The Eighties Club
The Politics and Pop Culture of the 1980s
Trivia Challenge # 8
1. Name the Surgeon General who took controversial stands on such health issues as AIDS and smoking in the 1980s.
2. What was the real name of the Chicago Bears defensive tackle who was known as "The Refrigerator"?
3. Hill Street Blues producer Steven Bochco had another hit '80s series, this one about lawyers. Can you name it?
4. What did the U.S. government offer to do in 1983 when it was discovered that the town of Times Beach, Missouri was contaminated by hazardous levels of dioxin in the soil?
5. In July 1988 the USS Vincennes, on duty in the Persian Gulf, shot down a commercial airliner, killing 290 people on board. The airliner belonged to which country?
6. Name the former pop singer who became mayor of Palm Springs, California in 1988.
7. Richard Dean Anderson starred as a resourceful agent for the crimefighting Phoenix Foundation in what long-running '80s TV action series?
8. What record did Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton break in 1984?
9. Tennis was restored to full-medal Olympic status in which Summer Games?
10. Florence Griffith Joyner won four medals (three gold and one silver) at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Name her sister-in-law, who won two gold medals in the Games.
11. Comedian Robin Williams learned Russian and the saxophone for his role in what 1984 film?
12. How many James Bond films were released in the 1980s? Bonus Point: Name the actor(s) who played 007 during the decade.
13. Sandra Day O'Connor was one of three judges appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1980s. Name the other two.
14. Who was the dictator of the Philippines who was driven from power and went into exile in 1986, after over twenty years as president?
15. On December 19, 1986, Britain agreed to hand over control of Hong Kong to what nation in 1997?
16. In the 1980s, RJR Nabisco produced a cigarette called Premier. What was special about it?
17. The California Raisins became pop culture icons in TV commercials that first aired in 1986. What song did these claymation raisins sing in the commercial?
18. Name the spacecraft that was launched in 1977 and sent photos of Saturn, Uranus and Neptune back to Earth during the 1980s.
19. A retired navy officer, John A. Walker, Jr., was arrested in 1985 for selling classified secrets to the Soviets. What other members of the Walker family were arrested?
20. What does the term "yuppie" actually stand for?
21. What organization was founded in May 1980 by Candy Lightner, whose 13-year-old daughter had been killed by a drunk driver?
22. "In my mind and in my car, I can't rewind I've gone too far," are lyrics to which song by The Buggles?
23. There were ____ sequels to the 1984 horror classic A Nightmare on Elm Street released in the 1980s.
24. Steve Winwood won a Record of the Year Grammy in 1986 for what song?
25. Who was the talk show host whose nose was broken in an on-stage brawl during a 1988 episode on "teen hatemongers"?
26. What was the name of the Ewing ranch on the TV primetime soap Dallas?
27. K.I.T.T., the talking car that crimefighter Michael Knight drove in the TV series Knight Rider was actually a ___________ (make and model).
28. What prominent politician of the '80s said that "facts are stupid things."
29. Name the 1985 film that earned eleven Academy Awards and yet didn't win a single one.
30. Who was the TV action star who cut a pop album in 1986 entitled Heartbeat?
31. Suzanne Vega had a hit song in 1987 that had child abuse as its theme. Can you name that tune?
32. 1987's Nixon in China was a _________ (movie; album; opera; TV documentary) by John Adams.
33. By 1987, 49 states had raised the drinking age to 21. Which state had not done so?
34. Two popular perfumes were linked to TV's primetime soap Dynasty. Can you name them?
35. Where, according to Garrison Keillor on the weekly public radio show A Prairie Home Companion, were all the women strong, all the men good-looking, and all the children above-average?
36. Name the Hollywood actor who made an anti-smoking commercial to be aired after his death of lung cancer in 1985?
37. What TV series did critic Ron Powers call "skinnywhitepeoplefromhell"?
38. What piece of feminine attire was advertised using live models for the first time on TV in 1987?
39. Name the member of The Dukes of Hazzard cast who was elected to Congress in the 1980s.
40. What future president introduced presidential candidate Michael Dukakis at the 1988 Democratic convention?
41. Which of the following did not seek the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984: Walter Mondale, Al Gore, Jesse Jackson or John Glenn?
42. Dennis Wilson, who drowned in December 1983, was a member of what musical group?
43. Who was the Reagan White House chief of staff whose memoir, For the Record, revealed that First Lady Nancy Reagan consulted an astrologer before okaying her husband's schedule?
44. Name the TV evangelist who became a candidate for the 1988 Republican presidential nomination.
45. "You're the disease, I'm the cure," mumbled Sylvester Stallone in what 1986 cops-and-robbers film?
46. In 1985 the government banned the drug MDMA, better known as _________.
47. Who was the former Miss America who, in 1985, became co-anchor of the CBS Morning News without any prior journalistic experience?
48. In what 1987 TV sitcom did Snow White and Prince Charming go to sleep in the Enchanted Forest and wake up in 20th century California?
49. Name the band that consisted of three members of R.E.M. and singer Warren Zevon, and produced a 1989 album of cover songs?
50. Who was the singer/songwriter who had hits from the soundtracks for Caddyshack ("I'm Allright"), Footloose ("Footloose"), and Top Gun ("Danger Zone")?

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