Silly Billy Trivia Quiz

Answer: Caddyshack

A comedy classic, "Caddyshack" revolved around the goings-on at a country club and golf course during an important match brought on by one of the club's crasser members. Bill Murray played Carl Spackler, the groundskeeper, who spent a good portion of the movie trying to rid the grounds of a particular troublesome gopher; the gopher survived, but there were explosives involved. Murray was still a cast member on "Saturday Night Live" at this point in time and, as such, was only on the set for "Caddyshack" for less than a week.

Answer: Stripes

One of Ivan Reitman's earliest comedies, "Stripes", starred Bill Murray and Harold Ramis, the latter of whom was appearing in his first acting role. Reitman, Ramis, and Murray would later collaborate in other films. In "Stripes", however, Murray played a man feeling down on his luck enough to resort to joining the U.S. Army, inadvertently getting himself into some wacky hi-jinx as a member of a newly-formed platoon sent to Czechoslovakia. Fortunately, they still manage to save the day. Upon its release, "Stripes" became a box office hit and was critically well-received, further cementing Murray as a leading man.

Answer: Ghostbusters

In perhaps one of his best-known comedic roles, Bill Murray played a sardonic ghostbuster in the 1984 hit "Ghostbusters" in which he and his companions fought spiritual entities in New York City. Of course, they ended up stumbling upon a woman possessed by a demon named Zuul and the manifestation of the ancient God Gozer, but it was all in a day's work, one would suppose.
"Ghostbusters" took in nearly $300,000,000 in the box office. It was followed by a sequel five years later which, although it made over $200,000,000 (and starred the same cast), was not as well-received.

Answer: Little Shop of Horrors

Perhaps the word 'humble' wasn't the best word to use...
While Bill Murray never had a leading role in this adaptation of the "Little Shop of Horrors" musical, he appeared in somewhat of a cameo alongside Steve Martin's character-- a dentist dating Ellen Greene's Audrey-- as a masochist seeking his fix with a root canal. The movie, otherwise, starred Rick Moranis, who also starred with Murray in "Ghostbusters". For those not familiar with the film, it involved a man-eating plant...also named Audrey...and one florist's attempt to woo the girl of his dreams.

Answer: Scrooged

"Scrooged", a comedic, modern retelling of the "A Christmas Carol" story by Charles Dickens, featured Bill Murray in the lead role as a self-obsessed, conceited, rich television magnate who needed a bit of a kick in the rear for neglecting Christmas Spirit.

The movie saw him visited by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future before, as many would expect, he found the right path and made things right. The movie, directed by Richard Donner, was a success in the box office and also starred Karen Allen and John Forsythe.

Answer: Groundhog Day

"Groundhog Day", since its release, has gone on to be one of Bill Murray's most famous roles. Appearing in theaters in 1993, the movie followed Murray, as a weatherman in Pennsylvania, forced to relive February 2nd over and over and over again. Of course, it wasn't all monotony (though, I guess most of it was); he fell in love with Andie MacDowell's character. The movie was a major success, earning over $70,000,000 in the box office.
According to researchers (with a lot of time on their hands), Bill Murray's character relives February 2nd for over 33 years!

Answer: Kingpin

"Kingpin", starring Woody Harrelson and Randy Quaid, followed a former bowling near-champion as he tried to get his new protege, an Amish man, to win a major championship against "Big Ern" McCracken (played by Bill Murray). The Farrelly Brothers' sophomore effort (after "Dumb and Dumber"), "Kingpin" ended up being a box office bomb, making a couple million less than it ended up spending.

The Farrelly Brothers rebounded with "There's Something About Mary" a couple of years later.

Answer: Space Jam

While "Space Jam" starred Michael Jordan and the entire cast of "Looney Tunes", Bill Murray also showed up in a few key moments, one of which involved one of his more notable pastimes-- golf-- and one of which occurred near the end of the game when the Tune Squad (comprised, then, of Bugs, Daffy, Lola Bunny, and Michael Jordan) needed a fifth member. Murray promptly left the court after the victory dunk. "Space Jam" was somewhat of a phenomenon in the mid-1990s, partly for its soundtrack, but it ended up being hugely successful, catapulting to the top of the box office and being one of the most popular "Looney Tunes" releases ever made.

Answer: Garfield

"Garfield: The Movie" showed up in theaters twenty-six years after the initial release of the comic strip in 1978. In other words, Garfield should have died a long time ago. But alas, Bill Murray took on one of his few animated roles with this one, playing Garfield the orange, lasagna-loving cat. Murray, who alleged that he only took the role because he thought it was being directed by the Coen Brothers (instead of being written by Joel Cohen), has since made fun of his involvement...all the more perplexing since he returned for "Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties" in 2006.

The first movie, however, featured Garfield and Odie lost in the city and forced to escape the clutches of an evil TV host (played by Stephen Tobolowsky). Garfield was CGI-animated; Odie was not.

Answer: Zombieland

Sure enough, while characters played by Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Abigail Breslin, and Emma Stone fought to survive (and find Twinkies) in this 2009 zombie comedy, Bill Murray was simply hiding out in his Los Angeles mansion, riding out the apocalypse alone. Fortunately, he proved to be in good humour, even when (SPOILERS) he was shot while trying to imitate a zombie.

His only regrets? "Garfield, maybe." "Zombieland" was a hit upon its release, smack-dab in the middle of a zombie movie resurgence (resurrection?) in the late 2000s; it earned over $100,000,000 in the box office. Murray's cameo was a long-kept secret.