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A-Team, The (1983)

1. James Coburn was considered for the role of Hannibal Smith.

2. During the final season, David McCallum guest starred as a villain, reuniting with former "Man From UNCLE" co-star Robert Vaughn. The episode, "The Say Uncle Affair", was formatted the same way as an old UNCLE episode, complete with "chapter titles", the word "affair" in the title, and similar scene transitions.

3. In the opening credits, Dirk Benedict reacts to a passing metallic "Cylon warrior". Cylons were the nemesis in Benedict's earlier series, "Battlestar Galactica".

4. Premiered on NBC-TV immediately after the 1983 Super Bowl.

5. A lost episode entitled "Without Reservations" aired for the first time during the March reruns of 1987. This episode was probably meant to air right before the final episode "The Grey Team", based on the fact that in "Without Reservations" Murdock's T-shirt says "Almost Fini" while in "The Grey Team" it says "Fini".

6. The gold that was worn by "Mr. T" during filming varied in weight, usually between 35 and 40 pounds.

7. Series folded December 30, 1986-after 98 episodes total, 12 episodes into the 5th season.

8. It is also noted that the 'B.A.' in B.A. Baracus stands for his first and middle names "Bosco Albert" Baracus.

9. In one episode, it is revealed that Face's real name is not Templeton Peck. The complete list of his assumed names is, in chronological order: Richard Bancroft (birth name), Alvin Brennar, Al Brennan, Al Peck, Holmes Morrison, Morrison Holmes, and finally Tempelton Arthur Peck.

10. There was some talk about an A-Team reunion, a TV movie where the A-Team was given a full pardon, but after George Peppard died, the idea was dropped.

11. With the exception of General Fullbright (played by Jack Ging), who was shot and killed in the season 4 finale episode "The Sound of Thunder", no one was killed on the show, either by the A-Team themselves or (on screen at least) by any of the villains. At the time it was considered to be the most family friendly shows of it's time. In fact, in any episode where there were drugs involved in the storyline, Hannibal would call it, "stuff". (e.g.: "I know there is stuff in there. You have to find it.")

12. After guest starring in the season 4 finale episode, "The Sound of Thunder", Tia Carrere was supposed to join the A-Team as a member for the start of the 5th season. But due to her not being able to get out of her contract with the soap-opera "General Hospital" (1963), the idea was nixed. Her character was never mentioned again.

13. The "crime they didn't commit" which led to The A-Team being sent to a military court was stealing gold bullion from the "Bank of Hanoi" during the Vietnam War.

14. Mr. T reportedly quit the series during filming of the 1985-6 season opening episode "Judgement Day" only to be persuaded to return with the episode's filming not interrupted.

15. The Spanish (Spain) version of the series has two significant changes with character nicknames. "Face" is called '"Fenix" and "B.A." Baracus is known as "M.A."

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Addams Family, The (1964)

1. The characters did not have names in the New Yorker cartoons; Charles Addams came up with their names when the television series was developed.

2. Fester was Morticia's uncle.

3. Gomez was a lawyer.

4. Wednesday's pet, Homer, was a black widow spider. Her headless doll was named Marie Antoinette.

5. Pugsley's pet Octopus was named Aristotle.

6. The Addams lived in Victorian Mansion at 000 Cemetery Lane.

7. Morticia's man-eating plant was named Cleopatra.

8. Wednesday Addams' name is a reference to the nursery rhyme that says, "Wednesday's child is full of woe".

9. The role of The Thing (credited as "Himself") was played by Ted Cassidy (Lurch).The cuff and sleeve of Cassidy's Lurch costume can often be seen.

10. Gomez and Morticia Addams were the first married couple on American TV implied to have a sex life.

11. John Astin was given the choice of two names for his character, and selected Gomez over Repelli. The son's name was originally to be Pubert, but was changed to Pugsley because Pubert sounded too sexual.

12. Carolyn Jones and John Astin decided to give Gomez and Morticia "a grand romance" as an antidote to the virtually asexual parents then common in television shows.

13. The "train crash" sequence, in which the model trains collide and explode, was shot once, and that footage was used every time Gomez wrecked model trains.

14. Jackie Coogan was originally rejected as Uncle Fester. He went home, shaved his head, and did his own Fester makeup and costume. This won him the part.

15. Thing was usually a right hand. 'Tom Cassidy' (Lurch) occasionally used his left hand just to see if anybody would notice.

16. The name of the Addams' pet lion was "Kitty Cat".

17. Morticia's maiden name was Frump.

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Ally McBeal (1997)

1. Creator David E. Kelley originally envisioned Bridget Fonda in the role of Ally McBeal.

2. Gil Bellows plays William ("Billy") Thomas. In The Shawshank Redemption (1994), he plays Thomas ("Tommy") Williams.

3. In an effort to boast ratings, Robert Downey Jr. was hired to play Ally's love interest at the start of Season Four. The ratings increased and 'David Kelly' began planning to have Season Four end with the wedding between Ally and Downey's character. Unfortunately for the show, Downey was arrested on a drug related charge right before the filming of the fourth season finale. Despite objections from David Kelly, Fox fired Downey from the show and forced Kelly to have to rewrite a brand new season finale episode that removed Downey's "Larry Paul" character from the series and rewrite and re-shoot a new ending to the previous episode so as to remove all references to the aborted wedding storyline.

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American Idol: The Search for a Superstar (2002)

1. Two brothers from Denver named Jimmy and Scott Osterman were among the hopefuls at the "American Idol 2" tryouts in Austin, Texas. Their audition, which included a cringe-making version of Paula Abdul's "Opposites Attract", had judge Simon Cowell about to deliver a scathing putdown when the pair revealed themselves to be Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly in disguise and that Cowell was the victim of a practical joke for their show "Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway" (2002). McPartlin and Donnelly are also the hosts of "Pop Idol" (2001) the original British show from which "American Idol" is adapted, and for which Cowell also serves as a judge.

2. Edgar Nova, a hopeful at the Miami tryouts for the second "American Idol", was rejected by the judges, but re-entered the tryout line, telling other contestants that the judges had asked him back. Security had to be called to escort him out. He then flew on his own expense to the Los Angeles tryouts, and sported a different hairstyle, hoping the judges would not recognize him. They did, but Nova was grudgingly allowed to try again, after which he was unanimously rejected a second time.

3. Edgar Nova from the second season's tryouts was spotted trying out again for the third season in New York.

4. At the end of the Houston, Texas auditions during the third season, hopeful Jonathan Rey from Conroe, Texas approached judge Simon Cowell at the judges' table after Cowell gave Rey's audition an unfavourable review. Rey's hand was extended, leading Cowell to believe that Rey wanted to shake his hand, but Rey instead grabbed a large cup of water on the table and threw its contents at Cowell, drenching him. On-site security called Houston police, who detained Rey outside the audition venue for questioning, releasing him only after Cowell refused to press assault charges.

5. During the Atlanta tryouts of Season 3, a young woman going by the name of Kristen Powell, clad in a leotard and legwarmers, gave a tone-deaf and rhythm-less performance of "Flashdance", which the judges unanimously dissed. Though Powell burst into tears and begged for the chance to be "synthesized" to look and sound like a star, it was revealed that she was an intern for radio station WFLZ-FM in Tampa, Florida and that her whole audition, including the name "Kristen Powell" and her foul-mouthed moral support (also a WFLZ intern), was merely a radio stunt for the radio station.

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Bagpuss (1974)

1. The "shop" featured in Bagpuss was in reality the rear of Peter Firmin's house. He decided it looked appropriate for the series and cast his daughter Emily as the girl in the monochrome introduction.

2. The names of the six mice were: Charlie Mouse, Jenny Mouse, Janey Mouse, Lizzy Mouse, Eddie Mouse and Willy Mouse.

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Chappelle's Show (2003)

1. The original opening theme was supposed to have lyrics, but the "band" couldn't synch the lyrics to the music. Dave told them to just keep saying "Chappelle's Show" over and over.

2. Somewhere in every episode in the second season their could be seen the same man in the background of certain scenes awkwardly dancing "The Robot".

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Charlie's Angels (1976)

1. The series had two alternate titles: "The Alley Cats" and "Harry's Angels".

2. The Angels' office phone number was 555-0267.

3. Kelly Garrett (Jaclyn Smith) was the only Angel to last the entire series.

4. John Forsythe was never on the set - his voice was recorded, and dubbed in later.

5. Kate Jackson was the only Angel to receive an Emmy nomination. In fact, she was nominated three consecutive years but never won.

6. Drew Barrymore owns the screen rights to the series.

7. When Farrah Fawcett left the series, her absence was explained by having her character Jill become a professional racing driver on the grand prix circuit in Europe. 'Kate Jackson' 's absence was explained by having Sabrina getting married and starting a family.

8. The Angels all drove Ford automobiles. Jill (and later Kris) drove a Cobra, Kelly drove a Mustang, and Sabrina drove a Pinto. For the record, Bosley drove a Ford L.T.D.

9. Although in most episodes Charlie was heard but never seen, he did actually appear in a couple of episodes, but his face was never shown.

10. Jill, Kelly and Sabrina were all former members of the Los Angeles Police Department. Kris worked for the San Francisco police and Tiffany, was with the Boston police. The only Angel who was never a cop was Julie, who originally was a model.

11. Kelly is the only Angel to have been shot throughout the run of the show.

12. Sabrina was the only Angel that was previously married. She was married to a fellow officer when she was still a cop but the marriage ended in divorce.

13. In the opening sequence of the first season, the city where the Angels attended the police academy was never mentioned. It wasn't until the next season that we found out where the various Angels got their police training.

14. On her first day on the set, Cheryl Ladd wore a t-shirt that said "Farrah Fawcett Minor" as a way of breaking the ice after replacing Farrah Fawcett.

15. Among the actresses who auditioned over the years for the various roles as Angels were Kathie Lee Gifford and Kim Bassinger. Bassinger appears in the "Angels in Chains" episode as a young woman who hires the Angels to find out the real cause of her sister's death.

16. One actress who was considered for the role of Tiffany was Michelle Pfeiffer.

17. The original concept of the Angels was to have one brunette, one red-head, and one blonde. Kate Jackson was aboard from the beginning of the project, and was set to play the lead angel. Farah Fawcett was the next to join, filling the blonde role, but then the producers dropped the hair colour concept and brought in Jacklyn Smith to complete the trio.

18. The surname of David Doyle's character, John Bosley, was an in-joke reference to the fact that Doyle was often misidentified as TV actor Tom Bosley.

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CHiPs (1977)

1. Jon and Ponch never drew their weapons during the series.

2. The brown van you see to the right during the intro belonged to The Children's Baptist Home in Ingelwood, California.

3. Many of the freeway chases and crash scenes were filmed on a several-mile-long unfinished stretch of the Simi Valley Freeway between Northridge and Simi Valley, California, which has since been renamed the Ronald Reagan Freeway.

4. Baker's partner was originally written as an Italian-American named "Poncherelli". The "i" was changed to an "o" when Eric Estrada was cast.

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Cosby Show, The (1984)

1. Claire's maiden name, Hanks, is the maiden name of Bill Cosby's real life wife, Camille.

2. In the Italian version, the family name has been changed from Huxtable to the more pronounceable Robinson. "I Robinson" ("The Robinsons") is the name of the show.

3. The house in the pilot episode was different from the series. Cliff makes a remark having four children and not five.

4. Joseph C. Phillips, who played Denise's husband, appeared in an earlier episode as one of Sondra's boyfriends.

5. Phylicia Rashad was pregnant throughout much of the third season. As a result, her scenes were greatly reduced and what little she was used in, she had to hide her condition, such as sitting behind a desk

6. In real life Earle Hyman is only 11 years older than Bill Cosby. Clarice Taylor is 10 years older.

7. Phylicia Rashad is only ten years older than Sabrina Le Beauf.

8. The character of Sondra, the Huxtables' eldest daughter, was added almost as an afterthought. They decided there should be another child that represented the results of a good upbringing, hence a daughter in college. When casting the role, it came down to two actresses: 26-year-old Sabrina LeBeauf and 21-year-old Whitney Houston. LeBeauf's theater experience won her the role.

9. Before the opening credits in one episode, Olivia walks up to Cliff wearing a Bart Simpson mask, a reference to Fox's The Simpsons taking away so many of The Cosby Show's viewers.

10. The black button that Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable (Bill Cosby) wears in some of the later seasons says "SD jr," a reference to Cosby's close friend Sammy Davis Jr., who died during the series' run.

11. In the first few episodes of season 1, the only son, Theodore, is referred to as "Teddy," a nickname that is never used again - "Theo" is what everyone calls him thereafter.

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Dad's Army (1968)

1. Private Godfrey's middle initial was "P," a reference to the character's habit of getting "caught short" (constantly needing to go to the bathroom).

2. Three episodes of this series no longer exist, after an archive purge at the BBC in the 70's saw the destruction of the only known copies. Until recently, there were five missing episodes until an appeal by the BBC called "Treasure Hunt" saw the return of two 16mm film recordings taken from the original video tapes. These recordings had been dumped in a skip outside the Elstree Studios when they were found and taken home by one of the studio staff, 30 years ago. After seeing the 'Treasure Hunt' appeal on TV in 2001, the prints were returned by a friend of the staff member, to whom the prints had been entrusted.

3. An episode is kept on standby by the BBC for use as an emergency backup programme, to be broadcast if a major technical problem prevents normal programmes being shown. This came to light on June 20, 2000 when the Six O'Clock News was interrupted by a power failure at the BBC, and an episode of Dad's Army was transmitted in its place.

4. John Laurie was the only cast member to have served in the Home Guard while Clive Dunn, Arthur Lowe and John Le Mesurier had all served in the regular army.

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Doctor Who (1963)

1. Of the 253 episodes of "Doctor Who" that were produced in the 1960s, 108 no longer exist in the BBC Television Archives due to an archive purge in the 1970s. It was previously 110, but in January 2004 a former BBC engineer returned to the BBC a print of the 1965 episode "The Daleks' Master Plan: Day of Armageddon".

2. The BBC owns the copyright to the design of the Police Box as used as the design for the TARDIS. It was bought from the Metropolitan Police.

3. The longest running sci-fi series ever made for television.

4. When it became clear that failing health was affecting his performance and relationship with the cast and crew, William Hartnell, the first actor to play the Doctor, was asked to leave the show. Rather than cancel the successful series, the writers came up with the Doctor's ability to regenerate his body when he is near death, which allows for the smooth transition from one actor to another playing the role.

5. Originally, the Doctor's time machine, the TARDIS, was to have a different appearance in order to blend in wherever and whenever it materializes due to its "chameleon circuit." However, it was decided that this constant changing of a regular prop would be too expensive. So, it was decided that the circuit would be permanently disabled due to the TARDIS' age, thus retaining the appearance of a 1963 Police Callbox.

6. The name of the Doctor's time machine, the TARDIS, is short for "Time And Relative Dimension In Space". In later serials, this was changed to "Time And Relative Dimensions In Space" (Dimensions in plural)

7. The Daleks were so popular that, in the series' early days, whenever the shows' ratings began to waver, a "Daleks" episode would air (and be promoted as such).

8. Sylvester McCoy is the only actor to have played two incarnations of The Doctor. In 1987, Colin Baker refused to film a regeneration sequence after being dropped from the lead role, so McCoy donned a blonde wig and portrayed an unconscious 6th Doctor just prior to his transformation into Doctor #7.

9. As William Hartnell's illness progressed, he started to have memory problems and often forgot his lines. Many unusual ad libbed lines in place of those scripted were passed off as part of the Doctor's character.

10. The distinctive TARDIS sound effect is officially classified as a piece of music and was created by combining a number of sounds, including rubbing the bass strings of a piano.

11. The first episode of the series aired the day after John F. Kennedy's assassination and as a result drew lower than expected audiences. The BBC took the unusual step of repeating the first episode the following week so that people could catch up.

12. The series was originally devised as an educational program for kids, with creator Sydney Newman having no intention of featuring "bug eyed monsters." The first episodes featured cavemen. But when the Daleks were introduced, the attitude of the program was forever changed. Even so, the series continued to alternate between science fiction and purely historical stories for several seasons.

13. The Beatles make a cameo appearance on a 1965 episode called "The Chase", in which they're seen on a time scanner performing "Ticket to Ride" on a BBC TV show. Originally, the plan was to have the actual musicians appear as old men, but the idea was vetoed by Beatles' manager Brian Epstein. Ironically, the live footage used in the episode is all that remains of this performance, as the original variety program it was taken from was erased.

14. Attempts were made to get Queen Elizabeth II to appear on a 1988 episode celebrating the show's 25th anniversary, just as she had appeared on an episode of "Coronation Street" (1960). Buckingham Palace refused, so an impersonator was used, instead.

15. When the script called for him to recite coordinates to program the TARDIS , Tom Baker would sometimes rattle off a string of digits that was actually the telephone number to the Doctor Who production office; no one ever caught on.

16. The 1976 episode "The Deadly Assassin" marked the only time The Doctor worked alone, with no companion or assistant. On the other hand, a 1965 episode (now lost) called Mission to the Unknown, didn't feature the Doctor or his assistants at all.

17. During one 1970s episode, The Green Death, The Doctor finds himself in a cave full of maggots. The maggots were made from condoms.

18. The main character of this series is not named Doctor Who. The title is a play on what people normally say when introduced to The Doctor: "Doctor who?". In one episode it was revealed that his nickname at school was Theta Sigma. The 1965 episode "The War Machines" and a few episode titles broke this rule by directly referring to The Doctor by the name "Doctor Who".

19. For its entire run, the series did not have a "bible" to keep it consistent - the production team would consult fans on continuity matters.

20. The list of actors who have played the Doctor is closer to fourteen than seven; one actor played William Hartnell's robot double and another played the Doctor's hands in "The Celestial Toymaker". Peter Cushing played the Doctor in the first two Doctor Who movies. Also, Richard Hurndall played the First Doctor in "The Five Doctors", long after William Hartnell had died.

