Our Favorite Nostalgic TV Show Facts

The “M*A*S*H” Finale Was Watched by More People Than Any Other Series Finale

After 11 years on the small screen, M*A*S*H aired its series finale on February 28, 1983 — and made history in the process. More than 106 million people tuned in to watch “Goodbye, Farewell and Amen,” making it the most-viewed series finale ever. Until Super Bowl XLIV in 2010, which saw the post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans Saints defeat the Indianapolis Colts, it was the most-watched television broadcast in U.S. history. No episode of a scripted series has come close in the decades since. The series finale of Cheers earned 80.4 million viewers, Seinfeld got 76.3 million, and Game of Thrones — the most-talked-about show on television for years — had 19.3 million.

More Than 100 Cheesecakes Were Eaten on “The Golden Girls”

On The Golden Girls, there were very few problems that a slice of cheesecake couldn’t solve, from small scuffles to big life crises. Throughout seven seasons, more than 100 cheesecakes were eaten during the ladies’ late-night kitchen table commiserations.

However, if you look closely, you’ll notice that Dorothy rarely takes a bite. In real life, Bea Arthur reportedly hated cheesecake.

Lucille Ball Was Only the Second Woman to Appear Pregnant on Network TV

When Lucille Ball became pregnant in real life, she and her husband and co-star, Desi Arnaz, considered taking a hiatus from I Love Lucy — but then thought it would be an opportunity to break the mold. “We think the American people will buy Lucy’s having a baby if it’s done with taste,” Arnaz said. “Pregnant women are not kept off the streets, so why should she be kept off television? There’s nothing disgraceful about a wife becoming a mother.” Ball ended up being the one of the first women to appear pregnant on a major television network and received more than 30,000 supportive letters from fans, despite the fact that the cast wasn’t allowed to say the word “pregnant” on-screen.

Angela Lansbury Wasn’t the First Choice for Jessica Fletcher in “Murder, She Wrote”

It’s nearly impossible to imagine anyone but Angela Lansbury playing Jessica Fletcher, but she wasn’t a shoo-in for the job. Doris Day turned it down; Jean Stapleton (aka Edith Bunker) also declined, partly because she didn’t feel ready to jump into another series so soon after wrapping up the 1970s sitcom All in the Family. “Every time I saw Angela during those years, she’d say, ‘Thank you, Jean,’” Stapleton once said.

Out of all of her roles, Lansbury ended up identifying the most with Fletcher. “The closest I came to playing myself … was really as Jessica Fletcher,” Lansbury told Parade magazine in 2018. However, in 1985 — a year after the show began — she also told The New York Times: “Jessica has extreme sincerity, compassion, extraordinary intuition. I'm not like her. My imagination runs riot. I'm not a pragmatist. Jessica is.”

“Masterpiece Theatre” Is the Longest-Running Prime-Time Drama in the History of U.S. Television

Masterpiece Theatre premiered its first episode on January 10, 1971, following the success of a 1967 adaptation of John Galsworthy’s The Forsyte Saga. Stanford Calderwood, who was then the president of WGBH, Boston’s PBS affiliate, saw that success and wondered whether there might be a growing American appetite for British drama. His instincts proved spot-on. While on vacation in London, he convinced the execs at BBC that a partnership could prove fruitful for both networks; now, 50 years later, American viewers continue to clamor for classic British stories told with beautiful sets and elaborate costumes.

Valerie Harper Almost Didn’t Get the Role of Rhoda on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” Because She Was Too Pretty

Rhoda Morgenstern, Mary Tyler Moore’s Bronx-born sidekick, was the last major role to be cast in the series, with more than 50 actresses reading opposite Moore for the part. Valerie Harper nailed her audition as Rhoda and even brought her own cloth for washing Mary’s apartment window in her first scene. But the producers weren’t sure she matched their vision.

“She was something we never expected the part to be… which is someone as attractive as she was,” Burns said in Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted. “But you’ve got to go with the talent.” Director Jay Sandrich felt strongly Harper was right for the role and suggested she not wear any makeup for her callback. Producers immediately changed their minds when they brought Moore in to read a scene with Harper. Rhoda’s character switched gears a little bit — rather than being unattractive, which is subjective anyway, Rhoda just felt like she was unattractive.

