50 Fun Facts About 2017 Tv

Which fast-food chain brought back Szechuan sauce in 2017 after a Rick and Morty episode made fans demand it?

McDonald's had first offered the sauce in 1998 to promote Disney's Mulan. More than 40,000 fans signed a petition, and one old packet sold for $14,700 on eBay.

Which pop star played a singing Lannister soldier in the opening episode of Game of Thrones' seventh season?

Ed Sheeran was booked as a surprise for Maisie Williams, who plays Arya Stark and is a fan. Producers had been trying to get him on the show for several years.

Which star of The Goonies joined Stranger Things in 2017 as Bob Newby, the kindly boyfriend of Joyce Byers?

Sean Astin plays a former classmate of Joyce who runs the Hawkins RadioShack. He is also Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings films.

Which Broadchurch actress was revealed in July 2017 as the first woman to play the lead in Doctor Who?

Jodie Whittaker was unveiled in a clip shown after the Wimbledon men's final. She said she had not grown up watching Doctor Who.

Which Bridesmaids star turned up on Saturday Night Live in 2017 playing White House press secretary Sean Spicer?

Melissa McCarthy's Saturday Night Live work that year won her the Emmy for guest actress in a comedy. She played Spicer four times in all.

Which singer's Super Bowl halftime show in 2017 opened with 300 drones forming the American flag behind her?

Lady Gaga's drone display was filmed earlier in the week, because flying the formation over a live crowd was ruled unsafe. The rooftop opening at Houston's NRG Stadium was shown as a recording.

Which pop star was an executive producer of 13 Reasons Why, the Netflix teen drama built around cassette tapes?

Selena Gomez was first cast to star as Hannah Baker when the novel was going to be a film. By the time Netflix made the series she had moved behind the camera.

Which drama based on a Margaret Atwood novel became the first streaming series to win the Emmy for best drama?

The Handmaid's Tale was also the first show made by Hulu to win a major award. Elisabeth Moss took the lead actress Emmy on the same night.

Which Big Bang Theory actor narrates Young Sheldon, the prequel that became a hit for CBS in 2017?

Jim Parsons voices the adult Sheldon looking back on his childhood. The prequel grew out of an idea he took to the producers himself.

Which NBC sitcom about a gay lawyer and his designer best friend returned in 2017 after eleven years away?

Will & Grace had signed off in 2006 after eight seasons. NBC ordered ten new episodes for the comeback and later expanded the season to 16.

Which comedian hosted the 2017 Emmy Awards, opening with a song-and-dance number about the state of the world?

Stephen Colbert's monologue set an anti-Trump tone for the night. Former press secretary Sean Spicer then appeared in person to parody himself.

Which of Daenerys's dragons does the Night King kill with an ice javelin and reanimate in Game of Thrones?

Viserion falls during a rescue mission beyond the Wall. In the season finale the reanimated dragon destroys Eastwatch and breaches the Wall itself.

Which scheming lord is sentenced to death by Sansa Stark and killed by Arya in Game of Thrones' 2017 finale?

Littlefinger realised too late that the trial was a trap and begged Sansa for mercy. It was actor Aidan Gillen's final appearance in the series.

Which actress joined Stranger Things in 2017 as Max Mayfield, having played the title role in Annie on Broadway?

Sadie Sink auditioned for the part in September 2016. She had also played the young Elizabeth II on Broadway in The Audience.

Which British actor plays Shaun Murphy, a surgical resident with autism, in ABC's The Good Doctor?

Freddie Highmore had just finished playing Norman Bates in Bates Motel. Actor Daniel Dae Kim had spotted the original overseas version and bought the remake rights.

Riverdale, the dark teen mystery launched by The CW in 2017, is based on characters from which publisher?

Archie Comics' chief creative officer, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, adapted the series himself. Its first season turns on the murder of Cheryl Blossom's brother.

Which restaurateur replaced Mary Berry as a judge when The Great British Bake Off moved to Channel 4 in 2017?

Prue Leith joined Paul Hollywood, the one judge who made the move from the BBC. Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig took over as presenters.

Which film-maker directed every episode of Twin Peaks when the cult mystery returned on Showtime in 2017?

David Lynch had said in 2001 that Twin Peaks was as dead as a doornail. He and co-creator Mark Frost wrote the whole comeback together.

Which singer was the first judge announced for the American Idol revival when ABC confirmed her in May 2017?

Katy Perry was joined on the panel by Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie. Ryan Seacrest stayed on as host, a job he had held for 15 years.

Which Netflix drama dropped its star Kevin Spacey in 2017 and finished with Robin Wright in the lead?

House of Cards returned for a shortened final season of eight episodes. Netflix put the cost of dropping Spacey and his other projects at 39 million dollars.

Which HBO series starring Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman won the 2017 Emmy for Outstanding Limited Series?

Big Little Lies was first planned as a film, with its two stars producing. It is based on Liane Moriarty's novel and set in Monterey, California.

Which film director steered Mindhunter, Netflix's 2017 drama about FBI agents interviewing serial killers?

David Fincher directed more episodes than anyone else and ran the show in all but name. Charlize Theron was among his fellow executive producers.

Which Arrested Development star plays Marty Byrde, an adviser laundering cartel money, in Netflix's Ozark?

Jason Bateman also directed episodes of the drama and won an Emmy for it in 2019. The story moves a Chicago family to Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks.

Dark, a 2017 time-travel mystery set in the town of Winden, was Netflix's first original in which language?

German was new ground for the service when Dark arrived on 1 December 2017. The story follows four families across several generations.

The robbers in Money Heist, first shown on Spanish television in 2017, wear masks of which artist?

Salvador Dalí was chosen for his instantly recognisable face. A Don Quixote mask was considered as an alternative and discarded.

