Cultural Quiz Answers
Take the quiz and a link to previous quizzes
Identify (without aid) the cultural reference implied or identified by
the following, one each taken from the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's
1960's
When criminals in this world appear,
And break the laws that they should fear,
And frighten all who see or hear,
The cry goes up both far and near for
Underdog! Underdog! Underdog! Underdog!
Speed of lightning! Roar of thunder!
Fighting all who rob or plunder!
Underdog! Underdog!
The above is the title song of the animated television series Underdog! which ran from 1964 until 1973 and had around 124 episodes.
Underdog almost always spoke in ryhme. His most famous saying, which made it into the vernacular, was
There's no need to fear,
Underdog is here.
I remember using that many times. I don't know how many episodes of Underdog I watched, but it was a lot, probably from the earliest seasons.
According to the Wikipedia, one of Underdog's super powers is a 'Great Calculating Brain'. Even Superman wasn't so endowed.
1970's
18 1/2 minutes.
This refers to Rose Mary Woods, President Nixon's secretary, and to The Watergate Tapes, or more generally The Watergate Scandal. One of the tapes that was turned over upon order of the Supreme Court famously had an 18 1/2 minute gap. Woods initially testified that she had not erased the tape, then later claimed that she had in fact caused five minutes to be recorded over; but insisted she had no responsibility for the other 13 minutes. Woods died in 2005, never revealing more about the erasure or the erased contents.
The Watergate scandal is surely one of the most famous events in US history, resulting in the only resignation of a President to date, assertions of executive power that continue to this day, famous quotes such as "I'm not a crook! and "Follow the money!", and fame (or infamy) for many people such as Deep Throat, Woodward, Bernstein and G. Gordon Liddy. And, of course, it spawned the -gate idiom, applied time and time again to scandals large, small and irrelevant.
1980's
Dagobah.
Dagobah is the world where Yoda lived after the fall of the Jedi Knights. It was the planet to which Luke Skywalker was directed by the ghost of Obi-Wan in The Empire Strikes Back, so that he could receive training from Jedi Master Yoda. The Empire Strikes Back was released in 1980. There is no mention of Yoda or Dagobah in the original Star Wars movie.
According to Wikipedia, "Dagobah, in the Sluis sector, is a world of murky swamps, steaming bayous, and petrified gnarltree forests. The ubiquitous white spiders that roam the swamps are actually newly sprouted seedlings of the gnarltrees that will take root and grow." It is about 50,000 light years from the galatic center (in a galaxy far, far away).
1990's
Wikipedia says "Harry and Louise" was the name of a television commercial funded by the Health Insurance Association of America (HIAA), a health insurance industry lobbying group, in opposition to President Bill Clinton's proposed health care plan in 1993. The ad depicted a white middle-class couple, portrayed by actors Harry Johnson and Louise Caire Clark, despairing over the allegedly bureaucratic nature of the plan and urged viewers to contact their representatives in Congress. It was widely credited as being a major factor in the plan's ultimate defeat, and is often cited as a landmark moment in the use of public relations techniques for lobbying.
The ad on Youtube
Along with this television ad, 'Childs explained how his coalition ((a front group for HIAA)) used paid ads on the Limbaugh show to generate thousands of citizen phone calls urging legislators to kill health reform. First, Rush would whip up his "dittohead" fans with a calculated rant against the Clinton health plan. Then during a commercial break listeners would hear an anti-health care ad and an 800 number to call for more information. Calling the number would connect them to a telemarketer, who would talk to them briefly and then "patch them through" directly to their congressperson's office. The congressional staffers fielding the calls typically had no idea that the constituents had been primed, loaded, aimed and fired at them by radio ads on the Limbaugh show, paid by the insurance industry, with the goal of orchestrating the appearance of overwhelming grassroots opposition to health reform. "That's a very effective thing on a national campaign and even in a local area if the issue is right," Childs said. He said this tactic is now widely used, although few will discuss the technique.'
With new proposals being worked on by Congress for health care, the spectre of Harry and Louise is once again on many people's minds.
