20 Truths About the “X-Files”

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Jennifer M. Wood and Mental_Floss present 20 Truths About the X-Files.  Here are three of my favorites…

1. THE IDEA FOR THE SHOW ORIGINATED WITH A PUBLIC OPINION SURVEY.
Chris Carter’s interest in the paranormal was piqued when he read Pulitzer Prize-winning writer/psychiatrist/Harvard Medical School professor John E. Mack’s analysis of a 1991 Roper Poll survey, which stated that at least 3.7 million Americans may have been abducted by aliens. “Everybody wants to hear that story,” Carter told Entertainment Weekly. “[Abduction] is tantamount to a religious experience.”

6. IN REAL LIFE, SCULLY IS THE BELIEVER.
In a 1994 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Gillian Anderson admitted that Duchovny was a skeptic and she was the believer. “Psychokinesis appeals to me,” she said. “ESP, telling the future, I love that stuff.”

10. CARTER DIDN’T THINK OF THE SHOW AS SCIENCE FICTION.
“I actually resisted the ‘science fiction’ label in the beginning, because the show is actually based in science,” Carter told WIRED. “If it weren’t for Scully, I think the show could be just kind of loopy. So the science and the accuracy of the science is all-important to the success of the storytelling. I think Steven Spielberg called Close Encounters of the Third Kind ‘speculative science’ and I would say The X-Files, for me, has always fit more into that category.”

Twilight Zone: “Nightmare as a Child” [Season 1, Episode 29] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “Nightmare as a Child” [Season 1, Episode 29]
Original Air Date: April 29, 1960

Director: Alvin Ganzer

Writer: Rod Serling

Starring: Janice Rule and Shepperd Strudwick.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Helen Foley [Rule] returns to her apartment one day to meet a young girl sitting on the steps outside her door.  The girl knows things about Foley that no one else should know.  Next comes a mysterious man from Foley’s distant past.  What do the little girl and the man have in common and will Foley figure it out before it is too late?

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15 Uncensored Facts About “Midnight Cowboy”

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Garin Pirnia and Mental_Floss present 15 Uncensored Facts About Midnight Cowboy.  Here are three of my favorites…

4. VOIGHT WORKED FOR SCALE.
Voight was so desperate to play Joe Buck that he worked for scale: “‘Tell them I’ll do this part for nothing,’” Voight recalled to The Telegraph. “They took me at my word, and they gave me minimum for Midnight Cowboy.” At the end of the shoot, they sent him a $14.73 bill for meals on the last day of filming.

7. VOIGHT AND HOFFMAN WERE COMPETITIVE WITH EACH OTHER.
What made the chemistry between Hoffman and Voight work so well is they were constantly competing with one another. Hoffman became a movie star before Voight did, and that brought some jealousy to the set. “We were like Marvin Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard, two fighters going at it,” Hoffman told the Los Angeles Times. “We knew the movie depended on the bond between us. All through shooting, we’d say to each other, out of the side of our mouths, like a fighter in a clinch, ‘Buddy, is that the best you can do?’”

8. HOFFMAN PLACED PEBBLES IN HIS SHOE TO ACQUIRE RATSO’S LIMP.
“Why pebbles? It’s not like you’re playing a role on Broadway for six months where you’re so used to it, limping becomes second nature,” Hoffman told Vanity Fair. “The stone makes you limp, and you don’t have to think about it.”

Twilight Zone: “A Nice Place to Visit” [Season 1, Episode 28] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “A Nice Place to Visit” [Season 1, Episode 28]
Original Air Date: April 15, 1960

Director: John Brahm

Writer: Charles Beaumont

Starring: Sebastian Cabot and Larry Blyden.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

When Rocky Valentine [Blyden] wakes up dead after a shootout with the police he meets Pip [Cabot] who is there to help him get accustomed to where Valentine will spend eternity.  Valentine is shocked that he made it to heaven…

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19 Shadowy Facts About “Batman”

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Matthew Jackson and Mental_Floss present 19 Shadowy Facts About Batman.  Here are three of my favorites…

5. MANY STARS OF THE TIME WERE CONSIDERED FOR BATMAN.
The casting process for Batman was a long one, and involved a number of major stars of the day. Among the contenders for the title role were Mel Gibson, Bill Murray (yes, really), Kevin Costner, Willem Dafoe, Tom Selleck, Harrison Ford, Charlie Sheen, Ray Liotta, and Pierce Brosnan, who later regretted turning down the role.

7. JACK NICHOLSON WAS THE FIRST CHOICE FOR THE JOKER, BUT HE WASN’T THE ONLY CHOICE.
From the beginning, Uslan concluded that Jack Nicholson was the perfect choice to play The Joker, and was “walking on air” when the production finally cast him. He certainly wasn’t the only actor considered, though. Among Burton’s considerations were Willem Dafoe, James Woods, Brad Dourif, David Bowie, and Robin Williams (who really wanted the part).

