138 Fun Facts About 2000s TV

Which band's song plays over the abrupt cut-to-black final scene of The Sopranos in 2007?

Journey. Singer Steve Perry withheld permission for 'Don't Stop Believin'' until three days before the finale, fearing it would play over Tony's death, and agreed once David Chase reassured him.

Tony Soprano runs a Mafia crew based in which US state?

New Jersey. Creator David Chase grew up there, and he partly modelled Tony's outfit on the state's real DeCavalcante crime family.

Which actor played mob boss Tony Soprano in The Sopranos?

James Gandolfini. He wasn't the only one to read for Tony: rock guitarist Steven Van Zandt, who had never acted, auditioned too, and David Chase then wrote the part of Silvio for him.

David Simon's HBO drama The Wire is set in which American city?

Baltimore. Real local figures took small parts: Ed Norris, once the city's police commissioner, played a homicide detective who shares his name.

Season two of The Wire shifted its focus to which part of the city?

The port and its dockworkers. The season was built around the decline of the American working class: union stevedores short of work are drawn into smuggling through the shipping containers.

Before creating The Wire, David Simon worked as what?

Police reporter. Simon covered crime for his city's daily paper for over a decade and spent 1988 shadowing its homicide unit, which produced the book behind NBC's Homicide: Life on the Street.

The survivors in Lost were passengers on Flight 815 of which fictional airline?

Oceanic. The invented carrier is older than Lost: one of its jets is hijacked in the 1996 thriller Executive Decision, and that film's footage was reused by later productions.

The doomed flight in Lost was travelling between which two cities?

Sydney and Los Angeles. The wreck was real: a retired Lockheed airliner was bought, cut up and shipped to Hawaii, helping make the pilot episode the costliest ABC had made.

Lost won the Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series for which of its seasons?

Its first. ABC chief Lloyd Braun, who dreamed up the show, was fired before it aired, partly for approving so costly and risky a pilot; a year later it won television's top drama prize.

Who adapted Ricky Gervais's BBC sitcom The Office for NBC in 2005?

Greg Daniels. His pilot reworked the British first episode's script, and after a mixed first season his writers made boss Michael Scott more optimistic and likable.

The Dunder Mifflin branch in The Office is located in which Pennsylvania city?

Scranton. After he was cast as Jim, John Krasinski travelled there to interview workers at real paper companies, and footage he shot on the trip is in the opening credits.

Jack Bauer works for which fictional Los Angeles agency in 24?

Counter Terrorist Unit. Co-creator Joel Surnow built the series on one idea: each episode is a single hour played in real time, so a 24-episode season covers exactly one day.

Which actor played federal agent Jack Bauer in the real-time thriller 24?

Kiefer Sutherland. The series went into production before the September 11 attacks, which then pushed its premiere back a week to November 6, 2001.

What was the original name of the hospital in Grey's Anatomy?

Seattle Grace. After two renamings it became Grey Sloan Memorial, in memory of doctors Lexie Grey and Mark Sloan, who died after a plane crash at the end of season eight.

The title Grey's Anatomy is a pun on Meredith Grey's surname and what?

A classic medical textbook. Henry Gray's Anatomy first appeared in 1858; its author died three years later at 34, having caught smallpox while treating his nephew, who survived.

Dr. Gregory House leads his diagnostic team at which fictional hospital?

Princeton–Plainsboro. Bryan Singer, the film director among the show's executive producers, chose the university town because it sits next to West Windsor, where he grew up.

The character of Gregory House was loosely modelled on which fictional detective?

Sherlock Holmes. The debt runs both ways: Conan Doyle modelled Holmes on a real doctor, the Edinburgh surgeon Joseph Bell, and House lives at 221B with a best friend named Wilson.

Who created the medical drama House?

David Shore. A former lawyer from Canada, he pitched the show to Fox as a hospital whodunit in the style of CSI, in which, as he put it, the suspects were the germs.

Lorelai and Rory Gilmore live in which fictional Connecticut town?

Stars Hollow. Amy Sherman-Palladino invented it after a trip to the village of Washington, Connecticut, where she stayed at the Mayflower Inn; the town on screen was a set on a studio backlot in California.

In Gilmore Girls, Rory chooses which university, her grandfather's alma mater?

