TV Catchphrases Trivia
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50 free TV Catchphrases trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
A good catchphrase outlives its show. Decades after the last episode, people still shrug 'Am I bovvered?', demand 'Is that your final answer?' or greet a friend with a drawn-out 'Norm!'. The strange part is how often the famous version is slightly wrong: the line that was only ever said once, the sign-off nobody actually said, the cheer that started as a club chant. These 50 questions cover sitcoms and dramas, game-show hosts and newsreaders, Saturday-morning cartoons and the adverts that wormed their way into the language, drawn from both British and American television across seven decades. Each answer comes with a short explanation of where the line came from and why it stuck. It works as a pub-quiz round, a family game or a printable sheet for a TV-themed night, and it plays instantly on a phone with no sign-up.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01When George Burns ended each Burns and Allen show with 'Say good night, Gracie', what did she actually reply?
Goodnight
Allen simply replied 'Goodnight', and never said 'Goodnight, Gracie' as legend has it. The pair closed every episode with a short vaudeville-style exchange.
Q 02Which Python first used 'And now for something completely different', though John Cleese made it famous?
Eric Idle
Eric Idle first delivered the line in Episode 2, introducing a man with three buttocks; John Cleese's desk-bound announcer turned it into the show's catchphrase, and it became the title of the troupe's first film.
Q 03Which Rick and Morty character reveals that 'Wubba Lubba Dub-Dub' means 'I am in great pain, please help me'?
Birdperson
Birdperson explains that in his native language the catchphrase, first heard in 'Meeseeks and Destroy', means 'I am in great pain, please help me', a sign of Rick's depression. Justin Roiland created it by misreading a script.
Q 04Which accident-prone Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em husband, played by Michael Crawford, is remembered for 'Ooh Betty'?
Frank Spencer
Frank Spencer's supposed main catchphrase may actually have been said in only one episode, yet impressionists like Mike Yarwood made it his signature. The beret and mackintosh were his other trademarks.
Q 05On Are You Being Served?, who first said 'I'm free!' in the pilot, before John Inman's Mr Humphries adopted it?
Mrs Slocombe
Mrs Slocombe got the line in the pilot; John Inman is said to have used it backstage so often that Mollie Sugden suggested the writers give it to him, and it became his camp catchphrase.
Q 06Which Simpsons fourth-grader, voiced by Nancy Cartwright, answers authority with 'Eat my shorts'?
Bart
In a flashback to Bart's first day at school, Principal Skinner warned him about the path he was choosing and asked 'Now, what do you say?'; Bart replied 'Eat my shorts'. Nancy Cartwright first ad-libbed the line at an early table read.
Q 07Which US Who Wants to Be a Millionaire host borrowed 'Is that your final answer?' from Chris Tarrant?
Regis Philbin
Regis Philbin adopted the line from the UK original's Chris Tarrant; his matching dark shirt and tie on the show caught on too, spawning a short-lived Van Heusen clothing line called Regis.
Q 08Which One Foot in the Grave pensioner, played by Richard Wilson, met every setback with 'I don't believe it!'?
Victor Meldrew
Victor Meldrew's 'I don't believe it!' was backed by 'Unbe-lieeeve-able!' and 'In the name of sanity!' when exasperation peaked. The role nearly went to Les Dawson before Richard Wilson.
Q 09On which Linda Lavin sitcom did diner waitress Flo snap 'Kiss my grits!' at her boss Mel?
Alice
Alice waitress Flo, played by Polly Holliday, made the line popular enough to earn her own spin-off, Flo; her other put-down was 'When donkeys fly!'
Q 10Which How I Met Your Mother womaniser, played by Neil Patrick Harris, drew out 'legen—wait for it—dary'?
Barney Stinson
Barney Stinson's 'Legendary' and 'Wait for it' merged into one catchphrase, later honoured by an 'LGNDRY' licence plate in the 2022 spin-off How I Met Your Father. 'Suit up!' and 'Challenge accepted' were his others.
Q 11On which 1970s sitcom did Jimmie Walker's J.J. yell 'Dyn-o-mite!', a line the director John Rich invented?
Good Times
Good Times producer-director John Rich is credited by Walker with inventing 'Dyn-o-mite!', which the actor later used as the title of a stand-up album. Walker earned Golden Globe nominations for J.J. in 1975 and 1976.
Q 12Which child star's Arnold Jackson asked 'What'chu talkin' 'bout, Willis?' on Diff'rent Strokes?
Gary Coleman
Gary Coleman earned up to $100,000 an episode, yet in 1989 he sued his parents and former manager over his trust fund; a judge awarded him $1.28 million in 1993, and he filed for bankruptcy six years later.
Q 13On Mork & Mindy, the alien whose 'Na-Nu Na-Nu' greeting came with a Spock-like salute was sent from which planet?
Q 21On which sitcom did middle daughter Jan wail 'Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!' about her overshadowing older sister?
The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch line came in the episode 'Her Sister's Shadow' and was later parodied in The Brady Bunch Movie and a recurring Saturday Night Live sketch. Jan was played by Eve Plumb.
