The Late Night TV Quiz

Get your answers in by 5 p.m. on Tuesday. You can bring them in to the office, e-mail them to news.letter@jhu.edu or fill out the quiz online (at http://www.jhunewsletter.com).

The winner gets $10 worth of goodies from our sponsors, Eddie's Market and Eddie's Liquors on the 3100 block of St. Paul. So just fill out the quiz and win $10 worth of stuff, what else are you going to do with your life?

1. Late Night TV was defined by Johnny Carson and the boisterous Ed McMahon for 30 years, providing us with thousands of humorous celebrity interviews and more wild animals from the San Diego Zoo than we'd really care to see. The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson debuted in 1962 and ended thirty years later in 1992, but was not the first incarnation of this TV institution. It was proceeded by a Steve Allen-helmed version, but even he was not the originally host.

What was the name of the original host of The Tonight Show?

2. Those poor souls who don't stray from comedy central on their TV dial are familiar with one of its finer shows, Insomniac starring comedian Dave Attell. It chronicles Attell's late night travels from city to city, highlighting the nightspots, the strange attractions, people who work the night shift, and oh yes, lots and lots of funny drunks. Insomniac filmed one episode in Baltimore in Season one, where Attel went to a club for their August 'Skank of the Month' contest.

Which club was this?

3. Since Carson retired (and I don't mean Daly), The Tonight Show has been handled by Jay Leno. As of this year, Leno has hosted The Tonight Show for ten years and if you'd like to know more about him you can read his biography, Leading with My Chin, on reserve at the Milton S. Eisenhower library. Sure, he's pretty funny what with those headlines and stuff, but he'd be nothing without his trusty band leader and sidekick.

What's the name of the man who laughs at more of Leno's jokes than anyone else?

4. Late night talk shows are great but what are you going to do on the weekend? Saturday Night Live, of course. Now, I know the last few years have been rough, but the show is bouncing back. Well, it was bouncing back until the inimitable Will Ferrel left. Ferrel played the idiotic straight man perfectly in a huge number of sketches and remains one of my favorite SNL-ers. We can all hope and pray his movie career is as humorous as his time on SNL. Ferrel warmed up the silver screen in a handful of movie roles before his departure, one of them being the evil fashion designer in Zoolander.

What was the name of his character?

5. The Simpsons has featured running jokes about Steve Allen. Since I am hardly old enough to comprehend what that's all about, I can only scratch my head in wonderment. When Bart gets $500 after settling a law suit against the Krusty-O Cereal Corporation, he buys Lisa a copy of Bleeding Gums Murphy's only record. What object bearing Steve Allen's likeness was he first tempted to buy at the comic shop?

6. If you're someone who shells out the money to watch digital cable, you've probably discovered that even with twice as many channels, there's still nothing on, especially late at night. However, you might have stumbled upon the most entertaining of all digital cable channels, GAS: the Game and Sports network for kids. GAS replays reruns of all the classic Nickelodeon game shows: Double Dare, Family Double Dare, Super Sloppy Double Dare, Legends of the Hidden Temple and Nick Arcade. Which American Gladiators-esque game show has its contestants face the ultimate final challenge: The Aggrocrag?

7. Much talk has been made in the past about the late night commercial staple, Madame Cleo, who is now being sued for fraud. The soothsayer Madame Cleo, whose services are available for $5 a minute, represents a psychic mega-corporation that has been around a lot longer than Madame Cleo herself. Cleo appeared on the scene in 1999, which former Miami Vice star did she replace?

8. If you aren't feeling too sleepy and you can sit through Leno, then you can make it to one of the funnier timeslots on TV: Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Even though Andy Richter has departed from the show, it remains hilarious - but I wish someone would shoot Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. (Eminem?) You can now catch every episode the next night on Comedy Central, but that fact is a bit superfluous for a late night TV quiz. Conan has been on the air for nine years and before that he was a writer for Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons. Don't worry, this isn't turning into another Simpsons question.

What college did Conan graduate from?

9. The Daily Show skirts the line between primetime and late night TV with its 11 o'clock timeslot, but I think that makes it fair game. The Daily Show has always been a breath of comic relief when it comes to the news, but since September 11th, it has really stepped up and served a greater cause: giving us some political insight in a way that's not frustrating or frightening. This has been done through many surprising political figure guests. The QM wonders if the old show's host could pull this off with the same style as Jon Stewart.

Who used to host The Daily Show and what was his trademark game?

10. Late night TV is the graveyard of crappy infomercials. If you watch enough of these, you will probably go insane. Many inventions have been launched on the American public through these late night ads, including the George Foreman Grill, the flat garden hose, high definition sunglasses, fake surveillance cameras, and oh yes, chia pets. The mother of all these inventions is The Clapper. Whether it was the theme song or perhaps it was just clever idea, it certainly landed a place in American culture.

How much does The Clapper cost (not including shipping and handling)?

Tie Breaker: Name as many late night TV shows as humanly possible ... and go.

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