Familiarity Breeds... Trivia Quiz

Answer: Parr

"The Incredibles" movie from 2004 features parents Bob and Helen Parr and their three children, Violet, Dash and the baby Jack-Jack. The premise of the film is that superheroes have been outlawed, forcing the Parrs to live a "normal" life. Before (and after) the law, Bob has super strength and Helen is elastic.

Their daughter, Violet, can use force fields and become invisible. Dash has super speed, and Jack-Jack's powers are unknown.

Answer: Dunphy

On "Modern Family", the show depicts the fact that modern families are no longer "normal". Jay Pritchett is the patriarch of an extended family which includes his son Mitchell, Mitchell's partner Cameron and their adopted daughter Lily. On the distaff side is Jay's daughter Claire who is married to real estate broker Phil Dunphy.

Their three kids are the attractive oldest, Haley, and the smart middle daughter, Alex. Phil likes to tell his son, "Luke, I am your father".

Answer: McCallister

In the 1990 movie "Home Alone", we are introduced to Kevin McCallister who is left alone during his family's Christmas trip to Paris. We see how clever eight-year-old Kevin continues to outwit the two would-be burglars, Harry and Marv, eventually bring them to justice.

In the meantime, the other members of the family, vacationing across the Atlantic, include parents Peter and Kate. Kevin's siblings are Buzz, Megan and Jeff.

Answer: Seaver

On "Growing Pains" we are shown a typical television family of the 1980s. Dr. Jason Seaver is a psychiatrist, and his wife Maggie is a journalist (realistic?). Mike is the oldest and, also typical of sitcoms of the era, gets into all sorts of TV teenage trouble, i.e., never anything major. We are also given trouble on the distaff side with Carol, and issues with youngest child Ben. Ben later becomes the penultimate kid when they introduce the new baby, Crissie.

Answer: Tenenbaum

"The Royal Tenenbaums" is a 2001 film which depicts the dysfunctional Tenenbaums, a family whose husband and father, Royal, left them long ago. The mother, Etheline, has to raise her three eccentric prodigies who grow up but wind up under the same roof.

The children, Chas, Margot and Richie, were all gifted and successful in childhood but seem to have become failures as adults. Despite Royal's lies and long absence, they all reconcile at the end.

Answer: Geller

While the main focus on the sitcom "Friends" is on the six friends, we are given a look into the family life of brother and sister, Ross and Monica Geller. Father Jack Geller is played by Elliot Gould. While he pretends to be an attorney, he is actually in the military.

He is known for his inappropriate comments, some of which are of a sexual nature. Mother Judy, played by Christina Pickles, is constantly critical of Monica's features and her being single.

Answer: Finch

Based on Harper Lee's novel, we are introduced to the Finch family in the 1962 movie "To Kill a Mockingbird". The setting is a small town in Alabama in 1932, during the Depression. The protagonist is widowed attorney Atticus Finch who lives with his two young children, Jean "Scout" (a girl) and Jem (a boy).

The story is told from the viewpoint of Scout, as she ages from six to eight years old, and watches as her father defends a black man against a murder charge.

Answer: Jetson

"Meet George Jetson/His boy Elroy/Daughter Judy/Jane his wife" as they all appear on the animated comedy, "The Jetsons". The Hanna-Barbera cartoon first aired in 1962, showing us a typical suburban family of the 21st century. George works at Spacely Sprockets, an hour a day, two days a week. Jane is a stay-at-home mother with a robot maid. Teenage daughter Judy goes to school and "digs" rock and roll, and young son Elroy is both cute and sensible. (They nailed the future? LOL.)

Answer: Trask

"East of Eden" is a 1955 film based on the novel by John Steinbeck, published in 1952. This was James Dean's second film (after "Rebel Without a Cause"). In the film, set in the Salinas Valley of California, he plays the brother of Aron, and the angst-ridden son of religious zealot Adam Trask. Adam is estranged from his wife Kate but rules his sons with an iron hand. Cal competes against Aron for his father's love, while trying to reconnect with his mother.

Answer: Anderson

Finally, we get a look at an upscale television family from the 1950s with "Father Knows Best". Jim Anderson is an insurance salesman and manager of the General Insurance Company in Springfield but, besides watching him leave and return from work, we rarely glimpse his work life. Wife Margaret is a stay-at-home mother who cleans and cooks in an apron and heels. Jim always finds time to listen and help resolve the issues of his three children, Betty, Bud and Kathy.