Yale. Rory had wanted Harvard her entire life, and only after weighing the two did she decide that the benefits of her grandfather's old college outweighed the dream.

Gilmore Girls premiered in October 2000 on which network?

It finished its run in 2007 on The CW, the network formed when The WB and UPN merged.

The O.C. is set in which wealthy Orange County community?

Newport Beach. Little of it was shot there: penalties for filming outside Hollywood's studio zone meant the show was made mostly around Manhattan Beach, in Los Angeles County.

What is the name of the hybrid holiday Seth Cohen celebrates in The O.C.?

Chrismukkah. Seth says he created it at the age of six to merge the faiths of his Jewish father and Protestant mother, and the show carried the word into wider use.

Who narrates Arrested Development?

Ron Howard. The show grew from his idea for a comedy shot like reality TV, with handheld cameras; he narrated it unseen and later appeared on screen as a fictionalised version of himself.

Which streaming service revived Arrested Development after Fox cancelled it in 2006?

Netflix. Its 2013 revival released all 15 episodes at the same time, each one built around a single character because the busy cast could rarely be filmed together.

Who won the first season of Survivor in 2000?

Richard Hatch. The $1 million prize later put him in prison: he was found guilty in 2006 of failing to report his winnings to the tax authorities and served more than four years.

The American Survivor was derived from a reality show originally made in which country?

Sweden. British producer Charlie Parsons couldn't sell his castaway format at home or in America, so it first reached the screen on Swedish television in 1997, as Expedition Robinson.

Who co-hosted the first season of American Idol alongside Ryan Seacrest?

Brian Dunkleman. A stand-up comic, he quit once the first season ended, leaving Ryan Seacrest as sole host, and later admitted that walking away had been a mistake.

Kelly Clarkson beat which runner-up in the first American Idol finale in September 2002?

Justin Guarini. The pair were then put in a 2003 beach musical, From Justin to Kelly, which failed at the box office; Clarkson has said she made it only because her contract obliged her to.

Simon Fuller's American singing contest on Fox was based on which British series?

Pop Idol. It lasted only two series at home: judge Simon Cowell launched The X Factor in its place, and Simon Fuller took him to court over how alike the two shows were.

Which sitcom's May 2004 finale drew 52.5 million US viewers, the decade's most-watched episode?

Friends. By then its six leads, who had bargained as a group since the third season, were each paid $1 million an episode.

Malcolm in the Middle's Hal and Breaking Bad's Walter White were both played by which actor?

Bryan Cranston. AMC's executives knew him only as the sitcom dad and approached other actors first; they came round after seeing his guest turn in an X-Files episode written by Vince Gilligan.

Breaking Bad, which debuted in January 2008, is set in which city?

Albuquerque. Early scripts were set in Riverside, California; the studio suggested moving the production for the favourable financial terms offered by the state of New Mexico.

"Boss of Me", the theme song of Malcolm in the Middle, was performed by which band?

They Might Be Giants. Asked for a theme for the sitcom's pilot, John Flansburgh reworked a half-finished demo first used for a radio station's contest, and it won the band their first Grammy.

Which show became the first basic-cable series to win the Outstanding Drama Series Emmy, in 2008?

Mad Men. Matthew Weiner wrote its pilot around 2000 as a sample script; it won him a writing job on The Sopranos, and the show itself was made only years later, once AMC picked it up.

Desperate Housewives is set on which street in the fictional town of Fairview?

Wisteria Lane. It is really Colonial Street on the Universal Studios lot, once home to Leave It to Beaver; in 2005 a church facade seen in Murder, She Wrote was removed to make room for Edie Britt's house.

Which dead neighbour narrates Desperate Housewives from beyond the grave?

Mary Alice Young. Her suicide opens the pilot, and Brenda Strong was a late replacement: Sheryl Lee played the part in the original pilot before the producers decided to recast it.

Scrubs is set at which fictional teaching hospital?

Sacred Heart. Its wards were real: the first eight seasons were filmed inside the North Hollywood Medical Center, a closed-down hospital that was demolished after the show moved out.

Which actress played double agent Sydney Bristow in the spy drama Alias?

Jennifer Garner. J.J. Abrams dreamed up the show while writing his college drama Felicity, on which Garner had a guest role, wondering what would happen if its heroine were recruited by the CIA.

