118 Fun Facts About 70s TV

All in the Family, which premiered on CBS in January 1971, was based on which British sitcom?

Till Death Us Do Part, Johnny Speight's BBC sitcom about bigoted Alf Garnett, was Norman Lear's model; he moved the patriarch from London's East End to Queens.

Which actor played the loudmouthed bigot Archie Bunker on All in the Family?

Carroll O'Connor. Norman Lear first offered Archie to Mickey Rooney, who turned him down; O'Connor took the part and the show topped the Nielsen ratings for five straight seasons.

What was the Bunkers' address in Astoria, Queens?

704 Hauser Street was the Bunkers' Astoria address; Norman Lear's 1994 spin-off 704 Hauser took its title from it, with a new family in the house.

Which 1972 NBC sitcom about a Watts junk dealer was adapted from a British series?

Sanford and Son transplanted the BBC's Steptoe and Son to Watts, with Redd Foxx as junk dealer Fred Sanford, forever faking heart attacks for his late wife Elizabeth.

The Jeffersons, who moved 'on up' to Manhattan, made their money from what business?

A chain of dry cleaners: George Jefferson's Jefferson Cleaners stores funded the move from Queens to a deluxe Manhattan apartment; the show ran eleven seasons, 1975-85.

Good Times was a spin-off of which show, itself a spin-off of All in the Family?

Maude: Florida Evans, played by Esther Rolle, had been Maude Findlay's housekeeper before Good Times gave the Evans family its own show in 1974.

The Evans family in Good Times lived in a project implied to be which Chicago development?

Cabrini-Green was never named on air, but its towers fill the opening and closing credits, and the show's co-creator Eric Monte had grown up in the project himself.

Which actor played the fussy Felix Unger in the 1970s TV version of The Odd Couple?

Tony Randall. Jack Lemmon had been the film's Felix; Randall's version won him his only Emmy in 1975, after ABC had already cancelled the series.

In which country was the 4077th, the army hospital of M*A*S*H, stationed?

South Korea. The 4077th sat near Uijeongbu during a war that lasted three years; the series kept it going for eleven seasons, until February 1983.

Which M*A*S*H star directed and co-wrote its two-and-a-half-hour 1983 finale?

Alan Alda. CBS sold 30-second ads in the finale for $450,000, more than that year's Super Bowl, and about 106 million people watched, a US record no broadcast beat until 2010.

Which four M*A*S*H characters appeared in all eleven seasons?

Hawkeye, Mulcahy, Houlihan and Klinger lasted all eleven seasons, though Jamie Farr was hired as Klinger for a single day's work; Trapper, Blake, Burns and Radar left, and Potter, B.J. and Winchester came later.

Which song from the 1970 film M*A*S*H became, without its words, the theme of the TV series?

Suicide Is Painless. Robert Altman's teenage son Mike wrote the lyrics, and Altman later said the boy earned more than $1 million from the song while he got just $70,000 for directing the film.

Mary Richards worked as an associate producer at which fictional Minneapolis TV station?

WJM-TV. In the 1977 finale a new station manager, out to lift the news show's dismal ratings, fires the whole newsroom except Ted Baxter, the bumbling anchorman everyone blames for them.

Who played Sue Ann Nivens, The Mary Tyler Moore Show's 'Happy Homemaker'?

Betty White. The script called for a sickly sweet 'Betty White type', so the producers ended up asking White herself; the part won her two Emmys, among the show's 29.

Lorenzo Music, the voice of Rhoda's rarely seen doorman Carlton, later voiced which cartoon cat?

Garfield. Music was developing Rhoda as a writer and had no intention of acting, but the producers liked his sleepy voice for Carlton; in 1982 it won him the part of the comic-strip cat.

Bob Newhart's character in The Bob Newhart Show had what profession?

Psychologist. Bob Hartley's Chicago practice had a second life: the 1990 finale of Newhart, in which he played a Vermont innkeeper, revealed that whole series to be a dream Hartley was having.

