Battle of the Network Stars
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40 free Battle of the Network Stars trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
For twelve years, American television's biggest names swapped scripts for running shoes. Battle of the Network Stars sent sitcom leads, soap stars and action heroes from ABC, CBS and NBC onto the track, into the pool and across the obstacle course, and the actors took it far more seriously than anyone expected. This quiz covers the whole run: who captained which network, who commentated, which events decided the day, and the rivalries people still talk about. The two 1978 specials get close attention, from the May edition to the November one, with their mix of sitcom veterans and future household names. It is written for anyone who watched the specials when they aired, and for fans of 1970s and 1980s television who know the casts better than the scores. The 2017 revival and the spin-offs are here too.
30 of 40 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which future late-night host competed for CBS at the November 1978 Battle of the Network Stars?
David Letterman
David Letterman had been a cast member of Mary, Mary Tyler Moore's CBS variety show, cancelled that autumn after three episodes. His own late-night show was still several years away.
Q 02Which stand-up comedian, new to ABC that fall, competed at the November 1978 Battle of the Network Stars?
Robin Williams
Robin Williams joined the ABC team barely two months after Mork & Mindy premiered and made him a star. His side lost to NBC.
Q 03Which Charlie's Angels star competed for ABC at the very first Battle of the Network Stars in 1976?
Farrah Fawcett
Farrah Fawcett, billed then as Farrah Fawcett-Majors, was on ABC's winning team in 1976. Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd each took a turn the following year.
Q 04Which final event decided the winner between the last two teams at each original Battle of the Network Stars?
Tug of war
Tug of war settled every contest after the lowest-scoring network was eliminated. By one captain's account, a single pull stayed deadlocked for more than 14 minutes.
Q 05Which blunt boxing and football commentator hosted nearly every original Battle of the Network Stars?
Howard Cosell
Howard Cosell missed only the 1985 edition, the one staged abroad, and came back for the final special in 1988.
Q 06Which Southern California university's sports facilities hosted nearly every original Battle of the Network Stars?
Pepperdine
Pepperdine overlooks Malibu, and ABC went back to the same campus when it revived the show in 2017.
Q 07Which future Oscar-winning director competed for ABC as a sitcom actor at the first two Battle of the Network Stars?
Ron Howard
Ron Howard was still starring in Happy Days when he competed in 1976 and 1977. He later won the Best Director Oscar for A Beautiful Mind.
Q 08Which A-Team actor captained the NBC team at the November 1983 Battle of the Network Stars?
Mr. T
Mr. T took charge of NBC's team in the year The A-Team premiered, having competed as a regular member that spring. ABC won both times.
Q 09Catskills entertainer Lou Goldstein led the celebrities in which playground game on Battle of the Network Stars?
Simon Says
Simon Says was a regular event, directed by Lou Goldstein of Grossinger's, the famous Catskills resort hotel.
Q 10The 18th Battle of the Network Stars, in 1985, was the only one staged outside the United States, in which country?
Mexico
Mexico hosted the 1985 special at the Pacific resort of Ixtapa. It was also the only original edition without the show's usual host.
Q 11Which ABC captain won a head-to-head run-off race after a disputed relay at the first Battle of the Network Stars?
Gabe Kaplan
Gabe Kaplan, the Welcome Back, Kotter comedian, came from behind to beat NBC's furious captain, and ABC went on to win the first title.
Q 12Which Battle of the Network Stars captain for NBC once sent a kayak and instructor to a fellow contestant's home?
Robert Conrad
Robert Conrad wanted her to practise the kayak event in her own pool. He captained NBC to three wins in the 1970s, including the November 1978 edition.
Q 13Which sitcom veteran, famed as a fussy neat freak, captained CBS to victory at the May 1978 Battle of the Network Stars?
Tony Randall
Q 21Battle of the Network Stars borrowed its format from which ABC show where athletes tried one another's sports?
Superstars
Superstars had been a ratings hit for ABC, so executives reused its format with primetime actors in place of professional athletes.
Q 22Which mixed martial arts champion was a permanent team coach on ABC's 2017 Battle of the Network Stars revival?
