If You Fail This Quiz, You Haven’t Been Binging Enough TV
- by Ben Sherlock
- – on
- in Movies and TV
Binging is just the way we consume television nowadays. No one has the patience to watch just one episode a week. One episode a week? Not even one season a week is enough! Netflix spotted this growing trend in its earliest days and jumped on it, and that’s why the way we watch pretty much every TV show these days is to Netflix and chill. Now that every other company has figured that out, all the traditional broadcasters are scrambling to keep up, which is why we’ve got all these weird, random streaming services to subscribe to if we want to watch lucrative new shows, like with Star Trek: Discovery and CBS All Access. Hell, there’s even companies who never had anything to do with TV jumping in, like Amazon and Apple. Suffice to say, binge-watching is the new watching. There’s no more tuning in at a specific time on a specific day for a specific number of years. Now, it’s just watching every single episode whenever you want, as quickly as possible. There’s so many shows to binge your way through – Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, Stranger Things, The Wire, Mad Men – that no one can possibly find the time to watch all of them. But have you seen enough to ace this quiz? Take it to find out!
Which real life drug lord is Narcos about?
Narcos is a very popular crime drama series about a real life drug lord and his business dealings in Colombia, as well as the authorities and the DEA’s attempts to bring him down. There’s been three seasons so far that viewers have happily binged within the day of their release, and a fourth is on the way (although there could be delays, since a location scout was killed in cartel territory while scouting for the production). Which real life drug lord is Narcos about?
What kind of supernatural being is The Walking Dead about?
The Walking Dead used to be the highest rated series across all of television, but that was before a certain villain with a certain baseball bat wrapped in barb wire popped a certain eyeball out of a certain beloved character’s head and lose the show millions of viewers. Still, it’s a successful show in the throes of its eighth season, having flown past the 100 episode mark a few weeks ago. What type of supernatural being is the show about?
What relation is Hank to Walt?
Breaking Bad is one of the best shows for binging, because it moves quickly and there’s plenty of crime and action to keep you excited and engaged when you’re watching it, but on a grander scale, there’s some fantastic character development. And also, the dynamics between the characters are very interesting, especially in that the DEA agent following Heisenberg, Hank Schrader, is actually related to Heisenberg, aka Walter White, and he doesn’t know it. What relation is Hank to Walt?
What is the name of the monster from season 1 of Stranger Things?
Throughout the whole first season of Stranger Things, everybody is terrified of the impending threat of an otherworldly monster, the same monster that has taken Will Byers to his dimension, termed the Upside Down. The boys give the monster a name, taken from a monster in Dungeons and Dragons that is known as the Prince of Demons, which is a title he came up with himself and refers to his immense power and influence. What is the name of the monster?
In which US city does The Wire take place?
Many critics call The Wire the greatest TV series ever made. Series creator David Simon said that The Wire is “really about the American city, and about how we live together. It’s about how institutions have an effect on individuals. Whether one is a cop, a longshoreman, a drug dealer, a politician, a judge or a lawyer, all are ultimately compromised and must contend with whatever institution to which they are committed.” But what “American city” is the show set in?
Who was fired from House of Cards after sexual assault allegations?
The media has termed it the Weinstein effect. The New York Times exposed that rich producer as a sexual predator who abused his power over women, and ever since then, more and more victims of similar sexual misconduct and assault have been coming forward to accuse other famous Hollywood players. One of the people accused was an actor in House of Cards who has now been fired from the show and had all his ties to Netflix cut. Which actor was it?
Which of these characters does NOT bear the last name Soprano?
The Sopranos is a crime drama series about the mafia. It’s about whacking people and betraying other families and defending territory and all that jazz, but it’s also about the inner workings of an American family, which is the hook that made the show resonate so much with a wide audience of both regular people and TV critics. It’s a really brilliant show about a complex family. But which of these Sopranos characters does NOT bear the last name Soprano?
Which Stranger Things character did the fans want #JusticeFor?