Happy Days began life as an unsold pilot shown on which ABC anthology series in 1972?

Love, American Style aired the segment 'Love and the Television Set' in February 1972, with Ron Howard already playing Richie Cunningham; ABC ordered the series after American Graffiti hit.

In which city was Happy Days set?

Milwaukee, the hometown of executive producer Thomas L. Miller; in 2008 the city returned the favour with the 'Bronze Fonz', a riverside statue that Henry Winkler helped unveil.

Little House on the Prairie was set in which Minnesota town?

Walnut Grove. Michael Landon ended the saga with a bang: in the 1984 farewell film the townspeople dynamite their own buildings rather than hand them to a land tycoon, and the real set went with them.

Laverne and Shirley capped bottles at which brewery?

Shotz Brewery. Laverne and Shirley capped its bottles until the sixth season, when new automated machinery cost them their jobs and the show sent everyone west to Burbank, California.

Robin Williams first appeared as Mork in a 1978 episode of Happy Days that riffed on which 1960s sitcom?

My Favorite Martian: the episode was titled 'My Favorite Orkan'; Mork tries to take Richie to Ork as a specimen and is foiled by Fonzie.

Which producer created both The Brady Bunch and Gilligan's Island?

Sherwood Schwartz created both. The Brady Bunch never came near the top of the ratings in its 1969-74 run and found its devoted audience later, in afternoon reruns; it also never said what became of Carol's first husband.

What was the name of the Brady boys' dog?

Tiger. The dog who played him was run over and killed early in the first season, and his stand-in proved hard to work with, so Tiger faded out during season two; the doghouse stayed in the yard.

The Partridge Family was loosely based on which real-life family band?

The Cowsills. The producers considered casting the real family, whose mother sang with her children, but the plan fell through and Shirley Jones took the mother's part.

Who provided the voice of the never-seen Charlie Townsend on Charlie's Angels?

John Forsythe. He was a last-minute substitute: first choice Gig Young arrived too drunk to read his lines, so Aaron Spelling rang Forsythe in a late-night panic to take over the unseen role.

Who replaced Farrah Fawcett on Charlie's Angels after she left at the end of season one?

Cheryl Ladd joined as Kris, Jill Munroe's kid sister, after Farrah Fawcett quit to make films; ABC and the producers sued over her contract, and Fawcett later came back for a few guest episodes.

Three's Company was adapted from which British sitcom?

Man About the House. Its spin-offs crossed the Atlantic too: George and Mildred and Robin's Nest were remade for America as The Ropers and Three's a Crowd.

Which former Andy Griffith Show star joined Three's Company in 1979 as building manager Ralph Furley?

Don Knotts, Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show, arrived as Ralph Furley when the Ropers left for their own spin-off; he stayed until the series ended in 1984.

Martin Caidin's 1972 novel Cyborg was the basis for which 1970s TV series?

The Six Million Dollar Man. In Caidin's book Steve Austin's new eye was only a hidden camera and one bionic finger fired poison darts; television gave him telescopic sight and dropped the dart gun.

Before her skydiving accident, what was Jaime Sommers' profession in The Bionic Woman?

Tennis player. Jaime died on the operating table in her 1975 debut when her body rejected the bionics, but the writers revived her the next season and gave her a new life as a schoolteacher.

Telly Savalas's Kojak took up lollipops as a substitute for what?

Cigarettes. Kojak smoked heavily in the early episodes and took up lollipops to cut down, though he never quite managed it: he kept lighting cigarillos long after the sweets became his trademark.

Which battered French car did Peter Falk's Columbo drive?

Peugeot 403. Peter Falk is said to have picked the tatty convertible out himself after spotting it among the cars on the Universal Studios lot.

Columbo made famous which mystery format, nicknamed the 'howcatchem'?

The inverted detective story shows the killer committing the crime in the opening scenes, so the suspense lies in how Columbo will catch them; R. Austin Freeman devised the form in 1912.

Starsky and Hutch patrolled which fictional Southern California locale?

