Sitcom Trivia Thread: 03/07

All answered correctly (BTW, Seagren’s character was Dennis Phillips) except #15.

No, actually, there was a Sheriff Justice in Florida. The character was based upon Gleason’s recollection of him. Sheriff Justice used to say “Sumbitch” IRL and Gleason copied that too.

Sgt Schwartz

Was it something like Special Accessories for Women, and located next to Gary’s Shoes?

I was gonna guess High-Five, but it’s Vita-Brite Health Tonic.

Florida: VITA-BRITE is VITA-BOOZE!

Nope. Hint: it wasn’t local.

Question: On The Andy Griffith Show, Jack Dodson played Howard Sprague the County Clerk. In the middle of playing this character and for one show only, what other character did he play and what was his occupation?

Was that the episode where Floyd had been corresponding with some gal from out of town, and needed someone to play his son? Was Howard the one who pretended to be Floyd’s son?

No, that’s not the one. He was an entirely different character and not just Howard posing as someone else.

No, that was Andy. (Floyd did have a son- he played saxophone in one episode when they thought the shoe salesman was a talent scout- but either he moved away or died because they never referred to him or Floyd’s wife [mentioned in the pilot when Floyd was played by another actor] again.)

I know it’s not the answer to the question and I won’t cheat by going to imdb, but my favorite Jack Dodson roles were both on Barney Miller, where he played two different characters. One was a serial killer whose victims were barbers who gave him bad haircuts. (Dodson to Wojo:Now you have a great haircut… I’m not even going to guess how many barbers you had to kill before you found the one who did that.)

On another episode he was a Casper Milquetoast-y gun collector who surprised the detectives by refusing to press charges against the burglars who stole his extremely extensive collection (muskets, blunderbusses, etc.). Finally they guessed “my little secret”, which is that in addition to the historical weapons he had tons of illegal firearms including a bazooka and several submachine guns.

Sampiro, sorry for killing your thread (I tend to do that); it looked like it was going to be fund adn I was so looking forward to playing. Let me know if you want me to answer the last question I asked, if this thread stays dead.

A related question:

Which MAS*H character was abruptly cast out after just a handful of episodes, and why? When I say they were cast out, that means they just disappeared - no explanation whatsoever.

(And no fair scouring through IMDB!)

Does it count if I guessed, and went to IMDB to confirm?

Spearchucker is probably the name you’re looking for.

Re: WKRP in Cincinnati

We all know Venus Flytrap’s real name was Gordon Simms, but what name did he initially choose when he became a DJ?

Also, what did Gordon Simms do that could have had him sent to prison?

Finally, what does Johnny Carvella do before he enters a room?

Sgt Schwartz

That is the character, but doesn’t explain why he disappeared.

John Orchard played Ugly John the anesthesiologist in a few episodes in the first season, then dissappeared along with Spearchucker.

OK, your two hours are up. <i>BZZZT!</i>

Ugly John was a fairly significant supporting character at the start, but he just sort of dwindled off through the first season, another face passing through the Army.

Spearchucker, on the other hand, was erased after the fifth episode when the producers became aware that there were no African-American surgeons in the Korean War. Rather than continue the anachronism, they just yanked him without explanation.

I know the first two answers, but I want to give others a chance to participate in the thread.*

  • And I want to bump it.

Gordon Simms was a draft dodger.

Dead on for your answer 5 time champ.

The third is kind of obscure, I will admit.
Sgt Schwartz