1.
Mission: Impossible
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Mission, Impossible is an American television series that was created and initially produced by Bruce Geller. It chronicles the missions of a team of government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force. In the first season, the team is led by Dan Briggs, played by Steven Hill, Jim Phelps, a hallmark of the series shows Briggs or Phelps receiving his instructions on a recording that then self-destructs, followed by the theme music composed by Lalo Schifrin. The series was filmed and financed by Desilu Productions, and aired on the CBS network from September 1966 to March 1973, the series was revived in 1988 for two seasons on ABC, retaining only Graves in the cast. It also inspired a series of motion pictures starring Tom Cruise. The series follows the exploits of the Impossible Missions Force, a team of secret agents used for covert missions against dictators, evil organizations. On occasion, the IMF also mounts unsanctioned, private missions on behalf of its members, the identities of the higher echelons of the organization that oversees the IMF are never revealed. In the 1980s revival, it is suggested the IMF is an independent agency of the United States government, the leader of the IMF is initially Dan Briggs, played by Steven Hill. As an Orthodox Jew, Hill had to leave on Fridays at 4 p. m. to be home before sundown and was not available until after dark the next day, Hill had other problems as well. Unable to come to terms with Hill, the producers re-shot the episode without him, as far as Hills religious requirements were concerned, line producer Joseph Gantman simply had not understood what had been agreed to. He told author Patrick J. White, If someone understands your problems and says he understands them, but if he doesnt care about your problems, then you begin to really resent him. Steven Hill may have exactly the same way. In theory, Briggs and Phelps are the only members of the IMF. Still, many also feature guest stars playing one-time additional agents who have special skills. His contract gave producers an option to have him render services for additional episodes, to fill the void left by Hills Sabbath absences, producers wound up using Landau for more episodes, always as a guest star. He eventually struck a deal to appear in all the first seasons remaining episodes, Landau contractually became a series regular in season two. As actors left the series time, others became regulars. Replacements often possessed the skills as their predecessors
2.
Yangon
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Yangon is a former capital of Myanmar and the capital of Yangon Region. Although Yangons infrastructure is undeveloped compared to that of major cities in southeast Asia. Yangon is a combination of the two words yan and koun, which enemies and run out of, respectively. It is also translated as End of Strife, Rangoon most likely comes from the British imitation of the pronunciation of Yangon in the Arakanese language, which is. Yangon was founded as Dagon in the early 11th century by the Mon, Dagon was a small fishing village centred about the Shwedagon Pagoda. In 1755, King Alaungpaya conquered Dagon, renamed it Yangon, the British captured Yangon during the First Anglo-Burmese War, but returned it to Burmese administration after the war. The city was destroyed by a fire in 1841, the British seized Yangon and all of Lower Burma in the Second Anglo-Burmese War of 1852, and subsequently transformed Yangon into the commercial and political hub of British Burma. Yangon is also the place where the British sent Bahadur Shah II, Yangon became the capital of all British Burma after the British had captured Upper Burma in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of 1885. By the 1890s Yangons increasing population and commerce gave birth to prosperous residential suburbs to the north of Royal Lake, the British also established hospitals including Rangoon General Hospital and colleges including Rangoon University. Colonial Yangon, with its spacious parks and lakes and mix of modern buildings, by the early 20th century, Yangon had public services and infrastructure on par with London. Before World War II, about 55% of Yangons population of 500,000 was Indian or South Asian, karens, the Chinese, the Anglo-Burmese and others made up the rest. After World War I, Yangon became the epicentre of Burmese independence movement, three nationwide strikes against the British Empire in 1920,1936 and 1938 all began in Yangon. Yangon was under Japanese occupation, and incurred heavy damage during World War II, the city was retaken by the Allies in May 1945. Yangon became the capital of Union of Burma on 4 January 1948 when the country regained independence from the British Empire, soon after Burmas independence in 1948, many colonial names of streets and parks were changed to more nationalistic Burmese names. In 1989, the current military junta changed the citys English name to Yangon, since independence, Yangon has expanded outwards. Successive governments have built satellite towns such as Thaketa, North Okkalapa and South Okkalapa in the 1950s to Hlaingthaya, Shwepyitha, today, Greater Yangon encompasses an area covering nearly 600 square kilometres. During Ne Wins isolationist rule, Yangons infrastructure deteriorated through poor maintenance, in the 1990s, the current military governments more open market policies attracted domestic and foreign investment, bringing a modicum of modernity to the citys infrastructure. Some inner city residents were relocated to new satellite towns
3.
