30 Bits of Classic TV Trivia That Can Still Hang in Their Sunday Night Beer League, But Man You Should’ve Seen Them in Their Prime

These classic shows are about to show all these current shows what’s what
30 Bits of Classic TV Trivia That Can Still Hang in Their Sunday Night Beer League, But Man You Should’ve Seen Them in Their Prime
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Sure, TV has come a long way in the past few decades, but let’s not forget the shoulders that these new shows stand on. Yes, the picture quality might not be as good, but you know what? The resolution on current shows might honestly be getting a little too good for its own good. Not to be crotchety old folks here, but all these new shows look like cartoons to us. 

Now that we’re done yelling at clouds, we’d like to share some great random facts about classic TV shows that we, our parents and our parents’ parents loved growing up. 

The Van Dyke Brothers

Dick Van Dyke had a brother who was both a comedian and a TV actor. Jerry Van Dyke showed up on a bunch of TV shows starting in the '60s, and got four Emmy nominations for playing Luther Van Dam in Coach. CRACKED.COM

Batman

Canceled? Really? R BATMAN ABC decided not to renew the '60s series, but NBC offered to pick it up. ABC agreed but didn't tell the art/props department, so the sets were destroyed. NBC wasn't willing to build a whole new Batcave, so Batman met an untimely end. CRACKED

Monty Python

CRACKED THANKS, MONTY PYTHON, FOR BLESSING US WITH THE GIFT OF SPAM. The word spam to describe unwanted mass emails came from a Monty Python skit that was on TV back in 1970-it didn't come directly from commercials for the food. SPAM M 10 of DE VON - more un Soup - UND WITH SPAM Classic THAN SPAM % LESS SODIUM CLASSIC nag gestion NET WT S 12 OZ Glorious SPA Glorious (340g) SPAM Classic

Happy Days

Happy Days RONNY-HOWARD CRACKED.COM The Happy Days crew started out on an episode of Love, American Style, which was basically an anthology of unconnected rom-com pilots. Their episode was meant to be a pilot for an entirely different show that was never picked up. Two years later, the characters and settings were yoinked for Happy Days.

Candid Camera

Candid Camera 1948 Candia Camela CRACKED COM The show (originally a radio show called Candid Microphone) was the first televised reality show, featuring regular members of the public as its stars.

Garrett Morris

Ant-Man has an obscure SNL reference. It's Garrett Morris' cameo -- a nod to his playing Ant-Man in an old SNL sketch about a superhero party. CRACKED.COM

I Love Lucy

I Love Lucy 1953 CRACKED.COM The first televised birth (well, not graphic birth) goes to Lucille Ball, who wasn't even allowed to say the word 'pregnant' because it was too taboo.

Mork & Mindy

MORK & &MINDY WOUND DOWN WITH A THRee-PART STORY. YeT THE PAIR STILL WOUND UP STRANDED FOR eTeRNITY. What's regarded as the series finale of Mork & Mindy found the title characters running from an evil, gun-wielding alien. Pretty dark stuff for a fish-out-of water romp. Anyway, Mork decided to use time-travel shoes to escape, sending himself and Mindy back in time. The shoes malfunctioned, first dropping them in a prehistoric cave, then throwing them into a time vortex. Roll credits. CRACKED.COM http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1vvrzl_mork-and-mindy-gotta-run-part-3_fun

Soap

SOAPWAS A 70s PRIME-TIME SOAP OPERA SPOOF. AND IT enDeD WITH JESSICA ABOUT TO ве SHOT BY A FIRING SQUAD. Soap was a mostly lighthearted comedy that focused on shenanigans and convoluted plotlines. So it was wildly out of character for the show to finish its fourth season with main character Jessica Tate facing a South American firing squad. The final episode of the final season concluded with her bracing for the incoming bullets. CRACKED COM https://youtu be/HoMLspq6H9s

Happy Days

on HAPPY DAYS, RICHIE HAD An OLDER BROTHER nameD CHUCK. OR не DID, unTIL THE seconD SEASON. Chuck was away at college for much of the first season, and his defining characteristic was that he always carried a basketball. Не didn't just disappear without explanation- he completely ceased to exist. In later seasons Howard Cunningham would claim that he had just two children. CRACKED.COM

Golden Girls

CRACKED.COM Blanche from The Golden Girls wasn't going to have that accent. Rue McClanahan decided she needed it, though.

