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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 25, 2008 22:03:06 GMT -5
Tomorrow, number 36-33. Here are the hints:
Where dead people are located, a quiet (well, not THAT quiet) mountain town, a police unit in a very sunny city, and a piece of medieval armor.
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 26, 2008 18:54:47 GMT -5
Sorry for the delay; I went to see "The Dark Knight." Anyway, here's number 36: 36. Six Feet Under Genre: Comedy, Drama. Created by: Alan Ball. Executive Producer(s): Alan Ball, Alan Poul, Bob Greenblatt, David Janollari, Scott Buck, Rick Cleveland, Bruce Eric Kaplan, Jill Soloway, and Christian Williams. Starring: Peter Krause (Nathaniel “Nate” Fisher, Jr.), Michael C. Hall (David Fisher), Frances Conroy (Ruth Fisher), Lauren Ambrose (Claire Fisher), Mathew St. Patrick (Keith Charles), Freddy Rodriguez (Federico “Rico” Diaz), Justina Machado (Vanessa Diaz), Rachel Griffiths (Brenda Chenowith), and James Cromwell (George Sibley). Country of Origin: United States. Number of Seasons: 5. Number of Episodes: 63. Running Time: 60 minutes. Original Channel: HBO. Original Run: June 3, 2001 – August 21, 2005. Spinoffs: None. Six Feet Under was created by Alan Ball. The title is a colloquialism for death, (six feet being the traditional depth at which a body would be laid). The show stars Peter Krause as Nathaniel Samuel ("Nate") Fisher Jr., the son of a funeral director who, upon the death of his father, reluctantly becomes a partner in the family funeral business with his brother David, played by Michael C. Hall. The Fisher clan also includes mother Ruth (Frances Conroy) and sister Claire (Lauren Ambrose). Other regulars include mortician and family friend Federico Diaz (Freddy Rodriguez), Nate's on-again, off-again girlfriend Brenda Chenowith (Rachel Griffiths), and David's boyfriend Keith Charles (Mathew St. Patrick). Other characters on the show included: Vanessa Diaz (Justina Machado): Registered nurse; former employee at Bay Breeze Nursing Home in Sherman Oaks. Wife and high school sweetheart of Federico; mother to Julio and Augusto. George Sibley (James Cromwell): Geologist/professor; second husband to Ruth; father to Brian, Maggie and Kyle. George suffers from an undiagnosed paranoia which prompts him to receive electro-convulsive shock treatment. Nathaniel Samuel Fisher Sr. (Richard Jenkins): Patriarch of Fisher family and owner of Fisher & Sons Funeral Home before his death in a car accident in 2000. Husband of Ruth; father of Nate, David and Claire. Sarah O’Connor (Patricia Clarkson): Younger sister of Ruth Fisher, an artist who lives in Topanga Canyon. Bettina (Kathy Bates): Sarah’s friend and caretaker who becomes Ruth’s friend when Sarah undergoes withdrawal and further drug rehabilitation. Lisa Kimmel Fisher (Lili Taylor): Nate’s former girlfriend and roommate while living in Seattle; she subsequently becomes pregnant with Nate's child Maya, and they marry in 2002. In 2003, she disappears while enroute to visit her sister, and her body later washes up on shore. Eventually it is revealed she was engaged in an affair with her brother-in-law. He commits suicide, and it is suspected but never proven that he murdered Lisa. Billy Chenowith (Jeremy Sisto): Brenda’s younger brother who has bipolar disorder; son of Margaret and Bernard Chenowith; had an on-off romantic relationship with Claire Fisher. Margaret Chenowith (Joanna Cassidy): Psychologist mother of Brenda and Billy; widow of Bernard; current lover to Olivier Castro-Staal. Dr. Bernard Chenowith (Robert Foxworth): Brenda and Billy’s psychiatrist father; husband to Margaret before his death in 2003. Olivier Castro-Staal (Peter Macdissi): Professor of Form and Space at LAC-Arts; lover to Margaret Chenowith. Aspects of this character may be based on Nathan Oliveira. Arthur Martin (Rainn Wilson): A young intern from Cypress College mortuary school who works for the funeral home briefly. Russell Corwin (Ben Foster): Former boyfriend and classmate of Claire. Edie (Mena Suvari): Free spirited lesbian artist and good friend of Claire. They shared a hesitant, non-consummated night together with Claire realizing she wasn't a lesbian immediately afterwards. Anita Miller (Sprague Grayden): Former best friend and roommate of Claire Fisher; ex-girlfriend of Russell Corwin. Parker McKenna (Marina Black): Best friend of Claire Fisher during her high school years. Gabriel Dimas (Eric Balfour): Claire’s high school boyfriend who was a drug addict and robbed a convenience store. It is assumed he died a short while after he disappears. Nikolai (Ed O'Ross): Owner of Blossom d’Amour Flower Shop; boyfriend of Ruth Fisher when she worked as a florist. Ted Fairwell (Chris Messina): Corporate attorney at Braeden Chemical Legal Department who becomes Claire's boyfriend when she is assigned as a secretary through her temp job (temporary employee). Marries Claire shortly after her mother's death. Durrell Charles-Fisher (Kendre Berry): Adopted older son of David and Keith; older brother of Anthony. He plans on working as a firefighter but later becomes a funeral director like his father. Anthony Charles-Fisher (C. J. Sanders): Adopted younger son of David and Keith; brother of Durrell. Seen in the flash forward during the final minutes as an adult in the company of a male partner. Maya Fisher (Brenna and Bronwyn Tosh): Nate and Lisa’s toddler daughter. On one level, the show is a conventional family drama, dealing with such issues as relationships, infidelity, and religion. At the same time, it is a show distinguished by its unblinking focus on the topic of death, which it explores on multiple levels (personal, religious, and philosophical). Each episode begins with a death, ranging from anything from drowning or heart attack to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, and that death usually sets the tone for each episode, allowing the characters to reflect on their current fortunes and misfortunes in a way that is illuminated by the death and its aftermath. The show also has a strong dosage of dark humor and surrealism running throughout. A recurring plot device consists of a character having an imaginary conversation with the person who died at the beginning of the episode. Sometimes, the conversation is with other recurring dead characters, notably Nathaniel Fisher Sr. The show's creator Alan Ball states they represent the living character's internal dialogue by exposing it as an external conversation, yet on some occasions (see the appearance of Nathaniel Fisher Sr. at the end of the last episode of the first season) no living character sees or interacts with the dead character. Also, on many occasions the dead characters relate information the living ones could not know, perhaps representing speculation on the part of the living concerning issues which were never solved before the passing. Casual conversations with the dead also reflect the genre of magical realism. Although overall plots and characters were created by Alan Ball, there are conflicting reports on how the series was conceived. In one instance, Ball stated that he came up with the premise of the show after the deaths of his sister and father. However, in an interview, he intimates that HBO entertainment president Carolyn Strauss proposed the idea to him. In a copyright-infringement lawsuit, screenwriter Gwen O’Donnell asserted that she was the original source of the idea which later passed through Strauss to Ball; the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, proceeding on the assumption that this assertion was true, rejected her claim. The show focuses on human mortality and the lives of those who deal with it on a daily basis. When discussing the concept of the show, creator Alan Ball elaborates on the foremost questions the show’s pilot targeted: Who are these people who are funeral directors that we hire to face death for us? What does that do to their own lives - to grow up in a home where there are dead bodies in the basement, to be a child and walk in on your father with a body lying on a table opened up and him working on it? What does that do to you? Six Feet Under introduces the Fisher family as the basis on which to answer these questions. Throughout its five-season, 63-episode run, major characters experience crises which are in direct relation to their environment and the grief they’ve experienced. Alan Ball again relates these experiences as well as the choice of the series’ title, to the persistent subtext of the program: Six Feet Under refers not only to being buried as a dead body is buried, but to primal emotions and feelings running under the surface. And when one is surrounded by death it seems like to counterbalance that, there needs to be a certain intensity of experience, of needing to escape. It’s Nate with his sort of womanizing; it’s Claire and her experimenting with dangerous boys and dangerous drugs; and it’s Brenda’s whole sexual compulsiveness; it’s David having sex with a hooker in public; it’s Ruth having affair after affair; it’s the life force trying to push up through all of that suffering and grief and depression. The show received critical acclaim from Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and The New York Times, among other media, and has garnered praise from fellow television producers and funeral directors, with many considering it to be one of the best dramas ever made for television. In total, Six Feet Under won three Golden Globe Awards, nine Emmy Awards as well as a Peabody Award. The series won the Golden Globe award for Outstanding Drama Series and Best Supporting Actress for Rachel Griffiths in 2002. Frances Conroy went on to receive the award for Best Actress in a Drama for the Golden Globes in 2004. The show also won the Screen Actors Guild award for Best Ensemble for a Drama Series two years in a row (2003–2004). It first aired on HBO in 2001, and has been broadcast in syndication in the US by basic cable channel Bravo as well as in dozens of other countries. The series ended its five year run on August 21, 2005. It may cliché given that practically anyone who has seen this show and talked about it has said it, but I don’t care; it’s the only way I can think of to start talking about Six Feet Under: though it revolved around death, the show was really about life; death just happens to be a big part of it. I feel a little dirty for typing that, but it’s true. Six Feet Under showed viewers a profession that had never been portrayed on TV, funeral home operators, and used it to make a wonderful show about how people live their lives. In fact, the funeral home profession was the perfect occupation to talk about life because the people who work there are surrounded by death all their lives, which allowed creator Alan Ball to show all the phases of life and how people deal with them and could tell people to not be so serious about it since it focused on people who would become a little numb to it (and some of the deaths that started the show were funny, like the woman who saw a bunch of helium filled sex dolls float up in the sky, thought it was the Rapture, got out of her car hoping to be called into heaven, and got hit by a car). Ball's all-in-the-funeral-family drama also expanded on the themes of his movie “American Beauty”: families keep secrets, people maintain facades, and while death may be final, life is messy. The saga of the Fishers reveled in its characters' contradictions: matriarch Ruth (Frances) was both uptight and free-spirited; artist daughter Claire (Ambrose) was insightful yet whiny; son David (Hall) was repressed yet brave; other son Nate (Krause) was idealistic yet could be a total jerk. It was uncompromising (one episode began with a man shooting up a telemarketing service; another had David getting kidnapped by a crack addict) and unflinching (lots of sex from Nate and Brenda to David and Keith, TV’s gay couple that had the most sex…well, until Queer As Folk came on the air), the show still proves addictive because of its superb ensemble cast and surprising twists. The most interesting thing about the show was that it began and ended with a death in the Fisher family. In the first episode, patriarch Nathaniel is hit by a bus on the day the family is suppose to have Christmas dinner. Then, in its bravura last few episodes Nate dies of a brain hemorrhage, just after splitting up with his wife from his hospital bed. The Fishers themselves became the mourners, celebrating Nathaniel and Nate's imperfect life and moving on. The elegiac epilogue, fast-forwarding through the lives and deaths of each remaining main character, was the series' best imaginable epitaph.
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 26, 2008 20:06:27 GMT -5
35. South Park Genre: Animation, Sitcom. Created by: Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Executive Producer(s): Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Starring: Trey Parker (Stan Marsh, Randy Marsh, Grandpa Marsh, Starvin' Marvin, Eric Cartman, Clyde Donovan, Craig and his parents, Mr. Garrison, Ned Gerblansky, Dr. Alphonse Mephesto, Stephen Stotch, Mr. Hankey, Santa Claus, Mr. Mackey, Officer Barbrady, Ms. Choksondik, Tom Pusslicker, Timmy, Jimmy Vulmer, Tuong Lu Kim, Phillip, Satan, and various other characters), Matt Stone (Kyle Broflovski, Gerald Broflovski, Kenny McCormick, Stuart McCormick, Leopold "Butters" Stotch, Jimbo Kern, Jesus, Saddam Hussein, Big Gay Al, Pip, Terrance, Tweek, Jimmy's father (Richard Vulmer), Father Maxi, Skeeter, Mr. Adler the shop teacher, Osama Bin Laden, and various others voices), Isaac Hayes (Chef 1997-2006), Mary Kay Bergman (Liane Cartman, Sheila Broflovski, Sharon Marsh, Mrs. McCormick, Principal Victoria, Mrs. Crabtree, Wendy Testaburger, and various other voices 1997-1999), Eliza Schneider (Wendy Testaburger, Sheila Broflovski, Liane Cartman, Shelley Marsh, Principal Victoria, Mrs. McCormick, Mayor McDaniels, Oprah Winfrey, and various other voices 2000-2003), Mona Marshall (Sheila Broflovski, Linda Stotch, and various other voices 2000-present), April Stewart (Liane Cartman, Sharon Marsh, Mrs. McCormick, Shelley Marsh, The Mayor, Principal Victoria, Wendy Testaburger, and various other characters 2004-present), John Hansen (Mr. Slave), Jennifer Howell (Bebe Stevens), and Adrien Beard (Token Black). Country of Origin: United States. Number of Seasons: 12. Number of Episodes: 174. Running Time: 22 minutes. Original Channel: Comedy Central. Original Run: August 13, 1997 – present. Spinoffs: “South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut,” a 1999 movie based on the show. South Park began in 1992 when Trey Parker and Matt Stone, at the time students at the University of Colorado, met in a film class and created an animated short called Jesus vs. Frosty. The low-budget crudely made film featured prototypes of the main characters of South Park, including a character resembling Cartman but named "Kenny", an unnamed character resembling what is today Kenny, and two near-identical unnamed characters who would resemble Stan and Kyle. In 1995, FOX executive Brian Graden saw the film, and commissioned Parker and Stone to create a second short film that he could send to his friends as a video Christmas card. Titled Jesus vs. Santa, it resembled the style of the later series more closely, and featured a martial arts duel and subsequent truce between Jesus and Santa Claus over the true meaning of Christmas. This video was later featured in the episode "A Very Crappy Christmas" in which Stan, Kyle, Cartman, Kenny, and Mr. Hankey "save" Christmas for the town. The video was popular and was widely shared, both by duplication and over the Internet. This led to talks to create a series, first with FOX, then with Comedy Central, where the series debuted on August 13, 1997. During the first four seasons of South Park, clips of the shorts can be seen in the opening sequence within an old television and a billboard. South Park's early episodes tended to be shock value-oriented and featured more slapstick-style humor than later episodes. Although satire had been used on the show occasionally earlier on, it became more prevalent in later episodes. Episodes have parodied Michael Jackson ("The Jeffersons"), Paris Hilton ("Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset"), and The Passion of the Christ ("The Passion of the Jew"), as well as addressed serious political issues such as terrorism ("Cartoon Wars"), American immigration policy ("Goobacks"), Gay Marriage ("Follow that Egg"), and the Terri Schiavo case ("Best Friends Forever"). The pilot episode, "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe" (nearly identical to the first official episode, which has the same name), required three months to produce using construction paper and traditional cut-out animation techniques. However, the version that aired was different from the original version. Construction paper cutouts were used in the original pilot animation and in the first episode made for Comedy Central. Subsequent episodes have been produced by computer animation providing a similar look to the originals. The appearance of characters and scenes has become less crude over time, largely in order to enhance the comedic effect. Special effects, such as prepackaged explosions, have replaced cardboard-style fires. Light shading has been used to highlight "sappy," movie-like moments as well as some of Cartman's dramatic poses. Some episodes, such as Tweek vs. Craig and Mr. Garrison's Fancy New Vagina, have even incorporated sections of live action video. Current episodes duplicate the original, amateurish look using modern computer animation tools, CorelDRAW to create the characters and first PowerAnimator and then Maya to animate them, which Parker and Stone described as "building a sandcastle with a bulldozer." The style of animation used for South Park was inspired by the paper cut-out cartoons made by Terry Gilliam for Monty Python's Flying Circus, of which Trey Parker and Matt Stone have been lifelong fans. Thanks to this efficient method, episodes of South Park are usually completed in six days (although some, such as “AWESOM-O” or “Woodland Critter Christmas” have taken only three or four). This allows for a shorter production schedule, enabling the creators to respond quickly to current events. The December 17, 2003 episode "It's Christmas in Canada" depicted the capture of Saddam Hussein a mere three days after the actual event, even referring to the "spider hole" in which he was found. In this instance, as with the Elián González episode ("Quintuplets 2000"), the creators changed the production of an episode at the last minute to focus on the new world event. In 2002, the episode "Free Hat" aired. In this episode, inspired by Kyle's comment on Ted Koppel's Nightline that changing “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” would be like changing “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” a fictional George Lucas and Steven Spielberg decide to alter the first Indiana Jones film. Soon after the episode aired, Lucas and Spielberg announced that contrary to rumors they would not be altering “Raiders of the Lost Ark” for DVD release. Prior to season four, the main characters of the show were four third grade students (often called "the boys" when as a group for easier reference): Stanley "Stan" Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Theodore Cartman, and Kenneth "Kenny" McCormick. There are many recurring characters on the show, including the boys' families, school staff, and other students. These include Leopold "Butters" Stotch, Chef (who no longer appears in the show), Mr. Hankey, Towelie, Jesus, and Satan. There are also many other minor characters. Matt Stone and Trey Parker voice most of the male South Park characters, while April Stewart and Mona Marshall (formerly Mary Kay Bergman and Eliza Schneider) voice most of the female characters such as Wendy Testaburger and Sheila Broflovski. Other voices are currently provided by Adrien Beard (Token Black), Vernon Chatman (Towelie), and Jennifer Howell (Bebe Stevens). Former members of the voice cast include Isaac Hayes (Chef) and John Hansen (Mr. Slave). Stan Marsh and Kyle Broflovski were initially designed to represent creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone respectively; however, both have admitted to ultimately identifying far more with Cartman. The show is set in the fictional town of South Park, Colorado. The town is located in South Park, a geographical area of approximately 1000 square miles which is a high-altitude intermontane grassland basin. South Park is in Park County about 80 miles southwest of Denver and four miles from Fairplay. An unexplained peculiarity is that it is almost always winter in South Park, and there is (almost) always snow on the ground. This could be because the appearance of the characters, which were first introduced in a Christmas short, were dressed for winter. Cartman mentions in Jakovasaurs that there are only two seasons in South Park, winter and July (as seen in such episodes as Summer Sucks). South Park is inspired by both real-life towns in the South Park basin such as Fairplay and the Denver suburbs such as Littleton, the sites of the upbringing of South Park co-creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker. The town is served by South Park Elementary and Hell's Pass Hospital. Town police consists almost entirely of Officer Barbrady (not counting county sheriff's deputies Yates and Murphy) and the only discernible politician is Mayor McDaniels. The town flag was changed in “Chef Goes Nanners” because the image of white people lynching a black man was thought racist. The new flag features a black man being lynched by people of all races and nationalities, including another black man. South Park was home to Jesus until his death in Red Sleigh Down. The show's original theme song was a musical score performed by the band Primus. The song has been remixed three times during the course of the series (as of season ten), and certain lines have been altered. In the beginning of season 10 the title music was changed to the song "Whamola", performed by The Les Claypool Frog Brigade, from the album Purple Onion. (Les Claypool is the singer and bassist in both Primus and the Frog Brigade.) Kenny's lines in the song, like the rest of his speech in the show, are muffled by his parka hood, which covers his entire face except for his eyes; however, Kenny's lines have been revealed by South Park Studios. In seasons 1–2, he says "I love girls with big fat titties, I love girls with deep vaginas." From seasons 3-5 he says "I have got a 10 inch penis, use your mouth if you want to clean it." In season 6, Kenny had been written out of the show, having supposedly permanently died; in his absence, Timmy, who has a cognitive disability (early in the show Timmy was originally described as being "mentally retarded"), takes his place, singing "Timmy, Timmy, Timmy, Timmy, Timmy, Timmy, Livin'a lie Timmy!" After returning to the show just before season 7, Kenny also returned to the theme song: From season 7 to the first half of season 10, Kenny says "Some day I'll be old enough to stick my dick in Britney's butt." Starting with the second half of Season 10, Kenny's lines changed again to "I like fucking silly bitches because I know my penis likes it." In the original unaired pilot episode of “Cartman Gets An Anal Probe,” in the rather different version of the opening, Kenny's lines are the same as they were in the first 2 seasons. Popular songs such as "Kyle's Mom is a Big Fat Bitch" originated on the show, but the creators' musical abilities were not frequently used until the release of South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. The film's soundtrack (co-written and produced by Grammy Award-winning composer-lyricist Marc Shaiman) featured songs like "Blame Canada" (nominated for an Oscar; see below), "I'm Super," "La Resistance Medley," "Hell Isn't Good," "Mountain Town," "Uncle Fucka" (won an MTV Movie Award for "Best Musical Performance"), "Up There," and "What Would Brian Boitano Do?." Several of the songs from the movie are satires of tunes from Disney cartoons. For instance, "Mountain Town" is highly similar to the song "Belle" from Beauty and the Beast. "Up There" is a take-off of two different Disney songs, "Out There" from The Hunchback of Notre Dame and "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid. "La Resistance Medley" spoofs both "One Day More" from the stage musical Les Miserables and "Tonight" from West Side Story. Parker and Stone have, on occasion, performed these songs (and others) under the band name DVDA. In the show, Eric Cartman will often burst into song to convey a false altruism or optimism that belies his baser motivations. In "Red Sleigh Down", he sings "Poo-Choo Train", an unnervingly cheery Christmas carol, in an obvious attempt to convince Mr. Hankey and Santa Claus that he is worthy of Christmas presents. In "I'm a Little Bit Country", Cartman sings Paula Cole's song "I Don't Want to Wait" while beating someone to death (Cartman also sings the song as an homage to his Dawson's Creek Trapper Keeper in the episode "Trapper Keeper"). In "The Death of Eric Cartman", Cartman sings "Make It Right" with Butters in a weak attempt to reconcile his sins. In "Roger Ebert Should Lay Off the Fatty Foods", Cartman sings the Donna Summer song "She Works Hard For The Money" during an audition for Cheesy Poofs. In the episode "Ginger Kids", he sings a song about tolerance once he realizes he's not one of the "Gingers" and that he just convinced every Ginger in town to exterminate non-Ginger people. Cartman also uses the song "Heat of the Moment" in episode 513 ("Kenny Dies") to convince the U.S. Senate to approve stem cell research. Cartman has a mental quirk that forces him to finish singing Styx's Come Sail Away whenever someone sings a few bars of the song. As soon as he learns this, Kyle, who has a strong and explicit hatred for Cartman, takes advantage of this and forces Cartman to finish the song so many times that Cartman becomes literally unintelligible. In episode 409, "Something You Can Do with Your Finger", the boys made their boy band, "Fingerbang." Cartman was also the lead singer for "Faith + 1", a Christian band he formed with Butters and Token in the episode "Christian Rock Hard". He creates several "Christian" songs by taking sexually suggestive love songs and substituting romantic words such as "baby" and "darling" with "Jesus"; instead of the traditional "Christian Rock" lyrics singing about spiritual love for Jesus, Cartman sings about his desire to have actual, physical sex with Jesus. A few titles of these songs include "Body of Christ" and "Get Down on my Knees and Start Pleasing Jesus." The band Korn appears in one of the Halloween episodes, where South Park is plagued by ghost pirates. It is the band's job to "solve the mystery" (this of course is a spoof of Scooby Doo). In the episodes climax, Korn plays "Falling Away from Me" in celebration of the solved mystery. In "Fat Butt and Pancake Head", Cartman's hand puppet "Jennifer Lopez" (who pronounces her name as "Hennifer Lopez") recorded a hit single entitled "Taco Flavored Kisses", inciting the wrath of the "real" Jennifer Lopez character. Additional musical contributions to the show come from the band Primus, which performed the original opening and ending themes for the show, and formerly from Isaac Hayes, who voiced Chef's singing of usually-sexual songs to explain certain adult themes to the boys. The Chef song "Chocolate Salty Balls" was released as a single in the UK in 1998 to support the Chef Aid album and became a number one hit. Many episodes also feature highly melodramatic musical scores to comically exaggerate the emotional content of the scene. For example, melancholy music plays in the background when Timmy sends away his beloved pet turkey, Gobbles, in the episode "Helen Keller! The Musical". Controversies over South Park have occurred numerous times. The show depicts what many people find to be taboo subject matter, from its use of vulgarity (It Hits The Fan) to its satire of subjects such as religion and cults (such as All About Mormons, Bloody Mary, Red Hot Catholic Love, Fantastic Easter Special, and Trapped in the Closet), sexuality (The Death Camp of Tolerance), steroids (Up The Down Steroid), and global warming (Two Days Before the Day After Tomorrow). Stone and Parker are self-described "equal opportunity offenders" and episodes often lampoon all sides of a contentious issue, rather than taking a concrete position. Apart from the continuously "vulgar" presentation of issues, South Park implements several recurring themes that it frequently uses, including current events, disabilities, political issues, racism, gay rights, death, environment, censorship, political correctness, abortion, sex, atheism, and religion, many of which are widely viewed as controversial. On August 26, 2007, Parker and Stone committed to three more seasons of South Park, so the show will run until at least 2011. They will continue to write, direct, and edit every episode of the show. Edited versions of South Park episodes, with the TV-14 rating, began broadcasting in syndication on September 19, 2005 on various local channels around the U.S. The series is co-distributed by Debmar-Mercury and 20th Television; the latter replaced Tribune Entertainment as co-distributor in early-2008, after Tribune ceased business. In March 2008, Comedy Central made all South Park episodes available for legal streaming on the South Park Studios website. However, legal issues prevent the episodes from being accessible in the UK, Australia and a few other territories outside US for now. Those are some mighty nice lives you got there, celebrities, politicians, and pretty much anyone who has become famous in that last 10 years. It’s be a damn shame if some people came along and made a show about four children and the crazy town they live in and witheringly mocked your limited talent, shallow understanding of geopolitical conflicts, and questionable sexuality. Yep, damn shame. Oh wait! Someone already did! Two people to be precise: Matt Stone and Trey Parker. Parker and Stone's Comedy Central cartoon has been America's best source of rapid-fire satire for a decade now, blasting hypocrites left and right and giving the final and, usually, the dirtiest word on Elian Gonzalez, Terry Schiavo, and numerous celebrity flip-outs. And, it has no fear about ridiculing people, whether it be religions (from Islam on the “Cartoon Wars” epic and Scientology on the “Trapped In The Closet” episode) to opponents of the show (Bill Donahue to Isaac Hayes, whose Chef character got skewered in an episode after Hayes left the show due to the aforementioned “Trapped In The Closet” episode). No one is safe from their killer satire. But the show's authentic, filthy heart is the four foul-mouthed, truth-telling Colorado boys at its center. Stan Marsh and Kyle Brovloski are the show’s heart and soul (I’ll let you decide which is which), being the moral and intelligent anchor to South Park’s universe, which is fitting since the characters are based on Parker and Stone themselves, basically making the two sane people in a crazy world. Kenny McCormick and his multiple deaths can be seen as an allegory to the show’s vulgarity: yes, it is a part of the show but not the center of its universe. It is just a tool (the vulgarity shocks people and gets them to notice the show; Kenny’s deaths are for cheap laughs), even though most people tune in for that. And, Eric Cartman, especially, is a creation for the ages: America's wants and appetites rolled up into one pudgy package. The show's best episodes are not the current-events riffs but the stories about the boys, like "Scott Tenorman Must Die," in which Cartman concocts a Grand Guignol revenge against a tormentor involving cannibalism and a trained pony. Parker and Stone put the "id" in kid, and for that, I respect their authoritah.
