129 Fun Facts About 80s TV

Sam Malone, the Cheers bar owner played by Ted Danson, was a former relief pitcher for which team?

The Boston Red Sox; Sam 'Mayday' Malone's drinking ended his relief-pitching career before he bought the bar, and his sobriety was a recurring thread across the show's eleven seasons.

Which city do Dorothy, Rose, Blanche and Sophia share a house in on The Golden Girls?

Miami; the show grew out of a 1984 NBC promo skit in which two actresses joked about 'Miami Nice', a Miami Vice for retirees.

KITT, the talking car on Knight Rider, was a heavily modified version of which production car?

A Pontiac Firebird Trans Am; William Daniels voiced the car for four seasons without a screen credit, at his own request, and later played Mr. Feeny on Boy Meets World.

Who was revealed in November 1980 to have shot J.R. Ewing on Dallas?

Kristin Shepard, J.R.'s sister-in-law and mistress, was unmasked in 'Who Done It'; a Hollywood strike had delayed the new season, stretching the cliffhanger to eight months.

On Miami Vice, what kind of animal is Sonny Crockett's pet, Elvis?

An alligator; Elvis guarded the St. Vitus Dance, the sailboat Crockett lived aboard while posing as drug runner Sonny Burnett.

Which actor played Hannibal Smith, the cigar-chomping leader of The A-Team?

George Peppard, the Breakfast at Tiffany's star, had slipped from 1960s film leads to jobbing roles before Colonel John 'Hannibal' Smith made him a household name again.

Michael J. Fox's Alex P. Keaton on Family Ties embarrassed his ex-hippie parents by being what?

A Young Republican; the sitcom was sold as a show about the parents, but audiences took to Alex so strongly that it was rebuilt around Michael J. Fox, who won three straight Emmys.

Cliff Huxtable, the father on The Cosby Show, worked in which profession?

Obstetrician; Bill Cosby first imagined Cliff as a limousine driver, before the Huxtables became a doctor and a lawyer in a Brooklyn brownstone.

Thomas Magnum lived in the guesthouse of an estate called Robin's Nest on which Hawaiian island?

Oahu; CBS developed the show partly to keep using the Hawaiian studios built for Hawaii Five-O, and Robin's Nest belonged to the never-seen novelist Robin Masters.

ALF, the furry alien who moved in with the Tanner family, came from which planet?

Melmac; ALF's real name was Gordon Shumway, and his home planet blew up while he was away, stranding him on Earth with the Tanners.

"Whatchu talkin' 'bout, Willis?" was the catchphrase of which character on Diff'rent Strokes?

Arnold Jackson, played by Gary Coleman, aimed the line at big brother Willis; the Harlem boys were taken in by millionaire Phillip Drummond, who had promised their dying mother, his housekeeper, to raise them.

Jessica Fletcher, the mystery novelist of Murder, She Wrote, lived in which fictional Maine town?

Cabot Cove; Angela Lansbury got the part only after Jean Stapleton turned it down, and the Maine village was really Mendocino, California.

Eastland, the girls' boarding school of The Facts of Life, stood in Peekskill in which state?

New York; housekeeper Edna Garrett left the Drummonds of Diff'rent Strokes to become Eastland's housemother, and George Clooney later joined as handyman George Burnett.

Sergeant Phil Esterhaus ended every roll call on Hill Street Blues with which line?

'Let's be careful out there' was Esterhaus's sign-off; after actor Michael Conrad died during season four, his successor, Sergeant Jablonski, sent officers out to 'do it to them before they do it to us'.

St. Elsewhere ended in 1988 by implying that all six seasons had taken place inside what object?

A snow globe; the hospital turned out to be a toy in the hands of autistic Tommy Westphall, spawning the fan theory that hundreds of crossover-linked shows share his dream.

Which sitcom's 1990 finale revealed that its whole run had been another sitcom character's dream?

Newhart; innkeeper Dick Loudon woke up as Dr. Bob Hartley beside Suzanne Pleshette's Emily from The Bob Newhart Show, which had ended in 1978.

Which show, later narrated by Daniel Stern, debuted on ABC straight after Super Bowl XXII in 1988?

The Wonder Years; it won the comedy Emmy after only six episodes, but its wall-to-wall 1960s hits made music licensing so costly that a full DVD set took until 2014.

Maddie Hayes and David Addison worked cases at which detective agency on Moonlighting?

