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Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about movies and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the movie urban legends featured so far.

MOVIE URBAN LEGEND: A dispute with Technicolor kept the MGM Wizard of Oz as the first instance of black and white turning to color at Dorothy’s arrival in Oz.

The MGM version of the Wizard of Oz was not the first time that the Wizard of Oz was adapted into another medium.

The most famous of these adaptations was most likely the 1902 musical (just two years after the novel’s release!).

When MGM purchased the rights to the novel, it also purchased the rights to the stage play AND the 1925 silent film of the story, all in the interest of being the only people out there with the right to do a Wizard of Oz production (interestingly enough, none of the stage musical’s songs were used).

The MGM film was to be the first Wizard of Oz production done in color.

However, interestingly enough, there almost was ANOTHER Wizard of Oz production in the 1930s, and this one would have beaten the MGM film to the “color” aspect by a good six years!
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Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about movies and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the movie urban legends featured so far.

MOVIE URBAN LEGEND: 20th Century Fox tried to work out a “trade” of Jean Harlow and Clark Gable so that Shirley Temple could star in MGM’s Wizard of Oz.

On the IMDB trivia page for the Wizard of Oz, it states:

Shirley Temple was the original choice to play Dorothy. However, she was under contract to 20th Century Fox at the time. A deal was put in place to loan her to MGM Studios in exchange for Clark Gable and Jean Harlow going to 20th Century Fox for a film. However, after Jean Harlow’s untimely death the deal was revoked.

First off, I don’t mean to pick on IMDB’s trivia page at all, they’re usually great. I only cite this to show that it IS a common belief that this was the situation.

In any event, for years, the whole “Shirley Temple was going to be Dorothy!” story has been circulating, and really, there probably is some truth to it all.

Shirley Temple WAS the most famous child actress in the film at the time the Wizard of Oz began filming.

And I believe there certainly IS something to be said for the fact that studio executives at MGM would have liked for her to star in the Wizard of Oz, to give it some more box office cache. But….
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Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about movies and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the movie urban legends featured so far.

MOVIE URBAN LEGEND: House Party nearly starred DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince.

New Line Cinema’s House Party, written and directed by Reginald Hudlin (based on a student film that Hudlin had made at Harvard in 1983 as his senior thesis), was a charming and often-hilarious 1990 feature film about two teenage friends who throw a party at the home of one of the friends whose parents are away on vacation. As you might expect, the party gets out of control and hilarity ensues.

The film was a major success and launched the careers of a number of notable actors, including Martin Lawrence, Tisha Campbell, Daryl “Chill” Mitchell and Robin Harris (who tragically died soon after the film was released). The biggest attention, though, was given to the two stars of the film, Christopher “Kid” Reid and Christopher “Play” Martin, who were already known before the film for their music work as the hip hop duo “Kid ‘n’ Play.” Their music career blossomed, they starred in two sequels to House Party and they even received their own Saturday morning cartoon series! However, amazingly enough, they nearly did not get the chance to star in the film at all. Instead, due to, of all things, Nightmare on Elm Street, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince nearly starred in House Party! Read on to see what happened…
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Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about TV and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the TV urban legends featured so far.

TV URBAN LEGEND: There is a special R-rated version of Dexter’s Labratory called “Dexter’s Rude Removal.”

A couple of years back, reader Stephen C wrote in to ask:

I was wondering if u could do a tv legend on this potential rumor on the internet. The rumor is that there is a never released Dexter’s laboratory episode called Dexter’ Rude Removal that was like a rated R episode. It seems true but it could be like the seinfeld has superman in every episode rumor that is widely believed to be true but isn’t. Thanks.

Dexter’s Laboratory, in case you don’t know, was an animated television series lasting four seasons of 78 episodes. It stars a boy genius (Dexter) who often gets into trouble when his inventions go haywire. He has a dim-witted older sister named Dee-Dee.

The show was created by Genndy Tartakovsky.

The show began in 1995 and ended in 2003 (the seasons were spread out – a pilot in 1995, then two seasons from 1996-1999 and two seasons from 2001-2003).

During the initial run of the series, there were rumors about a mysterious episode called “Dexter’s Rude Removal” that was only shown at conventions and/or festivals.

Interestingly enough, when asked about it by the Deseret News’ Scott D. Pierce, Genndy Tartakovsky actually confirmed the existence of the episode. Read the rest of this entry »

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Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about TV and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the TV urban legends featured so far.

TV URBAN LEGEND: Life Goes On changed their opening credits for the series finale to give some justice to their dog.

