Jean G

Trivia: According to Peter O'Toole, he and Omar Sharif were so nervous about possibly falling off the galloping camels that they both got roaring drunk the day the scene was to be shot, and Sharif decided to tie himself onto the animal. After racing down a sand dune on camelback, O'Toole turned to find Sharif's camel standing in a pond with its alcohol-anesthetized rider dangling upside-down by one foot. A crew member proceeded to "sober" Sharif by cutting the bindings and allowing him to fall head first into the water. (As told to Jay Leno on "The Tonight Show" March 24, 2008).

Jean G

Dreadful Sorry, Clementine - S2-E10

Trivia: After sweeping Clementine off her feet in a big hug, Heyes has some wardrobe trouble. His hat falls off and he grabs for it, fumbling a bit before getting it back onto his head. But it's backwards. Without missing a beat, Pete Duel stayed in character, looked annoyed, yanked the hat off to reverse it and gave it a satisfied tug back into position, all the while carrying on with his lines as though nothing had happened. (00:04:30)

Jean G

The Reformation of Harry Briscoe - S2-E9

Trivia: Actress Jane Merrow confused the Smith and Jones aliases and called Pete Duel's character "Jones" in one scene. Duel saved the director a retake by ad-libbing back, "It's Smith, sweetheart." The exchange was left in, but still looks a bit odd, since Merrow's character had kept their names straight without any trouble in earlier scenes. (00:33:15)

Jean G

The Posse That Wouldn't Quit - S2-E5

Trivia: When Heyes pretends to be drunk and is dragged off to jail by the deputies, two barking dogs follow them across the street. The canine "extras" were Pete Duel's own pets, who were visiting the set that day. Their barking fit wasn't planned, though - they just didn't like the way those big mean deputies were treating their master. (00:39:00)

Jean G

Trivia: Shooting on the dungeon scene was held up for several hours due to a missing make-up man. The director and Katharine Hepburn, who needed her make-up done, trudged all over the castle grounds searching, only to find the man playing poker with Peter O'Toole and several crew members. Furious, Hepburn smacked O'Toole in the head with a heavy handbag. In retribution, O'Toole noisily interrupted her next scene. Moaning and groaning, he burst through a dungeon door swathed head-to-toe in bloody white bandages, sending the entire cast and crew into gales of laughter. (From the director's DVD commentary.)

Jean G

Trivia: Filming was delayed for several weeks after Anthony Hopkins fell from a horse and broke his arm. In several scenes, his armor is concealing a plaster cast. Director Anthony Harvey was stricken with hepatitis, causing further delays in post-production editing. Only Katharine Hepburn's intervention stopped the film's Hollywood backers from handing editing duties off to someone else and from possibly shelving the entire project. (From the director's DVD commentary.)

Jean G

The Root of It All - S1-E11

Trivia: During shooting for this episode, guest star Judy Carne (famous for dancing in a very skimpy bikini on Laugh-In), decided to play a risque practical joke. In a scene where her character, wearing a skirt, was required to climb up a high ladder to a water tower, she "accidentally-on-purpose" forgot to put on any underwear, and "flashed" the entire film crew.

Jean G

Wrong Train to Brimstone - S1-E4

Trivia: The word "damn" still wasn't permitted by ABC in the early 1970s. Smith & Jones producers tried to get it past the censors by having Harry Briscoe use it twice in this episode. It nearly worked, but the offensive epithet was blanked out at the last minute by the network.

Jean G

Wrong Train to Brimstone - S1-E4

Trivia: It was probably the set decorator's little joke. A sign on a privy door reads "Out of Order." Leaves one to wonder just what part of an outhouse can be out of order.

Jean G

The Biggest Game in the West - S2-E19

Trivia: This was the first episode with Roger Davis replacing Pete Duel as Hannibal Heyes. Duel's tragic suicide apparently meant nothing to insensitive network execs at ABC. They insisted that the production schedule proceed uninterrupted, and that all scenes already in the can with Duel be reshot with Davis. There are three places in the episode, however, in which Duel can still be recognized: in the series intro, pulling a safe from a train (this shot remained for several episodes before being trimmed); walking into the hotel from the stagecoach; and in the scene where Heyes convinces Curry to go talk to the Devil's Hole Gang (shots taken over Heyes' shoulder are of Pete Duel, whose hair was much darker than Davis'). (00:05:10 - 00:21:30)

Jean G

The Long Chase - S3-E1

Trivia: The stiff-necked, humorless Sheriff Tankersley was a nose-thumbing parody of a real (and really unpopular) person. William Tankersley was a notoriously prissy network censor who was infamous at the time for trying (unsuccessfully) to stifle the naughty bits on All in the Family.

Jean G

30th Nov 2007

The Prisoner (1967)

Living in Harmony - S1-E14

Trivia: This episode was not shown in the initial U.S. airing of "The Prisoner" on CBS. There was speculation that its pacifist, anti-violence moral might have been construed as a Vietnam War protest, but the network's reason for censoring the episode has never been disclosed.

Jean G

21st Oct 2007

The Twilight Zone (1959)

Come Wander with Me - S5-E34

Trivia: Producer William Froug rejected an extremely nervous young singer/actress auditioning for the part of Mary Rachel, and recalls thinking that "I'll probably kick myself. She'll probably be a big star." He turned out to be right on both counts. The aspiring young singer's name was Liza Minnelli.

Jean G

12th Oct 2007

The Twilight Zone (1959)

Caesar and Me - S5-E28

Trivia: This is the only episode of the entire Twilight Zone series scripted by a woman. Adele (credited as "A.T.") Strassfield was producer William Froug's secretary.

Jean G

Nightmare at 20,000 Feet - S5-E3

Trivia: Writer Richard Matheson says he was pleased with most of Twilight Zone's film version of his short story - except for the gremlin. He'd conceived it as a dark, creepy and nearly-invisible humanoid figure. "But this thing," he complains, "looked more like a panda bear."

Jean G

Nightmare at 20,000 Feet - S5-E3

Trivia: Rod Serling set up a practical joke on writer Richard Matheson when the two were flying to San Francisco aboard a propeller-driven plane. Serling collaborated with the airline to tape a poster blow-up of the "Nightmare" gremlin's ugly face to the outside of the plane window. Just as Serling prompted Matheson to open the curtain, however, the plane's engines and props fired up, blowing away both the poster and Serling's intended gag.

Jean G

The Buffalo Soldiers - S2-E10

Trivia: The all-black 10th Cavalry mounted troop is portrayed here by a re-creationist group that has trained itself in specialized 19th Century cavalry riding maneuvers. The group includes some descendants of the original "Buffalo Soldiers," whose nickname was coined by Native Americans that had never seen black men, and thought the soldiers' hair resembled that of the buffalo.

Jean G

Trivia: While shooting an early episode, Mark Slade fell from his horse and suffered a painful bruise when he landed very hard on the gun at his hip. After much pleading, he convinced the producers and the prop dept. to make a replica pistol out of rubber. Replaced by the real one only when it actually had to be fired, the fake gun remained in Blue Boy's holster for the rest of the show's run.

Jean G

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