Final 1997-98 QOM Answers

Mary Tyler Moore Show Trivia

Well, the 1997-98 QOM season has come to an end, and once again there were no winners. Frankly, I'm shocked. Uh, yeah, anyway...

The MTM QOM, the first 20-question QOM in history, added many a name to the list of victims. Outside of one lucky participant that found 16 correct answers, the MTM QOM was a juggernaut that crushed all in its path. Most were left screaming for mercy, owning scores that could hardly take a nothing day and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile.

Mary

Mary Tyler Moore

The QOM will now retire for the summer, hopefully to make a return next October. But before it splits, here are the correct answers to the MTM QOM. Feel free to retain the information for future use...

1. Fresh off a broken marriage engagement, Mary Richards left home to try and make it on her own in the big city of Minneapolis. After her friend Phyllis Lindstrom set her up with an apartment, Mary set out to find a job and answered an ad for an associate producer gig at the newsroom of WJM-TV. Even though she didn't have any experience, she won over her new boss, Lou Grant, during an inspired interview sequence that still ranks as one of the finest moments in classic TV history. During the course of the interview, how many words did Mary say she could type a minute?

2. While they didn't start out on good terms, Mary and her upstairs neighbor, Rhoda Morgenstern, became fast friends and pretty much set the standard by which all future television friendships were judged. Their relationship was put to the test early on, though, when a fire in Rhoda's apartment made the two roommates for a short time. What in Rhoda's apartment caused the fire?

refrigerator

3. Rhoda once needed to borrow some money from Mary after getting fined for feeding a water buffalo prune yogurt. Oh, that wacky Rhoda. How much was the fine?

$40

4. The zoo incident wasn't the only time Mary loaned Rhoda money. When Rhoda was looking for capital to start her own plant store, Mary loaned her the cash Rho needed even though she had her heart set on saving up to buy a new car. When the business became a success, Rhoda paid Mary back by buying her the convertible she wanted. Unfortunately, it wasn't exactly in Mary's favorite color. The question is what ever happened to Rhoda's plant store? No, just kidding... no one knows that. The real question is what color was the convertible?

yellow

5. Mr. Grant was a gruff, hard-drinking newsman and the model for all LCS Hockey editors. Before breaking into television news, where did Mr. Grant earn his spurs as a journalist?

Detroit Free Press

6. Mr. Grant would often tell stories of his early days in news. When Mary convinced him to hire some young journalism students as stringers for WJM, Lou shared a tale of when he was working as a stringer. As the story goes, it was the early 1940s and on one fateful night Lou was all alone in the newsroom when someone called in a hot news tip. The tip was incredible, but Lou had no way of checking to see if it was true. He had to decide whether to run the story, even though it might not be true, or sit on it and possibly miss breaking the biggest story in history. Lou was a gutsy kid and decided to run with it. The story was that the Japanese had just bombed...

San Diego

7. Ted Baxter was everyone's favorite dim-witted anchorman. Never scared to talk about himself, Ted often recounted the story of how he got started in the business. "It all started at a 5,000-watt radio station in (blank), California." What city in the Golden State did it all start for Ted?

Fresno

8. Lou often got angry at Ted for his repeated mistakes on air, but the two were actually partners on two different occasions. The first was when Ted ponied up the scratch Lou needed to purchase his favorite neighborhood bar. While Lou had the best of intentions, he just wasn't meant to own a bar... or be partners with Ted. This episode was golden. It featured a hilarious arm-wrestling match between the two partners. See, Lou always let the bar's favorite drunk beat him in arm-wrestling just so he could give him a free drink. But when the affable drunk tried the bet with Ted, the silver-haired fox easily beat him and took the drink back. This gave Ted the confidence to arm wrestle Lou to decide who would pay for some opening night champagne that was given to Mary and the gang. Needless to say, Ted lost. But the question is what was the name of the drunk that Lou always let win?

Philly

9. Ted and Lou would later became gambling buddies after Ted discovered a system for betting football games. Ted's theory called for the duo to wager on all home teams getting 11 or more points. The system worked like a charm and they made a killing, but Lou was pretty disgusted that it was Ted's system that was winning all the money. So when the Super Bowl came around, Lou bet all their profits using his own keen instincts for the game. The catch was he didn't tell Ted, who didn't want to bet since the spread didn't fit the system. Of course, Lou's bravado lost all their money when his team didn't come through. On which losing team did Lou bet?

Pittsburgh Steelers

10. WJM's newswriter was good ol' Murray Slaughter. Murray was a great guy and a devoted family man, but he came dangerously close to having an affair with a woman he met at one of Mary's infamous parties. Murray said that he was only interested in buying a piano from the woman, but it was obvious there was more on his bald head than music. Needing an alibi, Murray told his wife, Marie, that he was going to see a movie and then stopped off at Mary's in an attempt to find out the film's plot in case he was questioned later. What movie was Murray's alibi?

