Why Is My Screen Blank? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Billie Bunker

"All in the Family", one of the unexpected hits of the 1971 TV season in the United States, is a remake of a British show called "'Til Death Do Us Part", which aired from 1965 to 1975. Producer/Director Norman Lear's program skewers the politics of bigoted working-class head of family, Archie Bunker, played by Carol O'Connor in the show's 208 episodes. It is a ground-breaking show in that conservatives and liberals both liked it. Archie's long suffering wife, Edith Bunker, is played by Jean Stapleton for the full run of the show from 1971 to 1979. Their liberal daughter, Gloria Stivic, is played by Sally Struthers in 193 of the shows episodes, and her long-suffering husband, Michael "Meathead" Stivic, is played by Rob Riener in those same episodes.

Though there is a character named Billie Bunker, who is Archie's niece, she never appears on "All in the Family". Instead, Billie is played by Denise Miller in 47 episodes of the spin-off, "Archie Bunker's Place", which ran from 1979 to 1983. This time around, Archie has opened a bar, and he spouts his outrageous opinions from there, instead of from his living room, in all 97 episodes of the show. Edith, Gloria and "Meathead" all also appear in the spin-off, though Edith is only in the first five episodes, because she passes away. Gloria and Mike appear in the "Thanksgiving Reunion" episodes where Edith dies, and Gloria returns for another three episodes later in the show's run, because she has left "Meathead" and wants to live with Archie again. Niece Billie is the main foil for Archie in "Archie Bunker's Place" from 1981 to 1983.

Answer: Ugly Naked Guy

"Friends" was hugely successful for its ten-year run from 1994 to 2004, making stars of each of the six actors in the show's 236 episodes. The friends are paleontologist Ross Geller (played by David Schwimmer), his sister, chef Monica Geller (played by Courtney Cox), massage therapist and singer-songwriter Phoebe Buffay (played by Lisa Kudrow), struggling actor Joey Tribbiani (played by Matt LeBlanc), fashionista and sometimes underemployed waitress Rachel Green (played by Jennifer Aniston), and corporate employee in some kind of financial role Chandler Bing (played by Matthew Perry).

Ugly Naked Guy is a neighbor whose apartment is visible from Monica's living room window, but who is never seen directly. Instead, we see the faces of the characters from "Friends" reacting to their seeing Ugly Naked Guy do different things around his apartment, always in the nude. Ugly Naked Guy is mentioned in 12 different episodes, and he appears briefly in "The One With the Giant Poking Device" (where the friends poke him from behind) and "The One Where Everybody Finds Out" (where Ross plays naked poker with Ugly Naked Guy in an effort to get him to rent his apartment to Ross--Ugly Naked Guy is seen only seated, playing cards from behind). In both cameo appearances from the back, Ugly Naked Guy is played by Jon Haugen.

The other characters mentioned are all parents of one of the friends: Rachel's father, Dr. Leonard Green, played by Ron Liebman (in four episodes); Ross and Monica's, father Jack Gellar, played by Elliott Gould (in 20 episodes); Joey's mother, Gloria Tribbiani, played by Brenda Vaccaro (in only one episode).

Answer: Pres. Stuart Hughes

Normally, on the show, the President of the United States is referred to simply as POTUS. It is a running joke on "Veep" that Vice President Selina Mayer, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, never gets to see him and rarely even talks to him on the phone. The President's name is finally revealed in the final episode of season three to be Stuart Hughes. The writers have stated that POTUS never appears on the show by design, and that the dysfunctional relationship between the President and Vice President is the central idea behind the show "Veep".

Gary Walsh is the Vice President's assistant, played by Tony Hale, and Amy Brookheimer is the former campaign manager who now works as a lobbyist, played by Anna Chlumsky. Louis-Dreyfus, Hale and Chumsky appear on every episode of the show's seven seasons, starting in 2012.

