My Favorite Sitcoms Trivia Quiz

Answer: M*A*S*H

Colonel Sherman T. Potter (Harry Morgan) became the head of the 4077th unit on "M*A*S*H" after the untimely death of Lt. Colonel Henry Blake, played by McLean Stevenson. MASH stood for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. The show was set during the Korean War and lasted from 1972 to 1983, i.e., longer than the war itself. While it was a comedy, it also showed the pathos and poignancy of war.

Answer: The Jeffersons

"Weezy" was George Jefferson's pet name for his wife Louise on "The Jeffersons". The sitcom was a spin-off from "All in the Family" where George and Louise were the next door neighbors of the Bunker family in Queens, NY. When George made it big in the dry cleaning business, the Jeffersons started "movin' on up to the east side" of Manhattan. The show ran from 1975 to 1985.

Answer: Friends

"How YOU doin'?" was Joey Tribbiani's catch phrase when he was 'coming on' to a woman on "Friends". Joey, played by Matt LeBlanc, was a part-time actor and full time womanizer who spent most of his time at Central Perk with his five other friends (Rachel, Ross, Monica, Chandler and Phoebe). We got to know the trials and tribulations of '20-Somethings' in the 1990s.

The sitcom was on from 1994 to 2004.

Answer: Taxi

Before becoming Dr. Emmett Brown in "Back to the Future", Christopher Lloyd brilliantly played the drugged-out Jim Ignatowski, aka Reverend Jim, on the wonderful sitcom "Taxi". The show featured the wacky employees of the Sunshine Cab Company, including draconian dispatcher Louis De Palma, played by Danny DeVito. "Taxi" ran from 1978 to 1983.

Answer: Barney Miller

The detectives on "Barney Miller" served the citizens of the 12th precinct, located in Greenwich Village in Manhattan. Captain Miller, played to perfection by Hal Linden, was the calm in a sea of lunacy. He and his squad dealt with problems as diverse as prostitution, asylum, homosexuality and a student model of an atomic bomb. This wonderful show aired from 1975 through 1982.

Answer: Frasier

The 'posh' Elliott Bay Towers is the residence of radio psychiatrist Frasier Crane on "Frasier". The comedy is a spin-off from "Cheers" (before Dr. Crane moved from Boston back to his home town in Seattle). Kelsey Grammer plays the snobbish radio shrink, with kudos to the supporting cast, i.e., brother Niles, father Martin, physical therapist Daphne and Eddie.

The show ran from 1993 to 2004.

Answer: Murphy Brown

"FYI" was the name of the fictional TV newsmagazine on "Murphy Brown". Candice Bergan played the hard-hitting, no-nonsense reporter who alienated every secretary she had, and who had returned to journalism after a stint at the Betty Ford clinic. The show was topical and often political, and lasted from 1988 to 1998. Unfortunately, it was rebooted in 2018 and cancelled shortly thereafter.

Answer: The Honeymooners

Going back to the days of early television, we have "The Honeymooners". Jackie Gleason played NYC bus driver Ralph Kramden who lived in Brooklyn and worked for the Gotham Bus Company. We watched as Ralph blustered about with his wife Alice and his friend Norton. A sitcom pioneer, only 39 episodes of the show were made, from 1955 to 1956.

Answer: The Big Bang Theory

Since I couldn't fit Bob Newhart's two great sitcoms in the quiz, I used his role as Professor Proton, mentor to Sheldon Cooper, on "The Big Bang Theory". As most of you already know, the show featured four brilliant scientists and their significant others, sort of like "Friends" on mental steroids, set on the West Coast. The show aired from 2007 until 2019.

Answer: Roseanne

Before Roseanne said something stupid and got her rebooted show cancelled, there was the original sitcom, "Roseanne". She was a housewife and blue-collar working mother whose family lived in Lanford, Illinois. The sitcom was original in its portrayal of a working class family trying to make ends meet, with kids who were as annoying as our own.

The show lasted from 1988 to 1997 (before the reboot).

Answer: Mom

"Mom" is a sitcom with the unlikely subject of the lives of recovering alcoholics. The show first aired in September 2013 when it featured Christy Plunkett, a waitress living with her mother Bonnie, also a recovering alcoholic, and Christy's kids. The show branched out to feature their friends from A.A., Christy's transition to become a lawyer, and Bonnie's marriage to Adam Janikowski, a stuntman injured on the job and now confined to a wheelchair.

Answer: Seinfeld

If you were a "Seinfeld" fan, you may be aware of the fact that every single episode contained some reference to Superman, Jerry Seinfeld's hero. Since the show was about "nothing", I can only tell you that it revolved around Manhattan comedian Jerry and his friends, Elaine, George and Kramer.

It ran from 1989 to 1998, and provided the world with new terms like "Yada, yada" and "Soup Nazi".

Answer: Night Court

"Night Court" may have been the place where the felons and lunatics from "Barney Miller" wound up. Set in Manhattan, the cool and Honorable Harry T. Stone presided over the evening activities. The judge was aided by the giant, softhearted bailiff, Bull Shannon, Mac, the court clerk, public defender Christine Sullivan and prosecutor Dan Fielding. Sometimes the officers of this court were as wacky as the felons.

The show ran from 1984 through 1992.

Answer: The Dick Van Dyke Show

"The Dick Van Dyke Show" featured a show within a show, i.e., "The Alan Brady Show", with its draconian leader, Alan Brady. Alan was played by Carl Reiner who also wrote and created "The Dick Van Dyke Show" from 1961 to 1966. Van Dyke starred as Rob Petrie, a comedy writer for Alan Brady. Rob and his wife Laura (Mary Tyler Moore) lived in New Rochelle, NY with their son Richie.

Answer: All in the Family

Last, but certainly not least, we have Norman Lear's ground-breaking comedy "All in the Family" which ran during the 1970s, from 1971 to 1979. The show was set in Queens, NY, and featured a big-mouthed, blue collar bigot named Archie Bunker. Brilliantly played by Carroll O'Conner, Archie lived with his wife Edith, his daughter Gloria, and Gloria's hippie husband Michael, who Archie called "Meathead".