Nine-Nine Family Reunion
The recently-concluded comedy series Brooklyn Nine-Nine was a hit with critics and audiences, getting picked up for three more seasons after an outcry over its premature cancellation. But the improv-comedy ringers in its cast have more in common than the show: Many of them have famous relatives. If the precinct had a bring-your-family-to-work day, could you recognize these seven famous faces in the building?
Kevin Bacon
publication date: Saturday, September 25, 2021
category: Movies
clue: His on-screen enemies have included enormous underground worms, a preacher who doesn't like dancing, superhero mutants in the 1960s, a serial killer whose cult abducts his son, a failing spacecraft en route to the Moon, ghosts in his Chicago neighborhood, a family on a whitewater rafting trip, and Jason Voorhees,
explanation: Bacon starred in Tremors, Footloose, X-Men: First Class, The Following, Apollo 13, Stir of Echoes, The River Wild, and Friday the 13th. He is married to Kyra Sedgwick. more…
intended difficulty: very easy
solved by: Russ Wilhelm, Steve West, LaVonne Lemler, Samir Mehta, Chris Lemler, Richard Slominsky, Denise Sawicki, Matthew Preston, Erik Bates, and Aaron Shurtleff
Beth Dover
publication date: Friday, September 24, 2021
category: Television
clue: She played a mad housemaid in a period comedy and a prison official who became a de-facto inmate.
explanation: Dover played Blanche in Another Period and Linda Ferguson in Orange is the New Black. She is marred to Joe Lo Truglio. more…
intended difficulty: hard
solved by: Russ Wilhelm, Steve West, LaVonne Lemler, Samir Mehta, Chris Lemler, Richard Slominsky, Denise Sawicki, Matthew Preston, Erik Bates, and Aaron Shurtleff
Jonah Peretti
publication date: Thursday, September 23, 2021
category: Internet
clue: If you have ever shared someone else's post on Facebook or retweeted someone else's tweet on Twitter, thank this inventor of reblogging, who is today the CEO of a media empire that he once called an "Internet popularity contest."
explanation: Peretti is the CEO of Buzzfeed, and the co-founder of Buzzfeed and the Huffington Post. He is the brother of Chelsea Peretti. more…
intended difficulty: easy
solved by: Russ Wilhelm, Steve West, LaVonne Lemler, Samir Mehta, Chris Lemler, Richard Slominsky, Denise Sawicki, Matthew Preston, Erik Bates, and Aaron Shurtleff
David Fumero
publication date: Wednesday, September 22, 2021
category: Television
clue: This Cuban actor decided that if he only had one life to live, he wanted to spend it with his co-star.
explanation: Fumero married his One Life to Live co-star Melissa Gallo (now Melissa Fumero). more…
intended difficulty: hard
solved by: Russ Wilhelm, Steve West, LaVonne Lemler, Samir Mehta, Chris Lemler, Denise Sawicki, Matthew Preston, Erik Bates, and Aaron Shurtleff
Dan Blocker
publication date: Tuesday, September 21, 2021
category: Television
clue: Playing a gentle giant for all but the final year of Bonanza (he died suddenly during the off-season) did not reflect the violence in his real life, such as receiving a Purple Heart for the wounds that he suffered in the Korean War.
explanation: Blocker played "Hoss" Cartwright on Bonanza. He was the father of Dirk Blocker. more…
intended difficulty: medium
solved by: Russ Wilhelm, Steve West, LaVonne Lemler, Samir Mehta, Chris Lemler, Richard Slominsky, Denise Sawicki, Matthew Preston, Erik Bates, and Aaron Shurtleff
Jordan Peele
publication date: Monday, September 20, 2021
category: Movies
clue: After mad success peeling back the layers of his many weird characters in sketch comedy, he transitioned to the horror genre, reviving The Twilight Zone and getting an Oscar for writing a popular horror film in 2017.
explanation: Peele performed in the sketch comedy programs MadTV and Key & Peele. He won an Oscar for writing Get Out. He is married to Chelsea Peretti. more…
intended difficulty: very easy
solved by: Russ Wilhelm, Steve West, LaVonne Lemler, Samir Mehta, Chris Lemler, Denise Sawicki, Matthew Preston, Erik Bates, and Aaron Shurtleff
Joanna Newsom
publication date: Sunday, September 19, 2021
category: Music
clue: Sorry to keep harping on it, but this classical instrumentalist has taken some deep dives into unusual music, when she's not embodying a Thomas Pynchon character.
explanation: Newsom is a multi-instrumentalist who makes harp-driven folk music, including on the best-selling album Divers. She acted in the film Inherent Vice. She is married to Andy Samberg. more…
intended difficulty: medium
solved by: Russ Wilhelm, Steve West, LaVonne Lemler, Samir Mehta, Chris Lemler, Denise Sawicki, Matthew Preston, Erik Bates, and Aaron Shurtleff
trivia: Newsom's guest appearance in the series finale of Brooklyn Nine-Nine on September 16, 2021 inspired this themed week.