Do You Miss the Sixties? Quiz | TV By Year

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Running from 1960-1968, what show set in Mayberry featured a widowed sheriff, a bumbling deputy, and home spun philosophy and humor all in 30 minute episodes?

Answer: The Andy Griffith Show

Didn't we all wish Andy Taylor was our father? Except for the rare stolen cow, there never seemed to be any crime in Mayberry to solve. Mostly we learned the proper way to treat people. "Mayberry R.F.D." was a spin-off of the show, and didn't begin until 1968. Though "Bonanza" did feature a widowed father and did air in the sixties, it was not set in Mayberry, and Newhart does not fit any part of the clue.

2. Ah, the competing magic shows! One was a witch, one was a genie. Both were blonde and beautiful. Who played our favorite housewife who also was a witch who tried so hard not to use her magic at her husband's request from 1964 to 1972?

Answer: Elizabeth Montgomery

The lovely Elizabeth Montgomery played Samantha Stevens in "Bewitched". She tragically died of cancer in 1995. Barbara Eden was, of course, the 2,000 year old Jeannie in "I Dream of Jeannie". Lucille Ball, whose hair was famously red, had her own sitcoms, but they did not involve magic. And of course the incomparable Agnes Moorehead was a co-star on "Bewitched" as Endora, the extremely powerful witch and mother of Samantha.

3. What quiz of the 60's would be complete without mentioning Jed, Jethro, Granny, and Ellie May? Who packed up their bags and moved to .... from 1962-1971?

Answer: The Beverly Hillbillies

I dare you to not be singing the theme song in your head right now if you watched the show at all! Jed may have struck "black gold, Texas tea, oil that is" when he took that shot with his rifle- but boy did the network hit pay dirt! A lot of back woods humor in this show, "Petticoat Junction" and "Green Acres" aired during the sixties.

4. "Oh, Rob!" What comedy show, running from 1961- 1966 was actually a show about a comedy show writer and his wife (played by the lovely Mary Tyler Moore)?

Answer: The Dick Van Dyke Show

The only one that fits the clue is "The Dick Van Dyke Show". Created by Carl Reiner with an excellent supporting cast, it was a perfect vehicle for Dick Van Dyke to display his comedic timing as well as his physical talent. As a child, I looked forward to the holiday specials every year as well.

5. Multiple spy shows aired during the sixties. One had a British theme and ran from 1961-1968. In which show does Steed wear a Bowler hat as a protective device?

Answer: The Avengers

You know you are a child of the sixties when you hear "The Avengers" and you immediately think of John Steed and Mrs. Peel and not comic book super heroes! Loaded with class, dashed with humor, with a male boss called "mother" and an rare female boss called "father", "The Avengers" was actually one of the first British series to be shown on prime time TV in America. Though Mrs. Peel did not join until 1965, and she left in 1968, I can't imagine the series without her and her leather cat suit, can you?

6. In the sixties we had two famous competing "monster" comedies, "The Munsters" and "The Addams Family". Both only ran from 1964-1966. What was the name of the daughter on "The Addams Family"?

Answer: Wednesday

I really thought both of these ran longer. This is another theme song that, if you ever watched, you can sing without thinking about it ("They're creepy and they're kooky...." - that's all you need for that earworm!). Fun fact, "The Addams Family was actually based on a comic strip by Charles Addams begun in the New Yorker magazine. Who can forget Lurch? "You rang?"

7. "Space....the final frontier". Which sixties series, which spawned more spin-offs than can be counted, split the infinitive and told us "to boldly go...." from 1966-1969?

Answer: Star Trek

What can be said about the genius of Gene Roddenberry and the series that created Trekkies that hasn't already been written. The "Star Trek" universe includes television, books, video games, movies, comics, and so much more. All beginning with this one series. Though it is now referred to as "Star Trek, original series", in the sixties it was simply called "Star Trek". Who knew? The show tackled the issues of war, racism, overpopulation, and so many other problems we still grapple with today. Without Star Trek, would there have been a Star Wars? Gene Roddenberry passed away in 1991 and his ashes were literally placed into orbit.

8. Let's talk Westerns in television in the sixties. My favorite ran from 1965-1969 and centered around a wealthy widow matriarch raising her sons and one daughter on a very large ranch in California. Name this sixties show.

Answer: The Big Valley

All are westerns from the 60's, but "The Big Valley" followed Victoria Barkley, played with so much class by Barbara Stanwyck and her children on a huge ranch (which never seemed to have a name), near Stockton California. Everyone remembers oldest son Jarrod (the lawyer), rough son Nick, daughter Audra, and illegitimate son Heath, but no one ever seems to remember youngest son Eugene (who left to go to medical school and then went into the army). I guess I just did because I thought he was cute and he was closest to my age.

9. The sixties gave us a couple of prime time cartoon series. Which one told us to have a "Yabba Dabba Do time"?

Answer: The Flintstones

Set in the stone age, where "The Jetsons" was a cartoon set in the space age, it was fun to see how the cartoon made everyday gadgets out of dinosaurs and animals (in the opening sequences the crane was a brontosaur and to make the shift whistle a bird's tail was pulled).

Some say the series was inspired by Jackie Gleason's "The Honeymooners", and the voice-overs are certainly similar. But the situations are different and the cartoon has lasted much longer and stood the test of time. "Lassie" and "Flipper" were not cartoons.

10. No quiz about sixties television would be complete without mentioning the advent of the "cop show". Every one of the shows listed aired in the sixties, but which classic told us to give them "the facts, just the facts", and whose opening voiceover told us that the names were changed to protect the innocent?

Answer: Dragnet

"Dragnet" originally aired from 1951-1959, but then aired again from 1967-1970, both with Jack Webb, and the later is the one I am familiar with, with Harry Morgan as the sidekick (Bill Gannon). I learned how to properly spell sergeant from the beginning of that show. "Adam-12" was actually a spin off from "Dragnet". Dum-De-Dum-Dum....Dum-De-Dum-Dum-DAAAA

Source: Author Patwoosley

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor ladymacb29 before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Do You Miss the Sixties? Trivia Quiz

It was a kinder, gentler, time. The problems of the world could be solved in 30 or 60 minute intervals and yet we still had spies, space travel, and monsters! Gee, I miss the sixties!

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