Television, Television Trivia Quiz

Answer: 30 Rock

Debuting in 2006, the show was Fey's first official post-"SNL" gig and, unsurprisingly, it was a critical darling. Although the show often poked fun at home network NBC's slowly-declining quality and ratings (as has "Saturday Night Live" in the past) it ended up lasting seven seasons with Fey in the lead role as TV producer Liz Lemon.

The show also starred Alec Baldwin and Tracy Morgan and was filmed in Long Island-- not the actual 30 Rock studios (where "Saturday Night Live" is officially filmed). "30 Rock" followed the troubles on and off-screen at the fictional "The Girlie Show" (later rebranded "TGS With Tracy Morgan") and Lemon's complicated relationship with the Vice President of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming for General Electric, Jack Donaghy (played by Baldwin).

The show was continuously nominated for Emmy, Golden Globe, and SAG Awards winning several, especially in its earlier years.

Answer: SCTV

Starring an ensemble cast of soon-to-be-famous players including John Candy, Eugene Levy, Dave Thomas, Catherine O'Hara, Andrea Martin, Martin Short, Rick Moranis, Harold Ramis, Joe Flaherty, and Dave Thomas (phew! and others!), "SCTV" hit the airwaves in 1976 and, unlike many other sketch shows, pulled a "Monty Python's Flying Circus" by being filmed in and out of a studio, but not live. Hilariously, the show poked fun at its own popularity.

The concept was simple: the cast performed in segments inspired by news shows, talk shows, dramas, soaps, comedies, etc. and placed it onto their network, originally for Melonville but allegedly airing on national airwaves. Of course, many of the shows were shoddy. "Count Floyd" (played by Joe Flaherty as news anchor Floyd Robertson in a secondary role) notably hosted "Monster Chiller Horror Theatre" which showed less-than-classics "Dr. Tongue's 3D House of Pancakes", "Dr. Tongue's 3D House of Cats", and Dr. Tongue's 3D House of Stewardesses", all of which improvised 3D by bringing objects closer to the camera. "SCTV" ended in 1984 after crossing borders and moving to NBC.

Answer: Sports Night

Considered by many critics of having been canceled before necessary, "Sports Night" was another Sorkin classic enjoyed by his cult fans-- he would later create the critically-renowned (and tongue-in-cheek) political drama "The West Wing" in 1999. "Sports Night", however, followed the writers, stars, and crew behind a fictional sports show called (get this...) 'Sports Night'. Known for the typical Sorkin trademarks (walk-and-talks, for instance) despite being his first sitcom in his repertoire, it featured the dry wit and social commentary viewers have come to expect.

It was canceled after two years on the air.

Answer: The Office

Created in the UK in 2001, four years before the U.S. version debuted on NBC, "The Office" was Gervais' first sitcom and it gave the comedian a surefire hit. Insulting to many types of people for many different reasons, the show was a hilarious take on the mockumentary style. Filmed with handy-cams it had interviews with employees as well as 'in the moment' scenes of office banality gone wrong.

Although the show didn't originally find fame on TV in the UK, subsequent reviewings of the show internationally propelled Gervais (and Stephen Merchant) to stardom.

After only two series of the show (in twelve episodes and a Christmas special), he created "Extras", "Life's Too Short", and "Derek" as well as the comedy-travelogue "An Idiot Abroad", which starred Karl Pilkington.

Answer: The Mary Tyler Moore Show

Set in a Minnesota news station, "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" starred none other than Moore as the main character, Mary Richards, as the helped create a news program and lived her life as a single woman finding success in the 1970s. Critically lauded, the show made Moore more of a star than she was in the 1960s on "The Dick Van Dyke Show", partly due to the program's implicit feminism.

As women's rights continued to develop and women found more strength in the workplace, Moore's character dealt with hot-button topics while all the while working for producer Lou Grant (played by Ed Asner).

The show ended after seven years in 1977 and after winning several Emmys for Moore, her costars, and the show itself.

Answer: Episodes

Matt LeBlanc starred as...Matt LeBlanc in this 2011 single-camera comedy set in Hollywood. When a pair of married writers decided to rework their award-winning British TV show for American TV they set out to find the lead actor for their programme; they found LeBlanc's fictional self. "Episodes" followed the drama of creating a show as well as the drama between the two writers and LeBlanc.

By the end of the first season the pilot had been picked up. LeBlanc was far from the only "Friends" cast members to land TV-themed shows. Lisa Kudrow, for instance, starred in HBO's "The Comeback", a show about an actress getting a second chance in reality TV.

It lasted one season in 2005.

Answer: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

Another Aaron Sorkin drama, "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" was praised immensely by critics receiving five Emmy nominations in its single year on the air (and winning one). It brought stars Matthew Perry (a writer) and Bradley Whitford (a producer) together to save an ailing "SNL"-type show.

It also starred Sarah Paulson and Amanda Peet. Despite its reputation, the show lost viewers at an alarming rate and it was canceled after a full first season (while half-hour comedy "30 Rock", debuting in the same year, lived on).

Answer: This Hour Has 22 Minutes

"This Hour Has 22 Minutes" featured many notable Canadian comedians over its twenty plus year run (including Rick Mercer, Colin Mochrie, Mary Walsh, and others) and poked fun at Canadian and international news events, politics, and the news show format. All of the stars presented different stories behind the newsdesk as ludicrously-named anchors (including Mochrie's 'Anthony St. George' and Cathy Jones' 'Sydney Dubizzenchyk') and in pre-filmed on-the-scene coverages. Like "Royal Canadian Air Farce" it generated an audience of witty satire-lovers on CTV.

The popularity of the show led Mercer to create the famous "Talking to Americans" special.

Answer: Home Improvement

"Home Improvement" was massively-successful in its eight year, two hundred episode run from 1991 to 1999, pushing star Tim Allen to the top ten of the Nielsen ratings for its entirety. Although the show also featured the home life of Allen's character, Tim Taylor, his wife and three sons, it also had several instances where Tim and co-host Al Borland (Richard Karn) hosted their TV show, "Tool Time", which made a bit of a mockery of the home improvement/handyman-type shows airing on networks in the 1990s.

As such it also featured a number of cameos from handymen like Bob Vila and auto lovers like Jay Leno.

Answer: The Newsroom

With the Atlantis Cable News failing to draw ratings and losing staff and crew for their news show, 'News Night', a station manager had to rebuild with controversial (but amazing) journalist Will McAvoy (played by Jeff Daniels), his ex-wife and producer (played by Emily Mortimer) and others.

The show, set about a year before the airdate to dramatize actual news events and cover them as they occur, incorporated actual politics and tragedies as they developed. The show was developed by, surprise surprise, Aaron Sorkin.

It was released on HBO and has been nominated for several awards.