Two Word TV Titles Trivia Quiz

Answer: What's Happening!

"What's Happening!" was a comedy which ran from 1976 through 1979. It was loosely based on the 1975 movie "Cooley High" (but without the drugs); it featured 3 working-class kids from Watts and their school life, love life and typical adolescent adventures and schemes; in the original script, Rerun was written as a 'skinny, white kid' but Fred Berry was so good at the audition that the part was rewritten for him.

It was the first African-American teen sitcom to break into the 'Nielsen Top 30'. Of the three teen stars, Haywood Nelson (Dwayne) was the only real teenager when the show first aired; Ernest Thomas (Raj) was 26 and Fred Berry was 25.

Answer: Ben Casey

The drama series "Ben Casey" ran from 1961 to 1966 and featured Vince Edwards as the eponymous resident surgeon under the watchful eyes of Dr. Zorba (Sam Jaffee). At the time, doctor shows were very popular but "Ben Casey" differed from the others in that it was set in a metropolitan hospital and dealt with gritty and realistic issues and, unlike "Dr. Kildare", Ben almost never smiled! The show's beginning was iconic; it had a hand writing symbols on a chalkboard, with a voice saying "Man. Woman. Birth. Death.

Infinity."

Answer: Spongebob Squarepants

I knew if I gave 'Bikini Bottom' as the address it would make the question too easy. Adults and children alike know that cute, optimistic Spongebob Squarepants lives in 'a pineapple under the sea', with his neighbor immediately to the west, Squidward Tentacles, a grouchy octopus who dislikes Spongebob. To the left of Squidward's Easter Island type abode, lives Spongebob's best friend, Patrick Star, a starfish with a heart of gold and a brain the size of a peanut; he literally lives under a rock. Spongebob's creator, Stephen Hillenburg, happens to be a marine biologist in real life!

Answer: Albuquerque, New Mexico

I've been watching TV for a lot of decades now and, IMHO, "Breaking Bad" was one of the best shows I've ever seen - the writing, the plots, the acting, the drama - that is what you call quality television! It all takes place in current time in Albuquerque (how quirky), New Mexico where mild-mannered chemistry teacher, Walter White, has a teenage son with cerebral palsy, a pregnant wife and...terminal cancer (and you think you've got troubles?!).

He figures the medical bills will bankrupt him and his family so he sets out to find a source of extra income; he finds this source when he runs into one of his ex-students, Jesse Pinkman. If you haven't seen it, you really should!

Answer: Peter Scolari

You know how, with some duos, one becomes famous and the other...not so much? If there is such a thing as a loser in the "Wham!" syndrome, Peter Scolari is one of its victims. He played opposite Tom Hanks on "Bosom Buddies" (1980-1982); as Kip and Henry, they work for a NY ad agency run by Ruth Dunbar (the wonderful Holland Taylor) but find that their apartment is being demolished and they have to find a new, cheap place.

They find a place but it's a complex for women only; the solution - pretend to be women (Buffy and Hilde). Scolari did not fade into oblivion, i.e., he had a recurring role on "Newhart" and plays the police commissioner on "Gotham", but he's no George Michael!

Answer: Architect

Steven and Elyse Keaton, 1960s radicals and hippies, have grown up to become a suburban couple with 3 children (later a fourth) in Columbus, Ohio where Steven runs a public broadcasting station and Elyse is an independent architect (unlike the 1970s sitcoms where she could be a teacher, a nurse or a stewardess).

The main theme of "Family Ties" (1982-1989) was parents as liberals vs Alex P. Keaton, lover of Richard Nixon. It was a breakout role for Michael J. Fox and it was said to have been the favorite TV show of President Reagan during the 1980s.

Answer: Northern Exposure

"Northern Exposure" (1990-1995) introduced us to Dr. Joel Fleishman (Rob Morrow). He has just received his medical residency from a state run scholarship program at Columbia University in New York but, in order to pay for his education, he is forced to practice in the tiny town of Cicely, Alaska. Since Joel was born and bred in the big city, the whole experience is a total culture shock; the climate, the people, the mores are all foreign to him.

As time passes though, it turns out that this 'fish out of water' begins to adapt to the town, and its quirky residents begin to grow on him.

Answer: Russell Johnson

Ah, who could forget the S.S. Minnow and its '3 hour tour' which turned out to last 3 years on "Gilligan's Island" (1964-1967)? As you may know (if you are old enough) the ship wound up on an uncharted desert island with "Gilligan,/ the Skipper too./ The millionaire and his wife,/ The movie star", Mary Ann Summers and, of course, the Professor. 'The Professor' was played by Russell Johnson (1924-2014) and, though they rarely used it, his 'real' name was Roy Hinkley Jr., PH.D., and he had been a science teacher from Cleveland, Ohio. Johnson published his memoirs in 1993 ("Here on Gilligan's Isle") and was the last male surviving cast member.

Answer: The Avengers

Picture June Cleaver in her white dress and pearls...now picture Emma Peel in her fighting clothes on "The Avengers"; talk about a time warp! "The Avengers" was a British secret-agent thriller (James Bond for the small screen) and it ran from 1961-1969, almost single-handedly moving the 1950s into the explosive 1960s. John Steed was played with a touch of class by Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg just may have started the birth of feminism with her portrayal of the clever, independent master of martial arts, Emma Peel.

It was made into a 2012 movie, but the original was so much cooler!

Answer: Dunphy

Bringing us back to the present, "Modern Family" first began airing in 2009, giving us a different and honest perspective of the evolving family. The show features the patriarch, Jay Pritchard, his much younger Colombian wife and her son (and, later, another son). We also follow Jay's daughter Clair, her real-estate selling husband Phil Dunphy ("Luke, I am your father") and their kids; finally, there is Jay's gay son Mitchell, his partner Cameron and their adopted Vietnamese daughter, Lily. This show offers a different outlook on family life and relationships - funny, warm and occasionally problematic; it expands our horizons of what is and what could be.