Mental Floss

TV

Bella Ramsey in ‘The Last of Us.’

HBO Max’s hit adaptation of the video game is back for its second season. Here‘s what you need to know, from who could have played Ellie and Joel to how the show brought the infected to life to what to expect in season 2. Warning: Spoilers ahead!

Meredith Danko


They like screens under certain circumstances.

Videos of dogs watching the animated film “Flow” have gone viral recently, and science backs up the adorable phenomenon.

CaLea Johnson


The far-fetched plots were designed to keep viewers wanting more.

How did daytime dramas like “Guiding Light” and “General Hospital” become known as “soap operas”? It's all thanks to commercials.

Marla Mackoul




NBC

On March 24, 2005, American audiences got their first look at the scrappy team at Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch. Can you hear ‘The Office’ theme song already?

Meredith Danko








Pee-wee Herman, circa 1995

In the summer of 1985, Paul Reubens introduced America’s youth—and millions of young-at-heart adults—to a new kind of comedy.

Jennifer M Wood


Melissa Gilbert stars in Little House on the Prairie.

'Little House on the Prairie' was television at its most wholesome, but that doesn't mean that everything that went down behind-the-scenes was PG-rated. Now, Netflix is rebooting the series.

Kara Kovalchik, Garin Pirnia




David Lynch

The iconoclastic director behind ‘Mulholland Drive,’ ‘Twin Peaks,’ and more cult classics—who passed away on January 16, 2025 at the age of 78—once drew a comic strip about a furious dog and disliked large furniture.

Scott Beggs