In response to today's news that Netflix is nearing a deal to reboot "Full House," a popular joke was bouncing around Twitter. 

Coincidentally, somebody made a "Full House"/"House of Cards" mashup just last week which now has some relevance.

It traded in scenic San Francisco...

For some truly grim D.C. imagery.

And they even got the whole cast involved, with fonts to match:

 The theme song definitely made this drama feel a bit more light...

You can watch the mashup opening credits for "Full House of Cards" below:

SEE ALSO: A 'Full House' revival is probably coming to Netflix — here's how the internet is reacting

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NOW WATCH: Mark Cuban: Here's Why Netflix Won't Kill TV

AMC will begin to air the final episodes of “Mad Men” on Sunday.

If you haven't had a chance to watch the first part of the final season 7, which aired last spring, don't worry, we have you covered.

Before saying goodbye for good to Don Draper and the rest of the gang, here's a refresher of what went down the first half of the final season.

If you haven't watched the first part of season 7 yet, warning: spoilers ahead.

Season 7 begins with Don Draper (Jon Hamm) still on “mandatory leave of absence” from Sterling Cooper & Partners after he divulged his shocking childhood at a pitch meeting with Hershey at the end of season 6.

But Don doesn't reveal his work situation to his actress-wife Megan (Jessica Paré), who he still visits in Los Angeles on the weekends.

Back at the advertising agency's office in New York, Peggy Olsen (Elisabeth Moss) is at odds with Lou Avery (Allan Havey), Don’s fill-in.

For "Mad Men" viewers, one of the most satisfying aspects of the show is the way Matthew Weiner and his team of writers fold the watershed events of the 1960s into the narrative.

The political events of the '60s have been a part of the show since Season 1, when the ad agency Sterling Cooper threw an all-night party against the backdrop of the Kennedy/Nixon election. More recently, Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination was announced during an advertising awards ceremony on the show. (This actually happened.)

Some people don't realize the show depicts landmark developments in the advertising industry with equal precision. We spoke with real-life 1960s "Mad Man" Mel Abert, former art director at renowned ad agency Chiat/Day. Abert let us in on the developments in the show that ended up being huge for the industry.

Volkswagen's "Think Small" And "Lemon" Ads

Volkswagen’s humorous ads turned heads when they debuted in 1959, and Ad Age later ranked it as the best advertising campaign of the 20^th century. In the third episode of "Mad Men," Don Draper and his team discuss the ads at length to figure out why they work. Those in the industry have some theories on why the "Think Small" campaign was effective.

"It was self-deprecating. It was the first post-modern ad," Bob Garfield, an advertising industry consultant and former columnist for Advertising Age, told the BBC. “… That ad ushered in a whole era of humor, wit, and irony in advertising."

William Bernbach of the then-nascent agency Doyle, Dane, Bernbach created the ad, which was his answer to a relatively small advertising budget and a car brand that Americans were predisposed to hate because it was German. (Remember, this was a post-World War II America.)

The ads took seeming faults about the car — its unique design, small size, and low horsepower — and turned them into selling points with humor and irony. 

The Creative Revolution And Agencies Driven By Creatives

Many people in advertising see the '60s as a golden age for the industry — and not just because of the three-martini lunches. Advertising during this creative revolution turned the old way of doing things on its head. Agencies ditched long paragraphs of copy for powerful visuals, snappy slogans, and humor.

Boisterous creatives of the era like Jay Chiat, Julian Koenig, and Mary Wells Lawrence led the industry with daring campaigns that many still remember today. Campaigns like Avis' "We Try Harder," the Pillsbury Doughboy, and Ronald McDonald all began in the 1960s.

The Importance Of Television And The Rise Of Media Buyers

Americans had heard of television by the 1930s, but it became “the national campfire” by the 1960s when people were watching an average of 5 hours of TV a day.

TV advertising initially came in the form of sponsorships of entire programs like the U.S. Steel Hour, but then networks began selling multiple 30-second spots to advertisers. The change gave rise to one of the most enduring aspects of advertising: the media buyer. 

Media buyers negotiate and buy prime TV advertising space for their clients using notoriously complicated contracts. The best buyers can get special rates or advertising spots based on their relationship with the network and the amount of space they buy.

In the early 1960s, media buying departments were just forming, as demonstrated by Harry Crane’s nervous pitch to Roger Sterling in Season 2. By 1968, these departments were the most talked-about phenomenon on the advertising scene, the New York Times reported at the time.

Media buyers typically netted a 15% commission on ad buys for the agency, and they quickly gained power in agencies since TV deals were so expensive. In Season 6 of "Mad Men," Harry Crane bursts into a board meeting and demands to be made a partner. He’s denied, but his demand for more recognition is a clear sign of the times.

"Media agencies are the ATM of the big advertising companies, they throw off a lot of cash," advertising veteran Nick Manning told The Guardian "The big groups make a lot more money out of media buying than they do out of anything else."

In the late 1990s, the biggest advertising conglomerates, including Omnicon and WPP Group, began consolidating the media departments of numerous agencies into stand-alone companies. The resulting companies — GroupM and OmnicomMediaGroup— are two of the most powerful media companies in the world.

The Rise Of The Computer

In the current season of "Mad Men," Sterling Cooper & Partners installs a massive computer that takes the place of the creative lounge.

While Abert says "Mad Men" was right about how important the computer would become, he says the show jumped the gun on the dates. The prohibitively high cost of an IBM System/360 computer prevented all but the largest of agencies from having them that early, he says.

The New York Times noted in 1968 that early adopter agencies began moving computers into the office in the early 1960s, but most agencies including Abert's firm Chiat/Day paid for subscriptions to computer services that provided the same data.

The computer paranoia of the "Mad Men" creative team ended up being well-founded, though. According to Abert, the introduction of the Apple Lisa and the Apple Mac in the early 80s “changed the advertising industry overnight.” Because the computer made creating graphics far easier, many companies took their marketing in-house. Advertising had to quickly adapt to the new world.

“There were creatives who were steeped in the old ways of doing things that didn't want to change," Abert said. "They were quickly doing nothing. Those that embraced the computer are still working."

The Los Angeles Advertising Scene 

At the end of Season 6 of "Mad Men," important characters jockey to go to California to start a Los Angeles office of Sterling Cooper. A tiny California office would have been a demotion in earlier seasons, but by the late '60s, L.A. represented a chance for creativity and freedom.

While New York remained the sophisticated hub of the industry, L.A. was rising up as a disruptive upstart, full of unconventional independents and new outposts from the Madison Avenue's biggest agencies. The rise in prestige of L.A. was due in large part to the success of agencies like Chiat/Day, which became known for its inventive, risk-taking ads and unconventional approach to clients.

One of Chiat/Day's more provocative ads was for Western Harness Racing, Inc., which wanted to promote night-time races at its Hollywood Park track. Believing the people they had to reach were bettors, Chiat/Day ran print ads with the headline, "How To Tell The Difference Between A Pacer and A Trotter." The punchline: the difference between the two was illustrated not with horses, but with a cigar-smoking man on all fours.

Chiat/Day's work may have led the pack, but they were far from the only risk-taking creatives in L.A. Advertising virtuoso Stan Freberg, who ran Freberg LTD in Los Angeles, was known for pioneering the use of humor in ads. He was responsible for this iconic 1960s Sunsweet Prunes ad, featuring science-fiction author Ray Bradbury:

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NOW WATCH: Animated map of what Earth would look like if all the ice melted

The prevalence of video-on-demand is causing box office profits to decrease, especially in North America. One company is giving consumers an incentive to keep going to the multiplex.

MoviePass is a subscription service that, for a $30 to $35 monthly fee, offers unlimited trips to the movie theater. We took it for a test drive and found that the service makes a lot of economic sense for people who venture to the theater frequently enough to cover the subscription cost.

Produced by Graham Flanagan. Camera by Jason Gaines and Will Wei.

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After dealing with a string of insufficiently answered questions from brothers Richard and Albert Amini regarding their company RoloDoc, "Shark Tank" investor Mark Cuban rose from his seat and shook each of their hands. "Worst presentation ever," he told them.

Cuban recently told CNBC that the RoloDoc pitch from season five was still the worst pitch he had ever seen in the four seasons he's been on the show.

The brothers, both University of Arizona College of Medicine residency graduates, were looking for a $50,000 investment in exchange for 20% equity of their proposed social network that would connect doctors with their patients.

"The problem was, they didn't have a business," Cuban told CNBC. "All they had was a list of buzzwords. So they liked to use 'security' and 'encryption' and 'email' and 'social media,' and the more questions I asked, the less they had in response."

In the Tank, the brothers gave their vision for a smartphone app that would allow patients to send instant messages to their doctors and other physicians.

Investor Kevin O'Leary explained that when he's on the road and a health concern arises, he sends an email to his doctor, who then responds with advice and possibly a specialist recommendation. He asked the brothers how they're adding value to the process, to which Albert replied, "We're adding social media!" Doctors could brand themselves, collecting all of their information in one place, he said.

ZocDoc, a searchable database for finding doctors, launched in 2007 and now has over 5 million users. Sermo, an anonymous social network exclusively for verified and credentialed physicians, launched in 2006 and now has over 300,000 users. Without mentioning these services by name, the brothers suggested that their proposed service — which was in alpha testing with 50 of their friends — would fall somewhere in between those two sites, though they never sufficiently explained the necessity or the mechanics of RoloDoc.

