157 Fun Facts About Classic TV

In a famous I Love Lucy scene, what do Lucy and Ethel fall behind wrapping on a speeding conveyor belt?

Chocolates outran Lucy and Ethel in 1952's 'Job Switching', so they stuffed the ones they had missed into their mouths and hats before the supervisor came back.

Which studio did Lucille Ball run on her own from 1962, backing Star Trek and Mission: Impossible?

Desilu Productions blended the names of Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball, who founded it in 1950; after their divorce Ball bought out his share in 1962 and ran the studio herself.

Little Ricky is born in which I Love Lucy episode, watched by more Americans than Eisenhower's inauguration?

'Lucy Goes to the Hospital' drew about 44 million viewers on 19 January 1953, against 29 million for the inauguration a day later; Lucille Ball gave birth to her real son, Desi Arnaz Jr., that same day.

Which pair played the landlords and best friends of the Ricardos?

Vivian Vance and William Frawley played landlords Ethel and Fred Mertz; friends on screen, they disliked each other so much that Vance turned down a spin-off for the pair.

What is the title of the 1983 M*A*S*H finale, one of the most watched US broadcasts ever?

'Goodbye, Farewell and Amen' ran two and a half hours on 28 February 1983 and ends with Hawkeye lifting off by helicopter to find that B.J. has spelled GOODBYE in stones below.

Which star of M*A*S*H also directed its record-breaking 1983 finale?

Alan Alda directed and co-wrote the finale, which about 106 million Americans watched; when a brush fire destroyed the outdoor set during filming, the writers worked a fire into the story.

What is the number of the army hospital unit where M*A*S*H is set?

The 4077th was invented by novelist Richard Hooker, a surgeon who based it on the real 8055th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, where he had served as a young doctor.

M*A*S*H outlasted which war it depicted?

The Korean War lasted three years, 1950 to 1953, while M*A*S*H ran 11 seasons, more than three times as long; its makers also used the setting to comment on Vietnam, where fighting continued as the show began.

Who created and presented The Twilight Zone?

Rod Serling had won Emmys for live dramas, but sponsors and censors kept cutting his scripts, so he turned to fantasy, where he could slip social comment past them.

Which future Star Trek star sees a gremlin on the wing in The Twilight Zone's 'Nightmare at 20,000 Feet'?

William Shatner plays a nervous flyer just out of a sanitarium, so nobody believes him about the gremlin on the wing; in the end he opens the emergency exit and shoots at it himself.

How did the fourth season of The Twilight Zone differ from the rest?

Episodes ran about 51 minutes in the fourth season because CBS stretched the show to an hour against its creator's wishes; he feared padded stories, and it went back to half-hours for its final year.

What is the registry number of the starship in Star Trek's original series?

NCC-1701 is the USS Enterprise's registry; designer Matt Jefferies chose digits that are hard to misread on screen, and later Enterprises added letters such as NCC-1701-A.

Which Star Trek actor stayed in the cast after Martin Luther King Jr. urged her not to quit?

Nichelle Nichols had handed in her resignation to try Broadway when Martin Luther King Jr., a fan of the show, told her that Uhura mattered too much for her to leave.

What made Star Trek a phenomenon after NBC cancelled it?

Syndicated reruns found Star Trek a larger audience in the 1970s than its 79 NBC episodes ever had, which led to fan conventions and, in 1979, the first feature film.

How did the Cheers producers find the Boston pub that inspired the bar?

They picked it out of a phone book: Boston's Bull & Finch Pub, whose owner Tom Kershaw let the show use its exterior for one dollar and then made millions selling Cheers souvenirs.

What was Sam Malone's career before he bought the bar?

Sam Malone was a relief pitcher for the Red Sox, nicknamed 'Mayday' on the mound; alcoholism ended his career, which is why the bar's owner never drinks.

Who played Sam Malone, the bar owner on Cheers?

Ted Danson played Sam through all eleven seasons of Cheers, a show that came close to cancellation in its first year and then spent most of its run in the top ten.

Who turned out to have shot J.R. Ewing?

Kristin Shepard, Sue Ellen's sister and J.R.'s mistress, pulled the trigger; to keep the secret until the November reveal, the producers filmed every cast member, even Larry Hagman, firing the shot.

In which American city is Happy Days set?

Happy Days is set in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, through the 1950s and early 1960s; the city unveiled the Bronze Fonz statue of Arthur Fonzarelli on its RiverWalk in 2008.

Which song opened the first season of Happy Days?

Rock Around the Clock opened Happy Days in a version Bill Haley re-recorded for the show in 1973, and in 1974 his original 1954 single climbed back into the US charts.

