RE-STATED Trivia Quiz

Answer: Washington, D.C.

"Murphy Brown" (1988-1998) was a long-running and often acerbic sitcom about the star reporter of a news magazine show in the nation's capital; there were lots of political innuendos (in the 'Dan Quayle' years) and serious topics like single motherhood, breast cancer and addiction. Candice Bergen played Murphy, and the show won a 'boatload' of awards (Emmys, Peabody, Golden Globe, People's Choice) including five Primetime Emmys for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Bergen.

Answer: Family Ties

"Family Ties" (1982-1989) was about a couple of married ex-hippies (Steven and Elyse Keaton) trying to raise a family in middle America during the Reagan years. Most of the humor came from the different perspectives of the liberal parents and their extremely conservative eldest son, Alex P. Keaton (a break-out role for the wonderful Michael J. Fox).
"The Office" takes place in Scranton, Pennsylvania; "Murder, She Wrote" was in Cabot Cove, Maine (before moving to NYC); "Growing Pains" was set in Huntington, L.I., New York.

Answer: Arkansas

Burt Reynolds starred in "Evening Shade" (1990-1994) as Wood Newton, a former football player for the Pittsburgh Steelers, who returns to his childhood home in rural Arkansas to coach a high school football team with a losing record. Rural America was featured in the series, along with the eccentricities of the townsfolk.

In 1991, Reynolds took home an Emmy for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series for the role.

Answer: Craig T. Nelson

Craig T. Nelson played Hayden Fox on "Coach" (1989-1997). He was coach of the Screaming Eagles of Minnesota State before he moved to coach the fictional, expansion team, Orlando Breakers. Jerry Van Dyke (brother of Dick) and Bill Fagerbakke (voice of Patrick Star on "Spongebob") played his 'not-too-bright' assistant coaches, Luther Van Dam and Dauber Dybinski. Kenneth Kimmins played Howard Burleigh, the Minnesota State athletic director, while a virtually unknown Jane Lynch (pre-"Glee") was Hayden's nemesis, and Shelley Fabares (from "The Donna Reed Show") was Fox's love interest.

Answer: Phoenix, AZ

Based on the 1974 movie "Alice Doesn't Live here Anymore", "Alice" (1976-1985) is about Alice Hyatt, a widow, single mother and aspiring singer, who sets out to start over going from New Jersey to Los Angeles, California. She runs out of money on the outskirts of Phoenix, Arizona and winds up taking a job as a waitress at the roadside eatery called Mel's Diner, where she winds up spending the next nine years. Most of the action takes place in the diner with its quirky characters, i.e., Mel ("Stow it"), Flo ("Kiss my grits") and Vera. Linda Lavin was nominated for a Best Actress Emmy in 1981 and won two Golden Globes for her role in 1979 and 1980.

Answer: Designing Women

The design firm of Sugarbaker and Associates on "Designing Women" (1986-1993) was set in urban Georgia, giving its founder, Julia Sugarbaker (Dixie Carter), the chance to voice urbane comments laced with social and political humor. She worked with her extremely shallow and narcissistic sister Suzanne (Delta Burke), Mary Jo Shively (a single mother), and Charlene Frazier from some backwater, rural town.
"Big Love" was in Utah; "The Wire" was in Maryland; "That '70s Show" was in Wisconsin.

Answer: Unknown

"Petticoat Junction" (1963-1970) and "Green Acres" (1965-1971) were both in the town of Hooterville. Hints were given as to its location, i.e., if Hooterville was near Pixley and filmed in a rural area north of Los Angeles, then it would be in California; several references were made to Chicago, so was it in Illinois? When Lisa and Oliver went back to New York on a two-week vacation, Oliver's old girlfriend mentioned his buying a farm in Connecticut? Perhaps it was somewhere in the south, e.g., the Ozarks, since it was always warm and the characters had Southern accents? We many never really know!

Answer: Saving Grace

"Saving Grace" (2007-2010) was with Holly Hunter as Grace Hanadarko, an Oklahoma City Police Detective who, after a night of heavy drinking, sideswipes a pedestrian with her Porsche. She cries out for help from above and her cry is answered through Earl, her "last chance angel". Although the show was set in Oklahoma, the series was actually filmed primarily in Vancouver and Los Angeles.
"Grace Under Fire" with Brett Butler (not the baseball player) was set in MO;
"The Closer", is from Los Angeles, CA; "Rizzoli and Isles" do their detective work in Boston, MA.

Answer: Northern Exposure

The show "Northern Exposure" (1990-1995) features Rob Morrow (before "Numb3rs") as Dr. Joel Fleischman. Fleischman after finishing Columbia Medical School, finds that he had signed a contract to practice medicine in the tiny town of Cicely, Alaska, to pay for his education. The town, of course, is filled with many odd inhabitants and wacky locals who slowly begin to grow on the doctor.
"Empty Nest" was set in Miami, FL. Las Vegas, Nevada was the setting for the original "CSI". "In the Heat of the Night" was in Sparta, Mississippi.

Answer: Medicine Bow, WY

"The Virginian" (1962-1971), based on Owen Wister's 1902 novel, was the first 90 minute color Western TV series. It featured James Drury as the mysterious man from Virginia, with Doug McClure as Trampas, the required sidekick. It was set on the Shiloh Ranch in the Wyoming Territory of the 1890s with less shoot-em-ups and more character emphasis than most Westerns.
Old Tucson, AZ was the setting for "The High Chaparral".
Stockton, CA was the location of the Barkley Ranch on "The Big Valley".
If we are to believe "Bonanza's" burning map, the Ponderosa was in Virginia City, NV.