TVSquad

You know you love Buffy, but could you beat me in a Buffy the Vampire Slayer trivia contest? Nope, this is not a challenge, but I did challenge myself by taking some of the online trivia quizzes.

There are scads of Buffy and Angel trivia quizzes online, some totally lame, others a fun romp down Nostalgia Lane, still others so bizarre and obscure that you wonder about the mental health of the creators. I took 'em, I rated 'em, and now I'm sharing my thoughts with you.

Ultimate Buffy Trivia on Cool Quiz (1/5)
My apologies to Josh Spears, but this quiz was not very challenging. I got all of the questions right, as would just about any fair-weather fan (of which I am not!). It is a fun quiz to take if you love Oz, because many of the questions are about him, but it runs extremely slow and is relatively painful overall.

I got a real stumper this week and I need your help.

Samuel Quiring writes...
"Need name of old TV series pilot A few years ago (possibly many years ago) I saw part of a pilot of a TV series. The plot: the main character was trying to secure funding for a movie. I remember two hilarious scenes and would like to see them again:
(1) The main character is in a nightclub, kind of out of his league, with some slightly unsavory characters from which he's trying to get funding. Finally they agree and he's happy for a moment. Then one of them pulls out a monster knife and cuts the palm of his hand, hands the knife to our hero to do the same, and says, "let's shake on it." As I recall, the main character faints.
(2) Towards the end of show, he's giving a speech to the folks in his office telling them how they've got funding, but everyone's going to have to totally focus and not spend a penny on anything frivolous. During this, a helicopter lands and he says that he's taking a vacation for a couple of weeks in some exotic location. As part of this speech he says something really funny about some women at the office treating an accidental pinch as a sexual assault and if they can't work as a team then maybe they don't belong (that's the gist, but probably not 100% accurate). What is the name of this TV Series pilot and who is the main actor? I can picture him. I've seen him before. But I don't think I ever knew is name. Thanks."

For the pink tile ... it's Trivial Pursuit! The ultimate trivia challenge finally makes the leap back to the television airwaves [thanks posters-jh]. The upcoming syndicated Trivial Pursuit: America Plays has cleared 55% of the nation, including eight of the top 10 markets. What this means to you and me is it's virtually a lock that we'll be able to participate in this new show soon.

Yes, you read that right. The show will feature viewer submitted video questions. You could get your ugly mug ("No, no, not you ... you're beautiful ... I'm talking about the rest of them.") up on the screen asking your very own trivia question. Man, I hope they have a pretty hefty screening process for this. I don't want some redneck yahoo standing there in his cutoff jean shorts and too small high school football jersey yelling "How many interceptions did I make in the big game against the Duke County Daisies in '76? ... or was it '77?"

Heroes fans should try and pass the Heroes quiz over at AOL Television.

The quiz is designed to test the most hardcore fans of the series, with detailed questions about Nathan's campaign, Sylar's watch and Hiro's travels through time.

I took the quiz twice and could only manage to get four answers correct. Now, in my defense, many of the questions were looking for an exact number, which I think is unfair, but true fans of the series should be able to do much better.

A few months ago I wrote an article about how sad it is that FOX no longer gives its new shows a decent chance to find an audience. Shows like Vanished and Drive barely get started before the network decides to pull the plug. I still feel that FOX is too quick on the trigger, however in the case of their latest fatality, Anchorwoman, they did the right thing.

If you read this blog on a frequent basis, you know a few of us are fans of TV writer and blogger Ken Levine. The man has written for The Simpsons, MASH, Cheers, Everybody Loves Raymond, Wings, Dharma and Greg and many other popular and enduring series.

In a recent post, Levine explains how to write for a medical series that uses a lot of jargon: ask a doctor.

Well, I don't know how it is in the rest of the country but the summer is in full swing here in Los Angeles. It's really hot here and the pool is filled with people every day. The biggest indicator, however, is the arrival of the summer reality series.

Hell's Kitchen, American Inventor and the most insidious of the summer shows, Big Brother. I look forward to the premiere of BB the same way that kids look forward to the last day of school. I revel in the voyeuristic thrill that comes from seeing complete strangers behave in the most ridiculous manner.

VH1's World Series of Pop Culture returns for a second season on July 9 at 9:00 p.m. for a two-week run, airing Monday through Thursday each week. You can also catch episodes from the first season starting this Thursday at 2:00 p.m.

The trivia completion pits teams against one another to see who knows the most about movies, music and television. The grand prize is $250,000.

The series is a lot of fun of you're a trivia and pop culture nut, but what's really cool is VH1's WorldOfPop.com site, where you can play various games to test your knowledge. I'm already addicted to the site, it's like a game of Trivial Pursuit you can play by yourself rather than trying to convince friends and family to play with you who have no interest in the game because they are people who suck.

Sorry, I didn't mean to get upset, but I'm a trivia nut surrounded by people who care not for it. Can I help it if my brain is packed with completely useless information?