Ian McShane played which real-life saloon owner in HBO's Deadwood?

Al Swearengen. Creator David Milch first pitched HBO a drama set in Nero's Rome; told the network already had a Rome series in the works, he moved his story west to the real Swearengen's Gem saloon.

Which actor played Commander William Adama in the reimagined Battlestar Galactica?

Edward James Olmos. His Galactica is the fleet's relic, an ageing warship about to be retired and turned into a museum when the attack comes; it survives to lead the refugee fleet.

Alongside the Water Tribe, Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation, what is the fourth nation in Avatar: The Last Airbender?

Air Nomads. Aang is their last survivor: he lay frozen in an iceberg for a century while his people were destroyed.

In Hannah Montana, the Stewart family moved to Malibu from which state?

Tennessee. Miley Cyrus is from there herself, born in Franklin, and her real father, country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, was asked to audition as her on-screen dad only after she had won the lead.

Entourage was loosely based on the early Hollywood career of which star?

Mark Wahlberg. By his account it began when an assistant asked to film him and his buddies for being so funny; super-agent Ari Gold is based partly on his own real agent, Ari Emanuel.

Rob Thomas's teen detective series Veronica Mars is set in which fictional California town?

Neptune. Rob Thomas first wrote the story as a young-adult novel with a boy as its detective, and made the lead a girl when he reworked it for television, thinking the noir would feel fresher.

Fans funded the 2014 Veronica Mars film through which crowdfunding site?

Kickstarter. Warner Bros. had declined to pay for the film, so its makers asked fans for $2 million, reached that goal in under eleven hours and finished with more than $5.7 million.

One Tree Hill was filmed mostly in and around which North Carolina city?

Wilmington. Dawson's Creek had been made in the same city, and creator Mark Schwahn first conceived One Tree Hill as a feature film called Ravens before reworking it as a series.

Prison Break's Fox River State Penitentiary was filmed at which real prison, closed in 2002?

Joliet. The Illinois prison is also where Jake Blues is released at the start of The Blues Brothers, which is why he is known as 'Joliet Jake'; it had been closed for three years when the series moved in.

The 2006 tagline for the NBC series Heroes urged viewers to save which character?

The cheerleader. She is Claire Bennet, a teenager who heals from any wound; a visitor from the future tells Peter Petrelli that saving her will save the world, and NBC made the line its tagline.

Dexter Morgan's day job at Miami Metro is what?

Bloodstain pattern analyst. Dexter gave up a career in medicine for the work, which doubles as cover: in secret he hunts murderers the justice system has failed to punish.

Liz Lemon in 30 Rock is head writer of which fictional sketch show?

TGS with Tracy Jordan. It began as The Girlie Show, until network boss Jack Donaghy pushed Liz to hire film star Tracy Jordan and the show was renamed around him.

Ugly Betty was adapted from a telenovela made in which country?

Colombia. Yo soy Betty, la fea was created there by Fernando Gaitán; its American remake was first planned as a half-hour comedy for NBC, and reached the air only after ABC reworked it as an hour-long show.

Which actress's production company produced Ugly Betty?

Salma Hayek. She adapted the telenovela for American television with producer Ben Silverman, then took a guest role in it herself that earned her an Emmy nomination.

In Pushing Daisies, what is the job of Ned, who can revive the dead with a touch?

Pie-maker. Ned's gift has a catch: a second touch kills for good, so he can never again touch Chuck, the childhood sweetheart he brought back to life.

Which actor won three Emmys as the obsessive-compulsive detective Adrian Monk?

Tony Shalhoub. ABC first pictured Monk as a bumbling Inspector Clouseau type and wanted Seinfeld's Michael Richards, who turned it down; the show moved to USA Network before Shalhoub was cast.

Dave Chappelle walked away from a Comedy Central contract reportedly worth how much?

$50 million. In spring 2005, with the third season in production, he abruptly left the set and flew to South Africa, leaving the season unfinished.

Who co-created Chappelle's Show with Dave Chappelle?

Neal Brennan. He was the doorman at a New York comedy club where Chappelle performed, and began pitching him jokes; the pair went on to write the 1998 film Half Baked together.

Which pay-TV provider co-produced Friday Night Lights' last three seasons with NBC?

