After a lovely Friday evening watching Jeopardy, one of my favorite TV shows, I was surprised to find out some interesting facts about its filming schedule (mentioned later). This research prompted me to uncover more secrets about everyone’s favorite shows. Hopefully you are as surprised as I was. And…away…we…go!*

The Office

Possibly one of our generation’s greatest shows, The Office produced timeless comedy with an amazing cast. One of their most well-known actors, John Krasinski, who played Jim Halpert, had to wear a wig in part of season 3 of the show. His iconic, golden retriever-like hair actually had to be shaved while filming the movie Leatherheads, so when he returned to the NBC set, the producers made him wear a wig. 

Phyllis Vance. Personally not my favorite, but before she acted as a sales representative at Dunder Mifflin Paper Co., Phyllis Smith was an NFL cheerleader for the then-St. Louis Cardinals (where she is from) AND a burlesque dancer. She danced for about 7 years and claims it was quite classy, all PG here.

Note: I was unable to find accurate picture of Phyllis during this time. Most that are on the internet are not actually her; y’all know I would have put one in here. 

Friends

Matt LeBlanc, better known as Joey Tribbiani, spilled that he was practically broke before he began Friends. He said that he had around $11, which would not have lasted him long, even in the 90s. Ironically, now he has a net worth of $80 million. Even more, much of the cast and crew was known to be a bit scared of Matt LeBlanc in the beginning, especially Jennifer Anniston. 

If you are familiar with the episode of Monica and Chandler’s honeymoon, you might be surprised to hear that was not the original idea; it had to be re-filmed quite close to its airing date. What was shown on TV was Monica and Chandler vying for first-class plane flights, only to run out of luck from another newlywed couple they were “competing” with. However, in the original version, Monica and Chandler had acquired the first class tickets, but Chandler had made a joke about a bomb in the security line, so they got them taken away. This had to be changed because it was set to air 2 weeks after the attacks on 9/11. 

Parks and Recreation

NBC hit off 2009 with the release of Parks and Recreation, starring Amy Poehler and Chris Pratt. While many of you may know that Amy Poehler was one of the show’s writers, some don’t know that Parks and Rec was originally going to be a spinoff of The Office. My research has found that the idea was for one of Dunder Mifflin’s broken copiers to end up in Pawnee, creating the spun-off character. 

Another secret I’m sure not many of you know is behind Andy Dwyer’s band, Mouse Rat. Chris Pratt revealed in an interview that the inspiration for the band was Hootie & the Blowfish, a lowcountry native. To see Mouse Rat in action, watch season 1, episode 6, “Rock Show.”

Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune

One of the many questions I have always had while watching either of these TV shows is: how do they film it? I was curious as to how productive the taping was, and how much time Alex Tribek and Pat Sajak got off. The answer: they film Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune 4 days each month–on Thursdays and Fridays, every 2 weeks. Taping upwards to 6 shows per day, they are well in advance, usually 2 weeks out from their on-air date.

The Bachelor, The Bachelorette and Bachelor In Paradise

As my obsession for ABC’s The Bachelor franchise has grown, I have been questioning the perks behind joining this show. For one, the only on-air personalities that are getting paid are the bachelor or the bachelorette, and of course, Chris Harrison. Using this past season of The Bachelor as an example, Chris and Peter were the only ones getting paid, even when Madison, Hannah Ann, Kelsey and Victoria F. were left. While they are volunteering for the show, it is ultimately the contestants that are making it; thus they should get some compensation, in my opinion. 

Bachelors and bachelorettes make on average $100,000 per season. For a more extreme amount, Emily Maynard was reported to have made $250,000 from her season of The Bachelorette. In 2011, Chris Harrison was rumored to make $60,000 per episode (~$600,000 for a season), and his rates have most likely increased since then. 

Another surprise my research led me to was the fact that if the engaged couple breaks up after 2 years or less, they have to give the ring back to ABC. If they have been together for longer and decide to end things, they can sell the ring, but have to notify the ABC team. It makes sense, but I guess ABC needs a way to pay theses bachelors. 

Hopefully you learned something new from my article and if you didn’t, sorry. If you would like some more digging on your favorite TV shows (or movies?), let me know and I’ll consider doing a part 2 to this article.

*If you got my reference to a specific TV show let me know, I would really appreciate it