1.
Microsoft Theater
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The Microsoft Theater is a music and theatre venue in downtown Los Angeles, California at L. A. Live. The theatre auditorium seats 7,100 and holds one of the largest indoor stages in the United States, the theatre was designed by ELS Architecture and Urban Design of Berkeley, California on a commission by the Anschutz Entertainment Group in 2002. It opened on October 18,2007 with six concerts featuring The Eagles, in June 2015, the venue was re-branded as Microsoft Theater as part of a new naming rights deal with AEG Live. Microsoft had acquired Nokias mobile device business in 2014, as part of the new naming rights deal, the L. A. Live plaza was also renamed Microsoft Square, and Microsoft provided upgrades to the venues technology, since its opening, the Microsoft Theater has been a popular venue for award shows. The theatre has hosted the ESPY Awards since 2008 as well as the American Music Awards since 2007, the venue has been the home to the Primetime Emmy Awards since 2008 and will continue to do so until at least 2018. It hosted the MTV Video Music Awards in 2010,2011 and 2015, in 2008 and 2011, the venue hosted The Grammy Nominations Live, a concert announcing the nominees for the Grammy Awards were announced. The Microsoft Theater has hosted the Peoples Choice Awards since 2010 and it has also been used by Nintendo multiple times for press conferences during E3. It was also the venue for the finale of American Idol from seasons 7–13 as well as the 2015, vocaloid character Hatsune Miku made her US debut at Microsoft Theater on July 2,2011, as part of Anime Expo. She returned to the venue on October 11–12,2014 as part of Miku Expo LA2014, Hatsune Miku returned for another performance on May 6,2016 as part of her first North American tour. The 28th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions were held at the Microsoft Theater on April 18,2013, the BET Awards moved to the Microsoft Theater in 2013. Since 2013, the Microsoft Theater has hosted the Radio Disney Music Awards, the Microsoft Theater most recently hosted the 58th Annual Grammy Awards Premiere Ceremony on February 15
2.
Los Angeles
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Los Angeles, officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L. A. is the cultural, financial, and commercial center of Southern California. With a census-estimated 2015 population of 3,971,883, it is the second-most populous city in the United States, Los Angeles is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated county in the United States. The citys inhabitants are referred to as Angelenos, historically home to the Chumash and Tongva, Los Angeles was claimed by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo for Spain in 1542 along with the rest of what would become Alta California. The city was founded on September 4,1781, by Spanish governor Felipe de Neve. It became a part of Mexico in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence, in 1848, at the end of the Mexican–American War, Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, thereby becoming part of the United States. Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4,1850, the discovery of oil in the 1890s brought rapid growth to the city. The completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, delivering water from Eastern California, nicknamed the City of Angels, Los Angeles is known for its Mediterranean climate, ethnic diversity, and sprawling metropolis. Los Angeles also has an economy in culture, media, fashion, science, sports, technology, education, medicine. A global city, it has been ranked 6th in the Global Cities Index, the city is home to renowned institutions covering a broad range of professional and cultural fields, and is one of the most substantial economic engines within the United States. The Los Angeles combined statistical area has a gross metropolitan product of $831 billion, making it the third-largest in the world, after the Greater Tokyo and New York metropolitan areas. The city has hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1932 and 1984 and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics and thus become the second city after London to have hosted the Games three times. The Los Angeles area also hosted the 1994 FIFA mens World Cup final match as well as the 1999 FIFA womens World Cup final match, the mens event was watched on television by over 700 million people worldwide. The Los Angeles coastal area was first settled by the Tongva, a Gabrielino settlement in the area was called iyáangẚ, meaning poison oak place. Gaspar de Portolà and Franciscan missionary Juan Crespí, reached the present site of Los Angeles on August 2,1769, in 1771, Franciscan friar Junípero Serra directed the building of the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, the first mission in the area. The Queen of the Angels is an honorific of the Virgin Mary, two-thirds of the settlers were mestizo or mulatto with a mixture of African, indigenous and European ancestry. The settlement remained a small town for decades, but by 1820. Today, the pueblo is commemorated in the district of Los Angeles Pueblo Plaza and Olvera Street. New Spain achieved its independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821, during Mexican rule, Governor Pío Pico made Los Angeles Alta Californias regional capital
3.
California
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California is the most populous state in the United States and the third most extensive by area. Located on the western coast of the U. S, California is bordered by the other U. S. states of Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California. Los Angeles is Californias most populous city, and the second largest after New York City. The Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nations second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, California also has the nations most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The Central Valley, an agricultural area, dominates the states center. What is now California was first settled by various Native American tribes before being explored by a number of European expeditions during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish Empire then claimed it as part of Alta California in their New Spain colony. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821 following its war for independence. The western portion of Alta California then was organized as the State of California, the California Gold Rush starting in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic changes, with large-scale emigration from the east and abroad with an accompanying economic boom. If it were a country, California would be the 6th largest economy in the world, fifty-eight percent of the states economy is centered on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5 percent of the states economy, the story of Calafia is recorded in a 1510 work The Adventures of Esplandián, written as a sequel to Amadis de Gaula by Spanish adventure writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. The kingdom of Queen Calafia, according to Montalvo, was said to be a land inhabited by griffins and other strange beasts. This conventional wisdom that California was an island, with maps drawn to reflect this belief, shortened forms of the states name include CA, Cal. Calif. and US-CA. Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, various estimates of the native population range from 100,000 to 300,000. The Indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct groups of Native Americans, ranging from large, settled populations living on the coast to groups in the interior. California groups also were diverse in their organization with bands, tribes, villages. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups, the first European effort to explore the coast as far north as the Russian River was a Spanish sailing expedition, led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, in 1542. Some 37 years later English explorer Francis Drake also explored and claimed a portion of the California coast in 1579. Spanish traders made unintended visits with the Manila galleons on their trips from the Philippines beginning in 1565
4.
Tom Bergeron
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Thomas Tom Bergeron is an American television personality, comedian, and game show host. He is best known as the host of the 21 Day Fix infomercial, Americas Funniest Home Videos and he has also hosted Hollywood Squares, and a fill-in host for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. He is the winner of both a Daytime Emmy Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award, Bergeron was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, the son of Kay and Ray Bergeron. He is of French-Canadian and Irish descent and his first job in broadcasting was as a disc jockey at local radio station WHAV, in his home town of Haverhill, Massachusetts. He became a popular radio DJ in the Seacoast area of New Hampshire in the early 1980s on Portsmouths WHEB and his popularity led to additional TV and radio auditions. One of his first jobs on television was as host of a game show, Granite State Challenge. He moved to the Boston market in February 1982, joining WBZ-TV as a general on-air personality, in 1984, he landed the hosting spot on Lottery Live, the nightly drawings of the Massachusetts State Lottery games. By January 1987, while working in these roles, Bergeron added People Are Talking to his duties. He replaced outgoing host Buzz Luttrell on the afternoon talk show. While Ron Cantera took over as host of 4 Today, Bergeron remained lottery host until drawings moved to WNEV-TV in September 1987, Bergeron additionally served as the original host of WBZs weekend morning teenage discussion series Rap-Around from 1987 to 1989. By the early 1990s, Bergeron was seen as a figure in Boston television. It was there he had a radio show called The Tom Bergeron Show. When People Are Talking ended a successful 13-year run in June 1993, Bergeron remained on WBZ-TV as commentator and lifestyle reporter for the stations expanded hour-long noon newscast. In early 1994, Bergeron briefly surfaced as a morning host on Bostons soft-rock station WMJX, in June 1994, Bergeron left WBZ when he was hired by the new FX cable network. He had been selected to co-host a morning show for them, called Breakfast Time. Hosting with Laurie Hibberd, the show became successful on the upstart cable network. In September 1996, the moved to Fox and became Fox After Breakfast. Bergeron and Hibberd continued with the show for one year on Fox, the show was renewed in 1997, with new host Vicki Lawrence, a new set and modified format, it became The Vicki Lawrence Show
5.
Heidi Klum
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Heidi Klum is a German-American model, television personality, businesswoman, fashion designer, singer, television producer, and occasional actress. She appeared on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and she has worked as a spokesmodel for Dannon and H&M, and has appeared in numerous commercials for McDonalds, Volkswagen and others. In 2009, Klum became Barbies official ambassador on Barbies 50th anniversary, as an occasional actress, she had supporting roles in movies including Blow Dry, Ella Enchanted, and made cameo appearances in The Devil Wears Prada and Perfect Stranger. She has also appeared on TV shows including Sex and the City, How I Met Your Mother, Desperate Housewives and Parks, currently, Klum is a judge on the NBC reality show Americas Got Talent. In May 2011, Forbes magazine estimated Klums total earnings for that year as US$20 million and she is ranked second on Forbes list of the Worlds Top-Earning Models, behind Gisele Bündchen. Forbes noted that since ending her 13-year run as a Victorias Secret Angel, in 2008, she became an American citizen while maintaining her native German citizenship. Klum was born and raised in Bergisch Gladbach, a town outside Cologne and she is the daughter of Erna, a hairdresser, and Günther Klum, a cosmetics company executive. A friend convinced her to enroll in a modeling contest called Model 92. Out of 25,000 contestants, Klum was voted the winner on April 29,1992, after winning, she appeared on the Gottschalk Late Night Show, a German television show with host Thomas Gottschalk. She accepted the contract a few months later after graduating from school, Klum has been featured on the cover of French, German, Portuguese and Spanish Vogue magazines, as well as Elle, InStyle, Marie Claire, Glamour and Russian Harpers Bazaar magazines. She became widely known after appearing on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, Klum has hosted the 2002,2006,2007, and 2009 Victorias Secret Fashion Shows. On October 1,2010, the New York Post reported in its Page Six gossip column that Klum would be leaving Victorias Secret and she wrote the foreword to Gairs book of body paint work, Body Painting, Masterpieces. She was a spokesmodel for McDonalds, Braun, Dannon, H & M, since 2007, she has been a celebrity spokesmodel for Jordache and Volkswagen. In addition to modeling, she has appeared in several TV shows, including Spin City, Sex and the City, Yes, Dear, and How I Met Your Mother. She had a role as a hair model in the movie Blow Dry, played a giantess in the movie Ella Enchanted and was cast as Ursula Andress in The Life. She had cameo appearances in the films The Devil Wears Prada and her other projects include dance and video games. She is featured in the 2003 video game James Bond 007, Everything or Nothing, the latter video depicts the married couple sharing intimate moments while naked in bed, the concept was Klums idea. In July 2007, having earned US$8 million in the previous 16 months, in 2008, Forbes estimated her income at US$16 million, putting Klum in first place
6.
