My psyche was n’t quick to see theI Love Lucyset in color .
1.In 1983,Carrie Fisherdid a beach-themedReturn of the Jediphoto shoot for Rolling Stone, complete with her wearing Princess Leia’s gold metal bikini:
There were lots and lots of photos taken that day, but according to the photographer,Aaron Rapoport, the magazine only ran two:
2.If you didn’t live through it, you wouldn’t understand just how huge the anticipation was forThe Phantom Menace. Even the release of the toys ahead of the movie was an EVENT. And it’s demonstrated here byLeonardo DiCaprioshopping for the toys at Toys “R” Us during the midnight release:
3.The Beatles' performance onThe Ed Sullivan Showfor the first time is a seminal moment in both modern American andpop culturehistory. Everyone’s image of it is usually of the black and white footage of the performance. Here’s what the performance looked like in color and while being filmed:
4.And this is the Beatles with Ed Sullivan the day before the taping, during their rehearsals:
5.This is what the set of the Ricardos' Connecticut home onI Love Lucylooked like in color:
6.Speaking of sets, here’sLucille Ballon the set ofThree’s Companywith John Ritter. In 1982, Lucille, who was abig fanof the sitcom and John Ritter, hosted a two-part retrospective during the show’s sixth season:
7.In a 2014Reddit AMA, Betty White spoke about how Lucille Ball was one of her dearest friends. Here are the two of them together at a book signing for Betty’s autobiography in 1987 — less than two years before Lucille’s death:
8.To give you context on just how long Betty White’s career was, here is a photo of her alongside her costar Del Moore in 1953(ish) taken to promote her first sitcom,Life With Elizabeth. So yeah, Betty was playing a 1950s housewife at the same time that Lucille Ball was playing one onI Love Lucy:
9.This is what the set ofThe Golden Girlslooked like behind-the-scenes:
10.Here’s a photo of Sally Struthers (Samantha), Charlotte Rae (Charlotte), Bea Arthur (Carrie), and Katherine Helmond (Miranda), taken during aSex and the Cityparody skitthat they filmed for the TV Land Awards in 2004:
11.The Flintstoneswassponsoredby Winston Cigarettes during its first two seasons, and the characters did several integrated commercials for the brand:
12.In 2012, Miss Piggy made asurprise appearanceonWatch What Happens Live, where she played Plead the Fifth and took a few jabs atOC HousewifeVicki Gunvalson. Here she is with Andy Cohen, wearing a Bravo Easter egg (the dress that she’s wearing was designed for her for a challenge onProject Runway):
13.In 1990, just before making it big,RuPaulappeared onThe Geraldo Rivera Showas part of an episode about NYC club kids. Ru even says her classic catchphrase, “You’re born naked and the rest is drag”:
14.Are you curious about what the Werkroom onRuPaul’s Drag Racelooks like in real life? Well, these behind-the-scenes photos will break the illusion. It’s, of course, a set built in a soundstage, where even the columns are just set props:
15.Here are two photos of Britney Spears rehearsing her iconic “I’m a Slave 4 U” performance she did at the 2001 VMAs:
16.This is what Monica and Rachel’s apartment onFriendslooks like behind-the-scenes:
17.And this is what theFriends' writers' room looks like. Seated at the head of the table is the show’s co-producer and co-creator, David Crane:
18.Here is a rare photo of Madonna alongside her then-boyfriendTupac Shakur, while talking with Sting at a Versace party in New York in 1994:
19.Here is Madonna portraying Princess Diana in a sketch onSNLin 1985 — which was also her first appearance on the show:
21.And here’s a photo of Princess Di meeting Roger Rabbit at the London premiere ofWho Framed Roger Rabbitin 1988:
22.These are fake 1940s Roger Rabbit and Baby Herman cartoon short posters created as set props for R.K. Maroon’s office inWho Framed Roger Rabbit:
23.This is what Marilyn Monroe looked like with her natural hair color (this photo was taken in 1946 when she went by her real name: Norma Jeane Mortenson):
24.Marilyn Monroe and Queen Elizabeth were both born in the same year, 1926. Here are the twomeetingin 1956, when Marilyn was filmingThe Prince and the Showgirlin the UK.