Myanmar
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Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and also known as Burma, is a sovereign state in South East Asia bordered by Bangladesh, India, China, Laos and Thailand. About one third of Myanmars total perimeter of 5,876 km, forms an uninterrupted coastline of 1,930 km along the Bay of Bengal, the countrys 2014 census revealed a much lower population than expected, with 51 million people recorded. Myanmar is 676,578 square kilometres in size and its capital city is Naypyidaw and its largest city and former capital city is Yangon. Early civilizations in Myanmar included the Tibeto-Burman-speaking Pyu city-states in Upper Burma, the Pagan Kingdom fell due to the Mongol invasions and several warring states emerged. In the 16th century, reunified by the Taungoo Dynasty, the country was for a period the largest empire in the history of Mainland Southeast Asia. The early 19th century Konbaung Dynasty ruled over an area included modern Myanmar and briefly controlled Manipur. The British invaded Myanmar after three Anglo-Burmese Wars in the 19th century and the became a British colony. Myanmar became an independent nation in 1948, initially as a nation and then, following a coup détat in 1962. For most of its independent years, the country has been engrossed in rampant ethnic strife, during this time, the United Nations and several other organisations have reported consistent and systematic human rights violations in the country. In 2011, the junta was officially dissolved following a 2010 general election. While former military leaders still wield enormous power in the country, there is, however, continuing criticism of the governments treatment of the Muslim Rohingya minority and its poor response to the religious clashes. In the landmark 2015 election, Aung San Suu Kyis party won a majority in both houses, Myanmar is a country rich in jade and gems, oil, natural gas and other mineral resources. In 2013, its GDP stood at US$56.7 billion, the income gap in Myanmar is among the widest in the world, as a large proportion of the economy is controlled by supporters of the former military government. As of 2016, according to the Human Development Index, Myanmar had a level of human development. The renaming remains a contested issue, many political and ethnic opposition groups and countries continue to use Burma because they do not recognise the legitimacy of the ruling military government or its authority to rename the country. The countrys official name is the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. Countries that do not officially recognise that name use the long form Union of Burma instead, in English, the country is popularly known as either Burma or Myanmar /ˈmjɑːnˌmɑːr/. Both these names are derived from the name of the majority Burmese Bamar ethnic group, Myanmar is considered to be the literary form of the name of the group, while Burma is derived from Bamar, the colloquial form of the groups name
4.