In which fictional town is The Andy Griffith Show set?

Mayberry is widely said to be modelled on Andy Griffith's home town of Mount Airy, North Carolina, which now trades on the link with an annual Mayberry Days festival.

Who whistled the theme in The Andy Griffith Show's opening credits?

Earle Hagen, who composed it, whistled the tune himself and said he had never whistled before and never did again; lyrics came later for a sung version, 'The Fishin' Hole'.

Where did The Andy Griffith Show rank in the Nielsen ratings in 1967–68, the year it ended?

The Andy Griffith Show finished at the top of the chart in 1967–68, never having ranked below seventh; Griffith chose to leave anyway, and CBS reworked the series around a new lead.

What is the name of the boat that runs aground in Gilligan's Island?

The SS Minnow was creator Sherwood Schwartz's dig at FCC chairman Newton Minow, who in 1961 had called television 'a vast wasteland'.

How long was the boat trip in Gilligan's Island supposed to last?

The lyrics promise 'a three hour tour', so the trip was meant to last three hours; the castaways instead spent three seasons (1964–67) stranded, with an improbable amount of luggage.

Which phrase stood in for the Professor and Mary Ann in Gilligan's Island's first-season theme?

'And the rest' was all the Professor and Mary Ann got until season two, after the actor playing Gilligan lobbied the producers to have both characters named in the lyrics.

What was Ralph Kramden's job in The Honeymooners?

Ralph Kramden was a bus driver for the Gotham Bus Company, and the role stuck so firmly that a Brooklyn bus depot was renamed for Jackie Gleason in 1988.

Art Carney's character Ed Norton did which job for New York City?

Ed Norton was a municipal sewer worker who grandly described his post as sub-supervisor in subterranean sanitation; Art Carney even recorded 'The Song of the Sewer' in character.

At what Brooklyn address did the Kramdens and Nortons live in The Honeymooners?

328 Chauncey Street put the Kramdens on the Brooklyn street where Jackie Gleason himself grew up; their bare apartment set held little more than a table, a curtainless window and an old icebox.

All in the Family was adapted from which British sitcom?

Till Death Us Do Part, the BBC sitcom about the bigoted Alf Garnett, came to America when Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin bought the rights; Lear softened Archie, modelling him partly on his own father.

Who played Archie Bunker?

Carroll O'Connor won four Emmys as Archie Bunker, yet he was not the first choice: Norman Lear offered the part to Mickey Rooney, who turned it down.

Which All in the Family spin-off ran 11 seasons, two more than its parent show?

The Jeffersons ran from 1975 to 1985, two seasons longer than All in the Family; George and Louise had lived next door to the Bunkers before moving to a Manhattan high-rise.

Where did Mary Richards work in The Mary Tyler Moore Show?

Mary Richards worked in a newsroom in Minneapolis at fictional station WJM; her creators wanted her divorced, but CBS balked, so she arrived fresh from a broken romance instead.

Which sitcom broke The Mary Tyler Moore Show's 25-year-old record for Emmy wins in 2002?

Frasier won its thirtieth Emmy in 2002, passing the 29 that The Mary Tyler Moore Show had collected by 1977; its hero had started out as a supporting character on Cheers.

Which drama followed Mary Richards's gruff boss from The Mary Tyler Moore Show to a new job in Los Angeles?

Lou Grant turned a sitcom character into the lead of an hour-long drama; CBS cancelled it in 1982, a decision Ed Asner blamed on his political activism and the network on falling ratings.

Near which Nevada settlement is the Cartwright family's ranch in Bonanza?

Virginia City boomed on the Comstock Lode silver strike of 1859, the world Bonanza is set in; the real town's newspaper is where Samuel Clemens first signed himself Mark Twain.

Why did NBC keep Bonanza on air despite a shaky start?

It was filmed in colour, one of the first series that was, and NBC's parent company RCA made colour sets, so the network kept the show on to help sell them despite weak early ratings.

What bursts into flames in Bonanza's opening titles?

A map of the ranch burns away as the theme begins, and the four Cartwrights ride up on horseback through the gap the flames leave.

Who played Ben Cartwright, the widowed father on Bonanza?

Lorne Greene had been Canada's chief radio newsreader during the Second World War, nicknamed 'the Voice of Doom' for the grim bulletins he read, long before he played the Cartwright patriarch.

On I Love Lucy, Ricky Ricardo is the bandleader at which New York nightclub?

Ricky later buys the club and renames it Club Babalu, but for most of the run it is the Tropicana.

