TV Nicknames - Part 2 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Spooky

Fox Mulder and Dana Scully were the protagonists on the "The X Files" which ran from 1993 to 2002. The two FBI agents examined cases which defied explanation and involved possible supernatural and extra-terrestrial beings. Scully, with her medical background, was a realist who looked for rational explanations. Mulder, on the other hand, saw conspiracies behind every event, earning him the nickname "Spooky". Scully was played by Gillian Anderson and Mulder was portrayed by David Duchovny. About the only thing they agreed upon was trying to prove that "the truth is out there".

Answer: Turtle

The cable comedy "Entourage" is about four friends from Queens, New York who decide to move west to Hollywood so that actor Vince Chase can get his shot at fame. Besides Vince, there was his half-brother, Johnny 'Drama' Chase, and two friends, Eric and the high-spirited Salvatore Assante, nicknamed "Turtle". Turtle wore jerseys of New York sports stars, had a love affair with cars and a Rottweiler named Arnold. Jerry Ferrara played Turtle throughout the run of the show from 2004 to 2011.

Answer: Kitten

For this one we have to travel back to the small TV screens of the 1950s, where we meet the Andersons of Springfield, Ohio. They were the typical middle-class American family, with Jim, an insurance salesman (although I can't remember ever seeing him at work) and his wife, Margaret who ran the household in her dresses, heels and pearls.

They had three children (2 1/2 was the average at the time): Betty, the oldest, was nicknamed "Princess", Bud (James Anderson Jr.) and little Kathy (Lauren Chapin) who was called "Kitten". "Father Knows Best" aired from 1954 to 1963 and, unlike other shows of the time, this father actually did know best.

Answer: Gopher

As the song says: "The Love Boat has something for everyone". This was the show where all the over-the-hill actors wound up, presumably looking for love (and a paycheck). Aside from the guest stars, the regulars included the Captain (who used to be Murray Slaughter from "Mary Tyler Moore"), the bartender, the doctor, the cruise director and the ship's purser.

The purser's name was Burl Smith but everyone called him "Gopher", an intermediary between the passengers and crew. Gopher was played by Fred Grandy from 1977 to 1986.

He left a year before the show ended so that he could run for Congress (Grandy, not Gopher).

Answer: Red

"Hello Wisconsin" was the phrase we heard at the end of the theme song for "That 70s Show". The comedy was set in Wisconsin in the 1970s (duh!). Much of the action took place in the basement of the Forman house where Eric and his friends gathered to talk, eat popsicles and get high (not necessarily in that order). Eric was the son of Kitty and Reginald Albert Forman, whose nickname was "Red". Red was well-played by Kurtwood Smith, with just the right amount of impatience and disdain.

The show mirrored the climate and events of the time, and ran from 1998 to 2006 (also giving us a first look at Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis).

Answer: Pookie

If you want to watch one of the most dysfunctional families on TV, "Married...with Children" is the comedy for you. Shoe salesman Al Bundy and his stay-at-home wife Peg did nothing but fight and put each other down. They had two kids, Kelly who was dumb and indiscriminate, and poor, lovelorn Bud. Yet, with all the hostility and dysfunction, Peg's nickname for Al was "Pookie", the most positive interaction on the show. Al was played by Ed O'Neill (who became the patriarch on "Modern Family"). Peg was Katey Sagal (who became the matriarch on "Sons of Anarchy").

The program aired from 1987 to 1997 - that is a lot of dysfunction!

Answer: Thirteen

"House, M.D." was a medical drama with a twist. This was not your mother's "Marcus Welby"! Dr. Greg House, played brilliantly by Hugh Laurie (with an American accent) was not your usual caring, patient, understanding medic. He was, in fact, a nasty, overbearing, caustic, but brilliant diagnostician with a bad leg and an addiction to Vicodin.

He mistreated his interns, calling them by names of his choosing, e.g., in the contest for who would endure his grueling tests, Dr. Remy Hadley (Olivia Wilde) was number 13, and that became her name for the entire run of the show which ran through 2012.

Answer: Moose

It seems that the show "Supernatural" has more than its share of nicknames for the Winchester brothers who hunt monsters in the world of the paranormal. Sam and Dean, have been called many names including "the boys", "mud monkeys" and "Howdy and Doody".

But among these nicknames, the most colorful ones seem to come from the Crossroads demon Crowley, played by actor Mark Sheppard. Because of Sam's height, Crowley calls him "Moose", and Dean is "Squirrel", after the cartoon characters Rocky and Bullwinkle".

The show first aired in 2005, with Jared Padalecki as Sam and Jensen Ackles as Dean.

Answer: Mr. Big

The show "Sex and the City" (1998-2004) is about four upscale friends living in New York City in the 1990s, and their lives and loves. Carrie Bradshaw is the main character. Played by Sarah Jessica Parker, Carrie is a journalist for the New York Star.

Her column focuses on sex and the single girl (although Helen Gurley Brown claimed that title), drinking cosmos and shopping for high-end items like Manolo Blahniks (shoes). We learn about the affairs in the lives of these women (perhaps more information than we needed) which, at times, almost requires a score card. Among Carrie's relationships is John Preston or, as he is called, "Mr. Big", played by Chris Noth.

Answer: Coach

On the sitcom "Cheers", former Red Sox baseball pitcher Sam Malone runs a bar called...Cheers (surprise!). The bar is inhabited by an odd assortment of employees and patrons, "where everybody knows your name". Among the employees are Sam's love interest Diane, waitress Carla and bartender Ernie Pantusso whose nickname is "Coach". Coach was played by the wonderful Nicholas Colasanto.

Unfortunately, Colasanto died in 1985. When Coach died on the show, he was replaced by the dim-witted Woody Boyd, played by Woody Harrelson.

The show aired from 1982 through 1993.