It’s almost “awards season,” when every branch of the entertainment history holds lavish, televised parties to give one another trophies to recognize greatness. While Grammys, Emmys, and Oscars are voted on by a winner’s peers, there are some ways to game the system…just like these people did. Who is Al Walser? The 2013 Grammy Nominations […]
No, that didn’t really happen. The All-American king of ‘70s cinema and guys with mustaches, Burt Reynolds, passed away this week at the age of 82. He starred in plenty of classic movies, including Deliverance, The Longest Yard, and, of course, Smokey and the Bandit. But as much as Hollywood would have liked him to, […]
Don’t you hate it when you don’t get around to seeing the hot new Hollywood movie for a couple of weeks…and then a friend lets slip how it ends? It’s very aggravating. It’s perplexing then that some movies gave away their endings before they were even released. ROCKY IV Rocky IV is yet another Sylvester […]
There are a lot of reasons to drink non-alcoholic beer—mostly because regular beer has alcohol in it, and lots of people don’t want to drink alcohol for personal, health, or religious reasons. Here’s how they make the beer without the booze. It starts out the same. Breweries start making non-alcoholic beer in exactly the same […]
The history of TV shows doesn’t start with the 1950s—that’s just when most Americans got their first TV set. Over in England, and in small and experimental broadcasts in the U.S, television was on in the air in the 1930s. Here are some of the first (and oddest) TV shows ever, long before I Love […]
Hey, just because he makes books for the throne room doesn’t mean Uncle John can’t also have a highbrow side. For instance, he loves dressing up in his fanciest leopard-print tuxedo and taking Mrs. Uncle John out for a night at the opera…even if it’s one of these really weird operas. A Brief History of […]
Just over 30 years after its debut on Nickelodeon, Double Dare has returned to TV. It was a dream for a generation of kids to win cash and prizes with the show’s messy “physical challenges” and sloppy “obstacle course.” Here’s a look into the old-school TV phenomenon. Show origins Seeing toy companies make millions of off […]
Best known by the brand name “Pop Rocks,” popping candy fizzle and sizzle on the tongue thanks to a little science. Here’s how the candy wizards make them. Step #1: First of all, apart from its minor explosive capabilities, popping candy rocks are merely just little pebble versions of a fruit-flavored hard candy—they’re pebble-sized versions […]
Uncle John knows pretty much everything—and if he doesn’t, he puts one of his many associates on the case. So go ahead, in the comments below the article, ask away. Why does the combination of orange juice and toothpaste taste so notoriously terrible? It doesn’t seem like those two substances would ever cross paths—toothpaste hangs […]
For every friendly and chatty Ronald McDonald, there’s a creepy, stoned-faced Burger King, or for every innocuous Maytag repairman, there’s a Kool-Aid Man who comes smashing through the wall. Here are some more ill-advised company mascots. Cadbury Creme Eggs Cadbury Creme Eggs have occasionally served as the spokes objects for, well, Cadbury Creme Eggs. The […]
The Fab Four will probably always be the most popular rock n’ roll band of all time. And yet, more than 50 years after the rise of John, Paul, George, and Ringo, there are still some lingering questions about the band and tis songs. Did Yoko Ono really break up the Beatles? It has to […]
What non-existent Oscar category do you think should exist? Newly installed Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences president John Bailey announced that there will be some changes to AMPAS’s biggest event: the Academy Awards, a.k.a. the Oscars. The new ideas seem to be about improving the Oscars broadcast. For one, a few minor technical […]
National Lampoon’s Animal House was released 40 years ago this summer. Here are some things you probably didn’t know about the classic college comedy. Chevy Chase Among the cast of young, relatively unknown actors playing fraternity guys in the movie was Saturday Night Live star John Belushi as Bluto. His SNL castmate Chevy Chase was […]
After a lengthy illness, Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul—and who Rolling Stone (among others) once called the greatest singer of all time—has passed away at age 76. Let’s all pay our R-E-S-P-E-C-Ts. Queen of Prodigies Music was a part of Franklin’s life from even before the beginning. She was born in the major American […]
…and vomit, and other fake and forbidden substances, just like they do in Hollywood. Blood When an actor portrays a character that needs to be shot, their body is rigged with small, exploding capsules called squibs. When they’re set to go off, they spew out little bits of red substance to mimic blood of course. […]
Come on down…and check out these stories about the off-stage lives of famous TV game show hosts. Bob Barker Longtime The Price is Right host Bob Barker is well known for his end-of-show sign-off, asking viewers “to help control the pet population and have your pets spayed or neutered.” Barker was an outspoken animal rights […]
Have you found the time this summer to get out to the woods and make yourself a s’more? In honor of National S’mores Day, here’s the story of how they were invented, along with some background on some of the essential ingredients for the mighty s’more. S’MORES It’s not like one person put chocolate and […]
It’s a notion first put forth—and explored—by television…but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true. It’s been use as a plot device on numerous sitcoms. In fact, Uncle John got the idea for this piece when he was watching an episode of The Partridge Family the other day—Laurie had just gotten fitted for braces, and she […]