Answer: Maris Crane

Dr. Frasier Crane, a hapless psychiatrist played by Kelsey Grammer, first appears as a recurring character on the sitcom "Cheers". Because Frasier was well-liked, a spin-off was created centering around the lives of Dr. Frasier Crane, his brother, Dr. Niles Crane, also a psychiatrist, played by David Hyde Pierce, and their father, a retired police officer, Martin Crane, played by John Mahoney. Both Frasier and his brother Niles are divorced. Frasier's ex-wife is named Dr. Lilith Sternin, a psychiatrist herself, and she appears on 12 episodes of the show as played by Bebe Neuwirth. Niles' ex-wife, Maris Crane, is mentioned a lot on the show, but she never appears.

In the first three seasons of the show, Niles and Maris are still married, though their relationship is rocky. Niles is thrown out during season three, and they are divorced in season four. Grammer, Hyde-Pierce and Mahoney appear on all 263 episodes of the show.

Answer: Vera Peterson

All of the characters mentioned are close to or related to other main characters on "Cheers", which ran from 1982 to 1993.

Sumner Sloan, played by Michael McGuire, is an old college professor and old flame of barmaid Diane Chambers, played by Shelly Long (in 124 episodes of the show). Sloan appears on the show three times, and tries to get Diane and bartender and bar-owner Sam Malone, played by Ted Danson (in all 271 episodes of the show) to break up. Sloan is unsuccessful.

Esther "Ma" Clavin, played by Frances Sternhagen, is mail carrier and bar regular Cliff Claven's mom. Cliff is played by John Ratzenberger (another of four actors who appeared in all 271 episodes). Cliff has a love-hate relationship with his mother, with whom he shares an apartment, and Cliff's side of the conversation is often heard when he talks to her on the phone from the bar. She does eventually appear on the show in season five (in a total of seven episodes).

Nick Tortelli, played by Dan Hedaya, is the ex-husband of longtime waitress Carla Tortelli, played by Rita Perlman (the third actor to appear in all 271 episodes). Nick and Carla have a fiery relationship, and it is always fun to see what happens when Nick drops by with his ditzy second wife, Loretta, played by Jean Kasem. Both actors appear in six episodes of the show.

Vera is a character that we feel we know from "Cheers". She is the wife of Norm Peterson, the most faithful of the bar's patrons and a not-too-successful accountant, played by George Wendt (the fourth actor to appear in all 271 episodes). Whenever Norm appears, the whole bar calls out his name enthusiastically as a greeting. Norm talks to Vera on the phone very often,and Wendt's real-life wife, Bernadette Birkett, provides the voice of Vera in the four episodes where she is heard. Vera does make an appearance on the show once, but her face is covered by a pie that Diane throws at her during a food fight, so we never see Vera's face.

Actor Bernadette Birkett does appear on "Cheers" in a bit role as "Tinker Bell" in season three, but she is not playing Vera in that episode, entitled "Fairy Tales Can Come True".

Answer: Stanley Walker

The four characters that everyone remembers from the ground-breaking sit-com "Will & Grace" are Will Truman, gay lawyer (played by Eric McCormack), Grace Adler, interior decorator and Will's best friend (played by Debra Messing), Jack McFarland, flamboyantly gay actor and Will's friend (played by Sean Hayes), and Karen Walker, millionaire and receptionist at Grace's company (played by Karen Mullally). The show initially ran from 1998 to 2006, and it was brought back with the original cast for a continuation of the story line in 2017.

There are other important characters, such as George Truman, Will's dad, played by Sydney Pollack in five episodes. But the one character that is literally larger than life (weighing between 300 and 700 pounds, according to Karen), is Karen's husband (and later ex-husband), Stan Walker, who is mentioned all the time during the show, but is never really seen, appearing very briefly as a pair of hands grabbing at Karen's breasts from off screen or as two feet resting on the bathroom wall over Karen's head as they share a bubble bath while Karen is on the phone.

One of the other characters mentioned is Lorraine Finster, cafeteria worker and Stan's lover while in prison and the reason Karen and Stan eventually call it quits. Lorraine is played by Minnie Driver and appears in seven episodes. The final character mentioned is Lyle Finster, Lorraine's father and (very briefly) Karen's husband, played by John Cleese in in six episodes of the show.