21. The BBC announced an 18-month break in the series in 1984. The series returned to the air in 1986. After the series ended in 1989, fans tried again to get the show back, but were unsuccessful. There were numerous "false starts" as attempts were made to produce a feature film based on the series. In the early 1990s, 'Steven Spielberg' was widely reported to have been interested in making a film version and a number of script treatments were written. Ultimately, in 1996, The United States Fox Network co-produced (with the BBC) and aired a TV movie, and which failed to spark a new series. In late 2003, the BBC announced that it was finally going to be producing a new season of Doctor Who (the 27th) in 2005. According to a BBC announcement on 20 March 2004, Christopher Eccleston is set to star as the 9th Doctor in a new season starting in early 2005.

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Dukes of Hazzard, The (1979)

1. Sorrell Booke wore padding under his suit when playing over-weight Boss Hogg.

2. The first five episodes of the series were filmed in Georgia, before filming moved to the Warner Brothers set in Burbank, California, where filming stayed for the rest of the series. The original Georgia locations are to this day often visited by Dukes fans.

3. They crashed a lot of cars filming this show. Replacing the police sedans was easy -- replacing the old Dodge Chargers ("General Lee") was not as they weren't made anymore. It got to the point where producers would spot a Charger on the street and would approach the owner and offer to buy it on the spot.

4. The "General Lee" is a 1969 Dodge Charger muscle car.

5. The General's famous 'dixie' horn wasn't originally planned; when the producers were driving in Atlanta during the first few episodes, they heard a car pass with a "Dixie" horn and chased the driver down and convinced him to sell the horn. They later realized that it was a novelty horn which can be purchased at any auto parts store for about three times less than what they paid for it. The horn was only used in the first five episodes, and when they went to the WB lot the horn was edited in during post filming.

6. There were a total of 229 "General Lee" cars (some of them were 1968 and 1970 model Dodges) created and mostly destroyed during the series. About 20, in various states of disrepair, still exist.

7. The series' third episode, 'Mary Kaye's Baby', is the only episode of the entire run not to feature the General Lee (instead, the Duke boys drive around in a car borrowed from Cooter).

8. Daisy originally drove a yellow 1973 Plymouth Roadrunner, until the brakes went when Bo and Luke were driving it in the 2nd season episode 'The Runaway' and it went over a cliff - with them getting out just in time. At the end of that episode, she got her white jeep, called 'Dixie'.

9. In 1983, the series also spawned a spin-off Saturday Morning cartoon called 'The Dukes'. Made by Hanna-Barbera, this series concerned an around-the-world car race between the Dukes and Boss Hogg.

10. As seen in one episode where Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane's middle name was revealed in one episode as being "Purvis".

11. During the 1981-82 season, 'John Schneider' and Tom Wopat demanded huge raises, claiming they were the keys to the show's success. Producers proved otherwise by replacing the characters of Bo and Luke with Coy and Vance for the '82-'83 season, which barely affected the show's ratings. Schneider and Wopat returned the following year without argument.

12. Bo and Luke used bows and arrows instead of guns because the boys were on probation for moonshine running and any use of firearms would be seen as a probation violation.

13. Boss Hogg had a twin brother (Sorrell Booke in a dual role), who appeared in only one episode. He was the literal opposite of Jefferson Davis Hogg - he was law-abiding, wore black, and was called Abraham Lincoln Hogg.

14. Roscoe's dog was called Flash.

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Dynasty (1981)

1. George Peppard lost the role of Blake Carrington to 'John Forsythe' .

2. Angie Dickinson was offered the role of Krystal Carrington.

3. When Alexis was introduced for the cliff-hanger finale of season one, the character had not been cast yet. A friend of the producers, wearing dark glasses and a large hat, was used. 'Joan Collins' was cast during the break between the first and second season.

4. Sophia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor, and Raquel Welch were all considered for the role of Alexis.

5. Michael Nader beat out 400 other actors for the role of Dex Dexter.

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Dallas (1978)

1. Larry Hagman was not the first choice for J.R. The part was offered first to Robert Foxworth who refused it, but later took a similar role on "Falcon Crest" (1981). Likewise, Ken Kercheval was originally to play Ray Krebbs, while Steve Kanaly was to play Bobby Ewing. Linda Evans was to play Pamela, and Mary Frann was to play Sue Ellen.

2. When the character of J.R. was shot, Larry Hagman was in the middle of a contract dispute and threatening to leave the series. If Hagman didn't return, the plot was going to have the ambulance carrying J.R. to the hospital crash and catch fire. After that, J.R. was to undergo plastic surgery to repair the damage and Robert Culp was to assume the role if Hagman didn't return.

3. The "Who Shot J.R.?" episode was the highest rated single episode of a television series until the finale of "M*A*S*H" (1972) ("Goodbye, Farewell, Amen") beat it in 1983.

4. When Patrick Duffy was asked to return to the show in 1986, his wife told him that the only way it could happen is if his character had actually died in a dream. This led the producers to decide that Bobby Ewing's death (in addition to the entire 1985-86 season) was just a figment of Pam Ewing's imagination.

5. When Jim Davis died in 1981, it was decided to write him off by first having him disappear in the Amazon and eventually having him declared legally dead.

6. After Jim Davis passed away, a portrait of him hung above the fireplace at Southfork as a memorial to the actor.

7. Producers originally planned to bring back Jock Ewing's character, but fans were against having anyone play Jock Ewing except Jim Davis. Steve Forrest appeared on the show as Wes Parmalee, claiming to be Jock Ewing, but it was revealed that he was not.

8. The house used as the "Southfork Ranch" house was an actual Texas residence. When the show became popular, tourists from all over the world visited the house day and night. The family was forced to sell the house and it is now a museum devoted to the show.

9. Larry Hagman and Ken Kercheval were the only members of the cast to stay with the series throughout its entire run.

10. Several actors including Barbara Bel Geddes and Jim Davis were filmed firing the gun that shot J.R before it was decided who would be the shooter. The gun is on display at the real Southfork Ranch site in Dallas.

11. Charlene Tilton was the only cast member not filmed firing the gun that shot J.R.

12. When Steve Kanaly was talking about leaving the show due to his character's lack of development, it was Larry Hagman who came up with the idea to make the Ray Krebs character the illegitimate son of Jock Ewing in order to get Kanaly to stay

13. In several of the early episodes of the series, Lucy and Ray were often portrayed as lovers. However, when it became revealed that Ray was Jock's illegitimate son, his affair with Lucy was never mentioned again.

14. Several former cast members returned for the final episode including Linda Gray, Jack Scalia, Ted Shackleford and Joan Van Ark. Victoria Principal was also invited to participate but declined.

15. Spinoff show "Knots Landing" (1979) was actually created first, but the producers were unable to sell it. They developed Dallas instead and when that became a success, and the network asked for a spinoff, they were able to dust off the Knots Landing idea.

16. When Victoria Principal opens the shower door in the infamous Bobby shower scene actor John Beck was the one in the shower. The shot of Patrick Duffy was inserted later.

17. Producer Leonard Katzman went to New York and hired a crew to film Patrick Duffy's scenes as a soap commercial. He then took the first part of the scene and edited it into the series.

18. Barbara Bel Geddes is only nine years older than Larry Hagman, though they played mother and son.

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Fall Guy, The (1981)

1. The theme song, "The Unknown Stuntman", was sung by series star Lee Majors, and actually became a minor hit in the early 1980s. The lyrics of the theme song include the line, "I've been seen with Farrah," a reference to Lee Majors' ex-wife, Farrah Fawcett.

2. The opening credits feature a yellow Dodge Charger crashing crashing into a speeding locomotive. This stunt is from Dirty Mary Crazy Larry (1974)

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Family Guy (1999)

1. The characters of Peter and Brian are very similar to Larry and Steve from the shorts The Life of Larry (1995) and Larry & Steve (1996), which feature a moronic man who adopts a talking dog and puts the dog through hell, and were both written and directed by Seth MacFarlane

2. Seth MacFarlane won an Emmy in 2000 for the voice acting of Stewie.

3. Will be returning in Jan 2005 for 35 more episodes due to the enormous response to the DVD release.

4. Stewie's middle name is Gilligan

5. In the Episode 302 (Brian Does Hollywood) the Nominees for Best original Score in a Porno Film are Ron Jones, Walter Murphy, and John Williams. The first two are music conductors on Family guy. Walter Murphy created the Main Title Music and both did episode music.

6. The "Futurama" (1999) character Bender occasionally appears in the background of the show.

7. The Griffin's live at 31 Spooner Street, Quahog Rhode Island.

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Fawlty Towers (1975)

1. In a 1999 interview, John Cleese said that he had asked the manager of The Savoy what the worst problem was for a hotelier. The manager said it was dealing with guests that died. This gave rise to the episode "The Kipper and The Corpse". Cleese named the corpse "Mr. Leeman" in honour of the Savoy manager.

2. In "The Builders", Basil tells his guests that they must go to "The Gleneagles" for their dinners. This is a reference to the Hotel Gleneagles which Donald Sinclair, the hotel manager on which John Cleese based Basil Fawlty, ran in Torquay, the town where Fawlty Towers is set.

3. There are persistent rumors of a missing episode, which existed only in a rough-cut form, about a blackout in the hotel.

4. The Basil Fawlty character was based on a Mr Sinclair, a genuine, Torquay-based hotelier John Cleese met whilst filming on location with the Monty Python team. Mr. Sinclair's irascible antics included berating Terry Gilliam for eating his meals in "too American" a way, throwing Eric Idle's briefcase over a wall because of "a bomb scare" and, after Graham Chapman requested an omelette made with three eggs, Sinclair brought him an omelette with three fried eggs perched on top!

5. When the show was re-dubbed for Spanish audiences, Manuel (the Spanish waiter) became an Italian.

6. The recording of the final episode ("Basil the Rat") was postponed due to a BBC strike, and so was not broadcast until October 1979, six months after the rest of the series.

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Father Ted (1995)

1. The role of Father Ted was originally to go to co-writer Arthur Matthews , but it went to Dermot Morgan after the writers saw an earlier performance of his as the character Father Trendy.

2. Dermot Morgan died only one day after the filming the final episode.

3. The character of Mrs Doyle is based on the mother of writer Graham Linehan.

4. The theme tune to Father Ted was written by the Divine Comedy. It was later given lyrics and became "Songs of Love" on their album "Casanova".

5. The Divine Comedy wrote the music for "My Lovely Horse" for the episode "A Song For Europe".

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Flintstones, The (1960)

1. For a full season after Mel Blanc's near-fatal automobile accident in 1961-1962, the show was taped in his bedroom where he lay in a cast from the neck to his toes. Daws Butler filled in as the voice of Barney for at least two episodes, as did Hal Smith. Executive Producer Joseph Barbera has said that as many as 16 people crowded into his bedroom.

2. The only episode where Wilma wore shoes was: "The Swimming Pool".

3. In the third episode, "The Swimming Pool", the scene where Barney has a mishap with a harpoon gun is a shot-by-shot remake of the unaired pilot episode, "The Flagstones".

4. Pebbles was born at the Rockville Hospital on February 22, 10,000 B.C. at 8:00pm. She weighed 6 pounds, 12 ounces.

5. Was at one time the longest-running primetime cartoon. That record was broken and currently held by The Simpsons (1989).

6. The four main characters (Fred and Wilma Flintstone and Barney and Betty Rubble) were based on the four main characters from The Honeymooners (1955).

7. The famous theme song, "Meet the Flintstones", wasn't introduced until the second season. The song was first introduced on a children's record, performed by the TV cast, and included verses about Barney and Betty Rubble as well as Dino. The first season used an instrumental piece of music called "Rise and Shine" that resembled the later Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show theme "Overture." When the series went into syndication, a standardized set of opening and closing credits was used for most episodes in order to remove references to first season sponsor Winston Cigarettes, thus all episodes now begin with "Meet the Flintstones".

8. The show was broadcast in black-and-white for the first two seasons (1960-1962), although all materials (episodes, Winston cigarette commercials, and opening/closing sequences) were always produced in colour (thus the colour versions of the "Rise and Shine" opening/closing credits that now air). The first episode broadcast in colour was episode 3.1 "Dino Goes Hollyrock" (14 September 1962)

9. Some of the professional sports teams in the series included the Bedrock Giants, Bedrock Dodgers and the Green Bay Pachyderms.

10. The first season episode, "Split Personality" is the only episode in which Betty is referred to by her full first name, Elizabeth.

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Frasier (1993)

1. Frasier's radio station, KACL 780 AM, is named after the show's three executive producers (David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee.)

2. Frasier, Niles, and Martin deliver a cab driver's baby. The cab number, 804, is the same as the one in which Alex (Judd Hirsch) delivered a baby on an episode of "Taxi".

3. The show's 100th episode, which first aired in September 1997, was filmed on the streets of Seattle. This show had the unfortunate coincidence to name Frasier Crane day as September 11th.

4. The celebrities who play the callers on Frasier's radio show, instead of coming in to record a voice-over, often just phone in their lines.

5. Kelsey Grammer has been Emmy-nominated for playing the same character on three different shows: "Cheers", "Frasier", and a guest appearance on "Wings".

6. In the premiere episode of season 8, Niles takes a mobile phone call. After a pause, he says, "No, there is no Wendell Vaughn here." Wendell Vaughn is the real name of the Marvel Comics superhero Quasar.

7. Lisa Kudrow, Phoebe from "Friends", was originally cast as Roz. Disputes with cast and crew, however, led to her departure and Peri Gilpin later obtained the role.

8. David Hyde Pierce's Niles Crane is a stuffy milquetoast with a mad passion for his father's live-in therapist. In his previous series, The Powers That Be (1992), he played a stuffy milquetoast with a mad passion for the maid.

9. John Mahoney, has also appeared in an episode of Cheers playing the part of Sy Flembeck. Peri Gilpin has also appeared in an episode of Cheers playing the part of Holly Matheson.

10. Niles' wife Maris is never seen (at least her face) or heard from in the entire series. The same thing is mentioned about Vera, the wife of Cheers' Norm.

11. The only television show to date that has won five consecutive "Outstanding Comedy Series" awards.

12. The show was originally written with Frasier as an only child (references had already been made to this in "Cheers" (1982), but one of the producers saw a headshot of David Hyde Pierce and commented that he looked exactly like Kelsey Grammer did when he first started to appear on Cheers.

13. Frasier's apartment set occupies the same soundstage at Paramount Studios that housed the set of "Cheers" (1982) for so many years.

14. Frasier's radio producer Roz Doyle is named after Roz Doyle, a producer of NBC's "Wings" (1990), a Cheers-like show which shares show creators with Frasier.

15. Series Executive Producer David Angell was on board one of the airplanes that hit the World Trade Centre in New York City during the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001.

16. When it is said that "Daphne" (Jane Leeves) has lost 9 lbs 12 oz at the spa, this is a reference/inside joke to the weight of Jane Leeves' daughter Isabella's birth weight when she went on maternity leave and she took time off and they sent "Daphne" off to the fat-farm.

17. David Hyde Pierce has said that, prior to this series, he didn't have strong interests in wine or opera. Ironically, he was introduced to both by John Mahoney, whose Martin Crane character eschews anything cultured.

18. As of 2004, Kelsey Grammer will have been playing the character of Frasier Crane for 20 consecutive years. This is one of the longest periods that an actor has played the same character on American prime time (non-soap opera) television. Fellow record holders include James Arness of "Gunsmoke" (1955) who also played Marshall Dillon for 20 years straight. Also in the 11th season (2004), guest star Laurie Metcalf, playing a children's entertainer, asked Frasier, "Do you know what it's like to play the same character for twenty years?" Kelsey Grammer had been playing Frasier Crane since 1984.

19. 2003 was the first year that Kelsey Grammer didn't receive an Emmy nomination for this series. David Hyde Pierce's streak remains unbroken.

20. Frasier has won more Emmys than any other show in TV history.

21. Every regular character from "Cheers" (1982) - with the exception of Rebecca (Kristie Alley) and Coach (the late Nicholas Colasanto) - has appeared on at least one episode.

22. John Mahoney grew up in Manchester, England - which is where Daphne (Jane Leeves) is from.

23. The glass sculpture to the right of Frasier's fireplace is a piece made by Dale Chihuly, a well-known glass sculptor whose studio is based in Seattle.

24. In an episode of "Cheers," Frasier tells the gang that his father was a psychiatrist and has passed away. When Ted Danson guest-starred on the show in 1995 the continuity error was explained away by having Frasier admit that he made up the story because he was embarrassed of his father.

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Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, The (1990)

1. Will Smith's character name in the show is actually different than in real life. In the show, he is "William" Smith, in real life he's "Williard" Smith. This is referred to when one of Will's girlfriend's father calls him Williard as a joke.

2. The term "Fresh Prince" in the title is a reference to the stage name used by Will Smith as a rap artist in the 1980s

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Friends (1994)

1. Courteney Cox was originally asked to play Rachel, but she asked to play Monica instead after reading the parts.

2. Jon Cryer was originally offered the role of Chandler Bing.

3. Other titles considered for the show were "Friends Like Us," "Six of One," and "Across the Hall". "Insomnia Café" was another name considered for the title.

4. The golden frame around the peephole was originally a mirror which one of the crew accidentally smashed. But because it still looked good they decided to leave it there.

5. In the episode "The One With the Girl Who Hits Joey" (ep. #5.15), Ross (David Schwimmer) is called "3B" by the other residents of his new building. Schwimmer played Josh '4B' Goldstein (nicknamed after his apartment) on "NYPD Blue" (1993).

6. Ursula Buffay, Phoebes' twin sister, is a waitress in the TV show "Mad About You" (1992). Fran (Leila Kenzel) and Jamie (Helen Hunt) visit the coffee shop and mistake Phoebe for Ursula in one episode of Friends.

7. After marrying David Arquette, Courteney Cox's name was hyphenated in the show as Courteney Cox-Arquette. As a joke in one episode, all of the cast's names were hyphenated with "-Arquette".

8. In the first couple of episodes Chandler and Joey's apartment number was #4 and Monica and Rachel's apartment number was #5. However, in the later episodes, they are 19 and 20 respectively because the producers noted that 4 and 5 corresponded to apartments on lower floors and the Friends' apartments were higher up the building.

9. In the episode "The One After the Superbowl" (episode # 2.12), the other production assistant that Julia Roberts is conversing with his her actual sister, Lisa Roberts.

10. Michael James Tyler was given the part of Gunther because he was the only extra who could work the cappuccino machine.

