# I need hard science fiction and fantasy trivia quesstions **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 11, 2020, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-hard-science-fiction-and-fantasy-trivia-quesstions/847762 "2020-02-11T03:32:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-hard-science-fiction-and-fantasy-trivia-quesstions/847762/61 "2020-02-11T18:18:26Z")
Thanks, read it. i wouldnt spend a whole five dollars on fiction unless i went to the minimal effort of googling the writer. i am remarkably parsimonious. Was just curious as to your (and others) take on the guy. And I’ll start with “Little Black Bag.” Thanx again! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-hard-science-fiction-and-fantasy-trivia-quesstions/847762/62 "2020-02-11T18:25:27Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Thanks, read it. i wouldn’t spend a whole five dollars on fiction unless i went to the minimal effort of googling the writer. i am remarkably parsimonious. I’m wrong on a detail – they reprinted _The Best of Cordwainer Smith_ as _The Rediscovery of Man_. I hadn’t realized that it was the same collection under a different name – [Title: The Best of Cordwainer Smith](http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?27382) Not to be confused with the NESFA collection called _The Rediscovery of Man_. The NESFA edition contains all of Smith’s Future History stories except for Norstilia (which got its own book – it’s a novel, after all), including the previously unpublished version of “War No. 81-Q” – [Title: The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Short Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith](http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?36843) The Ballantine/Del Rey/Doubleday version actually only contains about half of the stories. For most of the rest you had to buy the Ballantine/Del Rey/Doubleday book _The Instrumentality of Mankind_ –[Publication: The Instrumentality of Mankind](http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?42105) And you still wouldn’t have the three stories in the Ace paperback _Quest of the Three Worlds_. – [Publication: Quest of the Three Worlds](http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?27185) ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-hard-science-fiction-and-fantasy-trivia-quesstions/847762/63 "2020-02-11T18:52:36Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > 5.) Before they appeared in _Star Trek_, James Doohan and William Shatner both appeared as regular cast member in what other TV show? > > Both were in the Canadian version of _Howdy Doody_, which was different from the US production. That show also introduced a magical box that could travel anywhere in space and time, which was probably the origin of the tARDIS. [Amazingly, there’s another answer.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Command_(TV_series)) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-hard-science-fiction-and-fantasy-trivia-quesstions/847762/64 "2020-02-11T19:22:57Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > [Amazingly, there’s another answer.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Command_(TV_series)) I am truly impressed. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-hard-science-fiction-and-fantasy-trivia-quesstions/847762/65 "2020-02-11T20:15:08Z")
Here’s a little quiz i made up a few years ago; you’re welcome to use any of the questions you like: [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=597375&highlight=quiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=597375&highlight=quiz) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-hard-science-fiction-and-fantasy-trivia-quesstions/847762/66 "2020-02-11T22:36:39Z")
Characters in WATCHMEN were replacements for existing comic-book superheroes; Doctor Manhattan swapped in for Captain Atom, and Nite Owl for the Blue Beetle. What character with a doubly-phallic name was the original for Ozymandias? Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-hard-science-fiction-and-fantasy-trivia-quesstions/847762/67 "2020-02-11T23:51:13Z")
In which Star Trek (original series) episode do we see Sulu in the captain’s chair? And why is he there, given that Kirk and Spock are on the bridge at the same time? Is There in Truth No Beauty? He’s there because Spock, who’s been driven temporarily insane, has shoved him him there. In Lois Lowry’s novel _The Giver_, which character is referred to as a “girl”, rather than a “female”? Fiona. This only happens once, so it may be just an error on the author’s part. In the film and TV versions of Alien Nation, Detective Francisco uses different first names. They are… Sam in the film, George on TV. From which Hugo Award-winning novelette does the following exchange repeatedly occur: “You have a purpose.” “Therefore I serve.” “The Secret Life of Bots”, by Suzanne Palmer ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2020, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-hard-science-fiction-and-fantasy-trivia-quesstions/847762/68 "2020-02-12T00:08:22Z")