On The Honeymooners, Ralph and Norton belong to which fraternal lodge?

The Raccoons gave Ralph and Norton a lodge to bowl and scheme in, an idea The Flintstones, which was modelled on the show, later borrowed for Fred and Barney.

Which actor played gas-station attendant Gomer Pyle before his Marines spin-off?

Jim Nabors had a booming baritone singing voice so at odds with Gomer's drawl that it made him a hit on variety shows and at the Indianapolis 500.

Which act's first Ed Sullivan Show appearance drew a record 73 million viewers?

The Beatles drew about 73 million viewers on 9 February 1964; George Harrison was in bed with strep throat during rehearsals the day before, so road manager Neil Aspinall stood in for him.

Before it took his name, Ed Sullivan's Sunday variety show was called what?

Toast of the Town was the title from the 1948 debut, but viewers had called it The Ed Sullivan Show for years, so in 1955 CBS made that the official name.

Topo Gigio, the tiny Italian puppet who charmed Ed Sullivan, was what kind of animal?

Topo Gigio is a mouse, a ten-inch puppet from Italian television worked by a hidden team of puppeteers; he ended nearly every Sullivan spot by pleading, 'Eddie, kiss me goodnight'.

What is the name of the Cartwright family ranch on Bonanza?

The Ponderosa became a real place: a theme park with a replica of the Cartwright ranch house drew tourists to Incline Village, on Lake Tahoe in Nevada, until it closed in 2004.

Marshal Matt Dillon of Gunsmoke keeps order in which Kansas town?

Dodge City, Kansas, was a real cattle town, and its reputation for trouble in screen westerns gave English the phrase 'get out of Dodge', meaning to leave in a hurry.

Miss Kitty Russell on Gunsmoke runs which saloon?

Kitty Russell runs the Long Branch Saloon in Dodge City, eventually as its owner; her exact profession was kept vague on television, though the radio version left less to the imagination.

Which future film star played Gunsmoke's blacksmith, Quint Asper?

Burt Reynolds played Quint for three of Gunsmoke's 20 seasons, from 1962 to 1965; the show had begun on radio in 1952 with William Conrad as Matt Dillon, but television used an entirely new cast.

Which movie star introduced the first episode of Gunsmoke on camera in 1955?

John Wayne introduced the first Gunsmoke episode in September 1955 and had a hand in its casting: he recommended James Arness, a young actor he had worked with, for Matt Dillon.

In the Twilight Zone's 'Time Enough at Last', what happens just as Henry Bemis finally has time to read?

His glasses shatter: Bemis, a henpecked bank teller, survives a nuclear blast in a vault, then drops his thick spectacles on the library steps and is left unable to read a word.

How does Samantha Stephens usually cast a spell on Bewitched?

Twitching her nose is how Samantha casts a spell; director William Asher built the move on the habit his wife, Elizabeth Montgomery, had of twitching her upper lip.

Which actor took over as Darrin Stephens on Bewitched for the final three seasons from 1969?

Dick Sargent replaced Dick York from the 1969–70 season because York's back, badly injured in a 1959 film accident, had become too painful for him to carry on.

Who played Endora, Samantha's disapproving witch mother, on Bewitched?

Agnes Moorehead, a four-time Oscar nominee who had played Kane's mother in Citizen Kane, never won an Emmy as Endora; her one win came for a single guest appearance on The Wild Wild West.

Who played the Skipper on Gilligan's Island?

Alan Hale Jr. kept the Skipper's cap on after the show ended, wearing it to greet diners at Alan Hale's Lobster Barrel, the Los Angeles restaurant he co-owned from the mid-1970s.

Carol Burnett's closing ear tug on every show was a signal to whom?

Her grandmother, 'Nanny', raised her and asked for a hello on Burnett's first TV job, so they agreed on an ear tug meaning 'I'm fine, I love you'; Burnett kept it up after Nanny died.

Carol Burnett's famous curtain-rod dress sketch parodied which film?

Gone with the Wind became 'Went with the Wind!' in 1976; the script had the curtains simply hanging off Burnett, but designer Bob Mackie left the rod in, and the laugh ran so long it was trimmed for broadcast.

Archie and Edith Bunker's living-room chairs were donated to which institution in 1978?

The chairs went to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in 1978; the show had replicas built for the seasons still to come.

What is the title of the song Archie and Edith sing at the piano to open All in the Family?

'Those Were the Days', by Charles Strouse and Lee Adams, got clearer as the years went by: viewers complained they couldn't make out 'Gee, our old LaSalle ran great', so the stars took to singing it with exaggerated care.

