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121 TV Trivia Questions Ranked From Easiest to Hardest (Updated for 2024)
- In 1990, Rock the Vote started encouraging young people to vote on what cable network that's given them way worse ideas in the form of The Real World, Jackass, and Teen Mom?
Answer: MTV
- GBBO is a British reality television show which features a group of amateur bakers competing in a series of rounds. What does the acronym stand for?
Answer: Great British Bake Off
- “Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll.” were the first words spoken on what cable channel that launched at 12:01am on August 1, 1981?
Answer: MTV
- Brian Griffin is a fictional character from an American television series voiced by Seth MacFarlane. He's also an anthropomorphic dog. On what show does Brian Griffin prominently feature?
Answer: Family Guy
- Initially airing as a television show in 1976, how many Angels are typically represented by "Charlie's Angels?"
Answer: Three
- Brian Griffin is a fictional, anthropomorphic white Labrador voiced by Seth MacFarlane on what adult television show?
Answer: Family Guy
- Heisenberg is the codename of Walter White who is a character played by Bryan Cranston in what television franchise?
Answer: Breaking Bad
- A male collie named Pal was the first dog to portray what legendary (and female) title character on television?
Answer: Lassie
- It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3! The "Big Three" U.S. commercial broadcast television networks are CBS, NBC, and what Disney-owned third network?
Answer: ABC
- What method of applying seed, fertilizer, or pesticide in a wide pattern shares its name with the method of using public airwaves to transmit television?
Answer: Broadcast
- What “C” term used in solar energy refers to the negative pole of an electrolytic cell, the opposite of an anode? A ray tube using this word powers CRT televisions.
Answer: Cathode
- Gordon, James, Percy, and Emily are all members of the "Steam Team" and friends with what titular transportation children's character?
Answer: Thomas the Tank Engine
- "Do They Know It's Christmas?" is a song written in 1984 in reaction to television reports of the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The song was first recorded by a supergroup of English and Irish singers including what famed U2 frontman?
Answer: Bono
- There was a low-budget, mobile-only spin-off of a popular television drama released in 2005 that used minutes rather than hours as the eponymous time interval. The spin-off focused on counter-terrorism activities as did the primary program. Name either the spin-off or the Kiefer Sutherland-starring original program.
Answer: 24
- Sporting abundant hair and a love of happy trees, what was the first and last name of the guy who hosted the PBS television program "The Joy of Painting?"
Answer: Bob Ross
- Based in the Atlanta metropolitan area, the third-largest cable television provider in the U.S. also has millions of internet subscribers. What is the name of this communications giant that shares its name with an actress from the TV show "Friends"?
Answer: Cox Communications
- What man served a single year as the mayor of Cincinnati in 1977, fourteen years before the debut of his namesake television show?
Answer: Jerry Springer
- In a second season episode titled "Drug Testing," Dwight does not realize that Creed correctly identifies the Northern Lights strain of marijuana. This is an episode of what popular television program?
Answer: The Office
- Fuller House, a sequel to the television show Full House, aired on which direct-to-consumer content streaming platform?
Answer: Netflix
- Sam Malone and Diane Chambers are two of the main characters in what American sitcom television series that earned a top-ten rating during eight of its 11 seasons?
Answer: Cheers
- What American daytime television megastar-host released the podcast series "SuperSoul Conversations"? In this series, the host repurposes audio recording from television episodes under a series of the same name started in 2011 on the host's dedicated TV network.
Answer: Oprah Winfrey
- "Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow" was a Super PAC founded by what US comedian who raised awareness of Super PACs in his late-night television program during 2012?
Answer: Stephen Colbert
- In the Season 4 episode "The Handicap Spot," the group of friends on Seinfeld travel to a mall to buy what type of engagement gift for their friend "The Drake?"
Answer: Big-screen TV
- "Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes" is a television documentary series released in 2019 that was produced by what American tech company?
Answer: Netflix
- George Clooney as Dr. Doug Ross and Eriq La Salle as Dr. Peter Benton were among the many medical professional characters on what TV series that ran from 1994 to 2009?
Answer: ER
- Roxanne Pallett was involved in the "punchgate" scandal in 2018 after she falsely accused fellow housemate Ryan Thomas of punching her on what television show?
Answer: Celebrity Big Brother
- In March 2021, what country revealed a heavily armed Revolutionary Guard base known as "missile city" via its state television network?