Woodland Hills, Los Angeles
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Woodland Hills is a neighborhood bordering the Santa Monica Mountains in the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California. Woodland Hills is an affluent neighborhood in the region of the San Fernando Valley which is located east of Calabasas. On the north it is bordered by West Hills, Canoga Park, and Winnetka, some neighborhoods are in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains. Running east–west through the community are U. S. Route 101 and Ventura Boulevard, the first Europeans to enter the San Fernando Valley were the Portola Expedition in 1769, exploring Alta California for Spanish missions and settlements locations. Seeing it from present-day Sepulveda Pass, the oak savanna inspired them to call the area El Valle de Santa Catalina de Bononia de Los Encinos, the Mission San Fernando Rey de España was established in 1797 and controlled the Valleys land, including future Woodland Hills. Ownership of the half of the valley, south of present-day Roscoe Boulevard from Toluca Lake to Woodland Hills. Moses Sherman and others in 1910, victor Girard Kleinberger bought 2,886 acres in the area from Chandlers group and founded the town of Girard in 1922. He sought to attract residents and businesses by developing an infrastructure, advertising in newspapers and his 300 pepper trees formed a canopy over Canoga Ave. between Ventura Boulevard and Saltillo St. became Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #93 in 1972. The community of Girard was eventually incorporated into Los Angeles, Woodland Hills has a firmly subtropical mediterranean climate. Within the San Fernando Valley, Woodland Hills generally experiences some of the extreme temperature changes season to season than other regions. During the summer, temperatures are very hot, while during the winter. On July 22,2006, Woodland Hills recorded the highest temperature ever in Los Angeles County, the climate is classified as a Csa in the Köppen climate classification, which is characterized by mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers. This climate is referred to as mediterranean. Precipitation in Woodland Hills averages much the same as most other regions of the west San Fernando Valley, in 2008 the population of Woodland Hills was approximately 63,000. The median age in 2000 was 40, considered old when compared to city and county jurisdictions. As of the 2000 census, and according to the Los Angeles Almanac, there were 67,006 people and 29,119 households residing in Woodland Hills. The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 79. 90% White,6. 97% Asian,0. 13% Pacific Islander,3. 34% African American,0. 33% Native American,4. 80% from other races, and 4. 52% from two or more races. 11. 94% of the population were Hispanic of any race, in population, it is one of the least dense neighborhoods in Los Angeles, and the percentage of white people is high for the county
5.
Broadway theatre
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Along with Londons West End theatres, Broadway theatres are widely considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world. The Theater District is a popular tourist attraction in New York City, the great majority of Broadway shows are musicals. They presented Shakespeare plays and ballad operas such as The Beggars Opera, in 1752, William Hallam sent a company of twelve actors from Britain to the colonies with his brother Lewis as their manager. They established a theatre in Williamsburg, Virginia and opened with The Merchant of Venice, the company moved to New York in the summer of 1753, performing ballad operas and ballad-farces like Damon and Phillida. The Revolutionary War suspended theatre in New York, but thereafter theatre resumed in 1798, the Bowery Theatre opened in 1826, followed by others. Blackface minstrel shows, a distinctly American form of entertainment, became popular in the 1830s, by the 1840s, P. T. Barnum was operating an entertainment complex in lower Manhattan. In 1829, at Broadway and Prince Street, Niblos Garden opened, the 3, 000-seat theatre presented all sorts of musical and non-musical entertainments. In 1844, Palmos Opera House opened and presented opera for four seasons before bankruptcy led to its rebranding as a venue for plays under the name Burtons Theatre. The Astor Opera House opened in 1847, booth played the role for a famous 100 consecutive performances at the Winter Garden Theatre in 1865, and would later revive the role at his own Booths Theatre. Other renowned Shakespeareans who appeared in New York in this era were Henry Irving, Tommaso Salvini, Fanny Davenport, lydia Thompson came to America in 1868 heading a small theatrical troupe, adapting popular English burlesques for middle-class New York audiences. Thompsons troupe called the British Blondes, was the most popular entertainment in New York during the 1868–1869 theatrical season, the six-month tour ran for almost six extremely profitable years. Theatre in New York moved from downtown gradually to midtown beginning around 1850, in 1870, the heart of Broadway was in Union Square, and by the end of the century, many theatres were near Madison Square. Broadways first long-run musical was a 50-performance hit called The Elves in 1857, New York runs continued to lag far behind those in London, but Laura Keenes musical burletta The Seven Sisters shattered previous New York records with a run of 253 performances. It was at a performance by Keenes troupe of Our American Cousin in Washington, the production was a staggering five-and-a-half hours long, but despite its length, it ran for a record-breaking 474 performances. The same year, The Black Domino/Between You, Me and the Post was the first show to call itself a musical comedy, Tony Pastor opened the first vaudeville theatre one block east of Union Square in 1881, where Lillian Russell performed. Comedians Edward Harrigan and Tony Hart produced and starred in musicals on Broadway between 1878 and 1890, with book and lyrics by Harrigan and music by his father-in-law David Braham. They starred high quality singers, instead of the women of repute who had starred in earlier musical forms. Plays could run longer and still draw in the audiences, leading to better profits, as in England, during the latter half of the century, the theatre began to be cleaned up, with less prostitution hindering the attendance of the theatre by women
6.
