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40 Random Bits of Pop-Culture Trivia to Curdle Your Grey Matter

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40 Random Bits of Pop-Culture Trivia to Curdle Your Grey Matter

May 04, 2025

Adam McKay threatened to quit SNL, so Lorne Michaels let him choose his own professional title. That was a big mistake.

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40

The Leftovers

The finale of The Leftovers definitely, 100%, took place in the real world. Creator Damon Lindelof says it's critical that everybody understands that this finale is taking place in a real space. CRACKED COM — Source

39

Whoopi Goldberg

Caryn Elaine Johnson's stage name, Whoopi Goldberg, has real life origins. In 2006, she told The New York Times Here's the thing. When you're performing on stage, you never really have time to go into the bathroom... if you get a little gassy, you've got to let it go. So people used to say to me, You are like a whoopee cushion. CRACKED.COM — source: The New York Times

38

Hook

One of Hook's most iconic scenes was a total surprise to some of the actors involved. When Peter Pan (Robin Williams) passes his sword to Thud Butt, nobody except Williams and Steven Spielberg knew Thud would get it. CRACKED.COM — Source

37

John Lithgow

CRACKED JOHN LITHGOW'S ANCESTOR WAS ON THE MAYFLOWER. His 9th great-grandfather William Bradford's name was found in the passenger log of the Mayflower. Не was the Governor of this new colony, and he's also an ancestor of the Baldwins, Clint Eastwood, and Sally Field. — Source

36

Thor

THOR BTS FACTS AND EASTER EGGS THOR THE DUTCH ANGLES WERE A TRIBUTE TO THE COMIC. When comic fans see Dutch angles, they're often reminded of the campy 1966 Batman TV show, but director Kenneth Branagh used them to honor the Thor comics and the diagonal panels he saw within them. CRACKED.COM — Source: ScreenCrush/YouTube

35

Kevin Spacey

Cringey Cameos The Man Who Drew God Kevin Spacey This is actually a coming appearance that travels back in time and makes us go yikes right now. Spacey will appear as a police detective investigating (get this) a man wrongly accused of molesting a child. Classy. CRACKED.COM — Source: Wikipedia

34

Schitt’s Creek

EASTER EGGSTRA REFERENCES & HIDDEN MEANINGS CRACKED.COM SCHITT'S CREEK The Drip scene When the Roses move into the motel, a plot point sees Eugene Levy's character having to deal with a leaky roof and water dripping on his head while he's trying to sleep. Levy hated this scene because he hates messing up his hair, and his son Dan Levy knew this...which is why he wrote the bit. — Source: 16 Easter Eggs And Hidden Meanings In 'Schitt's Creek'

33

Death Stranding

TELL US NOW. Death Stranding CRACKED Jesse R. says these clever devs had you replenish your stamina with Monster energy drinks. You can hardly tell it's an ad!

32

Raiders of the Lost Ark

They used cayenne pepper for the plane fight in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Spielberg didn't want blood splashing around when Marion shoots the truckload of Nazis who arrive at the end, so he asked for a sort of mist, a dust feel. The only thing they could get for — Source: LATimes

31

Zachary Levi

Shazam's Zachary Levi was being considered for Quill in Guardians of the Galaxy. Although he didn't make the cut, he was so good that James Gunn stron — Source: ComicBook.com

30

Jim Carrey

Jim Carrey came up with the Big gulps? line in Dumb and Dumber on the spot. REK The two guys standing there weren't even in the moviec they were jus — Source: Reddit

29

Lindsay Lohan

21 Beloved Celebrities Who Melted Down In Spectacular Ways - Later, when she refused
to strip for a crucial orgy scene, director Paul Schrader had had — Read More: The 5 Most Hilarious Actor Meltdowns Behind Famous Movies

28

Neil Young

Rock legend Neil Young invented a new remote control system for model trains. His son has cerebral palsy, and needed an easier way to operate his mode — Source: 7 Celebrities Who Invented Amazing Things on the Side

