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Quiz about Glued To The TV 20 Years Ago 1985 Emmys

Glued To The TV 20 Years Ago: 1985 Emmys Quiz

Life was so hectic in '85. So much work! I was always in a constant state of "Hurry up! Do this and then do that! In fact, scrap that idea and do them both at once!" TV was such a relief usually. Remember the Emmys back then? Let's see if you do.

A multiple-choice quiz by gatsby722. Estimated time: 7 mins.

Author
gatsby722

Time
7 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
210,946

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
5 / 10

Plays
369

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. I remember a friend calling me that year. He'd been a little under the weather and went to the doctor. "Dave," he says "there's something wrong with my immune system." Heart wrenching words in 1985 *shivers*. The happier stuff is that they're naming the Outstanding Actress In A Drama Series for the 1985/86 TV season. Who won it? Hint

Tyne Daly in "Cagney & Lacey"

Sharon Gless in "Cagney & Lacey"

Christina Pickles in "St. Elsewhere"

Angela Lansbury in "Murder, She Wrote"

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Question 2 of 10

2. I was closer to being 30 than I liked. Then I got reminded why. Anyone heard of spontaneous pneumothorax? Tall skinny people tend to be prone (it all has to do with growth spurts and organ stretching - and usually happens in one's youth). Well, it did to me. Collapsed lung. Major ouchies. Anyway, once I got home from the sickhouse I was eager to see that this show was dubbed Outstanding Drama Series for the 1985/86 season. Which one? Hint

St. Elsewhere

Cagney & Lacey

Hill Street Blues

Murder, She Wrote

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Question 3 of 10

3. Well, we got Reagan again for another term as President. I shuddered at the time but now that I think about it he wasn't so bad. Iffy actor, decent President? Hard to make sense of. However, we are watching TV junk now. Who was given the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Dramatic Series for the 1985/86 season? Hint

John Karlen in "Cagney & Lacey"

Dennis Franz in "Hill Street Blues"

Bruce Weitz in "Hill Street Blues"

Howie Mandel in "St. Elsewhere"

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Question 4 of 10

4. Stamps were just a mere 20 cents back then. Not a huge price but everyone was still in a snit that they went up. My guess is that they were mostly ticked that they had to go buy little stamps to bump up their postage stockpile. Grumpy! Let's laugh a little. Who was named Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series for the 1985/86 season? Hint

Blair Brown in "The Days And Nights Of Molly Dodd"

Beatrice Arthur in "The Golden Girls"

Rue McLanahan in "The Golden Girls"

Betty White in "The Golden Girls"

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Question 5 of 10

5. A new leader in Russia came along in 1985, I remember. Mikhail Gorbachev, running under the slogans "Glasnost and Perestroika". Thank heavens his wife's name is familiar. "Happy". Maybe they'll eventually call him "Gorby"? Who knows? One thing we DO know is that this man was named Outstanding Actor In A Comedy Series for the 1985/86 season. Who? Hint

Michael J. Fox in "Family Ties"

Alan Alda in "M*A*S*H"

Ted Danson in "Cheers"

Billy Crystal in "Saturday Night Live"

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Question 6 of 10

6. Rock Hudson gave up the ghost in 1985. A good man, really. Ironic to be almost every woman's fantasy in the 50s and then be discovered that his eye was in a different direction. It must have been terribly hard to live his life. He brought a lot of attention to a killer disease, though. Thanks, Rock! This lady brought a lot of chuckles to we viewers and was named Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series for the 1985/86 season. Anybody remember who? Hint

Rhea Perlman in "Cheers"

Marilu Henner in "Taxi"

Loretta Swit in "M*A*S*H"

Estelle Getty in "The Golden Girls"

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Question 7 of 10

7. After 70 years the wreckage of the RMS Titanic was discovered in September 1985. It was incredibly deep in the Atlantic and the water was killer cold - but the doomed ship was finally found. It took a few more years for it to actually be visited, though. I heard that a movie came out about it in the 90s? Now, really, who wants to watch a ship sink? This man wasn't sinking at the Emmy Awards for the 1985/86 season, though. He was named Outstanding Actor In A Drama Series! Who was he? Hint

Ed Flanders in "St. Elsewhere"

Don Johnson in "Miami Vice"

Daniel J. Travanti in "Hill Street Blues"

William Daniels in "St. Elsewhere"

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Question 8 of 10

8. Larry McMurtry released this interesting book called "Lonesome Dove" in 1985. Even before it hit the shelves they were talking about making a movie of it. Eventually it was decided it should be a TV miniseries. It will pale in comparison to the novel, I thought. Guess what? It finally didn't at all; classic television! Not too sure if we're talking about classic TV in this 1985/86 Emmy category. Who was given Outstanding Individual Performance In A Variety Or Music Program? Hint

Whitney Houston in "The 28th Annual Grammy Awards"

Carol Burnett in "Julie & Carol At Lincoln Center - A Reunion"

Julie Andrews in "Julie & Carol At Lincoln Center - A Reunion"

Liza Minnelli in "Liza With A Z"

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Question 9 of 10

9. That Martina Navratilova is a pretty ace tennis player - she beat Chris Evert-Lloyd at Wimbledon in 1985. Her wins continued in later years. This lady was named Outstanding Lead Actress In A Miniseries Or A Special at the Emmys for the 1985/86 season. Who aced that one? Hint

