100 Fun Facts About 70s and 80s Pop Culture

Which disco queen soared to international fame with her 1978 anthem "I Will Survive"?

Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" became an empowering disco anthem and a Grammy Award winner, released in late 1978 and topping charts in early 1979.

Which visionary director helmed the 1982 science fiction blockbuster 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'?

Steven Spielberg directed E.T. from his own idea of an imaginary friend after his parents' divorce; Melissa Mathison wrote the script, and the film overtook Star Wars as the highest-grossing film until Jurassic Park.

Leather-jacketed greaser Arthur 'The Fonz' Fonzarelli was a central character in which 1970s sitcom?

Fonzie, played by Henry Winkler, was a breakout character on 'Happy Days,' a sitcom that initially focused on Richie Cunningham and his family in the 1950s.

Which singer released the 1982 album 'Thriller'?

Michael Jackson's Thriller, released in November 1982, produced seven Top 10 singles including 'Billie Jean' and 'Beat It', and Jackson won eight Grammy Awards at the 1984 ceremony.

What 1970s novelty 'pet' came in a cardboard box with straw and breathing holes?

The Pet Rock was dreamed up by advertising executive Gary Dahl in 1975 while friends complained about their pets; each rock came with a training manual for commands like 'sit' and 'stay'.

Which knitted 1980s accessory was associated with aerobics and dancewear?

Leg warmers, first worn by dancers to keep calf muscles warm, became mainstream 1980s fashion after the films Fame (1980) and Flashdance (1983) and the aerobics craze.

Which 1975 shark thriller, the first major film shot on the open ocean, is the prototypical summer blockbuster?

Jaws, shot off Martha's Vineyard, ran far over budget and schedule because its mechanical sharks kept failing, forcing Spielberg to suggest the shark rather than show it, which made the film scarier.

Which 1985 console revitalized the video game industry after the 1983 crash?

The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) introduced iconic franchises like Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda, becoming a household name.

Which comedian hosted her own CBS sketch-and-music variety show from 1967 to 1978?

The Carol Burnett Show ran 279 episodes on CBS from 1967 to 1978, with Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence and Tim Conway as regulars, and Burnett closing each episode by tugging her ear.

Which band is famously known for their power ballad "Don't Stop Believin'", released in 1981?

Journey released 'Don't Stop Believin'' on the 1981 album Escape; sung by Steve Perry, it reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and found new life through The Sopranos finale and Glee.

Which exclusive New York disco, opened in 1977, became a byword for the era's excess?

Studio 54 opened in April 1977 at 254 West 54th Street, the address that gave it its name; co-owners Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager were jailed for tax evasion in 1980.

Which writer-director defined the 1980s teen film with The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Sixteen Candles?

John Hughes wrote, co-produced and directed Ferris Bueller's Day Off in 1986, capturing the angst and humour of adolescence.

Which Freddie Mercury-fronted band released "Bohemian Rhapsody" in 1975?

Queen released 'Bohemian Rhapsody' in October 1975 as the lead single from A Night at the Opera; it spent nine weeks at No. 1 in the UK despite its six-minute length and operatic middle section.

Which 1980s animated series featured He-Man of Eternia battling the evil Skeletor?

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe ran two 65-episode seasons from 1983 to 1985; He-Man's alter ego Prince Adam is the son of King Randor and Queen Marlena.

Which activity boomed after Frank Nasworthy introduced polyurethane wheels in 1972?

Skateboarding boomed after Frank Nasworthy's Cadillac Wheels replaced hard clay wheels with grippy polyurethane in 1972; Skateboarder magazine relaunched in 1975 and purpose-built skateparks followed.

Which iconic 1977 science fiction film popularized the phrase, "May the Force be with you"?

Star Wars (1977) popularized 'May the Force be with you', ranked eighth on the AFI's 100 movie quotes; the film gained its 'Episode IV: A New Hope' subtitle only on its 1981 re-release.

What was the first music video ever played on MTV when the channel launched on August 1, 1981?

MTV signed on at 12:01 a.m. on August 1, 1981 with The Buggles' 'Video Killed the Radio Star', a 1979 UK No. 1 whose title suited the new channel; Pat Benatar's 'You Better Run' played second.

Which series ran from 1972 to 1983, eleven years for a three-year war, following an army surgical unit in Korea?

M*A*S*H's fictional 4077th was loosely based on the real 8055th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital of the Korean War.