“Rhoda felt inferior to Mary, Rhoda wished she was Mary,” Harper later recalled. “All I could do was, not being as pretty, as thin, as accomplished, was: ‘I’m a New Yorker, and I’m going to straighten this shiksa out.’”

“Rubber Duckie” Was a Billboard Hit Song

Of all the catchy and memorable songs on Sesame Street, the only one to ever become a certified Billboard hit was “Rubber Duckie,” which was on the Hot 100 for seven weeks in 1970, topping out at No. 16. The tune was performed by Jim Henson himself, in character as Ernie — and was also nominated for a Grammy for Best Recording for Children that year. Little Richard covered the song in 1994, and an all-star version for National Rubber Duckie Day, featuring Tori Kelly, James Corden, Sia, Jason Derulo, Daveed Diggs, and Anthony Mackie, was released in 2018.

Ron Howard Accepted His “Happy Days” Offer to Avoid the Draft

Ron Howard was ambivalent about accepting an offer to headline what became Happy Days, as he’d already experienced sitcom success with The Andy Griffith Show and was looking forward to starting film school at USC. However, he’d also been saddled with what he called a “horrible draft number,” and given that he stood a better chance of avoiding the Vietnam War through work than a college deferment, he elected to roll the dice with the good-natured ’50s sitcom.

The Theme Song for Each “Seinfeld” Episode Is Different

For the first seven seasons of Seinfeld, every episode started with Jerry Seinfeld doing a stand-up routine. But what only eagle-eared listeners will notice is that the theme song was made to match those monologues, which means every single episode had a slightly different one. Composer Jonathan Wolff used instruments like the bass — plus his fingers and mouth — to improvise the sounds, and synced them to Seinfeld’s stand-up timing to build a simple melody that could easily start and stop for jokes.

“I have no idea how many themes we did for Seinfeld…” he told Great Big Story. “The timing, the length, had to be adjustable in a way it would still hold water and still sound like the Seinfeld theme.”

Mork From “Mork & Mindy” Originated on “Happy Days”

Fans may remember that Mork from Ork initially appeared in Richie Cunningham's dream during a February 1978 episode of Happy Days, a premise apparently conceived of by the 8-year-old son of series creator Garry Marshall. Although this seemed like a terrible idea to the writers, they quickly realized the potential of the situation when the little-known actor Robin Williams wowed during his audition and rehearsals. Mork then proved a hit after going toe-to-toe with the Fonz on-screen, prompting Marshall and his cohorts to devise a spinoff series about the character in time for the fall 1978 TV season. Meanwhile, the “My Favorite Orkan” Happy Days episode was reedited for syndication to show that the alien encounter was real.

Only One Actor Appeared in Every “M*A*S*H” Episode

M*A*S*H experienced several significant cast changes, and a few favorite characters were replaced with equally dynamic new ones — a standard practice on long-running shows today, but rare back then. Of the many actors who appeared on the show, Alan Alda (Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce) was the only star to appear in every episode. Through its run, the actor took increasing creative control of the series, directing 31 episodes including the finale, and co-writing 13 episodes. He became the first person ever to win Emmy Awards for acting, directing, and writing for the same show. Loretta Swift (Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan) was a close second in terms of longevity; she appeared in all 11 seasons but missed a handful of episodes along the way.

Each of the Four “Golden Girls” Stars Won an Emmy Award

The Golden Girls was an Emmys darling from the start, eventually accumulating 68 nominations and 11 awards, with each of the four leads taking home a trophy at one point. Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan, and Betty White all received Best Actress nods in 1986, with White winning the honors. The following year, it was McClanahan who clinched the title, and then in 1988, it was Arthur’s turn — as well as Estelle Getty’s, who earned the Supporting Actress honor. During her speech, Arthur noted that her thank-yous were from “the four of us” since “we’ve all won.”

