Couches and the Potatoes That Inhabit Them Quiz

Answer: All in the Family

"All in the Family", an American take on the British show "Till Death Us Do Part", ran on CBS from 1971 to 1979; after that, it ran under the name "Archie Bunker's Place" until 1983. The show was dominated by the character of Archie Bunker (Carroll O'Connor), a deeply bigoted white man who clashed with his submissive wife, his mediator daughter, his liberal son-in-law, his black neighbors, and just about everyone else he met. Though it grappled with some serious issues, the comedy was a huge success: not only did it spin off several other successful shows (most notably "The Jeffersons"), but Archie Bunker's chair is also enshrined in the Smithsonian Museum of American History! The couch has become a historical artifact -- and it only gets better from here.

Answer: "Weird Al" Yankovic

"Weird Al" Yankovic has released well over a dozen music albums, each including several parodies of contemporary popular songs. He sings these pieces in the style of the original performer, often rhyming closely with the original lyrics; in fact, "Weird Al"'s parody can usually be played over the "real" music video to humorous effect.

The 2003 parody song "Couch Potato" may be unavailable as a single (due to Eminem's lack of cooperation), but its lyrics still resonate with the proud couch potato community. I always dance when I hear the chorus:

"'You're gonna lose your mind watchin' TV,'
They told me, they'd scold me,
But I'd still tune in every show..."

Answer: Married ... with Children

Al (Ed O'Neill) and Peggy (Katey Sagal) Bundy didn't have much tying them together over the course of the show's 1987-1997 run. They shared a taste for casual cruelty, toward each other and toward their two teenage children, and TV was an important way for them to access those emotions.

The "Psycho Dad" show-within-a-show helped Al focus his resentment of his family, and Peggy's devotion to shopping channels helped her spend the money her husband brought home. All right, maybe "helped" is too strong a word for these two.

Answer: The Big Lebowski

There were two Jeffrey Lebowskis in the picture: the Dude (Jeff Bridges), who just wanted his couch-potato life back, and the "big" Lebowski (David Huddleston), a wealthy paraplegic. The whole mess started when the thieves mistook the Dude for his richer counterpart, and the Dude was gradually drawn in for higher and higher stakes.

It was a puzzle for which his life of television and bowling had hardly prepared him, but his blowhard friend Walter (John Goodman) was convinced they could save the day.

Answer: Armchair quarterbacks

The term "armchair quarterbacks" describes fans who believe they could conduct a game better than the people who are paid to do it -- and all without leaving their cozy upholstered furniture. (Sadly, in many cities your guide has lived in, the armchair quarterbacks have been right!) A quarterback is a position in American football that often requires both quick and strategic thinking to direct the course of the game; thus, this is an easy position to second-guess.

Armchair quarterbacks have a close cousin in the armchair general, a type of couch potato more inclined to military history.

Answer: World of Warcraft

"World of Warcraft" was released by Blizzard Entertainment in 2004, and there has since been a marked increase in the mouse potato population. (There were nearly 12 million subscribing players by the end of 2008.) The mouse potato sits at a computer, tapping the keyboard and clicking the mouse to control a high-fantasy character such as a night elf warrior or a troll mage.

Although it may not be obvious at first glance, these are highly social games whose characters interact with each other regularly on the company's servers.

They cooperate on quests, trade goods and armor on chat channels, and even kill each other's characters in battles for resources. Perhaps that last one is more anti-social...

Answer: Television trivia

Hosted by Marc Summers (who also hosted "Double Dare" at around the same time), "Couch Potatoes" pitted two teams against each other in several rounds. The question formats and names were innovative -- anyone could try their luck at a Tune-In question, which would be followed by three Spin-Off questions on the same show.

The sums weren't large by game-show standards, but $1000 will buy a nice couch!

Answer: Garfield

Garfield, an orange tabby cat owned by the hapless Jon Arbuckle, is the star of Jim Davis's hit comic strip "Garfield." Launched in 1978, the strip mines classic material for jokes: Garfield's favorite deadly sins (sloth and gluttony), Jon's disastrous lovelife, and the dog Odie's naive stupidity. Garfield himself has "starred" in numerous movies, television shows, and lines of plush toys, but he is still a proud couch potato despite this busy life. One early strip (August 4, 1978) showed him sprawled in an armchair in front of the television, making a classic complaint: "I hate television commercials.

They're too long to sit through -- and they're too short for a trip to the sandbox!"

Answer: Homer Simpson

Beginning in 1989, the television show "The Simpsons" broadcast Homer's exploits to the world, as well as the misadventures of his family. A proud and devoted couch potato, Homer spends much of his screen time ignoring or dismissing the needs of his wife (Marge) and children (Bart, Lisa, and Maggie) in favor of television, beer, donuts, or all three. Nonetheless, like many couch potatoes, Homer does have strong social bonds with friends and family, and usually comes through when he needs to -- even when the pull of the couch is strong.

Answer: Idiocracy

In "Idiocracy," two average Americans (Wilson and Rudolph) go into suspended animation for a brief military experiment and are accidentally left asleep for 500 years. They wake up to find that humanity has effectively bred itself to be dumber and dumber, and civilization is on the verge of collapse because no one knows how to run it. Luckily, the two average Joes from the past -- now the smartest people on the planet -- have awakened just in time to take control and put things back on course. Everyone else is free to enjoy their cutting-edge couches, which include built-in toilet facilities. All right, maybe that's a step too far.