I found an interesting article about Dr. Suess since today is his birthday! He was born February 2, 1904 and he passed away September 24, 1991. Today is also National Read Across America Day! This article details 20 interesting facts about Dr. Suess.
From Parade.com:
20 Dr. Seuss Facts You Didn’t Know
1. Dr. Seuss was voted “Least Likely to Succeed” by his classmates at Dartmouth College (1921–25).
2. And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, his first children’s book, was rejected 27 times before getting published in 1937.
3. Dr. Seuss is credited with inventing the word “nerd,” which first appeared in If I Ran the Zoo in 1950.
4. Green Eggs and Ham was written on a $50 bet when his publisher challenged him to write a book using 50 words or less.
5. Celebrities who’ve voiced or acted as characters in TV shows and movies based on Dr. Seuss books and stories include Boris Karloff and Jim Carrey (How the Grinch Stole Christmas), Mike Myers (The Cat in the Hat), Danny DeVito (The Lorax) and Jim Carrey, again (Horton Hears a Who!).
6. The Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden in Springfield, Massachusetts, features sculptures of him and many of his characters.
7. Dr. Seuss comes by his love of verse from his mother, who used to make up rhymes based on pie flavors for him when he was a child.
8. Before finding success as a children’s author, Dr. Seuss earned his livelihood creating ads for an advertising agency.
9. At one point, Dr. Seuss’ father ran the local zoo, which is when Dr. Seuss began sketching animals.
10. Seuss added ‘Dr.’ to his name for his father, who had hoped he would become a medical doctor.
11. Dr. Seuss liked that “Soose” rhymed with Mother Goose, so he adopted that pronunciation, rather than “Soice,” which is the correct German pronunciation.
12. From 1943 to 1946, Geisel served as a captain (and ultimately lieutenant colonel) in the animation department of the Army’s 1st Motion Picture Unit and was sent to Hollywood to produce World War II propaganda cartoons featuring the military misadventures of Private Snafu.
13. After WWII, Seuss and his wife, Helen, lived in an old observation tower on a mountain outside La Jolla, California.
14. Dr. Seuss’s personalized license plate read “GRINCH.”
15. After publishing The Cat in the Hat and How the Grinch Stole Christmas in 1957, Dr. Seuss began receiving thousands of fan letters—so many that the Random House mailroom began weighing rather than counting the letters. In one year, they reported that Dr. Seuss received 9,267 pounds of mail.
16. The title character of Yertle the Turtle was based on Adolf Hitler.
17. Seuss was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1984, the first person to win for writing children’s books.
18. After graduating from Dartmouth, he enrolled at the University of Oxford but dropped out in 1927.
19. Dr. Seuss had no biological children. His second wife, Audrey Dimond, had two daughters.
20. His influence even reached the scientific community, where an Ecuadorian jumping spider is named after The Lorax. The Lapsias lorax has yellow markings near its mouth, which resemble the mustache of its literary counterpart.
Every once and again, a song catches your fancy and forms an earworm. This duet by Ella Langley and Riley Green has done just that. “Excuse me…”
Ella Langley: I was all but 22 / I think at the time / I’d been out on the road / Lonely at night / And it’d been a while / So it was on my mind.
Well, I saw him walk in / With his cowboy hat / And I thought to myself / I could use some of that / His boots like glass on a sawdust floor / Had moves like nothin’ I’d ever seen before.
So I walked right up / And I pulled him to the side / I handed him a beer and looked him right in the eye / And I said Baby, I think you’re gonna wanna hear this / Then I told him …
Chorus: Excuse me / You look like you love me / You look like you want me / To want you to come on home / And baby, I don’t blame you / For lookin’ me up and down across this room / I’m drunk and I’m ready to leave / And you look like you love me.
Riley Green: Well, I was down at the local beer joint with a few of the guys / When this cute little country girl caught my eye / And boy, let me tell you / She was the prettiest thing I’d ever seen in a pair of boots / Well, she walked right up to me, handed me a beer / Gave me a look like, let’s get outta here / And that’s when I realized that she was every cowboy’s dream come true / She told me this right here, she said …
RepeatChorus
Alright, now.
So if you ever see a man in a cowboy hat / And you think to yourself / I could use some of that / Don’t waste your time / Just give ’em this here line / Goes a little like this.
SO many states have the white-tailed deer as their state mammal, and I am not going to repeat the basic facts about them over and over again. I decided to take a look at BAMBI (a baby white tail deer) and see what we may not have known about the movie.
From Mental Floss:
It’s pretty commonplace for at least one parent to meet a tragic end in a Disney movie, but the death of Bambi’s mother is definitely one of the most heartbreaking, even more than 70 years later. It took Walt Disney and his animators a while to figure out how they wanted to show that pivotal scene; they considered letting viewers see the actual shot before deciding to go with a more subtle approach. That’s just one fact you might not have known about the classic animal film—read on for 12 more.
1 LIKE MANY DISNEY MOVIES, BAMBI WAS BASED ON A BOOK.
The novel, Bambi: A Life in the Woods was intended for adults, not children. If audiences thought the death of Bambi’s mother was a bit harsh, they obviously hadn’t reviewed the source material: Among other things, Bambi’s father shows him the corpse of a man who had been shot by his fellow hunter to show that humans weren’t immortal.
2 BAMBI AUTHOR FELIX SALTEN MADE ALMOST NOTHING FROM THE MOVIE.
Felix Salten sold the American film rights to director Sidney Franklin for a mere $1000. Franklin, in turn, sold it to Disney, writing to him, “I would want it to be one of the greatest things ever attempted and done.” Disney paid homage to Franklin in the credits.
3 THE BOOK WAS BANNED IN GERMANY.
The Nazis believed Salten’s book could be viewed as an allegory for the plight of Jewish people in Europe. They banned it in 1936.
4 THE ANIMATORS STUDIED DEER EXTENSIVELY TO GET THE MOVEMENTS JUST RIGHT.
Artists spoke to animal experts, spent time at the Los Angeles Zoo, and watched nature films. They even got up close and personal with two deer donated to the studio. But animators really showed their dedication to the craft when they observed a deer corpse in various stages of decomposition for several evenings to see how the muscles and tendons really worked. “Unfortunately, each time he contracted or extended any part of the cadaver a rich aroma was pumped into the air,” animators Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston recalled.
5 THE ANIMATION WAS EXTREMELY TEDIOUS.
Artists had to make sure that each spot on Bambi’s back was replicated perfectly in every frame. The attention to detail meant that animators were able to complete less work on a daily basis than they had on previous movies.
“I wouldn’t hurry. I wanted it right. I wanted those animal characters in Bambi to be actors, not just cute things. I wanted acting on a plane with the highest acting in the finest live-action pictures,” Walt later explained. Bambi also used an oil painting technique that previous Disney pictures hadn’t, which also added to the timeline. According to Walt:
“We took some of our top artists who worked in oils for their own enjoyment in their leisure time. They taught their technique to the watercolor men. There’s a vast difference in the two techniques, but I was set on oil painting, because of its quality. I figured oils would give a sheen to the forest and accentuate the depth. It worked, too, but perfecting a technique takes time.”
