TV’s Annoying Characters
The Mary Tyler Moore Show: The vain news anchor.
Who is Ted Baxter? He was played by actor Ted Knight, who went on to play the kind, curmudgeonly cartoonist Henry Rush in the series Too Close for Comfort in 1980.
Today we play solitaire on the computer, but back in the day, we played it with these.
What are cards? The game is said to have originated in the 18th century in the Baltic region of Europe, where it is called patience. Many younger players don’t know how to lay out the cards because they’ve played it only on their electronic devices.
The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Avengers
What is The Avengers? The Avengers is a 1960s-era TV spy drama; the other two are rock ’n’ roll bands.
A collie is the star of this long-running TV show, which began in 1954.
What is Lassie? June Lockhart plays the mother.
In 1955, she was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger.
Who is Rosa Parks? While this act was performed by a number of people around the same time, Parks’ age and reputation as an upstanding citizen garnered the most attention. She was instrumental in desegregating the South.
Today, we touch numbers on our phones or use our contact lists to make a phone call, but we used to do this to connect to the other party.
What is dial the phone? We also used to memorize phone numbers.
In the 1990 film Home Alone, Kevin was accidentally left home during this holiday season.
What is Christmas? Things were chaotic as the extended family prepared to leave the house for their trip to Paris, and they forgot that Kevin had been exiled to a couch in the attic after fighting with his brother.
Cheers: first name of bartender Sam Malone’s girlfriend. She is one of the waitresses.
Who is Diane? Diane Chambers, played by Shelly Long, is insufferably pretentious, but she isn’t alone. Dr. Fraiser Crane and his eventual wife, Dr. Lilith Sternin-Crane, also add high-brow humor to the casual bar.
In the 1970s and 1980s, parents and grandparents relied on their children and grandchildren to program this device that recorded TV shows.
What is VCR? Most people never figured out how to set the VCR to record one show while watching another show. In 2014, The Atlantic reported, “58% of Americans still have a VCR in their homes. And they probably still can’t program them.”
Monopoly, Pac-Man, and Clue
What is Pac-Man? It is an electronic (video) game; the other two are much older board games.
This war comedy-drama featuring characters Hawkeye, Hot Lips, Klinger, and Radar had the largest audience ever recorded for its series finale.
What is M*A*S*H? The series finale had an audience of 106 million people.
Her coronation took place in 1953.
Who is Queen Elizabeth II? She’s held the crown for almost 70 years.
Today, when we’re driving and a tire deflates, we call a roadside service, but we used to do this ourselves.
What is change a flat tire?
The Nanny: The name of the character with an annoying voice. Aside from the voice, everything about this character is loveable.
Who is Fran Fine? The actress Fran Drescher plays a lovely nanny, but you must acquire a taste for that voice. Fran Drescher says that her whole family has a similar voice and never noticed anything strange about her nasal accent when she was a child.
In the 1960s and 1970s, we drove without these restraining devices.
What are seatbelts? Mandatory seatbelt laws did not appear until the mid-1980s. New Hampshire still has no seat belt law for those 18 years and older.
Twitter, Facebook, eBay
What is eBay? Facebook and Twitter are social media platforms, and eBay is an auction site.
This show has a stellar ensemble cast—Judd Hirsch, Danny DeVito, Marilu Henner, Tony Danza, and Andy Kaufman, among others—and chronicles the life of New York City cab drivers.
What is Taxi?
In 1952, this vaccine was released by Dr. Jonas Salk.
What is polio? Polio was first detected in 1894 in Vermont.
In the days before text messages, we used to write notes in longhand, sometimes using this type of pen with a nib and refillable ink source.
What is fountain pen?
Family Matters: The neighborhood kid-genius with the pants up to his chin, a whiny, high-pitched voice, and an obnoxious laugh. His first name is Steve, but everyone refers to him by his last name.
Who is Steve Urkel? Jaleel White played Urkel, as well as Stephan Urkel, his suave and handsome alter ego that comes out when he drinks a special potion he makes in his secret laboratory.
When our white tennis shoes got dirty, we used to put this on them to hide the dirt.
What is shoe polish? Some people still use it, but others use a shoe cleaner.
John Travolta, John “Cougar” Mellencamp, and John Goodman
Who is John “Cougar” Mellencamp? He’s a singer, and the other two are actors.
Robert Young displays the very best bedside manner in this medical drama.
What is Marcus Welby, M.D.?
In 1950, this war, which was technically a police action, was launched in Asia, and the United States fought in it.
What is the Korean War? North Korea invaded South Korea, and the United States’ goal was not to defeat the North Koreans but to protect South Korea. It was the first time the U.S. did not declare war, and there has never been a permanent peace treaty—just an armistice.
When we needed new clothes, we consulted huge McCall’s, Vogue, and Butterick books to find these.
What are patterns? We sewed expensive-looking clothes for a fraction of what we would pay in a store. People took basic sewing classes as well as tailoring classes, which taught advanced topics to make clothes look professionally made. Do you remember when most everyone had a black Singer sewing machine?
Welcome Back, Kotter: the weird, nerdy boy in Kotter’s classroom with a voice as grating as nails on a chalkboard. His first name is Arnold, but most of his classmates call him by his last name.
Who is Horshack (or anything close)? Ron Palillo plays Horshack, and he has recurring roles on Mork & Mindy and Laverne & Shirley.
Today with online banking, there is no need to use this paper item to keep track of checking account balances.
What is check register (or similar)? In addition to online banking, some people use a spreadsheet such as Excel to keep track of their bank accounts.
Watergate, Woodstock, and Altamont
What is Watergate? The other two places were the scenes of famous rock concerts; the Watergate Hotel was the scene of the Democratic headquarters break-in. The Altamont Speedway concert was supposed to be the Woodstock of the West, but it turned violent, and four attendees were killed. Rolling Stone magazine called it “rock and roll’s all-time worst day.”
Lyrics to the theme song of this 1970s Saturday-night show include: Love, exciting and new Come aboard. We’re expecting you. And love, life’s sweetest reward. Let it flow, it floats back to you.
What is The Love Boat?
In 1957, the Soviets launched this satellite as well as the Space Age.
What is Sputnik? It was the first artificial satellite in space.
When we went to the library, we looked up books using this.
What is card catalog? Today, we use computers and mobile devices to find books.
Downton Abbey: The strawberry-blonde sister who rarely has a good day due to her backstabbing and constant whining.
Who is Edith? Her full name is Lady Edith Crawley. By the end of the series, she has grown up quite a bit, managing to stand up for herself and even have as much of a happy ending as the British drama gave to any character.
Today’s computer mice have a flat bottom, but back in the day, they had this that protruded from the bottom. We used to have to remove it, clean the lint from its hole, and then pop it back into the hole.
What is ball or rollerball? Today’s mice require no upkeep.
Triangle, Pentagon, Rectangle
What is Pentagon? The other two are just shapes. The Pentagon is a shape AND a government building.
Bea Arthur first plays this character on the 1970s show that’s named for her character.
Who is Maude? Bea Arthur went on to have even more success as part of the ensemble cast of The Golden Girls.
In 1952, this British monarch died.
Who is King George VI? He died in his sleep.
Everyone used to consult one of these physical books to find a synonym.
What is thesaurus? When was the last time you consulted one of these?