Presidential Surnames on TV Trivia Quiz

Answer: Boy Meets World

"Boy Meets World" (1993-2000) took place at John Adams High School. Just in case you never got your fill of this program, did you know that Cory and Topanga got married, had two children and now appear on the 2014 sitcom "Girl Meets World"? As for the other choices: "Glee" (2009-2015), "Wonder Years" (1988-1993) and "Freaks and Geeks" (1999-2000) all were set at McKinley High School. Do you suppose that the cast of "Freaks and Geeks" e.g., John Francis Daley, James Franco, Seth Rogen and Jason Segal (what a cast!) ever met Kevin Arnold and Winnie Cooper? Did they have gym with Sue Sylvester? "Freaks" was in Michigan; "Glee" was in Ohio, "Wonder Years" was in Michigan or Ohio maybe.

Answer: Head of the Class

Somehow, "Head of the Class" (1986-1991) was originally set at Monroe but turned out to be Fillmore. The sitcom was about gifted students and their history teacher Charlie Moore, played by Howard Hesseman. The students included the stereotypical nerd, the overweight computer whiz, the spoiled rich girl, the ultra-conservative preppy (a la Alex Keaton), the artsy student, the precocious 11 year old and the exchange student from India.

When Charlie left in 1990, Billy MacGregor (Billy Connolly) took over, not for long though.

While the other choices also had classroom scenes, none of their schools was named after a president.

Answer: Anita Van Buren

Although Anita Van Buren was married, there was never any talk of her lineage or her husband's dating back to Martin Van Buren. Martin was the eighth president of the United States, came from Kinderhook, New York and was nicknamed "Old Kinderhook", from which we get the expression OK.

Not much is said about Martin, aside from blaming him for the depression of 1837, and the only thing he and the fictional Anita Van Buren had in common, as far as I can see, is that they both were from New York. "Law and Order" (1990-2010) featured Merkerson who, by episode count, was the longest-running character on the show and a wonderful role model for women.

Answer: Warren Coolidge

"The White Shadow" (1979-1981) was a show set at Carver High, an urban high school in South Central Los Angeles, California, comprised of mostly black and Hispanic students. Ken Reeves (Ken Howard) retired from the Chicago Bulls and went to teach basketball at Carver since the principal had been a former college classmate at Boston. Coach had to deal with resistance, prejudice and all kinds of inner-city problems. Byron Stewart played the team's center, Warren Coolidge, in this gritty, realistic series which went far beyond the usual hijinks of a "normal" city high school.

When Reeves said he was behind his team members, one student said "Yeah. Like a white shadow". Good show.

Answer: Arthur

Beatrice "Bea" Arthur (1922-2009) was born with the name Bernice Frankel and had a career which spanned seven decades. Before her role on "Golden Girls" (1985-1992), she played the lead on the sitcom "Maude" (1972-1978), a ground-breaking Norman Lear show which dealt with real-life issues like abortion.

She is probably better known than the similarly named President Chester A. Arthur (the 'A' was for Alan), the 21st president, who assumed the presidency after the assassination of James Garfield in 1881. One of his only outstanding characteristics is that he never won an election of any kind. Bea, on the other hand, probably would have made a great president!

Answer: Isaac Washington

As far as Isaac Washington goes, he had a nice smile and served drinks to the various B-list stars who appeared as passengers on the "Love Boat" from 1977 to 1987. His character was never well-developed and, for all intents and purposes, was just another prop. Ted Lange, on the other hand, is an accomplished screenplay writer and director (e.g., "Love Boat", "Moesha" and "Dharma and Greg"), was in the original cast of "Hair" in 1968, wrote a sex and advice column in 2006 called "Ask Isaac" and appeared as Isaac on 5 different TV shows.

The incorrect choices are characters from "Diff'rent Strokes" (Jackson), "Gomer Pyle, USMC" (Carter) and "The Mod Squad" (Hayes).

Answer: Happy Days

The gang on "Happy Days" (1974-1984) may have spent more time at Arnold's and later at Al's Drive-In, but they went to classes at Jefferson High School - Richie Cunningham, Ralph Malph and Potsie Webber all attended - all that is, except the school dropout, 'Fonzie', (played by the wonderful Henry Winkler).

The series pilot was a spinoff of "Love, American Style" titled "Love and the Television Set", but retitled for syndication as "Love and the Happy Days". The show was one of the top rated shows of the 1970s and Fonzie's leather jacket now resides at the Smithsonian Institution for the permanent collection at the National Museum of American History. "AYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY"!

Answer: Lou Grant

Lou Grant was first seen as editor of station WJM TV in Minnesota on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" (1970-1977) but, as you may or may not recall, on the last episode of the show, ironically, everyone but anchorman Ted Baxter was fired. This left room for a spinoff series where Lou Grant leaves Minnesota and moves to Los Angeles to become city editor of the fictional newspaper 'the Los Angeles Tribune'.

The spinoff was called (imaginatively) "Lou Grant" (1977-1982) but it was no longer a half hour comedy, but rather a one-hour drama.

He became the only person to win an Emmy for both Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama and Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy for the same character.

Answer: Buchanan

As John Sebastian's song says: "Welcome back, your dreams were your ticket out/ Welcome back to that same old place that you laughed about...Who'd have thought they'd lead ya/Back here where we need ya". Gabe Kotter (played by Gabe Kaplan) returns to James Buchanan High in Brooklyn, this time as a teacher. Ten years earlier, Kotter had been a remedial student himself and was a founding member of the group called the "Sweathogs". Coincidentally or not, he was assigned to 'teach' the new group of "Sweathogs" who basically had been ignored as brainless delinquents just waiting to be expelled or drop out. Who could forget Barbarino, Washington, Horshak or Juan Epstein?

Answer: Clinton Way

The blended Brady Family lived at 4222 Clinton Way. The real life address was actually on 11222 Dilling Street, North Hollywood, California. Did you know that the very first episode of "The Brady Bunch" (1969-1974) aired on September 26, 1969? Despite the real-life turbulence of the late 1960s, the show dealt with non-controversial issues like sibling rivalry ("Marcia, Marcia, Marcia") and the usual gamut of teenage problems in a manner not very different from The Nelsons or The Cleavers, sitcoms of the 1950s. Real-life conflicts were still waiting for the 1970s and Norman Lear, but can you find me one middle-aged American who can't sing the theme song word for word?