Happy Wife, Happy Life Trivia Quiz

Answer: Vivian Vance

Of course, Lucille Ball was also a (generally) happily married wife on this show, but that name was rather a give-away, and both couples featured strongly in most episodes. Ethel and her husband Fred (played by William Frawley) were landlords for Lucy and her bandleader husband Ricky (Desi Arnaz, then Lucille Ball's husband). Lucy regularly involved Ethel in her harebrained schemes, and both women were seen to feel they had to manipulate their husbands in order to get what they wanted - with predictably amusing consequences. Fundamentally, though, they were happy with each other and with their lives.

Answer: Jane Wyatt

The Anderson family lived in the midwestern town of Springfield (probably not the one later inhabited by the Simpsons, but who knows?), where Jim (played by Robert Young) worked as an insurance agent. The show started on radio in 1949, and moved to television in 1954, with only Robert Young remaining in the cast.

In the original radio show, the father had been rather full of his own importance, and wielded a sarcastic wit; when it move to television, the character was softened to be more the type of father-figure that Young wanted.

Despite the title, the show gave Jane Wyatt the chance to portray a mother who was always able to offer suitable advice and support to her husband and to their children - Betty (Elinor Donahue) Bud (Billy Gray) and Kathy (Lauren Chapin).

Answer: Audrey Meadows

'The Honeymooners', which originated as a sketch on the variety show 'Cavalcade of Stars', got its own half-hour slot in 1955. In the earlier sketches, Audrey was played by Pert Kelton, but Audrey Meadows got the part for the later sketches (after it moved to 'The Jackie Gleason Show') and the series.

This show is such a cultural icon that it is surprising to know there were only 39 episodes! Most scenes take place in the Brooklyn flat of bus driver Ralph Kramden (Jackie Gleason) and his wife Alice, where they are frequently visited by their upstairs neighbors Ed and Trixie Norton (Art Carney and Joyce Randolph).

Much of the humor of the show was based on Ralph's short temper, and his get-rich-quick schemes, which never work out. These four characters are the acknowledge inspiration for the animated show 'The Flintstones'.

Answer: Barbara Billingsley

While the show really focused on young Theodore Cleaver (known as 'The Beaver', and played by Jerry Mathers) and his older brother Wally (played by Tony Dow), they would have been lost without their wonderfully wise and understanding parents, June and Ward (Hugh Beaumont).

This was yet another show that portrayed an idyllic middle-class life in the town of Mayfield, with a mother whose time was fully occupied caring for the family and providing a secure base for them. The family had to move house at one point, when the show moved to a different network, yet the neighborhood friends stayed the same - they clearly didn't move very far!

Answer: Gloria Henry

Henry (played by Herbert Anderson) and Alice Mitchell were the parents of young Dennis (played by Jay North), a well-intentioned boy who somehow kept getting himself into trouble, often involving their neighbor George Wilson (Joseph Kearns), whom he always addressed as Mr Wilson (and sometimes as Good Ol' Mr Wilson). Dennis often seemed oblivious to the way his escapades stressed Mr Wilson, but his parents were all too clear about the havoc their only child unwittingly wrought.

A very young Ron Howard appeared in several episodes as Stewart, one of Dennis's best friends, before he joined the cast of 'The Andy Griffith Show' as Opie Taylor in 1960.

Answer: June Lockhart

Lassie, a female rough collie (played by six different males over the series), had a number of families in an extensive television career. The first ten seasons of the show had her living with Jeff Miller (played by Tommy Rettig), on a farm with his mother and grandfather. In 1957, the family became young Timmy Martin (played by Jon Provost) and his adoptive parents when they bought the Miller's farm. (I don't recall the premise which led to Lassie staying on the farm, but I am sure that some excuse was made!) Ruth Martin was played for the rest of that season by Cloris Leachman, then the role was taken over by June Lockhart for another seven seasons, before Lassie moved on to roam the wilderness with the first of the Forest Service Rangers with whom she resided for some time.

The show's sponsors, Campbell Soup, insisted that their products be visible on the set, which required every episode to include at least one scene set in the kitchen where the soup, with its trademark red-and-white label, could be seen. As a result, it seemed that Ruth Martin spent most of her time in the kitchen, but she was more than capable of taking over the farm in her husband's absence, especially with Lassie around to make sure everything got sorted out in 22 minutes.

Answer: Mary Tyler Moore

This show focused on Rob Petrie, a television comedy writer played by Dick van Dyke. Some episodes focussed on his work for the fictitious show 'The Alan Brady Show', with co-writers Buddy Sorrell (Morey Amsterdam) and Sally Rogers (Rose Marie) joining in on making jokes about their jobs, and especially about the show's star (Alan Brady played by Carl Reiner) and its producer (Mel Cooley, played by Richard Deacon). Just as often, we were involved in some sort of domestic crisis involving his wife Laura and their son Richie (played by Larry Matthews). According to the character's back story, Laura met Rob while she was a teenager, dancing in a USO show, and happily became a full-time housewife after their marriage. Mary Tyler Moore won several Emmy Awards for her performances on the show.

Answer: Elizabeth Montgomery

We never doubted the happy relationship between Samantha and Darren (played first by Dick York, then by Dick Sargent), despite his stated desire that she be more like a normal human woman, rather than a witch. Her mother Endora (Agnes Moorehead) didn't help things, nor did her mischievous cousin Serena (Elizabeth Montgomery with a black wig). And her various inept magical friends and relations moved this sitcom out of the suburban routine on many occasions.

There were even some time-travelling episodes back to the time of the Salem Witch Trials!

Answer: June Lockhart

For a show set in a futuristic (at the time, 1997 was over 30 years in the future) world of space travel, 'Lost in Space' gave Dr Robinson (a title that was only mentioned twice) remarkably little chance to use her skills as a biochemist - she spent most of her time in the background, taking care of the garden, preparing meals, doing the maintenance work that corresponded to housework and being a reasonable and compassionate presence.

The real stars of the show were Dr Zachary Smith (Jonathan Harris), the youngest Robinson child, Will (played by Bill Mumy) and The Robot, responsible for the iconic lines "That does not compute" and "Warning! Warning!", as well as "Danger, Will Robinson!" The last of these, although forever remembered in association with the show, was actually only said once, in the third season episode 'The Deadliest of the Species'.

Answer: Florence Henderson

Often described as the last of the family-based sitcoms, this was certainly one for the books. As repeated in the opening sequence of each episode, Carol had three girls from her first marriage - Marcia (Maureen McCormick), Jan (Eve Plumb) and Cindy (Susan Olsen). The show never made it clear how that marriage ended; apparently the original concept made her a divorcee, but the producers were reluctant to make that explicit. Mike Brady (Robert Reed), however, had been widowed, and was in need of a wife to make his life happy, and to provide a mother for his three sons Greg (Barry Williams), Peter (Christopher Knight) and Bobby (Mike Lookinland). So that Carol would be free to focus her energies on making the blended family work, the deal also included Mike's live-in housekeeper Alice (Ann B. Davis), who tended to the more mundane household tasks.

You remember the theme song, so let's sing it together to finish the quiz:
"Here's a story, of a lovely lady / Who was bringing up three very lovely girls. / All of them had hair of gold, like their mother, / The youngest one in curls. // Here's a story, of a man named Brady / Who was busy with three boys of his own. / They were four men living all together, / Yet they were all alone. // Till the one day when the lady met this fellow, / And they knew that it was much more than a hunch / That this group must somehow form a family, / That's the way we all became the Brady bunch."