50 Fun Facts About TV & Movies

Which 1975 thriller's faulty mechanical shark, nicknamed Bruce, had to stay mostly offscreen?

Jaws became the prototype summer blockbuster partly because the unreliable shark pushed Steven Spielberg to hint at it rather than reveal it, leaving John Williams's two-note theme to do the frightening.

Which Star Wars film fed David Prowse the decoy line 'Obi-Wan Kenobi is your father'?

The Empire Strikes Back guarded Darth Vader's paternity reveal so tightly that only director Irvin Kershner, the producers and Mark Hamill knew the real line before the 1980 premiere.

Which 1942 Humphrey Bogart film began as an unproduced play called Everybody Comes to Rick's?

Casablanca's 'Here's looking at you, kid', said four times, was in none of the draft screenplays and is traced to a remark Bogart made to Ingrid Bergman between takes.

Which 1972 film won Marlon Brando a Best Actor Oscar that Sacheen Littlefeather declined for him?

The Godfather's Brando boycotted the 1973 ceremony in protest at Hollywood's portrayal of Native Americans and the siege at Wounded Knee, so Littlefeather raised a hand to refuse the statuette.

Which Malcolm in the Middle dad went on to play chemistry teacher Walter White in Breaking Bad?

Bryan Cranston won four Emmys for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series as Walter White, a run that began in 2008, eight years after he landed the role of Hal.

Which Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet romance was the first ever to gross $1 billion worldwide?

Titanic reached the billion-dollar mark in 1998 on its way to an initial $1.84 billion, and its 11 Academy Awards tied the record set by Ben-Hur.

Which Ricky Gervais mockumentary about a Slough paper firm was remade in America with Steve Carell?

The Office ran for just 14 episodes, two series plus a two-part Christmas special, before Gervais and Stephen Merchant became executive producers on the American version.

Which Springfield clan started out as shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show in 1987?

The Simpsons has become the longest-running American animated series, sitcom and scripted primetime programme, passing 800 episodes since its December 1989 debut.

Which 1939 MGM musical recoloured Dorothy's silver shoes red to flaunt three-strip Technicolor?

The Wizard of Oz's ruby slippers were Silver Shoes in L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel; screenwriter Noel Langley is credited with the switch to red for the three-strip Technicolor process.

In Doctor Who, a broken chameleon circuit leaves the TARDIS shaped like what 1960s London object?

A police box was an everyday sight in Britain when the series began in 1963, and the Doctor later admits he stopped repairing the circuit because he grew attached to the shape.

Which 1960 horror film set at the Bates Motel broke a taboo by showing a toilet flush on screen?

Psycho broke the rule that no flushing toilet had appeared in mainstream American film or television, and its shower scene is scored by Bernard Herrmann's shrieking strings.

Which BBC sitcom about Peckham trader Del Boy Trotter featured a three-wheeled Reliant Regal van?

Only Fools and Horses' 1996 episode 'Time on Our Hands' drew 24.3 million viewers, still the biggest UK audience ever recorded for a sitcom episode.

Which John Cleese hotel sitcom made just 12 episodes yet topped the BFI's 2000 list of British TV?

Fawlty Towers was inspired by the Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay, where Cleese stayed in 1970, and the BFI's industry poll in 2000 named it the best British television series of all time.

Which badge-awarding BBC children's programme has run since 1958, longer than any other worldwide?

Blue Peter has been broadcast since October 1958, and children and adults who appear on it or achieve something notable can be awarded its coveted badge.

Which Netflix drama recast Elizabeth II every two seasons, passing from Claire Foy to Olivia Colman?

The Crown gave the Queen to Imelda Staunton for its fifth and sixth seasons, a relay of three actresses that let Elizabeth age across six series.

Which 1995 Pixar film, the first all-computer-animated feature, cast Tom Hanks as a cowboy doll?

Toy Story was also the first feature film produced by Pixar Animation Studios, pairing Hanks's Woody with Tim Allen as the Space Ranger action figure Buzz Lightyear.

Which Die Hard villain went on to play Severus Snape in all eight Harry Potter films?