Why does Corporal Klinger wear women's clothing on M*A*S*H?

Klinger dresses in women's clothing to earn a Section 8 discharge as mentally unfit; the gag was written for a single first-season episode, but Jamie Farr stayed for the whole run and dropped the dresses on becoming company clerk.

Which alien did Robin Williams play in a 1978 episode of Happy Days?

Mork first landed in the 1978 episode 'My Favorite Orkan'; Robin Williams won the part when, asked to take a seat at his audition, he sat on his head, and Mork & Mindy followed that autumn.

What is Rose Nylund's tiny Minnesota hometown in The Golden Girls called?

St. Olaf is Rose's hometown, yet Betty White was first offered man-hungry Blanche and Rue McClanahan got Rose; the pilot's director had them swap so neither repeated an earlier sitcom role.

The four Golden Girls share a house in which city?

Miami is where the four Golden Girls share Blanche's house, but the home viewers saw in the early seasons' exterior shots is a real one in Brentwood, Los Angeles.

Lawrence Welk described his easy-listening big-band sound as what kind of music?

Champagne music got its name on an early hotel engagement, where the band's light sound was likened to the bubbly; Welk's TV crew later built a bubble machine so viewers could see the tagline.

What is the Beaver's real first name on Leave It to Beaver?

Theodore is the Beaver's given name; the finale claims big brother Wally mangled it as a small boy, but Jerry Mathers says a writer simply borrowed the nickname from a wartime shipmate.

Which actor played the two-faced Eddie Haskell on Leave It to Beaver?

Ken Osmond later joined the Los Angeles police and was shot three times chasing a suspected car thief in 1980; his bulletproof vest and his belt buckle stopped the bullets.

Which district attorney lost to Perry Mason nearly every week for nine seasons?

Hamilton Burger vanished for a spell in 1960: CBS fired actor William Talman after police raided a party he attended, then rehired him once the charges were dropped and viewers and Raymond Burr pressed his case.

Who plays Alan Brady, the vain star Rob Petrie writes for on The Dick Van Dyke Show?

Carl Reiner based the series on his own life as a TV comedy writer and played the lead himself in a 1960 pilot that failed to sell; producer Sheldon Leonard then recast the part with Dick Van Dyke.

Which bluegrass duo played 'The Ballad of Jed Clampett,' the theme to The Beverly Hillbillies?

Flatt and Scruggs played the theme on screen while Jerry Scoggins sang it; their own single, with Lester Flatt on vocals, went to number one on the country chart.

Who played Granny on The Beverly Hillbillies?

Irene Ryan beat Bea Benaderet to Granny: the show's creator thought Benaderet too buxom for a wiry mountain woman, and after watching Ryan's test she agreed and played Cousin Pearl instead.

What is Mike Brady's profession on The Brady Bunch?

Mike Brady is an architect who designed the family's own house; the show was never a ratings hit during its 1969–74 run, then found its audience with children watching after-school reruns.

On The Brady Bunch, what is the trade of Sam Franklin, housekeeper Alice's boyfriend?

Butcher Sam Franklin feels like a regular, yet he appears in only eight episodes; he and Alice are finally husband and wife by the 1981 reunion film The Brady Girls Get Married.

Who led the Tonight Show band for Johnny Carson from 1967 until Carson's retirement?

Doc Severinsen's gaudy outfits were part of the fun until Carson signed off in 1992; he left with him and took players from the Tonight Show band on tour as his own big band.

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

Burbank became the show's home in May 1972 because Carson wanted easier access to Hollywood's stars; he still took it back to New York for weeks at a time until the following spring.

Bob Barker closed The Price Is Right from 1982 onward by urging viewers to do what?

Spay or neuter their pets, to 'help control the pet population', was Barker's closing plea from 1982; Drew Carey kept the sign-off going when he took over the show in 2007.

Which talk-show host created Jeopardy! after his wife Julann suggested giving contestants the answers?

Merv Griffin said the idea came on a flight home: Julann noted that no question-and-answer game had worked since the 1950s quiz scandals, so why not hand over the answers and ask for the questions.

Who was the original host of Jeopardy! when it debuted on NBC in 1964?

Art Fleming got the job after the show's creator spotted him in an airline commercial; he hosted until 1975 and again in 1978–79, and later grumbled that the Alex Trebek revival had moved to Los Angeles.

What business does John Walton run to support his family on Walton's Mountain?

A lumber mill keeps the Waltons fed through the Depression, with some farming and hunting on the side; CBS pitted the show against two hits, The Flip Wilson Show and The Mod Squad, and it ran nine seasons anyway.