‘80s Marvel TV

It's a wonder we didn't have an Avengers TV show in the '80S. The Incredible Hulk was the most successful, but Captain America, Thor, and Doctor Strange all had their own abortive TV attempts. CRACKED.COM

Golden Girls

CRACKED.COM THE GOLDEN GIRLS was inspired by MIAMI VICE. In 1984, NBC shot a humorous skit titled Miami Nice, starring two older actresses, for a special advertising their new shows (like Miami Vice). Execs liked it, and the idea was developed into a full series about old ladies living in Miami.

The Flintstones

Adult Jokes in Children's Entertainment The Flintstones Barney's New Head While looking for a costume, Fred makes a joke about Barney getting a costume with a second head. Barney jokes back, Why do I need three of 'em? CRACKED.COM

Movin’ With Nancy

A bald-faced lie helped get an interracial kiss on 1960s television. The TV special, Movin' with Nancy, featured Nancy Sinatra performing with other famous singers, like Sammy Davis Jr. At the end of their duet, they share a kiss on the cheek. The director, Jack Haley Jr., pre-planned to film the scene last, knowing that NBC would complain. Не also told the network that Davis Jr. had to catch a flight -- which was a lie.

The Wilton North Report

For only one month in 1987, a late-night show aired on FOX called The Wilton North Report. LIVE FROM FOX TELEVISION CENTER Though its premise 5746 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, CA Audience entrance on Van Ness was similar to The FOX BROADCASTING COMPANY PRESEN WILTON WILTON Hosted By PAUL ROBINS Daily Show, this NORTH and PHIL COWAN NORTH REPORT With Celebrity Guest show was an utter REPORT Children under 16 will not be admitted. failure. However, many staff members continued onto highly successful writing & producing careers, including: Alec Sokolow Greg Daniels Danny Zuker SNL, The Office, Parks Toy Story, Cheaper

Early SNL Stars

GRACKED.COM The NATIONAL LAMP ON Radio Hour GAVE US John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Richard Belzer, Christopher Guest, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, and Harold Ramis. It was a weekly radio show that ran for about a year starting in 1973.

Star Search

CRACKED COM TV show gave us Beyoncé Knowles, Britney Spears, Alanis Morissette, Dave Chappelle, Aaliyah, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, Martin Lawrence and more... The talent show had various categories such as singing, dancing, modelling and comedy. It aired in 1983 to 1995, and again in 2003 to 2004.

Stan Lee

JOAN LEE SAYS STAN WROTE FOR EARLY TELEVISION CRACKED COM IN FACT. IN THE LATE 1950S. STAN CLAIMED TO BE A MEMBER OF THE ACADEMY OF TELEVISION ARTS AND SCIENCES. THOUGH ITS DOCUMENTS AREN'T 100% COMPLETE, THE ACADEMY HAS NO RECORD OF STAN EVER BEING A MEMBER.

The Admiral Broadway Revue

The television show The Admiral Broadway Revue was canceled because it was too popular. CRACKED.COM It had been sponsored by a TV manufacturer who couldn't keep up with the demand for new television sets.

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Doctor Who

Doctor Who TELEPHONE 1111 use of for 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 Shari Lewis Show

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

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.

Joan Rivers

30 Bits of Classic TV Trivia That Can Still Hang in Their Sunday Night Beer League, But Man You Should’ve Seen Them in Their Prime

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30 Bits of Classic TV Trivia That Can Still Hang in Their Sunday Night Beer League, But Man You Should’ve Seen Them in Their Prime

Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood

Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood was a gentle, understated television show that aired from 1968 to 2001. The show was celebrated for

SCTV

A Canadian comedy show that ran from 1976-1981 called Second City Television better known as SCTV) turned second rate actors into first rate actors in

Star Trek

Star Trek A German network classified Star Trek as a children's show in the 1970s, resulting in some inventive dubbing. In Amok Time, for example, Spock's terminal horniness becomes a space fever. CRACKED.COM

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