Last year, there was an uproar among the fan base of Stranger Things, because a character was seemingly killed off and sent to the Upside Down, but there wasn’t much mention of it, it wasn’t made at all clear, and nobody – not even her best and closest friend – seemed to care about it. So, the hashtags #JusticeFor____ and #ImWith____ started trending and the Duffer brothers gave a focus in season 2 to the investigation into her death. So, which character was it?
What does Chuck McGill claim to be allergic to?
Chuck McGill is a strange kind of character. Trust Vince Gilligan and his Breaking Bad brain trust to come up with something as truly original as Michael McKean’s Better Call Saul character. He has a rare condition that’s likely just a psychological condition, because doctors can’t explain. He claims to have a kind of allergy to something that isn’t an allergen. It’s weird, but at least it’s original – you won’t find it anywhere else. What does Chuck McGill claim to be allergic to?
Who played Don Draper?
Don Draper is cooler than James Bond. He’s an ad man in 1960s New York and he certainly has a lot of flaws. Don is one of the great TV antiheroes that have become a cliché of the television drama genre. His name isn’t even really Don Draper – he’s a dude named Dick Whitman who took on Don Draper’s identity. Crazy stuff. The actor who played him has now become a movie star in films like Bridesmaids and Keeping Up with the Joneses and Baby Driver. Who is he?
What is the name of Gus Fring’s fried chicken chain?
In the universes of both Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, Gus Fring is a drug kingpin who uses a family friendly fast food chain that sells fried chicken as a front for his operation. Over the years, Gus has tangled with Walt, Saul (and Jimmy), Hank, Mike, Jesse, everyone. He has a reputation as an upstanding citizen who is beloved by the community for his contributions to the fire department and the local police. What’s the name of his chicken chain?
Which of these shows has the most seasons?
When you’re deciding which show to binge your way through, the number of seasons might sway you a bit. A show with more seasons might excite you, because there’s more to dig your teeth into and it also means that it had a lot of support from its network and fans, so that’s a good sign. On the other hand, a show with fewer seasons is good, because you can watch it from start to finish in less time. Which of these shows has the most seasons?
What show revolves around the murder of Laura Palmer?
This series was revived for its third season this year after a quarter of a century off the air. Its first two seasons are a cult classic – one of the first shows that people started binging before this wacky craze. It was created by surrealist, experimental director David Lynch and his buddy Mark Frost, the show combines the soap opera genre with the mystery, sci-fi, horror, and fantasy genres for a very, very weird show. So, which show is it?
Which of these shows is NOT a Netflix original?
Netflix have been producing and releasing original programming at a rate of a million miles an hour. They released no less than 126 original movies and TV series in 2016, which was far, far more than any other single American network or cable channel. They release original series like it’s nobody’s business. How in the name of holy hell is anyone expected to find the time to watch all of these things? It’s insane. Which of these shows is NOT a Netflix original?
Who played Walter White?
Walter White is one of the greatest and most complex characters ever to hit the airwaves, and the actor who played him is phenomenal. According to creator Vince Gilligan, his acting is the key to making the show what it is: "You're going to see that underlying humanity, even when he's making the most devious, terrible decisions, and you need someone who has that humanity – deep down, bedrock humanity – so you say, watching this show, 'All right, I'll go for this ride. I don't like what he's doing, but I understand, and I'll go with it for as far as it goes.' If you don't have a guy who gives you that, despite the greatest acting chops in the world, the show is not going to succeed." Who is he?
What industry does Tony Soprano claim to work in?
Obviously the business of Tony Soprano is that of organized crime, but that’s not what he goes around telling people. The good people at the FBI are well aware of what his true occupation is, but still, he has a front for it. It’s what he tells his psychiatrist and she sees right through it (because for goodness sake, Tony, she watches the news). It’s a bit of a cliché, but then it would be. What industry does Tony Soprano claim to work in?
What compels Dexter Morgan to kill?
