Kids and Their Characters Trivia Quiz

Answer: Webster Long

Emmanuel Lewis played Webster Long in the situation comedy "Webster" from 1983 through 1989. Webster was small, cute and funny; he was the orphaned son of a former teammate of retired professional football player George Papadapolis and his new socialite wife, Katherine.

The Papadapolises (or is that Papadapoli?) decided to adopt Webster and this mismatched threesome led to some very funny and endearing moments.

Answer: Dana Plato

Dana Plato (1964-1999) was the sensible, down-to-earth daughter of Philip Drummond and step-sister to Arnold and Willis Jackson. Unfortunately, in her real life, she was a very troubled teenager. In fact, ironically, she herself had been adopted. She was cut from "Diff'rent Strokes" in 1984 when it was discovered she was pregnant.

Her hedonistic life style led to drugs, alcohol, adult films and, eventually, suicide. One more tragic touch of irony: Dana's son, Tyler Lambert, committed suicide in 2010, almost exactly eleven years later.

Answer: Theo Huxtable

Theo Huxtable was the only son of Dr. Cliff Huxtable, a Brooklyn OB/GYN played by Bill Cosby on "The Cosby Show" (1984-1992). Theo's interactions with his four sisters (Sondra, Denise, Vanessa and Rudy) and his parents provided many of the comical scenes on the show.

The show mirrored the real life family of Bill Cosby, whose only son, Ennis, was fatally shot and killed in an attempted robbery in 1997.

Answer: Mallory Keaton

Justine Bateman (sister of Jason) played Mallory Keaton, the sociable, under-achieving middle child of Steven and Elyse Keaton on "Family Ties" from 1982-1989. Most of the humor originated from the disparate political views between the liberal parents and the conservative-minded older son, Alex P. Keaton, wonderfully played by Michael J. Fox.

However, Mallory was often used as a foil against her brilliant brother and her younger sister.

Answer: Danny Pintauro

Danny Pintauro portrayed Jonathan Bower, the shy only child of NY power-house advertising executive, Angela Bower. Angela hired former pro baseball player Tony Micelli as her housekeeper, and Tony and his young daughter, Samantha, came to live in Angela's posh Connecticut home. Danny played Jonathan on "Who's the Boss" from 1984 through 1992, essentially growing up in front of the cameras. Prior to that, he began his career in 1982 in the TV soap opera "As the World Turns".

He also appeared in the movies "Cujo" in 1983 and "The Beniker Gang" in 1985.

Answer: Kim Fields

"You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have 'The Facts of Life'". Tootie was the cute, youngest girl who often rolled around on roller skates. Kim Fields played Tootie on "The Facts of Life" from 1979 through 1988... but do you remember that Tootie started out as a character on "Diff'rent Strokes" where Kim originated the role in 1979? She later appeared as the more grown-up Regine Hunter on the TV sitcom "Living Single" (1993-1997).

As an aside, Kim's mother, 'Chip' Fields, is also a singer, director and actress who appeared in several episodes of "Living Single" as Laverne Hunter.

Answer: Ricky Stratton

Ricky Schroder began his career in 1979 in the remake of the movie "The Champ" with Jon Voight, but really became a star by playing Ricky Stratton in "Silver Spoons" from 1982 through 1987. On the show, Ricky Stratton was the spoiled, only child of millionaire Edward Stratton III.

When his parents got divorced, Ricky went to live with his father, who was very child-like himself, and had furnished his home with all kinds of toys, including a locomotive that ran through the house. We watched Ricky live 'the good life', while still facing the everyday problems of adolescence.

Answer: Vicki

Tiffany Brissette played Vicki the Robot on the situation comedy "Small Wonder" from 1985 through 1989. The premise was that Ted Lawson, husband of Joan and father of Jamie, had invented a prototype of a robot which looked and talked like a real little girl... so much so that the family claimed that Vicki was their daughter.

The humor supposedly came from the fact that Vicki could, of course, do extraordinary things, e.g., super strength and tape recorder memory. However, unlike most of the other shows in this quiz, this show, the characters and the actors were remarkably forgettable! Can anyone remember Dick Christie or Marla Pennington?

Answer: Chip Lowell

In "Kate and Allie" (1984-1989), Charles 'Chip' Lowell was the youngest child of Allie Lowell (Jane Curtain) and the brother of Jennie. When his parents got divorced (a common subject by the mid-eighties), Allie, Jennie and Chip moved into a Greenwich Village apartment in New York City.

They formed an unusual 'blended' family with Allie's also-divorced best friend Kate McArdle (Susan St. James) and Kate's daughter, Emma. The uniqueness of the situation, i.e., two divorced mothers, two teenage girls and one prepubescent son made for a lot of the humorous moments.

Answer: Missy Gold

Cute, little Katie Gatling, the Governor's daughter, was played by cute, little Missy Gold on "Benson" from 1979-1986. Benson DuBois was originally a butler for the Tate family on "Soap", then became 'director of household affairs', budget director and lieutenant governor. ('Movin' on up?' No, different show!) But I digress... Missy Gold, Melissa Ann Fisher, was born in Great Falls, Montana in 1970.

Her older sister, Tracey, played the middle child on "Growing Pains". Missy appeared on many TV shows before and during her tenure on "Benson", but she chose to graduate from Georgetown University and earned her Ph.D in psychology.