Ronda Rousey
Ronda Rousey, also an Olympic judo bronze medallist, led the red team all season opposite a Super Bowl champion.
Q 23Which Super Bowl 50 winner coached a team throughout ABC's 2017 revival of Battle of the Network Stars?
DeMarcus Ware
Tony Randall, The Odd Couple's Felix Unger, led CBS to its first win after the network had lost the first three contests.
Q 14Which actor famous from M*A*S*H captained the CBS team at the November 1978 Battle of the Network Stars?
McLean Stevenson
McLean Stevenson, who had played Henry Blake, was starring in the sitcom In the Beginning that year. NBC won the day.
Q 15Which star of a CBS superhero series competed at Battle of the Network Stars in November 1978 and May 1979?
Lou Ferrigno
Lou Ferrigno, the bodybuilder who played the Hulk, came back almost 40 years later for ABC's 2017 revival, on the Sci-Fi Fantasy team.
Q 16Which former UCLA quarterback captained NBC's winning team at the December 1984 Battle of the Network Stars?
Mark Harmon
Mark Harmon started at quarterback for UCLA in 1972 and 1973 before turning to acting, and competed in four Battles in all.
Q 17Which Dynasty actress competed for ABC in five consecutive Battle of the Network Stars from 1982 to 1984?
Heather Locklear
Heather Locklear was appearing in two ABC hits at once, Dynasty and T.J. Hooker, and three of her five teams won.
Q 18Which Happy Days actor appeared at seven Battle of the Network Stars from 1979 to 1984, once as ABC captain?
Scott Baio
Scott Baio competed six times for ABC, captaining the team in November 1981, and co-hosted the May 1984 edition.
Q 19Which 1977 Hanna-Barbera cartoon spoofed Battle of the Network Stars with teams of animated characters?
Laff-A-Lympics
Laff-A-Lympics set Scooby-Doo's and Yogi Bear's teams against the cheating Really Rottens, a year after the live-action specials began.
Q 20Which sketch comedy series parodied Battle of the Network Stars with a contest called Battle of the PBS Stars?
SCTV
SCTV's version had William F. Buckley Jr. and Carl Sagan as rival captains, and a boxing match between Mister Rogers and Julia Child.
DeMarcus Ware had retired from the NFL only that March. His blue team met a side coached by an MMA champion every week.
Q 24Each episode of ABC's 2017 Battle of the Network Stars opened by remaking which older ABC show's title sequence?
Wide World of Sports
Wide World of Sports was ABC's long-running anthology, whose opening montage famously included a ski jumper's spectacular crash.
Q 25On ABC's 2017 Battle of the Network Stars, actors who had played White House staff faced a team of which TV profession?
Lawyers
Lawyers lost that match-up. The revival grouped stars by the roles they had played because network-against-network teams no longer made sense.
Q 26Which cable channel aired the 2005 reality-TV spin-off of Battle of the Network Stars?
Bravo
Bravo's Battle of the Network Reality Stars ran in the summer of 2005 with thirty-three contestants drawn from other reality shows.
Q 27Which CBS detective-drama star captained his network's team at the first Battle of the Network Stars in 1976?
Telly Savalas
Telly Savalas, TV's Kojak, was seen puffing a cigarette on the sidelines as his team headed for third place, and he captained CBS again in 1977.
Q 28Which former New York Giants star co-hosted the November 1978 Battle of the Network Stars?
Frank Gifford
Frank Gifford was already a familiar ABC voice as the play-by-play announcer on Monday Night Football when he shared the hosting job.
Q 29Which Three's Company star co-hosted the May 1978 Battle of the Network Stars after competing the previous autumn?
Suzanne Somers
Suzanne Somers competed for ABC in November 1977, then moved to the commentary team six months later. Castmate Joyce DeWitt made the same switch in 1980.
Q 30Which Good Times star captained CBS in November 1977 and returned for ABC's 2017 Battle of the Network Stars revival?
Jimmie Walker
Jimmie Walker competed in three of the first four Battles and, four decades on, joined the 2017 revival's TV Kids team.