Who is the WHO? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Leonard H. McCoy

Dr. McCoy was played by DeForest Kelley in the original series of "Star Trek" from 1966 to 1969. His background indicates that he was born in Atlanta Georgia, attended the University of Mississippi and, at the time he boarded the USS Enterprise, he was a divorcee. Bones may well be a little racist, in particular when it comes to Spock, and this tends to bring him into conflict with the Vulcan on a regular basis. His relationship with the captain, James T. Kirk, on the other hand, is so good that it borders on being brotherly. In the episode "For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky" (episode 8, season 3, 1968) Bones winds up tying the knot with Natira, the priestess of Yonada.

Two stories surface in respect to the nickname "Bones", which Kirk regularly calls McCoy. The first is that it is play on the old adage "sawbones", the nickname for a surgeon. The next appears in the 2009 movie version of the series, where the role of McCoy is taken up by Karl Urban. When he first meets Kirk he informs his future captain that he's divorced and that "The ex-wife took the whole damn planet in the divorce. All I got left is my bones".

Answer: Jonas

Alan Hale plays Jonas on "Gilligan's Island" (1964-67), though that name is rarely used in the series. The more generic "Skipper" is what you're likely to hear. Skipper is the owner of the boat, the S.S. Minnow, and is deferred to as the leader of the inhabitants on the island. However, he tends to play this role in a diplomatic manner and, if a scenario is too deep for him to take responsibility, he tends to defer to the Professor.

In his book "Gilligan's Wake" (2003), Tom Carson creates a backstory for the Skipper, indicating that he served under John F. Kennedy on the PT109 and also Quinton McHale ("McHale's Navy" 1962-66). Whether this is correct or simply provided to amuse is not known however, there is sufficient evidence in the series to indicate that the Skipper had been involved in World War II. Episodes 4 and 30 in season one, indicate that he was involved in this conflict, to the point that he dreams of a covert mission during the Battle of Guadalcanal. He also speaks a number of times that ships were blown up from underneath him. In other episodes he claims to have been a Navy bandmaster, a simple cook and the best poker player in the Navy.

Answer: Eric

Generally he is spoken of as Cartman on the animated series "South Park" (commenced 1997) and he is one of the four main protagonists. His full Christian names are Eric Theodore. He is listed as being somewhere between eight and ten years of age but, even this early, he is portrayed as being bigoted, overweight and foul-mouthed. Oh, and no one in town really likes him. That's probably spurred on by the fact that Cartman is quite delusional and considers himself to be better than anybody else.

Raised by a single mother (Liane Cartman) who spoiled him rather than punishing him has turned Cartman into a spoilt brat who will stoop to any scheme to ensure that he gets his way or what he wants. Even when he makes mistakes, he doesn't seem to learn from them and rather than facing the truth of the error he points out that it is everybody else's fault. In the words of his "supposed" friend Kyle "He's a fat, racist, self-centered, intolerant, manipulating sociopath."

Answer: Endeavour

John Thaw portrayed Detective Chief Inspector Endeavour Morse in 33 episodes of "Inspector Morse" between 1987 and 2000. The character was created by author Colin Dexter, who published thirteen novels about the detective between 1975 and 1999.

Morse, in the television series, is pretty much the same in character to the man described in the books. Essentially, he's a cynical detective with a love for a pint of ale and a passion for opera, poetry and dangerous women. He also lacks ambition and doesn't care too much for his health. So much so that both the TV series and the novels kill him off in the end. In the novels it is a diabetes related death whilst on television it is a heart attack exacerbated by his heavy drinking.

However, perhaps the biggest mystery about Inspector Morse was his first name. Dexter didn't reveal that the "E" stood for Endeavour until the second last novel, "Death Is Now My Neighbour" (1996), and the TV series only came clean in the third last episode (episode 31, 1997), which had the same title as the novel. In this episode Morse reveals that it was bestowed upon him by his father who had a keen interest on the British explorer Captain James Cook and his ship. Sadly, that mystery has now dissipated with the launch of the prequel, "Endeavour" in 2012, which has Shaun Evans portraying the young Morse.

Answer: Arthur

Arthur Herbert Fonzarelli, the epitome of cool, was a character in the sitcom "Happy Days" (1974-1984). The Fonz was only meant to be a secondary character in the series but his popularity skyrocketed from the outset that the show suddenly revolved around him.

Arthur is an Italian-American whose father abandoned him when he was three. It appears that he was in the care of his Grandma Nussbaum from the age of six and he treats her with the utmost care and regard. He's a high-school drop-out who, as a result, is seen as a bad influence. Despite this he treats people with respect, especially women and stands up for those who cannot stand up for themselves. His first meeting with Richie Cunningham was as a member of a gang called the Falcons. He threatens to beat the daylights out of Richie but Richie doesn't back down. "You got guts kid" he says and this highlights another positive character trait of his; he shows respect to those who stand up to him.

Things you may have forgotten about Fonzie:
- He never admits he's wrong. So much so that he cannot get past the "r" (in wrong) when he tries to say the word;
- The bathroom at the diner is his office and all the phone numbers on the wall are his girlfriends' numbers;
- He loves the "Lone Ranger";
- His grandmother calls him "Skippy"; and
- Richie is the only person who has gotten away with hitting him... and that happened only the once.