Alan Rickman made his feature film debut as Hans Gruber in Die Hard in 1988, 13 years before the first Potter film, Philosopher's Stone, in 2001.

Which former star of The Saint played James Bond in seven Eon films, more than any other actor?

Roger Moore was the third Bond, playing him from 1973 to 1985, after seven years as Simon Templar in the ITC series The Saint.

Which HBO mob drama ended by cutting to black mid-scene as Journey's 'Don't Stop Believin'' played?

The Sopranos left Tony's fate unresolved: the diner bell rings, he looks up and the screen cuts to black, ending the June 10, 2007 finale 'Made in America'.

Which Lucille Ball sitcom was the first scripted series shot on 35mm film before a studio audience?

I Love Lucy ran on CBS from 1951 to 1957, its 180 episodes shot by cinematographer Karl Freund, with Desi Arnaz playing Ball's real-life husband Ricky.

Which Korean War sitcom's 1983 finale drew 106 million US viewers, a record for scripted TV?

M*A*S*H's 'Goodbye, Farewell and Amen' reached a total audience of 121.6 million, beating Super Bowl XVII, and stayed America's most-watched broadcast of any kind until 2010.

Which Texas oil soap left the world asking 'Who shot J.R.?' through the summer of 1980?

Dallas's cliffhanger was a CBS advertising catchphrase, and the answer, Kristin Shepard, J.R.'s scheming sister-in-law and mistress, was watched by an estimated 83 million people.

Which David Hasselhoff lifeguard drama was axed by NBC after one season and revived in syndication?

Baywatch went on to be listed as the most-watched television series in the world, with a weekly audience of over 1.1 billion viewers, after its 1991 syndication revival.

Which 1994 Tom Hanks film opens with a feather and the line 'Life was like a box of chocolates'?

Forrest Gump took Best Picture and five other Oscars for Robert Zemeckis's tale of an Alabama innocent who recounts his life from a Savannah bus bench.

In which 1980 Stanley Kubrick film did Jack Nicholson improvise the line 'Here's Johnny!'?

The Shining's line borrows Ed McMahon's introduction on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and Kubrick, long resident in England, missed the reference and nearly used another take.

Which 1994 Quentin Tarantino crime film, told out of sequence, won the Palme d'Or at Cannes?

Pulp Fiction premiered at Cannes in May 1994 and took the festival's top prize, then earned Tarantino a shared Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

Which 1999 Keanu Reeves sci-fi film popularised the slow-motion 'bullet time' effect?

The Matrix, written and directed by the Wachowskis, lets a shot progress in slow motion while the camera appears to move through the scene at normal speed, as Morpheus's red pill wakes Neo.

For which 2008 Batman film did Heath Ledger win a posthumous Oscar as the Joker?

The Dark Knight became the first comic-book film to receive major acting awards, with Ledger's Joker collecting the Academy, BAFTA and Golden Globe awards for supporting actor.

Which 1939 Civil War epic remains the highest-grossing film ever when adjusted for inflation?

Gone with the Wind also made Hattie McDaniel the first African-American to win an Academy Award, as Best Supporting Actress for playing Mammy.

Which 2019 Bong Joon-ho thriller was the first non-English-language film to win Best Picture?

Parasite also won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2019, the first South Korean film to do so, before taking four Oscars including Best Director for Bong.

Which Christopher Nolan biopic, released the same day as Barbie in 2023, won seven Oscars?

Oppenheimer's thirteen nominations became seven wins, including Best Director for Nolan and Best Actor for Cillian Murphy, as 'Barbenheimer' double bills packed cinemas.

Which actress won a record four Best Actress Oscars, the last of them for On Golden Pond in 1981?

Katharine Hepburn's four wins span 48 years, from Morning Glory in 1933 to Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, The Lion in Winter and finally On Golden Pond.

Which actor has three Best Actor Oscars, for My Left Foot, There Will Be Blood and Lincoln?

Daniel Day-Lewis became the first three-time Best Actor winner at the 85th Academy Awards in 2013, as Christy Brown, oil tycoon Daniel Plainview and Abraham Lincoln.

