That’s Entertainment
Here at the BRI we love game shows and classic TV, so we were saddened to hear about the death of game show creator, producer, and host Chuck Barris. Here’s a look at some of the lesser-known creations of the unique personality behind The Gong Show, The Newlywed Game, and The Dating Game. The $1.98 […]
Our latest installment of goofs from some of Hollywood’s most popular movies. The Big Lebowski (1998) Scene: In the opening scene, a bowler attempts to convert a 7-10 split. Blooper: A close-up shows the split being picked up with a different-colored bowling ball. Cast Away (2000) Scene: Chuck Noland (Tom Hanks) cuts his hand while […]
Over the weekend, Chuck Berry died at the age of 90. Here are some facts you may not have known about one of the architects of rock n’ roll. Berry came up in an era in which record labels, music publishers, and concert promoters mercilessly cheated musicians—especially African-American musicians. Result: Berry always demanded to be […]
On a 1976 Lynyrd Skynyrd live album, singer Ronnie Van Zandt asks a restless audience, “what song is it you wanna hear?” and the crowd responds “Free Bird!” because they wanted to hear the band’s biggest hit. Now, it’s as much a concert tradition as going home with ringings ears to shout out “Play ‘Free […]
In 2016, Fox debuted a show called Pitch, a drama about the first female Major League Baseball player. It’s really not so far-fetched. Toni Stone Toni Stone landed a spot on the St. Paul Giants, a semiprofessional team, in 1936. Not only was she an African-American woman who landed a spot on a men’s team […]
Even for creative types, it can be hard to come up with a good title. (Trust us – we make books for a living.) Here are some of the original names proposed for some of the most popular video games of all time…which might not have been so popular had those names been used. Sonic […]
Saving the princess, running from ghosts, and playing a plastic guitar can be hard work, so sometimes video gamers need something beyond a standard joystick. Super Scope The original Nintendo Entertainment System in the ’80s came packaged with a small handheld “light gun.” Used in a bunch of games, it allowed gamers to shoot at […]
On this day in 1933, the first ever American daytime serial, Marie, the Little French Princess, debuted on CBS Radio. “Soap operas,” as they came to be known on both radio, and eventually television, because sponsors were primarily cleaning products, have been a part of the cultural landscape ever since. Like “sands through the hourglass” […]
Some TV show titles make perfect sense—Friends is about some friends, and The Sopranos is about a family called the Sopranos, for example. Other titles are a bit harder to crack—like these. Dragnet Procedurals are a big part of TV today—formulaic crime shows in which police detectives dutifully go through all the steps they’re supposed […]
Today is a huge day in the world of video games. Nintendo releases its latest system the Switch, along with a new game in the Legend of Zelda series, Breath of the Wild, an incredibly ambitious game that took developers years to make. Here are some more fun facts about the world of Zelda. Game […]
These pages were contributed by Larry Kelp, whose picture has been on the back cover since the first Bathroom Reader. He’s a music writer in the San Francisco Bay Area and was Uncle Jon’s neighbor. I Want My MTV! In 1981 Robert Pittman, a 27-year-old vice president in charge of new programming at Warner-Amex, came […]
Other than how the Oscar for Best Picture was handed out, we mean. Best Director winner Damien Chazelle is the youngest ever recipient of the award. The 32-year-old won for La La Land, which is only his third feature film. He beats the previous record holder, Norman Taurog, who won for directing Skippy way back […]
Each year, the Academy Awards recognize the finest work in movies. Sometimes the Academy’s voters make some really odd choices.
Winning an Academy Award is pretty special. Even more special is doing it in such a way that it’s the only time it’s ever happened. Only movie to win both an Oscar and a Razzie… The Oscars go to the year’s best achievements in movies. The Razzies, or “Golden Raspberry Awards,” are handed out to […]
Here’s the latest edition of the BRI’s cheesy tabloid section—a bunch of gossip about famous people. George Clooney When Clooney was in middle school, he developed a medical condition called Bell’s palsy, which partially paralyzed his face for nearly a year. Clooney’s left eye stayed closed and he had trouble eating and drinking. This condition […]
We’ve all fallen asleep while watching a movie or a TV show—but these actors managed to doze off while they were filming a movie or a TV show. Norm Macdonald In 1995, the Saturday Night Live star acted in one of his first movies, Billy Madison, with fellow SNL star Adam Sandler. The movie is […]
Hollywood blockbusters costs tens of millions (or more) to produce. Studios can offset that by taking cash from companies who want their product to be featured in the movie. That’s called “product placement” and sometimes it makes the movie stop dead in its tracks. Mac & Me (1988) E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial featured some of the […]
The Grammy Award for Best New Artist, like all the other Grammys, is decided by a vote of music industry professionals. They often have made the wrong choice, in that the winner faded into obscurity while the runners-up have become music superstars. Grammy voters can’t predict the future of course, but if they could have, […]