Blue Moon; former model Maddie had been the face of Blue Moon Shampoo and renamed the failing agency after it, while Al Jarreau sang the hit theme.

Which show's 'Moldavian massacre' finale left nearly the entire cast lying in a bullet-riddled chapel?

Dynasty; terrorists sprayed the Moldavian royal wedding with gunfire, yet when the next season opened only two minor characters turned out to have died.

Which sitcom was the first primetime series broadcast on the newly launched Fox channel in 1987?

Married... with Children; when a Michigan viewer's 1989 advertiser boycott over its raunchy jokes made headlines, curious viewers tuned in and it became Fox's highest-rated show to date.

The Simpsons made their first appearance in April 1987 as short segments on which program?

The Tracey Ullman Show; Matt Groening dreamed up the family in the lobby of producer James L. Brooks's office, rather than sign away the rights to his Life in Hell comic strip.

Which 80s action hero refused to carry a gun, relying on a Swiss Army knife and duct tape?

MacGyver; Richard Dean Anderson's agent solved problems with whatever everyday objects lay to hand, and 'MacGyver' later entered Oxford's online dictionary as a verb for improvised fixes.

What make and model was the General Lee, the orange car of The Dukes of Hazzard?

A 1969 Dodge Charger, painted orange with '01' on the doors, which were welded shut so the Dukes climbed in through the windows; Waylon Jennings narrated as 'the Balladeer'.

Which Cheers regular was a mail carrier forever sharing 'little-known facts'?

Cliff Clavin, played by John Ratzenberger, was the know-it-all postman; Ratzenberger pitched the character himself after auditioning unsuccessfully for another part.

Balki Bartokomous of Perfect Strangers came from which fictional Mediterranean island?

Mypos; comedian Louie Anderson was first cast as Balki's American cousin, before Mark Linn-Baker took over as Larry Appleton, his Chicago flatmate and partner in the 'Dance of Joy'.

Which 80s sitcom starred Vicki, a robot girl built by engineer Ted Lawson and passed off as his daughter?

Small Wonder; Vicki stood for Voice Input Child Identicant, and creator Howard Leeds had already made a sitcom about a robot woman, My Living Doll, back in 1964.

Mork & Mindy and which other sitcom were both spun off from Happy Days?

Laverne & Shirley; the brewery workers were introduced on Happy Days as friends of Fonzie, and by its third season their spin-off had overtaken it as America's most-watched show.

Which 1982 Happy Days spin-off sent Scott Baio and Erin Moran's characters to Chicago?

Joanie Loves Chachi followed the young couple to Chicago to chase a music career, but it was cancelled in its second season and both characters went back to Happy Days.

Which 80s drama recast its lead detective from Loretta Swit to Meg Foster to Sharon Gless?

Cagney & Lacey; between them Tyne Daly and Sharon Gless won the lead-actress drama Emmy six years running from 1983 to 1988, and a letter campaign revived the show after its 1983 cancellation.

Which Night Court actor won four straight Emmys as Dan Fielding?

John Larroquette won the supporting-actor Emmy every year from 1985 to 1988, then withdrew his name from the 1989 ballot, ending the streak unbeaten.

Which sitcom's ninth season (1996-97) ended by revealing the family never won the lottery and Dan had died?

Roseanne; the finale revealed the Conners' lottery win was Roseanne's fiction and Dan had died of his heart attack, though the 2018 revival quietly undid both twists.

Which future Oscar winner played Dr. Phillip Chandler through all six seasons of St. Elsewhere?

Denzel Washington was virtually unknown when he was cast as Dr. Phillip Chandler in 1982, and a film star by the time the hospital drama ended six seasons later.

Which sitcom added a homeless teen played by Leonardo DiCaprio for 1991-92 to revive its ratings?

Growing Pains; DiCaprio's Luke Brower moved in with the Seavers, but the ratings kept sliding and ABC cancelled the show at the end of that season.

Tony Micelli, the live-in housekeeper on Who's the Boss?, had previously been what?

A pro baseball player; a shoulder injury ended Tony's days as a St. Louis Cardinals second baseman, so he took the Connecticut job to give daughter Samantha a life outside the city.

Which former neighbors of the Bunkers 'moved on up' to a Manhattan high-rise in their own spin-off?

The Jeffersons; George's fortune came from a chain of dry-cleaning stores, and the spin-off ran eleven seasons to 1985, outlasting its parent All in the Family.