The Ingalls family of Little House on the Prairie farms on Plum Creek near which real Minnesota town?

Walnut Grove, Minnesota, is where the real Ingalls family lived on Plum Creek, and it gave the TV town its name, though the series was filmed on a ranch in Simi Valley, California.

How does the 1984 Little House on the Prairie movie 'The Last Farewell' dispose of the town?

The townspeople blow it up, building by building, rather than hand it to a land tycoon; the studio's lease required the site to be put back as it was, so Michael Landon wrote the demolition into the script.

What make of battered car does Lieutenant Columbo drive?

Peugeot built Columbo's car, a 403 convertible that was costly and sold in tiny numbers when new; on screen the rare cabriolet became a dented wreck that stayed with him through 35 years of cases.

Which phrase does Columbo use as he turns back at the door to catch a suspect off guard?

'Just one more thing' began as a shortcut, his creators said: writing an early Columbo stage play, they found a scene too short and, rather than retype it, had him walk back in with another question.

What business does Fred Sanford run with his son Lamont on Sanford and Son?

Fred and Lamont run a junk yard in the Watts district of Los Angeles; when cornered, Redd Foxx's Fred clutches his chest and fakes a heart attack, calling to his late wife, 'You hear that, Elizabeth?'

Sanford and Son was adapted from which British series?

Steptoe and Son, a BBC sitcom about a feuding father and son, was remade for NBC by Tandem, the company behind All in the Family; star Redd Foxx, born John Sanford, gave the American family his real surname.

What does Sergeant Schultz on Hogan's Heroes say whenever he stumbles onto the prisoners' schemes?

'I know nothing!' was the refrain of John Banner, a Jewish refugee from Hitler's Europe; Werner Klemperer, whose family also fled the Nazis, took the part of Klink only on condition that Klink never won.

Which comedy pair created Get Smart?

Mel Brooks and Buck Henry first took Get Smart to ABC, which wanted a lovable dog added and branded their script 'un-American'; NBC aired it instead, and the spy spoof went on to win seven Emmys.

Maxwell Smart of CONTROL is which numbered agent?

86 was a creators' in-joke: in bar slang, to eighty-six a customer is to refuse him service or throw him out; his partner, Agent 99, never has her real name revealed on the show.

The Flintstones, which debuted on ABC in 1960, was the first original animated series to do what?

Air in prime time: ABC aimed the cartoon at adults as much as children, and Fred and Wilma even appeared in commercials for Winston cigarettes, which co-sponsored the first two seasons.

Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble belong to which lodge?

The Loyal Order of Water Buffaloes, Lodge No. 26, began the first season under another name, the Loyal Order of Dinosaurs; the lodge itself echoes The Honeymooners, one of the cartoon's acknowledged models.

Which order does Steve McGarrett give his partner at the end of nearly every Hawaii Five-O case?

'Book 'em, Danno' closed most cases across 12 seasons; the title honoured Hawaii as the 50th state, and the show in turn handed American slang 'five-O' as a name for the police.

Which actor played the landlord Ralph Furley after the Ropers left Three's Company?

Don Knotts arrived as Mr. Furley in 1979 when the Ropers left for a spin-off; Norman Fell had been promised his old job back if it failed within a year, but it was cancelled later than that and Furley stayed.

George Jefferson, the Bunkers' old neighbour, got rich enough to 'move on up' to Manhattan's East Side through what business?

Dry-cleaning stores, seven of them in the end, paid for the deluxe apartment in the sky; George bought the first with the payout from a car accident, a backstory first told on All in the Family.

What is Cliff Huxtable's medical specialty on The Cosby Show?

Obstetrics is Cliff's field, practised from an office attached to the family home; Bill Cosby first imagined him as a limousine driver, until his wife Camille argued for a doctor married to a lawyer.

The Love Boat was set aboard which cruise ship?

Pacific Princess was the ship on screen, though her twin, Island Princess, stood in for filming when schedules clashed; the series is credited with a surge of public interest in taking cruises.

Which object opens every edition of CBS's 60 Minutes?

A ticking stopwatch is the trademark opening of 60 Minutes, Don Hewitt's CBS newsmagazine, which debuted in September 1968 and became the longest-running prime-time programme on American network television.

American Bandstand began as a local show in which city before Dick Clark took it national?

Philadelphia's WFIL-TV launched it as Bandstand in 1952 with host Bob Horn; a drunk-driving arrest got Horn fired in 1956, Dick Clark stepped in, and ABC took the show national the next year.

