10 TV Shows That Re-Used Props From Other Shows

A little while ago eagle-eyed TV fans noticed that long-serving sitcom dad Ed O'Neill appeared to have been reading the same newspaper for the past thirteen years.

The Married With Children and Modern Family star had obviously taken his time learning about the stories behind such riveting headlines as "Compromise Housing Bill Sent To President" and "She's 3rd Brightest But Hard Gal To See". But it turned out that O'Neill was far from alone in being riveted by that one paper. Kurtwood Smith seemed to spend a whole decade on it in That 70s Show.

Using a generic fake prop newspaper is obviously cheaper than getting one specially printed every time you need a paper to appear on screen, but it's a bit of a mystery why this prop paper in particular is so popular.

The paper, which has also been spotted in shows like Angel, Desperate Housewives, Charmed, Cougar Town, and Scrubs, was produced by the Earl Hays Press, a printing company that makes "insert" printing for film and TV.

Earl Hays make everything from magazines to packaging for fake brands like The X-Files's Morley Cigarettes, but their specialism is period newspapers. The prominent image of an advert with a man in a 50s-style hat on the constantly reused paper shows that this is one of their period inserts, but that hasn't stopped it being used in countless shows with a contemporary setting.

Still, at least Earl Hays were prescient enough to include the distressingly evergreen headline "UN Debates Mideast Crisis: Hopes For Early Solution". Really, that could belong to any era.