1.
IMDb
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In 1998 it became a subsidiary of Amazon Inc, who were then able to use it as an advertising resource for selling DVDs and videotapes. As of January 2017, IMDb has approximately 4.1 million titles and 7.7 million personalities in its database, the site enables registered users to submit new material and edits to existing entries. Although all data is checked before going live, the system has open to abuse. The site also featured message boards which stimulate regular debates and dialogue among authenticated users, IMDb shutdown the message boards permanently on February 20,2017. Anyone with a connection can read the movie and talent pages of IMDb. A registration process is however, to contribute info to the site. A registered user chooses a name for themselves, and is given a profile page. These badges range from total contributions made, to independent categories such as photos, trivia, bios, if a registered user or visitor happens to be in the entertainment industry, and has an IMDb page, that user/visitor can add photos to that page by enrolling in IMDbPRO. Actors, crew, and industry executives can post their own resume and this fee enrolls them in a membership called IMDbPro. PRO can be accessed by anyone willing to pay the fee, which is $19.99 USD per month, or if paid annually, $149.99, which comes to approximately $12.50 per month USD. Membership enables a user to access the rank order of each industry personality, as well as agent contact information for any actor, producer, director etc. that has an IMDb page. Enrolling in PRO for industry personnel, enables those members the ability to upload a head shot to open their page, as well as the ability to upload hundreds of photos to accompany their page. Anyone can register as a user, and contribute to the site as well as enjoy its content, however those users enrolled in PRO have greater access and privileges. IMDb originated with a Usenet posting by British film fan and computer programmer Col Needham entitled Those Eyes, others with similar interests soon responded with additions or different lists of their own. Needham subsequently started an Actors List, while Dave Knight began a Directors List, and Andy Krieg took over THE LIST from Hank Driskill, which would later be renamed the Actress List. Both lists had been restricted to people who were alive and working, the goal of the participants now was to make the lists as inclusive as possible. By late 1990, the lists included almost 10,000 movies and television series correlated with actors and actresses appearing therein. On October 17,1990, Needham developed and posted a collection of Unix shell scripts which could be used to search the four lists, at the time, it was known as the rec. arts. movies movie database
2.
Burbank, California
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Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States,12 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. The population at the 2010 census was 103,340, Entertainment, Nickelodeon Animation Studios, NBC, Cartoon Network Studios with the West Coast branch of Cartoon Network, and Insomniac Games. The city is home to Bob Hope Airport. Burbank consists of two areas, a downtown/foothill section, in the foothills of the Verdugo Mountains. Burbank is the easternmost city in the San Fernando Valley, Burbanks neighbor, Glendale, is the westernmost city in the San Gabriel Valley. The city was referred to as Beautiful Downtown Burbank on Laugh-In, the city was named after David Burbank, a New Hampshire-born dentist and entrepreneur who established a sheep ranch there in 1867. Historically, this area was the scene of a skirmish which resulted in the unseating of the Spanish Governor of California. Remnants of the battle reportedly were found many years later in the vicinity of Warner Bros. Studio when residents dug up cannonballs, by 1876, the San Fernando Valley became the largest wheat-raising area in Los Angeles County. But the droughts of the 1860s and 1870s underlined the need for water supplies. A professionally trained dentist, Dr. Burbank began his career in Waterville and he joined the great migration westward in the early 1850s and, by 1853 was living in San Francisco. At the time the American Civil War broke out he was well established in his profession as a dentist in Pueblo de Los Angeles. In 1867, he purchased Rancho La Providencia from David W. Alexander and Francis Mellus, Dr. Burbanks property reached nearly 9,200 acres at a cost of $9,000. Dr. Burbank wouldnt acquire full titles to both properties until after a decision known as the Great Partition was made in 1871 dissolving the Rancho San Rafael. Dr. Burbank also later owned the Burbank Theatre, which opened on November 27,1893, though the theater was intended to be an opera house, instead it staged plays and became known nationally. The theatre featured famous actors of the time including Fay Bainter and Marjorie Rambeau, when the area that became Burbank was settled in the 1870s and 1880s, the streets were aligned along what is now Olive Avenue, the road to the Cahuenga Pass and downtown Los Angeles. These were largely the roads the Indians traveled and the settlers took their produce down to Los Angeles to sell. At the time, the primary long-distance transportation methods available to San Fernando Valley residents were stagecoach, stagecoaching between Los Angeles and San Francisco through the Valley began in 1858
3.
