Classic TV Series

38 questions · Answers revealed below each question · Print this set

1.Which quiz show saw contestant Ken Jennings win 74 consecutive games in 2004?
- A. Jeopardy!
- B. Wheel of Fortune
- C. Family Feud
- D. The Price Is Right
Show answer
Jeopardy!
Did you know? Ken Jennings's 74-game winning streak on Jeopardy! ended in 2004.
2.Which TV western crossed the frontier episode by episode from 1957?
- A. Daniel Boone
- B. Rawhide
- C. Wagon Train
- D. Little House on the Prairie
Show answer
Wagon Train
Did you know? Wagon Train was inspired by the 1950 film Wagonmaster.
3.Which classic TV series granted guests' dreams on Ricardo Montalbán's island from 1977?
- A. Fantasy Island
- B. The Partridge Family
- C. Baywatch
- D. The Bionic Woman
Show answer
Fantasy Island
Did you know? Fantasy Island's assistant Tattoo announced "The plane! The plane!".
4.Which 1960 event made televised debates a fixture of American presidential campaigns?
- A. the first Super Bowl
- B. the moon landing
- C. the Watergate hearings
- D. the Kennedy-Nixon debates
Show answer
the Kennedy-Nixon debates
Did you know? The 1960 Kennedy-Nixon debates showed television's power in presidential politics.
5.Which 1990s series about California lifeguards became, at its peak, the most-watched TV series worldwide?
- A. Baywatch
- B. The A-Team
- C. MacGyver
- D. Knight Rider
Show answer
Baywatch
Did you know? Baywatch reached viewers in dozens of countries at its 1990s peak.
6.Which TV western kept Marshal Matt Dillon in Dodge City from 1955 to 1975?
- A. Gunsmoke
- B. Daniel Boone
- C. Maverick
- D. The Big Valley
Show answer
Gunsmoke
Did you know? Gunsmoke ran twenty seasons, the record for western series.
7.Which classic TV series spun off two brewery workers into their own 1976 hit?
- A. The Andy Griffith Show
- B. Laverne & Shirley
- C. The Dick Van Dyke Show
- D. Knight Rider
Show answer
Laverne & Shirley
Did you know? Laverne & Shirley was TV's top-rated show at its late-1970s peak.
8.Which videocassette format won the home-recording market war of the late 1970s and 1980s?
- A. Video 2000
- B. Betamax
- C. LaserDisc
- D. VHS
Show answer
VHS
Did you know? VHS outsold Sony's Betamax format through the 1980s home-video war.
9.Which American crime drama passed Gunsmoke's record for most seasons of a primetime scripted series with its 21st season in 2022?
- A. Gunsmoke
- B. Law & Order
- C. Grey's Anatomy
- D. ER
Show answer
Law & Order
Did you know? Law & Order premiered in 1990 and reached its 21st season in 2022.
10.Which TV western frontiered the famous Kentucky pioneer for NBC from 1964?
- A. Maverick
- B. Rawhide
- C. Little House on the Prairie
- D. Daniel Boone
Show answer
Daniel Boone
Did you know? Daniel Boone starred Fess Parker, TV's earlier Davy Crockett.
11.Which classic TV series headlined a star variety hour on CBS from 1967 to 1978?
- A. Hawaii Five-O
- B. The Bionic Woman
- C. The Carol Burnett Show
- D. The Love Boat
Show answer
The Carol Burnett Show
Did you know? The Carol Burnett Show's star-and-gown parody sketch spoofed Gone with the Wind.
12.Which TV western masked the Texas Ranger behind "Hi-Yo Silver" from 1949?
- A. Have Gun – Will Travel
- B. Deadwood
- C. Wagon Train
- D. The Lone Ranger
Show answer
The Lone Ranger
Did you know? The Lone Ranger rode with his companion Tonto.
13.Which classic TV series set comedy inside a World War II prisoner-of-war camp in 1965?