Howie Mandel
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Howard Michael Howie Mandel is a Canadian comedian, actor, television host, and voice actor. He is well known as host of the NBC game show Deal or No Deal, as well as the shows daytime and Canadian-English counterparts. Before his career as a show host, Mandel was best known for his role as rowdy ER intern Dr. Wayne Fiscus on the NBC medical drama St. Elsewhere. He is also known for being the creator and star of the childrens cartoon Bobbys World. Mandel became a judge on NBCs Americas Got Talent, replacing David Hasselhoff, Mandel was born and lived in the Willowdale area of Toronto, Ontario. Mandel is Jewish and a distant cousin to violinist Itzhak Perlman and his father was a lighting manufacturer and a real estate agent. He was a comedian at Yuk Yuks in Toronto and by September 1978 had a week-long booking as featured act, billed as a wild. His repertoire included placing a latex glove over his head and inflating it by blowing through his nose, a producer for the comedic game show Make Me Laugh saw him and booked Mandel for several appearances during the shows run in 1979. He was booked to open for David Letterman at shows in the summer of 1979, cBC-TVs head of variety programming saw his performance in October 1979 and immediately signed him for a TV special. In 1980, he won the role in the Canadian movie Gas, co-starring Susan Anspach. Mandel was one of the first VeeJays to appear on Nickelodeons music video series, Pop Clips. While working as Dr. Fiscus, and continuing to work as a comedian, he also did movies, including his role as the voice of Gizmo in the 1984 hit Gremlins and its 1990 sequel Gremlins 2, The New Batch. In 1985 Mandel made a cameo in the Michael J. Fox directed short The Iceman Hummeth which was subsequently broadcast on Late Night with David Letterman in November 1985, in 1986, he starred in A Fine Mess alongside Ted Danson. He performed his comedy act in several cities, which was followed by his Watusi music video in 1987. For the first two seasons of Muppet Babies, he voiced Bunsen Honeydew, Animal and Skeeter and he starred on the 1987 comedy film Walk Like a Man. He was also Maurice in the 1989 movie Little Monsters, in 1990, he starred in the short-lived sitcom Good Grief on Fox. He was also the creator and executive producer of the Emmy-nominated childrens animated series Bobbys World, to which he supplied the voices of the title character, Bobbys World ran for eight seasons on Fox and was later syndicated. Mandel also plays his alter-ego, Phil Skorjanc, in most of his comedy shows, Bobby also made a cameo appearance in a February 2007 episode of Deal or No Deal
7.
Jeff Probst
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Jeffrey Lee Jeff Probst is an American game show host and an executive producer. He is best known as the Emmy Award winning host of the U. S. Probst was born in Wichita, Kansas on November 4,1961 to Jerry and Barbara Probst, and grew up primarily in Bellevue, Washington. In addition to Survivor, Probst once hosted the FX networks original half-hour show dedicated to answering viewer letters, Backchat, along with Sound FX, Probst also hosted the VH1 series Rock & Roll Jeopardy. From 1998 to 2001, and was a correspondent for the syndicated program Access Hollywood and he also wrote and directed the Lionsgate released film, Finders Fee. People magazine named Probst one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in 2001, by giving Survivor related clues from the shows venues, has twice appeared on Celebrity Jeopardy. First in 2001 and again in 2003, and made cameo appearances during the April 1,2010 episode. He was also a frequent guest star on the sketch show MADtv, Probst also hosts Celebrity Superfan Roundtable for Howard Stern. He has hosted Survivor since 2000 and he later stated that he had worked hard to get a meeting with series creator Mark Burnett, because he believed the show was something special. He delivers the series signature catch-phrase to losing contestants, The tribe has spoken and its time for you to go, which was included in TV Lands The 100 Greatest TV Quotes and Catch Phrases special in 2006. Probst made a guest appearance in a 2003 episode of Space Ghost Coast to Coast on Cartoon Networks Adult Swim, in 2007, Probst founded The Serpentine Project, a non-profit that empowers youth transitioning out of foster care to reach for their dreams by opening the door to possibilities. The organization recently merged with The Alliance For Childrens Rights, on April 1,2009, Probst appeared on the CBS reality television special I Get That a Lot, in which he worked a cash register. In February 2010, Probst confirmed that he has signed on to host two seasons of Survivor, putting him through season 22. It was then announced on March 9,2011 that Probst had extended his contract to host another two seasons of Survivor, contracting him through season 24. In October 2011, he appeared as himself on the sitcom How I Met Your Mother, starting on September 10,2012, he hosted The Jeff Probst Show, a syndicated daytime talk show produced by CBS Television Distribution. CBS did not pick up the show for a second season, starting on October 2012, Probst has hosted the recurring Adult Swim special, The Greatest Event in Television History, which consists of remakes of 1980s TV show title sequences. In February 2013, Probst teamed up with Christopher Tebbetts to release the first of Scholastics adventure series Stranded, Stranded is intended for middle school students, grades 4-6. It follows the story of Vanessa, Buzz, Carter, and Jane as they are left on a deserted island and it started out as a regular vacation but when a storm sets in, the kids are shipwrecked in the middle of the South Pacific without any parents. They must find a way to work if they are ever to get off the island
8.
Ryan Seacrest
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Ryan John Seacrest is an American radio personality, television host and producer. He is best known for hosting the talent competition show American Idol, as well as the countdown program American Top 40. He received Emmy Award nominations for American Idol, and won an Emmy for producing Jamie Olivers Food Revolution. Seacrest was born on December 24,1974, in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of Constance Marie, a homemaker, and Gary Lee Seacrest and his mother told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Instead of playing with G. I. Joes or Cowboys and Indians, Ryan would always have a little microphone, at age 14, he attended Dunwoody High School. At age 16, while attending high school, Seacrest won an internship at WSTR, in Atlanta, with Tom Sullivan. When the regular DJ called in sick, Sullivan put him on the air for the very first show of his broadcasting career, Seacrest was given the weekend overnight shift at WSTR. Seacrest continued to work on air at WSTR until graduating from Dunwoody High School in 1992, Seacrest went on to study journalism at the University of Georgia in fall 1992. He continued his show at a local Athens station. Seacrest left the university at age 19 and moved to Hollywood to pursue his broadcasting career, in 1993, Seacrest hosted the first season of ESPNs Radical Outdoor Challenge. He also hosted three kids game shows, Gladiators 2000 from 1994–96, Wild Animal Games in 1995, Seacrest appeared as the host of the fictional game show Lovers Lane on Beverly Hills,90210 in The Final Proof. In the fall and winter of 2000, Seacrest was the host of The NBC Saturday Night Movie, during commercial breaks, he offered trivia on the film and a chance to win prizes by answering online on NBCi. In 2001, he hosted a reality program, Ultimate Revenge. It was shown on TNN from 2001 to 2003, American Idol In 2002, Seacrest accepted the position as co-host of a new Fox reality television series American Idol with comedian Brian Dunkleman. American Idol went on to success, putting Seacrest in the national spotlight, the following year, he became the sole host. When the show increased in popularity, seen by some 26 million viewers weekly, in 2003, Seacrest hosted the spin-off show, American Juniors. In July 2009, Seacrest inked a deal with CKX for $45 million to continue to host American Idol, in April 2012, Seacrest signed a two-year, $30 million deal to stay on as host of American Idol. In May 2014, Deadline. com reported that he had signed a deal with the option of another year
9.
American Broadcasting Company
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The network is headquartered on Columbus Avenue and West 66th Street in Manhattan, New York City. There are additional offices and production facilities elsewhere in New York City, as well as in Los Angeles and Burbank. Since 2007, when ABC Radio was sold to Citadel Broadcasting, ABC originally launched on October 12,1943, as a radio network, separated from and serving as the successor to the NBC Blue Network, which had been purchased by Edward J. Noble. It extended its operations to television in 1948, following in the footsteps of established broadcast networks CBS, in the mid-1950s, ABC merged with United Paramount Theatres, a chain of movie theaters that formerly operated as a subsidiary of Paramount Pictures. Leonard Goldenson, who had been the head of UPT, made the new television network profitable by helping develop, in 1996, most of Capital Cities/ABCs assets were purchased by The Walt Disney Company. The television network has eight owned-and-operated and over 232 affiliated television stations throughout the United States, most Canadians have access to at least one U. S. ABC News provides news and features content for radio stations owned by Citadel Broadcasting. In the 1930s, radio in the United States was dominated by three companies, the Columbia Broadcasting System, the Mutual Broadcasting System and the National Broadcasting Company. The last was owned by electronics manufacturer Radio Corporation of America, in 1938, the FCC began a series of investigations into the practices of radio networks and published its report on the broadcasting of network radio programs in 1940. The report recommended that RCA give up control of either NBC Red or NBC Blue, at that time, the NBC Red Network was the principal radio network in the United States and, according to the FCC, RCA was using NBC Blue to eliminate any hint of competition. Once Mutuals appeals against the FCC were rejected, RCA decided to sell NBC Blue in 1941, the newly separated NBC Red and NBC Blue divided their respective corporate assets. Investment firm Dillon, Read & Co. offered $7.5 million to purchase the network, Edward John Noble, the owner of Life Savers candy, drugstore chain Rexall and New York City radio station WMCA, purchased the network for $8 million. Due to FCC ownership rules, the transaction, which was to include the purchase of three RCA stations by Noble, would require him to resell his station with the FCCs approval, the Commission authorized the transaction on October 12,1943. Soon afterward, the Blue Network was purchased by the new company Noble founded, Noble subsequently acquired the rights to the American Broadcasting Company name from George B. Meanwhile, in August 1944, the West Coast division of the Blue Network, both stations were then managed by Don Searle, the vice-president of the Blue Networks West Coast division. The ABC Radio Network created its audience slowly, the network also became known for such suspenseful dramas as Sherlock Holmes, Gang Busters and Counterspy, as well as several mid-afternoon youth-oriented programs. S. From Nazi Germany after its conquest, to pre-record its programming, while its radio network was undergoing reconstruction, ABC found it difficult to avoid falling behind on the new medium of television. To ensure a space, in 1947, ABC submitted five applications for television station licenses, the ABC television network made its debut on April 19,1948, with WFIL-TV in Philadelphia becoming its first primary affiliate
10.
59th Primetime Emmy Awards
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The 59th Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 16,2007, honoring the best in U. S. prime time television programming at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. The ceremony was televised live on Fox at 8,00 p. m. EDT for the first time in high definition (on tape delay three hours later on the West Coast of the United States at 8,00 p. m. It was also the final Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony to be held at the Shrine Auditorium, the ceremony was hosted by Ryan Seacrest. The nominations were announced on July 19 at 5,40 a. m. PDT by Jon Cryer, meanwhile, the Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony, hosted by comedian-actor Carlos Mencia, were presented eight days earlier on September 9. Freshman series 30 Rock defeated defending champion The Office to claim Outstanding Comedy Series, going into its final ceremony, The Sopranos needed just three major awards to tie the drama series record of 18 major wins set by Hill Street Blues. It was nominated in ten major categories coming in and ended the night with three wins, including its second win for Outstanding Drama Series and this tied the record and gave both shows identical résumés—18 major wins and 74 major nominations. This was the first year the Emmy was presented during the Primetime awards ceremony, the stage design for the ceremony was created with seating surrounding platform creating a theater in the round with a catwalk style walkway for winners and presenters to exit the stage to. A trap door was placed in the center of the main stage, some TV critics viewed this as a reference to Foxs American Idol. Another segment occurred during the presentation of the Outstanding Reality-Competition Program award, there was a competition between singer Kanye West and The Office actor Rainn Wilson similar to Dont Forget the Lyrics. with host Wayne Brady presiding. West sang the last line of the chorus in the song Stronger as That how long Ive been on you which was supposed to be That how long Ive been on ya, losing to Wilson. West jokingly retorted I never win, poking fun at his losses at award ceremonies, tony Bennett and Christina Aguilera sang Steppin Out With My Baby from Bennetts award-winning special. Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert presented the award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, the award went to Ricky Gervais for Extras, but after reading his name, Jon Stewart was informed that Gervais was not at the ceremony. Stewart immediately announced, Ricky Gervais couldnt be here tonight, so instead were going to give this to our friend Steve Carell, Carell ran onto the stage and hugged Stewart and Colbert as they all screamed in mock celebration, then ran off together with the award. As a joke, in 2008, at the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards, Ricky Gervais showed a video of the moment, commenting, Look at stupid face, accusing Carell of stealing his award, and demanding it back. During the Fox telecast, some presenters and award winners were censored while making statements. When Ray Romano delivered a monologue about the change of television in the years since he left his own show, he mentioned that for one, from what I hear. On Fox, all that was heard was for one, from what I hear, Frasier is before Fox cut the audio, when viewers saw the ball through a high camera angle, it is revealed that the ball covered the entire stage. This lasted approximately 10 seconds before Fox returned to Romano, the reason for the censorship of this comment has been debated between vulgar language or revealing an important plot line to the show
11.
61st Primetime Emmy Awards
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The 61st Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 20,2009. CBS broadcast the Primetime event and E. broadcast the Creative Arts event, the nominations were announced on July 16,2009. On July 13,2009, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced that Neil Patrick Harris would host the Primetime ceremony, the Creative Arts Emmy Awards for prime time were hosted by Kathy Griffin on September 12. The 61st Primetime Emmy Awards earned a 4.2 rating in the 18–49 demo,30 Rock became the sixth show to win Outstanding Comedy Series three consecutive years, winning three major awards on that night. 30 Rock made history when it smashed the record for most major nominations by a series with 18. The Cosby Show had held the record of 13 since 1986, the 18 major nominations became the third biggest record of all time, behind Roots record number of 21 in 1977 and NYPD Blues mark of 19 in 1994. The drama field also crowned the champion, AMCs Mad Men. It won two awards on that night. After airing for fifteen seasons, ER went out a winner as its series finale won for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series and this was the first major win for ER since 2001. History was also made by The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the Amazing Race would lose the following year
12.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
13.
Prime time
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Prime time or peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television programming. The term prime time is defined in terms of a fixed time period – for example. In Chinese television, the 19, 00-to-22,00 time slot is known as Golden Time, the term also influenced a nickname of a strip of holidays in known as Golden Week. Prime time here usually takes place from 19,00 until 22,00, after that, programs classified as “PG” are allowed to be broadcast. Frontline dramas appear during this time slot in Cantonese, as well as movies in English, in India, prime time occurs between 20,00 and 22,30. Prime time usually takes place from 18,00 to 23,00 WIB, after prime time, programs classified as Adult, as well as cigarette commercials, are allowed to be broadcast. Like another Muslim-majority country, there is also a prime time during sahur time in a month of Ramadan. It takes place from 02,00 and ends at the Fajr prayer call, the time slot is usually filled with comedy and religious programming. In Iraq, prime time runs from 20,00 to 23,00, the main news programs are broadcast at 20,00 and the highest-rated television program airs at 21,00. In Japanese television, the 19, 00-to-22,00 time slot is known as Golden Time. The term also influenced a nickname of a strip of holidays in known as Golden Week, malaysian prime time starts with the main news from 20,00 to 20,30 and ends either at 23,00 or 0,30, or possibly late. Usually, programmes during prime time are domestic dramas, foreign series, movies. Programmes that classify as 18 are not allowed to be broadcast before 10,00 p. m. but on RTM, however, programmes broadcast after 23,00 are still considered prime time. As of December 2010, NTV7s prime time continues until 12,00 a. m, programmes during prime time may have longer commercial breaks due to number of viewers. Some domestic prime time productions may be affected because of major sporting events such as FIFA World Cup. However, only FIFA World Cup in the Americas did not affect the domestic prime time programmes, in the Philippines, prime time blocks begin at 18,00 and run until about 23,00 on weekdays, and 19,00 to 23,00 on weekends. The weekday prime time blocks usually consists of local teleseryes and foreign television series, the networks highest-rated programs are usually aired right after the evening newscast at 20,00, while a foreign series usually precedes the late night newscast. On weekends, non-scripted programming such as talent shows, reality shows, for the minor networks, prime time consists of American television series on weekdays, with encores of those shows on weekends
14.
Kristin Chenoweth
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Kristin Dawn Chenoweth is an American actress and singer, with credits in musical theatre, film and television. In 1999, she won a Tony Award for her performance as Sally Brown in Youre a Good Man, in 2003, she received wide notice for originating the role of Glinda in the musical Wicked, including a nomination for another Tony. Chenoweth also starred in the ABC TV series GCB in 2012, Chenoweth sang gospel music as a child in Oklahoma and studied opera before deciding to pursue a career in musical theatre. In 1997, she made her Broadway debut in Steel Pier, besides Youre a Good Man, Charlie Brown and Wicked, Chenoweths stage work includes five City Center Encores. Productions, Broadways The Apple Tree in 2006, Promises, Promises in 2010 and On the Twentieth Century in 2015, as well as Off-Broadway and regional theatre productions. Chenoweth had her own sitcom Kristin in 2001, and has guest starred on shows, including Sesame Street and Glee. In films, she has played character roles, such as in Bewitched, The Pink Panther. Chenoweth also penned a 2009 memoir, A Little Bit Wicked and she has stated that she is of one quarter Cherokee ancestry. At an early age, she performed songs for local churches. A performing highlight of her childhood was an appearance at the Southern Baptist Convention national conference at the age of 12. The chorus begins, Im only 4 feet 11, but Im going to Heaven, after graduating from Broken Arrow Senior High School, where she participated in school plays, Chenoweth attended Oklahoma City University, where she was a member of Gamma Phi Beta sorority. She earned a degree in musical theatre in 1990 and a masters degree in opera performance in 1992, studying under voice instructor and mentor. While at OCU, Chenoweth competed in beauty pageants, winning the title of Miss OCU and was the second runner-up in the Miss Oklahoma pageant in 1991, in 1992, Chenoweth participated in a studio recording of The Most Happy Fella. Two weeks before school started, however, she went to New York City to help a friend move, while there, she auditioned for the 1993 Paper Mill Playhouse production of the musical Animal Crackers and got the role of Arabella Rittenhouse. She turned down the scholarship and moved to New York to do the show and she made her Broadway debut in the spring of 1997 as Precious McGuire in the musical Steel Pier by Kander and Ebb, for which she won a Theatre World Award. In 1998 she appeared in the City Center Encores, staged concert of the George and Ira Gershwin musical Strike up the Band as Anne Draper and created roles in the original Lincoln Center Theater production of William Finns A New Brain. Ben Rimalower, in Playbill, wrote, Its unlikely anyone will equal Kristin Chenoweth in the role of Nancy D. the waitress. In 1999, Chenoweth performed in the Broadway revival of Youre a Good Man, Charlie Brown as the title characters sister, Sally
15.
Neil Patrick Harris
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Neil Patrick Harris is an American actor, comedian, magician, singer, and composer, known primarily for his comedy roles on television and his dramatic and musical stage roles. On television, he is known for playing the character on Doogie Howser. Barney Stinson on How I Met Your Mother, and Count Olaf on A Series of Unfortunate Events. Harris is also known for his role as the character in Joss Whedons musical Dr. Horribles Sing-Along Blog. His other films include Starship Troopers, Beastly, The Smurfs, The Smurfs 2, A Million Ways to Die in the West, and Gone Girl. In 2014, he starred in the role in Hedwig. Harris has hosted the Tony Awards in 2009,2011,2012 and he also hosted the Primetime Emmy Awards in 2009 and 2013, and hosted the 87th Academy Awards in 2015, thus making him the first openly gay man to host the Academy Awards. Harris was named one of Time magazines 100 Most Influential People in 2010 and he is married to David Burtka with whom he has two children. Harris was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico and grew up Ruidoso, New Mexico, with his brother and their parents, Sheila Gail. His parents were lawyers and also ran a restaurant and he attended La Cueva High School in Albuquerque, graduating with high honors in 1991. Harris began his career as an actor and was discovered by playwright Mark Medoff at a drama camp in Las Cruces. Medoff later cast him in the 1988 drama film Claras Heart, Claras Heart earned Harris a Golden Globe nomination. The same year, he starred in Purple People Eater, a childrens fantasy, Harris first film role as an adult was 1995s Animal Room, although he portrayed a teenager. His subsequent film work has included supporting roles in The Next Best Thing, Undercover Brother, and Starship Troopers. In 2010, Harris provided voice acting for the role of the adult Dick Grayson in the animated film Batman, Under the Red Hood, the same year, he played the lead in the indie comedy The Best and the Brightest. On March 7,2010, he made an appearance at the 82nd Academy Awards. He starred in the films The Smurfs and The Smurfs 2, in 2014, Harris showed a more serious side in Gone Girl, directed by David Fincher. Harris co-starred in the film as Desi Collings, the wealthy and obsessed ex-boyfriend of Amy Dunne, Harris has said, I was pinching myself at the opportunity to work with Fincher, he received general praise from critics for his performance, as did the film
16.
Sarah Chalke
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Sarah Chalke is a Canadian actress known for portraying Dr. She also had a role on the third season of the ABC/TBS sitcom Cougar Town. Chalke was born in Ottawa, Ontario, and was raised in Vancouver and she is the middle of three daughters born to Douglas and Angela Chalke. Her mother is from Rostock, Germany, according to a Scrubs commentary track, she used to attend the German school in her hometown twice a week. Her first language is English, but she speaks German fluently and this was incorporated into her Scrubs character, Elliot Reid, who spoke German and French at the same levels. Chalke graduated from Handsworth Secondary School in North Vancouver in 1994, chalkes acting career began at age 8 when she began appearing in musical theater productions. At 12, she became a reporter on the Canadian childrens show KidZone, Chalke would later return to the role of Becky after Goranson departed for a second time. After the show ended, Chalke returned briefly to Canada, where she starred in the CBC Television drama Nothing Too Good for a Cowboy, in 2001, she was cast as Dr. Elliot Reid in the NBC comedy series Scrubs. She has appeared in feature films, including Ernest Goes to School. She appeared in Channel 101s The Bu with The Lonely Island, in 2007, she appeared as a supporting character in Chaos Theory, which starred fellow Canadian Ryan Reynolds. In 2008, Chalke became the spokesperson for a line of womens underwear by Hanes that included a series of commercials directed by her Scrubs co-star Zach Braff, in 2008 and 2009 she made appearances in the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother as Stella Zinman. In the spring of 2011, she starred in the CBS television series Mad Love, Chalke was signed by former Scrubs executive producer Bill Lawrence to play the love interest of Bobby Cobb in the series Cougar Town. She appeared in episodes in the third season. Chalke starred in the ABC comedy series How to Live with Your Parents, which premiered April 3,2013, and she played Polly, a single and very uptight divorced mother who found herself moving back in with her parents because of the economic downturn. Also in 2013, she played a mother named Casey Hedges in the Greys Anatomy Season 9 episode Cant Fight This Feeling. Chalke also voices Beth on the show Rick and Morty, Chalke is engaged to lawyer Jamie Afifi. The couple have a son, Charlie Rhodes Afifi, born December 24,2009 and her son was diagnosed at age 2 with Kawasaki disease. Their daughter, Frankie, was born in spring 2016, chalkes aunt and grandmother died from breast cancer that was undiagnosed while in its early stages
17.
Pop (U.S. TV network)
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Pop is an American basic cable and satellite television network that is operated as a joint venture between CBS Corporation and Lions Gate Entertainment. It is an entertainment channel, focusing primarily on programs pertaining to popular culture. The network was conceived in 1981 as a barker channel service providing a display of localized channel. Later on, the service, now branded as Prevue, began to broadcast interstitial segments alongside the on-screen guide, following the acquisition of TV Guide Network by Lionsgate in 2009, its programming began to shift towards a general entertainment format with reruns of dramas and sitcoms. The network was renamed TVGN following the acquisition of a 50% stake in the network by CBS Corporation, in 2015, the network was rebranded as Pop. As of February 2015, Pop is available to approximately 75,255,000 pay television households in the United States, because of this, listings for programs currently airing would often be several minutes from being shown. On some installations of the EPG, a dot next to the on-screen clock would indicate proper reception of this data. Both the EPG Jr. and EPG Sr. allowed cable operators to customize their operation locally. Among other functions, the listings grids scrolling speed could be changed, each text-based advertisement could be configured to display as either a scroll ad or as a crawl ad. If no advertisements were configured as crawl ads, the bottom ticker would not be shown on-screen, the Atari-based EPG Jr. units were encased in blue rack enclosures containing custom-made outboard electronics, such as the Zephyrus Electronics Ltd. UV-D-2 demodulator board, which delivered data decoded from the WGN data stream to the Ataris 13 pin Serial Input/Output handler port, by the late 1980s, a software upgrade option was offered by United Video for the Amiga 1000-based EPG Sr. This updated version featured a program listings grid identical in appearance to that of the original EPG Sr. version, up to 64 such ads were supported by the software, which ranged from ads for local and national businesses to promotions for cable channels carried by the local system. In 1988, United Video Holdings Trakker, Inc. unit was renamed Prevue Networks, the split-screen version of the EPG Sr. software was further updated and renamed Prevue Guide. Now running on the Amiga 2000, it displayed a split-screen listings grid visually identical to the upgraded EPG Sr and these videos appeared in either the left or right halves of the top portion of the screen, coupled with supplementary information concerning the advertised program in the opposing halves. Making the video integration possible were the Amiga 2000s native video compositing capabilities, all video content was provided live by Prevue Networks via a special analog C-band satellite backhaul feed from Tulsa. The satellite feeds national scheduling grid was never meant to be seen by cable subscribers, commercials – often for psychic hotlines – and featurettes produced by Prevue Networks, such as Prevue Tonight, that were voiced by Larry Hoefling, were also delivered via this satellite feed. The satellite feed also carried an audio channel containing Prevue Guide theme music in an infinite loop. Local Prevue Guide installations would switch to this audio source during the display of local advertising
18.
30 Rock
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30 Rock is an American satirical television sitcom created by Tina Fey that ran on NBC from October 11,2006, to January 31,2013. The series, loosely based on Feys experiences as head writer for Saturday Night Live and this series is produced by Broadway Video and Little Stranger, Inc. in association with NBCUniversal. 30 Rock episodes were produced in a setup, and were filmed in New York. The pilot episode premiered on October 11,2006, and seven seasons followed, tonally,30 Rock uses surreal humor to parody the complex corporate structure of NBC and its then parent company General Electric. Television critic Todd VanDerWerff of The A. V, club once remarked that it usually adopts the manic pacing of a live-action cartoon. The show was influential in its use of smash cuts, sudden. 30 Rock also became known for its dedication to making these extremely elaborate,30 Rock received critical acclaim throughout its run, winning several major awards, and achieving the top ranking on myriad critics year-end best of 2006-2013 lists. On July 14,2009, the series was nominated for 22 Primetime Emmy Awards, over the course of the series, it was nominated for 103 Primetime Emmy Awards and won 16, in addition to numerous other nominations and wins from other awards shows. Despite the high praise, the series struggled in the ratings throughout its run, today,30 Rock is regarded as a landmark series. Its series finale in particular has been named as one of the greatest in history by several publications. In 2013, the Writers Guild of America named 30 Rock the 21st best-written television series of all time, in 2002, Fey was the head writer and a performer on the television show Saturday Night Live. She pitched the show that became 30 Rock to NBC, originally as a sitcom about cable news, NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly felt that Fey was using the news setting as a fig leaf for her own experience and encouraged her to write what she knew. The show was reworked to revolve around an SNL-style sketch show. After being presented to Reilly once more, the show was set to air during the 2005–2006 television season, eventually, Lewis gave in just a month before his retirement, and Melcher backed down. Filming was postponed due to Tina Feys first pregnancy, during the 2004–2005 pilot season, a pilot was announced named Untitled Tina Fey Project. The 30 Rock pilot focused on the boss of a variety show who must manage her relationships with the shows volatile star and its charismatic executive producer. The storyline evolved into one that dealt with a writer of a variety show who dealt with both of the stars, as well as the shows new network executive. 30 Rock was officially given the light to air May 15,2006
19.
The Cosby Show
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The Cosby Show is an American television sitcom starring Bill Cosby, which aired for eight seasons on NBC from September 20,1984 until April 30,1992. The show focuses on the Huxtable family, an upper middle-class African-American family living in Brooklyn, according to TV Guide, the show was TVs biggest hit in the 1980s, and almost single handedly revived the sitcom genre and NBCs ratings fortunes. TV Guide also ranked it as #28 of their list of 50 Greatest Shows, in addition, Cliff Huxtable was named as the Greatest Television Dad. The Cosby Show spent five seasons as the number one rated show on television. The Cosby Show and All in the Family are the only sitcoms in the history of the Nielsen ratings and it spent all eight of its seasons in the Top 20. The Cosby Show was based on comedy routines in Cosbys stand-up act, the show spawned the spin off A Different World, which ran for six seasons from 1987 to 1993. The show focuses on the Huxtable family, an upper middle-class African-American family, living in an brownstone in Brooklyn Heights, New York, the patriarch is Cliff Huxtable, an obstetrician, son of a prominent jazz trombonist. The matriarch is his wife, attorney Clair Huxtable and they have five children, four daughters and one son, Sondra, Denise, Theo, Vanessa and Rudy. Despite its comedic tone, the show sometimes involves serious subjects, like Theos experiences dealing with dyslexia, inspired by Cosbys dyslexic son, the show also deals with teen pregnancy when Denises friend, Veronica, becomes pregnant. The Cosby Show pilot episode uses the title sequence as the rest of the first season. 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, the character was created when Bill Cosby wanted the show to express the accomplishment of successfully raising a child. Whitney Houston was considered for the role of Sondra Huxtable, Houston, however, was unable to commit to the full-time television production schedule in the NBC contract as she was intending to be a full-time music recording artist. Most of the story in the presentation is taken from Bill Cosbys classic comedy film, Bill Cosby. Bill Cosbys character is called Clifford in the episodes of the first season. His name was 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 room is reserved for more formal occasions
20.
AMC (TV channel)
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AMC is an American basic cable and satellite television channel that is owned by AMC Networks. The channels programming, similar to that of FXM, primarily consists of released films. The channels name originally stood for American Movie Classics, but since 2002 the full name has been de-emphasized as a result of a shift in its programming. As of July 2015, AMC was received by approximately 94,832,000 households in the United States that subscribe to a pay television service. In March 2015, Dish Networks Sling TV announced it would begin making AMC channels available to cord cutters, including AMC, BBC America, IFC, SundanceTV. American Movie Classics, as AMC was originally known, debuted on October 1,1984 as a premium channel, AMC was originally operated as a joint venture between Rainbow Media and cable television provider Tele-Communications Inc. During its early years, it was not uncommon for AMC to host a marathon of Marx Brothers films, in 1987, the channel began to be carried on the basic cable tiers of many cable providers. By 1989, AMC was available to 39 million subscribers in the U. S, on December 1,1990, AMC began operating on a 24-hour-a-day schedule. Beginning in 1993, AMC presented an annual Film Preservation Festival to raise awareness of, portions of the festival were often dedicated to all-day marathons focusing on a single performer. During its fifth year in 1998, Scorsese credited the Festival for creating not only a greater awareness. In 1996, curator of the Museum of Modern Art Mary Lee Bandy called the Festival the most important public event in support of film preservation. By its tenth anniversary in 2003, the Festival had raised $2 million from the general public, the following year, Time Warner also attempted to acquire at least part of Liberty Medias stake in AMC. Turner owns rights to the RKO Radio Pictures film library and licensed RKOs films to AMC in a deal that was slated to last through 2004. Under the terms of the deal, AMC would obtain the RKO titles in exclusive windows, around this time, General Electric/NBC owned a stake in AMC – which it divested in the early 2000s. From 1996 to 1998, AMC aired its first original series, Remember WENN, the show was well received by both critics and its enthusiastic fans, but was abruptly cancelled after its fourth season following management changes at the channel. Despite a well publicized campaign to save the series, the show was not renewed for its originally scheduled fifth season. One popular AMC program was American Pop. which ran from 1998 to 2003, the majority of the films presented on AMC during the 1990s had originally been released by Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Columbia Pictures, and Universal Studios. The channel also showed classic silent films
21.
Mad Men
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Mad Men is an American period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. The series premiered on July 19,2007, on the cable network AMC, after seven seasons and 92 episodes, Mad Mens final episode aired on May 17,2015. According to the pilot, the phrase Mad men was a slang term coined in the 1950s by advertisers working on Madison Avenue to refer to themselves. The plot focuses on the business of the agencies as well as the lives of the characters, regularly depicting the changing moods. Season one begins in March 1960 and moves through November 1970 by the conclusion of season seven, throughout its run, Mad Men received widespread critical acclaim for its writing, acting, and historical authenticity, it has won many awards, including 16 Emmys and five Golden Globes. The show was also the first basic cable series to receive the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series and it is widely regarded as one of the greatest television series of all time. In 2000, while working as a writer for Becker. Television producer David Chase recruited Weiner to work as a writer on his HBO series The Sopranos after reading the script in 2002. It was lively, and it had something new to say, here was someone who had written a story about advertising in the 1960s, and was looking at recent American history through that prism. Weiner and his representatives at Industry Entertainment and ICM tried to sell the script to HBO and Showtime. The Sopranos was completing its final season then, and the network happened to be getting into the market for new series programming. Weiner listed Alfred Hitchcock as an influence on the visual style of the series. He also was influenced by director Wong Kar-wai in the music, mise en scène and he also says that Mad Men would have been some sort of crisp, soapy version of The West Wing if not for The Sopranos. Tim Hunter, the director of a half-dozen episodes from the shows first two seasons, called Mad Men a very well-run show and he said, They have a lot of production meetings during pre-production. The day the script comes in we all meet for a first page turn, then theres a tone meeting a few days later where Matt tells us how he envisions it. And then theres a full crew production meeting where Matt again tells us how he envisions it. The pilot episode was shot at Silvercup Studios and various locations around New York City and it is available in high definition for showing on AMC HD and on video-on-demand services available from various cable affiliates. Each episode had a budget between US$2–2.5 million, though the episodes budget was over $3 million
22.
Cable television in the United States
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Cable television first became available in the United States in 1948, with subscription services following in 1949. Data by SNL Kagan shows that as of 2006 about 58. 4% of all American homes subscribe to cable television services. Most cable viewers in the U. S. reside in the suburbs and tend to be middle class, cable television is less common in low income, urban, and rural areas. According to reports released by the Federal Communications Commission, traditional cable television subscriptions in the US peaked around the year 2000, since then, cable subscriptions have been in slow decline, dropping to 54.4 million subscribers by December 2013. Some telephone service providers have started offering television, reaching to 11.3 million video subscribers as of December 2013, walsons first claim is highly disputed, however, since his claimed starting date cannot be verified. The United States Congress and the National Cable Television Association have recognized Walson as having invented cable television in the spring of 1948. A CATV system was developed in the late 1940s by James F. Reynolds in his town of Maple Dale, Pennsylvania, which grew to include Sandy Lake, Stoneboro, Polk, Cochranton, and Meadville. Davidson was the movie theater manager and ran a radio repair business on the side. In 1948, Parsons owned a station in Astoria, Oregon. A year earlier he and his wife had first seen television at a broadcasters convention, in the spring of 1948, Parsons learned that radio station KRSC in Seattle –125 miles away – was going to launch a television station that fall. He found that with a large antenna he could receive KRSCs signal on the roof of the Hotel Astoria, when the station went on the air in November 1948, Parsons was the only one in town able to see television. According to MSNBCs Bob Sullivan, Parsons charged a $125 one-time set-up fee, in May 1968, Parsons was acknowledged as the father of community antenna television. In 1950, Robert Tarlton developed the first commercial television system in the United States. The system was featured in stories in The New York Times, Newsweek, the publicity of this successful early system set off a wave of cable system construction throughout the United States, and Tarlton himself became a highly sought-after consultant. Tarlton used equipment manufactured by a new company, Jerrold Electronics, after seeing the success of the Tarlton system in 1950, Jerrold President Milton Shapp reorganized his company to build equipment for the now-growing cable industry. In 1952, Tarlton went to work for Jerrold, helping to construct most of the systems built by that company in the 1950s. Tarlton was also responsible for training many of the operators of cable systems in the 1950s. In 2003, Tarlton was inducted in the Cable Television Hall of Fame for his building the first widely publicized cable television company in America
23.
Tin Man (miniseries)
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Tin Man is a 2007 four-and-a-half-hour miniseries co-produced by RHI Entertainment and Sci Fi Channel original pictures that was broadcast in the United States on the Sci Fi Channel in three parts. The first part aired on December 2, and the two parts airing on the following nights. It was released to DVD on March 11,2008, the year it was rebroadcast in the United Kingdom, Australia. It focuses on the adventures of a waitress named DG who is pulled into a magical realm called the O. Z. ruled by the tyrannical sorceress Azkadellia. Together with her companions Glitch, Raw, and Cain, DG journeys to uncover her lost memories, and foil Azkadellias plot to trap the O. Z. in eternal darkness. It was nominated for nine Emmy awards, winning one, and was nominated for a Critics Choice Award. Critics gave it mixed reviews, with praising the acting, soundtrack. DG is a waitress who feels that she does not fit into her Kansas farm life and has visions of a lavender-eyed woman warning her that a storm is coming. Her visions are realized when the sorceress Azkadellia, tyrannical ruler of the O. Z. sends her Longcoat soldiers through a storm to kill DG. DG escapes through the storm into the O. Z, DG receives a magical symbol on her palm and learns that her Kansan parents are androids and that her real mother is the lavender-eyed woman of her visions. Azkadellia confronts the group with her Longcoats and mobats, capturing DG, Cain fights the Longcoat captain Zero and learns that his wife and son, whom he thought Zero had killed, are still alive. Zero shoots Cain, sending him falling into a lake of ice, Glitch rescues and revives Cain, and they journey to Azkadellias castle to rescue DG. Azkadellia interrogates DG, learning that the Emerald of the Eclipse is protected by the Gray Gale, the Mystic Man is killed by Azkadellia after advising DG to head south. DG is freed by a dog who is revealed to be a shapeshifter named Tutor. DG, Glitch, Raw, and Cain head south with Tutor, along the way DG rediscovers some of her magical abilities—restoring a withered fruit tree in the fields of the Papay—and Cain discovers his wifes grave. The sisters magic would have protected them if they stayed together linking hands, but DG fled, DG realizes that all of the tragedies which have befallen the O. Z. are the result of that mistake she made as a child. The party heads farther south in search of DGs father Ahamo, tutors treachery is discovered but he is allowed to stay with the group in his canine form. In the Realm of the Unwanted they are led into a trap, Glitch, Raw, and Cain are captured by Zero, but are freed by resistance fighters led by Cains son Jeb
24.
Adaptations of The Wizard of Oz
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The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a 1900 childrens novel written by American author L. Frank Baum. Since its first publication in 1900, it has adapted many times, for film, television, theatre, books, comics, games. The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays is a 1908 multimedia presentation made by L. Frank Baum which featured the silent film actress Romola Remus. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a 15-minute 1910 film, based on the 1902 stage musical, directed by Otis Turner, the Patchwork Girl of Oz is a 1914 adaptation produced by Baums live-action motion picture company, The Oz Film Manufacturing Company. It follows the adventures of Ojo, Unc Nunkle, and Patchwork Girl in their quest for the ingredients needed for a magic potion and his Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz is a loose 1914 adaptation by Baum that became the basis for the book The Scarecrow of Oz. The Magic Cloak of Oz is another in the produced by Baum himself via The Oz Film Manufacturing Company. It follows the story of Fluff, the unhappiest person in Oz, Wizard of Oz is a 1925 film, directed by Larry Semon in collaboration with Frank Joslyn Baum and featuring a young Oliver Hardy. The Wizard of Oz is a 1933 animated short directed by Ted Eshbaugh, the Wizard of Oz is the 1939 musical film by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, directed by Victor Fleming and starring Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr, and Frank Morgan. It is the storys best-known adaptation, the Wonderful Land of Oz is a 1969 low-budget childrens-movie adaptation of The Marvelous Land of Oz, directed by Barry Mahon. Ayşecik ve Sihirli Cüceler Rüyalar Ülkesinde is a 1971 Turkish film, journey Back to Oz is a 1971 animated film, begun in 1962 and eventually released between 1972–74. Once Upon a Time is a 1976 film in which Maria and it is loosely based upon, and also pays homage to, The Wizard of Oz. Oz is a 1976 Australian rock musical film, also known as Oz – A Rock n Roll Road Movie or 20th Century Oz. The Wiz is a 1978 movie directed by Sidney Lumet starring Diana Ross as Dorothy and Michael Jackson as the Scarecrow, Return to Oz is a 1985 film by Walt Disney Pictures, directed by Walter Murch and starring Fairuza Balk as Dorothy. The Muppets Wizard of Oz Starring Ashanti, Queen Latifah and The Muppets, miss Piggy plays all of the witches, Pepe plays Toto, Kermit plays the Scarecrow, Gonzo plays the Tin Man, and Fozzie plays the Lion. Apocalypse Oz is a film parody of The Wizard of Oz. After the Wizard is a 2012 independent film as a modern-day semi-sequel to the story, Oz the Great and Powerful is a 2013 film by Walt Disney Pictures, directed by Sam Raimi and starring James Franco and Mila Kunis. Legends of Oz, Dorothys Return is an American-Indian 3D animated musical adaptation of Dorothy of Oz by Roger S. Baum, ozLand is an independent fantasy/sci-fi drama film inspired by characters and events from the book, which plays a crucial role. Rainbow Road to Oz was a proposed Walt Disney live-action production and this adaptation of The Marvelous Land of Oz was written by Frank Gabrielson and directed by William Corrigan
25.
Alec Baldwin
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Alexander Rae Alec Baldwin III is an American actor, writer, producer, and comedian. A member of the Baldwin family, he is the oldest of the four Baldwin brothers, Baldwin first gained recognition appearing on seasons 6 and 7 of the CBS television drama Knots Landing, in the role of Joshua Rush. His performance in the 2003 romantic drama The Cooler garnered him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Baldwin co-starred in Mission, Impossible – Rogue Nation, the fifth installment of the Mission, Impossible series, released on July 31,2015. He is also a columnist for The Huffington Post, since 2016, he has been the host of Match Game. He has three brothers, Daniel, William, and Stephen, who also became actors. He also has two sisters, Beth and Jane, Alec and his siblings were raised as Roman Catholics. They are of English, Irish, Scottish, French-Canadian, Baldwin attended Alfred G. Berner High School in Massapequa and played football there under Coach Bob Reifsnyder. In New York City, Baldwin worked as a busboy at the disco Studio 54, from 1976 to 1979, he attended George Washington University, afterward transferring to New York Universitys Tisch School of the Arts. There he studied with, among others, Geoffrey Horne and Mira Rostova at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, Later, Baldwin made his Broadway debut in 1986 in a revival of Joe Ortons Loot alongside Zoë Wanamaker, Željko Ivanek, Joseph Maher, and Charles Keating. This production closed after three months, Baldwin also received an Emmy nomination for the 1995 television version of the production, in which both he and Jessica Lange reprised their roles, alongside John Goodman and Diane Lane. In 1998, Baldwin played the role in Macbeth at The Public Theater alongside Angela Bassett. In 2004, Baldwin starred in a revival of Twentieth Century with Anne Heche, on June 9,2005, he appeared in a concert version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific at Carnegie Hall. He starred as Luther Billis, alongside Reba McEntire as Nellie, the production was taped and telecast by PBS on April 26,2006. In 2006, Baldwin made theater news in Roundabout Theatre Companys Off-Broadway revival of Joe Ortons Entertaining Mr. Sloane. In 2010, Baldwin starred opposite Sam Underwood in an acclaimed revival of Peter Shaffers Equus, directed by Tony Walton at Guild Hall in East Hampton. Baldwin has returned to Broadway as Harold in Orphans, the show, which opened April 18,2013, was also to have starred Shia LaBeouf as Treat, but LaBoeuf left the production in rehearsals and was replaced by Ben Foster. Baldwins first acting role was as Billy Aldrich in the NBC daytime soap opera The Doctors from 1980 to 1982, in fall 1983, he starred in the short-lived television series Cutter to Houston. He went on to appear as the brother of Valene Ewing, in 1986, Baldwin starred in Dress Gray, a four-hour made-for-television miniseries, as an honest cadet sergeant who tries to solve the mystery of a murdered gay classmate
26.
Tina Fey
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Elizabeth Stamatina Tina Fey is an American actress, comedian, writer, and producer. She is also known for writing and co-starring in the film Mean Girls, as well as appearing in such films as Baby Mama, Date Night, Muppets Most Wanted. Fey broke into comedy as a player in the Chicago-based improvisational comedy group The Second City. She then joined SNL as a writer, later becoming head writer, in 2004, she co-starred in and wrote the screenplay for Mean Girls, which was adapted from the 2002 self-help book Queen Bees and Wannabes. After leaving SNL in 2006, she created the television series 30 Rock for Broadway Video, in the series, Fey portrays the head writer of a fictional sketch comedy series. In 2008, she starred in the comedy film Baby Mama, Fey next appeared in the 2010 comedy film Date Night and the animated film Megamind. In 2015, she created and produced the television series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, originally for NBC and her other films include Sisters and Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. Fey has received nine Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, five Screen Actors Guild Awards, and four Writers Guild of America Awards and her autobiography Bossypants topped The New York Times Best Seller list for five weeks. In 2008, the Associated Press gave Fey the AP Entertainer of the Year award for her portrayal of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin in a guest appearance on SNL. In 2010, Fey was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, on January 13,2013, Fey hosted the 70th Golden Globe Awards with her long-time friend and fellow comedian, Amy Poehler, to critical acclaim. The duo hosted again the two years, generating the highest ratings for the annual ceremony in a decade and receiving similar acclaim. Fey was born in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, an inner ring suburb of Philadelphia and her mother, Zenobia Jeanne, is a brokerage employee. Her father, Donald Henry Fey, was a university grant proposal-writer and she has a brother, Peter, who is eight years older. Feys mother, who was born in Piraeus, is the daughter of Greek immigrants, Vasiliki Kourelakou, Feys maternal grandmother, left Petrina on her own, arriving in the United States in February 1921. According to a genealogical DNA test arranged by the television series Finding Your Roots, Feys ancestry is 94% European, 3% Middle Eastern, Fey was exposed to comedy early, I remember my parents sneaking me in to see Young Frankenstein. We would also watch Saturday Night Live, or Monty Python and my dad would let us stay up late to watch The Honeymooners. We were not allowed to watch The Flintstones though, my dad hated it because it ripped off The Honeymooners, I actually have a very low level of Flintstones knowledge for someone my age. At age 11, Fey read Joe Franklins Seventy Years of Great Film Comedians for a project about comedy
27.
Bryan Cranston
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Bryan Lee Cranston is an American actor, screenwriter, director, producer, comedian and voice actor. For Breaking Bad, he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series four times, after becoming one of the producers of Breaking Bad in 2011, he also won the award for Outstanding Drama Series twice. Cranston was also nominated three times for the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his role in Malcolm in the Middle. In June 2014, he won a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his portrayal of Lyndon B. Johnson in the play All the Way on Broadway. He reprised his role in the film of the same name. For the 2015 film Trumbo, he received acclaim and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. He has also appeared in several acclaimed films, such as Saving Private Ryan, Little Miss Sunshine, Drive, Argo, and Godzilla. In 2015, Cranston, together with David Shore, executive produced and wrote the story for the Amazon Studios original crime drama Sneaky Pete, the pilot episode of which aired on August 7,2015. Cranston was born in Hollywood, California, the son of Audrey Peggy, an actress, and Joseph Louis Joe Cranston. He is the second of their three children and he was raised partly by his grandparents, living on their poultry farm in the Canoga Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. His father was of German, Austrian-Jewish, and Irish descent and he has stated that his parents were broken people and that they were incapacitated as far as parenting, causing the family to lose their house in a foreclosure. Cranstons father held many jobs before deciding to become an actor and he eventually walked out on the family when Cranston was 11 years old, and they did not see each other again until 11 years later, when Cranston and his brother decided to track their father down. Cranston was 22 at the time, and he and his father maintained a relationship until his fathers death in 2014. Cranston later claimed that he based his portrayal of Walter White on his own father, during his preteen years, Cranston encountered a young Charles Manson while riding a horse at the Spahn Ranch. This happened about a year before the Tate-LaBianca murders and he graduated from Canoga Park High School, where he was a member of the schools chemistry club. He earned a degree in police science from Los Angeles Valley College in 1976. After college, Cranston began his career in local and regional theaters. He had previously performed as a youth, but his show business parents had mixed feelings about their son being involved in the profession, Cranston was ordained as a minister by the Universal Life Church, and performed weddings for $150 a service to help with his income
28.
Glenn Close
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Glenn Close is an American actress, singer and film producer. With an acting career spanning over 40 years, she has been acclaimed for her versatility and is widely regarded as one of the finest actresses of her generation. She has won three Emmy Awards, three Tony Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and has received six Academy Award nominations and she would later receive nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performances in Fatal Attraction, Dangerous Liaisons, and Albert Nobbs. She starred as Eleanor of Aquitaine in the 2003 TV film The Lion in Winter, in 2005, she starred in the drama series The Shield. Then from 2007 to 2012, she starred as Patty Hewes in the FX drama series Damages and she has voiced the character of Mona Simpson in the animated sitcom The Simpsons since 1995. She returned to Broadway in November 2014, in a revival of Edward Albees A Delicate Balance. Her other films include Jagged Edge, Hamlet, Reversal of Fortune,101 Dalmatians, Paradise Road, Air Force One, Cookies Fortune, Heights, Guardians of the Galaxy and The Girl With All The Gifts. Close is a six-time Academy Award nominee, tying the record for being the actress with the most nominations never to have won, as of 2016, Close has more Oscar nominations without a win than any other living actor. In addition, she has been nominated for four Tonys, fourteen Emmys, thirteen Golden Globes and she has also won an Obie award and has been nominated for three Grammy Awards and a BAFTA. Close has received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and has been inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame and she has two sisters, Tina and Jessie, and two brothers, Alexander and Tambu Misoki, whom Closes parents adopted while living in Africa. Close is also a second cousin once-removed of actress Brooke Shields, during her childhood, Close lived with her parents in a stone cottage on her maternal grandfathers estate in Greenwich. Although Close came from an affluent background, she stated that her family not to participate in WASP society. She would also avoid mentioning her birthplace whenever asked because she did not want people to think she was a dilettante who didnt have to work. When she was seven years old, her parents joined a cult group, Close described MRA as a group that dictated every aspect of her life, from the clothes that had to be worn to what they were allowed to say. In an interview Close stated that her desire to become an actress allowed her to break away from the cult, stating and they had their reasons for doing what they did, and I understand them. It had terrible effects on their kids, but that’s the way it is and we all try to survive, right. And I think what actually saved me more than anything was my desire to be an actress and she spent time in Switzerland when studying at St. Georges School in Switzerland. Close traveled for years in the mid-to-late 1960s with an MRA singing group called Up With People
29.
Paul Giamatti
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Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti is an American character actor and producer. He has won two Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award and four Screen Actors Guild Awards, Giamatti was born June 6,1967, in New Haven, Connecticut, the youngest of three children. His father, A. Bartlett Giamatti, was a Yale University professor who became president of the university. His mother, Toni Marilyn Giamatti, was a homemaker and English teacher who taught at Hopkins School and had previously acted. His paternal grandfathers family were Italian immigrants from Telese Terme, the surname was originally spelled Giammattei. The rest of Giamattis ancestry is German, Dutch, English, French, Irish and his paternal grandmother had deep roots in New England, dating back to the colonial era. His brother, Marcus, is also an actor, and his sister, Giamatti was first educated at The Foote School and later graduated from Choate Rosemary Hall in 1985. He attended Yale University, where he was elected to the Skull and he was active in the undergraduate theater scene, working alongside fellow actors and Yale students Ron Livingston and Edward Norton. He graduated in 1989 with a degree in English, and went on to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Yale School of Drama. In 1997, Giamatti landed in his first high-profile role as Kenny Pig Vomit Rushton in the adaptation of Howard Sterns Private Parts. Stern praised Giamattis performance often on his program, calling for him to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. In 1998, Giamatti appeared in a number of supporting roles in the films, The Truman Show, Saving Private Ryan. In 1999, he played Bob Zmuda and Tony Clifton in Miloš Formans Andy Kaufman biopic, Giamatti later continued steadily during the early 2000s by appearing in major studio releases including Big Mommas House, Planet of the Apes and Big Fat Liar. In 2003, Giamatti began to earn critical acclaim after his role in the film American Splendor. In 2004, Giamatti gained mainstream recognition and fame with the 2004 independent romantic comedy Sideways and his portrayal of a depressed writer vacationing in the Santa Barbara wine country garnered him a Golden Globe nomination and an Independent Spirit Award. Following the commercial success of Sideways, Giamatti appeared in Cinderella Man and he was nominated for a Golden Globe and won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture. Giamatti had his first major role in a movie in the 2007 film Shoot Em Up, while also starring in The Nanny Diaries. That same year, he starred in the independent film Pretty Bird, Giamatti received his second Golden Globe win for his role in the 2010 film, Barneys Version
30.
Laura Linney
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Laura Leggett Linney is an American actress. A three-time Academy Award nominee and three-time Tony Award nominee, she won her first Emmy Award in 2002 for Wild Iris, from 2010–13, she starred in the Showtime series The Big C, which won her a fourth Emmy in 2013. She is also a two-time Golden Globe Award winner and she made her screen debut in the 1992 film Lorenzos Oil, and went on to receive Academy Award nominations for You Can Count on Me, Kinsey and The Savages. Her other films include Primal Fear, The Truman Show, Mystic River, Love Actually and The Squid and the Whale. Her mother, Miriam Anderson Ann Perse, was a nurse who worked at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, linneys paternal great-great-grandfather was Republican U. S. Linney grew up in modest circumstances, living with her mother in a small one-bedroom apartment and she has a half-sister, Susan, from her fathers second marriage. She is a 1982 graduate of Northfield Mount Hermon School, a preparatory school in New England. Linney graduated from Brown in 1986 and she went on to study acting at the Juilliard School as a member of Group 19, which also included Jeanne Tripplehorn. Linney later received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from Juilliard when she delivered the commencement address in 2009. Linney first appeared in roles in a few early 1990s films, including Lorenzos Oil and Dave. She was then cast in a series of thrillers, including Congo, Primal Fear. She made her Hollywood breakthrough in 1998, playing Jim Carreys on-screen wife in The Truman Show, Linney was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the 2000 film You Can Count on Me. The same year, she appeared in the role of an artists model in the low-budget film Maze with Rob Morrow. In 2003, Linney appeared in notable films, including The Life of David Gale, Love Actually. The latter film earned her a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress and her 2004 performance in Kinsey, again as the title characters wife, was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. In 2005, Linney starred in the horror film The Exorcism of Emily Rose and the comedy-drama The Squid, for the latter role, she received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy. In 2006, Linney appeared in the political satire Man of the Year, the comedy Driving Lessons, Jindabyne was based on Raymond Carvers short story So Much Water so Close to Home. She received a third Academy Award nomination for The Savages, this time for Best Actress, in 2008, Linney starred in The Other Man, opposite Liam Neeson, with whom she had starred in Kinsey and Love Actually, and Antonio Banderas
31.
Jeremy Piven
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Jeremy Samuel Piven is an American actor and producer. He also starred in the British period drama Mr Selfridge, which tells the story of the man who created the luxury English department store chain Selfridges. Piven is a native of New York City, born in Manhattan and he grew up in Evanston, Illinois. Piven was raised in a Reconstructionist Jewish household and he graduated from Evanston Township High School, and attended Harand Theater Camp in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin as a teenager. He played Bernardo in West Side Story there, in Illinois, he trained at Piven Theatre Workshop, founded by his parents. He also attended Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, where he departed after his year to attend New York Universitys Tisch School of the Arts. He left Tisch during his year to pursue his acting career and is an alumnus of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. He spent a semester at the National Theater Institute at the The Eugene ONeill Theater Center in Waterford and he has appeared in a number of films with John Cusack, who is also from Evanston and is a fellow alumnus of the Piven Theatre Workshop. Piven and Cusack once shared an apartment and have been friends since high school, Pivens first important role came in 1992 when he became a regular cast member on HBOs The Larry Sanders Show, in which he played the head writer Jerry. He left the show in the season after growing tired of playing Jerry because his character was not given much of a background. In 1993, he portrayed George Costanza on the scene in the Seinfeld episode. Piven was a supporting cast member on the last three seasons of the sitcom Ellen, where he played the part of Ellens cousin, Spence. He was also the star and producer of the short-lived ABC dramedy series Cupid, beginning in 2004, Piven achieved significant success playing fast-talking, acerbic Hollywood agent Ari Gold in the HBO series Entourage. He received Emmy nominations for Best Supporting Actor four straight years from 2005 to 2008, and won the award in 2006,2007,2009 was the first year in which he did not receive an Emmy Award nomination for his work on the show. He also received Golden Globe nominations from 2005 to 2010 for the role and he has also made cameo appearances in Rush Hour 2 and the US release of Cars. In 2007, Piven appeared in the video for Drivin Me Wild, the two were co-stars in Smokin Aces, and appeared together when Piven hosted SNL in January 2007. Piven appeared in the first Broadway revival of David Mamets Speed-the-Plow, co-starring Mad Men star Elisabeth Moss, the production began preview performances on October 3,2008, and opened on October 23,2008, the play was due to run through February 22,2009. After Piven missed several performances, on December 17,2008, Pivens rep. announced that due to an undisclosed illness, the illness was revealed to be hydrargaria, a disease caused by exposure to mercury or its compounds, though the source is unknown
32.
Jean Smart
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Jean Elizabeth Smart is an American film, television, and stage actress. After beginning her career in theater in the Pacific Northwest. Smart was later cast in a role as Charlene Frazier Stillfield on the CBS sitcom Designing Women. Her film credits include The Brady Bunch Movie, Guinevere, Sweet Home Alabama, I Heart Huckabees, Smart was born and raised in Seattle, Washington, the daughter of Kay and Douglas Smart, a teacher. She is the second of four children, Smart was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was thirteen years old. She is a 1969 graduate of Ballard High School, located in Seattle and she graduated from the University of Washington Professional Actors Training Program with a BFA. Smart is a member of the University of Washington chapter of the Alpha Delta Pi sorority, after graduating from college, Smart began her career appearing in regional theater throughout the Pacific Northwest, including in Washington, Alaska, and Oregon. She performed with the Seattle Repertory Theater as well as the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, in the mid-1970s, she moved to New York City with college friend and fellow actress, Elizabeth Wingate, and began working in Off-Broadway and professional regional productions. In 1980 she appeared as Lady Macbeth at the Pittsburgh Public Theater opposite Tom Atkins as Macbeth and Keith Fowler as Macduff, in 1981, Smart was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for her performance in the Off-Broadway play Last Summer at Bluefish Cove. In February 1981, Smart appeared in a Broadway production of Piaf playing Marlene Dietrich, according to Smart, after roles on the short-lived series Teachers Only and Reggie in 1983, casting directors just decided I was funny. When that happens, you usually get pigeonholed, but I was fortunate, I got to move back and forth. The following year, she had a part in the thriller Flashpoint. In 1985, Smart was cast in the role of Charlene Frazier Stillfield on the comedy series Designing Women. After leaving Designing Women, her work mostly concentrated within made-for-TV movies, critic Roger Ebert praised the film and called Smarts character portrayal calculating. The following year, she appeared in the family drama Homeward Bound, The Incredible Journey and she was then cast as Sally Brewton in the television miniseries Scarlett, and appeared in a supporting role in Betty Thomass The Brady Bunch Movie. She would also appear in the thriller film A Stranger In Town. Other roles included a part in Neil Simons The Odd Couple II and she had a lead role in the comedy Forever Fabulous as an aging beauty queen. In 2000, Smart was cast as Lana Gardener on the hit show Frasier and she went on to win two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series
33.
Dianne Wiest
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Dianne Evelyn Wiest is an American actress. Wiest has won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress twice, for Hannah and Her Sisters and Bullets over Broadway and she appeared in three other of Allens films, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Radio Days and September. She also starred in Ron Howards Parenthood, for which she received her second Oscar nomination, Wiest also received two Screen Actors Guild Awards and one BAFTA Award nomination. For her work on television, she has won two Primetime Emmy Awards, Wiest was born in Kansas City, Missouri. Her mother, Anne Stewart, was a nurse and her father, Bernard John Wiest, was a college dean and former psychiatric social worker for the U. S. Army. Her mother was Scottish, while her father was an American of Croatian and German descent, Wiest has two brothers named Greg and Don. Her original ambition was to be a ballerina, but switched her goal to theatre in her year at Nurnberg American High School. Wiest graduated from the University of Maryland in 1969 with a degree in Arts, Wiest studied theatre at the University of Maryland, leaving after her third term to tour with a Shakespearean troupe. Later, she had a role in a New York Shakespeare Festival production of Ashes. She also acted at the Yale Repertory Theatre in New Haven, CT and she was an understudy both off-Broadway and on Broadway, in Kurt Vonneguts Happy Birthday, Wanda June in 1970. She made her Broadway debut in Robert Andersons Solitaire/Double Solitaire, taking over in the role of the daughter in 1971 and she toured the USSR with the Arena Stage. In 1976, Wiest attended the Eugene ONeill National Playwrights Conference and starred in leading roles in Amlin Grays Pirates, at Joe Papps Public Theater she took over the lead in Ashes, and played Cassandra in Agamemnon, directed by Andrei Şerban. In 1979, she originated the role of Agnes in Agnes of God in its first production in Waterford and she appeared in two plays by Tina Howe, Museum and The Art of Dining. (She played opposite Lithgow again in the Herbert Ross film Footloose, as Wiest became established as a film actress through her work in Woody Allens films, she was less frequently available for stage roles. However, she did appear onstage during the 1990s, in In the Summer House, Square One, Cynthia Ozicks The Shawl, in 2003, she appeared with Al Pacino and Marisa Tomei in Oscar Wildes Salome. In 2005, she starred in Kathleen Tolans Memory House and she also starred in a production of Wendy Wassersteins final play Third at Lincoln Center. Her early screen roles include roles in Its My Turn and Im Dancing as Fast as I Can. In 1984, she starred in Footloose, as the reverends wife, under Woody Allens direction, Wiest won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Hannah and Her Sisters in 1987 and Bullets over Broadway in 1995
34.
Tom Wilkinson
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Thomas Geoffrey Wilkinson OBE is an English actor. He has twice been nominated for an Academy Award, for his roles in In the Bedroom, in 2009, he won Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy Awards for Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Film for playing Benjamin Franklin in John Adams. Wilkinson was born in Wharfedale, West Riding of Yorkshire, the son of Marjorie and Thomas Wilkinson, at the age of four, he moved with his family to Canada, where they lived for several years before returning to the United Kingdom and running a pub in Cornwall. Wilkinson graduated from the University of Kent, where he was a member of T24 Drama Society, Wilkinson made his acting debut in 1976 and worked on several British television series, most notably the mini-series First Among Equals. He first gained acclaim with his appearance as Mr Pecksniff. Wilkinson made only the film, including a brief appearance in 1995s Sense and Sensibility and a villain in The Ghost. He also starred with Jackie Chan in the 1998 film Rush Hour and his portrayal of Matt Fowler, in Todd Fields In the Bedroom, received international praise from critics. For the role, he was named Best Actor of the Year by the New York Film Critics Circle and that success was followed up by Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Normal, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Batman Begins, and Separate Lies. In 2007, Wilkinson played Arthur Edens, an attorney with bipolar disorder, in Michael Clayton and garnered critical acclaim. The same year, he played an uncle planning for murder in Woody Allens Cassandras Dream, in 2008, Wilkinson portrayed American patriot Benjamin Franklin in the HBO mini-series John Adams. In the HBO film, Recount, Wilkinson portrayed American political adviser and lawyer, James A. Baker, presidential Election, receiving an Emmy Award for the former and a nomination for the latter. He also received a Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for his role in John Adams and he also portrayed Friedrich Fromm, Commander in Chief of the German Reserve Army, alongside Tom Cruise in the 2008 World War II thriller Valkyrie. Wilkinson starred in the horror comedy Burke and Hare, which is directed by John Landis and he portrayed a covert CIA agent in Roman Polanskis The Ghost Writer. He and his wife portrayed husband and wife Joe and Rose Kennedy, earlier that year, he appeared in The Green Hornet and Mission, Impossible – Ghost Protocol. Wilkinson lives in north London with his wife, actress Diana Hardcastle, Wilkinson received a Doctor of Letters honorary degree from the University of Kent in July 2001. In the 2005 New Year Honours, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to Drama, Tom Wilkinson at the Internet Movie Database Tom Wilkinson at the British Film Institutes Screenonline
35.
Don Rickles
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Donald Jay Rickles was an American stand-up comedian and actor. P. O. Potato Head in the Toy Story series and he won a Primetime Emmy Award for the 2007 documentary Mr. Warmth, The Don Rickles Project. His family was Jewish and spoke Yiddish at home, Rickles grew up in the Jackson Heights area. After graduating from Newtown High School, Rickles enlisted in the U. S. Navy and he was honorably discharged in 1946. Two years later, intending to be an actor, he studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Frustrated by a lack of acting work, Rickles began performing comedy in clubs in New York, Miami. He became known as a comedian when he responded to his hecklers. The audience enjoyed these insults more than his material. When he began his career in the early 1950s, he started calling ill-mannered members of the hockey puck. His style was similar to that of an insult comic, Jack E. Leonard. He added, Make yourself at home, Frank, Sinatra, whose pet name for Rickles was bullet-head, enjoyed him so much that he encouraged other celebrities to see Rickles act and be insulted by him. Sinatras support helped Rickles become a headline performer in Las Vegas. During a Dean Martin Roast special, Rickles was among those who took part in a roast of Sinatra, Rickles earned the nicknames The Merchant of Venom and Mr. Warmth for his poking fun at people of all ethnicities and walks of life. Rickles said, I always pictured myself facing the audience as the matador, in 1958, Rickles made his film debut in a serious part in Run Silent, Run Deep with Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster. Throughout the 1960s, he appeared on television in sitcoms. Rickles guest-starred in Get Smart as Sid, an old war buddy of Max who comes to stay with him. In an episode of the 1960s drama series Run for Your Life, Rickles took a dramatic turn in the low-budget Roger Corman film X, The Man with the X-Ray Eyes as a carnival barker out to exploit the title character. Rickles appeared in the popular Beach Party film series and he recalled in his 2007 memoir that at a White House dinner, Barbara Bush teased him about his decision to appear in those films
36.
NBC
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The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcast television network that is the flagship property of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. The network is part of the Big Three television networks, founded in 1926 by the Radio Corporation of America, NBC is the oldest major broadcast network in the United States. Following the acquisition by GE, Bob Wright served as executive officer of NBC, remaining in that position until his retirement in 2007. In 2003, French media company Vivendi merged its entertainment assets with GE, Comcast purchased a controlling interest in the company in 2011, and acquired General Electrics remaining stake in 2013. Following the Comcast merger, Zucker left NBC Universal and was replaced as CEO by Comcast executive Steve Burke, during a period of early broadcast business consolidation, radio manufacturer Radio Corporation of America acquired New York City radio station WEAF from American Telephone & Telegraph. Westinghouse, a shareholder in RCA, had an outlet in Newark, New Jersey pioneer station WJZ. This station was transferred from Westinghouse to RCA in 1923, WEAF acted as a laboratory for AT&Ts manufacturing and supply outlet Western Electric, whose products included transmitters and antennas. The Bell System, AT&Ts telephone utility, was developing technologies to transmit voice- and music-grade audio over short and long distances, the 1922 creation of WEAF offered a research-and-development center for those activities. WEAF maintained a schedule of radio programs, including some of the first commercially sponsored programs. In an early example of chain or networking broadcasting, the station linked with Outlet Company-owned WJAR in Providence, Rhode Island, AT&T refused outside companies access to its high-quality phone lines. The early effort fared poorly, since the telegraph lines were susceptible to atmospheric. In 1925, AT&T decided that WEAF and its network were incompatible with the companys primary goal of providing a telephone service. AT&T offered to sell the station to RCA in a deal that included the right to lease AT&Ts phone lines for network transmission, the divisions ownership was split among RCA, its founding corporate parent General Electric and Westinghouse. NBC officially started broadcasting on November 15,1926, WEAF and WJZ, the flagships of the two earlier networks, were operated side-by-side for about a year as part of the new NBC. On April 5,1927, NBC expanded to the West Coast with the launch of the NBC Orange Network and this was followed by the debut of the NBC Gold Network, also known as the Pacific Gold Network, on October 18,1931. The Orange Network carried Red Network programming, and the Gold Network carried programming from the Blue Network, initially, the Orange Network recreated Eastern Red Network programming for West Coast stations at KPO in San Francisco. The Orange Network name was removed from use in 1936, at the same time, the Gold Network became part of the Blue Network. In the 1930s, NBC also developed a network for shortwave radio stations, in 1927, NBC moved its operations to 711 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, occupying the upper floors of a building designed by architect Floyd Brown
37.
Curb Your Enthusiasm
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Curb Your Enthusiasm is an American comedy television series produced and broadcast by HBO that premiered on October 15,2000. The series was created by Larry David, who stars as a version of himself. The series follows Larry in his life as a television writer and producer in Los Angeles. Also starring are Cheryl Hines as his wife, Cheryl, Jeff Garlin as his manager, Jeff, Curb Your Enthusiasm often features guest stars, and many of these appearances are by celebrities playing versions of themselves fictionalized to varying degrees. The plots and subplots of the episodes are established in a written by David. The character has a hard time letting such annoyances go unexpressed, the series was developed from a 1999 one-hour special, Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm, which David and HBO originally envisioned as a one-time project. The special was shot as a mockumentary, where the characters were aware of the presence of cameras, the series itself is not a mock documentary but is shot in a somewhat similar, cinéma vérité-like style. Curb Your Enthusiasm has received critical acclaim and has grown in popularity since its debut. It has been nominated for 38 Primetime Emmy Awards, and Robert B, weide received an Emmy for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series for the episode Krazee Eyez Killa. The show won the 2002 Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy, after season eight finished in 2011, the series went on an indefinite hiatus. In June 2016, after an absence, it was announced the series would return for a ninth season. The series stars Larry David as a fictionalized version of himself. Like the real-life David, the character is known in the entertainment industry as the co-creator. For most of the series, the Larry David character is living a life in Los Angeles with his wife. Davids main confidant on the show is his manager, Jeff Greene, a large portion of the shows many guest stars are celebrities and public figures, such as actors, comedians, sportspeople, and politicians, who play themselves. These include Davids longtime friend Richard Lewis as well as Ted Danson and his wife, Mary Steenburgen, the show is set and filmed in various affluent Westside communities of Los Angeles, as well as in the adjacent cities of Beverly Hills, Culver City and Santa Monica. Davids hometown of New York City is also featured in some episodes, most of the series revolves around Davids interactions with his friends and acquaintances, with David often at odds with the other characters, usually to his detriment. Despite this, the characters do not seem to harbor ill feelings toward each other for any extended period, and this conflicts with his dry style
38.
HBO
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Home Box Office is an American premium cable and satellite television network that is owned by Time Warner through its respective flagship company Home Box Office, Inc. HBO is the oldest and longest continuously operating pay television service in the United States, in 2014, HBO had an adjusted operating income of US$1.79 billion, compared to the US$1.68 billion it accrued in 2013. HBO has 49 million subscribers in the United States and 130 million worldwide as of 2016, the network provides seven 24-hour multiplex channels, including HBO Comedy, HBO Latino, HBO Signature and HBO Family. It launched the streaming service HBO Now in April 2015, and has over 2 million subscribers in the United States as of February 2017. In addition to its U. S. subscriber base, HBO distributes content in at least 151 countries, HBO subscribers generally pay for an extra tier of service that includes other cable- and satellite-exclusive channels even before paying for the channel itself. Cable providers can require the use of a converter box – usually digital – in order to receive HBO, many HBO programs have been syndicated to other networks and broadcast television stations, and a number of HBO-produced series and films have been released on DVD. The new system, which Dolan named Sterling Information Services, became the first urban underground cable system in the United States. In that same year, Time-Life, Inc. purchased a 20% stake in Dolans company, in the summer of 1971, while on a family vacation in France, Charles Dolan began to think of ideas to make Sterling Manhattan profitable. He came up with the concept for a television service. Dolan later presented his idea to Time-Life management, though satellite distribution seemed only a distant possibility at the time, he persuaded Time-Life to back him on the project. To gauge whether consumers would be interested in subscribing to a pay television service, in a meeting of Dolan and some Time-Life executives who were working on the project, various other names were discussed for the new service. Home Box Office launched on November 8,1972, however, HBOs launch came without fanfare in the press, as it was not covered by any local or national media outlets. Home Box Office distributed its first sports event immediately after the film, Four months later in February 1973, Home Box Office aired its first television special, the Pennsylvania Polka Festival. Home Box Office would use a network of relay towers to distribute its programming to cable systems throughout its service area. Sterling Manhattan Cable continued to lose money because the company had only a small base of 20,000 customers in Manhattan. Time-Life dropped the Sterling name and the company was renamed Manhattan Cable Television under Time-Lifes control in March 1973, Gerald Levin, who had been with Home Box Office since it began operations as its vice president of programming, replaced Dolan as the companys president and chief executive officer. In September 1973, Time-Life, Inc. completed its acquisition of the pay service. HBO would eventually increase its fortunes within two years, by April 1975, the service had around 100,000 subscribers in Pennsylvania and New York state, in 1974, they settled on using a geostationary communications satellite to transmit HBO to cable providers throughout the United States
39.
Entourage (U.S. TV series)
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Entourage is an American comedy-drama television series that premiered on HBO on July 18,2004 and concluded on September 11,2011, after eight seasons. Mark Wahlberg and Stephen Levinson served as the executive producers. The series deals with themes of friendship and real-life situations in modern-day Hollywood. The show is known for its array of guests, having featured several actors, athletes. According to Mark Wahlberg, Entourage was initially conceived when his assistant asked if he could film Wahlberg and his friends, other reports credit Eric Weinstein, a long-time friend of Wahlberg, with the idea of filming the actors group of friends. However, according to Donnie Carroll, who was the inspiration for the Turtle character and it had originated as a book idea, centered on Carrolls own life and his experiences with Wahlberg, titled From the Hood to Hollywood, A Soldiers Story. Vincent Chase was envisioned to be similar to Wahlberg. A lighter approach was subsequently decided upon and his best friend and manager is Eric Murphy. E, as his friends call him, is based on Mark Wahlbergs friend, hes also been reported to be inspired by Stephen Levinson, Mark Wahlbergs manager. Vincents older half-brother, Johnny Drama Chase, is Vinces personal chef, trainer, Johnny is a C-list actor who was in the fictional show Viking Quest during his younger days. His role in the new hit show Five Towns had begun to resurrect his fame and career. As the show went on, Drama got offers for more and more roles, the show ended with Drama having his own animated TV show called Johnnys Bananas and him landing a new TV movie with the help of Vince. Dramas character is based on Johnny Drama Alves, whom Donnie Wahlberg had hired to keep his brother out of trouble. Rounding out the entourage of friends is Salvatore Turtle Assante, who is another of Vinces old friends from childhood, Turtles official role is as Vinces driver and assistant, though his value as such is often brought into question. This character is based on Wahlbergs former gofer Donnie Carroll aka Donkey, Carroll auditioned for the role, but the Boston native was turned down when it was decided the actors would have to be New Yorkers. Carroll died on December 18,2005, after an asthma attack, Ari Gold is Vinces abrasive but lovable agent. The role has led to several nominations and Emmy Awards for Piven, Ari is based on Wahlbergs real-life agent Ari Emanuel. Connolly, Grenier, Dillon, Ferrara, and Piven are credited in episode in the opening credits of the entire series
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The Office (U.S. TV series)
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The Office is an American television comedy series that aired on NBC from March 24,2005 to May 16,2013. It is an adaptation of the BBC series of the same name, the Office was adapted for American audiences by Greg Daniels, a veteran writer for Saturday Night Live, King of the Hill, and The Simpsons. It is co-produced by Daniels Deedle-Dee Productions, and Reveille Productions, the original executive producers were Greg Daniels, Howard Klein, Ben Silverman, Ricky Gervais, and Stephen Merchant, with numerous others being promoted in later seasons. The series depicts the lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania. To simulate the look of a documentary, it is filmed in a single-camera setup. The show debuted on NBC as a replacement and ran for nine seasons and 201 episodes. The Office initially featured Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer and B. J. Novak as the main cast, the first season of The Office was met with mixed reviews, but the following four seasons received widespread acclaim from television critics. These seasons were included on several critics year-end top TV series lists, winning awards including four Primetime Emmy Awards. While later seasons were criticized for a decline in quality, earlier writers oversaw the final season, Greg Daniels served as the senior series showrunner for the first four seasons of the series and developed the British series for American television. He then left the position when he co-created the comedy series Parks and Recreation with fellow Office writer Michael Schur, Paul Lieberstein and Jennifer Celotta were named the series showrunners for the fifth season. Celotta left the series after the season and Lieberstein stayed on as showrunner for the following two seasons. He left the spot after the eighth season for the potential Dwight Schrute spin-off, The Farm. Daniels returned to the position for the ninth and final season. Other executive producers include cast members B. J. Novak, Kaling, Novak, Daniels, Lieberstein and Schur made up the original team of writers. Kaling, Novak and Lieberstein also serve multiple roles on the series, as they play regular characters on the show, as well as write, direct, credited with twenty-four episodes, Kaling is the most prolific writer on the staff. Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, who created the original British series, are credited as producers, and wrote the pilot. Merchant later directed the episode Customer Survey while Gervais appeared in the episodes The Seminar, randall Einhorn is the most frequent director of the series, with 15 credited episodes. Episodes have been directed by several of the actors on the show including Steve Carell, John Krasinski, Rainn Wilson, Ed Helms, before the series aired its second episode, the writers spent time researching in offices
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Two and a Half Men
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Two and a Half Men is an American television sitcom that began broadcasting on CBS on September 22,2003, and ended on February 19,2015 after 12 seasons. Originally starring Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer, and Angus T. Jones, the series was about a hedonistic jingle writer, Charlie Harper, his uptight brother Alan, after Alan divorces, he moves with his son to share Charlies beachfront Malibu house and complicates Charlies freewheeling life. In 2010, CBS and Warner Bros, Television reached a multiyear broadcasting agreement for the series, renewing it through at least the 2011–12 season. Sheens contract was terminated on March 7, Ashton Kutcher was hired to replace him the following season. On April 26,2013, CBS renewed the series for an 11th season after closing one-year deals with Kutcher and Cryer, Jones, who was attending college, was relegated to recurring status for season 11, but never made an appearance until the series finale. He was replaced by Jenny, Charlies previously unknown daughter, season 11 premiered on September 26,2013. On March 13,2014, CBS renewed the series for a 12th season, the season premiered on October 30,2014 with the episode The Ol Mexican Spinach and concluded on February 19,2015, with the 40-minute finale Of Course Hes Dead. The success of the led to it being the fourth-highest revenue-generating program for 2012. The series revolved initially around the life of the Harper brothers Charlie and Alan, Charlie is a bachelor who writes commercial jingles for a living while leading a hedonistic lifestyle. When Alans wife Judith decides to divorce him, he moves into Charlies Malibu beach house, Charlies housekeeper is Berta, a sharp-tongued woman who initially resists the change to the household, but grudgingly accepts it. Charlies one-night stand Rose was first introduced as his stalker in the pilot episode, afterwards, Charlie flies to Paris in the eighth-season finale with his stalker Rose. In the ninth-season premiere, introducing a revamped show, it is revealed that Charlie died when he fell in front of a train in Paris. Suggestions are made that Rose pushed him in the path after learning Charlie had cheated on her. Throughout the series, Alan continues to deal with his son Jakes growing up, and the aftermath of his divorce and his marriage to Kandi at the end of the third season was short-lived. In the fourth season, Alan is back at the house paying alimony to two women out of his meager earnings as a chiropractor. In the seventh season, he begins a relationship with Lyndsey McElroy and their relationship is temporarily suspended when Alan cheats on her and accidentally burns down her house, but the relationship eventually resumes. In the ninth-season premiere, the house is sold to Walden Schmidt. Alan leaves to live with his mother Evelyn when the house is sold and he needs friends and the three form a tightknit surrogate family
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