Answer: Iran
- The American version of the show "The Office" premiered on NBC in 2005. The show takes place in which Pennsylvania city?
Answer: Scranton
- Jason Thompson narrates, "Fire" by the Ohio Players is the opening theme, and Gordon Ramsay hosts what reality television show that debuted on Fox in 2005?
Answer: Hell's Kitchen
- The Dino Rescue Patroller is a motorized toy that was a popular item for the 2020 holidays and is inspired by what extremely-popular kids television program?
Answer: Paw Patrol
- There's an extremely popular and durable meme which features two superheroes pointing at each other. This image comes from episode 19b from a 1967 episode of animated television. Who is the hero in this popular meme?
Answer: Spiderman
- Starting with an hour-long special in January 2018, what reality television series airing on TLC stars dermatologist and internet celebrity Dr. Sandra Lee? In each episode, she treats patients with unusual cases of facial and skin disorders at her California clinic. The show is named after her nickname.
Answer: Dr. Pimple Popper
- Created by Atlanta resident in 1992, what television network premiered with programming that consisted exclusively of reruns of Warner Bros. cartoons?
Answer: Cartoon Network
- Matt and Ross Duffer are the directors and producers for what Netflix television series set in 1980s Indiana?
Answer: Stranger Things
- What Minnesota-born actress left the television show "7th Heaven" in 2006 and had earlier starred in "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "The Rules of Attraction?"
Answer: Jessical Biel
- What sci-fi television program showed the first interracial kiss on television?
Answer: Star Trek
- “Hold my closer, tiny dancer” are some of the most misheard song lyrics of all time, with some believing that Elton John, in lieu of a diminutive terpsichorean, actually was referring to what television actor from “Taxi” and “Who’s the Boss?”
Answer: Tony Danza
- What daughter of former Alaskan governor Sarah Palin starred in her own namesake Lifetime reality television series subtitled “Life’s A Tripp” in 2012 about moving to “The Last Frontier” state after temporarily living in California?
Answer: Bristol Palin
- In the 1950’s and 1960’s, a television station’s broadcast would sign off, and the station would display what “T” pattern, a simple visual indicator that the station was still transmitting, for the rest of the evening?
Answer: Test Pattern
- What teen star launched her career with the 2008 Disney Channel television film "Camp Rock" before embarking on a music career with 7 Top-20 hits as of 2018 and a stint as a judge and mentor on "The X Factor"?
Answer: Demi Lovato
- What is the first name of television and radio doctor Westheimer who didn’t begin her media career as “Grandma Freud” until age 52 in 1980 when she began fielding listeners' calls asking about topics that had traditionally been taboo on traditional media channels?
Answer: Ruth
- At the Pittsburgh Children’s Museum, you can visit King Friday XIII, Lady Elaine Fairchilde, Daniel Tiger, and other puppets from which beloved television show?
Answer: Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood
- Named for a romantic idiom, what is the name of the 2020 Netflix dating reality television show that featured thirty men and women hoping to find love in a speed dating format?
Answer: Love Is Blind
- What popular North Carolina-based television show centers on the conflict between seasonal "Kooks" and local "Pogues?"
Answer: Outer Banks
- Nicolette Sheridan played real estate sales agent Edie Britt, who lived on Wisteria Lane, in what ABC television series?
Answer: Desperate Housewives
- What TV show about a middle-class NYC housewife innovated in the following ways? The first scripted television program shot on 35mm film in front of a studio audience, the first show to feature an ensemble cast. The show was voted the "Best TV Show of All Time" in a 2012 survey conducted by ABC News and People magazine.
Answer: I Love Lucy
- The first episode of what city-named television show opened in 2016 with a confrontation between rapper "Paper Boi" Miles and a man who broke off a mirror from Miles's car? The second episode of the show was written by the younger brother of the first episode's writer.
Answer: Atlanta
- What long-running tabloid talk television show is the source of the most famous paternity test moments in TV history? Every segment ends with "You are the Father" or "You are not the Father."
Answer: Maury
- In most television, novel, and comic book appearances of the Empire's Grand Admiral Thrawn, what color is the character's skin?
Answer: Blue
- What 2020 Netflix-produced reality television show was inspired in part by the famous Seinfeld episode "The Contest" in which participants competed for who could abstain from onanism the longest?
Answer: Too Hot to Handle
- Who starred in the 80s workout video series, "Sweatin' to the Oldies," as well as his own television workout show?
