35 Bits of Trivia About Classic TV We Got From A Scantily Clad Genie

I dream of facts!
35 Bits of Trivia About Classic TV We Got From A Scantily Clad Genie

You lucky little devils! You didn’t have to waste a wish on that genie since we did it for you. See, we knew that after billions of dollars and the ability to fly, your third wish would’ve clearly been for a few dozen classic TV facts. Now you can go ahead and bring a loved one back from the dead or whatever you were gonna do. 

Enjoy these freebies and all the other great stuff coming your way. You deserve it. Oh, and say hi to Great Aunt Myrtle for us too!

Mary Kay and Johnny

Mary Kay And Johnny CRACKED.COM Every episode of the prototypical network sitcom was lost in DuMont's notorious river dump. Long before Ricky and Lucy, Mary Kay and Johnny were a real-life married couple who tackled such taboo topics as pregnancy and sleeping next to your spouse.

Ed Sullivan

The Ed Sullivan Show CRACKED COM The first episode of what was then called The Toast of the Town is a particuarly huge loss, because it featured the first TV appearance of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.

All in the Family

COMEDY NERD Archie Bunker from All In The Family was originally called Archie Justice. And the show was called And Justice For All-and that was just the first of the show's three pilots. CRACKED.COM

The DuMont Network

The DuMont Network CRACKED.COM DuMont aired almost 200 series during the 1940's and 50's. In the 70's, thousands of episodes recorded on kinescope were unceremoniously dumped into the New York Harbor. That's where we put our sewage, not artifacts of television history!

Fawlty Towers

COMEDY NERD Fawlty Towers originally had a totally different theme song than the one you know. You can hear the original version only in the pilot-it got changed in the very next episode. CRACKED.COM

The Vampira Show

The Vampira Show CRACKED.COM Widely regarded as the first horror show on TV, the cult hit only ever aired in Los Angeles, and every live episode is completely lost to time.

The Beatles

The Beatles' last performance CRACKED.COM Like a careless stepdad recording a baseball game over your first dance recital, the BBC taped over The Beatles' final televised performance on Top of the Pops.

Elvis

Elvis' first appearance CRACKED.COM Louisiana Hayride was a wildly influential country music show out of Shreveport, Louisiana. Elvis made his television debut on the show in 1955, but only the audio survives.

The Moon Landing

The moon landing CRACKED.COM One of the biggest reasons that moon landing conspiracy theories persist is that NASA conveniently lost the high-quality panorama footage of the mission. All that remains is the grainy footage you remember from Forest Gump.

Jeopardy!

Jeopardy! CRACKED GOM Less than 30 episodes (out of nearly 3,000) survive from the original 1964-75 run, hosted by Art Fleming.

Sesame Street

Sesame Street CRACKED.COM They may still be somewhere in the archives, but it's believed that 60 episodes are gone for good -- including the debuts of two equally beloved characters: Linda and Slimey (Oscar's pet worm).

The Shari Lewis Show

The Shari Lewis Show CRACKED.COM The tapes of nearly every episode of the beloved precursor to Lamb Chop's Play-Along were used to record coverage of the 1964 Democratic and Republican national conventions.

Doctor Who

Doctor Who olice TELEPHONE THE OF FOR USE PUBLIC CRACKED.COM In the early days, the BBC kept nothing for posterity and routinely reused tape to save money. 97 episodes of Doctor Who were lost that way - including The Tenth Planet, notable for being the first episode where a Doctor regenerated.

The Munsters Today

COMEDIES that shouldn't have been saved THE MUNSTERS TODAY A revival, a reboot, a regret. This 1988 reboot is technically a revival of the original Munsters, since the first episode continues the original series in 1966. Cheaply made with cheesy jokes, it paled in comparison to the original. CRACKED

NBCUniversal

GameSpot

Johnny Carson v. Joan Rivers

COMEDY DE NERD When Joan Rivers got her own show, Johnny Carson instantly wrote her off. He refused to take her calls, or even to talk with her in person - she had gotten her start on his show, and she thinks he felt he owned her. CRACKED.COM

Source

John Cleese

At Last The 1948 Show CRACKED.COM This was essentially a precursor to Monty Python, featuring a pre-fame John Cleese and Graham Chapham. 10 of the 12 episodes have been recovered, but 2 remain elusive.

Harlem Globetrotters

HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS GILLIGAN'S ISLAND them CRACKED.COM In this made-for-TV movie, the Clown Princes of Basketball team up with the castaways to battle super-robots to save the island from an unscrupulous ... let's just leave it at trick basketball and robots.

MeTV

The Dukes of Hazzard

The DUKES OF HAZZARD are based on JERRY RUSHING. Bo Duke is a fictional version of Jerry Elijah Rushing, who ran illegal moonshine from his car, Traveller (named after General Lee's horse).

Source: Outsider

The Tonight Show

The Tonight Show CRACKED.COM NBC recorded over most of Jack Paar's tenure, and 10 full seasons of Johnny Carson's. Carson, for his part, was cool with it: he suggested all his tapes be melted down and turned into guitar picks.

Gilligan’s Island

GILLIGAN'S ISLAND You can see a flag at alf-mast in the intro sequence. AINNOL CHARTER P- FREE LUNCHES President Kennedy was assassinated just before
Source: YouTube

The Professor

Think it was odd that the Professor on Gilligan's Island could build a Geiger counter out of coconuts but never even tried to just patch the Minnow? A

Boss Hogg

CRACKEDCOr SORRELL BOOKE was a true overachiever. Before becoming Boss Hogg in The Dukes of Hazzard, Booke got degrees from both Columbia and Yale. He

Daniel Striped Tiger

DANIEL STRIPED TIGER WAS CREATED WHEN A CHEAP STRIP OF FILM BROKE AND LEFT MR. ROGERS' FIRST SHOW WITH DEAD AIR. During the live airing of an episode

Benson

Benson CRACREDO A 1982 episode depicts being a woman encouraged by her friends to name and shame her sexual harasser. And she does. This was decades b

George A. Romero and Mr. Rogers

CRACKED.CON George A. Romero, the father of zombie flicks, actually got his first directing gig from Mr. Rogers. Mr. Rogers Gets a Tonsillectomy, di

St. Elsewhere and Cheers

CRACKED.COM CROSSOVER EASTER EGGS ST. ELSEWHERE AND CHEERS Not only did St. Elsewhere keep dropping references to other shows, but an episode takes place in the bar from Cheers.

Cheers

Cheers THE TORTELLIS With a stacked, dynamic cast of classic characters, who deserves a spinoff more than: Carla...'s ex-husband... and his new family

Magnum P.I.

Tom Selleck is an avocado farmer. At the height of his Magnum, P.I. fame, Selleck bought a ranch and devoted part of it to growing avocados. During th

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