Most of us don't give a second thought to TV shows besides what snack we want to eat with it.
Bu the truth is, so much of what we see is taken for granted. Things like couples in bed together, pregnant women, and nudity — are all things that were once banned on old TV shows. The first toilet wasn’t even shown until 1957!
Here, come learn some more wild facts about old TV shows.
This was done so that light didn't reflect on the glass. That also means that Alice's voice really boomed into the backyard each time she called the kids to come for dinner.
The original concept of the show was about Mary Richards, a 30-year-old woman starting her life over after her husband left her. But this was changed after CBS warned that divorced women could mean an early death to the show.
This happened as a result of Lucille Ball being pregnant in real life. Network executives weren't too happy with this. They wouldn't even let the actors say "pregnant" on screen. They would use phrases such as “with child” and “having a baby" instead.
Here's a wild fact: the show's producer, Aaron Spelling, worked in the office that used to be used by Frank Sinatra. The iconic singer had left behind a painting that had three female angels on it.
When he asked her where she got that idea, she pointed to the painting that sat behind his desk. They wanted Harry's Angels, but there was already Harry O on the air.
This was called Desilu and she and her ex, Desi Arnaz, ran it. They produced several TV hits, such as Miss Brooks, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and Star Trek. She truly was a pioneer!
Up until 1957, something as personal as that wasn't shown on TV. And even when the toilet was shown, it was only the tank, not the actual bowl.
Any mention of drugs, for instance, wasn't allowed. So when The Doors were set to perform, the network executives told them to change the lyrics "Girl, we couldn’t get much higher" to “Girl, we couldn’t get much better.”
The comic, which ran in the New Yorker, didn't have any names for the characters. They were created for the TV show instead. The last name, however, was named after the comic's creator, Charles Addams.
These days, we see everything from laptops to tablets to smartphones on TV. The Addams Family had something much different: it was a UNIVAC computer that was huge.
Knight ended up using some of his rent money to purchase an anchorman-style blue blazer from a thrift store for his audition.
It doesn't matter how old you get. Those TV Christmas specials are a must-watch. Montgomery Ward commissioned catalog copywriter, John May, to create a Christmas character for coloring books in 1993. These books were given to kids visiting Santa.
Remember when only a small percentage of people had color Game Boys? Well, at one point, only three percent of Americans had a color TV. They were the only ones able to see The Jetsens in color.
“Whom Gods Destroy,” “Miri,” “The Empath,” and “Plato’s Stepchildren" were all banned since “they all dealt most unpleasantly with the already unpleasant subjects of madness, torture, sadism, and disease.” We see much worse on TV today.
On the final day of filming the pilot in Hawaii, the cast and crew learned about the assassination of the president. In order to honor him, you'll see that the United States flag is at half mast in the opening credits.
Find it odd that a genie couldn't show her belly? Blame NBC execs who got scared that it would be too obscene. Even when her character went to a beach, she had to wear a one-piece.
It cost them big, though! An old People magazine article reported that when The Love Boat went to Hong Kong during the seventh season, tourists paid between $3,370 and $8,550 for the cruise.
Pretty in pink! Sadly, this never came to be, as this made the adorable bird look nude. As a result, animator Bob Clampett was told to repaint him yellow so that it looked like he had feathers.
Star Trek without Spock? Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, was being pressured by NBC to remove him. They feared that the character "looked like the devil and might offend religionists in the audience."
