TV Trivia Mega-Quiz

Mary Jane Croft, better known as the friend of Lucy who wasn’t Ethel.

Because Walter Cronkite wouldn’t cross the picket line set up by the striking Writer’s Guild.

The obvious follow-up…What was the attorney’s name?

Handling my questions, in order:

  1. Answered correctly by Sublight

  2. Answered correctly by mobo85

  3. Answered correctly by Labdad

  4. Answered correctly by Labdad

  5. No response.

  6. Labdad has three. Cavett, as far as I know, did not work for Sid Caesar at any point. There are at least two more possible answers.

  7. kunilou has the right general reason, but the wrong union.

  8. No response.

  9. Answered correctly, on both parts, by mobo85.

  10. No response. Hint: They would both be adapted for American television.

[QUOTE=Governor Quinn]

  1. kunilou has the right general reason, but the wrong union.

[QUOTE]

Ummm. How about AFTRA?

I think his name was Overmeyer or something like that.

Yes, on both AFTRA and on (to spell his name correctly) Daniel Overmyer.

  1. How long did Overmyer’s network last?

  2. How many programs did it air?

  1. Two fairly notable British television programs were canceled in the run-up to the 1964 General Election (one for good, the other until the early 1970s). What programs were they?

Would one of them be “That Was the Week That Was?”

Yes indeedy!

Still a ton not answered: please check the OP. I know there’s some TV junkies out there!
To update: 6, 8, 11, 14, 16 & 19 have been answered correctly.

no other guesses?

That’s one.

Sopranos
35. Besides Vito Spatafore, Joseph Gannascoli played this character in show.

  1. What was the name of the retirement community that Tony and Paulie both put their mothers in?

  2. Who killed Vin Makaisian <sp>?

  3. What was Uncle Junior’s given name?

  4. Who or what killed Johnny Boy Soprano?

Why? Was it just a really stupid show, or did something controversial happen?

It was a really stupid show. The Wikipedia article makes it worse- there were no prizes other than whose name a bunch of CARE packages would be on.

  1. How many children did Felix have and what were their names?
  2. Which teen idol played one of them?
    Felix had two kids, Leonard and Edna

Leonard was played by Leif Garrett (I think).

Both correct.

one-time bump

First, an answer: The lawyer who replaced Cronkite for two weeks was Arnold Zenker.

Now, some more questions, again of a general and mixed nature:

  1. This dance instructor managed to have programs on all four networks in the 1950s.

  2. What was the name of his wife, who actually hosted those programs?

  3. According to Edie Adams, what happened to the DuMont television archives?

  4. At his peak, Arthur Godfrey had three programs in prime time running concurrent to one another. Name all three.

  5. What do Mike Wallace, Robert Trout, Douglas Edwards, and Walter Cronkite share with one another, besides a longtime association with CBS News?

  6. Of the “Big Three” television networks, two were at one point (pre-television) under the same corporate ownership. Which two were they?

  7. When under that ownership, what were those networks named?

  8. What two changes (one a technological advance, one a change in who was involved) are popularly claimed to have ended to “Golden Age” of live television drama?

  9. What was the third center for television production in the late 1940s and early 1950s?

  1. Of the “Big Three” television networks, two were at one point (pre-television) under the same corporate ownership. Which two were they?
    NBC & ABC

  2. When under that ownership, what were those networks named?
    NBC was NBC Blue; ABC was NBC Red

  3. What two changes (one a technological advance, one a change in who was involved) are popularly claimed to have ended to “Golden Age” of live television drama?
    Videotape?

  1. Correct.

  2. The order is wrong (ABC was the Blue Network), but I’ll give it to you anyway.

  3. That’s one half of it.

From the OP:

  1. Felix and Oscar’s exes names were Gloria and Blanche. In the film and play versions, which name was different?

Felix’s ex was named Frances in the film and play

  1. Who did Ted believe his real father was?

Eric Sevareid

Correct, GQ.
*40. This dance instructor managed to have programs on all four networks in the 1950s.

  1. What was the name of his wife, who actually hosted those programs?*

Arthur Murray and his wife Kathryn.

47. What two changes (one a technological advance, one a change in who was involved) are popularly claimed to have ended to “Golden Age” of live television drama?
Videotape?

And the other half was the move of television production (specifically writing) from NY to LA.

48. What was the third center for television production in the late 1940s and early 1950s?

Chicago

40, 41, and 48 are all correct. 47 also isn’t quite wrong, but there’s another trend in the late 1950’s connected to LA that is often used in these arguments.