There's a First for Everything Quiz

Answer: LOST

"LOST", considered by many critics to be one of the greatest shows written at the start of the 21st century, was a tour de force with a large ensemble cast, even in the first episode. The pilot, which set ABC back over ten million dollars, was the most expensive ever filmed, especially odd since it was originally envisioned as a miniseries...starring Michael Keaton...who was supposed to die. Writer, director, and producer J. J. Abrams became a household name and moved into other ventures soon after "LOST's" unprecedented success.

The first episode, in which Oceanic crashes, the survivors make camp on the beach, and the smoke monster pulls the pilot from the crashed plane, took in eighteen million viewers on its first airing.

Answer: Arrested Development

"Arrested Development" started strong on the FOX network in 2003 with an episode about real estate developer George Bluth Sr.'s arrest, the subsequent results, and son Michael Bluth's decision to take over the company (and, in effect, the family) to keep them all afloat.

While the first episode took on eight million viewers and was adored by critics and a cult fanbase, the show slid in ratings due to complicated inside gags and storylines only understood through consistent viewing (though many considered this a huge plus).

It was canceled in its third season, but found a revival of sorts in 2013 when a new season aired on Netflix, nearly a decade later.

Answer: The Simpsons

"The Simpsons" started its long-running series with a Christmas episode in 1989 entitled "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". Envisioned as a full-length Christmas special springing from the characters' popularity in shorts on "The Tracy Ullman Show", it ended up being the launch pad for a weekly animated sitcom, gaining in popularity to become the cornerstone of FOX's weekly line-up.

It has since inspired countless other shows while poking fun at topics from pop culture to everyday life. It's also broken records; it became the longest-running primetime television show ever made and, since its first airing, has aired over five hundred episodes in more than twenty-five years.

Answer: The Walking Dead

"The Walking Dead", premiering on AMC in 2010, brought the high-caliber combination of AMC's high-profile programming (like "Mad Men"), Frank Darabont's cinematic eye, and Robert Kirkman's popular graphic novel series, together in a tour de force. What resulted was a re-imagining of the original source material, legitimizing horror as a television genre and leading a wave of zombie media. "The Walking Dead" has since attained some of cable TV's highest ratings and reshaped viewing expectations.

The pilot episode, "Days Gone Bye", is a frighteningly faithful adaptation of the graphic novel series' first volume (of the same name). It starred Andrew Lincoln, and very few otherwise.

Answer: Friends

"Friends" found international fame over the years becoming one of the most famous sitcoms on television. Starring Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox Arquette, Lisa Kudrow, Matt Le Blanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer as six friends going about their lives in the Big Apple, the show often got into zany situations in its early seasons (remember Marcel the Monkey) but straightened out a bit more over the years.

By the end of its ten season run, most of the cast members were earning nearly $1,000,000 per episode.

In its final year, each episode cost $10,000,000 to make. The pilot episode was watched by over twenty-one million viewers on first airing; the finale was watched by over fifty million.

Answer: Dexter

Based on Jeff Lindsay's best-selling book series about Dexter Morgan, a serial killer who kills serial killers, "Dexter" debuted in 2006 and, over the run of its eight years on the air, found both critical acclaim and fan backlash. The pilot episode marked the start of the Ice Truck Killer arc; every subsequent season featured a new murderer, each with their own MO. By and large, each season had a self-contained story, at least until the later ones, at which point viewers were simply getting frustrated with every choice the writers made. Can't please 'em all.

Answer: South Park

Created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, "South Park" originally turned heads for being extremely crude in its animation and even more so in its language and subject matter. Featuring four young boys in the third grade, the show touched on issues involving anal probes, sex, violence, Heaven and Hell, and, since then, everything in between.

The show became a quick hit, inevitably becoming one of the longest-running animated shows on TV and poking cruel fun at every possible target. Its full-length feature, "South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut", was on the record lists for amount of swears during its run-time.

But few can forget the satellite dish sticking out of Cartman's behind in the first episode.

Answer: Heroes

"Heroes", featuring a gigantic ensemble cast of people with unique superpowers, debuted on NBC in 2006 as an extremely popular action-drama, but mostly due to the Writer's Strike of 2007, the show's quality dropped off and it was canceled after four years. Nonetheless, the show's five volumes (in four years) were a grand launching point for the careers of Ali Larter, Milo Ventimiglia, Hayden Panettiere, and Zachary Quinto. Due to a cult following, NBC toyed with the idea of a reboot less than a decade later. Producer/Creator Tim Kring later created the Kiefer Sutherland show "Touch".

Answer: Game of Thrones

Based on the series of best-selling medieval fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, "Game of Thrones" was picked up by HBO and began airing in 2011. Following the books relatively faithfully, the show has attained a very faithful fanbase and has received critical acclaim.

The first episode saw the start of the conflict between the Baratheons/Lannisters and the Starks and, across the Narrow Sea, the commencement of the plans to wed Daenerys Targaryen and Khal Drogo.

Answer: American Horror Story

"American Horror Story", unlike most shows of the time, presented itself as an anthology series shortly after the first season with each subsequent 'story' featuring the same actors in different roles. This wasn't known until the end of the show's 'Murder House' season which started with The Harmon Family moving into a haunted Los Angeles mansion (next door to Jessica Lange).

It would take several episodes before they discovered the full extent of the haunting. The show was created by the same team that brought "Nip/Tuck" and "Glee" to the airwaves.