MOA Staff; (Source: Everett Collection)

The Ultimate ‘Pop’ Quiz for Father’s Day

Test your knowledge of popular TV and movie dads

Thom Geier,

Members Only Access

Published June 09, 2023

10 Questions

In honor of the annual celebration of dear ol’ dads everywhere, we’ve rounded up some questions about film and TV depictions of fatherhood. So, before you buy your dad a new necktie, take our quiz to see if you or father really does know best.

The Ultimate ‘Pop’ Quiz for Father’s Day

[ {
  "question" : "What is Mike Brady’s job on “The Brady Bunch”?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Physician",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Lawyer",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Architect",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Shoe salesman",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "We hardly ever see the widowed father of three boys, played by Robert Reed, actually designing buildings on the show — though there is a drafting table in the office off the sunken living room. It’s a shame that he never decided to build an addition to his split-level home so that his six kids didn’t have to cram together in just two rooms.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "“Father Knows Best” is set in what fictional town that shares its name with the home of the animated Simpsons family?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Mayfield",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Mayberry",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Springfield",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Hooterville",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "According to the U.S. government, 34 states have a Springfield — but neither the ’50s comedy “Father Knows Best” nor “The Simpsons” identifies the state in which it’s set. By the way, Mayfield is the home of the Cleavers in “Leave It to Beaver”; Mayberry is the setting for “The Andy Griffith Show”; and Hooterville hosted both “Petticoat Junction” and “Green Acres.” None of those shows identified the state either, although Griffith is said to have based Mayberry on his hometown of Mount Airy, NC.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "True or false: In the 1979 movie “Kramer vs. Kramer,” Ted Kramer (Dustin Hoffman) wins custody of his son, Billy, after the bitter court battle. ",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "True",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "False",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "In the movie, custody is ultimately awarded to Billy’s mother, Joanna (Meryl Streep). The film won five Oscars, including best picture and acting prizes for both Hoffman and Streep — who had a notoriously strained relationship on set. (As director Robert Benton later recalled, Hoffman actually slapped Streep on the face just before they shot their first scene together in an awkward, unannounced attempt to get her into a raw emotional state.)",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "What phrase did Fred Sanford repeatedly use to describe his son, Lamont, on “Sanford and Son”?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "“You big dummy!”",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "“I brought you into this world, and I’ll take you out!”",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "“D’oh”",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "“You are a meathead.”",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "Redd Foxx, who played the cantankerous junk dealer Fred Sanford in Norman Lear’s hit 1970s sitcom, was born John Elroy Sanford — and both his father and brother were named Fred Sanford.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "True or false: In “The Godfather” movies, Vito Corleone’s son Tom is adopted.",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "True",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "False",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "Tom Hagen, an orphan who was informally adopted by the Corleones after Michael brought him home when they were both boys, was played by Robert Duvall in Francis Ford Coppola’s film trilogy. Tom becomes a lawyer who is both a trusted consigliere and a bit of an outsider in the family. “He’s an adopted son,” Duvall said in 2022. “So he couldn’t step over the line. I couldn’t step over the line as an actor or as the character. And it was great to be part of the family.”",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "Who played the stay-at-home dad in the 1983 movie “Mr. Mom”?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Michael Keaton",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Robin Williams",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Chevy Chase",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Tom Hanks",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "“Mr. Mom,” about a laid-off Ford Motors engineer who cares for his three kids when his wife lands a top advertising job, was the second John Hughes screenplay to get produced. The film’s box office success led Universal to sign Hughes to a three-picture deal that produced three of the biggest ’80s teen classics: “Sixteen Candles,” “The Breakfast Club” and “Weird Science.”",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "Reginald VelJohnson played Carl Winslow, a Chicago cop and father of three, in what long-running ’90s sitcom?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "“King of Queens”",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "“Home Improvement”",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "“Family Matters”",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "“Full House”",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "VelJohnson was cast in the show one year after he had another breakout role as a cop — this time a sympathetic LAPD officer assisting Bruce Willis in “Die Hard.” Urkel, the Winslow neighbor and uber-nerd who became the breakout character in “Family Matters,” was introduced in the fourth episode of the first season. VelJohnson recently reprised his role as a TV dad in commercials for Progressive insurance.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "What R&B star sings the hit 2003 song “Dance With My Father”?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Marvin Gaye",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Alicia Keys",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Luther Vandross",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Lionel Richie",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "Vandross wrote the song with Richard Marx as a tribute to his father, who died of complications from diabetes. The singer, who himself died two years later, scored his last Top 40 hit with the tune and earned two Grammy Awards, including song of the year.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "George Costanza’s father, Frank, invented which of the following on the show “Seinfeld”?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Festivus",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "A tie dispenser",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Bathtub garbage disposal",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "A coffee table book about coffee tables",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "Frank Costanza, played by Jerry Stiller (real-life father of Ben Stiller), became so disgusted with the commercialism of Christmas that he launched Festivus as a December holiday “for the rest of us.” The other inventions are all the brainchild of Jerry Seinfeld’s wacky neighbor Kramer, who also was inspired by Frank Costanza’s “feminine” chest to invent a bra for men that Frank dubbed “the manssiere.”",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "What’s the name of Nemo’s father in Disney’s 2003 animated movie “Finding Nemo”?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Marlin",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Gill",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Chum",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Bruce",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "William H. Macy was originally cast in the role of the papa clownfish — and had completed all of his voice work — when director Andrew Stanton decided that the part needed a lighter touch. So he rerecorded all the dialogue with “Broadcast News” star Albert Brooks.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
} ]

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The Ultimate ‘Pop’ Quiz for Father’s Day

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Thom Geier is an award-winning writer and editor with a passion for American pop culture. He served as executive editor of the digital news site TheWrap.com and as a senior editor at Entertainment Weekly, where he oversaw coverage of movies, theater and books. His essays and reviews appear regularly on CultureSauce.net.

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