Forbidden Fruit Trivia Quiz

Answer: Seven

In an eleven series run of 264 episodes, it took 168 episodes for younger brother Niles to confess his feelings for Daphne in the last episode of season seven. There is no other TV drama plot device as effective as "Will they - or Won't they?" "Frasier" was one of the few shows that continued to rate well after the question was answered in the affirmative. Season seven, which ended in the confession, was the season this show won its time slot (for the first and only time).

However the show continued to rate well after Niles and Daphne became a couple.

This, whilst unusual, was due in part to the fact, it was not the major plot device of the show. As initially, this sexual tension was a few lines per episode or occasionally an episode devoted to same.

As such it was able to be teasingly dragged out for seven seasons.

Answer: The Waltons

"Castle" ran for eight seasons between 2009-2016. Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion), a mystery writer, and Kate Beckett (Stana Katic), a homicide detective are thrown together to solve crimes. They "got together" at the end of Season Four. There were mixed reactions from viewers and critics to the consummation of their relationship.

"Bones" (2005-2017) was based on forensic anthropology / archaeology, and the investigations behind human remains referred by FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz) to Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan (Emily Deschanel). The two opposites get married in season nine and last a further three seasons of declining ratings before the show was cancelled in 2017.

"The Big Bang Theory" is the story of four geeky scientists and an attractive neighbour Penny who contrasts the other four with an attitude grounded in common sense. In "The Recombination Hypothesis", which was the hundredth episode and the thirteenth episode of the series' fifth season, Leonard and Penny finally get together, leading eventually to marriage.

"The Waltons" was an American television series about a family in rural Virginia during the Great Depression and World War II from 1933-1946. The show was created by Earl Hamner, Jr., and his based on his book "Spencer's Mountain". A television movie "The Homecoming: A Christmas Story" was broadcast on in 1971 and was effectively a pilot for the series which lasted nine series. The story was narrated through John-Boy the eldest of seven children. Plots centred on the family's ability to survive tough times.

Answer: No

Despite the New Jersey mobster backdrop to "the Sopranos", the whole premise of the TV series was "Guy walks into a Psychiatrist". The creator, David Chase admitted the storylines were based on his relationship with his mother and his subsequent therapy.

In this series, Tony's mother was truly evil, undiagnosed with borderline personality disorder. Tony had affairs with flawed women with personality traits similar to his mother. However he was attracted enormously to his psychiatrist, the only person who truly understood him.

She, despite keeping their relationship professional, was attracted to him as well. They shared a kiss in Season five when Tony is separated from his long suffering wife Carmela. The relationship goes no further and Dr Melfi terminates their professional relationship when she realises she cannot help him in the next season.

The aeries ended soon after. This show dealt with the premise of forbidden fruit in a way it dealt with everything else in the show: realistically.

Answer: No

"Who's the Boss" (1984-92) broke TV stereotyping by portraying Italian-American widowed, retired baseball player as a a live-in housekeeper for Angela Bower, a self-contained driven suburban divorced mother of one. Each had a child who together, were oblivious of the culture clash. By Season Eight, they admitted their feelings for one another but they did not marry, ostensibly because the network had concerns that such a definitive ending would devalue syndication rights.

Instead there was a wedding between Tony's daughter, Sam and her long time beau Hank.

Answer: Josh and Donna

Josh,"I'm just sayin', if you were in an accident I wouldn't stop for a beer"
Donna, "If you were in an accident, I wouldn't stop for red lights". (Season Two, "17 Reasons")
And so it went, five years of ambiguity and feigned detachment in a relationship that took five seasons for Donna and Josh to get together.

Donna Moss (Janel Moloney) held the position of Senior Assistant to Deputy White House Chief of Staff Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford).

Ms Moloney stated that Donna was not meant to be a recurring character but after a few episodes, the producers noticed the chemistry between them. There lies the power of unrequitted love (and one of the best subplots in the show).

Answer: Will had died, Alicia asks for a divorce from Peter, ambiguous ending

Alicia (Julianna Margulies) and her husband (Chris Noth) have an on-again, off again relationship throughout the series, which resulted in Alicia asking for a divorce (near the end of the series), which her husband agreed to. Alicia started a relationship with Will (Josh Charles) in Season Three but it could not be maintained because of a series of 'bad timing' moments. Will died in Season Five in a courtroom shooting, taking the audience by surprise. The series, critically acclaimed, lost steam in the last two seasons with Peter convicted again, Will dead and Alicia's flirtation with politics doomed. The series ends with her facing an uncertain professional and personal future.

The show was applauded for its portrayal of good acting, writing and direction, portraying realistic (messy) relationships, use of technology in its scripts and its refusal to tie off loose ends withe an optimistic ending.

Answer: No

"Cheers" had all the right credentials for unrequited love: Charismatic working class boy (Ted Danson as bartender former professional baseballer Sam) and intelligent snobbish and attractive Diane (played by Shelley Long) who was a cocktail waitress in Sam's bar. The dialogue was witty and razor sharp between these two. The problem was they got together too soon, broke up got together again, engaged to get married but broke up again. The issue was not "Will they get together" but "Will they stay together". With the subsequent absence of sexual tension, the show relied on having cliffhanger plots at the end of every season to maintain tension. By the end of season five, Diane had left, as all plot options between Sam and Diane had been explored. She did return again for the show's finale in Season 11 where they were to get married before they broke up again.

