Mental Floss

TELEVISION

Pictured: The 1980s.

In the 1980s, shopping malls across America hosted everything from video game demonstrations to fans screaming for Patrick Duffy.

Jake Rossen
Tom Hanks appears during the 2020 Carousel of Hope Ball benefiting the Children’s Diabetes Foundation.

You know that Tom Hanks is an Oscar-winning actor, and that he recently played Fred Rogers on the big screen. But did you know that he's actually related to Mr. Rogers? (And to Abraham Lincoln, too.)

Dana Rose Falcone




RuPaul hosts RuPaul's Drag Race.

From its humble beginnings on Logo TV to its current status as an awards show darling (19 Emmys and counting), 'RuPaul's Drag Race' has been on our TV screens for over a decade now.

Meg Fozzard




(L to R) Law & Order stars Jerry Orbach, Angie Harmon, Sam Waterston, and Jesse L. Martin pictured in 1999.

Though NBC called it quits on 'Law & Order' in 2010, after 20 seasons and more than 450 episodes, the series lives on in reruns and spinoffs. In fact, it's probably playing somewhere on TV right now.

Randee Dawn
Jeremy Strong and Brian Cox go head-to-head in HBO's Succession.

Audiences and critics have been captivated by the deeply dysfunctional—and bleakly hilarious—antics of the Roy family on HBO's hit series 'Succession.'

Sarah McGrath




(L to R) ROBERT SHEEHAN, JUSTIN H. MIN, ELLIOT PAGE, TOM HOPPER, DAVID CASTAÑEDA, and EMMY RAVER-LAMPMAN STAR IN NETFLIX'S THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY, WHICH LANDED IN THE NO. 10 SPOT.

One committed number-cruncher spent the last year monitoring Netflix’s top 10 list every day to see which shows reigned supreme.

Ellen Gutoskey




Rami Malek once handed out his headshot as part of takeout orders.

Actor Rami Malek has earned acclaim for his roles in 'Mr. Robot' and 'Bohemian Rhapsody.' But his first credited work was something he had to pay a fee to get.

Jake Rossen






Brandon Kyle Goodman, Olivia Cooke, and Andrew Scott in Modern Love.

"Modern Love," The New York Times's long-running column detailing real-life love stories, is also a podcast and a critically acclaimed, star-filled TV series that is awaiting its second season.

Escher Walcott


The exterior of Los Angeles's Cecil Hotel, as seen in Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel (2021).

The Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles is one of those iconic landmarks that is as famous for what goes on behind closed doors as it is for its once-regal architecture and Art Deco interior.

Scarlett Harris
Stanley Tucci feels right at home being photographed at Rome's Hotel Eden.

Stanley Tucci is truly a renaissance man. He’s an actor, a writer, a director, a producer, a cookbook author, a viral cocktail connoisseur, and now, the host of his very own food show—'Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy.'

Olivia Truffaut-Wong