Somebody post a trivia question about the late Buck Henry’s teevee show **Quark** (1977). I don’t know enough about it, just that I’m in love with the Bettys. > **[Quark (TV series)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quark_(TV_series))** > > Quark is a 1977 American science fiction sitcom starring Richard Benjamin. Broadcast on Friday nights at 8:00–8:30 p.m. on NBC, the pilot aired on May 7, 1977, and the series followed as a mid-season replacement in February 1978. The series was cancelled in April 1978. Quark was created by Buck Henry, co-creator of the spy spoof Get Smart. > The show was set on a United Galaxy Sanitation Patrol Cruiser, an interstellar garbage scow operating out of United Galaxy Space Station Perma One in the year... ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2020, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-hard-science-fiction-and-fantasy-trivia-quesstions/847762/69 "2020-02-12T00:17:27Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > 1. This major flop was the reason that Hollywood avoided big-budget science fiction films for twenty years. Name the film. > 2. What science fiction television show had the greatest number of individual episodes? (And, no, it’s not _Doctor Who_) 4 is Space Patrol with \> 1000 episodes (900 are 15 min long). Doctor Who is second I believe. Brian ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2020, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-hard-science-fiction-and-fantasy-trivia-quesstions/847762/70 "2020-02-12T00:27:00Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > On _3rd Rock from the Sun_, when Dick meets the Big Giant Head, they discover that they have an unusual experience in common. What was it? They both had journeys disrupted by a strange creature attempting to sabotage the vessel in which they were traveling. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2020, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-hard-science-fiction-and-fantasy-trivia-quesstions/847762/71 "2020-02-12T00:32:43Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Somebody post a trivia question about the late Buck Henry’s teevee show **Quark** (1977). > > I don’t know enough about it, just that I’m in love with the Bettys. > > [Quark (TV series) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quark_(TV_series)) Richard Benjamin was in _Made In America_ with Whoopi Goldberg, who was in _Jumpin’ Jack Flash_ with Stephen Collins, who was in _ST: The Movie_ with William Shatner. _Quark_ is 3 degrees from Shatner. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2020, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-hard-science-fiction-and-fantasy-trivia-quesstions/847762/72 "2020-02-12T00:40:41Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > 1. This major flop was the reason that Hollywood avoided big-budget science fiction films for twenty years. Name the film. > 2. What science fiction television show had the greatest number of individual episodes? (And, no, it’s not _Doctor Who_) 1. _Just Imagine_ an SF/musical featuring the long forgotten El Brendel. The movie had a major budget, but failed miserably (though the sets were reused). 2. _Captain Video_. It’s hard to come up with an episode count, but it ran 5 (and in the first year 6) episodes a week for almost six years. That hits around 1500 episodes, though I have no idea if it went on hiatus in the summer. It was unlikely to have been reruns, given the era. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2020, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-hard-science-fiction-and-fantasy-trivia-quesstions/847762/73 "2020-02-12T02:23:20Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > In which Star Trek (original series) episode do we see Sulu in the captain’s chair? And why is he there, given that Kirk and Spock are on the bridge at the same time? > > Is There in Truth No Beauty? He’s there because Spock, who’s been driven temporarily insane, has shoved him him there. IIRC, he was there in at least one other episode. I think it was “Errand of Mercy” as the \*Enterprise \*was returning to Organia to confront the Klingons. Kirk and Spock were both off the ship, and it was a Scotty-less episode. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2020, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-hard-science-fiction-and-fantasy-trivia-quesstions/847762/74 "2020-02-12T03:21:27Z")
