Which Sitcom Family? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Cleaver

Theodore Cleaver, known as 'Beaver', is the younger of the two sons in the Cleaver family, and the centre of most episodes of 'Leave it to Beaver', which premiered in 1957 on CBS, and moved to ABC for another five seasons starting in 1958. Beaver, played by Jerry Mathers, was ostensibly seven years old and in second grade at the start of the show.

The plot of many episodes involves Beaver getting into some sort of (relatively innocent) trouble, being worried about how he can get out of it, then being given a kindly moral lecture from one or both parents as they discover the problem (either after it has been resolved, or as they are about to sort things out for him). More often than not, the difficulty is caused by Beaver's naivety, and is actually caused by one of his peers taking advantage of his gullibility.

Answer: Cleaver

Wallace, always called Wally unless he was being spoken to severely, is the older of the two boys in the Cleaver family, and uses his experience to offer advice to young Beaver. At the start of the show he was said to be in eight grade, but six years later was graduating from high school. No mention was ever made about the apparent two extra years needed to complete his education! Maybe there was some intentional holding him back to keep him available as a sports start for the school teams - he was particularly good in track, basketball and baseball.

While it is usually Beaver who is in some sort of predicament, there are times when Wally (usually led astray along with his friend Lumpy by the smarmy Eddie Haskell) is featured. Since Tony Dow, who played the part, became very popular with the show's teenaged audience, Wally played a larger role in the later seasons, including the chance to have some romantic entanglements, rather than the more childish escapades of his younger brother.

Answer: Cleaver

Ward Cleaver, played by Hugh Beaumont, is the archetypical white middle-class suburban father of the 1950s. His work (for an unspecified firm that has a head office in New York, in a position that gives him his own personal secretary) allows him to provide a lovely four-bedroom house for his family in the fictional suburb of Mayfield, from which he can drive the family car to work each day (unless June needs it to run errands).

Ward is regularly shown in small moments of fatherly activities, such as offering Wally tips on his basketball game, or cooking meat on the barbecue. However, his main dramatic function in the show is delivering the moral lesson (always gently, but with a clear vision of what needs to be learned) near the end of each episode. Although Wally frequently tells Beaver that he is likely to get a walloping when their father comes home, it never eventuates.

Answer: Cleaver

June Cleaver (Barbara Billingsley) is definitely a mother of the 1950s, who spends her days caring for the family home and caring for the comfort and wellbeing of her husband and sons. We often see her cooking - especially when the boys come home from school and discuss their days as she prepares dinner. She is a model of suburban elegance, always dressed in fashionable attire even when spending the day around the house on her own, and virtually never seen without her pearl necklace.

June's relationships with the male members of her family are strongly reinforcing of traditional gender roles - she is disgusted when the boys dig up worms, and regularly reminds Ward of the household chores he is expected to complete.

Answer: Brady

'The Brady Bunch', which originally aired from September 1969 until March 1974 was not based on a traditional nuclear family like the Cleavers, but on a blended family created when a widowed father of three boys and a single (for reasons never specified) mother of three girls marry each other. The extra dynamic of the two households getting to know each other provided plenty of plot scope, while the general tone was still that of a middle-class suburban family.

Mike Brady (Robert Reed) is an architect, who designed the large house in which the family resides (along with his live-in housekeeper Alice, played by Ann B Davis). While its location is never clearly stated, it seems to be somewhere near Los Angeles, as LA sports teams are frequently mentioned. Needless to say, he is a wise and understanding father, providing emotional support and moral guidance when needed, not just an excellent breadwinner.

Answer: Brady

In 'The Brady Bunch', the reason why Carol's three daughters did not have a father in their lives was never specified, although the writers had originally wanted her to be divorced. The network, however, felt that was a bit too outrageous for their family, and wanted her to be considered a widow. This also simplified the need to consider custody, alimony, and Mike's ability to adopt the children.

Because the blended household had a super-efficient housekeeper in place, Carol was not burdened with the routine of maintaining the house, and has a lot of energy available for sorting out the emotional (and sometimes physical) needs of the children. In the first season these were mostly about managing the new family structure, but in later seasons a wider range of 'teenage' issues came into focus. As was the case for the Cleavers, the Bradys emphasised the need for each individual to take responsibility for their actions, and develop into a responsible member of society. Because Mike was often busy with his job, much of the responsibility for this landed on Carol.

