Picture in Picture Trivia Quiz

Answer: M.A.S.H.

"M.A.S.H." (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) depicted the pathos and often tragic lives of American medical personnel during the Korean War. The show was hugely popular and ran for eleven years, which was three times the length of the actual Korean War. "M.A.S.H." while a comedy, still often dealt with topical and social issues including the changing sentiments of Americans towards the military and government in the wake of the Vietnam War and Watergate.

The picture is of a bowl of "mash"ed potatoes. Potatoes were a New World food first cultivated in Central and South America. While both Spanish and English explorers returned to Europe with potatoes in the 16th Century, it is not until the mid18th Century that recipes referring to the boiling and mashing of the potato appeared. As a quick tip, add a little buttermilk and sour cream to the potatoes after mashing to create a creamier texture.

Answer: Coronation Street

"Coronation Street" is the serialized story of middle and working class residents of the fictitious town of Weatherfield in the Manchester area of Northern England. The show has been a staple of UK television and a centerpiece of the nightly programming for the ITV network. Since it first broadcast in December 1960, "Coronation Street" has hosted visits from dozens of the UK's top stars including Sir Ben Kingsley, who played Ron Perkins during the 1966-67 seasons. Sir Ian McKellen took time away from appearing as Gandalf in the "Lord of the Rings" and Magneto in the "X-Man" movies to appear in an arc of "Coronation Street" shows in May 2005. McKellen played the scheming romance novelist/con artist Mel Hutchwright.

The picture is a somewhat grainy photograph of the 1953 coronation of the UK's Queen Elizabeth II. In this scene, Geoffrey Fischer, the Archbishop of Canterbury is placing St. Edwards Crown on the head of the newly anointed Queen. Interestingly, Queen Elizabeth has not appeared on the television show, "Coronation Street", but her eldest child Charles did appear in the show playing himself in the December 8, 2000 episode.

Answer: Cheers

"Cheers" is the place that, according to it's theme song, is where "everybody knows your name". "Cheers" debuted in 1982 and was not immediately successful. The show was nearly canceled by the struggling NBC network, however the ratings improved until "Cheers" was one of the most watched shows of the 1980s. "Cheers" was the first of numerous NBC situation comedies that were broadcast during the "Prime Time" on Thursday night. The NBC Thursday night slate of shows that included the "Cheers" spin-off show "Frasier", "Friends" and "Seinfeld" dominated American television ratings during the 1980s and 1990s, adding the marketing phrase "Must See Thursday" to the lexicon.

The use of the word "cheers" as a common English toast before drinking stemmed from medieval English when a popular greeting between acquaintances was "what chere be with you". The phrase was slowly shortened until the late 19th and early 20th Centuries when the phrase became a general salutation for toasting a drink between friends. The practice of toasting is more ancient and dates to Ancient Greece when simultaneous drinking between host and guest served to ease the guests fear of poisoning.

Answer: Magnum P.I.

Tom Selleck starred as Thomas Magnum an ex-Navy Seal and Detroit, Michigan native. Magnum left the Navy to work as a private investigator. Magnum lives in the posh guest house of the super rich, never seen, author Robin Masters. In exchange for free rent, Magnum provides security for the estate and the occasional investigation for either Mr. Masters or one of his friends. Magnum often squabbles with the very English estate manager played by the excellent American actor John Hillerman. Famously, Selleck's commitment to the television show prevented him from playing the lead in "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark" despite being Steven Spielberg's first choice for the role.

Contrary to popular belief, the designation of a gun or bullet as a "magnum" is not necessarily evidence that the device is larger or more powerful than other weapons. The term is not an official designation and is more of a marketing term. The modern association of the .44 Magnum revolver with superior gunpower stems in large part from Clint Eastwood and the 1971 film "Dirty Harry". In the movie, Eastwood draws his .44 Magnum (actually a .44 Smith & Wesson Model 29) and intimidates a criminal by saying, "but being this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world and would blow you head clean off, you've gotta ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?" Well, do ya, punk?"

Answer: Red Dwarf

The British science fiction series "Red Dwarf" tells the adventures of "chicken soup machine repairman" Dave Lister, who survives a radiation leak aboard the mining ship "Red Dwarf" by being placed in stasis by the ship's computer. When Lister is next woken it is three million years later, and Lister is both the sole human alive on the ship and it turns out in the universe. Lister does get to interact with a hologram of his worst enemy (created by the computer to keep Lister company and annoyed), an intelligent cat and a humanoid robot. The show is perhaps best described as a pastiche of science fiction tropes wrapped in a situation comedy.

In astronomy, a red dwarf is a designation for a star that is both small in size and cooler in temperature. As a result, the typical red dwarf emits far less light than other stars. By comparison, red dwarfs can have a luminosity that is anywhere from ten percent to 1/10,000th of a percent of our Sun's. Red dwarfs comprise the largest number of stars mapped in the Milky Way galaxy and have been observed to attract planets. Many of these star/planet systems are considered candidates to support earth-type life. Sadly, there has been no confirmation of extra-terrestrial life on a red dwarf's planet.

