Good morning.  Did you remember much about those zany characters on Laugh-In? Let’s check your answers:

Question No. 1:  Who were the hosts of Laugh-In?
Answer:  It was hosted by comedians Dan Rowan and Dick Martin and was broadcast by NBC.

Question No. 2:  Who played Wolfgang the German soldier and Tyrone F. Horneigh?
Answer:  Arte Johnson.

Question No. 3:  Who played the little girl, Edith Ann, and Ernestine, the obnoxious telephone operator?
Answer:  Lily Tomlin.

Question No. 4:  What U.S. Presidential candidate appeared on Laugh-In?
Answer:  Richard Nixon.

Question No. 5:  Laugh-In inspired what show that debuted in 1969?
Answer:  NBC’s Laugh-In inspired CBS’s Hee Haw, which debuted in 1969.

Come back next Tuesday for another trip to Trivialand.

Good morning.  Did you ever watch Laugh-In?  That show had some really funny characters and great guest stars too.  Let’s visit that show today and see how much you remember about it?

Laugh-In is an American sketch comedy television program that ran for 140 episodes from January 22, 1968, to May 14, 1973 and was broadcast by NBC. It originally aired as a one-time special on September 9, 1967 and was such a success that it was brought back as a series. The title of the show was a play on the “love-ins” or “be-ins” of the 1960s hippieculture, terms that were, in turn, derived from “sit-ins”, common in protests associated with civil rights and anti-war demonstrations of the time.

Each episode followed a somewhat similar format, often including recurring sketches. The show would start with a short dialogue between the co-hosts. This live-to-tape segment comprised all cast members and occasional surprise celebrities dancing before a 1960s “Mod” party backdrop, delivering one- and two-line jokes interspersed with a few bars of dance music. The show would then proceed through rapid-fire comedy bits, pre-taped segments, and recurring sketches.

The end of the show featured cast members opening panels in a psychedelically-painted “joke wall” and telling jokes. As the show drew to a close and the applause died, executive producer George Schlatter’s solitary clapping continued even as the screen turned blank and the production logo, network chimes, and NBC logo appeared.

The show was filled with sketches.  One sketch was “The Farkel Family,” a couple with many kids —all of whom had flaming red hair and freckles like neighbor Ferd Berfel. Head of the family Frank Farkel never questioned this fact when Ferd visited. Most plots were excuses to force the cast into alliterative tongue-twisters (“That’s a fine-looking Farkel flinger you found there, Frank”). Bespectacled baby daughter Flicker Farkel, played by Ruth Buzzi, had no lines except screaming “Hiiii!!!” Two of the kids were twins named Simon and Gar Farkel.

Another favorite was “The Flying Fickle Finger of Fate Award,” saluting actual dubious achievements by the government or famous people, such as the announcement of a new Veterans Administration hospital to be erected in Southern California shortly after another such facility was destroyed in the Sylmar earthquake of 1971. The trophy was a gilt, outstretched finger atop a square base.

Okay, here are your questions:

1. Who were the hosts of Laugh-In?
2. Who played Wolfgang the German soldier and Tyrone F. Horneigh?
3. Who played the little girl, Edith Ann, and Ernestine, the obnoxious telephone operator?
4. What U.S. Presidential candidate appeared on Laugh-In?
5. Laugh-In inspired what show that debuted in 1969?

Alrighty, check back Friday for the answers.  Good luck!

Good morning.  How much about the Hindenburg disaster did you remember?  Let’s check your answers:

Question No. 1:  From what city did the Hindenburg depart?
Answer:   The Hindenburg departed from Frankfurt, Germany, on the evening of May 3, 1937 on the first of its ten round trips between Europe and the United States scheduled for its second year of commercial service.

Question No. 2:  What was the destination of the Hindenburg?
Answer:   The airship caught fire and was destroyed during its attempt to dock with its mooring mast at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station, which is located adjacent to the borough of Lakehurst, New Jersey.

Question No. 3:  How many people died as a result of the Hindenburg disaster?
Answer:   Of the 97 people on board, there were 35 fatalities, including one death among the ground crew.

