Second Billing: Co-Star TV Couples from the 60s Quiz

Answer:

"The Flintstones" was an American animated sitcom that ran for six seasons between 1960 and 1966. It tells the tale of a Stone Age family, Fred and Wilma Flintstone and their daughter Pebbles, about everyday issues (in the 60s) but in a Stone Age setting. Their neighbours were Barney and Betty Rubble and their adopted son Bamm-Bamm. The two couples were the best of friends and while the Rubbles were second-billed, most of the storylines covered the antics of Fred and Barney though their loyal wives were portrayed as more intelligent and more level-headed. This show was the most commercially successful and longest-running network animated television series for 30 years until "The Simpsons" displaced it in 1997.

While "The Flintstones" was the anachronistic story of a modern family set in the Stone Age, "The Jetsons" was the opposite: It was the story of a family that lived in the Space Age but with issues and concerns that were rooted in the 60s (the show ran for three seasons between 1962 and 1963). Both shows were created and produced by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. The Jetsons were George, wife Jane, daughter Judy, and son Elroy with Astro, the pet dog. George worked at Spacely Space Sprockets where his boss was Cosmo Spacely who was portrayed as a tyrant and antihero. Spacely has a competitor Spencer Cogswell who owns Cogswell Cogs (occasionally known as Cogswell's Cosmic Cogs). The two antagonists are constantly finding ways to destroy each other's businesses, which serve as sub-plots within the larger plotlines concerning the four Jetsons family members.

"The Beverly Hillbillies (1962-1971, nine seasons) was the proverbial "fish out of water" sitcom where a poor unsophisticated family moved to the posh Beverly Hills when oil is found on Jed Clampett's (Buddy Ebsen) property in the Ozarks in Missouri. Milburn Drysdale (Raymond Bailey) was his new neighbour who had to appease the Clampetts on many occasions as all the Clampetts' money is in Drysdale's bank and he fears it being withdrawn. Played by Nancy Kulp, Jane Hathaway (Miss Jane to the Clampetts), who in contrast to Drysdale genuinely liked the Clampetts, was Drysdale's likeable secretary. She had to intervene frequently to moderate her boss' unethical behaviour towards the Clampetts and helped the family adjust to a more urban and up-market lifestyle.

"Gilligan's Island" ran for three seasons between 1964-1967. It told the tale of Skipper Jonas Grumby (always known as Skipper), owner of a small charter boat the SS Minnow and his first mate the hapless Willy Gilligan (always known by his surname). They shipwrecked their boat on an unknown Pacific island whilst carrying five passengers on a day cruise. Among the five passenger co-stars were socialite couple Thurston Howell III (Jim Backus) and his wife Eunice (who was always referred to as "Lovey" by her husband or Mrs Howell by the other five characters). Mrs Howell was portrayed by Natalie Schafer. Other co-stars were movie star Ginger (Tina Louise), Kansas farm girl Mary Ann (Dawn Wells), and Professor Roy Hinkley. When the show ended, the seven castaways were still marooned on the island as a fourth season or finale was expected to be commissioned. Neither happened.

"Bewitched" was a popular American sitcom that ran for eight seasons from 1964-1972. The show was based on the premise of a witch called Samantha (Elizabeth Montgomery) who married a mortal named Darrin Stephens (Dick York and later Dick Sargent). Samantha tried to comply with Darrin's request to become a normal (ie mortal) suburban housewife, but her magical family ran interference with the 'mixed' marriage causing chaos. Gladys and Abner Kravitz (Alice Pearce (1964-1966) / Sandra Gould (1966-1971) & George Tobias) were their neighbours. Gladys was nosy and correctly suspected something peculiar was going on in the Stephens household. The running gag was that Gladys was the only mortal that suspected this but she never proved it. Abner was the unsuspecting long-suffering husband who frequently apologised to the Stephens for his wife's bad behaviour.

"Thunderbirds" was a British science fiction television series set in the 2060s that ran for two seasons and 32 episodes between 1965 and 1966. It was created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, who used a form of electronic marionette puppetry called "Supermarionation" with scale model special effects. The premise was that widower Jeff Tracy, a retired astronaut and his five sons ran the philanthropic International Rescue, a secret organisation founded to save humanity. They had some serious high-tech to help them. They lived on a secret South Pacific Island. While four other minor characters were on the island with them, the real co-stars were their English agents, aristocrat Lady Penelope (Creighton-Ward) and her cockney-accented butler and Chauffeur (Aloysius) Parker. Parker drove Miss Penelope in FAB 1: a hyper-cool modified, pink Rolls-Royce. The show was cancelled because it could not attract funding further funding but the Thunderbirds' legacy lives on, 50+ years after its demise.

