Know it All

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On the television show "The Partridge Family” (1970-1974) Shirley Partridge, the mother of the musical family group, drives her children to performances in a bus. The bus has a bumper sticker that says "Careful, Nervous Mother Driving.”

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The original Batmobile in Detective Comics No. 48 in February 1941 was a red convertible. The only indication that it belonged to Batman was the bat hood ornament.

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The first top 10 pop single song by Prince (born 1958) was "Little Red Corvette” (1983).

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Bo and Luke drove an orange 1969 Dodge Charger in "The Dukes of Hazzard” (1979-1985) TV show. During the 6-year run of the show 309 Dodge Chargers were used. All but 20 of the cars were wrecked in the show’s stunts.

Do you remember what was invented in the movie "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” (1968) and who invented it? See answer at end.

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Football announcer John Madden (born 1936) hates to fly. He travels to football games across the country in a tour bus dubbed the Madden Cruiser. The bus drives over 80,000 miles per year.

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In addition to starring in four movies, Herbie the Love Bug was in a short-lived television show. "Herbie the Matchmaker” (1982), about a white Volkswagen racecar, painted with number 53 on it, that helps young couples find romance. The show only lasted for five episodes.

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While filming on location, the police cars in the sitcom "Car 54, Where Are You?” (1961-1963) were painted red. The show was filmed in black and white so the television audience did not know. The red was so the locals would not mistake the cars for real police cars.

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The Aston Martin DB5 that James Bond drove in "Goldfinger” (1964) had revolving license plates for every country. The three plates seen in the movie were for Great Britain, France and Switzerland.

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KITT the talking Trans Am in the series "Knight Rider” (1982-1986) was programmed to fight crime and protect people. KITT’s archenemy was KARR, an identical car that was programmed for self-preservation at all costs.

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Since they were first introduced in 1968, one of the original shapes of the Flintstones Vitamins was Fred Flintstone’s car, the Flintmobile. In 1995 the shape of Betty Rubble replaced the car.

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Jerry Van Dyke (born 1931) turned down the role of Gilligan on "Gilligan’s Island” (1964-1967) to star in the TV show "My Mother the Car” (1965-1966) as Dave Crabtree, a man who’s deceased mother is reincarnated as a car. She speaks to her son through the car radio. TV Guide has called it the worst sitcom ever.

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Answer: Inventor Caractacus Potts, played by Dick Van Dyke (born 1925), invented a flying car. The movie was based on a children’s book written by Ian Fleming (1908-1964), the same person who created James Bond.

Know It All is by Kerry McArdle. It runs in the weekend and Wednesday editions of the Daily Journal. Questions? Comments?

E-mail knowitall@smdailyjournal.com or call 344-5200 ext. 114.