6 WALT’S OWN DAUGHTER PROTESTED THE DEATH OF BAMBI’S MOTHER.
When Diane Disney complained about the needless death, her dad explained that he was just following the book. She proceeded to point out other instances where his movies had veered off from the original material, and besides, she said, he was Walt Disney and could take whatever liberties he liked.
7 “MAN IS IN THE FOREST” HAD DOUBLE MEANING.
It’s uttered in the movie to warn of approaching humans, of course, but to Disney animators, it also meant something else: Walt was coming down the hallway, and anyone who was slacking needed to shape up immediately.
8 THE MOVIE IS RATHER ECONOMICAL WITH ITS DIALOGUE.
Although the animals in the movie speak, they don’t speak much; there are fewer than 900 words in the whole film.
9 SOME OF BAMBI ‘S ANIMATION SEQUENCES WERE REUSED IN OTHER MOVIES.
Over the years, Disney has often employed an animation technique called “rotoscoping,” where animators trace over the frames of old footage to use it in a different environment. Check out this video for a few examples of how animation from Bambi and other early films ended up in later movies.
10 THE STUDIO CONSIDERED A BAMBI “ROAD SHOW.”
Instead of a standard release, the road show would have placed the movie in theaters specially outfitted with advanced sound systems and limited the number of daily showings.
11 BAMBI LATER BECAME A CAREER MARINE.
In 1940, six-year-old Donnie Dunagan was picked for the role of a lifetime: Disney hired him to provide the voice for the lead role in his newest animated feature, Bambi. Dunagan retired from acting after that, and became a decorated career Marine—and its youngest-ever drill instructor, in fact. He served in the Vietnam War and was wounded three times.
Dunagan didn’t want to give recruits or commanding officers any extra reason to harass him, so he kept his mouth shut about his child acting past for the duration of his entire career. He says it didn’t come up until he was two months away from retirement, and, swamped with other things, balked at completing a task an officer had asked him to do.
“General, when do you think I’m going to have time to do that?” Dunagan asked. And that’s when the general revealed that he had some very interesting intel:
“He looked at me, pulled his glasses down like some kind of college professor. There’s a big, red, top-secret folder that he got out of some safe somewhere that had my name on it. He pats this folder, looks me in the eye and says, ‘You will audit the auditors. Won’t you, Maj. Bambi?'”
12 THESE DAYS, DUNAGAN EMBRACES THE PAST.
“I love it now,” he has said. “When people realize, ‘This old jerk, he’s still alive and was Bambi.’ And I wouldn’t take anything for it, not a darn thing for it.”
Dunagan says kids still ask him to say some of Bambi’s most famous lines: “At first I had to modify my long developed adult voice and get all the Marine tones out of it, in order to say ‘bird,’ ‘flower,’ and so on. With some practice I have been able to do it!”
Today is John Travolta’s birthday ( born 1954) and I wanted to showcase a favorite John Travolta movie of mine: Look Who’s Talking. The movie is a romantic comedy with voice overs done by Bruce Willis.
From: Mental Floss:
In 1989’s Look Who’s Talking, Kirstie Alley played Mollie, a single mother whose love life is manipulated by her newborn son Mikey, so she ends up with a cab driver named James, played by John Travolta. The twist to writer-director Amy Heckerling’s movie is that the audience can hear baby Mikey’s inner monologue, voiced by Bruce Willis. The original film spawned two sequels, and influenced a TV show (plus a popular ad campaign).
1 AMY HECKERLING GOT THE IDEA FROM HER DAUGHTER.
The Fast Times at Ridgemont High and future Clueless director noticed her young daughter, Mollie, constantly look around whenever she was propped up in her baby seat. “My husband and I started to put words in her mouth, what she might be thinking based on her expressions,” Heckerling told the Los Angeles Times.
2 A LAWSUIT CLAIMED THAT HECKERLING STOLE THE IDEA.
A $20 million lawsuit alleged that Heckerling stole the idea from a short story called Special Delivery, a science-fiction tale featuring an unborn infant who can talk to its parents. The terms of the eventual settlement weren’t disclosed.
3 THREE STUDIOS PASSED ON THE FILM.
Warner Bros., Disney, and Orion Pictures all passed on the idea before Tri-Star took a shot.
4 OLYMPIA DUKAKIS GOT AN OSCAR PAY RAISE.
Olympia Dukakis was told that she would be paid $50,000 to play Kirstie Alley’s mother if she won an Academy Award for her work as Rose Castorini in Moonstruck. She did.
5 IT WAS SHOT IN VANCOUVER TO SAVE MONEY.
Producer Jonathan D. Krane, who was also John Travolta’s manager, cut the $13 million budget almost in half by moving the film’s production to Vancouver, instead of shooting on location in New York City.
6 KIRSTIE ALLEY FELL FOR JOHN TRAVOLTA IN REAL LIFE.
The actress recently claimed “it took all the power I had” to not run off with her co-star, whom she called the love of her life. Alley was married at the time; Travolta was single.
7 TRAVOLTA GOT SILLY DURING THE ROMANTIC SCENES.
Whenever Alley and Travolta tried to shoot their first kiss, Travolta kept evoking Barbra Streisand singing “Papa, Can You Hear Me?” from Yentl.
8 JAMES WAS ORIGINALLY WRITTEN AS A DARKER CHARACTER.
When Travolta came on board, Heckerling changed James. She also added James’ dancing with her new star in mind.
9 ONE SHOT OF THE FETUS TOOK 115 TAKES.
The fetuses were puppets. Twelve puppeteers—some hanging upside down—were required to shoot the scene where Mikey plays with the placenta. The sperm were made of vinyl with tiny fishing weights in front.
10 HECKERLING DIDN’T WANT ALBERT’S HEAD EXPLODING TO LOOK TOO SCARY, LIKE IN SCANNERS.
A fake head was made for George Segal. Weather balloons were stuffed into the fake head’s cheeks.
11 AUDIENCES IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES HEAR DIFFERENT BABY VOICES.
Foreign countries had their own celebrities voicing baby Mikey. It was Travolta’s idea.
12. TWO OF MOLLIE’S BLIND DATES HAVE NAMES.
They were credited as Mr. Impatience and Mr. Anal.
13 HECKERLING PUT HER FAMILY TO WORK.
Alley’s father was played by Heckerling’s dad, Louis (who is an accountant in real life). She admitted to being skeptical of Louis’ ability to pretend to laugh, but he pulled it off. Writer Neal Israel—who is Heckerling’s ex-husband and the father of Mollie, their daughter who inspired the movie—played Alley’s boss, Mr. Ross. Mollie also has a brief role in the movie.
14 THE STUDIO DELAYED ITS RELEASE FOR SEVEN MONTHS.
Tri-Star changed the movie’s release date from March to October, which led insiders to believe that the studio hated what they saw in the rough cut and it would never be released. Instead, Look Who’s Talking made nearly $300 million worldwide.
15 IT INSPIRED THE TV SHOW BABY TALK AND THE E*TRADE BABY.
ABC’s Baby Talk, featuring Tony Danza as the voice of the little one, wasn’t as successful as the movie; star Scott Baio called it a “nightmare.” The E*Trade baby endorsed the financial company from 2008 to 2014.
16. THERE IS TALK OF A REBOOT.
In 2010, it was reported that Fast & Furious producer Neal H. Moritz had plans to bring the Look Who’s Talking franchise back. Heckerling hopes the reboot does happen: “then I’d make some money!”