Cuban didn't envision the social aspect of RoloDoc being a success, but more importantly couldn't get the brothers to answer how they would convince physicians to join. Investor Lori Greiner said she had unaddressed concerns regarding how they would vet those who did to ensure the safety of patients.

O'Leary was the most intrigued of the Sharks, but pulled out of a deal when the brothers couldn't explain how the service could make money. They left the room without a deal.

The Amini brothers have since ditched RoloDoc but continue to practice medicine. After the premiere of the episode in September 2013, Albert tweeted: "Did my application for business school just write itself? #noregrets #ontv #moreschooling #stillasurgeon."

Cuban told CNBC that "typically I don't like to be mean to entrepreneurs... but these were two doctors who I think thought they could just snow us and mislead us into thinking that because they're doctors they're smarter than all of us."

SEE ALSO: Mark Cuban shares his 12 fundamental rules for entrepreneurs

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NOW WATCH: 'Shark Tank' investor explains how to make a great first impression

In five seasons of ABC's reality pitch show "Shark Tank," we've seen some doozies. Hopefuls have pitched products including an energy drink for Cougars, a vortex chamber that generates gold, and flatulence-scented candles.

At times, contestants show up unable to even explain why anyone would want to buy their product.

With an average viewership of seven million and airtime that's worth about half a million dollars to the aspiring entrepreneurs who make it on, you'd think every pitch would be thoughtful, well-rehearsed, and airtight. But you'd be wrong.

Andrew Figgins, a Chicago-based entrepreneur and owner of the fan site InTheSharkTank.com, says nearly half of the hundreds of pitches that have been made on the show have been awful. The most common problems? Far-fetched ideas, wacky personalities, and a lack of basic business knowledge. "The people who have gone on the show and don't know their numbers get chewed up and spit out," Figgins says.

In anticipation of the sixth season's two-hour premiere on Friday, we take a look at some of the biggest duds in the history of the hit pitch show.

Jason Woods pitches the Kymera jet-propelled boogie board.

Episode 507: "Kymera"

In the most recent season, Woods asks for $250,000 for a 20% stake in his company, which he's been developing for 10 years. The problem is he doesn't have a business plan. Oh, and he's never sold a single one in a decade.

Mark Cuban calls Woods a "wantrepreneur," someone who's got ideas but not a shred of business acumen.

Episode 507: "Kymera"

Because Woods couldn't figure out how to finalize a product and sell even a few with the $130,000 he spent on development over the past decade, the Sharks conclude an injection of capital won't save him.

Brothers Richard and Albert Amini pitch a social media app for doctors.

Episode 501: "Rolodoc"

It would function as a secure platform for medical professionals to upload their medical records and put each other in contact, they say. They want $50,000 in exchange for a 20% stake. Sounds like there may be an idea there, right?

In August 2006, it seemed like Tom Cruise was finished.

In an announcement unprecedented by the head of a major conglomerate, the chairman of Viacom, Sumner Redstone, publicly ripped into the star, who at the time was one of the most profitable at Viacom's movie studio, Paramount Pictures.

“We don't think that someone who effectuates creative suicide and costs the company revenue should be on the lot,” Redstone told The Wall Street Journal. “His recent conduct has not been acceptable to Paramount.”

Nine years ago was certainly the toughest and strangest time of Cruise’s career. The then 43-year-old actor had a lifetime box-office gross of over $1.5 billion, but his flawless transition from young heartthrob to respected dramatic actor to gargantuan action star had seemed to self-destruct as quickly as one of the messages his character, Ethan Hunt, receives in the “Mission: Impossible” movies.

The studio he'd called home for 14 years was parting ways with him.

Today, on the heels of Cruise's awesome new trailer for “Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation,” it's hard to imagine the veteran actor's career being at such a low point.

His strange downfall and subsequent rebirth as one of the most bankable movie stars all began with an innocent act of love.

When Cruise agreed to go on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in May 2005 to promote his next blockbuster film, “War of the Worlds,” it was a big deal. Not only did most women believe he was one of the sexiest men alive, but Cruise rarely did interviews, especially on daytime TV.

As Cruise walked onto Oprah's stage, the crowd went wild. Oprah playfully tousled Cruise's hair, and the actor was clearly in a great mood.

During the interview, Oprah brought up Cruise's latest love interest, Katie Holmes, who was off-stage where no one, especially the cameras, could see her. The excitement of talking about his new girlfriend led him to leap up on Oprah's couch with joy (he did it a second time for good measure).

After the couch jumping, Oprah even got Cruise to chase down Holmes and get her to come on stage.

It seemed harmless at the time, but thanks to a very young internet video-posting site called YouTube, the image of Cruise on top of Oprah’s couch would become a pop-culture phenomenon.

A month later, Cruise agreed to go on the “Today” show to continue promoting “War of the Worlds,” and also talk about his religion, Scientology. But when the interview topic changed to Scientology, and specifically to Cruise not agreeing with psychiatry, the tone changed. Especially in regard to Brooke Shields’ use of antidepressants for postpartum depression.

Here’s an excerpt of Cruise and Lauer's uncomfortable exchange:

Cruise: “Do you know what Adderall is? Do you know Ritalin? Do you now Ritalin is a street drug? Do you understand that?”

Lauer: “The difference is — ”

Cruise: “No, Matt, I’m asking you a question.”

Lauer: “I understand there’s abuse of all of these things.”

Cruise: “No, you see here’s the problem: You don’t know the history of psychiatry. I do.”

Later in the conversation:

Lauer: “Do you examine the possibility that these things do work for some people? That yes, there are abuses, and yes, maybe they’ve gone too far in certain areas, maybe there are too many kids on Ritalin, maybe electric shock — ”

Cruise: “Too many kids on Ritalin?”

Lauer: “I’m just saying — but aren’t there examples where it works?”

Cruise: “Matt, Matt, Matt, you’re glib. You don’t even know what Ritalin is. If you start talking about chemical imbalance, you have to evaluate and read the research papers on how they came up with these theories, Matt. OK? That’s what I’ve done. You go and you say, ‘Where’s the medical tests? Where’s the blood test that says how much Ritalin you’re supposed to get?’”

Lauer: “It’s very impressive to listen to you, because clearly you’ve done the homework and you know the subject.”

Cruise: “And you should. And you should do that also, because just knowing people who are on Ritalin isn’t enough. You should be a little bit more responsible … ”

Within minutes, the exchange was on loop all over the world.

Within a few weeks, Cruise had gone wild on Oprah and lashed out at Matt Lauer, and by then the tabloids had gone overtime on the Cruise-Holmes relationship, which they called “TomKat.”

It was time for Cruise to get off the grid, but he couldn't.

For most of his career, an experienced publicist named Pat Kingsley reportedly kept Cruise’s private life out of the tabloids. According to a 2014 LA Weekly story, she even talked Cruise out of being more vocal about Scientology when he did press for his 2003 film “The Last Samurai.” A year later, according to the LA Weekly story, Cruise let Kingsley go after 14 years and formed a publicity team that included his sister, Lee Anne De Vette, and fellow Scientologists.

Now in a typhoon of backlash that Cruise had never experienced before, his team may have been too inexperienced to protect him.

Despite all the negative attention, “War of the Worlds” still went to No.1 at the box office during its opening weekend ($65 million), and ended up with a worldwide take of $592 million. It would be the last time a film starring Cruise would make over $500 million worldwide for the next six years.

Following the “War of the Worlds” release, TomKat was still daily tabloid fodder, especially with the news that the two were expecting a child. And then, in March 2006, Cruise went global again with the controversial “South Park” episode“Trapped in the Closet.”

The episode originally aired in November 2005 and revealed what Scientologists believe is the origin of life, but it also depicted Cruise as an insecure person and played on rumors of his sexuality.

In the episode, one of the main characters on the show, Stan, is thought by Scientology to be the second coming of its founder, L. Ron Hubbard. This leads Scientologists, including Cruise, to flock to Stan’s house to pay their respects. But when Stan insults his acting ability, Cruise hides in Stan’s closet, leading to Stan saying, “Dad, Tom Cruise won’t come out of the closet.”

Comedy Central delayed re-airing the episode in March 2006, because allegedly Cruise declared he would not promote “Mission: Impossible 3” unless Viacom (which owns the film’s studio, Paramount, and Comedy Central) canceled the rebroadcast.

Cruise’s reps denied he ever threatened not to promote the film.

The controversy made headlines all over the world and led "South Park" fans to declare they would boycott “Mission: Impossible 3” until Comedy Central aired the episode.

The episode finally re-aired in July of that year.

“Closetgate,” in what it would become known, was the last straw.

The constant tabloid coverage of TomKat, plus rumors of Cruise’s involvement with Scientology — like that Cruise and Holmes’ relationship was allegedly arranged by the church — had turned people off. (Cruise and Holmes married in November 2006 and divorced six years later.)

The bad press soon began to affect Cruise's career. “Mission: Impossible 3” opened in theaters in May 2006 and Cruise's Q score — the appeal of a celebrity, brand, or company on the public — was down 40%.

