Won't You Guess My Name? Trivia Quiz

Answer: John Reid

In the original radio series which began in on WXYZ in Detroit in 1933, the Lone Ranger's last name was revealed as Reid, but a first name was never given. The program ran nationally on the Mutual Broadcasting System, then in 1942 by NBC Blue (which became ABC) until 1956, during which time Brace Beemer was the Lone Ranger and John Todd played Tonto. In 1938, the first film serial appeared in U.S. cinemas; a second in 1939. On TV (1949-57), Clayton Moore famously played the masked hero and Jay Silverheels the sidekick. Not until 1981, however, in the movie "The Legend of Lone Ranger", do we learn his first name is John. Subsequent comic-book and film adaptations have used that name.

Interestingly, the Lone Ranger's nephew, another sidekick in the radio series, was named Dan Reid, Jr. (son of Dan Reid, Sr., John' brother). The creators of the Lone Ranger, George W. Trendle and Fran Striker, created the Green Hornet franchise, they made Britt Reid, the secret identity of the hero, the son of Dan Reid, and hence the grand-nephew of the Lone Ranger!

Answer: Officer Edgar Mallory

Officer Mallory also appears on the Monopoly board on the "Go to Jail" space. Rich Uncle Pennybags was actually a nickname for Milburn Penybags, according the book "The Monopoly Companion" (1988), and Jake the Jailbird is the name of the convict on the "In Jail" space.

Officer Peter Joseph Malloy is the veteran uniform patrolman in Jack Webb's "Adam-12" (NBC, 1968-75), which documentarian Douglas Rushkoff called "the last gasp of the righteous style of cop TV". Sgt. Larvell Jones is the African-American officer in the "Police Academy" series of films -- played by Michael Winslow, who can make more sound effects than anyone thought humanly possible. Chief Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand) is the pregnant protagonist in the Coen brothers' dark comedy "Fargo" (1996).

Answer: True

Yes, even Muppets have stage names! Guy Smiley's real name is Bernie Liederkrantz. The secret was revealed quite unceremoniously on the game show "Beat the Time" on "Sesame Street". The contestant that day, The Count, introduced himself as was his custom: "They call me The Count because I love to Count." Smiley replied, "Well, I'm Guy Smiley. They call me Guy Smiley because I changed my name from Bernie Liederkrantz."

Other shows that Smiley has hosted include "Here is Your Life" and "What's My Part?" He was originally voiced by Muppet creator Jim Henson, beginning in 1969. Following Henson's death in 1990, Smiley appeared mainly in the background, until 2005, when puppeteer Eric Jacobson began to voice him. Jacobson also has also become the principal performer of Grover, Bert, Mr. Tiger, Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggy, Animal, and Sam the Eagle.

Answer: Aloysius

Aloysius Snuffleupagus first graced the pavement of "Sesame Street" in 1971. He befriended Big Bird, but always managed to disappear before any of the adult characters would see him, so they did not believe in his existence. By the late 1970s, the adults had grown quite frustrated with Big Bird's sightings and his passing the buck onto this "imaginary friend" when they blamed Big Bird for something that went wrong. Eventually, Big Bird was able to show them Mr. Snuffleupagus in 1985. It was decided to change the storyline so that children would be encouraged to speak out when they are being abused and to understand that they will be believed.

Bob, Gordon, and Luis are the names of male human cast members of "Sesame Street" -- played by actors Bob McGrath, Roscoe Ormond, and Emilio Delgado.

Answer: Bibendum

At the Lyon Exhibition of 1894, brothers Édouard and André Michelin, founders of the eponymous tire company, espied a stack of bicycle tires that looked like a figure without arms. After they consulted with French cartoonist Marius Rossillon, a/k/a O'Galop, he showed them a figure rejected by a Munich brewery, and André suggested replacing the man in the illustration with the tire figure (with arms added). Thus was born Bibendum, the Michelin Man. The name comes from the toast of the brewery figure, "nunc est bibendum" -- now is the time to drink -- from Horace's "Odes", Book I. The Michelin Man drank the toast in the first Michelin posters; he acquired the name Bibendum sometime around 1908. Originally he was rather corpulent, smoked a cigar, and wore a pince-nez; 100 years later, he was much slimmer, spectacle-free, and smoke-free. He still bears some resemblance to the Stay-Puft Marshmallow man, but definitely looks fitter.

