# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/121 "2011-06-20T06:24:17Z")
[QUOTE=Stan Shmenge] And having decided to watch an episode of the first season a month or two ago, Three’s Company really didn’t hold up well. [/QUOTE] The whole premise is incredibly dated. Today a straight guy and two straight girls who wanted to share an apartment, assuming they had the money for rent, wouldn’t draw so much as a snooty look unless one of them had a big dog. Of course even at the time it’s unlikely that a guy who was opposed to straight members of the opposite sex living together platonically would have been any less opposed to a gay guy. Trivia about Norman Fell: he had a longtime rivalry with Jack Klugman. They used to take parts from each other when they were starting out since they were the same basic type and Fell became super irked when Klugman passed him doing 90 starting with _The Odd Couple_ and then with _Quincy_. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/122 "2011-06-20T07:41:28Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Every Trekkie knows this one (tho it may be apocryphal, I dunno): In production of the original pilot, _The Menagerie/The Cage,_ the green-skinned dancing girl kept showing up pink in the prints for some reason and Roddenberry kept saying “Paint her greener!” until she was dark as an eggplant. Turned out somebody in the film-editing stage of the process didn’t know she was **supposed** to be green and kept correcting her tint. [Memory Alpha confirms:](http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/The_Cage_%28episode%29) > [@](#): > > When doing makeup tests for Vina as an Orion slave girl, with Majel Barrett as a willing test subject, the film kept coming back without the green skin being visible. Puzzled by this, the makeup crew kept painting the actress again and again with other shades of green, hoping it would be visible on film. Afterward, they discovered that the film processing lab was “de-coloring” her because they didn’t know she was supposed to be green. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/123 "2011-06-20T13:42:09Z")
Since Stan Shmenge mentioned _The Lawrence Welk Show_, I decided to look it up to see how it was filmed. While doing that, I found the following clip from it: > **[evilshare.com - evilshare Resources and Information.](http://evilshare.com/video/-toking-with-lawrence-welk/Ye3ecDYxOkg)** > > evilshare.com is your first and best source for all of the information you’re looking for. From general topics to more of what you would expect to find here, evilshare.com has it all. We hope you find what you are searching for! Apparently Welk had no idea what the song “One Toke over the Line” was actually about. (This clip is available at several other websites if it fails to load for you.) ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/124 "2011-06-20T14:05:52Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > A new version of Star Trek was supposed to start in the late 70s on a new TV network. That idea was scrapped and they made the Star Trek I movie instead. In the 80s they finally made a new Star Trek series (TNG) and it was on a new network. The way I heard it was that Roddenberry watched Star Wars and said “I can hire the same special effects company, and I have better characters.” I’m not sure how true that is. But he didn’t hire the same effects company. He hired a much cheaper one. Eventually he fired them and hired ILM. Footage was used from both, though. Pay close attention to the sensor array of the Enterprise. In some scenes it’s amber, in others it’s blue. ILM used blue. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/125 "2011-06-20T15:31:11Z")
When Pete Duel died during production of _Alias Smith and Jones_ producers had enough footage of him for one more episode, but needed to use voice actor Paul Frees to loop dialog. The producers then replaced Duel, but neither they nor ABC ever acknowledged his death. ---
**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:** [June 20, 2011, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/126 "2011-06-20T15:33:03Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > A new version of Star Trek was supposed to start in the late 70s on a new TV network. That idea was scrapped and they made the Star Trek I movie instead. In the 80s they finally made a new Star Trek series (TNG) and it was on a new network. I recall reading some “Star Trek” book or other that gave a break-down of some new character descriptions and the first few episodes that would have been shot. Although Shatner and most of the old cast had agreed to do the new show, Nimoy was steadfastly refusing. Therefore he would have been replaced by Xom, a full-blooded Vulcan who was the opposite of Spock - he would have had no capacity at all for emotion, yet he would be fascinated by the concept and would be constantly asking questions about human emotions. The other major new character would have been Lt. Ilia, from a race that was the polar opposite of Vulans. Ilia’s race would have been super-emotional, and incapable of relating to anyone else other than sexually. (A watered-down version of Ilia appeared in “TMP” of course, but they didn’t dwell on her “super-sexualized” backstory.) It may not be apparent from my perfunctory description, but when reading the character outlines that Roddenberry wrote, it was clear that these two characters were re-worked some more and eventually became Data and Counselor Troi on TNG. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/127 "2011-06-20T15:44:04Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > It may not be apparent from my perfunctory description, but when reading the character outlines that Roddenberry wrote, it was clear that these two characters were re-worked some more and eventually became Data and Counselor Troi on TNG. I did figure it out from your description. And if you’d included the words “completely useless” in your description of Ilia, it would have been even more obvious. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/128 "2011-06-20T15:47:02Z")
Producer Don Fedderson was mentioned upstream. A few more Fedderson tidbits: He was the father of Mike Minor, the downed pilot who became a regular on “Petticoat Junction,” produced by Paul Henning. Minor would later marry Linda Kaye Henning, Paul’s daughter. Linda Kaye Henning was the inspiration for “Elly Mae” character on “Beverly Hillbillies,” and supplied the voice of Jethrene, played by Max Baer. Fedderson also had another actor son Greg, who died a few years ago, but I’m not familiar with him. In at least one episode, Jethro and Jethrene actually appeared in the same scene, although Jethrene’s back was to the camera. Don Fedderson’s wife Tido (Mike’s mom, maiden name Minor) appeared in almost every, if not every, episode of his 1950s series “The Millionaire,” always uncredited. When Fedderson and Tido divorced, he married b-movie actress Yvonne Lime–who was then forever relieved of the stress of waiting for her agent to call. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/129 "2011-06-20T16:08:43Z")
It must be common knowledge or else somebody would have mentioned by now that [Mary Tyler Moore’s](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001546/bio) > [@](#): > > first break in show business was in 1955, as a dancing kitchen appliance - Happy Hotpoint, the Hotpoint Appliance elf, in commercials generally broadcast during the popular TV program “The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet” (1952). She then shifted from dancing to acting, and work soon came, at first a number of guest roles on TV series, but eventually a recurring role as “Sam”, Richard Diamond’s sultry answering service girl, on “Richard Diamond, Private Detective” (1957), her performance being particularly notorious because her legs (usually dangling a pump on her toe) were shown instead of her face. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/130 "2011-06-20T16:16:26Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > When Pete Duel died during production of _Alias Smith and Jones_ producers had enough footage of him for one more episode, but needed to use voice actor Paul Frees to loop dialog. The producers then replaced Duel, but neither they nor ABC ever acknowledged his death. Maybe because it was suicide and not a natural death? But it wouldn’t have killed them to put one measly ‘in-memory-of Peter Duel 19\_\_ - 19\_\_’ sign after the credits of that show. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/131 "2011-06-20T17:08:59Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > It must be common knowledge or else somebody would have mentioned Mary Tyler Moore by now] Speaking of Mary Tyler Moore - she lost out on the part of Danny Thomas’s daughter in the Danny Thomas Show because she didn’t look right for the part (her nose was, uh, too perfect to be a part of his family!). However, when Carl Reiner was looking for someone to play Laura Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show, it was Danny Thomas who suggested they audition her for the role. Won by a nose? ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/132 "2011-06-20T17:31:31Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > Speaking of Mary Tyler Moore - she lost out on the part of Danny Thomas’s daughter in the Danny Thomas Show Cite, please? She must have had a decade or more on the actress who played DT’s daughter. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/133 "2011-06-20T17:36:35Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > Cite, please? She must have had a decade or more on the actress who played DT’s daughter. Same book as I referenced earlier in this thread, "[Forbidden Channels" by Penny Stallings](http://www.amazon.com/Forbidden-Channels-Truth-They-Guide/dp/0060963301). page 59…she was to play the OLDER daughter (the one who was not as memorable as the younger daughter who got all the good lines). ---