DirecTV. Low ratings had the drama facing cancellation after two seasons, so NBC shared the cost with the satellite firm, which in return showed each new season first on its own channel.

Which cable channel aired The Shield from 2002 to 2008?

FX. The series was nearly called Rampart, after the real Los Angeles police scandal that inspired its corrupt Strike Team, and some early adverts even used that title.

The Fisher family in Six Feet Under run what kind of business?

A funeral home. Almost every episode starts with a death, which gives the Fishers their next funeral to arrange and sets the theme for the hour.

Which comedian stars as a fictional version of himself in HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm?

Larry David. He writes only a story outline a few pages long for each episode, and the cast improvise their lines from it, a method known as retroscripting.

Which drama series won a record nine Emmys for its debut season in 2000?

The West Wing. President Bartlet was planned as an occasional presence, with Martin Sheen signed for just four episodes, until his performance made him the centre of the show.

CSI's Gil Grissom is a criminalist whose scientific specialty is what?

Insects. Grissom is a forensic entomologist, and the show's creator loosely based him on a real Las Vegas criminalist, Daniel Holstein, who kept maggots in his refrigerator.

Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan is originally from which country?

New Zealand. At 19, Keoghan got lost deep inside a shipwreck while filming a dive and thought he would die; the scare made him write a list of things to do first, the seed of his book No Opportunity Wasted.

Which Fox space western was cancelled in 2002 with three of its fourteen episodes still unaired?

Firefly. Fox executives disliked the two-hour pilot, ordered a new opening episode and ended up showing the original last; the story was finished in 2005 in the film Serenity.

Which word completes the Smallville producers' famous rule, 'No tights, no ___'?

Flights. Alfred Gough and Miles Millar set the rule when they developed the show, and Clark does not put on the suit until the 2011 finale, though he had flown before it, reprogrammed as Kal-El in the season-four premiere.

Which comedian narrates How I Met Your Mother as the older Ted Mosby?

Bob Saget. He voices the older Ted telling the story in 2030; his teenage listeners' reaction to the ending was secretly filmed back in 2006, before the young actors could outgrow their parts.

Leonard and Sheldon in The Big Bang Theory are physicists at which institution?

Caltech. The science was real: UCLA physicist David Saltzberg checked the scripts, supplied dialogue and filled the whiteboards on set with genuine equations.

Which actress provided the uncredited voice of the anonymous narrator on Gossip Girl?

Kristen Bell. She was heard in every episode and seen in none until the 2012 finale, where she turns up for a surprise cameo as herself.

Which word, popularised on the first Colbert Report in 2005, became the American Dialect Society's Word of the Year?

Truthiness. Colbert meant a truth felt in the gut rather than found in facts; the word itself was not new, having been recorded in the early nineteenth century simply meaning truthfulness.

How many consecutive Jeopardy! games did Ken Jennings win in 2004?

74. The run was possible only because the show had scrapped its five-win limit in 2003; before Jennings, the longest streak under the new rule was seven games.

Ken Jennings's Jeopardy! streak ended on a clue about which firm, whose white-collar staff mostly work four months a year?

H&R Block. Jennings wrote down FedEx while challenger Nancy Zerg named the tax firm, which then offered him free tax planning for life.

Which Survivor producer created The Apprentice, launched on NBC in January 2004?

Mark Burnett. He approached Donald Trump with the idea himself, and the boardroom show, with its catchphrase 'You're fired!', turned the property developer into a television star.

The Osbournes premiered in March 2002 on which channel, becoming its most-viewed series yet?

MTV. The cameras moved in with Ozzy Osbourne's family, though not all of it: daughter Aimee declined to take part, feeling the show would typecast her.

The 2005 revival of Doctor Who opened with an episode named after which companion?

Rose. An early cut of the episode leaked onto the internet about three weeks before its premiere, and the BBC said the leak appeared to trace back to its Canadian broadcast partner.

Danny DeVito joined It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia as Frank, introduced as the father of which twins?

Dennis and Dee. The network worried that nobody was watching and asked for a famous face, so DeVito arrived in season two; the twins soon learn that Frank is not their biological father after all.

Fox revived the cancelled Family Guy in 2004 on the strength of what?

DVD sales. Fox had dropped the cartoon twice, in 2000 and again in 2002; brisk DVD sales and strong ratings for its late-night reruns then persuaded the network to order new episodes.