Today is the real Laura Ingalls Wilder’s birthday! She was born February 7, 1867 and died February 10, 1957 and PBS.ORG had an interesting article on her.
From: PBS.ORG:
When the Ingalls family first began traversing the grassy frontier of America in their covered wagon — bouncing from Kansas to the Dakotas and Wisconsin and back, they had no idea that their stories would go on to become the stuff of folklore — woven in the very fabric of the modern American imagination, and forever memorialized in a series of books for children.
The author of these stories, Laura Ingalls Wilder, based the bestselling “Little House” series on her childhood and the simple joys and upheavals of the pioneer life alongside her family: Pa, Ma, her sisters and Jack the dog. But despite the author’s insistence that the books were purely biographical, the truth behind the stories was much more complex. The details and dealings of the characters did not always match up with reality. To help understand who the real Laura Ingalls Wilder was, we’ve compiled these sometimes lesser-known facts about the real life of this pioneering author.
1 She found publishing success later in life.
Wilder was in her 40s when she first began writing for small farming publications in the rural town of Mansfield, Missouri where she and her husband, Almanzo, lived at the time. She didn’t begin writing her first novel, “Pioneer Girl,” until she was in her 60s, with the help and encouragement of her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, who was already a successful author. With the Great Depression in full swing, however, the novel, which documented the harsh realities of life on the frontier, was not met with enthusiasm by publishers, who one by one rejected the novel. But Rose never gave up, and set about adapting her mother’s novel into stories for children – stories which would eventually form the basis of the “Little House” series. The first book in that series, “Little House in the Big Woods,” was published in 1932 when Wilder was 65.
2 Her first book was published 84 years after she wrote it.
Wilder’s very first novel may have been turned down numerous times when it was first presented to publishers in 1931, but the original manuscript of “Pioneer Girl” was preserved and posthumously published in 2014 — some 84 years after it was written. The annotated autobiography for adult audiences quickly climbed to the top of bestseller lists around the country, following the successes of Wilder’s other novels that were all sprung from this very first memoir.
3 She refused to say “obey” in her wedding vows.
In the last book of the series, “These Happy Golden Years,” Laura recounted the time she told Almanzo (known affectionately to her as Manly) that she would not utter the word “obey” when it came time to say their wedding vows. “I cannot make a promise that I will not keep,” she told Almanzo, and “even if I tried, I do not think I could obey anybody against my better judgement.” He simply replied: “I’d never expect you to.”
“Almanzo was perfectly competent and a strong, hard worker. But he was willing to defer to his wife,” said biographer William Anderson. “They had a unique partnership in their marriage before most marriages were organized in that fashion. Before Almanzo made any purchases or changes on the farm, they consulted together. And if he would do something rash without asking her, she made it known that she really didn’t care for that.
4 The couple faced many hardships early on that traumatized their only child.
The couple also fell on many hard times over the course of their long marriage — some of which were documented in the book, “The First Four Years.” The family survived natural disasters, crop failures, the loss of a son, severe cases of diphtheria that left Almanzo with limited use of his legs, and a house fire that burned everything they owned. When they eventually settled in Mansfield, the pair struggled to make ends meet, with each having to take on second and third jobs. Laura raised chickens and took in boarders while her husband worked in the apple orchard and delivered kerosene. Their daughter Rose also chipped in by picking and selling huckleberries.
Rose later wrote about the trauma of her upbringing in a 1926 article for Cosmopolitan, saying: “No one knew what went on in my mind. Because I loved my parents, I would not let them suspect that I was suffering. I concealed from them how much I felt their poverty, their struggles and disappointments. These filled my life, magnified like horrors in a dream.”
5 She was distantly related to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
They were fifth cousins, one time removed, to be exact. But Laura Ingalls Wilder couldn’t stand FDR and was extremely critical of him and his efforts to push forward the “New Deal” — a series of reforms, projects, and programs designed to help Americans recover financially from the Great Depression.
“Politically, she’s writing at a time when FDR is in the White House and is apparently never leaving, and she doesn’t like him very much at all,” said Sarah Miller, author of “Caroline: Little House Revisited.”
“Laura thought that everybody was starting to whine in response to the New Deal. She just couldn’t stand it. It made her sick,” said Christine Woodside, author of “Libertarians on the Prairie.”
6 She found an unlikely audience in Japan.
The sixth book in the “Little House” series became the first book that was approved for translation and publication in Japan during the American occupation at the end of World War II. General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP), granted permission for “The Long Winter” to be published under the title “Nagai Fuyu” in 1949. The books recounting tales of pioneer life — of hardships and rugged individualism and finding joy in simplicity — really resonated with audiences in Japan where they quickly gained widespread popularity.
7 Her name was removed from a children’s literature award in 2018.
While the “Little House” books remain in print and are still popular today, the series has also received its fair share of criticism because of its racist and dehumanizing portrayals of Native and Black Americans — a reflection of attitudes shared among many white settlers during the time the books were written. Some of the more egregious lines in the books were later amended by publishers, but certain racist images and statements remain in newer printed versions. The controversy caused the American Library Association to rename its Laura Ingalls Wilder Lifetime Achievement Award to “The Children’s Literature Legacy Award” in 2018, and has prompted scholars and authors to call for the books to be taught to children within the proper context.
8 The “Little House” books became a global phenomenon that launched a thousand spin offs.
The “Little House” series has become so iconic over the years that it has prompted several spin-off novels, various musicals, radio plays, a Japanese anime series, parades, fashion shows, festivals, and recreations, including the annual Wilder Pageant. Reruns of the iconic “Little House on the Prairie” TV show that first appeared on screens in the US in the ’70s and ’80s are still aired in over 30 countries today. In December 2020, Paramount Television and Anonymous Content announced a one-hour dramatic reboot of that TV series. The books were so beloved that the Wilder even had a historic highway that runs across Minnesota and South Dakota and a crater on Venus named after her.
National Peppermint Patty Day is officially February 11th so I wanted to research some interesting facts about my favorite candy. This article from FOODFACTSHUB.COM details facts about the candy AND Charles Schulz’s tomboy character.
From: FOODFACTSHUB.COM:
Are you a fan of the refreshing taste of mint combined with rich chocolate? Or perhaps you’re intrigued by the lovable characters from the Peanuts comic strip? Either way, you’re in for a treat as we explore some fascinating facts about peppermint patty – both the candy and the beloved character. This article will take you on a journey through the delicious world of York Peppermint Patties and the charming universe of Charles M. Schulz’s Peppermint Patty.
10 Intriguing Facts About Peppermint Patty
1 The Birth of a Classic Candy
The York Peppermint Pattie was created in 1940 by Henry Kessler, founder of the York Cone Company in York, Pennsylvania. Initially, this minty treat was only sold in the northeastern United States before going national in 1975.
2 A Snappy Quality Control
In the early days of production, each pattie had to pass a unique “snap test.” If it didn’t break cleanly in the middle, it wasn’t packaged for sale. This ensured that every York Peppermint Pattie met the highest standards of quality and texture.
3 A Massive Production
The popularity of peppermint patties is undeniable. An estimated 1.5 billion York Peppermint Patties are produced each year, satisfying the cravings of mint-chocolate lovers worldwide.
