The Golden Age Of Television: 1960s And 1970s Quiz

Answer: Pickles

I never saw an episode that featured Buddy's wife, Pickles, except when he had her on the telephone. Even then she wasn't actually seen much; just heard, and then with a whiny, slightly irritating parody of a voice.

(Fun Trivia player, triviality12 has been kind enough to let me know that Fiona (Pickles) Sorrell was seen in several episodes of "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and that at least two different actresses played Pickles in 5 or 6 episodes.)

You were allowed to hear what Buddy had to say to her, (which usually wasn't very much), but you could just TELL that his wife was giving him down-the-river over SOMETHING. This added to the already comedic touches of the show.

Moritz Amsterdam was the youngest son of Jewish immigrants from Austria-Hungary. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, and began a vaudeville routine in 1922. His amazing ability to crack jokes on almost any topic eventually led to people adopting a nickname for him: "The Human Joke Machine".

Morey Amsterdam passed away on October 28, 1996. His humor is sadly missed.

Answer: Robert Fuller

While Robert Fuller was well known for his role as the drifter Jess Harper on "Laramie", he had also starred on "Wagon Train" as Cooper Smith. Later, in the early '70s, he landed the lead role of Dr. Kelly Brackett, on the television drama, "Emergency!"

Robert Fuller was born in 1933 as Buddy Lee, but as a child he took the name of the man that his mother later married and thus became Robert Simpson Jr. When his acting career began to blossom, he began going by the name Robert Fuller.

Answer: The Silent Spot

"Good night, and may God bless."
This classic closing line was as much a staple of "The Red Skelton Show" as the characters he portrayed: Clem Kadiddlehopper, a country hick from Tennessee; Freddie the Freeloader, a bum with a heart of gold; Deadeye, an unbelievably incompetent sherriff in the Old West; George Appleby, a henpecked husband, and Heathcliff and Gertrude, two imaginary seagulls. While this program had begun broadcasting in the early 1950s, it managed to stay on the air until 1971.

'The Silent Spot' would often feature Freddie the Freeloader or another character on the show. It was sometimes making a particular social "statement", often by presenting some humorous or sadly pathetic pantomime that concerned people, their attitudes, or just life in general.

Red Skelton, who was born in 1913, was an entertainer who was featured on both national radio and television between 1937 and 1971. He passed away on September 17, 1997. He left behind a unique legacy of humor as well as leaving us all the wonderful memories of a bygone era. I MISS HIM!

Answer: James Drury

James Drury (the Virginian) and Doug McClure (Trampas) were the only two people who lasted for the duration of this popular program that aired for nine years on NBC, from 1962-1971. It was television's first 90-minute Western program, and it aired a total of 249 episodes.

The setting for the show was the Shiloh Ranch in Medicine Bow, Wyoming. The ranch ownership changed several times during the course of the show. First it was owned by Judge Garth, (played by Lee J.Cobb), then by John Grainger, (Charles Bickford); later John's "brother" Clay Grainger (John McIntire) became the owner, and finally the ranch came into the possession of Colonel Mackenzie (Stewart Granger).

James Drury, who played the role of the foreman of the ranch, was born in New York City in 1934. On the series, his name was never revealed; he was simply know as "The Virginian".

Drury had been stricken with polio at the age of ten, but nonetheless managed to start his successful acting career in 1959, largely featuring as an actor in the Westerns genre.

Answer: variety/sketch

"The Carol Burnett Show" aired on the CBS television network from 1967-1978. Among the shows most memorable sketches were "As The Stomach Turns" (a parody of the daytime soap opera "As The World Turns") and a spoof of "Gone with the Wind" which was just as imaginatively entitled "Went with the Wind".

One of the sketches on the program, "The Family", led to the eventual development of the sitcom, "Mama's Family", which starred long-time veteran of "The Carol Burnett Show", Vickie Lawrence, and a frequent guest-star on the variety series, Ken Berry.

The lyrics to the closing theme song of "The Carol Burnett Show" went like this:

"I'm so glad we had this time together
Just to have a laugh or sing a song
Seems we just get started and before you know it
Comes the time we have to say, 'So long'."

Carol would always tug her ear at the end of the show, as a silent signal to her grandmother that she was thinking of her.

Answer: New York, New York

"That Girl!" aired from 1966-1971 on ABC T.V. and was set in New York. Each episode began with some odd incident or conversation which would foreshadow the upcoming storyline. The opening scene would always end with someone shouting "...that girl!", just as Ann Marie (Marlo Thomas) would inadvertently wander into the shot. At that point, the words "That Girl!" would appear over a freeze-frame of her, usually with a very surprised expression on her face, a sort of a deer-in-the-headlights look.

Marlo had originally wanted to call the sit-com "Miss Independence", which was a nickname that had been given to her as a child by her parents. The show's premise was to portray Ann Marie (Marlo's character) as an independent young woman aspiring to "make it big" in the big city. Ann's boyfriend, Donald Hollinger (portrayed by Ted Bessell) eventually became engaged to Ann on the show, but they never got married, as Marlo Thomas wanted to prevent young girls from thinking that they were required to get married in order to live a fulfilled life.

Answer: Irwin Allen

In addition to his many other works, Irwin Allen also produced the movie "Five Weeks in a Balloon" in 1962, as well as such disaster films as "The Poseidon Adventure" in 1972 and "The Towering Inferno" in 1974. These latter two highly successful movie efforts helped earn him the sobriquet of "The Master of Disaster".

Answer: The Flip Wilson Show

Two of Flip Wilson's most popular, enduring, and endearing characters were the Reverend Leroy, in which Flip portrayed a money-grubbing, overly materialistic leader of the "Church Of What's Happening Now", and Flip's "alter-ego", the loud and boisterous Geraldine Jones, who was always threatening to let her unseen boyfriend, 'Killer', loose on someone.

Clerow Wilson, Jr. was born in 1933 in poverty in New Jersey, in a family of 18 children. After times spent in reform schools and after living in several foster family settings, he lied about his age and joined the U.S. Air Force at age 16, which is where he acquired the nickname "Flip".

Flip died in 1998, but not without leaving behind a legacy of stand-up comedy that helped to pave the way for other black entertainers on television. In 1972, "Time" magazine featured him on the cover of their publication and proclaimed him to be "TV's first black superstar".

Answer: Frank Sutton

The series "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C." ran on CBS from 1964-1969, and featured Jim Nabors as Gomer Pyle. Frank Sutton played the role of his Gunnery Sergeant, while the other options listed were all cast members on the show.

Ronnie Schell played the part of Gomer's friend, Duke Slater. Allan Melvin was Sgt. Carter's rival, Sergeant Charley Hacker, while Roy Stuart played the role of Corporal Chuck Boyle.

('Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C.' was a spin-off from the 'Andy Griffith Show', which was in turn, a spin-off of the 'Danny Thomas Show'.)

Answer: Sandy and Bud

A bottlenose dolphin featured as the star of the television series "Flipper", which aired from 1964 through 1967. The show was based on two previously released movies, 1963's "Flipper" and "Flipper's New Adventure", a sequel that was added in 1964.

Of all the dolphins who played the part of Flipper, only one named Clown was a male. The rest were all females, and they included Susie, Kathy, Patty, Scotty and Squirt. The female dolphins were unable to do the famous "tail walk", so for filming involving that particular stunt, Clown had to be brought in.

"They call him Flipper, Flipper, Flipper; faster than lightning
No-one you see, is smarter than he,
And we know Flipper, lives in a world full of wonder,
Flying there under, under the sea!"