Dogs on TV Trivia Quiz

Answer: Tramp

"My Three Sons" was a long-running sit-com (1960 - 72) which focused on the Douglas family - a widowed father (Fred MacMurray) raising his three sons in an upper middle-class neighborhood. Of course, being a busy aviation engineer, he needed some assistance - first, in the form of his father-in-law, "Bub" O'Casey (William Frawley).

When Frawley left the series in 1965, he was replaced by "Uncle Charley" O'Casey (William Demarest) who remained their housekeeper for the remainder of the series. Among the household denizens was Tramp, a Briard, who's actual name was Spud.

Answer: Scruffy

Scruffy was a wired-haired fox terrier that belonged to the Muir family, a widow and her two children, who rented a seaside cottage only to find it haunted by the ghost of a 19th Century sea captain. Apart from the title, the ghost of Daniel Gregg, Martha the housekeeper, the seaside "Gull Cottage" and the family name of Muir, the 1968-70 sit-com bore faint resemblance to the 1947 theatrical movie in which no dog appeared.

Answer: Santa's Little Helper

"The Simpsons" is a long-running animated series from its creator, Matt Groening. It was actually spin-off of "The Tracy Ullman Show" where clips were aired as "bumpers" (lead-ins to commercials). When the fist full-length "Simpsons" aired in 1989, the episode plot was about how the Simpsons acquired their dog - a racing greyhound who ironically became their pet at Christmas.

Answer: Ladybird

Ladybird was an elderly (by dog years) pet of the animated Hill family in the fictional town of Arlen, Texas. The tie-in was that "Lady Bird" was the nickname of the wife of former Texas Senator, Vice-President and U.S. President, Lyndon Johnson. The head of the family, Hank Hill, just adores this dog and it's sometimes even implied that he thinks more of her than his wife, Peggy, or son, Bobby. Several episodes focused on Ladybird. "King of the Hill" was created by Mike Judge, who also voices other characters and who also produced the animated cartoon, "Beavis and Butthead".

Answer: Queequeg

"The X-Files" premise focused on two F.B.I. agents, Fox Mulder (David Duchovney) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who investigated atypical F.B.I. cases, always seemingly dealing with supernatural events. In literature, Queequeg was a harpooner aboard the ill-fated whaling ship "Pequod" in "Moby Dick".

The TV dog was a cute little Pomeranian of Agent Scully's, whose family always chose nicknames from that book. Scully took over being Queequeg's pet parent from a character named Mrs. Lowe.

Answer: Cleopatra

Cleopatra (a.k.a. Cleo) was a basset hound owned by a newly elected city council member, Socrates Miller (Jackie Cooper). While Cleo didn't speak aloud as did other talking TV animals (e.g. Mr. Ed), her thoughts were communicated to the viewers, usually having to do with human character foibles. Cleo, whose real name was Bernadette, was such a popular TV character, that she was featured on the August 3, 1957 edition of "TV Guide" magazine. Cleo's thought-voice was dubbed by Mary Jane Croft.

Answer: Stinky

A Briard, Stinky shares his life with Dharma and Greg's other dog, Nunzio (a Welsh corgi) who is the more dominant, if smaller, dog. Lucky for them, Dharma's character is a dog trainer, among other career pursuits. A dog named Chewy played Stinky for the first three seasons, after which Spud (a.k.a. Tramp from "My Three Sons") took over the role.

Answer: Tiger

The original Tiger, a bearded collie whose actual name was Tiger, was the Brady's dog. It appeared only in early episodes. It was accidentally killed when hit by a car before the fourth episode was even filmed. A replacement look-alike was found. The second Tiger remained until midway through the second season and written out and never referred to again, allegedly because it was a difficult dog with which to work.

In all, Tiger appeared in 10 episodes.

Answer: Comet

Comet, a golden retriever, was introduced in the third season, an adopted puppy from the litter of a neighbor's dog that gave birth in Jesse's bed. Michelle chose the dog's name. Comet's real name was Buddy.

Answer: Dog

"Etude in Black" was the "Columbo" episode in which Dog, a basset hound, debuted. It was added because the network wanted to introduce another continuing character as a sidekick to Det. Columbo, but the producers suggested a pet rather that another police character.

After deciding on the breed, they named it "Dog" because "There was no name you could give the hound." Dog was lethargic and sometimes an inconvenience when he would bark at the most inopportune moments. Never a true recurring character, he did appear in the other episodes "Forgotten Lady", "Playback", "Now You See Him", "Try And Catch Me", and "Make Me A Perfect Murder".