- A. Wonder Woman
- B. Hogan's Heroes
- C. Kung Fu
- D. Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
Show answer
Hogan's Heroes
Did you know? Hogan's Heroes ran six seasons with Bob Crane as Colonel Hogan.
14.Which classic TV series sent the IMF team on self-destructing assignments from 1966?
- A. The Wonder Years
- B. Mission: Impossible
- C. WKRP in Cincinnati
- D. Northern Exposure
Show answer
Mission: Impossible
Did you know? Mission: Impossible's tape announcements began "Your mission, should you decide to accept it...".
15.Which classic TV series built comedy around one man sharing an apartment with two women in 1977?
- A. The Andy Griffith Show
- B. Three's Company
- C. Happy Days
- D. Wonder Woman
Show answer
Three's Company
Did you know? Three's Company starred John Ritter as the accident-prone Jack Tripper.
16.Which classic TV series introduced macabre short stories from 1955 to 1965?
- A. Kung Fu
- B. Alfred Hitchcock Presents
- C. Fantasy Island
- D. The Twilight Zone
Show answer
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Did you know? Hitchcock's droll introductions became the series' signature.
17.Which classic TV series sailed a cruise ship full of guest stars on ABC from 1977?
- A. The Beverly Hillbillies
- B. I Love Lucy
- C. The Love Boat
- D. Quantum Leap
Show answer
The Love Boat
Did you know? The Love Boat was filmed aboard real Pacific Princess cruises.
18.Which classic TV series moved an oil-rich mountain family to California in 1962?
- A. Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
- B. Charlie's Angels
- C. The Beverly Hillbillies
- D. Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Show answer
The Beverly Hillbillies
Did you know? The Beverly Hillbillies became a top-rated hit within its first weeks on CBS.
19.Which classic TV series filmed mythic adventures in New Zealand from 1995?
- A. Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
- B. The Mary Tyler Moore Show
- C. The Dick Van Dyke Show
- D. Thirtysomething
Show answer
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
Did you know? Hercules: The Legendary Journeys starred Kevin Sorbo and spun off Xena.
20.Which classic TV series followed a widowed mother and her musical children from 1970?
- A. The Partridge Family
- B. The Bionic Woman
- C. The Carol Burnett Show
- D. Thirtysomething
Show answer
The Partridge Family
Did you know? The Partridge Family's bus became one of TV's most recognizable vehicles.
21.Which TV western hired gentleman gunfighter Paladin from 1957?
- A. Deadwood
- B. Maverick
- C. Little House on the Prairie
- D. Have Gun – Will Travel
Show answer
Have Gun – Will Travel
Did you know? Have Gun – Will Travel's Paladin carried a chess-knight calling card.
22.Which classic TV series practiced law at a Los Angeles firm from 1986 to 1994?
- A. L.A. Law
- B. M*A*S*H
- C. Murphy Brown
- D. Get Smart
Show answer
L.A. Law
Did you know? L.A. Law won the Outstanding Drama Series Emmy four times.
23.Which production company, co-founded by Lucille Ball, once owned the former RKO studio lot?
- A. Desilu Productions
- B. RKO Pictures
- C. Paramount Pictures
- D. MGM
Show answer
Desilu Productions
Did you know? Desilu Productions co-founded by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz bought RKO's lot in 1957.
24.Which Irish talk show, running since 1962, is often cited as the world's longest-running talk show?
- A. The Tonight Show
- B. The Late Late Show
- C. Late Night
- D. The Late Show
Show answer
The Late Late Show
Did you know? Ireland's The Late Late Show has aired on RTÉ since 1962.
25.Which TV western ran the Barkley ranch in 1870s California from 1965?
- A. Have Gun – Will Travel
- B. Bonanza
- C. The Big Valley
- D. The Lone Ranger
Show answer
The Big Valley
Did you know? The Big Valley starred Barbara Stanwyck as matriarch Victoria.
26.Which classic TV series chronicled Philadelphia baby boomers for ABC from 1987?
