# Odd television facts **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 17, 2011, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833 "2011-06-17T14:18:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/41 "2011-06-17T20:48:57Z")
Ed O’Neill, who came to fame as Al Bundy on _Married With Children_ and currently plays Jay on _Modern Family_, was the first choice for the roles of Sam Malone on _Cheers_ and for Al Swearengen on _Deadwood_. Mindy Cohn of _Facts of Life_ is godmother to the children of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. Walter Koenig was hired to play Chekhov on _Star Trek_ because of his slight resemblance to Davy Jones from _The Monkees_; executives were wanting a “teen idol” type for the series. Gene Roddenberry was offered a fortune in sponsorship if he would do product placement for cigarettes in Star Trek but turned it down because he believed smoking would have long ceased to exist by the 23rd century. Jonathan Harris from _Lost in Space_ was often assumed to be gay and English by many viewers. He was neither: he was the son of Eastern European Jewish immigrants to the Bronx and his natural speaking voice was so thickly accented that he affected the vaguely English accent he became famous for early in his career. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/42 "2011-06-17T20:51:16Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > My all time favorite Shaggy fact is that he was voiced by none other than American Top 40s Casey Kasem. Kasem has done a lot of voice acting (including a non-Shaggy character in the most recent Scooby Doo series). An interesting case was his doing several characters on Transformers - Cliffjumper, Bluestreak, and Teletraan I being the major ones - until the third season, when they did an episode called Thief in the Night, which depicted an Arab nation called Carbombya…and got worse from there. Kasem, who is of Lebanese descent, didn’t find this particularly amusing, and quit. Teletraan I was replaced in story with an upgraded version called Teletraan II - voiced by Frank Welker - and Cliffjumper was simply never used again (Bluestreak was probably killed in the movie). Also, Kasem is a vegetarian, and in deference to him, for a long while, so was Shaggy. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/43 "2011-06-17T20:57:51Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Normally, I’d chalk “Lovey” up to being a nickname based off of Thurston’s pet name for her, the fact that she was referred to as “Lovey” by the radio announcer in the pilot seems to indicate that she had two different first names during the show’s run. I always attributed that to the fact that fancy society ladies in those days seemed to often have cutesy nicknames (see Ladybird Johnson) that filtered out into public life. So her name was Eunice “Lovey” Howell, and people most commonly referred to her as Lovey. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/44 "2011-06-17T21:16:50Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > That’s really interesting. Brett defined Sherlock to me. Quite a stretch from [My Fair Lady (1964)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058385/) 🙂 Exactly what I was going to say. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/45 "2011-06-17T21:20:10Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > There were similar prima donna stories of Francis Bavier, who was not beloved by her co-stars on _The Andy Griffith Show_. She particularly hated Howard Morris, who played Ernest T. Bass and directed a few episodes, over what she thought (and he denied) was a weight crack. > She was a native New Yorker, but she _was_ beloved in North Carolina where she went for several fan conferences and personal appearances and she ended up moving there. Descriptions of her house are disgusting- big nice house but lots and lots of cats with free range of the place ([pics here](http://www.findadeath.com/Deceased/b/Frances%20Bavier/frances_bavier.htm)). Years after the show went off the air Andy Griffith dropped in on her unannounced and she refused to speak to him, and in fact didn’t keep tabs with any of her co-stars. > She wasn’t uncharitable. When she died- unmarried, no kids- she left the bulk of her considerable estate to local civil and public broadcasting organizations. Most interesting. All I ever “knew” about her was that she despised Andy Griffith and spoke to him only when absolutely necessary. . ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/46 "2011-06-17T21:25:37Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Jeremy Brett (of blessed memory) was THE BEST Sherlock Holmes ever. Bar none. Yep. . ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/47 "2011-06-17T21:36:43Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Twelve kids were cast for _The Brady Bunch_, six blond and six brunet. They wanted the kids’ hair color to match their birth parents’. Reed and Henderson had not yet been cast. But didn’t one of the boys (I’m thinking Bobby - Mike Lookinland) end up having to dye his hair anyway? > [@tdn](#): > > Star Wars was huge at the time, so Garry Marshall’s 5-year-old son begged him to do a Happy Days episode featuring a space alien. Having long since jumped the shark, Marshall agreed. Not TV trivia, just **skammer** trivia: in college I lived on the same dorm hallway with Garry Marshall’s son and we had the same major, so were in many classes together. He was kind of a stoner, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/48 "2011-06-17T22:55:43Z")
