Rather than use CGI, Tim Burton had 40 squirrels trained to crack nuts for Charlie & The Chocolate Factory.
16
The first guy to win Who Wants To Be A Millionaire (USA) used none of his lifelines until the final question, where he called his dad. During the call, he told his dad he didn't need any help on the final question, but he just wanted to let him know that he was about to win $1,000,000.
29
The first Ronald McDonald was Willard Scott in 1963.
17
John Swartzwelder, a writer for the Simpsons, used to write episodes while sitting in a booth at a coffee shop "drinking copious amounts of coffee and smoking endless cigarettes". When California passed an anti-smoking law, he bought the diner booth and installed it in his house.
1
For beer commercials, they add liquid detergent to the beer to make it foam more.
161
Warner Brother's hated the name 'Beetlejuice', and urged Tim Burton to change it to something clever. Burton jokingly suggested calling the movie 'Scared Sheetless', and was horrified when the studio actually liked it.
12
The mask used by Michael Myers in the original 'Halloween' was actually a Captain Kirk mask painted white.
129
HBO passed up "The Walking Dead" because they thought it was too violent. They also passed up "Breaking Bad" and "Mad Men".
2