Sensational Seventies Sitcoms Trivia Quiz

Answer: Are You Being Served?

"Are You Being Served?" ran for thirteen years from 1972 - 1985. It was set at Grace Brothers department store and originally had eight main characters: Young Mr Grace, one of the owners of the store who was actually elderly and loved younger women; Mr Rumbold, the floor manager; Captain Peacock, the snobbish floorwalker; Mr Grainger, the elderly head of the menswear dept; Mr Humphries, the senior menswear assistant whose effeminate mannerisms led to much comedy; Mr Lucas, the junior menswear salesman; Mrs Slocombe, head of Ladies Intimate Apparel and whose pussy was the cause of much laughter and Miss Brahms, the buxom working class junior womens department assistant.

Nearly all of the cast were involved in a 1992 spin off titled "Grace and Favour" which involved the staff running a country Inn.

In 2004 the BBC, Channel 4 and ITV ran a combined poll to find out what British viewers thought were the top 100 sitcoms. The top ten of these were then put into a further vote to get a final decision. "Are You Being Served" came in at number 20.

Answer: Bless This House

"Bless This House" was aired from 1971 - 1976, it reached number 67 in 'Britain's Best Sitcom' 2004 poll.

The salesman is Sid Abbott, he lives with his interfering but goodhearted wife Jean, his unemployed, layabout, eighteen year old son Mike and his trendy sixteen year old, rather dimwitted, daughter Sally. Other main characters include the next door neighbours, Trevor and Betty, who are also their best friends.

Sid Abbott was played by Sid James who died suddenly from a heart attack only four days after completion of season six's filming. As such the series ended abruptly at this point.

Answer: The Good Life

"The Good Life" reached 9th position in the 2004 'Britain's Best Sitcom' poll and aired from 1975 to 1978.

The two sets of neighbours are Margo and Jerry Leadbetter and Tom and Barbara Good. Jerry and Tom worked for the same company and both couples were successful and financially stable. On Tom's 40th birthday he suddenly decides that his life is artificial and he needs to get back to basics.

The Goods then dig up their lawn to plant vegetables and keep chickens, pigs and a goat in the back yard. The Leadbetters are horrified by this turn of events and much of the comedy arises from the interaction between these two very different couples and their values.

Answer: Love Thy Neighbour

"Love Thy Neighbour" was televised from 1972 - 1976 and came in at number 68 on 'Britain's Best Sitcom'.

The two sets of neighbours are Eddie and Joan Booth and Bill and Barbara Reynolds. The Booths have lived on the street for years, the West Indian Reynolds move in next door at the beginning of the series and Bill also gets a job at the factory where Eddie works. Both men are extreme bigots and throw many racial slurs at each other. Joan and Barbie get on very well and ignore their husbands idiotic behaviour.

The series attracted a lot of criticism because of its perceived overt racist plot when, in actual fact, Eddie was always made out to be the more ignorant and stupid of the two. Bill had much more sophistication and education than Eddie and nearly always ended up the winner at the end of every episode.

Answer: On The Buses

Coming in at number 53 in the 'Britain's Best Sitcom' list, "On The Buses" began in 1969 and ran until 1973.

The main character of the show is Stan Butler, a bus driver for the company. His best friend is his conductor Jack Harper, a very cheerful ladies man. Both of them are always being checked up on by Inspector Cyril 'Blakey' Blake who is forever threatening to sack them. On the homefront there's Stan's widowed mother, his sister Olive and her husband Arthur who is forever complaining about his life.

The series was sold to the US and was aired there as "Lotsa Luck" with Dom Delouise playing the title role. It also led to three films : "On The Buses" (1971), "Mutiny On The Buses" (1972) and "Holiday On The Buses" (1973).

Answer: Man about the House

"Man about the House" ran from 1973 - 1976 and came in at number 69 in the 'Britain's Best Sitcom' poll.

The shows premise was based on a man, Robin Tripp, sharing a flat with two single girls - Chrissy and Jo. This was a daring move in the early 70's and most of the humour came from them trying to hide each others sex from their families and convincing their landlords that Robin was gay. Robin's friend Larry moves into the loft apartment in series three.

The landlords were George and Mildred Roper. Bumbling George and domineering Mildred became so popular that they had their own spin off that ran from 1976 - 1979. Robin also had his own series from 1977 - 1981 called "Robins Nest."

The US did a remake of "Man about the House" named "Three's Company."

Answer: Porridge

Coming in at number seven on the 'Britain's Best Sitcom' list is "Porridge" which ran for three seasons from 1974.

The main character is Norman Stanley Fletcher, played by Ronnie Barker, a lifelong criminal who is sentenced to 5 years in HMS Slade Prison. Fletcher's cellmate is young Lennie Godber who is doing his first stint so Fletcher takes him under his wing and shows him the ropes. The two other main characters are both wardens - the tough Mr Mackay who won't take any nonsense and the more sympathetic Mr Barrowclough.

Answer: Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em

"Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em" ran from 1973 - 1978 and reached number 22 in the 'Britain's Best Sitcom' list.

The series centered around Frank Spencer, played by Michael Crawford, and his wife Betty. In the later series they also had a baby named Jessica that Frank adored.

Frank was nearly always looking for, being interviewed for or being fired from a job when anything that could go wrong always did. Much of the show's humour comes from watching these people get slowly driven mad by Frank and his antics. Although the humour is slapstick, very predictable and often very frustrating for the viewer the true talent of the show is the writers and actors ability to portray Frank in a sympathetic light. No matters what happens we are always there on Frank's side rooting for him to make it through.

Answer: The Liver Birds

Premiering in 1969 and running for ten years "The Liver Birds" reached number 59 on 'Britain's Best Sitcom' poll.

Series one, which only had the pilot and four episodes, introduced us to Dawn and Beryl moving into the flat together. The actresses work schedules and commitments to other projects did not work out so series two had Sandra replacing Dawn for the rest of the series.

Beryl and her family were from working class Bootle while Sandra had been brought up by a snobbish mother played by Mollie Sugden. The BBC attempted to revive the series in 1996 when they brought Beryl and Sandra back together after they had both been married and divorced. It was not a success and only ran for one season.

Answer: Fawlty Towers

"Fawlty Towers" first aired in 1975 and only two seasons were ever made - a total of twelve episodes in total. The second season wasn't made until 1979. It came 5th in the 'Britain's Best Sitcom' list but placed first in the '100 Greatest British Television Programmes' voted by industry professionals at the British Film Institute in 2000.

The hotel was run by Basil Fawlty and his wife Sybil. Polly was the maid and Manuel the waiter and porter with a poor command of English. The series was written by John Cleese and his then wife Connie Booth. Both played starring roles in the sitcom, Cleese as Basil while Booth played Polly.

The sitcom was inspired by the Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay where the Monty Python team stayed in 1970. The owner, Donald Sinclair, and his behaviour towards his guests fascinated John Cleese. He later referred to him as "the most marvelously rude man I've ever met".

The US created two shows based on "Fawlty Towers" - "Amanda's" starring Bea Arthur and John Larroquette's "Payne". Neither lasted longer than the first season.