TV for Experts Trivia

1. The 2003 TV series "Mister Sterling" was created by what frequent contributor to "The West Wing?"

From Quiz The Legacy of "The West Wing"

Answer: Lawrence O'Donnell

"Mister Sterling" is a television retelling of "Mister Smith Goes to Washington" (1939). If you're gonna steal, steal from Frank Capra, Josh Brolin plays an idealistic son of a former US Senator who is appointed when the current Senator from California dies. Sterling turns out to be an independent, who will not kowtow to the wishes of the Democratic governor who appointed him. The show included William Russ, David Norona and Broadway superstar Audra McDonald as Sterling's staff and James Whitmore Jr. as Sterling senior. While the President is never actually named, Executive Producer O'Donnell felt that "Mister Sterling" did take place in the same universe as "The West Wing." That being said, Steven Culp, who played the Speaker of the House in "The West Wing" was Senator Garland in "Mister Sterling." O'Donnell was a long-time Capitol Hill staffer before becoming a news personality on MSNBC. He served as the Executive Producer on "The West Wing" in 2005 and 2006, and wrote eight episodes of the show, including "The Debate" (2005) between Alan Alda and Jimmy Smits. Misiano and Graves were two of the most frequent directors on "West Wing," each directing over 30 episodes. Debora Cahn wrote 34 episodes of "The West Wing", second to show creator Aaron Sorkin (45 episodes).

From Quiz Christmas Specials

Answer: Community

"Community" was a sitcom set in a community college that routinely played with genre tropes. The study group have to discover the true meaning of Christmas in order to restore Abed's sanity in this episode which is fully animated, Rankin & Bass-style.

From Quiz TV Firsts

Answer: Doug Ross

Doug Ross, the ER pediatrician, was hungover. Dr. Greene gave him a shot to feel better.

From Quiz TV Firsts

Answer: the opening ceremonies of the NY World's Fair

The first small-scale 'experimental' broadcast was of the opening ceremonies of the New York World's Fair with Franklin D. Roosevelt. The telecast was only shown to a very small audience consisting of research institutions, certain companies and a few rare individuals who owned a television set in 1939. Coincidentally, movies had become main stream and two great movies, "The Wizard of Oz" and "Gone with the Wind", both opened that same year. As for the modern Olympic Games, they were only held every 4 years, i.e., even-numbered years and, in fact, were cancelled in both 1940 and 1944 due to the outbreak of World War II.

From Quiz We've Reached 100!

Answer: Burglar

Ricky knows what Lucy is up to and asks Fred and Ethel to check up on her. Having seen that plan fail, Lucy tries again and ransacks the apartment and hides outside on the ledge. At the end of the episode, Lucy really is tied up by burglars, but no one believes her.

From Quiz Beautiful Stranger

Answer: Lumen Pierce

She appeared in the fifth season of the show. She is first rescued by Dexter from a group of gang rapists. She then sees Dexter kill one of the culprits. She then asks Dexter for help to kill the people who harmed her. The show 'Dexter' itself was about a man who worked for the police force hiding a deep and dark secret of him being a serial killer. He chooses his victims with a code that was taught to him by his adoptive father. It also stars Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Carpenter. Julia Stiles has appeared in 'The Bourne' series and in the movie called 'Mona Lisa Smile'. She acted opposite Heath Ledger in the movie '10 Things I Hate About You'. She was nominated for an Emmy for her appearance in 'Dexter'. Other notable guest stars on this show have been Margo Martindale, Keith Carradine and John Lithgow.

From Quiz "Lost" and "Once Upon A Time" Similarities

Answer: ABC Studios

ABC was the home of "Lost" for six years from 2004 to 2010 and it picked up "Once Upon A Time" in 2011. Both shows are produced by the ABC studios.

From Quiz Call Me "Mister"

Answer: a Palomino

Mr. Ed was played by a Palomino gelding named Bamboo Harvester while his mellifluous baritone voice was provided by western movie star Allan "Rocky" Lane. The horse's antics always got his owner, architect Wilbur Post (Alan Young), in trouble with his wife, neighbors and anyone else that crossed his path since Ed only spoke when they were alone together. "Mr. Ed" was originally aired on the CBS network from 1961-65. Sadly, four years after the series ended, Bamboo died at age 21. There are varying accounts as to the cause of his death and the location of his remains.