Which 1977 console, launched with nine games on 2 KB cartridges, found its killer app in a 1980 port of Space Invaders?

The Atari 2600 launched as the Atari Video Computer System in September 1977; its 1982 Pac-Man port was a notorious letdown.

Which actor played the fedora-wearing, whip-cracking archaeologist Indiana Jones in the 1980s films?

Harrison Ford first played Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981); Tom Selleck was the original choice but had to pass because he was committed to Magnum, P.I.

Which group contributed 'Stayin' Alive' and 'Night Fever' to the 1977 Saturday Night Fever soundtrack?

The Bee Gees wrote 'Stayin' Alive', 'Night Fever' and 'How Deep Is Your Love' for Saturday Night Fever in a few days at a French château; the soundtrack was the best-selling album ever until Thriller.

Which band's 'Hotel California' won the Grammy for Record of the Year in 1978?

The Eagles' 'Hotel California' took Record of the Year at the 1978 Grammys; Don Felder wrote the music, and its closing guitar duel with Joe Walsh was spliced together from several takes.

Which 1977 album, made as its band's two couples broke up, sold over 40 million copies and won Album of the Year?

Rumours, Fleetwood Mac's eleventh studio album, was recorded as Christine and John McVie divorced and Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks split; it won Album of the Year at the 1978 Grammys.

In which English seaside town did ABBA win the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest with 'Waterloo'?

ABBA won the 1974 contest at the Brighton Dome with 'Waterloo', having nearly entered 'Hasta Mañana' instead; in 2005 'Waterloo' was voted the best song in Eurovision history.

Which 1973 album charted for over 14 years on the Billboard 200 but topped it once?

Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon stayed on the Billboard 200 from 1973 until 1988, yet it reached No. 1 for only a single week, in April 1973.

Which trio's 1979 debut 'Rapper's Delight' is credited with bringing rap to a mass audience?

The Sugarhill Gang (Wonder Mike, Big Bank Hank and Master Gee) were assembled by producer Sylvia Robinson; 'Rapper's Delight', built on Chic's 'Good Times' bassline, reached the US Top 40 in 1979-80.

Which producer co-wrote Donna Summer's 1977 hit "I Feel Love", built around a Moog synthesizer?

Giorgio Moroder co-wrote and produced 'I Feel Love' with Pete Bellotte for Summer's album I Remember Yesterday, whose closing track was meant to sound like 'the future'; Brian Eno called it the sound of the future.

How many studio albums did the Sex Pistols release?

The Sex Pistols released just one studio album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols, in October 1977 through Virgin after being dropped by EMI and A&M.

Which duo's 'Bridge over Troubled Water' swept the 1971 Grammys?

Simon & Garfunkel's 'Bridge over Troubled Water' won Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 1971 Grammys, and its parent album took Album of the Year; Aretha Franklin's gospel cover won a Grammy the next year.

How old was Elvis Presley when he died in August 1977?

Elvis Presley was 42 when he died on 16 August 1977, having been born on 8 January 1935; he had bought Graceland, his Memphis mansion, in 1957 for just over $100,000.

'Stairway to Heaven' appeared in 1971 on which Led Zeppelin album, which officially had no title?

Robert Plant finished the lyrics during sessions at Headley Grange in Hampshire. The album is usually called Led Zeppelin IV, but the sleeve carries only four symbols.

In which country did Elton John record Goodbye Yellow Brick Road after Jamaica sessions failed?

After the Jamaica sessions collapsed amid a bad piano, the Frazier-Foreman fight in Kingston and unrest, Elton John recorded Goodbye Yellow Brick Road at the Château d'Hérouville in France, where it grew into a double LP.

Live Aid on 13 July 1985 was staged simultaneously at Wembley in London and which US venue?

Live Aid's American half was at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia; billed as the 'global jukebox', it grew out of the Band Aid single, and Phil Collins played both venues by taking Concorde across the Atlantic.

How many consecutive weeks did Prince's Purple Rain spend at number one on the Billboard 200 in 1984-85?

Purple Rain held No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for 24 consecutive weeks from August 1984 into January 1985, and the film of the same name won Prince the Academy Award for Best Original Song Score.

a-ha, whose 'Take On Me' topped the US chart in 1985 with a pencil-sketch video, come from which country?

a-ha formed in Oslo, Norway, in 1982; Steve Barron's 'Take On Me' video used rotoscoping to trace live footage frame by frame, and the band had moved to London in 1983 to chase a record deal.