Bay City, an invented California city, was the beat of Starsky and David Soul's Hutch; Soul traded on the fame to return to music, his first love, and had a number one in 1977 with 'Don't Give Up on Us'.

Where did James Garner's Jim Rockford live and work?

A trailer in Malibu. Rockford, pardoned after a wrongful spell in San Quentin, ran his $200-a-day detective agency from the trailer and kept his rarely used gun in a cookie jar.

The Waltons was created by Earl Hamner Jr., based on which of his books?

Spencer's Mountain. Hamner's 1961 novel reached the screen first as a 1963 Henry Fonda film that moved the family to Wyoming; television took the story home to Virginia and renamed the Spencers.

Who hosted the very first episode of NBC's Saturday Night, later Saturday Night Live, on 11 October 1975?

George Carlin opened a show still called NBC's Saturday Night, because ABC already had a Saturday Night Live hosted by Howard Cosell; NBC only took over the famous name in 1977.

The Love Boat's Captain Merrill Stubing was played by which former Mary Tyler Moore Show cast member?

Gavin MacLeod. The role outlasted the show: when The Love Boat ended in 1986, Princess Cruises, whose real ship had played the Pacific Princess, made him its global ambassador.

On Fantasy Island, who played Tattoo, assistant to Ricardo Montalbán's mysterious host Roarke?

Hervé Villechaize cried 'De plane! De plane!' for six seasons, but the producers dismissed him before the seventh and last, replacing Tattoo with a sedate butler named Lawrence.

What was the Dallas episode revealing who shot J.R. called?

'Who Done It' named J.R.'s sister-in-law Kristin Shepard; to keep the secret, several endings were filmed with different characters firing the gun, and its record rating stood until the M*A*S*H finale.

The Taxi drivers worked the night shift at which fictional New York cab company?

Sunshine Cab. The show grew out of a 1975 New York magazine article about the night shift at a Greenwich Village taxi garage, whose drivers included struggling actors, artists and writers.

Which puppet series was taped in England from 1976 because no American network would buy it?

The Muppet Show. Two ABC pilots went nowhere and the other US networks passed, so British mogul Lew Grade offered Jim Henson a deal: tape it at his ATV studios at Elstree and sell it worldwide.

Which 1977 miniseries did ABC air on eight straight nights?

Roots. ABC's programmers are said to have run Alex Haley's slavery saga on consecutive nights to limit their losses and clear it before sweeps; instead its finale drew one of the highest ratings in US television history.

Which actor played motorcycle cop Frank 'Ponch' Poncherello on CHiPs?

Erik Estrada. A motorcycle crash on set in 1979 broke both his wrists and several ribs; decades later he pinned on a real badge as a reserve police officer in a small Idaho town.

The Duke boys' car, the General Lee, was a customised model of what?

1969 Dodge Charger: the orange General Lee, numbered 01 with welded-shut doors, was the Dukes' ride; on probation and banned from guns, the cousins used bows and arrows.

The Dukes of Hazzard was inspired by which 1975 film about a bootlegging family?

Moonrunners, written and directed by Gy Waldron, introduced Uncle Jesse and narrator Waylon Jennings; Waldron reused the names and the balladeer when he created The Dukes of Hazzard in 1979.

Which future film star played Mary Campbell's gay son Jodie on the sitcom Soap?

Billy Crystal. He was no overnight success: in 1976 he was a little-known stand-up billed as 'Bill Crystal' for one monologue on Saturday Night Live, whose cast he would not join until 1984.

Which 1970s police show rarely left the squad room of New York's 12th Precinct?

Barney Miller. Almost all the action stayed in the squad room and the captain's office; one of its detectives, Abe Vigoda's weary Phil Fish, was spun off into his own sitcom, Fish, in 1977.

Which Sweathog did a young John Travolta play on Welcome Back, Kotter?

Vinnie Barbarino. The role made Travolta famous, and film stardom arrived before the show had even finished: Carrie, Saturday Night Fever and Grease all opened during its 1975-79 run.

