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The Eras of Late Night Memory Test

davidw — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 15:51:25 +0000

I’m fairly good at associating the U.S. presidents of my lifetime with the decades in which they were in office. But, I find myself unhinged in time when it comes to the late night talkshow hosts. I am constantly surprised upon hearing, say, how long Leno has been on.

You too? Let’s find out. Here’s a quiz. (All answers authenticated by the experts at Wikipedia.)

Year Steve Allen started The Tonight Show. 1954

Year Jack Paar took over. 1957

Start and end years of Johnny Carson’s hosting of The Tonight Show. 1962-1992

When did Carson move the show from NY to Hollywood?. 1972

What year did the Tomorrow Show (which came on after the Tonight Show) start? 1973.

During what years did the Dick Cavett Show run on ABC as a late night show?

What year did Late Night with Letterman start?1982

Whom did Letterman replace? That is, who had been the host of the Tomorrow Show? Tom Snyder.

Who was host of The Tonight Show during most of the years that The Arsenio Hall Show was on?

Who was President during the year that Jay Leno first took over The Tonight Show? Clinton’s first year was 1993

When did Conan O’Brien take over Letterman’s Late Night? 1993

What year did Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show begin? 2003

Extra Credit

What road served as a bizarre euphemism for “penis,” expressing a ritualized fear of castration, on Carson’s Tonight Show ?

What object did Ed Ames accidentally turn into a surrogate penis, resulting in the longest laugh in Tonight Show history?

Do we sense a disturbingly Freudian pattern here? Do trains enter tunnels?

Who played the non-endearing but frequent guest on the Tonight Show who went by the name “Aunt Blabby”?

What game show host had a late night talk show on a major network for a season?

What did Merv Griffin create that is probably known by the most people?

Name the funniest sidekick on any late night talk show? Andy Richter

Have you ever seen a complete episode of Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show? No.

Order of Magnitude Quiz: How many travelers

davidw — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:59:40 +0000

According to the Boston Globe, how many travelers fly in or out of Boston’s Logan Airport every year?

You win this quiz (and get exactly nothing as a prize) if your answer is within an order of magnitude of the right answer. (And I should periodically acknowledge that my friend Paul English invented the Order of Magnitude Quiz.)

The answer is in the first comment.

Two order of magnitude quizzes: Crowns ‘n’ Crosswords

davidw — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 15:36:00 +0000

You win this type of quiz, invented by my friend Paul English, if you come within an order of magnitude of the right answer.

1. In Boston, the going rate for a dental crown seems to be $1,200-$1,600. That’s just for the crown, not for the labor. What is the dentist’s markup on the crown? That is, how much does the dentist pay the lab for it?

2. How much does the New York Times pay the creator of one of their daily crossword puzzles?

The answers are in the first comment. So is the prize for winning, i.e., nothing but the answer.

[Tags: quiz dentist crossword ]