If you’re a Trekker, or a fan of the 1966-69 TV show Star Trek and its many spinoffs, right now is a great time to be alive, with multiple Trek shows in production or on the way. Here’s a look at some of the weirder parts of the Trek universe. The spiritual origins of the […]
Sometimes Hollywood can’t get a promising movie made even if a huge superstar is on board to star in it. Skate Jam, starring Tony Hawk In 2018, NBA superstar LeBron James announced he’d be starring in a sequel to the 1996 movie Space Jam. That film combined live action and animation, as Michael Jordan teamed […]
Episodes of a successful TV show get made, air, and then get rerun and rerun endlessly for years on end. That’s usually the case…except for certain installments like these. After their initial airings, they were pulled from circulation for being way too controversial. Seinfeld TV critics almost universally hail Seinfeld as one of the best […]
Unscripted, or calculated? You be the judge. Real Housewives Reality Show: Cameras follow the exploits of cliques of well-to-do women from various American cities. Episodes feature fights, betrayal, drinking, and sexual situations. REAL Show: The gossip website RadarOnline posted photos of the cast and crew of Real Housewives of New York City filming a “spontaneous” […]
Spider-Man is one of comicdom’s most popular, famous, and adaptable superheroes — the eighth big-budget movie about the teen web-slinger made since 2000 hits theaters this summer. Spider-Man: Far from Home features Mysterio, one of the more well-known villains from the comics. These others will probably never make it to the big screen. The Spot […]
Lots of musicians have given acting a try, like Cher and Eminem. A few have taken an even larger jump—from singing and writing songs…to directing movies. It hasn’t always gone very well. MADONNA After more than two decades of lacing her songs and videos with provocative themes and adults-only imagery, respectively, Madonna took the reins […]
Usually, Saturday Night Live produces sketches that comment on current events — you know, stuff that’s already happened. But over its more than 40 seasons, its writers and performers have proved to be such savvy cultural critics that a few times they’ve managed to predict events before they happened. Here are the times when SNL […]
Ooooooooh…who’s celebrating 20 straight years on TV? SpongeBob SquarePants! The incredibly silly Nickelodeon cartoon starring the iconic porous fry cook debuted in May 1999, and hasn’t left TV since. Here are some little known facts about the yellow guy. Squidward name origins The name of SpongeBob’s long-suffering neighbor and co-worker, Squidward Tentacles, is a really […]
The story of how Charlie Chaplin’s Little Tramp was born. On a Hollywood back lot in 1914, a 25-year-old English actor named Charlie Chaplin was working on a short film when a studio boss blurted out, “We need some gags here! Put on a comedy makeup. Anything will do.” Chaplin ran to the costume room […]
After an extremely popular 12-year run that made it the longest-running laugh track sitcom in TV history, The Big Bang Theory comes to an end this week. Here’s a look into the world of those nerdy Caltech scientists and their sci-fi-memorabilia filled apartments. Bazinga! Any sitcom worth its meddle generates a catchphrase, and for The […]
May 4th is Star Wars Day. Why? Because “may the fourth be with you” sounds a lot like “may the force be with you,” a famous line from the franchise. While the many Star Wars movie have delighted millions and earned billions, there are a few that never got made at all. The Star Wars […]
How tremendous and validating it must be to do art for a long time and to be recognized for it, in the form of a major award nomination, like a Pulitzer Prize or Academy Award. A lot of people would feel that way, but apparently not these people who said “thanks, but no thanks” to […]
Old shows coming back dominates TV — Will & Grace, Murphy Brown, Full House, The X-Files and more have saturated the airwaves with nostalgia. Here are some fun facts about this strange cultural fad. First TV reboot Reboots of old shows is nothing new. In fact, it goes back to when TV wasn’t that old […]
Prepare for the final season of the HBO mega-hit so that, unlike Jon Snow, you won’t “know nothing.” Most expensive TV show It’s the most expensive TV show in history. Every episode is like a cinema-quality movie, with location shoots and special effects making everything look top notch. Estimated cost: Around $10 million per episode. […]
A lot of enduring television classics first aired 40 years ago, in the 1978-79 TV season. Here are some weird stories about them. Fantasy Island It’s a 1970s trivia overload! The plane that brought guests to the show’s Fantasy Island—the one that made Tattoo (Hervé Villechaize) shout “de plane!”—was previously owned by Jonathan Livingston Seagull […]
We all know they’re wrong, and over-generalizations, but there are certain clichés about different nationalities that persist…particularly the ones that seem the weirdest or most inexplicable. For example, there’s the idea that Germans adore Baywatch star David Hasselhoff, or that Canadians love hockey and Tim Hortons donuts. Arguably the most famous of these stereotypes — […]
The rule of thumb for a successful TV series is that it gets to stay on the air for years. Not so for these shows. Twin Peaks (1990-1991) In 1990, millions of American wanted to know “Who killed Laura Palmer?” That was the central mystery of Twin Peaks, an ABC mystery series co-created by cult […]
Dolly Parton recently signed a deal with Netflix to turn a number of her biggest hits into movies. Her songs are often stories, so it’s a natural progression. The same should have happened for these songs turned movies…which all tuned out a little odd. Monster Mash (1995) The monster-centric novelty song “Monster Mash” was a […]
