Tommy Boy Trivia
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58 free Tommy Boy trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
61 free Tommy Boy trivia questions with answers. Tommy Boy opened to shrugs from critics in March 1995 and then became one of the most-quoted comedies of its decade on VHS. This quiz covers the whole thing: the plot of Callahan Auto and its 500,000-unit gamble, the cast around Chris Farley and David Spade, and the making-of stories the director has told for the 25th and 30th anniversaries, from how many cars were wrecked to what really doubled for the deer. It is written for people who can recite the dinner-scene lines but may not know why one co-star never got a credit, who cried at the first screening, or which animated duo was modelled on Tommy and Richard. Easy questions cover the studio, the town and the catchphrases; the hard end gets into the working title, the dedication and the temp score. Every answer was checked against a primary page: the film's Wikipedia entry and infobox, cast biographies, the AFI Catalog, and long-form interviews with director Peter Segal.
30 of 58 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which studio released Tommy Boy in theaters in 1995?
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures released Tommy Boy in 1995; the studio's later sequel pitch went nowhere because Farley's co-star felt a follow-up without him could never work.
Q 02On what date did Tommy Boy open in US theaters?
March 31, 1995
Tommy Boy opened on Friday, March 31, 1995 and topped the box office that weekend, though its real fame came later on home video.
Q 03Who directed Tommy Boy?
Peter Segal
Peter Segal directed Tommy Boy as his second feature and went on to make Anger Management, 50 First Dates and Get Smart.
Q 04Who produced Tommy Boy?
Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels produced Tommy Boy as a feature vehicle for two of his Saturday Night Live cast members, the same year he produced the SNL spin-off Stuart Saves His Family.
Q 05The credited screenwriters, Bonnie and Terry Turner, went on to create which pair of sitcoms?
3rd Rock from the Sun and That '70s Show
Bonnie and Terry Turner, husband-and-wife SNL writers, went on to create 3rd Rock from the Sun in 1996 and That '70s Show in 1998.
Q 06Tommy returns home after college to which Ohio city?
Sandusky
Tommy comes home to Sandusky, Ohio, on Lake Erie, though the film never shot there; production was based in Ontario.
Q 07Tommy's hometown is a real place whose tourism is led by which amusement park?
Cedar Point
Cedar Point, the Lake Erie amusement park famous for its roller coasters, is the town's main draw; locals told the director it and Tommy Boy were the two things that put them on the map.
Q 08Callahan Auto's survival hinges on a new division making what product?
Brake pads
Callahan Auto's new brake-pad division is the company's lifeline; when Big Tom dies the bank balks at its loan, and Tommy hits the road to sell the pads himself.
Q 09How many units of the new product must Tommy sell to prove the division is viable?
500,000
Tommy has to sell 500,000 units, half a million, putting up his inherited shares and the family house as collateral to buy the time to do it.
Q 10What classic car does Richard drive on the sales trip, and gradually watch fall apart?
1967 Plymouth GTX
Richard's car is a 1967 Plymouth GTX convertible; several were used during production, and one was handed to the animal trainer so a deer could learn to climb into it.
Q 11Who plays Ray Zalinsky, the self-described 'auto parts king'?
Dan Aykroyd
Dan Aykroyd plays Ray Zalinsky, one of his better-received roles in a rough 1990s stretch that included Coneheads and Exit to Eden.
Q 12Zalinsky Auto Parts, the rival that wants to swallow Callahan Auto, is based in which city?
Chicago
Zalinsky's headquarters are in Chicago, where Tommy and Richard fly for a last-ditch meeting after talking their way onto a plane.
Q 13Zalinsky's TV commercial slogan says he makes car parts for whom?
The American working man
Zalinsky's ads promise car parts 'for the American working man, because that's who I am'; Tommy throws the line back at him on live television to force the purchase order.
Q 21According to the director, why did the actor playing Paul go uncredited?
It was his own choice
The director speculated the actor may have thought the movie would tank and wanted distance from it.
Q 22Under what working title was Tommy Boy shot?
Rocky Road
Tommy Boy was shot under the working title Rocky Road; the director and an uncredited SNL writer tossed most of the original script and started filming with a partial draft.
Q 23When first announced in March 1994, Farley's pay-or-play deal was for a script with what title?
Billy the Third
The script was announced as Billy the Third: A Midwestern, by Bonnie and Terry Turner; it was heavily reworked into a road movie before shooting.
Q 14Who plays Big Tom Callahan, Tommy's larger-than-life father?
Brian Dennehy
Brian Dennehy plays Big Tom Callahan; the burly stage and screen veteran went on to win a Tony for Death of a Salesman in 1999.
Q 15Who plays Beverly, the scheming new stepmother who is really a con artist?
Bo Derek
Bo Derek plays Beverly Barish; the role brought her a Razzie nomination for Worst Supporting Actress, the film's only awards attention of note.
Q 16The actors playing Big Tom and Beverly had earlier both appeared in which Blake Edwards film?
10
In 10, the future Big Tom tended bar in the Mexican resort scenes while the future Beverly became a star running down the beach in cornrows.
Q 17Beverly's Worst Supporting Actress Razzie nomination lost to which star, for Four Rooms?
Madonna
Madonna took the 1995 Razzie for Worst Supporting Actress for Four Rooms, the anthology film with segments by Tarantino, Rodriguez, Rockwell and Anders.
Q 18Which actress plays Michelle Brock, Tommy's old classmate and eventual love interest?
Julie Warner
Julie Warner plays Michelle Brock, the childhood classmate who comes to work at Callahan Auto and sees through Beverly and Paul's scheme.
Q 19The actress who plays Michelle had her breakout opposite Michael J. Fox in which 1991 film?
Doc Hollywood
Doc Hollywood (1991) cast her as Lou, the small-town ambulance driver who wins over Michael J. Fox's doctor; she followed it with Mr. Saturday Night opposite Billy Crystal.
Q 20Which actor plays Paul, Beverly's supposed son, without ever receiving an onscreen credit?
Rob Lowe
Rob Lowe plays Paul without a screen credit, a favor to his friend Farley; the two had become close around Saturday Night Live, and Lowe also turns up in Wayne's World.
Q 24Although set in Ohio, where was the film primarily shot?
Toronto
Tommy Boy was shot in and around Toronto, which doubled for Ohio; the director returned there to shoot My Spy more than two decades later.
Q 25What was Tommy Boy's total US box office gross?
$32.7 million
Tommy Boy grossed $32.7 million in the United States; its 1996 follow-up Black Sheep landed at almost exactly the same figure.
Q 26Roughly how much did Tommy Boy earn on its opening weekend, enough to finish first?
$8 million
Tommy Boy took in about $8 million over its opening weekend, enough for first place, but its reputation grew years later on home video.
Q 27How many stars out of four did Roger Ebert give the film?
One star
Ebert gave Tommy Boy one star out of four, likening it to 'an explosion down at the screenplay factory,' and it later appeared on his list of most hated films.
Q 28What grade did opening-weekend audiences give the film in CinemaScore polling?
A−
Critics were far cooler: it holds a Rotten Tomatoes consensus that it 'feels like a familiar sketch stretched thin'.
Q 29The 2005 two-disc DVD was branded as which edition, after one of Tommy's exclamations?
Holy Schnike
The 2005 two-disc Holy Schnike Edition DVD takes its name from Tommy's favorite exclamation and added a commentary, deleted scenes and featurettes.
Q 30Tommy Boy was its director's second feature; what was his first?
Naked Gun 33 1/3
The director's first feature was Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994), where producer David Zucker taught him to test comedies in front of real audiences before locking a cut.