Which police drama's Sergeant Joe Friday is famously misquoted as saying 'Just the facts, ma'am'?

Dragnet's Joe Friday really said 'All we want are the facts, ma'am'; a hit 1953 Stan Freberg parody record tweaked the line, and the snappier misquote has been pinned on Friday ever since.

On The Fugitive, Dr. Richard Kimble describes his wife's real killer as what?

A one-armed man is Kimble's quarry until the 1967 finale, watched on 72 percent of sets in use; viewers saw echoes of the real Dr. Sam Sheppard murder case, a link creator Roy Huggins always denied.

What is the Munsters' street address?

1313 Mockingbird Lane is home to the Munsters, who reached CBS within a week of ABC's Addams Family in 1964; both were gone by 1966, the Munsters' ratings sunk by ABC's new hit, Batman.

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood was produced by public station WQED in which city?

WQED in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the first community-supported public TV station in the US, produced the show from 1968 to 2001; Fred Rogers' mother knitted his cardigans.

Who hosted Wheel of Fortune when it debuted on NBC daytime in 1975?

Chuck Woolery hosted from the 1975 NBC debut until December 1981, when a pay dispute ended his run: he later said he had asked to go from $65,000 to about $500,000 a year, and Pat Sajak got the job.

Which 1977 ABC miniseries ran on eight consecutive nights?

Roots ran on eight straight nights in January 1977, reportedly because ABC's programming chief feared a flop and wanted it over before the ratings sweeps; instead it drew record ratings.

The Addams Family TV show was based on cartoons that ran in which magazine?

The New Yorker ran Charles Addams's macabre family cartoons for decades without a single name; the names arrived only in the 1960s, first for a line of dolls and then for the TV series.

The Lone Ranger galloped onto television to which piece of classical music?

The William Tell Overture's galloping finale, by Rossini, followed the hero from radio, where classical pieces were used because they were out of copyright and cost nothing; on TV it opened ABC's first true hit.

Which earlier Western, also starring James Garner, did The Rockford Files' creator want to update?

Maverick came first: its creator, Roy Huggins, wanted Bret Maverick reborn as a modern private eye and got Jim Rockford, whose reverse-spin getaway in his Firebird is still known to drivers as a 'Rockford'.

On which sitcom did Danny DeVito play the tyrannical boss Louie De Palma?

Taxi made DeVito's name as dispatcher Louie De Palma; he won the part by striding into the audition, demanding to know who had written the script and tossing it on the table, and the show won 18 Emmys.

What does WKRP in Cincinnati's station drop from a helicopter in a famous promotion?

Live turkeys plummet onto a shopping centre in 1978's 'Turkeys Away'; creator Hugh Wilson took the fiasco from a real promotion described to him by the manager of Atlanta's WQXI, his model for WKRP.

Which singer did The Ed Sullivan Show's cameras film only from the waist up in January 1957?

Elvis Presley was framed that way only on his third and final visit to the show. The idea that Sullivan's cameras always hid his hips is a popular myth.

Which presidential candidate said 'Sock it to me' in a 1968 cameo on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In?

Richard Nixon got off lightly: when regular Judy Carne said the line, she was doused with water or dropped through a trap door.

Which TV dog was first played by a performer named Pal, whose descendants inherited the role?

Lassie is a female character, yet Pal was a male collie, hired for the first film after the female dog originally cast was released.

In which country was The Muppet Show taped after American networks turned Jim Henson down?

England became the Muppets' home when British producer Lew Grade agreed to co-produce the series. Henson moved his creative team to tape it at ATV's Elstree Studios.

Which bald New York police lieutenant of 1970s television swapped cigarettes for lollipops?

Kojak, played by Telly Savalas, took up lollipops to cut down on his own smoking, and they became as much his trademark as 'Who loves ya, baby?'

Which Let's Make a Deal host gave his name to a famous probability puzzle about three doors?

Monty Hall understood the puzzle well: he demonstrated it to a reporter with car keys and explained how his real game differed from its rules.

Which headwear did Fess Parker's Davy Crockett turn into a 1950s merchandise boom for Disney?

Coonskin caps were among more than $300 million of Davy Crockett merchandise that Americans had bought by the end of 1955.

Gene Roddenberry's first draft pitched Star Trek as which TV Western 'to the stars'?

Wagon Train fit the pitch because each episode was to be a self-contained adventure within one continuing voyage, through space instead of across the frontier.

Which spy series briefed its team leader with a tape that would 'self-destruct in five seconds'?

Mission: Impossible made the word 'self-destruct' so popular that the series is sometimes wrongly credited with inventing it.

