Duty and the Beast Trivia Quiz

Answer: Rough Collie

The character of Lassie originated in a 1938 short story by Eric Knight that he expanded into a novel, "Lassie Come-Home" in 1940. Lassie was portrayed by a rough collie named Pal in the 1943 motion picture "Lassie Come-Home". Pal, a male rough collie, would also portray Lassie in the pilot episode of the long-running television series "Lassie" (1954-1973). His descendants, mostly also male, would portray Lassie in the remainder of the series.

The premise of the show altered several times over the years. In the first three seasons, Lassie lived on a farm with Jeff Miller, his mother, and grandfather. During seasons four through ten, Lassie lived on a farm with Timmy Martin and his adoptive parents. (This may be the episodes that represent "Lassie" to many people--Lassie barking and someone saying "What? Timmy fell down the well?") Over the next six seasons, Lassie worked with United States Forest Service rangers. In season seventeen, Lassie travelled on her own across the country for a year. In the final two seasons, Lassie lived a children's home. "Lassie" lasted an amazing 19 seasons. A reboot television series focused on Lassie appeared in the 1980s and 1990s.

Answer: Florida

"Gentle Ben" was first a 1965 novel by Walt Morley which was adapted into the 1967 motion picture "Gentle Giant". The television series "Gentle Ben" (1967-1969) lasted for two seasons and 58 episodes and included several cast members who also appeared in the motion picture.

While the novel was set in Alaska and portrayed Ben as a brown bear, both the motion picture and the television show were set in the Florida Everglades and featured a black bear named Bruno the Bear. "Gentle Ben" was a #2 hit in the Nielsen ratings in its first season but fell out of the top 20 in its second season. Clint Howard starred as Mark Wedloe and Dennis Weaver as his father, wildlife officer Tom Wedloe.

Answer: Dopey

"Land of the Lost" (1974-1976) ran for three seasons and 43 episodes and was produced by Sid and Marty Krofft. The series focused on the Marshall family--father Rick, son Will, and daughter Holly--who while rafting down a river accidentally traveled through an interdimensional portal to the land of the lost. Objects and creatures from many periods in Earth's history had come to the land of the lost, including a large number of dinosaurs. One of these was the young brontosaurus who Holly adopted as a pet of sorts and named Dopey. On a few occasions, she tried to have Dopey pull a cart bearing cargo such as food supplies. The dinosaurs on the show were portrayed by using stop motion animation and hand puppets for close-ups.

Grumpy was the Tyrannosaurus Rex who was featured at the end of the opening credits. Alice was an Allosaurus. Cha-Ka was one of the Pakuni, a primate-like creature who is able to speak and is a friend of the Marshall family.

Answer: Saturday Night Live

Toonces appeared in several sketches on "Saturday Night Live" between 1989 and 1993. Many of the sketches followed a similar format where Toonces married owners allowed Toonces to drive them in their car only to realize too late that this was a bad idea as Toonces drove the car off of a cliff. Guest host Steve Martin and cast member Victoria Jackson portrayed the couple in the first sketch. Cast member Dana Carvey replaced Steve Martin in many of the succeeding sketches.

In later sketches, Toonces performed some other actions including playing ping pong and operating a lawn mower. Toonces was portrayed by a combination of footage of a live cat and use of a puppet.

Answer: Bamboo Harvester

"Mister Ed" aired over six seasons (1961-1966) and 143 episodes. Mister Ed was played by Bamboo Harvester, a crossbred gelding of American Saddlebred, Arabian and grade ancestry. Alan Young portrayed his human owner, architect Wilbur Post. (Leading to Mr. Ed's most famous line--"Willlbburr!") In the show, Mrister Ed only spoke to Wilbur. Reports of the crew using peanut butter on Bamboo Harvester's gums to make his lips move to simulate talking were created by Alan Young. In actuality, the horse's trainer first used a nylon thread to move Bamboo Harvester's lips and later was able to have the horse do it upon a silent signal from off stage.

Of the other choices, Traveller was a horse owned by Robert E. Lee. Ginger was a supporting character horse from the novel "Black Beauty" (1877). Seattle Slew was the winner of the 1977 Triple Crown of horse racing.

Answer: Kangaroo

The series, also called "Skippy the Bush Kangaroo" aired in Australia from 1968-1970 and lasted 91 episodes. Skippy, a wild female eastern gray kangaroo, lived in Waratah National Park in New South Wales. Skippy was the friend of Sonny Hammond, the younger son of the Head Ranger of the park.

"Skippy" was often compared to "Lassie" and "Flipper". The show became one of the most exported series produced by an Australian television company. The franchise also produced a motion picture in 1969, a follow-up live-action series in 1992 and an animated series in 1998.

Answer: Abraham

"Diff'rent Strokes" aired from 1978 to 1986 for 181 episodes. The series focused on wealthy New York resident Philip Drummond (Conrad Bain) who adopted Willis and Arnold Jackson (Todd Bridges and Gary Coleman) who were the sons of Drummond's deceased housekeeper.

At one point in the series, Arnold introduced Philip Drummond to his pet goldfish, who was named Abraham. Abraham the goldfish was featured in the series from time to time.

Answer: Baretta

"Baretta" ran for four seasons (1975-1978) and 82 episodes. Actor Robert Blake played Tony Baretta, a plainclothes detective for the police force of an unnamed city. He lived in his apartment with Fred, his Triton sulphur-crested cockatoo. Interestingly another bird connection to the series is the theme song, "Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow". Also, a character named Rooster was one of Baretta's favorite informants in the television series.

"Kojak", "Colombo", and "Mannix" were other popular detective/crime series of the 1960s and 1970s.

Answer: He previously had a pet turtle.

"Fudge" was based on the series of books by Judy Blume that began with "Tales of a Fourth-Grade Nothing". "Fudge" ran for two seasons (1995-1997) and 25 episodes. The series starred Luke Tarsitano as the titular Fudge and Jake Richardson as his older brother Peter.

Both the series of books and the television series explain how Peter's dog was named Turtle. Peter previously owned a pet turtle named Dribble. One day, Fudge, who was known for being a handful, swallowed Dribble. Fudge had to be taken to the hospital to have his stomach pumped and Dribble died. Peter's parents then bought him a puppy--a pet that Fudge couldn't swallow--which he named Turtle in Dribble's memory.

Answer: Daktari

"Daktari" aired for four seasons (1966-1969) and 89 episodes. Clarence appeared in most of his scenes but two lions, both named Leo, were used for some stunts and other shots. Marshall Thompson (Dr. Tracy) and Cheryl Miller (Paula Tracy) were Clarence's human co-stars. All three had also appeared in the 1965 film "Clarence the Cross-Eyed Lion". The series was set at the fictional Wameru Study Centre for Animal Behaviour in East Africa.

"Tarzan" was set in Africa but did not include Clarence. "The Swiss Family Robinson" was a television series based on the novel of the same name. "Danger Island" was a serial that was seen on "The Banana Splits Adventure Hour".