9. EDDIE MURPHY WAS ONCE CONSIDERED TO PLAY ROBIN.
Though the character of Robin was ultimately scrapped because it simply didn’t feel like there was room for him in the film, he did appear in early drafts of the script, and at one point producers considered casting Eddie Murphy—who, you must remember, was one of the biggest movie stars of the 1980s—for the role.

Z-View Twilight Zone: “The Big Tall Wish” [Season 1, Episode 27]

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Twilight Zone: “The Big Tall Wish” [Season 1, Episode 27]
Original Air Date: April 8, 1960

Director: Ronald Winston

Writer: Rod Serling

Starring: Ivan Dixon and Steven Perry.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Bolie Jackson [Dixon] is a prize fighter whose best years are behind him.  A six year old boy has the ability to turn things around for Jackson… if Jackson will only believe.

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Twilight Zone: “Execution” [Season 1, Episode 26] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “Execution” [Season 1, Episode 26]
Original Air Date: April 1, 1960

Director: David Orrick McDearmon

Writer: Rod Serling from a story by George Clayton Johnson

Starring: Albert Salmi and Russell Johnson.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Professor Manion [Russell] accidentally transports an outlaw [Salmi] from the old west who is about to be hanged to modern times.  The outlaw believes he has escaped justice, but this is the Twilight Zone!

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Z-View Twilight Zone: “People Are Alike All Over” [Season 1, Episode 25]

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Twilight Zone: “People Are Alike All Over” [Season 1, Episode 25]
Original Air Date: March 25, 1960

Director: Mitchell Leisen

Writer: Rod Serling from a story by Paul Fairman

Starring: Roddy McDowall, Susan Oliver and Paul Comi.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

The first manned mission to Mars consists of a two man crew, Sam Conrad [McDowall] and Mark Marcusson [Comi].  Conrad is concerned that whatever life they find there will be dangerous.  Marcusson is convinced that all life is made in God’s image and will therefore be like humans.

Marcusson is killed when the ship crash lands on Mars.  Conrad is terrified at first, but then sees that Martians look like humans and are friendly.  They promise to provide him a home and take care of him… sadly, Conrad comes to discover that people are indeed alike all over.

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Z-View Twilight Zone: “Long Live Walter Jameson” [Season 1, Episode 24]

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Twilight Zone: “Long Live Walter Jameson” [Season 1, Episode 24]
Original Air Date: March 18, 1960

Director: Tony [Anton] Leader

Writer: Charles Beaumont 

Starring: Kevin McCarthy and Edgar Stehli.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Professor Walter Jameson [McCarthy] plans to marry his friend’s much younger daughter.  When his friend discovers that Jameson has been hiding a secret for years and someone from Jameson’s past shows up, well, you know you’ve entered the Twilight Zone.

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10 Witty Facts About The Marx Brothers

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Mark Mancini and Mental_Floss present 10 Witty Facts About The Marx Brothers.  Here are three of my favorites…

2. THEY RECEIVED THEIR STAGE NAMES DURING A POKER GAME.
In May of 1914, the five Marxes were playing cards with standup comedian Art Fisher. Inspired by a popular comic strip character known as “Sherlocko the Monk,” he decided that the boys could use some new nicknames. Leonard’s was a no-brainer. Given his girl-crazy, “chick-chasing” lifestyle, Fisher dubbed him “Chicko” (later, this was shortened to “Chico”). Arthur loved playing the harp and thus became “Harpo.” An affinity for soft gumshoes earned Milton the alias “Gummo.” Finally, Julius was both cynical and often seen wearing a “grouch bag”—wherein he’d store small objects like marbles and candy—around his neck. Thus, “Groucho” was born. For the record, nobody knows how Herbert Marx came to be known as “Zeppo.”

3. GROUCHO WORE HIS TRADEMARK GREASEPAINT MUSTACHE BECAUSE HE HATED MORE REALISTIC MODELS.
Phony, glue-on facial hair can be a pain to remove and reapply, so Groucho would simplypaint a ‘stache and some exaggerated eyebrows onto his face. However, the mustache he later rocked as the host of his famous quiz show You Bet Your Life was 100 percent real.

9. GROUCHO TEMPORARILY HOSTED THE TONIGHT SHOW.
Jack Paar bid the job farewell on March 29, 1962. Months before their star’s departure, NBCoffered Paar’s Tonight Show seat to Groucho, who had established himself as a razor-sharp, well-liked host during You Bet Your Life’s 14-year run. Though Marx turned the network down, he later served as a guest host for two weeks while Johnny Carson prepared to take over the gig. When Carson finally made his Tonight Show debut on October 1, it was Groucho whointroduced him.

Z-View Twilight Zone: “A World of Difference” [Season 1, Episode 23]

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Twilight Zone: “A World of Difference” [Season 1, Episode 23]
Original Air Date: March 11, 1960

Director: Ted Post

Writer: Richard Matheson 

Starring: Howard Duff and David White.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Arthur Curtis [Duff] is working in his office when suddenly someone yells, “Cut” and he finds himself on a movie set.  He is led to believe he is Gerry Reagan, an actor with a drinking problem… yet he knows he is Arthur Curtis… or is he?

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