- A. The Prisoner
- B. WKRP in Cincinnati
- C. Northern Exposure
- D. Thirtysomething
Show answer
Thirtysomething
Did you know? Thirtysomething won the Outstanding Drama Series Emmy in 1988.
27.Which 1950 Zenith device was the first television remote control?
- A. the Flashmatic
- B. the Clicker
- C. Space Command
- D. Lazy Bones
Show answer
Lazy Bones
Did you know? Zenith's wired Lazy Bones remote premiered in 1950.
28.Which TV western armed Chuck Connors with a modified Winchester from 1958?
- A. Daniel Boone
- B. The Rifleman
- C. Bonanza
- D. Wagon Train
Show answer
The Rifleman
Did you know? The Rifleman's rifle could be fired by a lever trigger.
29.Which classic TV series spoofed secret agents under Mel Brooks and Buck Henry in 1965?
- A. Baywatch
- B. Laverne & Shirley
- C. I Love Lucy
- D. Get Smart
Show answer
Get Smart
Did you know? Get Smart starred Don Adams as bumbling agent Maxwell Smart.
30.Which TV western dealt card-sharp adventures to ABC from 1957?
- A. Little House on the Prairie
- B. Wagon Train
- C. Have Gun – Will Travel
- D. Maverick
Show answer
Maverick
Did you know? Maverick starred James Garner as the reluctant gunslinger Bret Maverick.
31.Which classic TV series sent a young doctor to rustic Alaska on CBS from 1990?
- A. The Twilight Zone
- B. Bewitched
- C. Northern Exposure
- D. L.A. Law
Show answer
Northern Exposure
Did you know? Northern Exposure won the Outstanding Drama Series Emmy in 1992.
32.Which classic TV series ran a flailing Ohio radio station from 1978?
- A. MacGyver
- B. WKRP in Cincinnati
- C. Murphy Brown
- D. Baywatch
Show answer
WKRP in Cincinnati
Did you know? WKRP's "turkey drop" episode remains a Thanksgiving cult favorite.
33.Which classic TV series starred David Carradine as a wandering Shaolin monk from 1972?
- A. The Beverly Hillbillies
- B. Kung Fu
- C. The Bionic Woman
- D. Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
Show answer
Kung Fu
Did you know? Kung Fu's hero, Kwai Chang Caine, wandered the 1870s American West.
34.Which classic TV series followed California Highway Patrol motor officers from 1977?
- A. Twin Peaks
- B. Hawaii Five-O
- C. CHiPs
- D. The Prisoner
Show answer
CHiPs
Did you know? CHiPs starred Erik Estrada as officer Frank Ponch Poncherello.
35.Which classic TV series exploded with rapid-fire sketch comedy from 1968?
- A. The Dick Van Dyke Show
- B. The Outer Limits
- C. Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
- D. CHiPs
Show answer
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Did you know? Laugh-In launched Goldie Hawn to stardom and coined "Sock it to me!".
36.Which classic TV series opened "control of the vertical and the horizontal" in 1963?
- A. Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
- B. The Outer Limits
- C. Bewitched
- D. The Twilight Zone
Show answer
The Outer Limits
Did you know? The Outer Limits served as The Twilight Zone's black-and-white sci-fi rival.
37.Which classic TV series anchored a network newsmagazine with Candice Bergen from 1988?
- A. The Dick Van Dyke Show
- B. The A-Team
- C. Knight Rider
- D. Murphy Brown
Show answer
Murphy Brown
Did you know? Murphy Brown ran ten seasons and won Candice Bergen five Emmys.
38.Which classic TV series imprisoned a resigned agent in the village of Portmeirion in 1967?
- A. The Partridge Family
- B. Hawaii Five-O
- C. Murphy Brown
- D. The Prisoner
Show answer
The Prisoner
Did you know? The Prisoner filmed its 1967 allegory in the Welsh resort of Portmeirion.

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