Q 01/05

Which sitcom's Fonzie water-skied over a shark in 1977, inspiring a phrase for shows past their best?

A) Mork & Mindy

B) Happy Days

C) Three's Company

D) Laverne & Shirley

Answer · why

B) Happy Days

Happy Days built the stunt around Henry Winkler's real water-skiing skills. Radio host Jon Hein and his college roommate coined 'jumping the shark' in...

Q 02/05

Which director popularised the term MacGuffin for the object everyone chases, starting with The 39 Steps?

A) Cecil B. DeMille

B) Fritz Lang

C) Alfred Hitchcock

D) Orson Welles

Answer · why

C) Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock said the MacGuffin is what the spies are after but the audience doesn't care about. The word itself came from English screenwriter An...

Q 03/05

Which Russian playwright advised that a rifle seen on stage in act one must later go off?

A) Leo Tolstoy

B) Maxim Gorky

C) Nikolai Gogol

D) Anton Chekhov

Answer · why

D) Anton Chekhov

Anton Chekhov gave the advice in several letters to young playwrights. His own play The Cherry Orchard breaks it, with two loaded guns that are never ...

Q 04/05

Which nickname for a doomed minor character comes from the uniforms of Star Trek's security officers?

A) Redshirt

B) Greenhorn

C) Bluecoat

D) Blackhat

Answer · why

A) Redshirt

Redshirt security guards kept dying on landing parties beside the heroes in the 1960s series. The comedy spin-off Lower Decks has junior officers adop...

Q 05/05

Which prime-time soap erased a whole season by revealing Bobby Ewing alive in the shower?

A) Dynasty

B) Falcon Crest

C) Dallas

D) The Colbys

Answer · why

C) Dallas

Dallas explained Patrick Duffy's return by making all of season nine a dream of Pam's. Spin-off Knots Landing ignored the twist, and Bobby was never m...