From Quiz TV? Way Gooder Than Reading Books!

Answer: Dark Passenger

"I just know there's something dark in me and I hide it. I certainly don't talk about it, but it's there always, this Dark Passenger. And when he's driving, I feel alive, half sick with the thrill of complete wrongness." - Dexter describing his urge in the season 2 episode, "An Inconvenient Lie".

From Quiz Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Answer: Gemini Man

Based on the HG Wells novel 'The Invisible Man', 'Gemini Man' was a short lived television series, with only five of the eleven original episodes aired on US television. The main character's invisibility came about as the result of an accident while diving. Luckily, his trusty watch allowed him to manage his condition but there was a catch - if he remained invisible for more than fifteen minutes, he would become permanently invisible. The watch was probably a good choice of controller there.

From Quiz Stephen King in Pop Culture: The TV Edition

Answer: The Day the Earth Stood Stupid

The title of this show is a play on the title of the 1951 science fiction movie "The Day the Earth Stood Still".

From Quiz More African-American TV Shows

Answer: Washington, DC

After ending a successful run on the hit tv show "The Jefferson's" as Florence the Maid, Marla Gibbs moved down South a bit to Washington, DC where she married Lester Jenkins (Hal Williams), a construction worker, had a daughter named Brenda (Regina King), and moved into "227". The Jenkins family, along with their neighbors Rose Lee Holloway (Alaina Reed Hall), Mary's best friend, the sassy Sandra Clark (Jackee' Harry), and the nosey, but loveable Pearl Shay (Helen Martin), brought laughter into our homes each week from September 14, 1985-May 6, 1990, which was the series' finale although the show continued to air in rerun until July 28, 1990.

From Quiz Also Known As...

Answer: Angus

Angus MacGyver was played by Richard Dean Anderson. He won the role when the casting director noticed he used his glasses during his audition, showing a lack of pretension that the creative team wanted in their character. Aden means "little fire". Seamus means "supplanter", ans is the Gaelic form of James. Sean means "God is gracious", and is the Gaelic form of John.

From Quiz Hey Nick, What's Your Name?

Answer: Benjamin Franklin

Dr. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce was supposedly given the nickname Hawkeye, after the main character in James Fenimore Cooper's 'The Last of the Mohicans', which had been his father's favorite book. The part of "Hawkeye" Pierce was played by Alan Alda in the TV series and by Donald Sutherland in the movie. This character, and many others in both the movie and TV series, were based on the book 'M*A*S*H: A Novel About Three Army Doctors' written by Richard Hooker, a former military surgeon at MASH unit 8055 in the Korean War.

From Quiz African American First in Television

Answer: Gail Fisher

Fisher was awarded an Emmy for "Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series" in 1969 for her portrayal of secretary Peggy Fair on the CBS television series "Mannix". Fisher also won Golden Globe Awards in 1971 and 1973 for "Best supporting Actress" and "Best Actress in a Drama Series", respectively, for her role on "Mannix". In 1961, Fisher was also the first African American to have a speaking part in a nationally televised commercial.

From Quiz Chuck Cunningham Syndrome

Answer: Happy Days

Chuck was played by two characters, Gavin O'Herlihy and Randolph Roberts. Chuck was written out in 1975 after he went to college.

From Quiz Television Comparisons

Answer: Cyborg and Joey

Brother Blood tried to use mental powers but could not conquer Cyborg's powerful will, and Marik tried to take over Joey's mind with the Millenium Rod, but Joey's bond of friendship with his friends helped him break free.

From Quiz Characters With Addictions

Answer: Alcohol

Mr. Edwards was highly addicted to alcohol. Grace took the children and divorced him. Mr. Edwards sobered up with the help of the town.

From Quiz "TV Guide's" Best and Worst

Answer: Seinfeld

"TV Guide" named the eight-season adventures of Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louise-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander and Michael Richards the No.1 show on the Best list. Not bad for a show "about nothing"!

From Quiz TV's Worst Moments

Answer: Jerry Van Dyke

Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!

From Quiz One Degree Of Separation

Answer: Charles In Charge

Ellen Travolta was in 'Joanie Loves Chachi' and Willie Aames was in 'Eight Is Enough'. Both were in 'Charles In Charge'.

From Quiz That's Not My Role!

