Useless Knowledge: TV quiz for '90s couch potatoes

By Linsay Carlson - 11/14/2008

Can you name these favorite 1990s TV shows?

1. For a show about nothing, this show had many complex plots throughout its nine-

season run?

2. Which show's main setting was an airport terminal on the island of Nantucket and featured the characters of Joe and Brian Hackett?

3. This short-lived teen drama starred Clare Danes as Angela Chase and dealt with lots of issues?

4. Main character Dr. Sam Beckett had a hologram guide named Al to help him on his journey through time on what show?

5. Which series featuring a blue-collar family living in Lanford, Ill., was one of the most successful shows of the late '80s and early '90s?

6. Which Saturday-morning show followed the lives of Zack Morris and his friends at Bayside High?

7. Which comedy series featured actor John Lithgow as the high commander of an extraterrestrial team investigating civilization on Earth?

8. Michael J. Fox starred for four seasons as the deputy mayor of New York City on what show?

9. What show starred Fran Drescher as Fran Fine, a Jewish girl from Queens who stumbles upon a new job at the beginning of the series?

10. Which series followed a main character from "Cheers" to a radio job in Seattle?

11. Which show followed a genius named Jarod who escaped from a facility called The Centre?

12. Will Smith's character in which sitcom moved from Philadelphia to live with his wealthy relatives in California?

13. Which show featuring a weird cast of characters took place in the tiny town of Cicely, Alaska?

14. Which drama series focused on FBI agents Mulder and Scully and their investigations into the paranormal during its nine-

season run?

15. Set at WNYX, a fictional radio station in New York City, which show's ensemble cast included Maura Tierney, Phil Hartman and Andy Dick?

16. Which sitcom followed Cory Matthews, played by Ben Savage, who grows from a young boy to a married man during the course of the series?

17. Which 10-season sitcom followed the lives of six individuals in New York?

18. Which prime-time drama series followed a group of teenagers living in an upscale, star-studded California community through high school, college and beyond?

19. Neil Patrick Harris starred in this series about a boy-genius doctor?

20. Tim Allen brought his comedy act to television with what show following the character of Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor and his family?

Answers:

1. Seinfeld; 2. Wings; 3. My So-Called Life; 4. Quantum Leap; 5. Roseanne; 6. Saved by the Bell; 7. 3rd Rock from the Sun; 8. Spin City;

9. The Nanny; 10. Frasier; 11. The Pretender; 12. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air; 13. Northern Exposure; 14. The X-Files; 15. NewsRadio;

16. Boy Meets World; 17. Friends; 18. Beverly Hills 90210; 19. Doogie Howser M.D.;

20. Home Improvement

Linsay Carlson is a copy editor for The Montana Standard. If you have a quiz suggestion for the Useless Knowledge column e-mail linsay.carlson@mtstandard.com.