Which James Bond actor played the suave con man Remington Steele?

Pierce Brosnan played Remington Steele from 1982 to 1987; NBC's last-minute renewal of the show cost him the Bond role in 1986, which went to Timothy Dalton.

The Cosby Show spin-off A Different World was originally built around which Huxtable child?

Denise; Lisa Bonet's Denise Huxtable enrolled at fictional Hillman College, but Bonet left after one season when she became pregnant, and the show ran five more years without her.

Which Golden Girls actress played the mother of Bea Arthur's Dorothy despite being a year younger than Arthur?

Estelle Getty, born in July 1923, was fourteen months younger than Bea Arthur, so wigs and heavy makeup aged her into Dorothy's eighty-something mother Sophia.

Rose Nylund's endless anecdotes on The Golden Girls came from which small farming town?

St. Olaf, Minnesota; Betty White was first cast as man-hungry Blanche and Rue McClanahan as Rose, until the pilot's director suggested they swap parts.

Which Cheers regular was originally written as Diane's first customer, with a single one-word line ordering a beer?

Norm Peterson; the walk-on was first called George, and the writers built it up for George Wendt before the pilot was even filmed.

Which Cheers actor joined in season three as psychiatrist Frasier Crane and later headlined a hit spin-off?

Kelsey Grammer took the part after John Lithgow turned it down; Frasier was meant to last a few episodes, but stayed for nine seasons and then eleven more in Seattle.

Woody Boyd joined Cheers after which character died off-screen following the actor's death?

Coach; Nicholas Colasanto died in February 1985 during the third season, so Ernie 'Coach' Pantusso died off-screen and his former pen pal Woody Boyd took the bar job.

Family Ties followed the Keaton family in which Midwestern city?

Columbus; creator Gary David Goldberg modelled the Keaton parents on himself and his wife, and drew the Ohio household's arguments from his own circle of friends.

How many Emmys did Hill Street Blues win for season one, a record until The West Wing?

Eight, at the 1981 ceremony, a record for a first-year series until The West Wing's nine in 2000; Bochco and Kozoll's precinct sat in a large city never named on screen.

Which 80s sitcom ended in 1990 on a military capture, a cliffhanger resolved only by a 1996 TV movie?

ALF; the writers ended season four with the alien's capture because NBC had promised a fifth, then the network cancelled the show, leaving him in custody until Project: ALF.

On Knight Rider, villain Garthe Knight tries to crush KITT with what kind of vehicle, named Goliath?

A semi-truck; Goliath was an armoured big rig coated in the same indestructible shell as KITT, and David Hasselhoff played Garthe too, as Michael Knight's goateed double.

Cheers finished a season as America's number-one show only once, in which season?

The ninth season, 1990-91, was the only one of Cheers' eleven in which it finished the year as the number-one show in America.

Which stuttering 80s TV host was really actor Matt Frewer under hours of latex makeup?

Max Headroom was sold as the first computer-generated presenter, but 1980s computers weren't up to it, so Matt Frewer sat through hours of prosthetics and wore a moulded plastic suit instead.

Which 80s spin-off outran its parent show, largely thanks to a nerdy neighbor introduced later?

Family Matters; Steve Urkel was written as a one-episode guest, but he took over the Perfect Strangers spin-off, which ran until 1998, five years past its parent.

In the 1992 finale of The Golden Girls, Dorothy marries which character, played by Leslie Nielsen?

Blanche's uncle Lucas; once Dorothy left for Atlanta with him, the other three moved on to run a hotel in the short-lived spin-off The Golden Palace.

Which song was the first played on MTV when the channel launched in August 1981?

Video Killed the Radio Star by the Buggles followed the words 'Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll' on 1 August 1981; record labels supplied MTV's early videos free, as promotion for their acts.

Which new regular arrived at Cheers in season six, after Shelley Long's Diane departed?

Rebecca Howe; Kirstie Alley's corporate manager began as a cool, tough businesswoman, until the writers realised she was funnier as a neurotic mess.

Cheers gives its bar the address 112½ on which street?

Beacon Street; the exterior was the real Bull & Finch Pub, which finally took the sitcom's name in 2002 and became Cheers Beacon Hill.

Which singer appeared repeatedly as himself on Night Court as Judge Harry Stone's musical idol?

Mel Torme; the fandom was real, because actor Harry Anderson idolised the crooner too and went on to deliver the eulogy at his funeral.