Lucille Ball’s Mom Was at Every Single Taping of “I Love Lucy”

Ball’s mother, DeDe Ball, went to every single taping of her daughter’s sitcom. In fact, her laughter can often be heard coming from the live audience — and she can even be heard saying, “Uh oh!” at times.

Speaking of famous mothers, Cher’s mother appeared in one episode of the show, long before Cher became a household name. Her mother, Georgia Holt, was a model who made a few TV cameos, including one memorable — but brief — appearance in a 1956 episode of I Love Lucy where the crew goes to Paris and is baffled by the avant-garde fashion. At the end, Holt is seen walking by as a model in an outfit inspired by the potato sack.

The Real Owner of Mary Tyler Moore’s Apartment Building Displayed Political Banners to Keep Producers From Coming Back

The 1892 home that provided the exteriors for Mary’s apartment became so famous that the owners were inundated with visitors and tour buses, and eventually, they’d had enough. When they got word that the crew was coming back to film more exterior shots in 1972, owner Paula Giese displayed a large “Impeach Nixon” banner across the front. (She was a prominent political activist, so it was a two-for-one deal.) It worked. They didn’t get their new shots, and Mary eventually ended up moving.

“M*A*S*H” Is Based on a True Story

M*A*S*H was loosely based on the 1970 Robert Altman film of the same name, which was an adaptation of the 1968 novel MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors, by Richard Hooker, the pen name of former U.S. Army surgeon H. Richard Hornberger. The Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, or MASH (the asterisks between the letters were a creative design element used in the fictional versions), was first deployed by the U.S. Army during World War II as an attempt to move surgical care closer to wounded soldiers.

The charismatic character of Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce (played by Alan Alda) was created by Hornberger based on his own medical heroics. During the Korean War, Hornberger was assigned to the 8055th MASH, which traveled the 38th parallel dividing the Korean Peninsula, now the demilitarized zone that divides North and South Korea. His novel took 12 years to write and five years more to find a publisher, and eventually, Hornberger sold the television rights for the incredibly low amount of $500 (still only a few thousand dollars today) per episode.

The Original Name of “Sesame Street” Was “123 Avenue B”

While names like The Video Classroom and Fun Street were tossed around, the most serious contender for the name of what later became known as Sesame Street was 123 Avenue B, since it fit the vibe of the inner-city set of the show. But the name was abandoned because it was an actual street address — and also because there was concern that those outside of New York City may not relate. The show’s writer, Virginia Schone, came up with the name Sesame Street, though it wasn’t immediately embraced, as many worried it would be hard for young kids to pronounce. After a weekend of brainstorming and no better options, it became the official title. “We went with it because it was the least bad title,” Cooney told Sesame Workshop.

“Downton Abbey” Is the Most Successful and Popular “Masterpiece Theatre” Miniseries

In its 50-year history, no Masterpiece miniseries has drawn as much buzz as Downton Abbey, which debuted in the U.K. on September 26, 2010, and on PBS the following January. The series, which aired its final season in the U.S. in 2016, chronicled the lives of an aristocratic family and their domestic servants in the fictional Yorkshire county estate of Downton Abbey. It tackled historic events ranging from the First World War to the 1918 influenza pandemic to the Irish War of Independence, all through the lens of the highly hierarchical household. It’s the most nominated non-U.S. series in Emmy history, with a total of 59 nominations and 12 wins. In 2019, a full-length feature film was released due to popular demand, followed by another film in 2022.

The Red Trolley on “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” Traveled 5,000 Miles Annually

The beloved children’s television program Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood wasn’t complete without the anthropomorphic Trolley, which helped transport viewers into the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. In a given year of the show, Trolley’s commutes covered 5,000 miles, according to PBS, more than the length of the world’s longest river, the 4,123-mile Nile.

Trolley’s precise origins are somewhat mysterious, but we do know the one-of-a-kind model was hand-built from wood by a Toronto man named Bill Ferguson in 1967, the year before Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood premiered. The TV host’s love for trolleys went all the way back to his own childhood; during one 1984 episode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, he visited the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum and remembered accompanying his dad on long trolley trips. Today, Trolley is on permanent display at the Fred Rogers Center at Saint Vincent College in Rogers’ hometown of Latrobe, Pennsylvania.