Which hip-hop group's 1986 collaboration with Aerosmith on 'Walk This Way' revived the rockers' career?

Run-D.M.C.'s version, on the album Raising Hell, had a video with the two bands breaking through a wall between their studios; Aerosmith had first charted the song in the 70s.

Which U2 album, produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, won the Grammy for Album of the Year in 1988?

The Joshua Tree, released in March 1987, gave U2 their first US No. 1 singles, 'With or Without You' and 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For', and won Album of the Year at the March 1988 Grammys.

Whose 1986 album Licensed to Ill was the first rap LP to reach number one on the Billboard 200?

The Beastie Boys' Licensed to Ill, produced by Rick Rubin for Def Jam, topped the Billboard 200 in March 1987; its opening track 'Rhymin & Stealin' samples Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and The Clash.

Bob Geldof co-wrote Band Aid's 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' with which Ultravox frontman?

Midge Ure of Ultravox wrote the song with Bob Geldof and produced it; the record was cut in a single day at Sarm West Studios on 25 November 1984 and led directly to Live Aid the following July.

Whose self-titled 1985 debut became the first debut album to produce three US number-one singles?

Whitney Houston's 1985 debut started slowly, then spent fourteen weeks at No. 1 in 1986 as 'Saving All My Love for You', 'How Will I Know' and 'Greatest Love of All' each topped the Hot 100.

Which 1987 debut album took off a year later on 'Welcome to the Jungle' and 'Sweet Child o' Mine'?

Guns N' Roses recorded Appetite for Destruction with producer Mike Clink for Geffen; it sold slowly until 'Sweet Child o' Mine' topped the Hot 100 in September 1988 and the album reached No. 1 that summer.

Which 1984 single, written by Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg, gave Madonna her first US number one?

'Like a Virgin', released on Halloween 1984 as the lead single from her second album, topped the Hot 100 for six weeks from December 1984; her writhing performance of it at the first MTV Video Music Awards became legend.

Which George Michael album won Album of the Year at the 1989 Grammys?

Faith (1987), George Michael's solo debut after Wham!, produced four US No. 1 singles — 'Faith', 'Father Figure', 'One More Try' and 'Monkey' — and won Album of the Year at the 1989 Grammys.

Which company launched the Walkman portable cassette player in 1979?

Sony launched the Walkman TPS-L2 in Japan on 1 July 1979; around 220 million cassette Walkmans were sold before Sony ended production in 2010, and its CD players were first sold as the Discman.

The Rubik's Cube, released worldwide in 1980, was invented in 1974 by a professor from which country?

Ernő Rubik, a sculptor and architecture professor in Budapest, Hungary, invented the puzzle in 1974 and called it the Magic Cube; Ideal Toy licensed it and renamed it Rubik's Cube in 1980.

Which toy company first produced Cabbage Patch Kids in 1982, the dolls that set off store riots the following Christmas?

Coleco Industries grew the dolls out of Xavier Roberts's hand-stitched Little People; each Cabbage Patch Kid came with adoption papers, and shortages set off store riots in the 1983 Christmas season.

Under what title was Pac-Man originally released in Japan in May 1980?

Namco released the maze game in Japan as Puck Man in May 1980; it was renamed Pac-Man for its North American release through Midway in October 1980, partly to stop vandals altering the P on cabinets.

The 1980 "Who shot J.R.?" cliffhanger belonged to which prime-time soap opera?

Dallas ended its third season in March 1980 with J.R. Ewing shot; the November 1980 episode revealing Kristin Shepard as the shooter drew about 83 million US viewers, one of the biggest TV audiences ever.

In Back to the Future (1985), Doc Brown's time machine is built from which car?

Doc Brown's time machine is a gull-winged DeLorean DMC-12; early drafts used a refrigerator, and Zemeckis and Gale's script had been rejected more than forty times before Spielberg's Amblin backed it.

Mork & Mindy, starring Robin Williams as an alien, was set in which Colorado city?

Mork & Mindy was set in Boulder, Colorado; the house at 1619 Pine Street used for Mindy's home became a local landmark, and Pam Dawber played Mindy opposite Robin Williams.

The sitcom Cheers (1982-93) was set in a bar in which American city?

