Classic TV Challenge

Estimated Completion Time
1 min
Classic TV Challenge
Image: GraphicaArtis/Archive Photos/Getty Images

About This Quiz

When TV sets made their way into American homes in the 1940s, it marked a cultural transformation. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Americans spend more than half their leisure time watching television. So what have we been watching all these years?
What's the longest continuously running game show in television history?
"Wheel of Fortune"
"Jeopardy"
"The Price is Right"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"The Price is Right" first aired in 1972, followed by "Wheel of Fortune" in 1975 and the current run of "Jeopardy" in 1984 (the first version of the show premiered in 1964 and enjoyed almost 11 years on the air before being dropped).

Which classic game show, hosted by Monty Hall, required contestants to choose prizes hidden behind three different doors?
"Concentration"
"Let's Make a Deal"
"Truth or Consequence"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Let's Make a Deal" involved contestants making a deal with Hall and selecting prizes, whether real or bogus, from behind doors.

What 1965 television flop centered around a talking object?
"Supertrain"
"My Mother the Car"
"Pink Lady and Jeff"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"My Mother the Car," typically named the worst TV show of all time, aired on NBC from 1965 to 1966. It starred Jerry Van Dyke as the owner of a 1928 Porter convertible possessed by his deceased mother (Ann Sothern), whose voice came out of the car radio.

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What year did the first television drama air?
1928
1932
1936
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The first television drama aired in 1928, but it wasn't until after World War II that TV really took off.

What classic TV star got his start in music by playing a song at the end of every episode of his hit television show?
Donnie Osmond
Ricky Nelson
Desi Arnaz
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Ricky Nelson's weekly, televised performances on "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" helped skyrocket Ricky onto the pop charts, making him a teen idol as well as a successful recording artist.

What was the name of the ranch in "Bonanza"?
Ticonderoga
The Horse Shoe
The Ponderosa
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Airing for 430 episodes, "Bonanza" was set in the mid-1800s on a Nevada ranch called The Ponderosa.

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What prime-time drama holds the record for the second most-watched episode in TV history?
"Law & Order"
"Dallas"
"The Simpsons"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

When JR was shot in the finale of the third season of "Dallas," people across the country wondered who killed him. The episode, titled "Who Done It?", was the second most-watched show in the history of television.

Which of the following TV shows had the longest run?
"Lassie"
"Gunsmoke"
"Knots Landing"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Gunsmoke" reigns supreme with 635 episodes spanning across 20 years. In fact, "Gunsmoke" began as a radio program in 1952, and then switched to the visually dominant medium that was television.

What company is responsible for producing the original soap operas?
Procter & Gamble
Johnson & Johnson
Kellogg's
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Soap operas have been around since the 1930s, when Procter & Gamble (P&G) produced 15-minute episodes of love and drama for radio. Allegedly, the term "soap opera" was coined because these shows were sponsored by a company that made cleansers.

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What soap opera, which started airing in 1952, has produced more than 15,000 episodes?
"Guiding Light"
"Days of Our Lives"
"As the World Turns"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Not only is "Guiding Light" the longest-running soap, with more than 15,000 episodes (and still going), it's also the longest-running, non-news program in U.S. television history.

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