15 Souvenirs Kept by TV Show Cast and Crew

Getty Images
Getty Images / Getty Images

The cast and crew of a TV series can spend years on the job, so it’s understandable when they get pretty attached to the characters they play or the sets that make up their offices every day. When those shows inevitably come to an end, many of them take a little something from the set to remember it by. Here's what 15 cast and crew members decided to take home.

1. BRYAN CRANSTON // HEISENBERG’S HAT AND GLASSES

Walter White truly transformed into a meth drug lord when he wore Heisenberg’s sunglasses and pork pie hat. When Breaking Bad ended, Bryan Cranston took them both. “That’s my prized possession,” he told Entertainment Weekly.

2. AARON PAUL // JESSE PINKMAN’S LICENSE PLATE

In the first season of Breaking Bad, Jesse Pinkman is just a small-time meth dealer known as “Cap’n Cook.” In fact, his not-so-subtle license plate proclaimed him “The Capn,” which is how he almost got busted by DEA agent Hank Schrader—and was ultimately reunited with his former chemistry teacher, Mr. White. So you can see why Aaron Paul felt compelled to take the license plate home.

3. MATTHEW WEINER // DON DRAPER’S CLIO AWARD

Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner donated a lot of his own possessions for prop use on the show. The Drapers’ chip and dip set, for instance, once belonged to his parents. Weiner took those items back, but also snagged an item from each major character, including Peggy Olson’s tape dispenser and Don Draper’s CLIO award. Draper himself, Jon Hamm, says he was also able to take a few meaningful items home—but opted to stay mum on exactly which pieces he took.

4. MICHAEL C. HALL // BLOOD SPATTER IMAGES

After eight seasons of playing serial killer Dexter Morgan, Michael C. Hall couldn’t leave without taking a little bit of Dex with him. That includes a couple of items from Miami Metro—like Dexter’s work badge and some blood spatter images. Hall also managed to get Dexter’s watch.

5. LEA MICHELE // FINN HUDSON’S FOOTBALL JERSEY

Actor Cory Monteith was famous for playing high school quarterback Finn Hudson on Glee—and for dating his on-screen leading lady, Lea Michele. Tragically, Monteith passed away in 2013 while he still was shooting Glee. When the show ended in 2015, Michele took Finn’s framed football jersey.

6. HUGH LAURIE // PRESCRIPTION PADS

Laurie’s Dr. House could whip out his personalized Rx pad to prescribe meds for the rare diseases he discovered in patients on a weekly basis. And now Laurie can do the same, since he snitched a few pads for himself. They “could come in handy if things go south,” he told Stephen Colbert.

7. THE FRIENDS CAST // PIECES OF SIDEWALK

No thievery was necessary for the cast and crew of Friends. When the show ended its 10-season run in 2004, they were all given a chunk of the sidewalk from outside of Central Perk.

8. JOSH RADNOR // THE BLUE FRENCH HORN

Craig Thomas and Carter Bays, the creators of How I Met Your Mother, both thought they would take the iconic blue French horn home. But actor Josh Radnor ended up with the indigo instrument in the end. “Folks, when Ted Mosby comes and asks you for the blue French horn, ya give him the blue French horn. It felt right,” Thomas said.

9. NICK OFFERMAN // BREAKFAST FOOD POSTER

There seem to be a lot of overlaps between Nick Offerman and his Parks and Recreation character Ron Swanson—and apparently, one of them is a deep love of breakfast food.

“There are a few posters that graced the wall behind Ron in his original office ... The middle one was a pretty brunette lady holding a plate of breakfast food. And that one I always thought was so funny and was very representative, to me, of the subtle sense of humor of the show: playing up how funny mundane, Midwestern objects can be. So I took only that poster.”

10. JERRY SEINFELD // THE APARTMENT DOOR

Larry David was able reuse the original sets from Seinfeld when he shot the reunion show for Curb Your Enthusiasm. One of the only props that had to be replaced was Seinfeld’s apartment door, which Jerry had taken with him as a souvenir.

11. SARAH JESSICA PARKER // A MENU

You might think Parker’s most cherished mementos from playing Carrie Bradshaw would be a pair of Manolos or any number of items from the columnist’s extensive wardrobe. But what she made sure to grab from set might surprise you—it’s a menu from the restaurant where Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda regularly met to discuss men, work, and life. (OK, and she did keep most of the wardrobe, too.)

12. EDIE FALCO // A WALL HANGING

What did Carmela take when her time on The Sopranos was over? Some decor from the family kitchen: A “hideous” wall hanging that included shells and a sea horse. “I decided Carmela made it in craft class,” Falco said.

13. DAVID LETTERMAN // A RUBBER SINK STOPPER

David Letterman didn’t go home empty-handed when Late Show ended in May. He nabbed a rubber sink stopper from his office, and the chain attached to it. Here’s how he explained it to Oprah on one of his last shows:

“When we came over here from NBC, 20-plus years ago, they had refurbished this beautiful theater that we dearly love, and they refurbished the office building that comes with the theater. And they gave me a lovely, what I thought was an enormous office … and I was so excited and so happy, and you looked around and the sink … You know how most sinks will have a device, a lever, a stopper? I got a rubber stopper on a chain. And the chain was too long to fit the sink, so they untied it into multiple knots to fit into the hole in the sink. So the only thing I’m taking is the rubber stopper, and the chain.”

14. DAMON LINDELOF // THE HATCH DOOR

From a plethora of Dharma-branded items to fish-shaped polar bear biscuits, there were lots of memorable props from Lost’s six-season run. But executive producer, writer, and co-creator Damon Lindelof took something a bit larger. “The cover of the hatch may have been made into a coffee table,” he has said. And he’s not the only one to escape the island with a memento: executive producer Carlton Cuse took the countdown clock from the hatch.

15. ROSE LESLIE // BOW AND ARROW

Rose Leslie was given Ygritte's bow and arrow after she wrapped up her arc on Game of Thrones. “They replaced the handle on the bow, replacing the grubby Wildling wrap with white leather. On one side of the handle is an emblem of a red rose, on the other was a silver placard that read, ‘Kissed by Fire’ ... It was absolutely beautiful.”