Loved Before. Also Spider-Man: Homecoming and Far from Home (which we're making honorary rom-coms). CRACKED.COM

23

James Gunn

EASTER EGGSTRA MEANINGS, AND REFERENCES THE -SUICIDE. ROMEO SQUAD & JULIET Shakespeare JAMES Gunn's FIRST MOVIE FROM Gunn got his career start under Troma Entertainment, co-writing his first film Tromeo and Juliet with Troma head Lloyd Kaufman. Kaufman has had several cameos in Gunn's movies ever since, including this one Where he can be seen in the background at the Corto Maltese club. CRACKED.COM — Source, clip

22

Danny Torrance

THE SHINING Danny Torrance CRACKED COM Actor Danny Lloyd quit acting as a teen, and went on to teach biology at a community college in Kentucky.

21

Coca-Cola

Coca Cola was invented by a Confederate vet who developed a morphine addiction. GRAGKED.COM John Stith Pemberton started mixing different drug cocktails and eventually found a cocaine based variant he enjoyed quite well. — Source

20

American Apparel

GRACKED.COM American Apparel wanted to launch an XL clothing line and created a casting call to hire plus-sized models to promote them. THE NEXT BIG THING However, they did so with awkward, offensive puns like calling their potential models 'booty-ful', 'full-sized fannies', and naming the contest 'The Next Big Thing'. The contest, of course, generated a lot of backlash. — Source: 29 Companies That Ran Unbelievably Dumb Promotions

19

Spencer Crittenden

40 Random Bits of Pop-Culture Trivial That Actually Taste Better Reheated — L.A. Magazine

18

Titanic

TITANIC I'm the king of the world! Leo shouted this when he first boarded the ship, and James Cameron chucked it in the script.

17

Demi Lovato

When haters dissed Demi Lovato for their weight, their sister didn't hold back. Ya know what? Here's another thing I'm just saying to all the fucking tabloids out there right now calling my sister fat, go fuck yourself because she's the most beautiful, strong, amazing person that I've ever met in my entire life, said Dallas Lovato in a video.KED.COM — Source

16

Jolene

Dolly Parton's Jolene is about a red-headed clerk who had a crush on her husband. CRACKED.COM The song's title is named after one of her fans. Dolly told her, That is pretty. That sounds like a song. I'm going to write a song about that. — NPR

15

Taco Bell

NASA's shuttle crew used Taco Bell tortillas because they had a nine-month shelf life. 12 Flour TORTILLAS For Soft Tacos TACO BELL Because it was easier for astronauts to roll up food, NASA replaced bread with tortillas. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

14

Superhero Tropes

WE KNOW SUPERMAN BEGINS WITH S THANKS TO LETTER LOGOS A LETTER ON YOUR COSTUME WON'T GET YOU KILLED. BUT WHAT'S THE POINT? IS THERE ANY DUMBER COSTUME ACCESSORY THAN MISTER TERIFFIC WEARING A BIG LETTERT ON HIS FACE?

13

Toy Story 3

Fin McMissile undercover: 2010 2011 CRACKED.COM In Toy Story 3, Andy has a poster of an oddly un-anthropomorphized version of the Cars 2 co-protagonist. — Source: 14 Pixar Characters Who Were Secretly Launched

12

Jay Pharoah

Jay Pharoah CRACKED.COM Hired together, fired together. Jay Pharoah lasted the same number of seasons as Tarran Kil- lam before they were let go. In an interview, he said, You go where you're appreciated. They put people into boxes and what- ever they want you to do, they expect you to do. And I'm fiery. More like firedy. Sorry. — Hot97

11

Disney

CRACKED VS DISNEY CHARACTERS AND THEIR REAL-LIFE COUNTERPARTS Moana MAUI In mythology, Maui is young, smart, brave, and fit. In the movie he is overweight and somewhat unintelligent, a portrayal that made some Polynesians unhappy. CRACKED COM — Source: Cheat Sheet

10

Daniel Sloss

DANIEL SLOSS 'll just say things that aren't even hateful, they're just, blah. Back in my day we didn't have depression or anxiety. We just called it being sad, and we got on with our days. All right, cool, that's a medical misdiagnosis. That's the equivalent of saying, Back in my day we didn't have breast cancer. We just called it itchy t*** and we died at 37. CRACKED — Source: Daniel Sloss ‘X’ on HBO

9

Saturday Night Live

NO BREAKFAST, ONLY CHEESEBURGER CHEESEBURGER BELUSHI/ACKROYD. CRACKED.COM WRITER DON NOVELLO WAS INSPIRED AFTER GOING TO THIS BILLYGOAT TAVERN JUST TO HEAR THE GUYS GOING 'CHEESEBURGER CHEESEBURGER CHEESEBURGER. WE HAD A LIVE GRILL , THEY WERE REALLY MAKING CHEESEBURGERS. NOVELLO GOT ONE OF THE GOOD OFFICES AFTER THE SKETCH TOOK OFF. — Live from New York: The Complete, Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live as Told by Its Stars, Writers, and Guests

8

The Return of the Living Dead

Essential Zombie Movies How can this movie use living dead if George Romero wasn't involved? Night was written by Romero and John Russo. They parted ways, and then in 1985 Russo wrote Return as an alternate continuity pseudo-sequel. After the ensuing legal battle, Russo could not advertise his movie by evoking Night - bit he did get the living dead rights. THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD CRACKED.COM — Wikipedia

7

Coco

Spooky films to pair with Hocus Pocus 2 Coco A newer Pixar classic that will tug at your heartstrings as you follow a boy exploring the Land of the Dead. CRACKED.COM — IMDb

6

Wonder Woman

In Wonder Woman we're told that Diana knows about sex, SO her romance with Steve Trevor won't seem weird. SHE LEARNED EVERYTHING FROM BOOKS. Steve is

5

Battlestar Gallactica

The goal of Battlestar Gallactica is to get back to Earth, somehow. The original series ends with them almost making contact. In the final scene, Apol — Source: 7 TV Finales That Went Out Of Their Way To Anger Fans

4

Gandhi

Be the change you wish to see in the world. That's not the original quote by Gandhi. It was If we could change ourselves, the -tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. ... We need not wait to see what others do. While the original misquote might mean: to change the world start by changing yourself, he actually just meant no need to seek others' approval. CRACKED.COM — Source: 20 Inspirational Quotes That Everyone Gets Wrong

3

Steven Tyler and Julia Holcomb

Steven Tyler & Julia Holcomb 9 YEARS Holcomb was a 16-year-old fan backstage at an Aerosmith concert when she met Tyler and they started a relationship. Her mother signed over guardianship to Tyler, where he was her legal guardian while they were dating each other. CRACKED.COM

2

Spider-Man

CRACKED.COM Spider-Man basically invented the Power Rangers. As you probably know, Spider-Man has a giant robot in the Japanese series from the 1970s. As it turns out, giant transforming robots were a new thing back then, and Spider-Man's success convinced Japan to try it in other shows - eventually leading to Power Rangers. — Source

1

Stevie Wonder

THE CONSPIRACY: Stevie Wonder can see. CRACKED.COM THE THEORY: Не likes basketball, and once caught a falling mic stand: two things typical of the sighted! — Source: 29 Wild Theories That Really Are Out There

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