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 26, 2008 20:56:31 GMT -5
34. Miami Vice Genre: Crime Drama. Created by: Anthony Yerkovich. Executive Producer(s): Michael Mann, Dick Wolf, Robert Ward, and Richard Brams. Starring: Don Johnson (Det. James “Sonny” Crockett), Philip Michael Thomas (Det. Ricardo “Rico” Tubbs), Edward James Olmos (Lt. Martin Castillo), Michael Talbott (Det. Stanley “Stan” Switek), John Diehl (Det. Lawrence “Larry” Zito 1984-1987), Olivia Brown (Det. Trudy “Big Booty” Joplin), Saundra Santiago (Det. Gina Navarro Calabrese), and Gregory Sierra (Lt. Lou Rodriguez 1984). Country of Origin: United States. Number of Seasons: 5. Number of Episodes: 111. Running Time: 48 minutes, plus three 96 minute episodes. Original Channel: NBC. Original Run: September 28, 1984 – January 25, 1990. Spinoffs: None. The head of NBC's Entertainment Division, Brandon Tartikoff, wrote a brainstorming memo that simply read "MTV cops", and later presented the memo to series creator Anthony Yerkovich, formerly a writer and producer for Hill Street Blues. Yerkovitch indicated that he devised the concept after learning about asset forfeiture statutes that allow law enforcement agencies to confiscate the property of drug dealers for official use. The initial idea was for a movie about a pair of vice cops in Miami. Yerkovich then turned out a script for a two-hour pilot, titled "Gold Coast", but later renamed, Miami Vice. Yerkovich was immediately drawn to South Florida as a setting for his new-style police show. Miami Vice was one of the first American network television programs to be broadcast in stereophonic sound. In keeping with the show's namesake, most episodes focus on combating drug trafficking and prostitution. Episodes more often than not end in a large gun battle, claiming the lives of several criminals before they can be apprehended. An undercurrent of cynicism and futility underlies the entire series; The detectives repeatedly reference the "whack-a-mole" nature of drug interdiction, with its parade of drug cartels to replace those that are brought to justice. Co-Executive producer Anthony Yerkovich explained: Even when I was on Hill Street Blues, I was collecting information on Miami, I thought of it as a sort of a modern-day American Casablanca. It seemed to be an interesting socioeconomic tide pool: the incredible number of refugees from Central America and Cuba, the already extensive Cuban-American community, and on top of all that the drug trade. There is a fascinating amount of service industries that revolve around the drug trade — money laundering, bail bondsmen, attorneys who service drug smugglers. Miami has become a sort of Barbary Coast of free enterprise gone berserk. The choice of music and cinematography borrowed heavily from the emerging New Wave culture of the 1980s. As such, segments of each episode of Miami Vice resemble a protracted music video. As Lee H. Katzin, one of the show's directors, remarked, "The show is written for an MTV audience, which is more interested in images, emotions and energy than plot and character and words." These elements made the series into an instant hit, and in its first season saw an unprecedented 15 Emmy Award nominations. While the first few episodes contain elements of a standard police procedural, the producers soon abandoned them in favor of a more distinctive style. Of the many different production aspects of the show, "no earth tones" were allowed to be used. A director of Miami Vice, Bobby Roth, recalled: There are certain colors you are not allowed to shoot, such as red and brown. If the script says 'A Mercedes pulls up here,' the car people will show you three or four different Mercedes. One will be white, one will be black, one will be silver. You will not get a red or brown one. Michael knows how things are going to look on camera. Nick Nolte was considered for the role of Sonny Crockett, but since it was not lucrative for film stars to venture into television at the time, other candidates were looked at. Larry Wilcox, of CHiPs, was also a candidate for the role of Crockett, but the producers felt that going from one police role to another was not going to be a good fit. After dozens of candidates and twice delayed pilot shooting, Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas were chosen as the vice cops. For Johnson, at the time 35, NBC had particular doubts about his several earlier unsuccessful pilots he starred in. After two seasons, Johnson threatened to walk from the series. The network was ready to replace him with Mark Harmon who had recently departed St. Elsewhere but Johnson relented and continued with the series until its end. The main characters on the show included: Detective James "Sonny" Crockett (Don Johnson): A Sergeant of the Metro-Dade Police Department and an undercover detective. A former University of Florida Gators football star, he sustained a injury which put an end to his sports career. He was subsequently drafted by the U.S Army and served 2 tours in Vietnam, or as he calls it, "Southeast Asia Conference". In 1974, he became a Metro-Dade uniformed patrol officer, and later an undercover detective of the Vice Unit. Crockett's alias is Sonny Burnett, a drug runner and middleman. His vehicles include a Ferrari Daytona Spyder (later a Ferrari Testarossa), a "Scarab" offshore power-boat, and a sailboat on which he lives with Elvis, his pet alligator. Detective Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs (Philip Michael Thomas): A former New York police detective who travels to Miami as part of a personal vendetta against Calderone, the man who murdered his brother. After temporarily teaming up with Crockett, Tubbs follows his friend's advice and "transfers to a career in Southern law enforcement". He joins the Miami department and becomes Crockett's permanent partner. He often poses as Rico Cooper, a wealthy buyer from out of town. Lieutenant Martin Castillo (Edward James Olmos): He replaces the slain Rodriguez as head of the OCB. A very taciturn man, Castillo lives a reclusive life outside of work. He was formerly a DEA agent in the Golden Triangle of Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. During his time as an agent, he opposed the CIA in endorsing the trafficking of heroin to finance their overseas operations. Detective Gina Navarro Calabrese (Saundra Santiago): A fearless female detective, who after Crockett's divorce, held a brief romance with him. Even after their relationship did not progress, they still have a strong friendship. Detective Trudy "Big Booty" Joplin (Olivia Brown): Gina's patrol partner. Though tough, Trudy sometimes struggles to face consequences of her job, such as when she shot and killed a man. Later in the series she has an encounter with an UFO and an alien portrayed by the late, James Brown. Detective Stanley "Stan" Switek (Michael Talbott): A fellow police detective and good friend to Larry. Although a good policeman, later on in the series, he falls prey to a gambling addiction. Detective Lawrence "Larry" Zito (John Diehl 1984-1987): A detective and Switek's surveillance partner. He was killed in the line of duty when a drug dealer gave him a fatal drug overdose. Diehl enjoyed being on Vice but wanted to leave the show opting for a more creative opportunity in theater. Lieutenant Lou Rodriguez (Gregory Sierra 1984): A police Lieutenant who serves as commander of the Vice Unit. He is killed in the by an assassin hired to kill Crockett. The show also had several recurring characters: Isidore "Izzy" Moreno (Martin Ferrero): A petty criminal and fast talker, Izzy is always know for getting into quick money schemes and giving Crockett and Tubbs the latest information from the street. Nugart Neville "Noogie" Lamont (Charlie Barnett): A friend of Izzy's and informant for Crockett and Tubbs. Caitlin Davies-Crockett (Sheena Easton 1987-1988): A pop singer who is assigned a police bodyguard, Crockett, for her testimony in a racketeering case. While protecting Caitlin, Sonny falls in love with her and they get married. Following their marriage, Caitlin is killed by one of Crockett's former nemesis. Valerie Gordon (Pam Grier): A New York Police Department Officer and on-and-off love interest of Tubbs. Caroline Crockett Ballard (Belinda Montgomery): Crockett's former wife who moves to Georgia to remarry and raise her and Sonny's child, Billy. Many episodes of Miami Vice were filmed in the South Beach section of Miami Beach, an area which, at the time, was blighted by poverty and crime. Some street corners of South Beach were so run down that the production crew actually decided to repaint the exterior walls of some buildings before filming. The crew went to great lengths to find the correct settings and props. Bobby Roth recalled: I found this house that was really perfect, but the color was sort of beige. The art department instantly painted the house gray for me. Even on feature films people try to deliver what is necessary but no more. At Miami Vice they start with what's necessary and go beyond it. Miami Vice is to some degree credited with causing a wave of support for the preservation of Miami's famous Art Deco architecture in the mid-to-late 1980s; quite a few of those buildings (among them many beachfront hotels) have been renovated since filming, making that part of South Beach one of South Florida's most popular places for tourists and celebrities. The clothes worn on Miami Vice had a significant influence on men's fashion. They popularized, if not invented, the "T-shirt under Armani jacket"-style, and popularized Italian men's fashion in the United States. Don Johnson's typical lineup of Italian sport coat, T-shirt, white linen pants, and slip-on sockless loafers became a hit. Even Crockett's perpetually unshaven appearance sparked a minor fashion trend, inspiring men to wear a small amount of beard stubble, also known as a five o'clock shadow (or "designer stubble") at all times. On an average episode, Crockett and Tubbs wore five to eight different outfits, appearing in shades of pink, blue, green, peach, fuchsia and the show's other "approved" colors. Designers such as Vittorio Ricci, Gianni Versace, and Hugo Boss were consulted in keeping the male leads looking trendy. Costume designer Bambi Breakstone, who traveled to Milan, Paris, and London in search of new clothes, testified that, "The concept of the show is to be on top of all the latest fashion trends in Europe". Jodi Tillen, the costume designer for the first season, along with Michael Mann set the stylistic agenda. The abundance of Pastel colors on the show was reflected in Miami's Art-deco architecture. During its five-year run, consumer demand for unconstructed blazers, shiny fabric jackets, and lighter pastels increased. After Six formal wear even created a line of Miami Vice dinner jackets, Kenneth Cole introduced Crockett and Tubbs shoes, and Macy's opened a Miami Vice section in its young men's department. Crockett also boosted Ray Ban's popularity by wearing a pair of Ray-Ban Wayfarer (Model L2052, Mock Tortoise), which increased sales of Ray Ban's to 720,000 units in 1984. Many of the styles popularized by the TV show, such as the t-shirt under pastel suits, no socks, rolled up sleeves, and Ray-Ban sunglasses, have today become the standard image of 1980s culture. The influence of Miami Vice's fashions continued into the early 1990s, and to some extent still persists today. Miami Vice was noted for its innovative use of music, particularly countless pop and rock hits of the 1980s and the distinctive, synthesized instrumental music of Jan Hammer. Among the many well-known bands and artists who contributed their music to the show were a-ha, Devo, Jackson Browne, Meat Loaf, Phil Collins, Bryan Adams, Tina Turner, Peter Gabriel, ZZ Top, Dire Straits, Depeche Mode, The Hooters, Iron Maiden, Godley and Creme, Cory Hart, Glenn Frey, U2, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Foreigner, The Police, Laura Branigan, Ted Nugent, Suicidal Tendencies, The Damned, and Billy Idol. Several artists even guest-starred in episodes, including Phil Collins, Miles Davis, The Power Station, Glenn Frey, Willie Nelson, Ted Nugent, Frank Zappa, and Sheena Easton. A particularly iconic scene from Miami Vice involves Crockett and Tubbs driving through Miami at night to Phil Collins' hit song "In the Air Tonight". A later hit by Collins, "Take Me Home", was used in the premiere of the show's second season. Jan Hammer credits executive producer Michael Mann for allowing him great creative freedom in underscoring Miami Vice. The collaboration resulted in memorable instrumental pieces, including the show's title theme, which climbed to the top of the U. S. Billboard charts in 1985, the first television show theme to do so since Peter Gunn; No television theme nor instrumental track have ascended to the top of the Billboard singles chart since. The Miami Vice original soundtrack, featuring Jan Hammer's #1 hit theme song and Glenn Frey's "You Belong to the City" (a #2 hit), stayed on the top of the U. S. album chart for 11 weeks in 1985, making it the most successful TV soundtrack at the time. The Miami Vice Theme was so popular that is also garnered two Grammy awards in 1986. "Crockett's Theme", another recurring tune from the show, became a #1 hit in several European countries around 1987. During the show's run, three official soundtrack albums with original music from the episodes were released. Hammer has released several albums with music from the series; among them are Escape from Television (1987), Snapshots (1989) and, after countless requests from loyal fans, Miami Vice: The Complete Collection (2002). Miami Vice also popularized certain brands of firearms and accessories. Galco International named its gun holster the "Miami Classic" following its use by Don Johnson on the show. After Johnson became dissatisfied with his gun holster, the Jackass Leather Company (later renamed Galco International) sent their president, Rick Gallagher, to personally fit Don Johnson with an "Original Jackass Rig", which would later be renamed the Galco "Miami Classic". The Bren Ten, manufactured by Dornaus & Dixon, was a stainless-steel handgun used by Don Johnson during Miami Vice's first season. It remained Crockett's sidearm throughout season two, until Dornaus & Dixon went out of business in 1986. Smith & Wesson was offered a contract to outfit Johnson's character with a S&W Model 645 during season three. Two automobiles became very noteworthy during Miami Vice; the Ferrari Daytona and Testarossa. During the first two seasons and two episodes of the third season, Detective Sonny Crockett drove a black 1972 Ferrari Daytona Spyder 365 GTS/4. Actually, the car was not a Ferrari, but a kit replica based on a 1980 Chevrolet Corvette C3 chassis. The car was fitted with Ferrari-shaped body panels by specialty car manufacturer McBurnie. Once the car gained notoriety, Enzo Ferrari filed a lawsuit demanding that McBurnie and others cease producing and selling Ferrari replicas, because they were taking his name and styling. As a result, the vehicle lasted until season 3, at which point it was blown to pieces in the season three premiere episode, "When Irish Eyes Are Crying". The fake Ferraris were removed from the show, with Enzo Ferrari donating two brand new 1986 Testarossas as replacements. Carl Roberts, who had previously worked on the Daytona kitcars, offered to build the stunt car. Roberts decided to use 1972 De Tomaso Pantera, which had the same base as the Testarossa and thus was perfect for the body pieces. The vehicle was modified to withstand daily usage on-set, and continued to be driven until the series ended. While Miami Vice did receive two new Ferraris, it also used a third Testarossa, which was the stunt car. Crockett's partner, Ricardo Tubbs, drives a 1963 Cadillac Coupe de Ville Convertible. Stan Switek drove a turquoise 1963 Ford Thunderbird. Gina Calabrese drove a 1971 Mercury Cougar XR-7 convertible. When Stan and Larry were undercover, they drove a Dodge Ram Van. Other notable vehicles that appeared in Miami Vice included, brands such as Lamborghini, AMG Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Maserati, Lotus, DeLorean, Porsche, and Corvettes. American muscle cars, such as the GTO, Trans Am, Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro, or a Plymouth Barracuda also made appearances. Throughout the entire series, Sonny Crockett lived on an Endeavour 42 sailboat named the St. Vitus' Dance (in the pilot episode, he is seen on an Endeavor 40). Crockett also pilots a 39 foot Chris Craft Stinger 390 in the first season, and a Wellcraft 38 Scarab KV for the remainder of the show. The Scarab 38 KV was a 28-hued, twin 440-hp boat that sold for $130,000 in 1986. As a result of the attention the Scarab 38 KV garnered on Miami Vice, Wellcraft received "an onslaught of orders", increasing sales by 21% in one year alone. In appreciation, Wellcraft gave Don Johnson an exact duplicate of the boat as a gift. Afterward, Johnson was frequently seen arriving to work in it. In total, six real-life Scarab 38KV TV-boats were built, including the one given to Don Johnson. The latter boat has been confiscated twice by the IRS in Finland and currently is restored by a caring owner. Three others are located in New Jersey, (2nd season boat) "the Camera boat" in Norway, and the last one, which can only be seen for one still clip during the 5th season, is currently in Germany.[citation needed] Altogether, 100 copies of the boat (dubbed the "Scarab 38KV Miami Vice Edition") were built by Wellcraft. The Miami Vice graphics could also have been ordered on any other Scarab from 20-38 feet. Don Johnson also designed the 43 ft Scarab Don Johnson Signature Series, and he raced a similar one. Episode scripts were loosely based on actual crimes that occurred in Miami over the years. (Example: "Out Where the Buses Don't Run", 1985.) During its course, the series also took a look at controversial political issues like the Northern Ireland conflict, the drug war in South America (e.g. "Prodigal Son"), several episodes drawn on the Miami River Cops scandal (a real police corruption ring that involved narcotic thefts, drug dealing and murders), as well as several episodes Cuban exile guerrillas and drug trafficking, U.S. support of anti-communist generals and dictators in Southeast Asia and South America, regardless of their human rights records. Personal issues also arose: Crockett divorced from his wife Caroline (Belinda Montgomery) early in the series, and later his second wife Caitlin Davies (Sheena Easton) was killed by one of his enemies. In the three episodes "Mirror Image", "Hostile Takeover," and "Redemption in Blood", a concussion caused by an explosion caused Crockett to believe he was his undercover alter ego Sonny Burnett, a drug dealer. Tubbs had a running, partly personal vendetta with the Calderone family, a member of which had ordered the death of his brother Rafael, a New York City police detective. In the first seasons the tone was often very light, especially when comical characters such as Noogie (Charlie Barnett) and Izzy (Martin Ferrero) appeared. Later on, the content was almost always quite dark and cynical, with Crockett and Tubbs also having to fight corruption. Typically the darker episodes had no denouement, each episode ending abruptly immediately after a climax that almost always involved violence and death, often giving the episodes, especially in later seasons, a despairing and sometimes nihilistic feel despite the trademark glamour and conspicuous wealth. Given its idiosyncratic "dark" feel and touch, Miami Vice is frequently cited as an example of made-for-TV Neo-noir. Michael Mann, who served as executive producer for the majority of the show's five-year run, is often credited with being one of the most influential Neo-noir directors. Critics have objected to the shows usage of violence by dressing it with pretty photography. Others note that the coherent stories are full of drawn characters that have been junked in favor of the visual aspects and music. Civic leaders in Miami have also objected to the show's airing of the city's crime problems all across America. Most civic leaders however have been quieted due to the shows estimated contribution of $1 million per episode to the city's economy and boosting tourism to Miami. At the 1985 Emmy Awards Miami Vice was nominated for 15 Emmy Awards, including "Outstanding Writing in a Dramatic Series", "Outstanding Film Editing", "Outstanding Achievement for Music Composition for a series (dramatic underscore)", and "Outstanding Directing". At the end of the night, Miami Vice only won four Emmys. The following day, the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner could only conclude that the conservative Emmy voters (at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences) simply refused to recognize an innovative new series that celebrated hedonism, violence, sex, and drugs. The show's popularity began to sag at the beginning of third season (1986–1987). The show was placed on the same time slot as CBS' Dallas, which resulted in hurting both shows. Michael Mann's decision to give the show a darker, grittier look, feel and touch, a definite change from the often lighthearted tone of the first two seasons, that involved darker, non-pastel wardrobes for the protagonists. Loyal fans were miffed at the series' new look and began to turn away, which led to the reintroduction of pastels for the fourth season (1987–1988). The original writers for the series left by the fourth season. There was a love affair between Sonny Crockett (Don Johnson) and Caitlin Davies (Sheena Easton), and a plot with Crockett getting amnesia (in which he mistakes himself for his drug dealer alter- ego, and becomes a hitman). Jan Hammer departed from the series at the end of the fourth season. Tim Truman became his successor, but to many fans, it meant a farewell to yet another idiosyncratic element of the show's style. And thus production costs per episode increased, popularity and revenue plummeted. Michael Mann handed the role of executive producer to Dick Wolf prior to the beginning of the third season (1986-1987). Wolf had the show focus on real-life issues like the problems in Northern Ireland. Michael Mann left to focus working on his new television series, Crime Story. The fifth season (1988–1989) took the show on a more serious tone, with storylines becoming dark and gritty, enough so that even some of the most loyal fans were left scratching their heads. As the fifth season began, Olivia Brown recalled, "The show was trying to reinvent itself." Dick Wolf recalls in an interview for E! True Hollywood Story, after the fifth season, it was all just "...kind of over", and that the show had simply "run its course". Miami Vice was one ground breaking police programs of the 1980s, and one of the best-known shows of the 1980s. It had a huge impact on the decade's popular fashions as well as setting the tone for further evolution of police drama. Series such as Homicide: Life on the Street, NYPD Blue, and Law & Order, though being vastly different in style and theme from Miami Vice, followed its lead in breaking the genre's mold; Dick Wolf, creator & producer of Law & Order, was a writer & later executive producer of Miami Vice. Although sometimes heavily disputed by their producers, the movies “Bad Boys” (1995) and “Bad Boys 2” (2003) borrowed heavily on the concept of two undercover cops in the glitzy, upscale yet seedy world of South Florida law enforcement. The show has been so influential that the style of Miami Vice has often been borrowed or alluded to by much of today's pop culture in order to indicate or emphasize the 1980s decade. Its influence as a popular culture icon is still seen today, more than 20 years after appearing. Examples of this includes the episode "The One With All The Thanksgivings" from the American sitcom Friends. Flashback scenes from the 1980s in this episode shows the characters Ross and Chandler in pastel colored suits with rolled up sleeves like that of Sonny Crockett. Another more obvious example would be the computer and video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, which was published by Rockstar Games and is set in a stylized 1980s Miami. Two undercover police officers appear in a police sports car within the game when three felony stars are obtained by the player. It is believed that the two officers (one white and one black) represent the two leading characters of Miami Vice. One of the main characters, Lance Vance, was actually voiced by Philip Michael Thomas. In the prequel, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, there are two officers in the multiplayer mode named Cracker and Butts a parody of Crockett and Tubbs; these characters share the same role as the undercover cops in Vice City. Many of the styles popularized by the TV show, such as the t-shirt under pastel suits, no socks, rolled up sleeves, and Rayban sunglasses have today become the standard image of 1980s culture. Ironically, people today will often recognize the decade's image, yet are unfamiliar with the TV show, despite it being the phenomenon that gave birth to the style in the first place. However, it must be noted that pastels and the fashion accessories mentioned above were not emblematic of the entire decade, but that they stood for an era during the mid-eighties which lasted approximately two to four years. With the show's popularity notably waning around 1988 and different color schemes being adopted by the producers for the third season (1986–1987), "Vice"-themed, pastel-toned clothing went out of style, and fashion in general saw a departure from pastels and linen suits with the advent of bright, harsh neon colors, which became the next fad towards the onset of the 1990s. Likewise, the early 1980s were much more about earthtones in fashion and style. The show also had a lasting impact on Miami itself. It sparked a revitalization of the South Beach district of Miami Beach, as well as other portions of the Miami area, and increased tourism and investment. The fact that Crockett and Tubbs were Dade County officers and not City of Miami police represented the growing notion of metro government in Miami. In 1997, a county referendum changed the name from Dade County to Miami-Dade County. This allowed people to relate the county government to recognized notions and images of Miami, many of which were first popularized by Miami Vice. The Dade County Sheriff's Office (which had changed its name to Metro-Dade Police department prior to the show) now became the Miami-Dade Police Department. Universal Studios Home Entertainment has released all Miami Vice seasons on DVD for regions 1, 2 and 4. Seasons 1 & 2 were released in 2005, and seasons 3 through 5 were released in 2007. The DVD release of the series had been significantly slow due to one of the signature features of the show: the heavy integration of 1980s pop & rock music. The music was difficult to source the rights to and acquire permission to use. In the November 2004 announcement for the DVD release of the series, Universal promised that all original music in the series would be intact. On August 21, 2007 Universal announced the November 13, 2007 release of the complete series, with all five seasons on 27 single-sided DVDs. The seasons will be in their own Digipak-style cases, and the set is housed in a faux alligator-skin package. Seasons 1 & 2 will contain six single-sided discs, rather than the three double-sided discs in the initial release. From under his loose linen jacket peeks a lime green T-shirt. His pants are unbelted. He has no socks. He hasn’t shaved in two days. On the way to work, he slips a Glenn Frey cassette into his black 1972 Ferrari Daytona Spyder 365 GTS/4 tape deck player, and “You Belong To The City” blares from the speakers as he zooms down the palm-tree-lined causeway. And, he is going to a job that could get him killed. It sure was a tough life being a vice squad detective in Miami circa 1985. The ultimate elevation of style over substance, Miami Vice was born when NBC programming czar Brandon Tartikoff uttered the fateful words “MTV cops” to producer Michael Mann and creator Andy Yerkovitch, who took the idea very, very seriously. The music (everyone from Lionel Richie to the Rolling Stones), the wardrobes (pastels only), the hipster guest stars (Bianca Jagger, G. Gordon Liddy, and practically every single musician in the industry during the 1980s), the rain-slicked nourish streets, Mann and Yerkovitch lavished time and money (upwards of $1 million per episode) on each and every detail. And then, there were the stars: Don Johnson, as living-on-the-edge cop Sonny Crockett, and Philip Michael Thomas, as his equally pouty partner Ricardo Tubbs. Two little-known actors who found it hard to keep their heads when the show exploded in the ratings: Johnson became a tabloid sex symbol, with the world held hostage to his courtship of and remarriage to Melanie Griffith; Thomas compared himself to Gandhi, telling an interviewer, “I don’t mind walking with the people.” But, the show wasn’t just about the style. Yes, it emphasized style over substance, but it still had some good substance. The episodes were well written, the characters were deep and complex, it was one of the first shows to make use of the story arc with Sonny going so deep undercover his own unit though he had turned to a life of crime, and there was a great chemistry between Thomas and Johnson. Besides, the style didn’t hurt the show. The atmospheric mood, slick MTV feel, cool music, and bright colors made Miami Vice one of the most visually stunning shows since TV switched to color. However, all the hype and hoopla came to an end when Mann, like a child hungering for new toys, jumped to the big screen; and the show sank to 53rd place in 1989. Soon, Vice slunk into the south Florida sunset. Luckily, for those still yearning for some mid-1980s magic, there are the DVDs.
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 26, 2008 21:41:08 GMT -5
33. The Shield Genre: Crime Drama. Created by: Shawn Ryan. Executive Producer(s): Shawn Ryan, Kurt Sutter, Scott D. Rosenbaum, Scott Brazil, Kevin G. Cremin, Charles H. Eglee, and Kevin Arkadie. Starring: Michael Chiklis (Det. Vic Mackay), Walton Goggins (Det. Shane Vendrell), Benito Martinez (Captain, later Councilman, David Aceveda), CCH Pounder (Det., later Captain, Claudette Wyms), Jay Karnes (Det. Holland “Dutch” Wagenbach), Catherine Dent (Officer, later Sgt. Danielle “Danny” Sofer), Michael Jace (Officer Julien Lowe), Cathy Cahlin Ryan (Corrine Mackay), David Rees Snell (Det. Ronnie Gardocki), and Kenneth Johnson (Curtis “Lem” Lemansky 2002 - 2006). Country of Origin: United States. Number of Seasons: 7. Number of Episodes: 75. Running Time: 47 minutes. Original Channel: FX. Original Run: March 12, 2002 – present. Spinoffs: None. The Shield was created by Shawn Ryan. It is about an experimental division of the Los Angeles Police Department set up in the fictional Farmington district ("the Farm") of Los Angeles, using a converted church ("the Barn") as their police station, and featuring a group of detectives called the Strike Team who will stop at nothing to bring their version of justice to the streets. Michael Chiklis has top billing with his portrayal of Strike Team leader Vic Mackey. The show has an ensemble cast that will normally run a number of separate story lines through each episode. Detective Vic Mackey is the leader of the Strike Team, a four-man anti-gang unit based on the LAPD's real-life Rampart Division CRASH unit (Rampart was seriously considered as the series name and was even used in some early promotional ads for the series). The Strike Team uses a variety of illegal and unethical methods to maintain peace on the streets, while making a profit through illegal drug protection schemes and robbery. The Strike Team isn't above planting drugs on and coercing confessions out of gang members or framing them. Attempts to give the team a fifth member have frequently led to near-catastrophe for the group. The Shield has a variety of subplots, notably David Aceveda's political aspirations and internal confrontation of a previous sexual assault; Vic Mackey's struggle to cope with a failing marriage; and Julien Lowe's internal conflicts between his belief in the teachings of the Bible and his latent homosexuality. Common themes are the citizens' distrust of police, the social impact of drugs and gang warfare, and the conflict between ethics and political expediency. Most characters are portrayed as having both vice and virtue. For example, Vic's loving relationship with his children contrasts with his thuggish attitude towards police work; in addition, his brutality is generally directed at those who seem well deserving of such treatment: in Season 2, the Strike Team prepares to rob the "Armenian Money Train," a money laundering operation of the Armenian Mafia. Another episode had Mackey cornering a serial rapist, then letting him be attacked by a police dog before calling the dog off. The main characters on the show include: Detective Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis): a corrupt but effective and motivated police officer; he steals drugs from drug dealers, beats and tortures suspects, and has committed murder more than once. Mackey sees his tactics as a means to an end. Despite his misdeeds, he is a devoted father, a loyal partner to other officers on his team, and will readily protect those he sees as innocent victims. He is the former leader of the Strike Team. Mackey's family life is one of the many plotlines followed throughout the series. His marriage to his wife, a nurse, failed after numerous instances of infidelity on Mackey's part (at least one of which was his relationship with Officer Sofer, which allegedly resulted in an illegitimate child (the writers have neither confirmed nor denied Vic is the father)). Mackey and his wife have three children, two of whom are autistic. The special education needs of Mackey's children are one of many sources of stress (monetary and emotional) for Mackey. Detective Shane Vendrell (Walton Goggins): Vic Mackey's best friend and partner before the strike team was formed. His reckless attitude and questionable decisions often got him into trouble, after which Vic typically bailed him out. He has a wife, Mara, as well as a young son, Jackson. Shane requested a transfer from the strike team after he confessed to Vic that he killed fellow Strike Team member Curtis Lemansky. Vic threatened to kill Shane if he saw him again. He later canceled his request to transfer to his old spot in vice due to the fact that Vic was going to be forced into retirement. Detective Curtis "Lem" Lemansky (Kenny Johnson): a cop with a conscience. An original member of the Strike team, Lemansky was killed in the finale of the fifth season by Detective Shane Vendrell. Detective Ronnie Gardocki (David Rees Snell): the Strike Team's surveillance and electronics expert. Though little is known about Ronnie, he has proven more and more in recent times to be the most solid, well-rounded member of the Strike Team and has remained fiercely loyal to Vic through thick and thin. The burn scars present on his face after he shaved his beard in Season 6 (given to him by Armadillo in Season 2) are proof of his loyalty to the team. Councilman David Aceveda (Benito Martinez): a politically ambitious former police captain elected to the Los Angeles City Council. He is one of Vic Mackey's main rivals, although often they have forged uneasy alliances for various reasons. He was orally raped at gunpoint, which eventually drove him to arrange a deal with druglord Antwon Mitchell to kill his rapist in prison. Captain Claudette Wyms (CCH Pounder): a veteran detective. Claudette, along with her partner Dutch, can be viewed as the voice of morality at the Barn; as a result, she is often at odds with Vic over his tactics. Later in the series, Claudette revealed to Dutch that she has had lupus for fifteen years. In season 5, she is appointed Captain after several attempts in previous years. After finally being promoted to captain, Claudette proves to be (at least) as capable as her predecessors; however, the pressures of managing the Barn (and the Strike Team) soon prove difficult for her to bear. Detective Holland "Dutch" Wagenbach (Jay Karnes): characterized by many as a socially inept nerd even though he is a successful police detective. Assigned to the Farmington District of Los Angeles, he is often the first called to investigate violent crimes because of his specialization in criminal profiling and serial killers. Along with his partner, Detective Claudette Wyms, Dutch is widely considered to be the moral center of the show owing to his willingness to do the right thing in spite of the temptation to engage in illegal police activities. However, a scene in one episode showed him strangling a live cat, leading many to wonder what really makes Det. Wagenbach tick. Dutch struggles at times with his tendency to assume the innocence of suspects because they are good-looking or from the middle or upper class. Dutch's relationship with Vic and Shane has been strained from the start, exacerbated by the brief relationship between Dutch and Vic's wife after her divorce from Vic. Sergeant Danielle "Danny" Sofer (Catherine Dent): a patrol officer who aspires to become a detective. She has an on-again-off-again sexual relationship with Vic and a complicated history with Dutch. She is assigned desk duty as a result of her pregnancy and takes maternity leave after the birth of her son, Lee. The identity of the father was initially unknown; later, in the sixth season episode "Chasing Ghosts," it was heavily implied that it was Vic. Shortly afterwards, Danny returned from maternity leave early so that she could take the position of Sergeant at the Barn. Officer Julien Lowe (Michael Jace): an officer assigned to the Strike Team who never took the Detective's Exam. During the formation of a new Strike Team, Claudette offered Julien to Kevin Hiatt as a possible addition to the team. Claudette made the offer to Julien, who was hesitant, mainly because of the thought of being partnered with Vic on a daily basis. After being assured that Mackey was going to be moved out of the team, Julien accepted the promotion and is now an official member of the Strike Team. Detective Kevin Hiatt (Alex O'Loughlin): an experienced former Homeland Security Agent who used to work the borders of Mexico. He is brought in as Vic's replacement when Vic is forced into retirement. He is also supposed to keep tabs on the strike team. Although Hiatt is the leader of the Strike Team, it seems that Vic is still more hands-on. In the final episode of season six, "Spanish Practices," Hiatt, after mishandling a gang initiation ceremony, is removed from the department by Captain Wyms, presumably ending his time on the show. The plots of the season were: Season 1: Season 1 premiered March 12, 2002. It gives an introduction to The Strike Team and the other characters of the Barn. Important plotlines are the aftermath of Vic's murder of Terry Crowley and Captain Aceveda's scheming to bring Vic and the Strike Team down; Dutch and Claudette's attempts at tracking down a serial killer; Julien's training under Danny and his struggle with his homosexuality; Vic's use of Rondell Robinson to control the local drug trade and the fallout; as well as the corrupt actions of Ben Gilroy. Season 2: Season 2 premiered January 7, 2003. The season mostly revolves around a brutal new drug-lord, Armadillo, a sadistic child rapist, who likes to set his rivals on fire using a tire necklace and gasoline, who begins to take over the drug trade in Farmington. Meanwhile, Officer Sofer is involved in a shooting of a Muslim man and has to deal with the fallout. This season is also heavily concerned with the Strike Team's plan to rip off the money train of the Armenian Mob, which ends up going down in the season finale. Season 3: Season 3 premiered March 9, 2004. The season mainly revolves around the aftermath of the Money Train Heist and its effects on the Strike Team, as the Armenian mob and also David Aceveda begins to suspect the Strike Team. In order to save the team, Lem (Curtis "Lemonhead" Lemansky) burns a majority of the money, ultimately leading to a confrontation which causes the Strike Team to split up in the season finale. Claudette had been promised a promotion to captain and throughout the season was in a supervising role, while Aceveda prepared to move onto city council. Near the end of the season an assistant district attorney was murdered, and Wyms and Dutch discovered she had been a heavy drug user for the past 3 years. Wyms explored further and became very unpopular with the D.A. and around the Barn because she was (against orders) reopening the assistant DA's closed cases. This resulted in her being denied her promotion to captain of the Farmington District. Season 4: Season 4 premiered March 15, 2005, with the addition of Glenn Close taking over the role as Farmington's Captain. The season dealt with the fallout from the Strike Team disbandment. Shane Vendrell, with new partner Army, enters into a dangerous situation with major drug lord Antwon Mitchell (Anthony Anderson), and seemingly accepts an order to kill Vic Mackey. The police were outraged after two officers were kidnapped and subsequently found murdered. In the end, the team gets back together and manages to bring Antwon into jail. The season also deals with the controversial asset forfeiture policies of the new captain; Julien's opposition to these policies; and David Aceveda dealing with the psychological aftermath of his sexual assault incident from the previous season. The season concludes with Captain Rawlings losing her job over a dispute with the DEA. This plot twist reflected a real-life need for Glenn Close to return to New York. One of the secondary plots involves Claudette and Dutch being continually put on the sidelines because of Claudette's refusal to apologize to the DA for reopening the cases of a public defender who was discovered to be high during many of her trials. Besides being an embarrassment to the DA's office, many of the convictions in question were overturned. This cost Claudette her shot at being the Farmington Captain and Dutch as her partner suffered being marginalized in the barn. Season 5: Season 5 premiered January 10, 2006. The season revolved around Internal Affairs Department Lt. Jon Kavanaugh's (played by Forest Whitaker) investigation into the Strike Team, representing one of the greatest threats the team has ever faced. As a result of Kavanaugh turning one of Vic's informants, IA became aware of Lem stealing heroin which he never turned in. Having found the heroin, IA is capable of arresting Lem, but Kavanaugh wants him to incriminate the whole team and has him wear a wire, which he warns the team of and they use it to embarrass IA. Kavanaugh puts on any form of pressure he can, finds out about Vic's share of the Money Train money, and ultimately arrests Lem having made a deal with Antwon Mitchell to put Lem there if convicted. Vic stands with him and gets bail, while Shane is worried he'll be turned. Claudette finally gets her shot as the captain of the Barn which she reluctantly accepts. The season concluded with Shane Vendrell murdering his friend and fellow team member Lem with a hand grenade. “Wins and Losses”: The producers of The Shield produced a 15-minute "promosode", which premiered on Google on February 15, 2007 to bridge the gap between Seasons 5 and 6. The episode focuses on the aftermath of Lem's death, including his funeral and flashbacks as co-workers reflect upon Det. Lemansky's life. The episode was said to have cost between $500,000 and $1 million to produce and was on Bud.TV for a 4 week period and later released to AOL and other media outlets. The "promosode" is also one of the special features included on the Season 5 DVD set. Season 6: Season 6 premiered on FX on April 3, 2007. Continuing directly after season 5, Vic and the Strike Team are distraught over Lem's death. Shane has been overcome by guilt and becomes reckless and suicidal. Kavanaugh refuses to let the case die and resorts to planting evidence and coercing witnesses to lie about the Strike Team. Dutch and Claudette begin to suspect his integrity. Vic learns from Claudette that the Chief plans to force him into early retirement — and vows to wreak bloody vengeance on Lem's killer before losing his badge. Claudette learns that the Barn could be shut down if no improvements are made by the time quarterly crime statistics are released. Season 6 was originally intended to be aired as the second half of Season 5 (in the same way that HBO split up the last season of The Sopranos). However, FX decided instead to refer to these ten episodes as "Season 6." Season 7: According to Michael Ausiello at TV Guide, Season 7 will premiere on September 2, 2008, and will consist of 13 one-hour episodes. This will be the final season according to its creator and the network. This has also been confirmed by a commercial on FX. The Shield has won critical praise for its realism, particularly in its portrayal of gang violence in Los Angeles. Although names of actual gangs are not used, the portrayals are based on real gangs. Latino gangs with names such as "Los Magnificos" (or "Los Mags"), the Byzantine Latinos (or "Byz-Lats") and the "Toros" are a constant thorn in the Strike Team's side in the early seasons of the show, whilst African American gangs become more prominent in later episodes. In particular, a gang calling itself the "One-Niners" is central to the plot of Season 4. Like the notorious real-life Blood and Crip gangs, the One-Niners identify themselves strongly with one color (in this case purple), wearing it on various items of clothing. There are also a number of stories set in Korean neighborhoods as well as plots involving Armenian gangsters. To enhance its realism, the show makes very little use of background music. There is some controversy around the show's depiction of police corruption. The Strike Team's illegal activities are often backed up with convincing rationalizations by its members, while various police and government authorities who try to bring them to justice or otherwise criticize them are often portrayed negatively. Some argue that this technique presents the reality of police corruption and brutality and attempts to explain it intelligently without demonizing it. Others argue that the show is essentially a defense of police corruption and brutality, portraying effective police work as impossible without such tactics and presenting Vic Mackey, in particular, as a hero despite his extensive corruption. In Region 1, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released The Shield on DVD for seasons 1 - 5. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment releases it elsewhere, and holds the rights for all Region 1 season sets of The Shield as of 2008, including seasons 6 and 7. Region 1 sets (released by 20th Century Fox) are displayed in 4:3 (fullscreen), while international releases (distributed by Sony Pictures) display 16:9 (widescreen). Sony Pictures re-released seasons 1-5 on March 25th 2008, all seasons in region 1 are now displayed in 16:9 widescreen, as they are in international releases. There are several differences between the S1 & S2 boxsets, with slightly fewer extras on the R2 boxsets and with episode 5:12 drastically shortened. In the first episode of The Shield, we meet the Strike Team of L.A.’s Farmington district and learn that one member (played by Reed Diamond) is a mole from Internal Affairs who has been put on the team by Captain David Aceveda to catch team leader Vic Mackay and his team doing some illegal activities. As the episode progresses, we get an idea about what this show will be about: interesting cat-and-mouse game with the Strike Team being watched and wondering if they will find and what actions they will take to not get caught. Then, as that first episode reaches its end, during a raid to take down a major drug dealer who has never before been caught with product, Mackay takes the gun of the drug dealer, points at the mole, and shoots him in the head. In that one in moment, all our expectations about The Shield are shattered like the skull of the man Mackay shot. Although this police drama was inspired by a cop-corruption scandal of the 1990s, it debuted in 2002 and had a distinctly post-9/11 theme: what moral compromises are we willing to accept in the name of safety? It centers on Vic Mackey (Chiklis), an extremely effective and extremely shady cop heading an LAPD unit that takes down murderers and pushers, usually trampling the Bill of Rights and pocketing dirty money for themselves in the process. The show was quite unlike other cop shows. It has storylines that last a whole season, from the Strike Team’s elaborate plan to rob the Armenian mob’s money train to Internal Affairs Department Lt. Jon Kavanaugh's extensive investigation of The Strike Team; and, each are quite captivating. It has very deep and complex characters: besides Mackay, there’s the friendly but reckless Shane, the confident detective but socially awkward Dutch, the moral and quick to anger Claudette, and the opportunistic Aceveda. And, the acting is top notch, with the regulars pulling their weight in each episode very well and featuring great performances from guest actors like Glen Close and Forest Whitaker. Hell, this show proved Anthony Anderson had acting chops when he played the cunning and sadist Antwon Mitchell in Season 4. But, what makes The Shield so great is how it almost makes other cop shows look like rookies on the beat. With the acting and writing all coming together perfectly, The Shield depicts a dirty, red-in-tooth-and-claw L.A. where no one, from cop to politician, white, black or brown, is entirely selfless. No show does a better job of making you feel your TV screen needs a good Windexing when an episode is over.