25.Here’s a photo of Cher, Sonny Bono, and Bob Dylan hanging out at Atlantic Studios in New York in 1965:
26.And here is a photo of Cher and Sonny in 1967, on an episode ofKraft Music Hallhosted by Phyllis Diller, where Phyllis and Bob Hope play two old hippies still holding on to hippie culture in the far-away year of 1997:
27.This is a behind-the-scenes shot of Michael and Janet Jackson, alongside Dick Clark, rehearsing for the American Music Awards in 1975:
28.Here’s a photo of Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson meeting with Steven Spielberg while working on thestorybook album forE.T. the Extra-Terrestrial—which Quincy and Michael fit in while working onThriller:
29.This is a behind-the-scenes photo of Steven Spielberg directing Henry Thomas on the set ofE.T.:
30.And here’s a behind-the-scenes photo of Steve Spielberg directing Richard Attenborough on the set ofJurassic Park. Attenborough famously pulled an upset by winning both the Best Picture and Best Director Oscars in 1983 forGandhi, beating Spielberg, who was also nominated for both forE.T.:
31.I’ve never wanted to be at a party so badly! Check out Diana Ross with Truman Capote at Studio 54’s legendary 1978/79 New Year’s Eve party:
32.And check out Diana Ross dancing with André Leon Talley at the same New Year’s Eve party at Studio 54:
33.This is a staged photo of Katharine Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift, and director Joseph L. Mankiewicz fighting each other tomake fun of the rumors— though by all accountsaccurate— that they were not getting along while filming their movieSuddenly, Last Summer:
34.This is James Dean and Elizabeth Taylor having fun together at the Texas State Fair in Dallas during a weekend break from filming their movie,Giant, in 1955:
35.These are color aerial photos of what Disneyland looked like when it opened in 1955:
36.This is then-Vice President Richard Nixon riding Peter Pan’s Flight at Disneyland a month after the park opened in 1955:
37.Shot by Disneyland photographer Renie Bardeau, this is thelast phototaken of Walt Disney at Disneyland in 1966:
38.Here are longtime friends and fellow icons Dolly Parton and Lily Tomlin, recording their lines together forThe Magic School Bus. Dolly guest-voiced the character Katrina Eloise “Murph” Murphy for the 1996 holiday episode of the show (this was 16 years after they costarred together on9 to 5):
39.Julie Andrews was not the first person to play Mary Poppins on screen. It was Mary Wickes (pictured below) who played the character in 1949 in a one-hour TV adaptation that was part ofCBS’s Studio Oneseries:
40.While Julie Andrews never played Mary Poppins again on the big screen, she did revive the character and play her a few more times in some of herTV specials. Here she is playing Mary alongside Peter Sellers in her 1975 TV specialJulie: My Favorite Things:
41.Here’s a behind-the-scenes photo fromThe Godfatherof Marlon Brando getting his Vito Corleone aging makeup applied:
42.And here’s a photo of Francis Ford Coppola directing the classic “horse in the bed” scene inThe Godfather:
43.This is Oprah Winfrey hosting her very first talk show,AM Chicago, in 1984:
44.Here are the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles outsideThe Oprah Winfrey Show’s studio promoting their kinda bonkersinterviewon the show:
45.Here’s Nancy Reagan sitting on Mr. T’s lap and giving him a kiss during a White House Christmas party in 1983:
46.Here is a behind-the-scenes photo of Daniel Seagren, Jim Henson, and Frank Oz rehearsing a Bert and Ernie scene forSesame Street:
47.Here are a couple behind-the-scenes photos of Jim Henson puppeteering Kermit the Frog:
48.And this endearing photo of Jim Henson entertaining kids with Kermit between rehearsal takes:
49.Here’s a photo Gale Sondergaard, who was theoriginal actor castto play the Wicked Witch of the West when the producers ofThe Wizard of Ozenvisioned the character as a more glamorous villain, like the Evil Queen inSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs:
50.Here’s a photo of Margaret Hamilton (Wicked Witch of the West), Ray Bolger (Scarecrow), and Jack Haley (Tin Man) reunited for a TV showing ofThe Wizard of Ozin 1970:
51.And lastly, these are Judy Garland’s daughters, Liza Minnelli and Lorna Luft, watching the very first TV showing ofThe Wizard of Ozin 1956:
