Rarely Used TV Character First Names II Quiz

Answer: Eric

Played by burly actor Dan Blocker, Eric "Hoss" Cartwright was patriarch Ben Cartwright's middle son. His late mother was Swedish and called Eric "Haas" which was soon came to be Hoss. Blocker passed away from surgical complications in 1972 before the series ended, but it never seemed the same without him and the show was cancelled the following season.

Answer: Jeffrey

The animated series "King of the Hill" aired on FOX and had a respectable 13 season run from 1997 to 2009. The episodes centered on the Hill family, especially ultraconservative Hank Hill who was often put upon my his wife, Peg, and son, Bobby. Also in the cast were an assortment of oddball friends and neighbors Dale Gribble, Bill Dauterive and Boomhauer who spoke in a rapid slurred manner. Both Hank and Boomhauer were voiced by the series creator Mike Judge.

Answer: Bosco

"The A-Team" centered on four Vietnam War Special Forces veterans who were falsely accused of military crimes and sent to prison. They escaped and became sort of a mercenary group would help people with seemingly insurmountable problems for a substantial fee, of course.

The regular cast featured George Peppard as Col. John Hannibal Smith, Dirk Benedict as Lt. Templeton "Faceman" Peck, Dwight Schultz as Captain "H.M. "Howlin' Mad" Murdock, and Mr. T as B.A. Baracus. Some kidded B.A. saying his initials stood for "Bad Attitude" but his actual first name was Bosco.

Answer: Nostradamus

Nostradamus "Bull" Shannon was the bailiff on the courtroom sit-com "Night Court" which ran for 9 seasons from 1984-92. The court was presided over by Judge Harry Stone (Harry Anderson). "Bull" Shannon was played by Richard Moll who started in TV by guesting in many sit-com and adventure shows, but had a break out roll on this series.

There are some sources that mention "Aristotle" as being the character's first name, but I used the one that was the more commonly cited name.

Answer: Cosmo

Voiced by prolific voice artist Mel Blanc, Cosmo Spacely was the diminutive but overbearing boss of his hapless employee, George Jetson. Frequent episodes of this animated series involved Spacely placing George in an awkward situation, then firing him when George couldn't come through to his expectations.

However, George somehow always re-appeared working again at Spacely Sprockets. Spacely was always at odds with his chief business rival, Spencer Cogswell of Cogswell Cogs.

Answer: Wilson

Wilson W. Wilson, Jr. was portrayed by the late actor Earl Hindman. Wilson always seemed to be puttering around in his backyard with some unusual project and available to lend an ear and advice to his neighbor, Tim Taylor (Tim Allen) over the backyard stockade fence.

A man of wide experience and travel, he was very philosophical although viewers never totally saw his face; usually hidden from the eyes downward by the fence, or another face concealing item.

Answer: Angus

Played by Richard Dean Anderson in the original series. Angus MacGyver works for the Phoenix Foundation which leads him into dangerous predicaments, usually involving beautiful women. His genius intellect allows him to construct elaborate mechanisms form simple objects to help him achieve his goals or escape from opponents.

The series was re-booted in 2016 with Lucas Till in the title role. Anderson started in TV on the medical drama "General Hospital" playing Dr. Jeff Webber and appeared in dozens of other TV shows and movies.

Answer: Aloysius

Mr. Sunffleupagus (a.k.a. Snuffy) was a full figure Muppet resembling a woolly mammoth. He originally only was seen by Big Bird who was the object of teasing since no adult characters saw him, but in season 17, that running gag ended and he was quickly accepted by everyone.

Answer: Randolph

Cpl. Agarn was played by the late comedian Larry Storch. Agarn, and his partner in the illegal Native American souvenir business, Sgt. O'Rourke (Forrest Tucker), had to keep their enterprise hidden from the naive new commander of the fort, Capt. Parmenter (Ken Berry). Agarn was a gullible and not too bright soldier and easily manipulated by the scheming O'Rourke. Storch started as a stand-up comic and drifted into acting where he made many appearances on a variety of TV shows and a handful of movies and even did voice work for animated programs.

He retired from acting in 2005.

Answer: Henry

H.M. "Howlin' Mad" Murdock, played by Dwight Schultz, is is an oddball who is either mentally unstable, or pretends to be. He identifies with fictional characters, sometimes has hallucinations, has an imaginary dog, and has been institutionalized. A veteran of the Vietnam War, he's the best pilot on the team. Schultz has appeared in numerous TV shows in the adventure and drama genres and some films.

He also has an impressive list of roles in which he's done voice work.