Cheers was set in Boston; owner Sam Malone was a former Red Sox relief pitcher nicknamed 'Mayday', and the exterior shots used the real Bull & Finch Pub on Beacon Street.

In The Cosby Show, the Huxtable family lived in a brownstone in which New York borough?

The Huxtables lived in Brooklyn Heights at the fictional address 10 Stigwood Avenue, but the facade shown on screen was a townhouse at 10 St. Luke's Place in Manhattan's Greenwich Village.

Which character did Don Johnson play in Miami Vice?

Don Johnson played Detective James 'Sonny' Crockett, partner of Philip Michael Thomas's Rico Tubbs; his sockless loafers, T-shirt and pastel jacket became a fashion template, and he lived on a sailboat with a pet alligator named Elvis.

Who sang the chart-topping theme song from the 1984 film Ghostbusters?

Ray Parker Jr.'s 'Ghostbusters' spent three weeks at No. 1 in August 1984 and earned an Oscar nomination; Huey Lewis later sued over its resemblance to 'I Want a New Drug'.

The Simpsons first appeared in 1987 as animated shorts on which TV series?

The Simpsons debuted as shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show in April 1987; Dan Castellaneta and Julie Kavner were already in that show's cast, which is how they became Homer and Marge.

In Grease (1978), Danny and Sandy attend which high school?

Rydell High is where the T-Birds and Pink Ladies spend senior year; the school dance is broadcast live by the TV show National Bandstand, and exteriors were shot at Venice High School in Los Angeles.

Who hosted the very first episode of Saturday Night Live in October 1975?

George Carlin hosted the premiere on 11 October 1975, when the show was called NBC's Saturday Night; Candice Bergen, three episodes later, became the first woman to host and the first host to return.

The Muppet Show (1976-81) was recorded at Elstree Studios in which country?

England's ATV Elstree Studios in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, hosted the 120 episodes after Lew Grade's ATV co-produced the show.

Which Japanese company developed the 1978 arcade hit Space Invaders?

Taito's Tomohiro Nishikado spent a year designing both the game and its hardware, drawing on Breakout, The War of the Worlds and Star Wars; Midway licensed Space Invaders for North America.

In the 1981 arcade game Donkey Kong, what was the hero later renamed Mario first called?

The hero was called Jumpman in Donkey Kong's materials before being renamed Mario after Nintendo of America's landlord, Mario Segale; Shigeru Miyamoto, on his first game, drew on Popeye and King Kong.

Alexey Pajitnov created Tetris in 1984 while working at a computing centre in which country?

Pajitnov wrote Tetris in Pascal on an Elektronika 60 at the Soviet Union's Academy of Sciences Computing Centre in Moscow; the machine had no graphics, so the blocks were drawn with brackets.

Who directed Apple's '1984' Macintosh commercial, shown during Super Bowl XVIII?

Ridley Scott, fresh from Blade Runner, shot the ad at Shepperton Studios in England with athlete Anya Major as the hammer-thrower; the Orwell estate sent a cease-and-desist letter that April.

Who played Dr Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), his film debut?

Tim Curry had played Frank-N-Furter in the original 1973 London stage production; most of that cast came to the film, and he declined to return for the proposed sequel Rocky Horror Shows His Heels.

In 1985 Wham! became the first Western pop group to tour which country?

Manager Simon Napier-Bell sabotaged Queen's bid by showing officials a brochure of Freddie Mercury in his most flamboyant poses.

'Karma Chameleon', the best-selling UK single of 1983, was a hit for which band?

Culture Club's 'Karma Chameleon' spent six weeks at No. 1 in the UK in late 1983 and topped the US Hot 100 in February 1984; the Boy George-fronted group won the Grammy for Best New Artist that year.

In Dirty Dancing (1987), what is the name of the Catskills resort where Baby spends the summer?

Kellerman's, run by Max Kellerman, stands in for a Catskills resort; no suitable one survived, so the film was shot at Lake Lure, North Carolina, and the Mountain Lake Hotel in Pembroke, Virginia.

Which band performed 'Take My Breath Away', the Oscar-winning song from Top Gun (1986)?

Berlin, a Los Angeles new-wave band fronted by Terri Nunn, recorded 'Take My Breath Away', written by Giorgio Moroder and Tom Whitlock; it won the Oscar and the Golden Globe for Best Original Song.

Which 1981 Blondie single became the first US number one to feature rap vocals?

