Match the Actor with the Show - 1980s Edition Quiz

Answer: Tom Selleck

"Magnum P.I." ran from 1980 to 1988 and featured Tom Selleck as private detective Thomas Magnum. Magnum resided on the Hawaiian estate of a secretive author as a live-in security guard; in exchange for his services, he received a number of perks including the use of the estate's Ferrari. Magnum and his friends, T.C. Calvin (Roger E. Mosley) and Rick Wright (Larry Manetti), were Vietnam veterans, and the show was one of the first to feature Vietnam veterans as central characters. Selleck received Emmy nominations for his role in 1982-1986, winning the award in 1984.

Answer: Ted Danson

"Cheers" debuted in 1982 and nearly didn't survive its first season due to low ratings, but it went on to become a popular and critical success, lasting eleven seasons until 1993. Ted Danson portrayed former baseball pitcher Sam Malone, the owner (at least in the early seasons) and bartender at a Boston bar called Cheers.

The sitcom focused on the womanizing adventures of Malone and the staff and regulars at his bar. Danson was nominated for an Emmy award for his work on "Cheers" for eleven consecutive years 1983-1993, and he won the award in 1990 and 1993.

Answer: Don Johnson

A stylish police drama, "Miami Vice" debuted in 1984 and ran until 1989. Developed during the "MTV" era, popular music was woven into the episodes; not only did many artists contribute songs to the show, some appeared onscreen, including Phil Collins and Glenn Frey.

The show also had an impact on men's fashion during the decade with the "Don Johnson" look of a t-shirt, linen suit, no socks and razor stubble becoming trendy. In the series, Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas portrayed undercover vice detectives Sonny Crockett and Rico Tubbs, who drove fancy cars and fast boats as part of their cover personas. Johnson received an Emmy nomination for his work on the show in 1985 but didn't win.

Answer: Larry Hagman

"Dallas" was a prime-time soap opera that originally ran from 1978 to 1991 and was centered around the Ewing family who owned an oil company and ranch in Texas. Larry Hagman played the scheming J.R. Ewing who was famously shot in the 1980 "Who shot J.R.?" cliffhanger (it was his sister-in-law/mistress Kristin, in case you forgot).

In 2012, the series was revived with Hagman briefly reprising his role as Ewing before his death later that year, but the series ended in 2014. For his work on the original series, Hagman was nominated for an Emmy award in 1980 and 1981 but didn't win.

Answer: Rowan Atkinson

"Blackadder" is the collective name for four British series from 1983-1989 featuring Rowan Atkinson as the character The Black Adder or Blackadder at various times in history. The first series, "The Black Adder", ran in 1983 and took place in 1485. It featured Atkinson as Richard IV's son, Edmund who called himself the Black Adder and focused on Edmund's attempts to seize the crown.

The second series, "Blackadder II", ran in 1986 and took place during the reign of Elizabeth I. Atkinson portrayed the great-grandson of The Black Adder who was known as Lord Blackadder.

The third series, "Blackadder the Third", ran in 1987 and took place during the turn of the 19th century. This time, Edmund Blackadder was the butler to the Prince of Wales. The final series of the original quartet, "Blackadder Goes Forth", ran in 1989 and took place in during WWI. Atkinson portrayed Captain Blackadder in this outing.

Besides Atkinson, the supporting cast for the various series included Brian Blessed, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie and Robbie Coltrane. "Blackadder II" won the CableAce award for Comedy Series in 1988 when it aired in the U.S. on the A&E Network, and "Blackadder the Third" won the same award in 1989. "Blackadder the Third" won the BAFTA for Comedy Series in 1988 and Atkinson picked up a nomination for "Best Light Entertainment Performance". "Blackadder goes Forth" repeated the BAFTA win in 1990, and this time, Atkinson won for "Best Light Entertainment Performance".

Answer: Bruce Willis

"Moonlighting" only aired from 1985 to 1989, but the chemistry between Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd made it one of the memorable series of the 1980s. In his breakout role, Willis portrayed David Addison who worked with Shepherd's Maddie Hayes at the Blue Moon Detective Agency.

The series was inspired by Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew", according to the show's creator, and not only did the episodes feature fast, bickering dialogue between the two lead characters, there was even a "Taming of the Shrew" episode called "Atomic Shakespeare" in 1986. For his work on the show, Willis received an Emmy nomination in 1986 and 1987, winning in the latter year.

Answer: Daniel J. Travanti

Credited as one of the best "Cop Shows" of all time by "TV Guide", "Hill Street Blues" debuted in 1981 and ran to 1987. It was declared to be the "most influential TV show ever" in a 2014 "CNN" article because of its use of an ensemble cast with interwoven plot lines that extended over multiple episodes - something that is common place now but was unusual when it debuted. Daniel J. Travanti starred as Captain Frank Furillo of the Hill Street precinct station in an undisclosed city, and Dennis Franz, who would later star in the 1990s show "NYPD Blue" also appeared on the show first as Detective Benedetto and later as Lieutenant Buntz. For his work on the show, Travanti was nominated for Emmy awards in 1981-1985, winning in 1981 and 1982.

Answer: Corbin Bernsen

Co-created by Stephen Bochco (with Terry Fisher) after his departure from "Hill Street Blues", "L.A. Law" ran from 1986 to 1994. Like "Hill Street Blues", "L.A. Law" also featured a large ensemble cast, overlapping plot lines and story lines that mirrored events in the real world.

The ensemble cast didn't have a lead role, as the various partners of the law firm all had their share of the series' plots, but Corbin Bernsen's womanizing character Arnie Becker quickly became one of the standouts of the series. Bernsen picked up Emmy nominations for his work on the show in 1987 and 1988 but didn't win.

Answer: Michael J. Fox

The sitcom that made Michael J. Fox a star, "Family Ties" ran from 1982 to 1989. The show featured liberal, ex-hippie parents raising an over-achieving conservative son, a self-absorbed daughter and two other kids (the fourth kid showed up in the fifth season), but the focus quickly fell on the oldest son, Alex P. Keaton, thanks to Fox's performance.

The Alex P. Keaton character came to symbolize the conservative values and economics of the 1980s and was ranked number 17 by "TV Guide" in their 1999 listing of "50 Greatest TV Characters of All Time". For his work on the show, Fox was nominated for the Emmy award in 1985-1989, and he won the award in 1986-1988.

Answer: Richard Dean Anderson

"MacGyver" only picked up four Emmy nominations in technical categories during its 1985-1992 run, but it became so embedded in pop culture that I've included it with these other shows that were critical successes. Richard Dean Anderson portrayed the title character, agent Angus MacGyver, whose special skill was being incredibly resourceful in using everyday items as tools in his work. MacGyver worked for a couple of mysterious agencies, and when he was on assignment, he preferred to rely on his ingenuity and his Swiss Army knife rather than use a gun.

A 2008 episode of the show "Mythbusters" was devoted to testing several of MacGyver's contraptions (most of the ones that were tested did work). Although Anderson didn't win any acting awards for the show, he did pick up a 2005 "TV Land" award nomination for his work on the show as "Most Uninsurable Driver" (he lost to one of "The Dukes of Hazzard").