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The Super Bowl, being played for the XLIVth time on Sunday, Feb. 7th, has a long history of blowouts and lately close games.

Casual fans, however, will remember the NFL’s ultimate game for Janet Jackson’s infamous 2004 “wardrobe malfunction” at the hands of fellow halftime performer Justin Timberlake.

This year’s evergreen halftime act, The Who, released “My Generation” as a single two years before Super Bowl I in 1967, where trumpeter Al Hirt and two college marching bands bridged the game’s second and third quarters. And that brings us to this quiz of non-football activities attached to various Super Bowls since. Answers are at the bottom, but let’s not peek.

I. Who recently told the following joke? “The halftime show is The Who this year. NFL officials are concerned now that Brett Favre’s out of the Super Bowl, because he’s the only player old enough to know who The Who is.”

A. Jay Leno; B. David Letterman; C. Jon Stewart; D. Jimmy Kimmel

II. Which of these British rock/pop legends has never participated in a Super Bowl halftime show?

A. The Rolling Stones; B. The Bee Gees; C. Sting; D. Paul McCartney

III. This year’s post-Super Bowl show is Undercover Boss, a new CBS reality series. With 52.9 million viewers, what is the most-watched followup act ever?

A. Survivor: The Australian Outback; B. Grey’s Anatomy; C. The X-Files; D. Friends

IV. They collaborated in 1990 on a heavily-hyped Super Bowl commercial for Diet Coke.

A. David Bowie and Grace Jones; B. Elton John and Paula Abdul; C. Stevie Wonder and Cher; D. Billy Joel  and Diana Ross

V. What former star of Charlie’s Angels performed the National Anthem at the 1980 Super Bowl?

A. Cheryl Ladd; B. Jaclyn Smith; C. Kate Jackson; D. Farrah Fawcett

VI. Carrie Underwood’s singing of the Anthem at this year’s Super Bowl will mark the third straight year that an ex-American Idol contestant has done the deed. Who are the two others preceding her?

A. Kelly Clarkson and Daughtry; B. Jordin Sparks and Jennifer Hudson; C. Clay Aiken and Fantasia; D. Sanjaya Malakar and Kellie Pickler

VII. Which of these was not the title of a Super Bowl halftime show?

A. KaleidoSUPERscope; B. Be Bop Bamboozled in 3-D; C. Alakazam-a-Zowie; D. Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye

VIII. Which two NBA superstars played an elongated game of H.O.R.S.E. in a “Nothin’ But Net” commercial during the 1993 Super Bowl?

A. Michael Jordan and Larry Bird; B. Magic Johnson and Julius Erving; C. Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain; D. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Charles Barkley

IX. Which one of these singers has both performed the National Anthem and starred in a Super Bowl halftime show?

A. Barry Manilow; B. Diana Ross; C. Billy Joel; D. The Judds

X. In the decidedly bizarre 1989 Super Bowl halftime show, which fake singing star was at center stage?

A. Janis Jalopy; B. Bing Frisbee; C. Jimi Eccentrix; D. Elvis Presto

ANSWERS:

I. A; II. B; III. D; IV. B; V. A; VI. B; VII. C; VIII. A; IX. B; X. D

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The latest Oscar nominations are out, which means it’s time to revisit my personal list of former TV stars who have climbed the ladder to big-time movie fame.

There’s just one basic ground rule. You must have come to prominence via a starring role in a successful TV series before segueing to films. This rules out the likes of Brad Pitt (who played Walker Lovejoy in Fox’s quickly canceled Glory Days) and two-time Oscar-winner Hilary Swank (who popped in as a recurring character near the end of Beverly Hills, 90210.)

Eligibles include Bruce Willis (Moonlighting), Denzel Washington (St. Elsewhere), Sally Field (The Flying Nun) and Eddie Murphy (Saturday Night Live).

For years, this list was topped by Tom Hanks, who came to fame in ABC’s Bosom Buddies and eventually won back-to-back best actor Oscars for Philadelphia and Forrest Gump.

But Hanks has been in a slump of late and gave way to iconic actor/director Clint Eastwood a few years ago. Eastwood hasn’t been a TV star since playing trailhand Rowdy Yates from 1959 to 1966 on CBS’ Rawhide. But those boots still fit when it comes to this competition.

I’d still keep Eastwood at the very top after the 82nd Oscar nominations were announced. But a rival former TV star, George Clooney, is moving like a bullet up the charts. And his best actor nomination for Up In the Air is enough to elevate him into the top 3, behind only Eastwood and Hanks.

Clooney finally made his bones on NBC’s ER after toiling in the TV vineyards with supporting and guest star roles in almost too many series to mention. They include Baby Talk, Sisters, The Facts of Life, Roseanne, The Golden Girls and 1984’s very little seen E/R sitcom on CBS.

Clooney also had the misfortune to star, as undercover cop Chic Chesbro, in the 1990 CBS series Sunset Beat. It was canceled after just two episodes.

The last few years have been very good to Clooney, though. He won a supporting actor Oscar in 2006 for Syriana and also was nominated that year as the director and writer of Good Night, and Good Luck. In 2008 he got his first best actor nomination for the title role in Michael Clayton.

Equally important in the grand scheme of things, Clooney epitomizes what it means to be a well-rounded movie star. He was the principal organizer of the recent telethon for the earthquake victims of Haiti. And few actors of his stature are more media-friendly or quicker with a quip.

