The history of television is replete with iconic, ground-breaking dramas, comedies, and sitcoms that have endured the test of time while still being products of their period.
Find out which shows have most captivated our interest by taking this quiz about legendary TV from the past. This quiz will bring back happy memories if you were a child during the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s.
Can You Name This Classic TV Show?
I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning six seasons. The show starred Lucille Ball, her husband, Desi Arnaz, along with Vivian Vance and William Frawley. The series followed the life of Lucy Ricardo (Ball), a young, middle-class housewife living in New York City, who often concocted plans with her best friends, Ethel and Fred Mertz (Vance and Frawley), to appear alongside her bandleader husband, Ricky Ricardo (Arnaz), in his nightclub.
Can You Name This Classic TV Show?
Lost in Space
Lost in Space is an American science fiction television series, created and produced by Irwin Allen, which originally aired between 1965 and 1968 on CBS. The series was inspired by the 1812 novel The Swiss Family Robinson. The series follows the adventures of the Robinsons, a pioneering family of space colonists who struggle to survive in the depths of space.
Can You Name This Classic TV Show?
The Six Million Dollar Man
M*A*S*H
M*A*S*H (an acronym for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American war comedy-drama television series that aired on CBS from 1972 to 1983. It was developed by Larry Gelbart as the first original spin-off series adapted from the 1970 feature film M*A*S*H, which, in turn, was based on Richard Hooker’s 1968 novel MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors.
Can You Name This Classic TV Show?
Roseanne
Roseanne is an American sitcom television series created by Matt Williams and Roseanne Barr, which aired on ABC from October 18, 1988, to May 20, 1997, and briefly revived from March 27, 2018, to May 22, 2018. The show stars Barr as Roseanne Conner and revolves around her family in the fictional town of Lanford, Illinois.
Can You Name This Classic TV Show?
Flash Forward
FlashForward is an American television series, adapted for television by Brannon Braga and David S. Goyer, which aired for one season on ABC between September 24, 2009, and May 27, 2010. It is based on the 1999 novel Flashforward by Canadian science fiction writer Robert J. Sawyer. The series revolves around the lives of several people as a mysterious event causes nearly everyone on the planet to simultaneously lose consciousness for two minutes and seventeen seconds on October 6, 2009.
Can You Name This Classic TV Show?
Leave It to Beaver
Leave It to Beaver is an American television sitcom broadcast between 1957 and 1963 about an inquisitive and often naïve boy, Theodore “The Beaver” Cleaver (Jerry Mathers), and his adventures at home, school, and around his suburban neighborhood. The show also starred Barbara Billingsley and Hugh Beaumont as Beaver’s parents, June and Ward Cleaver, and Tony Dow as Beaver’s brother Wally.
Can You Name This Classic TV Show?
Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek is an American science-fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that follows the adventures of the starship USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) and its crew. It later acquired the retronym of Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS) to distinguish the show within the media franchise that it began.
Can You Name This Classic TV Show?
Columbo
Columbo is an American crime drama television series starring Peter Falk as Columbo, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. After two pilot episodes in 1968 and 1971, the show originally aired on NBC from 1971 to 1978 as one of the rotating programs of The NBC Mystery Movie. Columbo then aired less frequently on ABC from 1989 to 2003.
Can You Name This Classic TV Show?
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. The show is set in the fictional town of Springfield and parodies American culture and society, television, and the human condition.
Can You Name This Classic TV Show?
The Famous Jett Jackson
The Famous Jett Jackson is a coming-of-age television series for the Disney Channel. The show is about a boy named Jett Jackson (Lee Thompson Young) who plays a teenage secret agent on a fictional show-within-a-show called Silverstone.
Can You Name This Classic TV Show?
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Father Knows Best
Father Knows Best is an American sitcom starring Robert Young, Jane Wyatt, Elinor Donahue, Billy Gray and Lauren Chapin. The series, which began on radio in 1949, aired as a television show for six seasons and 203 episodes. Created by Ed James, Father Knows Best follows the lives of the Andersons, a middle-class family living in the town of Springfield.
Can You Name This Classic TV Show?
The Andy Griffith Show
The Andy Griffith Show is an American situation comedy television series that aired on CBS from October 3, 1960, to April 1, 1968, with a total of 249 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons—159 in black and white and 90 in color.
Can You Name This Classic TV Show?
Little House on the Prairie
Little House on the Prairie
Little House on the Prairie (later known as Little House: A New Beginning in its sequel season) is an American Western historical drama television series, starring Michael Landon, Melissa Gilbert, Karen Grassle, and Melissa Sue Anderson, about a family living on a farm in Plum Creek near Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in the 1870s, 1880s, and 1890s.
Can You Name This Classic TV Show?
