Unrelated Movies & TV Shows With Same Title [6] Quiz

Answer: The Boys

Based on a graphic novel, "The Boys" on Amazon is ostensibly another superhero TV show, but a much darker side than we've ever seen. These seven superheroes are corrupt and downright evil, although a few of them are better-intentioned and sometimes even beneficent. Their public image is scrubbed clean by a corporation called Vought International, that keeps the true nature of the bad superheroes secreted away.

In the Australian movie "The Boys" (1998), based on a 1991 stage play, actor David Wenham plays Brett Sprague a criminal on parole who moves back in the family home with his girlfriend (Toni Collette), and his two brothers and their girlfriends, and his mother and stepfather. Brett picks up his drinking habit and becomes abusive as he sets about exerting his alpha-male position on the household.

Answer: The Sandman

Based on Neil Gaiman's iconic "The Sandman" that ran for 75 issues from 1989 to 1996, the TV version features a the personification of Dreams, named Morpheus, who is captured by a wizard and imprisoned in a glass bottle for 106 years. Upon his release, Morpheus goes about trying to set things in order back in the world of Dreaming.

As for the film, it scored a lowly 40% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and it stars actress Haylie Duff, the sister of Hilary Duff. She's the aunt of a girl with super powers who through the power of her mind creates a monster called The Sandman that will hurt anyone who is harmful to the girl.

Answer: Lucifer

There also happens to be a South Korean TV series called "Lucifer", but is not based on the American TV series "Lucifer" starring Welsh actor Tom Ellis as Lucifer Morningstar, who lo and behold is a character from Neil Gaiman's "The Sandman". Lucifer here has ruled in Hell, but one day decides he would like to try existence up in our world here on Earth. So he owns a nightclub named Lux (an ironic name since he is the Prince of Darkness) and he takes on a position as consultant for the Los Angeles Police Department.

The British "Lucifer", that was retitled "Goodnight, God Bless" for American release, was about a serial killer disguised as a priest that is suspected to actually be from Hell.

Answer: The Family Man

Gregory Harrison of "Trapper John, M.D." fame played a widowed fire chief in Los Angeles, trying to raise his four children in this 1990 comedy. Al Molinaro (of "Happy Days" fame) played his father-in-law who moved out from New York to give a helping hand.

The Indian TV series is about a government agency's secret agent fighting terrorism; it won critical praise and has become one of the most watched web series on Amazon Prime.

In the film "The Family Man", Nicolas Cage played a highly successful investment broker, living the single life enjoyably, but one day waking up to find that he's now a tire salesman, married to his college girlfriend and having had two children.

Answer: Barry

A former Not-Ready-For-Primetime-Player on "Saturday Night Live", Bill Hader played Barry Berkman in the hit show "Barry"--he's a hitman from the Midwest who goes to Los Angeles after he tailed an actor there who he is hired to kill when that actor was sleeping with a mobster's wife. After following the actor to an acting class, Barry finds rejuvenation in his soul there, after growing morose with his assassin life.

Interestingly, the premise of that is extraordinarily similar to an indie feature I worked on in 1998 starring Justin Theroux, John Leguizamo, Barbara Hershey, Harry Hamlin, Debi Mazar, Ron Perlman, Clarence Williams III, Lisa Marie, a veritable Who's Who of a cast. I can find no sources however that cite the extreme similarity.

The 2016 film "Barry" was about...Barack Obama, whose nickname apparently was Barry. Devon Terrell played the man.

Answer: King of the Hill

The primetime animated comedy series "King of the Hill" was created by Greg Daniels and Mike Judge, who brought us "Beavis and Butthead". It focused on Hank Hill, a propane salesman in Texas, who was in turn based on the character Tom Anderson from "Beavis and Butthead".

Steven Soderbergh directed 1993's "King of the Hill", what Rotten Tomatoes called, one of his "best and most criminally overlooked films." You catch Grammy winner Lauryn Hill playing an elevator operator in the hotel. The film is based on author A. E. Hotchner's autobiography, and his business partnership with movie legend Paul Newman. Hotchner praised the film that Robert Redford produced.

Answer: Zachary Levi and Liev Schreiber

Those actor choices are paired by each surname of one being an anagram of the other's first name. But it was Zachary Levi who played Chuck in the NBC-TV series "Chuck" for five seasons from 2007 to 2012. In this action comedy, Chuck is a computer nerd/whiz who gets an email from a friend that is encoded with CIA spy secrets software. These secrets get embedded into Chuck's brain (not something he was trying to do) and suddenly he is now an incredibly valuable commodity to the CIA and NSA who enlist his aid in espionage matters.

The sports drama film "Chuck" is about the real boxer Chuck Wepner who is also supposed to be the boxer than influenced/inspired Sylvester Stallone to write his iconic boxing film "Rocky". Wepner had lasted almost the full fifteen rounds against Muhammad Ali, but fell short (literally) with 19 seconds to go when the referee ruled a TKO (technical knockout).

Answer: Luther

Idris Elba played Detective Chief Inspector John Luther, the title role of the show "Luther" aired by the BBC from 2010 to 2019. He is a top-notch detective for the Serious Crime Unit, and for his work, Mr. Elba won a Golden Globe in 2012 for Best Actor in a Miniseries. The show proved so popular that foreign versions of it were produced in France and in Korea-- yes those shows are of course related as is the movie "Luther: The Fallen Sun" (2023), however, none of the films mentioned that are also titled "Luther" bear a relation.

The 1928 silent film "Luther" featured Eugen Klopfer as the monk Martin Luther (1483-1546) who inspired the Protestant Reformation. Joseph Fiennes also played Martin Luther in 2003's "Luther", while Stacy Keach played the same historical character in the 1974 film "Luther".

Answer: Person of Interest

First used by police in 1986 during the Green River Killer case, the phrase "person of interest" doesn't actually have a specific definition according to the Department of Justice. Sometimes it is used as a euphemism for "suspect".

In the TV show "Person of Interest", a former CIA agent teams up with a computer programmer to use artificial intelligence to locate or predict which people are suspected of taking part in or planning a crime---a "Person of interest" as it were. It won a People's Choice Award in 2012 for Favorite New TV Drama.

2007's "Person of Interest" film finds the town sheriff enlisting the aid of a psychic to help her investigate the disappearances.

The 2010 "Person of Interest" movie finds an Iraqi War veteran with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder believing the government is trying to frame him for a terrorist attack on U.S. soil.

Answer: The Last Man on Earth

Will Forte was a regular cast member on "Saturday Night Live" from 2002 to 2010, and then starred for four seasons on the science fiction comedy "The Last Man on Earth" from 2015 to 2018, with Kristen Schaal, January Jones and Mary Steenburgen. He played Phil Miller, the lone survivor of a planetary virus, or so he thinks. Finally, he is relieved to find survivors, but social norms still pose comedic problems even under those conditions.

"The Last Man on Earth" was also a 1964 Italian-produced science fiction/horror film in which horror icon Vincent Price plays the last survivor...again of a disease-ravaged Earth who becomes a vampire hunter.

The other Italian movie with that title was in 2011 and told the tale of a man who wants only solitude, but a civilization from outer space is on its way to visit. The 2014 romantic comedy features two teenagers and first love in a world where they have become alone after a cataclysm.

The 1924 silent film was a fantasy comedy taking place in the future....yeah, 1940. And then forward in time again to the future...1950. Interestingly, it is regarded as the first movie to depict a female U.S. President.