The Carol Burnett Show's famous curtain-rod dress sketch spoofed which classic film?

Gone with the Wind. In 1976's 'Went with the Wind!' Burnett's Starlett sweeps downstairs in the drapes with the rod still across her shoulders; Bob Mackie's gag dress is now in the Smithsonian.

On Diff'rent Strokes, Arnold and Willis were taken in by a widower living on which Manhattan street?

Park Avenue. Millionaire Phillip Drummond took Arnold and Willis into his penthouse because their mother, his housekeeper, had asked him on her deathbed to look after them.

The Gong Show, launched in 1976, was created and hosted by whom?

Chuck Barris. In his 1984 memoir Confessions of a Dangerous Mind he claimed to have moonlighted as a CIA assassin throughout his game-show years; the CIA said it was not true.

'Three Is a Magic Number' was written to help an ad executive's son learn what?

Multiplication tables: ad man David McCall's son knew the words to every rock song but not his times tables, so McCall had Bob Dorough set them to music, launching Schoolhouse Rock in 1973.

The first season of Wonder Woman, starring Lynda Carter, was set in which period?

World War II. ABC's first season pitted Wonder Woman against Nazi agents alongside Steve Trevor; when CBS took the show over in 1977 it jumped to the present day, with Lyle Waggoner now playing Trevor's son.

In the 1978 Battlestar Galactica, humanity flees which robot enemy?

The Cylons. Their show looked enough like Star Wars that 20th Century Fox sued Universal in 1978, claiming it had copied the film, and Universal promptly sued back.

Angie Dickinson played Sergeant Pepper Anderson on which 1974-78 NBC police drama?

Police Woman grew out of a guest spot on the anthology Police Story, and Angie Dickinson has said her undercover sergeant set off a surge of women applying to join police forces.

Which tabloid reporter doggedly hunts the creature in the 1970s TV series The Incredible Hulk?

Jack McGee. He wrongly believes the Hulk killed David Banner and a fellow scientist when their laboratory was destroyed, so Banner must stay officially dead and on the move while McGee chases the story.

Which actor played Tony Baretta, the undercover cop who lived with a cockatoo named Fred?

Robert Blake. He inherited the show: it began as Toma, about a real New Jersey detective, and when star Tony Musante quit after one season ABC reworked the idea around Blake.

Who sang Baretta's theme, 'Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow'?

Sammy Davis Jr. sang the words once the theme, at first an instrumental, gained lyrics; one line gave the show its motto, a warning not to do the crime if you can't do the time.

Which police drama made a catchphrase of the order "Book 'em, Danno"?

Hawaii Five-O had Jack Lord's Steve McGarrett bark the line at his deputy, played by James MacArthur, who tired of the role and left a season before the show ended in 1980.

In Emergency!, Squad 51's paramedics work with the staff of which fictional hospital?

Rampart General's emergency staff supervised Squad 51; the show is credited with selling America on paramedics, and in 2000 its props entered the Smithsonian as public-service history, not entertainment.

Which actor played Tom Bradford, the newspaper-columnist father of eight in Eight Is Enough?

Dick Van Patten's Tom Bradford was modelled on columnist Tom Braden, whose memoir gave the show its title; Bradford was written as a widower after Diana Hyland, who played his wife, died having filmed four episodes.

In which California city was Eight Is Enough set?

Sacramento was home to the Bradfords, with Tom writing for the fictional Sacramento Register; after actress Diana Hyland died early in the run, the widowed father found a new love in Abby, played by Betty Buckley.

Which producing team made the 1974 Saturday-morning series Land of the Lost?

Sid and Marty Krofft, the puppeteers behind H.R. Pufnstuf, hired UCLA linguist Victoria Fromkin to invent a working language for the show's ape-like Pakuni, so young viewers could pick up new words each week.

In Kung Fu, Kwai Chang Caine roams the Old West searching for whom?