Q 22Which actor's Robin interjected 'Holy ________, Batman!' throughout the 1960s Batman series?
Burt Ward
Burt Ward, unlike his co-star in the cowl, had to do some dangerous stunts himself, told that Robin's costume showed too much of his face for a double; he voiced the Boy Wonder again in a 1977 cartoon.
Q 23Which CBS Evening News anchor signed off 'And that's the way it is', then the date, except on nights he gave opinion?
Ork
Ork sent Mork to observe human behaviour, and the 'Na-Nu Na-Nu' salute paired a Vulcan-style hand sign with a handshake. Mork often mentioned that Orkan scientists grew him in a test tube.
Q 14Which boss on the US Office, played by Steve Carell, blurted 'That's what she said' even in legal depositions?
Michael Scott
Michael Scott blurts the line whenever a remark can be twisted into a double entendre; it is the American stand-in for 'as the actress said to the bishop', the joke David Brent kept making in the British original.
Q 15Which 1960s sci-fi series' Robot warned 'Danger, Will Robinson!' and declared 'That does not compute'?
Lost in Space
Lost in Space's Robot flailed his arms with each warning while protecting the youngest member of the crew. Bob May wore the suit and Dick Tufeld, the series narrator, supplied the voice.
Q 16Which 1970s family drama, set on a Depression-era Virginia mountain, ended episodes with 'Good night, John-Boy'?
The Waltons
The Waltons' closing sequence had the family calling good night to each other in the dark, and the BBC rated the 'John-Boy' farewell among the most common catchphrases of the 1970s. John-Boy was the eldest of seven children.
Q 17Which Friends palaeontologist insisted 'We were on a break!' after a fling with Chloe while split from Rachel?
Ross Geller
Ross Geller's fling with Chloe was covered in only two Season 3 episodes, yet the 'We were on a break!' argument ran until the very end of the series. He later married Emily, the niece of Rachel's boss.
Q 18Which Game of Thrones family, whose sigil is a grey direwolf on white, has 'Winter Is Coming' as its words?
House Stark
House Stark ruled as Kings in the North for thousands of years from Winterfell, one of the oldest castles in the Seven Kingdoms, until the Targaryen conquest. Bastards born in the North take the surname Snow.
Q 19Which Star Trek: The Next Generation captain, played by Patrick Stewart, ordered 'Make it so' and 'Engage'?
Jean-Luc Picard
Jean-Luc Picard's third catchphrase was 'Tea, Earl Grey, hot', his standing order to the replicator. He is a fan of detective stories, Shakespeare and archaeology.
Q 20Which Chris Carter series ends its opening credits with the tagline 'The Truth Is Out There' on most episodes?
The X-Files
The X-Files swapped the tagline for episode-specific lines on occasion, starting with 'Trust No One' in the first-season finale, the dying words of Mulder's informant Deep Throat.
Walter Cronkite
Walter Cronkite dropped the sign-off whenever he closed with commentary, to keep the line clear of opinion; during the Iran hostage crisis he added a running count of the captives' days, ending on Day 444.
Q 24Which SNL cast member's Church Lady, host of 'Church Chat', sneered 'Well, isn't that special?'?
Dana Carvey
Dana Carvey based the Church Lady on women from his childhood church who kept track of others' attendance, and later cast members like Chris Farley called him simply 'The Lady'.
Q 25Which sidekick opened The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for almost 30 years with 'Heeeere's Johnny!'?
Ed McMahon
Ed McMahon's booming voice and constant laughter earned him the nicknames 'Human Laugh Track' and 'Toymaker to the King'. He joined the NBC show on its debut on October 1, 1962.
Q 26Which NBC boardroom contest ended episodes with its host telling a contestant 'You're fired!'?
The Apprentice
The Apprentice made 'You're fired!' the catchphrase of Donald Trump, host of its first 14 seasons; each week the losing team's project manager brought colleagues back to the boardroom, where at least one was sent home.
Q 27Which 1970s variety host's drag character Geraldine Jones excused everything with 'The Devil made me do it'?
Flip Wilson
Flip Wilson's Geraldine also gave America 'What you see is what you get!' and won him a Grammy for the album The Devil Made Me Buy This Dress; Time's 1972 cover called him 'TV's first black superstar'.
Q 28Whose 'yabba dabba doo!' was written into the Flintstones theme song from season three?
Fred Flintstone
Fred Flintstone's yell arrived with 'Meet the Flintstones' in the third season; until then the show had opened with a wordless instrumental, 'Rise and Shine'.
Q 29Which Scooby-Doo sleuth exclaims 'Jinkies!' on spotting a clue?
Velma
Velma was modelled on Zelda Gilroy, the brainy girl of the sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, whose teenagers gave Scooby-Doo's writers the template for the whole gang.
Q 30Which pink Hanna-Barbera big cat, debuting on The Quick Draw McGraw Show, announces exits with 'Exit, stage left!'?
Snagglepuss
Snagglepuss phrases his departures as stage directions, 'Exit, stage left' or right, up or down, and tacks 'even' onto sentences for emphasis. In Yogi's Gang he is often called a tiger rather than a mountain lion.