27

Paris Jackson

When an anonymous troll commented that Paris Jackson had put on weight... Replying to @Parislackson yes you have out on a little weight 3:22 PM-1Apr 2

26

Titanic

In the movie Titanic, William Murdoch is a murderer - but he was a hero. In the movie, Murdoch (the First Officer) not just committed murder, but eventually killed himself, while in reality, he organized the launch of the lifeboats on the Titanic's starboard side and went down with the ship. CRACKED.COM — Source

25

Rihanna

Celebrity Items Sold in Auctions APD Sorry 19L of STEVE SCHOROFF - An iPhone Rihanna Broke - - - 2 Rihanna accidentally dropped the iPhone of L.A. Police Commission President Steve Soboroff when trying to take a selfie together. She paid for a new phone, autographed the broken one, and donated $25,000 to the L.A. Police Foundation, but Soboroff put the autographed cracked phone on eBay and raise an additional $65,500 for the fund. CRACKED.COM — Source

24

Nintendo

Nintendo is over 130 years old. T BUARDE PLAYING TRADE CARDS MARK THE NINTENDO PLAYING CARD GO SHOMEN-DORI OHASHI, KYOTO. JAPAN. They've sold playing cards, ramen, and even tried their hand at love hotels. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

23

Fleetwood Mac

Wrong Lyrics Fleetwood Mac Dreams Thunder only happens when it's rainin This isn't always accurate, since thunder can happen without rain. But it's still a nice metaphor. CRACKED — Fleetwood Mac/YouTube
Genius Lyrics

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22

Comedy Tropes

TIRED COMEDY BITS Mets THE FAT MAN-CHILD AND HIS HOT WIFE After Homer Simpson (who ironically was created to satirize the American man), the fat idiot who is helpless without his capable (out-of-his-league) wife became the biggest sitcom trope. CRACKED — CBS
Crasstalk

21

Crime Dramas

EVERY CRIME SHOW EVER: CRIMES BEING SOLVED QUICKLY CRACKED TV shows make it seem like crimes are solved in no time, but in reality, it can take a really long time. And then there's the trial and conviction process, which can take even longer. So, it's not nearly as quick as it looks on TV. — Family Martial Law / TV Guide

20

Suge Knight and Dr. Dre

CRACKED SUGE KNIGHT AND DR. DRE Suge Knight and Dr. Dre had been beefing for a while, and it all came to a head when Suge went to the set of a commercial. Не got turned away by Dre's security, and after that, he got into a fight with his friend and ended up running him over with his truck. — XXL Mag / KPCC / Britannica

19

Mark Zuckerberg

Personal Habits of Billionaires Mark Zuckerberg takes eating meat to a whole new level Zuckerberg has set himself the challenge of becoming a vegetarian by slaughtering his own meat, and has expressed his belief that meat eaters should take responsibility and be thankful for what they eat. CRACKED — Frederic Legrand - COMEO/Shutterstock, Dudarev Mikhail/Shutterstock
The Guardian

18

Jonathan and Christopher Nolan

Jonathan and Christopher Nolan CRACKED.COM The Nolan brothers have another brother who is arguably far more interesting. In 2010, Matthew Nolan was accused of kill- ing a financier in the course of attempting to extract money out of (i.e. torturing) him on behalf of a drug trafficker in Costa Rica, after which he made an elaborate but thwarted plan to escape from jail. In the end, the U.S. found insufficient evidence to extradite Nolan to Costa Rica to face the charges, so he's still out there. Just something to think about next time you consider trashing a Nolan movie. — Far Out Magazine

17

H.E.R.B.I.E.