Though the film was No. 1 in the US its opening weekend ($48 million), it lost appeal as the weeks passed. Ticket sales dropped 47% its second week in theaters, and then 53% the following week.

“Mission: Impossible 3” is the lowest grossing film in the franchise to date with a $400 million worldwide gross.

It was at this point that Viacom chair Sumner Redstone gave Cruise his wake-up call: “We don't think that someone who effectuates creative suicide and costs the company revenue should be on the lot. His recent conduct has not been acceptable to Paramount.”

After being kicked off the Paramount lot, Cruise hired a publicist with more experience and buckled down for a comeback. He brought his production company over to MGM and took partial ownership of the iconic United Artists studio.

Cruise also became less vocal about Scientology in public, though he was apparently involved internally. In 2008, a Scientology-produced YouTube video of the actor explaining what the religion means to him went viral.

Cruise hit the pause button on doing action movies, turning to dramas like “Lions for Lambs” and “Valkyrie."

In between those films he agreed to star in pal Ben Stiller’s 2008 comedy “Tropic Thunder” as the overweight, bigger-than-life movie exec Les Grossman. It was the best movie Cruise had done in years. In doing something so out of character, he began to win back fans.

“Tropic Thunder” reunited Cruise with his former studio, Paramount. Although Cruise's production company was kicked off the lot, it didn't mean he couldn't still be cast in the studio's films. The wheels were now in motion for Cruise to get back on Paramount’s good side so he could make more “Mission: Impossible” movies.

Being a hit in “Tropic Thunder,” the biggest comedy of the year for Paramount, was a good starting point. Director J.J. Abrams, who directed Cruise in "Mission: Impossible 3" and was in Paramount's good graces after directing the studio's hit "Star Trek Into Darkness," was also working to get Cruise back in the franchise.

In the summer of 2010, news broke that Cruise would be starring in “Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol,” with Abrams as producer. But this installment in the franchise would not be titled “Mission: Impossible 4,” because the idea was that the film would be a refresh on the franchise, with Cruise stepping aside as the lead and giving way to rising star Jeremy Renner.

Cruise didn’t really get the message.

Back in the Ethan Hunt role, Cruise cemented his place in the franchise by scaling the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, without a stunt double. That, and the other insane stunts featured in the film, led to “Ghost Protocol” earning the biggest worldwide box office in the franchise, with $695 million. It was also the second-highest earning film for Paramount, in 2011, just behind “Transformers: Dark of the Moon.”

Cruise is not back to his pre-Oprah couch-jumping glory, as evidenced by disappointments like "Knight and Day" and "Jack Reacher," but he's trying. Following “Ghost Protocol,” Cruise came out with “Edge of Tomorrow” and though it had a slow start when it opened in the spring of 2014, it ended up passing the domestic $100 million mark. That makes it the first time in nine years a non-“Mission: Impossible” Cruise film hit that landmark number.

Now, with the excitement for “Rogue Nation,” Cruise's mission of returning as a top action star is likely possible. That is, if his fans are willing to forgive HBO's explosive new Scientology documentary, "Going Clear," in which Cruise is criticized for remaining the face of the controversial religion.

SEE ALSO: How Tom Cruise filmed the crazy plane-hanging stunt in the new 'Mission: Impossible'

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NOW WATCH: This Sports Illustrated swimsuit rookie could become the next Kate Upton

As a Minnesotan, I'm very proud of my home state. We're attractive, have great food, awesome cities, and we live in one of the healthiest states in the US — with perhaps one of the unhealthiest state fairs.

Some might even say we're the best state.

Plus, Minnesota has raised some very famous people.

From Nobel Prize winners to famous actors, keep reading to see the most famous people who were born and raised in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

Singer-songwriter Prince 

Born Prince Rogers Nelson in June 1958 in Minneapolis, Prince came from a family of musicians. He grew up writing music (he wrote his first song when he was 7, as the story goes) and attended Minneapolis Central High School, where he started his first band, Grand Central, which played at venues in the Minneapolis area.

Prince created a demo at a Minneapolis studio in 1976 and received a recording contract from a Minneapolis businessman when he was 17. That move garnered him a lot of attention from top record companies like Warner Brothers and was the start of his dazzling career.

He is now one of the most iconic musicians of all time, and still has a home and recording studio in Chanhassen, Minnesota.

Author F. Scott Fitzgerald

Born Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald in Saint Paul in September 1896, he grew up in Minnesota (for the most part he also spent some of his early life in Syracuse, New York) and attended St. Paul Academy before moving to the Newman School in New Jersey and eventually to Princeton.

After dropping out of Princeton, serving in the army, and being rejected by publishers, Fitzgerald quit his advertising job in New York City and moved back to Saint Paul to finish his first novel, “This Side of Paradise.”

He is now known as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. His novels — especially “The Great Gatsby” — remain classics. Read more about F. Scott Fitzgerald’s life here.

Actor Josh Hartnett

Joshua Hartnett was born in July 1978 in Saint Paul. He graduated from South High School, in Minneapolis, before leaving to attend SUNY Purchase in New York and later to pursue acting in California.

He moved back to Minnesota in 2002 after growing fed up with Hollywood. In addition to taking on more indie projects, he became involved with Minnesota politics, joining Barack Obama in his Minnesota campaign in 2012.

Hartnett is most famous for his roles in “Black Hawk Down,” “The Virgin Suicides,” and “Pearl Harbor.” He is starring in the TV series “Penny Dreadful.” His Saint Paul home is on the market. 

Actress and singer Judy Garland

Judy Garland was born Frances Ethel Gumm in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, in June 1922. Her Vaudevillian parents had her working in show business straightaway — she started out, at 2 years old, as a member of the performing group the Gumm Sisters with her two older sisters.

The family moved to California for the girls to study acting. Garland's talent garnered attention from top studios, and she signed a deal with MGM at 13.

Garland was married five times and had three children, including daughter Liza Minelli. She was plagued by drug and health problems throughout her career, but is remembered for her early roles in “The Wizard of Oz” and “Meet Me in St. Louis.” You can read more about Garland’s life here.

'Peanuts' cartoonist Charles Shulz

Influential cartoonist Charles Monroe Shulz created the comic strip “Peanuts.”  

Born in Minneapolis in November 1922, he grew up in Saint Paul, where he was one of the youngest in his class at Central High School.

After graduating, Shulz entered the army and served in WWII before returning to Saint Paul and selling his first cartoon to the Saturday Evening Post. His career took off from there.

At its height, "Peanuts" was published in over 2,600 papers in 75 countries and in 21 languages. You can read more about Charles Shulz and his incredible career here.

Singer-songwriter Bob Dylan

Born Robert Allen Zimmerman in May 1941 in Duluth, the man who later became known as Bob Dylan grew up in Minnesota. Dylan and his family lived in Duluth until he was 6, and then they moved to Hibbing, Minnesota, to live among a small Jewish community on Mesabi Range. He attended Hibbing High School and formed a few bands before graduating and moving to Minneapolis.

Dylan enrolled at the University of Minnesota, but became invested in folk music and began performing full time at venues in Dinkytown, a neighborhood in Minneapolis. He dropped out of college after his first year and began calling himself Bob Dylan.

He moved to New York and the rest is history. Dylan remains most famous for his early songs, including “Blowin’ In The Wind” and “The Times They Are A-Changin,’” which were a part of the '60s protest movement. Dylan continues to perform, tour, and write new music, and he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama in 2012.

Actor Seann William Scott

Born in Cottage Grove in October 1976, Seann William Scott grew up the youngest of seven kids. He graduated from Park High School in Cottage Grove in 1995 and moved to Los Angeles shortly after to work in Hollywood after becoming inspired while working at the local movie theater and seeing all the movies he wanted free.

He is most famous for his role as Steve Stifler in the "American Pie" series, but has also starred in“All My Children, “Role Models,” “The Dukes of Hazard,” and has done voice work for the “Ice Age” series.

Novelist and playwright Sinclair Lewis

Sinclair Lewis was born in February 1885 in Sauk Centre, Minnesota. He spent his early childhood mostly reading since he found it hard to make friends and meet girls. He even tried to run away from home when he was 13, according to biographer Mark Schorer.

He left Minnesota when he was 17 to spend a year at Oberlin Academy (a preparatory school for Oberlin College) before moving on to Yale University and the East Coast.

Sinclair Lewis is now one of the most acclaimed American novelists and is famous for being the first US writer to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature for his book “Dodsworth.” He wrote many books, plays, and short stories during his lifetime, including “Main Street” and “Babbitt.” You can read more about him in “Sinclair Lewis: An American Life.”

Former professional wrestler, actor, and former Governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura

Jesse Ventura was born James George Janos in July 1951 in Minneapolis, where he was raised. After graduating from Roosevelt High School in 1969, he enlisted in the United States Navy and was a part of the Underwater Demolition Team (which eventually became a part of the SEALs).

After his career in the Navy and a brief stint with a bike gang, he attended North Hennepin Community College and began weightlifting and wrestling. He created the stage name Jesse “The Body” Ventura and was a charismatic "heel" throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s.

After his career in wrestling and a brief stint in Hollywood, Ventura turned his attention to politics. He ran for Mayor of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, in 1990 and got the job. In 1998, he ran for Governor of Minnesota as a nominee for the Reform Party and narrowly won, defeating the major party candidates and serving until 2003.