"Get Smart" was a parody of the secret agent genre that ran for five seasons between 1965-70. It centred around a secret US counterintelligence agency called CONTROL headed by the Chief (First name Thaddeus, surname is never revealed - played by Edward Platt). His top two agents were Maxwell Smart, Agent 86 (Don Adams) who is an effective but bumbling spy and the beautiful, intelligent Agent 99 (no further character name revealed) played by Barbara Feldon. Together they fight KAOS, "the international organization of evil". The three stars dominate leaving little room for co-stars. However, Larabee, another agent, (played by Robert Karvelas, Don Adams' cousin) was the Chief's incompetent assistant. Hymie was a Robot (played by Dick Gautier) who was a humanoid KAOS robot, but in his first mission, Smart managed to convince him to partner with CONTROL instead.

"The Wacky Races" was an American animated series that ran for a single season in 1968 and comprised 17 episodes. The plots revolved around 11 different cars, each with its own distinctive-looking drivers and vehicles with gimmicks, racing against each other hoping to win the title of the "World's Wackiest Racer". The archetype villain was Dick Dastardly (replete with a twirling mustache) and his sniggering sidekick dog, Muttley. Dastardly tried, consistently unsuccessfully, to use unfair tactics to win each race. Of course, it always backfired. The fan favourites were Peter Perfect and Penelope Pitstop but the winners of each race were shared just about equally around the ten 'fair" racers with Dastardly denied even one podium finish.

"The Brady Bunch" was an American sitcom that ran for five seasons between 1969 and 1974. The premise was a widowed architect Mike Brady (Robert Reed) who had three sons and married Carol (divorced) who had three daughters and the friction that ensued from such a juxtaposition. Alice Nelson (Ann B. Davis) was their friendly, helpful, live-in housekeeper. Her boyfriend was Sam Franklin (Allan Melvin), a neighbourhood butcher who was well-meaning and generally helpful to the Brady kids.

"Sesame Street" is an American children's education show combining live-action, skit comedy and puppetry. It debuted in 1969 and celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2019. Bert and Ernie were the first puppets to be shown on the pilot in July 1969. The two good friends were meant to reflect the real-life friendship between their puppet masters Jim Henson (Bert and Ernie's creators) and Frank Oz. The original premise was to show that two people can have very different personalities, but they can still be good friends. Unfortunately, some people have read too much into this relationship and have questioned the nature of the relationship between the two friends causing the show owners, Sesame Workshop to respond by saying that Bert and Ernie have no sexual orientation because they are puppets. The implications made by a few TV critics have tarnished what has always been an excellent and enduring children's television show.

Incorrect Answers:
"I Love Lucy" was a very popular American sitcom that aired from 1951 to 1957, with a total of 180 over six seasons. It starred Lucille Ball as Lucy and her husband band leader husband Ricky Ricardo (Desi Arnaz). Her upstairs neighbours were Ethyl (Vivian Vance) and Fred Mertz (William Frawley). The plots revolved around Lucy trying to break into show business.

"M*A*S*H" was an American war comedy-drama television series that aired for 11 seasons from 1972 to 1983, three times longer than the Korean War it depicted. The show was based on a 1970 movie of the same name, which, in turn, was based on Richard Hooker's 1968 novel "MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors". The TV series became a star vehicle for Alan Alda but incompetent surgeon Frank Burns (Larry Linville) and head nurse Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan (Loretta Swit) were a couple (Frank was married to Louise who was still in Fort Wayne, Indiana) for the first five seasons of the show. When Frank was written out of the show, the show became more of a drama than a comedy but maintained its high-rating success nevertheless.

"Seinfeld" ran for 11 seasons between 1989 and 1998. It starred Jerry Seinfeld as a fictionalized version of himself, best friend George Costanza (Jason Alexander), ex-girlfriend Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), and neighbour Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards). The show was unique by having a premise of "No hugging" and "No character development". Jerry's parents, over-protective Helen (Liz Sheridan) and frugal Morty (Phil Bruns then Barney Martin) appear in 24 of 180 episodes.

"ER" an American medical drama, ran for 15 seasons and 331 episodes between 1994 and 2009. George Clooney was not well known when he played Dr Doug Ross, a pediatric physician. Julianna Margulies played ER nurse Carol Hathaway. She was supposed to be written out on the first episode but she and Doug shared an on-again, off-again relationship for five seasons before Clooney left the series at the end of season five to pursue a movie career. Julianna Margulies left at the end of season six as her character Carol went to Seattle to reconnect with Doug.


"The Sopranos" was an American crime drama that ran for six seasons between 1999-2007. The premise was that a New Jersey mob boss sought psychiatric help for panic attacks whilst running his evil empire. Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli) was his nephew and heir apparent. Adriana La Cerva(portrayed by Drea de Matteo) was Christopher's girlfriend and niece of mob boss Jackie Aprile. The relationship was dysfunctional and star-crossed as both were killed off before the show concluded.