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34 Trivia Tidbits About TV and Movie History

For a fairly young medium, moving pictures have a pretty rich history

34 Trivia Tidbits About TV and Movie History

July 31, 2024

We learned something today. Just because an art form hasn’t been around for thousands of years, doesn’t mean it can’t have a ton of great moments. Cave paintings happened hundreds of thousands of years ago, but a history book on them could have the word count of a fortune cookie. “Neanderthals and early homo sapiens drew in caves. We found some.” Boom. Done.

Hollywood, though. It really packed in some highly interesting moments. Why, here’s a few now…

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34

Peter Falk thought he was too young to play a grandfather. CRACKED.COM At 60-something, Falk asked to test with prosthetics to look older. Не didn't like how it looked. — Source

33

BEHINO-THE-SCENES FACTS THE MOVIE WAS ADAM SCOTT'S FIRST VENTURE INTO COMEDY. STEP BROTHERS Despite mainly being known as a comedic actor, Scott didn't start his career that way. Step Brothers was his first time starring in a comedy and he says the experience helped him prepare for future projects like Party Down and Parks and Recreation. CRACKED.COM — Source

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BEHINO-THE-SCENES FACTS PABLO CRUISE PERFORMED AT THE PREMIER. STEP BROTHERS After seeing one of their shirts in the trailer for the film, Pablo Cruise band members offered to perform at the premiere of the movie. CRACKED.COM — Source

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BEHINO-THE-SCENES SUPERBAD FACTS Young Seth Rogen wanted to play SETH GRAGKED.COM It was a part Seth Rogen wrote for himself, but going from first script to final filming was a seven-year process. By the time it came to cast the film, Rogen was too old to play the character (a concern that Jonah Hill had as well). — Source

30

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS OLIVIA WILDE HELPED MAKE THE SHOW A REALITY. R #SE НЕ R TED LASSO After Ted Lasso's short-lived commercial debut, Sudeikis didn't really have future plans for the character. Не says it was Wilde who told him that he should turn the concept into a TV show. CRACKED.COM — Source

29

Jon Hamm auditioned for the role of Jack Donaghy 3B Не had to settle for playing Liz Lemon's pretty boyfriend. BEHIND-THE-SCENES CRACKED.COM — Source

28

BEHIND-THE-SCENES SUPERBAD FACTS There's no bigger Superbad super-fan than WBNIW3 CRACKED.COM Not only does Eminem sample Superbad dialogue on his Brainless track, he also quotes a line on the song Ballin' Uncontrollablly. Eminem told Jonah Hill that Superbad is the 'best movie ever.' — Source

27

CRACKED.COM Riverdale's showrunner was almost sued once for making Archie gay. An early work by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa was a play titled Archie's Weird Fantasy, a loving pastiche where Archie comes out of the closet and pals around with 1920s murderers Leopold and Loeb. Archie Comics sent him a cease-and- desist letter, arguing that a gay Archie would somehow dilute and tarnish the character. — Source

26

We could have had a Ghostbusters movie set in Hell. In a script Dan Aykroyd prepared for a Ghostbusters sequel, the ghost-hunting quartet is transported to a Hell version of Manhattan (called Manhellton), run by a Trump-like demon. Aykroyd said the idea was solid, but it'd need a couple movies' worth of build-up. PEGGIA CRACKED.COM — Source

25

Blade Runner blew its budget on details you never see. Conceptual artist Syd Mead was hired for a few days, at $1,500 a day - but he ended up staying for weeks, filling the sets with stuff you never really notice (like fastidiously detailed, futuristic parking meters). That was one of the reasons for the movie's budget issues. CRACKED.COM — Source

24

A Home Alone sequel could (maybe) have featured a big role reversal. We don't know how serious Chris Columbus was when he discussed his rejected sequel idea, with a grown-up, criminal Kevin McCallister breaking into the reformed Wet Bandits' homes. (Even if he was being tongue- in-cheek, we would watch the hell out of that.) CRACKED COM — Source

23

CRACKED.COM George Clooney helped South Park become a thing. '90s Clooney was a big fan of the proto- South Park short film The Spirit of Christmas, reportedly making and circulating 300 VHS copies of the movie. Because of Clooney's pirating ways, Matt Parker and Trey Stone became well known in Hollywood, eventually landing their own show. — Source

22

BUT IT'S ALL SOMEHOW FAMILIAR STAY CLOSE, SHORTY. Indiana Jones found Han Solo's rotting body. An obviously non-canon Star Wars comic from the early 2000s features both of Harrison Ford's most iconic roles, when Doctor Jones finds Han Solo's body long after the hot shot smuggler crash lands on Earth. (There's no clue on whether Indy will father Jack Ryan years later.) CRACKED.COM — Source

21

Scrooge McDuck's first cartoon was capitalist propaganda. In the original comics, Scrooge was pretty much, well, a scrooge - but in his 1967 animated debut in Scrooge McDuck and Money, his villainish side disappears as he becomes a wise advisor, giving Huey, Dewey, and Louie valuable lessons about how capitalism works. CRACKED.COM — Source

20

The Woman Yelling at a Cat meme has a dark backstory. I H The woman is Taylor Armstrong in The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills - and she's yelling at fellow cast member Camille Grammer, for spreading rumors about the suicide of Armstrong's former abusive husband. The cat's indifference doesn't look as hilarious in context, does it? CRACKED.COM — Source

19

CRACKED.COM Zootopia's popsicle fraud happened for real. An ice cream company in Istanbul, Turkey ran a promotion where you could get a free popsicle by turning in a popsicle stick with the word FREE printed on it. Then a couple of crooks started counterfeiting their own winning sticks, and trading them for popsicles (which they then sold). — Source