His half-brother Danny: Caine, a Shaolin monk played by David Carradine, fled China after killing the emperor's nephew, who had shot his teacher, then roamed the American West looking for Danny Caine.

What does the station drop from a helicopter in WKRP in Cincinnati's famous Thanksgiving episode?

Live turkeys: boss Arthur Carlson has them dropped over a shopping mall, with disastrous results, then insists he thought turkeys could fly. The plot grew from a real radio promotion, a live-turkey giveaway that ended in chaos.

Which 1976-85 CBS sitcom set at Mel's Diner was based on a Martin Scorsese film?

Alice, based on Scorsese's film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, made waitress Flo's put-down 'Kiss my grits!' so popular that Polly Holliday left for her own spin-off, Flo.

Who replaced Michael Douglas for the final season of The Streets of San Francisco?

Richard Hatch came in as Inspector Dan Robbins after Michael Douglas left early in the fifth season, fresh from producing the Best Picture winner One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest; the show ended that season.

The phrase for a show in decline comes from a Happy Days episode where Fonzie water-skis over what?

A shark was the answer to a dare during a 1977 Hollywood storyline, with Fonzie wearing his leather jacket. Radio host Jon Hein coined the phrase in 1985 for the moment a series loses its way.

In the most famous WKRP in Cincinnati episode, what does the radio station drop from a helicopter?

Live turkeys were the station manager's secret Thanksgiving giveaway, and the stunt goes disastrously wrong. The plot grew from a real radio promotion that tossed the birds off the back of a truck.

Which future Oscar winner played Easy Reader on the PBS children's series The Electric Company?

Morgan Freeman joined the original 1971 cast alongside Rita Moreno, long before his film stardom. His character was a smooth hipster who loved to read.

Which young director made his name with Duel, a 1971 TV movie about a motorist stalked by a truck?

Steven Spielberg shot it for ABC's Movie of the Week, and a longer cut later played in cinemas overseas. Writer Richard Matheson based the story on a trucker who tailgated him on a California highway.

Which insulting nickname did Archie Bunker give his son-in-law Mike Stivic on All in the Family?

Meathead was Archie's name for the liberal student played by Rob Reiner, from their very first meeting. The show's creator borrowed the insult from his own father, who used to call him the same thing.

Archie and Edith Bunker's chairs from All in the Family went on display at which institution?

The Smithsonian received the chairs in 1978 for an exhibit on American television history. The set designer had bought them for a few dollars at a Goodwill thrift store.

Which actor played Arnold, owner of the gang's diner hangout on Happy Days?

Pat Morita became a familiar face in the recurring role, years before The Karate Kid. His Mr. Miyagi in that film earned him an Oscar nomination.

Which wrestler played Bigfoot in a 1976 two-part story on The Six Million Dollar Man?

André the Giant made his American acting debut as the Sasquatch, more than a decade before his best-known film role as the giant Fezzik.

Which bounty hunter made his screen debut in a cartoon within the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special?

Boba Fett turned up in the special's cartoon two years before his film debut in The Empire Strikes Back. The special was broadcast in full only once, on CBS.

Carol Burnett ended each episode of her variety show with which signal to her grandmother?

Tugging her ear was a message for the grandmother who shared a one-room Hollywood apartment with her and often took her to the movies.

Which future film star played Sweathog Vinnie Barbarino on the sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter?

John Travolta made Saturday Night Fever and Grease while the sitcom was on the air. His sister Ellen occasionally appeared in it as a classmate's mother.

Which champion bodybuilder played the title creature opposite Bill Bixby in The Incredible Hulk?

Lou Ferrigno, who lost most of his hearing as a baby, rarely shared a scene with Bixby. He came to see his co-star as a mentor and father figure all the same.

Which former I Dream of Jeannie star played ruthless oil baron J.R. Ewing on Dallas?

Larry Hagman was the son of actress Mary Martin, and had played astronaut Major Nelson in the 1960s sitcom.

Which performer turned his Foreign Man stage act into mechanic Latka Gravas on Taxi?