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
4.
Laura Leighton
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Laura Leighton is an American actress. She is best known for the role of Sydney Andrews on the television series Melrose Place and its remake, in the early 1990s, she took her first major acting role as Sydney Andrews in the primetime soap opera Melrose Place. The part was intended for only two episodes in season 1, but was developed into a full-time role for the subsequent seasons 2 to 5. Her character is considered one of the most beloved characters of Melrose Place and Leighton appeared on numerous magazine covers at the height of the shows popularity. However, Leighton left the show at the end of the season in 1997. She also hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live in 1995 with musical guest Rancid, Leighton left Melrose Place in 1997 at the end of her contract, and later appeared on Beverly Hills,90210. Aaron Spelling created the role of wannabe actress Sophie Burns for her, in 1999, she appeared in the independent feature film Angels, Baby. Which received a release late that year. That same year she appeared in the romantic comedy Seven Girlfriends, in the 2000s, she has guest-starred in shows such as Cupid and The Outer Limits, and lent her voice to the animated series Duckman. She later starred in the indie film The Sky Is Falling before taking a break to have children. In 2003, she returned to the screen in the much-hyped, but little-watched SKIN. In 2006–07, she made numerous prime-time guest appearances, on such as the ABC drama/comedy Boston Legal, Law & Order, Special Victims Unit, CSI, Miami. In 2004, she starred in Deadly Encounter as Joanne Sanders, on December 7,2009, ABC Family announced that Leighton had been cast in the TV series Pretty Little Liars, a TV adaptation of a book of the same name by Sara Shepard. She portrays Ashley Marin, the mother of Hanna Marin, one of the four characters on the show. Following her performance in the season of Melrose Place, Leighton was featured on the cover of Entertainment Weeklys 1994 Fall TV Preview issue. She appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone with her co-stars Heather Locklear and Josie Bissett in May 1994, in 1995, she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her work on the series. Also in 95, Leighton was named one of the most beautiful people in the world by People magazine, Leighton was born Laura Miller in Iowa City, Iowa, and is a 1986 graduate of West High School in Iowa City. She assumed her maternal grandfathers surname in 1988, in May 1998, she married her Melrose Place co-star Doug Savant
5.
Actor
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An actor is a person who portrays a character in a performance. Simplistically speaking, the person denominated actor or actress is someone beautiful who plays important characters, the actor performs in the flesh in the traditional medium of the theatre, or in modern mediums such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is ὑποκριτής, literally one who answers, the actors interpretation of their role pertains to the role played, whether based on a real person or fictional character. Interpretation occurs even when the actor is playing themselves, as in forms of experimental performance art, or, more commonly, to act, is to create. Formerly, in societies, only men could become actors. When used for the stage, women played the roles of prepubescent boys. The etymology is a derivation from actor with ess added. However, when referring to more than one performer, of both sexes, actor is preferred as a term for male performers. Actor is also used before the name of a performer as a gender-specific term. Within the profession, the re-adoption of the term dates to the 1950–1960s. As Whoopi Goldberg put it in an interview with the paper, Im an actor – I can play anything. The U. K. performers union Equity has no policy on the use of actor or actress, an Equity spokesperson said that the union does not believe that there is a consensus on the matter and stated that the. subject divides the profession. In 2009, the Los Angeles Times stated that Actress remains the term used in major acting awards given to female recipients. However, player remains in use in the theatre, often incorporated into the name of a group or company, such as the American Players. Also, actors in improvisational theatre may be referred to as players, prior to Thespis act, Grecian stories were only expressed in song, dance, and in third person narrative. In honor of Thespis, actors are commonly called Thespians, the exclusively male actors in the theatre of ancient Greece performed in three types of drama, tragedy, comedy, and the satyr play. Western theatre developed and expanded considerably under the Romans, as the Western Roman Empire fell into decay through the 4th and 5th centuries, the seat of Roman power shifted to Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire. Records show that mime, pantomime, scenes or recitations from tragedies and comedies, dances, from the 5th century, Western Europe was plunged into a period of general disorder
6.