Answer: Brady

Because I didn't want the Brady family to feature more prominently than the others in this quiz just because there were so many of them, I selected one boy and one girl for inclusion. Greg (Barry Williams) was the oldest, followed by Peter (Christopher Knight), and Bobby (Mike Lookinland). This is the order in which they appear, from top to bottom, on the right side of the show's famous opening sequence, a 3x3 square that has the adults in the middle column (Carol on top, Mike on the bottom, and Alice located neutrally in the middle square), girls in the left column and boys on the right.

Greg is in high school, a successful student whose main interests are outside the classroom: he is on the football team, loves to surf, and hopes to have a musical career playing guitar and singing. Oh, yes, he definitely likes the girls, and is often pretty self-centred in his treatment of them. As the oldest of the six children, he is often the driving force for whatever they are planning.

Peter, the middle son, lacks his older brother's self-confidence, but is still very popular. Bobby is a bit of a dreamer, and often somewhat overlooked by his more assertive older siblings.

Answer: Brady

Cynthia, always called Cindy (Susan Olsen) is the youngest of the six children, as mentioned in the theme song, which refers to "the youngest one in curls", although she is also seen with her hair in braids. Cindy is very inquisitive about her elders, and regularly reveals secrets she has discovered, a trait which did not endear her to her siblings!

Janet, always called Jan (Eve Plumb) is the middle in age of the girls, which is a regular plot point - especially her concern that she will never be as popular as her older sister. Marcia (Maureen McCormick) is portrayed as being very popular and attractive, but still has her fair share of insecurities to be dealt with.

Answer: Partridge

Shirley Partridge (Shirley Jones) was happily working as a bank teller to support her family following the death of her husband a few months before the first episode of 'The Partridge Family', which originally aired between 1970 and 1974, when the kids were short a singer for a performance of their garage band, and she stepped in. With remarkably little pause to reflect on the wisdom of her choice, she allowed herself to become part of the band and set off on tour with them. As a parent, she spent much less time providing moral advice for her children than was the case in the other families in this quiz, and a lot more time sharing their activities.

The show billed itself as a musical sitcom, and music dominated the show. Every episode included the family performing at least one song (although only Shirley and her oldest son actually sang with the studio ensemble) and many of the plots were based on their musical career. This was especially true of the first season, when they were almost constantly on the road, but persisted even when they spent more time at home and recording in later seasons. During the show, Shirley Jones was married to Jack Cassidy, whose son David played her oldest son.

Answer: Partridge

While 'The Partridge Family' does not make a big deal of the ages of the various children (which would raise some questions about their schooling, for example - although there are some references to them completing schoolwork), Keith (David Cassidy) is old enough to drive the family bus. As the lead singer in the band put together by the siblings, and joined by their mother when the first lead singer became ill, Keith was the charismatic figurehead of the group.

This was true on the show, where he and his stepmother were the only members of the 'family' to actually sing when the band performed, and in the wider world. The success of the songs released by the Partridge Family turned David Cassidy into a teen idol - and effectively ended his intention of becoming a rock singer; pop became his destiny.

Answer: Partridge

Laurie Partridge (Susan Dey) is the second-oldest member of the family. She plays keyboard in the band, along with (lip-synching) background vocals. She is officially described as intelligent and concerned about social issues, but abandons her interest in a career as a translator at the UN when she discovers it means learning a second language.

She does argue against crossing a picket line to perform in one of the episodes from the first season.

Answer: Partridge

Danny Partridge (Danny Bonaduce) is the middle child, and the finagler of the group. He is the one, aged ten, who convinces Reuben Kincaid (Dave Madden) to take over management of the family, and is often the one behind the suggestion that is going to produce the week's drama. Before becoming bass player for the band, he was intent on a career in the stock market, and still makes investment suggestions to the rest of the family.

Chris (played by Jeremy Gelbwaks during the first season, then by Brian Forster) is next in line, and plays the drums. The youngest Partridge child is Tracy (played by Suzanne Grough), who provides tambourine accompaniment for their songs.