Making a TV show involves a lot of people, so it's no surprise that it's not always smooth sailing behind the scenes.
Sometimes it's a case of co-stars not getting on or showrunners disagreeing with the network, but other times there are issues you just wouldn't have expected.
We've rounded up seven dark behind-the-scenes stories from your favourite TV shows that may make you look at them in a different light.
Prepare your restorative kitten gifs in advance. Some of these are pretty bleak.
1. Luck
After a protest by animal-rights group PETA, HBO's horse-racing drama was cancelled after one season following the death of a third horse during production on the second season. Yeah, that's right – two died during the making of the first one.
Lead star Dustin Hoffman wasn't impressed, claiming that accusations made against the show were "distorted", but PETA hit back by accusing him of having "a really cold streak running through his heart". Which is fairly cutting.
2. Growing Pains
ABC sitcom Growing Pains featured one of Leonardo DiCaprio's earliest roles, but was more greatly affected by one of its lead stars, Kirk Cameron, finding religion while working on the show. As a result, Cameron changed the "things that I was willing and not willing to do" – including a scene where his character Mike Seaver shared a bed with a girl.
"When you make a decision, like, 'I'm not comfortable saying that line or doing that scene', well that meant that 11 writers had to come up with a new scene," he reflected to CBN. "And that meant that the other actors and actresses in that scene had to learn new lines, because I didn't want to do that scene."
It was also reported that Cameron got Julie McCullough fired after appearing in Playboy, something that he denied in his autobiography.
3. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
After finding fame in rap duo DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Will Smith wasn't as careful with his money as he should have been, leaving him on the brink of bankruptcy and owing the government back taxes of almost $3 million.
"They were talking about I didn't send them no money, you know. And I mean, I didn't but I just didn't think it needed to be such a big issue," he told CBS News, adding he "probably" went through "five, six million dollars". "Oh, I had a really, really good time. It was the best blown money ever."
Fortunately for Smith, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air came along and he had 70% of his wages garnished for the first three seasons. Clearly the theme song and its lyric of "my life got flipped, turned upside down" was a bit autobiographical.
4. Full House
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen haven't yet been involved in Netflix's Full House revival Fuller House, something that has left John Stamos "heartbroken", even though he did initially try to get the sisters fired from the original show.
"It's sort of true that the Olsen twins cried a lot. It was very difficult to get the shot. So I [said], 'Get them out!'. That is actually 100% accurate. They brought in a couple of unattractive redheaded kids. We tried that for a while and that didn't work," he recalled, charmingly, in 2015.
"[Producers] were like, alright, get the Olsen twins back. And that's the story."
5. The A-Team
You can't exactly accuse The A-Team of having well-rounded female characters, but apparently it was affected by behind-the-scenes sexism. Marla Heasley – who joined in the second season as reporter Tawnia Baker – alleged that she was told on her first day by George Peppard that "none of the guys want you here" and that she was only there because the producers "think they need a girl".
While Peppard didn't directly respond to the accusation, he did say that actresses on the show were a "distraction". "She always slows down the action. She's someone who's only there for the glamour shots. Everything stops for the sexy smiles – and I can't see why that's necessary on The A-Team," he said.
6. The Brady Bunch
Away from the reported issues with hair dye causing 8-year-old Susan Olsen's hair to fall out, there was something else going on behind-the-scenes that gets grim if you think about it too much. Turns out Bobby and "step-sister" Cindy were hooking up during production, with Olsen admitting she had a bit of a thing with Mike Lookinland, who played Bobby Brady.
"We led a sheltered life for part of the year so if there was anybody to get a crush on or try to date, it would be our counterparts. So I had Mike Lookinland and we used to make out in the doghouse when we were 9," she revealed.
Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