Ventura has also made national headlines recently for successfully suing the estate of “American Sniper” author Chris Kyle for defamation. The now-deceased Kyle described beating up a former Navy SEAL in his book for saying that American soldiers deserved to lose a few men during the Iraq war — in later interviews, he claimed the SEAL was Ventura, which Ventura adamantly denied.You can read more about the lawsuit here.

Author and radio personality Garrison Keillor

Gary Edward “Garrison” Keillor was born in Anoka, Minnesota, to a family of six children. He attended Anoka High School and went on to study at the University of Minnesota, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts in English in 1966.

While at the U of M, Keillor worked at a student-operated radio station and went on to establish a professional radio career. His most famous radio program was “A Prairie Home Companion,” a variety show recorded in front of a live audience on Minnesota Public Radio.

Keillor still hosts radio programs — including the latest reboot of “A Prairie Home Companion,” despite continuously threatening to retire— and writes frequently for newspapers and online publications. He also opened a bookstore that is located on Snelling Avenue across from Macalester College in Saint Paul. 

Keillor still lives in Minnesota with his third wife and their daughter.

SEE ALSO: 29 Reasons Why The Minnesota State Fair Is The Best State Fair In America

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NOW WATCH: What Happened When A Bunch Of Young Boys Were Told To Hit A Girl

When "Mad Men" first debuted in 2007, it featured a cast made up mostly of unknown actors.

Before the hit AMC show, many of the cast members had bit roles in TV shows and films, one was even a clown who performed at birthday parties.

But with the success of the Emmy-winning drama series, the actors' careers skyrocketed.

Today, Jon Hamm, January Jones, Christina Hendricks, John Slattery, and others, have all seen major career boosts thanks to "Mad Men."

Before Jon Hamm was suave ad executive Don Draper...

... he was a struggling actor landing minor roles in episodes of "Ally McBeal" and "Gilmore Girls."

Hamm's pre-"Mad Men" acting career has become something of a legend now. He had trouble finding roles due to his "older appearance," and he was eventually dropped by his agency. He also briefly taught an acting class at his old high school in St. Louis (where one of his students was "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" star Ellie Kemper).

His first credited TV appearance was "Gorgeous Guy at Bar" in an episode of "Ally McBeal." 

Today, we know John Slattery as the outspoken, scotch-drinking Roger Sterling.

Astrophysicists probe the nature of our universe — a place too vast and grand for a single human mind to fully comprehend — and while that might make some feel small, Neil deGrasse Tyson has said time and again that the knowledge he's acquired over the years as an astrophysicist makes him feel not small, but big.

To deGrasse Tyson, knowledge is essential to leading a prosperous, meaningful life.

Even after publishing nearly a dozen books, narrating the hit series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, and directing the Hayden Planetarium in New York, deGrasse Tyson still tries to learn something new every day, he recently told 60 Minutes correspondent Charlie Rose.

Here are some of the few, but fundamentally important, life lessons that he says are his constant sources of inspiration.

"One of them is every day try to lessen the suffering of others by however amount," he told Rose.

The way deGrasse Tyson does this is through his role as a science educator.

As host of the widely-popular podcast StarTalk Radio and Cosmos star, deGrasse Tyson strives to make the wonders of the universe accessible to all.

If you understand your connection to the universe — that we are all made of the same stuff as the tens of billions of stars in our galaxy — then that knowledge gives you a sense of relevance and connection that you might never feel otherwise. And, according to deGrasse Tyson, feeling relevant in the world is what we, as a species, look for in life.

"Also I try to learn something today that I did not know yesterday," he told Rose. "Why not? There's so much to learn."

This is good advice for us all. In fact, experts say learning something new everyday will make you smarter overall and protect your brain from some of the negative aspects of normal aging.

Learning new things isn't just important for the brain, however. Several studies have found that people who regularly experience awe in their lives generally feel less stressed, more humble, and more satisfied too. So it's in our best interest to seek out those special quirks that awe and inspire us as we learn more about life and the universe.

Last, but not least, deGrasse Tyson tries to live his life by following the advice of a 19th Century American politician and educator, Horace Mann: "Be ashamed to die until you've scored some victory for humanity."

DeGrasse Tyson reiterated Mann's words with his own.

"You want the world to be a slightly better place for you having lived in it," he told Rose. "If you have the power and the influence to make it a slightly better place and you don't, what kind of life is that?"

When deGrasse Tyson saw Mann's quote for the first time, he decided that he would strive to one day deserve those words as his epitaph.

We think he's doing a pretty good job so far.

LEARN MORE: You'll never guess what Neil deGrasse Tyson's favorite equation of Einstein's is

CHECK OUT: Neil deGrasse Tyson's 'most astounding fact about the universe' may bring you to tears

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NOW WATCH: Neil deGrasse Tyson: Here are the nerdiest things I've ever done

MSNBC Host Joe Scarborough is apparently considering a potential campaign for the US Senate in Florida.

Scarborough, a former GOP congressman from Florida, told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Friday that he's always wanted to leave the media industry for some kind of "public service" position. 

"I've already said at some point, I want to get back into service, public service, and hopefully I can do it while a Republican’s at the White House," he said.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) is widely expected to leave the Senate in 2016 in order to run for president. However, Scarborough said he was more interested in running for the seat held by Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Florida), who is up for reelection in 2018.

"I don't think in '16, but who knows?" Scarborough said. "In '18, Bill Nelson's up, and I don't think Bill Nelson will be sticking around, so you know, one of these years, I think, one of these years if I did something, I'd probably look to run in Florida." 

Scarborough, whose "Morning Joe" show is based in New York City, said he still has a residence in Florida, which he called his "home." 

"I do have a residence in Florida. And I have a 23 year old son down there, and my mom's still down there, so I still get down to Pensacola an awful lot. It's still home, and it feels a lot more like home [than] being in New York and Connecticut in April where it’s 40 degrees and raining," he said. 

In 2011, Scarborough, who was in the House of Representative from 1995 until 2001, claimed Senate Republicans had attempted to recruit him to run against Nelson but he declined. 

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NOW WATCH: We went inside the top-secret tunnel under Grand Central that only presidents use

In August 2006, it seemed like Tom Cruise was finished.

In an announcement unprecedented by the head of a major conglomerate, the chairman of Viacom, Sumner Redstone, publicly ripped into the star, who at the time was one of the most profitable at Viacom's movie studio, Paramount Pictures.

“We don't think that someone who effectuates creative suicide and costs the company revenue should be on the lot,” Redstone told The Wall Street Journal. “His recent conduct has not been acceptable to Paramount.”

Nine years ago was certainly the toughest and strangest time of Cruise’s career. The then 43-year-old actor had a lifetime box-office gross of over $1.5 billion, but his flawless transition from young heartthrob to respected dramatic actor to gargantuan action star had seemed to self-destruct as quickly as one of the messages his character, Ethan Hunt, receives in the “Mission: Impossible” movies.

The studio he'd called home for 14 years was parting ways with him.

Today, on the heels of Cruise's awesome new trailer for “Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation,” it's hard to imagine the veteran actor's career being at such a low point.

His strange downfall and subsequent rebirth as one of the most bankable movie stars all began with an innocent act of love.

When Cruise agreed to go on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in May 2005 to promote his next blockbuster film, “War of the Worlds,” it was a big deal. Not only did most women believe he was one of the sexiest men alive, but Cruise rarely did interviews, especially on daytime TV.

As Cruise walked onto Oprah's stage, the crowd went wild. Oprah playfully tousled Cruise's hair, and the actor was clearly in a great mood.

During the interview, Oprah brought up Cruise's latest love interest, Katie Holmes, who was off-stage where no one, especially the cameras, could see her. The excitement of talking about his new girlfriend led him to leap up on Oprah's couch with joy (he did it a second time for good measure).

After the couch jumping, Oprah even got Cruise to chase down Holmes and get her to come on stage.

It seemed harmless at the time, but thanks to a very young internet video-posting site called YouTube, the image of Cruise on top of Oprah’s couch would become a pop-culture phenomenon.

A month later, Cruise agreed to go on the “Today” show to continue promoting “War of the Worlds,” and also talk about his religion, Scientology. But when the interview topic changed to Scientology, and specifically to Cruise not agreeing with psychiatry, the tone changed. Especially in regard to Brooke Shields’ use of antidepressants for postpartum depression.

Here’s an excerpt of Cruise and Lauer's uncomfortable exchange:

Cruise: “Do you know what Adderall is? Do you know Ritalin? Do you now Ritalin is a street drug? Do you understand that?”

Lauer: “The difference is — ”

Cruise: “No, Matt, I’m asking you a question.”

Lauer: “I understand there’s abuse of all of these things.”

Cruise: “No, you see here’s the problem: You don’t know the history of psychiatry. I do.”

Later in the conversation:

Lauer: “Do you examine the possibility that these things do work for some people? That yes, there are abuses, and yes, maybe they’ve gone too far in certain areas, maybe there are too many kids on Ritalin, maybe electric shock — ”

Cruise: “Too many kids on Ritalin?”

Lauer: “I’m just saying — but aren’t there examples where it works?”