Andy Kaufman first won attention with the character, a meek man with a heavy accent who claimed to come from a made-up island in the Caspian Sea.

Which M*A*S*H officer was killed off when his plane home was shot down over the Sea of Japan?

Henry Blake had just been discharged when the news reached the operating room in the season finale. It was the first time a US comedy had killed off a departing main character in a tragic way.

Which star of M*A*S*H went behind the camera to direct more than thirty episodes?

Alan Alda directed 32 episodes and helped write nineteen, finishing with the two-and-a-half-hour finale.

Which former Bonanza star played farmer Charles Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie?

Michael Landon moved to the new NBC drama the year after his Western was cancelled. He was also its executive producer, director and writer.

Which producer was behind the 1970s sitcoms All in the Family, The Jeffersons and One Day at a Time?

Norman Lear had his sitcoms shot on videotape before a live studio audience. He built them around the social and political issues of the day, which earlier comedies had avoided.

In the opening titles of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, what does Mary Richards toss into the air?

Her hat, a tam o' shanter, hangs frozen in mid-air in the final shot. The puzzled passer-by behind her, Hazel Frederick, never saw a camera and stayed in every version of the titles.

Which actor played Arnold Jackson on Diff'rent Strokes and became TV's highest-paid child star?

Gary Coleman was cast after a producer spotted him in a pilot for a revival of The Little Rascals. A kidney disease and its treatment had limited his height to 4 ft 8 in.

Which producer was behind the 1970s hits Charlie's Angels, The Love Boat and Fantasy Island?

Aaron Spelling finished with 218 producer and executive producer credits, the most in American television history. Dynasty and Beverly Hills, 90210 came later.

Which author's saga of an American family was adapted into the ABC miniseries Roots?

Alex Haley's novel had been in print for only a few months when the adaptation aired in January 1977. Its finale drew unprecedented Nielsen ratings.

Which 19-year-old college student was cast as the young Kunta Kinte in the 1977 miniseries Roots?

LeVar Burton was an undergraduate at the University of Southern California when he won the part. He went on to host the PBS children's series Reading Rainbow for 23 years.

Which Match Game panellist became the original host of Family Feud in 1976?

Richard Dawson was so popular on the panel that he asked producer Mark Goodson for a show of his own. He had earlier played Corporal Newkirk in Hogan's Heroes.

Which outspoken commentator did ABC hire for the launch of Monday Night Football in 1970?

Howard Cosell, both loved and hated by the public, helped make the broadcast a frequent number one in the weekly ratings. It was the first weekly prime-time football in 15 years.

Which two elderly Muppets heckled every act from the balcony on The Muppet Show?

Statler and Waldorf were named after two landmark New York City hotels, the Statler Hilton and the Waldorf-Astoria.

Which comedian played J.J. Evans, the teenage budding artist of the family on Good Times?

Jimmie Walker was 26 when he began playing the 17-year-old. He was only seven and a half years younger than the actor cast as his father.

Which actor played the Bunkers' neighbour George Jefferson before starring in The Jeffersons?

Sherman Hemsley was busy in the Broadway musical Purlie when the part was offered, so the producers held it open for him. He joined the cast two years later.

Which host began presenting The Price Is Right on CBS in 1972 and stayed for 35 years?

Bob Barker kept hosting Truth or Consequences for three more years alongside his new job. He retired in 2007 after half a century on television.

Which pop duo's hit CBS comedy hour was cancelled in 1974 because of the hosts' divorce?

Sonny and Cher reunited on screen in 1976, no longer married, for a similar show that ran two more seasons. The original had begun as a summer replacement.

Which Partridge Family star was the real-life stepmother of her on-screen son David Cassidy?

Shirley Jones played the family's widowed mother and was already an Oscar winner, for her supporting role in the 1960 film Elmer Gantry.

Which Western left television in 1975 after twenty seasons and 635 episodes?