11. The dry cleaner from "The One Where Paul's the Man" (episode # 6.22) claims never to have seen the movie Air Force One (1997). The actor who played the dry cleaner, Ilia Volokh, played the part of Vladimir Krasin, the first terrorist to die at the hands of the president, in Air Force One.

12. Leah Remini auditioned for the role of Monica.

13. Courtney Cox added Arquette to the end of her name after her marriage to David Arquette between seasons five and six. Her father, Richard L. Cox, died in 2001 and during the midst of the ninth season, she dropped the Arquette in her father's memory.

14. Matt LeBlanc's character 'Joey Tribbiani' plays Dr. Drake Remoray in a fictional version of the NBC soap opera 'Days Of Our Lives'. In real life, Jennifer Aniston's father, John Aniston, plays 'Victor Kiriakis' on the real 'Days Of Our Lives'.

15. In, "The One With Joey's Award," (episode # 7.18), Alison Sweeney guest stars as "Jessica Ashley", an actress on the fictional version of the NBC soap opera "Days Of Our Lives". In real life, Alison Sweeney plays "Sami Brady" on the real "Days of Our Lives" (1965).

16. As with most sitcoms, episode titles are not shown. As a joking reference to this, the official names of Friends episodes take the form "The One where..." (or similar).

17. In "The One With the Pediatrician" Ross and Monica's paediatrician's name is Dr. Gettleman. The is the also name of the paediatrician on "I Love Lucy" (1951)

18. June Gable who plays Joey's agent, Estelle Leanard, also played a nurse who delivered a baby for Leah Remini (who originally auditioned for the role of Monica) in the episode where Ross and Carol have their own baby. Joey assisted his future agent by being the breathing coach during labour.

19. In "The One With The Baby On The Bus" Phoebe is busking outside Central Perk. She tells Rachel that someone put a condom in her case. Later a kid comes and asks Phoebe if he dropped a condom. Later in the 2nd season this same actor (Giovanni Ribisi) shows up as Phoebe's brother.

20. 30 second commercial spots to take place in the final ever episode are being sold in the UK for £1.2 million (approx $1.8million), the most expensive commercial slots of any TV programme in England with the exception of sports.

21. David Schwimmer was the first member of the group to be cast.

22. In the episode "The One with the Proposal" (#6.24), David Schwimmer was unavailable during the second week of shooting and was not part of the big group hug at the end. The reason for this was that he had left for England to begin shooting the HBO miniseries "Band of Brothers" (2001)

23. The first member of the cast to get a role in a Hollywood film was Marcel the Monkey.

24. Before the show was cast, the main love interest was intended to be Monica and Joey.

25. "The One With The Flashback" was partly the idea of the cast to see how audience responded to certain couplings, the main one of these being Rachel and Chandler. The audience didn't like seeing these two together, so they never were.

26. As of 2003, Courtney Cox is the only one of the six regular cast members to have never received an Emmy nomination for her work on the show.

27. As of 2003, Matt LeBlanc is the only one of the six cast members never to have hosted "Saturday Night Live" (1975).

28. Jennifer Aniston agreed to return for the series' 2003-04 season, which was the series' 10th and final season, only if production on the show would be finished by January, 2004, so she could focus on her film career.

29. At least three performers, Bruce Willis, Christina Applegate and Paul Ruddhave guest starred on episodes of the show after doing a film with one of the regular cast members. Willis and Applegate won Emmys for their guest turns.

30. In the 7th season finale, "The One with Monica and Chandler's Wedding", the first name that Jennifer Aniston reads on the announcement board for the Greek wedding is her original Greek surname - Anastassakis - which became Aniston after her family moved from Greece to New York

31. In, "The One with the Jam" Episode: #3.3 - 3 October 1996, Joey's (Matt LeBlanc) arm is in a protective sling. In real life, LeBlanc had dislocated his shoulder on set attempting a sight gag. At the beginning of this episode, Chandler (Matthew Perry) overhears Joey bouncing on his bed and falling off. This was written into the story line to explain why the character would be wearing a sling.

32. "Marcel" was played by two female monkeys, named Monkey and Katie. Katie also starred in Outbreak (1995). Coincidentally, in the episode "The One After the Super Bowl" Marcel is starring in the fictional sequel "Outbreak 2: The Virus Takes Manhattan".

33. Chandler's parents, Charles and Nora Bing, were named after the favourite Thin Man series character Nora Charles; one half of a very famous movie detective couple of the thirties.

34. In "The One with the Ball" (episode 5.21), Chandler visits Phoebe's boyfriend Gary (Michael Rapaport) at his Precinct. When they sit at Gary's desk, a blackboard with names written in blue chalk is prominent behind his head. All of the names on the blackboard are references to or characters from the films of Stanley Kubrick (Alex, Dim, Hal, Kissoff, even Redrum).

35. In "The One With the Ride-Along", Ross says to Joey and Chandler "I'm more cop than you two". This is another reference to David Schwimmer's stint on NYPD Blue.

36. Central Perk is based on the Manhattan Cafe in New York's West Village.

37. The opening footage of the cast dancing around the fountain was filmed at the Warner Brothers lot in LA at 5 in the morning.

38. In the episode when Chandler and Monica get married, after they are pronounced husband and wife, a song is being played with violins. The song is "Everlong" by the Foo Fighters.

39. Téa Leoni was the first choice for the part of "Monica", but turned it down.

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Futurama (1999)

1. Futurama was the name of the famous General Motors exhibit at the 1939 New York World's Fair that depicted a futuristic landscape.

2. Professor Farnsworth is named after the inventor Philo T. Farnsworth, one of the pioneers of television, whose invention was premiered at the 1939 New York World's Fair, along with the Futurama exhibit.

3. Fry's first name is Phillip, a tribute to the late Phil Hartman. Hartman was originally cast to do the voice of Zapp Brannigan.

4. Some of the show's sound effects are from other science-fiction television series, including "The Jetsons" (1962) and "Star Trek" (1966).

5. The Christmas episode "A Tale of Two Santas" was originally slated to air in December of 2000, but was deemed too violent for the show's Sunday 7pm timeslot. However, the episode finally aired a year later on December 23, 2001 at 9:30PM (Eastern Standard Time).

6. Lines of an unknown language, similar to hieroglyphics can be seen in varying locations throughout the intro song. According to Matt Groening the glyphs *do* mean something, and it's up to loyal viewers to figure them out. They read : "Tasty Human Burgers". There are also two other examples of that alphabet (one just on the left a few frames after the ship passes through the R, and one during a quick pan to the right.

7. At the very beginning of the song, there is always something different displayed in text at the bottom of the screen. Also at the very end of the song, there is always something different displayed on the screen before the ship crashes into it. This is reminiscent of Groening's cult phenomenon of "The Simpsons" (1989), as there are three distinctly varying elements in the intro music as well. (Bart's chalkboard writings, the method of the family sitting down on the couch and Lisa's saxophone solo as she leaves band practice).

8. J is Matt Groening's favourite middle initial because of Bullwinkle J. Moose; Hence the J in Phillip J. Fry, and Homer J. Simpson.

9. The producers changed the show's opening in which a Planet Express rocket crashes into a giant TV screen. This scene was removed after the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. A few months later the scene was put back into the show's opening. This did not apply to East Coast airings of the episodes between late Sept. 2001-early April 2002 or any reruns of the episodes of this era.

10. In episode 1 "Space Pilot 3000" Fry walks up to a Tube that transports people. The person in front of him says, "RadioCity Mutant Hall," and zips up in the tube. When the show first aired the person said, "JFK Jr. Airport," but it was changed after JFK Jr.'s death.

11. The show was cancelled in May 2002. The last first-run episode of the show aired on 10 August 2003.

12. In the episode "Bendin' In The Wind", the cast is chased through the streets of San Francisco. During the chase, a green Volkswagen-esqe hovercar keeps appearing. This is a sly reference to Bullitt (1968) in which a green Volkswagen shows up several times during the famous car chase. Also, the Camper-van the characters drive loses a hubcap which re-appears in the next scene, just like Det. Lt. Bullitt's car which loses a total of six hub-caps in the car chase.

13. In "Fry and the Slurm Factory", we find out Bender's processor is a 6502, the same processor that powered the Apple II in 1978. The Commodore 64 used a 6502 processor, too.

14. Creator Matt Groening admits to naming Bender the robot after John Bender, a character in The Breakfast Club (1985).

15. In the episode "Parasites Lost" it is revealed that Leela's apartment number is 1I (Leela, only has one eye). Also, in the show's pilot, she says that her officer code is 1B-DI (One Beady Eye)

16. According to Matt Groenig, viewers were able to decipher the alien language that is sometimes seen in the background the same night as the pilot episode aired. The only primer for the code in that episode was a sign that read "Drink Slurm". The sign appeared once with the word "Drink" written in the alien code and once in plain English. This resulted in the producers creating a second, more complex alien code to be seen in the background of later episodes.

17. In "A Tale of Two Santas", the conveyer belt has three speeds, slow, fast and Lucy, a reference to the super fast conveyer belt at the chocolate factory that Lucy worked at in "I Love Lucy" (1951).

18. In the episode "The Honking" Bender sees a computer code of a long string of ones and zeros written on a wall, which doesn't make any sense. He then sees it reflected in a mirror, and it translates into "666", which scares him. This is a reference to The Shining (1980) where the odd word "REDRUM" becomes "MURDER" when seen in a mirror.

19. Zapp Brannigan's portrait in his captain's quarters is based on the famous White House portrait of US President John F Kennedy. They are both in the same distinctive pose, arms crossed against the chest and solemnly looking downward.

20. In episode "I, Roommate", Bender's apartment number is 00100100. This is 36 in binary, which is the ASCII code for '$'.

21. Writer/Producer David X. Cohen is a Dungeons and Dragons player. References to the game have been included in the show, including a cameo by D & D creator Gary Gygax, Al Gore referring to himself as a "12th level vice-president", and a beholder (an infamous D & D monster) appearing as a guard in the Beauracratics building.

22. In the episode "A Bicyclops Built For Two" (2000), Leela dresses up like Peg Bundy, the character that Katey Sagal played in Married With Children. She also refers to the other Cyclops as Al, in reference to Al Bundy.

23. In the episode "Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles" The "ungrateful gargoyle" that Professor Farnsworth is searching for is named Pazuzu, which is the name of a Mesopotamian demon who was considered the King of evil air spirits. It is the name of the demon who possessed Regan (Linda Blair) in the The Exorcist (1973).

24. In one episode, Fry screams out, "HOWARD STERN IS OVERRATED!" Billy West, the voice of Fry, was a regular on Howard Stern's radio show for many years.

25. The Wong's Mars ranch house is the same as the Benedict's house in Giant (1956).

26. In episode "Fry and the Slurm Factory," the Professor and Leela are playing a variant of Scrabble. On the Professor's tile tray, you can see F-U-U-T-A-M-R. On the board you can see the tiles arranged to say "one eye", "prop only", "donut", and "Matt area".

27. On the season 2 DVD, fans got a alien translator which could translate all of the weird alien messages throughout the show. This included the message from Leela's parents.

28. In the episode "The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings", the Robot Devil spins a large wheel featuring the names of various robots. As it spins, the following names are visible: Flexo, Daisy Mae 128K, Crushinator, Roberto, Helper, Kwanzabot, Robot I-X, Clamps, Hedonismbot, Fatbot, Linctron, Destructor, Santa, Joey, Tinny Tim, Chain Smoker, Angleyne, Execu-tor, Preacherbot, Fembot, Hair Robot, Unit 2013, Donbot, Boxy, Lulubelle 7, Humorbot 5.0, Calculon, URL, Foreigner, iZac, Cartridge Unit, Barkerbot, Teenbot, Gearshift. Q.T. McWhiskers, Deep Blue, iHawk, Cylon, Patchcord Adams, Liubot, Stage Mom 7.0, Sinclair 2K, Vending Machine, Oily, Coolometer, Andrew, Monique, Rab-bot, Lisa, Executive Gamma, Keg Robot, Greeting Card, Eurotrash 80, Nannybot 1.0, Emotitron Jr., Ceiling Fan, Hookerbot, Bender, and Robot Devil.

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Goodies, The (1970)

1. Their three-seater "trandem" cycle was named "Buttercup".

2. Among the rejected titles for the series was Bill Oddie's suggestion, "Superchaps Three".

3. The group left the BBC in 1981.

4. When the show moved from the BBC to ITV in 1981, London Weekend Television commissioned a six part series which turned out to be the last outing for the show.

5. The Goodies' postal address was given as "The Goodies, No Fixed Abode, Cricklewood".

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Green Hornet, The (1966)

1. The Green Hornet's car, Black Beauty, is a customized Chrysler Imperial built by Hollywood car customizer George Barris. He also built the Batmobile and the Knight Rider car

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Happy Days (1974)

1. Originally there were three Cunningham children. The eldest, Chuck, was phased out of the show.

2. Fonzie's full name is Arthur Herbert Fonzarelli.

3. The only person to ever refer to Fonzie by his proper name was Mrs. Cunningham.

4. Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli's character was originally to be named Arthur Maschiarelli (creator Garry Marshall's real last name) and nicknamed "Mash." When ABC first picked up the show, they had Marshall change the character's name because they felt that "Mash" might remind people of "M*A*S*H" (1972), a popular show on a rival network.

5. Originated as a segment on "Love, American Style" (1969).

6. Shortly after the original pilot (which aired on "Love, American Style") went unsold, George Lucas released American Graffiti (1973), a theatrical film with a similar nostalgia theme. Its success caused creator Garry Marshall to reconsider his unsold pilot and helped give ABC the green light to make "Happy Days"(1974) a series.

7. Bill Haley and The Comets' classic "Rock Around The Clock" served as the theme song for the first season of the show. For the first series episode, the original 1955 recording was used, but for the remaining shows' opening credits of season one Haley and the Comets recorded a special version of their famous song.

8. The more familiar Happy Days theme was used in the opening credits beginning with the 1975-1976 season. An entirely new arrangement of the Happy Days theme was introduced during the 1983-1984 season.

9. Among the differences between the "Love and the Happy Day" episode on "Love American Style" and its premiere a two years later is that the role of Howard Cunningham originally was played by William Schallert instead of Tom Bosley and that there was no Fonzie on that episode.

10. Both Micky Dolenz and Mike Nesmith of The Monkees auditioned for the role of Fonzie.

11. ABC at first feared Fonzie would be perceived as a hoodlum or criminal, and prohibited his wearing a leather jacket. In the first few episodes Henry Winkler wears an incredibly non-threatening gray windbreaker. Fortunately the network saw the light and a 70s icon was born. His trademark brown leather jacket, which now hangs in the Smithsonian.

12. The Fonz became so popular that after the first few seasons the network wanted to rename the show "Fonzie's Happy Days" or just "Fonzie." Threatened resignations by Garry Marshall and Ron Howard ended this idea.

13. Originally started out being filmed with a laugh track and a single camera. Three episodes from the 1974-1975 season were later filmed before a studio audience with three cameras as an experiment. Beginning with the 1975-1976 season, the series switched full time to the three-camera, live studio audience format. The long familiar living room set arrangement used throughout most of the series' run made its debut at the beginning of the 1975-1976 season.

14. Many fans agree that the show's quality deteriorated after the episode where Fonzie jumps a shark while water-skiing. Today, when a show takes a sharp drop in quality, it's said to "jump the shark".

15. Robbie Benson and Don Most were both considered for the role of Ritchie Cunningham. The character of Ralph Malph was created for Most.

16. Joanie Cunningham's middle name was Marie.

17. Comedian Phil Silvers once did a cameo in an episode as Jenny Piccalo's dad. Jenny Piccalo was played by his real-life daughter, Cathy Silvers.

18. Fonzie always referred to Joanie Cunningham as "Shortcakes".

19. Linda Goodfriend appeared earlier on the show as Ralph's girlfriend before taking on the role as Richie's girlfriend (and later wife) Lori-Beth.

20. Linda Purl originally played the occasional role Richie's girlfriend Gloria in the first season and she later took the role of Fonzie's girlfriend Ashley.

21. During his first appearance, Mork is looking at television and the show he is looking at is "The Andy Griffith Show" (1960), which featured Ron Howard. He even makes a comment to that he really liked the show especially Opie, who was played by Howard.

22. In the final episode, Tom Bosley stepped out of character and turned to the camera thanking the viewers for being part of the Cunningham family for the many years the show had been on.

23. In one episode, the Cunninghams are coming out of a theater playing The Music Man (1962) when Ms. Cunningham comments that the little boy in the movie looks just like Richie when he was little. Mr. Cunningham replies that she is being silly and that the boy in the film looks nothing like Richie. In fact, Ron Howard played the little boy, Winthrop Paroo, in The Music Man when he was 8 years-old.

24. Jack Dodson, who worked with Ron Howard on "The Andy Griffith Show" (1960) appeared on several episodes as Ralph's father Mickey.

25. Anson Williams' voice was the one heard when songs like "Hound Dog" were playing on the juke box.

26. Henry Winkler has said that he based some of Fonzie's movements and speech pattern on Sylvester Stallone. Winkler had worked with Stallone years earlier in The Lords of Flatbush (1974).

27. Originally Fonzie had a younger cousin named Spike that would show up occasionally during the first few seasons. He was written out after the third season.

28. When Ron Howard and Don Most left the show, their absences were explained by having Richie and Ralph join the army.

29. Chachi's real name was Charles.

30. Pinky and her TV sister Leather's name Tuscadero was taken from the real-life town of Atascadero, in California. Leather was played by singer/bass guitarist Suzi Quatro, who'd achieved pop stardom in England and wanted to bring her career back to America.

31. Richie Cunningham's favourite song is "Blueberry Hill" by Fats Domino.

32. Anson Williams's character of Warren 'Potsie' Weber got his nick name from his mother. When he was growing up, he liked to make things out of clay, his mother called him Potsie once, and it just stuck. He tells this story in "The Deadly Dares" Episode: #1.6.

33. Its ratings were so low at the end of its first season that it came close to being cancelled. Then Henry Winkler's "Fonzie" character started to catch on with viewers, the ratings took a turn for the better, and "Happy Days" wound up running ten years.