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 26, 2008 21:43:38 GMT -5
Tomorrow, number 32-29. Here are the hints:
What is a game show?, a valley girl demon killer, 1 hour, it's got the bibbidy-bobbidy and the hippity-hoppity and the Jello pudding and Kodak and Coca-Cola and the Hey, Hey, Hey!
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 27, 2008 20:29:48 GMT -5
Sorry for the delay, again. I had a lot on my plate today. Anyway, here's number 32: 32. Buffy The Vampire Slayer Genre: Supernatural, Fantasy, Horror, Action, Comedy, Drama. Created by: Joss Whedon. Executive Producer(s): Joss Whedon, Gail Berman, Sandy Gallin, Fran Rubel Kuzui, Kaz Kuzui, David Greenwalt, Marti Noxon, Jane Espenson, and David Fury. Starring: Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy Summers), Nicholas Brendon (Xander Harris), Alyson Hannigan (Willow Rosenberg), Anthony Stewart Head (Rupert Giles), David Boreanaz (Angel 1997-1999), Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia Chase 1997-1999), James Marsters (Spike 1997-2003), Seth Green (Daniel “Oz” Osbourne 1997-2000), Emma Caulfield (Anya “Anyanka” Jenkins 1998-2003), Amber Benson (Tara Maclay 1999-2002), Marc Blucas (Riley Finn 1999-2000), and Michelle Trachtenberg (2000-2003). Country of Origin: United States. Number of Seasons: 7. Number of Episodes: 144. Running Time: 42-45 minutes. Original Channel: The WB (1997–2001) and UPN (2001–2003). Original Run: March 3 1997 – May 20 2003. Spinoffs: The show itself is based on the 1992 movie “Buffy: The Vampire Slayer,” which was written by Whedon. In 2000, Angel, a show about Buffy’s vampire boyfriend with a soul Angel, premiered on the WB. There is also a comic book that is chronologically the show’s eighth season. There were also several planned spinoffs: Buffy: The Animated Series; Ripper, which would have focused on Giles; Slayer School, which would have featured Willow; a spinoff featuring Faith; a spinoff featuring Spike; and possible movie based on the TV show. Writer Joss Whedon says that "Rhonda the Immortal Waitress was really the first incarnation of [the Buffy concept], just the idea of some woman who seems to be completely insignificant who turns out to be extraordinary." This early, unproduced idea evolved into Buffy, which Whedon developed to invert the Hollywood formula of "the little blonde girl who goes into a dark alley and gets killed in every horror movie." Whedon wanted "to subvert that idea and create someone who was a hero." He explained: "The very first mission statement of the show was the joy of female power: having it, using it, sharing it." The concept was first visited through Whedon's script for the 1992 movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which featured Kristy Swanson in the title role. The director, Fran Rubel Kuzui, saw it as a "pop culture comedy about what people think about vampires." Whedon disagreed: "I had written this scary film about an empowered woman, and they turned it into a broad comedy. It was crushing." The script was praised within the industry, but the movie was not. Several years later, Gail Berman, a Sandollar Productions executive, approached Whedon to develop his Buffy concept into a television series. Whedon explained that "They said, 'Do you want to do a show?' And I thought, 'High school as a horror movie.' And so the metaphor became the central concept behind Buffy, and that's how I sold it." The supernatural elements in the series stood as metaphors for personal anxieties associated with adolescence and young adulthood. Whedon went on to write and partly fund a twenty five minute non-broadcast pilot that was shown to networks and eventually sold to the WB Network. The latter promoted the premiere with a series of History of the Slayer clips, and the first episode aired on March 10, 1997. Joss Whedon was credited as executive producer throughout the run of the series, and for the first five seasons (1997–2001) he was also the show runner, a role that involves serving as head writer and being responsible for every aspect of production. Marti Noxon took on the role for seasons six and seven (2001–2003), but Whedon continued to be involved with writing and directing Buffy alongside projects such as Angel, Fray, and Firefly. Fran Rubel Kuzui and her husband, Kaz Kuzui, were credited as executive producers but were not involved in the show. Their credit, rights, and royalties over the franchise relate to their funding, producing, and directing of the original movie version of Buffy. Script-writing was done by Mutant Enemy, a production company created by Whedon in 1997. The writers with the most writing credits include: Steven S. DeKnight, Jane Espenson, David Fury, Drew Goddard, Drew Greenberg, Rebecca Rand Kirshner, Marti Noxon and Doug Petrie. Howard Gordon, David Greenwalt, Joss Whedon, Matt Kiene, Joe Reinkemeyer, Ty King, Tracey Forbes, Thomas A. Swyden, Rob Des Hotel, Dana Reston, Dan Vebber, Carl Ellsworth, Ashley Gable, Elin Hampton and Dean Batali all hold credits as well. Jane Espenson has explained how scripts came together. First, the writers talked about the emotional issues facing Buffy Summers and how she would confront them through her battle against evil supernatural forces. Then the episode's story was "broken" into acts and scenes. Act breaks were designed as key moments to intrigue viewers so that they would stay with the episode following advertisements. The writers collectively filled in scenes surrounding these act breaks for a more fleshed-out story. A whiteboard marked their progress by mapping brief descriptions of each scene. Once "breaking" was done, the credited author wrote an outline for the episode, which was checked by Whedon or Noxon. The writer then wrote a full script, which went through a series of drafts, and finally a quick rewrite from the show runner. The final article was used as the shooting script. The title role went to Sarah Michelle Gellar, who had appeared as Sydney Rutledge on Swans Crossing and Kendall Hart on All My Children. At age eighteen in 1995, Gellar had already won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Leading Actress in a Drama Series. In 1996, she was initially cast as Cordelia Chase during a week of auditioning. Anthony Stewart Head had already led a prolific acting and singing career but remained best known in the United States for a series of twelve coffee commercials with Sharon Maughan for Taster's Choice. He accepted the role of Rupert Giles. Unlike other Buffy regulars, Nicholas Brendon had little acting experience, instead working various jobs, including production assistant, plumber's assistant, veterinary janitor, food delivery, script delivery, day care counselor and waiter, before deciding to break into acting to help him overcome a stutter. He landed his Xander Harris role following only four days of auditioning. Alyson Hannigan was the last of the original four to be cast. Following her role in My Stepmother Is an Alien, she appeared in commercials and supporting roles on television shows throughout the early 1990s. In 1996 the role of Willow Rosenberg was initially given to Riff Regan for the unaired Buffy pilot, but Hannigan auditioned when the role was recast for the series proper. She described her approach to auditions in an interview through her treatment of a particular moment: Willow tells Buffy that her Barbie doll was taken from her as a child, and Buffy asks if she ever got the Barbie back. "Willow's line was 'Most of it.' And so I thought I'm gonna make that a really happy thing. I was so proud that she got most of it back. That clued in on how I was going to play the rest of the scene. It defines the character." Her approach subsequently helped her win the role. The show was about Buffy Anne Summers (Gellar). She is "the Slayer", one in a long line of young women chosen by fate to battle evil forces. This mystic calling endows her with dramatically increased physical strength, as well as endurance, agility, accelerated healing, intuition, and a limited degree of clairvoyance, usually in the form of prophetic dreams. Buffy receives guidance from her Watcher, Rupert Giles (Head). Giles, rarely referred to by his first name, is a member of the Watchers' Council, whose job is to train and assist the Slayers. Giles researches the supernatural creatures that Buffy must face, offering insights into their origins and advice on how to kill them. Buffy is also helped by friends she meets at Sunnydale High: Willow Rosenberg (Hannigan) and Xander Harris (Brendon). Willow is originally a bookish wallflower; she provides a contrast to Buffy's outgoing personality, but shares the social isolation Buffy suffers after becoming a Slayer. As the series progresses, Willow becomes a more assertive character, a powerful witch, and comes out as a lesbian. In contrast, Xander, with no supernatural skills, provides comic relief and a grounded perspective. It is Xander who often provides the heart to the series, and in Season Six becomes the hero in place of Buffy who defeats the "Big Bad". Buffy and Willow are the only characters who appear in all 144 episodes; Xander is missing in only one. The cast of characters grew over the course of the series. Buffy first arrives in Sunnydale with her mother, Joyce Summers (portrayed by Kristine Sutherland), who functions as an anchor of normality in the Scoobies' lives even after she learns of Buffy's role in the supernatural world ("Becoming, Part Two"). Buffy's teenage sister Dawn Summers (Michelle Trachtenberg) does not appear until the fifth season. The vampire with a soul, Angel (David Boreanaz), is Buffy's love interest throughout the first three seasons. He leaves Buffy to make amends for his sins and search for redemption in his own spin-off, Angel. At Sunnydale High, Buffy meets several other students willing to join her fight for good (alongside her friends Willow and Xander). Cordelia Chase (Charisma Carpenter), the archetypal shallow cheerleader, reluctantly becomes involved, and Daniel "Oz" Osbourne (Seth Green), a fellow student, rock guitarist and werewolf, joins the Scooby Gang through his relationship with Willow. Anya (Emma Caulfield), a former vengeance demon (Anyanka) who specialized in avenging scorned women, becomes Xander's lover after losing her powers, and joins the Scooby Gang in the fourth season. In Buffy's senior year at school, she meets Faith (Eliza Dushku), the second current-Slayer who was brought forth when Slayer Kendra Young was killed by Drusilla, a vampire, in the second season. Although she initially fights on the side of good with Buffy and the rest of the Scooby Gang, she comes to stand against them (and along the side of The Mayor Richard Wilkins) after accidentally killing a human in the third season. She reappears briefly in the fourth season, looking for vengeance, and moves to Angel where she goes to jail for her murders. Faith reappears in season seven of Buffy, having helped Angel and crew, and fights with Buffy against the First evil. Buffy gathers other allies: Spike (James Marsters), a vampire, is an old companion of Angelus and one of Buffy's major enemies in early seasons, although they later become allies and lovers. Later Spike, like Angel, regains his soul. Spike is known for his Billy Idol-style platinum blond hair and his black leather duster, stolen from a previous Slayer, Nikki Wood; her son, Robin Wood, joined the Scoobies in the final season. Tara Maclay (Amber Benson) is a fellow member of Willow's Wicca group during the fourth season, and their friendship eventually turns into a romantic relationship. Buffy became involved personally and professionally with Riley Finn (Marc Blucas), a military operative in "the Initiative", which hunts demons using science and technology. Buffy featured dozens of recurring characters, both major and minor. For example the "Big Bad" (villain) characters were featured for at least one season (e.g. Glorificus was a character that appeared in 13 episodes, spanning much of Season 5). Similarly, characters that allied themselves to the Scooby Gang and characters which attended the same institutions were sometimes featured in multiple episodes. Most of Buffy was shot on location in Los Angeles, California. The main exterior set of the town of Sunnydale, including the infamous "sun sign", was located in Santa Monica, California in a lot on Olympic Boulevard. The show is set in the fictional California town of Sunnydale, whose suburban Sunnydale High School sits on top of a "Hellmouth", a gateway to demon realms. The Hellmouth serves as a nexus for a wide variety of evil creatures and supernatural phenomena, and lies beneath the school library. In addition to being an open-ended plot device, Joss Whedon has cited the Hellmouth and "High school as Hell" as one of the primary metaphors in creating the series. The high school used in the first three seasons is actually Torrance High School, in Torrance, California. This school was used until the residents of Torrance complained about loud sounds at night. The school exterior has been used in other television shows and movies, most notably Beverly Hills 90210, Bring It On, She's All That and the spoof Not Another Teen Movie. In addition to the high school and its library, scenes take place in the town's cemeteries, a local nightclub (The Bronze), and Buffy's home, where many of the characters live at various points in the series. Some of the exterior shots of the college Buffy attends, UC Sunnydale, were filmed at UCLA. Buffy is told in a serialized format, with each episode involving a self-contained story while contributing to a larger storyline, which is broken down into season-long narratives marked by the rise and defeat of a powerful antagonist, commonly referred to as the "Big Bad". The show blends different genres, including horror, martial arts, romance, melodrama, farce, comedy, and even, in one episode, musical comedy. The series' narrative revolves around Buffy and her friends, collectively dubbed the "Scooby Gang", who struggle to balance the fight against supernatural evils with their complex social lives. A typical episode contains one or more villains, or supernatural phenomena that are thwarted or defeated. Though elements and relationships are explored and ongoing subplots are included, the show focuses primarily on Buffy and her role as an archetypal heroine. In the first seasons, the most prominent monsters in the Buffy bestiary are vampires, which are based on traditional myths, lore, and literary conventions. As the series continues, Buffy and her companions fight an increasing variety of demons, as well as ghosts, werewolves, zombies, and unscrupulous humans. They frequently save the world from annihilation by a combination of physical combat, magic, and detective-style investigation, and are guided by an extensive collection of ancient and mystical reference books. Hand-to-hand combat is chiefly undertaken by Buffy and Angel, later by Spike, and to a far lesser degree by Giles and Xander. Willow eventually becomes an adept witch, while Giles contributes his extensive knowledge of demonology and supernatural lore. During the first year of the series, Whedon described the show as "My So-Called Life meets The X-Files." My So-Called Life gave a sympathetic portrayal of teen anxieties; in contrast, The X-Files delivered a supernatural "monster of the week" storyline. Alongside these series, Whedon has cited cult film Night of the Comet as a "big influence", and credited the X-Men character Kitty Pryde as a significant influence on the character of Buffy. The authors of the unofficial guidebook Dusted point out that the series was often a pastiche, borrowing elements from previous horror novels, movies, and short stories and from such common literary stock as folklore and mythology. Nevitt and Smith describe Buffy's use of pastiche as "post modern Gothic". For example, the Adam character parallels the Frankenstein monster, the episode "Bad Eggs" parallels Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and so on. Buffy episodes often include a deeper meaning or metaphor as well. Whedon explained, "We think very carefully about what we're trying to say emotionally, politically, and even philosophically while we're writing it… it really is, apart from being a pop-culture phenomenon, something that is deeply layered textually episode by episode." Academics Wilcox and Lavery provide examples of how a few episodes deal with real life issues turned into supernatural metaphors: “ In the world of Buffy the problems that teenagers face become literal monsters. A mother can take over her daughter's life ("Witch"); a strict stepfather-to-be really is a heartless machine ("Ted"); a young lesbian fears that her nature is demonic ("Goodbye Iowa" and "Family"); a girl who has sex with even the nicest-seeming guy may discover that he afterwards becomes a monster ("Innocence"). ” The love affair between the vampire Angel and Buffy was fraught with metaphors. For example, their night of passion cost the vampire his soul. Sarah Michelle Gellar said: "That's the ultimate metaphor. You sleep with a guy and he turns bad on you." The feminist issue comes out especially when facing misogynist characters; the most misogynistic characters, Warren and Caleb, both die in gruesome ways, both killed by heroines of the series. The first season exemplifies the "high school as hell" concept. Buffy Summers has just moved to Sunnydale after burning her old school's gym and hopes to escape her Slayer duties. Her plans are complicated by Rupert Giles, her new Watcher, who reminds her of the inescapable presence of evil. Sunnydale High is built atop a Hellmouth, a portal to demon dimensions that attracts supernatural phenomena to the area. Buffy meets two schoolmates, Xander and Willow, who will help fight evil through the series, but they must first prevent an ancient and especially threatening vampire from opening the Hellmouth and unleashing Hell on Earth. The emotional stakes are raised in the second season. New vampires, Spike and a weakened Drusilla, come to town along with the new Slayer, who was activated as a result of Buffy's brief death in the first season finale. Xander becomes involved with Cordelia, while Willow becomes involved with witchcraft and a young werewolf named Oz, both of which make her more confident. Buffy sleeps with her vampire lover Angel. Consequentially, she unwittingly removes his cursed soul as a result. He once more becomes Angelus, a sadistic killer. Buffy is forced to kill him, and leaves Sunnydale, emotionally shattered. After attempting to start a new life in Los Angeles, Buffy returns to town in the third season. Angel is resurrected, but leaves Sunnydale (at the end of the season) so Buffy will have a normal life. She is soon confronted with an unstable Slayer, and an often affable but definitely evil mayor's plans for Graduation Day. The fourth season sees Buffy and Willow enroll at UC Sunnydale while Xander joins the workforce and begins dating Anya, a former vengeance demon. Spike returns as a series regular and is abducted by a covert military force; they implant a microchip in his head which prevents him from harming humans. Oz leaves town after deciding he's too dangerous and Willow falls in love with Tara Maclay, another witch, while Buffy begins dating a grad student who is a member of The Initiative, a top-secret military installation based beneath the UC Sunnydale campus. It appears to be a well-meaning anti-demon operation, but its secret project goes horribly wrong. The season also marked the first year in which Joss Whedon oversaw other TV series. During the fifth season, a younger sister suddenly yet seamlessly appears in Buffy's life and an exiled Hell-God searches for a "key" that will allow her to return to her home dimension. The "key" has been turned into human form as Buffy's younger sister Dawn. The Hell-God eventually discovers the truth and kidnaps Dawn; Buffy sacrifices herself to save Dawn and prevent Hell from spreading on Earth. During the season, Xander and Anya become engaged, and Spike realizes he is in love with Buffy. Buffy's friends resurrect her through a powerful spell in the sixth season. Buffy returns from Heaven deeply depressed and finds a job at a fast food restaurant while conducting a secret, mutually abusive affair with Spike that later leads to him attempting to rape her. Plagued with remorse, he undergoes a series of trials and is awarded with a soul so he can "give her what she deserves". Her friends are unaware of her inner turmoils as they face their own troubles: Xander leaves Anya at the altar, and Willow becomes addicted to magic. When Tara is killed by an unhinged Warren Mears, Willow descends into darkness and begins a rampage that nearly causes the end of the world. In the end it is Xander who reaches through her pain and stops her from destroying the world. The instability caused by Buffy's revival enables the First Evil and a sinister preacher to amass an army of powerful vampires against humankind during the seventh season, while simultaneously seeking out and killing every currently-unactivated Potential Slayer. Willow invokes a spell that activates all the "Potentials" in the world. After an epic battle, an amulet worn by Spike channels solar energy through the battlefield, killing all of the vampires and apparently incinerating Spike. As the Scoobies flee Sunnydale, the town collapses into a crater, its Hellmouth destroyed. Buffy the Vampire Slayer first aired on March 10, 1997 on the WB network, and played a key role in the growth of the Warner Bros. television network in its early years. After five seasons, it transferred to the United Paramount Network (UPN) for its final two seasons. The show went into syndication in the United States on FX. In the United Kingdom, the entire series aired on Sky One and BBC2. The BBC gave the show two time slots: the early-evening slot for a family-friendly version with violence, objectionable language and other stronger material cut out, and a late-night uncut version. Sky One had a similar method, in which the show would be edited for an after-noon encore presentation besides the uncut prime-time slot. From the fourth season onwards, the BBC aired the show in anamorphic 16:9 widescreen format, but Whedon later said that Buffy was never intended to be viewed this way. Despite his claims, Sky One and FX (UK) now air repeat showings in the widescreen format. While the seventh season was still being broadcast, Sarah Michelle Gellar told Entertainment Weekly she was not going to sign on for an eighth year, "[When] we started to have such a strong year this year, I thought: 'This is how I want to go out, on top, at our best." Whedon and UPN gave some considerations to production of a spin-off series that would not require Gellar, including a rumored Faith series, but nothing became of those plans. The Buffy canon is continuing outside the television medium in the Dark Horse Comics series, Buffy Season Eight. This is produced since March 2007 by Whedon, who has also written the first story arc, "The Long Way Home". As of July 15, 2008, Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes are available to download for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable video game consoles via the PlayStation Network. Buffy has inspired a range of official and unofficial works, including television shows, books, comics and games. This expansion of the series encouraged use of the term "Buffyverse" to describe the fictional universe in which Buffy and related stories take place. The franchise has inspired Buffy action figures and merchandise such as official Buffy/Angel magazines and Buffy companion books. Eden Studios has published a Buffy role-playing game, while Score Entertainment has released a Buffy Collectible Card Game. The spin-off Angel was introduced in October 1999, at the start of Buffy's fourth season. The series was created by Buffy's creator Joss Whedon in collaboration with David Greenwalt. Like Buffy, it was produced by the production company Mutant Enemy. At times, it performed better in the Nielsen Ratings than its parent series did. The series was given a darker tone focusing on the ongoing trials of Angel in Los Angeles. His character is tormented by guilt following the return of his soul, punishment for more than a century of murder and torture. During the first four seasons of the show, he works as a private detective in a fictionalized version of Los Angeles, California, where he and his associates work to "help the helpless" and to restore the faith and "save the souls" of those who have lost their way. Typically, this mission involves doing battle with evil demons or demonically-allied humans (primarily the law firm Wolfram & Hart), while Angel must also contend with his own violent nature. In the fifth season, the senior partners of Wolfram and Hart take a bold gamble in their campaign to corrupt Angel, giving him control of their Los Angeles office. Angel accepts the deal as an opportunity to fight evil from the inside. In addition to Boreanaz, Angel inherited Buffy regular Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia Chase). When Glenn Quinn (Allen Francis Doyle) left the series during its first season, Alexis Denisof (Wesley Wyndam-Pryce), who had been a recurring character in the last nine episodes of season three of Buffy, took his place. Carpenter and Denisof were followed later by Mercedes McNab (Harmony Kendall) and James Marsters (Spike). Several actors who played Buffy characters made guest appearances on Angel, including Seth Green (Oz), Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy), Eliza Dushku (Faith Lehane), Tom Lenk (Andrew Wells), and Alyson Hannigan (Willow Rosenberg). Angel also continued to appear occasionally on Buffy. Outside of the TV series, the Buffyverse has been officially expanded and elaborated on by authors and artists in the so-called "Buffyverse Expanded Universe". The creators of these works may or may not keep to established continuity. Similarly, writers for the TV series were under no obligation to use information which had been established by the Expanded Universe, and sometimes contradicted such continuity. Dark Horse, has published the Buffy comics since 1998. In 2003, Whedon wrote an eight-issue miniseries for Dark Horse Comics entitled Fray, about a Slayer in the future. Following the publication of Tales of the Vampires in 2004, Dark Horse Comics halted publication on Buffyverse-related comics and graphic novels. The company is currently producing Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer season eight with forty issues beginning in March 2007, to pick up where the television show left off — taking the place of an eighth canonical season. The first story arc is also written by Whedon, and is called "The Long Way Home" which has been widely well-received, with circulation rivaling industry leaders DC and Marvel's top-selling titles. Also after "The Long Way Home" came other story arcs like Faith's return in "No Future for You." Pocket Books hold the license to produce Buffy novels, of which they have published more than sixty since 1998. These sometimes flesh out background information on characters; for example, Go Ask Malice provides lots of information about Faith Lehane. The most recent novels include Carnival of Souls, Blackout, Portal Through Time, Bad Bargain and The Deathless. Five official Buffy video games have been released on portable and home consoles. The most recent, Chaos Bleeds, was released in 2003 for Gamecube, Xbox and PlayStation 2. On July 11, 2008, 505 Games announced that they were working on a Buffy game for the Nintendo DS, entitled Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Sacrifice. The popularity of Buffy and Angel has led to attempts to develop more on-screen ventures in the fictional 'Buffyverse'. These projects remain undeveloped and may never be greenlighted. In 2002, two potential spinoffs were in discussion: Buffy the Animated Series and Ripper. Buffy the Animated Series was a proposed animated TV show based on Buffy; Whedon and Jeph Loeb were to be executive producers for the show, and most of the cast from Buffy were to return to voice their characters. 20th Century Fox showed an interest in developing and selling the show to another network. A three-minute pilot was completed in 2004, but was never picked up. Whedon revealed to The Hollywood Reporter: "We just couldn't find a home for [it]. We had six or seven hilarious scripts from our own staff — and nobody wanted it." Neither the pilot nor the scripts have been seen outside of the entertainment industry, though writer Jane Espenson has teasingly revealed small extracts from some of her scripts for the show. Ripper was originally a proposed television show based upon the character of Rupert Giles portrayed by Anthony Stewart Head. More recent information has suggested that if Ripper were ever made, it would be a TV movie or a DVD movie. There was little heard about the series until 2007 when Joss Whedon confirmed that talks were almost completed for a 90 minute Ripper special on the BBC with both Head and the BBC completely on board. In 2003, a year after the first public discussions on Buffy the Animated Series and Ripper, Buffy was nearing its end. Espenson has said that during this time spin-offs were discussed, "I think Marti talked with Joss about Slayer School and Tim Minear talked with him about Faith on a motorcycle. I assume there was some back-and-forth pitching." Espenson has revealed that Slayer School might have used new slayers and potentially included Willow Rosenberg, but Whedon did not think that such a spinoff felt right. Dushku declined the pitch for a Buffyverse TV series based on Faith and instead agreed to a deal to produce Tru Calling. Dushku explained to IGN: "It would have been a really hard thing to do, and not that I wouldn't have been up for a challenge, but with it coming on immediately following [Buffy], I think that those would have been really big boots to fill." Tim Minear explained some of the ideas behind the aborted series: "The show was basically going to be Faith meets Kung Fu. It would have been Faith, probably on a motorcycle, crossing the earth, trying to find her place in the world." Finally, during the summer of 2004 after the end of Angel, a movie about Spike was proposed. The movie would have been directed by Tim Minear and starred Marsters and Amy Acker and featured Alyson Hannigan. Outside the 2006 Saturn Awards, Whedon announced that he had pitched the concept to various bodies but had yet to receive any feedback. While it has merely been entertained, at the 2008 Paley Festival Joss Whedon remarked that he would be enthusiastic to reunite the cast to continue the story in the form of a movie or another show. The festival featured a reunion of the major cast and contributors to the show, who all seemed excited at the idea: "On that note Joss said that Oz will definitely appear in future issues and while the comic stories are currently "canon" he would gladly throw that out the window if the cast were to reunite in one form or another to make another show or movie. As to the possibility of that, the cast all seemed to dance around that throughout the evening, even when asked the question by the panel moderator." Prior to this, Sarah Michelle Gellar has said that she personally did not feel a Buffy movie would work but that she would be willing to do a film depending on the script. New sparks to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie have been lit by an interview Sarah Michelle Gellar gave to Sci-Fi Wire in which she says she would not rule out returning to her most iconic role: "Never say never," she said. "One of the reasons [the original Buffy movie] didn't really work on the big screen--and people blamed Kristy, but that's not what it was--is the story was better told over a long arc," Gellar said. "And I worry about Buffy as a 'beginning, middle and end' so quickly. ... You show me a script; you show me that it works, and you show me that [the] audience can accept that, [and] I'd probably be there. Those are what my hesitations are." Buffy helped put The WB on the ratings map, but by the time the series landed at UPN in 2001, viewing figures had fallen. Buffy the Vampire Slayer had a series high during the third season with 5.4 million viewers, and a series low with 3.7 million during the first season. During season 7, the show rarely reached 4.5 million viewers. The show's series final Chosen pulled in 4.9 million viewers on UPN. Buffy did not compete with shows on the big four networks (CBS, ABC, NBC, and FOX), but The WB were impressed with the young audience that the show was bringing in. Because of this, The WB ordered a full season of 22 episodes for the series' second season. After the episode "Surprise", Buffy was moved from Monday at 9pm to launch The WB's new night of programming on Tuesday. The first episode aired "Innocence" became the highest rated episode of the entire series, attracting over 8.2 million viewers. Due to its large success in that time slot, it remained on Tuesdays at 8pm for the remainder of its original run. With its new timeslot on The WB, the show quickly climbed to the top of The WB ratings and became one of their highest-rated shows for the remainder of its time on the network. The show always placed in the top 3, usually only coming in behind 7th Heaven. Between seasons 3 and 5, Buffy flip-flopped with Dawson's Creek and Charmed as the network's second highest-rated show. In the 2001-2002 season the show had moved to the UPN Network after a negotiation dispute with The WB. While it was still one of their highest rated shows on their network, the WB felt that the show had already peaked and was not worth giving a salary increase to the cast and crew. UPN on the other hand, had strong faith in the series and quickly grabbed it along with "Roswell". The UPN Network dedicated a 2 hour premiere to the series to help re-launch it. The premiere episode on UPN, "Bargaining", attracted over 7.7 million viewers, making it the 2nd highest rated ratings of the entire series run. The remainder of the series run on the network saw the show actually outperform its old sister shows Dawson's Creek and Charmed, which were still on the WB. Commentators of the entertainment industry including All Movie Guide, The Hollywood Reporter and The Washington Post have cited Buffy as "influential". Autumn 2003 saw several new shows going into production in the U.S. that featured strong females who are forced to come to terms with supernatural power or destiny while trying to maintain a normal life. These post-Buffy shows include Dead Like Me and Joan of Arcadia. Bryan Fuller, the creator of Dead Like Me, said that "[Buffy] showed that young women could be in situations that were both fantastic and relatable, and instead of shunting women off to the side, it put them at the center." Buffy, while itself taking certain elements from the classic series of Doctor Who (1963–1989) (even referencing it in one episode), became a blueprint for the revived series (2005-), and executive producer Russell T. Davies has said: “Buffy the Vampire Slayer showed the whole world, and an entire sprawling industry, that writing monsters and demons and end-of-the world isn't hack-work, it can challenge the best. Joss Whedon raised the bar for every writer—not just genre/niche writers, but every single one of us.” As well as influencing Doctor Who, Buffy influenced its spinoff series Torchwood, and more generally, BBC itself, who still refer to the 7pm slot on BBC Two as "the Buffy slot". In addition, Buffy alumni have gone on to write for or create other shows, some of which bear a notable resemblance to the style and concepts of Buffy. Such endeavors include Tru Calling (Douglas Petrie, Jane Espenson and even lead actress Eliza Dushku), Wonderfalls (Tim Minear), Point Pleasant (Marti Noxon), Jake 2.0 (David Greenwalt), The Inside (Tim Minear), Smallville (Steven S. DeKnight) and Lost (Drew Goddard, David Fury). Meanwhile, the Parents Television Council complained of efforts to "deluge their young viewing audiences with adult themes." The FCC, however, rejected the Council's indecency complaint concerning the violent sex scene between Buffy and Spike in Smashed (Buffy episode). The BBC, however, chose to censor some of the more controversial sexual content. Who says there are no second chances in Hollywood? In 1992, Joss Whedon had a wonderful script to a movie: “Buffy The Vampire Slayer.” However, due to bad directing and bad improvising, Whedon saw his script get made into a one-joke travesty of a teen comedy. Five years later, like a mystic being resurrected within a pentagram, it came back to life as a magical dramedy, a ripping thriller and the smartest work of girls-kick-ass feminism ever crafted by a pudgy guy who's into comic books. And, few would have guess that such a toothless, one-joke movie would inspire such a brilliantly layered show. But it did. For one, Whedon had control over this Buffy project and was able to write and direct his vision for blonde valley girl who has been chosen to slay vampires and demons for the rest of her life. The show did well thanks to a stellar cast. Sarah Michelle Gellar nimbly handled the show's undead allegories for coming-of-age conflicts (her stunt double nimbly handled the rest). And, Gellar had some top notch actors to support her: Anthony Stewart Head, Alyson Hannigan, and Nicolas Brendan to name a few. The show also had some of the best characters in TV history. Beside the sweet yet tough Buffy, there was Willow, the shy nerd who become a powerful witch and a lesbian; the funny but grounded Xander; Giles, the brains and father figure for Buffy; the demon-out-of-water Anya; the precocious and emotional Dawn; that bad girl slayer and ball of fun Faith; and, of course, the perennial scene stealer Spike (such a great character was Spike that he was brought onto Angel after Buffy went off the air). There were also some great episodes: from “Hush,” in which demons steal all the voices in Sunnydale and “Once More With Feeling,” the best Sondheimian musical episode ever written for hour long television. And the show unspooled a rich mythology, realistic family, and relationship stories. But, all in all, Buffy was a metaphor for high school and growing up, with allegories galore (Buffy has sex with the vampire with a soul Angel, which causes him to lose his soul; the ultimate metaphor for having sex with a nice guy who then turns bad immediately afterwards). And, it was ironically the realism that made Buffy so great. It felt like real life if demons and vampires just happened to exist. The demons and ghouls were comically rubber-faced, but Buffy's spirit was achingly real.