The “Happy Days” Theme Song Didn’t Open the Show Until Season 3

The famed Happy Days theme song, written by Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox and originally sung by Jim Haas, wasn’t used for the opening credits in seasons 1 and 2. That spot was reserved for a re-recorded take of Bill Haley’s “Rock Around the Clock,” with the similar-sounding Gimbel-Fox composition on the closing credits. However, an updated version of “Happy Days,” performed by Truett Pratt and Jerry McClain, accompanied the opening credits for season 3, and eventually made its way to No. 5 on the Billboard charts. “Happy Days” was later recorded again by Bobby Arvon and used to open the show for its final season in 1983-84.

“The Mary Tyler Moore Show” Was Likely the First American Sitcom to Feature Birth Control Pills

On The Dick Van Dyke Show, which Moore starred in from 1961 to 1966, the actress and her on-screen husband, Dick Van Dyke, slept in separate beds and couldn’t say the word “pregnant.” However, just a few years later on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, not only did Mary have sex out of wedlock, but she openly took birth control pills. In a 1972 episode — the same year that a Supreme Court decision made birth control available to unmarried women in all states — Mary is having dinner with her father when her mother shouts, “Don’t forget to take your pill!” Mary and her father both yell, “I won’t,” and the embarrassed look on Mary’s face shows that she doesn’t just take a pill, but The Pill.

The Show Idea for “Sesame Street” Started at a Dinner Party

A producer at New York City’s Channel 13 public television station, Joan Ganz Cooney, was hosting a dinner party in 1966 when she chatted up Lloyd Morrisett, a Carnegie Corporation educator. He told her that one morning he found his 3-year-old staring at the television’s test pattern, waiting for something to begin. They started discussing whether there was any way for young minds to learn from the medium, and thus the entire concept of educational television — and Sesame Street — was born. It was first described as a preschool for those who couldn’t afford to attend.

Mork’s Spacesuit Was Recycled From an Episode of “Star Trek”

Since Mork was originally meant to be a one-off character, there wasn’t a whole lot of thought put into his appearance; someone simply grabbed a red spacesuit from the Paramount wardrobe collection, added a silver triangle, and the Ork uniform was born. It’s unknown whether anyone at the time caught the uncanny resemblance between Mork’s suit and the one worn by Colonel Green in the 1969 Star Trek episode “The Savage Curtain,” but we do know that Mork & Mindy dipped into the Star Trek archives at least one more time: The spaceman costume worn by Mindy’s father (Conrad Janis) in the “Mork Goes Public” episode of season 1 was comprised of a helmet and suit from two separate episodes of the sci-fi predecessor.

The Pilot for “I Love Lucy” Was Lost for Four Decades

I Love Lucy’s pilot episode, shot March 2, 1950, couldn’t be found for about 40 years. But one of Arnaz’s collaborators, Pepito Perez, later found a 35-millimeter version of it in his house. Though some of it was damaged, most of the footage aired as part of a 1990 CBS special.

The “Golden Girls” Cast Once Performed for the Queen Mother

Queen Elizabeth II’s mom, the Queen Mother, was such a fan of The Golden Girls that she had the four leads perform at the London Palladium in 1988 during the Royal Variety Performance. The cast performed two of their kitchen table scenes and made sure to censor a few things to not offend the royals in attendance.

That said, the Queen Mum did have a sense of humor. One joke that was left intact was Dorothy asking Blanche how long she waited to have sex after her husband died, with Sophia wittingly interjecting, “Until the paramedics came.” The response made the often-reserved royal laugh out loud.

The First and Last Conversations Between Jerry and George in “Seinfeld” Were the Same

In a full-circle moment, the first scene of the series started in a coffee shop with Jerry telling George that a button on his shirt was too high and that it “makes or breaks” the shirt since it’s in “no man’s land.” And in the very last scene of the finale, when they’re all sitting in a jail cell, he alludes to it again, saying: “The second button is the key button. It literally makes or breaks the shirt.”

As the camera pans back, George says, “Haven’t we had this conversation before?” to which Jerry ends the series with “Maybe we have.”