"Midnight Caller" Trivia Quiz

Answer: Police officer

Jack Killian, played by Gary Cole, left the police after accidentally shooting and killing his partner. He became heavily dependent on alcohol, but was offered a job as a late night talk show host by radio station owner Devon King, played by Wendy Kilbourne.

This was the first show to look at late night talk radio, which was just starting to gain popularity. It deliberately set out to look at social issues of the time, tackling such issues as child abuse, drug addiction and AIDS.

Answer: The Nighthawk

Jack became "The Nighthawk". In addition to listening to people's problems he also became involved in solving them during the day, acting as a sort of private detective. This brought him into contact with several of his ex-colleagues, who were not always over pleased to see him. Although exonerated of all blame in the death of his partner, many still felt antagonistic towards him.

Answer: Billy Po

Dennis Dun as Billy Po was Jack Killian's boss, producer, friend, and sometimes his assistant in his daytime problem solving activities. Dennis Dun has also appeared in several films, among them "Big Trouble In Little China" (1986) and "The Last Emperor" (1987).

Although often appearing in other television series, "Midnight Caller" was the first series in which he made a regular weekly appearance for the entire run of the show.

Answer: AIDS

An old girlfriend of Jack's contacted him to let him know she was dying from AIDS, and that she had been deliberately infected with it. Jack set out to track down the man responsible. Originally it was envisaged that the infected girl would kill the man who infected her, but after protests, the show was turned into something more sensitive towards the issues involved.

At the time AIDS was quite new and much misunderstood. Despite the toning down of the original story line, it still drew many protests and a full half hour show examining these, and other issues surrounding the disease, was screened immediately after it finished. Kay Lenz, who played Jack's girlfriend Tina, received an Emmy.

Answer: She was pregnant

The relationship between Devon and Jack was never resolved. There was an obvious attraction between them, yet neither of them seemed willing to make the first move, so they just continued as friends and employer/employee. Eventually she met a multi-millionaire, married him and became pregnant, so she decided to sell the station, and she and her new husband moved to Tahiti.

This removed her from both Jack's life and the show.

Answer: Arthur Taxier

Lt. Carl Zymak was Jack Killian's boss from his police force days, and was one of the few police officers who did not blame him for the death of his partner. They remained friends and he appeared in all but one of the episodes of "Midnight Caller", often helping Jack solve his listeners' problems.

Arthur Taxier is one of those actors whose name is unfamiliar but whose face is instantly known. He has appeared in numerous television series including "Murder She Wrote", "Hill St. Blues" and "St. Elsewhere". His film credits include "Donnie Darko".

Answer: Nikki Malloy

Nikki Malloy, played by Lisa Eilbacher, was another strong female character. She appeared early in series 3 and appeared in every show from then until the end of the series. Unfortunately the departure of Devon King and the introduction of Nikki Malloy signalled the start of the ratings slump that led to the eventual cancellation of the show.

Answer: KJCM 98.3

Jack signed off every show with the words "This is Jack Killian, the Nighthawk, on KJCM, 98.3, and goodnight America, wherever you are." As with all shows, care had to be taken to select a completely fictitious radio station name and frequency, and also telephone number.

Answer: Brad Fiedel

Composed by Brad Fiedel and performed by Rick Braun, the theme and incidental music played a great part in setting the overall moody tone of the show.

Brad Fiedel is a noted composer for both film and television. His credits include "Fright Night", "Blink" and "True Lies". He was once keyboard player for Hall and Oates.

Rick Braun is a jazz trumpet player. He is co-founder of Artistry Music.

Answer: The Dispatch

Appearing in 42 of the 61 episodes of "Midnight Caller", Deacon Bridges was a friend of Jack Killian's. He also used his investigative reporter skills and newspaper resources to help Jack solve cases.

Actor Mykelti Williams is probably best known for his role as 'Bubba' Blue in "Forest Gump". He also appeared in "Free Willy", and his television credits include "Hill Street Blues" and "Miami Vice".