The show earned a record 111 Emmy Award nominations, with a total of 28 wins. The show had an ensemble cast and the interactions between Sam and Diane, while at the forefront of the show, did not dominate due to the antics of the rest of the cast.

Answer: The Nanny

That voice! Fran Drescher as Fran Fine from Queens (replete with a nasally Queens accent) became a nanny to the three children of Maxwell Sheffield (Charles Shaughnessy). The children were dysfunctional but Fran brought common sense and warmth to the household, keeping things professional between herself and her boss but she was secretly smitten. They "got together" at the end of Season Four and had two more seasons (having twins together) before cancelling the series after a decline in ratings.
In a 2018 interview, Ms Drescher revealed some telling secrets about the show.
She came up with the inspiration of the show when seated next to a CBS executive on a flight to Paris. She used her charm to get an interview to pitch a TV pilot to CBS. She used the plot of the "Sound of Music" (1965) as a template after looking after Twiggy's 12 year old daughter in Paris. CBS snapped up the concept and they had a six season hit, CBS snapped up, thanks in a big way to the sexual tension between Fran and Mr Sheffield.

Ms Drescher admits that answering fans' calls for marriage (they married at the end of the season 5) was to be '"The Nanny"'s death knell'.

"When a show is built around a love that can't happen, sexual tension, you have to keep it that way. As much as you want the people to get together, as soon as they do, people start tuning out...We didn't want to get them together."

Before Season 5 was optioned, CBS gave an ultimatum: "Give us a wedding or we'll cancel The Nanny."

"So we looked at each other and said 'Well, we are having a wedding!'

After being asked about a possible sequel 20 years later, Ms Drescher replied "Once the sexual tension is gone, now she is the wife, there went the series. So, to go back... We would have to figure out where we are starting from and what it is."

... And there dear readers, is the paradox of sexual tension in comedy and drama: The string gets tighter and tighter as the tension builds until either a marriage or a consummation, the string is cut, then ratings fall away, jeopardising the series.

Answer: Seven

"The X-Files" was an American science fiction drama television series. The original television series spanned nine seasons and ran from 1993 to 2002. The show was renewed in 2016.
Fox Mulder was played by David Duchovny. Mulder was a highly educated FBI special agent who believed in the existence of extraterrestrials. He also believed there is a government conspiracy to cover up the truth regarding their existence. He worked in the X-Files office which involved cases with possible supernatural circumstances.
Dana Scully was played by Gillian Anderson. Scully was a medical doctor and FBI special agent and Mulder's partner. Scully was a sceptic, basing her beliefs on scientific explanations, but her faith as a Catholic also served a purpose in this show.

Consider the build up of sexual tension:

Season One: Scully gives Mulder a hug of relief when he states unknown marks on her body are mosquito bites.

Season Three. Fans noticing the attraction between them, clamoured for a romance. Chris Carter, the creator would have none of it ("No Romance, never, ever"). He created in "Syzygy" an episode that highlighted their many incompatibilities. It (ahem) didn't work. Chemistry was maintained.

Season Four, "Momento Mori". Scully's alien-induced cancer caused Mulder to show how much he cared for her. There was a forehead kiss and a prolonged hug.

Season Four "Small Potatoes". It appears that Mulder is homing in on Scully to give her a passionate kiss but wait! That is not Mulder It's a Shapeshifter that looks like Molder

In Season Five, Floie a Deaux" (Madness for Two). Mulder tells Scully that she is his soulmate when he says "You're my one in ... 5 billion."

In Season Six, The Unnatural". They share a cuddly moment.

In Season Seven, they finally, kiss, which of course dooms the relationship as shortly afterwards Mulder is abducted by aliens.

In Season Nine the finale, we leave the two protagonists spooning on a motel bed. This was supposed to be The End but in the renewed series in 2016 we find they have broken up again. This was inevitable as sexual tension must be restored.

Answer: Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis

"Moonlighting" was an innovative show that made Bruce Willis a star. Maddie Hayes, former model now broke, had to run the Blue Moon Detective Agency, her last remaining asset. The other protagonist was street-smart David Addison as the only detective. Some of the show's innovations included talking to the fourth wall (the audience) about the show itself; the introduction of "dramedy" a combination of drama and comedy; and "cold opens" (in this case, an introduction where the characters talked to the audience about the episode about to follow. this was performed at the start of the show to fill in time as their lines were delivered so fast, the plot needed extra time.

The dialogue was a feature: "snappy, intense, banter-laden battles" made great television, but the most compelling aspect of the show was the white hot sexual chemistry as it pervaded every scene in which they both appeared.

When the two eventually slept together, the ratings fell away markedly and the show was cancelled after five seasons. The producers deny this was due to the absence, thereafter of sexual tension but other TV creators refer to this as the "Moonlighting Legacy". This was one reason the producers of "ER" took so long for Doug Ross (George Clooney and Julianna Margulies) to get together. They pointed to what happened in "Moonlighting".