**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 20, 2011, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/134 "2011-06-20T17:51:37Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Since Stan Shmenge mentioned _The Lawrence Welk Show_, I decided to look it up to see how it was filmed. While doing that, I found the following clip from it: > > [evilshare.com - evilshare Resources and Information.](http://evilshare.com/video/-toking-with-lawrence-welk/Ye3ecDYxOkg) > > Apparently Welk had no idea what the song “One Toke over the Line” was actually about. > > (This clip is available at several other websites if it fails to load for you.) I love Myron Floren’s introduction. (_cough_) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/135 "2011-06-20T20:50:46Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > Cite, please? She must have had a decade or more on the actress who played DT’s daughter. You’re probably thinking of Angela Cartwright (who played Linda), but originally DT had an older, teenaged, daughter, Terry, played by Sherry Jackson. Jackson left the show and they sent the character off “to college” but soon decided they wanted the character back for at least occasional appearances. That was the role MTM auditioned for. In fact, the part of Danny’s wife was originally played by Jean Hagen. When Hagen left the show after three seasons, the producers killed off the character in a car accident – making the Danny Thomas Show one of the few early TV shows to use death to write out a character. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/136 "2011-06-20T21:22:11Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > A sort of shocking one about _Car 54 Where Are You?_: Joe E. Ross, who played Gunther Toody, was pretty much universally hated by his co-stars and everybody else associated with the show. Speaking of _Car 54_, it was shot on location in New York City. Toody and Muldoon’s squad car (and every other squad car on the show) was painted bright _red_ and white (red shows up as black, when filmed in black and white) in order to keep the TV shows cars from being mistaken for actual police cars. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/137 "2011-06-20T21:51:47Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > NPH is one of the first openly gay actors to be cast as a (very) straight guy in a regular role. But I question the premise that Barney’s role was small at first. He’s very involved in the gang’s shenanigans right from the beginning and his “expanded role” only came about because the producers figured out that the show shouldn’t be about Ted and was better as an ensemble. > > That happened around like the fifth episode. While I am sure that there were rumors all over the place, NPH officially came out in [November, 2006](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Patrick_Harris#Personal_life). HIMYM premiered in September 2005. I am **not** saying that the cast, casting directors and production company didn’t know, but an average schmoe (e.g. me) who only knew NPH as Doogie Howser and the psychic colonel on Starship Troopers had no clue (nor cared) about his sexual orientation. That said, given the skittishness of the money people in Hollywood, I’m not sure he would have been cast in the role had he come out two years earlier. Maybe. Maybe not. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2011, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/138 "2011-06-21T02:18:57Z")
John Lennon (of The Beatles) was Peter Boyle’s (the grouchy dad on Everybody Loves Raymond) best man in his wedding. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2011, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/139 "2011-06-21T02:51:41Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > While I am sure that there were rumors all over the place, NPH officially came out in [November, 2006](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Patrick_Harris#Personal_life). HIMYM premiered in September 2005. I am **not** saying that the cast, casting directors and production company didn’t know, but an average schmoe (e.g. me) who only knew NPH as Doogie Howser and the psychic colonel on Starship Troopers had no clue (nor cared) about his sexual orientation. That said, given the skittishness of the money people in Hollywood, I’m not sure he would have been cast in the role had he come out two years earlier. Maybe. Maybe not. NPH was like Jodie Foster. He “came out” in 2006 but it’s been an open secret for years. I remember back when Harold & Kumar came out in 2003 that Harris’ real-life gayness was part of the joke of playing “Himself” in the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2011, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/140 "2011-06-21T02:57:05Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > “the Flintstones” are based off of “the Honeymooners.” (Fred + Wilma = the Kramdens, Barney + Betty = the Nortons) During episodes of _The Flintstones,_ there were ads featuring the Flintstones and Rubbles smoking Winston cigarettes. “Winston tastes good like a cigarette should.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833.md?page=8)