Dear Bonnywooders,

Okay, that term sounds just terrible. I thought I’d take it for a test run, but now that I see it in print, that rig is going back in the garage and I’m locking the door. Still, what’s done is done, so mark your calendars about the date of this single occurrence, should the situation ever arise in a future Bonnywood Trivia competition. (And it probably will.)

Speaking of trivia, tonight’s gathering around the campfire is going to be intentionally light-hearted and somewhat mindless. There were a few heavy posts this week, so I thought I’d wrap things up with an exercise wherein, although you might have to think, the brainwaves won’t involve reflection or morality or the way some folks never trouble themselves with either.

The premise: I am going to list the names of 20 characters from TV shows.

The promise: You will peruse the list and try to identify the corresponding show.

How you respond is up to you. You can just do a mental check and move on, indicate your overall tally in the comments, or even list out every answer, should the spirits and the broccoli move you. Do whatever gives you the most personal satisfaction. No judgment here. Bonnywood is a safe zone.

I would ask that you not use any resources other than those little synapses that are hopefully still firing in your brain. Otherwise, where’s the fun?

Millennial Alert: Most of these shows are from the 60s, 70s and 80s. I did not intentionally leave out the younger generations; it’s just that these memories were made when I was still dewy and fresh and my mind was a steel trap. Now that my mind is a rusted cage, it holds many of my newer memories hostage, refusing me any visitation rights. (Where the hell did I put my car keys? Did I pay the gas bill?) Still, many of the older shows have been in syndication for decades, so you might have seen them and might still have a chance.

Fair Disclosure: There are some exceptions, but most of these are minor characters. In fact, a few of them either didn’t actually exist or were never seen on screen, but the “character” was an ongoing reference. Ergo, if you watched the show with any regularity, you’ll get the character. If you didn’t, well, life goes on. I didn’t say it was going to be easy, I just said it was going to be fun. The remarks that appear in the comments will determine the validity of the last part of the preceding sentence.)

Programming Note: I will provide the answers in the second half of this post, so you can assess your ability to remember things that mean absolutely nothing in the end. In between the “questions” and the answers, I will shove a lovely music video. [Insert placeholder for the name of song, as I haven’t researched that part yet.] If you desire, you can kick off said video to help you ponder, just like that “Jeopardy” theme song that plays while the contestants look pensive and slightly wet themselves before they scribble a desperate answer. But don’t scroll beyond the music video or you’re going to screw things up, mmmkay? Unless you just don’t care. That’s okay, too. Safe Zone, right?

And here we go…

The Characters

1. Pinky Tuscadero

2. Vinnie Barbarino

3. Tattoo

4. Mrs. Howell

5. Sam Malone

6. Smelly Cat

7. Jody Dallas

8. Ray Krebs

9. Soup Nazi

10. Rhoda Morgenstern

11. Dr. Niles Crane

12. Edith Bunker

13. Fox Mulder

14. Carmine “The Big Ragu” Ragusa

15. The Big Giant Head

16. Krusty the Clown

17. Carrie Bradshaw

18. Ray Barone

19. Corky Sherwood-Forest

20. Anastasia Beaverhausen

And here we have the music video I babbled about. (Stop scrolling unless you are psychologically prepared to do so.) Interestingly enough, I managed to find a recording of the “Jeopardy” theme. So, it’s not really a video, more of an audio, but hey, it works.

The TV Shows

1. “Happy Days”

2. “Welcome Back, Kotter”

3. “Fantasy Island”

4. “Gilligan’s Island”

5. “Cheers”

6. “Friends”

7. “Soap”

8. “Dallas”

9. “Seinfeld”

10. Trick question. “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “Rhoda” both qualify, and even “Phyllis” counts, as Rhoda is mentioned but not seen. (“Rhoda” and “Phyllis” were both spin-offs from the hugely-popular “Mary”.)

11. “Frazier”

12. “All in the Family” (“Archie Bunker’s Place” would also count.)

13. “The X-Files”

14. “Laverne & Shirley”

15. “Third Rock from the Sun”

16. “The Simpsons”

17. “Sex and the City”

18. “Everybody Loves Raymond”

19. “Murphy Brown”

20. “Will & Grace”

So, how did you do? (And let’s not get too vociferous with our objections to how obscure things got. I told you it wouldn’t be easy. Shouldn’t you trust me by know? I think you should. Said with love.) But, surely, you got at least five of them, right? Five is good. Everything beyond that is just icing on the elusive cake, which someone left out in the rain. I don’t think that I can take it, because it took so long to bake it, and I’ll never have that [blank] again. Oh, no.

As a bonus question, fill in that blank. Because the trivia never ends at Bonnywood.

Cheers.