Gunsmoke was nearly cancelled back in 1967, but CBS relented and dropped Gilligan's Island to make room for it. The Simpsons eventually passed its episode count for a scripted prime-time series.

Which Saturday Night Live star was the first Weekend Update anchor and left early in season two?

Chevy Chase was the breakout cast member of the first season, then quit for a film career that took off with the 1978 comedy Foul Play.

Which British journalist sat down with Richard Nixon for a series of televised interviews in 1977?

David Frost drew 45 million viewers to the first programme, then a record television audience for a political interview. The encounter later became the play and film Frost/Nixon.

Which Charlie's Angels star was the only one of the three original Angels to stay for the entire run?

Jaclyn Smith played Kelly Garrett from the 1976 pilot, aired as a movie of the week, through to the last episode in 1981.

Which actor played newsman Lou Grant in both a sitcom and a later hour-long drama?

Ed Asner won Emmys for the character in both forms, three in comedy on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and two as a dramatic lead. Few actors have carried one role across the divide.

Which future Oscars host played Jodie Dallas, one of US TV's first regular gay characters, on Soap?

Billy Crystal gained prominence in the role from 1977. He went on to host the Academy Awards nine times between 1990 and 2012.

Which actor played the messy Oscar Madison opposite Tony Randall in TV's The Odd Couple?

Jack Klugman already knew the part from Broadway, where he had replaced Walter Matthau in 1965. He took it to television in 1970.

In which Colorado city does the alien Mork land and move in with Mindy McConnell on Mork & Mindy?

Boulder gave the comedy a present-day setting, far removed from the 1950s of Happy Days, where Mork had first appeared. A real house in the city supplied the exterior shots of Mindy's home.

Johnny Carson moved The Tonight Show from New York to which California city in May 1972?

Burbank had hosted occasional episodes before the move. For a year afterwards, Carson kept taking the show back to New York for weeks at a time.

Which young cousin joined The Brady Bunch for its last six episodes, giving a sitcom trope its name?

Oliver arrived as a much younger child to restore the appeal the series had when its own children were small. Adding a young child to rescue a fading sitcom has carried his name ever since.

Comedian Flip Wilson dressed up as which sassy character, girlfriend of Killer, on his variety show?

Geraldine was Wilson's most famous creation. His hour was one of the first American programmes with a black star in the title role to succeed with a white audience.

The Partridge Family toured in an old school bus painted in patterns inspired by which Dutch artist?

Piet Mondrian inspired the paintwork on the family's 1957 Chevrolet, which carried them to a first live gig at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

Which designer created the curtain-rod dress for Carol Burnett's parody of Gone with the Wind?

Bob Mackie, the variety show's costumer, conceived the gag of leaving the rod in the curtains for the heroine's grand entrance.

Which series about a monster-hunting reporter did Chris Carter cite as an influence on The X-Files?

Kolchak: The Night Stalker lasted only a single season, with Darren McGavin as a wire service reporter, but won cult status in syndication.

Which real cruise ship, sent for scrap in 2013, became synonymous with The Love Boat?

Pacific Princess appeared in the series under a deal with her cruise line, which then leaned heavily on the show's title in its marketing.

In which city did divorced mother Ann Romano raise two teenage daughters on One Day at a Time?

Indianapolis was a fresh start for Ann, who moved there with Julie and Barbara from the small Indiana town of Logansport.

What's Happening!! was loosely based on which 1975 coming-of-age film about two best friends?

Cooley High was written by Eric Monte about his own Chicago schooldays. ABC's first TV pilot of the film flopped, so it was rebuilt as a sitcom with new characters and a new title.

Which future film star broke through as Tom Jordache in the 1976 miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man?

Nick Nolte earned an Emmy nomination for the part, in ABC's nine-part adaptation of an Irwin Shaw novel.

On The Mary Tyler Moore Show, which TV clown is killed by an elephant while dressed as a peanut?

The death of Chuckles sets the newsroom joking, to Mary's disgust, until she is the one who giggles uncontrollably at his funeral.