4 The Perfect Blend
The classic York Peppermint Pattie consists of a dark chocolate coating over a peppermint filling. This simple yet irresistible combination has stood the test of time, delighting taste buds for decades.
5 Nutritional Profile
For those watching their calorie intake, a full-size York Peppermint Pattie contains 140 calories, 3g fat, and 32g carbohydrates. While it’s still a treat, it’s relatively lower in fat compared to many other candies.
6 A Comic Strip Sensation
Peppermint Patty, the character from the Peanuts comic strip, made her debut on August 22, 1966. Created by Charles M. Schulz, she quickly became a fan favorite with her unique personality and style.
7 What’s in a Name?
While most fans know her as Peppermint Patty, her full name is actually Patricia Reichardt. This little-known fact adds depth to her character and distinguishes her from the candy that shares her nickname.
8 A Sporty Personality
Peppermint Patty is portrayed as a tomboy and a natural athlete in the Peanuts universe. Her love for sports and competitive nature make her stand out among the other characters.
9 Academic Struggles
Despite her athletic prowess, Peppermint Patty often struggles with academics. This aspect of her character makes her relatable to many readers who may face similar challenges.
10 A Groundbreaking Character
Peppermint Patty was a pioneering character in many ways. She spoke her mind, wore comfortable clothing, and excelled in sports at a time when such portrayals of female characters were rare in comics.
The Sweet History of York Peppermint Patties
A Minty Fresh Beginning
The story of the York Peppermint Pattie begins in 1940 in York, Pennsylvania. Henry Kessler, the founder of the York Cone Company, set out to create a candy that was both refreshing and indulgent. His creation, the York Peppermint Pattie, quickly gained popularity in the northeastern United States. The unique combination of dark chocolate and peppermint filling was an instant hit. The crisp mint center, enrobed in a thin layer of dark chocolate, provided a satisfying snap and a burst of flavor that set it apart from other candies of the time.
From Local Favorite to National Sensation
For over three decades, the York Peppermint Pattie remained a regional delight, beloved by those in the northeastern states. However, its popularity couldn’t be contained for long. In 1975, the decision was made to take the peppermint patty national. The expansion was a resounding success. People across the country fell in love with the refreshing taste and unique texture of the York Peppermint Pattie. Today, it’s estimated that a staggering 1.5 billion patties are produced each year, cementing its status as a classic American candy.
The Peppermint Patty Production Process
Quality Control: The Snap Test
In the early days of production, York Peppermint Patties were subject to a unique quality control measure known as the “snap test.” Each pattie had to break cleanly in the middle when snapped. If it didn’t pass this test, it wasn’t packaged for sale.
This rigorous standard ensured that every York Peppermint Pattie had the perfect texture – crisp enough to snap satisfyingly, yet soft enough to melt in your mouth. While modern production methods have evolved, the commitment to quality remains a hallmark of the brand.
The Perfect Recipe
The York Peppermint Pattie consists of two main components: a peppermint filling and a dark chocolate coating. The filling is made from sugar, corn syrup, and oil, flavored with peppermint oil for that signature cool taste. This mixture is then formed into discs and allowed to set.
Once the filling is ready, each disc is coated in a thin layer of dark chocolate. The chocolate is tempered to give it a glossy finish and that satisfying snap when you bite into it. The result is a perfect balance of mint and chocolate, crisp and smooth, sweet and refreshing.
The Power of Peppermint
While peppermint patties shouldn’t be considered a health food, the peppermint oil they contain does have some potential benefits:
Digestive Aid: Peppermint is known for its ability to soothe digestive discomfort and reduce bloating.
Breath Freshener: The strong mint flavor can help freshen breath, albeit temporarily.
Mood Booster: The scent of peppermint has been shown to improve mood and reduce stress in some studies.
Mental Alertness: Some research suggests that the scent of peppermint may enhance memory and increase alertness.
Remember, while these potential benefits are interesting, they come from the peppermint oil itself, not necessarily from eating peppermint patties. Always enjoy treats in moderation as part of a balanced diet.
Peppermint Patty: The Peanuts Character
Meet Patricia Reichardt
While we’ve explored the sweet world of the candy, there’s another Peppermint Patty that deserves our attention – the beloved character from Charles M. Schulz’s Peanuts comic strip.
Peppermint Patty, whose full name is Patricia Reichardt, made her debut in the Peanuts universe on August 22, 1966. With her freckles and chin-length brown hair (which she describes as “mousy-blah”), Peppermint Patty quickly became a fan favorite.
A Unique Personality
Peppermint Patty is known for her distinctive character traits:
Tomboy Nature: She’s often seen wearing shorts and sandals, bucking traditional gender norms of the time.
Athletic Prowess: Peppermint Patty excels in various sports, showcasing her natural athletic ability.
Casual Attitude: Her laid-back demeanor is reflected in her speech, often referring to Charlie Brown as “Chuck.”
Academic Struggles: Despite her athletic talents, Peppermint Patty often finds herself challenged in the classroom.
Loyal Friend: Despite her tough exterior, she’s a steadfast and loyal friend to those close to her.
Relationships and Dynamics
Peppermint Patty’s relationships with other characters add depth to her personality:
Charlie Brown: She has a complicated relationship with Charlie Brown, often teasing him but also harboring a secret crush.
Marcie: Her best friend, who calls her “Sir,” highlighting Peppermint Patty’s tomboyish nature.
Snoopy: She often mistakes Snoopy for a “funny-looking kid with a big nose.”
Cultural Impact
Peppermint Patty’s character was groundbreaking for its time. She represented a type of girl rarely seen in comics – outspoken, athletic, and comfortable in her own skin. Her character helped promote gender equality in sports, influenced by Schulz’s friendship with tennis player Billie Jean King. While some have interpreted Peppermint Patty as a representation of LGBTQ+ identity, Charles Schulz stated that this was not his intention. Regardless, her non-conformity to traditional gender roles has made her an icon for many.
Today is Cary Grant’s birthday (born in 1904 and died 11/29/1986) and I went in search of interesting facts about my favorite Cary Grant movie—Operation Petticoat. I found out it was loosely based on the real rescue of civilians during World War II by a submarine called the Crevalle. I found this story about the rescue on the pacificwarmuseum.org website:
The island of Negros, located between the islands of Panay and Cebu in the Philippines, was a center of sugarcane production since Spanish colonial times, known for its sugar haciendas. The workers of these haciendas, or sugar mills, were notably not considered as property or segregated by race, and they were free to move about, not tied to mills or locations as many plantations bound slaves. After the Philippines was liberated from Spain, many Americans visited or went to live on Los Negros, often intermarrying with the locals and starting families. Some Americans came as missionaries, some came as entrepreneurs, and some as laborers. There were mothers and fathers, students, teachers, workers, businessmen, and missionaries living across the island throughout the early twentieth century. But the lives of the people of Negros changed when the Japanese invaded in 1941.
Once Japan attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on 7 December 1941, it continued to attack territories and rapidly gained control of various islands in the Pacific. The struggle for the Philippines was prolonged, but it finally fell into Japanese hands in May 1942. The peaceful island of Negros became dangerous for those of American ancestry. Guerrilla fighters in the Philippines fought fiercely against occupation, and Japan finally ordered in November of 1943 that all Americans must give themselves up or be hunted down and killed. The United States’ response was to send the USS Crevalle, a Balao-class submarine, to Negros to evacuate American families from the island to Australia. In May 1944, Crevalle’s orders were to rescue twenty-five passengers and “important documents” awaiting them on Negros. They encountered forty-one people—men, women, and children who had risked their lives running from the Japanese and escaped to the beach for their chance of salvation.
