Fifties TV Quartets Trivia Quiz

Answer: Perry Mason

The original "Perry Mason" series ran on CBS from 1957 to 1966. Of course, Raymond Burr played Mason and in 1985 he and Barbara Hale, playing his secretary Della Street, began the first of 26 "made for TV movies" of Perry Mason cases.

Other original cast members included William Talman as DA Hamilton Burger, William Hopper as Mason's private investigator Paul Drake, and Ray Collins as police homicide detective Lieutenant Arthur Tragg.

In 1960 the American Bar Association honored the series with the first Silver Gavel Award for television drama by the Association. Both Burr and Hale were recipients of Emmys for their roles.

Answer: Bonanza

"Bonanza" ran for 14 seasons from 1959 to 1973. The patriarch of the family was Ben Cartwright, played by Lorne Greene. In 2007, "TV Guide" rated him as #2 on its list of television fathers. He was born in Ottawa, Canada, in 1915. In the series, each of his sons was born to a different wife as Ben was widowed three times.

Pernell Roberts played oldest son Adam. Roberts left the series after its sixth season. Dan Blocker played Hoss, whose first name was actually Eric. Sadly, Blocker died in 1972 from complications arising during from gall bladder surgery. Michael Landon played Little Joe.

Answer: The Honeymooners

"The Honeymooners" first bloomed as a series of five-to-ten minute skits on Gleason's "The Jackie Gleason Show," which aired first in 1952. Originally a 1951 sketch on "Cavalcade of Stars," by 1954 "The Honeymooners" dominated Gleason's show until it became a one-season series of its own with 39 episodes in the 1955-56 television season.

Gleason starred as Ralph Kramden, with Audrey Meadows as his wife Alice. Art Carney played sewer worker Ed Norton, with Joyce Randolph as his wife Trixie, whose name was actually Thelma.

Answer: The Adventures of Superman

Clark, of course, was Clark Kent, the alter ego of Superman, played by George Reeves. Kent worked for "The Daily Planet," the newspaper whose chief editor was Perry White, played by John Hamilton. Lois Lane, played by Noel Neill, and Jimmy Olsen, played by Jack Larson, were reporters for the paper, as was Kent.

In the first season, beginning in 1952, Lois Lane was played by Phyllis Coates. The series ran until 1958.

Answer: Maverick

When we think of "Maverick", we first think of James Garner as Bret Maverick, the gambler on whom the series was based. And yet, Jack Kelly appeared as brother Bart in more episodes during the series' run from 1957 to 1962. According to IMDb, the Internet Movie Database website, Kelly appeared in 83 episodes, while Garner was in only 61. The series ran for five years and produced 124 episodes.

Roger Moore appeared in 16 episodes between 1959 and 1961. Kathleen Crowley played in eight episodes, appearing as six characters, including twice as Melanie Blake and twice as Marla.

Answer: Topper

"Topper" was a TV series based on the 1937 film of the same name, starring Roland Young as the title character and Cary Grant and Constance Bennett as George and Marion Kerby.

In the TV series, which ran for 78 episodes in two seasons from 1953 to 1955. Leo G. Carroll played Cosmo Topper, who was haunted by the ghosts of George and Marion Kerby, whom only he could see. They were played by Robert Sterling and Anne Jeffreys. Neil was the Kerbys' Saint Bernard, who attempted to rescue his master and mistress in a car crash, but died with them. He was played by Buck.

Answer: Gunsmoke

Of the four choices listed, Dennis Weaver appeared in the fewest "Gunsmoke" episodes by far as Chester Goode, with 290 episodes between 1955 and 1964. James Arness appeared in all 635 episodes as Matt Dillon in the show's 20-year run. Milburn Stone as Doc Adams acted in 605 episodes and also completed the entire run. Amanda Blake, as Miss Kitty, did not appear in the program's final season, finishing with 569 episode appearances.

Answer: Father Knows Best

Robert Young played Jim Anderson for six seasons on "Father Knows Best," with Jane Wyatt as his wife Margaret. Young also starred on the radio program of the same name, which ran from 1949 to 1954. He was the only cast member to carry over to television. The three Anderson children were Betty, nicknamed "Princess," James, nicknamed "Bud," and Kathy, known as "Kitten." They were played by Elinor Donahue, Billy Gray, and Lauren Chapin, respectively. The Andersons lived in Springfield, although the state is never identified, just like a five-member family of modern television.

