TV Couples of Early TV 3 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ethel

Fred and Ethel Mertz were Lucy's next door neighbors and landlords. Not only was this the first show aired in front of a live audience, but the first to be shot on 35mm film. "I Love Lucy" was the most watched show on TV for 4 of its 6 seasons and went on to be syndicated.

Answer: Ruth

This popular sitcom ran from 1954 through 5 seasons. Hilda Crocker, Lily's close friend, aided Matt and Ruth Henshaw in finding her the right man. Another regular was next door neighbor Pete Porter (Harry Morgan of "M.A.S.H." fame) who kept complaining about his wife Gladys, who was never seen in any episode. Later, this couple spawned their own series, called, if you can believe it, "Pete & Gladys".

Answer: Jones and Brown

Amos Jones and Andy Brown were heard on radio in different formats from 1928 to 1960. It only lasted for 2 seasons from '53-'55 on TV, but its reruns lasted until 1966. Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll were white actors who proposed a series about "a couple of colored characters".

They were the voices of Amos and Andy on radio as well as ALL the other male characters with over 170 distinct accents. Other memorable characters were Kingfish and Lightning. It was the first TV show to use the multi-camera setup. Don't look for it on TV anytime soon because of controversies surrounding racial profiling.

Answer: George, Marion, Neil

Real life husband and wife Robert Sterling and Anne Jeffreys played George and Marion Kirby. During an avalanche, Neil, a St. Bernard, tried to rescue them but unfortunately all 3 perished. The ghosts are rather mischievous, and stiff-upperlipped Cosmo always had his hands full. Neil may be remembered as having a humorous love affair with martinis.

It was originally a movie and ran for 2 seasons on ABC (1955) and NBC (1956)

Answer: Schultzy

This was the first series to ever debut mid-season in January 1955 and lasted for 4 more seasons. Ann B. Davis played Charmaine "Schultzy" Schultz, Rosemary DeCamp Bob's sister, and Dwayne Hickman his typical teenage nephew. This show was important in the development of many careers, Dwayne as Dobie Gillis for one.

This was the zenith of Cumming's career for his 2 followup series in the early 60s ("The (New) Bob Cummings Show" and "My Living Doll") just didn't hack it.

Answer: Eve Drake & Howard Adams

Duff and Lupino were husband and wife, but later divorced and in the series they got along much better on screen than off. They were a fictitious acting couple Howard Adams and Eve Drake and lasted 2 seasons ('57-'58) on CBS in black and white. Lupino was nominated for Emmys in both seasons.

It might be noted here that very few programs about the entertainment industry have succeeded. If you can locate an original film of any episode of this series, grab it fast, since most were destroyed or lost due to bickering over broadcast rights.

Answer: Vern

Just like Lucy and Ethel of "I Love Lucy" fame, Margie and next door neighbor Mrs. Odetts used various schemes to drive daddy Vern crazy. Set in New York City, boyfriend Freddy and elevator operator Charlie sometimes joined in the misadventures. This show was unusual in that it played simultaneously on TV and radio from 1952-1955. How quickly we forget that TV was still rather new and most didn't have one.

The cast was the same but the scripts were different.

Answer: Connie

Connie Brooks (Eve Arden) was a wise-cracking high school teacher who kept trying to snare Biology teacher Philip Boynton (Robert Rockwell) and had her problems with school principal Osgood Conklin (Gale Gordon). Walter Denton (Richard Crenna) was a student with a voice that crackled and drove Miss Brooks to school many times because her car was usually in the shop, a running gag on the show.

This show ran on radio from '48 to '57 and on TV from 1952 to 1956. Her cat was named Minerva, which is a trivia bonus.

Answer: Margaret

Margaret his first wife was written out after the 3rd season because of Jean Hagen's disagreements with Danny Thomas. She was replaced by Marjorie Lord who appeared as Kathy "Clancey" OHara as caretaker for his measle-strickened son Rusty and daughter Terry.

The 5th season saw the show name changed to "The Danny Thomas Show". Also, Danny and Kathy married and Angela Cartwright joined the cast as Terry, Kathy's daughter. It lasted 11 seasons from 1953 to 1964.

Answer: Ralph, Alice, Ed, Trixie

Believe it or not, this show lasted for only 39 episodes; its first season it was #2 in the ratings but lost out to Perry Como during the 2nd dropping to #19 and finally called it quits. "One of these days... POW! Right in the kisser!" and "BANG, ZOOM! Straight to the moon!" were classic Gleason tirades directed at his wife Alice. And for trivia buffs, their address was 328 Chauncey Street but later changed to 358 Chauncey Street.