15 Extremely Rare Behind-The-Scene Photos From Your Favorite Shows
Behind-the-scenes photos are always entertaining, especially when the actors are caught passing time between takes wearing their costumes and makeup. Having some behind-the-scenes videos and photos help to give the audience a window into the making of the TV show or movie and it gives them an idea of what it would have been like to be on the set. When it comes to shows like Star Trek: The Next Generation and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, being on set during filming would be a dream come true. However, there are a lot of shows that don't have a whole lot of behind-the-scenes photos, especially older TV shows because back in the old days, people didn't walk around with cameras in their pocket. Thankfully, some photos have been unearthed and they give us a glimpse into what the behind-the-scenes looked like on some of our favorite series.
These shows are some of the greatest with some of the best casts and there is nothing better than seeing them goof off with each other between takes. These are all rare photos from the sets of TV series and there are a lot of pictures that you've probably never seen before. Game of Thrones photos from the first season, a game show that you always wanted to be a contestant on, an aerial view of the Friends set, and some zombies from The Walking Dead like you've never seen them before.
15 Game of Thrones
The Stark kids have really grown up fast! Apparently Maisie Williams, Sophie Turner, Isaac Hempstead Wright, and Alfie Allen would just hang out on the set in their Game of Thrones gear. It's pretty weird to see kids wearing these Westeros-style outfits while playing a card game on some bright yellow chairs with coffee cups and water bottles. Pretty sure they don't have that in Westeros. It's hard to believe that before Game of Thrones became the huge sensation it is today, the stars of the show were just kids. It's even harder to believe that the HBO series is already 6 years old! This picture looks like it was taken during the first season, way back when the Stark family was all together in one place and no one was dead yet. Those were the days.
14 Lost
Before Game of Thrones became our obsession, Lost was the go-to. The first episode aired in 2004 and you can tell because of Evangeline Lily's old iPod with the headphones plugged into the top. Throwback. Much of the show was filmed on location and all of the cave scenes in the first season were filmed on a sound stage that was built in a former Xerox warehouse that was abandoned in 1999 after a mass shooting took place. Most of the scenes that were meant to take place in California, Iraq, Miami, Paris, Thailand, New York, and Australia were all filmed in Honolulu. That's pretty impressive. The show ended back in 2010 and while all of our questions weren't answered, it was a pretty fun ride. It's hard to believe how long its been since we've seen Sayid and Charlie together.
13 Saturday Night Live
Every generation will always say that the Saturday Night Live season they grew up with was the best one. It's hard to believe that it's been over ten years since Amy Poehler and Seth Meyers became the anchors of Weekend Update and now Meyers has his own late night talk show. That was back in 2006 when cast included Kristin Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Andy Samberg, Fred Armisen, Will Forte, Bill Hader. Those were the days. This behind-the-scenes photo is so great because it's been too long since we've seen these two together and they were a perfect team. "Really!?! with Seth and Amy" was one of the best parts of the show. Of course, Poehler and Tina Fey were the best team of them all. Poehler left the show in 2008 and Meyers hosted the segment himself. He didn't have another c0-anchor until 2013 when Cecily Strong joined him on the segment.
12 Star Trek: The Next Generation
Even for someone who didn't watch Star Trek: The Next Generation or any of the Star Trek shows or movies, it's hard not to laugh at this photo because everyone looks so out of place, especially Worf who looks like he's giving himself a manicure. A little Wesley Crusher getting a kiss on the cheek from Commander Deanna Troy. Oh and you can't miss Geordi La Forge walking up in the back, looking straight at the camera. The laid back atmosphere in the photo looks like hanging out backstage with the cast would be a total blast. It's almost unbelievable that the series premiered 30 years ago in 1987. It ended in 1994. A brand new Star Trek series (Star Trek: Discovery) is premiering this fall on CBS but there is no way that it will ever be better than the original series or The Next Generation.
11 Double Dare
Now this is a real blast from the past. Super Sloppy Double Dare premiered in 1987, the same year that Star Trek: The Next Generation aired, which means that it is officially 30 years old. If you didn't feel old before, you probably do now. When it first aired, it tripled the viewership for Nickelodeon's afternoon lineup and eventually became the most watched original daily show on cable television ever. This photo is from an episode that aired in the early 90s (note the high-waisted mom jeans). As a kid, this set looked huge but, in reality, it was very small. Most game show sets are usually much smaller than they appear on TV. Still, the 90s kid in you probably still wishes they could be on Double Dare. Don't even pretend like you wouldn't still be up for the challenge.
10 Will & Grace
Will & Grace may be returning to TV this fall but it will never be able to live up to the original run. The popular NBC show first premiered in 1998 which makes it almost 20 years old and it ended in 2006. There are a lot of TV shows that have been coming back or are eventually coming back to TV (Twin Peaks, Star Trek, X-Files, Roseanne etc.) and Will & Grace is another 90s show to add to the list. What's great about this photo is that you can see all of the lights hanging from the ceiling. It's easy to forget that the actors are on a sound stage and that they aren't actually the characters they're pretending to be. That's Hollywood. Back in the day, Will & Grace made waves by focusing on a gay character but now there is a lot more representation on TV and we can only hope that NBC will continue to push the barrier.
9 Heroes
Speaking of revived TV shows, Heroes returned with a spinoff called Heroes: Reborn in 2015 and ended after only one year which is probably what should have happened to Heroes. The first season of Heroes was a huge success both commercially and critically but then the writer's strike happened in Hollywood and NBC was scraping at the bottom of the barrel when it came to writers which resulted in a horrible second, third, and fourth seasons. This was a real shame considering how good the first season was and this photo brings us back to the good old days way back in 2006 when Heroes was a new and promising TV show. In 2008, superhero movies (and superhero TV shows) had a big comeback with the release of Iron Man and now Heroes feels pretty outdated.