'Rapture' topped the Hot 100 in March 1981 with Debbie Harry rapping about the 'man from Mars'; its video was the first rap clip shown on MTV, part of the channel's opening-day rotation.

How many top-ten US singles came from Bruce Springsteen's 1984 album Born in the U.S.A.?

Seven singles from Born in the U.S.A. reached the US top ten, from 'Dancing in the Dark' in 1984 through 'My Hometown' in early 1986, tying the record Thriller had set.

Drummer Rick Allen lost his left arm in a 1984 car crash but kept playing with which band?

Rick Allen stayed with Def Leppard, returning at the 1986 Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington on an electronic kit whose foot pedals triggered the parts his left arm used to play; Hysteria followed in 1987.

Which 1984 single was Van Halen's only US number one?

'Jump' topped the Hot 100 for five weeks in early 1984, built on an Oberheim OB-Xa synthesizer riff Eddie Van Halen had pushed for years before David Lee Roth agreed to sing on it.

Cyndi Lauper's 1983 debut made her the first woman to pull how many top-five US hits from one album?

'Girls Just Want to Have Fun', 'Time After Time', 'She Bop' and 'All Through the Night' all made the top five. Annie Leibovitz shot the Coney Island cover.

Tears for Fears, who formed in 1981, come from which English city?

Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith met as teenagers in Bath and formed Tears for Fears there in 1981 after their mod band Graduate; the name came from Arthur Janov's primal therapy.

The Carrington family of the prime-time soap Dynasty lived in which US city?

Dynasty's Carringtons were Denver oil millionaires; Aaron Spelling produced the show, and Joan Collins's Alexis arrived in the second season, driving it to No. 1 in the ratings for 1984-85.

Which A-Team character did Mr. T play?

Mr. T played Sergeant Bosco 'B.A.' Baracus, the team's mechanic with a fear of flying; the part was written for him after his turn as Clubber Lang in Rocky III, where 'I pity the fool' originated.

The sitcom Taxi (1978-83) followed the night shift at which fictional New York garage?

Taxi's drivers worked for the Sunshine Cab Company, where Danny DeVito's dispatcher Louie De Palma ran the garage from a caged-in office, bullying a crew that included Judd Hirsch, Andy Kaufman and Christopher Lloyd.

Three's Company (1977-84) was an American remake of which British sitcom?

Three's Company adapted Thames Television's Man About the House (1973-76); the American show copied its spin-offs too — The Ropers mirrored George and Mildred, and Three's a Crowd mirrored Robin's Nest.

George Jefferson's fortune in The Jeffersons came from a chain of what kind of business?

The family 'moved on up' from Queens to a Manhattan high-rise. It was the second and longest-running spin-off of All in the Family, after Maude.

John Travolta's breakthrough role was which Sweathog in Welcome Back, Kotter?

Travolta's Vinnie Barbarino was the cocky leader of the Sweathogs at James Buchanan High in Bensonhurst; by the show's final season in 1979 he was already a film star after Saturday Night Fever and Grease.

Who played Tattoo, who shouted 'De plane! De plane!' on Fantasy Island?

He was dropped before the final season and replaced by a butler named Lawrence, who pressed a button to ring the bell instead of climbing the tower.

Who played motorcycle cop 'Ponch' Poncherello in CHiPs?

Erik Estrada played Frank 'Ponch' Poncherello alongside Larry Wilcox's Jon Baker; the two did much of their own riding, and Estrada held out in 1981 over syndication money, with Bruce Jenner filling in.

Trivial Pursuit, a 1980s craze, was invented in 1979 by two journalists from which country?

Chris Haney and Scott Abbott dreamed it up in Montreal. Some of the early questions were written in a public library in Weymouth, Dorset, while visiting family.

Which company launched the electronic memory game Simon in 1978?

Milton Bradley launched Simon, created by Ralph Baer and Howard Morrison, with a midnight party at Studio 54 in 1978; it retailed at $24.95 and was followed by an eight-button Super Simon in 1979.

In Alien (1979), what is the name of the commercial space tug whose crew is hunted?

The Nostromo's seven-person crew was travelling in stasis with the ship's cat, Jones, when it was diverted to LV-426; Ripley blows the vessel up and escapes in its shuttle, the Narcissus.

Which 1973 film was the first horror movie nominated for the Best Picture Oscar?