Answer: Richard Simmons
- Central Park's Belvedere Castle is used for establishing shots as the residence of what purple-skinned puppet of television?
Answer: Count von Count
- On the 1990s sitcom "Moesha," the title character was played by what one-named singer of "Sittin' Up in My Room" and "The Boy Is Mine?"
Answer: Brandy
- The antihero-led serial killer drama "Dexter" aired for seven years in the U.S. on what premium television channel?
Answer: Showtime
- What is the name of the 2019 American television show released on HBO which narrates the formative experiences of friendships, relationships, identity and trauma among a group of high school students? The show famously stars Hunter Schafer and Zendaya; the latter won a 2020 Emmy for her performance in the Best Lead Actress in a Drama category and is the youngest recipient of this award.
Answer: Euphoria
- American television and film writer/producer Norman Lear turns 100 on July 27. What’s the 11-letter C-word that we use for a person who hits this milestone age?
Answer: Centenarian
- What acronymic British award was redesigned into a bronze theatrical mask by American sculptor Mitzi Cunliffe in 1976 and is presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts?
Answer: The BAFTA Award
- What “F” name is best known as the American inventor of the electronic television set, a rival for credit with the Russian Vladimir Zworykin? The American last name is the same as the elderly professor from the show “Futurama”.
Answer: Philo Farnsworth
- Subtitled “The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City”, Nelson Johnson’s 2002 book chronicling the life of crime boss Enoch L. Johnson inspired the creation of what HBO series in 2010?
Answer: Boardwalk Empire
- What 6-letter compound word is the brand name of the hair-volumizing insert popularized in late-2000s television commercials?
Answer: Bumpit
- Emma Boettcher is a University of Chicago Librarian who became nationally famous after a 2019 appearance on what television show?
Answer: Jeopardy!
- On what American television network did "The Golden Girls" originally air from 1985 to 1992?
Answer: NBC
- What is the name of the virtual assistant developed for Samsung devices in 2017 and is the surname of a famous Bill who portrayed mild-mannered Bruce Banner in the 1980s television series The Incredible Hulk?
Answer: Bixby
- What Canadian author, poet, and environmentalist with a "forested" name reached new levels of fame in 2017 after her award-winning 1985 dystopian political novel was released as a smash-hit television series on Hulu?
Answer: Margaret Atwood
- Preceding Jerry Sheindlin and succeeding Joseph Wapner, former New York City mayor Ed Koch presided as a judge on what syndicated small claims court television series from 1997 to 1999?
Answer: The People’s Court
- The most Oscars ever won by an individual is 22. The most Oscar nominations ever received by an individual is 59. What 20th century American male holds both of these records? He was also inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame with two stars, one for his motion pictures and the other for his television work. Hint: it's not John Williams.
Answer: Walt Disney
- The richest man in Georgia is the Chairman of what conglomerate that contains a cable television business, a media business, and an automotive-related business?
Answer: Cox Enterprises
- Who was the first "Seinfeld" star to be inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame? (hint: she was part of the class of 2014)
Answer: julia louis-dreyfus
- What British television comedy panel game has been on the air since September 2008, is focused on tabloid news, and is written and presented by Keith Lemon (the alter-ego of comedian Leigh Francis)?
Answer: Celebrity Juice
- What three-season NBC television show was set in Minnesota and featured FBI profiler Will Graham, behavioral scientist Jack Crawford, and forensic psychiatrist Dr. Lecter?
Answer: Hannibal
- On the air since 2013, "______ ______'s Paternity Court" is a reality television show in which a family lawyer analyzes DNA results and makes rulings on paternity cases. The show was MGM's first syndicated show in more than a decade. What is the alliterative name missing from the show's title?
Answer: Lauren Lake
- What 19th-century Belgian geologist and geology professor made a geological map of Europe in 1875? His last name is the same as a failed US television network of the 1950s.
Answer: Andre Dumont
- "Mathman," a parody of the arcade game of Pac-Man, was a recurring segment on what educational TV show produced by the Children's Television Workshop?
Answer: Square One
- What Toronto-born actor is best known for losing track of her son Kevin as Kate McCallister in “Home Alone” and portraying the eclectic Moira Rose in the television series “Schitt’s Creek”?