18

John Stamos kept the couch from Full House. The blue plaid couch at the center of the Tanner family's living room is property of Uncle Jesse himself. In 2020, Stamos shared a snap on Instagram of his toddler standing next to the iconic sitcom prop. CRACKED.COM — Source

17

CRACKED.COM The Green Goblin was originally a demon. Stan Lee envisioned Spider-Man's foe as an ancient demon found in an Egyptian sarcophagus. Steve Ditko just ignored Lee's idea, and drew the Goblin as a guy in a costume. — Source

16

CRACKED COM In the early 1970s, CBS cancelled all its shows set in the country. Rural shows like Green Acres and The Beverly Hillbillies made up the bulk of CBS's programming - but their audience skewed old, and execs wanted their network to be young and hip. So they cancelled the lot of them-a move that went down in history as the Rural Purge. — Source

15

CRACKED.COM Aaron Paul was in The Price is Right. Back in 1999, a young, pre-Breaking Bad (and hugely excited) Aaron Paul made it to the stage after best estimating the price of a desk, and managed to get to the final Showcase Showdown. Too bad that he lost, and had to settle with a future as a popular celebrity. — Source

14

CRACKED.COM Gilligan's Island was almost rebooted in the '90s (with more cannibalism). According to James Gunn, Charlie Kaufman managed to get a Gilligan's Island reboot greenlit, with the starving castaways killing and eating each other. The project was nixed by Gilligan's creator Sherwood Schwartz. — Source

13

CRACKED.COM Characters losing their hands in the MCU is a nod to Star Wars. Kevin Feige has confirmed that people keep losing their hands on MCU movies as a sneaky shout-out to Star Wars, a franchise with a similar track record. It wasn't intentional at first, but that changed with Phase 2. — Source

12

Jerry Seinfeld has apologized for Bee Movie. According to Seinfeld, a bee having the hots for a human was not an intentional thing, and he has apologized for the uncomfortable subtle sexual aspect. Не has said, after it came out, I realized, 'This is really not appropriate for children. D'ya think, Jerry? CRACKED.COM — Source

11

STRANGER THINGS INSPIRATIONS Е.Т. THE EXTRA- TERRESTRIAL The movie was shot chronologically, with the puppeteers hidden from the cast, so the children actually developed a caring relationship with the alien. By the final scene, the kids were really saying goodbye to a beloved friend CRACKED.COM — Source

10

STRANGER THINGS INSPIRATIONS E.T. THE EXTRA- TERRESTRIAL Steven Spielberg considered titles like Upon A Star and The Landing. Melissa Mathison's original script was titled E.T. and Me, which is suspiciously similar of the awful E.T. knockoff Mac and Me. CRACKED.COM — Source

9

STRANGER THINGS INSPIRATIONS FIRESTARTER This was going to be a John Carpenter movie, but Universal went with Mark L. Lester instead after The Thing's commercial failure. Now, no disrespect to Lester (he has done classics like Commando), but he's no John Carpenter. CRACKED.COM — Source

8

STRANGER THINGS INSPIRATIONS GHOSTBUSTERS Jeff Goldblum, John Lithgow, Christopher Lloyd, and Christopher Walken were all considered to play Egon Spengler, while John Belushi, Michael Keaton, Tom Hanks, Robin Williams, and Chevy Chase were up for Venkman. Yes, we'd totally watch the hell out of all those versions. SPENGLER VENKI CRACKED.COM — Source

7

STRANGER THINGS INSPIRATIONS GHOSTBUSTERS The juvenile joke (and kickass climax) about crossing the streams wasn't in the script. Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd came up with the method to defeat Gozer at the last minute, and then changed earlier scenes to foreshadow it. CRACKED.COM — Source

6

STRANGER THINGS INSPIRATIONS THE GOONIES Richard Donner's flick was influenced by Errol Flynn's movies. The pirate ship was modeled after the one in 1940's The Seahawk, and the music makes heavy use of Max Steiner's score for 1948's Adventures of Don Juan. CRACKED.COM — Source

5

STRANGER THINGS INSPIRATIONS THE GOONIES Sloth wears a Superman shirt as a reference to Superman, also directed by Richard Donner. And his Oakland Raiders shirt is a shout out to Sloth's own actor, John Matuszak, an actual NFL defensive lineman who played for the Raiders. CRACKED.COM — Source

4

STRANGER THINGS INSPIRATIONS IT The miniseries was going to be directed by George Romero, who had prepared thousands of pages' worth of scripts and notes. In the end, he didn't do it due to scheduling conflicts and the heavily shortened runtime. CRACKED.COM — Source

3

STRANGER THINGS INSPIRATIONS GREATEST HITS A NIGHTMARE ONELM STREET Did you know that Freddy Krueger has a greatest hits album? Is this a bigger insult to the character than that Fat Boys song? If you found this 1987 nightmare for just $1, would you buy it ironically? Because we totally would. CRACKED.COM — Source

2

STRANGER THINGS INSPIRATIONS POLTERGEIST Is Poltergeist an unofficial Steven Spielberg movie? There are persistent rumors that he didn't just co-wrote and produce, but was also the real director, with Tobe Hooper only setting up shots. CRACKED.COM — Source

1

STRANGER THINGS INSPIRATIONS HE THE Stanley STATING Kubrick and legendary Hollywood graphic designer Saul Bass went through 300 ideas for the movie's poster. Apparently, Bass wasn't fond of the final poster's color, and proposed to make it red instead of yellow too dud for mools emphasis as mare CRACKED.COM — Source

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