34. Marion's maiden name was Kelp.

35. Ron Howard at first passed on playing Richie in the series, because he didn't want to "be a teenager the rest of my life" on television. He reconsidered when producer Garry Marshall promised him that, if the series were picked up, Richie and his friends would graduate high school and become adults. (Even Fonzie went back to night school, to graduate with the gang.)

36. It was originally intended that Potsie would be Richie's best friend, showing him the ropes of young adulthood. The viewer response to Fonzie was so strong, though, that the writers' focus shifted, and Fonzie took Potsie's place.

37. Marion was an archaeology major in college.

38. The name of the garage that Fonzie worked in was Bronko's.

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Have I Got News for You (1990)

1. In April 2003, frequent guest panelist Stephen Fry announced that he was boycotting the show following the sacking of Angus Deayton, a decision described by Fry as "greasy, miserable, British and pathetic".

2. Ian Hislop sat through the 2 June 1994 recording of the show with appendicitis, having discharged himself from hospital. He had an appendectomy straight after the show.

3. When The Right Honourable Roy Hattersley pulled out at short notice (again) instead of finding a guest celebrity to fill in he was replaced by a tub of lard which lay on the desk throughout the broadcast.

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Home Improvement (1991)

1. The "Tool Time" audience is "Home Improvement's" actual live studio audience.

2. While taping some episodes of Tool Time, Tim sometimes asks an unseen character Klaus to play music for Tool Time segments. Klaus Landsberg worked in the sound department on "Home Improvement".

3. In the 1992 episode "Overactive Glance", Debbe Dunning plays a restaurant patron who is a big fan of Tool Time's Tim Taylor and requests an autograph. In 1993, Debbe Dunning was hired to replace Pamela Anderson as the show's new Tool Time Girl, Heidi Keppert.

4. Colleges and universities in Michigan sent star Tim Allen sweaters and T-shirts to wear on the air, and he did.

5. During the episode where Tim is in charge of sitting his niece, they are playing with various stuffed animals, including a Simba lion cub toy from The Lion King. Randy comes in and his cousin asks him if he wants to be Mr. Lion. He replies, "No, I've been there, everyone expects you to be the king." Jonathan Taylor Thomas, who plays Randy, provided the voice of Simba in "The Lion King."

6. In the Episode "I was a Teenage Taylor", during Halloween, Randy hands out candy to two children dressed as Disney's Buzz Lightyear and Simba. In doing so, he says "One for the space man, and seven for the cute little lion." Tim Allen provided the voice of Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story, and Jonathan Taylor Thomas voiced Simba from The Lion King.

7. The name Binford Tools, the company that sponsor's the Tool Time show, is named after an anthropologist who made several new discoveries regarding stone age and tools.

8. There is a running gag regarding the Taylor's neighbour, Wilson; his face is always concealed from about the nose down. In most episodes, Wilson was being shot from behind a fence, but in later episodes where he got out more often, camera shots, actor movements, and prop placements were carefully orchestrated so that his full face was not revealed. In fact, during all the curtain calls for the show (except the series finale curtain call, where his entire face was shown), actor Earl Hindman, who played Wilson, would bring a miniature picket fence to hold in front of his face so that it would remain hidden from view.

9. The character Wilson is based on Tim Allen's childhood memories where he was too short to see over a fence, and was therefore unable to see his neighbour.

10. Richard Karn's wife, Tudi Roche, would occasionally make appearances on the show as Jill's sister Carrie

11. The full names of the older two Taylor boys were Bradley Michael Taylor and Randall Timothy Taylor. (Mark's full name isn't mentioned during the series.)

12. The label "WLS" was frequently used to cover up real corporate logos. WLS is the Chicago affiliate of ABC.

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Incredible Hulk, The (1978)

1. Arnold Schwarzenegger was considered for the role of The Hulk but, even at 6' 2", was reportedly not tall enough (Lou Ferrigno is 6' 5").

2. The Hulk's nemesis, newspaper reporter Jack McGee, was modelled after Javert, the policeman from the novel "Les Miserables."

3. Film director Steven Spielberg was displeased to discover that Universal used footage from his 1971 movie "Duel" in the Hulk episode "Never Give A Trucker An Even Break". Unable to sue on the matter (due to the studio's ownership of both "Duel" and "The Incredible Hulk"), he insisted that all his future contracts have a clause that would protect his movies from being used as stock footage.

4. The episode entitled "The Psychic" features Bill Bixby's first wife, actress Brenda Benet. (By the time the episode aired in early 1980, the couple had divorced.)

5. Soon after its 1978 premiere, the series was described by Starlog magazine as "one of the most promising shows to appear in some time."

6. Richard Kiel was originally chosen to play The Hulk. However, as the pilot began filming, the producers felt that he wasn't bulky enough. Although his scenes were re-shot with Lou Ferrigno, one scene with Kiel as the Hulk in the pilot remains intact. (The scene in question is a brief high-angle shot of the Hulk looking up at a tree just before he saves a girl from drowning in the lake.)

7. Bill Bixby wouldn't allow his son to watch the show, fearing that it would scare the boy to see his own father transforming into a green-skinned creature.

8. Various episodes have in-joke references to show producer Nicholas Corea. This includes the episode "Jake", when a man announced over a loud speaker that there was a lost boy named Nicky Corea.

9. CBS initially did not want to continue with the series for the fall of 1981, even though the show's ratings were still respectable. The network (which underwent a change in management at the time) felt that the series had run its course. With seven new episodes already filmed, producer Kenneth Johnson tried to persuade CBS to commission more episodes, but to no avail. Nevertheless, the network aired those seven shows sporadically during the 1981-82 season. Due to the sudden nature of the show's cancellation, the producers never had a chance to write and film a series finale, in which David Banner would have been successfully cured of the Hulk.

10. According to Stan Lee, co-creator of the Hulk comics and a consultant on the series, Banner's name was changed to David because CBS executives felt the name Bruce (from the comics) sounded too stereotypically gay. (Lee has remarked that he still thinks the switch was the dumbest idea he'd ever heard.) A contributing factor was Kenneth Johnson's dislike for alliterative names, which are often associated with comic books. Johnson renamed the character David, after his namesake son.

11. Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno appeared on screen together only twice during the run of the series. Once in 'Married' during a dream sequence when Banner was trying to trap the Hulk. The second time was when Lou Ferrigno played a body builder in the episode "King of the Beach" during which he also shared screen time with himself as the Hulk. All other episodes show Banner viewing the creature on video.

12. Lou Ferrigno had hoped that the Hulk would talk on the show (as he does in the comic book), but it never happened. Stan Lee (Hulk's comic book co-creator) said he agreed with producer Kenneth Johnson's decision not to have the Hulk speak on the show, because he felt it would have sounded "corny".

13. For the show, executive producer Kenneth Johnson wanted the Hulk's skin color to be red, believing that it would reflect the character's anger. Hulk co-creator Stan Lee, however, rejected the idea.

14. The stylized "CA" airline logo on the plane featured in the episode "747" turns up much later in the episode "Prometheus", this time as the logo for a brand of condensed soup in the blind woman's cupboard.

15. One episode contains a reference to "The Six Million Dollar Man" (1974). In the episode "Prometheus, Part 2" after the Hulk causes a power overload, the voice of a technician is heard reporting, "I've got a blow-out in Damper Three. Ganger base to zero: Basic out... I can't hold her." Excluding the additional line "She's breaking up, she's breaking up, she..." this is verbatim what Steve Austin was saying as his spacecraft was going down, as used in the opening credits of each episode of that series.

16. The word "Anger" is the first thing seen onscreen in every episode. The camera pulls out to reveal that it is the word "danger" on the Gamma Ray device.

17. In 1980, Universal tried to reduce the show's budget (which was a minimum of $600,000 per episode). The studio's proposed cuts included reducing the special effects and having the Hulk appear only once per episode. Another proposed change was to add a character who would travel with David via a motor home (providing at least one stock set to be used, and curtailing the number of sets used in each episode). However, all those ideas were dropped when CBS provided more money to keep the quality of the show intact.

18. In some episodes, it is mentioned that Robert Steinhauer is the name of the publisher of the National Register (the newspaper that Jack McGee works for). This is an in-joke reference to the show's production manager/co-producer Robert Bennett Steinhauer.

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Knight Rider (1982)

1. KITT, the Knight Industries Two-Thousand, was a customized 1982 Pontiac Trans-Am. The 1982 model year was the first year of the third-generation (1982-1992) F-bodies (Cevrolet's Camaro and Pontiac's Firebird share the same platform), and was a complete redesign of the second-generation (Smokey and the Bandit (1977) has a 2nd-gen Trans-Am). George Barris's company, who had previously done the TV Batmobile, Green Hornet's Black Beauty, Munster's Coach, etc. did the customizing work.

2. Glen A. Larson borrowed the idea of the red scanner that sweeps back and fourth on the front of K.I.T.T., from one of his earlier projects, 'Battlestar Glactica'. The cylons in that series had an almost identical thing place of their eyes, and Larson adapted the idea for K.I.T.T. Originally, K.I.T.T. had a square red light on the dashboard that lit up as he spoke. His more familiar 'voice modulator', with three red lines broken into cells which went up and down as he spoke, was introduced half-way through the first season.

3. Pontiac, who supplied the Trans Am for the series, found itself swamped with customer requests for black Firebird Trans Ams with T-tops, tan interiors, and red lights on the front bumper, just like the show car.

4. Super-Pursuit Mode was introduced as a means of retaining viewers for a fourth season.

5. You never see a long shot of KITT changing into Super Pursuit Mode, since KITT is not moving at all. A shell of KITT's body was used when filming the transition to Super Pursuit Mode, since large hydraulic rams were needed to articulate the body panels, and there was no room for an engine or running gear in the car.

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Kung Fu (1972)

1. David Carradine got the lead role over martial arts legend Bruce Lee , who had extensive involvement in its development

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League of Gentlemen, The (1999)

1. The show is set in the town of Royston Vasey. This is also the real name of Roy "Chubby" Brown, who plays Mayor Vaughn on the show.

2. The surveyor team in the second episode are named after Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd, the assassins in the James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever (1971).

3. While saying her marriage vows, Barbara gets David's first names the wrong way around (she says "Charles David" instead of "David Charles"). This is a reference to Lady Diana Spencer getting Prince Charles' names wrong during their real-life wedding (Diana said "Philip Charles Arthur George" instead of "Charles Philip Arthur George").

4. The title of the show in Korea is "Psycho Village".

5. Tubbs and Edward were based on a real incident which occurred when the cast visited a small shop. The woman behind the counter acted scared, like they were about to rob her.

6. The Dentons are loosely based on real relatives of one of the writers, but they refuse to say whose.

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M*A*S*H (1972)

1. This television series, set during the Korean War, lasted eleven seasons. The actual Korean War lasted only three years.

2. Harry Morgan, who played Col. Potter, had an earlier guest appearance as a crazy General named Steele.

3. Col. Potter was from Hannibal, Missouri.

4. Col. Potter's horse was named Sophie. He gave Sophie to Sister Teresa's orphanage after the war ended, since he couldn't take her back to the States.

5. Jamie Farr, who played Max Klinger, was the only regular cast member to ever actually serve in the Army in Korea (after the war was over).

6. Many of the actors from the cast of "M*A*S*H" appeared in a series of TV commercials for the IBM Personal Computer. Alan Alda also endorsed the Atari personal computer.

7. "M*A*S*H" stands for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital.

8. In the final episode (Goodbye, Farewell, Amen), the song Hail to the Chief/Saynora can be heard in a scene between Hawkeye Pierce and Sidney Freeman at the psychiatric hospital. The song originated from the Robert Altman's film MASH (1970).

9. Almost 125 million people watched the final episode, at that time the largest audience ever for a television program.

10. McLean Stevenson, who played Lt. Col. Henry Blake, died of a heart attack on 15 February 1996. The next day, 16 February, Roger Bowen, who played Lt. Col. Henry Blake in the movie, died of the same cause.

11. The character of Spearchucker disappeared after the first five episodes when the writers found out that there weren't any African American surgeons serving at MASHes in the Korean War.

12. By the time the show ended, only three characters from the film remained: Hawkeye, Hot Lips, and Father Mulcahy.

13. In the episode "Abyssinia, Henry," Henry Blake is sent home. In a surprise twist at the end of the episode, the characters learn that Blake's plane was shot down en route and Henry died. This was kept a surprise from the cast, too, until the moment when Gary Burghoff's character ran into the operating room to announce the news. The intent was to capture the cast's genuine surprise and grief on film; but a mistake in filming required a second take to be done.

14. Edward Winter first appeared as Captain Halloran in "Deal Me Out" (8 December 1973), but would later play the paranoid Colonel Sam Flagg six times in the series. ("Halloran" may have been one of Flagg's many aliases.)

15. Gary Burghoff's left hand is slightly deformed, and he took great pains to hide or de-emphasize it during filming.

16. BJ's name comes from his parents': Bea and Jay Hunnicut.

17. All of the replacement characters (BJ, Col. Potter, and Charles) lasted longer then the characters they replaced (Trapper, Henry, and Frank).

18. After the news of Colonel Blake's death shocked the world, the very next night on "The Carol Burnett Show", the opening shot was of "Henry Blake" in a smoking raft, waving his arms, hollering, "I'm OK!" I'm OK!"

19. The character of "Hotlips Houlihan" was inspired by the real-life Korean War MASH head nurse "Hotlips Hammerly," also a very attractive blonde, of the same disposition, and also from El Paso, Texas.

20. The filming location for the exteriors of the 4077 M*A*S*H camp is today known as Malibu Creek State Park in Malibu, California. Formerly called the Fox Ranch, and owned by 20th Century Fox Studios until the 1980's, the M*A*S*H site today (early 2001) is overgrown with foliage, and marked by a rusted Jeep and ambulance used in the show, as well as a small sign. The state park is open to the public. It was also the location where Planet of the Apes and How Green Was My Valley were filmed.

21. When the series was first going into production, the network wanted a laugh track (a sitcom staple), while the show's producers didn't. They compromised with a "chuckle track", played only occasionally. (DVD releases of the series mostly allow viewers a no-laugh-track option.)

22. When the series was shown in the UK, it didn't have a laugh track. Once, the BBC left it switched on by mistake and received a number of complaints that the intrusive canned laughter spoilt the show's atmosphere.

23. Alan Alda had a running guest appearance on the TV show "ER" in which he plays Dr. Gabriel Lawrence, who reminisces about being a doctor in a war.

24. In the TV show, Col. Henry Blake is from the central Illinois twin cities of Bloomington-Normal. McLean Stevenson, the actor who portrayed Col. Blake, was born and raised in Bloomington-Normal (in McLean county).

25. While most of the characters from the movie were carried over to the television series, only three actors appeared in both: Gary Burghoff (Radar O'Reilly) and G. Wood (General Hammond) both appeared as the same character they played in the film. Wood only appeared in three episodes of "M*A*S*H" (1972). Timothy Brown, who played Spearchucker Jones on the TV series was also in the original theatrical film, MASH (1970). He was listed in the credits as "Tim Brown" and played a character named Cpl. Judson.

26. Robert Alda, Alan Alda's father, had guest appearances in two episodes, "The Consultant" and "Lend a Hand". "Lend a Hand" also featured a guest appearance by Antony Alda, Alan Alda's brother.

27. Gary Burghoff played his character's own mother in the fourth season episode "Mail Call Again".

28. Klinger's attempt to be thrown out of the army by wearing women's clothing was inspired by the comedian Lenny Bruce, who similarly attempted to win his way home from active service by dressing up as a WAVE (female officer).

29. Hotlips Houlihan (Loretta Swit) and Hawkeye Pierce (Alan Alda) are the only two characters who appear both in the first episode and the last episode.

30. While he was known for the role, William Christopher didn't play Father Mulcahy in the series' pilot. George Morgan originally played the role, but was only contracted for the pilot episode.

31. Many young actors appeared as guest stars before becoming household names: John Ritter, Patrick Swayze, Laurence Fishburne. Ron Howard guest starred while still known as "Ronny" Howard, between "The Andy Griffith Show" (1960) and "Happy Days" (1974).

32. B.J. was from Mill Valley, California in the San Francisco Bay area, not too far from Hawkeye's other bunkmate, Trapper John McIntyre.

33. It was Jamie Farr's idea to ironically have Max Klinger voluntarily choose to remain in Korea in the final episode.

34. There was one nude scene throughout the entire series. It occurred during the episode titled "The Sniper". When Radar was running outside wearing only a towel and the sniper is firing at him, he runs back into the showers, for some reason he takes off his towel *before* he closes the door to the showers. Rear nudity is briefly shown from a distance.

35. Larry Linville left the show because he felt that the character of Frank Burns was too one-dimensional, and that they'd done all they could do with the character.

36. First American network series to use the phrase "son-of-a-bitch".

37. The final episode, "Goodbye, Farewell, Amen", is still the highest rated episode for a network series.

38. Director Michael Mann once took a minor role in the series as a wounded soldier.

39. The ubiquitous helicopters are Bell 47Ds. In the real Korean War, the 47D evacuated 80% of American casualties.

40. In some early episodes, Colonel Blake's wife was called Mildred. Later, she became Lorraine. Colonel Potter's wife was called Mildred.

41. Other early career appearances are George Wendt (Norm from 'Cheers') and Andrew 'Dice' Clay (credited as Andrew Clay) were both in the same episode. Wendt was a Marine that got a pool ball stuck in his mouth. Clay as a drunk Marine who runs in to a chicken coop.

42. When Larry Linville left the series after the 1976-1977 season, his absence was explained by having Frank Burns suffer a breakdown after Hot Lips got married. After that he was taken in for psychiatric evaluation and transferred. Later, Burns got promoted to lieutenant colonel and got himself transferred back to the States where he became chief of staff at a V.A. hospital in Indiana.

43. During filming for the final episode, a brush fire broke out and destroyed much of the set. After that it was decided to write the fire into the story by having the North Koreans set off incendiary devices and start a brush fire.

44. Much like their onscreen counterparts, the cast of "M*A*S*H" bonded and became a "family" on the set, in response to the relative remoteness of the Fox Ranch, and the cold weather when filming began.