The refugees came from all walks of life—missionaries, planters, former prisoners of war, sugar mill owners, businessmen, and even young children. Few of the refugees knew each other before meeting on the beach, but the one thing they had in common was that the Japanese were hunting them, and they were leaving their homes to survive. Colonel Abcede, leader of the guerillas and the organizer of the evacuation, was dismayed to find that they had far exceeded the promised 25 passengers for the Crevalle, but when the submarine arrived her captain, Francis D. Walker, Jr., assured him they would take them all.
Captain Walker assumed command of the Crevalle in March 1944 for her third war patrol and sunk two Japanese ships in less than two weeks. Walker’s command style was described as “aggressive,” and not always as a compliment, but he had twice earned the Silver Star for command decisions—once during his time aboard the USS Searaven and again as executive officer and navigator of the Crevalle in December 1943. Just after the Crevalle sank the second ship on her third war patrol, Walker received orders to terminate the patrol and head for Negros for this special mission. Walker was dismayed at having to call off what had been a rousingly-successful patrol, but he followed orders.
This was not Captain Walker’s first experience with a special rescue mission; while Walker was serving aboard the Searaven, their war patrol was called off to rescue thirty-three Australian aviators. Now, as captain of the Crevalle, he found himself with forty-one extra passengers and a mysterious box containing documents that the U.S. military was eager to receive. No one told Walker at the time, but these documents held the Japanese plans for a decisive, all-out battle against the Americans, called the “Z Plan.” The plane carrying this plan had crashed in the Bohol Strait off the island of Cebu, just east of Negros, and two native Filipinos found the box on the beach. The Allied Intelligence Bureau learned of the crash and requested, among other things, all the documents from the downed plane.
…SURFACE. AND RECIEVED FROM BOAT FLYING U.S. COLORS TWENTY-FIVE PASSENGERS AND IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS.
Top secret orders received by Captain Walker
Once everyone was aboard, the Crevalle got underway, headed back for Australia. Several families, including the Reals and the Lindholms, had young children who amused themselves as best they could, occasionally finding themselves underfoot of the Crevalle crew. There were also soldiers like 25-year-old Howard Chrisco, who had survived the Bataan Death March and now desperately awaited the return home. When the passengers from Negros boarded the submarine and got underway, they believed they had made it, that the worst was over. But there was more to come for the Crevalle.
Early the next morning, 12 May, a Japanese Betty bomber dropped out of the clouds when the submarine was on the surface. The submarine was ordered to dive, but the bombs fell close to the vessel. Everyone aboard heard and felt the explosion, which woke most of the boat. The Crevalle stayed submerged for over an hour before coming back to the surface. The bomber was soon sighted again, and the Crevalle would be bombed, submerged, and surface again multiple times throughout the morning. Later, while the vessel was still submerged, the crewman on watch sighted through the periscope a Japanese convoy. Since Captain Walker’s orders to retrieve the passengers and documents from Negros hadn’t forbidden attacking the enemy, he chose to engage the convoy. An enemy plane dropped a smoke signal above the submarine, marking the sub’s location. It wasn’t until the last moment that Captain realized they’d been spotted—just before the first depth charges went off.
The submarine was rocked as the charges exploded, sending loose equipment, belongings, and children’s toys flying. The attack only lasted about a minute, but managed to inflict heavy damage. The concussive blasts had slammed into the hull and caused leaks that the crewmen raced to slow or stop. Equipment had broken, including the sonar and both periscopes, leaving the Crevalle blind. The frightened children were hushed, and all forty-one passengers and eighty crew members stayed silent as they listened to the enemy sonar pinging as it looked for the submarine. For some of the passengers, like eight-year-old Berna Real, the experience was terrifying, but others, like Berna’s older brother Billy, found it quite exciting—until the second barrage hit suddenly and without warning.
Although the Crevalle managed to survive the second barrage, everyone aboard was shaken, and all aboard spontaneously agreed without orders to run silent, shutting down all equipment that could make noise and alert the Japanese to their position. This included the ventilation system, and the submarine quickly grew very hot. They stayed submerged in this way for hours, sweating profusely and waiting for whatever was coming next as they crept slowly along underwater. Finally, blinded by the smashed periscopes and not entirely sure what he might find at the surface, Captain Walker made the decision to surface. Luckily, there were no other ships or planes in sight. The worst had passed.
The Crevalle rendezvoused with the Chinampa, a trawler that took the Negros passengers aboard and brought them the rest of the way to Australia, and to safety. The documents carried by the Crevalle were transported immediately to American intelligence, who transcribed and decrypted the Z Plan and sent this new intelligence to Admiral Nimitz. This information on Japanese naval tactics enabled them to react and respond to Japanese strategy, gave them insights as to the strength of the present Japanese military, and informed the American naval strategies for the rest of World War Two.
The refugees were relocated to the United States, although many had never lived there before or had not been there in years. The Lindholms, a missionary family whose father Paul elected to stay behind on Negros, went to live with Paul’s brother until Paul himself rejoined them after the liberation of the Philippines in 1945. Bataan survivor Howard Chrisco returned to his parents in Salem, Missouri where he met and married his wife Elsie and eventually became a cattle farmer. The Real family landed in San Francisco and moved to the small town of Albany, just across the bay. None of the Real children had ever lived in the United States, and they regarded it as a fascinating new adventure, exploring their new home. Although the children were young when it happened, none ever forgot the experience of their tumultuous rescue from Negros.
In Fall 2024, the National Museum of the Pacific War will open its “submersive” experience, The Rescue, based on the escape from Negros alongside Berna Real, whose testimony contributed to the development of this experience.
Today is Elvis Presley’s birthday. Born January 8, 1935, Elvis died August 16, 1977. His death, however, was not the end of the public’s obsession with the King. In fact, in the last 47 years since he died, Elvis has been “spotted” several times…lol.
This story from Mental Floss details the obsession with Elvis sightings:
On August 16, 1977, something momentous happened in Memphis, Tennessee. It was either the death of Elvis Presley at the age of 42, as more than 80 percent of Americans believe, or the start of the most spectacular disappearing act in the history of mankind.
“Elvis is alive” theories are as varied as they are plentiful, and they’ve been circulating since just after his death. He’s left the realm of popular entertainers and joined the ranks of Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, and to some, Jesus. What follows is a brief history of why some people refuse to let this American icon rest in peace.
THE FIRST SIGHTING
On the afternoon of August 16, 1977, a man bearing a striking resemblance to Elvis is said to have purchased a one-way ticket from Memphis International Airport to Buenos Aires. He supposedly gave the name Jon Burrows, a pseudonym Elvis used when checking into hotels. Patrick Lacy, author of the book Elvis Decoded, claims to have debunked this popular and wholly unsubstantiated story by interviewing airport officials and determining that international flights weren’t available from Memphis in 1977. There’s also the question of why the most famous man on the planet would risk going into a public place in his hometown in order to book airfare for the purpose of faking his own death. Maybe Elvis figured his acting skills would help him avoid suspicion.