Why did Full House change Uncle Jesse's surname after season one?

To reflect John Stamos's Greek heritage; Stamos asked for Cochran to become Katsopolis, having already had the character's first name changed from Adam to Jesse.

Which First Lady played herself in an anti-drug episode of Diff'rent Strokes?

Nancy Reagan visited the Drummond household in a 1983 episode to promote her 'Just Say No' campaign against drugs.

Sugarbaker & Associates, the firm at the heart of Designing Women, does what kind of work?

Interior design; Dixie Carter's Julia Sugarbaker ran the Atlanta decorating firm from her home, and Delta Burke left after season five following a public feud with the producers.

Mr. Belvedere, the English butler of the Owens family, ends nearly every episode doing what?

Writing in his journal, recapping what the day had taught him; Bob Uecker, who played sportswriter dad George, kept calling Milwaukee Brewers games while he starred in the series.

Punky Brewster was named after whom?

A childhood crush of NBC chief Brandon Tartikoff: the real Peyton 'Punky' Brewster, whom NBC later cast in a cameo, while Punky's dog was named Brandon after him.

The actors playing the couple who adopt Emmanuel Lewis's Webster were what in real life?

Married to each other; the sitcom was first developed as a romantic comedy for the real-life couple, until ABC reworked it into a vehicle for young Emmanuel Lewis.

What runs through the mansion of Ricky Schroder's overgrown-child father on Silver Spoons?

A rideable model train; toy-company owner Edward Stratton III never grew up, so it fell to Ricky, the son who had only just moved in, to be the adult of the house.

Murphy Brown anchors which fictional TV newsmagazine?

FYI; Candice Bergen's recovering-alcoholic anchor drew a real-life scolding from Vice President Dan Quayle in 1992 for becoming a single mother.

Dallas wiped out an entire season by revealing it had been whose dream?

Pamela's; Patrick Duffy had agreed to come back, so the writers undid Bobby Ewing's death by turning every episode since into his wife's dream.

Which actress played Alexis Carrington Colby, Blake Carrington's scheming ex-wife?

Joan Collins arrived in the second season as Alexis, and ratings climbed from there until the soap finished 1984-85 as America's number-one show.

Which rule did executive producer Michael Mann impose on the look of Miami Vice?

'No earth tones' was Mann's edict, so buildings and cars that broke the rule were repainted or swapped, and pastels became the show's signature look.

According to The A-Team's opening narration, the escaped commandos fled to which city's underground?

Los Angeles; the unit had robbed the Bank of Hanoi under orders, but their commander was killed and the proof destroyed, so a military court jailed them in 1972 for a crime they didn't commit.

Which A-Team member, the team's pilot, was declared insane and lives in a VA hospital between missions?

Murdock, nicknamed 'Howling Mad' and played by Dwight Schultz, flew the team around, so the others kept having to drug B.A., who was terrified of flying, to get him aboard.

Higgins patrols the Magnum, P.I. estate with two Dobermans named what?

Zeus and Apollo, 'the lads', were as suspicious of Magnum as their master, the very English Higgins, who was played by a Texan, John Hillerman.

Colt Seavers of The Fall Guy is a Hollywood stuntman who moonlights as what?

A bounty hunter; stunt work alone didn't pay the bills, so Colt chased bail-jumpers between films, and Lee Majors sang the theme, 'Unknown Stuntman', himself.

Why did Coy and Vance replace Bo and Luke Duke for part of Dukes of Hazzard season five?

A salary dispute; John Schneider and Tom Wopat walked out over pay and merchandising royalties, lookalike cousins Coy and Vance filled in, and the originals were back before the season ended.

Simon & Simon, about two mismatched detective brothers, is set in which city?

San Diego; straight-laced A.J. and scruffy Rick Simon ran their agency there, and CBS rescued the show by slotting it after Magnum, P.I. with a two-hour crossover.

Which 1988 Emmy-winning ABC drama followed Michael and Hope Steadman and their baby-boomer friends?

Thirtysomething won the drama-series Emmy in 1988 for its first season, and its title caught on so widely that the Oxford English Dictionary added the word in 1993.

On Fantasy Island, what does Mr. Roarke tell his staff just before the guests step off the plane?

'Smiles, everyone, smiles!' was Mr. Roarke's order to his staff; Herve Villechaize, who shouted 'De plane!' as Tattoo, was fired before the final season after demanding pay equal to Ricardo Montalban's.