Cruise: “Matt, Matt, Matt, you’re glib. You don’t even know what Ritalin is. If you start talking about chemical imbalance, you have to evaluate and read the research papers on how they came up with these theories, Matt. OK? That’s what I’ve done. You go and you say, ‘Where’s the medical tests? Where’s the blood test that says how much Ritalin you’re supposed to get?’”

Lauer: “It’s very impressive to listen to you, because clearly you’ve done the homework and you know the subject.”

Cruise: “And you should. And you should do that also, because just knowing people who are on Ritalin isn’t enough. You should be a little bit more responsible … ”

Within minutes, the exchange was on loop all over the world.

Within a few weeks, Cruise had gone wild on Oprah and lashed out at Matt Lauer, and by then the tabloids had gone overtime on the Cruise-Holmes relationship, which they called “TomKat.”

It was time for Cruise to get off the grid, but he couldn't.

For most of his career, an experienced publicist named Pat Kingsley reportedly kept Cruise’s private life out of the tabloids. According to a 2014 LA Weekly story, she even talked Cruise out of being more vocal about Scientology when he did press for his 2003 film “The Last Samurai.” A year later, according to the LA Weekly story, Cruise let Kingsley go after 14 years and formed a publicity team that included his sister, Lee Anne De Vette, and fellow Scientologists.

Now in a typhoon of backlash that Cruise had never experienced before, his team may have been too inexperienced to protect him.

Despite all the negative attention, “War of the Worlds” still went to No.1 at the box office during its opening weekend ($65 million), and ended up with a worldwide take of $592 million. It would be the last time a film starring Cruise would make over $500 million worldwide for the next six years.

Following the “War of the Worlds” release, TomKat was still daily tabloid fodder, especially with the news that the two were expecting a child. And then, in March 2006, Cruise went global again with the controversial “South Park” episode“Trapped in the Closet.”

The episode originally aired in November 2005 and revealed what Scientologists believe is the origin of life, but it also depicted Cruise as an insecure person and played on rumors of his sexuality.

In the episode, one of the main characters on the show, Stan, is thought by Scientology to be the second coming of its founder, L. Ron Hubbard. This leads Scientologists, including Cruise, to flock to Stan’s house to pay their respects. But when Stan insults his acting ability, Cruise hides in Stan’s closet, leading to Stan saying, “Dad, Tom Cruise won’t come out of the closet.”

Comedy Central delayed re-airing the episode in March 2006, because allegedly Cruise declared he would not promote “Mission: Impossible 3” unless Viacom (which owns the film’s studio, Paramount, and Comedy Central) canceled the rebroadcast.

Cruise’s reps denied he ever threatened not to promote the film.

The controversy made headlines all over the world and led "South Park" fans to declare they would boycott “Mission: Impossible 3” until Comedy Central aired the episode.

The episode finally re-aired in July of that year.

“Closetgate,” in what it would become known, was the last straw.

The constant tabloid coverage of TomKat, plus rumors of Cruise’s involvement with Scientology — like that Cruise and Holmes’ relationship was allegedly arranged by the church — had turned people off. (Cruise and Holmes married in November 2006 and divorced six years later.)

The bad press soon began to affect Cruise's career. “Mission: Impossible 3” opened in theaters in May 2006 and Cruise's Q score — the appeal of a celebrity, brand, or company on the public — was down 40%.

Though the film was No. 1 in the US its opening weekend ($48 million), it lost appeal as the weeks passed. Ticket sales dropped 47% its second week in theaters, and then 53% the following week.

“Mission: Impossible 3” is the lowest grossing film in the franchise to date with a $400 million worldwide gross.

It was at this point that Viacom chair Sumner Redstone gave Cruise his wake-up call: “We don't think that someone who effectuates creative suicide and costs the company revenue should be on the lot. His recent conduct has not been acceptable to Paramount.”

After being kicked off the Paramount lot, Cruise hired a publicist with more experience and buckled down for a comeback. He brought his production company over to MGM and took partial ownership of the iconic United Artists studio.

Cruise also became less vocal about Scientology in public, though he was apparently involved internally. In 2008, a Scientology-produced YouTube video of the actor explaining what the religion means to him went viral.

Cruise hit the pause button on doing action movies, turning to dramas like “Lions for Lambs” and “Valkyrie."

In between those films he agreed to star in pal Ben Stiller’s 2008 comedy “Tropic Thunder” as the overweight, bigger-than-life movie exec Les Grossman. It was the best movie Cruise had done in years. In doing something so out of character, he began to win back fans.

“Tropic Thunder” reunited Cruise with his former studio, Paramount. Although Cruise's production company was kicked off the lot, it didn't mean he couldn't still be cast in the studio's films. The wheels were now in motion for Cruise to get back on Paramount’s good side so he could make more “Mission: Impossible” movies.

Being a hit in “Tropic Thunder,” the biggest comedy of the year for Paramount, was a good starting point. Director J.J. Abrams, who directed Cruise in "Mission: Impossible 3" and was in Paramount's good graces after directing the studio's hit "Star Trek Into Darkness," was also working to get Cruise back in the franchise.

In the summer of 2010, news broke that Cruise would be starring in “Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol,” with Abrams as producer. But this installment in the franchise would not be titled “Mission: Impossible 4,” because the idea was that the film would be a refresh on the franchise, with Cruise stepping aside as the lead and giving way to rising star Jeremy Renner.

Cruise didn’t really get the message.

Back in the Ethan Hunt role, Cruise cemented his place in the franchise by scaling the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, without a stunt double. That, and the other insane stunts featured in the film, led to “Ghost Protocol” earning the biggest worldwide box office in the franchise, with $695 million. It was also the second-highest earning film for Paramount, in 2011, just behind “Transformers: Dark of the Moon.”

Cruise is not back to his pre-Oprah couch-jumping glory, as evidenced by disappointments like "Knight and Day" and "Jack Reacher," but he's trying. Following “Ghost Protocol,” Cruise came out with “Edge of Tomorrow” and though it had a slow start when it opened in the spring of 2014, it ended up passing the domestic $100 million mark. That makes it the first time in nine years a non-“Mission: Impossible” Cruise film hit that landmark number.

Now, with the excitement for “Rogue Nation,” Cruise's mission of returning as a top action star is likely possible. That is, if his fans are willing to forgive HBO's explosive new Scientology documentary, "Going Clear," in which Cruise is criticized for remaining the face of the controversial religion.

SEE ALSO: How Tom Cruise filmed the crazy plane-hanging stunt in the new 'Mission: Impossible'

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Season 5 of "Game of Thrones" premieres on Sunday, April 12 on HBO. To get you ready for the big event, we put together an economic update of the Seven Kingdoms through season 4 of the HBO show. The analysis is based on information from the TV show and the books.

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One of the most common misconceptions about the Church of Scientology is that it doesn't get truly strange for new members until you go deep inside the religion and reach its higher levels after decades of faithful attendance. 

I put myself through an introduction to the controversial church by watching over five hours of the promotional DVDs it shows to people who express an interest in joining.

In my opinion, it didn't take that long to get strange. During my brief exploration of the religion, I heard many outlandish claims and received a number of emails from church members. 

'Madness' 

Scientology has been in the spotlight this week following the release of the HBO documentary "Going Clear," which details allegations that the church has mistreated its followers by physically abusing some of them and charging exorbitant sums for courses required to advance through the religion.

The Church of Scientology has disputed many of the claims made in the HBO documentary and by Lawrence Wright, who wrote the book that inspired the documentary. The church has released detailed rebuttals in response to both the movie and Wright's book. A church spokesperson pointed to some of these past statements in response to a request for comment on this story. 

My experience with the church is influenced by the time in 2010 and 2011 that I spent reporting on it in Los Angeles, one of Scientology's strongholds. During that time, I spoke to many people about their experiences in the church, including high-ranking defectors, members, and even some high-profile celebrity adherents, such as John Travolta's wife, Kelly Preston, Kirstie Alley, and Leah Remini, who has since left the religion.

This background made me well aware of the controversies surrounding Scientology. Even so, immersing myself in what is basically the church's DVD starter kit was stranger than I imagined.

Flag Base

I first stepped inside a Scientology church last year near the religion's spiritual headquarters in Clearwater, Florida. I was in town to catch some spring training baseball. While there, I did some sightseeing around Scientology's massive "Flag Base" in downtown Clearwater. On my way out of town, I had a few hours to kill and found myself near the church's facility in Tampa. A sign outside encouraged visitors to come in. I went for it.

Watching DVDs is the main activity for new visitors to the Church of Scientology. Inside the Tampa facility, I was brought into a main room. There were several stations to watch videos. Tables offered cookies, drinks, and copies of the DVDs to take home. I was also shown an empty office maintained for the church's founder, L. Ron Hubbard, who died in 1986. The church publicly says this tradition is done merely to "honor" Hubbard, though there have been reports that the facilities are kept in case the founder is ever somehow resurrected.

One of the first films I watched in Tampa was a biography of Hubbard. It included many claims of Hubbard's military exploits, international explorations, and almost miraculous achievements that have been questioned by Wright's reporting. 

Other videos dealt with the church's social programs. After a few minutes of watching, I went to leave and a uniformed Scientologist who had shown me around the facility encouraged me to take a "personality test" in an adjacent room. I politely declined, took copies of the DVDs, and signed a guest book. As a result of giving them my email address, I received at least five emails from the man who I spoke to over the course of the next year.