Dexter is one of the darkest shows to ever come on television, even in an era where all television shows are devilishly dark. It’s the story of a police forensic investigator who focuses on blood patterns and lives in Miami who moonlights as a wickedly talented serial killer who uses his urges to murder to kill other serial killers (the irony and hypocrisy is, of course, lost on no one). Dexter has a name for what makes him kill people. What is it?
Which of these shows finished first?
The binging of TV shows tends to happen once their series finale has aired and the whole entire show is over and done with. That way, you don’t have to wait for a single minute to see what happens to the characters. You only have to wait the amount of time it takes to watch the episodes to see what happens in the end. It’s frustrating when you have to wait for a finale. Which of these shows finished first?
Who is this character?
This character is now everyone’s favorite Halloween costume. It’s easy to do, and she’s a really great character, too. She escaped from a government lab in Stranger Things – the massive pop culture phenomenon of Netflix – and befriended Mike, Lucas, and Dustin. Then what proceeded was a really awesome adventure across two seasons (and more on the way). This character is played by Millie Bobby Brown, who’s now a huge star, despite having a greedy father. But who is the character?
What type of cancer does Walt have?
During the course of its run, Breaking Bad won 16 Primetime Emmy Awards, eight Satellite Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two Peabody Awards, two Critics' Choice Awards, and four Television Critics Association Awards, and it also entered the Guinness World Records for being the most critically acclaimed TV show of all time. But what’s perhaps even more impressive is that the show resonated with real life cancer patients who identified with Walt’s tragedy. But what type of cancer does Walt have?
Which of these is NOT a gang in Sons of Anarchy?
Sons of Anarchy is a binging favorite, because it’s chock full of explosive, hair raising action sequences, tragic character deaths, shootouts, cool, slick shots of lots of motorcycles riding down a desert highway at once, Shakespearean betrayals, naked women, and things of this nature. Men love it. They can’t get enough of it. It’s about bikers – what’s cooler than that? That’s why it was such a hit for FX. There’s a number of gangs in the show. Which of these is NOT one of them?
What is the fictional government agency from 24?
24 is a perfect show for binging, because it all takes place in real time. So, an hour of your time is also an hour of Jack Bauer’s time, with each episode following on from the other chronologically. So, it makes sense to binge them all over a 24 hour period, rather than watch them unfold one hour at a time, week by week. In the show, Jack works for a government agency that does not exist in real life. What is it called?
Which character did the Smoke Monster use to take human form?
Throughout the entirety of Lost, the survivors on the island were mercilessly pursued by a weird, flashing black cloud that was known by the characters only as the Smoke Monster. Near the end of the show’s run, when everything was coming to a head (and also getting a tad more absurd as everyone in the writers’ room was running out of ideas), the Smoke Monster took human form in one of the main characters’ bodies. Which one of them was it?
Who is Tony Soprano’s therapist?
The thing that sets The Sopranos apart from other mafia stories, aside from the relatable American family dynamic that you don’t usually get, its lead character – Tony Soprano – is in therapy. He vents to a psychiatrist (played by Lorraine Bracco, who played Karen Hill in Goodfellas, the key inspiration for The Sopranos) and because of doctor patient confidentiality, she can’t tell a single soul about it, so that leaves her very conflicted about the whole thing. Anyway, who is she?
What show is Vic Mackey from?
Vic Mackey is one of the classic TV antiheroes of the new “Golden Age” of television. He stands alongside the likes of Tony Soprano and Walter White and Don Draper. He’s a detective who murders one of his fellow cops in the very first episode of the FX police drama he hails from, and it only gets worse from there. He was played by Michael Chiklis for seven glorious seasons (well, four glorious seasons, three not so glorious) in a career defining role. What show is it?
Which of these characters survived The Wire?
Given that David Simon’s HBO masterpiece The Wire was a bleak and realistic portrayal of the seedy criminal underbelly of urban America, a lot of the characters unfortunately died, whether it be murder or overdose or suicide or whatever – all very dark, very real, very raw stuff. So, long story short, a lot of the characters on The Wire ended up dead and very few of them managed to survive the whole series. Which of these managed to survive it?
What is Jack Shephard’s job?