Which actor played Prince Philip opposite Claire Foy in The Crown, whose second season arrived in December 2017?

Matt Smith's casting was announced in June 2015 along with John Lithgow as Winston Churchill. Foy was confirmed as the Queen at the same time.

Which actress plays Midge, a 1950s New York housewife turned stand-up comic, in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel?

Rachel Brosnahan won an Emmy and two Golden Globes in a row for the role. The Amazon series was created by Amy Sherman-Palladino.

Which sport does struggling actress Ruth Wilder take up in GLOW, the 2017 Netflix comedy set in 1980s Los Angeles?

Wrestling gives the show its name: GLOW was the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, a real women's circuit syndicated on American television in the 1980s.

Which writer created The Orville, Fox's 2017 space adventure, and cast himself as Captain Ed Mercer?

Seth MacFarlane named both the series and its starship after the aviation pioneer Orville Wright. The story begins in the year 2418.

Which Hollywood legend did Susan Sarandon play opposite Jessica Lange's Joan Crawford in the 2017 series Feud?

Bette Davis and Crawford battled through the making of their 1962 thriller What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, the backstage war the series dramatises.

Which author wrote the 2001 novel behind American Gods, the Starz fantasy drama that began in 2017?

Neil Gaiman served as an executive producer on the adaptation. He had said back in 2011 that HBO was interested in turning the book into a series.

Which naturalist narrated Blue Planet II, the 2017 BBC ocean series with a score by Hans Zimmer?

David Attenborough's series is credited with stirring public and political concern about plastic in the oceans, a shift nicknamed the Blue Planet effect.

Which Freeform mystery set in Rosewood, Pennsylvania, ended in June 2017 after seven seasons?

Pretty Little Liars ran for 160 episodes, adapted from Sara Shepard's novels. Its heroines are hounded by an anonymous tormentor known only as A.

Which writer created and starred in Girls, the HBO comedy-drama that ended after six seasons in April 2017?

Lena Dunham took the premise from her own life, including her character's ambition to become a writer. Judd Apatow was the executive producer.

Which character works out that the neighbourhood is the Bad Place in The Good Place's January 2017 finale?

Eleanor cracks it while the four humans argue over who should be sent away. Kristen Bell had known about the twist since she signed on to play her.

Which 2017 Netflix miniseries united Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist as one superhero team?

The Defenders brought all four leads over from their own series and added Sigourney Weaver to the cast. It left Netflix in 2022 and moved to Disney+.

Which NBC family drama won Sterling K. Brown the 2017 Emmy for lead actor in a drama as Randall Pearson?

This Is Us brought him more history in 2018, when he became the first African-American actor to win the Golden Globe for best actor in a television drama.

Which comedian brought back his HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm in 2017, six years after its eighth season?

Larry David plays a version of himself, the co-creator of Seinfeld. In the comeback season he earns a fatwa for mocking Iran's ayatollahs on a talk show.

Which FX comedy made Donald Glover the first Black winner of the Emmy for directing a comedy series in 2017?

Atlanta was created by Glover, who also stars as Earn Marks, a college dropout turned music manager. Its writing staff was entirely Black, a rarity on American cable.

Which Netflix comedy won Lena Waithe a 2017 Emmy, making her the first Black woman honoured for comedy writing?

Master of None brought the award to Waithe and series star Aziz Ansari jointly, as co-writers. She later took over the lead for its third season.

Which Brooklyn drag artist won the ninth season of RuPaul's Drag Race, shown on VH1 in 2017?

Sasha Velour had worked as a graphic designer and illustrator before turning to drag full time. Her monthly revue NightGowns began in Bushwick in 2015.

Which Dallas attorney became the first Black lead in the Bachelor franchise as The Bachelorette of 2017?

Rachel Lindsay met her first four suitors early, live on the finale of The Bachelor. Filming of her own season began shortly afterwards, in March 2017.

What kind of act was Darci Lynne Farmer, the seventh-grader who won America's Got Talent in 2017?

Ventriloquist Darci Lynne took up the craft after watching performers such as Terry Fator. She missed her first day of seventh grade to appear on the live shows.

Which Scottish actor played both Stussy brothers, Ray and Emmit, in the third season of Fargo in 2017?

Ewan McGregor won a Golden Globe and a Critics' Choice award for the double role. Carrie Coon and David Thewlis starred alongside him.

Which actor created Taboo with his father and starred as adventurer James Delaney in the 2017 BBC drama?

Tom Hardy wrote the original story with his father, Chips Hardy. Delaney comes home to England in 1814 after twelve years in Africa.

What is the name of Sherlock Holmes's secret sister, unveiled in the BBC's Sherlock in January 2017?

Eurus is described by Mycroft as an era-defining genius on a par with Isaac Newton. He had her held at Sherrinford, a secret prison in the North Sea.

Which screen veteran plays Lydia, the Cuban grandmother, in Netflix's 2017 remake of the sitcom One Day at a Time?

Rita Moreno's Lydia helps her daughter, an Army veteran, raise two children in Echo Park, Los Angeles. The part earned her a Critics' Choice nomination.

Which animated hero returned in 2017 for a final season on Adult Swim, years after his Cartoon Network show ended?

Samurai Jack came back darker: the final season is set 50 years on, with its unaged hero wandering the Earth without his sword.

Which documentary-maker spent more than ten years making The Vietnam War, shown on PBS in September 2017?

Ken Burns directed the ten-part series with Lynn Novick, his partner on The War and Prohibition. It cost around $30 million.

Which actress plays Sheila Hammond, a real estate agent who starts craving human flesh, in Netflix's Santa Clarita Diet?

Drew Barrymore was also an executive producer, as was Timothy Olyphant, who plays Sheila's husband and business partner Joel.