The first message came after three months. The subject line was "Long time no talk."

"It has been a while and I don't think i ever heard back from you," he wrote before inquiring whether I visited a Scientology church after leaving Florida.

I never responded, but a month later, there was another email. 

"What do you think of Scientology?" he asked. "Does it interest you?"

Once again, I didn't write back. A message two weeks later simply asked, "Do you get my emails?" After almost two more weeks without me responding, he wrote again and encouraged me to come visit a church for "a film or a personality test."

Perhaps this persistent Scientologist would be happy to know I finally watched the movies this week, although I definitely didn't have the reaction he was hoping for. 

'A Dynamic Principle Of Existence' 

I started with a two-disc DVD set titled "SCIENTOLOGY AN OVERVIEW." It began with a 10-minute biography of Hubbard that I had seen in Tampa. The narrator outlined a series of claims about Hubbard's life.

"He spent his formative years in a rough and tumble Helena, Montana, where he rode barely broken range broncs at the age of three-and-a-half," the narrator said.

The film went on to describe Hubbard as a record-setting Boy Scout who developed an "enduring interest in unraveling the mysteries of the human mind" after meeting a naval officer "who had studied under Sigmund Freud." According to the narrator, as a young man Hubbard trekked more than a quarter of a million miles through Asia, India, and other exotic locales "pursuing very fundamental questions on the origins of man and the ultimate source of life." On this journey, the movie says Hubbard "witnessed wonders beyond any known scientific explanation."

According to the narrator, Hubbard returned to America in 1929 when he would have been about 18. The movie said he then went on to college and went on several expeditions and adventures designed for him to "fathom life."

"The first decisive breakthrough came in 1937 when he isolated the single common denominator between all living things, a dynamic principle of existence," the narrator said.

This incredible revelation was not detailed in the movie, but it went on to make even more dramatic claims about Hubbard's research and the power of his ideas.

It described his time in a naval hospital during World War II as the start of his "final road to discovery." While there, the film said Hubbard worked with "injured servicemen who had failed to recover despite intensive medical treatment" and found "mental blocks" that were "inhibiting recovery." The movie claimed Hubbard helped eliminate these blocks and that, after the war, he "continued refining procedures on people from all walks of life" including "actors and writers in Hollywood's film community" and "street gang members."

"So it was, having developed a workable technology of the mind, he authored a definitive text on the subject," the narrator said before introducing Hubbard's main book, "Dianetics."

At this point, the movie began to allude to the sci-fi mysticism that's reportedly contained in the materials given to believers who reach Scientology's upper levels.

"Contained within ['Dianetics'] was the discovery of the reactive mind, the hidden source of nightmares, unreasonable fears, upsets, and insecurity," the narrator said. "The techniques of 'Dianetics' provided the means by which practitioners soon began discovering past lives."

After just 10 minutes of Scientology's introductory DVDs, it became clear to me that the church views Hubbard as a miraculous, almost messianic figure. However, I hadn't seen much concrete evidence to back up the incredible claims about the religion's leader. It also was apparent to me that diving deeper into Scientology doctrine would involve some rather unorthodox mystical concepts.

Between the Hubbard biography and the repeated emails I got from the Scientologist in Tampa, I was personally turned off after barely dipping my toe into the water. 

'You have a mind. You are a Thetan.'

Part two of the DVD was an overview of the religion's "beliefs and practices." It began with the claim, "Scientology is a religion that contains tools and methods to assist you in finding your own answers to life's questions."

The movie then went on to introduce a series of concepts and questions that seemed like they were designed to dazzle. 

"Who are you? Are you a body? Well, let me ask you this, if you have your appendix removed does your personality change?" a narrator asked before adding, "You instinctively know that your body is something you have, not what you are. Your body is something you use. So, if you're not your body, what are you?"

As stock footage of people that appeared to be from the 1990s rolled across the screen, the narrator defined the mind as having "a memory bank containing pictures." The filmmakers broke out some computerized graphics as they introduced one of Scientology's core concepts, the "Thetan."

"What is it that's looking at the pictures?" the narrator asked. "It's you, you are a being, an intelligence, a consciousness. That part of you that's aware of being aware, in Scientology we use the word Thetan."

Diagrams illustrated with sparkles, shadows, and Greek letters flew by as the narrator continued to explain.

"We use the Thetan to avoid confusions with other concepts and beliefs regarding the soul or spirit. It isn't something you have. You wouldn't say 'my Thetan.' You'd simply say 'me,''" the narrator said. "You have a body, you have a mind, you are a Thetan."

'My reaction time is night and day better.'

The overview DVD went on to outline more of the religion's main concepts. It detailed how Scientologists believe life can be "subdivided into eight parts" or "dynamics." It also described how all human emotions fall within a "tone scale." The movie claimed mastering these concepts could aid with "handling" life by "taking the mystery out of human behavior." 

After presenting these concepts, the DVD took me inside the church. It showed glimpses of the Scientology "auditing" process, which involves believers being asked questions about their lives while holding a Hubbard-designed device called an "e-meter." Critics have alleged the e-meter is non-functional and that information gained during auditing sessions has been used to blackmail people who try to leave the church. The DVD included claims that Scientology auditing helps "bring an individual from a condition of spiritual blindness to the joy of spiritual enlightenment and freedom."

Another scene in the DVD showed Scientology's "purification rundown." People are seen running on treadmills in a facility identified as a "purification center." Over the years, there have been allegations that the controversial practice has caused injuries and even death. The church disputes many of these accusations and claims the procedure has helped "hundreds of thousands" of people. 

The purification rundown involves believers supposedly detoxifying by taking copious amounts of vitamins and being encouraged to sweat through saunas and exercise. The movie described it as "an all-natural regimen" that "frees one from the harmful effects of drugs and toxins."

"You sweat all these things out of your system," said a speaker in the movie.

Church spokeswoman Karin Pouw provided Business Insider with a statement defending the purification rundown wherein she reiterated the claim it has helped "hundreds of thousands" of people.

"As to the Purification Rundown, it is important to note as we do on our website that the Purification Rundown is a tightly supervised regimen of exercise, sauna and nutrition. It is conducted in a properly ordered schedule to include sufficient rest," Pouw said.

Pouw also pointed to a website that offered what she described as scientific research into the purification rundown.

"The program has been being delivered steadily for 35 years. As used in the Church, it is a spiritual program, but its use in other detoxification contexts has been researched extensively and there are numerous scientific papers about its safety and effectiveness," she said. 

The longest portion of the overview DVD featured 50 testimonials from church members claiming Scientology has helped them. None of the major celebrities involved with the church, like Travolta or Tom Cruise, were included. The people were identified via their job titles including "a rapper," a "safari leader," and a "fashion designer." There were also two testimonials that seemed clearly designed to show Scientology can supposedly work in concert with other religious practice. One showed a "Buddhist monk" explaining how the church's teachings have helped him and the other featured a "Pentecostal minister."

Many of the Scientologists shown in the testimonials claimed to have experienced almost superhuman benefits from the church.

"My reaction time is night and day better," race car driver Kenton Gray said.  

In total, I got four Scientology DVDs on my visit to the church in Tampa. In addition to the overview, there was a film about Hubbard that contained his ten-minute biography as well as several "vignettes" depicting scenes from his life. The second disc of the overview, which was titled "How We Help," and the two other movies depicted the church's social programs including their "Citizens Commission on Human Rights," which is dedicated to fighting psychiatry.

In the movie, there were scenes shot at CCHR's Los Angeles museum, "Psychiatry: An Industry of Death." It noted the group is dedicated to "investigating and exposing psychiatry's inhumane and often lethal practices."

Wright's book notes that Hubbard and "Dianetics" faced early opposition from psychiatrists. He describes this as the root of Hubbard's opposition to the profession.

"Whenever 'Dianetics' or Scientology was attacked in the press or by governments, Hubbard saw the hand of psychiatrists," Wright wrote.

The other social programs shown in the DVDs are more conventional: disaster relief, anti-drug programs, criminal rehabilitation, and efforts to promote religious freedom.

Mike Rinder is a former high-ranking Scientologist who oversaw some of the church's public relations operations prior to leaving the religion in 2007. Since then, Rinder has become a prominent critic of the church and he figures prominently in both the movie and book versions of "Going Clear."

I spoke to Rinder about the church's humanitarian programs shown in the DVDs. He emphasized that "certain individuals who involve themselves in those activities" may be doing good work. But Rinder dismissed the majority of Scientology's claims about its social programs as "strictly P.R." 

"You step back and take the overview and the church promoting itself at the largest humanitarian organization on Earth ... those things are all bullshit," Rinder said. "They do as much as they need to in order to be able to shoot a video to then have videos to show."

Scientology has responded to Rinder's claims in the past with statements describing him as a "known liar" and "rabid anti-Scientologist who was removed in disgrace" from the church. Karin Pouw, the Scientology spokeswoman, highlighted a video the church made about Rinder when asked for a comment on his claims. She also pointed to a website featuring some of the same footage about the social programs that was included on "SCIENTOLOGY AN OVERVIEW." 