Answer: Catherine O’Hara
- Co-created by Bill Arhos and Bruce Scafe, complete the title of present-day PBS series airing since 1979 which helped Austin become the “Live Music Capital Of The World” and is currently the only television series to receive the National Medal of Arts congressional honor in 2003: “Austin CIty ____”.
Answer: Limits
- What “S” Irish political scientist worked for Dublin’s Economic and Social Research Institute, and regularly appeared on Irish television to analyze elections?
Answer: Richard Sinnott
- What comedian, also known for being the wife and comedy partner to George Burns, was born with heterochromia? The condition reportedly made her self-conscious about the transition from black-and-white to color television.
Answer: Gracie Allen
- What service, “CC” for short, allows for persons with hearing disabilities to see television dialog as words on the screen?
Answer: Closed Captioning
- What television news personality has been host of the CBS reality show "Big Brother'' since its premiere on July 5, 2000?
Answer: Julie Chen
- Hot in Cleveland, starring Betty White and Valerie Bertinelli, was the first original programming to appear on what network, which is otherwise known for playing "classic" television?
Answer: TV Land
- Wilmington, Delaware native Tom Verlaine founded what 1970s rock band behind the album Marquee Moon, whose name sounds more like something you'd watch than listen to?
Answer: Television
- A 1950 comedy called The Hank McCune Show was the first television show to make use of what innovation, still in use by some sitcoms today?
Answer: A Laugh Track
- Long used as a background track for NBC's Olympic television coverage is "Olympic Fanfare and Theme," a song originally written for and performed at the opening ceremony of the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984. Which cinematic conductor wrote the piece and led its performance in LA?
Answer: John Williams
- A home telephone in the physical shape of a mallard duck was a key piece of the MTV-provided furniture in the house from what reality television series?
Answer: Jersey Shore
- What is the fishy name of the doomed boat on the TV show Gilligan's Island? A second and even third version of this boat were built for made-for-TV specials that aired in 1978 and 1979.
Answer: SS Minnow
- "West Texas Investors Club" was a television docu-series on CNBC that followed two self-made millionaires from oil-related businesses. One of these two men is famously the brother of what iconic actor?
Answer: Matthew McConaughey
- Launched in 1982, Europe's first cable and satellite channel was originally known as Satellite Television but now goes by what more heavenly name?
Answer: Sky
- "Hey, you've been great. See you in the cafeteria!" is the final line of Seinfeld's final episode and is spoken by Jerry in what setting?
Answer: Prison
- What MCU animated television, show, debuting on Disney+ in 2021, re-imagines various famous Marvel events with different outcomes? It was also a Marvel comic book with the same name.
Answer: What If
- In perhaps the most famous sports television call of all time, Al Michaels posed what question to the audience as the underdog United States was about to advance to the finals of the Lake Placid Olympic hockey tournament in 1980? (Hint: He answered his own question with "Yes!")
Answer: Do you believe in miracles?
- Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany are the two stars of what television miniseries that debuted on Disney+ in 2021 and is considered the first flagship TV show for Marvel Studios?
Answer: Wandavision
- What company, whose trademark included a dog listening to a gramophone, sold the first mass-produced color television set, starting in 1954?
Answer: RCA
- What television personality, comedian, and actress discussed in a 2011 episode of “The View” that she had once worked as a phone sex operator?
Answer: Whoopi Goldberg
- Developed by George Lerner in 1949 and manufactured by Hasbro in 1952, what children's toy was the first ever to be advertised on television? The campaign was groundbreaking as it was the first campaign to explicitly market towards children, upending the advertising industry and the economics of the toy industry.
Answer: Mr. Potato Head
- CEO Ed Bastian of what American airline company stated in a February television interview that his firm would be investing $1 billion in efforts to become carbon neutral over the course of a decade?
Answer: Delta Airlines
- What ABC television series uses the mockumentary style similar to that used in "The Office" to follow the day-to-day lives of elementary school teachers in the Philadelphia public school system?
Answer: Abbott Elementary
- January 1, 1971 was the last day that what were seen on American television?
Answer: Cigarette Commercials
- A major real estate company based out of Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX is ______ Real Estate Partners. Fill in the one word “N” blank, a critically acclaimed 1976 satirical movie about broadcast television.
Answer: Network
- Which discontinued spreadsheet program, originally written by Jonathan Sachs, peaked in popularity in the late 1980s after its release in January 1983? This spreadsheet program was the first computer software to use television consumer advertising.