The Smurfs, a Saturday-morning staple from 1981 to 1989, was based on a comic by which Belgian cartoonist?

Peyo; NBC boss Fred Silverman commissioned the Hanna-Barbera cartoon after seeing how much his young daughter loved her Smurf doll.

In Masters of the Universe, what is Prince Adam's pet tiger called before it becomes Battle Cat?

Cringer; Battle Cat exists because Mattel, short of budget for a vehicle, reused a tiger from its Big Jim toy line that was horse-sized beside the figures, so it became a mount.

April O'Neil, the turtles' ally in the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon, does what job?

Television reporter; the cartoon put April on Channel 6 News, though the original comics had introduced her as a computer programmer assisting scientist Baxter Stockman.

From 1982, Late Night with David Letterman aired straight after whose NBC show?

Johnny Carson; Letterman followed The Tonight Show for eleven years, then left for CBS in 1993 after NBC gave Carson's chair to Jay Leno instead of him.

How did contestant Michael Larson win $110,237 on Press Your Luck in 1984?

Memorising the board's light patterns; Larson had freeze-framed taped episodes on a VCR and spotted that the 'random' board ran through just five sequences, and CBS had to pay up.

Which former football pro played Webster's adoptive father, George?

Alex Karras, a Detroit Lions lineman, was suspended for the 1963 NFL season for betting on games, and reached the sitcom by way of playing Mongo in Blazing Saddles.

Which CBS series ended in February 1983 with a 2½-hour finale watched by about 106 million Americans?

M*A*S*H bowed out with Goodbye, Farewell and Amen, which stayed the most-watched broadcast in American history until a Super Bowl overtook it in 2010.

Tom Selleck's Magnum, P.I. contract cost him which movie hero role that went to Harrison Ford instead?

Indiana Jones slipped away when Magnum's producers would not release Selleck, yet a Hollywood strike then delayed the show long enough that he could have shot the film anyway.

Which gangster's hotel vault did Geraldo Rivera open on live TV in 1986, finding only dirt and empty bottles?

Al Capone's walled-off room beneath Chicago's Lexington Hotel held nothing of value, yet an estimated 30 million people watched, a record audience for a syndicated special.

Which dance move did the King of Pop unveil during Billie Jean on the 1983 TV special Motown 25?

The moonwalk made its debut before more than 47 million viewers, during the only non-Motown song performed on the label's anniversary special.

Which former fashion model won two Golden Globes as Maddie Hayes, opposite Bruce Willis, on Moonlighting?

Cybill Shepherd was playing close to home: Maddie is a former high-fashion model who turns detective after her accountant steals her fortune.

Which twins shared the role of Michelle Tanner on Full House under a single joint screen credit?

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen were billed as Mary Kate Ashley Olsen for years because the producers did not want audiences to know Michelle was played by twins.

Which future two-time Oscar winner dressed as a woman to live in a cheap women-only hotel on Bosom Buddies?

Tom Hanks played graphic artist Kip Wilson, alias Buffy, from 1980 to 1982, and the sitcom is now best known for launching his career.

Which actor became a reluctant teen idol playing an undercover high school cop on Fox's 21 Jump Street?

Johnny Depp found teen-idol fame irritating but stayed under a contract paying $45,000 an episode, having replaced another actor after the pilot was filmed.

Which Chicago talk show host, newly Oscar-nominated for The Color Purple, went national in September 1986?

Oprah Winfrey's show grew out of A.M. Chicago, a half-hour local morning program; relaunched under her name, it ran in syndication for twenty-five seasons.

Which dessert do the women of The Golden Girls famously eat around the kitchen table during late-night talks?

Cheesecake fueled the scenes where the housemates gathered to work through each episode's problem, with ice cream as the occasional stand-in.

Which former bodyguard played B.A. Baracus, the A-Team mechanic so afraid of flying that teammates often drugged him?

Mr. T had worked as a bodyguard for almost ten years before playing Baracus and the boxer Clubber Lang in Rocky III, the two roles he is best known for.

Which Wheel of Fortune hostess became Pat Sajak's regular co-host in December 1982 after a three-way tryout?

Vanna White beat two other substitutes for the job, and in 2013 Guinness certified her the world's most frequent clapper, at an estimated 3.48 million claps.

Which Canadian-born broadcaster began hosting the daily syndicated revival of Jeopardy! in 1984?