"On Mike Rinder’s claims about our humanitarian efforts, you can see for yourself on our website the tremendous responses we receive from people we help through these programs: families who have their children back; towns and villages rebuilt; students who can read and on an on," Pouw said. "Forget what we say. Look at the videos from these people. They are real. Mike Rinder’s cynicism prevents him from seeing what is before his eyes. He is has long since lost any hope himself and tries to pretend everybody else shares that attitude." 

Whether or not you believe Rinder's claims about the church's social programs, there was one scene in their "How We Help" DVD that I personally found crass. In a segment outlining Scientology's "volunteer minister" programs, there was footage praising the church's work during the immediate aftermath of the September 11th attacks in New York City. A man identified as an FDNY lieutenant said the presence of the church's aid workers at ground zero was vital.

"When the Scientologists arrived, an air of order like entered in," the fireman said, adding, "There was something that was being organized and run very, very efficiently."

While the man spoke, the smoldering wreckage of the Twin Towers was visible on the screen behind him. 

The final email I received from the Scientologist I met when I got the DVDs in Tampa came last August. I had totally ignored all of his previous entreaties.

"Hi Hunter, What happene [sic] to you?" he wrote.

After watching over five hours of Scientology DVDs, I think I'm finally ready to respond. I'm not interested.

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NOW WATCH: 6 Crazy Things Revealed In HBO's Explosive New Scientology Documentary 'Going Clear'

After 30 years as a devout Scientologist, actress Leah Remini abruptly left the church in July 2013, and she didn't go quietly. After the recent release of HBO's explosive Scientology documentary "Going Clear," Remini's story is now more relevant than ever.

At the time of her exit from the church, Remini explained her departure was because "no one is going to tell me how I need to think, no one is going to tell me who I can, and cannot, talk to."

The "Old School" and "King of Queens" actress allegedly called it quits after years of questioning the religion's treatment of followers under the leadership of David Miscavige.

"It all began when Leah questioned the validity of excommunication of people," a source told Page Six of her decision at the time. "She is stepping back from a regime she thinks is corrupt. She thinks no religion should tear apart a family or abuse someone under the umbrella of 'religion.'"

Remini reportedly spoke out about the mysterious disappearance of Miscavige's wife, Shelly, who has reportedly only been seen once since 2006.

Another Page Six source explained, "Because Leah threatened to call the police to find Shelly, she was put through 'Security Checking,' her family was put through it, and her friends."

The Page Six source says that as a result of her outspoken questioning, Remini "was put through 'thought modification' for five years," but, "When they tried this with her again earlier this year, she said, 'Enough.'"

Mike Rinder, a former Scientologist who was featured in "Going Clear" and runs a blog about the religion, said at the time that Remini "will no longer tolerate the squirreling and human rights abuses perpetrated in the church ... As a result, the church has lost one of its most effective supporters — both in the public relations arena and their bank balances."

"I believe that people should be able to question things," the 44-year-old actress explained to People magazine at the time of her departure. "I believe that people should value family, and value friendships, and hold those things sacrosanct. That for me, that's what I'm about. It wouldn't matter what it was, simply because no one is going to tell me how I need to think, no one is going to tell me who I can, and cannot, talk to." 

Remini's mother, husband, and daughter were also practicing Scientologists. The actress had been a member of the church for three decades after her mother became a Scientologist in the 1970s and rose through Scientology's ranks to achieve Operating Thetan Level Five, with three more rungs to climb until reaching the highest spiritual rank, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

"We went from a middle-class lifestyle [in Brooklyn, N.Y.] to living in a roach-infested motel with six other girls off a freeway in Clearwater," Remini recalled to BuzzFeed of her family’s transition to the church’s compound in Florida, before her 10th birthday. "We were separated from our mother. We had to sign billion-year contracts we didn’t understand. And we kept saying, 'Why are you doing this to us? Why are we here?'"

Remini's mother had moved the family to Florida at the urging of the actress' stepfather, who abandoned the family before they entered the Clearwater compound's gates.

"We were working from morning until night with barely any schooling," Remini told Buzzfeed. "There was no saying no. There was no being tired. There was no, 'I’m a little girl who just lost her father and everything I’ve ever known.' There was only, 'Get it done.' If the church needed a ballroom wall knocked down, you made it happen because there were heavy repercussions if you didn’t. And although that was horrendous for a child to deal with, at the same time, it gave me my work ethic."

Despite her history with the church, "I'm not about to shut up," Remini told People, adding, "We stand united, my family and I, and I think that says a lot about who we are, and what we're about."

Not all of Remini's famous Scientology friends were as supportive as her family during the transition.

Fellow church member Kirstie Alley called Remini "repulsive" and "a bigot" during a 2013 interview on Howard Stern’s SiriusXM radio show.

Alley, who told Stern that she had recently reached the OT-7 level in the church's hierarchy of achievements, continued about Remini: "She left the religion and she was very critical. That's just sort of water under the bridge. I didn't shun her, but if a lot of people are rejecting you, at some point you gotta ask, 'What am I doing?' I mean, that's what I would have asked myself."

Others, however, were more supportive of the actress' decision to leave.

Oscar-winning writer/director Paul Haggis, a former Scientologist who is featured in "Going Clear" and has publicly criticized the church, wrote an open letter thanking the actress in The Hollywood Reporter:

"I read some things that really disturbed me. First was the way Leah was being attacked by her celebrity 'friends,' who were disparaging her character. What was new to me was the report that Leah had run afoul of the church by challenging Scientology’s leader, David Miscavige, who is held to be infallible ...

I can’t express how much I admire Leah. Her parents, family and close friends were almost all Scientologists; the stakes for her were so much higher than for me. Her decision to leave was so much braver ... I will forever be grateful to her."

Read the full letter here.

Following her difficult departure from the church, Remini released a statement thanking fans for their support:

"I wish to share my sincere and heartfelt appreciation for the overwhelming positive response I have received from the media, my colleagues, and from fans around the world. I am truly grateful and thankful for all your support."

After watching the HBO Scientology documentary "Going Clear" for the first time on Sunday night, Remini tweeted:

She also gave an official quote to Scientology blogger Tony Ortega: 

"I wanted to thank the people who are in it and have worked so hard. You, Mike Rinder, Marty Rathbun, Marc Headley, Tom DeVocht, Lawrence Wright, Alex Gibney, and HBO. And Paul Haggis in particular for what he wrote on your website the other day. What Paul wrote is so exactly right."

Remini later tweeted links to her posts on Instagram:

Read Scientology's lengthy response to "Going Clear" here.

SEE ALSO: Read the moving letter director Paul Haggis sent Leah Remini after she left Scientology in 2013

SEE ALSO: The crazy story of how Scientology allegedly once groomed a girlfriend for Tom Cruise — and then tore them apart

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NOW WATCH: 6 Crazy Things Revealed In HBO's Explosive New Scientology Documentary 'Going Clear'

"Furious 7" kicks off the summer blockbuster season this weekend.

The film already has rave reviews, and analysts are predicting it will top $115 million at the box office opening weekend; however, it may come as a shock to learn that most of this hugely successful franchise almost never made it to the multiplex. 

According to TheWrap, the franchise stalled creatively after the second film in the series, "2 Fast 2 Furious."

2001's original "Fast and the Furious" movie with Diesel, Paul Walker, and Michelle Rodriguez made $207.3 million worldwide. 2003's "2 Fast 2 Furious" improved upon that slightly making $236.4 million worldwide with Walker returning as a co-lead and introducing fan favorites, Ludacris and Tyrese.

The third movie, 2006's "Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift," revolved around a completely new character played by Lucas Black ("NCIS: New Orleans"). Without recognizable stars or a real connection to the first two films, it had the worst performance of the franchise with a $158 million worldwide gross.

As a result, Universal, the studio behind the franchise, came close to releasing sequels directly to DVD. 

"The talk internally was that the franchise was played out," Jeffrey Kirschenbaum, Universal Pictures co-president of production, told TheWrap. "At that point we were weighing whether to go straight to video or not for future sequels. We weren't sure what we were going to do."

What saved the franchise from direct-to-DVD purgatory?

Universal convinced Diesel to come back for a small, surprise cameo in "Tokyo Drift." (In return for an appearance, Diesel the rights to the actor's "Riddick" franchise.) After seeing the ecstatic audience response with Diesel in the picture, the studio decided to hand a large amount of creative control over to the actor.

Diesel is not just a producer; he considers himself to be the "saga visionary," as he does everything from structuring story to selecting songs for the soundtrack. Diesel has become the undeniable face of the series, and Universal knew that based off the huge amount of excitement over his surprise cameo in "Tokyo Drift." 

With Diesel back on board, Universal returned the franchise to its roots, focusing more on heists than underground street racing. Making the friendship between Diesel and Paul Walker the focus of the fourth film helped, given that the absence of one or the other in the second and third films didn't benefit the franchise. 

Another big factor in the franchise's comeback was its budding global appeal.

Even though "Tokyo Drift" flopped stateside ($62.5 million), its Japanese setting helped it picked up an extra $95 million worldwide, enough to help it recoup its estimated $105 million budget. So, Universal strung together a multi-ethnic cast to better reflect its diverse audience, from half-Samoan The Rock to Israeli actress Gal Gadot. Diesel even fought to bring back Michelle Rodriguez who appeared in the first film. 