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 27, 2008 21:17:04 GMT -5
31. 60 Minutes Genre: News magazine. Created by: Don Hewitt. Executive Producer(s): Don Hewitt (1968-2004) and Jeff Fager (2004-2007). Starring: Correspondents: Mike Wallace (Correspondent Emeritus 1968–2006), Walter Cronkite (1968-1981), Charles Kuralt (1968–1979), Harry Reasoner (1968-1970), Martin Agronsky (1968–1969), George Herman (1969–1981), Morley Safer (1970–present), Dan Rather (1970-1981, 2005-2006), Bob Schieffer (1973-1996), Morton Dean (1975-1979), Ed Bradley (1976-2006), Charles Osgood (1981-1994), Charlie Rose (1981-1991), Diane Sawyer (1981-1989), Meredith Vieira (1982-1991), Bill Plante (1983-1995), Steve Kroft (1989–present), Connie Chung (1990-1993), Paula Zahn (1990-1996), Lesley Stahl (1991–present), Russ Mitchell (1995-1996), Bob Simon (1996–present), Christiane Amanpour (1996-2005), Bryant Gumbel (1998-2002), Scott Pelley (2003–present), Lara Logan (2005–present), Katie Couric (2006-present), Anderson Cooper (2006-present). Commentators: James J. Kilpatrick (Conservative debater, 1971–1979), Nicholas Von Hoffman (Liberal debater, 1971–1974), Shana Alexander (Liberal debater, 1975–1979), Andy Rooney (1978-present), Stanley Crouch (Commentator, 1996), Molly Ivins (Liberal commentator, 1996), P. J. O'Rourke (Conservative commentator, 1996), Bill Clinton (Liberal debater, 2003), and Bob Dole (Conservative debater, 2003). Country of Origin: United States. Number of Seasons: 40. Number of Episodes: Unknown. Running Time: Do I seriously have to tell you what the running time for 60 minutes is!? Original Channel: CBS. Original Run: September 24, 1968 – Present. Spinoffs: 60 Minutes II (now called 60 Minutes Wednesday), which is basically the same program but on Wednesday. There are also several versions of 60 Minutes in a few countries around the world: Australia, France, Germany, New Zealand, and Portugal. The inspiration of the show came from the controversial Canadian news program This Hour Has Seven Days, which ran from 1964 to 1966. Initially, 60 Minutes aired as a bi-weekly show hosted by Harry Reasoner and Mike Wallace, debuting on September 24, 1968 and alternating weeks with other CBS News productions on Tuesday evenings. Don Hewitt, who had been a producer of the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite, sought out Wallace as a stylistic contrast to Reasoner. According to one historian of the show, the idea of the format was to make the hosts the reporters, to always feature stories that were of national importance but focused upon individuals involved with, or in conflict with, those issues, and to limit the reports' airtime to around thirteen minutes. However, the initial season was troubled by lack of network confidence. Morley Safer joined the team in 1970, and he took over the task of reporting less aggressive stories. However, when Richard Nixon began targeting press access and reporting, even Safer began to do "hard" investigative reports, and that year alone 60 Minutes reported on cluster bombs, the South Vietnamese Army, Canada's amnesty for American draft dodgers, Nigeria, the Middle East, and Northern Ireland. In 1983, Safer's report, "Lenell Geter's in Jail," single-handedly freed from prison the Texan who was wrongly convicted of armed robbery, and is, to this day, one of the program's crowning achievements. In 1971, the "Point/Counterpoint" segment was introduced, featuring James J. Kilpatrick and Nicholas von Hoffman (later Shana Alexander), a three-minute debate between spokespeople for the political right and left, respectively. This segment pioneered a format that would later be adapted by CNN for its Crossfire show. This ran until 1979, when Andy Rooney, whose commentaries were already alternating with the debate segment since the fall of 1978, replaced it; Rooney remains with the program today. By 1971, the FCC introduced the Prime Time Access Rule, which freed local network affiliates in the top 50 markets (in practice, the entire network) to take a half hour of prime time from the networks on Mondays through Saturdays and one full hour on Sundays. Because nearly all affiliates found production costs for the FCC's intended goal of increased public affairs programming very high and the ratings (thus advertising revenues) low, making it mostly unprofitable, the FCC created an exception for network-authored news and public affairs. After a six-month hiatus in late 1971, CBS thus found a prime place for 60 Minutes in a portion of that displaced time, 6-7 p.m. (Eastern time) on Sundays, in January 1972. This proved somewhat less than satisfactory, however, as, especially during the fall when CBS broadcast late National Football League games, 60 Minutes got preempted fairly frequently; football telecasts were protected contractually from interruptions in the wake of the infamous "Heidi Game" incident on NBC in November 1968. Other sporting events such as golf tournaments occasionally caused this problem also. Nonetheless, the program's hard-hitting reports attracted a steadily growing audience, particularly during the waning days of the Vietnam War and the gripping events of the Watergate scandal; at that time, few if any other major-network news shows did in-depth investigative reporting to the degree carried out by 60 Minutes. Eventually, during the summers of 1973 through 1975, CBS did allow the show back onto the prime time schedule proper, on Fridays in 1973 and Sundays the two years thereafter. It was only when the FCC returned an hour to the networks on Sundays (for children's/family or news programming), taken away from them four years earlier, in a 1975 amendment to the Access Rule that CBS finally found a viable permanent timeslot for 60 Minutes. When a family-oriented drama, Three for the Road, ended after a 13-week run in the fall, the newsmagazine took its place at 7/6 p.m. in December. It has aired at that time since, for over 32 years, making 60 Minutes not only the longest-running prime time program currently in production, but also the television program (excluding daily programs such as evening newscasts or breakfast shows) broadcasting for the longest length of time at a single time period each week in U.S. television history. This move made the program into a strong ratings hit and, eventually, a general cultural phenomenon. Within the first season, 60 Minutes became the top-rated show on Sunday nights in the U.S. By 1979, it had achieved the number-one Nielsen rating for all television programs. This success translated into great profits for CBS; advertising rates went from $17,000 per thirty seconds in 1975 to $175,000 in 1982. In 1979, Channel 9 in Australia licensed a spin-off of 60 Minutes, complete with ticking clock and format, and, later, New Zealand followed suit with its own 60 Minutes. At 89 years old, Mike Wallace is not only the oldest television personality today (being four months older than Helen Wagner), but one who has lasted the longest with one news show continuously, having been a part of 60 Minutes since its inception in 1968. On March 14, 2006, Wallace announced his retirement from 60 Minutes after 37 years with the program. He continues to work for CBS News as a "Correspondent Emeritus." As of 2008, 60 Minutes is the only regularly scheduled television program in American television history not to have used any type of theme music. The only theme sound is from the signature Aristo stopwatch in the opening title credits, before each commercial break, and at the tail-end of the closing credits. 60 Minutes is also aired via CBS Radio on several of their radio stations at the same time as the television broadcast, such as WCBS-AM, KNX, WBBM-AM, WWJ, and several other stations across the country owned by CBS. An audio version of the full show is also distributed via podcast and the iTunes Store, beginning with the September 23, 2007 program. The format of 60 Minutes consists of three long-form news stories, without superimposed graphics. The stories are introduced from a set which has a backdrop resembling a magazine story on the same topic. The show undertakes its own investigations and follows up on investigations instigated by national newspapers and other sources. Many topics center on allegations of wrongdoing and corruption on the part of corporations, politicians, and other public officials. Said figures are commonly either subjected to an interview, or evade contact with the 60 Minutes crew altogether, either by written notice or by simply fleeing from the approaching journalist and his camera crew. Instead of summarizing an interview or providing direct commentary on an issue, 60 Minutes prefers to air the interview itself. When the subject is hiding a secret, the viewers witness the evasion directly. The show also features profiles. The profiles are occasionally of celebrities and offer up a biography of the figure, focusing upon the celebrity's early life story, obstacles, and choices, rather than offering a simple publicity platform. Non-celebrity profiles usually feature a person who has accomplished an heroic action or striven to improve the world. In tone, 60 Minutes blends the probing journalism of the seminal 1950s CBS series See It Now with Edward R. Murrow (a show for which Hewitt was the director its first few years) and the personality profiles of another Murrow program, Person to Person. In Hewitt's own words, 60 Minutes blends "higher Murrow" and "lower Murrow." For most of the 1970s, the program included the Point/Counterpoint segment in which a liberal and a conservative commentator would debate a particular issue. This originally featured James J. Kilpatrick representing the conservative side and Nicholas von Hoffman for the liberal, with Shana Alexander taking over for von Hoffman after he departed in 1974. Although discontinued in 1979, when Andy Rooney, who had previously left the show with Harry Reasoner, returned to offer commentary, the segment was an innovation that caught the public imagination as a live version of competing editorials. Point/Counterpoint was also lampooned by the NBC comedy series Saturday Night Live, which featured Jane Curtin and Dan Aykroyd as debaters, with Aykroyd typically beginning his remarks with, "Jane, you ignorant slut", and in the motion picture Airplane!, in which the faux Kilpatrick argues in favor of the plane crashing. A similar concept was revived briefly in March 2003, this time featuring Bob Dole and Bill Clinton, former opponents in the 1996 presidential election. The pair agreed to do ten segments, which were called "Clinton/Dole" and "Dole/Clinton" in alternating weeks, but did not continue into the fall television season. Reports indicated that the segments were considered too gentlemanly, in the style of the earlier Point/Counterpoint, and lacked the feistiness of Crossfire. Since 1979, the show has usually ended with a (usually light-hearted or humorous) commentary by Andy Rooney expounding on topics of wildly varying import, ranging from international politics, to economics, and to personal philosophy on every-day life. One recurring topic has been measuring the amount of coffee in coffee cans. Rooney's pieces, particularly one in which he referred to actor Mel Gibson as a "wacko," have on occasion led to complaints from viewers. On Sunday, October 29, 2006, the opening sequence changed from a black background to white. The black background had been used for over a decade. Based on ratings, 60 Minutes is the most successful broadcast in U.S. television history. For five of its seasons it has been that year's top program, a feat only matched by the sitcoms All in the Family and The Cosby Show. It was a top ten show for 23 seasons in a row (1977-2000), an unsurpassed record. 60 Minutes first broke into the Ratings Top 20 during the 1976-77 season. The following season it was the fourth-most-watched show, and by 1979-80, it was the number one show. During the 21st century it remains among the top 20 programs in the Nielsen Ratings, and the highest-rated news magazine. CBS has been the recipient of numerous awards, including Peabody Awards for the segments "All in the Family", an investigation into abuses by government and military contractors; "The CIA's Cocaine", which uncovered CIA involvement in drug smuggling; "Friendly Fire", a report on incidents of friendly fire in the Gulf War; and "Duke Rape Suspects Speak Out", the first interviews with the suspects in the 2006 Duke University lacrosse team scandal. They received an Investigative Reporter and Editor medal for their segment "The Osprey", documenting a Marine cover up of deadly flaws in the V-22 Osprey aircraft. In 2007, 60 Minutes received twelve Emmy Awards nominations. The show has been praised for landmark journalism and received many awards. However, it has also become embroiled in some controversy, including: William Westmoreland: In the 1982 "The Uncounted Enemy, a Vietnam Deception," which Mike Wallace narrated for CBS Reports, the news division's documentary program, it was reported that William Westmoreland, former commander of American military operations in the Vietnam War, withheld information from decision-makers in Washington for political reasons. Westmoreland held a press conference a few days later, calling it a 'preposterous hoax,' and eventually sued for libel. TV Guide issued a report called 'Anatomy of a Smear,' detailing problems with the report, including the ignoring of contrary evidence, and video editing to change the questions Westmoreland is asked. Westmoreland withdrew the suit a few days before the protracted case was given to the jury. He and CBS News issued a joint statement in which CBS said it "does not believe that General Westmoreland was unpatriotic or disloyal in performing his duties as he saw them." Westmoreland claimed a victory; CBS, in a separate statement, said nothing in the trial changed its stance that the report was "fair and accurate." Unintended Acceleration: On November 23, 1986, 60 Minutes aired a segment greenlit by Don Hewitt, concerning the Audi 5000 automobile, a popular German luxury car. The story concerned a number of incidents where the car purportedly accelerated without warning while parked, injuring or killing people. 60 Minutes was unable to duplicate this behavior, and so hired an outside consultant to modify the transmission to behave in this manner, and aired a story about it. The incident devastated Audi sales in the United States, which did not reach the same level for another fifteen years. The initial incidents which prompted the report were found by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Transport Canada to have been attributable to operator error, where car owners had depressed the accelerator pedal instead of the brake pedal. CBS issued a partial retraction, without acknowledging the test results of involved government agencies. A rival to 60 Minutes, Dateline NBC, would be found guilty of similar tactics years later regarding fuel tank integrity on General Motors pickup trucks. Alar: In February, 1989 60 Minutes aired a report by the Natural Resources Defense Council claiming health problems with Alar, a chemical sprayed on apples. Apple sales dropped and CBS was sued by apple growers. Werner Erhard: A 60 Minutes broadcast of March 3, 1991 dealt with controversies involving Werner Erhard's personal and business life. One year after the 60 Minutes piece aired, Erhard filed a lawsuit against CBS and a variety of other defendants, claiming that the broadcast contained several "false, misleading and defamatory" statements about Erhard. Erhard dropped the lawsuit a few months before any court decision had been reached on its claims. The 60 Minutes segment was made unavailable with the disclaimer: "This segment has been deleted at the request of CBS News for legal or copyright reasons." Brown and Williamson: In 1995, former Brown and Williamson (B&W) Vice President for Research and Development Jeffrey Wigand provided information to 60 Minutes producer Lowell Bergman that B&W had systematically hidden the health risks of their cigarettes. (See transcription.) Furthermore, it was alleged that B&W had introduced foreign agents (fiberglass, ammonia, etc.) with the intent of enhancing the effect of nicotine. Bergman began to produce a piece based upon the information, but ran into opposition from Don Hewitt who, along with CBS lawyers, feared a billion dollar lawsuit from Brown and Williamson. Interestingly, a number of people in CBS would benefit from a sale of CBS to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, including the head of CBS lawyers and CBS News. Also, because of the interview, the son of the President of CBS Laurence Tisch, was among the people from the big tobacco companies in the risk of being caught having committed perjury. Because of the hesitation from Hewitt, The Wall Street Journal instead broke Wigand's story. The 60 Minutes piece was eventually aired with substantially altered content, and was missing some of the most damning evidence against B&W. The exposé of the incident was published in an article in Vanity Fair by Marie Brenner, entitled The Man Who Knew Too Much. The New York Times wrote that 60 Minutes and CBS had "betrayed the legacy of Edward R. Murrow." The incident was turned into a seven-times Oscar-nominated feature film entitled “The Insider,” directed by Michael Mann and starring Russell Crowe and Al Pacino. U.S. Customs Service: 60 Minutes alleged in 1997 that agents of the U.S. Customs Service ignored drug trafficking across the U.S.-Mexico border at San Diego. The only evidence was a memorandum apparently written by Rudy Camacho, who was the head of the San Diego branch office. Based on this memo, CBS alleged that Camacho had allowed trucks belonging to a particular firm to cross the border unimpeded. Mike Horner, a former Customs Service employee, had passed the memos on to 60 Minutes, and even provided a copy with an official stamp. Camacho was not consulted about the article, and his career was devastated in the immediate term as his own department placed suspicion on him. In the end, it turned out that Horner had forged the documents as an act of revenge for his treatment within the Customs Service. Camacho successfully sued CBS for an unknown settlement, and Don Hewitt was forced to issue an on-air retraction. Kennewick Man: A legal battle between archaeologists and the Umatilla tribe over the remains of a skeleton, nicknamed Kennewick man, was reported on by 60 Minutes (October 25, 1998), to which the Umatilla tribe reacted very negatively. The tribe considered the segment heavily biased in favor of the scientists, cutting out important arguments, such as explanations of Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. The report focused heavily on the racial politics of the controversy and also added inflammatory arguments, such as questioning the legitimacy of Native American sovereignty; much of the racial focus of the segment was later reported to be unfounded or misinterpreted. Viacom Cross-Promotion: In recent years the show has been accused of promoting books, films, and interviews with celebrities who are published or promoted by sister businesses in the Viacom media conglomerate (2000-2005), without disclosing the journalistic conflict-of-interest to viewers. However, due to media consolidation, this has become standard practice on many television news broadcasts. In 1999, a second edition of 60 Minutes was started in the U.S., called 60 Minutes II. This edition was later renamed 60 Minutes by CBS for the fall of 2004 in an effort to sell it as a high-quality program, since some had sarcastically referred to it as 60 Minutes, Jr. CBS News president Andrew Heyward said, "The Roman numeral II created some confusion on the part of the viewers and suggested a watered-down version". However, a widely-known controversy which came to be known as "Rathergate," regarding a report that aired September 8, 2004, caused another name change. The show was renamed 60 Minutes Wednesday both to differentiate itself and to avoid tarnishing the Sunday edition, as the editions were editorially independent from one another. The show reverted to its original title with Roman numerals on July 8, 2005, when the show moved to a Friday night 8pm ET timeslot to finish its run. Its last broadcast was on September 2, 2005. The Australian 60 Minutes premiered on 11 February 1979. It airs Sunday nights on the Nine Network. Reporter Richard Carleton suffered a heart attack on 7 May 2006. He asked a question at a news conference for the Beaconsfield mine collapse, then walked out and suffered cardiac arrest. Paramedics tried to revive him for 20 minutes until an ambulance arrived, but was pronounced dead on arrival. Although they have the rights to the format, as of 2007 they do not have rights to the US stories. Nevertheless, they often air them by subleasing them from Network Ten. In 1980 60 Minutes won a Logie Award for their investigation of lethal abuses at Chelmsford psychiatric hospital in Sydney. On 16 September 2007, the Australian 60 Minutes did a segment on French sport Parkour, which showcased famous traceurs Rhys James and Shaun Woods. The French version of 60 Minutes is titled 66 Minutes and airs on M6. In the mid-1980s, an edited version (approx. 30 minutes in length) of the U.S. broadcast edition of 60 Minutes was shown for a time on West German television. This version retained the English-language soundtrack of the original, but also featured German subtitles. This version may have been known as 30 Minuten. The New Zealand version of 60 Minutes has aired on national television since 1989, when it was shown on TV3. In 1992 the rights were acquired by TVNZ, who began broadcasting it in 1993. The network aired the program for nine years before dropping it in 2002 for its own program, entitled Sunday. Sunday is currently the highest rating current affairs show broadcast on New Zealand television, followed by 20/20. 60 Minutes is now broadcast by rival network TV3. The Portuguese version of 60 Minutes airs on SIC Notícias and is hosted by Mário Crespo. A briefly-lived Mexican version appeared in the late 1970s. A Peruvian version aired in the early 1980s, called 60 Minutos. However, in the late 1980s also existed a similarly named series, but unrelated to the series produced by CBS News. In 2004, Brazil's Rede Bandeirantes planned a licensed localized version, but the plan was canceled. CBS Paramount Television is rumoured to be planning licensed localized versions for several Latin American countries. Tick-tick-tick-tick. That sound has set countless scam artists, sleazy defense lawyers, and crooked politicians and businessmen to trembling out of fear. For the rest of us, however, the famous stopwatch signals that we’re in for an hour of hardest-hitting, smartest news magazine around. For nearly 40 years, 60 Minutes has been simultaneously confrontational and as comforting as a mug of warm milk. The brainchild of abrasive but astute producer Don Hewitt, 60 Minutes arrived on the air in 1968. “This is 60 Minutes,” intoned co-host Harry Reasoner. “It’s kind of a magazine for television.” That episode, featuring a report on the Richard Nixon campaigned and a story on tensions with big city cops, tanked in the ratings. However, in less than a decade, the show became a Sunday institution to rival football and church ("You know I hate to miss 60 Minutes," Elaine says in the "Puerto Rican Day" episode of Seinfeld. "It's part of my Sunday weekend wind-down."). It has stayed in the Top 10 for more much of its run. The show has been much imitated (from 20/20 on ABC to Dateline on NBC to your local-news' Shame On You segment), has been lampooned on shows from Saturday Night Live to MADtv, has had its embarrassments (the tobacco back-down chronicled in the movie “The Insider”; a good number of Andy Rooney segments), aired thousands of stories, and made CBS more than a billion dollars. What’s the secret to its success? “Tell me a story” was Hewitt’s mantra. Or, as he once said, the ratings could double “if we package reality as well as Hollywood packages fiction.” Like a good move, the show has had clear-cut stars and the pace zips along. But most important, 60 Minutes brims with conflict. Even after all these years, the aging journalists remain bulldog inquisitors, detectives, and ambush artists. Mike Wallace has exposed dozens of frauds, from a crooked cancer clinic to a jailhouse credit-card sham. A black-wigged Lesley Stahl nailed a story on Romanian babies for sale. Steve Kroft asked the hard questions of accused adulterer Bill Clinton in 1992. Sometimes, the conflicts have been too dicey, like the aforementioned tobacco back-down (Wallace’s interview of tobacco whistle-blower Jeffrey Wigand was heavily censored). Still, there’s no question 60 Minutes is best when it sticks to tough pieces. When it ventures into celebrity profiles or when Andy Rooney offers his rambling ruminations on waiters or safety tops, the results can be strangely unsatisfactory. But, these flaws are forgivable because 60 Minutes sticks to the ideal that a camera could be a crowbar to pry out truths. In a medium that depends on millions sitting and watching, it reminds us that TV can be most effective (or scary) when watching you.
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 27, 2008 22:04:01 GMT -5
30. Jeopardy! Genre: Game show. Created by: Merv Griffin. Executive Producer(s): Harry Friedman. Starring: Hosts: Art Fleming (1964–1975; 1978–1979) and Alex Trebek (1984–present). Announcers: Don Pardo (1964–1975), John Harlan (1978–1979), and Johnny Gilbert (1984–present). Country of Origin: United States. Number of Seasons: 11 (first run), 1 (second run), 24 (current run). Number of Episodes: 2,753 (Fleming daytime), 39 (Fleming syndicated), 113 (Fleming revival), 5,250 (Trebek syndicated as of October 22, 2007). Running Time: 22 minutes. Original Channel: NBC (1964–1975, 1978–1979) (daytime), Syndication (1974–1975, 1984–present). Original Run: March 30, 1964 – Present. Spinoffs: All New Jeopardy! (1978-1979, which featured different rules from the regular Jeopardy! game), Rock & Roll Jeopardy! (music-theme Jeopardy! game that aired on VH1 from 1998 to 2001), and Jep! (a kids version of Jeopardy! that aired from 1998 to 2004). Three contestants, one of whom is typically a defending champion, play the game in three rounds: the Jeopardy! Round, the Double Jeopardy! Round, and the Final Jeopardy! Round. In the special case of a tie in tournament play, a fourth round, the Tiebreaker Round, is added. The three contestants stand behind podiums which display their scores (updated as the game proceeds) and their names: Jeopardy! Round: Six categories are announced, each with a column of five trivia clues (phrased in answer form), each one valued, in dollars, incrementally more than the previous, ostensibly by difficulty. Each category is a topical category, and the categories change on each show; the category names are frequently puns or collectively build upon a theme. Upon the show's 1964 premiere, dollar values were $10, $20, $30, $40, and $50. These values were increased to $25, $50, $75, $100, $125 with the revival of the show in 1978, and successively doubled with the second pilot for the Alex Trebek version in 1984, with the premiere of the Trebek-hosted version in 1984, and during its 18th season in 2001 for present values of $200, $400, $600, $800, and $1,000. (The 1990 Super Jeopardy! tournament used a point value scale that incremented from 200 to 1,000.) The returning champion or the newcomer in the first (leftmost to the home viewer) position begins the game by selecting a category and monetary value (e.g. "PRESIDENTS for $200"). Contestants are free to choose any unselected clue, although contestants usually select lower-valued clues before higher-valued clues in any given category. The host then reads the clue ("He was the father of our country; he didn't really chop down a cherry tree"), after which any of the three contestants may ring in using a hand-held signaling device. The first contestant to successfully ring in following the host's reading of the clue must then respond generally in the form of a question ("Who was/Who is/Who's George Washington?"). The answer board (Season 19-22 Jeopardy! set).A correct response earns the dollar value of the clue and the opportunity to select the next clue from the board. An incorrect response or a failure to respond within a 5-second time limit deducts the dollar value of the clue from the player's score and gives any remaining opponents the opportunity to ring in and respond. If none of the contestants give a correct response, the correct response is read, and the player who has most recently given a correct response to a clue chooses the next clue. One clue hidden on the Jeopardy! Round game board is designated a "Daily Double" (a name taken from horse racing). Only the contestant who selects a Daily Double may respond to its clue. The player may wager as much as the maximum amount of a clue on the board (currently $1,000 in the Jeopardy! Round and $2,000 in the Double Jeopardy! Round) or as much as he or she has accumulated, whichever is greater, but must wager at least $5. Players may also indicate that they wish to make it a "True Daily Double", meaning that they are risking all the money that they have accumulated up to that point. Daily Doubles are sometimes designated with special tags, such as "Audio Daily Double" (in which a sound clip is played as part of the clue), "Video Daily Double" (in which a video clip is played as part of the clue), "Celebrity Daily Double" (in which a celebrity delivers the clue), etc. Such a tag is displayed as soon as the Daily Double has been selected. Before the 1985–86 season, contestants could ring in any time after the clue was revealed. Since that season, players are required to wait until the host finishes reading the clue before they may ring in. Lights surrounding the game board, invisible to the television audience, illuminate to indicate that contestants may ring in. Pressing the signaling button prior to the lights' illumination locks the player out for approximately one quarter of a second. In the Jeopardy! Round, players are not penalized for forgetting to phrase a response in the form of a question; the host will give a reminder to contestants who do not correct themselves before their time runs out. In the Double Jeopardy! Round, adherence to the phrasing rule is followed more strictly, but players are still permitted to correct themselves before their time runs out if they are not immediately ruled against. On occasion, players have couched their phrasing in creative ways or in languages other than standard English without penalty. Double Jeopardy! Round: The second round, Double Jeopardy!, works like the first round, with the following exceptions: Six new categories are used. There are two Daily Doubles in this round. The value of each clue is double what it was in the first round (except in the case of the 1990 Super Jeopardy! tournament, where values were 500, 1,000, 1,500, 2,000, and 2,500 points). The contestant with the lowest amount of money at the end of the Jeopardy! Round makes the first selection in Double Jeopardy! If there is a tie for the trailing position, the player to the host's left selects first. From 1985 to 1997, the set would change from blue to red starting with this round. In the 1978–1979 version, only the two highest-scoring players at the end of Round 1 played Double Jeopardy!; the third-place player was eliminated before the start of the round. The response must be phrased in question form. Contestants who finish Double Jeopardy! with a $0 or negative score are automatically eliminated from the game and not allowed to participate in the game's final round, Final Jeopardy! In this case, the contestants still receive consolation prizes, which (beginning with Show #4089, aired May 16, 2002) are $1,000 for third place and $2,000 for second place. In the original Art Fleming version, no money was awarded if a contestant finished with $0 or in the red (with a negative score), but he/she did receive parting gifts. If a returning champion finished in the red, it did not count against their previously accumulated winnings; any cash they had previously won was theirs to keep. In Celebrity Jeopardy!, which is played for charity, contestants are allowed to participate in Final Jeopardy! under all circumstances, and such contestants are granted nominal scores with which to wager for Final Jeopardy! On rare occasions, two contestants have been in the red, leaving the first-place player to play the Final Jeopardy! Round alone. During the Fleming era, at least once have all three contestants finished Double Jeopardy! with $0 or less, thereby disqualifying everyone from Final Jeopardy! The time normally used for the final round was filled with chitchat between Fleming and the contestants. For the following telecast, three new contestants were featured. Final Jeopardy! Round: In the Final Jeopardy! Round, the host first announces the category, then the show goes into a commercial break (during which the staff comes on stage and advises the contestants while barriers are placed between the players to discourage cheating). The contestants then risk as little as $0 or as much money as they have accumulated, by writing it on a card (in the 1964-1975 version) or electronic tablet (since 1984). After the final commercial break, the Final Jeopardy! clue is revealed and read by the host, following which contestants have 30 seconds to write a response on a card/electronic drawing board, again phrased in the form of a question. The light pen is automatically cut off at the end of the 30 seconds. With rare exception, the "Think!" music is played during this 30-second period. Other Final Jeopardy! response methods are occasionally used: Blind contestants (including 5-time champion Eddie Timanus and 2005 Teen Tournament quarterfinalist Kerri Regan) utilize a keyboard with Braille keys. Entered text will be displayed in a typed font rather than the contestant's handwriting. In the event of a malfunction of the handwriting input, contestants respond using a marker and paper card. The top money-winner at the end of Final Jeopardy! is the day's champion and returns to the next show. During the 1964 and 1978 NBC and 1974 syndicated versions, all three contestants kept whatever cash they won. On the 1974 syndicated version, the winner also received a bonus prize or cash. Starting with the 1984 revival, rather than receiving their scores in cash, runners-up were awarded consolation prizes; typically, a vacation package for the second-place player and merchandise for the third-place player. This changed on May 16, 2002; thereafter, the second-place finisher was awarded $2,000 and the third place finisher was awarded $1,000. Since the show did not provide airfare or lodging for most contestants (airfare was provided for returning champions' subsequent flights to L.A.), these cash consolation prizes alleviated the financial burden of appearing on the show. The greatest amount won by an individual in a day was $75,000, by Ken Jennings, on July 23, 2004. If no contestant finishes Final Jeopardy! with a positive total (i.e., at least $1), then nobody wins and three new contestants appear on the following show; in such cases the three players will participate in a backstage draw to determine player position. The three-way loss has happened three times since 1984, the first occasion being on the second episode; the number of times this occurred during the 1964 NBC version is undetermined. If two or more contestants tie for first place, they each win the money and come back, assuming that they each have at least $1. Three players have held the co-champ title twice. Ties in non-regular-play games are broken via a special Tiebreaker Round; this has only known to have happened on five occasions, most recently on November 13, 2007 during the second semifinal game of the Tournament of Champions. An additional tiebreaker category with a single clue is given after the Final Jeopardy! Round, and the first player to ring in with the correct response wins. In case of a three-way loss in a tournament, none of the three players advance, and an additional wildcard is added in the tournament. Scores coming to Double Jeopardy! break ties for a wildcard position. A three-way tie for first place has only occurred once during the Alex Trebek era of Jeopardy!, and only one contestant in the Trebek era has won a game with only $1. The 1974-75 weekly syndicated version was essentially the same as the NBC version, but with several changes. Host Art Fleming always wore a tuxedo with a check-patterned jacket and a number of flashing light bulbs were added to the set. Most contestants were previous winners from the daytime show. As well, any player who correctly answered all five questions in a category received a bonus prize, originally a Chevrolet Vega, later a trip to London (as opposed to a cash bonus on the daytime edition). Originally, the winning contestant picked a number from 1-30 off the Jeopardy Jackpot Board; possible prizes included a new car, a luxury vacation, or bonus money, with the grand prize being $25,000 (though the latter took up two spaces, each corresponding one half, and could only be won if the contestant found the second half on an additional pick). Later in the show's one-season run, the Jackpot Board was dropped, and the champion's bonus prize or cash was based on his or her final score (it was also at this point that the aforementioned "main game category sweep" prize was changed from the car to the London holiday, since the Chevy Vega was now one of the bonus prizes). However, this version failed to catch on in the ratings or garner enough stations, mainly due to a glut of other weekly versions of network daytime games that stations ran in their Prime Time Access early-evening timeslots, such as Price is Right and Let's Make a Deal. The show was cancelled after only one season. During the previous season, packagers of Dating Game and Sale of the Century had tried to keep their shows alive in syndication as well; neither of those games were successful either. The All-New Jeopardy! was a short-lived 1978–1979 series with significantly different rules than the 1964-75 versions. The lowest-scoring contestant was eliminated after the Jeopardy! Round; whoever was ahead at the end of the Double Jeopardy! Round became the champion. Instead of Final Jeopardy!, the winner then got to play a bonus round called Super Jeopardy! (no relation to the special summer 1990 tournament of all-time champions as aired on ABC). This round featured a new board of five categories with five clues in each, numbered 1–5 (and unlike the main game, not necessarily increasing in difficulty down the column). The object was for the contestant to provide any five correct responses in a straight line in a Bingo-like fashion (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally). Giving an incorrect response, or a pass, earned the player a "strike," and blocked off that space on the board; three strikes ended the round. Super Jeopardy! was worth $5,000 to a first-day champion, with the jackpot increasing by $2,500 each day that champion successfully defended his/her title; with the five-day limit in place, that meant a potential total of $50,000 in just Super Jeopardy! earnings ($5,000 + $7,500 + $10,000 + $12,500 + $15,000). If a player struck out, he/she still received $100 for each correct response given. In the pilot, the player had a time limit of 90 seconds to get five in a row. This bonus game proved rather unpopular among long-time fans of the show, and some critics allege that its inclusion, and the gameplay's elimination structure, doomed the revival to failure. Two sound effects from this version carried over to Sale of the Century in the 1980s: the correct response bell in Super Jeopardy! (a high-pitched e-note ding) and the Daily Double bell, a Family Feud-esque series of dings. Rock & Roll Jeopardy! was a music-intensive version of Jeopardy! that aired on VH1 from 1998 to 2001. Hosted by future Survivor host Jeff Probst, clues on this version of the show highlighted post-1950s popular music trivia. Though the host was somewhat looser with the "phrase in the form of a question" requirement, the gameplay was basically identical to Jeopardy! The first two seasons used points, with $5,000 to the winner; subsequent seasons were played for cash with a $5,000 house minimum. Jep! was the children's version of Jeopardy!, hosted by cartoon voice artist Bob Bergen. The show aired in 1998 on Game Show Network (now GSN), and up to late 2004 on Discovery Kids. It did not fare well with either critics or viewers and the show was cancelled after one season. Starting in 1999, just after Jep!'s cancellation, Jeopardy! began a "Back-to-School Week", which has easier clues and more accessible material for the younger contestants, but is otherwise identical to the adult version. For the first six seasons, winning contestants kept all winnings, with a cap of $75,000. Anything won above $75,000 went to the champion's favorite charity. The cap was increased to $100,000 starting in Season 7 after Bob Blake ($82,501) and Frank Spangenberg ($102,597) exceeded the $75,000 cap. In Seasons 14-19 the cap was raised to $200,000. The cap was eliminated altogether at the beginning of Season 20. Until Season 20 of the Trebek version of the show, a contestant who won five days in a row would be retired undefeated, with a guaranteed spot in the next Tournament of Champions. From Season 14 to Season 17, an undefeated champion would also be awarded a choice of Chevrolet cars or trucks (Corvette, Tahoe, or two Camaros). From Season 18 to Season 19, the winner won a Jaguar X-Type. Similarly, as part of the deal with Ford Motor Company for the 2001–02 season, Ford also added a Volvo to the Teen Tournament prize package. To mark the start of the current version's 20th season, in September 2003, the show changed its rules so there is no winnings limit, and champions' reigns became indefinite; a champion keeps coming back as long as (s)he keeps winning (although automobiles were no longer awarded for five wins). This rule change led to the remarkable winning streak of Ken Jennings, who currently holds most of the winning records on the show, including greatest number of appearances and regular season highest total dollar amounts won (excluding tournaments). Beginning with the 2nd season of the Alex Trebek syndicated version, a Tournament of Champions (ToC) has been held more or less annually, featuring five-time undefeated champions and other biggest winners to have appeared on the show since the last ToC. The ToC format was devised by Alex Trebek, and was as follows: Fifteen players—five-time champions, and, if there are fewer than 15 five-time champions who have not yet played in a ToC, the highest scorers among the other game winners are invited to participate. The ToC lasts two weeks (10 shows), in the following manner: Shows 1–5: The quarterfinals, with three new contestants participating each day. The five winners advance to the semi-finals. Four wild card spots are available to the highest-scoring non-winners, with ties broken by the scores after the Double Jeopardy! Round. Shows 6–8: The semifinals. At this point, the game becomes a single-elimination affair, with each winner advancing to the finals. If at any point in the quarterfinals or semifinals there is a tie for first place, one or more successive Tiebreaker Rounds are played, with the first player to answer correctly advancing to the next round. (Tiebreaker Rounds have appeared on the show only five times, four times in tournaments. In the event of more than one Tiebreaker Round being played in a game, only the deciding Tiebreaker Round is aired as part of the show broadcast; the others are edited out.) Shows 9–10: The two-day finals. Players begin the second final game with their scores reset to $0, and contestants' totals from both days are added together to determine their final scores. The contestant with the highest cumulative score wins the grand prize ($100,000 from 1985-2001; $250,000 since 2002). All other players, including the second- and third-place players in the finals, receive a guaranteed amount based on their finishing positions. In addition, the runners-up in the finals receive additional cash equal to their score if it exceeds the guaranteed amount. First aired in 1987, the Teen Tournament features high school students, with the winner receiving a cash prize ($75,000 in the most recent years), and, in some years, a new car. Until 2001, the winner was also invited to participate in the Tournament of Champions. One of the most notable Teen Tournament champions was Eric Newhouse, who advanced to the finals of the 1989 Tournament of Champions, was a finalist in the Million Dollar Masters tournament, and participated in the Ultimate Tournament of Champions. Beginning in 1989 the College Championship uses college students as contestants. The College Championship pits 15 full-time undergraduate students from colleges and universities in the US against each other in a two-week tournament, identical to the ToC in format. Beginning in 1997, the College Championship has been taped at host college campus using the show's traveling set. The winner earns $100,000, a trophy, and a spot in the next Tournament of Champions. (Tom Cubbage, the very first Jeopardy! college champion, also won his Tournament of Champions the following season.) Between 1987 and 1995, ten Seniors Tournaments were held for contestants over the age of 50. This tournament was discontinued after December 1995, purportedly due to advertisers wanting to pull in younger demographics. Usually once a year, Celebrity Jeopardy! weeks are held with celebrity contestants. Each celebrity chooses a charity (or two) to sponsor, and that charity is the recipient of the particular celebrity's winnings. Typically, each charity is guaranteed a certain amount (e.g., $20,000), with the winner's charity receiving a larger amount (e.g., $50,000). Contestants ending the Double Jeopardy! Round with a zero or negative score, who in regular play games would be disqualified from playing Final Jeopardy!, are given a nominal score with which to wager (e.g. $100). At least once per season since 1999, the show holds a special week of shows collectively known as Kids Week, Holiday Kids Week, or Back to School Week, featuring children ages 10 through 12 as contestants. These games are usually recorded at the show's main studio in Culver City. These weeks comprise five independent shows, with three new contestants in each. Unlike the regular Jeopardy! format, the winner of each game does not return to play another game. The third place winner receives $1,000, second place receives $2,000, and first place wins the amount of his or her score, with some minimum guarantee (typically $10,000). Additional prizes for all players, such as computers, gift certificates, and trips to local theme parks have been awarded in the past. There have been a number of special tournaments featuring the greatest players during the history of Jeopardy! These are listed below: Super Jeopardy!: The first of these "all-time best" tournaments, Super Jeopardy! aired in Summer 1990 on ABC. It featured top players during the first six years of the 1984 syndicated run, plus a notable champion from the original Fleming era. The tournament was similar to the Million Dollar Masters and Ultimate Tournament of Champions (see below), although it was on a much smaller scale than that tournament. The Super Jeopardy! tournament also featured 4 contestants per game (in the first round of the tournament) as opposed to the standard three, and the games were played for points instead of dollars. Bruce Seymour won the tournament and $250,000. Tenth Anniversary Tournament: The Tenth Anniversary Tournament was a five-day tournament aired in 1993 following the conclusion of the regular Tournament of Champions. The winner of that tournament, Tom Nosek, received a bye into the Tenth Anniversary Tournament; the other eight spots were awarded by lottery from among Tournament of Champions finalists and semifinalists of the previous decade (one chosen from each of the eight years the tournament was played). Frank Spangenberg won the tournament with a two-game score of $16,800 plus a $25,000 bonus for a total of $41,800. Teen Reunion Tournament: In November 1998, players from the 1987, 1988, and 1989 Teen Tournaments (including the champions) were invited to Boston to play in a special Teen Reunion Tournament. 1989 Teen Tournament winner Eric Newhouse won the tournament. Million Dollar Masters: In May 2002, to commemorate the Trebek version's 4,000th episode, the show invited fifteen champions to play for a $1 million bonus, under the standard 2-week tournament format. Tapings took place at Radio City Music Hall. The tournament was won by Brad Rutter. Ultimate Tournament of Champions: Jeopardy! televised the Ultimate Tournament of Champions in 2005. This tournament, which was the largest (and longest) in Jeopardy!'s history, pitted 144 former Jeopardy! champions against each other, with two winners moving on to face Ken Jennings in a 3-game final. The final winner was Brad Rutter ($62,000 for the tournament final), winning $2 million, the second-largest single-game prize in game show history. Jennings placed second (with $34,599) and took home $500,000. Jerome Vered finished third ($20,600), collecting $250,000. As a result, Rutter is the all-time highest winner of any game show with $3,270,102 (plus two Camaros), with Jennings a close second with $3,022,700. It is believed that only a small number of the 2,753 episodes from the original NBC Daytime version of Jeopardy! survive, mostly as black-and-white kinescopes of the original color videotapes. In all likelihood, the original tapes were wiped as they were recorded over by NBC with new programming in an era when videotape was an expensive commodity. A demonstration episode dated March 5, 1964 survives as a black-and-white kinescope. The first game for broadcast was taped on March 18, 1964 and was aired March 30, 1964. From the beginning, the show was recorded and broadcast in color. The Museum of Television & Radio in New York City has the 2,000th episode from 1972, an all-time champions match featuring Mel Brooks in character as the 2000 Year Old Man. GSN has aired this episode in its entirety. A clip from an early 1960s episode aired in 2004 during an ABC News Nightline special on Jeopardy! on the night Ken Jennings lost. Two regular play 1974 episodes and the 1975 finale exist among private collectors. The UCLA Film and Television Archive has 14 episodes from this era in their collection: black and white kinescopes of episodes from May 1, 3 and 4 1967 (from the Jeopardy! National College Scholarship Contest featuring high school seniors), color tapes of episodes from March 8, 16, 24, and April 1 and 9, 1971; March 12, 20, 28, and April 5 and 13, 1973; and April 24, 1974. Incomplete paper records of the NBC-era games exist on microfilm at the Library of Congress. The status of the 1978 version is unknown. The first and last episodes of this series are known to exist in broadcast quality; GSN holds the broadcast rights to these two episodes (and presumably any in between, although only the two mentioned have been rebroadcast on the channel). The Trebek version is completely intact. GSN, which like Jeopardy! is an affiliate of Sony Pictures Television, has rerun approximately 8 seasons to date, although they continuously aired the 1997–98 season (14th season) from June 2001 until June 13, 2005. Since then, GSN has been rerunning episodes from the 2001–02 season (Season 18), including a series of 2001 episodes that aired only on about 50 syndicated stations due to the September 11, 2001 attacks. Beginning July 28, 2008, GSN will start airing the 2003-2004 season. There is a 66 game disparity between the show numbers assigned new Jeopardy! episodes and the actual number of Trebek-era games played. To assist subscribing affiliate stations in airing episodes in the correct order, a show number is read by announcer Johnny Gilbert just prior to the taping of each game; this number is audible on the episodes as received by the affiliates, and visible on the slate attached to them, but the slate is trimmed from the show prior to broadcast. Each new episode receives an integer show number 1 greater than the previous episode. However, all 65 reruns in Season 1 (1984-1985) were given new show numbers despite not being new games, and a retrospective clip show that aired May 15, 2002 was also given a show number (#4088). As such, the game with show number #5000 aired on May 12, 2006, but the 5,000th game hosted by Alex Trebek did not air until September 25, 2006. The category is great game shows. Created by Merv Griffin, it has been featured in such flicks as “White Men Can’t Jump,” and it actually requires some gray matter. What is…well, you know. Since its 1964 debut, Jeopardy! has become America’s brainteaser of choice, as addictive as a potent potable. First hosted by the genial Art Fleming and now by stern headmaster Alex Trebek, the daily quiz show is a twist on the usual game show format: instead of asking you a question, it gives you the answer; and you have to figure out what the question is. And, it must be in the form of a question or else it won’t count. The premise is quite simple, but you have to really smart in order to compete on the show (well, being quick on the buzzer wouldn’t hurt either). But, what makes Jeopardy! amazing is that the show has lasted for so long. There a few reasons for this. One is its ability to adapt with the times. After Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? upped the game show ante, Jeopardy! began giving out more money for getting the questions correct; and they changed the length the champion could stay on the show from 5-days to whenever he was defeated. This gave Jeopardy! one of its most exciting periods when Ken Jennings became champion for 74 games and was defeated on a simple question (the answer was about a company that only works 4 months of the year, and he said it was Fed-Ex; “What is H&R Block?” was the correct question). Another reason could be that it requires intelligence. Sure, your average person probably would do well on the show. However, in a way, the show taps into that part of everyone that wishes we were super smart. It is like the ultimate hope for people who gave to be the most intelligent. Another reason could be those funny SNL “Celebrity Jeopardy!” (Sean Connery: I’ll take Jap Anus Relations for $400, Alex. Alex Trebek: That’s Japan U.S. Relations!); I don’t know how, but it could. But, nevertheless, Jeopardy! has permeated our popular culture, and it will continue to do so long after the show has the way of an extinct flightless bird that was endemic to the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. Correct question: What is the dodo?
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 27, 2008 23:03:01 GMT -5
29. The Cosby Show Genre: Sitcom. Created by: Ed. Weinberger, Michael J. Leeson, and William Cosby Jr., Ed.D. Executive Producer(s): Marcy Carsey, Tom Werner, John Markus, Bernie Kukoff, Janet Leahy, and Earl Pomerantz. Starring: Bill Cosby (Dr. Heathcliff "Cliff" Huxtable), Phylicia Rashâd (Clair Olivia Hanks Huxtable), Sabrina LeBeauf (Sondra Huxtable Tibideaux 1985-1992, recurring previously), Geoffrey Owens (Elvin Tibideaux 1987-1992, recurring previously), Lisa Bonet (Denise Huxtable Kendall 1984-1987, 1989-1991), Joseph C. Phillips (Martin Kendall 1989-1991), Malcolm-Jamal Warner (Theodore Aloysius "Theo" Huxtable), Tempestt Bledsoe (Vanessa Huxtable), Keshia Knight Pulliam (Rudith Lillian "Rudy" Huxtable), Raven-Symoné (Olivia Kendall 1989-1992), and Erika Alexander (Pam Tucker 1990-1992). Country of Origin: United States. Number of Seasons: 8. Number of Episodes: 201. Running Time: 24 minutes. Original Channel: NBC. Original Run: September 20, 1984 – April 30, 1992. Spinoffs: A Different World, which followed daughter Denise Huxtable at Hillman College and lasted for six season even though Lisa Bonet left the show after the first season. Several other characters from The Cosby Show later appeared on some episodes of A Different World. The Cosby Show was created by Ed. Weinberger, Michael J. Leeson, and Bill Cosby. The show focused on the Huxtable family, a likable upper-middle class African-American family living in a brownstone in Brooklyn Heights, New York, at 10 Stigwood Avenue. The patriarch was the very playful Heathcliff "Cliff" Huxtable, an obstetrician. The matriarch was his very eloquent wife, attorney Clair (Hanks) Huxtable. The show involved comfortably usual difficulties of children growing up, such as son Theo's experiences of dealing with dyslexia, which was based on Cosby's real-life child Ennis, who was dyslexic. Cosby had an unusually high level of creative control over the show. He wanted the program to be educational, reflecting Cosby's own background in education. He also insisted that the program be taped in New York City rather than Los Angeles, where most television programs were taped. The series was videotaped at the Kaufman Astoria Studios in the New York City borough of Queens. Although the cast and characters were predominantly African-American, the program is unusual in that issues of race were rarely mentioned when compared to other situation comedies of the time, such as The Jeffersons. However, The Cosby Show had African-American themes, such as civil rights marches, and it frequently promoted African-American and African culture represented by artists and musicians such as Jacob Lawrence, Miles Davis, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Lena Horne, Duke Ellington and Miriam Makeba. The Cosby Show pilot episode uses the same title sequence as the rest of the first season, and is widely regarded as the 'first episode'. However, it is notable for a number of differences from the remainder of the series. In the pilot, the Huxtables have only four children. Following the pilot, the Huxtables have five children, with the addition of their eldest daughter, Sondra (Sabrina Le Beauf). Sondra was created when Bill Cosby wanted the show to express the accomplishment of successfully raising a child (e.g.- a college graduate). Whitney Houston was considered for the role of Sondra Huxtable. Sabrina LeBeauf almost missed out on the role because she is only 10 years younger (b. 1958) than Phylicia Rashad (b. 1948), who played her mother, Clair Huxtable, on the show. Bill Cosby's character is called "Clifford" in the pilot (as also evidenced by his name plate on the exterior of the Huxtable home). His name was later switched to "Heathcliff". Additionally, Vanessa refers to Theo as "Teddy" twice in the dining room scene. The interior of the Huxtables' home features an entirely different living room from subsequent episodes, and different color schemes in the dining room and the master bedroom. Throughout the remainder of the series, the dining room is reserved for more formal occasions. Furthermore, it is implied that Cosby's screen wife Clair is more of a housewife in the pilot, rather than the lawyer she came to be known as. The show's theme music, "Kiss Me", was composed by Stu Gardner and Bill Cosby. Seven versions of this theme were used during the run of the series, making it one of the few television series to use multiple versions of the same theme song over the course of a series. Season seven's opening credits were originally those that were ultimately used in season eight. Due to legal complications regarding the background mural, season seven's opening was changed to the previous season's opening. The original season seven opening, with modifications, was used in the eighth and final season. The Cosby Show is one of two television shows (All in the Family being the other) that has been #1 in the Nielsen Ratings for 5 consecutive seasons. According to TV Guide, the show "was TV's biggest hit in the 1980s, and almost single-handedly revived the sitcom genre and NBC's ratings fortunes". Originally, the show had been pitched to ABC, which rejected it. Entertainment Weekly stated that The Cosby Show helped to make possible a larger variety of shows based on African Americans, from In Living Color to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The Cosby Show was also one of the first successful sitcoms based on the subject matter of a standup comedian’s act, blazing a trail for other such successful programs as Roseanne, Home Improvement, The Drew Carey Show, Seinfeld, and Everybody Loves Raymond. In a 1992 book, authors Sut Jhally and Justin Lewis use the results of an audience study to argue that The Cosby Show obscured the issues of class and race and reinforced the belief that African-Americans have only themselves to blame if they don't succeed in society and ignoring that racism still exists and can be a factor in society. Seasons 1 and 2 were released on DVD in Region 1 by UrbanWorks which was subsequently acquired by First Look Studios in early 2006. First Look Studios has since released seasons 3-8 on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time. Magna Pacific has released seasons one through four of The Cosby Show on DVD in Australia and New Zealand, with similar artwork to the North American copies, although season two is red rather than blue. Each Australasian cover also features the tagline "In a house full of love, there is always room for more." The Season 1 DVD only contains the edited versions of the episodes aired in syndication. However, all subsequent DVD releases contain the original, uncut broadcast versions. The Cosby Show's producers created a spin-off series called A Different World that was centered around the "Denise" character (portrayed by actress Lisa Bonet), the second of the Huxtables' four daughters. Initially, the new program dealt with Denise's life at Hillman College, the fictional historically black college from which her father, mother, and paternal grandfather had graduated. Denise was written out of A Different World after its inaugural season, due to Bonet's pregnancy, and the following season was revamped, with the addition of director Debbie Allen and new characters. Denise later became a recurring character on The Cosby Show for Seasons 4-5, and a regular again in Seasons 6-7. It’s amazing how one show can come along and have a huge and lasting impact on TV, and The Cosby Show was one such show. Just look at the first episode. In that episode, son Theo gets his ear pierced. When his father Heathcliff finds out, he chews his son out. However, Theo makes a passionate speech to his father about how he should accept him for who he is. And, Heathcliff looks at his son and says “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve heard in my life!” Then, he chews Theo out some more. From that moment on, we knew this was a family show in which the parents would be smarter than the kids and that this show was going to be different. Just for the record, we owe Thursday night as we know it to William H. Cosby Jr. Ed.D. Before The Cosby Show, a sweet-hearted look at the earnestly upper-middle class Huxtable clan, NBC was in third place in the ratings and the fifths night of the week was simply the day before Friday. But The Cosby Show’s ascension made for must-see TV years before that overused promo line began assaulting the national psyche. At a time when television was dominated by car chases, gunplay, and miniskirts, and sitcoms were considered passé, The Cosby Show was something of a return to grace. Created by Cosby, Ed. Weinberger, and Michael Leeson, the show centered on Heathcliff and Clair Huxtable (Rashad), a blessedly sane doctor-and-lawyer married couple, and their five precocious children. And that was that. Just life with the Huxtables. Period. “You have to remember how different a show we were proposing,” executive producer Tom Werner told Time Magazine in 1987. “Instead of getting laughs from arguments and conflicts…we were going for subtler humor.” Life lessons like the death of a gold fish, bad grades, and the borrowing of Dad’s car all served as the bedrock for Cosby’s particular brand of smirking, my-way-or-the-subway merriment. And, that subtler approach worked. For five consecutive seasons, Cosby was rated No. 1, a record only equaled by All In The Family. Wisely, NBC built on the Cosby foundation, and, with shows like Cheers, L.A. Law, and Miami Vice, became America’s No. 1 network. But, there were other reasons The Cosby Show was such a great show besides turning NBC’s fortunes around and assuring today’s viewers that The Office and My Name Is Earl would have the perfect night to become hits. The obvious one is the fact that The Huxtables were an African American family. When the show premiered, viewers saw on TV an upper-middle class black family just being, doing what families do, and free of the street drama and ghetto stereotypes that burdened programs like Good Times and Sanford and Son (don’t get me wrong; this didn’t hurt the shows, but it was nice that a show with African Americans free from the ghetto was made). For the first time, people were invited into the lives of Americans who just happened to be African. Another would be the fact it launched numerous shows based on the routines of stand-up comics, like Ray Romano, Tim Allen, Drew Carey, and Jerry Seinfeld. But, what really made The Cosby Show so great was it united a nation with genuinely relatable comedy. It had no irony, no cruelty, and not zippy cultural references; and it was all the better for it. Since Seinfeld, "hugging and learning" have come to stand for a certain kind of namby-pamby network comedy. But while there was hugging on The Cosby Show, Dr. Huxtable's love for his kids was filtered through the wry, no-guff sensibility that Bill Cosby developed on his comedy records. And the learning was literal, as the throughline of the series was son Theo Huxtable's struggles with dyslexia. (The plot became poignant with the 1997 murder of Cosby's son Ennis, on whom Theo was based.) And, what is really amazing and ironic is how The Cosby Show gave birth to the dysfunctional family sitcom. In just a few years it would be the standard that The Simpsons and Married…With Children rebelled against; Married…With Children was even going to be called Not The Cosby Show. TV owes a lot to William H. Cosby Jr., Ed.D. By introducing TV to upper-middle class African Americans, the show gave us a realistic sitcom family that America actually could learn from, saved a network, made Thursday must-see, gave stand-up comics more work, and gave birth to a genre that rebelled against it. Like I said, it’s amazing how one show can change TV and have a huge and lasting impact on it.
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 27, 2008 23:04:48 GMT -5
Tomorrow, numbers 28 and 27. Here are the hints:
What the judicial system is, and Leno's competitor.
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 28, 2008 19:10:18 GMT -5
Countdown time, countdown time! Here's number 28: 28. Law & Order Genre: Police Procedural and Legal Drama. Created by: Dick Wolf Executive Producer(s): Dick Wolf (1990-present), Joseph Stern (1990-1993), Walon Green (1992-2006), Edwin Sherin (1993-2000), Rene Balcer (1994-present), Arthur W. Forney (1994-present), Ed Zuckerman (1994-present), Michael S. Chernuchin (1994-2004), Jeffrey L. Hayes (1994-2004), Lewis Gould (1994-2003), Kathy McCormick (1997-2001), William N. Fordes (1999-present), Richard Sweren (1999-present), Barry Schindel (1999-2002), William M. Finkelstein (2000-2001), Arthur Penn (2000-2001), Peter Jankowski (2001-present), Wendy Battles (2001-2006), Roz Weinman (2001-2005), Eric Overmyer (2002-2005), Matthew Penn (2003-2007), Peter Guiliano (2004-2006), Nicholas Wootton (2005-2007), Chris Levinson (2005-2007), Rick Eid (2005-2007), David Wilcox (2006-present), Lukas Reiter (2006-2007), Robert Nathan (2006-2007), Fred Berner (2008), and Stephanie Sengupta (2008). Starring: George Dzundza (Sgt. Max Greevey, 1990), Chris Noth (Det. Mike Logan 1990-1995), Dann Florek (Capt. Don Cragen 1990-1993), Michael Moriarty (Exec. ADA Ben Stone 1990-1994), Richard Brooks (ADA Paul Robinette 1990-1993), Steven Hill (DA Adam Schiff 1990-2000), Paul Sorvino (Sgt. Phil Cerreta 1991-1992), Carolyn McCormick (Dr. Elizabeth Olivet 1991-1997, 2002-present), Jerry Orbach (Det. Lennie Briscoe 1992-2004), S. Epatha Merkerson (Lt. Anita Van Buren 1993-present), Jill Hennessy (ADA Claire Kincaid 1993-1996), Sam Waterston (Exec. ADA, later DA, Jack McCoy 1994-present), Benjamin Bratt (Det. Rey Curtis 1995-1999), Carey Lowell (ADA Jamie Ross 1996-1998), Angie Harmon (ADA Abbie Carmichael 1998-2001), Jesse L. Martin (Det. Ed Green 1999-2008), Dianne Wiest (DA Nora Lewin 2000-2002), Elisabeth Röhm (Serena Southerlyn 2001-2005), Fred Dalton Thompson (DA Arthur Branch 2002-2007), Dennis Farina (Det. Joe Fontana 2004-2006), Annie Parisse (ADA Alexandra Borgia 2005-2006), Milena Govich (Det. Nina Cassady 2006-2007), Alana de la Garza (ADA Connie Rubirosa 2006-present), Jeremy Sisto (Det. Cyrus Lupo 2008-present), Linus Roache (Exec. ADA Michael Cutter 2008-present), and Anthony Anderson (Det. Kevin Bernard 2008-present). Country of Origin: United States. Number of Seasons: 18. Number of Episodes: 410. Running Time: 60 minutes. Original Channel: NBC. Original Run: September 13, 1990 – present Spinoffs: “Exiled: A Law & Order Movie” (1998), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999), Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001), Law & Order: Trial By Jury (2005), and a UK version, Law & Order: London. Law & Order was created by Dick Wolf. Set in New York City, the series mainly follows the professional lives of several police officers and prosecutors who represent the public interest in the criminal justice system. The characters frequently encounter dilemmas and frustrations as cases go through the stages of investigation, arrest, negotiation and trial. Matters are rarely resolved easily or satisfactorily for the people involved. The pilot episode was produced to be sold to CBS in 1988, but was rejected by that network. When NBC picked up the series in 1990, the pilot aired as episode six. The show is produced by Universal Media Studios, formerly known as NBC Universal Television Studio, Universal Television, and Studios USA. It has been syndicated on other United States networks since 1994, as well as worldwide. According to news reports in 2005, the Law & Order franchise (including all the different series) generates around $1 billion in annual revenues for NBC Universal and its cable partners (a February 2005 NBC financial presentation states that NBC's share of this revenue (including syndication and advertising) is more than $550 million). Law & Order has been shot on film in widescreen format since its inception, as evidenced by syndication on TNT-HD. This also presents the unique oddity that since reruns of older seasons began broadcasting in HD in 2005; they have provided more (previously cropped) material than when the episodes were first run broadcast in 4:3. Since 2002, first run episodes have also aired in HD. Since May 9, 2008, TNT has broadcast Law and Order episodes in widescreen. The series is broadcast in Canada on CTV and Sister Station A-Channel. Reruns can be seen regularly each weeknight and weekday afternoons on TNT (U.S.) and weekdays at 1:00 p.m. and weeknights at 11 p.m. on Bravo! (Canada). It can be seen in the UK with new episodes first showing on the cable and satellite channel Sky One and later on Sky Two with a terrestrial airing on Five and repeats of the early seasons are being shown on the Hallmark Channel. It was recently announced that the Law & Order franchise would be screened on Five US. In late March 2006, a shift of time slot resulted in a significant drop in ratings, but a return to the original time slot on April 5, 2006, triggered an improvement of ratings. For the 2006-2007 season, both Law & Order and Criminal Intent were placed in new time slots. In this season's time slot, Fridays at 10pm, Law & Order averaged 9.3 million viewers, down again from 11.6 million in the previous season. By comparison, Criminal Intent averaged 9.7 million viewers on Tuesdays at 9pm and SVU averaged 12.9 million viewers during its time slot. On May 14, 2007, the network announced plans for an eighteenth season with the series moving to Sundays at 8pm. Under NBC's agreement, Law & Order premiered its 18th season on NBC in January 2008 while new episodes of Criminal Intent now premiere on NBC Universal's USA network with reruns slated to appear on NBC. This is an unusual role reversal in NBC and USA's shared or second window syndication arrangement. When the future of the Law & Order staple was in doubt, TNT, which airs re-runs of the show, emerged as a contender to become the new home either of Law & Order or Law & Order Criminal Intent. The series was to return mid-season on Sundays at 8pm but on December 3, after the writers' strike had begun, NBC announced that it would begin airing the already-filmed eighteenth-season episodes starting on January 2, 2008, thus returning the series to Wednesday evenings. Despite its recent ratings troubles, producer Dick Wolf expressed optimism about the show's future, also saying that his "ultimate dream" is for the series to continue long enough to surpass Gunsmoke (1955–1975) as the longest-running network drama series on American television. Recently, NBC released its 2008-09 lineup, and Law & Order is included in the January - May schedule, indicating the show will be back for a 19th season. According to Digitalspy, ITV1 is in negotiations for the rights to create a UK version of Law and Order, to be titled Law & Order: London. It remains to be announced if the new series will go ahead. The program generally follows a two-tiered format, with the first portion of each episode devoted to the investigation of a crime and the second portion depicting its prosecution. The format is almost identical to a 1960s series titled Arrest and Trial, although the similarities are considered to be coincidental (though both shows are currently owned by NBC Universal). Law & Order creator Dick Wolf was reportedly unaware of them when he created his series. Most Law & Order episodes are self-contained, with only a few exceptions over the many years of production. The following statement, narrated by Steven Zirnkilton, is spoken at the beginning of nearly every episode (but not those shown on Five in Britain): “In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the police who investigate crime, and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories.” The cold open, lead-in of the show usually is a slice of life in New York (walking a dog in Manhattan, jogging in Central Park, etc.) unrelated to the main story until the character(s) in the scene suddenly discover, witness, or become victims of a crime (mostly murder). The scene cuts to the police's preliminary crime scene examination wherein the featured detectives make their first observations and proffer theories followed by a witticism, or two, before the title sequence begins. The police are represented in the show by the police lieutenant of Manhattan's fictional 27th Precinct and two homicide detectives, a senior partner and a junior partner. The detectives investigate the crime, collect evidence and interview witnesses, and then regularly report to the lieutenant. The evidence leads to the arrest of one or more suspects. The matter then is taken over by the prosecutors of the Manhattan District Attorney's office, comprising the district attorney, the executive assistant district attorney, and an assistant prosecutor. They discuss deals, prepare the witnesses and evidence, and conduct the people's case in the trial. Both the detectives and prosecutors work with the medical examiner's office, the crime laboratory, and psychiatrists from the police and district attorney offices. Unlike most legal dramas (e.g. Perry Mason), the proceedings are from the prosecution's point of view and indicate that it can be as difficult to convict the guilty as it is to clear the innocent. The prosecution portion also is unusual in that it shows more legal proceedings than just the trial. The second half mostly opens with an arraignment and proceeds to trial preparation; however, the show does, on occasion, deviate from format and centers either on indictment proceedings before a grand jury, a motion hearing, jury selection, or an allocution upon entering a plea of guilty, usually as a part of a plea bargain. It is very uncommon for legal dramas to show grand jury proceedings; this usually is seen once or twice per season, with a trial being the norm. Grand jury episodes focus on the difficulty of obtaining an indictment for a particular accused person and often end with a guilty plea and allocution to quickly conclude the show. Often the plot of an initial portion of an episode resembles a recognizable aspect of an actual case, such as the 1998 episode "Tabloid", wherein a woman is killed in a car crash after being chased by a gossip reporter, similarly to Princess Diana's death in August 1997. This "ripped from the headlines" theme is reflected in the opening credits sequence that evolves from newspaper halftones to high-resolution photos. The rest of the plot, however, usually diverges significantly from the actual events that may have inspired the episode. Promotional advertisements of episodes with close real-life case parallels often use the "ripped from the headlines" phrase, although a textual disclaimer, within the actual episode, emphasizes that the story and characters are fictional. This format lends itself to exploring different outcomes or motives that similar events could have had under other circumstances. Because of the format's nature, the detectives rarely encounter a simple murder where the murderer does little to hide his or her guilt (actually very common). Instead, the detectives often have few or no good clues (they might not know the victim's identity) and must chase several dead ends before finding a likely suspect. Towards the middle of a show, the police begin working with the prosecutors to make the arrest, and an arraignment scene follows. The police may reappear to testify in court or to arrest another suspect, but most investigation in the second segment is done by the assistant DAs, who always consult with the district attorney for advice on the case. Virtually all episodes employ motions to suppress evidence as a plot device, and most of these end with evidence or statements being suppressed, often on a technicality, that provide a dramatic obstacle to continued prosecution. This formulaic device begins with the service of the motion to the ADAs, often by the defense attorney, follows with argument and case citations of precedent before a judge in some setting, and concludes with visual reaction of the losing attorney, usually Jack McCoy. Another dramatic staple occurs either during a confession to police, or at trial, or a rationalization of the defendant's actions at trial, guilt notwithstanding. Whether it is given as an account of the crime, by a witness, or a trial confession, by the defendant, it emphasizes the raw humanity of the event, sometimes eliciting sympathy for the defendant. Another dramatic tradition is when the prosecutors order a particular suspect arrested and the scene immediately cuts to the detectives barging into whatever activity the suspect is engaged to make the arrest. The series has a number of distinctive stylistic touches. The show is shot on location in New York and is known for its extensive use of local color. In recent seasons, New York City mayors Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg, attorney William Kunstler and Bronx Congressman Jose E. Serrano all have appeared on the show as themselves, adding a realistic dimension to the program. While most of the locations are real, there are two notable exceptions. The fictional Stuyvesant College (which resembles New York University), Gramercy College, and Hudson University (which resembles Columbia University) are often used for college settings and The New York Ledger is typically the tabloid newspaper mentioned and is heavily based on the real-life New York Post. In one episode The Sentinel was used as a competing paper similar to The New York Times. All are amalgams of actual New York institutions. The real-life New York Daily News has also appeared in the series. Local personalities also have had recurring cameos as fictional characters, such as Donna Hanover and Fran Lebowitz as judges. On September 14, 2004, in New York City, a road leading to Pier 62 at Chelsea Piers (where the series is mostly shot) was renamed "Law & Order Way" in tribute to the series. Because both the interior and exterior filming all occur in New York City, the series has access to a wide variety of regular and guest actors who perform in the legitimate theater. Many times these actors are available for shooting during the day while performing on Broadway in the evening or between engagements. Jerry Orbach (Detective Lennie Briscoe) had a long career on the Broadway stage, as has his series partner Jesse L. Martin (Detective Ed Green). Other stage talent with recurring roles include Tovah Feldshuh and Philip Bosco. Linus Roache also joined the cast last season and has done considerable work with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Most scene changes are preceded with a black screen with white text at the bottom. This title card indicates the location and date and time of the events to be portrayed. Occasionally the card shows the time advancing by seconds, most often used when the episode's plot makes time a concern (such as a kidnapping). This is accompanied by a tone, which has been described as a "chung chung" sound. It was originally developed to sound like a barred door in a jail cell slamming shut. In promos for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit reruns on the USA Network, actor Dann Florek refers to the sound as the "doink doink," while Richard Belzer refers to it as the sound of a judge's gavel. According to IMDb.com, it "was created by combining close to a dozen sounds, including that of a group of monks stamping on a floor." The show's cast of police and lawyers are portrayed as basically honest professionals who rarely stray from the boundaries of accepted procedure and usually solve crimes by the book, although occasional cases hit home and the detectives and/or ADAs become somewhat personally invested in the case. With the exception of the Season 6 finale and several episodes at the end of Season 8, the show does not employ subplots, and the private lives of the characters are only mentioned in passing. Law & Order is thus known as a plot-driven, as opposed to character-driven, police procedural. Law & Order is noted for its revolving cast; in fact, none of the original six cast members are currently on the program, although Chris Noth, who played Detective Mike Logan, currently appears on Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Dann Florek, who played Capt. Don Cragen, appears on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, both reprising their characters from the original cast. Though many cast members stay for only a few seasons, the continual replacement of actors has not appeared to harm the program's popularity. Until its seventeenth season, when ratings dropped sharply, it could be suggested that the transforming cast has contributed to the longevity of the series because the regular appearance of new faces has constantly changed the show's dynamic, allowing it to repeatedly reinvent itself. Five long-serving exceptions are Steven Hill as D.A. Adam Schiff (1990-2000), Jerry Orbach as Detective Lennie Briscoe (1992-2004), S. Epatha Merkerson as Lt. Anita Van Buren (1993-present), Sam Waterston as A.D.A./D.A. Jack McCoy (1994-present), and Jesse L. Martin as Detective Ed Green (1999-2008). Steven Hill was the last member of the first season cast to leave the show, though even he did not appear in the series' pilot episode. It is widely believed that the Adam Schiff character was based on real life New York County District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau who still serves in the post at age 88. Notable guest stars over the years include Julia Roberts, James Earl Jones, Samuel L. Jackson, Chevy Chase, Tom Berenger, Laura Linney, Eric Bogosian, Alan King, Gary Busey, Nancy Marchand, Claire Danes, Harry Hamlin, Chris Cooper, William H. Macy, Jennifer Beals, Werner Klemperer, Candice Bergen, Ellen Pompeo, Edie Falco, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Cynthia Nixon, Mandy Patinkin, Patrick Stump, Mercedes Ruehl, Michael Rooker, Kevin Smith, Michael Imperioli, Vincent Pastore and most recently, Tom Everett Scott. The show's popularity has resulted in a Law & Order franchise with the creation of three other television dramas under the same brand: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999), and Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001). These two shows focus more on the police side of a case. A short-lived spinoff, Law & Order: Trial by Jury (2005), which lasted only 12 episodes, focused almost entirely on courtroom drama, but was pulled off due to low ratings, becoming the first series of the franchise to be canceled. Every spinoff uses the same theme music as the original series, albeit with differing arrangements (harder guitars for the original Criminal Intent theme, for instance). Law & Order shown on Five in the UK uses Rob Dougan's "I'm Not Driving Any More [Instrumental]" as the theme music; Law & Order: Crimnal Intent uses Rob Dougan's "It's Only Me [Instrumental]" as the theme music. The latest and now canceled spinoff, Conviction, was only loosely related to the original. While Alexandra Cabot (Stephanie March) from SVU was one of the lead characters, and a cameo by Fred Thompson tied it into the same continuity, it did not bear the "Law & Order" title, nor did it use the Law & Order theme music and scene transitions. In addition, Conviction had no coverage of the police investigations and followed the prosecutors' entire lives, rather than just the cases they argue in court. UK broadcaster ITV has secured the rights to a 13-episode series entitled Law & Order: London, to be based on the scripts for this series. The series is to be produced by Kudos in association with Wolf Films and NBC. Law & Order crossed over six times with other NBC shows: "Charm City" (L&O ep 6–13), continued in "For God and Country" (Homicide: Life on the Street ep 4–12) "Baby, It's You – Part I" (L&O ep 8–6), continued in "Baby, It's You – Part II" (Homicide: Life on the Street ep 6–5) "Sideshow – Part I" (L&O ep 9–14), continued in "Sideshow – Part II" (Homicide: Life on the Street ep 7–15) "Entitled – Part I" (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit ep 1–15), continued in "Entitled – Part II" (L&O ep 10–14) "Tombstone" (L&O ep 15–20), continued in "Skeleton" (Law & Order: Trial by Jury ep 1–8) "Design" (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit ep 7–2), continued in "Flaw" (L&O ep 16–2) While not considered a cross over episode, Chris Noth appears in the before-the-credits sequence of the Homicide episode "Law and Disorder" (H:LotS ep 3–15). Taking place entirely in a Baltimore train station, Logan hands off a prisoner (John Waters) to Frank Pembleton (Andre Braugher). The two detectives engage in some friendly banter about which city is better: New York City or Baltimore. They argue over topics such as Babe Ruth and Dorothy Parker. There was also a TV movie called “Exiled: A Law & Order Movie” (1998), which featured the fate of Mike Logan (played by Chris Noth), one of the popular characters who departed the series. Noth has since returned to the role of Detective Mike Logan starting in the 2005–2006 season of Criminal Intent. The producers crafted a reality television series, Crime & Punishment (also sometimes called Law & Order: Crime & Punishment) (2002), which focused on actual trials. In addition, there are three computer games of Law & Order in which the player investigates crimes and then prosecutes the resulting cases: There is also a computer game based on the "Law and Order: Criminal Intent" franchise. A few books have been written based on the show: Law and Order: Dead Line When a woman's body is found at the bottom of a hotel air shaft in Times Square, it looks like a routine suicide. Enter Detectives. Lennie Briscoe and Ed Green. Something about the woman seems out of place in the tourist trap. Her clothing suggests wealth. No socialite would be caught dead in a place like this. The trail leads to an about-to-be published tell-all novel destined to be a best-seller. Now Briscoe and Green have to find out what's in it that's worth murder. Law & Order: The Unofficial Companion (published 11/99 by) The Unofficial Companion was written with the cooperation of the show's creator and executive producer, Dick Wolf, and features interviews with the stars, producers, and writers. It is the first-ever guide to this popular, Emmy award-winning police drama. You'll get the inside scoop on: the past and current stars of the show-including Paul Sorvino, Jerry Orbach, Jesse L. Martin, Chris Noth, S. Epatha Merkerson, Sam Waterston, Carey Lowell, Angie Harmon, and Michael Moriarty; and find out who was fired, who left willingly, and who remains; the show's continued problems with censorship issues and advertiser fallout; the behind-the-scenes anecdotes about cast regulars, including the fights, both verbal and physical, that have peppered the production; how Wolf was forced to increase the estrogen and decrease the testosterone on the show; the detailed history behind the creation and development of the show; and season-by-season critiques of each episode through the entire 1999 season. Law & Order: Crime Scenes (published 12/03 by Sterling) written by Dick Wolf describing the setup, and the thoughts that goes into producing the crime scenes. True Stories of Law & Order (published 11/06 by Berkley/Penguin) chronicles 25 real cases that inspired some of the most popular "ripped from the headlines" episodes of the show. Authors Kevin Dwyer and Juré Fiorillo discuss famous cases including the Bernie Goetz subway shootings, the murder of Jennifer Levin in Central Park, and the San Francisco dog mauling of Diane Whipple, as well as lesser-known crimes such as the death by exorcism of Torrance Cantrell and the tragic murder of Anthony Riggs, a soldier who returned from the Gulf War only to be ambushed by a hitman hired by his wife. The book also includes facts about police and legal procedure. One of the marks of a good TV show is longevity. Another is the fact that a show has built such an audience that people will continue to watch even though many or all the original cast have left the show. Law & Order is a testimony to the power of a great concept in that the show has gone on for 19 seasons and survived after its entire original cast has left. With its ingeniously simple structure (in the first half hour, police book ‘em; in the second half hour, prosecutors cook ‘em), new characters could be replaced: George Dzunda was replaced by Paul Sorvino, who was replaced by Jerry Orbach, who was also replaced by Denis Farina. Chris Noth’s role as the junior detective got taken over by Benjamin Bratt, which got taken over by Jesse L. Martin, and then by Milena Govich, and then by Jeremy Sisto, and then by Anthony Anderson. Also Martin and Sisto became the senior detectives. And, there is the revolving door that is the ADA role: Richard Brooks, Jill Hennessy, Carey Lowell, Angie Harmon, Elisabeth Röhm, Annie Parisse, and Alana de la Garza. In fact, only two people on the show today have been on the show for more than a decade: Sam Waterson and S. Epatha Merkerson. But from the 1990 pilot, only one character has remained constant (and it is neither Waterson nor Merkerson): New York City. Shot on location, Law & Order has always captured the Big Apple’s unmistakably bitter flavor, its story lines often ripped from the newspapers and local tabloids (one episode was very similar to the Unabomber case; another had Chevy Chase as a drunken celebrity who made some anti-Semitic remarks, right after Mel Gibson got arrested for drunk driving and did the same). Initially, NBC’s Law & Order seemed downright monkish with its all-male cast and ascetic aversion to delving into its characters’ private lives (a characteristic perhaps best personified by Michael Moriarty as all-work-and-no-play ADA Ben Stone). But things loosened up as women joined the cast in 1993 and the showier Sam Waterson took over for Moriarty in 1994. Slowly, we began to learn more about the characters (for example, Lowell’s ADA Jamie Ross fought for custody of her kid). However, the focus is still on the cases and not the characters personal lives (we did learn that Röhm’s Serena Southerlyn was a lesbian until she got fired). Despite the cast changes, as the years passed, Law & Order became more successful, with two successful spinoffs: Special Victims Unit and Criminal Intent, and respected; it finally won an Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series in 1997. It was a long-overdue reward for one of TV’s most captivating pleasures.
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 28, 2008 21:20:15 GMT -5
27. The Late Show With David Letterman Genre: Talk Show, Variety Show. Created by: Unknown. Executive Producer(s): Robert Morton (1993-1996), Rob Burnett (1996-Present), Barbara Gaines (2000-Present), Maria Pope (2000-Present), and Jude Brennan (2003-Present). Starring: David Letterman, Paul Shaffer, the CBS Orchestra, Bill Wendell (Announcer 1993-1995), and Alan Kalter (Announcer 1995-Present). Country of Origin: United States. Number of Seasons: 15. Number of Episodes: 2,950 (as of June 27, 2008). Running Time: 62 and 30 seconds. Original Channel: CBS. Original Run: August 30, 1993 – present. Spinoffs: None, but David Letterman hosted Late Night with David Letterman from 1982 to 1993. From 1982 to 1993, David Letterman hosted Late Night, the talk show that followed The Tonight Show, on NBC. In 1993, he left NBC to host a late night talk show on CBS, The Late Show. Letterman's decision to leave NBC was largely provoked by the network's decision in 1992 to have comedian Jay Leno succeed Johnny Carson as host of The Tonight Show. Letterman, Carson, and many others had long assumed that Letterman's years of service to NBC would be sufficient to result in him becoming the new host, but NBC ultimately chose Leno, likely due to Letterman's consistent public mockery of NBC executives in the past, as well as a belief that Leno would have more mainstream appeal. Letterman was reportedly angry and disappointed at NBC for not giving him the job on The Tonight Show, and at Johnny Carson's advice, Letterman left the NBC network after 11 years on Late Night. NBC later explained that Dave's high ratings were the reason the network kept him where he was. Conan O'Brien later replaced Letterman on Late Night. Many erroneously still refer to Letterman's current show as Late Night, often resulting in Letterman or fans pointing out that while Late Night still exists, it airs on NBC and is hosted in its current incarnation by Conan O'Brien, whom Letterman has often publicly supported as his successor (Late Night is now co-produced by Lorne Michaels' Broadway Video and O'Brien's Conaco). When Letterman moved to CBS and began the Late Show, several of Late Night's long-running comedy bits made the move with him. Letterman renamed a few of his regular bits to avoid legal problems over trademark infringement (NBC cited that what he did on Late Night was "intellectual property" of the network.). "Viewer Mail" on NBC became the "CBS Mailbag", and Larry "Bud" Melman began to use his real name, Calvert DeForest. Paul Shaffer's "World's Most Dangerous Band" became "The CBS Orchestra," a not-so-subtle jab at NBC regarding the show's new home, and a play on the NBC Orchestra of the long running The Tonight Show. Letterman's signature bit, the Top Ten List, was perfunctorily renamed the "Late Show Top Ten List" (over time it was simply referred to again by its original name). After Letterman was introduced on the Late Show's very first episode, NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw accompanied him on stage and wished him luck "within reason." As part of a pre-arranged act, Brokaw then proceeded to retrieve a pair of cue cards while stating that "These last two jokes are the intellectual property of NBC!" After he carried them off stage, Letterman then responded, "Who would of thought you would ever hear the words 'intellectual property' and 'NBC' at the same time?" Ratings-wise, Letterman's Late Show would enjoy a consistent domination over Leno's Tonight Show in its first few years. Leno won the audience back on July 10, 1995, starting with a Hugh Grant interview, after Grant's much-publicized arrest for picking up an LA prostitute. At times Letterman would even come in third in the late night timeslot behind Nightline (most recent occurrence happened in August of 2006), prompting him at one point to arrange for a Manhattan billboard proudly declaring himself and his show to be "#3 in Late Night," aping an older, nearby billboard which promoted Leno and The Tonight Show as #1. Despite ratings, the Late Show remains one of CBS's most profitable programs. In recent years, Letterman and the Late Show have openly made jokes in reference to Leno, although it is often done in a self-deprecating manner. Such jokes usually refer to The Tonight Show's consistent (and perhaps frustrating) lead in the ratings, a common example being where a guest presenter of the Top Ten List will use one of the entries to declare his or her preference for Leno, resulting in Letterman feigning humiliation or surprise. In a "What Things Cost" sketch in 2000, Letterman explained that it cost $10,000 to keep an open phone line with actor Leonard Nimoy. Upon thanking Nimoy for his help, Nimoy tersely admitted that he was unable to talk because "I'm watching Leno." From November 11, 2002 to February 14, 2003, the show was simulcast on several CBS-owned radio stations. The show's Top Ten List continues to be syndicated as a short-form feature. The episodes are structured in the following structure: Act 1/Introduction: Early shows included a cold open, which featured Letterman in a baseball cap interacting with a celebrity. This practice was revived, albeit irregularly, in the summer of 2006. It often features Letterman in the green room, without a jacket on, talking to a Late Show staffer, usually former writer Gerard Mulligan or executive producer Jude Brennan, with Letterman being the butt of a joke. The show's opening credits feature a series of shots of New York City (which have changed over the years) as the CBS Orchestra performs the Late Show theme (a livelier variation of the more jazzy Late Night theme). Announcer Alan Kalter proclaims "From New York: the greatest city in the world! It's the Late Show with David Letterman!" He announces the names of that night's guests, as well as Paul Shaffer and the CBS Orchestra. Kalter finally introduces Letterman with a humorous modification, such as "And now, the one-stop shop for all your bridal needs: David Letterman!" Letterman then walks out on the show stage to perform his monologue, which often begins with an inside reference to something an audience member said to him during the pre-show Q&A; the scripted monologue jokes are usually based on pop culture, current events, and politics. The monologue is followed by Letterman's introduction of Shaffer and the CBS Orchestra, who then perform briefly. On most nights, Letterman will walk to his desk where he then chats with the audience and Shaffer, relating an unscripted personal story, discussing his anticipation of a particular upcoming guest, or continuing a running gag. He then explains who the scheduled guests are. The show usually then transitions to a series of brief sketch comedy bits, which often consist of humorous commercials, disclaimers, video clips, or props. As of the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike hiatus, common skits include "Great Moments in Presidential Speeches" that display FDR and Kennedy making speeches, then George W. Bush making a mistake in his speech. They are then followed by a more elaborate live or pre-taped skit, although the skit (such as "Small Town News" and "Fun Facts") has been preceded by a commercial break. Act 2: After returning from a commercial break, Letterman often reads the Top Ten List at this point before turning to guest interviews with a celebrity, politician, or public figure. On some nights Act 2 is instead dedicated to another comedy segment involving guest participants, such as Stupid Pet Tricks or Kid Scientists. Act 3: On most nights, the first guest stays on through the commercial break and continues the interview, especially if he or she is a more well-known figure. In other instances, a second guest is brought out at this point. Act 4: This segment is sometimes dedicated to a second scheduled guest. Occasionally, this guest is actually carried over from Act 3 and given two segments, with the first guest only being given one. On other nights, Act 4 will instead be dedicated to Letterman presenting either a Top Ten List or comedy bit involving a crew member. Act 5: This segment often consists of an "audience sweep," where a camera pans across the applauding audience from side to side. A brief comedy bit or announcement, usually involving Kalter, is then superimposed over the sweep. In earlier episodes, Letterman would return to his running gag during this break, or retry a failed stunt from earlier in the show. Act 6: The final guest of the show is usually featured here. In most instances, this consists of a live musical performance, although it may instead be dedicated to another interview, or a guest comedian performing a stand-up routine on the stage. The CBS Orchestra frequently assists musical guests in performing their songs. Act 7: The episode concludes with Letterman at his desk, who then will often comment to Shaffer on the final guest, or that night's episode in general. He will then thank all the guests who appeared before announcing the next night's guests. Letterman then ends the show, usually saying "Good night everybody!" As the CBS Orchestra is seen performing the Late Show theme, a truncated closing credit sequence consisting of only copyright and ticket information is presented. On rare occasions when time allows, a full credit sequence listing the show's entire crew is shown. After the closing, a Worldwide Pants production logo is displayed with an authoritative but non-sequitur voice-over, such as "Mmm... waffles." The Late Show has various repeated absurdist segments, including those involving cast members' and audience participation. The show will also take a camera crew into the Hello Deli to show games such as "What's on the iPod?" and "Beat the Clock," or onto 53rd Street or the roof to record various stunts there. While Letterman himself often participated in many of the show's non-"desk comedy" routines in its earlier years (as well as on Late Night), over time he has increasingly preferred to have others star in them instead. Letterman is now rarely featured in any of the show's frequent pre-taped bits. Kalter, bandleader and sidekick Paul Shaffer, and Hello Deli proprietor Rupert Jee are often utilized instead in comedy routines, as are stage manager Biff Henderson, stagehands Pat Farmer and Kenny Sheehan, handyman George Clarke, "cue card boy" Tony Mendez, head carpenter Harold Larkin, cameraman Dave Dorsett, assistant Stephanie Birkitt, former writers Gerard Mulligan and Chris Elliott (who almost always appear together), and Johnny Dark (a personal comedy friend of Letterman's). Letterman's mother, Dorothy, also makes appearances (via satellite from Indianapolis) from time to time, including each Thanksgiving. She perhaps rose to fame mostly as a result of her nightly reporting from the 1994 Winter Olympics. Former recurring players from the show include Sirajul Islam and Mujibur Rahman (employees of a nearby gift store which has since relocated), Calvert DeForest, and scenic designer Kathleen Ankers (reprising her Late Night role of "Peggy, the Foulmouthed Chambermaid"; on CBS, she was the equally censored "Helen, the Ill-tempered Ticket Lady"). Countless random cameo appearances had been made during the span of the show, most notably in the earlier years by the late Tony Randall, with Regis Philbin filling that void in recent years. For a while, Letterman took great delight in making fun of his employer, continuing a tradition established at NBC, with senior CBS Corporation executive Les Moonves often serving as the target of his abuse. In time, Letterman's relationship with Moonves has improved; a segment titled "More with Les" features jocular phone calls between Letterman and Moonves. Letterman also has a knack for consuming food products and drinks that appear on his show. Among the items that he has consumed are: wine from a bottle used for a cooking demonstration; various kinds of liquor (while quipping "We're gonna lose our liquor license"); Popeye's "Full Flavor Green Beans;" "motor oil" (actually chocolate syrup) from a bottle that bore a "Quaker State" label; Red Bull; liquid from a bottle that supposedly contained Wite-Out; pills from boxes labeled "Lipitor" and "Cialis" (obviously not really the drugs); and even cosmetic products. On one occasion, Dave took a healthy swig of "low-carb suntan lotion" and immediately spit it out, having discovered that it actually was suntan lotion. When Letterman left NBC and moved to CBS to begin the Late Show in the summer of 1993, several of Late Night's long-running comedy bits made the move with him, including perhaps his best known, the Top Ten List. Letterman renamed a few of his regular bits to avoid legal problems over trademark infringement (NBC cited that what he did on Late Night was "intellectual property" of the network). For example, "Viewer Mail" on NBC became the "CBS Mailbag", and Larry "Bud" Melman began to use his real name, Calvert DeForest. One recurring sketch on both the NBC and CBS shows has been the destruction of household items by various methods including explosives, steamrollers, and - most often - throwing them off the roof of the Ed Sullivan Theater. While popular with fans, Letterman has gradually lessened the frequency of such segments in recent years. The Late Show is well known for its repeated absurdist segments, often taking the form of competitions or audience participation. The charm of such segments is often that they are completely pointless, yet are taken seriously by Letterman and all involved. These are those sketches: The Introduction: Announcer Alan Kalter's introduction of Letterman, while technically not a skit, assigns a bizarre modification to Letterman's name and appears at the beginning of every show. ("And now: Microscopic Sea Creature, David Letterman!") Letterman's title changes every night and often makes reference to a current event. ("And now: Disenfranchised French Youth, David Letterman!") Prior to September 11, 2001, the first line of Kalter's introductions contained humorous descriptions of New York City ("From New York! Where the rats hate the subways, too!"). Once the Late Show returned to air on September 17, 2001, the introduction changed simply to, "From New York! The greatest city in the world!" It has not changed since; however, "The greatest city in the world!" is omitted from episodes with guest hosts, as is the host 'title'. Alan Kalter: Announcer Alan Kalter is frequently used in comedy bits, often with Kalter as the butt of the joke: Kalter the Pervert: In some skits, Kalter is portrayed as a deluded sexual deviant, often referring to himself as "Big Red." Letterman will frequently follow them up by jokingly commenting to Shaffer on Kalter's disturbing, sickening nature, while Kalter grins mischievously. Often such skits begin with Letterman informing the audience that Kalter had approached Letterman prior to the show (about which Letterman often adds, "I've asked him not to do that"), and explaining that Kalter had asked to comment on a current news or pop cultural event. Kalter then begins a monologue where he speaks directly to the camera, setting up the nature of the topic (often the separation of a public couple) in a serious manner. He then addresses a separate, closer camera in a sexually provocative manner as amorous music plays in the background. The material is often a series of double entendre, with Kalter offering to romantically console the woman that is the center of the issue, and ends with him making passionate moans. A disturbed Letterman then interrupts Kalter and chides him for behaving inappropriately. Kalter often ends the bit by making a provocative quip to Letterman. Kalterworld: Occasionally, Kalter will use his segments to promote "Kalterworld," a supposed web site selling "the finest in adult toys, games, and novelties." The Kalterworld.com URL leads to the official Late Show web site. Alan Kalter Makes Your Product Sound Sexy: Kalter promotes an actual commercial product (such as Ajax) in a provocative, suggestive manner. He then pours the product on his head and smears it on his body, often moaning as he does so. A bland voice-over then encourages companies to participate in the segment by submitting their own product to a particular address. Kalter the Singer: Kalter is introduced with the implication that he will provide a serious commentary on current events, but instead exuberantly sings a contemporary pop song filled with sexual innuendos (often from the female perspective). Songs thus far have included "My Humps" on "Alan Kalter's Political Roundup", "Don't Cha" on "Alan Kalter's Mideast Update" and "London Bridge." As he performs, Kalter struts across the stage with a disturbed and annoyed Letterman visible at his desk, and ultimately exits at the other side. Kalter Gets Maimed: The show will often employ bits where severe bodily harm is supposedly inflicted on Kalter (such as when a cocktail waitress walks across the stage in Kalter's direction and then tosses the drink into his face). He then writhes on the ground groaning and acting as if in serious pain. A wry Letterman will sometimes advise an inattentive Kalter to use a medication normally used for more mild injuries, such as Neosporin or Ibuprofen. The Guy Who Beats Up Alan: In one recurring gag, Kalter will make a statement on a particular topic, only to have a large man appear from nowhere and object to Kalter's comments. He then proceeds to pummel him, which results in Kalter rolling on the ground in agony, and storms off backstage. Letterman will often amusedly ridicule the obviously fake nature of the violence, as the man's blows never come anywhere near Kalter, despite Kalter's best efforts to sell his pain. ("That last punch came at least within a foot.") More recently, the beatings have been followed up by pre-taped pieces, in which the relationship between Alan and the man who beats him (identified as "Brian") is shown to be more complicated. One sketch involved Kalter catching Brian being "unfaithful" by beating up another man on the street, and the two being heartbroken by the event. Another followed Brian punching Kalter in the face despite his "Not the face!" pleas. After Brian storms off backstage, a video shows Brian expressing guilt to his wife or girlfriend about his abuse towards Kalter, fearing it was "pushing him away." The two later make up at the end with Brian meeting Kalter and punching him in the stomach instead of the face, much to Kalter's happiness. The videos are presented in a mock romance-drama style, with a soundtrack of emotional pop songs. TV's Uncle Jerry: In 2006, Alan began to introduce himself by saying "I'm Alan Kalter, TV's Uncle Jerry", much to Letterman's delight at first, but over time Letterman would regard the moniker with faux-irritation, which appeared to be part of the joke. In August of that year, several weeks after the bit started, the Late Show aired a clip from a new, fake CBS domestic sitcom entitled "Oh, Brother!" where Kalter played the aforementioned "Uncle Jerry" character. In the clip, Jerry abandons babysitting his brother's children on his wedding anniversary to instead join a friend at a bar who had met two flight attendants. He then uses a would-be catch-phrase: "Hey, Uncle Jerry's gonna get busy!" Despite introducing the clip with some enthusiasm, Letterman quickly dismissed it afterwards, saying "That sucked! That just sucked!" Recently, Kalter has taken to introducing himself as other beloved television characters such as TV's Professor Withers, TV's Johnny Mambo and TV's Uptown Ricky Brown. He has also introduced himself as "TV's Howie Mandel," to which Dave said that made no sense at all. Alan Kalter's Campaign Roundup: A near-daily running gag presented late in the 2000 presidential election season began with Letterman introducing Kalter, who would ostensibly give a summary of the latest campaign news. Instead, Kalter would perform an energetic rendition of the chorus to "Who Let the Dogs Out?" which was a popular and ubiquitous song at the time, and walk across the stage. In the skit's later occurrences, Kalter would sometimes rip off his shirt as he sang (revealing a pale and flabby physique), while adding a manic and deranged tone to his performance. Kalter has demonstrated a compulsion to disrobe in many of his other segments before and since. Alan Punches Someone Out: In another long-running gag, Kalter would take issue with something said at his expense, such as a Top Ten List entry, or a letter read during the "CBS Mailbag" segment. Kalter would press Letterman about the statement, asking "Did he really say that?" and Letterman would confirm its accuracy. Kalter would then leave the stage to hunt down the person who said it, usually up in the Late Show offices. During his transit, an individual would often greet Kalter with "Hi, Alan!" only to be ignored. Upon finding the guilty party, Kalter would then punch him out and walk away with a look of satisfaction. In one instance, the person on the receiving end was Regis Philbin, who had just been shown in a "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" clip where a question described Kalter as "creepy." Alan Kalter's Celebrity Interview: Occasionally after the first or second guest, Letterman will turn over the show to Kalter, who's supposed to conduct an interview of his own with a celebrity. Invariably, it turns out the guest booked for "Celebrity Interview," who is seated next to Kalter, has already appeared on the show as the first or second guest earlier that night. An angry Kalter accuses Letterman of deliberately booking the same person as a regular guest on the show in an attempt to sabotage Kalter's segment and steal the limelight. The sketch typically ends with Kalter storming off the stage after hurling insults at Letterman, as well as the celebrity interviewee, who usually deadpans confusion or mortification. Top Ten List: The Top Ten List appears daily on the Late Show, and remains one of the few regular segments carried over from Late Night. It is often the last comedic segment presented prior to the show's first guest. List topics are often inspired by current news and pop cultural events, with typical lists bearing titles such as "Top Ten Signs..." and "Top Ten Reasons..." The Top Ten List is compiled by the show's writing staff, and is usually read by Letterman, although the show occasionally uses guest presenters. For a long time, the Top Ten Lists were said to have been written in a so-called "Home Office". There were various Home Offices before the part was dropped, but the list included Sioux City, Iowa; Grand Rapids, Michigan; and Wahoo, Nebraska - all actual, extant towns. (Late Show staffer Mike McIntee's nightly online recap of the show, the "Wahoo Gazette" is named after the Nebraska town.) Recently, the Top Ten List has often become a casualty of time constraints, often being pulled from the show at the last minute. Dave will often announce that the Top Ten List is coming up, when, in fact, it is not delivered on that night's show. Great Moments in Presidential Speeches: The near-daily segment presents a series of three video excerpts, the first two of which come from actual famous moments such as Franklin Roosevelt's inaugural speech ("The only thing we have to fear is fear itself") and John F. Kennedy's inaugural speech ("Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country"). The third excerpt features George W. Bush in an unintentionally comical moment, often during press conferences or townhouse gatherings. These moments frequently focus on the vacuous Bush stuttering, finding himself at a loss for words, or uttering a nonsensical Bushism. The excerpts are also often taken out of context for humorous effect, such as when Bush declares, "My kids can't read!" Lately, the "Great Moments" presentation have also featured Dwight Eisenhower, Harry S. Truman, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and even President Bush's father, followed by Bush himself. One adaptation is President Kennedy's Berlin speech, with the words "Ich bin ein Berliner," followed by President Reagan's Berlin speech ("Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall") in 1987 (Reagan was also featured in another Letterman skit "The Reagan Diaries"), and as always, an excerpt from President Bush's recent speeches. An Abraham Lincoln impostor has also given the "Tear down this wall" speech. President Lyndon Johnson made his debut on "Great Moments" with his declaration not to seek reelection in 1968. George Washington's and Abraham Lincoln's portraits are shown at the beginning and end of "Great Moments." After a few months into the segment's inception, the Kennedy inauguration clip began to include a Late Show staffer (often dressed in formal period garb) superimposed over the empty seat to Kennedy's right. The staffers include announcer Alan Kalter, "cue card boy" Tony "Inky" Mendez (who shows cue cards to President Kennedy), costume designer Susan Hum (whose actions include taking his picture with a disposable camera, removing lint from his shoulder, stealing his wallet, and eating a jumbo pretzel), associate producer Nancy Agostini, and stage manager Biff Henderson. All "cameos" end with the staffers clapping along in real-time response to Kennedy's speech. Beginning in June 2008, GMIPS began splitting time with "Cool/Not Cool", which also exploits President Bush's clumsiness, although in a more physical manner. Cool/Not Cool: Debuting in June 2008, "Cool/Not Cool" is a sketch designed to juxtapose Presidential candidate Barack Obama with President George W. Bush. First, a clip of Obama engaging in an activity will be shown, followed by an on screen graphic reading "COOL" and the sound of a bell. That will immediately be followed by a clip of Bush engaging unsuccessfully in a similar activity, and then a graphic reading "NOT COOL" with the sound of a buzzer. Will It Float?: An item is dropped into a tank of water by two models, often referred to by Letterman as "The Hi-Ho Girls." The segment starts out with Kalter identifying a household item that will be tested, and a faux prize that is supposedly at stake. A picture of that prize is flashed on screen for a split second. Letterman and Shaffer debate the buoyant properties of the item before they each decide on whether it will sink or float (a frequent deciding factor is the nature of the item's container). Two models then drop the item into the tank while the Late Show "Hula Hoop Girl" (Anna Jack) and "Grinder Girl" (Kiva Kahl) perform on either side of the tank. Depending upon the outcome, large flashing words appear reading, "It Floats!" (accompanied by a ringing bell) or "It Sinks!" (accompanied by a buzzer). Letterman often espouses the educational merit of the game in jest, citing positive feedback from parents, educators, and clergymen. He has acknowledged that while the segment is not popular with the Late Show staff, he insists on continuing it for his own amusement. According to Letterman, the skit was adapted from a similar BBC program entitled "Is It Buoyant?" He also often advertises the (fictional) "Will It Float" home game, which "has everything you need in a box to play the game for only $19.99." The game consists only of a list of suggested household items and a bottle of water. Recently, Dave has also been advertising the Playstation 3 version of the "Will It Float?" home game, and in the past would highlight the Xbox 360 version. At one point, he issued viewers a warning to stay away from the knockoff version, "Does it Sink?," which could be found being hawked by street vendors on Canal Street. After the game is over, Letterman often addresses the women by saying he will see them at "the big 'Will It Float?' party" after the show. Is This Anything?: In the increasingly rare segment, the stage curtain is raised to reveal an individual or team performing an unusual stunt, often accompanied by music from the CBS Orchestra. Flanking the performer, who varies, are two previous performers who became regulars for the segment: The "Hula Hoop Girl" (Anna Jack), who spins numerous hula hoops around different parts of her body, and The "Grinder Girl" (Kiva Kahl), who operates a hand-held grinder against metal parts of her costume, producing sparks. After about thirty seconds the curtain is lowered and Letterman discusses with Shaffer whether the act was "something" or "nothing." As the segment continued over the course of time, Letterman would increasingly express disinterest in the featured performer, opting instead to admire the Grinder Girl. Shaffer in turn would often admit to having been too distracted with his performance of the music. On an episode in June 2003, the curtain rose to reveal members of the Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils. Martin Brodeur hoisted the trophy, leading the crowd in a chant of "Devils! Devils!" Letterman and Shaffer ruled it as definitely "something." Is This Anything? lay dormant for almost a year before it was resurrected on the March 22, 2006 episode. A man balanced himself on a ladder and juggled: Paul voted a clear "nothing", and Dave was going to vote "something" before he noticed a safety mat. Dave then concurred with Paul. In an uncharacteristic move, Dave invited Sharon Osbourne to assist in officiating Is This Anything? on the July 26, 2007 episode, due to her involvement with America's Got Talent. The act consisted of a man balancing an aluminum ladder on his chin while riding a unicycle, and all three agreed that it was nothing. Small Town News: Often presented on Mondays, Letterman presents a series of actual news items, advertisements, and police blotter excerpts which are shown to be unintentionally humorous. In earlier incarnations, Letterman would precede the segment by asking the audience to "please wait for the humorous comment," which consisted of him reciting a scripted follow-up to each news item. While this ostensibly differentiated the segment from Jay Leno's similar sketch, "Headlines," the current revival of "Small Town News" only includes an occasional impromptu remark from Letterman. Audience Participation Games: Thursday episodes usually include one of three rotating variations of audience participation segments. Each game starts with Letterman making small talk with each of the featured audience members, asking about their background and occupations, often with humorous results. When the individual has completed their portion, they are given a gift certificate to a local restaurant as well as random gift items. Occasionally, the participant is a ringer from the show staff: Know Your Current Events: In what is described by Letterman as "America's Fastest Growing Quiz Sensation", a "contestant" is chosen at random to play a quiz game. He or she first chooses a category. Besides the title category, there are often a total of "six big ways to win big," with other categories being topical and often esoteric, and rarely reappearing. Some of these have included "Know Your Home Depot Locations in Delaware", "Know Your Late Show Production Accountant Joe DeGeorge", "Know Your Department Store Return Policies", and "Know Your Shocking Facts about Peter Jennings." A regular category is "Know Your Cuts of Meat," which itself consists of five categories: beef, lamb, veal, pork, and "variety meats." After playing, the individual is also rewarded with a box of assorted meat cuts from "Lobel's: pound for pound, the finest butcher shop in the world." Throughout the course of the segment's history on the show, Dave has varied back and forth between discreetly feeding the contestants the answers, and making them guess. Stump the Band: This is a variation of the segment from Johnny Carson's tenure on the Tonight Show. A pre-selected audience member requests an obscure song from the CBS Orchestra, which then performs a humorous pre-scripted song based only on the title of the requested song. The band will then jokingly insist that they've correctly played the correct song, only to be told otherwise by the individual, who then performs the actual song. These segments often feature a segment with Paul Shaffer in character as Carnac the Magnificent, another Tonight Show carryover. Audience Show and Tell: This revolves around a pre-selected audience member relating an anecdote, presenting a personal item of note, or demonstrating a hidden talent. Fun Facts: Usually presented on Fridays, the segment consists of Letterman reading a series of random trivia, records, and statistics. Letterman explains that they are submitted to the show each week by "Gary Sherman," an acquaintance at the Federal Bureau of Miscellaneous Information, a supposed subsection of the United States Census Bureau. The segment often begins with Letterman presenting a few actual facts to set up the premise (although they are often of a humorous nature in their own right and are mistaken by some audience members as made-up). He then presents several humorous, fictional "facts." Most of these are of an absurdist nature, such as "The first pair of binoculars had a 1x magnification," or "For a short amount of time, the rock band The Who broke up, and formed two new bands called The When and The What." An irrelevant promotional announcement of some kind is mixed in on occasion, much to Letterman's confusion. The segment was initially presented on the show sporadically before being made a regular weekly feature. Hello Deli Games: A camera crew is sent to Rupert Jee in the neighboring Hello Deli, where Jee is asked to invite a potential player from the crowd outside. The player introduces his or herself, relates his or her background, and is told what prize is to be won. Regardless of the outcome, the player is also awarded a "Hello Deli Platter" by the Hi-Ho Girls. Recurring games include "Beat the Clock" (where the confused player helplessly attempts to stop a clock from counting down to zero) and "What's on the iPod?" (where Rupert sings along to a song on his iPod and the contestant has to guess what song he is singing). Other random games involve a player searching for a hidden item in the deli, and guessing the nature of an item obscured under an item of clothing worn by Jee (such as a Hillary Clinton-esque pantsuit). Occasionally, the "player" is a plant and the segment ends when the "player" appears to be severely injured. Biff Henderson has hosted similar games on the street. Stupid Pet Tricks/Stupid Human Tricks: These segments were carried over from Late Night, and consist of three pre-selected participants (or in the case of "Pet Tricks," pets and their owners), who each demonstrate an unusual talent or stunt on the stage. Letterman will often precede the segment with the tongue-in-cheek warning: "Remember, this is not a competition, it is only an exhibition — please, no wagering." While still a trademark feature of the Late Show, the segment has been featured on a more sporadic basis in recent years. The show's regular "Audience Show and Tell" bit will often include an audience member performing a "Stupid Human Trick"-type act. Explod-O-Pop: Explod-O-Pop is a brand of popping corn, and is usually given as a prize to the participants of the audience participation games. Letterman often describes the product using various slogans such as "America's Only Atomic Popping Corn," "It's Carbolicious," and "It's Contaminated with Flavor!" It can also be purchased online at CBS' online store, with the proceeds benefiting the American Foundation for Courtesy and Grooming, a charity of Letterman's which contributes its proceeds to a wide variety of foundations, most of which are of a health, youth, or educational nature. Audience Sweep: Late in the show, a short segment will consist of a camera panning across the audience as it applauds during the break. A comedy piece will usually be superimposed above this video; in most cases this is either a graphic presenting a game or announcement narrated by Kalter, or a comedy piece featuring Kalter himself. Since returning from the hiatus caused by the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, however, these segments now usually feature a Kalter voice-over promoting future guests, concluded by a phrase such as "Get your VCRs ready!" Games: Games often consist of parodies of simple time-killers such as word jumbles or quizzes. One example consists of the viewer being shown a short jumble where the letters are barely mixed up, seemingly making for an obvious answer. When the letters are supposedly shuffled into their "correct" order, the answer will actually consist of a completely different, longer set of letters. Announcements: Some examples of announcements include "Late Show Reminders" (advising viewers to set their VCR for an "upcoming" episode featuring guests that have already appeared earlier that very night), "contest winners" (such as a supposed "My Pet Looks Like Dave" contest), and promotions for "all-new" episodes of old CBS shows, such as Jake and the Fatman. Bored Kalter: A common example of Kalter's audience sweep comedy bits consists only of a silent and apathetic Kalter engaging in some mundane activity, such as eating or shaving. Non-regular sketches: 7-Eleven Giveaways: Letterman introduces a man claiming to be James Keyes, President and CEO of 7-Eleven, who then announces to the audience and viewers of the convenience store's latest promotional tie-in with the Late Show. The announcements first began with a commemoration of the date of July 11, 2006 ("7-11"), when all 7-Eleven stores would supposedly give away free Slurpees, hot dogs, and muffins to anyone who said "Dave sent me!" (all items were said to be paid for by Letterman). Since then, the man portraying Keyes has sporadically appeared, enthusiastically announcing other food item giveaways and lavish prize drawings. After the man walks off stage, Shaffer then asks Letterman if the man really is president and CEO of 7-Eleven, only to have Letterman reluctantly admit that he isn't. Action News: Letterman will occasionally interrupt a bit for "Action News", a bit that mocks "teaser" promos for local newscasts. Dave will look to the camera to his left and read a fake news headline with an ostensibly disingenuous smile and cheery demeanor. On the screen, in the style of a newscast, appears a news graphic next to Dave's face and the legend "Dave Letterman, Action News" at the bottom of the screen. After delivering the headline, Dave will then turn to the camera to his right and deliver another fake headline. He'll then "promote" Action News ("That's all coming up tonight on 'Action News.'"), and then return to the original bit as if nothing had happened. Occasionally, a weather reporter from an actual CBS affiliate will also deliver a pre-recorded fake weather tease. "Action News" most frequently interrupts "Fun Facts", although it occasionally interrupts other bits, including the Top Ten List. "Action News" began appearing in early 2008. Cameraman Dave Dorsett Leaves the Theatre: During the segment of the show following the monologue, Letterman will be setting up a comedy bit when the camera trained on him begins to drift downward and stops with Letterman's head out of frame. Letterman will continue for several seconds before noticing the camera's new position, when he stops his bit and asks the cameraman, Dave Dorsett, what is happening. Dorsett explains that he has to leave the theatre for one reason or another (normally tied to a hyped event such as a new movie or video game release), and speaks of his disdain for the show as he exits through the guest entrance. The camera remains in its resting position for the remainder of the segment, causing Letterman to have to lean down and turn his head sideways to get into the shot. In another variation, Dorsett will not leave the studio, but will be preoccupied with something else, such as reading. When the show returns from commercial, the camera shot is back to normal. Campaign 2000: Throughout the summer and fall of 2000, Dave and the cast (featuring producer Maria Pope) would ostensibly recap the latest on the presidential campaign between Al Gore and George W. Bush. An opening animation would roll accompanied by the orchestra, after which Alan Kalter would read a series of "sponsors," which included party ice (available in clear, semi-clear and opaque), the "ComposTumbler", onetime infomercial sensation Hairagami and the then-new "Liquid Plumber Foaming Pipe Snake". One of the most notable (and well-worn) bits from this segment was a video clip of then-candidate Bush whispering (despite an open lavalier microphone) to Dick Cheney that a reporter was a "major league asshole, to which Cheney chuckled back. Outside this, however, it was common for Campaign 2000 to include no campaign-related content whatsoever. Coincidentally, that was the same summer in which Survivor achieved its initial meteoric success. Campaign 2000 segments on days following new Survivor episodes (usually Monday, but occasionally other days) soon included that week's eliminated castaway. Dave often feigned disinterest with the castoffs, forcing them to stand next to Pope at the producer's podium; in fact, only one contestant, Survivor: The Australian Outback's Elisabeth Hasselbeck was ever invited to sit in a guest chair. Generally Dave would ask the contestants irrelevant, nonsensical questions; over time, he began to work Stephanie Birkitt into the segment, initially calling her upstairs in the office and later having her appear on stage in costume. She would routinely ask the castaways, "Did you see or touch any monkeys?" to which Dave would scold her. As time passed, she would promise, increasingly vehemently, not to ask the question and then ask it anyway. For reasons unknown, the Campaign 2000 segment would appear at first regularly and then sporadically into 2001 (retaining the name "Campaign 2000"); Dave would feign exasperation at discovering its inclusion in the show, open the segment, and immediately close it without any of the "sponsors" or jokes. CBS Mailbag: A Late Show staple on Fridays until it was phased out in recent years (the last time it aired was December 3, 2004), the CBS Mailbag carried on the Late Night tradition of taking actual viewer letters (usually four at a time), and responding to each of them with a pre-written comedy routine. Charts and Graphs: Letterman displays poster boards with various charts and graphs, usually with the last element on each being the absurd one. (Pie Chart: What will be the top priority of the next president? 43%: Stabilizing Iraq. 31%: Stabilizing climate change. 26% Stabilizing The View.) A Day in the Life of... (such as "A Day in the Life of George W. Bush"): A slide show with the time of day indicated on each slide, accompanied by a humorous caption, such as "4:30 p.m. Receives FTD's 'Good Luck Bouquet' from Osama bin Laden," "5:30 p.m. Yoo-Hoo break," "6:00 p.m. Nap." Fun with Rupert: One of the most popular pre-taped pieces during the show's earlier years was a Candid Camera-style bit which featured the normally mild-mannered Rupert Jee interacting with ordinary, unsuspecting people around the city. Letterman - usually hidden in a van - would covertly observe the action and provide a disguised Jee (wearing a cap, glasses, backpack, and headphones) with ad-libbed instructions via two-way communication. This resulted in Jee performing humorous and unusual antics while amusing, confusing, and in some cases irritating, various victims. The segment was ceased after an unaired incident in which Letterman would only explain that a man had pulled a knife on Jee. It was unofficially revived in a few live bits in 2006 where Jee (not in disguise) would visit a neighboring restaurant and perform similar antics. George Clarke's "It's a Fact": Handyman Clarke is seen backstage, bloodied and severely injured from an earlier incident. He addresses the camera, indirectly explaining the incident by imparting advice such as ”Women on the street don't like to be called 'Candy Pants.'" He will then point to the camera and say, "It's a fact!” The Guy Who Swears at Dave: A man, often portraying a Late Show staffer, calls out Letterman, expressing his irritation with him. He then addresses Kalter and Shaffer in turn, flipping off and shouting "F*** you!" to each of them. He then repeats this with Letterman, using both hands and repeating the same phrase with extra emphasis. He then storms away, much to the shock of the three men. One time, after Dave and Paul decided that an "Is This Anything" act was nothing, the performer turned out to be the Guy, who then went into that routine. After a Stupid Pet Trick, in which a dog barked at someone giving it the finger, Dave said that he hoped the dog would not not run into the Guy backstage, but in the segue before the next commercial, they were together. How Many Guys in... Suits Can Get into a ...?: Examples include "How Many Guys in Spider-Man Suits Can Get Into a Jamba Juice?" and "How Many Guys in Pirate Costumes Can Fit Into A Sandwich Shop?" As the title indicates, the camera is focused on a local establishment, and Dave counts the number of persons wearing the costumes entering the store (first one at a time, then "send in 5 more") until the store is crowded. The bit usually ends with persons in other random costumes being sent in, like a horse, tooth fairy, panda bear or wizard. Late Show Equations: Similar in concept to "Charts and Graphs," except there is a slide covering the comic answer to the equation. ("A rollercoaster + the smell of goat = New York City cab ride.") NBC 4 News Update: A portion of a news report from WNBC in New York City is aired and then at the very end of the clip is punctuated by Sue Simmons's infamous "What the (censored) are you doing?" outburst. On 53rd Street: A daredevil demonstrates his or her skills outside the theater (such as Tony Hawk performing skateboarding jumps), a half-ton pumpkin is exploded on the street, or dogs compete in the Diving Dog Competition (in which the dogs long jump into a pool). The remainder of one show was canceled when a snowboarder was injured while performing a stunt. Osama bin Laden Tapes: Usually on the heels of recent news reports of actual propaganda video announcements released by bin Laden or Al-Qaeda, the Late Show will present their own satires of such videos. Often this consists of a stock clip of bin Laden speaking into a microphone, with the audio being overdubbed. The new dialogue will range from bin Laden partaking in distinctly American pastimes (such as giving personal football predictions) to providing Al-Qaeda members with mundane advisements (such as staying home during periods of extreme weather). A common conclusion to the bin Laden parodies depicts him putting down his microphone, only to pick it back up and declare in a blasé manner: "Oh, and death to America." Pat and Kenny Read Oprah Transcripts: Stagehands Pat Farmer and Kenny Sheehan read an actual transcript of an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show, usually involving a female celebrity guest, with Farmer taking the part of Winfrey and Sheehan the guest. Each read their lines in a distinctly monotone fashion, in humorous contrast to the enthusiastic nature of the original interview (which often includes Winfrey utterances such as "Woo hoo!" to Letterman's amusement). During the reading, Sheehan sports a cigarette consisting mostly of ash which rarely breaks off. On some occasions the absurd nature of the bit will cause the two to break character (more often just Sheehan). The segment starts with Farmer and Sheehan performing a brief re-enactment of Winfrey’s opening sequence ("Run on with Oprah"). At the end of the routine, Kalter gives an address for where to write to obtain a transcript of Pat and Kenny Read Oprah Transcripts. Pat Farmer's "Surprise, You're on TV!": Presented as a supposed clip from Farmer’s own reality prank show, Farmer is seen standing next to an unsuspecting male victim in an ordinary setting, such as an elevator. Farmer is then shown to be holding a baseball bat, which he uses to strike the man in the pelvic area. As the man doubles over in pain, Farmer will address him and point to the camera, saying "Surprise, you’re on TV!" Ostensibly this is a blunt satire of reality shows which utilize lowbrow physical humor, such as Jackass, as well as slapstick shows such as America's Funniest Home Videos. "...Quiz" (such as the "Auto Show Quiz," "Boat Show Quiz," and "Toy Show Quiz"): Letterman presents video clips of people at a current event, on which is superimposed a multiple choice question, with the last choice being the punchline. Rejected by the FDA: A desk segment in which Letterman displays samples of bad food concepts, such as "NyQuil Dessert Topping," and eats some of them. Sorry, Tom: Letterman will explain that while not a scheduled guest, actor Tom Hanks is waiting backstage to make a surprise appearance. Hanks is then shown in the green room, smiling and waving to the delight of the audience. Letterman then informs Hanks that the show doesn’t have enough time for him, causing Hanks to yell at an individual off-screen (ostensibly including obscenities). In reality, the footage of Hanks is a recycled clip from his visit on a much older episode, recorded specifically for later use in this bit. A notable use of this bit occurred during an interview with Hanks' own actor son, Colin. (Hanks also does many other comedy bits for the show whenever he's a guest, from making a glass-breaking noise, to a memorable "Audience Q & A" where he posed as a seat-filler for a member of the audience and was told "Wanna get outta my seat now, Fathead" by the angry woman.) Susan Hum: As Letterman presents a comedy bit or converses with Shaffer, costume designer Hum will approach his desk carrying a food or drink item. Only after some time will Letterman acknowledge Hum, who will then inform him of the item she has with her. She then stands silently as Letterman attempts to proceed with the show. After noticing that she is still there, he will politely inform her that he is not interested in the item, provoking Hum to angrily insult Letterman (and sometimes throw the item to the floor) and walk off stage. Ticket Scalper: Letterman will be setting up a bit when a man wearing a ski cap and jacket walks onto the set behind Dave and nervously and quietly gets Dave's attention and offers to sell him scalped tickets to a high-profile sporting event or concert that has already taken place. Dave points out that the man is obviously holding tickets to the past year's Super Bowl (which is when the bits began), and that the current event for which he's trying to sell tickets has already taken place. The man will then quickly change his story, announcing another event which grab's Dave's attention. Dave pulls out his wallet and approaches the man, when the nervous broker thinks he hears the police and both he and Dave quickly scatter. Dave then returns to his original bit. The following is a partial list of recurring comedy bits that now appear on the show on a sporadic basis, as well as other notable bits from the show's past: Alan Kalter's "Are You F*cking Kidding Me?" segment: the segment questions the sanity behind major news stories (for example, after the Michael Jackson verdict, Kalter's response: "Are You F*cking Kidding Me?!!") Alan Kalter's "Oh No You Didn't!": Kalter mentions a recent news story (such as a 5-week working vacation George W. Bush had once announced) and then says "Oh No You Di-int!", which is immediately followed by a mention of a celebrity who has recently done something which Alan finds sexy, and a "Oh, yes you did." Alex Trebek Came Back Too Soon: starting with a premise such as that Alex Trebek is losing it, or just suffered a heart attack and came back to work too soon, an edited piece of Jeopardy! is shown where the question does not match the answer and Alex says "correct," such as "The J in J.D. stands for this kind of doctor," the contestant says "What are jujubes?", and Alex says "correct." Ape Or Artist?: A game in which an abstract painting is shown to Letterman and Shaffer, who then discuss whether it was an ape or an artist who painted it. After the first couple of instances, Letterman based his guesses more on psychology than the painting itself (saying things along the lines of "They want me to think it's an artist this time, so I'm going with ape"). After a while, the game became "Ape or Artist or Elephant?" "Ask ...": Dave says that a celebrity, such as Hillary Clinton or Paris Hilton, will appear to answer questions the audience has submitted in advance. However, it is always Gerard Mulligan. There is usually one question about the celebrity being egotistical, which Mulligan does not initially answer, and then says to Dave, "Oh, sorry. I thought that one was for you." Bruce Willis's Mystery Word: Bruce Willis says a random word from a pre-recorded video. "Can A ... Hail A Cab?" Usually someone in an animal (Can a Guy in a Turkey Suit ...") or superhero ("Can Spider-Man...") suit stands on Broadway and hails a cab, seeing if a taxi driver will stop and give the person a ride. This has also been tried by a person wearing a surgical mask portraying the traveler with drug resistant tuberculosis. “... Cards.”: Before Valentine's Day or Mother's Day, Dave displays a series of mock greeting cards, with messages such as "I'm sorry I called you a dirty whore on Maury." Chris and Gerry: Dave introduces former writers Chris Elliot and Gerry Mulligan, who are there to promote their latest television program, which end up being parodies of existing shows (eg., "Skink the Bounty Hunter"). Often they explain that the development of their new shows are due to the failure of their previous efforts. After the interview, a short clip of the contrived show is played. The interview segments usually involve the two wearing the outlandish costumes they don in the clip. Another recent version consists of clips from "John Adams on HBO," where Elliot plays President Adams, and Mulligan plays a portrait artist or some other part. In one of these, Adams and companion did a Mac vs. PC commercial. Crystal Clear Party Ice: In 2000, Kalter presented a running gag in which he promoted this fake sponsor of the show. The lengthy pitch was recited daily with little variation: "It's not a party without party ice, and isn't party ice unless it's crystal clear! Have you ever been to a party where the ice was cloudy? How did that make you feel? Like a loser! Crystal Clear Party Ice is really, really clear! And, it comes in a bag! Hey, the weekend is right around the corner, so why not pick up a couple of bags of party ice? You'll be glad you did!" As the bit wore on, Letterman would respond to Kalter's pitch, such as pointing out that the "weekend" was still several days away. Eventually a "Semi-Clear" variation was added to the bit. Hose cam: On a hot day, a hose shoots water on pedestrians near the Ed Sullivan Theater. Inside, Dave uses a toggle switch to turn the water on and off, and a microphone (similar to one used with a taxicab radio) to make comments to the people on the street. Immigration Success Stories: A segment running since immigration reform was brought to the United States Congress in 2006. The segment profiles various well-known immigrants, before switching to archival footage of actor and Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger shown doing suggestive things with females. Johnny Twain Tonight: Johnny Dark dressed as Mark Twain sits in a rocking chair and recites Rodney Dangerfield jokes. Dark has also appeared in a similar segment called "Johnny Lincoln Tonight," with the only modification being Dark dressed as Abraham Lincoln. Lance Armstrong: An overweight man pretending to be a prominent athlete of the day, usually Lance Armstrong, but also (among other examples) a recently victorious NASCAR driver, golfer, or jockey, but always dressed in Armstrong's yellow Discovery Team jersey. He is introduced with, "Ladies and gentleman, name of athlete" while riding a bicycle through the aisles of the theatre and exiting through a door in the back. This segment is always accompanied by the CBS Orchestra playing the Ike and Tina Turner version of Rollin' On The River On the August 21, 2006 show, the segment was mixed up even further, with an introduction of golfer Tiger Woods, and a caption of cyclist Floyd Landis. Let's Talk About the Candidates: A faux audience participation bit where Letterman initially chats with actual audience members about the 2008 presidential campaign. After Letterman comments on a recent candidate's departure from the race, a plant in the audience, always played by the same show staffer, reacts with disbelief and outrage. He then storms out of the theater and pummels pages along the way. In one segment, the plant reacts in this manner to the news that John Edwards was ending his campaign. Afterwards, the first audience member, himself a staffer, reacts in the same violent manner upon learning that Rudy Giuliani was also dropping out, and beats the same pages as he leaves. Letterman often closes the segment by lamenting that they no longer have any time due to the outbursts. Live Crash Footage: Letterman will point to his ear, as if taking instructions from the director, and announce that he is being told that they have "live" footage of various celebrities and public figures driving to a particular destination, and ultimately crashing (actually stock news footage of actual, spectacular crashes). Subjects have included Patrick Kennedy, Billy Joel, Nicole Richie, and NFL quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (on a motorcycle). Letterman will then assure the audiences that he is being told that the celebrity is "all right." Lt. Len Easton: Barbara Gaines asks Letterman to pick up his phone, on which he gets a radio call from a fictitious Lt. Len Easton (voiced by Jeff Altman) of the California Highway Patrol driving on a California freeway on police business, requesting backup. The majority of these calls begin by sounding seemingly normal but will end with an absurd, humorous statement or request. In recent sketches, Letterman says that he is not the only one who is getting Easton's calls, and then shows a clip from a popular call-in show showing its host, such as Larry King, Suze Orman, or Mike and the Mad Dog, receiving a call with the audio of Easton being overdubbed, and occasionally a caption such as "Len from California" superimposed. Lyle the Intern: A supposed Late Show intern (played by actor Jimmi Simpson) who appears out of nowhere to interrupt a befuddled Letterman for a casual chat. He is portrayed as a smooth, laid-back slacker-type who often uses hipster slang and fancies himself a ladies man. In his first appearance, he encouraged Letterman to act as his "wingman" at a bar after the show. Mac vs. PC: A parody of Apple's Get a Mac series of commercials, with former writers Chris Elliott and Gerard Mulligan portraying the roles of Mac and PC, respectively. The bits often end with Mulligan inflicting bodily harm on Elliott.
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 28, 2008 21:20:42 GMT -5
The Man on Fire: A stuntman wildly runs across the stage back and forth while screaming with his clothes on fire before being extinguished backstage. A variation of this was performed in which the man was not on fire but acted as if he were.
Millionaire or Kenny?: A man is shown while Dave and Paul debate whether the man is a millionaire or a man named Kenny.
News Bulletin: Suddenly, an old ABC Radio News theme is played, Dave confusedly looks through his papers, and then tells Barbara Gaines that he thought he had to read a bulletin.
Portrait of Biff Henderson: Various artists create a portrait, using ketchup, Legos, post-it notes, and other "art media."
Psychic Sandwich: In the Hello Deli, Deborah Lynn - a self-described "intuitive" - attempts to guess the sandwich being made by Jee, which are all named after various Late Show staffers. Lynn, who is blindfolded, had never successfully named a sandwich. In 2005, a variation of the game involving chocolates was played, in which Lynn picked up a piece at random before guessing its content. On her second try, Lynn successfully guessed "nougat." On another episode later that year, a variation was played involving Jee’s Slurpee-like drinks, and Lynn correctly guessed "cherry" on her first try. In these segments, Lynn is often asked by Letterman to explain the difference between a psychic and intuitive. On a recent episode, Lynn was asked to guess the price of a gallon of gas that Rupert provided her in a gasoline can. She guessed $4.40, however the gas was actually $4.30. Dave made note of the fact that Lynn admitted she had heard something on the news that morning about gas prices in New York by saying she had integrity in disclosing that information up front.
Putting Away the Late Show Bear: A man in a bear suit is pushed and locked into a closet. The last time this sketch was played, a young intern lost control of the bear and it went on a rampage before finally calling for a taxi.
Quarterback Challenge: Letterman challenges an NFL quarterback on the show to throw as many footballs at some target, such as into the open back window of a moving cab, as possible. A version of this challenge gave rise to the annual throwing of the football at the ornament at the top of the Christmas tree, when Vinny Testaverde could not hit the target, but Jay Thomas did. "Telemundo Highlight of the Night." Usually a short clip from a Telemundo show, such as Laura en América, showing something similar to a Jerry Springer Show fight, but, of course, in Spanish. A similar concept is "Spanish Television is Better."
Trump or Monkey?: Played in the Hello Deli, the game involves a contestant being presented by Jee with two photos of monkeys, and a photo of celebrity businessman Donald Trump. Only the tops of the heads are visible, with the rest covered by a card. The contestant then attempts to guess which of the photos is Trump's. Around the release of the film Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith in 2005, a variation of the game called "Trump or Wookiee?" was played.
What the Hell is it?: In the style of "Is this Anything" and "Will it Float," this game had Letterman guess the name of a mystery object. The game was played only a handful of times. A running gag was that when Alan Kalter would announce the object's name to the audience, Letterman would unintentionally hear it clearly, thus leading to greater and greater amounts of soundproofing each time the game was played.
What's the Deal with Old Guys and Giant Glasses?: Letterman simply presents a series of photographs of celebrity men (and occasionally, women). The photos are often dated with the subjects sporting large, old-fashioned style glasses.
Who Asked for It?: A staple of late-night television, audience members approach a microphone and ask a question, resulting in a prearranged sketch in response (such as a person asking if Regis Philbin will run into the theater, and a staffer does instead).
Women in Prison: Dave offers to conduct a remote interview of Martha Stewart or Paris Hilton in jail, but the show then runs stock footage of women in prison having a food fight or rioting.
Writers' Guild Strike: Some other routine (usually a fake promotional announcement) is interrupted by Head Writer Bill Scheft, who announces that the Writers Guild is currently in negotiations for a new contract, and at this time we have chosen not to reveal the punchline to this hilarious joke until the big media companies show they're ready to play fair with the writers. The routine continued after Worldwide Pants settled with the WGA and the Late Show returned, to show solidarity with the other writers still on strike, and Scheft has interrupted other routines, such as one dealing with Hillary Clinton's pantsuit, to protest having to write those jokes after she should have left the race.
Several other sketches have included: Biff Henderson's "Fun with a Bullhorn"’ Biff Henderson's "Fun with a Stopwatch"; Biff Henderson's "Wanna Hang Out?"; Celebrity X-Ray Challenge; Dave's Record Collection; Dick Assman, who made several appearances in 1995; Dr. Phil's Words of Wisdom, out of context clips from the Dr. Phil Show, this bit was similar to the "Great Moments in Presidential Speeches" sketch; Dumb Ads; George W. Bush Joke That's Not Really a Joke; Harold Larkin's "Sidewalk Idol"; Late Show Checklist; Late Show Pay Phone Trifecta; Late Show Unfair Edit, later Late Show Fun with Editing, later Late Show Editing Fun; May We See Your Photos Please?/May We See Your Digital Photos Please?; Pat Farmer's "Gaffe-Busters"; Pat Farmer's "Long Story Short"; Pat Farmer's "Anything Can Be a Musical Instrument"; Paul Shaffer's James Brown cape routine (with various celebrities, including James Brown himself on one occasion, caping Shaffer); Pedestrian Theme Songs, a sketch in which various clips of pedestrians walking around New York City were accompanied by a humorous short song clip performed by The CBS Orchestra; Week in Review, used to be a regular Friday feature, using a variation of the "Laugh-In Looks at the News" theme; and Who Said It?
Announcer Bill Wendell retired and left the show in 1995. He was replaced by Alan Kalter on the show's next episode which came after a two-week hiatus. In 1996, Letterman reluctantly fired long-time producer Robert Morton as the result of various professional disputes, including an apparent botched attempt to move the show to ABC in place of Nightline. Head writer Rob Burnett was promoted to executive producer. Director Hal Gurnee and producer Peter Lassally left the show soon after to pursue other interests. Gurnee was replaced by Jerry Foley. Burnett was absent from the day-to-day operations from 2000 to 2004, and was replaced by Barbara Gaines and Maria Pope, both of whom continue to serve as executive producers, with Gaines currently acting as on-air producer. In 2003, producer Jude Brennan was added to the team of executive producers. Lassally, who had served as an executive producer for Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show, was invited back to the Late Show in January 2005 as a guest to discuss the recent death of Carson. Lassally currently serves as executive producer for Worldwide Pants' The Late Late Show (dating back to its years under original host Tom Snyder) as well as the Tony Mendez Show, an online webcast featuring the Late Show's "cue card boy." The show began broadcasting in high definition on August 29, 2005. About two weeks later, Tim Kennedy, the show's Technical Director, commented on the transition in the show's official newsletter:
The biggest challenge in the HD conversion was to renovate and upgrade our old control room, audio room, videotape room, and edit room while still doing five shows a week... This entailed pulling a remote production truck on 53rd Street running somewhere in the neighborhood of 50,000 feet of video and audio cable just to tie the truck to the existing technical plant...
The coolest piece of equipment is our new control room Virtual Wall. We have done away with the conventional monitor for every video source and replaced it with four 70-inch rear projection screens and within those screens we can "virtually" place as many video images as we want, anywhere we want them, and when we want it.
Kennedy and his crew won an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video for a Series" during the nearly-four-month-long transition to HDTV. David Letterman is known for his on-air quirks. Letterman himself is known for his quirky physical comedy, which he has used in varied degrees throughout the years. Examples are throwing his blue note cards through the prop window behind him or throwing pencils at the camera (always followed with a sound effect of shattering glass), slapping the camera, pausing to take a long drink of his coffee, exaggeratedly loud coughing and clearing his throat, showing the inside lining of his suit, showing his receding hairline, long awkward moments to organize his note cards on his desk, flipping pencils upward and trying to catch them one-handed (à la Johnny Carson), wiggling his tie, adjusting the height of his chair, stirring his guests' coffee with a pencil before they arrive, and pausing to clean his glasses. In earlier episodes he would often throw objects into the audience. Though Letterman is typically well-attired and neat, a common 'Dave gag' is pretending to eat or drink excessive amounts of both edible and non-edible items, for instance, eating mayonnaise straight from the jar, allowing it to slop onto his face and onto the front of his suit.[citation needed] During a cooking segment with Martha Stewart there was a table set up with ingredients to demonstrate how to prepare some sort of meal. Letterman feigned clumsy disinterest, measuring the wrong amounts, throwing raw eggs at the band, gulping down bottles of wine, eating half a stick of butter, and generally wreaking havoc in an attempt to fluster his guest. Stewart tried to nonchalantly continue her cooking presentation, until finally, in an apparent "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" moment, succumbed to the fun, taking a big bite of butter herself. A similar situation occurred during a cooking segment featuring British chef Jamie Oliver, beginning with Letterman eating raw onions and resulting in he, Oliver and the episode's first guest Tom Cruise, and later Paul Shaffer all drinking from a bottle of olive oil. Another Letterman trademark is his penchant for odd, non-sequitur one-liners. Often they come from obscure sources with little to no explanation and appear to be mostly used for Letterman's own amusement.[citation needed] Some of the one-liners seem to derive from experiences in Letterman's personal life, random lines he heard on TV, or favorite lines used by his comedian friends. Others are exaggerations of typical talk-show patter, in keeping with Letterman's ironic take on his own television genre. Shaffer will often laugh at the jokes, although this is usually due to the repetition and familiarity of them, rather than the nature of the jokes themselves. Letterman will often poke fun at himself in a wide variety of ways, ranging from the content of his show (such as admitting when a joke is not particularly funny), his personal life (portraying himself as a reclusive loner), his physical appearance (his hair or "advanced age"), and his staff's supposed frustration with him (being forced to work on holidays). Such jokes will be made through impromptu remarks made by Letterman, or even in scripted material presented by Letterman or various staff members. In one episode, foreigners would appear on stage one by one, hurling a flurry of insults at Letterman in their native languages. Another more common gag consists of audience members finding ways to leave the show to Letterman's embarrassment. Many frequently invited guests have gone on to become favorites of the show, displaying an on-air friendship with Letterman that sets them apart from the more typical interview subjects. Perhaps most prominent among these are Charles Grodin and Regis Philbin, who will often bicker with Letterman about their respective personal relationships. Philbin has made more appearances on the Late Show than any other guest in the show's history. Other notable guests include Bonnie Hunt (with whom Letterman co-produced two short-lived sitcoms), Bill Murray (who has the distinction of appearing on the first episodes of both Late Night and the Late Show), Marv Albert (who had the most Late Night appearances), musical group Foo Fighters (whom Letterman had personally requested to perform during his first show after heart bypass surgery in 2000), and Warren Zevon (who was featured as the only guest in his final appearance prior to his death in 2003). Some guests, particularly Bill Murray, Tom Hanks, Steve Martin, and Bruce Willis, will often take the effort to accompany their appearances on the show with a pre-arranged routine or bit (such as when Willis put dots on his face to satirize Dick Cheney's recent hunting incident and Hanks' wearing one of Letterman's sport jackets and a pair of his loafers, claiming his wife was to blame for the accidental clash of fashions), or will appear elsewhere in the show in a skit. Martin Short will often conclude his interviews with a comedic musical number on stage. Other favorite guests who have frequently appeared include Drew Barrymore, Ricky Gervais, Matthew Broderick, Tom Brokaw, Richard Simmons, Frank Caliendo (sometimes in character as John Madden or George W. Bush), Harry Connick, Jr., Penn & Teller, Johnny Depp, Elvis Costello, Billy Crystal, Jack Hanna, Jennifer Lopez, Paul Newman, Sarah Jessica Parker, Tony Randall, Julia Roberts, Ray Romano, Isabella Rossellini, Amy Sedaris, Jerry Seinfeld, Martha Stewart, Howard Stern and Robin Williams. Some of Letterman's personal comedian friends who have often appeared on the show include Jeff Altman, Tom Dreesen, George Miller, Bob Sarlatte, Jimmie Walker and John Witherspoon. R.E.M., who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March 2007, made their international television debut on Late Night on October 6, 1983, just three years into their career. To date, they have appeared on Letterman's show six times. The Late Show has been know for some yearly traditions:
Halloween: For Halloween, Letterman stands in a house-like set on stage, where he answers a door and greets a series of trick-or-treaters dressed in elaborate, humorous costumes (a recent example being a giant Bluetooth headset). The children are then given "treats" which have consisted of unusual items such as Lipitor, useless Yankees World Series tickets, and a tote bag from The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
Thanksgiving: Every Thanksgiving, Letterman visits his mother (Dorothy Mengering) at her Indiana home via satellite, and tries to guess the two pies she has baked for her family dinner. Letterman will also show footage of that year's company Thanksgiving party, which often includes a particular clip from a previous party in which Letterman serves food while dressed in a pilgrim costume. There was no show in 2007 due to the WGA Strike.
Christmas: With the exception of 2007 as a result of the Writers Guild of America strike, many "Christmas traditions" have been part of the show's annual tradition with some even being carried over from the Late Night incarnation. Since 1986, Letterman has invited musician Darlene Love to perform "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" on the final new episode of the Late Show with David Letterman before Christmas. The song is always performed with Paul Shaffer and the CBS Orchestra, with the band being augmented by additional strings and other instruments, as well as a full choir. Love first performed the song on Late Night with David Letterman in 1986. Letterman has stated that the annual performance is his favorite part of Christmas, and that Love's rendition is "the only Christmas song anyone needs." Letterman will often dedicate a segment to toy expert Shannon Eis, who demonstrates many of the newer toys that will be available during the upcoming season. The main appeal of the segment is Letterman's tendency to engage in horseplay with the various toys on display. Paul Shaffer will often perform a brief rendition of Cher singing "O Holy Night" from an episode of her 1970s variety show. Shaffer sets up the bit with a straight-faced introduction before breaking into a humorous impersonation. This has been performed on-and-off since the Late Night years. Letterman will also have local pizza-maker Joe G, gift shop proprietors Mujibur & Sirajul, and Hello Deli proprietor Rupert Jee top the Late Show Christmas tree with a pizza, Statue of Liberty miniature, and meatball, respectively. Each Christmas, Letterman and comedian Jay Thomas will then throw footballs at the tree from across the stage, attempting to knock the meatball off the top. This tradition began in 1998 when Letterman and NFL quarterback Vinny Testaverde threw footballs at a pastrami sandwich from the top of a tree but failed repeatedly. This prompted Thomas - who had been a guest earlier - to run out and take a shot, succeeding on his first try. The tradition of Thomas and Letterman throwing footballs at the tree (along with Thomas' retelling of his encounter with The Lone Ranger) has continued every year since then.
Over the years there have been a few notable episodes:
March 31, 1994: On March 31, 1994, pop star Madonna appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman. The unofficial 'Queen of Pop', who is known for controversy, infamously swore thirteen times throughout the interview and refused to leave at the end. Letterman, who asked her questions on various topics including her nose ring, music and love life was soon branded a 'sick fuck', after he suggested Madonna kiss a member of the audience. Madonna went on to ask if Letterman was wearing a 'rug', whether he wanted to smell a pair of underwear she brought on the show, or whether he thought the microphone was sexually big. In between this, Madonna often swore and referred to sexual themes including her vagina, saying: 'Did you know it's good to pee in the shower?' Eventually, she swore so much that the producers went to commercials and showed comedic monologues of Madonna. At the end of the interview, when Madonna refused to leave, Letterman cut to a break, and when they returned, Madonna was gone. Letterman has since stated, in USA Today: 'I'm not pleased with the way I handled it. I should have said, "You say that word one more time and you're gone. That's it. Adios." And I didn't.' Madonna appeared days later on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Although she appeared briefly at the stroke of midnight on Valentine's Day, 1995 to present Dave with a bouquet of roses, her return to the show as a guest was not until 2000, while promoting her album Music. During that interview, and other subsequent interviews on the show, Dave joked that he still had the panties that she gave him. During the September 1994 MTV Video Music Awards, Madonna was a presenter and was escorted onstage by Letterman who kissed her hand and stated, "I'll be in the car. Just... watch your language.", and walked off stage to applause.
September 20, 1996: In early September of 1996, it was announced that The Late Show would experiment with a commercial-free format. The September 20 broadcast of the show did not contain traditional commercials, although there were breaks (within the show) to acknowledge sponsors.
February 21, 2000: On January 14, Letterman made on The Late Show the announcement that he was undergoing an angiogram the following day, after doctors had recently been concerned about his high cholesterol and family history (his father died of a heart attack at 52). Soon it was discovered that he had blocked arteries and had to undergo a quintuple bypass. During his hiatus, the show had been off the air for a few weeks after which, while he was still recovering the show was being hosted by guests for the following weeks. On his first show after recovering, Dave brought out all the doctors and nurses on the show who had helped him during his surgery and recovery. Despite nearly breaking out in tears during the show, Dave seemed to find humor in his situation; while referring to one of his nurses, Dave said: "This woman saw me naked!". He continued to joke about the event for weeks after his return.
September 17, 2001: On September 17, 2001, David Letterman was the first major American comedy performer to return to the television airwaves after the September 11, 2001 attacks. In his opening monologue, absent the usual musical opening credits and cheering audience, an uncharacteristically serious and very emotional Letterman struggled with the reality of the attacks and the role of comedy in a post-9/11 world, saying:
“The reason we were attacked, the reason these people are dead, these people are missing and dead … They weren't doing anything wrong, they were living their lives, they were going to work, they were traveling, they were doing what they normally do. Uh, as I understand it—and my understanding of this is vague, at best—another smaller group of people stole some airplanes and crashed them into buildings. And we're told that they were zealots fueled by religious fervor, religious fervor. And if you live to be a thousand years old, will that make any sense to you? Will that make any goddamned sense?”
His first guest that night was then-CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather, who was also very emotional and spoke with feeling about the courage of firefighters as well as reading verses from the song, America the Beautiful. Dave got his first laugh when, at the end of his monologue, he said, "And thank God Regis is here so we have something to make fun of." His musical guest that night was Tori Amos, who performed a cover of Tom Waits' "Time." She was one of the few major artists willing to perform in such a public venue so soon after 9/11. Letterman was visibly affected by her performance after he went over to greet her when she finished. Before September 11, various mocking and self important descriptions were affixed to New York City at the beginning of the show, but starting with the September 17, 2001 show and continuing to the present announcer Alan Kalter introduces the show as being "From New York, The Greatest City in the World, it's The Late Show with David Letterman!" (Whenever there is a guest host, Alan Kalter omits "The Greatest City in the World.") Also, the opening shot of the credits, a view of Battery Park and the World Trade Center, was changed to an aerial shot of the Empire State Building.
January 31, 2005: Letterman's first show after long-time friend and mentor Johnny Carson had died. The show had been on a one-week hiatus since his death. As a tribute, Letterman's opening monologue included jokes written by Carson (news reports in the weeks leading to Carson's death revealed that he had been regularly writing and sending Letterman some jokes) as well as clips shown from The Tonight Show. Other tributes to Carson in this episode included the band playing "Johnny's Theme" at the conclusion of Letterman's monologue, and use of title cards with the phrase, "More to Come" around commercial breaks (a standard feature of The Tonight Show during most of Carson's years there that has continued under Jay Leno's tenure). While describing how he felt about the news, Letterman stated: "There are so many things you miss about Johnny Carson... I was nearly this sad when the guy retired... Johnny Carson was like a public utility. At the end of the day, that's who you wanted to be there. The way that you know that Johnny was such a tremendous part of your life was when there was a guest host. You would be waiting all day to see Johnny and you'd tune in and there would be a guest host. And it would make you angry. And you'd be steaming mad, [though] not at Johnny, you would always take out your anger on the guest host."
January 2, 2008: During the 2007-08 Writers Guild of America strike, the show went into reruns for two months. In late December 2007, Letterman's company, Worldwide Pants Incorporated, reached a contract agreement with the striking writers. This put Letterman and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson back on the air with their full staff of writers. The show opened with Hillary Clinton making a cameo appearance saying, "It has been two long months but Dave's back. Oh, well, all good things must come to an end." Letterman returned sporting a full beard which he grew during his hiatus and opened the show by declaring that "It's been two months but I'm finally out of rehab." The Top 10 List consisted of demands by striking writers. Robin Williams was the first guest for the show's return. The next episode (one night later) is likely more noted for Ellen Page's appearance in which she promoted the film Juno.
There is something I should note about how I chose this list: there was some bias, i.e. a lot of shows I really like got on the list. I tried really hard to not completely fill the list with just shows I enjoy. Tor example, I’m not a big fan of The Cosby Show, General Hospital, The Dick Van Dyke Show, or St. Elsewhere; but I couldn’t ignore their importance to television history. And, a lot of shows really like didn’t make the list: Newhart, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, The Colbert Report, Late Night With Conan O’Brien. But, yes, my enjoyment of the show was a big factor in it getting on the list, notable examples: Cowboy Bebop, Futurama, The Venture Bros., Magnum P.I., Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Angel, Arrested Development, and Battlestar Galactica. And, that is one of the reason you haven’t seen a talk show until now. I’m not a big fan of the talk show. Sometimes they come off as fluffy shows that just stroke celebrities egos (Oprah, any show on E! except for The Soup) or featuring people who have no business being on TV (Maury; Jerry Springer). But, like with the game show, the soap opera, and the miniseries, talk shows are a part of TV. People enjoy them, and they’ve provided memorable moments. They can’t be ignored. And, one such show is The Late Show With David Letterman. And, why not CBS's Late Show? Lower stakes = greater comedy, something Letterman proved in his early days as a local weatherman, predicting hailstones "the size of canned hams." The man is practically in love with Johnny Carson and set his sights on a talk show early in his career. After he hosted a short-lived daytime talker in 1980 that allowed him to forge his trademark irreverent style, NBC gave Letterman a new show in 1982 at the 12:30 AM EST slot, right after Carson. Late Night With David Letterman quickly developed a strong following among the young and the hip with such stunts as Stupid Pet Tricks, Top 10 lists, and the Monkey-cam, as well as such personalities as laid-back bandleader Paul Shaffer and the unnerving Larry “Bud” Melman. Letterman’s ultimate goal was to replace Carson. However, NBC went with Jay Leno, fearing Letterman was too edgy for the 11:30 slot. A pissed off Letterman hightailed it off NBC and accepted CBS’s offer for to host a show. In his new home, The Late Show With David Letterman, he continued his Top 10 lists and Stupid Pet Tricks and dropped watermelons off the tops of buildings, donned an Alka-Seltzer suit (in homage to Steve Allen), and had unsettling run-ins with Harvey Pekar. Like Ernie Kovacs, Letterman at his best gives you the feeling of being lucky enough to watch him play with this awesome toy he's been given. And, I know what you’re thinking, “If you’re not a big fan of the talk show, why put one so high?” Because of the impact his show has had. For one, he gave late night some variety. Most people didn’t mind that Carson was the only game in town for 30 years. But, when Leno took over, many cried foul. Letterman gave those Leno haters an option. And then, we got Late Night With Conan O’Brien, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and more. But, most importantly, with The Late Show, Letterman continued to bridge the gap between old-fashioned talk shows and his ironic, smart-alecky style. He sharpened the ironic sense of humor that, far from being easy nihilism, is rooted in a good old-fashioned Midwestern distaste for phonies. David Letterman can be a ham, but he's never canned.
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 28, 2008 21:22:40 GMT -5
Tomorrow, the countdown will be three-fouths of the way over with 26 and 25. Here are the hints:
Both shows have doctors on them: on one, they heal you physically; on the other, they heal you mentally.
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