Question No. 4:  Who was the radio reporter whose eyewitness report remains to be one of the most famous in history?
Answer:   The disaster was the subject of spectacular newsreel coverage, photographs, and Herbert Morrison’s recorded radio eyewitness report from the landing field, which was broadcast the next day.

Question No. 5:  Which one of his statements from that eyewitness report has been widely used in popular culture?
Answer:   Herbert Morrison’s plaintive “Oh, the humanity!” has been widely used in popular culture.

Come back next Tuesday for another trip to trivialand.

Good morning.  Since the anniversary of the Hindenburg Disaster is here, we are going to visit that fateful flight and see how much you remember about it.

The Hindenburg disaster took place on Thursday, May 6, 1937, as the German passenger airship LZ 129 Hindenburg caught fire and was destroyed during its attempt to dock with its mooring mast.

The disaster was the subject of spectacular newsreel coverage and photographs. The actual cause of the fire remains unknown, although a variety of hypotheses have been put forward for both the cause of ignition and the initial fuel for the ensuing fire. The incident shattered public confidence in the giant, passenger-carrying rigid airship and marked the end of the airship era.

The time it took for the airship to be completely destroyed has been disputed. Some observers believe it took 34 seconds, others say it took 32 or 37 seconds. Since none of the newsreel cameras were filming the airship when the fire started, the time of the start can only be estimated from various eyewitness accounts.

Despite the huge fire, many of the crew and passengers survived.  The majority of the crew who died were up inside the ship’s hull, where they either did not have a clear escape route or else were close to the bow of the ship, which hung burning in the air too long for most of them to escape the fire. Most of the passengers who died were trapped in the starboard side of the passenger deck. Not only was the wind blowing the fire toward the starboard side, but the ship also rolled slightly to starboard as it settled to the ground, with much of the upper hull on that part of the ship collapsing outboard of the starboard observation windows, thus cutting off the escape of many of the passengers on that side. To make matters worse, the sliding door leading from the starboard passenger area to the central foyer and the gangway stairs (through which rescuers led a number of passengers to safety) jammed shut during the crash, further trapping those passengers on the starboard side.  Nonetheless, some did manage to escape from the starboard passenger decks. A number of others did not. By contrast, all but a few of the passengers on the port side of the ship survived the fire, with some of them escaping virtually unscathed. Although the most famous of airship disasters, it was not the worst. Just over twice as many perished when the helium-filled U.S. Navy scout airship USS Akron crashed at sea off the New Jersey coast four years earlier on April 4, 1933.

Okay, here are your questions:

1. From what city did the Hindenburg depart?
2. What was the destination of the Hindenburg?
3. How many people died as a result of the Hindenburg disaster?
4. Who was the radio reporter whose eyewitness report remains to be one of the most famous in history?
5. Which one of his statements from that eyewitness report has been widely used in popular culture?

Alrighty, check back Friday for the answers.  Good luck!

Morning.  Did you get all the questions right about The Golden Girls?  Let’s check your answers:

Question No. 1:  Who played Blanch, Rose, Dorothy and Sophia?
Answer:  Rue McClanahan played Blanch, Betty White played Rose, Bea Arthur played Dorothy and Estelle Getty played Sophia.

Question No. 2:  What was the name of the retirement home in which Sophia lived before it burned?
Answer:  Shady Pines

Question No. 3:  When the ladies gathered around the kitchen table to discuss a problem, what did they often eat?
Answer:  Cheesecake

Question No. 4:  Who was Dorothy’s ex-husband?
Answer:  She was married to Stanley Zbornak. Stan and Dorothy eventually moved to Miami, but divorced after 38 years when Stan left her for a young flight attendant. Their marriage produced two children, Kate and Michael.

Question No. 5:  What was the final episode about?
Answer:  After six consecutive seasons in the top 10, and a seventh season at #30, The Golden Girls came to an end when Bea Arthur decided it was time to move on. In the hour-long series finale, which aired in May 1992, Dorothy meets and marries Blanche’s Uncle Lucas (Leslie Nielsen), and moves to Hollingsworth Manor in Atlanta, Georgia. Presumably, Sophia was to join her, but, in the end, Sophia stays behind with the other girls in Miami.

Question No. 6:  Which one of the golden girls is still living?
Answer:  Betty White

Come back next Tuesday for another trip to trivialand.