The Sting

11. Murray was also involved with another movie-related incident. Already fed up with the station owner's idiotic commercialism, Murray snapped when his favorite Marx Brothers' movie was edited to make room for even more commercials. In a fit of rage, Murray phoned the owner's house and left an insulting message which eventually got him fired. What was the Marx Brothers' movie in question?

Animal Crackers

12. Speaking of the cinema, what is Mary's all-time favorite movie?

Gone with the Wind

13. As eluded to earlier, Mary had the reputation of throwing some rather disastrous parties. One of the most memorable was when Mary gave a dinner party in honor of Congresswoman Geddes, who had just appeared on a show Mary produced for WJM. Mary was confronted with a dilemma when she only had enough place settings for six. Aside from herself and the congresswoman, Mary invited Rhoda, Mr. Grant, Murray, and Sue Ann Nivens, the station's "Happy Homemaker." Well, actually Sue Ann invited herself, but she did offer to cook the meal.

The sad thing was that Ted was left out, prompting him to sarcastically label the dinner guests "The Minneapolis Six." After trying to peddle a sad story from his childhood to Mary in an unsuccessful attempt to wrangle an invitation, Ted eventually shows up after dinner bearing dessert for her guests. He eventually weasels his way in and once again breaks into the story from his childhood, only this time it has slightly different details. But what did Ted bring for dessert?

sherbet

14. Not all of Mary's parties were duds. Well, they were duds, but at least some good things came of them. When Mary threw a good-bye party for Rhoda, who was planning to move back to New York only to change her mind, the evening witnessed the meeting of Ted and Georgette. The two would later wed. And not only did they meet at Mary's, they would also get married and give berth to their first child in her apartment... that is some wild, wild stuff. What was Georgette's maiden name?

Franklin

15. With the show's ratings sagging, Mary brings up the idea of trying a more informal approach to the news. Lou hates the idea. But the station manager loves it and puts Mary in charge of the overhaul. The plan was to have Ted co-anchor with Gordy Howard, the regular weatherman, in order to create some wacky banter and make things more lively. It seemed like a perfect match, since Gordy had all the wit, talent, and charisma Ted lacked. But when Ted found out he was serving as Gordy's straight man, he tried to make jokes at every turn and reclaim the newscast as his own. The comedy ensued.

The situation reached its comedic zenith when Ted kept interrupting Mary with inane comments while she was trying to deliver an on-air station editorial, causing Mary to turn to him and shout, "Shut up, Ted!" What was the subject of Mary's editorial?

Population Control

16. After getting noticed by some executive big wigs during his brief stint as Ted's co-anchor, Gordy left WJM for bigger and better things and became the host of a major network talk show based in New York. When Gordy returned to Minneapolis to visit, he impressed Mary by telling her he had interviewed Robert Redford. Lou made fun of Mary fawning over the name of Redford until he heard Gordy interviewed one of his personal favorites. What name caused Lou's jaw to drop?

Willie Mays

17. Mary produced a few specials during her time with WJM, but her most famous might have been "Chimps and What They Can Teach Us." Dr. Margaret Kellogg, the narrator of the special, brought one of the star chimps to the newsroom in order to shoot a commercial for the show. What was the chimp's name?

Hugo

18. Several memorable episodes centered around The Television Editors Awards, or Teddys. Which member of the WJM crew never won some sort of Teddy Award?

Murray

19. The WJM gang was always eager to jump at free trips to broadcasting conventions. Mary embarked on many of the journeys. But which city did she visit with Sue Ann?

Chicago

20. Mary once spent a night in jail after failing to reveal a source. While there she met a hooker named Sherry. Months later when Sherry was looking for a legit job, she came to visit Mary to ask for some help, since having responsible friends would impress her parole officer. Mary did more than help, she convinced Sherry to follow her dream of being a fashion designer. Sherry was so grateful for the advice that she designed a dress especially for Mary. The only problem was that Mary didn't exactly have a hooker's taste in clothes. The dress was a little too, shall we say, revealing?

While Mary was in trying on the dress, Ted and Georgette stopped by. When Mary emerged wearing the risque garment, Ted nearly had a heart attack. Seeing how flushed with excitement he was, Georgette asked Ted if he'd like her to get a dress like that. Ted replied, "I'd like every woman in the free world to get a dress like that." Describing the dress design is difficult, since it has to be seen to be believed, but what color was it?

green

ESSAY: In place of the usual essay, I decided instead to go with a non-multiple choice question. So here it is...

What was the name of the novel that Lou wrote?

Answer: "Too Many Foxholes, Not Enough Love"