45. A catered wrap party had been planned for the end of the third season, but after completing the final scene of "Abyssinia, Henry", with the announcement of Henry Blake's death, nobody felt like celebrating, and they simply went home. Also, after witnessing filming of the announcement of his character's death, McLean left the set, driving home almost immediately after the scene.

46. Wayne Rogers decided to leave the show because he felt that Trapper John had become more of a sidekick to Alan Alda's Hawkeye, than the equals they were supposed to be. 20th Century-Fox sued Rogers, but their case collapsed when it transpired that he'd never signed his contract. (The reason Rogers cited for this was an archaic "morals clause", which he wouldn't accept unless the studio signed one for him in turn.)

47. Klinger married his first wife, his childhood sweetheart Laverne Esposito, while he was serving in Korea. The ceremony was performed over the short wave radio and officiated by Father Mulcahy, who also performed Klinger's marriage ceremony to his Korean war bride Soon Lee.

48. While he never played an instrument in any episode, one of Major Burns' prized possessions was a white award Bible he won for playing organ.

49. As the series went on, the producers began interviewing actual M*A*S*H veterans for their stories and impressions; many of their recollections went into storylines.

50. Klinger was only going to appear in one episode. However, he proved so popular that he became a regular.

51. To show the horrors of war, Alan Alda had it written into his contract that each episode had to have at least one scene taking place in the operating room.

52. When Gary Burghoff decided to leave the series, Mike Farrell tried unsuccessfully to talk him out of it. Specifically, Farrell cited the lacklustre, relatively unsuccessful TV careers both McLean Stevenson and Larry Linville had once they earlier left the show.

53. In many of the early episodes of the series, Hawkeye often mentioned that he had a sister. However, after a few years he stopped mentioning her.

54. Larry Hama, the writer of most of the GI Joe comic books, appeared in one episode as a North Korean jeep driver.

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Magic Roundabout, The (1965)

1. The Magic Roundabout was originally a French Kids TV show. The BBC (in England), handed it to Eric Thompson. Who they asked to narrate it, and translate the French script to English. He narrated it, but threw away the French script, (he reportedly hated it). So he wrote and improvised his own version, working only from a silent cut, of the French version.

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Malcolm in the Middle (2000)

1. "Krelboyne", the name of the class of gifted students to which Malcolm belongs, is taken from the name of the nerdy hero of The Little Shop of Horrors (1960).

2. The animation clips shown briefly during the opening credits are from the Japanese anime Nazca.

3. On the show, Reese is the second oldest brother of Malcolm, but in real life Reese (Justin Berfield) is less than three months younger than Malcolm (Frankie Muniz).

4. The two wrestlers briefly featured in the opening credits are Bret Hart and Chris Benoit.

5. The hamster that Dewey releases in an earlier episode can be seen in various episodes after. Rolling past the screen (in it's exercise ball) on the ground in the background.

6. In the episode where the Hal and the boys go to the race track, they come home to discover that Lois had gone through all of their stuff, in that pile was a pack of Morley cigarettes, the same fake brand the Cigarette Smoking Man prefers to use on the "X-Files"

7. Malcolm's family is Wilkerson.

8. Merrin Dungey (who plays Stevie's Mom, Kitty Kenarben) appeared in the first episode as Malcolm's teacher.

9. Jane Kaczmarek in real life has given birth by way of Caesarean section three times. When it came time to simulate giving birth without a C-section in the episode Baby Part Two, Jane just imitated every other birth she had seen on television.

10. Two of the Krelboynes, Dabney and Lloyd, are named after student houses at Caltech.

11. In the German version, Otto and Gretchen are from Denmark. In the original English version, they are from Germany.

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Married... with Children (1987)

1. The episode "I'll See You In Court" was slated to be shown in season 3. The producers could not come to an agreement with the network censors. The episode was finally shown in the U.S. on the FX network on June 18, 2002.

2. The last episode aired on May 5, 1997 on Fox TV.

3. Longest running show to never win an Emmy.

4. Many of the original "Married... With Children" producers later collaborated on the WB series "Unhappily Ever After", which bore many similarities to "Married".

5. In some episodes, the Bundy home address is 9764 Jeopardy Lane, Chicago, Illinois. In other episodes, the address is 9674 Jeopardy Lane.

6. In the episode "England Show Part 1", when the Bundy's arrive at the airport, there is a person holding a sign in the background with the last name: Leavitt. Another person holds a sign that says Moye. This is a reference to Ron Leavitt (executive producer) and Michael G. Moye (writer) of the show.

7. After the '92-93 season, Seven's mysterious disappearance is alluded to many times such as in the Touchdown Trivia episode, when Al is filling Kelly's head with sports facts, she forgets about Buck and Seven, and in the Carpool episode, Seven's face is shown as "Missing" on the Bundy's milk carton

8. The roles of Al and Peg Bundy were first offered to Sam Kinison and Roseanne.

9. Ted McGinley first appeared on the show as "Norman Jablonsky" in episode: "It's a Bundyful Life: Part 2".

10. In "Get the Dodge Out of Hell", Episode #917, Jefferson has a job at the car wash and the apron he wears reads "Traugott's House of Scrubbin'." Walter Traugott was the man who Jefferson supposedly had killed while watching a baseball game in Episode #820 "The D'Arcy Files" because he knew of Jefferson's past as a spy.

11. The show spawned the spin-off "Top of the Heap" which characters from both shows casts would frequently appear on the others. The show later became "Vinnie & Bobby" before finally being cancelled.

12. The series makes several references to the movie Deliverance (1972). Ed O'Neill, who plays Al Bundy, had a small part as a police officer in Deliverance.

13. Prior to the two spinoffs "Top of the Heap" and "Vinnie and Bobby", Married With Children had two other ideas for spinoffs, "Enemies" and "Radio Free Trumaine". Enemies dealt with Kelly's friends fighting and falling in love again, while Radio Free Trumaine was about Bud's College. They remained as episodes for the MWC seasons, but never made the final cut for more episodes.

14. In the opening sequence the shot of the cars on the interstate interchange is part of a scene from Vacation (1983).

15. The fountain shown at the beginning of the credits is the Buckingham Fountain in downtown Chicago.

16. In the episode "Al Bundy, Shoe Dick" it is revealed that the previous episodes of season 6 were all a dream. Katey Sagal had miscarried in real life, so the writers decided to get rid of Peggy and Marcy's pregnancies.

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Mission: Impossible (1966)

1. Although the IMF usually received its instructions from a self-destructing reel-to-reel tape, this didn't become the norm until several seasons into the series. In early episodes, Briggs and Phelps got their instructions from other sources such as records and filmstrip projectors. The "tape scenes" for each episode (as they were known) were usually filmed in one block at the start of each season. Peter Graves said he never knew which episode would use which tape scene until it was broadcast.

2. According to Robert Justman in his book "Inside Star Trek," the famous "Mission: Impossible" theme was not the first theme written. Lalo Schifrin had written a main theme, but creator and executive producer Bruce Geller decided that it was inappropriate. Instead, Geller used some chase music Schifrin had written for the end of the first episode. That throwaway musical cue became one of the most famous and recognizable television show themes in history.

3. When the reel-to-reel tape recorder is playing the mission's instructions, it is actually in a "rewind" mode rather than a "play" mode. This was done because the tape moved too slowly to be believed when it was "playing".

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Mork & Mindy (1978)

1. Mindy's middle name is Beth.

2. Many of the gags seen on the show were on the spot improvisations by Robin Williams, and later by Williams and Jonathan Winters.

3. When Conrad Janis and Elizabeth Kerr temporarily left the show, their absences were explained by having Fred fulfilling his dream of becoming a conductor and going on the road and Cora joining him on the road.

4. Unlike humans, who evolved from the apes, Orkans evolved from chickens.

5. Mork and Mindy's downstairs neighbour, Mr. Bickley, wrote greeting cards for a living.

6. As of 2004 Mork and Mindy's house is the most popular landmark in Boulder, Colorado.

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Mr. Bean (1989)

1. The title music "Ecce homo" ("Behold the man"), like many TV themes by 'Howard Goodal' , was originally written as a serious piece of church choral music. New lyrics (in Latin) were written for "Mr. Bean": "Ecce homo qui est faba. Vale homo qui est faba" ("Behold the man who is a bean. Farewell the man who is a bean").

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Office, The (2001)

1. The series started as a small, home-made video by Stephen Merchant when he was trying to get a job at the BBC. He came up with the idea for making a documentary style format as it would be easier for him to film. He and his colleague Ricky Gervais came up with the Office idea and used a local University to film it. Upon seeing the short video the BBC requested that they make a series out of it. Many of the jokes from this original film are recycled during the Proper Series for example, David Brent's opening speech about making employee's dreams come true.

2. (Region 2 DVD) At the first menu let the DVD run for a few minutes until you can hear the phone, then press 'select/ok' on your controller to answer the phone. Then you can watch the full length version of David Brent playing and singing "free love on the free love freeway" featured in episode 4, series 1.

3. On Disc 2 of "The Office" series 1 DVD, click on the extended version of the poem "Slough" read by David. When the light goes out, press enter on the remote and you will get the full version of the video that the staff watch in the episode "Training Day".

4. In every episode, there is a shot, from the exact same angle, of the photocopier making multiple copies of a document.

5. The Cat Stevens song "Sitting" was originally considered for the theme music.

6. The first British sitcom for over 25 years to be nominated for a golden globe, and the first ever to win one.

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Only Fools and Horses (1981)

1. Over a dozen Reliant Robins (the three-wheeled vans) were used during the series.

2. Kenneth MacDonald (who played Mike) died the same day as it was announced that a new trilogy would be made.

3. John Sullivan wrote every episode.

4. David Jason was cast as Del Boy after the producers saw him in "Open All Hours" (1974).

5. Jim Broadbent was originally cast to play Del Boy, but after David Jason auditioned, he was instead cast as DCI Roy 'the slag' Slater.

6. Crew members would often find filming outside (often in Bristol, 130 miles from the Trotters' "home" in Peckham, south east London) a tough challenge due to the amount of people who would turn up just to watch and catch a glimpse of the actors.

7. The original ending (in 1996) was that Del, Rodney and Uncle Albert become cartoon characters as they walked into the sunset. The director, however, decided against this idea.

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Police Squad!(1982)

1. Each episode has two titles: the voiceover narration inevitably fails to match the on-screen title.

2. Each week featured a "Special Guest Star" who is killed off in the opening credits. Lorne Greene and William Conrad are knifed and tossed out of cars; George Stanford Brown has a safe dropped on him; Florence Henderson is shot during a musical number; Robert Goulet is executed by a firing squad; and William Shatner avoids a burst of machine gun only to drink a glass of poisoned wine.

3. Each episode, Drebin runs over a number of garbage cans equal to the episode number.

4. The final episode was to have featured an opening death scene by John Belushi, but he died in reality shortly after filming the segment, and it was never aired.

5. Starting with the 2nd episode, Drebin would reel off a list of the criminals apprehended in all the previous episodes.

6. Each week Frank's snitch, Johnny the Shoeshine boy who knew everything, would meet with someone else that Johnny could give useful if esoteric information to. In the last three episode he met with real-life people Dick Clark, Dr. Joyce Brothers, and Tommy Lasorda (even providing Clark with a special bottle of anti-aging face cream).

7. John Belushi filmed a cameo "guest star" appearance for the "Testimony of Evil" episode, showing him underwater wearing a pair of cement shoes. He died before the episode aired, so a new sequence was filmed with William Conrad.

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Scrubs (2001)

1. Sacred Heart Hospital is named after the school which Christa Miller, (wife of writer Bill Lawrence) attended.

2. The teasers for the 2001 season finale parodied the teasers for the show "24" (2001) which had the same time slot as Scrubs

3. The network leased and refurbished as disused hospital for the program. The lower and upper floors of the hospital are used as other sets and production offices.

4. At the beginning of the second season, a longer intro was introduced that included all of the characters in the show, and not just the doctors. It was quickly scuttled when NBC decided to extend the length of the episodes in an attempt to win more viewers.

5. JD's father's final line when he asks JD to pull his finger and then says, "I pooed a little," was totally improvised and Zach Braff had to bite the insides of his cheeks to stop himself laughing.

6. In the Spanish dubbed version of the show, the nurse Carla Espinosa speaks with her mother in Portuguese. In the original English version, they speak Spanish.

7. Ted's "Band" is in fact, "The Blanks" a group the actor formed with his friends at college.

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Seinfeld (1990)

1. John Randolf originally played "Frank Costanza" in the episode "The Handicap Spot". But for syndication they re-filmed scenes from this episode with Jerry Stiller. In each version of this episode, George can be seen peeking at a "glamour" magazine.

2. Larry David was the original voice of Newman in "The Revenge" but Wayne Knight overdubbed the voice for syndication.

3. The "Restaurant" exterior belongs to "Tom's Restaurant" ("Tom's Diner" from the Suzanne Vega song), near the Columbia University campus in Manhattan at 113th & Broadway.

4. Jerry Seinfeld used to live at the address used on the show, 129 81st Street.

5. The character of Cosmo Kramer is based on Kenny Kramer, a man who worked across the hall from co-creator Larry David. In a self-confessed move to cash-in on the sitcom's popularity, Kenny Kramer formed the "Kramer Reality Tour", an officially-recognized New York City tour which visits the real-life locations often featured in the sitcom. In the 1997 season of "Seinfeld", Cosmo Kramer's memoirs are published by J. Peterman as his own. Wanting to make the most of the situation, Cosmo Kramer starts a "Peterman Reality Tour", offering a tour of the real-life locations featured in the memoirs.

6. In the very first episode, the first conversation was between George and Jerry about a button. In the very last episode, when they were sitting in jail, the last conversation they had was the same thing about the button.

7. The "Soup Nazi" is based on the actual owner of a take-out soup business in Manhattan on W. 55th St, between Broadway and 8th Ave.

8. Seinfeld's college friend Mike Costanza (who served as a partial model of the character [and name] of George Costanza) appears as an angry truck driver in the episode, "The Parking Space".

9. In the episode "The Sniffing Accountant," Kramer said he likes the idea of staking out in the car and one day he might be a private investigator. After Seinfeld, Michael Richards plays a private investigator in the "The Michael Richards Show" (2000).

10. The backwards episode "The Betrayal" is based on a Harold Pinter play "Betrayal" which also uses the same gimmick. Sue-Ellen, Mishkie's fiancée in the episode is named Pinter in tribute to the playwright.

11. In the episode "The Face Painter" Mark DeCarlo plays a character named Alec Berg. Alec Berg is the name of one of the show's writers and executive producers.

12. Jerry Stiller plays George's dad. Ben Stiller ( Jerry Stiller's son ) is married to Christine Taylor, who guest starred on the show as Jerry Seinfeld's girlfriend.

13. In the episode where Elaine dates a man named Joel Rifkin, she tries to have him change his name, since Joel Rifkin is also the name of a brutal serial killer. One of the initial suggestions for a new name was O.J. This episode was shot in 1993, a year before the O.J. Simpson murders.

14. In Jerry's apartment, he has a picture on the wall of a black Porsche 911 catching air going over a hill. In real life, Jerry is an avid Porsche fan and collector.

15. In the final episode of the series, the trial pays homage to Inherit the Wind (1960). Particularly, the scene where the attorney discusses how many important people will descend upon their little town, because the case is so high profile.

16. Voted top TV series of all time, beating out #2 "The Honeymooners" and #3 "I Love Lucy" in list of 50 shows chosen by TV Guide editors April, 2002.

17. Jerry Seinfeld turned down an offer from NBC that would have made him $110 million for a tenth season of the show.

18. ABC Entertainment executive Lloyd Braun lent his name to character appearing in three episodes, The Non-Fat Yogurt, The Gum, and The Serenity Now, a neighbour and nemesis of George Costanza.

19. The character of Lloyd Braun (George's childhood neighbour, and rival) is played by multiple actors, though they have very similar looks, so it's not often noticed.

20. In one episode they spoof the JFK magic bullet theory, Wayne Knight also appeared in JFK (1991)

21. The episode where Newman grills Jerry about mail fraud is a parody of Basic Instinct (1992). Wayne Knight appeared in that film.

22. The costume department of "Seinfeld" always fitted Jason Alexander (George) with an outfit that was one size too small. This was done to make him look "uncool."

23. In the episode where Kramer options his coffee table book for a movie and moves to Florida, several newspaper headlines are featured as he runs for condo council president. In smaller print on these pages, other headlines read, "Larry David Gets Hole In One; Larry David Injures Elbow;" and "Larry David Never To Play Golf Again."

24. As Kramer became more popular, his entrance applause grew so prolonged that the cast complained it was ruining the pacing of their scenes. Directors subsequently asked the audience not to applaud so much when Kramer entered.

25. Larry Miller was one of the original choices to play George Costanza. Miller is featured in the episode "The Doorman" as the doorman.

26. In the episode "The Parking Garage" Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer spend the episode trying to find their lost car in a parking garage. The episode was suppose to end with the four of them driving around not being able to find the exit, but while shooting, the car wouldn't start, resulting in the revised ending.

27. Larry David, Co-Creator and executive producer, appears several times throughout the series. He is the voice of George Steinbrenner, The Man In The Cape (Frank's Divorce Lawyer) and the owner of a newsstand. He was also one of the last voices heard on the show, as the "I'm gonna cut you!" prisoner at the very end of the final episode.

28. Tom's Restaurant is actually located in 112th and Broadway.

29. In the Episode "The Big Salad" (#6.2), Elaine gives her phone number as "KL5-2390", and Jerry protests that that's actually his number. ("KL5" translates as the infamous "555" exchange.)

30. In light of the anthrax scares in the US in late-2001, the planned syndicated rerun of the episode "The Invitations" (originally aired on 16 May 1996) on 22 Oct 2001 was cancelled. Since that time, it has been reported (on summer 2002) that the episode has reappeared in some markets.

31. When the final episode aired on May 14, 1998, the TV Land network honoured the occasion by airing no programming in the show's timeslot. Instead the network just showed a still photo of a closed office door.

32. At Jerry Seinfeld's high school, Massapequa HS on Long Island, there was a teacher named Mr. Bevilaqua - he was the wrestling coach there. In one of the episodes Jerry had a race that was officiated by Mr. Bevilaqua.