HBO's Band of Brothers (2001) followed "Easy" Company of which US Army division?

101st Airborne. Each episode opens with the real Easy Company veterans recalling the events on camera, before the actors replay them.

Sex and the City grew out of a newspaper column written by which author?

Candace Bushnell. Her mid-1990s column for The New York Observer was based on her own dating experiences and those of her circle, and became a book before HBO turned it into a series.

Which CBS sitcom about a Long Island sportswriter ended in May 2005 after nine seasons?

Everybody Loves Raymond. It grew out of five minutes of stand-up: Ray Romano's 1995 set on David Letterman's Late Show so impressed the host's producers that they signed him up to develop a sitcom.

What was Charlie Harper's profession in Two and a Half Men (2003)?

Jingle writer. Charlie Sheen was dismissed in 2011 after public attacks on the show's creator, Chuck Lorre; his character was killed off, and a billionaire played by Ashton Kutcher bought the house.

NCIS was introduced through two 2003 episodes of which existing CBS series?

JAG. The Navy legal drama was itself a survivor: NBC cancelled it after one low-rated season in 1996, and CBS picked it up and kept it going for nine more.

Supernatural (2005) starred Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles as which monster-hunting brothers?

The Winchesters. Eric Kripke first pitched a series about a tabloid reporter chasing the paranormal; it sold only when he rebuilt it as two brothers on a cross-country road trip.

Which folk song mocking look-alike suburban houses plays over the titles of the Showtime series Weeds?

Little Boxes. Malvina Reynolds wrote it in 1962 about the tract housing of Daly City, California; in the show's second and third seasons a different artist covered it for each episode.

Glee, whose pilot aired in May 2009, is set at William McKinley High School in which Ohio city?

Lima. Co-creator Ian Brennan drew on his own unhappy years in an Illinois high-school show choir, and first wrote Glee as a film script with the help of Screenwriting for Dummies.

Modern Family, which premiered on ABC in September 2009, was co-created by Steven Levitan and whom?

Christopher Lloyd. Not the Back to the Future actor but a veteran Frasier writer; he and Levitan hit on the show while swapping stories about their own families.

Queer Eye for the Straight Guy premiered in July 2003 on which cable network?

Bravo. The makeover show was a surprise hit, soon franchised abroad and given a spin-off, Queer Eye for the Straight Girl.

HBO's Rome (2005-07) centred on two soldiers named Titus Pullo and whom?

Lucius Vorenus. He and Pullo were real: Julius Caesar's own account of the Gallic War mentions two centurions of those names, and the series spun its heroes out of that passage.

Which comedian and future podcast giant hosted NBC's stunt show Fear Factor from 2001 to 2006?

Joe Rogan expected Fear Factor to be cancelled after a few episodes and took the job mainly to gather material for his stand-up act.

Which future rap superstar played shooting victim Jimmy Brooks in Degrassi: The Next Generation?

Drake was credited under his real name, Aubrey Graham, and was still in the Canadian teen drama when he released his first mixtape in 2006. His character was shot by a classmate and left disabled.

In the American version of The Office, Dwight Schrute's family farm grows and sells which crop?

Beets from the 60-acre Schrute farm go to local stores, restaurants and roadside stands. Dwight also runs the farmhouse as a bed and breakfast with his cousin Mose.

Which English actor, once half of a comedy double act with Stephen Fry, played Dr. Gregory House?

Hugh Laurie recorded his audition tape in a hotel bathroom in Namibia, the only place with enough light, while away shooting a film. He played the American doctor with an assumed accent.

Which talk show host opened her 2004 season by giving every member of her audience a brand-new car?

Oprah Winfrey handed out Pontiac G6 cars donated by General Motors, a giveaway worth about $8 million in total.

In Dora the Explorer, which began on Nickelodeon in 2000, Dora's best friend Boots is which animal?

A monkey named for his beloved pair of red boots, Boots joins Dora on every quest. The fox of the series is Swiper, a masked thief the viewers help to stop.

Paris Hilton swapped luxury for farm chores in The Simple Life alongside which fellow socialite?

Nicole Richie, raised by singer Lionel Richie, fell out with Hilton in 2005. Fox cancelled the reality series after its third season.

Which Cheers spin-off ended in May 2004 after eleven seasons and a then-record 37 Emmy wins?

