The Golden Girls, the Real Story Behind Four Best Friends
TLDR: The Golden Girls ran seven seasons on NBC, and all four of its leads have since passed away. Behind the show’s warmth was a … Read more
Bern Nadette Stanis Named Her Foundation After Her Mother Forgot Her
TLDR: Bern Nadette Stanis turned her own mother’s decline into a genuine cause. Years later, she watched her own daughter become the doctor her sitcom … Read more
Ja’net DuBois Played Willona, Then Wrote a Different Show’s Theme
TLDR: Ja’net DuBois spent eight years playing everyone’s favorite nosy neighbor on Good Times. The whole time, she was also quietly responsible for the theme … Read more
Janet Jackson’s Good Times Storyline Was Closer to Home Than Fans Knew
TLDR: Janet Jackson joined Good Times in 1977 at age 11, playing a child rescued from an abusive home. The storyline made television history for … Read more
Esther Rolle Refused Good Times Unless the Network Added a Father
TLDR: Esther Rolle is proof a lead actress could actually win a fight with a hit network show. She walked off the number one comedy … Read more
John Amos Got Fired From Good Times, Then His Death Split His Family
TLDR: John Amos got fired for refusing to let Good Times flatten his family into a punchline. Fifty years later, his own family couldn’t manage … Read more
Good Times, the Real Story Behind the Evans Family
TLDR: Good Times set out to be network television’s first real portrait of a two-parent Black family. Nearly everyone behind that promise ended up paying … Read more
Daniel Roebuck Was Almost the Home Alone Burglar Before Matlock Made Him a Familiar Face
TLDR: Daniel Roebuck played investigator Cliff Lewis on Matlock before building one of the most prolific character-actor careers in Hollywood, with roles spanning The Fugitive, … Read more
Kari Lizer Played a Small Role on Matlock, Then Went On to Create a Hit Sitcom
TLDR: Kari Lizer played Cassie Phillips, one of Ben Matlock’s assistants, but her real legacy came decades later behind the camera. She went on to … Read more
Kene Holliday Was Fired From Matlock, Then Spent Decades Getting Sober
TLDR: Kene Holliday played Matlock’s original private investigator, Tyler Hudson, for the show’s first three seasons before being let go over a severe struggle with … Read more
The Real Story Behind Ben Matlock’s Courtroom
TLDR: The classic Matlock ran on NBC and ABC from 1986 to 1995 with Andy Griffith as the folksy defense attorney Ben Matlock. It’s a … Read more
Heath Moore Nearly Died Before He Disappeared From Texas Metal
TLDR: Heath Moore built a real fan following as the original interior and upholstery specialist on Texas Metal, then simply vanished from the show after … Read more
Bill Carlton Built an Empire From a Backyard in East Aldine
TLDR: Bill Carlton built Ekstensive Metal Works from the same East Aldine property his father bought in 1976, long before Texas Metal ever existed. A … Read more
Texas Metal: The Real Cast Behind Ekstensive Metal Works
TLDR: Texas Metal has followed Bill Carlton and his crew at Ekstensive Metal Works since 2017, but two of the show’s original stars quietly disappeared … Read more
Robert Kulp Runs Black Dog Salvage Like a Ship, Not a Junkyard
TLDR: Robert Kulp co-founded Black Dog Salvage in 1999 after a garage project that never even got built. Two decades and 143 episodes of Salvage … Read more
Salvage Dawgs: The Real Story Behind Black Dog Salvage
TLDR: Salvage Dawgs followed the real employees of Black Dog Salvage, a Roanoke, Virginia architectural salvage business, through 143 episodes and 11 seasons. The show … Read more