US TV Show Anagrams #6 Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Jetsons

'The Jetsons' was a family cartoon sitcom set in the future. With flying cars, robots maids and electronic gadgets galore, it was set one hundred years ahead of when it first aired which was in 1962. George Jetson was the head of the household (or so he liked to think), with his wife Jane and children Judy and Elroy completing the modern family. Rosie the robot did all the chores around the house and was had conversations with the family, even disciplining the children if she thought they were out of line.

Despite the memories we may have of the show, Rosie only appeared in two of the twenty-four episodes made in the 1960s. The show was made again in the 1980s with 51 episodes being made. Just as characters in 'The Flintstones' had names relating the the Stone Age, characters and businesses in 'The Jetsons' often had names with a space theme such as Spacely Space Sprockets, the company George worked for.

Answer: Murphy Brown

Candice Bergen starred as Murphy Brown, rapier-witted investigative journalist in the show named after her character. She worked on the fictitious 'FYI' (For Your Information), a newsmagazine style show on a major US network. The show primarily revolved around Murphy and her dealings with her colleagues on the show who ranged from the well-versed journalist Frank Fontana to the former Miss America and ingenue to the world of journalism, Corky Sherwood.

While a sitcom, the show did create some controversy. When Murphy had a child as a single mother, Vice President Dan Quayle spoke against the notion of single motherhood. In the final series, Murphy was diagnosed with breast cancer and used an illegal substance to help cope with the side effects of chemotherapy. The benefit of that storyline was a significant increase in the number of women having mammograms. There were 247 episodes of 'Murphy Brown' made over ten years from 1988 to 1998.

Answer: Prison Break

A young man (Lincoln Burrows, played by Dominic Purcell) is in jail on death row, the victim of a political conspiracy. His brother (Michael Scofield, played by Wentworth Miller) is so convinced of his innocence that he plans a prison break, but from the inside.

As a structural engineer who worked on the prison, he knows it inside and out. His plan involves committing a crime which ensures he will be imprisoned in the same facility as his brother in order to escape. Along the way in the show's four seasons, the conspiracy that started it all is combated with the aid of the brothers' friend Veronica Donovan, played by Robin Tunney. 'Prison Break' aired over four seasons from 2005 to 2009.

Answer: Family Feud

First appearing on screen in 1976, 'Family Feud' is a game show in which teams made up of family members try to guess answers to questions asked of the public. First hosted by Richard Dawson, subsequent hosts have included Richard Karn and John O'Hurley.

Answer: Boardwalk Empire

With the pilot directed by Martin Scorsese (who went on to be the executive producer), Steve Buscemi as the lead actor, and being set during the exciting, if dangerous, Prohibition era, 'Boardwalk Empire' couldn't really fail. Steve Buscemi plays Enoch 'Nucky' Thompson, political power broker and criminal of Atlantic City, New Jersey.

He knew everyone in town including politicians, businessmen, criminals, cops and the regular citizens of the city who admired him. 'Boardwalk Empire' was based on a book called 'Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City' which detailed the life of Enoch L. Johnson upon whom Nucky Thompson was based.

The show premiered in 2010.

Answer: Alias

For five seasons, Jennifer Garner played CIA agent Sydney Bristow in 'Alias'. Sydney was an graduate student at UCLA when she became involved in a crime ring masquerading as the CIA. When she discovered the truth, she begins to work for the real CIA, infiltrating the crime gang's ranks. Her father is also a double agent. Sydney is forced by the nature of her assignments to assume an alias and live a double life, hence the name of the show. The show finished production in 2006 after five successful years.

Answer: The Carol Burnett Show

Comedienne, actress and writer Carol Burnett was the lynchpin of the 'The Carol Burnett Show' from 1967 to 1978. Her co-stars were Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, Lyle Waggoner, and Tim Conway. Guest stars ranged from the famous to the incredibly famous. Over the eleven seasons of the show, guest stars included Lucille Ball (Carol's mentor), Sid Caesar, Mike Douglas, Barbara Eden, Liza Minnelli, Minnie Pearl, Ella Fitzgerald, Bing Crosby, Donald O'Connor and James Stewart. Achieving audience and critical acclaim, 'The Carol Burnett Show' won 25 Emmys, was listed as one of the fifty best TV shows by 'TV Guide', and also made 'Time' magazine's list of the 100 best shows ever.

Answer: Friends

As I write this quiz, there are over 650 quizzes on FunTrivia dedicated to 'Friends'. I really can't add anything to that other than the bare statistics of the show. There were 236 episodes made over ten seasons of the show. The show was set in New York City and featured six friends - Monica, Rachel, Phoebe, Joey, Chandler and Ross, all with their own idiosyncracies.

As the show travelled through the characters' lives over ten years, the 20-somethings became 30-somethings and 'grown-up' with marriages and/or children for five of the six friends in one way or another.

Answer: Justified

Deputy US Marshal Raylan Givens was working in Miami when a controversial shooting of a criminal sees him reassigned to Harlan, eastern Kentucky, where he grew up. He's not thrilled to be back home having been glad to leave the backwards, poverty-stricken area.

In the first four seasons (2010-2013), Raylan got between two criminal organisations, was assisted by a former criminal who became a revivalist preacher, and tried to solve a thirty year old mystery involving a dead parachutist and illegal drugs.

Answer: Seinfeld

Voted by 'Entertainment Weekly' in 2013 as the third best TV show of all time, 'Seinfeld was a creation of Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David. Each episode centred on the four main characters (Jerry, Elaine, George and Cosmo) and how every day incidents affected them and those around them in New York City. The leads weren't the nicest of people and never learnt from their mistakes. The final episode saw them all land in jail. The show went for nine years, starting in 1989.