Clooney again displayed his self-deprecating wit at last month’s Screen Actors Guild awards ceremony, during which Betty White received a lifetime achievement award.

“I actually know many of you and I’ve worked with quite a few,” she said during her acceptance speech. “Maybe had a couple. And you know who you are.”

Clooney later took the stage and deadpanned, “In 1987, I did an episode of The Golden Girls, and I would like to thank Betty White for her discretion . . . A friend of mine told me she was a bobcat in the sack.”

You go, George. Win another Oscar or two and you’ll tower atop this list, which isn’t an easy one to crack. Try composing your own Top 10, knowing that the list of eligibles also includes Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, Steve McQueen, Woody Harrelson, Adam Sandler, Robin Williams, Helen Hunt and Michael Douglas. To name a few.

Cover of Leno's autobiography

Dissecting Jay Leno is like your first assignment in Biology 101. You don’t have to cut too deeply.

The past and now future host of NBC’s The Tonight Show is basically a plodder, a go-along, get-along entertainer whose insecurities spur him to take just about any job offered and be happy to have it.

NBC evicts him as host of the No. 1-rated Tonight and asks Leno to helm The Jay Leno Show in prime-time. Yeah, sure, he’ll take it.

NBC cancels his prime-time hour and offers him a late-night half-hour preceding The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien. Yeah, sure, he’ll take it.

O’Brien, contending that a late start would irreparably damage the storied Tonight franchise, refuses to go along with the plan and eventually leaves the network. NBC offers Leno a second go-around as the show’s host. Yeah, sure, he’ll take it.

Leno’s recent interview with Oprah Winfrey found him citing O’Brien’s low ratings as the one and only reason why NBC took remedial action.

“It had nothing to do with me,” he told her. “There’s always someone waiting in the wings in this business to take your job. If you’re not doing the numbers (ratings), they move on. Pretty simple.”

Leno said he initially asked NBC whether it would release him from his contract after dropping The Jay Leno Show. But no, the network supposedly said he was still too valuable an asset. So why didn’t he strong-arm NBC the way O’Brien did, walking away with millions of dollars for both himself and his staff?

“I could’ve done that, but I didn’t,” he told Winfrey. “They offered me my old job back, which is the dream job.”

It should come as absolutely no surprise that Leno chose continued employment and security over drawing a principled line in the sand. It’s part of his DNA. Schooled in the hard knocks of desultory comedy clubs and throwaway guest shots in prime-time sitcoms, the younger Leno kept taking whatever came his way in hopes that he someday would be somebody. His Holy Grail was always The Tonight Show. First to be on it. Then to host it.

Leno’s 1996 autobiography, Leading With My Chin, has a telling passage that still holds true. He initially wanted to call the book A Good Dog Will Run Till His Heart Explodes, Leno writes. Then comes the clincher.

“The point is, any idiot can have a life. If you’re breathing, you’ve got a life. But careers are hard to come by. I’ve never been better at anything than anybody else. Which meant that I would always just have to work a little harder to keep up or maybe even pull ahead. Like the turtle who raced the hare, I plowed forward, slow and steady. Even if it meant sitting on curbs all day or sleeping on the back steps of comedy clubs all night.”

I’ve interviewed Leno a number of times over the years, but one close encounter sticks with me. It was spring 1995, and his Tonight Show was gaining on CBS’ Late Show With David Letterman but still trailing it in the ratings.

In his NBC Burbank office, Leno wore his seldom-varying off-camera wardrobe of jeans and a blue denim workshirt unbuttoned to the breastbone. His book wouldn’t be out for another year, but the mantra had long been set in stone.

“My credo, that nobody here agrees with, is that anybody can have a life, but careers are hard to come by,” he said. “You can’t spend time with your family! You can’t do anything! You just make jokes all day. That’s what you do. And if people aren’t willing to do that . . .”

His voice trailed off. But Leno mainly was referring to himself, not his co-workers. He’d out-work everyone else and survive by attrition.

“You always have to be in the mode of writing down the ad-lib or the joke,” he said. “You listen to music, you watch CNN and you say, ‘Ah, there’s a joke.’ ”

That was Leno then, and that’s Leno now. He only miscalculated on one front during our give-and-take. That’s when he talked about resisting temptation. For example, a recent guest, actress Tori Spelling, told Leno during a commercial break that she wasn’t wearing any underwear.

“I said, ‘Really,’ ” Leno related. “And that’s about as far as it goes. In your mind you can do whatever you want. But if you take it any further than that, you’re dead! You’re a dead man! You’re screwed! So you just have to learn to keep things at a distance and have a good time.”

Letterman’s admitted multiple affairs with Late Show employees, which he disclosed on the air last year, so far have proven Leno wrong in that regard. Letterman has remained No. 1 in the late night ratings opposite O’Brien’s struggling Tonight Show.

Still, Letterman had better watch out. The man who vanquished him for well over a decade is returning to the Tonight saddle on March 1st. In Leno’s view, he’s getting what he deserves, even if others brand him a usurper. He won’t think too deeply about any of that. You grind it out, you work like a dog, you fight for what’s yours and you cling to it.

That’s the way Jay Leno is wired. You got a problem with that?