33. In the episode "The Pilot", when the actors audition for roles on "Jerry," the lines they read for the characters of Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer are from actual episodes of Seinfeld, including "The Deal" and "The Note".

34. In the episode where George thinks someone stole his glasses from the gym locker-room, he is eating a bag of Rolds Golds pretzels. At the time, Jason Alexander was a spokesman for the product.

35. In an initial episode, Jerry calls Kramer as Kessler. The name was subsequently changed to Kramer. In the episode "The Betrayal", towards the very end when we see the scene from "Eleven Years Earlier", Jerry is moving into his apartment, and Kramer comes over to welcome him. Jerry says: "You must be Kessler, I saw your name on the buzzer", to which Kramer replier, "No, it's Kramer."

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Sesame Street (1969)

1. Bert and Ernie are *not* named for the characters in It's a Wonderful Life (1946); it's a coincidence.

2. Originally, the character of Snuffleupagus only ever interacted with Big Bird. He'd always come and go when no one else was around, and consequently no one ever believed Big Bird when he told them of his existence. The producers decided to reveal him to the other characters partially because they felt it was sending a bad message to children that adults will not believe them if they have something important to tell them.

3. Originally, the intention was that the Muppets and the human actors should be kept strictly separate in different sequences. However, the producers learned that the audiences were focusing their attention on the Muppets and ignoring the actors. In response, they had the actors and Muppets begin to interact in new scenes and created special Muppets primarily designed for actors to work with, namely Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch.

4. After the untimely death of Jim Henson in 1990, Kermit the Frog was retired from Sesame Street. Kermit appeared only in reruns of old sketches, until 1998 when he popped up to do one more Sesame Street News Flash when Oscar's pet worm Slimy went into space. He was voiced by Steve Whitmire, who has also assumed the role of Ernie since Henson's passing.

5. Unfortunately, some classic Muppets have been canned over the years for interesting reasons. Don Music, the piano player who would bang his head against the piano in frustration, had to be discontinued when kids at home started doing the same. Harvey Kneeslapper was hung up because his signature laugh was too much of a strain on Frank Oz's vocal cords. Roosevelt Franklin, arguably one of the first breakthrough Sesame Street Muppets, had to go as he was considered to be a negative cultural stereotype. (He was the only African-American Muppet at the time, and was seen mostly in detention after school.)

6. In 2002, producers of an African version of "Sesame Street" announced they were adding an HIV Muppet to the series to address the growing number of people (including children) with the virus in that part of the world. The producers of the original US series indicated they were considering doing the same thing.

7. In 1993, the original Sesame Street set was expanded to include new areas located "just around the corner" from Big Bird's nest which had previously marked the end of Sesame Street's world. Among these areas was a store initially run by a character played by Ruth Buzzi. The series format was intended to simulate the commercial-filled world of TV which kids are exposed to, with a main plotline being interrupted by frequent "commercials" and simulated TV programs. The show also made extensive use of the "reruns" concept by replaying popular segments over and over, intermixed with new material. As a result, children viewing "Sesame Street" in 2002 will still see the occasional segment that was originally created for the series when their parents were still children! Many songs written for the series are now considered standards. These include "Sing," "Being Green," "Rubber Duckie," "C is for Cookie" as well as the show's theme song.

8. "Sing a song" by the Carpenters was originally slated to be the show's opening theme song.

9. The character of Oscar the Grouch was inspired by two people. His attitude comes from a nasty waiter that served Jim Henson and former director Jon Stone at a restaurant called Oscar's Tavern in Manhattan. The voice was inspired by a cab-driver that used to drive Caroll Spinney to the set every day during the first season.

10. Originally designed for inner-city hispanic children, to help them formulate phrases in English.

11. On the death of actor Will Lee, who played neighbourhood grocer Harold Hooper, the production staff decided not to replace him with another actor, but instead write a special episode dealing with the loss of a loved one ("Goodbye, Mr. Hooper"). In a scene where the other cast members are talking to Big Bird about the death of someone you love, they were apparently still grieving the loss of Will Lee, since they were visibly near to tears.

12. Some of the songs used on Sesame Street (i.e. versions of the Alphabet Song and "Wubba Wubba Wubba (Is A Monster Song)") featured cameo appearances by many celebrities including Ray Charles, and, on one occasion, the cartoon family The Simpsons.

13. According to "Guinness World Records 2004", "Sesame Street" holds the record for "Most Popular Children's Educational Program", which has been sold to 180 countries.

14. After it was decided to have the character of Mr Hooper die after the death of actor Will Lee (rather than re-cast the role or simply write out his character) a child psychologist was brought in to help the writers. The show where his character's death was announced was scheduled for a public holiday and was publicized in many newspapers (so parents could be present to answer any questions their children might have). It was also seen as important not to say that Mr. Hooper died in hospital as it was seen as potentially making children scared of going to hospital.

15. Oscar the Grouch's pet worm is called Slimey.

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Simpsons, The (1989)

1. On 17 January 2003, Fox announced that it had renewed the show until 2005 and its 16th season. This will make the series the longest running comedy series in US TV history save for "Saturday Night Live" (1975), and it will have beaten the previous record holder for longest-running prime-time animated series ("The Flintstones" (1960)) by a full 10 years.

2. The show grew from 30-second segments that aired between comedy sketches on "The Tracey Ulman Show" (1987). Julie Kavner and Dan Castellaneta were regulars on the show while Nancy Cartwright and Yeardley Smith were drafted in specially for the animation.

3. Nancy Cartwright, voice of Bart, first tried out for Lisa's voice.

4. Kang and Kodos (the aliens) are named for two "Star Trek" (1966) characters - Kang was a Klingon warrior, and Kodos was a 'Hitler' -like mass murderer.

5. In one episode, Principal Skinner reveals that his prisoner number in Vietnam was 24601. That same prisoner number was Hank Jennings' in "Twin Peaks" (1990) and Jean Valjean's in Les Miserables.

6. Sideshow Bob also has the same prison number, as seen when he is corresponding with Selma while still in prison. ["Dear inmate #24601..."]

7. The character "Krusty the Clown" was inspired by a real-life TV kiddie show host named "Rusty Nails" and Dan Castellaneta's voice characterization was based on Chicago television legend Bob Bell who portrayed WGN-TV's Bozo from 1960-1984.

8. When Homer is accused of sexual harassment, a show called "Rock Bottom" does an exposé on him that falsely portrays him as guilty. They later quickly scroll a list of apologies down the screen. Here they are:
            1. "Peoples' Choice Award" is America's greatest honour.
            2. Styrofoam is not made from kittens.
            3. The U.F.O. was a paper plate.
            4. The nerds on the internet are not geeks.
            5. The word "cheese" is not funny in and of itself.
            6. The older Flanders boy is Todd, not Rod.
            7. Lyndon Johnson did not provide the voice of Yosemite Sam.
            8. If you are reading this you have no life.
            9. Roy Rogers was not buried inside his horse.
            10. The other U.F.O. was an upside-down salad spinner.
            11. Our universities are not "hotbeds" of anything.
            12. Mr. Dershowitz did not literally have four eyes.
            13. Our viewers are not pathetic, sexless food tubes.
            14. Audrey Hepburn never weighed 400 pounds.
            15. The "Cheers" gang is not a real gang.
            16. Salt water does not "chase the thirsties away"
            17. Licking an electrical outlet will not turn you into a Mighty Morphin Power Ranger.
            18. Cats do not eventually turn into dogs.
            19. Bullets do not bounce off of fat guys.
            20. Recycling does not deplete the ozone.
            21. Everything is 10% fruit juice.
            22. The flesh-eating virus does not hide in ice cream.
            23. Janet Reno is evil.
            24. V8 juice is not 1/8 gasoline.
            25. Ted Koppel is a robot.
            26. Women aren't from Venus, and men aren't from Mars.
            27. Fleiss does floss.
            28. Quayle is familiar with common bathroom procedure.
            29. Bart is bad to the bone.
            30. Godfry Jones' wife is cheating on him. (note: Jones was the host of "Rock Bottom")
            31. The Beatles haven't reunited to enter kick boxing contests.
            32. The "Bug" on your TV screen can see into your home.
            33. Everyone on TV is better than you.
            34. The people who are writing this have no life.

9. Since the advent of the television rating system in the United States, the grand majority of episodes have received the family-friendly TV-PG rating. However, to date (2004) three episodes have been rated TV-14. The first was "Monty Can't Buy Me Love" (Airdate: 2 May 1999) in which Homer and Mr. Burns capture the Loch Ness monster (rated for language); the second was "Little Big Mom" (Airdate: 9 Jan. 2000) in which Lisa tricks Bart and Homer into thinking they have leprosy (rated for violence); and "Three Gays of the Condo" (Airdate: 13 Apr. 2003) in which Homer moves in with two gay men, one of whom kisses him (rated for dialogue and sexual content).

10. According to Bart, he is 2 years and 38 days older than Lisa.

11. The name of Bart's principal, Seymour Skinner, is taken from behaviour specialist B.F. Skinner.

12. Sideshow Bob is voiced by "Frasier" (1993) star Kelsey Grammer . In "Brother from Another Series", Cecil, Sideshow Bob's brother, is featured, and is voiced by David Hyde Pierce, who plays Frasier's brother, Niles, in "Frasier" (1993). Cecil also mentions Maris, Niles's never-seen wife.

13. A TV critic titled his article "Worst Episode Ever!" after watching a late '90s episode, and criticized the show's writing. In the later seasons, there are many episodes in which the Comic Book Guy criticizes a character by saying "Worst episode ever!" and "Worst [action] ever!" in reference to the TV critic's article.

14. Some of the store & place names around town:
            Gun Shop - BloodBath and Beyond
            Pastry Shop - The French Confection
            Investing service - IPO Friday's
            Museum - Louvre: American Style
            Family Restaurant - Texas Cheesecake Depository
            Soup Kitchen - Helter Shelter
            Seafood Restaurant - The Fryin' Dutchman
            Middle eastern restaurant - Two Guys from Kabul
            Discount Store - Try 'n' Save
            Dog Obedience Schools - Eastside Ruff-Form School, Professor Von Bowser's Sanatorium For Dogs
            Music shop - Suicide Notes and Tommy Toots
            New Age Shop - Karmaceuticals
            Girls school - Saint Sebastian's School for Wicked Girls
            Repo man - Repo Depot
            Outdoor Clothing Store - Malaria Zone
            Gourmet Food store - Eatie Gourmet's
            Toy Store - Valley of the Dolls
            Roach Motel - The Ritz Carlton Hotel for Vagrants
            Comic book store - Androids Dungeon
            Air conditioner store - It Blows
            Boys' Clothing Store - Wee Monsieur
            Law Office - I Can't Believe It's A Law Firm!
            Healthcare Facility- HMO (Hibbert Moneymaking Organization)
            Joke/Novelty Shop: Yuckingham Palace
            Jewellery store - The Family Jewels
            Shop selling casserole dishes - Stoner's Pot Palace
            The eye care centre - Eye Carumba.
            Donut Shop - Lard Lad Donuts

15. Many of the characters are named after major streets in Portland, Oregon, where creator Matt Groening grew up. Examples: Flanders, Lovejoy, Terwilliger, Kearney.

16. In 1997, The Simpsons broke "The Flintstones" record for longest-running prime time animated TV show. The show also holds the record for most guest stars in a television series.

17. Many of the characters are named after Matt Groening's family and relatives, including Homer, Marge, Lisa and Maggie, which are the real names of his parents and younger sisters.

18. Marge and Lisa have four eyelashes, and Maggie has three eyelashes

19. Three of the four Beatles have appeared on the show - George Harrison (Homer's Barbershop Quartet), Ringo Starr (Brush With Greatness) and Paul McCartney, who appeared with the late Linda McCartney (Lisa the Vegetarian). There is an episode dedicated to the memory of George Harrison.

20. In the episode "The Itchy and Scratchy Movie," Dustin Hoffman and Michael Jackson are said to have made pseudonymous appearances in a movie.

21. According to at least one Internet source, Matt Groening has confirmed that Michael Jackson did provide the voice (under the name John Jay Smith) for the character bearing his name in the episode "Stark Raving Dad". He did not do any singing which was done by an impersonator. Dustin Hoffman's appearance was as Mr. Burgstrum from the episode "Lisa's Substitute".

22. What Bart writes on the chalkboard in the opening credits is different in every episode.

23. In the opening credits, the cash register shows $847.63 when Maggie is "scanned" (figure was taken from a survey (found by Matt Groening) done at the time that said that this was the average monthly cost of caring for a newborn baby - food, clothes, health, etc.). But during the Simpson anniversary show (hosted by Troy McClure) the credit sequence is paused and the machine is shown to read "NRA 4EVER".

24. The primary cast all have agreements in their contracts that hold them to doing three movies based on the show in the future.

25. The Simpsons live on Evergreen Terrace. Early in the show's life the house number was given differently a few times (including 1094), but in later episodes the address settled down to 742 Evergreen Terrace.

26. The location of the fictitious town of Springfield is never revealed. Whenever they locate the town on a map, for instance, we never see the map. In the "Behind The Music" episode the State is mentioned but there are several versions of the show, each with a different state name (including Kentucky and Missouri), to keep the not-revealing-the-location-of-Springfield joke going.

27. Homer's trademark was the expressive "D'oh!". After a few seasons, that particular word was finally considered valid, accepted and finally appeared in the online version of The Oxford Dictionary. According to actor Dan Castellaneta, the word means "annoyed grunt" as it was written in the script. He came out with the word "Dooooh..." from Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy and made it quicker for animation.

28. Chief Wiggum and Apu were created by Hank Azaria. According to Hank Azaria, Apu was created during his times when Hank Azaria did not have a car while in Los Angeles and the only place in walking distance was the 7-Eleven shop. Apu was also based on Peter Sellers in The Party (1968) and is named after the title character in Satyajit Ray's Apu trilogy.

29. Characters' full Names: Lisa Marie Simpson Bartholomew Jojo Simpson Homer Jay Simpson

30. Series creator Matt Groening sketched out the original drawings for the Simpson Family in a matter of minutes while sitting outside producer James L. Brooks' office.

31. The main characters were given a yellow colouring to attract the attention of channel hoppers.

32. Celebrities have been known to be so eager to make a guest appearance on "The Simpsons" (1989) that they'll even play themselves in an unflattering light. For instance, Jasper Johns played himself as a kleptomaniac, Gary Coleman played himself as a pathetic has-been, and Tom Arnold played himself as an obnoxious non-talent who gets fired into the sun for being such a bad actor.

33. When appealing to Danny Elfman for the prefect theme song, Matt Groening gave him a cassette tape of songs similar to the one he wanted. The tape included "The Jetsons" (1962) theme, selections from Nino Rota's Juliet Of The Spirits, a Remington electric shaver jingle by Frank Zappa, easy-listening music by Juan García Esquivel, and a teach-your-parrot-to-talk record.

34. For a short period of time the show was dubbed to Swedish in Sweden, but after receiving mountains of hate mail the network brought back the original show.

35. In the episode "Krusty Gets Kancelled", Marge does not have one line.

36. Ralph Wiggum was named after Ralph Kramden on "The Honeymooners" because the character was intended to be a loudmouthed smaller version of Homer. He wasn't established as Chief Wiggum's son until "I Love Lisa", the fifteenth episode of the fourth season.

37. Bart's anonymous prank calls to Moe the bartender were inspired by tapes of real-life prank calls made to New Jersey bartender Louis "Red" Deutsch (the tapes were widely circulated during the 1980s). Deutsch constantly received calls requesting for names of fictitious bar patrons (Al Coholic, Stu Pitt, etc.), and always responded in a hostile manner every time he realized he'd been duped.

38. In one episode a letter to Mr. Burns from the Simpsons does not show the State the Simpsons live in, but reads Mr. Burns as living in Springfield, New Jersey

39. The show repeatedly makes fun of the Fox network, which airs the show.

40. Sherri and Terri in the early episodes, they were the biggest bitches in Bart's class. Currently, they serve as background filler, their significance having decreased over time from tormentors to deliverers of small lines to faces in the crowd.

41. The Barber shop in Springfield is called "Hairy Sheerers" - named for voice talent Harry Shearer.

42. Hank Azaria has said that he conceived the voice of Moe Szyslak as a bad imitation of Al Pacino.

43. Matt Groening based the character Bart Simpson on the character of Dennis in Dennis the Menace (1959), which he watched as a child but was disappointed that Dennis was not as mischievous as he was in the comic strip.

44. The name of the music store next to Moe's is King Toots.

45. Dr. Hibbert's last name, boxer Dreaderick Tatum's first name, and the Toots Music Store are all a tribute to reggae singer Frederick 'Toots' Hibbert.

46. Most of the main cast of "Cheers" (1982) has appeared on this show. Most notably, Kelsey Grammer as Sideshow Bob. In an episode where Homer was kicked out of Moe's Tavern, he seeks a new bar, and walks into Cheers. This is where the other "Cheers" (1982) cast members voice their old characters. However, Kelsey Grammer's character of Frasier does not speak.

47. In the episode "Lisa's wedding", the full name of the man she is engaged to is Hugh St. John Alastair Parkfield.

48. In the episode "A Tale of Two Springfields", Springfield is split into two area codes, 636 and 939. This would put half of Springfield in Missouri and the other half in Puerto Rico.

49. Donald Sutherland guest starred in the episode Lisa the Iconoclast. He also appeared in the 1975 movie Day of the Locust (1975), where he played a character named Homer Simpson.

50. The character Professor John Frink is named after a producer of the show and based on Jerry Lewis's 'Nutty Professor'.

51. In the episode "Homer 3" (Tree House of Horror) where Homer enters the 3rd dimension, you can see the numbers 46 72 69 6E 6B 20 72 75 6C 65 73 21 float by. This is hexadecimal code for Frink Rules (you can check by putting this code in your browser bar (only works in IE): 'about:%46%72%69%6E%6B%20%72%75%6C%65%73%21'.

52. In the 'Who Shot Mr Burns?' episode, Mr Burns collapses on a sundial pointing his arms at S and W - which to his eyes look like M and S, identifying the initials of the shooter. This resulted in several characters having their names permanently expanded just for the sake of red herrings: Seymour Skinner's name was revealed as M. Seymour Skinner (it's written on a diploma behind his head in one scene); Moe the Bartender became Moe Szyslak; and Sideshow Mel's name was revealed as Melvin van Horn, presumably to eliminate him (although it could have still been interpreted as not MS but SM - Sideshow Mel).