Actually Willie was never used for Gilligan as his name on the show. Producer Sherwood Schwartz said, he would have called him that if he had to come up with a name. Some people don’t realize _My Three Sons_ and _Family Affair_ both produced by Don Fedderson were arranged around the stars. The scenes involving Uncle Bill and Steve Douglas were all shot at once for the entire season. Brian Keith and Fred MacMurray would shoot all their scenes in the first weeks of production. This freed them up to do other things. Then the scenes would be spliced together. Kathy “Sissy” Garver said, it was especially hard on her show as she and Mr French were the only ones that could work all the time (the kids were limited to the number of hours on the set). So they would often have to say their lines to other people and have the scenes edited in later. [Craig Bierko](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Bierko) turned down the role of Chandler for _Friends_. AL Lewis and Fred Gwynne from _the Munsters_ both were very opposed to the casting of Yvonne DeCarlo as Lilly. When they heard she got the part they complained that she was an actual star and far too famous and they feared she would be problematic to work with. Lewis went on to say “We were wrong, very very wrong. She was one of the best people I’ve ever worked with.” ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/49 "2011-06-17T23:37:37Z")
On the 1960s gothic soap opera “Dark Shadows” whenever vampire Barnabas Collins had to bite a man (Willie Loomis or Jason McGuire), he bit their wrists. Because implying a guy vampire would have been too scandalous for the housewives and kids home from school who watched it. On “The Adventures of Superman” Lois Lane would wear the same outfit to avoid continuity errors. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/50 "2011-06-17T23:38:29Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > My all time favorite Shaggy fact is that he was voiced by none other than American Top 40s Casey Kasem. That’s just awesome. > > Hell, according to IMDB he last voiced the role in _2009_. I have a new hero. Kasem has since retired as Shaggy, however. He’s now voiced by Matthew Lillard, who played Shaggy in the live action theatrical Scooby-Doo movies. And the aforementioned Mindy Cohn has voiced Velma since 2002. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/51 "2011-06-17T23:56:27Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > Sinatra turned down the role because his hand was injured at the time and he was unable to do it. The role was then offered to John Wayne who turned it down because he didn’t want Sinatra’s rejects, and he was busy with other films. He also didn’t like the idea of playing the role of a rogue cop. Wayne later regretted it. Wayne did a couple of Dirty Harry rip-offs in the mid-70s, _Brannigan_ and _MCQ_. They’re not particularly good, not least because Wayne was too old and ill to pull off the roles. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/52 "2011-06-18T00:23:27Z")
Here’s one: John Williams (yes _that_ John Williams) did the incidental music on Gilligan’s Island. The funny thing is that as a kid I always liked the music on that show and when I learned this, I understood why! ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/53 "2011-06-18T00:24:46Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Hell, according to IMDB he last voiced the role in _2009_. I have a new hero. Frank Welker has voiced Fred from the start (it was his first voice role) and continues to this day. Shaggy is now voiced by Matthew Lillard, who did such a fine job of getting his voice right in the live action movies. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/54 "2011-06-18T00:28:22Z")
They changed the name of the Incredible Hulk from Dr. Bruce Banner to Dr. David Banner in part because CBS thought the name Bruce sounded too gay. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/55 "2011-06-18T00:32:32Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > Some other TV show casting tidbits from the book - Gene Rodenberry wanted Martin Landau to play the part of Spock Also, if I remember this correctly, and it’s possible that I don’t - didn’t Leonard Nimoy replace Martin Landau on Mission Impossible after Star Trek was cancelled? ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/56 "2011-06-18T00:37:23Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Mindy Cohn of _Facts of Life_ is godmother to the children of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. Are you sure about that? ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/57 "2011-06-18T00:53:41Z")
> [@Pai325](#): > > Are you sure about that? It was a question on “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” this season, so if it’s a UL, they fell for it… ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/58 "2011-06-18T01:15:00Z")
> [@Pai325](#): > > Are you sure about that? Its in her IMDB Trivia page > **[Mindy Cohn - Biography - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0169934/bio/)** > > Mindy Cohn. Actress: Palm Royale. Mindy Cohn was born on 20 May 1966 in Los Angeles, California, USA. Mindy is an actor and producer, known for Palm Royale (2024), Mother Father Sister Brother Frank (2024) and The Facts of Life (1979). ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/59 "2011-06-18T01:19:34Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > They changed the name of the Incredible Hulk from Dr. Bruce Banner to Dr. David Banner in part because CBS thought the name Bruce sounded too gay. More Hulk trivia: The Hulk’s growl was done by Ted Cassidy, who played Lurch on The Addams Family. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/60 "2011-06-18T01:23:49Z")
I just found out that Ted Cassidy also narrated the opening. You can listen to it below. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/YOXpKUu6pUg/hqdefault.jpg "The Incredible Hulk Opening Theme") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOXpKUu6pUg) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833.md?page=4)