150 free Sitcom trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This sitcom trivia quiz spans the whole history of the situation comedy, from the first live half-hours of the 1940s to the streaming hits of the 2020s, and takes in both sides of the Atlantic. The easy questions are the ones every viewer knows: which bar Sam Malone runs, where Fawlty Towers is set, what Dunder Mifflin sells, which show was 'about nothing' and which family lives in Springfield. From there it digs deeper: Mary Kay and Johnny and Pinwright's Progress, Karl Freund's three cameras on I Love Lucy, the Honeymooners' Classic 39, Get Smart's creators, the Flintstones as first prime-time cartoon, the M*A*S*H finale record, Cheers' 74th-place premiere, Frasier's 37 Emmys, the Newhart dream ending, the shark Fonzie jumped, the Golden Girls' clean sweep, the Simpsons' longevity records, Curb's retroscripting, Schitt's Creek and Ted Lasso's Emmy hauls, and British classics from Steptoe and Son and Dad's Army to Peep Show, The Thick of It, Gavin & Stacey and Derry Girls. Our 70s Sitcoms, 90s Sitcoms and Black Sitcoms quizzes go deeper on those slices. Every answer was checked against the encyclopaedia entries for the shows, creators and awards named before publishing, and the supporting sentence is stored with each question.
30 of 150 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which 1947 series was the first sitcom broadcast on a US television network?
Mary Kay and Johnny
It aired live on DuMont and was the first show to depict a couple sharing a bed.
Q 02Which BBC series of 1946 to 1947 was the world's first regular half-hour televised sitcom?
Pinwright's Progress
Its ten episodes went out live from Alexandra Palace.
Q 03Which sound engineer pioneered canned laughter to 'sweeten' laugh tracks?
Charles Douglass
His laugh track dominated US sitcoms from the late 1950s to the late 1970s.
Q 04Which cinematographer filmed I Love Lucy, the first scripted show shot on 35mm before a studio audience?
Karl Freund
He had shot Metropolis and Dracula.
Q 05How many episodes of I Love Lucy aired between 1951 and 1957?
180
It was the first show to end its run at the top of the Nielsen ratings.
Q 06Little Ricky's birth on I Love Lucy was timed to coincide with the real birth of whom?
Desi Arnaz Jr.
Lucy and Ricky's son arrived during the second season.
Q 07Ralph Kramden of The Honeymooners drives what for a living?
A New York City bus
His pal Ed Norton works in the sewers.
Q 08How many episodes make up The Honeymooners' famous 'Classic 39'?
39
They aired on CBS from October 1955.
Q 09Rob Petrie, played by Dick Van Dyke, is head writer for which fictional variety programme?
The Alan Brady Show
Creator Carl Reiner played Alan Brady himself.
Q 10Andy Griffith's Mayberry sitcom originated as an episode of which series?
The Danny Thomas Show
It never won a series Emmy, but Don Knotts and Frances Bavier won six between them.
Q 11Which spin-off did The Andy Griffith Show spawn in 1964?
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
Mayberry Days is held each year in Griffith's hometown of Mount Airy.
Q 12Who replaced an ailing York as Darrin on Bewitched for its final three seasons?
Dick Sargent
Elizabeth Montgomery played Samantha throughout.
Q 13Who created I Dream of Jeannie?
Sidney Sheldon
Barbara Eden's genie was 2,000 years old.
Q 14What was the name of the charter boat wrecked on Gilligan's Island?
Q 21Green Acres was cancelled in 1971 as part of what CBS programming shift?
The 'rural purge'
Oliver and Lisa Douglas had left Manhattan for Hooterville.
Q 22Which was the first animated series to air in prime time, and the first animated sitcom?
The Flintstones
It ran on ABC from 1960 to 1966 and drew on The Honeymooners.
Q 23The Jetsons was the first programme broadcast in what on ABC?
Colour
Only a handful of ABC stations could show colour in 1962.
Why did The Brady Bunch never reveal what happened to Carol's first husband?
SS Minnow
The 'three-hour tour' left from Honolulu.
Q 15Which two shows created by Paul Henning followed The Beverly Hillbillies on CBS?
Petticoat Junction and Green Acres
Green Acres reversed the country-to-city formula.
Q 16Which network first broadcast Leave It to Beaver in 1957, then dropped it after one season?
CBS
Beaver's real name was Theodore.
Q 17Which two comedy writers created Get Smart?
Mel Brooks and Buck Henry
Brooks called it an insane combination of James Bond and Mel Brooks comedy.
Q 18Which fictional POW camp is the setting of Hogan's Heroes?
Stalag 13
Werner Klemperer played the oblivious Colonel Klink.
Q 19Who played Herman Munster?
Fred Gwynne
The Munsters aired on CBS from 1964 to 1966.
Q 20Who composed and sang the theme of the 1964 Addams Family series?
Vic Mizzy
The show was based on Charles Addams's New Yorker cartoons.
ABC wanted her widowed, not divorced
The compromise left his fate unmentioned.
Q 25Roughly how many viewers watched the M*A*S*H finale 'Goodbye, Farewell and Amen'?
106 million
It was the most-watched US broadcast until 2010.
Q 26How did Cheers rank in the ratings for its 1982 premiere?
74th out of 77 shows
It was nearly cancelled but went on to run eleven seasons.
Q 27Sam Malone of Cheers was a former relief pitcher for which team?
Boston Red Sox
The bar is set in Boston.
Q 28How many episodes of Cheers were made?
275
The 1993 finale was the most-watched single episode of the 1990s.
Q 29The Cosby Show's spin-off, A Different World, ran for how many episodes?
144
It ran from 1987 to 1993.
Q 30The Golden Girls is one of only four sitcoms in which what happened?
All principal cast members won Emmys
Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty each won.