THE FUNERAL
A great deal of “Elvis is alive” intrigue centers on August 18, 1977, the day of Presley’s funeral. Footage of the service shows pallbearers struggling to lift a 900-pound copper coffin. The King had packed on a few pounds in his later years, but there’s no way he was pushing a half-ton. One explanation: The casket was outfitted with a cooling system—the kind you’d use to keep a wax dummy of a beloved celebrity from melting on a hot summer day. Sound crazy? Presley’s cousin Gene Smith thought the body looked a little strange. “His nose looked kinda puggy-looking, and his right sideburn was sticking straight out—it looked about an inch,” Smith said in the 1991 special The Elvis Files. “And his hairline looked like a hairpiece or something was glued on.” Smith was also troubled by the smoothness of Presley’s typically calloused hands and the sweat on his brow.
Attentive fans were further spooked when they saw the King’s headstone. The inscription reads “Elvis Aaron Presley,” even though he’d been given the middle name “Aron,” possibly in memory of his stillborn twin brother, Jesse Garon. The theory here is that Elvis used the incorrect spelling to signal fans that he was still alive. Another one of Elvis’s cousins, Billy Smith, claimed the singer simply preferred the more common double-A spelling, as legal documents bearing Presley’s signature attest.
THE DEATH ITSELF
Traditionally, you can’t have a funeral without a death, and what killed the King is another major source of controversy. The medical examiner’s official cause of death was “hypertensive heart disease associated with atherosclerotic heart disease.” Elvis weighed at least 250 pounds in his final days, and one Baptist Memorial Hospital staffer told Rolling Stone, he had “the arteries of an 80-year-old man.” So a massive heart attack isn’t exactly far-fetched. But toxicologists found more than 10 drugs in Presley’s system, fueling speculation that “polypharmacy” played a role in his death.
The general confusion surrounding these and other jargony cause-of-death explanations has undoubtedly helped to foster conspiracy theories. So have issues concerning official paperwork. Elvis’s death certificate will remain under wraps until 2027, 50 years after his passing. While this may seem like further proof of a cover-up, it’s actually a matter of Tennessee law. As for Presley’s autopsy report: It’s a private family document unlikely to ever see the light of day.
THE POOL HOUSE PHOTO
The second major Elvis sighting came in the form of a photo snapped on December 31, 1977. While visiting Graceland with his family, a man named Mike Joseph took some random pictures of Presley’s pool house. A few years later, while studying them with a magnifying glass, Joseph spotted a shadowy Elvis-like figure sitting in the doorway. Experts at Kodak verified that nothing had been doctored, so it seems someone was peering out the window. In an interview with Larry King, Elvis’s good buddy Joe Esposito suggested it was another Presley associate, Al Strada, in the photo. That explanation was good enough for Joseph, but not everyone is satisfied.
A similar case of mistaken identity led to some excitement a few years later, when sports agent Larry Kolb was captured looking uncannily Elvis-like alongside his client (and Elvis’s pal) Muhammad Ali and Jesse Jackson in a 1984 newspaper photo. Kolb came forward with an original color version of the image proving that it was him—not Elvis—in the shot, but that’s hardly laid the matter to rest. Asked in an interview to identify the man in the background, Ali reportedly said, “That’s my friend Elvis.”
THE KING OF KALAMAZOO
In the late ‘80s, the epicenter of the “Elvis lives” universe shifted to Kalamazoo, Michigan, a city Elvis played four months before his death. In 1988, a woman named Louise Welling from nearby Vicksburg claimed she had seen Presley standing in line at the local Felpausch supermarket. He was rocking a white jumpsuit, naturally, and purchasing an electrical fuse. Welling’s daughter later spied him scarfing Whoppers at Burger King. “What gives this account eerie credibility,” expert David Adler told the Los Angeles Times in an interview promoting his Presley-themed cookbook, “is that Burger King was by far Elvis’s favorite fast food chain.”
BACK ON THE BIG SCREEN?
The Kalamazoo hullabaloo spawned a rash of late-’80s Elvis sightings, many of which involved the King doing un-regal things, like pumping gas or buying junk food. These were consistent with the notion that he’d faked his own death to escape the public eye (or the mafia, as one theory holds) and return to his humble roots. But Elvis loved movies—he starred in 31—and Christmas, so it almost makes sense that he would risk blowing his cover by appearing in the 1990 holiday comedy Home Alone.
Believers of this bizarre theory contend that a 55-year-old Presley turned up in the background of the scene where Catherine O’Hara’s character is stuck at the Scranton airport while trying to get home to her son. There’s a bearded guy behind her who looks a little like Elvis in Charro! (1969) and cocks his head in a manner that conspiracy theorists swear is identical to Presley’s onstage mannerisms. Curiously, director Chris Columbus went into Home Alone having just made Heartbreak Hotel, a 1988 flop about some kids who try to kidnap Elvis. Columbus and Home Alone star Macaulay Culkin laugh about the theory in the DVD commentary, but the identity of the extra remains unknown. Even if the real bearded man were to come forward, it probably wouldn’t kill the story.
GROUNDSKEEPER PRESLEY
In the summer of 2016, video of a Graceland groundskeeper purported to be Elvis got the internet all shook up. In the clip, a gray-haired dude in a baseball cap and Elvis Week T-shirt fusses with some wire and holds up two fingers—apparently some type of numerological clue—as he walks past the camera.
The video has been viewed more than 2 million times on YouTube—far more than the one where a clever Elvis fan debunks the whole thing by chatting with the actual Graceland employee, an affable gentleman named Bill Barmer. “I’m not really 81,” says Barmer, who then compares himself to a Pokémon Go character.
THE FUTURE
“Elvis is alive” theories can’t go on forever. The man would now be in his 80s, and the oldest person on record only lived to 122. That means we’ve got maybe another 40 years of stories about the King chilling in Argentina or sipping coffee at Tim Hortons or doing whatever you do as an elderly man who’s been in hiding since the Carter Administration. Unless it turns out Elvis is immortal.
In an interview accompanying The Beatles Anthology DVD, George Harrison likens a brief 1972 encounter with Elvis at Madison Square Garden to “meeting Vishnu or Krishna or something.” His hair was black, his skin was tan, and his aura left the Beatle feeling like “a snooty little nobody.” Harrison may have been hinting at something Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper said rather deftly with their 1987 single “Elvis Is Everywhere.” Alive or dead, Presley is one pop culture deity we’ll never stop worshiping.
Today is Mel Gibson’s birthday (born in 1956) so I wanted to discuss one of my favorite Mel Gibson movies—What Women Want. He plays a sexist—very sexist—ad man who gets “electrified” and as a result he can HEAR what women THINK. Hilarity ensues.
From: Mirror:
The film was released in 2000 and tells the story of sexist ad exec Nick who has an accident while trying to get into the mind of a woman and ends up being able to hear what every female can think. Helen Hunt also stars in the movie as Darcy Maguire, who is originally Nick’s rival when she gets the job he wanted, but the pair end up falling madly in love. The movie was originally titled Head Games and was pitched to Touchstone Pictures in 1996.