Answer: Bob Sacamano

"Seinfeld", which ran from 1989 to 1998, is another sit-com where the four main characters make the show. Stand-up comic Jerry Seinfeld (playing a fictional version of himself), Elaine Benes, Jerry's former girlfriend and good friend (played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus), George Costanza, a Larry-David-like character who is Jerry's best friend (played by Jason Alexander), and Cosmo Kramer, Jerry's zany across-the-hall neighbor (played by Michael Richards) create a foursome in this show about nothing that is hard to beat.

The minor characters are important too, though, and all create memorable moments that allow the main players to shine. Jackie Chiles is an ambulance-chasing lawyer played by Phil Morris in five episodes. David Puddy is a boyfriend of Elaine's, played by Patrick Warburton, and Crazy Joe Davola is a rival comic who is so envious of Jerry's success that he can't see straight. He is played by Peter Crombi in five episodes.

Fans may feel like they have seen Bob Sacamano, but they haven't. He is a childhood friend of Kramer's, and he comes up a lot in conversation, but he never appears. Kramer usually mentions Bob (and always using first and last names) in the context of a crazy scheme gone awry. It is left to the viewer to imagine what Sacamano looks like.

Answer: Charles Townsend

"Charlie's Angels" (1976 to 1981) is a fun and campy show featuring three beautiful detectives who work for a mystery man named Charles Townsend, voiced by John Forsythe (in 108 episodes). The show starts with a phone call to the Angels from Charlie in which they are given their instructions, under the direction of Townsend's loyal assistant, John Bosley, played by David Doyle (in all 110 episodes).

The first group of angels are played by Jaclyn Smith (as Kelly Garrett, in 110 episodes), Kate Jackson (as Sabrina Duncan, in 69 episodes), and Farrah Fawcett (as Jill Munroe, in 29 episodes). Others who play Angels at different times are: Cheryl Ladd, entering when Fawcett leaves the show, playing Jill's younger sister Kris Munroe (in 87 episodes); Shelly Hack, playing Tiffany Welles (in 25 episodes), and Tanya Roberts, playing Julia Rogers (in 16 episodes).

The other two characters mentioned are males who appear on the show in guest roles. Lt. Torres is played by Soon-Tek-Oh in four episodes, and Joe Danworth is played by Gary Wood in four episodes.

Though Forsythe's voice was so familiar as the voice of Charlie, his face is never seen on the show, and his role was uncredited.

Answer: Angela Valentine

"Leave it to Beaver" ran from 1957 to 1963. Protagonist Theodore Cleaver (nicknamed "Beaver" or "The Beav") and his older brother Wally Cleaver share life and wisdom through a child's eyes week after week (for 235 episodes).

All of the characters mentioned are classmates of Beaver's. Judy Hensler is the class tattletale, and she often makes life difficult for Beaver. She is played by Jeri Weill in 31 episodes. Larry Mondello is Beaver's best friend, and he is played by Rusty Stevens in 68 episodes. Whitey Whitney is another classmate, played by Stanley Fafara in 57 episodes. Though the name Angela Valentine may sound familiar, because Beaver often told his brother and parents about her wild antics in class or on the bus, her character never appeared on the show.

Answer: Lt. Columbo

All four characters mentioned appear on popular detective shows on television. Thomas Magnum, a Private Investigator stationed in Hawaii on the 1980s show "Magnum, P.I.", is played by Tom Selleck in all 158 episodes. Magnum used to be married, and his wife Michelle Hue appears in flashback on the show in six episodes, played by Marta DuBois. Sgt. Joe Friday, played by Jack Webb, is a dedicated L.A. cop on "Dragnet". Friday is a confirmed bachelor, and though his fellow officers often try to get him to marry, he never does. Dexter Morgan is a blood-spatter expert working for the police department in Miami on the show "Dexter". He is played by Michael C. Hall on all 96 episodes of the show's run, and at one point during the series, he is married to Rita, played by Julie Benz, who also appears on 49 episodes of the show.

Only Peter Falk's Lt. Columbo on the show "Columbo" speaks often of Mrs. Columbo, without her ever appearing on the show. Columbo talks to his wife on the phone often, and other characters speak of her as if they know her. In an interesting coincidence, neither the lieutenant's nor his wife's first names are ever used in any of the show's 68 episodes.