On The A-Team, B.A. Baracus must be drugged or knocked out before teammates can get him to do what?

Getting B.A. to board an aircraft is a running battle, worst when Murdock is the pilot. His usual protest is 'I ain't gettin' on no plane!'

Which Fantasy Island character rings the tower bell and shouts 'De plane! De plane!'?

Tattoo was played by Hervé Villechaize, the energetic sidekick to Ricardo Montalbán's cultured Mr. Roarke until the end of the sixth season.

What name did the Duke boys give the orange 1969 Charger they race around Hazzard County?

General Lee had its doors welded shut, so the Dukes climbed in and out through the windows. Its horn played the first 12 notes of 'Dixie'.

Which make and model of car played KITT, David Hasselhoff's talking partner in Knight Rider?

A Pontiac Trans Am, modified by customizer Michael Scheffe, played the car, whose name is short for Knight Industries Two Thousand.

On Charlie's Angels, how does unseen boss Charlie Townsend give the detectives their assignments?

Over a speakerphone was as close as he came: John Forsythe recorded Charlie's lines in an audio studio and was never on set.

Which former astronaut is rebuilt with bionic implants in The Six Million Dollar Man?

Steve Austin proved popular enough to launch a spin-off, The Bionic Woman, in which tennis pro Jaime Sommers is rebuilt after a skydiving accident.

What do the remedial students taught by Gabe Kotter in Welcome Back, Kotter call themselves?

The Sweathogs attend James Buchanan High in Brooklyn, modelled on the real high school that star Gabe Kaplan attended.

Which sitcom follows two brothers from Harlem taken in by a wealthy Park Avenue businessman?

Diff'rent Strokes had the working title 45 Minutes from Harlem, even though Harlem is only ten to fifteen minutes from the Upper East Side.

Which Hollywood director opened his TV anthology by stepping into a line drawing of his own profile?

Alfred Hitchcock drew the caricature himself, and its music, Gounod's 'Funeral March of a Marionette', became tied to him for good.

Which TV band was cast through 1965 trade-paper ads seeking 'Folk & Roll Musicians-Singers'?

The Monkees grew from an idea Bob Rafelson had as early as 1960. Nobody wanted a series about a music group until rock and roll took hold of pop culture.

Which police drama had Sergeant Phil Esterhaus end roll call with 'Let's be careful out there'?

Hill Street Blues kept the line until actor Michael Conrad died partway through the fourth season. Sergeant Lucy Bates then carried it on as a tribute.

Which character is the only person the talking horse Mister Ed will speak to?

Wilbur Post was played by Alan Young, while the horse's voice came uncredited from former Western film actor Allan Lane.

On Laverne & Shirley, the two roommates work as bottle-cappers for which beer maker?

Shotz gives the roommates their day jobs; at home they reach upstairs neighbours Lenny and Squiggy by screaming up the dumbwaiter shaft.

In The Odd Couple, what is the profession of slovenly Oscar Madison, flatmate of fussy Felix Unger?

Sportswriter Oscar takes Felix in after Felix's wife throws him out. On television Felix became a photographer instead of the play's news writer.

St. Elsewhere's finale suggests the whole medical drama was imagined by a boy staring into what?

A snow globe holding a replica of St. Eligius fills the final shot, leaving viewers to conclude the series lived in young Tommy Westphall's imagination.

Which Western starred Chuck Connors as Lucas McCain, a widowed rancher raising his son Mark?

The Rifleman was named for McCain's customised Winchester Model 1892, an anachronism in a show set in the 1880s.

What name is used by Richard Boone's gentleman gunfighter for hire in Have Gun – Will Travel?

Paladin borrowed the name of the foremost knights in Charlemagne's court. He charged rich clients $1,000 a job but helped the poor for free.

Which 1960s sci-fi anthology opened with 'There is nothing wrong with your television set'?

The Outer Limits had its Control Voice, performed by actor Vic Perrin, follow that calm opening with the warning 'We are controlling transmission.'

Which gothic daytime soap set in Collinsport, Maine, made a star of vampire Barnabas Collins?

Dark Shadows began as a family saga, but creator Dan Curtis had always wanted to do a vampire picture, so Barnabas arrived within its first year.

Which stand-up comedian hosted the very first episode of Saturday Night Live on October 11, 1975?

George Carlin hosted while the show was still called NBC's Saturday Night, because a rival ABC programme was already using the Saturday Night Live name.

Which All in the Family spin-off starred Bea Arthur as Edith Bunker's liberal cousin?

