Villains on TV Trivia Quiz

Answer: Vic Mackey

Victor Samuel 'Vic' Mackey was the protagonist on the highly-regarded cable show "The Shield" (2002-2008). He was a detective with the Los Angeles Police Department and he meted out harsh punishments for rapists, drug dealers and pedophiles. So why is he on a list of villains? Vic was brutal and corrupt and believed in 'consequentialism', i.e., "the end justifies the means".

In order to uphold the law, he often broke it if he believed his motives were good enough: he stole, brutally beat suspects and even committed murder several times when it served his goals.

Answer: Snidely Whiplash

Dudley Do-Right of the Royal Canadian Mounties was a character on a segment of one of my personal favorites, "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends" (1959-1964), alternately known as "The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show" and a host of other names. Dudley Do-Right's segment, a parody of 'old-time' silent films, showed Dudley as a well-meaning but rather slow-witted hero. Dudley's girlfriend, Nell Fenwick, was continually being kidnapped by Snidely Whiplash who would tie her to railroad tracks and say things like "Curses, foiled again".

He gave villains a bad name!

Answer: Giancarlo Esposito

A seemingly calm, civic minded, successful entrepreneur and owner of the fast food restaurant chain Los Pollos Hermanos, Gus Fring also happens to be one of the largest and most ruthless distributors of methamphetamines in the entire southwestern United States. Giancarlo Esposito won a Critics Choice TV Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series and was nominated for an Emmy for being able to portray both sides of Fring's dichotomous personality; he lost out on the Emmy to his co-star Aaron Paul.

Answer: C. Montgomery Burns

Who else on "The Simpsons" would have the resources and the temperament to attempt such a heinous act, but C. Montgomery Burns? For those of you who might be interested, his full name is Charles Montgomery Plantagenet Schicklegruber Burns; before owning the Springfield Nuclear Plant he was a biochemist and a bioterrorist.

He is very old, very rich and totally narcissistic, his main catchphrase being "Excellent!"

Answer: Prison Break

Actor Robert Knepper plays the role of 'T-Bag' on "Prison Break" (2005-2009). While Michael Scofield and Lincoln Burrows (Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell) may be the main characters, Knepper plays his role with such enthusiasm, that he becomes as memorable as the 'heroes'. T-Bag is a member of the Fox River Eight (the escapees), the leader of a white supremacist group, a pedophile, blackmailer and ruthless murderer...and one of the most hated convicts in the entire prison (which says a lot!).

Answer: Amanda Woodward

For once, a character was brought on to a show specifically to boost its ratings, and it actually worked. "Melrose Place" (1992-1999) was an Aaron Spelling prime-time soap opera set in an apartment complex in Los Angeles, California. Amanda Woodward (Parezi, Burns, McBride Blake) made her first appearance in 1993 and, with very few exceptions, became involved with every main male character on the show.

She was an advertising executive at D&D, a malicious MANipulator, and at the center of the scheming, scandals and murderous plots; one might even call her the Queen Bee!

Answer: Zachary Quinto

"Heroes" (2006-2010) had the tag line "Save the cheerleader, save the world". It was a science fiction drama about people all over the world discovering that they had (cool) superpowers and figuring out what to do with them. Then there was Gabriel Gray, a timepiece restorer, who changed his name to Syler (from the name on his watch). Syler's ability was being able to steal the abilities of other superhumans; the downside of that was he had to cut into their craniums to absorb the powers, i.e., a super serial killer.

Answer: Wayne Knight

While Newman, the mailman from "Seinfeld" (1989- 1998), doesn't come close to most of the other villains in this quiz, he has been described on the show as "pure evil" (in the episode 'The Big Salad'). Newman is played by Wayne Knight and began appearing on the show in 1991. We don't know his backstory, why he and Jerry are antagonists or even his first name, only that he is selfish, egocentric, cunning and untrustworthy; Wayne Knight portrays him brilliantly. Knight has appeared on TV as Officer Don Orville on "Third Rock from the Sun" and as Dennis Nedry, the dinosaur DNA thief in "Jurassic Park".

Answer: Jonathan Harris

"Lost in Space" (1965-1968) told the story of the space traveling Robinson family who were attempting to go on a five year mission (before "Star Trek"'s mission) on the Jupiter 2, to explore a distant planet. Unfortunately, Dr. Zachary Smith, played with scenery-chewing enthusiasm, stowed away and sabotaged the ship, causing all of them to be, well, lost in space.

There was Dr. John Robinson, his wife Dr. Maureen Robinson, their daughters Judy (no, not Jetson) and Penny, and son Will..."DANGER, WILL ROBINSON!". Also, there was the handsome pilot, Major Don West, possibly to give Judy something to do on those long space nights.

Answer: Ben Linus

Last, but not least, is "Lost" (2004-2010), a series created by J.J. Abrams. In the pilot (punny?) episode, a plane from Australia bound for the United States goes off course, crashes on an unknown island (of course) and leaves 48 survivors. I can't begin to explain the final episode, but in between we meet Benjamin Linus. Ben was a resident on the island before the crash and a leader of 'the Others'.

When Ben first arrived on 'the Island' he was a quiet 8-year-old whose abusive father was a janitor for the D.H.A.R.M.A.

Initiative. When he grew up, Ben gave the appearance of being calm and eloquent but he was, in fact, a liar, a manipulator and a murderer.