Susan Blakely in "Rich Man, Poor Man"

Zoe Caldwell in "Medea"

Marlo Thomas in "Nobody's Child"

Mare Winningham in "Love Is Never Silent"

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Question 10 of 10

10. Georgia O'Keeffe, one of my favorite modern painters, passed away in March of 1986 at nearly 100 years old. What a life lived, though! She made no bones about marching/creating to her own drummer. What show was named Outstanding Comedy Series at the Emmys for the 1985/86 season, though? Hint

Cheers

The Golden Girls

M*A*S*H*

Taxi

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

Answer: Sharon Gless in "Cagney & Lacey"

Gless and Daly passed this award back and forth for a few years, Daly usually winning. The partnered lady detectives were really something, one really no more important than the other. The great thing the show did was to not present it as "girl fun". Nor was it eye candy for the guys. It was a well crafted and well acted drama for everyone! Sharon Gless can be seen on "Queer As Folk".

Answer: St. Elsewhere

Ah, the comings and goings in St. Eligius hopital! It was a terrific show - seemed to try everything interesting. Let's see...we had murder, infidelity, rape, boneheaded doctors (thank you for that part, Dr. Ehrlich), AIDS, autism, cancer! You name it, it was there. And they did it all well. And there was this Denzel Washington fellow in the cast. I think he did quite well for himself.

Not to mention David Morse (playing the nicest doc I've ever met, or had the luck to, in my real life). It was a great show. Joshua Brand and John Falsey developed the exceptional series.

Answer: John Karlen in "Cagney & Lacey"

I remember seeing Karlen win. What a surprise! I remembered him from that old spooky soap opera "Dark Shadows" and now here he was in the Prime Time spotlight. Playing Harvey Lacey, the beleagured husband of Mary Beth Lacey, was a pretty shadowy job. She got the cool stuff to do - he pretty much waited at home. And he was so good at doing it! I suspect many young actors could learn from his work. Don't worry about getting your face in the camera. Sit back, speak when it's called for and do a good job. Karlen sure did.

Answer: Betty White in "The Golden Girls"

Juggle the balls and see which one lands. White won, but eventually all the "Golden Girls" did. It was a really good show! Women in their 50s sexually active? Unthinkable. But they all hit the right triggers in we watchers. They should be a frisky lot. Life doesn't end at 35, after all, and we got reminded of that. Miss White was actually supposed to play Blanche initially.

She excelled at doing Rose, though. Never exactly a dummy but naive beyond comprehension here and there.

Answer: Michael J. Fox in "Family Ties"

What an uproar came to be on "Family Ties"! The little Canadian squirt playing stuffy young Alex Keaton was not supposed to end up stealing the show from the adult stars. He did, anyway, and did it well. Fox then became a movie star to boot (and at the same time he was a TV hit; notably in the "Back To The Future" films). Now courageously battling Parkinson's Disease Fox is no longer some little "who is this guy?".

A bona fide icon these days.

Answer: Rhea Perlman in "Cheers"

Carla (Perlman) was about as brassy a barmaid as anyone could serve up. We just couldn't get enough of her "take no stuff from anybody" character. All those misfit children of hers! In real life she was/is married to actor/director Danny DeVito. Something tells me that those two have a lot of laughs together.

Answer: William Daniels in "St. Elsewhere"

It had to be a pretty tight race that year - but Daniels edged out the rest. His spin on Dr. Mark Craig, surgeon extraordinaire, either struck as aggravating or unforgettable or both. That could explain why he was awarded. His real-life spouse (Bonnie Bartlett) played his TV one on "St. Elsewhere". Daniels has since, among other things, had a long and lighter role in "Boy Meets World".

His career has actually spanned some four decades.

Answer: Whitney Houston in "The 28th Annual Grammy Awards"

It's probably a good thing that the other three weren't even nominated that year for Whitney Houston! She made quite an entrance onto the Entertainment horizon back then and also won her Grammy in '85 for "Saving All My Love For You". Her career has been noteworthy (if not controversial) over time and further prizes came her way.

It's up to you if her marriage to Bobby Brown was a prize but they seem to stick together. And, of course, Whitney's aunt is Dionne Warwick and her Mother, Cissy, is a respected Gospel singer.

A very winning gene pool.

Answer: Marlo Thomas in "Nobody's Child"

Who could miss in such a role? Thomas played the real-life Marie Balter, who had spent her entire youth in mental institutions. Finally, in her 30s she was properly diagnosed and got off the numbing medications and was set free at 36. She eventually became a strong advocate for mental health.

The role was meaty indeed and Marlo made the most of it - totally vaporizing her image given in that silly old TV show "That Girl". Lee Grant, an award winning actress herself, directed the movie.

Answer: The Golden Girls

All the shows mentioned were excellent but the ladies in "The Golden Girls" couldn't be bested that year. The mix of it was actually very casual - two widows and one divorcee pull together and share a house in Miami. Then one of their mothers shows up and moves in, too. The characters couldn't have been more different but they gelled and became a family of sorts. Aside from being hilarious the program tackled some serious issues as it went. Definitely a show blessed with great writing lest it had eventually become a one joke concept. It ran for 7 seasons.

Hope you had a little fun with this!

Source: Author gatsby722

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