Ken Jennings's Trivia Almanac (192 page)

NOVEMBER 17

1933
Z
EPPO
M
ARX GETS
his last hurrah, as the Marx Brothers movie
Duck Soup
is released. Zeppo decides to quit performing to become a Hollywood agent, and the remainder of the Marx Brothers’ oeuvre will feature only his three brothers Groucho, Harpo, and Chico.

A GOOD CAST IS WORTH REPEATING

What three stars appear in both these movies?

1.
The Conversation
and
Apocalypse Now

2.
The Adventures of Robin Hood
and
Captain Blood

3.
Sense and Sensibility
and
Love Actually

4.
Romancing the Stone
and
The War of the Roses

5.
Starsky & Hutch
and
Anchorman

6.
Titanic
and
Revolutionary Road

7.
Casablanca
and
The Maltese Falcon

8.
A League of Their Own
and
Sleepless in Seattle

9.
The Breakfast Club
and
St. Elmo’s Fire

10.
Pillow Talk
and
Lover Come Back

1978
T
HE INFAMOUS
Star Wars Holiday Special
is broadcast for the only time. The
Star Wars
cast helps Chewbacca celebrate “Life Day” with the help of special guests like Bea Arthur, Art Carney, and (making his very first appearance) Boba Fett.

THE PICTURES GOT SMALL!

Name the only actor to reprise his or her role as a regular in these movie-to-TV transitions.

Easy

1.
M*A*S*H

2.
The Paper Chase

3.
Shaft

Harder

1.
The Love Bug

2.
Tremors

3.
Alice

Yeah, Good Luck

1.
The Client

2.
Harry and the Hendersons

3.
Police Academy

1981
C. E
VERETT
K
OOP
is sworn in as surgeon general of the United States—presumably wearing epaulets.

C
HUNT

1.
What crooner’s albums include
Saturday Night with Mr. C
and
Sing to Me Mr. C
?

2.
What Nobel laureate wrote “Vitamin C and the Common Cold” in 1970, when he was taking as much as 18,000 mg of the stuff a day?

3.
What does the
C
stand for in military C rations?

4.
What’s the name for the “tail” added to the letter
c
in French to indicate a soft /s/ sound?

5.
What was the real name of the C+C Music Factory hit often called “Everybody Dance Now”?

NOVEMBER 18

1836
T
HE
P
OSTHUMOUS
P
APERS OF THE
P
ICKWICK
C
LUB,
the first novel by the young Charles Dickens, hits bookstores.

WELCOME TO THE CLUB

1.
What club did John Muir found in San Francisco in 1892?

2.
What famous nightclub was, as its name implies, the building where TV hits like
The $64,000 Question
and
Jack Benny
were once taped?

3.
What’s the only warehouse club store that outsells Wal-Mart’s Sam’s Club?

4.
The last of what clubs closed in Manila in 1991?

5.
How many contributors did struggling Christian-themed TV station WYAH recruit in a 1962 telethon?

6.
What “red hot mama” was the first woman ever roasted by the Friars Club?

7.
Name either of the two Nobel laureates on the cover of
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

8.
What is the first rule of Fight Club?

9.
What kind of club opened for the first time in 1950 on Mallorca?

10.
Who thanked L.A.’s “Tuesday Night Music Club” when she won her first Grammys?

1947
O
N THE EARLY
D
U
M
ONT NETWORK
sitcom
Mary Kay and Johnny,
the title characters (married in real life) become the first sitcom couple to share a double bed.

BED-AZZLED

1.
What’s unusual about inventor William Murphy’s namesake Murphy bed?

2.
Who held two “Bed-ins for Peace” in 1969?

3.
What section of Bed Bath & Beyond holds the universal remote in Adam Sandler’s
Click
?

4.
Inventor Charles Hall was unable to patent the water bed in 1968 because what author had already described one in his novel
Stranger in a Strange Land
?

5.
Who does Bob Newhart find himself in bed with in the final
Newhart
?

1992
T
HE DEATH OF
S
UPERMAN,
at the hands of an alien bruiser called Doomsday, sells a gajil-lion comic books. (The Man of Steel “gets better” by the following August.)

REVIVAL MEETING

1.
What crime were “resurrectionists” guilty of?

2.
In 2005, what TV show became the first canceled series ever to be revived due to strong DVD sales?

3.
What villain was placed in cryonic freeze aboard the SS
Botany Bay
?

4.
On April 24, 1976, for what service did Lorne Michaels make an on-air offer of $3,000?

5.
What brand, Coke’s first diet soft drink, was relaunched as an energy drink in 2006?