Then, it took the crew all over the world, from Brazil in "Fast 5" to Russia, Spain, and England in "Fast & Furious 6." Its global ambitions have helped it gross over $2 billion worldwide.

The "Fast and Furious" franchise is now one of the 20 highest-grossing movie franchises of all time, even managing to beat out both the "Toy Story" and "Mission: Impossible" series. Since implementing many of these changes, the last three films grossed a combined total of $1.8 billion worldwide, constituting more than half of the franchise's total $2.3 billion gross.

Universal also embraced social media. They gave "Fast & Furious 6" the largest social media campaign in the studio's history, leading to a Facebook following of 34 million.

"Furious 7," meanwhile, has amassed a fan following of 53 million on its official Facebook page. This is impressive, especially when compared to the pages for upcoming anticipated blockbusters like "Avengers: Age of Ultron" (13.4 million likes) and "Star Wars" (13 million likes). It also helps that Vin Diesel has the biggest Facebook following in Hollywood, with nearly 90 million followers.

The best lesson Universal learned is that before sending your franchise to the $5 bin, listen to your fanbase, whether that be at test screenings or on social media. Having Vin Diesel onboard doesn't hurt, either.

SEE ALSO: The true street-racing story that inspired the 'Fast and Furious' movies

AND: "Fast and Furious 7" will likely be the next $1 billion movie

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NOW WATCH: Cars fall from the sky in the new 'Furious 7' movie

"Mad Men" is famous for illuminating a bygone era, replete with three-martini lunches, glamorous clothing, and, of course, casual sexism. 

The rampant sexism in "Mad Men" was typical of the 1960s, when the outlook for women in America was just beginning to change. While the "second wave" of feminism began in the '60s, mainstream America was still very much a "man's world."

That attitude carried over into advertising, which did little to advance gender roles and ran ads that implied women were idiots who cared mostly about pleasing their men.

In honor of the premiere of Mad Men's final season, we collected some of advertising's most egregious sexist ads from that era. The first episode of Mad Men's final season airs April 5th at 10 pm eastern.

1950: The ad begins, "Most husbands, nowadays, have stopped beating their wives ... "

1951: "Show her it's a man's world."

1952: This ad makes light of domestic violence.

While much of the reaction to HBO's new documentary "Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief" has been focused on the shocking allegations of abuse and manipulation within the church, the film also examines how a struggling science-fiction author by the name of L. Ron Hubbard used his talents for telling fantastical stories to create the controversial modern-day church known as Scientology.

After dropping out of George Washington University in 1932, the Nebraska native started his career as a writer doing pulp-fiction works for which he was paid a penny a word.

Hubbard published over a thousand books and holds the Guinness World Record for the number of books published, according to the film. In fact, he also holds Guinness records for the most translated author, most audio books published by an author, and most translated author of the same book ("The Way to Happiness").

Most of his writing was science fiction, specifically about missions into space — themes that would later come up again in Scientology's unbelievable theory of how the world began.

Lawrence Wright, author of the best-selling book on which the documentary is based, says in the film: “A lot of what Scientology is he [Hubbard] had previously written about in the form of the science fiction.”

That includes terms he would use within the religion, such as "Clear," the level you reach in the church when you're completely free of traumas and unwanted emotions.

But before he started Scientology, Hubbard was an officer in the Navy.

His military service is a major part of his persona within the church, which boasts of his multiple medals and his involvement in major battles during World War II.

However, his military records show that most of his service took place in the continental US. "Going Clear" explains the myth Hubbard created about his time at sea and what really happened.

As Gibney says via narration in the film, "He would write that he sunk two Japanese subs. But in fact, just off the coast of Oregon, he opened fire on what turned out to be a log and dropped most of his depth charges on underwater magnetic rocks. When he accidentally shelled a Mexican island, he was relieved of his command."

After World War II, Hubbard moved to Los Angeles, where he befriended rocket engineer Jack Parsons and joined him in the California branch of the black magic cult Ordo Templi Orientis.

Soon after, Hubbard ran off with Parsons’ girlfriend, Sara Northrup. He was 13 years her senior.

"Going Clear" director Alex Gibney obtained Northrup's recollections of her time with Hubbard. Northrup wrote that Hubbard wooed her by saying he “was a war hero” and that he was the captain of a ship that was downed in the Pacific. He also reportedly told her that he “spent weeks on a raft, had been blinded by the sun, and his back was broken” during his time at war.

The HBO doc found his 900-page military records revealing the only maladies he ever suffered were mild arthritis and conjunctivitis.

The couple's relationship was rocky. According to the film, during a fight, Hubbard told Northrup he was going to commit suicide if she didn’t marry him. In 1946, they married and later had a daughter. 

In 1950, the family moved to Elizabeth, New Jersey, where Hubbard began writing the book, "Dianetics,"the foundation upon which Scientology is built. 

The basic principle in "Dianetics" is that the brain records every experience and event in a person's life, good or bad. The bad experiences are what the book refers to as "engrams," which could hurt supposedly a person if they're triggered later in life. By carrying out "auditing" — being asked many very personal questions by a trained "auditor" — the person can be "cleared" of engrams leading to being "clear," which is a perfectly functioning mind.

But Northrup’s writings reveal that Hubbard's motives behind "Dianetics" may not have been based on science, or on the hope of helping people.

According to her recollections, Hubbard had said to his wife: “The only way to make any real money was to have religion. That’s essentially what he was trying to do with 'Dianetics.' Get a religion where he could have an income and the government wouldn’t take it away from him in the form of taxes."

"Dianetics" became a cultural phenomenon. Hubbard began touring the country telling auditoriums full of people that what is described in the book is a cure for the psychological ills of mankind.

Northrup, Hubbard's wife, explained: “These people were paying $500 a piece in the 1950s for training in 'Dianetics.' I felt he was stealing from people.”

She went on to write, “He began to believe he was a savior and a hero, that he was really this God figure.”

During this time, Northrup threatened to leave Hubbard if he didn’t get psychiatric help.

According to "Going Clear," he responded by fleeing to Cuba with the couple's young daughter. Wright explains in the documentary that Hubbard could not care for the child, so he gave her to a mentally challenged mother and daughter who reportedly kept the child in “some kind of cage.”

Northrup recalled the terrible ordeal: “He called me and told me he killed her. He said he cut her into little pieces and dropped the pieces in a river and that this was my fault. Then he’d call back and say she was still alive. And this went on and on and on.”

Finally, in 1951, Hubbard agreed to divorce Sarah, and she was granted full custody of their daughter.

“When I left him he cleaned out all the joint bank accounts so I wouldn’t have any money,” Northrup stated in her writings at the time.

By 1952, the popularity of "Dianetics" passed and Hubbard became desperate for money.

He began integrating the ideas from the book into the beliefs and practices of what he called Scientology. For a fee, you could raise up levels. According to Russell Miller's book "Bare-Faced Messiah: True Story of L. Ron Hubbard," Hubbard started out dictating "Dianetics" to a room of only 38 people. The church today now has a membership of around 50,000, according to the film.

In the late 1960s, as the IRS was investigating him for tax evasion, Hubbard fled the US for the high seas.

There, he created the Sea Organization, which would become Scientology’s clergy. Members would declare their loyalty to the church by signing billion-year contracts.

According to the film, Hubbard began to create penalties, or what he called "ethics," for those who made mistakes. One punishment was to throw the person "in the wrong" off the boat.

By the mid 1970s, Hubbard’s ships were not welcomed to dock in the Mediterranean, so he snuck back ashore in Florida as not to gain the attention of the IRS. He lived in hiding the rest of this life.

The church also was enduring tough times. In 1979, as a result of FBI raids, 11 senior people in the church were convicted of obstructing justice, burglary of government offices, and theft of documents and government property.

On January 24, 1986, Hubbard died of a stroke at age 74.

He left no plans of who would take his place as the face of the church, leaving the door open for the ambitious David Miscavige to raise up the ranks quickly as its president — a position he still holds.

Under Miscavige's rule, the church has grown exponentially. Scientology became recognized as a tax-exempt religion in the US in 1993 and has expanded the church around the world, amassing real-estate holdings worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

As Wright states in the film: “Scientology really is a journey into the mind of L. Ron Hubbard, and the further you get into it, the more like L. Ron Hubbard you become.”

Read Scientology's lengthy response to "Going Clear" here.

SEE ALSO: A 'South Park' episode from 2005 perfectly explains Scientology's unbelievable theory of how the world began

MORE: People were shocked after watching HBO's explosive Scientology documentary

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NOW WATCH: The new trailer for Season 3 of 'House of Cards' is terrifying

Earlier this week Playboy published vintage photos of an excavation project along with a blueprint showing a series of tunnels connecting the infamous residence to various celebrity homes in the surrounding area.

According to the article, when asked about the photos of the construction site, the new Playboy Mansion general manager said "that's probably when they built the tunnels in the '70s." 

A closer look at the blueprint shows there were plans to dig tunnels to the the homes of "Mr J. Nicholson," "Mr W. Beatty," "Mr K. Douglas," and "Mr J. Caan."

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NOW WATCH: We went on a tour of the Playboy Mansion with Hugh Hefner's son — and it was not what we expected