Many of us know what sibling rivalry is; and some may have experienced it growing up; and some may think that sibling rivalry was all negative between brothers and/or sisters; but when the chips were down, or someone tried to say something bad about your sister or brother – almost inevitably – you were there to defend your sibling. It was like you could say anything about, or do anything to, your sibling – but beware to anyone else who tried to do or say anything to or about your brother or sister.

Television programming back in our day and even later on as we grew older was packed with shows that featured families, many of them with multiple children as characters, and we saw some of this sibling rivalry and sibling defense. And there is your lead in to what is happening next.

It’s time for another “Voice from the Bullpen” writing exercise, which was our (teachers’) way of saying test or quiz to our students. This one deals with television brothers and sisters and the actors and actresses who portrayed them in earlier days of small screen entertainment.

So grab yourself a pencil and paper, or your “VFTB” quiz booklet, pour yourself your favorite NA liquid beverage and see how much you remember about television siblings.

1.) Name the character and the actor who portrayed Theodore Cleaver’s (Jerry Mathers) older brother on Leave it to Beaver.

2.) Name the character and actor who portrayed Mary Stone’s (Shelley Fabares) younger brother on The Donna Reed Show.

3.) Name the character and the young actress who portrayed Mary Stone’s adopted little sister on later episodes of The Donna Reed Show.

4.) Name the character name and the actress who portrayed the oldest sibling of Buffy (Anissa Jones) and Jody (Johnnie Whitaker) on the series Family Affair.

5.) Name the four characters and the actors/actresses who portrayed the four siblings on the TV Western The Big Valley.

6.) Name the FOUR character names and the actors who played the brothers on My Three Sons.

7.) Name the character names and the actor and actress who played the young stepbrother and stepsister on Make Room for Daddy.

8.) Name the character brothers and the actors who portrayed them on Here Come the Brides.

9.) Name the three character brothers and the actors who played them on Bonanza.

10.) Name the three character sisters and the FIVE actresses who portrayed them on the series Petticoat Junction.

11.) Name the three sibling characters on the 70s series Family and the actors/actresses who played them.

12.) Name the eight character brothers and sisters from the TV Series Eight is Enough, and the actors/actresses who played them.

13.) Name the six character brothers and sisters of TV’s The Brady Bunch and the actors and actresses who portrayed them.

14.) Name the character brothers on the Western show, Maverick, and the actors who played them.

15.) The character brothers and sister on TV’s Good Times and the actors/actress who portrayed them.

16.) Name the character brother and sister from the series What’s Happening and the actor and actress who played them.

17.) Name the character brothers (plural) and sister from Happy Days and the actors/actress who played them.

18.) Name the character siblings and the actors and actresses who played them on The Waltons. (Feel free to say “Goodnight.” before each character name.)

19.) Name the character brother and sister from television’s The Addams Family and the actor/actress who played them.

20.) Name the character sisters from the TV Series Full House and the actresses who portrayed them.

Tough one this time, so only 20 questions and more points (5 each) per answer. Have to admit, on this one, I had to do a little bit of research on a few of the questions, though taking the quiz as I penned it, I did fairly well but definitely not perfect. Here are the answers, if you need them:

1.) Wally Cleaver was played by Tony Dow.

2.) Jeff Stone was played by Paul Peterson.

3.) Trisha Stone was portrayed by Patty Peterson (real life sister of Paul Peterson).

4.) Kathy Garver played older sister Cissy Davis.

5.) Richard Long played Jarrod Barkley, Peter Breck played Nick Barkley, Lee Majors played Heath Barkley and Linda Evans played Audra Barkley.

6.) Tim Considine played Mike Douglas, Don Grady played Robbie Douglas, Stanley Livingston played Chip Douglas and Barry Livingston (Stanley’s real life brother) played Ernie Douglas.

7.) Rusty Hamer portrayed Rusty Williams and Angela Cartwright played Linda O’Hara.

8.) Robert Brown played Jason Bolt, David Soul played Joshua Bolt and Bobby Sherman played Jeremy Bolt.

9.)Pernell Roberts played Adam Cartwright, Dan Blocker played Eric Haas “Hoss” Cartwright and Michael Landon played “Little Joe” Cartwright.

10.) Jeannine Riley (1963-1965), Gunilla Hutton (1965-1966) and Meredith MacRae (1966-1970) all portrayed Billie Jo Bradley, Lori Saunders (’63-’70) portrayed Bobbie Jo Bradley and Linda-Kaye Henning (’63-’70) portrayed Betty Jo Bradley.

11.) Meredith Baxter played Nancy Lawrence Maitland, Gary Frank played Willie Lawrence and Kristy McNichol played “Buddy” Lawrence.

12.) Grant Goodeve played David Bradford, Lani O’Grady (real life sister of My Three Sons’ Don Grady) played Mary Bradford, Laurie Walters played Joanie Bradford, Dianne Kay played Nancy Bradford, Susan Richardson played Susan Bradford, Willy Aames played Tommy Bradford, Connie Needham played Elizabeth Bradford and Adam Rich played Nicholas Bradford.

13.) Barry Williams played Greg Brady, Maureen McCormick played Marcia Brady, Christopher Knight played Peter Brady, Eve Plumb played Jan Brady, Mike Lookinland played Bobby Brady and Susan Olsen played Cindy Brady.

14.) James Garner portrayed Bret Maverick and Jack Kelly portrayed Bart Maverick.

15.) Jimmie Walker played J.J. Evans, Bern Nadette Stanis played Thelma Evans and Ralph Carter played Michael Evans.

16.) Ernest Thomas portrayed Roger “Raj” Thomas and Danielle Spencer portrayed Dee Thomas.

17.) Ron Howard portrayed Richie Cunningham, Erin Moran portrayed sister, Joanie Cunningham, and both Randolph Roberts and Gavin O’Herily played the seldomly seen brother, Chuck Cunningham.

18.) Richard Thomas played John-Boy Walton, Judy Norton played Mary Ellen Walton, Jon Walmsley played Jason Walton, Mary Beth McDonough played Erin Walton, Eric Scott played Ben Walton, David W. Harper played Jim-Bob Walton and Kami Cotler played Elizabeth Walton.

19.) Ken Weatherwax played Pugsley Addams and Lisa Loring played his sister, Wednesday Addams.

20.) Candice Cameron Bure portrayed D.J. Tanner, Jody Sweetin portrayed Stephanie Tanner, and both Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen portrayed Michelle Tanner.

And there you have it – questions and answers to celebrate Sibling Rivalry Week (whenever that is) compliments of the Voice from the Bullpen. Hope this jogged a memory or two of television brothers and sisters, and maybe some recollections of sibling rivalry/love with your own brothers and/or sisters – or even cousins or just friends.

Have a great week, everyone.