Answer: Leave It to Beaver

Jerry Mathers was the Beaver. He began playing the role of Theodore Cleaver at the tender age of nine. Older brother Wally was played by Tony Dow. Parents Ward and June were portrayed by Hugh Beaumont and Barbara Billingsley. Another memorable member of the cast was Ken Osmond, who played Eddie Haskell, Wally's smart-mouthed friend who often tried to get the Beaver's goat.

The series ran from 1957 through 1963.

Answer: Rawhide

"Rawhide" was a western that ran for eight seasons on CBS from between 1959 and 1966. Eric Fleming had the lead role as Gil Favor, trail boss of cattle drives in the post-Civil War West. The biggest star to emerge from the series was undoubtedly Clint Eastwood playing ramrod (or foreman) Rowdy Yates.

In the series' final season he took over as trail boss, with Fleming leaving the show. Wishbone, whose full name was George Washington Wishbone, was played by Paul Brinegar. Steve Raines played drover Jim Quince, who moved up to take Eastwood's role as ramrod in season 8.

Answer: The Real McCoys

"The Real McCoys" ran for five seasons from 1957 to 1962 on ABC before adding one more season on CBS. The McCoys were an Appalachian family transplanted to California and were led by the semi-cantankerous patriarch Amos McCoy, played by veteran actor and three-time Oscar winner Walter Brennan. Amos' grandson and wife, Luke and Kate, were played by Richard Crenna and Kathleen Nolan. Pepino Martinez is a hired hand who eventually becomes an American citizen and his accepted as another McCoy.

Spoiler: Grandpa's limp was not real.

Answer: Sky King

Kirby Grant played Arizona rancher Schuyler "Sky" King in the modern Western-style series which also bore his name. Using his twin-engine Cessna airplane, the "Songbird," King solved weekly problems around his ranch and its environs which included capturing spies or criminals, or helping lost hikers, in addition to assisting the law-enforcement efforts of Sheriff Mitch Hargrove, played by Ewing Mitchell. Daughter Penny King, also a pilot, was played by Gloria Winters. A third pilot was nephew Clipper King, who was only in the first season.

A familiar phrase opened many episodes and featured the "Songbird" in flight as a voice proclaimed "From out of the clear blue of the Western sky comes Sky King!" Like many similar programs of the early television era, "Sky King" was the outgrowth of an earlier radio serial.

Answer: 77 Sunset Strip

Perhaps the most remembered of the "77 Sunset Strip" cast today is Edd Byrnes, who played "Kookie," a parking attendant and private investigator wannabe whose full name was Gerald Lloyd Kookson III. Eventually he becomes a partner (season 4) along with PIs Stu Bailey, played by Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., and Jeff Spencer, played by Roger Smith.

Louis Quinn plays racetrack tout Pete Roscoe, who provides most of the comic relief in his role as source of information and sometime operative.

The program ran for six seasons from 1958 to 1964.

Answer: Wagon Train

"Wagon Train" ran on NBC for five seasons before moving over to ABC for its final three. Ward Bond played wagon master Seth Adams for the first three full seasons before passing away in the fourth, when John McIntire, playing Chris Hale, took over as leader. Robert Horton played scout Flint McCullough. Frank McGrath played cook Charlie Wooster, who actually led the cast in episode appearances with 271.

He and Terry Wilson, who played Bill Hawks, were to only two characters who were regulars for the entire series.

Answer: Space Patrol

"Space Patrol" was a sci-fi series that ran from 1950 to 1955, originally as a children's program that eventually developed its adult audience. It began as a Monday-Friday daily 15-minute live broadcast on a Los Angeles ABC station and then quickly added live 30-minute Saturday morning episodes. Episodes were also beamed to the East Coast. At the same time, another version of 129 half-hour live broadcasts with the same cast went over the radio.

Ed Kemmer played Commander Edward "Buzz" Corry. Lyn Osborn played Cadet Happy Osborn, recent graduate of the Space Academy. Ken Mayer played Major Robbie Robertson and Security Chief. Nina Bara was Tonga, who became allied with the Space Patrol after having been a villain known as The Lady of Diamonds earlier in the program's history.