Good morning.  Today we are going to visit The Golden Girls, a show which I think most everyone has watched and may even watch now.  I know I do and still laugh at the antics of these four funny women.  Did you have a favorite golden girl?

The Golden Girls is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris, which originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992.  The series revolves around four older women sharing a home in Miami, Florida. The owner of the home is a widow named Blanche Devereaux , who was joined by fellow widow Rose Nylund and divorcée Dorothy Zbornak. They both responded to a room-for-rent ad on the bulletin board of a local grocery store. In the pilot episode, the women had a gay cook named Coco who was subsequently eliminated.  The three were soon joined by Dorothy’s mother, Sophia Petrillo after the retirement home where she lived burned down.

Like many sitcoms and serials of the 1980s and early 1990s, The Golden Girls frequently referenced neighbors in storylines and set-ups for gags and crossovers. Eight neighbors were referenced over the shows run, one of them (The Westons) evolved into a spinoff of its own. Of the eight neighbor families only the Westons, the McDowels, the Bartons and Frieda Claxton were actually shown on screen.

Many episodes of the series followed a similar format or theme. For example, one or more of the women would become involved in some sort of conflict or problem, often involving other family members, men, or an ethical dilemma. At some point, they would gather around the kitchen table and discuss the problem, sometimes late at night. One of the other girls would then tell a story from her own life, which somehow related to the problem (though Rose would occasionally regale a nonsense story that had nothing to do with the situation, and Sophia would tell outrageous made-up stories). Some episodes featured flashbacks to previous episodes, or to events that occurred before the series began. Though the writing was mostly comical, dramatic moments and sentimental endings were included in several episodes.

When the series finale aired on May 9, 1992, it was the 10th most watched Series Finale of all time.

Okay, here are your questions:

1. Who played Blanch, Rose, Dorothy and Sophia?
2. What was the name of the retirement home in which Sophia lived before it burned?
3. When the ladies gathered around the kitchen table to discuss a problem, what did they often eat?
4. Who was Dorothy’s ex-husband?
5. What was the final episode about?
6. Which one of the golden girls is still living?

Alrighty, check back Friday for the answers.  Good luck!

Morning.  This week’s Tuesday Trivia may have been a little difficult for some of you; but for those of you who remember this show, I hope it brought back some fond memories.

Okay, let’s check the answers:

Question No. 1:  Who played Napoleon Solo?
Answer:  The character Napoleon Solo was portrayed by Robert Vaughn and was created by Ian Fleming as a small screen version of James Bond.  Solo possesses a charm, sophistication, efficiency, and weakness for beautiful women comparable to Bond’s. But Solo is considerably less intense and also less brutal than the English spy, and he possesses a laid-back ease that recalls the young Cary Grant. The show’s original concept had Solo as a Canadian; but he is consistently American in the show.

Question No. 2:  Who played Illya Kuryakin and what television series does he star in now?
Answer:  Although originally conceived as a minor character, Kuryakin, played by David McCallum, became an indispensable part of the show, achieving co-star status with the show’s lead. McCallum’s blond good looks and the enigmatic persona he created for the character garnered him a huge following of female fans. Such was the popular hysteria surrounding him that he was referred to in newspaper reports at the time as ‘the blond Beatle’ or the ‘fifth Beatle’. While playing Kuryakin, McCallum received more fan mail than any other actor in the history of MGM.

Since 2003 McCallum has starred in the CBS television series NCIS as Dr Donald “Ducky” Mallard, the Medical Examiner and one of the key characters. In an inside joke, NCIS agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs is asked, “What did Ducky look like when he was younger?” Gibbs responds, “Illya Kuryakin.”

Question No. 3:  Who  played Alexander Waverly, the British head of the organization (Number One of Section One)?
Answer:  Leo G. Carroll played Alexander Waverly, the British head of the organization (Number One of Section One).

Question No. 4:  Who was U.N.C.L.E.’s arch enemy?
Answer:  U.N.C.L.E.’s archenemy agency was a vast organization known as THRUSH (originally named WASP in the series pilot movie). The original series never divulged what the acronym THRUSH stood for, but in several of the U.N.C.L.E. novels written by David McDaniel, it appears as the Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity.

Come back next Tuesday for another trip to trivialand.