The Exorcist, directed by William Friedkin from William Peter Blatty's novel, collected ten nominations and won two Oscars, for Blatty's adapted screenplay and for sound.

Which Woody Allen film beat Star Wars to the Best Picture Oscar for 1977?

Annie Hall won Best Picture, Director, Actress (Diane Keaton) and Original Screenplay — four of the 'Big Five' — at the April 1978 ceremony, beating Star Wars, which won six awards in other categories.

Atari's Pong (1972) copied a table-tennis game found on which early home console?

Nolan Bushnell played the Magnavox Odyssey's table-tennis game at a Burlingame, California, dealer demonstration in May 1972; Magnavox later sued Atari for patent infringement and Atari settled.

Disco Demolition Night, the 1979 record-burning riot, took place at which ballpark?

At Comiskey Park on 12 July 1979, Steve Dahl's stunt of blowing up disco records drew a field invasion so destructive that the White Sox forfeited the second game of the doubleheader to the Tigers.

The 1977 miniseries Roots, which followed Kunta Kinte, was based on a novel by whom?

Alex Haley's 1976 novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family opens in The Gambia in 1750; the follow-up miniseries Queen dramatised Haley's paternal grandmother's life.

The furry sitcom alien ALF crash-landed on Earth from which planet?

ALF, real name Gordon Shumway, came from Melmac, which blew up in a nuclear war; he survived because he was away with the Orbit Guard, and he crash-landed in the Tanners' garage.

Outside which Manhattan apartment building was John Lennon shot in December 1980?

Lennon was shot in the archway of the Dakota, at 72nd Street and Central Park West, on 8 December 1980; Mark David Chapman, who had got him to sign Double Fantasy that afternoon, fired five shots, four of which hit.

Which co-writer recorded 'Bette Davis Eyes' in 1974, before Kim Carnes's 1981 hit?

Jackie DeShannon wrote 'Bette Davis Eyes' with Donna Weiss and recorded it for her 1974 album New Arrangement; Kim Carnes's synth-driven version spent nine weeks at No. 1 in the US in 1981.

Soft Cell's 1981 hit 'Tainted Love' was a cover of a 1964 single by which soul singer?

Gloria Jones cut 'Tainted Love', written by Ed Cobb of the Four Preps, as a 1964 B-side that later became a Northern Soul favourite; Marc Almond has said Soft Cell's version owed more to Ruth Swann's 1975 cover.

'Y.M.C.A.' was the only single released from which 1978 Village People album?

'Y.M.C.A.' came from Cruisin', the Village People's third album, released in September 1978; Jacques Morali and lead singer Victor Willis wrote it, and it reached No. 2 in the US and No. 1 in the UK.

Which Radio 1 DJ's on-air complaint in 1984 prompted the BBC to ban 'Relax'?

Mike Read refused to play Frankie Goes to Hollywood's 'Relax' on his Radio 1 breakfast show in January 1984 over its lyrics and sleeve; the resulting BBC ban helped it to No. 1, where it stayed for five weeks.

Airplane! (1980) lifted its plot from which 1957 drama its writers had taped off TV?

Zero Hour!, a 1957 drama co-written by Arthur Hailey, supplied Airplane!'s plot almost scene for scene; Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker had taped it while recording late-night commercials to study, and Paramount bought the remake rights.

Which Hill Street Blues sergeant ended every roll call with 'Let's be careful out there'?

Sergeant Phil Esterhaus, played by Michael Conrad, closed roll call with 'Let's be careful out there'; after Conrad's death during season four, Robert Prosky's Sergeant Jablonski took over roll call, and the show won 26 Emmys in all.

Eastman and Laird published the first Ninja Turtles comic in 1984 through which company?

Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird self-published Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 through their own Mirage Studios in May 1984, funded by a tax refund and a loan from Eastman's uncle; Playmates Toys licensed the characters in 1987.

Who voiced the unseen Charlie Townsend in Charlie's Angels?

John Forsythe voiced Charlie Townsend from 1976 to 1981 without ever appearing on set, recording his lines in an audio studio; Charlie spoke to the Angels only through a speakerphone, and Forsythe later played Blake Carrington in Dynasty.

In Footloose (1984), Ren McCormack moves from Chicago to which small town that has banned dancing?

Bomont is the fictional town where Reverend Shaw Moore, played by John Lithgow, has had dancing banned; the students get around it by holding their prom in a grain mill just over the county line.