Alex Trebek hosted until his death in 2020, stepping away just once to swap shows with Wheel of Fortune's host as an April Fool's joke in 1997.

Which Royal Shakespeare Company veteran took command of the Enterprise-D as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in 1987?

Patrick Stewart, a company member from 1966 to 1982, later said all those kings and tragic heroes were just preparation for sitting in the captain's chair.

Which relative takes in Huey, Dewey and Louie when Donald Duck goes off to sea in Disney's 1987 series DuckTales?

Scrooge McDuck is a Scottish-born tycoon created by Carl Barks for the comic books the show is based on, and the three boys are his grandnephews.

Which faction of heroic robots follows Optimus Prime from Cybertron to Earth in the 1984 cartoon The Transformers?

Autobots and their enemies crash-land on Earth while hunting for new energy sources, then lie entombed for 4 million years before the story begins.

Which Atlanta media proprietor launched CNN in June 1980 as the first 24-hour television news channel?

Ted Turner, who also owned the Atlanta Braves, founded the network with Reese Schonfeld, who became its first president and chief executive.

Which actor went from the astronaut of I Dream of Jeannie to scheming oil baron J.R. Ewing on Dallas?

Larry Hagman was the only actor to appear in all 357 episodes of the oil saga, which ran from 1978 to 1991.

Which Tony-winning star of Broadway's Mame spent 12 seasons solving murders as novelist Jessica Fletcher?

Angela Lansbury moved into television in 1984 and found worldwide fame as the sleuth, in one of the longest-running detective dramas in TV history.

Which comedian joined Saturday Night Live in 1980 and was credited with reviving it before leaving in 1984?

Eddie Murphy's sketches included a grown-up Buckwheat, whom he had assassinated on camera after tiring of fans demanding the character.

Which actor turned down the role of Alex P. Keaton on Family Ties before it went to Michael J. Fox?

Matthew Broderick passed on the part, and the actor who took it instead went on to win three consecutive Emmy Awards for the NBC sitcom.

In which borough is the Huxtable family's brownstone set on The Cosby Show, at the fictional 10 Stigwood Avenue?

Brooklyn Heights was the setting, but the brownstone viewers saw was actually a townhouse across the river in Manhattan's Greenwich Village.

Which prime-time soap about married couples on a California cul-de-sac was spun off from Dallas in 1979?

Knots Landing was actually pitched first: CBS rebuffed the idea in 1977, then took it once Dallas was a hit, with Gary and Valene Ewing moved to the coast.

Which real California wine region was the model for the fictitious setting of Falcon Crest, CBS's winemaking saga?

Napa Valley also hosted the show's distinctive location filming; on screen the region was renamed the Tuscany Valley.

Which two-time Emmy winner for St. Elsewhere provided the voice of KITT, the talking car of Knight Rider?

William Daniels voiced the car from 1982 to 1986 while playing Mark Craig on the hospital drama, and later became Mr. Feeny on Boy Meets World.

Tony Micelli takes a live-in housekeeping job for ad executive Angela Bower in which state on Who's the Boss?

Connecticut's upscale suburb of Fairfield was meant to give his daughter Samantha, played by Alyssa Milano, a better environment than the city.

Which future ER star joined The Facts of Life as a handyman in the season Mrs. Garrett's shop caught fire?

George Clooney was added to the regular cast in season seven to lift the ratings, and he also turned up on The Golden Girls as a detective.

Which puppeteer created Fraggle Rock, a 1983 series about cave-dwelling Fraggles, Doozers and Gorgs?

Jim Henson's Fraggles live mainly on radishes and on the constructions the Doozers build, which are made from an edible radish candy.

Which blockbuster film director created Amazing Stories, the NBC anthology series that ran from 1985 to 1987?

Steven Spielberg would not make it without a second year to fix any flaws, so NBC gave him a then unprecedented commitment of 44 episodes.

Which TV veteran returned in 1986 as Ben Matlock, a folksy Atlanta defense attorney with a love of hot dogs?

Andy Griffith took the part after seven months of rehabilitation for leg paralysis caused by Guillain–Barré syndrome, and played it until 1995.

Which actor played police sergeant T.J. Hooker, joined from season two by Heather Locklear as Officer Stacy Sheridan?

William Shatner swapped a starship for a patrol car as the 15-year veteran sergeant, in a cop show that lasted five seasons.