Poppin' Fresh is the name of the Pillsbury Doughboy. Punchy is the name of the singing pitcher in the Kool-Aid commercials. Ernest J. Keebler is, unsurprisingly, the elfin mascot for the Keebler Company.

Answer: Shaggy

Shaggy was the hippie-like character who first appeared in "Scooby-Doo, Where are You!", the first of many Scooby-Doo programs produced by Hanna-Barbera. Shaggy wears red bell-bottom pants and is always hungry and not terribly brave. The original program made only one year of episodes (1969-70) that were rebroadcast over and over again on CBS until 1975. ABC produced more first-run Scooby-Doo shows beginning in 1976, e.g. "Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics" (1977-1978). Shaggy, Scooby, and his co-horts spawned a whole genre of teenaged mystery sleuths with cute mascots, with shows like "Speed Buggy" (1973-4) and "Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels" (1977-80). Saturday morning cartoon blocks may be a thing of the past, but the Scooby shows have been in perpetual syndication on local stations and cable channels since 1980. Shaggy was originally voiced by radio celebrity Casey Kasem, long-time host of "American Top 40".

Answer: Jeff Albertson

As it turns out, cartoonist Matt Groenig, creator of the Simpsons, did NOT give Comic Book Guy that name. In an MTV interview, Matt Groening revealed that he had left the room when the show's writers christened him. "The Simpsons" first aired on FOX-TV in 1989.

Roy Hinkley and Jonas Grumby are the real names of the Professor and the Skipper from the sitcom "Gilligan's Island" (1964-67), created by Sherwood Schwartz for CBS. Ken Carson is actually the full name of the Ken dolls by Mattel. His better-known girlfriend Barbie has a full name, too: Barbara Millicent Roberts.

Answer: Yes

And that first name is Veritably. Linwood Burton, the owner of a cleaning business and an amateur chemist, created Mr. Clean as a safer alternative for caustic cleansers used to clean grease and grime embedded in ships. (He was trying to cut down on disability claims of his workers who cleaned the ships!) Burton, however, had never given Mr. Clean a first name when he sold the product to Proctor & Gamble in 1958. Mr. Clean got "Veritably" in a naming contest in 1962.

It is almost never used in commercials, posters or other marketing literature, but there it is, nonetheless.

He is known as "Don Limpio" in Spain and "Maestro Limpio" in Puerto Rico and Mexico. Although Mr. Clean was conceived as a sailor, he is often mistaken for being a genie (because of his earring and his magic appearance from a bottle).

Answer: Cavity Sam

John Spinello invented the game that would become "Operation" in 1964. He sold it to Milton Bradley for all of $500, who released their version the following year. Players take turns removing body parts from Cavity Sam, the patient laid out on the operating table. They use electrified tweezers and must not contact the metal sides of the openings from which they remove such objects as Sam's Charlie Horse, Funny Bone, Wish Bone, or Butterflies in Stomach. If the sides are indeed touched, then Sam's nose lights up and a buzzer sounds. The game remained virtually unchanged until 2004, when Brain Freeze was added. A Shrek version also came out that year, with a Simpsons version the following year.

Mr. Mint used to be a character in the Candy Land game; Duke of Swirl replaced him. Mr. Body is the murder victim in the board game Clue(do). Yosemite Sam is a cantankerous cartoon character from Merrie Melodies/Looney Tunes, produced by Warner Brothers.

Answer: No

Surprised? Charles Schulz, who created the "Peanuts" comic strip in 1950, never gave Pig-Pen, the boy perpetually adorned with dirty overalls and enveloped in a dust-cloud, a real name. In fact, when Schulz introduced Pig-Pen in 1954, he parodied Piggy of William Golding's "Lord of the Flies": "I haven't got a name ... people just call me things ... real insulting things."

Fellow Peanuts character Peppermint Patty, however, does have a real name: Patricia Reichardt. Schulz created the strong-willed tomboy in 1966, originally with the idea of spinning her off into her own comic strip. Patty's first TV appearance was on the special "You're in Love, Charlie Brown" (1967).