53. Smithers first appears in the episode "Homer's Odyssey" where he is shown being apparently African American. However, in his second appearance, "There's No Disgrace Like Home," he appears as having a yellow complexion, which remains throughout the rest of the series. In "There's no disgrace like home", Lou the policeman is depicted not as African-American (as he later appears), but as Simpson-Caucasian (yellow).

54. The salesman character Gil who can't catch a break is based on Jack Lemmon in Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)

55. The poem that Homer attempts to read in episode "The Way We Was" is the weird poem that Steve Martin recites in both The Man with Two Brains(1983) and L.A. Story (1991) ("Oh pointy birds, oh pointy pointy...").

56. The character of Hans Moleman appeared a few times in various background scenes, he made his first speaking appearance in the episode "Principal Charming" in the second season. At this point, his name, as shown on a driver's license, was "Ralph Melish" (a name previously used by "Monty Python's Flying Circus" (1969)). His appearance provoked quite a stir among the writers, because he was written as a generalized "old man" part, but he came back from the animators, in the words of creator Matt Groening, "looking like a shrivelled potato". They then ended up jokingly referring to him as Moleman, and eventually giving him the permanent name of Hans Moleman.

57. The Many Deaths of Hans Moleman:
            Forced off the road by Homer; flies of a cliff.
            Otto runs his AMC Gremlin off the road; it hits a tree and explodes.
            His thick eyeglasses act as a magnifying glass and set him on fire.
            Is executed in Springfield after Homer eats his last meal.
            Gets accidentally buried alive in Springfield cemetery.
            Burns, on an ether-induced hallucination, drills into Moleman's head thinking he's the Lucky Charms leprechaun.
            Engulfed by an anti-escape orb as Marge escapes from the Movementarians.
            Blown up by an explosive éclair meant to poison Homer.
            Knocked out by Homer in jail with a book. (possible death)
            The French neutron bomb Springfield, presumably killing Hans along with most everyone else.
            Hauled away by thugs at the retirement home when he makes a comment about the senior-edited "Gone With The Wind" they are watching. (he is possibly killed)
            Seen trapped in the phone booth in the bird sanctuary (which becomes a parody of Hitchcock's "The Birds") We don't see his death, but if you've seen "The Birds", you know his fate is sealed.
            Drowned in quicksand in "Simpsons Tall Tales".

58. Hans Moleman's real name (Ralph Melish according to his drivers license) is the name of a character from a Monty Python Sketch involving strange things that *don't* happen. It is featured on the Matching Tie and Handkerchief Album.

59. The show's creator and animator Matt Groening has stated that his initials appear in any animation of Homer Simpson. When looking at Homer from the side, one can see that the zig-zag of his hair forms an "M", while his ear forms the "G".

60. Although the character of Moe has been present for the show's entire run, his last name of 'Szyslak' was not revealed until the episode "Who Shot Mr. Burns?: Part 2" (ep. #7.1) in season seven.

61. The last episode to feature the voice of Phil Hartman was "Bart the Mother" (ep. #10.3) which aired September 27, 1998. In it, he voices Troy McClure in a nature video about birds.

62. "Treehouse of Horror I" is the only "Treehouse of Horror" to use the tree house motif and is so far one of two "Treehouse of Horrors" that don't use the spooky names. The second is "Treehouse of Horror XIII".

63. The animation in the series became noticeably more sophisticated and fluid after the first season. Also changed after the early episodes was Homer's voice (which was made higher pitched and less intelligent-sounding than it initially was), Chief Wiggum's hair colour, and Smithers' skin colour (he is black in his first appearance, but becomes yellow/Caucasian in all future appearances). Early episodes have a slightly different opening credit sequence. After Homer tosses the radioactive rod into the street, Bart is seen skateboarding but we do not see any recognizable characters in the streetscape as we do later. The skateboard sequence ends by showing a group of generic townspeople running after a bus. We then see Lisa riding home on her bike, overloaded with schoolbooks, parking it in the garage just before Homer's car pulls into the driveway (after which the credits continue as usual).

64. The show is animated 100% with computers from the 5 January 2003 episode "Special Edna" onwards.

65. Yeardley Smith (Lisa) and Marcia Wallace (Edna) are the only cast members who do only one voice on a regular basis.

66. In the episode "Marge in Chains", Marge is accused of shop lifting and hires Lionel Hutz, played by Phil Hartman, as her attorney. In the middle of the trial, Lionel gets an urge for whisky, so he calls his AA sponsor, David Crosby of Crosby Stills Nash and Young. When David Crosby answers the phone he is looking at the CSNY emblem on an album, which Phil Hartman designed himself in the late-'70s.

67. The character Dr. Marvin Monroe is apparently dead, although details have never been revealed. He was just slowly phased out after the first season.

68. Dr Nick, is named after George "Dr Nick" Nichopoulos, who was charged after Elvis Presley's death for prescribing thousands of doses of narcotics to cater to Elvis Pressley's massive appetite for prescription drugs.

69. In one episode the Simpsons' phone number is given as (939)-555-0113

70. In the episode "Lisa's Wedding", during Kent Brockman's news coverage, the list of celebrities who have been arrested:
            The Baldwin Brothers Gang
            Dr. Brad Pitt
            John John John Kennedy
            George Burns
            Infamous Amos
            Grandson of Sam
            The Artist Formerly Known as (Prince's symbol shown)
            Tim Allen, Jr.
            Senator and Mrs. Dracula
            The Artist Formerly Known as Buddy Hackett
            Madonnabots: Series K
            Sideshow Ralph Wiggum
            Martha Hitler
            Johnny Neutrino

71. Only 4 episodes of the show have their titles displayed on screen: The Telltale Head (season 1), Bart Gets Hit by a Car (season 2), The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular, and 22 Short Films About Springfield (both season 7).

72. In episode "Duffless", Lisa says she is laughing at a joke from "Herman's Head". Yeardley Smith, the voice of Lisa, was one of the stars of "Herman's Head" (1991)

73. In the episode "Radio Bart" Bruce Springsteen was originally asked to appear instead of Sting.

74. In "Uncle Homer's Day Care", if you pause the transition from the school lunch scene to the "Mitten" scene at just the right second, you can see a rough sketch of the shot of Bart drawn in pencil on normal paper.

75. In the episode "Behind the Laughter" a scene depicted Homer and the cast looking at an episode they just completed in which they family talk about visiting Delaware. Homer mutters to the director, "This'll be the last season." A few episodes later, the conversation about Delaware was actually worked into the show.

76. Albert Brooks has "appeared" on the show four times, each time as a different character, and always under the name "A. Brooks."

77. Penn Jillette & Teller's appearance in "Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder" (Episode 11.6) has a rare moment for the duo: Teller, the almost-always silent one, has a speaking part of five lines.

78. As in most cartoons, the characters have only four digits on each hand - except God, who always has five. However, in what is probably a mistake, God has four digits during Homer's dream at the end of "Homer the Heretic".

79. In the episode "Brother can you spare two Dimes?" Joe Frazier and Barney get into a fight. Originally Barney was going to win the fight but Frazier objected so the script was changed so Barney lost.

80. In the episode where Homer hires a private detective to find out more about Lisa, Homer tells the private detective that his email address is chunkylover53@aol.com.

81. In the episode, "Bart's Comet", Kent Brockman shows a list of people that are gay. The list goes by very fast and is almost impossible to read. The names on the list are:

            Matt Groening
            Ken Tsumura
            George Meyer
            Joel Kuwahara
            Bill Dakley Elizabeth Jacobs
            Josh Weinstein
            Jane O'Brien
            Annete Anderson
            Jennifer Crittenden
            Mike Scully
            Dominique Braud-Stiger
            Greg Daniels
            Joseph A. Boucher
            Al Jean
            Ping Warner
            Mike Reiss
            Craig Feeney
            Richard Raynis
            Don Gilbert
            David Mirkin
            Jacqueline Atkins
            Chris Ledesma
            Mark McJimsey
            David Silverman

82. Although it was believed that Dr. Marvin Monroe was killed off in 1995, he reappeared in "Diatribe of a Mad Housewife" (FABF05), in which he tells Marge that he has been "very sick".

83. Before he opened The Leftorium in the third season, Ned Flanders described his occupation as "the pharmaceutical game".

84. The distinctive voice of "Lunchlady Doris", as well as various other characters, belonged to the show's script supervisor Doris Grau. She provided the voice until her death in December 1995.

85. According to the creators, their most frequently parodied film is Citizen Kane (1941) followed by the films of Stanley Kubrick, especially 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), The Shining (1980) and A Clockwork Orange (1971).

86. After popular voice actor Phil Hartman was murdered, the various characters he played such as lawyer Lionel Hutz and actor Troy McClure were retired. However, the characters can still occasionally be seen in scenes involving large groups.

87. This is the first American network cartoon series in which characters actually die, in particular Mrs. Ned Flanders and the recurring character Bleeding Gums Murphy.

88. The "Yeeeeees!" character is based on a character played by Frank Nelson on "The Jack Benny Program" on radio and television who would make himself known by that distinctive "Yeeeeees!"

89. In one episode Bart cheats at a marathon by sneaking into the race at the end disguised as an Italian entrant; in his victory speech he cries out "I use up all of my English!". This is the opening line from Roberto Benigni's Oscar acceptance speech for Best Actor (it was a reference to the fact that he'd already won Best Foreign Language Film earlier in the evening).

90. Comic Book Guy is based on Groening himself: "He's the way I think I look to other people."

91. Bender, the robot in "Futurama" (1999), made an appearance in one of Bart's daydreams.

92. Lisa refers to Michael Jackson and Dustin Hoffman as being in the Itchy and Scratchy movies, but not using their names in homage to the fact that both actors appeared uncredited on the show itself.

93. In the episode "The Regina Monologues", Homer says, "I would like to go back to Brazil but I hear the monkey problem has gotten even worse." This is a reference to complaints received from Brazilian tourist officials after the episode "Blame it on Lisa" was aired, citing that it made Brazil look crime-ridden and monkey-infested.

94. Series creator Matt Groening had his name removed in protest from the credits of the episode "A Star Is Burns", in which Jay Sherman from "The Critic" visits Springfield.

95. The animation process takes nine months for each episode.

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Six Million Dollar Man, The (1974)

1. Ex-USAF pilot and NASA PR man Martin Caidin's 1971 novel "Cyborg" was the source material for this show.

2. The aircraft seen crashing in the opening sequence of The Six Million Dollar Man was an M2-F2, a "flying body configuration" built by Northrup. The audio is from a crash that occurred on May 10, 1967, at Edwards Air Force base in California. The test pilot, Bruce Peterson, hit the ground at 250 mph, tumbling six times. He lost use of his right eye and had to stop flying, ending his career. Understandably, Peterson has said that he hated reliving his accident, week after week, courtesy of Steve Austin.

3. The characters of Oscar Goldman and Rudy Wells appeared on both this series and its spin-off, The Bionic Woman. When the spin-off moved to another network, this practice continued. This was the first time the same continuing characters appeared on two different TV series broadcast on two different networks at the same time.

4. During one Christmas episode, Austin is seen visiting a toy shop. The popular Steve Austin action figure is clearly visible on the store shelves.

5. Near the end of the series, Lee Majors experimented with changing Austin's look by growing a moustache. This proved unpopular and the idea was dropped, but not before a number of commercial tie-ins, including a comic book and a lunch box, had been produced with the new look.

6. In the spring of 1977, before production began on what would be the show's final season, Lee Majors refused to go to work until contract demands were met. At one point it was reported that producers were considering hiring a new actor to take over the series.

7. The popular two-part episode "The Bionic Woman" featured two songs performed on the soundtrack by Lee Majors himself. These were the country song "Gotta Get Loose" and the ballad "Sweet Jamie", the latter of which was loosely based upon the Six Million Dollar Man theme music.

8. Early episodes of the series had Austin killing bad guys on occasion. As it became clear that Austin was becoming a role-model for kids, the level of violence in the series decreased, with Austin rarely, if ever, actually killing anyone.

9. During filming of the episode "Carnival of Spies" in 1977, the show become associated with a strange American legend. Filming a scene in the funhouse called Laff-in-the-Dark a technician tried to move a strange looking wax-covered mannequin hanging from a rope and when he did the mummy's arm broke off in his hand. Sticking out of the wax was a human bone. When forensic scientists unclothed the figure they cut through the thick, hard wax and found that it was the body of Elmer McCurdy, a notorious outlaw who had been killed in a gunfight in 1911. After he was formally identified, he was buried in a formal ceremony and many of the crew of "The Six Million Dollar Man" were in attendance.

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Sledge Hammer! (1986)

1. The producers were so convinced the show would be cancelled that they closed the first season with Sledge destroying the world. When the show received a surprise renewal, the second season was said to take place five years before the explosion

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Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em (1973)

1. Michael Crawford was the third choice for the role of Frank Spencer. The part had been turned down Norman Wisdom and Ronnie Barker

2. Michael Crawford performed all his own stunts.

3. The rhythm of the theme tune is based on the words "Some Mother's Do 'Ave 'Em" written in Morse Code.

4. Linda Hayden was considered for Betty Spencer

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Spaced (1999)

1. In one episode, Tim and Mike hit a cyclist in their van and the writers parody a similar scene in The Sixth Sense (1999), where Cole sees the victim of a road accident by his car window. In this episode, the bicyclist is played by Olivia Williams, who also starred in "The Sixth Sense".

2. The series is full of references to, and pastiches of movies/TV series, some quite obvious and some amazingly obscure. The more prominent references include The Star Wars Trilogy, The Shining, The Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, Scooby Doo, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The 'A' Team, 2001: A Space Oddesey, The Matrix, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, Taxi Driver and The Omen.

3. Peter Serafinowicz who appears in several episodes as Tim's arch nemesis Duane Benzie, provided the voice of Darth Maul in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999). In the series, he uses a voice very similar to that used for Darth Maul, and in one episode even paraphrases one of his lines from Star Wars. Amusingly, from the second series onward, Tim's hatred of Duane is matched only by his hatred of Star Wars Episode I.

4. The opening of episode 1.7 was originally intended to feature Tim having a conversation with a fictional character. Originally, this was intended to be Lara Croft, the heroine of the 'Tomb Raider' video game series, but the writers were not granted clearance to use the character. The scene was reworked to feature FBI agent Dana Scully of the TV show The X Files (1993)and the producers had even considered approaching Gillian Anderson, (Dana Scully), to fill the role, but the scene was eventually filmed with a look-alike. Writer and star Jessica Stevenson was going to dub the voice of Scully, but the scene was cut and never completed.

5. The scene in episode 1.5 where Tim, Daisy and Brian watch the original Star Wars trilogy features the Ewoks' song from the end of the original version of Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983), heard off-screen. The show's producers were unable to obtain permission to use the actual music, so Simon Pegg performed a rendition of the song, singing all the words from memory.

6. The time shown on Brian's alarm clock at the beginning of episode 1.6 is 11:21, a number featured regularly in the TV show The X Files (1993).

7. The name of the dog that plays Colin, 'Ada', is incorrectly spelled in all the show's credits and promotional material as 'Aida'.

8. At the end of the last episode of series one during the scene where Tim and Daisy are dancing in the pub (discussing porn magazines), the band playing is actually fronted by Simon Pegg's real dad.

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Spin City (1996)

1. Michael J.Fox's final episode contained numerous references to his earlier series, "Family Ties" (1982), including a cameo appearance by Michael Gross (who played Fox's father in the earlier series), a reference to a Republican senator named "Alex P. Keaton" (Fox's earlier character) and Meredith Baxter-Birney starred as his mother, who also was his mother in "Family Ties".

2. Michael J. Fox's real-life wife, Tracy Pollan, makes a guest appearance as Mike's high-school sweetheart in the episode "The Thirty Year Itch". Tracy Pollan also played Alex P. Keaton's first serious love interest on "Family Ties" (1982)

3. The mayor's name is "Randall Winston". The associate producer's name is also Randall Winston

4. In the final episode from last season, another Family Ties reference was that the Michael Gross character told Michael J. Fox's character to pay his secretary, Mallory, on the way out. Mallory was Alex P. Keaton's sister on Family Ties.

5. In Young Guns (1988), Emilio Estevez, who is the brother of series star Charlie Sheen, shoots a man named Charlie Crawford, which is the name of Sheen's character here.

6. Both Charlie Sheen, who plays Deputy Mayor Charlie Crawford, and Alan Ruck, who plays Chief of Staff Stuart Bondek, made their breakout performances in Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986).

7. Because he suffered from Parkinson's Disease, Michael J. Fox would often hide his right hand in his pocket

8. Charlie Sheen's father, Martin Sheen appeared on the show as Charlie Crawford's father.

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Star Trek (1966)

1. James Doohan ("Scotty") lost his right middle finger during WWII. Most of his scenes are shot to hide it. However, it is very noticeable in the episode "Catspaw." Scotty is hypnotized and holding a phaser pistol on Kirk & Spock in Korob & Sylvia's dining hall. When Scotty is in the shot, only two fingers are holding the butt of the phaser.

2. Martin Landau was originally offered the role of Spock, but declined. Later, Leonard Nimoy, who did accept the part, took over the role of disguise-expert on Mission: Impossible when Landau left that show. Landau later headed his own sci-fi series, "Space: 1999" (1975).

3. The transporter was a plot device intended to eliminate the pacing and production problems involved in depicting the ship landing and taking off all the time. Budgetary constraints on effects were also a consideration. The first landing of a starship would not occur until Star Trek: Voyager episode #2.1, The 37's, broadcast 28 August 1995.

4. Shortly after the cancellation of the series, the staff of the marketing department of the NBC TV network confronted the network executives and berated them for cancelling Star Trek, the most profitable show on the network in terms of demographic profiling of the ratings. They explained that although the show was never higher than #52 in the general ratings, its audience profile had the largest concentration of viewers of ages 16 to 39, the most sought after television audience for advertisers to reach. In other words, the show, despite the low ratings, had the precise audience advertisers hungered for, which was more than ample justification to consider the show a big success.