Which actor created, co-directed and starred in Highway to Heaven as Jonathan Smith, an angel sent to Earth?

Michael Landon brought along Victor French, his Little House on the Prairie co-star, as the retired policeman who travels with the angel.

In the 1983 NBC miniseries V, what kind of creatures are the alien Visitors beneath their human-like disguises?

Reptiles in thin synthetic skin and human-eye contact lenses: Donovan discovers that the Visitors are carnivorous humanoids with green, scaly skin.

The Day After, an ABC film watched by about 100 million Americans in 1983, depicted the aftermath of what?

A nuclear war levels Kansas City in the film, which drew a record audience for a made-for-TV movie on its first broadcast.

The Thorn Birds, the 1983 miniseries about a priest's forbidden love for Meggie Cleary, is set mainly in which country?

Australia's outback is where the Clearys help run their aunt's ranch; the saga was then the second most-watched miniseries ever, behind Roots.

Which terrorist organization, plotting to undermine world governments, do the heroes of the cartoon G.I. Joe fight?

Cobra spent 95 syndicated episodes trying to take over the world, and in 1986 its own scientist engineered a new leader, Serpentor, from the DNA of history's conquerors.

Which villain, whose face is never shown, leads the crime syndicate M.A.D. against the bumbling Inspector Gadget?

Dr. Claw parodies the Bond villain Blofeld, appearing only as hands beside a pet cat, while Gadget's niece Penny and her dog Brain are the ones who really foil his schemes.

Which Roots actor hosted the PBS children's series Reading Rainbow from its 1983 premiere?

LeVar Burton narrated many of the books himself and led video field trips to places such as NASA headquarters and Niagara Falls.

On the 1980s game show Press Your Luck, which red cartoon creature reset a contestant's winnings to zero?

The Whammy was the mascot of the CBS show, and every time a player landed on one, viewers were treated to a short animation of the creature.

Which Mexican-born actor welcomed guests as the mysterious Mr. Roarke on the original Fantasy Island until 1984?

Ricardo Montalbán played the host in a trademark white suit, and in 1982 he also returned to the big screen as the villain Khan in Star Trek II.

Which sportscaster called the 1980 Miracle on Ice for ABC, chosen because nobody else on the team had covered hockey?

Al Michaels had called the sport once before, at an earlier Winter Olympics in Sapporo, and American viewers saw the upset on tape delay in prime time.

Which writer-producer developed Hill Street Blues, then followed it with L.A. Law and Doogie Howser, M.D.?

Steven Bochco made long story arcs a feature of straight drama; before his precinct saga, they were rare on American TV outside prime-time soaps.

What is the name of the pet dog owned by wealthy amateur sleuths Jonathan and Jennifer Hart on Hart to Hart?

Freeway was a stray Löwchen, named for the road where the Harts found him wandering.

Which actor played Vincent, the noble man-beast living in tunnels, opposite Linda Hamilton in Beauty and the Beast?

Ron Perlman's Vincent rescues Catherine, a New York lawyer, and carries her to a secret community hidden below the city.

Which sitcom starring Richard Mulligan as a recently widowed pediatrician was created as a spin-off of The Golden Girls?

Empty Nest was first tried out in a 1987 episode of the parent show meant as a backdoor pilot, then ran for seven seasons from 1988.

Which Carol Burnett Show regular played elderly Thelma Harper on Mama's Family after first turning the spin-off down?

Vicki Lawrence at first refused because she did not want to wear a fat suit and play an old lady every week without her sketch partners beside her.

What is the proper name of the decaying city teaching hospital nicknamed St. Elsewhere in the 1980s medical drama?

St. Eligius earned its mocking nickname, a surgeon explains in the pilot, because the local media saw it as a place where unwanted patients were sent.

Which real-life cruise ship was the setting for Captain Merrill Stubing and his crew on The Love Boat?

Pacific Princess was a working Princess Cruises liner, and none of the regular cast, Gavin MacLeod's captain included, appeared in the first pilot movie.

Which English actor played Robert McCall, a retired intelligence agent who helps people in danger, on The Equalizer?

Edward Woodward was already a star in Britain from the spy drama Callan when he took the role of the ex-agent who offers his help, usually free of charge.

Which film director shot Apple's 1984 commercial, which aired nationally only once, during Super Bowl XVIII?

Ridley Scott was hired a year and a half after his dystopian Blade Runner came out, and he filmed the Macintosh ad in England.