Answer: Luke Brower

All other roles were played by Matthew Perry. Roger Azarian 'Beverly Hills 90210', Desi Arnez Jr. 'Call Me Anna', and Chazz Russell 'Second Chance'

From Quiz The Legacy of "The West Wing"

Answer: Commander

In the scene, Seven of Nine pulls up a list of deceased crew members. The first several are characters who had been killed, but the rest are an in-joke by the members of the production crew as a tribute to "The West Wing." Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) was a young woman the Voyager crew liberated from the Borg collective, who was struggling to define her humanity. The "West Wing" cast as they are listed on the viewing screen: Commander J Bartlett, Lt Commander L McGarry, Lt Commander T Ziegler, Lieutenant J Lyman, Lieutenant S Seaborn, Ensign Claudia J Craig, and Ens. Charles Young.

From Quiz The Tommy Westphall Universe

Answer: Emily Hartley

Actress Suzanne Pleshette shows up as Emily Hartley. In one of the great finales of all time, Newhart wakes up in bed next to Pleshette and reveals that his series "Newhart" has been an elaborate dream. "Newhart" featured the comedian as a Vermont innkeeper, dealing with a cast of crazy characters. It ran from 1982 to 1990. Jerry Robinson (Peter Bonerz) was a dentist and Bob's best friend. The last episode was quite appropriately titled "The Last Newhart" and aired May 21, 1990.

From Quiz Christmas Specials

Answer: South Park

Originally showing up in the ninth episode of the first season to make life difficult for Kyle, Mr Hankey is later shown to have a wife, children and a "Polar Express"-like "Poo Choo Train."

From Quiz TV Firsts

Answer: Tuvok

The first scene in the pilot episode, "Caretaker", was of the cockpit of a Maquis ship, the Val Jean. In there were Chakotay, B'Elanna, and Tuvok, desperately trying to escape from a Cardassian ship that was pursuing them. Though they were all seemingly Maquis, Tuvok was actually a Starfleet security officer that had infiltrated the Maquis in order to gain information, then ultimately turn them in to Federation authorities. Janeway was the first character to appear in a Starfleet uniform, when she visited Tom Paris in the New Zealand Penal Settlement. But this scene was shown after the Val Jean scene.

From Quiz TV Firsts

Answer: CBS and NBC

The two stations were based in New York and were affiliates of radio networks CBS (WCBW) and NBC (WNBT). How TV in its infancy covered the "day that will live in infamy", just months after TV's proverbial birth, was interesting. On December 7, 1941, the Japanese took the U.S. by surprise by bombing Pearl Harbor, Hawaii early on that Sunday Morning. It was early afternoon on the East Coast: the CBS station, WCBW, did not operate on Sundays, which left only NBC's WNBT to transmit one of the most important events of the century. WNBT had only one program on its daytime schedule, i.e., "Millionaire Playboy"; the announcer broke in with news of the attack...and the rest is history!

From Quiz Maiden Formed

Answer: Sheffield

Fran Fine was "The Nanny" (1993-1999) who happened to be a Jewish princess from Queens selling cosmetics when she lucked into the job of taking care of Broadway producer Maxwell Sheffield's three kids. Maxwell is a wealthy British widower and, like all fairy tales, Fran eventually winds up marrying him but, before that, she finds that she really cares for the children, Maggie, Brighton and Grace and becomes close friends with Niles, the butler. Of course, the 'fly in the ointment' is provided by Maxwell's business partner, C.C. Babcock, who already had her sights set on Max. Fran Drescher and Charles Shaughnessy play the leads.

From Quiz Beautiful Stranger

Answer: The Practice

Michael Emerson has appeared in movies such as 'Saw', 'For the Love of the Game' and 'Unfaithful'. He starred as Ben Linus in 'Lost' and plays Harold Finch in the popular TV show 'Person of Interest', which was created by Jonathan Nolan. Emerson played serial killer William Hinks on the TV show 'The Practice' which also starred Dylan McDermott, Michael Badalucco, Lisa Gay Hamilton and Lara Flynn Boyle. It was created by David E. Kelly. It was a show about legal situations mostly featuring a particular firm in Boston. It was very successful and inspired another show called 'Boston Legal'. Other notable guest stars on 'The Practice' have been William Shatner, Tony Danza, Jon Cryer, Alfre Woodard and Patrick Dempsey.

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