5. In 2000, Star Trek is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as having the largest number of spin-off productions, including the feature film series and the numerous TV series.

6. Many elements of the Spock character were improvised by Leonard Nimoy during production. For instance, the "Vulcan neck pinch" was his suggestion during filming of "The Enemy Within" for how Spock could subdue an opponent. The "Vulcan salute" was created during the production of "Amok Time" using a version of a traditional Jewish religious hand gesture as a distinctive Vulcan greeting.

7. Sulu and Uhura didn't have first names in this series. Sulu did get a first name (Hikaru) but not until Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991). Fans have tried to give Uhura a first name ("Nyota" or "Penda") but there has never been any official confirmation.

8. Lloyd Bridges and Jeffrey Hunter (who had played Captain Pike in the original pilot) both turned down the role of Captain Kirk.

9. The episode "Assignment: Earth" was written to introduce a hoped-for spin-off series that never materialized. It would have featured Robert Lansing as Gary Seven, Barbara Babcock as Isis, and Teri Garr as Roberta Lincoln. In the new series, the intrepid three would have worked to make sure humanity achieved the destiny glimpsed via the Trek characters and Seven's mysterious extraterrestrial information.

10. The first interracial kiss on American network television was in the episode "Plato's Stepchildren," which aired on 22 Nov 1968, when Captain Kirk (William Shatner) kissed Lieutenant Uhura (Nichelle Nichols). The studio expressed some concern, and it was suggested instead that Spock should kiss Uhura 'to make it less of a problem for the southern [US] audience'. Some stations in the South originally refused to air the episode. Kirk did not kiss Uhura *voluntarily*; they were forced to do it by aliens controlling their bodies. So the first interracial kiss, although between two of the good guys, was the moral equivalent of sexual assault.

11. Despite the controversy of the first interracial kiss of Kirk and Uhura on television in the episode "Plato's Stepchildren," they never actually kissed on-screen - Kirk turns away from the camera as they draw closer keeping Uhura in front of him, obscuring the fact that their lips stay an inch or so apart.

12. In the episode "The Trouble with Tribbles" Tribbles continue to fall on Kirk after the container should have emptied out onto him. It is later revealed in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993)Episode "Trials and Tribble-ations" that the Tribbles are being tossed down the hatch at Kirk as they are being discarded for not being a Tribble-bomb which Sisko and Dax are attempting to find.

13. Gene Roddenberry originally conceived the Klingons as looking more alien than they do in the series, but budget restriction prevented this. When Star Trek moved to the big screen, he was finally able to make Klingons look more alien. The resulting continuity break between TOS and the movies and later series was finally addressed in the "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (1993) episode "Trials and Tribble-ations" in which the character of Worf confirms that something did happen to make the Klingons appear human, but he refuses to elaborate.

14. The episode "Balance of Terror", focusing on the Enterprise hunting a cloaked Romulan destroyer, was inspired by the film The Enemy Below (1957).

15. Gene Roddenberry once hypothesized that the Enterprise carried a platoon of Starfleet Marines, but they never appeared onscreen in the original series. The Starfleet Marines would eventually make an appearance, but not until Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) and "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (1993). The idea was revived with the addition of a group of "space marines" beginning in the 2003-2004 season of "Enterprise" (2001).

16. One of the writers, D.C. Fontana, was told to use the initials "D.C." by Gene Roddenberry because studios at the time generally wouldn't hire women writers. Her first name is Dorothy.

17. Dr. McCoy's handheld "medical scanners" were actually modified salt and pepper shakers. Another medical device, seen in the episode "Court Martial" is obviously a hand-held microphone.

18. Contrary to popular belief, Captain Kirk never said "Beam me up, Scotty" in any episode.

19. Stardates were established in order to keep the audience guessing as to when the series takes place. A calendar year for the adventures of the Enterprise crew is never given in any episode, and Roddenberry said the series could have taken place anywhere from the 21st to the 31st Centuries. By the time of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987), however, calendar years for Trek adventures had been established and the official Star Trek Chronology now indicates that the original "Star Trek" TV series takes place between the years 2266 and 2269.

20. Gene Roddenberry said Uhura has only the one name, which is Swahili for "freedom".

21. Jerry Goldsmith was Roddenberry's first choice to write the theme for this series. Years later, Goldsmith wrote the theme to Star Trek: The Motion Picture which later was used for "Star Trek: The Next Generation".

22. Victor Lundin appeared in the show "Errand of Mercy". Although he did not have a speaking part he was the first Klingon to appear in the original Star Trek Series.

23. In the hallways of the Enterprise there are tubes marked "GNDN", these initials stand for "goes nowhere does nothing".

24.The series' opening credits has lyrics that were never used. They were written by Gene Roddenberry so that he would receive a residual for the theme's use alongside the theme's composer, Alexander Courage.

25. Actor Mark Lenard, best known for his role as Sarek, Spock's father, was the first actor to play a member of all three of the major alien races: Romulan, Vulcan, and Klingon (he is the commander of the Klingon attack group at the beginning of Star Trek: The Motion Picture).

26. The slanting crawlway that leads up to the warp-drive nacelles is referred to as a "Jefferies tube." This is a reference to art director Walter M. Jefferies.

27. When NBC was promoting Star Trek in magazines, all shots of Spock's pointed eyebrows and ears where airbrushed out of the pictures because NBC thought that no one watch the show due to Spock's resemblance to the Devil.

28. On at least two occasions ("Miri" & "City on the Edge of Forever") the exterior Mayberry set from "The Andy Griffith Show" (1960) was used. In "City," as Kirk walks Edith home, they pass by the easily recognizable courthouse, Floyd's barbershop, Emmett's repair shop, and the grocery.

29. In several episodes, prop beverage bottles were modified from existing alcohol bottles. Aldeberan Whiskey bottles were Cuervo Gold 1800 Tequila bottles. Bottles used for Saurian Brandy were George Dickel Tennessee Sour Mash Whiskey carafes.

30. According to official blueprints of the Enterprise, published in 1975, among features on the ship that were never mentioned on the TV series were: two auxiliary bridges, a second sickbay area, a swimming pool, a garden, and a 6-lane bowling alley. This last item, no doubt included in the blueprints as a joke, is the earliest known case of humour creeping into the background of Star Trek's designs; this would become commonplace in the TV series of the 80s and 90s.

31. According to the Hollywood Entertainment Museum, as of fall 2003 only a few pieces of the original 1960s bridge survive. The museum, on Hollywood Blvd., incorporates two original turboshaft doors into its Star Trek display, while a Los Angeles bookstore reportedly owns the original captain's chair.

32. In the episode "Assignment: Earth", Spock mentions all the events that would happen the week of 1968 that they arrived in. Among the events he mentioned was an important political assassination. A few days after that episode aired, Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed in Memphis, Tennessee.

33. After viewing the popularity of characters such as Robin on the "Batman" (1966) series and shows like "The Monkees" (1966), the producers decided to introduce Ensign Pavel Chekov in the second season in order to attract more teenage viewers, especially girls, to the show.

34. A bowling alley aboard the USS Enterprise, as shown in the 1975 blueprints, was actually mentioned in the episode "The Naked Time. " In that episode, Lt. Riley declares that "a formal dance will be held in the bowling alley at 1900 hours tonight." However, he was also quite delusional, so it's not certain that the bowling alley he spoke of actually existed.

35. Mr. Spock was played as much more emotional and "human" in the original rejected pilot, "The Cage". This is very noticeable during the flashback sequences of the two-part episode, "The Menagerie". The flashbacks were simply scenes from the original pilot, re-edited into the new episodes.

36. Gene Roddenberry invented the transporter as an easier (and cheaper) alternative to get members of the Enterprise crew onto a planet's surface instead of having the ship land on the planet each time.

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Steptoe and Son (1962)

1. Remade in Sweden as "Albert & Herbert" (1974).

2. Wilfrid Brambell's character was often referred to as a dirty old man. In a little in-joke, his character in A Hard Day's Night (1964) was referred to as a very clean man.

3. Remade in America as "Sanford and Son" (1972)

4. The Steptoes' fictitious residence is Muse Cottage, Oil Drum Lane, Shepherd's Bush, London

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Taxi (1978)

1. The person driving the taxicab in the opening credits was Tony Danza. The name of the cab company was the Sunshine Cab Company.

2. Andy Kaufman had invented the persona for his character in his comedy act prior to working on the show, including the famous line "tank-you-veddy-much". It was the show's writers that came up with the name of Latka Gravas.

3. Before closing their doors for good in 1982, the Checker Motors Corporation of Kalamazoo Michigan supplied cars to the series.

4. Judd Hirsch was often late to rehearsals because he was conducting business in his office.

5. After the third season, director James Burrows and writers Glen Charles and Les Charles quit the series to create "Cheers" (1982)

6. In an episode during the first season, Danny De Vito's character plays violin in one scene. A photo taken during rehearsals of that episode ran in a tabloid magazine along with a story describing how De Vito is "giving up" acting to play violin. De Vito's relatives called him out of concern believing the story was true.

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Thorn Birds, The (1983)

1. The role of Mary Carson was offered to Audrey Hepburn.

2. Many actresses tested for the role of Meggie, including Michelle Pfeiffer. Finally, it came down to two actresses, Rachel Ward , and Jane Seymore . Producers liked Seymore's acting much better, but felt she was too strong an actress and lacked the vulnerability needed to play Meggie. So the part went to Ward.

3. Producers found the conditions of shooting in Australia to be impossible. Most of the sheep ranches were to far out in the middle of nowhere for film crews to get to, and the requirements placed on American film crews to shoot in Australia were unrealistic. So the entire ranch, Drohgeda was built in California.

4. Rachel Ward and Bryan Brown fell in love on the set of The Thorn Birds, married and had three sons.

5. According Rachel Ward , the water that Ralph and Meggie were swimming in on Matlock Island was ice cold

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Thunderbirds (1964)

1. All five Tracy sons were named after famous pioneering astronauts of the 1960's: Scott after Scott Carpenter; Virgil after Virgil Grissom; Alan after Alan Shepard; Gordon after Gordon Cooper; and John after John Glenn.

2. Lady Penelope's unique pink Rolls Royce is based on the same twin front-wheel-steering Bedford coach used in the escape scene of The Italian Job (1969).

3. The only time Rolls Royce have officially sanctioned the use of their famous vertical grille and spirit of ecstasy was on Lady Penelope's pink 6-wheel Royce.

4. Two vocal theme songs were considered before the famous march was chosen. One of these discarded themes, "Flying High" (performed by Gary Miller), can be heard at the end of the episode "Ricochet".

5. Although never stated directly in any episode, according to Gerry Anderson this series takes place in the same "universe" as "Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons" and "Stingray." Several marionettes were modelled after the actors providing their voices.

6. Each Thunderbirds puppet only had four teeth.

7. The opening and closing credits of the first episode ("Trapped In The Sky") differ entirely from the rest of the series: the music arrangements are slightly different (in the closing credits, for example, the music for Thunderbird 1's first launch is used); sound effects are used in the montage (including Kyrano's scream); the Mole is not used as a standard picture in the closing credits. It is the only episode where Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson are credited for writing an episode of Thunderbirds.

8. The episode "Security Hazard" features extensive flashback footage from "End of the Road", "Sun Probe", "Trapped in the Sky" and "Day of Disaster" - so extensive, in fact, that it contains only around ten minutes of new material. These episodes were specifically chosen as, having originally been filmed as half-hour episodes, writer Alan Pattillo knew that the stories could be more easily condensed down to about ten minutes each.

9. In order to increase the realism of the series, close-ups of real human hands were often inserted when a character is shown about to manipulate an object (i.e. open a drawer, cock a gun).

10. In addition to the close-ups with human hands, three episodes pioneered a technique in which a human hand appeared in the same frame as the puppets.

11. There is also the appearance of a human face (or, at least part of one) when Lady Penelope looks through the entrance door of the Bank of England in the episode "Vault Of Death".

12. In the episode "Trapped In The Sky", Alan Tracy's voice is completely different from all the other episodes that he appears in. In his single short line of dialogue, he is voiced by Ray Barrett , although Matt Zimmerman (who did Alan's voice for the rest of the series) is credited in the closing titles. (Matt Zimmerman had not yet been asked to do Alan Tracy's voice at the time.)

13. On the Christmas episode "Give Or Take A Million", there are calendars indicating that Christmas day is a Sunday, which it actually will be in 2067, when the episode is set.

14. The television relay tower (featured in the episode "Edge of Impact") is seen to be owned by British Telecommunications Ltd. The use of this company name in the series pre-dated the formation of the real-life British Telecommunications plc (or BT) by nearly twenty years.

15. Some of the guest characters were named after real people. For example: Lt. Bob Meddings (seen in the episodes "Trapped In The Sky" and "Operation Crash-dive") was named after visual effects supervisor Derek Meddings. Dr Korda (seen in the episode "Day Of Disaster") was named after Hungarian-born film producer/director Sir Alexander Korda Lady Penelope's alter ego, Wanda Lamour (from the episode "The Cham-Cham) was named after puppeteer Wanda Brown (née Webb).

16. The episode "Operation Crash-Dive" was originally entitled "The Test Crew".

17. The music accompanying the journey of the Martian Space Probe in the episode "Day of Disaster" is entitled "The March of the Oysters". Originally composed by Barry Gary for the "Stingray" episode "Secret of the Giant Oyster", the piece is also heard in "30 Minutes After Noon", "The Impostors" and "The Cham-Cham".

18. In the episode "Brink of Disaster", a bogus telegram reveals the location of Lady Penelope's mansion in Foxleyheath.

19. In the episode "Trapped In The Sky", a short piece of Barry Gray's "Formula Five" track, composed and recorded for "Fireball XL5", can be heard on the monitors in Thunderbird 5.

20. In the episode "The Uninvited", the Zombites' jet fighters are adapted and re-sprayed WASP aircraft from "Stingray" (1963).

21. In the episode "The Mighty Atom", the teletype printout gives the date on which the atomic cloud is blown away from Melbourne as 6 October and it is then stated that the explosion at the plant took place the previous Monday. If this is 2064, the explosion therefore occurred on 29 September. It is also stated in this episode that International Rescue were not operating when the Australian plant exploded in 2064.

22. In the episode "Vault of Death", the City of London Heliport is partially constructed from the remains of "Stingray"'s Marineville Tower.

23. The Hood has never been referred to by any name on all but two episodes - "Martian Invasion", where he calls himself Agent 79 in his transmissions to General X, and "Edge Of Impact", where he gives his codename as "671" when he contacts General Bron. "Edge of Impact" is also the only episode in which we see the Hood acting with motives not involving International Rescue.

24. The launch of the Sun Probe at the start of the episode "The Perils of Penelope" is the same event that was seen in flashback at the start of the episode "Sun Probe". The events of that episode take place one week after the launch, so this episode takes place immediately before. Indeed, "The Perils of Penelope" and "Sun Probe" can be viewed as Thunderbirds' only two-part story, although they have never been broadcast as consecutive episodes.

25. In the episode "The Perils of Penelope", the Anderbad Express monotrain is the same model as the one seen as the Pacific-Atlantic monotrain in "Brink of Disaster".

26. The episode "The Perils of Penelope" is the only episode in which we see Scott piloting Thunderbird 1 without his International Rescue uniform - when he returns from leave.

27. Two episodes, "The Man from MI.5" and "Attack of the Alligators!", feature the full Thunderbird 4 launch sequence shown from inside Pod 4. In other episodes featuring Thunderbird 4, we have only seen Thunderbird 4 emerging down the ramp from outside the pod door. "The Man from MI.5" is the only episode in which Thunderbird 2 gently rests the pod on the surface of the water and then rises clear of the pod with lifting jets, whereas "Attack of the Alligators" shows Thunderbird 2 lifting from the pod several minutes after landing. Normally, the pod is simply dropped on to the water.

28. In "The Duchess Assignment", the Duchess of Royston was based on the distinguished British stage actress Dame Edith Evans, best known for her role as Lady Bracknell in the film version of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest (1951). This is reinforced by Ray Barrett's marvellous voice for the character, which understandably had the rest of the cast in stitches at the recording session.

29. Often heralded as the series' most memorable episode, "Attack of the Alligators!" features live crocodiles in extensive footage filmed on a model set, a first for the Century 21 production team. During the episode's filming, publicity photos were taken of Lady Penelope (who did not appear in that episode) with a couple of the crocodiles.

30. The episode to feature the largest cast of characters (in speaking roles), seen in any single "Thunderbirds" episode or either of the feature films, was "Alias Mr. Hackenbacker", with 20 voices provided by all of the cast members from the second season (Jeremy Wilkin had replaced David Holliday as the voice of Virgil at this time), featuring Paul Maxwell as Captain Ashton, although he was not credited in the end titles.

31. The models of the Thunderbird vehicles seen on the table in front of Jeff in the opening scene of "Give or Take a Million" were commercially available at the time of this episode's initial broadcast (25 December, 1966). They are the "Thunderbirds" model toys produced by J. Rosenthal (Toys) Ltd. Unfortunately, Rosenthal's Thunderbird 5 didn't look very much like the genuine article, so it does not appear in this scene.

32. It was while the Round House (through which Thunderbird 3 would be launched) that Derek Meddings realized that the design of the building was just right for Thunderbird 5, the International Rescue space station. Unable to come up with a convincing design before now, this was the last of the five Thunderbird craft that he created. By adding aerials and transmitters to the Round House, he developed the series' most unusual and effective vehicle, although it was to play only a minor part in the finished program.

33. Lady Penelope was once described as "an advertisement for British fashion", by The Sunday Mirror newspaper.

34. Issue 65 of "Thunderbirds - the Comic" revealed the Hood's real name as Belah Gaat.

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"V Graham Norton" (2002)

1. Going five nights a week caused many problems for the production team, and celebrity guests were regularly "found" just hours before recording the show.

2. The show was recorded between 19:00 and 20:00 on the evening of transmission. However, due to studio restrictions, both Thursday's and Friday's shows were recorded on the Thursday evening.

3. "Betty" was a dinner lady at Graham's drama school. She came to see the show and Graham recognized her. As a result she became a regular member of the audience although, towards the end, producers tried to include her in the show as little as possible.

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