TV Sidekicks Trivia Quiz

Answer: Barney Fife

"The Andy Griffith Show" was a long-running (1960-68) TV sit-com starring Andy as a southern small-town sheriff. He appointed his cousin, Barney Fife (Don Knotts), as his deputy. The two characters couldn't have been more unlike. Andy was laid-back and laconic, willing to give people the benefit of the doubt. Barney was high-strung and suspicious of everyone's motives.

This provided much of the comedy when Andy usually had to step in and straighten out the misunderstandings Barney created. The two actors first worked together in the movie "No Time for Sergeants" (1958) where Griffith played a naive but well-meaning Army recruit and Knotts was a nervous examining psychiatrist.

Answer: Rochester

Jack Benny was a well-known vaudeville, movie and radio comic and actor before venturing into TV with his eponymous TV series. The TV show was basically his radio show brought to the small screen with the same cast of characters (Rochester, Mary Livingstone, Dennis Day, Phil Harris and Don Wilson).

His manservant, Rochester, was played by Eddie Anderson who started acting in movies in the early 1930s, usually as an extra. He moved up to more prominent roles in the 1940s, even making a few movies with Benny.

He was active until just a few years before passing in 1977, doing mainly voice-overs and guest spots on TV.

Answer: Howdy Doody

"Buffalo" Bob got his nickname not from having anything to do with the animal or the west, but from being born in Buffalo, NY. He started in radio before turning to the budding TV industry, bringing the adventures of a wooden marionette, Howdy Doody, to the small screen. Capitalizing on the name of his birthplace, he duded up in western garb as well as presenting Howdy in the same light.

The original Howdy Doody show ran from 1954-60 and was revived briefly in the mid-1970s. Smith stayed active in the entertainment business, making guest appearances and promotional blurbs, until just a few weeks before his passing in 1998.

Answer: Mr. Green Jeans

Another children's entertainer, Bob Keeshan, brought his gentle and educational program, "Captain Kangaroo" to CBS in 1954. Keeshan already had experience playing Clarabell the Clown on "Howdy Doody" and was the host of "Time for Fun". Compared to other more frenetic programs aimed at kids in the 1950s, "Captain Kangaroo" was laid-back and slow paced, the emphasis being on infotainment. Keeshan received many awards and honors for his work. Mr. Green Jeans (Hugh Brannum) was often on hand to show various small animals, demonstrate a simple handcraft or sing a song, accompanying himself on the guitar or banjo. Brannum started as a singer with Fred Waring and was an accomplished musician.

Answer: Pat Brady

Roy was one of a handful of "singing cowboys" that started in movies and turned to TV. Along with his wife, Dale Evans, he starred in an eponymous western/adventure targeted mainly at children, but enjoyed by all age groups, which aired from 1951-57. Pat Brady played Roy's bumbling pal who didn't ride a horse, but drove a jeep named Nellybelle, and provided much of the comic relief. Roy and Pat worked together with the western musical group "Sons of the Pioneers".

Despite their western personas, both men were born in Ohio (Roy in Cincinnati; Pat in Toledo).

Answer: Jimmy Olsen

In comics, TV and movies, Superman (using the secret identity of Clark Kent) became friends with some of his fellow reporters on the "Daily Planet" newspaper - Lois Lane, Perry White and Jimmy Olsen. Even in comic books, Jimmy had his own spin-off and was billed as "Superman's pal" in them.

In the 1950's adventure series, Superman was portrayed by handsome George Reeves and Jimmy by Jack Larson. Reeves played minor roles in movies, but had the role of Brent Tarleton, one of Scarlett O'Hara's early suitors, in the epic "Gone with the Wind". During WW2, he served in the U.S. Army, after which he resumed acting.

After "Superman", he became so typecast in the superhero mold, he had trouble finding roles he liked and turned to producing and directing.

His death in 1959, at age 45, from a gunshot still remains the subject of speculation and was used as a theme in the 2006 movie "Hollywoodland". Larson also suffered form typecasting because of his role as a naive young man on Superman, but found work behind the scenes as a writer, librettist and producer.

He lived to be 87 passing in 2015.

Answer: Artemus Gordon

Robert Conrad as James West and Ross Martin as Artemus Gordon teamed up in the mid-1960s to play Secret Service agents on TV series "The Wild, Wild West". The premises were simple adventure, but employed futuristic gadgets to aid the agents in the post Civil War west. West used physical prowess and Gordon employed a host of disguises and dialects to thwart evil-doers. Conrad started in TV playing guest spots until "TWWW", after which he starred in the popular "Black Sheep Squadron" portraying real-life fighter pilot "Pappy" Boyington.

He continued to be active and appearing on numerous TV shows and doing commercials. He retired in 2002. Martin started out to study law, but switched to acting. He got his big break when cast as an ill-fated astronaut in George Pal's "Conquest of Space" (1955) then in the continuing role as Adamo on the TV series "Mr. Lucky".

After "TWWW" he continued in entertainment with guest roles and voice-over work. He passed away at age 61 in 1981 from an apparent heart attack after playing tennis

Answer: John Gage

DeSoto (Kevin Tighe) and Gage (Randolph Mantooth) were two paramedics that were called on several times in each episode of "Emergency!" (1972-79) to rescue people in various situations from serious, to humorous, to bizarre, sometimes even having to rescue each other. If a patient needed further medial attention, they would always be transported to Rampart General Hospital where either Dr. Kelly Brackett (Robert Fuller), Dr. Joe Early (Bobby Troup), or Dr. Michael Morton (Ron Pinkard) would officiate with the aid of the seemingly ubiquitous nurse, Dixie McCall (Julie London).

Answer: Little John

Whether depicted in TV, movies or literature, Robin Hood often relied on his right-hand-man, Little John, whose real name was John Little - the name belying his large build. In the late 1950s, "The Adventures of Robin Hood" was a British produced series of 143 half-hour episodes, which also aired in the U.S. Richard Greene starred as the intrepid outlaw and Archie Duncan as Little John.

Answer: B. J. Hunnicutt

One of the longest-running TV series (11 seasons), "M*A*S*H" was based on the 1970 war/comedy movie about a mobile hospital unit during the Korean conflict of the 1950s. It starred Donald Sutherland and Elliot Gould. On TV, the character of Capt. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce was played by prolific actor, producer and director, Alan Alda, who is the son of actor Robert Alda.

When the series started, Hawkeye's compadre was "Trapper" John McIntyre played by Wayne Rogers. Rogers left after the third season and was replaced by character B.J. Hunnicutt, (Mike Farrell). Where McIntyre was more of a cut-up, Hunnicutt was a low-key character, deferring to Hawkeye in most of the more frenetic camp antics, but could wisecrack on an equal par with Hawkeye.