Frasier won the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series five years in a row. Its 37 wins were a record for a scripted series at the time.

Which That '70s Show actor created and hosted Punk'd, the hidden-camera celebrity prank series?

Ashton Kutcher first planned to prank ordinary people, until a couple fooled by a fake dead body in a hotel sued for $10 million. Celebrities became the targets instead.

In The Big Bang Theory, aspiring actress Penny waits tables at which real restaurant chain?

The Cheesecake Factory also employs Bernadette, who waits tables there to pay her way through graduate school in microbiology.

Which British record executive won American fame for his blunt put-downs as an American Idol judge?

Simon Cowell judged American Idol for its first nine seasons, then left in 2010 to bring his own British contest, The X Factor, to American television.

In Grey's Anatomy, Patrick Dempsey's neurosurgeon Derek Shepherd is known by which nickname?

McDreamy was coined for the surgeon's good looks. The follow-up nickname McSteamy went to his former best friend, Mark Sloan.

Which animator created Family Guy and personally voices both Peter Griffin and baby Stewie?

Seth MacFarlane was hired by Hanna-Barbera after a professor sent the studio his student film, and he worked on Cow and Chicken before Family Guy.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, which launched a franchise in 2000, is set in which city?

Las Vegas was home to the first CSI team, employed by the city's police department. The franchise moved on to Miami in 2002 and New York in 2004.

Which Disney star played a schoolgirl living a secret double life as pop singer Hannah Montana?

Miley Cyrus acted opposite her real father, country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, who played her character's dad Robby Ray.

Which original host of the American Survivor won the first Emmy for reality show hosting in 2008?

Jeff Probst won that hosting Emmy four years running, from 2008 to 2011. He had fronted the island contest from its first season in 2000.

Which former Saturday Night Live head writer created 30 Rock and starred in it as Liz Lemon?

Tina Fey was the first woman to serve as head writer of Saturday Night Live, and she set her sitcom behind the scenes of a similar sketch show.

Which singer's exposure during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show earned CBS an indecency fine?

Janet Jackson's exposure became the most replayed moment in TiVo history, and YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim credits it with leading to the video site's creation.

Half-brothers Lucas and Nathan Scott begin One Tree Hill as rivals on a school team in which sport?

Basketball brings the estranged brothers together when Lucas joins the Tree Hill Ravens with help from his uncle Keith.

Which veteran morning host fronted the original US prime-time run of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

Regis Philbin's quiz was planned as an occasional special, yet it became the most-watched prime-time series of the 1999–2000 American season.

Which supermodel created America's Next Top Model in 2003 and presented its first 22 seasons?

Tyra Banks had been the first African American woman on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue before she moved into television.

Which host took over The Tonight Show from Jay Leno in June 2009, only to leave seven months later?

Conan O'Brien refused to go along with NBC's plan to push his programme past midnight so that Leno could have the 11:35 pm slot back.

Friday Night Lights follows a school football team in the fictional town of Dillon in which state?

Texas is also the setting of the non-fiction book behind the drama, which followed the Permian Panthers of Odessa through their 1988 season.

Which former Doogie Howser star played suit-loving Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother?

Neil Patrick Harris's earlier role gets a nod in the sitcom: the music played while Barney writes his blog is the Doogie Howser theme.

Which actress played Gabrielle Solis, the former fashion model of Desperate Housewives?

Eva Longoria earned a Golden Globe nomination for the role of Gabrielle, who ran away to New York at fifteen to pursue a modelling career.

Which 2006 Disney Channel film made stars of Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens and set a ratings record?

High School Musical drew 7.7 million viewers to its first broadcast, which was then a record premiere for the network.

Which celebrity chef launched Hell's Kitchen on Fox in 2005 after fronting the British original?

Gordon Ramsay's contestants cook in two teams, competing for a job as head chef at a restaurant.

Which Discovery series was hosted from 2003 by effects experts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman?

MythBusters was first developed under the title Tall Tales or True by Australian producer Peter Rees, and its experiments were planned at Hyneman's San Francisco workshops.

Smallville, which ran from 2001 to 2011, follows the Kansas teenage years of which future superhero?

Superman got the origin-story treatment only after the producers' first idea, a series about a young Bruce Wayne, fell through.