Seinfeld
Seinfeld is an American sitcom television series created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989 to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as a fictionalized version of himself and focuses on his personal life with three of his friends: best friend George Costanza (Jason Alexander), former girlfriend Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), and his neighbor from across the hall, Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards).
Can You Name This Classic TV Show?
Whose Line Line Is It Anyway
Moesha
Moesha is an American television sitcom that aired on UPN from January 23, 1996, to May 14, 2001. The series stars R&B singer Brandy Norwood as Moesha Denise Mitchell, an African-American high school student living with her family in the Leimert Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. It was originally ordered as a pilot for CBS’ 1995–1996 television season but was declined by the network.
Can You Name This Classic TV Show?
The Danny Thomas Show
The Danny Thomas Show (titled Make Room for Daddy for its first three seasons) is an American sitcom that ran from 1953 to 1957 on ABC and from 1957 to 1964 on CBS. Starring Danny Thomas as a successful night club entertainer, the show focused on his relationship with his family, yet went through a number of significant changes in cast and characters during the course of its run.
Can You Name This Classic TV Show?
General Hospital
General Hospital is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in Guinness World Records as the longest-running American soap opera in production, and the second in American history after Guiding Light. Concurrently, it is the world’s third longest-running scripted drama series in production after British serials The Archers and Coronation Street, as well as the world’s second-longest-running televised soap opera still in production.
Can You Name This Classic TV Show?
The Dukes of Hazzard
The Dukes of Hazzard is an American action-comedy television series that was aired on CBS from January 26, 1979 to February 8, 1985. The show aired for 147 episodes spanning seven seasons. It was consistently among the top-rated television series in the late 1970s (at one point, ranking second only to Dallas, which immediately followed the show on CBS’s Friday night schedule).
Can You Name This Classic TV Show?
The Greatest American Hero
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry. It originally aired from September 28, 1987 to May 23, 1994 in syndication, spanning 178 episodes over seven seasons. The third series in the Star Trek franchise, it is the second sequel to Star Trek: The Original Series.
Can You Name This Classic TV Show?
Whose Line Line Is It Anyway
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
So Weird
So Weird is a television series that aired on the Disney Channel as a mid-season replacement from January 18, 1999, to September 28, 2001. The series was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia. In the first two seasons, the series centered on the teenage Fiona Phillips (Cara DeLizia) who toured with her rock-star mom (Mackenzie Phillips), while encountering paranormal activity along the way.
Can You Name This Classic TV Show?
The Honeymooners
The Honeymooners is an American television sitcom which originally aired from 1955 to 1956, created by and starring Jackie Gleason, and based on a recurring comedy sketch of the same name that had been part of Gleason’s variety show. It follows the lives of New York City bus driver Ralph Kramden (Gleason), his wife Alice (Audrey Meadows), Ralph’s best friend Ed Norton (Art Carney) and Ed’s wife Trixie (Joyce Randolph) as they get involved with various schemes in their day-to-day living.
Can You Name This Classic TV Show?
Hawaii Five-O
Hawaii Five-O is an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productions and created by Leonard Freeman. Set in Hawaii, the show originally aired for 12 seasons from 1968 to 1980 and continues in reruns.
Can You Name This Classic TV Show?
Dallas
Dallas is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on CBS from April 2, 1978, to May 3, 1991. The series revolves around an affluent and feuding Texas family, the Ewings, who own the independent oil company Ewing Oil and the cattle-ranching land of Southfork. The series originally focused on the marriage of Bobby Ewing and Pamela Barnes, whose families were sworn enemies of each other.
Can You Name This Classic TV Show?
Married… with Children
Married… with Children is an American television sitcom created by Michael G. Moye and Ron Leavitt for Fox. Originally broadcast from April 5, 1987, to June 9, 1997, it is the longest-lasting live-action sitcom on Fox and one of the longest-running live-action sitcoms in television history alongside Cheers of NBC and M*A*S*H of CBS and the first to be broadcast in the network’s primetime slot.
Can You Name This Classic TV Show?
Kenan & Kel
Kenan & Kel is an American sitcom created by Kim Bass. The show originally aired on the Nickelodeon network for four seasons, from July 15, 1996, to July 15, 2000. Set in Chicago, Illinois, the series follows mischievous Kenan Rockmore (Kenan Thompson) and his optimistic but dimwitted best friend Kel Kimble (Kel Mitchell), who go on a number of misadventures.
Can You Name This Classic TV Show?
The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show
The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show
The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, sometimes called The Burns and Allen Show, was a half-hour television series broadcast from 1950 to 1958 on CBS. It starred George Burns and Gracie Allen, one of the most enduring acts in entertainment history. Burns and Allen were headliners in vaudeville in the 1920s, and radio stars in the 1930s and 1940s.