Benjamin Disraeli
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Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, KG, PC, FRS was a British politician and writer who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a role in the creation of the modern Conservative Party, defining its policies. Disraeli is remembered for his voice in world affairs, his political battles with the Liberal Party leader William Ewart Gladstone. He made the Conservatives the party most identified with the glory and he is the only British Prime Minister of Jewish birth. Disraeli was born in Bloomsbury, then part of Middlesex and his father left Judaism after a dispute at his synagogue, young Benjamin became an Anglican at the age of 12. After several unsuccessful attempts, Disraeli entered the House of Commons in 1837, in 1846 the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel split the party over his proposal to repeal the Corn Laws, which involved ending the tariff on imported grain. Disraeli clashed with Peel in the Commons, Disraeli became a major figure in the party. When Lord Derby, the party leader, thrice formed governments in the 1850s and 1860s and he also forged a bitter rivalry with Gladstone of the Liberal Party. Upon Derbys retirement in 1868, Disraeli became Prime Minister briefly before losing that years election and he returned to opposition, before leading the party to a majority in the 1874 election. He maintained a friendship with Queen Victoria, who in 1876 created him Earl of Beaconsfield. Disraelis second term was dominated by the Eastern Question—the slow decay of the Ottoman Empire, Disraeli arranged for the British to purchase a major interest in the Suez Canal Company. This diplomatic victory over Russia established Disraeli as one of Europes leading statesmen, World events thereafter moved against the Conservatives. Controversial wars in Afghanistan and South Africa undermined his public support and he angered British farmers by refusing to reinstitute the Corn Laws in response to poor harvests and cheap imported grain. With Gladstone conducting a speaking campaign, his Liberals bested Disraelis Conservatives in the 1880 election. In his final months, Disraeli led the Conservatives in opposition and he had throughout his career written novels, beginning in 1826, and he published his last completed novel, Endymion, shortly before he died at the age of 76. Disraeli was born on 21 December 1804 at 6 Kings Road, Bedford Row, Bloomsbury, London, the child and eldest son of Isaac DIsraeli, a literary critic and historian. The family was of Sephardic Jewish Italian mercantile background, All Disraelis grandparents and great grandparents were born in Italy, Isaacs father, Benjamin, moved to England from Venice in 1748. Disraelis siblings were Sarah, Naphtali, Ralph, and James and he was close to his sister, and on affectionate but more distant terms with his surviving brothers
7.
Paul the Apostle
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Paul the Apostle, commonly known as Saint Paul, and also known by his native name Saul of Tarsus was an apostle who taught the gospel of the Christ to the first century world. He is generally considered one of the most important figures of the Apostolic Age, in the mid-30s to the mid-50s AD, he founded several churches in Asia Minor and Europe. Paul took advantage of his status as both a Jew and a Roman citizen to minister to both Jewish and Roman audiences, according to writings in the New Testament, Paul was dedicated to the persecution of the early disciples of Jesus in the area of Jerusalem. He was struck blind but, after three days, his sight was restored by Ananias of Damascus, and Paul began to preach that Jesus of Nazareth is the Jewish Messiah, approximately half of the book of Acts deals with Pauls life and works. Fourteen of the books in the New Testament have traditionally been attributed to Paul. Seven of the epistles are undisputed by scholars as being authentic, Pauline authorship of the Epistle to the Hebrews is not asserted in the Epistle itself and was already doubted in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. It was almost unquestioningly accepted from the 5th to the 16th centuries that Paul was the author of Hebrews, but that view is now almost universally rejected by scholars. The other six are believed by scholars to have come from followers writing in his name. Other scholars argue that the idea of an author for the disputed epistles raises many problems. Today, Pauls epistles continue to be roots of the theology, worship, and pastoral life in the Catholic and Protestant traditions of the West. Augustine of Hippo developed Pauls idea that salvation is based on faith, martin Luthers interpretation of Pauls writings influenced Luthers doctrine of sola fide. The main source for information about Pauls life is the material found in his epistles, however, the epistles contain little information about Pauls past. The book of Acts recounts more information but leaves several parts of Pauls life out of its narrative, such as his probable, some scholars believe Acts also contradicts Pauls epistles on multiple accounts, in particular concerning the frequency of Pauls visits to the church in Jerusalem. It has been assumed that Sauls name was changed when he converted from Judaism to Christianity. His Jewish name was Saul, perhaps after the biblical King Saul, a fellow Benjamite, according to the Book of Acts, he inherited Roman citizenship from his father. As a Roman citizen, he bore the Latin name of Paul—in biblical Greek, Παῦλος. It was quite usual for the Jews of that time to have two names, one Hebrew, the other Latin or Greek. Jesus called him Saul, Saul in the Hebrew tongue in the book of Acts, later, in a vision to Ananias of Damascus, the Lord referred to him as Saul, of Tarsus
8.