In Lost, which organisation built the Swan station and other bunkers the survivors find?

Dharma Initiative researchers came to study subjects from zoology to electromagnetism and built nine known stations, most of them underground.

In the reimagined Battlestar Galactica, which robotic race, built by humans, turns on its creators?

Cylons in the 2004 version are secretly led by humanoid models that are virtually indistinguishable from people and have infiltrated human society.

In It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, the gang runs which struggling Irish dive bar?

Paddy's Pub stands in South Philadelphia, where janitor Charlie Kelly co-owns it with Mac, its self-proclaimed bouncer.

Arrested Development follows which formerly wealthy family as it clings to an extravagant lifestyle?

The Bluths were created by Mitchell Hurwitz for a sitcom that debuted in November 2003 to critical acclaim but low ratings.

Stephen Colbert's The Colbert Report began in 2005 as a spin-off of which Comedy Central programme?

The Daily Show had employed Colbert as a correspondent since 1997, two years before Jon Stewart took over as its host.

Deadliest Catch, which began in 2005, follows crews fishing for which catch in the Bering Sea?

Crab is fished in two seasons on the programme, king crab in October and snow crab in January. Its title refers to the high risk of injury or death in the work.

Which actress won three Emmys as mob wife Carmela in The Sopranos before starring in Nurse Jackie?

Edie Falco added a fourth Emmy for Nurse Jackie, this time as lead actress in a comedy.

Which Doctor Who spin-off, launched in 2006, has a title that is an anagram of its parent's name?

Torchwood was first used as a decoy title during filming of the 2005 revival, so that its early episodes would not be intercepted.

In My Name Is Earl, thief Earl Hickey lists everyone he has wronged after learning of which idea?

Karma reaches Earl through a talk show he watches from a hospital bed, after a car hits him and he loses a winning $100,000 lottery ticket.

In The Fairly OddParents, which two fairy godparents grant wishes for ten-year-old Timmy Turner?

Cosmo and Wanda later have a baby of their own, Poof, because Timmy wishes for it.

Which future CNN anchor hosted the first two seasons of ABC's reality game The Mole from 2001?

Anderson Cooper was already working in television news when the whodunit game began, and Ahmad Rashad replaced him as host for its third season.

Which short-lived NBC series of 1999–2000 launched Seth Rogen, James Franco and Jason Segel?

Freaks and Geeks made 18 episodes, but NBC aired only 15 of them, after an erratic schedule and clashes between its creators and the network.

Which ABC sitcom wrote in its father's death after star John Ritter died suddenly in 2003?

8 Simple Rules had already begun making its second season when Ritter died. His character, Paul, was said to have collapsed in a grocery store while buying milk.

Fans of which cancelled CBS drama mailed in some 20 tons of nuts and won it a second season?

Jericho came back for seven more episodes before being cancelled again. The peanuts went to charity, including a Kansas town rebuilding after a 2007 tornado.

In Prison Break, Michael Scofield plots to free which brother, wrongly sentenced to death?

Lincoln Burrows stands accused of murdering the brother of the vice president of the United States.

Which actor played Sylar, the power-stealing killer of Heroes, before becoming Spock in Star Trek?

Zachary Quinto's villain was first conceived as a cannibal who ate his victims' brains, a detail the producers deliberately kept vague on screen.

The Fox crime drama Bones was based on the life and novels of which real forensic anthropologist?

Kathy Reichs also produced the drama, whose heroine writes mystery novels about a fictional anthropologist named after her real-life creator.

Ricky Gervais's original BBC version of The Office is set at a paper firm in which English town?

Slough is home to the Wernham Hogg branch managed by David Brent, which sits on the town's trading estate.

In Fox's Joe Millionaire, supposedly rich bachelor Evan Marriott really worked in which trade?

Construction was Marriott's real job, a fact kept from the women competing for him. It later emerged that he had also been an underwear model.

In The Wire, Michael K. Williams played which shotgun-carrying stick-up man who robs drug dealers?

Omar Little was partly based on Donnie Andrews, one of several real Baltimore stick-up men who robbed drug dealers. He hides his weapons and a bulletproof vest under a long duster coat.

Which Ugly Betty star became the first Latina to win the Emmy for lead actress in a comedy?

America Ferrera also took a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award for playing Betty Suarez.