Mental Floss

TV





Kiefer Sutherland stars as Jack Bauer in 24.

With its unique real-time concept and nonstop action, '24' reinvented Kiefer Sutherland as an action star—and something of a serial killer.

Scott Beggs












Ellen Pompeo stars in Grey's Anatomy.

'Grey's Anatomy' is the longest-running primetime medical drama on TV. Not bad for a show that creator Shonda Rhimes didn't think would get picked up for a second season.

Stacy Conradt








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