Obnoxious Sidekicks Fantastic Four H.E.R.B.I.E. Humanoid Experimental Robot, B-type, Integrated Electronics was created for the Fantastic Four cartoon as a replacement for the Human Torch. OK, whose idea was it to replace a fire dude with a small Fisher-Price toy? CRACKED.COM

16

The Terminator

PEOPLE YOU DON'T WANT TO FIGHT THE TERMINA TOR He'll be back. And back. And back. YOUR CHANCES AGAINST HIM: 0.0 (unless you manage to reprogram him). CRACKED.COM

15

Rainn Wilson

CRACKED.COM celebrities who play D&D Rainn wilson ~ 20 The Office star played D&D in his youth 8 16 اج and went to gaming conventions in the 12 10 1980s. Не considers himself a LARPer and and revisits these interests in his spare time. — Sources: Good Morning America/YouTube, Dungeons & Dragons

14

Hannibal

LOVE & MURDER HANNIBAL All Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter want is to kill each other. Because that's how much they love each other. It's like a Good Charlotte song. CRACKED.COM

13

The Big Bang Theory

... TELL US NOW. THE BIG BANG THEORY Alan R. says, I thought it was funny at first. Once the nerds started getting more girls than a Chippendales dancer and impossible situations like going into space, I hated everything about that show. CRACKED.COM

12

Speed Racer

CRACKED.COM In the original Japanese version of Speed Racer, Speed's name is... Go Mifune. His name was an homage to veteran actor Toshiro Mifune. The 'M' on his car and helmet even stand for the fictional company, Mifune Motors. — Characters Based On Celebs, Really

11

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

BREAK-UP MEDIA Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Is it better to have loved and lost or never to have loved at all? This sci-fi break-up classic with Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet answers the age-old question. CRACKED.COM

10

Wes Anderson

Wes Anderson really likes planes in general, but has a phobia of flying. I actually love aeroplanes and I sometimes like being in a plane, but I need to be drugged ... I mean, heavily drugged but not fully sedated. Otherwise, I'm just not going to get on the plane, he said. CRACKED.COM — Source

9

Adam McKay

COMEDY NERD CRACKED.COM McKay was SNL's official coordinator of falconry. After four years writing for SNL, McKay had had enough. I told Lorne Michaels that I wanted to quit, he says. But Michaels agreed to let me put on whatever scenes I wanted and let me name my title. And the rest is falconry history. — Yale Daily News

8

Fu Manchu

FU MANCHU WAS ACTUALLY BORN FROM ROHMER'S IGNORANCE. That's not an opinion - he boasted about it. I made my name on Fu Manchu because I know nothing about the Chinese! he said to his biographer. So when he wrote about the unemotional cruelty of the Chinese, he was admittedly talking out of his butt - and yet, the image stuck. — Source: The Spectator

7

Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez was a back-up dancer for Janet Jackson She also danced back-up for New Kids on the Block before she was famous. CRACKED.COM — Source: Vogue

6

Futurama

TELL US NOW. SEYMOUR FUTURAMA Matt S. shares, Everything leading up to it. All the work he went through to reverse fossilize him, then coming to the realization that Seymour had probably moved on when Fry disappeared, then seeing how Seymour never gave up hope. Man, that was tough.

5

Lance Armstrong and Ashley Olsen

LANCE ARMSTRONG ASHLEY OLSEN ARRY The bicycle cheat was seen swapping spit with then-21-year-old Ashley in New York bars. Friends warned that dating someone 15 years younger would ruin his image, a task Armstrong proved capable of doing without Olsen's help. — E Online

4

Kirby

Kirby CRAGKEDCOM was just a placeholder graphic while Kirby's Dream Land was developed. In the end, everyone thought the round blob was too adorable t

3

Tom Cruise

Eric Ford wiretapped a phone conversation between then-married Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, and sold it to The Globe. They sued him, and he got six m

2

The Legend of Zelda

CRACKEDCOMT ELDA THE LEGEND OF BREATH OF WILD THE Guardians? Piece of cake. The Four Divine Beasts? No problemo. But f**k the Apparatus Shrines, W her

1

Dangerous Waters

CRACKED.COM DANGEROUS WNATERS WAS A REALITY SHOW ABOUT AN ATTEMPT TO CIRCUMNAVIGATE THE GLOBE ON JET SKIS. DURING THE BERING STRAIT LEG OF THEIR TRIP

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