Before we get to this week's question, I want to respond to a number of comments I have received regarding my post about Rosie O'Donnell hosting The Price is Right.

There seems to be some confusion over what the term "OpEd" means. Well, let's concentrate on the Op part. Op is short for opinion. That's what I and many bloggers like myself express in our pieces, our opinions. As a fan of TPiR, I would be very upset to see Rosie hosting, mainly because I am not a fan of hers. I don't find her funny or entertaining. Aside from the fact that she bores me to tears, I have nothing against her.

Once again, a fan wrote in to get some help remembering a show. This question brought back a lot of memories for me and it probably will for most of you as well.

Dann Chenn writes, "So, question about an old show from the 80's. I have no idea about the title. Not even a particularly good show, just remember watching it. The story revolved around a family that started off on a tour of the Egyptian pyramids with a questionable guide. While crawling around and earthquake hits. The guide takes off, family trapped, but some how, some way, they wind up in some alternate universe. This short lived series followed them going from town to town, running from some evil, officer of the law trying to stay one step ahead."

Okay, here's a little game I created for y'all.

I've created anagrams from the letters of thirty different TV show titles. Your job is to unscramble the phrases below into the names of actual TV shows. I've tried to make it challenging by including shows of all kinds from the past and present. I'm not offering any hints, but some should be easier to solve than others. My goal is to not have someone solve all of them within ten minutes of me posting this.

Oh yeah, and you won't win anything. Actually, I take that back: you'll win a mute, invisible, peppermint goat who will magically appear directly behind you once you've solved all thirty.

Well, the upfronts have come and gone and everyone is asking the question that gets asked every year at this time, "How could they cancel my favorite show?"

No one understands how difficult this is better than I. I have been watching TV for a long time and I've seen many of my favorite shows get cut down in their prime. Arrested Development, Firefly, Bosom Buddies; I loved all of these shows and I was sad to see them go. Here's what's important to remember: With every great show that gets canceled, a deserving show goes with it. For every Jericho that gets cut down, there is a George Lopez Show that is put out of it's misery. For every Veronica Mars that is stopped short there is a Reba that we no longer have to deal with.

Besides, in a few months, the new fall season will be here and there will be a whole new batch of shows to worry about.

Now on to this week's question...

On the classic show Knight Rider, Kitt had an evil twin. What was his name and what did his name stand for?

This should be an easy one for all you true TV fans. Good luck!

Congratulations to NPC who set a new time record with his correct answer of KARR (Knight Automated Roving Robot).

Okay, gang, this week I need a little help. I got a letter from a guy named Rick and here it is:

"I have been trying to remember a TV show from back in the '70s. From what I can remember, a scientist was working on a device to let people walk again. He was attacked and his back was broken. He then worked on making it work on him, witch (sic) in turn he built a suit which incorporated his invention. he then put it all in a delivery truck and used it to drive all over and fight crime. he would lay down in the bottom part of the suit and the top would come down and seal him in. it was all self supported and air tight."

Now before I get a hundred wrong answers, the show was not MANTIS. I have a vague memory of this show and it was similar to MANTIS but the star was white and it premiered in the late '70s. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Now on to this weeks question.

It pleases me to no end when I see how many fellow TV lovers are ready and able to answer my trivia questions. Last week it only took "Tammy" twelve minutes to share with us Keith Partridge's middle name of Douglas.

As many of you may already know, I interviewed Danny Bonaduce during my live show at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. He shared many great Partridge Family stories. My favorite would have to be how he got the job as Danny. Before he became Danny Partridge he was working with veteran TV director (and Dick Van Dyke's neighbor on The Dick Van Dyke Show) Jerry Paris on a TV movie. They were way behind schedule, and Danny made a joke about how Jerry might be fired if they went over budget. Mr. Paris was not in the mood to be mocked by an eight year old boy so he grabbed Danny's script, ripped out the pages with his dialogue and shouted, "There, we're all caught up now, kid." As horrible as that sounds, Danny insists that Paris felt so bad about the incident that when he auditioned to be a Partridge, Paris, who was directing the pilot, made it up to Danny by casting him as the red-headed scamp we all came to love.

Now on to this week's question...

Last weeks question proved to be a little tougher than my first one. While it didn't take long for the right answer to be deduced, it did take a good amount of teamwork. I was, however, surprised to hear about the alleged lawsuit that decided Trapper John MD was a spin off of the movie M*A*S*H and not the show.

In any event I received a great trivia question from "elf" that goes like this, "Can you name anyone who has won the grand prize on the original Gong Show who later went on to be nominated for three Oscars?"

This one took some thinking but I'm pretty sure the answer is Danny Elfman. His original band ,The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo (later shortened to Oingo Boingo), won the grand prize on the ol' Gong Show and he then went on to be nominated for Oscars for his scores to Big Fish, Men in Black and Good Will Hunting. Excellent question, elf.

This weeks question is for true TV fans only ...