In the original Star Trek series, Spock is occasionally seen using a hand held computer. What type of computer is it? Bonus question. when was it invented? it’s an [E6B aviation circular slide rule](https://www.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/1ahwft/mr_spock_using_a_computer_a_20th_century_flight/) - invented in 1937 ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2020, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-hard-science-fiction-and-fantasy-trivia-quesstions/847762/75 "2020-02-12T03:27:37Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > On _3rd Rock from the Sun_, when Dick meets the Big Giant Head, they discover that they have an unusual experience in common. What was it? **kaylasdad99** answered this, but there’s some added context. When the Solomons meet the Big Giant Head, he’s just gotten off an airplane. He says that there was a creature on the wing of the plane, and Dick says “the same thing happened to me!” It’s a reference to “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet”, from _The Twilight Zone_. William Shatner (the Big Giant Head) was in the original episode, and John Lithgow (Dick Solomon) played the same role in the Twilight Zone movie. > [@terentii](#): > > Yep. AKA Morgan Brittany, who played Pam Ewing’s crazy half-sister Katherine Wentworth, who “killed” Bobby Ewing at the end of Season 8. The \*\*\*TZ \*\*\*episode was “Valley of the Shadow.” > > Very good! 🆒 A few years ago I saw an episode of _The Twilight Zone_ (but not “Valley of the Shadow”) and something about the little girl must have looked familiar. I looked her up on IMDb and discovered that Suzanne Cupito took the stage name Morgan Brittany when she grew up. I hadn’t even known that she acted as a child. Checking now, she worked pretty steadily from childhood into adulthood. While we’re discussing trivia, it looks like she portrayed Vivien Leigh three times. I suppose the similarity is pretty striking. Hasn’t acted since 2007. Was never super famous; kinda surprised anyone else still remembers her. > [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Somebody post a trivia question about the late Buck Henry’s teevee show **Quark** (1977). Which one of the Bettys is the clone? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2020, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-hard-science-fiction-and-fantasy-trivia-quesstions/847762/76 "2020-02-12T03:28:03Z")
Miramanee’s Amerindians aside, what is the connection between _ **Star Trek** _ and the 1937 classic _ **Lost Horizon** _? By my count, 13 actors (male and female) guest starred on both _ **Star Trek: TOS** _ and the original _ **Lost in Space** _. Name at least five of them. By my count, 26 actors (male and female) guest starred on both _ **Star Trek: TOS** _ and Adam West’s _ **Batman** _, mostly as villains and villainesses. Name at least ten of them. Two of the guest stars on the original _ **Lost in Space** _ would go on to star in one of the most popular shows of the '80s. Name them. (Answers will be given below tomorrow.) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2020, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-hard-science-fiction-and-fantasy-trivia-quesstions/847762/77 "2020-02-12T03:36:01Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > In the original Star Trek series, Spock is occasionally seen using a hand held computer. What type of computer is it? Bonus question. when was it invented? > > it’s an [E6B aviation circular slide rule](https://www.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/1ahwft/mr_spock_using_a_computer_a_20th_century_flight/) - invented in 1937 I knew the answer to this before I saw the spoiler. IIRC, they were (probably still are) used to calculate air- and groundspeed. I always told myself the technology of the 23rd century had just developed something similar for calculating matter/anti-matter ratios and such. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2020, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-hard-science-fiction-and-fantasy-trivia-quesstions/847762/78 "2020-02-12T03:38:09Z")
\*\*\*TOS \*\*\*sets like \*Enterprise \*corridors and the courtyard on Cestus III often turned up in what other Desilu series of the period? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2020, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-hard-science-fiction-and-fantasy-trivia-quesstions/847762/79 "2020-02-12T03:40:47Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > By my count, 26 actors (male and female) guest starred on both _ **Star Trek: TOS** _ and Adam West’s _ **Batman** _, mostly as villains and villainesses. Name at least ten of them. Frank Gorshin Julie Newmar Lee Merriwether (if we’re counting the _Batman_ movie) Sherry Jackson Yvonne Craig I may think of more, but some of them would be guesses. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2020, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-hard-science-fiction-and-fantasy-trivia-quesstions/847762/80 "2020-02-12T03:51:16Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Frank Gorshin > Julie Newmar > Lee Merriwether (if we’re counting the _Batman_ movie) > Sherry Jackson > Yvonne Craig > > I may think of more, but some of them would be guesses. Very good. Lee was in both the movie and the series as different characters, only one of which was evil (Catwoman). In the other (a King Tut episode), she was a girlfriend of Bruce Wayne. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-hard-science-fiction-and-fantasy-trivia-quesstions/847762.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-hard-science-fiction-and-fantasy-trivia-quesstions/847762.md?page=5)