Zone of Machines and Animals Trivia Quiz

Answer: Alien

Standing for Alien Life Form, ALF was a furry little alien from planet Melmac who crashed into the garage of a family (mom, dad, daughter, and son). His real name was Gordon Shumway and unlike the E.T. from "E.T.", he made wisecracks most of the time and had to hide when the neighbors came over. Sometimes he threatened to eat the family cat, because he used to eat cats on Melmac.

The series began on September 22, 1986.

Answer: Horse

One of the more famous animal shows, "Mr. Ed" ran in first run syndication and on CBS at various times between October 1, 1961 and September 8, 1965. Mr. Ed was the name of the talking horse who sometimes used the telephone in the barn to make crank phone calls. I always wondered where Ed got the oversized glasses and various costumes he sometimes wore.

Answer: Orangutan

Running for 13 episodes from September 23, 1983 till December 16, 1983, "Mr. Smith" featured an orangutan who drank something in a lab which gave him an I.Q. of 256 and enabled him to speak. Mr. Smith became a political advisor in Washington, D.C. (played by the orangutan from "Every Which Way You Can").

Answer: Dolphin

"Flipper" was a TV series running September 19, 1964 - September 1, 1968 on the NBC network. It was based on two movies. On TV Flipper was a dolphin who was friends with a ranger and his two sons at Coral Key Park, FL. Just about every episode involved a storm, criminals, or people who almost drowned.

Answer: Bear

Gentle Ben was an 850 pound black bear who lived in the Florida Everglades and was friends with an 8 year old (Clint Howard) son of a wildlife officer (Dennis Weaver). The series ran September 10, 1967 - August 31, 1969.

Answer: Dog

Boomer was a mixed breed dog who traveled to a different town each week, getting involved with different people and solving their problems, much like Lassie had done years before. It was a half hour show which ran three short seasons (March 1980 - August 1980, September 1981 - November 1981, July 1982 - August 1982).

Answer: Chimpanzee

This was a one hour adventure show (February 10, 1979 - August 1, 1981) with comedic overtones featuring B.J., a truck driver, who accidentally got involved with criminals and crooked law men in a different town each week, but somehow brought everyone to justice.

He also had a pet chimpanzee named Bear. One of the law men, Lobo, got his own series, and B.J. eventually settled down with seven female truckers.

Answer: Robot

Before "Robocop" there was "Holmes and Yoyo" (September 25, 1976 - December 11, 1976, ABC), a half hour comedy series about Yoyo, a robot which looked like a man, played by John Schuck ("MacMillan and Wife"). He was super strong, but sometimes malfunctioned. One time he refused to get out of the car because the barking dog might get electrocuted if it bit the robot.

Answer: Car

Jim Douglas (Dean Jones) was reunited in the one hour weekly show with Herbie, the Volkswagen beetle from the movies "The Love Bug", "Herbie Rides Again", "Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo", and "Herbie Goes Bananas". The car moved by itself and had a mind of its own. Douglas had been a race car driver, but now he ran a driver school. "Herbie, the Love Bug" ran March 17, 1982 - April 14, 1982.

Answer: Bigfoot

Based on the movie of the same name, this half hour comedy involved a family which decided to keep a seven foot tall bigfoot (hairy Harry) as a pet. It was in first run syndication for 72 episodes beginning in January 13, 1991. This was the time of many first run syndicated shows broadcast on weekends which were based on movies, including "Police Academy", "Hercules", "Conan", "Robocop", and "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids".