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TV Trivia Questions
Fictional towns, long-running families, spin-offs and the shows that would not end. Play the TV trivia round, then read every question and answer below.
Keys 1-4 pick an answer, Enter moves on. Nothing is saved to an account.
Television trivia rewards a particular kind of memory: not plots, which blur, but places and people. Ask someone to summarise a series they watched for years and they will struggle; ask them which town it was set in, or which two characters were related, and the answer arrives instantly. That is why this round leans on settings, casts, spin-offs and fictional geography rather than storylines.
The range runs from the sitcoms almost everyone has seen through to shows that shaped the medium decades ago, including British comedy, American drama and the long-running science fiction that outlasted several of its own lead actors. Every question is text only, so nothing depends on recognising a face or a clip.
American sitcoms: tv trivia questions
The friends in Friends spent most of their free time in a coffee house called what?
Answer: Central Perk EasyCafe Nervosa was the equivalent hangout in the sitcom Frasier.
Cheers was set in a bar in which city?
Answer: Boston EasyIts spin-off Frasier moved the lead character across the country to Seattle.
The American version of The Office is set at a paper company branch in which town?
Answer: Scranton EasyThe British original was set in Slough, and Stamford was a rival branch in the US show.
Which two characters in Friends are brother and sister?
Answer: Ross and Monica EasyTheir sibling rivalry is a running thread across all ten seasons.
Which neighbour repeatedly burst into Jerry's apartment in Seinfeld?
Answer: Kramer EasyThe character was based on a real neighbour of co-creator Larry David.
The series M*A*S*H was set during which conflict?
Answer: The Korean War MediumThe show ran for eleven years, far longer than the three-year war it depicted.
Frasier moved its title character to which city?
Answer: Seattle MediumHe worked there as a radio psychiatrist after leaving Boston.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus played a politician named Selina Meyer in which comedy?
Answer: Veep MediumVeep was created by Armando Iannucci, who had made The Thick of It in Britain.
Parks and Recreation is set in a fictional town in which state?
Answer: Indiana MediumThe town of Pawnee is presented as a small city with an oversized civic ego.
American drama: tv trivia questions
Breaking Bad is set in which American city?
Answer: Albuquerque EasyThe story was originally written for California but moved for filming incentives.
Game of Thrones was adapted from novels by which author?
Answer: George R. R. Martin EasyThe book series is titled A Song of Ice and Fire.
The Sopranos is set mainly in which US state?
Answer: New Jersey MediumThe opening title sequence follows a drive out of the Lincoln Tunnel into New Jersey.
Mad Men follows staff at a firm in which industry?
Answer: Advertising MediumThe title plays on the Madison Avenue agencies of 1960s New York.
The Wire is set in which American city?
Answer: Baltimore MediumIts creator David Simon had been a crime reporter for the Baltimore Sun.
Better Call Saul stands in what relationship to Breaking Bad?
Answer: A prequel MediumIt begins years before Breaking Bad, though later episodes catch up and pass it.
The Ewing family ranch in Dallas was called what?
Answer: Southfork HardA real ranch north of Dallas was used for the exteriors and still draws visitors.
The medical drama ER was set at a hospital in which city?
Answer: Chicago HardThe fictional County General was based on real public hospitals in the city.
The Sopranos was created by which writer?
Answer: David Chase HardChase had worked for years in network television before pitching the series to HBO.
Sci-fi, fantasy and mystery: tv trivia questions
Stranger Things takes place in a fictional Indiana town named what?
Answer: Hawkins EasyThe other three are towns invented by Stephen King and John Carpenter.
Who captained the Enterprise in the original Star Trek series?
Answer: James T. Kirk EasyPike was the captain in the unaired first pilot before Kirk replaced him.
Twin Peaks was co-created by which film director?
Answer: David Lynch MediumHe created it with the television writer Mark Frost.
The plane that crashed at the start of Lost carried which flight number?
Answer: Oceanic 815 MediumAjira 316 was a later flight in the same series, which is why the numbers echo.
Which two FBI agents investigated the unexplained in The X-Files?
Answer: Mulder and Scully MediumDoggett and Reyes were genuine later additions to the same show.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer was set in a Californian town called what?
Answer: Sunnydale MediumThe town sits over a portal the show called the Hellmouth.
The Twilight Zone was created and largely written by whom?
Answer: Rod Serling HardSerling wrote a large share of the episodes himself and narrated the series.
Who captained the ship in Star Trek: The Next Generation?
Answer: Jean-Luc Picard HardPatrick Stewart was cast despite producers initially wanting a younger lead.
In the 1960s series The Prisoner, the main character is held in a place known simply as what?
Answer: The Village HardIt was filmed at Portmeirion, an Italianate resort village in north Wales.
The 2004 reimagining of Battlestar Galactica was developed by whom?
Answer: Ronald D. Moore HardGlen A. Larson created the original 1978 series that it was based on.
British television: tv trivia questions
In Doctor Who, the Doctor's time machine is known by which name?
Answer: The TARDIS EasyIt is stuck looking like a 1960s police box because its disguise circuit failed.
Downton Abbey is set in a country house in which English county?
Answer: Yorkshire EasyThe exteriors were filmed at Highclere Castle, which is actually in Hampshire.
Coronation Street is set in which fictional place?
Answer: Weatherfield MediumWeatherfield stands in for a working-class district of Greater Manchester.