Which film was the real 2017 Best Picture winner after Faye Dunaway read out La La Land by mistake?

Moonlight, the first LGBTQ film to win Best Picture, was announced only after La La Land producer Jordan Horowitz revealed the wrong envelope on stage.

Which director of Rebecca and Rear Window got five Best Director nominations but never won?

Alfred Hitchcock's films collected 46 Academy Award nominations and six wins, yet the Master of Suspense himself never took Best Director despite five nominations.

Which 2003 fantasy finale won all 11 Oscars it was up for, the genre's first Best Picture?

The Return of the King's sweep at the 76th Academy Awards tied the record for most wins, and made the trilogy closer the first fantasy film to win Best Picture.

Which 2006 remake of Hong Kong's Infernal Affairs won Martin Scorsese his first Oscar?

The Departed ended Scorsese's run of five losses with four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, for a Boston mob tale with Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon.

Which Archie Bunker sitcom, adapted from Britain's Till Death Us Do Part, spun off The Jeffersons?

All in the Family was Norman Lear's remake of Johnny Speight's British original, and it spawned Maude in 1972, The Jeffersons in 1975 and the continuation Archie Bunker's Place.

Which Hampshire seat of the Earls of Carnarvon was the main filming location for Downton Abbey?

Highclere Castle's 5th Earl, George Herbert, employed Howard Carter in the search for Tutankhamun's tomb, and the house keeps an Egyptian museum from the 1922 discovery.

Which silent First World War aviation film starring Clara Bow won the first Best Picture Oscar?

Wings remains the only fully silent film to win the top Oscar, collecting the inaugural award for Outstanding Picture at the first ceremony in 1929.

Which Rowan Atkinson character, seen in just 15 live-action TV episodes from 1990, drives a citron-green Mini?

Mr. Bean's 15 episodes, broadcast between January 1990 and December 1995, have since been sold to 245 territories around the world.

Which Amazon motoring series reunited Clarkson, Hammond and May after their exit from Top Gear?

The Grand Tour premiered on Amazon Prime Video on 18 November 2016 after the BBC declined to renew Clarkson's contract in March 2015 and his co-hosts refused to stay without him.

Which Australian soap set in Erinsborough made stars of Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan?

Neighbours' wedding of Scott and Charlene drew 19.6 million viewers when it aired in Britain, more than the entire population of Australia at the time.

Which NBC sitcom opened with Will Smith rapping how a West Philadelphia teen ended up in a mansion?

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ran on NBC from 1990 to 1996, its theme performed by DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, Smith's own rap act, over music composed by Quincy Jones.

Which sitcom about the Home Guard in Walmington-on-Sea gave Corporal Jones the cry 'Don't panic!'?

Dad's Army's Lance Corporal Jones, played by Clive Dunn, shouted 'Don't panic, don't panic!' while panicking himself, in a series about Britain's part-time wartime home defence.

Which BBC drama stars Cillian Murphy as Tommy Shelby, running a Birmingham gang after 1918?

Peaky Blinders premiered on BBC Two on 12 September 2013, following the exploits of the crime gang in the direct aftermath of the First World War.

Which 2008 Danny Boyle film follows a Mumbai teenager through a TV quiz and won eight Oscars?

Slumdog Millionaire's Jamal Malik, from the Juhu slums, answers his way through a Hindi version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, and the film won 8 of its 10 nominations.

Which 1975 comedy sent Graham Chapman's Arthur questing with coconut shells clapped for hoofbeats?

Monty Python and the Holy Grail could not afford real mounts beyond a single animal in a couple of scenes, so the coconut gag was born of budget rather than whimsy.

Which Kermit the Frog variety series was recorded in England at ATV's Elstree Studios?

The Muppet Show was produced by Lew Grade's ITC and Henson Associates for five seasons and 120 episodes from 1976 to 1981, after American networks rejected Jim Henson's proposals.

Which Dutch detective series' theme, 'Eye Level', spent four weeks at UK No. 1 in 1973?

Van der Valk's theme was chosen by Thames Television, and the Simon Park Orchestra's 'Eye Level' became a hit in September 1973 with four weeks at No. 1 and 20 more in the top 50.