PDAZ's Television Common Bond Trivia Quiz

Answer: Gilligan

The S.S. Minnow was the ship on the 1960s American TV show, "Gilligan's Island", with Bob Denver portraying First Mate Gilligan. Whether the character's first or last name was "Gilligan" is up for debate. The series creator, Sherwood Schwartz, gave conflicting answers to the question. According to the "Snopes.com" website, "conceptual materials for the series did make reference to the name 'Willy Gilligan'", but only the name "Gilligan" was used on the show.

Answer: Ricin

Georgi Markov had been an author in his native Bulgaria before defecting to the west in 1969. He then used his media skills to criticize the Bulgarian government, which had led to previous attempts on his life. On September 7, 1978 Markov felt a prick on the back of his leg while waiting for a bus.

He saw a man run off with an umbrella, and when he was admitted to the hospital that evening, he told the doctors of his suspicion that he'd been poisoned. Even if the doctors had determined that the poison used was ricin, there was nothing they could do. Markov died three days later.

Answer: Albuquerque

Eleven minutes and twenty-two seconds, that is. "Albuquerque" appeared as the last song on Al's "Running with Scissors" album, released in 1999. Mainly a spoken word narration, the song is about winning a one-way ticket to Albuquerque from a radio contest and the strange things that ensue thereafter.

The bizarre song, probably one of the few you'll ever hear with the words "hermaphrodite" and "sauerkraut" in it, became a fan favorite, and Al included excerpts from the song in his concerts. Of course, in Albuquerque, he probably has to sing the full song.

Answer: Tighty Whities

Briefs became popular in the 1930s, and they were initially called "jockey" shorts. Boxers also appeared around the same time, and a combination of the two called boxer briefs became popular in the 1990s. Both briefs and boxers came in many colors and fabrics, but plain white briefs came back into fashion in the 1980s, thanks to a sexy advertising campaign by Calvin Klein.

The term "tighty whities" has been in existence at least since 1990, and although various iterations of the nickname exist (tidy whities, whitie-tighties, etc), "tighty whities" was found to be the most common, according to Stanford University Professor Arnold Zwicky.

Answer: Heisenberg

According to the "Nobel.org" website, Werner Heisenberg received the award "for the creation of quantum mechanics, the application of which has, inter alia, led to the discovery of the allotropic forms of hydrogen". Albert Einstein nominated Heisenberg for the Nobel Prize along with Max Born and Pascual Jordan, but only Heisenberg received the award.

Heisenberg was also known for his "uncertainty principle" which dealt with the loss of precision that occurs with attempts at measurement of particles.

He worked with many of the great physicists of the twentieth century including Niel Bohrs, Max Born and Arnold Sommerfeld.

Answer: Saul

According to the book of Samuel, God had picked Saul to be the king of Israel. Saul reigned for 42 years as king and defeated many of Israel's enemies, however he didn't trust God and disobeyed him. David was picked to succeed Saul, and Saul spent most his remaining time on earth trying to murder David.

After a defeat against the Philistines, Saul committed suicide, and David took his place as king.

Answer: Ozymandias

The British Museum had announced that they had acquired a Ramesses II statue "The Younger Memnon" about the time when Shelley began composing his sonnet, and since Ramesses II was referred to as Ozymandias in Greek sources, some scholars believed that this was Shelley's inspiration.

The sonnet described a remnant of an abandoned statue in the desert with the inscription "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty and despair!" First published in 1818, the work remains one of Shelley's best known poems.

Answer: RV

Thanks to his jerk of a boss, Bob Munro had to cancel his planned vacation to Hawaii to attend a merger meeting in Boulder, Colorado, so he disguised the trip as a vacation for his family. He rented a recreational vehicle (RV) and disaster ensued: clogged sewage system, broken parking brake, militant raccoons, etc.

The film was widely panned by critics and won the Golden Raspberry award for "Worst Excuse for Family Entertainment" in 2006.

Answer: Cancer

You're a cancer if you were born between June 22 and July 22. Cancers are water signs that are ruled by the moon. They're known for being caring, gentle, emotional and "retreating into their shell" when the mood hits. The crustacean that is the symbol for cancer is the crab. Crabs can be found in all oceans, and some even live on land. Both the zodiac sign and the constellation "Cancer" come from the Greek name for a crab - karkinos.

Answer: Breaking Bad

"Breaking Bad" ran from 2008 to 2013, gathering fans and accolades along the way. The story of chemistry teacher turned meth lord, Walter White, was a hit because of the wonderful writing and the award-winning performances of Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul and the rest of the cast.

Here were the clues:

Q1. Vince Gilligan was the creator of "Breaking Bad". He also wrote and/or directed many of the episodes of the show.

Q2. The show's protagonist, Walter White, made a dose of ricin in season two which he initially intended to use against drug lord Tuco Salamanca. He then planned to use it to kill drug lord Gustavo Fring in season four. The ricin remained hidden in an electrical outlet in White's bedroom until the end of the show when he used it to eliminate Lydia Quayle by slipping it in her Stevia.

Q3. The show was based and shot on location in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Q4. Walter White was seen several times throughout the show in his "tighty whities". During the first episode, White explained to his cohort Jesse Pinkman that he stripped down to his briefs prior to cooking meth to prevent the odor from clinging to his clothes.

Q5. "Heisenberg" was the pseudonym that Walter White gave to his drug lord persona.

Q6. Saul Goodman, portrayed by Bob Odenkirk, was Walter White's criminal lawyer (with the emphasis on "criminal"). Saul provided much of the comic relief on the show.

Q7. "Ozymandias" was the name of episode in which Walter White's world collapsed around him. Written by Moira Walley-Beckett, the Emmy-winning episode was declared an instant classic by critics, and it frequently shows up on lists as the best of the "Breaking Bad" episodes.

Q8. Walter White and Jesse Pinkman used an old RV as their portable meth lab in the first three seasons.

Q9. Walter White was diagnosed with cancer in the first episode of the show, and it was his diagnosis that led him into the world of meth manufacturing as a way to provide money for his family.