Inspired by the news that came out recently that Peter Capaldi had once turned down the chance to audition for the role of the Eighth Doctor, which I intuitively know will be repeated to me for decades by people who think that they’ve found out a fascinating nugget of information that’s sure to interest me as a Doctor Who fan…what piece of geek trivia have you had shared with you the most often by people who think you don’t know it? Feel free to include your particular fandom, and how you managed to respond without being rude. 🙂
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Did you know that the stormtrooper hit his head?
Haven’t you heard? Disney is re-releasing the unspecial versions of the original trilogy!
“Did you know Wonder Woman was created by a feminist doctor?” Actually, pretty much ANYTHING about the origins of Wonder Woman.
Did you know that Wolverine was actually supposed to be a real wolverine who was mutated by the High Evolutionary?
Circumstances being what they are, I haven’t had much in the way of geek trivia shared in casual conversation with me for some time.
However, offhand I’d have to say the one I heard the most often before moving countries was
“Did you know that Eric Stoltz was originally cast as Marty McFly, and that they’d already shot a bunch of footage with him before he was replaced with Michael J. Fox?”
@Willie Everstop: I actually had Len Wein comment on my blog correcting that one. I was simultaneously honored and mortified. 🙂
I wound up telling him where I’d gotten it from (the book version of ‘Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed’), and Brian Cronin, who wrote that book, gave an official correction with Wein’s input. Doesn’t stop people from sharing it, though.
Power Rangers was actually a show from JAPAN. WHOA.
Sometimes I’ll start a job without a totally clear idea of where I’m going with it or how I’ll finish it, and I like to point out that they were still writing CASABLANCA when they started filming it!
The mechanical shark in Jaws kept breaking down, so they had to shoot around it, meaning we almost never get a good look at the shark, which actually makes it scarier! Isn’t it amazing how cinematic magic can just happen like that?
Did you know that the word “Ewok” is never spoken during the entire film Return of the Jedi?
A rather different geekdom: heraldry, specifically the formalised and highly mutated early-period form practised in the Society for Creative Anachronism. Rule 1 for heralds is you can’t put colour on colour or metal on metal. Metals are light: white and yellow. Colours are darker: red, black, blue, green, purple. You can’t have a red lion on a green background or a white cross on yellow, because the contrast is too poor and you won’t be able to identify it on your opponent’s shield as he charges at you across the war field. Look at road signs to see good contrast in action, even a thousand years later: white on green, black on white, black on yellow.
For such a simple rule, though, there are many many exceptions. The big one is multicoloured designs: you can’t have a red lion on green, but you can have a red lion on stripey green and yellow, or a checky red and white lion on green. Somehow, even though they see this sort of thing all the time, even really experienced SCA heralds get this wrong, and will tell you “you can’t do that”. In my kingdom, I usually point them to the kingdom’s own arms: white stars on a red cross on a half-white, half-blue background. They usually look at it for a second and then the light switches on.
The cartoon “The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang” arose when Hanna-Barbera couldn’t get the rights to do a Doctor Who cartoon.
I learned, literally two weeks ago, that Dan Aykroyd is a UFO spook and that Ghostbusters drew heavily from his own family’s history with hauntology. And every person I have spoken to about this – even my parents – already knew it.
Maybe stretching the definition of geekdom, but did you know the Portland Trail Blazers could have drafted Michael Jordan?
“Did you know Batman used to use a gun?”
Did you know the guy in Sherlock and the guy in Elementary once were in a play together in the same role?
And that guy on How I Met Your Mother was in a play with that other guy on How I Met Your Mother and they had been making out on stage for months before being surprised to see each other again during filming?
See, I am Annoying Anecdote Guy a lot of times. But probably the one I heard about the most is the soldier serving in Iraq who changed his name to Optimus Prime.
(I remember thinking to myself “Prime would never sign up to fight a pointless war that will probably never end! …oh, wait.”)
Ooh! Did you hear that WIL WHEATON did the audio for Ready Player One?
Aykroyd is also so into crystal skulls that his vodka is filtered the last three times (of seven) through diamond crystals.
Did you know the human head weighs 8 pounds unless you eat the juicy filling?
Did you know The Walking Dead is based on a comic book?
Not really about being a fan, but definitely the same ballpark: I had a job servicing lottery machines for several months, and literally every single day at least one person would ask me “Ooh! Can you put my numbers in there?? Ha ha!” Every day. For months.
My replies over time degenerated from “Hah, I wouldn’t be doing this if I could!!” through polite smiles and mumbles to non-committal grunts.
“Did you know that Lou Ferrigno voiced the Hulk in ::BLANK::?”
Yep. Lou Ferrigno or Fred Tatasciore.
Semi-related, most of my friends/relatives/in-laws are aware of my Hulk obsession, so they’ll occasionally grab me little Hulk trinkets or gifts in their various travels. I’ve gotten one particular poster book three times, and a Hulk PEZ dispenser four times.
Did you know checkers is solved? First player wins, given optimal play.
(Also, connect 4)
Roy Rogers’ real name was Roman Roczierski. During WWII, he was a saboteur and assassin for the Albanian resistance, with over 250 credited kills (though it’s suspected the actual count is significantly higher). It’s claimed that he was singlehandedly responsible for preventing the “Erdezerreißer” device from activating and plunging central Tirana into the Earth’s mantle.
Public record attributes Otto Skorzeny’s death to cancer, but those who were there speak in hushed tones of the wind carrying a blood-curdling yodel of triumph.
I worked in a comic shop for three years; I don’t think I could narrow it down to any one instance.
My usual response would be to respond with an enthusiastic “yeah, I know! And did you know THIS …?”