Never 'Scene' Characters Trivia Quiz

Answer: Mel Cooley

Arguably one of the best sitcoms of all time, "The Dick Van Dyke Show" (1961-1966) set the standard for all those that followed. Rob Petrie was a comedy writer for "The Alan Brady Show", with Carl Reiner as Alan and Morey Amsterdam and Rose Marie (playing Sally Rogers) as his co-writers. Mel Cooley (Richard Deacon) was Alan's brother-in-law, but here's the rub! Was she Mel's sister or Alan's?; it depends on the episode. I prefer to believe the former based on this quote when the gang wants to retrieve a script from Alan's house but are afraid to be burglars...Mel says "it's my sister's house and I'm welcome there anytime Alan's not home".

Answer: Debbie Wolowitz

While each choice is from "The Big Bang Theory", only one was just a voice, i.e., Howard's mother, Mrs. Wolowitz. She raised Howard alone when his father left, and she was portrayed as the stereotypical Jewish mother who continued to baby her son well into adulthood. Only her voice was heard, loud and abrasive, and always yelling at Howard from another room.

She was portrayed as overweight and unattractive, but she could make a mean brisket. Unfortunately, with the real-life death of Carol Ann Susi in November 2014, Mrs. Wolowitz died on the show. I will miss them both...

Answer: Carlton, the doorman

The answer is Carlton, the doorman, who was never seen on "Rhoda" (1974-1978) but often heard over the intercom as he would announce himself (every time) by saying "Hello, this is Carlton, your doorman", before announcing visitors. We do get a mental image of Carlton as being young (perhaps mid-to-late twenties) and drinking a lot. Carlton was voiced by Lorenzo Music who would later become the voice for Garfield, the animated, lasagna-loving cat, created by Jim Davis. Did you know there was also an animated special from MTM Enterprises called "Carlton Your Doorman" which aired on May 21, 1980?

Answer: Redd Foxx

Redd Foxx played an ornery, widowed junk dealer who lived with his 34 year old son, Lamont, in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts. Fred's wife and Lamont's mother, Elizabeth, had died 20 years earlier. Fred and Lamont did not always see eye to eye, and Lamont would threaten to leave and find himself a better job; each time Lamont threatened, Fred would fake a heart attack, look up to the sky and speak directly to Elizabeth: "Oh, this time it's real; 'Lizabeth, honey, I'm comin' to join ya!". Of course we never did see Elizabeth, but a lot of the comedy on "Sanford and Son" (1972-1977) came from the 'discussions' between Fred and his sister-in-law, Aunt Esther.

Answer: The Mary Tyler Moore Show

Well, we already have Pickles from "The Dick Van Dyke Show", "Cheers" had Vera Petersen and "Frasier" had the never seen Maris Crane; that leaves Lars Lindstrom, dermatologist husband of Phyllis who was Mary Richard's landlady -later to be spun off into yet another series, "Phyllis" starring Cloris Leachman.

Although we never actually met him, we know that Lars was a wealthy doctor, husband of Phyllis, father of Beth and adulterer with Sue Ann Nivens, "The Happy Homemaker", wonderfully played by the indomitable Betty White.

The other thing we know about Lars is he died before Phyllis left for San Francisco and her own show. "MTM" was on from 1970-1977.

Answer: Will and Grace

"Will and Grace" (1998-2006) could have been called 'Will and Grace and Karen and Jack'. Karen Walker 'worked' (more or less) for Grace Adler in Grace's design studio. Karen (nee Delaney) was portrayed as a promiscuous alcoholic with a somewhat tenuous grip on reality. Grace described her as "a spoiled, shrill, gold-digging socialite".

She was married to multi-millionaire Stan; although we never saw Stan, he had quite a history on the show. An obese man with a toupee and two kids, he was jailed for tax evasion, had an affair, they separated, he was freed, he died (not really), they divorced, his money was borrowed, she was broke.

Answer: Seinfeld

Yes, it's "Seinfeld" (1989-1998) which had Kramer's unseen friend, Bob Sacamano, with his weird stories and half baked schemes, along with Uncle Leo always praising Jerry's never-seen 'Cousin Jeffrey' who had an "important" job with the Parks Department, loved leopards and once got Jerry tickets to a Paul Simon concert.

The third unseen (or, rather, partially seen) character was supposed to be George Steinbrenner, owner of the Yankees; he was voiced by Larry David and talked non-stop whether anyone was there or not. I figured giving you that clue would make the answer too obvious.

Answer: Juanita Beasley

I hope I didn't trick you with the incorrect choices; they were all characters on the show, and Thelma Lou was even a girlfriend of Barney's, but Thelma Lou was visible and was played by actress Betty Lynn. When Thelma Lou wasn't around, Barney would ask Sara (the operator, also unseen) to connect him to "Juanita from the diner".

He could then be heard planning dates with Juanita (the other woman) with whom he was also 'smitten', and could often be heard singing the song "Juanita": "From your head down to your feet/There's nothing half so sweet/As Juanita, Juanita, Juan-eet..." Andy's show aired from 1960-1968.

Answer: Orson

At the end of every episode of "Mork and Mindy" (1978-1982), Mork would report to his boss, Orson, about his observations on human behavior. Although we never got to see Orson (voiced by Ralph James), he sounded larger than life. Orson sent Mork (played by the wonderful Robin Williams) to Earth to get him off Ork, where humor was not allowed.

The show was set in Denver, although if Mork was from Ork, shouldn't Mindy have been from Indy? It was initially a spin-off of "Happy Days" and a break-out role for the talents of Willams.

It seems that Mork 'phoned home' several years before E.T.!

Answer: Home Improvement

I left Wilson J. Wilson Jr. for last because he did appear in person in almost every episode of "Home Improvement" (1991-1999), but only his eyes and his hat could be seen on the other side of the fence from Tim Taylor's house. Wilson (played by Earl Hindman) listened to Tim's troubles and often dispensed wise advice. Tim "The Tool Man" was played by Tim Allen who had a knack for destroying rather than creating.

The chemistry between Tim and his wife and three sons was realistic and warm, and the lessons we learned were funny and painless.