Maude was written as Archie Bunker's political and social opposite, a natural foil. Her own housekeeper, Florida Evans, was later spun off into Good Times.

Which sassy waitress at Mel's Diner on the sitcom Alice tells people to 'Kiss my grits'?

Flo's catchphrase caught on so well that her replacement was handed a rival put-down, 'butter my biscuits!', in an attempt to repeat the trick.

Which rigged 1950s quiz show ordered champion Herb Stempel to lose to professor Charles Van Doren?

Twenty-One unravelled after a disgruntled Stempel tried to blow the whistle, and the quiz show scandals that followed nearly killed off the whole genre.

The Partridge Family, touring in a Mondrian-style school bus, were loosely based on which real band?

The Cowsills, a real family pop group of the late 1960s, were even considered to play the roles themselves before the parts went to actors instead.

On Green Acres, what kind of animal is Arnold, whom the Ziffels treat as their son?

A pig who lives indoors and is thoroughly pampered, Arnold starred in a two-part episode that TV Guide later ranked among its 100 greatest of all time.

Which host of NBC's Texaco Star Theatre from 1948 was known to viewers as 'Mr. Television'?

Milton Berle was the first major American television star, and millions of viewers also knew him by a cosier nickname, 'Uncle Miltie'.

In the 1970s series Kung Fu, blind Master Po calls his young student Caine by which nickname?

Grasshopper came from a playful lesson in awareness, when the old teacher pointed out the insect that happened to be at the boy's feet.

Which real-life Prohibition agent did Robert Stack play in the 1959 series The Untouchables?

Eliot Ness never saw the fame: he died suddenly in May 1957, shortly before his memoir and its TV adaptation made him a household name.

Which mute clown spoke his only words, 'Goodbye, kids', as Howdy Doody's final broadcast ended?

Clarabell had only honked a horn and squirted seltzer until then. Lew Anderson spoke the line; the first Clarabell, Bob Keeshan, went on to become Captain Kangaroo.

In Newhart's finale, Bob wakes beside which actress, his wife on The Bob Newhart Show?

Suzanne Pleshette's return as Emily turned the entire series into a dream of Dr. Bob Hartley, the lead character of the earlier sitcom.

Which child star of The Andy Griffith Show grew up to play Richie Cunningham on Happy Days?

Ron Howard later moved behind the camera and won the Academy Award for Best Director for A Beautiful Mind.

Which actress played man-hungry Sue Ann Nivens in the 1970s and naive Rose Nylund in the 1980s?

Betty White was originally offered the role of Blanche, while Rue McClanahan was offered Rose, parts closer to their earlier sitcom characters.

Which actor played Little Joe on Bonanza and then Charles Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie?

Michael Landon appeared on the cover of TV Guide 22 times, and went on to a third long-running hit as Jonathan Smith in Highway to Heaven.

Which actor, later TV's Jed Clampett, lost the Tin Man role in The Wizard of Oz when makeup made him ill?

Buddy Ebsen was first cast as the Scarecrow and swapped parts with Ray Bolger, then fell seriously ill from the aluminum dust in his makeup.

Which future Hollywood star rode the cattle trail as Rowdy Yates on the TV Western Rawhide?

Clint Eastwood was not especially happy in the role: he was almost 30, and found Rowdy too young and cloddish for his comfort.

Which actor played astronaut Tony Nelson on I Dream of Jeannie and oilman J.R. on Dallas?

Larry Hagman had show business in the blood: his mother, Mary Martin, became a Broadway actress and musical comedy star after he was born.

Which actress starred as a boy-crazy surfer in Gidget and then took to the air in The Flying Nun?

Sally Field left sitcoms behind to win two Academy Awards for Best Actress, for Norma Rae and Places in the Heart.

Which Magnum, P.I. star had to pass on the role of Indiana Jones because of his TV commitment?

Tom Selleck's producers would not release him for other projects, so the lead in Raiders of the Lost Ark went to Harrison Ford instead.

Which actor played the title roles in both Perry Mason and the detective series Ironside?

Raymond Burr, a Canadian, also turned up in the 1956 film Godzilla, King of the Monsters! and came back for Godzilla 1985.

Which actor, the older brother of Peter Graves, played Marshal Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke?

James Arness played Dillon in five decades, from the weekly series to TV films in the 1990s. His brother took the stage name Graves partly to avoid confusion with him.

Which married pop duo closed their 1970s CBS comedy hour by singing 'I Got You Babe'?

Sonny and Cher saw the show cancelled in 1974 because of their divorce, yet they reunited on screen two years later for a similar series.