Quo Vadis (1951 film)
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Quo Vadis is a 1951 American epic film made by MGM in Technicolor. It was directed by Mervyn LeRoy and produced by Sam Zimbalist, from a screenplay by John Lee Mahin, S. N. Behrman and Sonya Levien, the novel had previously been made into an Italian film Quo Vadis. The music score was by Miklós Rózsa and the cinematography by Robert Surtees, the title refers to an incident in the apocryphal Acts of Peter, see Quo Vadis. The film stars Robert Taylor, Deborah Kerr, Leo Genn, and Peter Ustinov, and features Patricia Laffan, Finlay Currie, Felix Aylmer, and Abraham Sofaer. Sophia Loren and Carlo Pedersoli were both cast in the movie as uncredited extras, and Sergio Leone worked on it as an assistant director of the Italian company. The main subject is the conflict between Christianity and the corruption of the Roman Empire, especially in the last period of the Julio-Claudian line, the characters and events depicted are a mixture of actual historical figures and situations and fictionalized ones. Their love story is told against the historical background of early Christianity. Though she grew up Roman as the daughter of a retired general, Aulus Plautius. Marcus persuades Nero to give her to him for services rendered, Lygia resents this, but still falls in love with Marcus. Meanwhile, Neros atrocities become increasingly more outrageous and his acts more insane, when he burns Rome and blames the Christians, Marcus goes off to save Lygia and her family. Nero captures them and all the Christians, and condemns them to be killed in the arena, Marcus is arrested for trying to save Lygia. Poppaea, Neros wife, who lusts after Marcus, devises a diabolical revenge for his rejection of her, Lygia is tied to a wooden stake in the arena. A wild bull is also placed there, and Lygias bodyguard giant, Ursus must try to kill it with his bare hands, Marcus is tied to the spectators box and forced to watch, much to the horror of his officers, who also attend the spectacle. When all seems hopeless, Ursus is able to break the bulls neck, hugely impressed by Ursuss courage, the crowd exhorts Nero to spare them, which the emperor is not willing to do. However, Neros four other retainers Seneca, architect Phaon, poet Lucan, the crowd, now firmly believing that Nero, and not the Christians, is responsible for the burning of Rome, revolts. Nero flees to his palace, where he strangles Poppaea to death, then Acte, a palace slave who was once in unrequited love with Nero, appears and offers to aid him in ending his own life before the mob storms the palace. The cowardly Nero cannot bring himself to do it, so Acte drives the dagger into his chest, Marcus, Lygia and Ursus are now free and leave Rome. By the roadside, Peters crook, which he had left behind when he returned to Rome, has miraculously sprouted flowers, the radiant light intones, I am the way, the truth, and the life
9.