Answer: The Sopranos

"The Sopranos" was a classic tale of a loving father with a loving wife, two growing children, a meddling mother, ambitious relatives, a mistress or two and a successful, but demanding, series of business relationships. Tony Soprano played by James Gandolfini must juggle a rising sense of anxiety that manifests in panic attacks that send him to a psychotherapist for support. Tony is the family patriarch and well the godfather of his business. For you see, Tony's business is being the crime boss for the New Jersey end of the Mafia. For six seasons and 86 episodes Tony, his family and his crew ruled the airwaves of HBO producing monster ratings and earning 21 Emmy Awards. The show ended with a creepy open-ended scene in which you could not tell if Tony and his family were going to be murdered arrested or permitted to continue to live their lives.

Maria Callas was an American of Greek descent opera singer with a broad ranging soprano voice. The soprano or high pitched vocal range is highly sought after for lead female roles in many operas. Maria Callas was a dominant figure in the opera world during the late 1940s-1960s. The picture is the cover a Callas recording in 1954 from a Paris performance of the opera "Norma".

Answer: The Twilight Zone

"The Twilight Zone" remains one of American television's most enduring and influential series. The original program aired from 1959-1964 and was the brainchild of television writer Rod Serling. Serling desired to use the television medium and the science fiction genre to discuss important social issues. Episodes of "The Twilight Zone" were neither serialized nor interconnected. The episodes varied in tone and content often providing the viewer with a surprise or twist ending. Many of the stories were dystopian and cautionary warnings that mirrored real world issues. The iconic theme music and the stirring opening narration by Serling himself created a brand identity that propelled the show to decades of reruns and syndications across the globe.

Twilight is the time of day when the sun falls below the horizon and yet provides some residual illumination. Twilight occurs both when the sun is rising after the dawn, and after sunset but before dusk and the onset of night. Astronomically, twilight ends when the sun reaches 18 degrees above or below the horizon. Twilight is often used as a metaphor for a transition, either as the harbinger of an event of importance or to indicate that something (or someone) is losing strength and will soon pass away.

Answer: Blackadder

British television's "Blackadder" is four series of shows (plus a few special episodes) that follow the misadventures of Edmund Blackadder, his servant, and their descendants. Each of the series is set in a particular period of UK history. Rowan Atkinson plays Edmund and Tony Robinson his servant Baldrick. One of the running gags's between the "Blackadder" series is that as time passes the Blackadder's family fortunes seem to fall, while the competency and intelligence of the particular Edmund increases. In contrast, each successive Baldrick grows more slovenly and simple over time.

The snake named the black adder can refer to either the poisonous Vipera berus of Europe or the nonpoisonous North American reptile named Heterodon platirhinos. "Adder" is an old English and Germanic word that commonly referred to all snakes and reptiles. The picture is of the nonpoisonous North American species.

Answer: Taxi

"Taxi" was an American situational comedy airing between 1978-1983 that, oddly enough, centered around the interaction between cab drivers, mechanics, and dispatchers at a New York City taxicab company. The show starred Judd Hirsch as the sensible, fatherly figure Alex Reiger. "Taxi" made household names out of supporting cast members Danny DeVito (dispatcher Louie De Palma), Christopher Lloyd (drug-addled cabbie Reverend Jim Ignatowski), Tony Danza as (former fighter now cabbie Tony Banta) and most notably Andy Kaufman (mechanic Latka Gravis). "Taxi" was often directed by Jim Burrows who later went on to create "Cheers" and the two shows shared many of the same comedic approaches and timing.

The word "taxi", to refer to a vehicle for hire, stems from the early 20th Century and is a shortening of the word "taxicab". Taxicab is itself a portmanteau of sorts combining the abbreviated French words for metered charge "taximeter" and for covered carriage "cabriolet". The New York Taxicab Co. started using the phrase in 1907 to promote the first gasoline powered vehicles for hire in the city. While there is some debate, the association of taxi's with the color yellow appears to stem from John Hertz, who founded a taxi company in Chicago Illinois in 1915. Mr. Hertz, who later went on to found the Hertz Rent-A-Car Co., had read a study that suggested that a yellow-orange color was highly visible to the human eye from a distance. Hertz's yellow painted taxi's yellow were a tremendous success and the trend expanded across the US and to many parts of the world.

Answer: Sesame Street

There is perhaps no better example of the televisions medium's potential for positive influence than "Sesame Street". The iconic program was the brainchild of producer Joan Gantz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett of the Carnegie Foundation. Together their goal was to harness the addictive quality of television to provide structured lessons aimed at core competencies required by preschool children. "Sesame Street" hired puppeteer Jim Henson to develop puppet-like characters (called Muppets) that would interact with actors to provide lessons in a fun and engaging manner. The partnership between the educators and the master puppeteer gave the world such enduring characters as Bert, Ernie, Oscar the Grouch and Cookie Monster. Since its debut on the predecessor to the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) in 1969, "Sesame Street" has broadcast in over 140 countries and has been viewed by billions of people.

The sesame is a flowering plant that originates in tropical areas of Africa and Asia. The seeds of the plant have been cultivated and used for human consumption for several thousand years. The seeds can be crushed to produce cooking oil that is rich in protein and Omega 6 fatty acids. Many people are equally familiar with the use of the seeds as a flavoring and topping for breads and pastries. McDonalds has long used the sesame seed as a topping for its fast food hamburger buns. The McDonald's "Big Mac' sandwich was advertised in the early 1970s by an addicting song that listed the burgers ingredients highlighting the sesame seed. Who can forget the stirring jingle telling you the Big Mac was "two all-beef patties, lettuce, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun".