Early Television Mysteries Trivia Quiz

Answer: Roscoe Karns

Karns had been a very successful character actor in films. "Rocky King" provided him an opportunity to star. "Rocky King" was live, long before the advent of video tape, so the action had to be precisely timed and lines had to be memorized. To save money, "Rocky King" was done in the offices and hallways of the DuMont Company. To save on actors, the plot often used one-sided phone conversations. After the killer was caught, King would phone his wife Mabel. And after he hung up he would always say "Great girl, that Mabel."

Jan Murray was the host of DuMont's game show "Dollar a Second". Kids of that era waited to see the adventures of "Captain Video" played by Richard Coogan. "The Plainclothes Man" was another DuMont mystery starring Ken Lynch.

Answer: Chester B. Goode

Della Street was Mason's secretary; Paul Drake was his investigator; Hamilton (Ham) Burger was often seen as the prosecuting DA. Chester B. Goode was Matt Dillon's deputy on "Gunsmoke".

Answer: Henry Mancini

Blake Edwards is given credit for being the creative producer behind the show. He also wrote and directed. Robert Altman was a frequent director. Mancini's theme has become a jazz standard.

Answer: Barton Yarborough

Webb was the creator of the show. Yarborough died of a heart attack and was replaced by Barney Phillips. The character of Detective Frank Smith was added later on was portrayed by Herb Ellis. Ben Alexander took over the role and continued the reminder of the original series, but not the revival in 1967 when it fell to Harry Morgan.

Answer: Kookie

Edd Byrnes began a singing career with the novelty single "Kookie, Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb" based on his character in the series. Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. and Roger Smith had starring roles on the show. The program was highly formulamatic and had clones such as "Bourbon Street Beat" in New Orleans, "Hawaiian Eye" in Hawaii, and "Surfside 6" in Miami.

It was a platform for many new actors too numerous to mention here.

Answer: Robert Culp

Culp made a mark on the western series "Trackdown" (1957-1959). He was primarily a television actor but did appear on the big screen in several films, the most successful being "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice" (1969).

Answer: Tige Andrews

Tige Andrews was the captain to whom they reported and got assignments from, generally undercover. Aaron Spelling was the producer. In 1999, a movie was made based on the TV series with Giovanni Ribisi, Omar Epps,and Claire Danes, and Dennis Farina as the Captain. The publicity preceding the series was "One White, One Black, One Blonde".

Answer: Honey West

Other female detectives had been seen but Honey West was the first to have her name in the title. Although it lasted only a year, it had an impact on the marketability of a female protagonist. John Ericson was her co-worker and the soundtrack had a vibrant jazz beat ala "Peter Gunn".

Answer: Broderick Crawford

Crawford won the Oscar in 1949 for his performance as Willie Stark in "All the King's Men". His gruff voice had kids everywhere shouting "10-4, 10-4" into pretend microphones. Crawford said, when the series was cancelled, "We ran out of crimes."

Answer: He was chauffeured in his own Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II

Dick Powell starred as Burke in the TV pilot, and Barry took over the role. The show ran three seasons and 48 episodes. Burke was sophisticated and flamboyant, much like Bat Masterson. During the last season, Burke became a spy-chaser and there were vast cast changes.

In 1994, 29 years later, "Burke's Law" was revived with Barry returning to the title role but by this time the series was dated and camp.