Star Trek
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Star Trek is an American science fiction media franchise based on the television series created by Gene Roddenberry. The first television series, simply called Star Trek and now referred to as The Original Series, debuted in 1966 and it followed the interstellar adventures of Captain James T. Kirk and his crew aboard the starship USS Enterprise, an exploration vessel. The Star Trek canon of the franchise include The Original Series, a series, four spin-off television series, its film franchise. In creating Star Trek, Roddenberry was inspired by the Horatio Hornblower novels, the satirical book Gullivers Travels and these adventures continued in the short-lived Star Trek, The Animated Series and six feature films. The adventures of The Next Generation crew continued in four feature films. In 2009, the franchise underwent a reboot set in an alternate timeline, or Kelvin Timeline. This film featured a new cast portraying younger versions of the crew from the show, their adventures were continued in the sequel film. The thirteenth film feature and sequel, Star Trek Beyond, was released to coincide with the franchises 50th anniversary, a new Star Trek TV series, titled Star Trek, Discovery, will premiere in May 2017 on the digital platform CBS All Access. Star Trek has been a phenomenon for decades. Fans of the franchise are called Trekkies or Trekkers, the franchise spans a wide range of spin-offs including games, figurines, novels, toys, and comics. Star Trek had an attraction in Las Vegas that opened in 1998. At least two museum exhibits of props travel the world, the series has its own full-fledged constructed language, Klingon. Several parodies have been made of Star Trek, in addition, viewers have produced several fan productions. As of July 2016, the franchise had generated $10 billion in revenue, Star Trek is noted for its cultural influence beyond works of science fiction. The franchise is also noted for its civil rights stances. The Original Series included one of televisions first multiracial casts, Star Trek references can be found throughout popular culture from movies such as the submarine thriller Crimson Tide to the animated series South Park. As early as 1964, Gene Roddenberry drafted a proposal for the series that would become Star Trek
10.
Gunsmoke
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Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, the central character is lawman Marshal Matt Dillon, played by William Conrad on radio and James Arness on television. When aired in the UK, the series was initially titled Gun Law. The radio series ran from 1952 to 1961, John Dunning wrote that among radio drama enthusiasts, Gunsmoke is routinely placed among the best shows of any kind and any time. The television series ran for 20 seasons from 1955 to 1975, at the end of its run in 1975, Los Angeles Times columnist Cecil Smith wrote, Gunsmoke was the dramatization of the American epic legend of the west. Our own Iliad and Odyssey, created from elements of the dime novel and the pulp western as romanticized by Buntline, Harte. It was ever the stuff of legend, robinson instructed his West Coast CBS Vice President, Harry Ackerman, who had developed the Philip Marlowe series, to take on the task. Ackerman and his scriptwriters, Mort Fine and David Friedkin, created a script called Mark Dillon Goes to Gouge Eye based on one of their Michael Shayne radio scripts. Two auditions were created in 1949, CBS liked the Culver version better, and Ackerman was told to proceed. A complication arose, though, Culvers contract as the star of Straight Arrow would not allow him to do another Western series, the project was shelved for three years, when producer Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston discovered it while creating an adult Western series of their own. Macdonnell and Meston wanted to create a radio Western for adults, in contrast to the prevailing juvenile fare such as The Lone Ranger, Gunsmoke was set in Dodge City, Kansas, during the thriving cattle days of the 1870s. Dunning notes, The show drew critical acclaim for unprecedented realism, the radio series first aired on CBS on April 26,1952 with the episode Billy the Kid, written by Walter Newman, and ended on June 18,1961. The show stars William Conrad as Marshal Matt Dillon, Howard McNear as Doc Charles Adams, Georgia Ellis as Kitty Russell, Dillon was played on radio by William Conrad and on TV by James Arness. Conrad was one of the last actors to audition for the role of Marshal Dillon, with a resonantly powerful and distinctive voice, Conrad was already one of radios busiest actors. Though Meston championed him, Macdonnell thought Conrad might be overexposed, during his audition, however, Conrad won over Macdonnell after reading only a few lines. Dillon as portrayed by Conrad was a lonely, isolated man, Macdonnell later claimed, Much of Matt Dillons character grew out of Bill Conrad. Meston relished the upending of cherished Western fiction clichés and felt that few Westerns gave any inkling of how brutal the Old West was in reality. Many episodes were based on mans cruelty to man and woman, inasmuch as the womans life