Life Goes On was an ABC hour-long drama that ran from 1989-1993. It was a family drama most noted for its having as a major cast member a character (and actor) with Down’s Syndrome.

The show was often quirky, most notably with its opening theme song, the cast (mostly noted Broadway musical star Patti LuPone, who played the mother on the show) singing the Beatles’ “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” while the opening credits show the various cast members waking up in the morning (the show opens with the paper boy delivering the paper).

The recurring joke throughout the opening credits is, as the various family members get ready for the day, the family dog is being ignored.

Here Arnold is waiting to be fed with his dish in his mouth…

A close-up as his frustration continues…

Arnold actually gets a credit in the cast listings…

Finally, as the credits end, we see that no one has fed Arnold, and as he realizes it, he resigns himself to his fate, letting the dish drop out of his mouth…

So it went for four seasons and 82 episodes, and a recurring “complaint” (I’m using the quote because I doubt anyone really cared THAT much) was that Arnold kept getting ignored (and they re-did the opening as the show went on and new cast members came and went, but while other opening gags changed – like Bill Smitrovich, the father, having different reactions as to what to do with his morning fitness routine – Arnold not getting fed stayed the same).

That is, until the 83rd and very LAST episode of the series!
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Do You Remember, an awesome nostalgia website, just put me on their friends list.

Thanks, guys!

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Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about TV and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the TV urban legends featured so far.

TV URBAN LEGEND: An actor’s refusal to take of his wedding ring caused creative filming during the run of the TV series Hogan’s Heroes.

Hogan’s Heroes was about a group of soldiers during World War II (Americans and other nationalities) who were in for an extended stay in a German prison. However, they still managed to help the war effort from behind bars through various schemes.

One of the prisoners was American Sergeant Andrew J. Carter, played by Larry Hovis.

Carter was a good mimic, so he was always helpful to Colonel Hogan on whatever enterprise he was up to that particular week.

In any event, there was a bit of a problem with how Hovis played Carter. You see, Hovis was married but the character of Carter was single. No problem, right? That’s why they call it acting, no?

The problem was, however, that Hovis refused to take off his wedding ring while filming scenes.
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Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about music and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the music urban legends featured so far.

MUSIC URBAN LEGEND: A non band member sang “Incense and Peppermints” because no one in the band wanted to.

Occasionally, bands will have guest singers on their song, and every so often, a band will have a big hit with someone other than their normal lead singer being involved in the song.

However, it’s quite rare to see a guest singer on a song when it was simply a matter of everyone else in the band hating the song.

And when that song becomes the biggest hit the band ever had?

Well, that’s some weird stuff all around, but that’s exactly what happened with the Strawberry Alarm Clock and their hit song “Incense and Peppermints”

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Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about music and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the music urban legends featured so far.

MUSIC URBAN LEGEND: Ricky Valance named himself after Richie Valens.

Ricky Valance was a popular British singer in the early 1960s, becoming one of the earliest “teen” singers to be accepted in England, where performances by “teen idols” were seen by the BBC as being almost un-classy in the late 1950s/very early 1960s.

A common practice would be to have British artists do cover versions of American songs, and that’s what happened with Valance in 1960 when he covered Ray Peterson’s “Tell Laura I Love Her.”

The song went to #1 in late 1960, with Valance becoming the first Welshman to have a #1 hit on the British charts.

In any event, it has long been stated that Valance (born David Spencer) took the stage name “Ricky Valance” in honor of “La Bamba” singer Richie Valens, who died in the same plane crash as Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper.

True?
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Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about TV and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the TV urban legends featured so far.

TV URBAN LEGEND: Dolly Parton produced Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

As we have seen many times over the years, the same instincts that leads certain people into becoming successful performers does not necessarily translate to the world of business. Disaster stories about the way that celebrities and their families handled their money are prolific (in one case, it even led to a notable child actor ending up doing porn). There are notable exceptions, of course, and one of these exceptions is Dolly Parton. The successful singer and actress grew up very poor (she was the fourth of twelve children of a tobacco farmer – her classic hit “Coat of Many Colors” gives a strong description of what her life was like growing up) and she has always spoke about using the same approach her father had in managing his finances (small that they may have been for him), which was basically “don’t trust anyone else with your money.”

This is not to say that you don’t let other people work with your money, of course, as you have to have managers and the like, but Parton has always made a point to personally oversee how all of her money is being spent and such an approach has served her well over the years. One way that Parton spent her money was on a production company and sure enough, this production company played a major role in the success of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Read on to see how!
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