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Five More Pop Culture Facts

  MUPPET MONDO

If you are a fan of the Muppets chances are good you are a fan of the song Mah Na Mah Na. If you didn't watch The Muppet Show and have never heard the song you should look it up on Youtube. It's a fun nonsense song that Henson had the character who he named after it sing in several appearances. The song did not originate with the Muppets though. It actually has a much seedier origin.

Mondo movies were popular in the 60's and 70's. They were made mostly in Italy and were basically exploitation documentaries, covering topics meant to shock and titillate in order to compel people to see them. They would show graphic sex acts and murders and even surgical procedures. Sweden: Heaven and Hell was released in 1968, and documented lesbian clubs, porno movies, and the swingers scene in that country. It also featured the debut of the future Muppet hit.

THE MOST POPULAR FRIEND

Who was the most popular Friend on Friends? We don’t really know about the audience, but we can tell who was most popular with the writers by looking at who got the most screen time all to themselves. Monica had 69 scenes with none of the other Friends present. Chandler got 88 scenes to himself. Rachel was in 105. Pheobe had 117 scenes. Ross got 139 scenes to himself. Joey is the king of popularity, with 151 scenes that didn’t involve anyone else from the main cast.

SUSPIRIA 2

It was not uncommon for genre movies to get released under various names. Hammer's 1958 release Dracula was renamed Horror of Dracula to avoid confusion with the 1931 Universal classic. 1974's Blood For Dracula was also retitled in America to Andy Warhol's Dracula to cash in on the artist's fame, despite his not having much to do with the movie. One of the weirdest title changes though, was the Japanese release of Blood Red. Director Dario Argento had a big hit with Suspiria, so for the Japanese release of his earlier film they retitled it Suspiria 2 depite it not only having no connection to Suspiria, but also having been made two years before it.

RUSTY BURRELL

The People's Court was a very early reality t.v. show starring Judge Joseph Wapner and his trusty bailiff Rusty Burrell. Rusty helped keep order in the court drung the show's 12 year run from 1981 to 1993. But this was not the first time Rusty's job as bailiff had brought him into the public eye. Years before his big t.v. debut Rusty served as bailiff at the trials of both Charles Manson and Patty Hearst.

THE GREEN ARCHER

The Green Archer was a novel written by Edgar Wallace and published in 1923. It was made into a silent serial in 1925, and then a sound serial which debuted on October 1, 1940. The Green Archer wore a mask and a leotard, and went up against a ring of jewel thieves. It may be a coincidence, but DC's character Green Arrow debuted in November 1941, just a little over a year after the Green Archer's sound serial was released.

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