The quiz format Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? was first created in which country?
Answer: The United Kingdom MediumIt began on ITV in 1998 and was licensed to more than a hundred countries.
Fawlty Towers was set in a hotel in which English seaside town?
Answer: Torquay HardJohn Cleese based it on a real Torquay hotel where the Monty Python team had stayed.
Only Fools and Horses followed the Trotter brothers in which London district?
Answer: Peckham HardTheir tower block was named Nelson Mandela House.
Which actor played the lead in every series of Blackadder?
Answer: Rowan Atkinson HardEach series moved the same family name to a different period of English history.
Doctor Who was first broadcast in which year?
Answer: 1963 HardIts first episode went out the day after the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
Animation, kids and classic TV: tv trivia questions
The Simpsons live in a town with which name?
Answer: Springfield EasyThe name was chosen partly because so many real American states have one.
Which two Sesame Street characters share an apartment?
Answer: Bert and Ernie EasyThey have been part of the show since its first season in 1969.
SpongeBob SquarePants lives in an underwater town called what?
Answer: Bikini Bottom EasyIts creator Stephen Hillenburg was a marine biology teacher before working in animation.
Who played Lucille Ball's on-screen husband in I Love Lucy?
Answer: Desi Arnaz HardArnaz was her real husband, and their company pioneered filming sitcoms before a live audience.
Who played the raincoated detective in Columbo?
Answer: Peter Falk HardThe format showed the murder first, so the interest lay in how he cornered the culprit.
Sesame Street first went on air in which year?
Answer: 1969 HardIt was built on research into whether television could teach preschool children.
Answer key
- Springfield
- Central Perk
- Hawkins
- Albuquerque
- George R. R. Martin
- Boston
- The TARDIS
- James T. Kirk
- Scranton
- Bert and Ernie
- Bikini Bottom
- Ross and Monica
- Kramer
- Yorkshire
- The Korean War
- Seattle
- David Lynch
- New Jersey
- Advertising
- Oceanic 815
- Mulder and Scully
- Veep
- Weatherfield
- The United Kingdom
- Sunnydale
- Baltimore
- A prequel
- Indiana
- Desi Arnaz
- Rod Serling
- Southfork
- Torquay
- Peckham
- Jean-Luc Picard
- Chicago
- The Village
- Ronald D. Moore
- Rowan Atkinson
- Peter Falk
- David Chase
- 1963
- 1969
How to play
- Pick a mode: multiple choice, true or false, a 60-second sprint, or the daily quiz.
- Answer with a tap, or press 1 to 4 on a keyboard. The right answer appears straight away with a line explaining it.
- Finish the round to see your score, copy the result grid, and step up a difficulty.
- Hosting a night? The full tv list and a separate answer key are printed below, and the print layout drops the game and keeps the paper.
Tiebreaker questions
Closest guess wins. Read one out when two tables finish level.
How many episodes of Friends were made across its ten seasons?
Answer: 236 episodes The series ran on NBC from 1994 to 2004.
In what year did the final episode of M*A*S*H air?
Answer: 1983 The feature-length finale was broadcast in February 1983.
In what year was the first Emmy Awards ceremony held?
Answer: 1949 It took place in Los Angeles and honoured local programming only.
Common mistakes in tv trivia
- The Simpsons' Springfield is officially in a particular US state.
The show deliberately keeps the state unknown and contradicts itself on purpose. Any state named by a player is a guess, not an answer.
- The American version of The Office was the original.
The BBC series created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant came first in 2001. The US adaptation began in 2005.
- The original Star Trek ran for many years in the 1960s.
It lasted three seasons, from 1966 to 1969, and was cancelled. Its popularity grew in syndication afterwards.
- Frasier was created as a stand-alone sitcom.
Frasier Crane first appeared in Cheers as a recurring character. Frasier is a spin-off that began in 1993 after Cheers ended.
- Breaking Bad's Walter White was a university chemistry professor.
He is a high-school chemistry teacher in Albuquerque who also works at a car wash. His research past is mentioned, but he never teaches at a university in the series.
Running this round at a quiz night
Television rounds split tables by age, so mix eras deliberately: one classic, two current dramas, a sitcom, something British and a children's show. Read titles clearly and give the decade if a show has been remade, because Battlestar Galactica or Doctor Who can mean two different things. Settings cause the most disputes: fictional towns versus real cities, and the state a show is set in versus where it was filmed. Word your answers as the setting on screen and say so. Accept a character's surname alone when it is unambiguous. For tiebreakers use episode counts of finished series or the year a landmark show ended, since those figures are fixed and easily checked.
Frequently asked questions
Are there any picture or clip questions?
No. Everything is text, so the round works read aloud, printed, or played on a phone with the sound off. Nothing depends on identifying an image or hearing a theme tune.
Is the round mostly American shows?
It is mixed. Alongside the American sitcoms and dramas there are British entries including Fawlty Towers, Only Fools and Horses, Coronation Street, Blackadder and Doctor Who, so a British or American table should each find familiar ground.
Will these answers go out of date as shows continue?
They are written to avoid that. The questions ask about settings, casts, creators and first broadcast dates, all of which are fixed, rather than about episode counts, ratings or which series is currently running.
Not in a quiz mood?
The question games are a different kind of round: no right answers, just prompts you read out and argue about. Would You RatherNever Have I EverTruth or DareThis or That