Answer: Cosmo

Here's another name that was maintained as a secret for many years. Kramer, played by Mark Richards on the NBC sitcom "Seinfeld" from 1989 to 1998, was only ever known to Jerry (Seinfeld) by the surname. That was until season six when George Costanza (Jason Alexander) discovered it was Cosmo by accident during a conversation with Kramer's mother.

Kramer provides the wackiness to this series but he's often a contradiction of terms. He tends to be the most shallow and callous of the group, yet he ends up being the most social. Part of this may be his honesty and the fact that he calls it as he sees it. Somehow, this doesn't get him into trouble, but it's more likely to get the bucket poured on Jerry.

He reveals that he doesn't carry his wallet with him, (advice from his osteopath... apparently), yet he always gets by. He comes up with truckloads of schemes to make money. These have seen him appear on "Murphy Brown", act out illnesses at medical schools, publish a book about celebrity coffee tables and working in a number of stage shows among others. The only time we get any indication that he has held a "real job" was in the episode "The Strike" (season nine, episode ten - 1997). In this episode Kramer returns to work at H&H Bagels, after having been on strike for ten years.

Answer: True

Bob Crane plays Colonel Robert Hogan, the senior POW officer at Stalag 13 and the leader of an underground spy organization based in the same camp. The show was a sitcom that ran on the CBS Network for six seasons from 1965.

From information gleaned during the series, Hogan appears to have been born in 1905, which would have made him 37 years old at the time of the pilot episode and, as a child, he lived in several major cities in the US. He was prone to vandalism at an early age and it appears that joining the military was a savior for him. He became a bomber pilot and was in charge of the 504th when he was shot down and taken prisoner. It is unclear as to whether or not this was a deliberate ploy by the Allies or whether or not Hogan was just being opportunistic when he set up the spy ring.

A born charmer and womanizer, he proved to be the master of reverse psychology and it was this skill, along with a dash of daring, that enabled him to have Colonel Klink and the rest of the Germans in the series wrapped around his little finger.

Answer: Angus

This data will deal with the version of "MacGyver" that was the ABC drama series that launched in 1985. In this series he is played by Richard Dean Anderson. There was a 2016 reboot of the series where a younger version of MacGyver is portrayed by Lucas Till. There are differences in the backgrounds of the pair. For example, the 1985 version Mac was born in 1951, whilst the re-booted version was born in 1990.

MacGyver becomes a sort of secret agent for the Phoenix Foundation and often finds himself in perilous situations. Preferring non-violent methods, he tends to resolve his issues with the use of a solid scientific background, some common sense and his trusty Swiss Army knife. He didn't appear to have a father-figure in his childhood. His father worked away in Alaska and his grandparents drowned in an accident when he was seven. He joined the Scouts (of course he did) at an early age and his love for science was fixed when he received his first chemistry set at the age of twelve.

As well as physics and chemistry, he has a good grasp of engineering, electronics and computers. He gets involved in many physical activities which keep him fit. Among these are ice hockey, mountain climbing and skiing. Oozing charm and charisma, I'm surprised he hasn't been married off a dozen times... he sounds like the perfect man.

Answer: Rupert Giles

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" was a supernatural drama that ran for seven seasons from 1997 to 2003. The series continued in comic format beyond that but we'll deal with Giles' background here, only for those seven seasons on television.

Rupert Edmund Giles, portrayed by Anthony Stewart Head, was destined to become a Watcher. His family, going back three generations, before him were all Watchers too. However, he wasn't always keen on the idea and, at an early age, spurned the notion and ran away to become a rogue warlock. It was the death of a close friend that made him change his ways.

He's appointed as the librarian at Sunnydale High School, which made it easier for him to pursue his role as Buffy's Watcher, however, he goes beyond that task and becomes more of a father figure to his protégé. This doesn't sit well with the Watcher's Council and when he defies them to save Buffy's life he is thrown out of the Council. He temporarily loses his way and feels "left out" of the "gang" until he manages to resurrect the town's magic shop. Eventually he comes to the realization that his presence in Sunnydale is holding back Buffy from maturing. He returns to England but is drawn back when Willow (Rosenberg, Buffy's best friend) tries to destroy the world. Giles takes Willow back to England to recuperate but finds he needs to return to Sunnydale to aid Buffy in her fight against the First Evil.

Answer: Adrian

Adrian Monk is the title character of the television series "Monk" which first appeared on the USA Network in 2002. Despite being a police-procedural drama it is written with comic undertones that stem, mainly, from the foibles and characteristics of its obsessive-compulsive protagonist.

In Erdmann and Block's "Monk: The Official Episode Guide" (2006) they describe Monk as the "modern day Sherlock Holmes, only nuts". Not quite accurate but with his amazing mind and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) he is certainly an amazing character to deal with. One can only surmise that the writers must have felt blessed to have so many remarkable quirks to work with.

The OCD makes Monk a virtual social cripple, to the point that he has to write notes on conversations and platitudes in an effort to fit in socially. Despite this awkwardness it works to his advantage when it comes to putting together the pieces of the crime. He is also blessed with a photographic memory and has the ability to fragment a crime scene and understand each piece within it and how they work together. In "Mr. Monk and the Naked Man" (season 6, episode 3 - 2007) we learn that he has 312 phobias, though there is a possibility that a new (temporary) phobia can surface at any time. This latter point becomes clear in "Mr. Monk Gets a New Shrink" (season 5, episode 7 - 2006) where he suddenly becomes terrified of blankets. To mirror one of Monk's catchphrases, "It's a gift... AND... a curse...".