Can You Name This Classic TV Show?
Bewitched
Bewitched is an American fantasy sitcom television series that originally aired for eight seasons on ABC from September 17, 1964, to March 25, 1972. It is about a witch who marries an ordinary mortal man and vows to lead the life of a typical suburban housewife. The show was popular, finishing as the second-rated show in America during its debut season, staying in the top ten for its first three seasons, and ranking in eleventh place for both seasons four and five.
Can You Name This Classic TV Show?
WKRP in Cincinnati
WKRP in Cincinnati is an American sitcom television series that features the misadventures of the staff of a struggling fictional radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. The show was created by Hugh Wilson and was based upon his experiences working in advertising sales at Top 40 radio station WQXI in Atlanta.
Can You Name This Classic TV Show?
The Golden Girls
The Golden Girls is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris that aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning seven seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty, the show is about four older women who share a home in Miami, Florida.
Can You Name This Classic TV Show?
Sabrina the Teenage Witch
Sister, Sister
Sister, Sister is an American television sitcom starring Tia and Tamera Mowry as identical twin sisters separated at birth who are reunited as teenagers. It premiered on April 1, 1994 on ABC as part of its TGIF comedy lineup, and finished its run on The WB on May 23, 1999, airing 119 episodes over six seasons.
Can You Name This Classic TV Show?
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from October 3, 1952 to April 23, 1966, and starred the real-life Nelson family. After a long run on radio, the show was brought to television, where it continued its success, initially running simultaneously on radio and TV.
Can You Name This Classic TV Show?
Hogan’s Heroes
Hogan’s Heroes is an American television sitcom set in a Nazi German prisoner-of-war (POW) camp during World War II. It ran for 168 episodes (six seasons) from September 17, 1965, to April 4, 1971, on the CBS network, the longest broadcast run for an American television series inspired by that war.
Can You Name This Classic TV Show?
The Love Boat
The Love Boat is an American romantic comedy/drama television series that aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986; in addition, four three-hour specials aired in 1986, 1987, and 1990. The series was set on the luxury passenger cruise ship MS Pacific Princess, and revolved around the ship’s captain Merrill Stubing (played by Gavin MacLeod) and a handful of his crew, with passengers played by guest actors for each episode, having romantic and humorous adventures.
Can You Name This Classic TV Show?
Baywatch
Baywatch is an American action drama television series about lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California and Hawaii, starring David Hasselhoff. It was created by Michael Berk, Douglas Schwartz, and Gregory J. Bonann, who produced the show throughout its 11-season run.
Can You Name This Classic TV Show?
Salute Your Shorts
Salute Your Shorts is an American television sitcom created by Steve Slavkin and produced by Propaganda Films, which aired on Nickelodeon from July 4, 1991 to September 12, 1992. Focused around the life of young campers at the fictional Camp Anawanna, the show was based on Slavkin’s 1986 book Salute Your Shorts: Life at Summer Camp that he co-wrote with Thomas Hill.
Can You Name This Classic TV Show?
The Howdy Doody Show
Howdy Doody is an American children’s television program that was created and produced by Victor F Campbell and E. Roger Muir. It was broadcast on the NBC television network in the United States from December 27, 1947, until September 24, 1960. It was a pioneer of children’s programming and set the pattern for many similar shows.
Can You Name This Classic TV Show?
Batman
Batman is a 1960s American live action television series, based on the DC comic book character of the same name. It stars Adam West as Bruce Wayne / Batman and Burt Ward as Dick Grayson / Robin – two crime-fighting heroes who defend Gotham City from a variety of archvillains. It is known for its camp style, upbeat theme music, and its intentionally humorous, simplistic morality (aimed at its largely teenage audience).
Can You Name This Classic TV Show?
Happy Days
Happy Days is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marshall, it was one of the most successful series of the 1970s.
Can You Name This Classic TV Show?
Cheers
Cheers is an American sitcom television series that ran on NBC from September 30, 1982, to May 20, 1993, with a total of 275 half-hour episodes across eleven seasons. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows Productions in association with Paramount Network Television, and was created by the team of James Burrows and Glen and Les Charles.
Can You Name This Classic TV Show?
Party of Five
Party of Five is an American television teen and family drama created by Christopher Keyser and Amy Lippman that originally aired on Fox for six seasons from September 12, 1994, to May 3, 2000. The series featured an ensemble cast led by Scott Wolf as Bailey, Matthew Fox as Charlie, Neve Campbell as Julia, and Lacey Chabert as Claudia Salinger, who with their baby brother Owen (played by several actors) constitute five siblings whom the series follows after the loss of their parents in a car accident.
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