Lost was the top rated television drama on the air during its run. It was ranked by E! Online to be the greatest TV series of the past 20 years in 2010, while the Writers Guild of America ranked Lost to be the number 27 Best Written TV Series of All Time. It’s also been nominated for the TCA Heritage Award and been named the fourteenth best science fiction television show ever by Rolling Stone magazine. It won 11 Emmy Awards. What a legacy. Jack Shephard is the main character, a man of science to Locke’s man of faith dynamic. What is Jack’s job?
What law firm do Jimmy and Kim own in Better Call Saul?
Better Call Saul is a spin-off series from the crime drama masterpiece Breaking Bad. Vince Gilligan described the initial concept for the show as “a lawyer show in which the main lawyer will do anything it takes to stay out of a court of law.” Spin-offs never usually go well, and they usually come nowhere near the greatness of the original series. The Saul team had their work cut out for them, since Breaking Bad is considered to be the best TV show ever made. Anyway, what is the name of Jimmy and Kim’s law firm?
Which of these is a crime boss in The Wire?
David Simon said of The Wire, “We are not selling hope, or audience gratification, or cheap victories with this show. The Wire is making an argument about what institutions – bureaucracies, criminal enterprises, the cultures of addiction, raw capitalism even – do to individuals. It is not designed purely as an entertainment. It is, I’m afraid, a somewhat angry show.” Organized crime plays a large part of it, and one crime boss’ real name is never revealed – only a nickname. Which of these is he?
Which of these is NOT one of the names of Don Draper’s ad agency?
In the highly acclaimed and wildly popular 1960s set drama series Mad Men – the first original series to ever hit the airwaves of AMC, paving the way for Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead and Hell on Wheels – the lead character, Don Draper, works in an ad agency on Madison Avenue (hence the title) in New York, under Roger Sterling and Bert Cooper. The company went under many names over the years. Which of these is NOT one of them?
Which strip club does Tony Soprano like to visit?
The strip club in The Sopranos was named after a catchphrase popularized by James Caan’s character Sonny Corleone in The Godfather, which was part of the mafia fiction lexicon that inspired the critically acclaimed and wildly popular HBO drama series. The real club where the scenes were shot saw a spike in popularity when the show was on the air, but sadly, it had to go out of business recently. But what is the fictional name of the strip club?
How many kids does Jax Teller have?
Jackson “Jax” Teller is the main protagonist of the FX biker drama series Sons of Anarchy, although he doesn’t share very much traits with a typical protagonist. He’s been described by critics as a “brutal anti-hero” and a “rebel who never lives by society’s rules.” He’s really cool. They’ve also noted that he has “a great deal of nostalgia for his father’s more hippie-ish early hopes for the motorcycle club.” He also has kids with his wife Tara. How many?
Which of these shows is NOT an anthology series?
The process of binging an entire series might seem more palatable when every season (or even every episode) is its own completely standalone story with an entirely different set of characters, storyline, and setting, connected only to the rest of the show by tone or theme. Anthology series are becoming more and more commonplace these days, because for whatever reason (maybe the reason outlined a minute ago), they’re ratings giants. Which of these is NOT one of these anthology series?
What is Walt, Jr.’s disability?
The fact that Walt, Jr. loves breakfast opened up a meme gold mine that was milked dry over the several years that Breaking Bad was on the air, but his character stands for so much more than that – the role offered some much needed representation for people with disabilities on television, especially in that an actually disabled actor was cast and not some able-bodied poser like the guy in Me Before You, so it created an opportunity for the marginalized group. But what disability does Walt, Jr. actually have?
Which British Prime Minister does John Lithgow play in The Crown?
The huge gamble by Netflix of sinking a £100 million budget into The Crown, making it the most expensive historical drama series of all time, paid off when the show was a huge success, thanks to millions of people binging it. The story concerns a lot of legendary historical figures, mostly from the royal family, but some political, including a Prime Minister of Great Britain played by the great American actor John Lithgow. So, which British Prime Minister does John Lithgow play in The Crown?