Identify (without aid) the cultural reference implied or identified by
the following, one each taken from the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's
1960's
When criminals in this world appear,
And break the laws that they should fear,
And frighten all who see or hear,
The cry goes up both far and near for
Underdog! Underdog! Underdog! Underdog!
Speed of lightning! Roar of thunder!
Fighting all who rob or plunder!
Underdog! Underdog!
The above is the title song of the animated television series Underdog! which ran from 1964 until 1973 and had around 124 episodes.
Underdog almost always spoke in ryhme. His most famous saying, which made it into the vernacular, was
There's no need to fear,
Underdog is here.
I remember using that many times. I don't know how many episodes of Underdog I watched, but it was a lot, probably from the earliest seasons.
According to the Wikipedia, one of Underdog's super powers is a 'Great Calculating Brain'. Even Superman wasn't so endowed.
1970's
18 1/2 minutes.
This refers to Rose Mary Woods, President Nixon's secretary, and to The Watergate Tapes, or more generally The Watergate Scandal. One of the tapes that was turned over upon order of the Supreme Court famously had an 18 1/2 minute gap. Woods initially testified that she had not erased the tape, then later claimed that she had in fact caused five minutes to be recorded over; but insisted she had no responsibility for the other 13 minutes. Woods died in 2005, never revealing more about the erasure or the erased contents.
The Watergate scandal is surely one of the most famous events in US history, resulting in the only resignation of a President to date, assertions of executive power that continue to this day, famous quotes such as "I'm not a crook! and "Follow the money!", and fame (or infamy) for many people such as Deep Throat, Woodward, Bernstein and G. Gordon Liddy. And, of course, it spawned the -gate idiom, applied time and time again to scandals large, small and irrelevant.
1980's
Dagobah.
Dagobah is the world where Yoda lived after the fall of the Jedi Knights. It was the planet to which Luke Skywalker was directed by the ghost of Obi-Wan in The Empire Strikes Back, so that he could receive training from Jedi Master Yoda. The Empire Strikes Back was released in 1980. There is no mention of Yoda or Dagobah in the original Star Wars movie.
According to Wikipedia, "Dagobah, in the Sluis sector, is a world of murky swamps, steaming bayous, and petrified gnarltree forests. The ubiquitous white spiders that roam the swamps are actually newly sprouted seedlings of the gnarltrees that will take root and grow." It is about 50,000 light years from the galatic center (in a galaxy far, far away).
1990's
Wikipedia says "Harry and Louise" was the name of a television commercial funded by the Health Insurance Association of America (HIAA), a health insurance industry lobbying group, in opposition to President Bill Clinton's proposed health care plan in 1993. The ad depicted a white middle-class couple, portrayed by actors Harry Johnson and Louise Caire Clark, despairing over the allegedly bureaucratic nature of the plan and urged viewers to contact their representatives in Congress. It was widely credited as being a major factor in the plan's ultimate defeat, and is often cited as a landmark moment in the use of public relations techniques for lobbying.
The ad on Youtube
Along with this television ad, 'Childs explained how his coalition ((a front group for HIAA)) used paid ads on the Limbaugh show to generate thousands of citizen phone calls urging legislators to kill health reform. First, Rush would whip up his "dittohead" fans with a calculated rant against the Clinton health plan. Then during a commercial break listeners would hear an anti-health care ad and an 800 number to call for more information. Calling the number would connect them to a telemarketer, who would talk to them briefly and then "patch them through" directly to their congressperson's office. The congressional staffers fielding the calls typically had no idea that the constituents had been primed, loaded, aimed and fired at them by radio ads on the Limbaugh show, paid by the insurance industry, with the goal of orchestrating the appearance of overwhelming grassroots opposition to health reform. "That's a very effective thing on a national campaign and even in a local area if the issue is right," Childs said. He said this tactic is now widely used, although few will discuss the technique.'
With new proposals being worked on by Congress for health care, the spectre of Harry and Louise is once again on many people's minds.