Here are five more things you didn’t know about the film:
There was a Chinese remake
The original film saw Mel Gibson nominated for a Golden Globe but the Chinese remake wasn’t as successful. It was directed by Chen Daming starring Andy Lau and Gong Li and was released in 2011. Bizarre. The plot takes place mostly in an advertising company in Beijing, in which Lau plays a slick ad agency creative director who gets acquainted with his new talented competition, played by Gong.
Mel wasn’t bothered about wearing tights
Mel wasn’t too bothered about having to wear tights because he used to wear them every day in drama school. Talking about breaking the macho stereotype, he said: “Break all the conventions and establish different ones. It wasn’t uncomfortable at all. It was great. I like going in to different styles of acting and exploring stuff I haven’t done before.”
The kissing scenes took AGES
Helen Hunt revealed they had a day and a half of kissing for the movie. Which would be most women’s dream. She said: “I mean 9 o’clock in the morning to 8 o’clock in the evening and through the next morning. “It was honestly dizzying how much we kissed. No air. So at around 5 o’clock on the first day, I asked Mel’s makeup people to shave him a little because my face was getting chewed up from his stubble. “So he showed up on the set with 25 toilet paper marks with fake blood on them!”
Continuity mistake
When Mel tries on the pantyhose in his bathroom, the hole in the left leg changes in different cuts of the movie. It is originally a large hole on the outside of his leg with a small ladder and on a different shot ends up being on the inside of his leg.
Nike reps in the film
One of the most clever scenes in the film is when Nick delivers his presentation to win a Nike Women campaign. He wins them over and can hear them praising his ideas, which were actually stolen from Darcy. We bet you didn’t know that the three female Nike representatives are in fact the real Nike ad representatives and not actresses.
Today is Ted Danson’s birthday! I found an article on Mental Floss detailing fun facts about CHEERS.
FROM MENTAL FLOSS:
CHEERS ALMOST DIDN’T MAKE IT THROUGH SEASON ONE.
Like many of television’s greatest success stories (e.g. Seinfeld), Cheers was not an immediate hit. It premiered on September 30, 1982 to dismal ratings—77th place out of 100 shows that week, according to Nielsen. It was NBC’s entertainment president at the time, Brandon Tartikoff, who saved the show from cancellation during its first season.
THE BULL & FINCH PUB, ON WHICH CHEERS IS MODELED, IS NOW CALLED CHEERS
Talk about life imitating art. After it was decided that the series would be set in a bar instead of a hotel, co-creators Glen and Les Charles decided the locale should be moved to New England. “Boston was chosen partially because only five short-lived television shows claimed the city and the East Coast pubs were real neighborhood hangouts,” wrote Dennis A. Bjorklund in his book, Toasting Cheers.
As the show’s popularity rose, it didn’t take long for word to spread that the Beacon Hill tavern was the “real” Cheers (though only the exterior shots were filmed there), turning the neighborhood hangout into a tourist attraction. To satisfy the masses, a second location—this one actually called “Cheers” and featuring a replica of the bar viewers were used to—was opened in nearby Faneuil Hall in 2001. One year later, the Bull & Finch officially changed its name to Cheers.
SAM MALONE WAS ORIGINALLY A PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL PLAYER.
In the script’s earliest incarnations, Sam Malone was an ex-football player, which made sense considering that Fred Dryer—the former NFL defensive end who would go on to star in Hunter—was a top choice to play the role of Sam (opposite Julia Duffy as Diane; William Devane was also a strong contender). Ultimately, it was the chemistry between Ted Danson and Shelley Long that led to them getting the gigs. Once the casting was finalized, the creators swapped out football for baseball, based on Danson’s body type.
TED DANSON ATTENDED BARTENDING SCHOOL.
Danson spent two weeks at a bartending school in Burbank, California as part of his training to play Sam.
NORM AND CLIFF WEREN’T INTENDED TO BE REGULAR CHARACTERS.
Both George Wendt and John Ratzenberger auditioned for the same role in the pilot, a minor character named George who had a single line: “Beer!” The character’s name was changed to Norm Peterson when Wendt was cast. But Ratzenberger wasn’t about to give up so easily. “As I was leaving the office after the audition, I turned around and asked them, ‘Do you have a bar know-it-all?,’” the Bridgeport, Connecticut-born Ratzenberger recalled to Ability Magazine. “None of the creators was from New England. They were all Hollywood-centered. And I said, ‘Well, every local bar in New England has got a know-it-all—someone who pretends to have the knowledge of all mankind between his ears and is not shy about sharing it.’” Thus, Cliff Clavin was born.
NORM PETERSON IS BASED ON A REAL GUY.
In 2012, co-creator Les Charles told GQ that Norm was based on a real person. “I worked at a bar after college, and we had a guy who came in every night. He wasn’t named Norm, was always going to have just one beer, and then he’d say, ‘Maybe I’ll just have one more.’ We had to help him out of the bar every night. His wife would call, and he’d always say, ‘Tell her I’m not here.’”
NORM’S NEVER-SEEN WIFE VERA IS VOICED BY GEORGE WENDT’S REAL WIFE.
Though she’s only credited in one episode, George Wendt’s wife, Bernadette Birkett, provided the voice for Norm’s wife, Vera. Birkett did make one appearance on the show—as a love interest of Cliff’s—in season three.
JOHN RATZENBERGER IMPROVISED MANY OF CLIFF’S FUN FACTS.
Many of the random (and untrue) facts that Cliff Clavin offers up were ad libbed by Ratzenberger. “After a couple of years on the show they realized they could trust me not to mess it up,” Ratzenberger told Deseret News in 1993. “So little by little they’ve let me just sort of run off. Because I know when to stop … It’s easy to improvise comedy. It really is. But the art is knowing when to shut up and let other people talk. That’s a hard thing to learn.”
SOME OF THE DIALOGUE CAME FROM REAL BAR CONVERSATIONS.
In order to nail the bar talk aspect of the series, the creators regularly visited bars in the Los Angeles area to eavesdrop on patrons’ conversations. In the series premiere, there’s an argument about the sweatiest movie ever made, which was lifted from one of these overheard conversations.
CHEERS WASN’T AFRAID TO TACKLE SOCIAL ISSUES.
Cheers’ writers never shied away from taboo topics such as alcoholism or homosexuality, though they always had a sense of humor about them. The season one episode “The Boys in the Bar,” in which one of Sam’s former teammates announces that he is gay, earned writers Ken Levine and David Isaacs a GLAAD Media Award.
PLANS FOR AN HIV SCARE FOR SAM HAD TO BE ABANDONED.
In 1988, the Writers Guild of America went on strike, which meant that several planned episodes of the series were never filmed. Among them was a season six cliffhanger in which Sam learns that a former girlfriend is HIV positive.
RHEA WASN’T THE ONLY PERLMAN ON THE SET.
Rhea Perlman wasn’t the only member of her family to grace the set of Cheers. Her younger sister, Heide, produced more than two dozen episodes between 1985 and 1986 and wrote several episodes throughout the show’s run. Perlman’s father, Phil, played one of the bar regulars (named Phil).
JAY THOMAS MURDERED EDDIE LEBEC.
