# Commonly Accepted TV Legends That Are BS **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 4, 2004, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-accepted-tv-legends-that-are-bs/278070 "2004-12-04T16:30:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-accepted-tv-legends-that-are-bs/278070/61 "2004-12-06T18:35:09Z")
> [@Maus Magill](#): > > I had heard he was shot by a kid who wanted to see him deflect the bullets. I’m pretty sure that somebody exposed him to kryptonite, thinking that it would kill him. Well, it did. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-accepted-tv-legends-that-are-bs/278070/62 "2004-12-06T21:47:04Z")
> [@Nonsuch](#): > > Well, talking of Star Trek (I’m amazed no one has mentioned this), Captain Kirk never actually said “Beam me up, Scotty” on any episode of the show. He did say “beam us up, Scotty” in an episode of The Animated Series, but then try telling any fan that this line is “canon” :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-accepted-tv-legends-that-are-bs/278070/63 "2004-12-06T22:06:40Z")
I recall the popular t.v. urban legend from my youth was that the kid who played “Mikey” from the Life cereal ads (“Let’s get Mikey! He won’t eat anything! _gasp_He likes it! Hey Mikey!”) was killed by eating pop rocks & drinking coke at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-accepted-tv-legends-that-are-bs/278070/64 "2004-12-07T00:02:02Z")
> [@Pushkin](#): > > He did say “beam us up, Scotty” in an episode of The Animated Series, but then try telling any fan that this line is “canon” :rolleyes: Roddenberry has gone on record as saying it isn’t and it was stringently enforced by Paramount for years. It’s been relaxed in recent years though and certain aspects of it are being reintroduced via Enterprise but, like it or not, it’s not canon. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-accepted-tv-legends-that-are-bs/278070/65 "2004-12-07T01:13:54Z")
And **The Beaver** wasn’t killed in Viet Nam either. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-accepted-tv-legends-that-are-bs/278070/66 "2004-12-07T01:33:09Z")
Does the whole “Milhouse…er, Paul from the Wonder Years grew up to be Marilyn Manson” thing count? ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-accepted-tv-legends-that-are-bs/278070/67 "2004-12-07T01:34:40Z")
"_ **I Love Lucy** was the first program to use multiple cameras."_ Wrong. Several programs were using multiple cameras in the later 1940’s. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-accepted-tv-legends-that-are-bs/278070/68 "2004-12-07T04:57:43Z")
_I Love Lucy_ was the first _filmed_ show to use multiple cameras. Previous multi-camera shows were broadcast live. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-accepted-tv-legends-that-are-bs/278070/69 "2004-12-07T07:06:56Z")
Many people believe that Desi Arnaz, Jr. played Little Ricky on _I Love Lucy_ when in fact he was played by several child actors, most notably [Richard Keith](http://imdb.com/name/nm0445287/). The “fact” that _Mr. Ed_ was actually a zebra (who due to some dye and b/w television came across as a horse on TV) is given currency by Snopes, which listed it as “True” for a while in a deliberate attempt to make people realize “just because it’s on the I’net doesn’t mean it’s true”. They later removed it. (Of the [TV ULs](http://snopes.com/radiotv/tv/tv.asp) on their site, the ones I’ve heard the most have probably been [Mr. Rogers as Rambo](http://snopes.com/radiotv/tv/mrrogers.asp) , [Julia Child dropping a chicken](http://snopes.com/radiotv/tv/julia.htm) and [Charles Manson auditioning for the Monkees](http://snopes.com/radiotv/tv/monkees.htm) (he was in fact in prison at the time). Sherwood Schwartz swears that numerous viewers alerted the Coast Guard and other agencies that 7 people were marooned on an island, but I’d like to see documentation to that effect. I’ve heard several reports about Lucille Ball receiving underground radio broadcasts from a Communist spy ring during the McCarthy era but I’ve never read confirmation. It is not true that Jerry Lewis & Dean Martin were first reunited after their break-up on his telethon. They had seen each other in Vegas several times and Dean once even filled in for Jerry when he was sick. It also isn’t true that they resumed their friendship after that reunion- they didn’t speak again for years (though they were speaking again by the time of Dean’s death). Whether or not Jackie Mason really shot a bird at Ed Sullivan (almost destroying his career) remains debated (though Mason insists he did not- it was an unconscious gesture. Dick York was not fired from _Bewitched_ for drug abuse as is sometimes reported but left voluntarily due to chronic back pain after a stunt threw him into a seizure due to nerve damage. He also was not left indigent by this but lost his money through bad real estate investments over the next few years. (I have read that Samantha was the first character on television referred to as _pregnant_ but I don’t have verification.) It is totally not true that Tommy Hilfiger/Liz Claiborne/Versace made racist comments about blacks wearing his/her clothes and was consequently evicted from the Oprah/Montel/Donahue show, though I received this e-mail numerous times from various co-workers over the years (some calling for a boycott of whichever designer was being maligned). June Cleaver never said “Ward, you were too hard on the Beaver last night” as is often quoted (though she did once tell Eddie Haskell “Baby, if I had a c_ck this is where I’d tell you to s_ck it you little piece of sh!t!”, but the line was redubbed as “Would you like a cookie Eddie?”) ---
