It’s a successful year for a movie star or film director if they have one hit movie in a 12-month span. These folks just had some very good luck.

Three eerie coincidences between actors’ on-screen tragedies, and ones that befell them in the real world.

Christopher Reeve

In Above Suspicion, a made-for-TV movie that aired on HBO in May 1995, the Superman star played Dempsey Cain, a paralyzed police man driven to catch his wife in the act of cheating, and then kill her. Reeve did a lot of research for the role – he learned how to use a wheelchair, and how to get in and out of a car without the use of his legs.

How a TV producer dying of cancer is using his wealth to leave the world in a better place than he found it. Best known for helping to bring The Simpsons to the world, Sam Simon is now spending his final days giving away his fortune.

From a TV show to movies to a Broadway musical to this summer’s Monty Python reunion shows, the cultural influence of the British comedy troupe is immense. Here are just a few of the many tributes to the group from those who should probably know better.

Since the closing of huge video rental superstores over the last couple of years, there are thousands of empty buildings all across the country. Here’s how those Blockbuster Videos, Hollywood Videos, and more are being converted.

Finally, Uncle John can justify his daily viewings of Sesame Street. Introducing Raya, a six-year-old, aqua-colored Muppet who encourages kids to always wash their hands after using a toilet, and to always wear shoes when visiting a public latrine.

Generations of artists, filmmakers, and musicians have been inspired by Disney films, TV shows, and songs. Some actually grew up to work for the “House of Mouse.” Others just made their own Disney-esque creations without any official approval from the company.

You’d be surprised by how many films in Hollywood are started, but not finished. Here’s a look at a fascinating could have-been. Note: The Breakfast Club had detention 30 years ago today.

With Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s modern-day reboot of Carl Sagan’s 1980 documentary series doing so well, here’s a look back at the original, which was a surprising pop culture phenomenon. “Cosmos” is a Greek word that literally means “order.” In science, however, it means “the universe” or “everything, including space, atoms, and everything in between. Cosmology […]

In 2009, Barack Obama became the first sitting president to sit down for a TV talk show interview, on The Tonight Show. Big deal. First Ladies of the United States have been showing up on TV for years—and on sitcoms to boot.

Real life converges with TV, and vice versa.

Burger War!

In 1982, Burger King created a TV first—it became the first fast food chain to directly attack the competition, by name, in a commercial. The ad featured a cute, four-year-old actress, addressing the camera and stating that McDonald’s burgers were “20 percent smaller” than Burger King’s. McDonald’s sued Burger King for defamation and the case was settled out of court. The four-year-old actress—actually made to testify in the suit—went on to a successful career, first on the soap All My Children, and then as the star of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Her name: Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Impress (or annoy) your friends at your Oscars party this weekend with these fun facts.

• Six actors have won Academy Awards for performances not in the English language: Sophia Loren in Two Women (1961, Italian); Roberto Benigni in Life is Beautiful (1998, Italian); Benicio del Toro in Traffic (2000, Spanish); Marion Cotillard in La Vie en Rose (2007, French); and Penelope Cruz in Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008, Spanish). Those five actors are native speakers of those languages. The sixth winner is Robert De Niro, who had to learn Sicilian for his Oscar-winning role in The Godfather, Part II (1974).

The list of individual awards handed out at the Academy Awards can change. Here are several categories at the Oscars that no longer exist.