When character actor Jay Thomas wasn’t portraying Carla’s Bruin-turned-ice-show-performer husband Eddie LeBec, he was the host of a popular morning radio show in Los Angeles. Which is exactly what led to his character being killed off rather prematurely by way of Zamboni. “A few episodes of recurring bliss and then one day on Jay’s radio show, a caller asked him what it was like to be on Cheers,” recounted writer Ken Levine. “He said something to the effect of, ‘It’s brutal. I have to kiss Rhea Perlman.’ Well, guess who happened to be listening … Jay Thomas was never seen on Cheers again.”
A CHEERS MINI-EPISODE WAS PRODUCED FOR THE U.S. TREASURY.
Early in Cheers’ run, its creators were contracted by the U.S. Treasury to create a special mini-episode to promote the purchase of U.S. savings bonds. Titled “Uncle Sam Malone,” the episode never aired on television nor is it included on any of the DVDs; it was intended to be screened for promotional purposes at savings bond drives only.
A “LOST” SCENE ALSO AIRED AS PART OF THE 1983 SUPER BOWL XVII PREGAME SHOW.
Back in early 1983, writers Ken Levine and David Isaacs wrote a special one-off scene to air before Super Bowl XVII in which Sam, Diane, Carla, Norm, Cliff, and NBC announcer Pete Axthelm bet on who will win the big game. “They ran it just before game time and it was seen by 80,000,000 people,” Levine recalled of the spot on his blog. “Nothing we’ve ever written before or since has been seen by that many eyeballs at one time. But the scene was never repeated. It never appeared on any DVDs. It just disappeared.” (Until now: You can watch it at the link above.)
TED DANSON WORE A HAIRPIECE TO PLAY HAIR-OBSESSED SAM
A fact that became apparent when he accepted the Emmy—sans hairpiece—in 1990. In the 1993 episode “It’s Lonely on the Top,” Sam shares his follicular challenge with Carla.
VIEWERS FREQUENTLY COMPLAINED ABOUT THE VOLUME OF THE LAUGH TRACK, EVEN THOUGH THERE WAS NO LAUGH TRACK.
In 1983, a quick disclaimer—spoken by one of the regular cast members—was added to the beginning of each episode: “Cheers was filmed before a live studio audience.” This was a direct response to viewer complaints that the “laugh track” was too loud.
THE PART OF FRASIER WAS WRITTEN FOR JOHN LITHGOW.
After recent roles in All That Jazz, Blow Out, and The World According to Garp (for which he received his first of two consecutive Oscar nominations), Lithgow was not interested in working on the small screen. “I just said, ‘No,’” Lithgow recalled to The Hollywood Reporter. “I barely even remembered that … It was like swatting away a fly … I just wasn’t going to do a series.”
KELSEY GRAMMER PLAYED FRASIER CRANE FOR 20 YEARS.
Grammer made his Cheers debut in the third season premiere in 1984. Though he was intended to be a short-lived character, Crane’s popularity with audiences led to him becoming a series regular. Four months after Cheers ended in May of 1993, Frasier made its debut (on the redesigned Cheers stage, no less) and ran for its own 11 seasons. Grammer’s two-decade run as the pretentious psychiatrist is a record-breaking one for an American comedy actor.
TONY SOPRANO’S MOM PLAYED FRASIER’S MOM, TOO.
Nancy Marchand’s character threatened to kill Diane. The role of Frasier’s mom was played by Tom Hanks’s wife Rita Wilson in a 2001 Frasier flashback.
KIRSTIE ALLEY IS THE ONLY MAIN CHARACTER WHO DIDN’T MAKE A GUEST APPEARANCE ON FRASIER.
Throughout Frasier’s 11-season run, Kirstie Alley was the only one of Cheers’ main actors to not make an appearance on the popular spinoff, possibly because the psychiatric profession conflicts with her beliefs as a Scientologist. “Kirstie once said … she’d never do a show about a psychiatrist,” Kelsey Grammer told Entertainment Weekly in 2002.
FRASIER’S DAD WAS MAGICALLY RESURRECTED FOR THE SPINOFF.
When Frasier talked about his family on Cheers, he noted that his father—also a well-respected psychiatrist—had passed away. Yet his ex-cop dad, played by John Mahoney, is a main character in Frasier. Incidentally, Mahoney made a one-off appearance in Cheers’ eleventh season, as a fast-talking jingle writer named Sy Flembeck:
NORM’S FIRST NAME IS HILLARY.
His full name is Hillary Norman Peterson.
THAT WOODY PLAYED WOODY WAS A TOTAL COINCIDENCE.
Though many of the non-regular bar patrons’ real names were used in filming, that Woody Harrelson ended up playing Woody Boyd is by sheer coincidence. The character’s name was written into the script long before any actors had auditioned for the role.
NORM DRANK “NEAR BEER.”
The bar on the set may have been fully functional, but that doesn’t mean the cast got to spend the day throwing back cold ones. Norm may have had it the worst. As the bar’s resident lush, he’s rarely seen without a sudsy glass of beer in his hand. But what’s really in that glass is “near beer,” a weakened strain of ale mixed with a bit of salt to keep a perfect head on the glass at all times. Which Wendt unfortunately had to consume on more than one occasion.
THE SHOW HELPED PROMOTE THE IDEA OF A DESIGNATED DRIVER.
It was important to the producers of Cheers that no tipsy bar patron ever drove him or herself home, so there are frequent references to calling cabs and designated drivers. The Harvard Alcohol Project had a hand in spreading this message.
SAM AND DIANE DID GET MARRIED AT THE END OF SEASON FIVE.
Because Cheers was filmed in front of a live studio audience, the producers had to occasionally trick the audience so that show developments weren’t leaked. In order to keep Shelley Long’s departure from the series a secret, the live audience saw Sam and Diane get married at the end of season five. The real ending—which sees Diane leaving for six months to finish her book, only to return for a guest appearance in the final season—was filmed on a closed set.
CHEERS HABLA ESPAÑOL.
In September 2011, a Spanish version of the series—also called Cheers—made its debut. It starred Alberto San Juan as a former soccer player turned Irish pub owner and ran for just one season.
THE END OF THE SHOW IS ALL TED DANSON’S FAULT.
Though understandably so. When Danson announced that he’d be leaving the series at the end of the 1992-1993 season, producers decided that Woody could take over the bar. But Woody Harrelson wasn’t interested in continuing the show without Danson, and so its series finale was set.
THE CAST AND CREW GOT REALLY, REALLY DRUNK FOR THEIR SENDOFF.
NBC made a major event of the series finale, with cast and crew celebrating at Boston’s Bull & Finch Pub, where thousands of fans gathered outside to watch the show on two Jumbotrons. Then the drinks started flowing … and flowing … and flowing. “The show ended at eleven,” Ken Levine wrote in a 2013 remembrance of the evening for Vulture. “The next half-hour was an emotional tsunami. Everyone was hugging and crying and doing a lot of drinking. We were all completely wrecked.”
Then it was time for the cast to make an appearance on The Tonight Show. “The cast, in no condition to face anybody, much less 40 million people, dutifully trooped downstairs to do the live show,” Levine continued. “Us non-celeb types stayed back and watched on TV … in horror. They were so drunk they needed designated walkers. They giggled like schoolgirls over nothing, fired spitballs into each other’s mouths, squirted water guns, Woody Harrelson implied he gave oral sex to both Ted Danson and Oliver Stone, and Kirstie Alley sang a song where the only lyric was ‘dick, dick, dick.’”
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Sew Colorful 