Answer: Lotus 1-2-3
- Anthony Sullivan (often referred to as The OxiClean Man) pitched dozens of home products to American shoppers via television commercials throughout his career. What was the name of the circular lighting fixture he pitched in the 1990s which he claimed can be "conveniently placed almost anywhere"?
Answer: TapLights
- Namesake of a CUNY college, what civil rights leader was murdered on June 12, 1963, just hours after President Kennedy spoke on national television in support of national civil rights?
Answer: Medgar Evers
- Talkeetna was supposedly the inspiration for Cicely, Alaska on what ensemble early '90s CBS show?
Answer: Northern Exposure
- With a full stage name that has to be bleeped on television, Alaska is the stage name of the performer who came in second on Season 5, and won All-Stars Season 2, of what reality show?
Answer: RuPaul's Drag Race
- Ryan Malcolm and Kalan Porter were the first two winners of what Canadian reality television program?
Answer: Canadian Idol
- Long-running American television show "The Bachelor" has spawned spinoffs in many other countries including the short-lived "The Bachelor: Em Busca do Grande Amor" which lasted for one season in what country? Aane Doux was the winner of Gianluca Perino's "romantic" culling.
Answer: Brazil
- What American television show that aired from 2008 - 2014 was shown in Colombia under the name "Meta´stasis?"
Answer: Breaking Bad
- In 2011, Mayor Gavin Newsom posthumously inducted Philo T. Farnsworth into the San Francisco Hall of Fame – partially for his prototypical invention of the what first all-electric household item in 1938?
Answer: Television
- The California coastal town of Mendocino was used as a stand-in for Cabot Cove, Maine, in what television show that ran for twelve seasons?
Answer: Murder, She Wrote
- The basic premise of a 2003 American reality television involved bachelor Evan Marriott's inheritance of millions of dollars and his search for a potential bride. Ultimately, the millions were a ruse. What is this show?
Answer: Joe Millionaire
- The first television ad in history was in 1941 for what fashion accessory?
Answer: Bulova watch
- In television writing, “Mandyville” is where characters are said to go when they’re written off the show without explanation (usually when an actor decides to leave—or gets fired). The term was cointed after Moira Kelly (and her character Mandy) left which show after the first season?
Answer: The West Wing
- What former financial analyst and television host was named as the Director of the National Economic Council under President Donald Trump in 2018, replacing Gary Cohn?
Answer: Larry Kudlow
- On the '90s CBS sitcom “The Nanny”, what character portrayed by Charles Shaughnessy is occasionally mocked for passing on the rare opportunity to produce the Broadway hit “Cats” because he initially thought it was a ridiculous idea?
Answer: Maxwell Sheffield
- What 2022 film, the most-watched premiere among all films and television shows on the Hulu network, features the landscapes of the Stoney Nakoda First Nation at the foot of the Canadian Rockies?
Answer: Prey
- Created by Hrishikesh Hirway in 2014, what is the name of the music podcast that "deconstructs" individual songs into component parts while discussing the creative process with the artist who recorded the song? The podcast also was translated to television with a 2020 Netflix program.
Answer: Song Exploder
- Showing 12 of the over 300 hours of footage that was filmed of the Californian upper-middle class family The Louds, what network aired the first American reality television series “An American Family” in 1973
Answer: PBS
- What famed television personality auditioned for the part of Elaine at the behest of Larry David as the two were old friends from the standup comedy scene? This woman's first big break came from the talent show "Star Search" when she was a teenager.
Answer: Rosie O'Donnell
- Produced by Randall Salazar, what is the name of the Costa Rican morning television show that debuted in 1998 and currently airs on Teletica from 8am to 10am on weekdays?
Answer: Buen Día
- What three-letter television sitcom that sounds vaguely Jay-Z-esque included an episode in 1991 with the first gay wedding in TV history?
Answer: Roc
- Airing from 2015 to 2018, what was the name of the television show in which popular columnist George Turner moves to a fictional New Zealand seaside town named Weld where his interactions with the locals form the plot of the show?
Answer: 800 Words
- Under the supervision of Dr. Alan Isen in a television studio, who was the first U.S. President to appear in public wearing contact lenses? This occurred during the decade in which contact lenses first had mass appeal thanks to improved manufacturing technology.
Answer: Lyndon Johnson
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About the Author
Eli Robinson is the Chief Trivia Officer at Water Cooler Trivia. He was once in a Bruce Springsteen cover band called F Street Band.