Quiz: Accountants in pop culture

1. In the TV series Succession (2018-2023), CFO Karl Muller (David Rasche) heads to Turkey with Roman Roy (Kieran Culkin) and Jamie Laird (Danny Huston) to broker a business deal. What happens during the trip? 

1. They are swindled. 
2. Their plane crashes.
3. They are taken hostage.
4. They are mugged.

2. In the TV series Breaking Bad (2008-2013), how does accountant Skyler White (Anna Gunn) help her husband, Walter White (Bryan Cranston) in his criminal activities?

1. She operates a laser tag business as a front for his drug operation.
2. She blackmails her brother-in-law Hank Schrader (Dean Norris) to keep him quiet.
3. She launders Walter’s drug money through a car wash.
4. She extorts US$622,000 from lawyer Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) to pay Walter’s tax debt.

3. In the original Ghostbusters (1984) movie, accountant Louis Tully (Rick Moranis) has a party. What is notable about it?

1. At the party, he convinces Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver) to let him do her taxes.
2. The party celebrates his sixth anniversary as an accountant.
3. He gets drunk and announces that his clients are committing fraud.
4. He invites his clients to the party, so he can write off the expenses.

4. In the movie Stranger Than Fiction (2006), IRS agent Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) starts to hear a voice narrating his life that tells him he is doing to die. How does Harold react to this news?

1. He takes guitar lessons.
2. He decides to eat pancakes at every meal.
3. He quits his job.
4. He asks his neighbour, Ana (Maggie Gyllenhaal), out on a date.

5. In Parks and Recreation, what does accountant Ben Wyatt (Adam Scott) do when he has time off “between jobs”?

1. He invents a board game, The Cones of Dunshire.
2. He runs for city council.
3. He makes calzones three times a day.
4. He starts a youth football league.

6. In the US version of the TV series The Office (2005-2013), what is accountant Kevin Malone (Brian Baumgartner) known for?

1. He is surprisingly good at baseball.
2. He invented a new number, “Keleven”, to help balance the books.
3. He plays the drums in a Duran Duran cover band.
4. He marries a woman he met on the internet.

7. In the movie The Accountant (2016), the protagonist Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) uncovers a dangerous financial conspiracy when he takes on what kind of company as a client?

1. A pharmaceutical company
2. A hedge fund
3. A multi-national conglomerate
4. A robotics and AI research firm

8. In the movie The Untouchables (1987), who was the real-life inspiration for IRS agent Oscar Wallace (Charles Martin Smith)?

1. Frank J. Wilson
2. James H. Wilkerson
3. William D. Mitchell
4. George E.Q. Johnson

9. In the movie Midnight Run (1988), why does accountant Jonathan “the Duke” Mardukas (Charles Grodin) go on the run?

1. He witnessed a murder.
2. He’s been framed for murder.
3. He has embezzled US$15 million.
4. He has stolen US$3 million in uncut diamonds.

10. In the movie Office Space (1999), what bothers shy accountant Milton Waddams (Stephen Root) more than anything?

1. People often take his red stapler and move his desk around the office.
2. He is denied a piece of cake at Peter’s (Ron Livingston) birthday party.
3. He is fired without warning.
4. Peter (Ron Livingston) didn’t include him in his plan to hack the company.

11. In the Marvel TV series Daredevil (2015-2018) who kills villainous accountant Leland Owlsley?

1. Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil (Charlie Cox)
2. Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll)
3. Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio)
4. Madame Gao (Wai Ching Ho)

12. In the TV series Ted Lasso (2020-2023), what does the CFO of KJPR, Barbara (Katy Wix), collect?

1. Antique teapots
2. Snow globes
3. Owl ornaments
4. Jane Austen first editions