27 Random Bits of TV Trivia That Were Meant to Make a Single-Episode Appearance But Have Become an Integral Part of the Cast

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27 Random Bits of TV Trivia That Were Meant to Make a Single-Episode Appearance But Have Become an Integral Part of the Cast

Well, this is a pleasant surprise. Originally, we were going to delete this batch of random TV facts right after you read it, but the readers who came before you loved it so much that we decided to keep it on the site for, well, we don’t know exactly how long for. 

Like many TV shows, we’ll stick with what works and settle in nicely to a repeatable format for hopefully years to come.

Columbo

COLUMBO The American TV series Columbo was very popular in Romania. In fact, Romanians were so devoted to the show that when the government learned the series was coming to an end, they feared a riot might start over what would be perceived as censorship. As a solution, they broadcast a statement in Romanian read by star Peter Falk, which averted the crisis. GRACKED.COM

Chris Hemsworth

CHRIS HEMSWORTH CRACKED.COM His very first credit was the 2002 Australian TV series Guinevere Jones. Guinevere has flashbacks of her past life as the Queen of Camelot, and although he never speaks, Hemsworth plays her valiant husband, the King.

Batman

The original Batmobile sold for $4.2 million The Batmobile from the original TV series was bought by 56-year-old who owned a logistics company. CRACKED.COM

Star Trek

King Abdullah II of Jordan appeared in Star Trek. CRACKED.COM King Abdullah is a fan of Star Trek and had a small non-speaking role on Investiga- tions, a 1995 episode of the TV series Star Trek: Voyager.

Mad Men

Mad Men was partly inspired by a particular old-school French movie. The movie is Les Bonnes Femmes, and it was shot in Paris, in the era in which Mad Men takes place - and it influenced the show's production design. CRACKED.COM

Fargo

CRACKED.COM On-Screen Couples That Became Real Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons They met on the set of the TV series Fargo, and bonded over the fact they were both child actors. They had two children together, then married in 2022.

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 Incredible Hulk

CRACKED In the classic The Incredible Hulk TV series, as in the comics, the Hulk owes his powers to an overdose of gamma radiation. Unfortunately, gamma radiation plus human body equals diarrhea, radiation sickness, infertility and even cancer. Nothing incredible about that.

The Sopranos

The Sopranos was meant to be a movie. Creator David Chase conceived the story of Tony Soprano as a feature-length film. Не was eventually convinced that his pitch would make a great TV series. SCENE TAKE ROLL DATE SOUND PROD.CO DIRECTOR CAMERAMAN CRACKED.COM

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

Will Smith and Janet Hubert had such a rocky relationship behind the scenes of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air that she blamed him for her getting fired from the show. VS After she got fired, Smith allegedly made some comments insinuating that Hubert wanted the show to be centered around her and would be bitter towards him regardless of his actions. Over 15 years later, Hubert - who wasn't done feuding -- said she'd never have a reunion with an asshole like Will Smith. CRACKED COM

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia

The end credits include a hidden audio message when played backwards RCG Messages include Sorry for wasting your time and money, but thanks for your money. and They got chicken in Philly. BEHIND THE SCENES CRACKED.COM

Jonathan Majors

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS JONATHAN MAJORS IMPROVISED A LOT. LOKI Director Kate Herron says that Majors kept pleasantly surprising the crew with his improvised movements and lines. For example, Majors was never mean to get up on the desk during his chat with the Lokis-he randomly did it and the camera team just rolled with it. CRACKED.COM

The Walking Dead

Jon Bernthal's screen test for The Walking Dead was pretty demanding. The screen test was unlike any other. Frank Darabont had his top 10 contenders come to a soundstage and do the scene between Rick and Shane in a real police car ... Не had all the actors who were competing against each other spend the day together and eat lunch together, said Bernthal. CRACKED.COM

Roseanne

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS ROSANNE BARR DISPLAYED A LIST OF HER ENEMIES ON THE DOOR TO HER DRESSING ROOM ON ROSANNE. CRACKED.COM Not trying to hide her aggravation to- wards the crew, Barr prominently dis- played a memo addressing THE PEOPLE WHO ARE GOING TO BE FIRED IF THEY'RE NOT NICE TO ME. This included, EVERYBODY... ALL PRODUCERS, ALL WRITERS, ALL SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

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.

Full House

An episode of Full House featured Aunt Becky in admissions scandal Uncle Jesse lies on his kids' preschool application, but in the TV show, Aunt Becky 'fesses up. CRACKED.COM

Good Times

CRACKED Good Times canned patriarch James Evans. After actor John Amos mentioned that white writers weren't realistically writing black characters, his character was killed in an off-screen car accident. They completed 3 more seasons without him. adidas

The Twilight Zone

Actors who played themselves THE TWILIGHT ZONE Rod Serling Though he wrote and appeared in most episodes, Serling was always himself- he's identified as such in one episode. CRACKED.COM

The Wire

AND THE EMMY DOESN'T GO TO: THE WIRE ACADEMY OF TELEVISION ARTS & SCIENCES The Wire is often considered one the best shows of all time-the Emmys, however, weren't impressed. While the show did get nominated for writing twice, it was never in contention for best drama, and none of the countless brilliant performances ever got nominated. CRACKED.COM

Diff’rent Strokes

Nancy Reagan DIFF'RENT STROKES CRACKED.COM In what would become a rare pre-internet meme, the First Skeleton asked a classroom full of kids: hasn't anyone else done a little experimenting?

Family Matters

Judy was the youngest daughter on Family Matters. And in the fourth season, she vanished. Her last appearance was in an episode called Mama's Wedding, and after that, the family pretended she never existed. That was the time when the show began to focus on Steve Urkel, so the answer to the question, Did I do that? is yes. CRACKED.COM

ER

CRACKED.COM A DECADE SPENT USING A CRUTCH FOR THE ROLE OF DR. KERRY WEAVER LEFT LAURA INNES WITH REAL-LIFE SPINE CURVATURE.

The Good Place (Yep, Again)

EASTER EGGSTRA MEANINGS AND REFERENCES Trevor, forever flying through the void In season three, Maya Rudolph's character The Judge sends Adam Scott's demon character Trevor flying off the walkway into the void of the afterlife. Every time after, when someone walks over the bridge in the afterlife system, you can spot Trevor in the background flying backwards. The Good Place GRAGKED COM

The Good Place

EASTER EGGSTRA MEANINGS AND REFERENCES The magic panda In season two it's revealed that one of Jason's ideas to thwart Michael's plan is to catch the magic panda, use her powers. What initially sounded like just another whimsical thing Jason would say soon turned into a running gag, with a panda teleporting in the background of frames all over the place. The Good Place CRACKED.COM

30 Rock

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

Loki

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS KEVIN FEIGE PUSHED FOR THE SHOW TO BE AS WEIRD AS IT COULD. LOKI STUDIO Director Kate Herron says that she was pleasantly surprised by how open Feige was to all the weird ideas she had. Sometimes I'd pitch stuff and be like, 'this is too weird' and he'd say 'No, go weirder. CRACKED.COM

The Sopranos

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS CRACKED.COM DAVID CHASE WANTED STEVEN VAN ZANDT TO PLAY TONY. PTONS HAMP NATIONAL INTER FESTIVAL FILM HAMP HAMPTON ONS INTER INTER ATIONAL FILM F M ESTIVAL 181 Söpranos Chase says he originally wanted the musician to play the lead, however, HBO didn't want to give the role to an inexperienced actor. In order to include Zandt on the show, Chase wrote the part of Silvio Dante specifically for him.

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