**Author:** ![mkl12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@mkl12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mkl12)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-accepted-tv-legends-that-are-bs/278070/70 "2004-12-07T13:05:50Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > The “fact” that _Mr. Ed_ was actually a zebra (who due to some dye and b/w television came across as a horse on TV) is given currency by Snopes, which listed it as “True” for a while in a deliberate attempt to make people realize “just because it’s on the I’net doesn’t mean it’s true”. They later removed it. They didn’t remove it, it’s still there. > **[FACT CHECK: Mister Ed was a Zebra](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/mister-ed-zebra/)** > > Was Mister Ed a horse? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-accepted-tv-legends-that-are-bs/278070/71 "2004-12-07T13:17:19Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I’ve heard several reports about Lucille Ball receiving underground radio broadcasts from a Communist spy ring during the McCarthy era but I’ve never read confirmation. Somewhat mangled version of the story that Lucille Ball actually told about overhearing spy messages via her teeth fillings in World War II, as reported by [Snopes](http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/fillings.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-accepted-tv-legends-that-are-bs/278070/72 "2004-12-07T13:26:19Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > June Cleaver never said “Ward, you were too hard on the Beaver last night” as is often quoted (though she did once tell Eddie Haskell “Baby, if I had a c_ck this is where I’d tell you to s_ck it you little piece of sh!t!”, but the line was redubbed as “Would you like a cookie Eddie?”) There are times I have to wonder where all this coffee on my keyboard came from. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-accepted-tv-legends-that-are-bs/278070/73 "2004-12-07T13:42:50Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > (though she did once tell Eddie Haskell “Baby, if I had a c_ck this is where I’d tell you to s_ck it you little piece of sh!t!”, but the line was redubbed as “Would you like a cookie Eddie?”) Fascinating. And his reply “no, thank you, Mrs. Cleaver. My mother wouldn’t want me to spoil my appetite on sweets before dinner” is so much clearer now. ---
**Author:** ![Mal\_Adroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@Mal\_Adroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mal_Adroit)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-accepted-tv-legends-that-are-bs/278070/74 "2004-12-07T18:03:51Z")
> [@sassylady](#): > > That was Zsa Zsa Gabor and it indeed happened. It was shown as part of an anniversary show. You may be remembering, as I am, _Jane Fonda_ asking Johnny about it; that was on an anniversary show. She repeated the question and his supposed response verbatim and yes, I do have it on tape. (We bought the anniversary special for my dad a few years ago.) ---
**Author:** ![hybrid\_dogfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a587f6/32.png) [@hybrid\_dogfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hybrid_dogfish)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-accepted-tv-legends-that-are-bs/278070/75 "2004-12-07T18:20:25Z")
There was a kid’s cartoon on TV in the UK in the 1970s called Captain Pugwash. It was about a pirate, and everyone _knows_ that the characters had really suggestive names, but bless them they were all too innocent at the time to understand what was so funny about Seaman Staines, Roger the Cabinboy and Master Bates. Except that the names of the pirates on board the Black Pig were Pirate Barnabus, Master Mate, Pirate Willy, and Tom the Cabin Boy. Still, ask around about Captain Pugwash and you will inevitably be told about the filthy puns of the character names that were missed in the innocent times of 1970s British kids’ TV. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-accepted-tv-legends-that-are-bs/278070/76 "2004-12-07T18:53:49Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Most (not all) people in the US , whether they approve of it or not, are pretty inured to multi racial coupling at this point. I think that was less of a racial issue and more of an inappropriateness re the towel dropping. It was a lot more about her being naked than him being a Negro. Yes, mostly it was the nudity, but there were at least a few people (Tony Dungy of the Indianapolis Colts was one) who insisted it was racially insensitive somehow, or referred to the Kobe Bryant case, or other inane things. ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-accepted-tv-legends-that-are-bs/278070/77 "2004-12-07T23:18:40Z")
The writer of “Captain Pugwash”, John Ryan, has been exceedingly zealous in stopping anyone spreading the falsehoods about the characters’ names. [Snopes](http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/pugwash.htm) is your man once more. Blame Victor Lewis-Smith. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-accepted-tv-legends-that-are-bs/278070/78 "2004-12-07T23:23:36Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Does the whole “Milhouse…er, Paul from the Wonder Years grew up to be Marilyn Manson” thing count? I had a friend who _swore_ this was true. She dismissed my objections when I pointed out that “Paul” was played by an actor named Josh Saviano, not Brian Warner, that Manson was obviously older than the kid from **The Wonder Years** would have to be by now, and that his well-publicized account of his own background was inconsistent with being a child star on a successful and long-running TV series. I don’t know why she was so certain they must really be the same person. Even the supposed physical resemblance between the two men can’t account for it, as this friend happened to have been legally blind since birth! ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2004, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-accepted-tv-legends-that-are-bs/278070/79 "2004-12-08T06:30:04Z")
Although Geraldo Rivera was known as Gerry Riviera for much of his life, and is the son of a Jewish mother, he was never Jerry Rivers, and his father was indeed born in Puerto Rico. Once again [our friends at Snopes](http://www.snopes.com/media/celebrity/geraldo.asp) have the details. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2004, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-accepted-tv-legends-that-are-bs/278070/80 "2004-12-08T08:27:50Z")
> [@Art Vandelay](#): > > I recall the popular t.v. urban legend from my youth was that the kid who played “Mikey” from the Life cereal ads (“Let’s get Mikey! He won’t eat anything! _gasp_He likes it! Hey Mikey!”) was killed by eating pop rocks & drinking coke at the same time. I wonder if this was the reason for that contest in the Eighties were Life cereal buyers had to guess which of the young people whose photos were on the box was Mikey grown up. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-accepted-tv-legends-that-are-bs/278070.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-accepted-tv-legends-that-are-bs/278070.md?page=5)