8 Hannah Montana
Before Miley Cyrus became the twerking pop star she is today, she was Hannah Montana on Disney Chanel. When Miley first made her transition from Disney star to an actual adult, there were a lot of people who wondered where the old Miley went. Nobody thought that this sweet little girl in a blonde wig would turn into the twerking woman who broke the internet with her cultural appropriation and giant foam finger at the VMAs. Things change. This particular photo looks like one of those pics that your friend takes and she posts it on Instagram because she looks cute but she didn't ask for your approval because she knew that you would say no. Regardless, these two were the original bffs… at least if you were a pre-teen when Hannah Montana was on the air.
7 The Suite Life of Zack and Cody
Speaking of Disney Channel TV shows, who can forget The Suite Life of Zack and Cody? Don't pretend for a minute that you didn't wish that you lived in a hotel as a teen. Also don't pretend that you don't know all the words to the theme song. This photo is great because it reveals how small the set actually was, though it looked pretty big on TV--it was a hotel after all. After the Suite Life ended in 2008, the sequel/spin-off The Suite Life on Deck took off and then ended in 2011. Dylan and Cole Sprouse disappeared from the spotlight for awhile but Cole just returned to TV as Jughead in Riverdale. He went from the dorky little teen to everyone's newest heartthrob. Back in the day, the Sprouse twins were the wealthiest children alive and earned $40,000 an episode combined. That's pretty impressive for teenagers… or anybody.
6 Friends
At least when it comes to 90s TV show revivals, we don't have to deal with the nightmare of a Friends revival. As amazing as it may sound to have new episodes of Friends, it's better to leave some things in the past because sometimes reviving something great only cheapens it in the long run. However, this amazing photo from above the Friends set should satisfy you. This is a great birds-eye-view of Monica's apartment complete with dreamy purple walls, the colorful pillows, and the microphones in the ceiling. Okay, the mics in the ceiling isn't really a part of Monica's aesthetic but that's what it looked like on set. Though the famous frame around the spy hole in the door isn't in the picture, the story goes that the frame actually had a picture inside it but it broke at the beginning of filming and it was left there. The rest is history.
5 The Muppet Show
It's hard to believe that when you're watching The Muppets, there are a bunch of guys scrambling behind a wall with puppets on their arms. This photo pretty much sums up what it was like to work on The Muppets Show back in the 1970s. It looks very hectic but also a lot of fun. You may not realize it but Jim Henson is responsible for many of the things you loved as a kid and now as an adult: Sesame Street, The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, Fraggle Rock, and, of course, The Muppets. By the end of the 60s, after he helped to make Sesame Street what it is today, Henson was seen as a children's entertainer but he wanted to make puppets for adults but that was never going to happen in the 70s so he settled on creating The Muppets Show for families. The rest is history.
4 ER
There is nothing dreamier than a young George Clooney happily napping on Julianna Marguelies' lap. Before there was the show full of sexy doctors known as Grey's Anatomy, there was ER the original show full of sexy doctors. The show had a total of 15 seasons, starting in 1994 and ending in 2009. Though there are countless medical dramas on TV, only one has Dr. Doug Ross and Nurse Carol Hathaway. Without ER, we wouldn't have the Julianna Marguelies and George Clooney that we have today which is a heartbreaking thought. Clooney left the show in 1999 and it was the 2000s when he really became a movie star (unless you count his stint at Batman). While Marguelies may not have hit the ground running like Clooney, she is the star of The Good Wife and has earned two Emmys and a Golden Globe. Not too shabby.
3 Buffy the Vampire Slayer
As a kid in the 90s, the only things that mattered were tattoo chokers, choosing away messages on AIM, and, of course, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The beloved series just turned 20 years old this year which means we are all a lot older than we might feel. The nostalgia is just too much in these pictures and there are few things more adorable than Alyson Hannigan being kissed by four of her costars. As much as we all love Spike, it's hard not to feel bad for the baby he's holding because that poor child is probably scarred after being held by a vampire. However, you also probably wish that you had a photo of you as a baby being held by Spike. Who could blame you? Like, Friends, Buffy's legacy would be tarnished if it had a revival so instead of pining over the fact that there are no new Buffy episodes, just rewatch the series on Netflix.
2 Little House on the Prairie
Little House on the Prairie first aired in 1974 and ran until 1983 and though the story took place in the late 1800s, Michael Landon as Charles Ingalls had some serious 70s hair. The best part of his photo is Landon in the Mickey Mouse tank while a young Melissa Gilbert and Melissa Sue Anderson are wearing their puffy white dresses in a carriage. To top it all off, the man with the big white moustache and the top hat makes this pic hilarious. It also brings us back to the days when Little House on the Prairie re-runs were the best thing on TV and Nellie Oleson was the mean girl we all hated--way before Regina George. Funny enough, this show is where Jason Bateman got his start when he appeared on 8 episodes as Laura Ingalls' adopted brother, James Cooper.
1 The Walking Dead
Zombies may be terrifying but they are definitely not so scary when they are holding umbrellas. If The Walking Dead filmed in Hollywood, they wouldn't have to worry about the rain but since the show is filmed in Georgia, bringing an umbrella to the shoot is probably a good idea, especially with all that makeup. All of the zombies on the show actually have to go through "zombie school" during which they are taught to move and sound like a zombie. These zombies are "Hero" zombies which means that they are complete made-over from head-to-toe to look like a zombie while "Mid ground" and "Deep Background" zombies aren't required to wear too much makeup. Basically, if you're going to be a zombie on The Walking Dead, you definitely want to be a Hero zombie and you also want to bring an umbrella because you don't want all that makeup to run off.