Back in 2014, I created a trivia challenge that most readers seemed to enjoy, so I figured it was
long past time to test your classic TV knowledge again.
The first time around the
quiz mixed character names with actor names, but this time we’ll keep it
simpler. The following 30 names belong to characters on very successful shows.
Just name the series for each one. The answers will be posted on Monday.
The bespectacled
character played by Burgess Meredith in the classic Twilight Zone episode “Time
Enough at Last.”
2. Frances Lawrence
You may know her better
as Gidget, played by Sally Field.
3. Grady Byrd
One of the lawmen who
substituted for Rosco P. Coltrane during actor James Best’s brief boycott of
The Dukes of Hazzard. Grady was portrayed by TV stalwart Dick Sargent.
4. Cyndi Grecco
Sang the theme song to
Laverne & Shirley, “Making Our Dreams Come True.” The song peaked at #25 in
1976.
5. Willie Armitage
The muscle of the IM
Force for all 7 seasons of Mission: Impossible, played by Peter Lupus.
6. Sonia Manzano
The actress who has
portrayed Maria on Sesame Street for what seems like forever.
7. Wilbur Post
The owner of Mr. Ed
(played by Alan Young)
8. Victoria Winters
The quintessential
gothic heroine of Dark Shadows, played by Alexandra Moltke.
9. Lance White
Dashing but incompetent
detective, played by Tom Selleck on several episodes of The Rockford Files.
10. Jerrica Benton
The civilian identity of
cartoon rock star Jem (soon to be a major motion picture)
11. Roswell Rogers
Prolific television
writer who penned more than 100 episodes of Father Knows Best.
12. Dorothy Ramsey
You probably know her as
Tootie (Kim Fields) on The Facts of Life.
13. Miguelito Loveless
The diminutive but
brilliant arch-enemy of James West and Artemus Gordon on The Wild, Wild West. He
was played by Michael Dunn.
14. Gertrude Berg
Television pioneer who
wrote, produced and starred in The Goldbergs, one of television’s first
situation comedies.
15. Roy Hinkley
On Gilligan’s Island,
they just called him The Professor. He was played by Russell Johnson.
16. Lonnie Burr
One of the most popular
of the original Mouseketeers on The Mickey Mouse Club.
17. Gloria Brancusi
The nurse played by
Christopher Norris on Trapper John, MD, who had one of TV’s more memorable
nicknames – “Ripples.”
18. Frank Nelson
Comedic character actor
who was constantly befuddling Jack Benny on Benny’s weekly variety show. Best
known for his exaggerated “Yeeeeeeesssss?”
19. Carol Merrill
The prize presenter
behind all those boxes and curtains on the original Let’s Make a Deal.
20. Noodles Romanoff
The enemy of Roger
Ramjet on the classic cartoon series.
21. Janet Louise Johnson
The actress who replaced
Pamela Sue Martin as Nancy Drew on the last few episodes of The Hardy
Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries.
22. Charles Lane
Veteran character actor
who specialized in crotchety old men, most notably as Homer
Bedloe on Petticoat Junction.
23. Vicki Lawson
The name of the little
girl robot on Small Wonder.
24. Don Fedderson
The creator of such
television classics as Family Affair and My Three Sons.
25. Arnold Ziffel
The pig on Green Acres.
26. Tara King
She took over as John
Steed’s new partner on The Avengers, after the departure of Emma Peel (Diana
Rigg). She was played by Linda Thorson.
27. Earl J. Waggedorn
Precocious kid who
befriended Julia’s son Corey on the groundbreaking Diahann Carroll series.
Played by Michael Link, he was always referred to by his full name, even by his
mother.
28. Fran Allison
She was the Fran in Kukla,
Fran and Ollie.
29. Cliff Murdock
Played by Tom Poston and
better known as “The Peeper,” he was an old friend of Bob Hartley on The Bob
Newhart Show.
30. Vic Mizzy
He wrote the memorable
theme songs to The Addams Family and Green Acres, among others.
31. Whitney Blake
Several answers were
acceptable here- she was the costar of the sitcom Hazel, she co-created the
series One Day at a Time, and she was the mother of TV star Meredith Baxter.
32. Harvey Klinger
The insect-loving first
crush of Marcia Brady on The Brady Bunch.
33. Edith Keeler
The woman who stole
Captain Kirk’s heart in the classic Star Trek episode “City on the Edge of
Forever.” She was played by Joan Colllins.
34. Norville Rogers
AKA Shaggy on
Scooby-Doo, Where are You?
35. Noel Neill
Played Lois Lane on The
Adventures of Superman, starring George Reeves.
36. Byron Glick
Over-eager hotel house
detective played by Don Adams on The Bill Dana Show. The character was the
inspiration for Adams’ creation of Maxwell Smart on Get Smart.
37. Pandora Spocks
This was how Elizabeth
Montgomery was billed in the closing credits of Bewitched when she played
Samantha’s cousin, Serena.
38. Mike Fink
Rival of The King of the
Wild Frontier, Davy Crockett, on the classic Walt Disney series starring Fess
Parker.
39. Sarah Purcell
Cohost of Real People,
one of the first forays into reality television (1979-1984)
40. Sol Saks
The creator of
Bewitched.
41. Andrea Thomas
High school science
teacher, played by JoAnna Cameron, whose mystic amulet transformed her into the
mighty Isis.
42. Dick Tufeld
He performed the voice
for the robot on Lost in Space.
43. Agnes Nixon
The soap opera pioneer
who created both All My Children and One Life to Live.
44. Roosevelt Franklin
One of the original
Sesame Street muppets, and an early victim of political correctness (after he
was deemed “too ethnic”).
45. Alexandra Cabot
Skunk-haired nemesis of
Josie James and her band on Josie and the Pussycats.
46. Bruno Martelli
The brilliant pianist
played by Lee Curreri on Fame.
47. Bess Myerson
A one-time Miss America
and a staple of 1950s panel games shows, most notably I’ve Got a Secret.
48. John Drake
The spy played by
Patrick McGoohan on Danger Man. Some fans believe he continued to play Drake on his next series, The Prisoner.
49. April Dancer
She was The Girl from
U.N.C.L.E., played by Stefanie Powers, later of Hart to Hart fame.
50. Lucas McCain
The name of Chuck
Connors’ fast-shooting character on The Rifleman.
Among the many calamities
for which the Internet is responsible (identity theft,Justin Bieber’s
career, the death of responsible journalism), it has also pretty much killed
the trivia contest.
And yes, I do recognize the
irony of trashing the Internet on my blog.
Trivia contests used to be
fun. There was a genuine sense of accomplishment if you knew the answers, and
if you didn’t know a question it would bother you for the rest of the day. Now,
of course, you can type the question into any search engine and 130,000
websites will pop up to provide the correct answer.
But let’s try it anyway,
and I’m trusting all of you to stay on the honor system. Below are 50 names.
Your challenge is simply to figure out, as Jerry Seinfeld would say, “Who
arrrrrre these people?” They could be actors, they might be characters, or they
may have some other Comfort TV connection.
For those who resist the
temptation to Google, the answers will be posted next week.
If you’d like, leave your
score in the comments – let’s see if anyone gets them all.