Matt Fielding
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Matthew Matt Fielding, Jr. is a fictional character in the American television series Melrose Place, portrayed by Doug Savant. Matt was a gay man working as a social worker in Los Angeles. Initially Matt was not the focus of ongoing storylines, a situation that would not substantially change until the series became a drama in its second season. Matt Fielding appeared as a character from 1992 until 1997. Matt occasionally became involved with another man but the character was never shown in any sexual situations. The one planned instance of Matts kissing another man was edited to remove the kiss, broadcaster Fox and series creator Darren Star feared backlash from social conservatives and advertisers should Matt engage in any sexual conduct. Critics questioned this decision throughout Matts tenure on the series, although Matt was killed, Savant expressed interest in returning for the 2009 series revival but producers were not interested. Matt Fielding is a worker at the L. A. Halfway House for Teens, one of a group of friends who live together in the same West Hollywood apartment complex, shortly after being gay bashed by three people, Matt is fired from his job at the halfway house for being gay. He sues the center and accepts a $10,000 settlement, while working at Wilshire Memorial Matt meets Katya Petrova, a Russian doctor who expresses a romantic interest in him. Matt does not reciprocate her feelings but they enter into a green card marriage so that Katya, Katya and her daughter return to Russia anyway a few months later. Matt meets Jeffrey Lindley, a lieutenant in the United States Navy. Matt encourages him to out, which leads to Jeffreys being transferred to the East Coast. Jeffrey returns later and he and Matt resume their relationship, a few days later, Jeffrey reveals that he has tested positive for HIV. After initially struggling, Matt decides to himself to the relationship. Jeffrey, however, decides that they are better off simply being friends, when Matt is gay bashed a second time, a gay detective, John Rawlings, is assigned to the case and begins to become obsessive, eventually taking Matt and photographer friend Jo Reynolds hostage. Following the end of his relationship with Jeffrey, Matt becomes involved with Dr. Paul Graham a married plastic surgeon, Paul murders his wife and frames Matt for the crime, temporarily landing Matt in jail. Matt clears himself by tricking Paul into admitting his guilt, exonerated of the murder charges, Matt once again faces discrimination when the chief of staff fires him from his social work job at the hospital
7.
Melrose Place
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Melrose Place is an American primetime soap opera that aired on Fox from July 8,1992 to May 24,1999, for seven seasons. The show follows the lives of a group of adults living in an apartment complex called Melrose Place, in West Hollywood. The show was created by Darren Star for Fox and executive produced by Aaron Spelling for his company and it is the second series in the Beverly Hills,90210 franchise. Season one and season two were broadcast on Wednesday at 9pm, after Beverly Hills,90210, in 1994, for its third season premiere, the show moved to Monday at 8pm. The show had many cast changes during the run, Thomas Calabro was the only original cast member to remain on the series throughout its entire run. The show earned several Golden Globe nominations and placed #51 on Entertainment Weeklys New TV Classics list, filming for the series took place at a studio in Santa Clarita, California. The show is set in a small apartment courtyard complex located at 4616 Melrose Place in the city of West Hollywood, several young individuals reside in the apartments, each with their own dreams and drives. By the second season, the show had adopted a full-on soap opera format, williams was not brought back for the second season, her character having become engaged to a wealthy restaurant entrepreneur. The actor Johnny Drama Chase was also part of the show, a quote from the la times at the time stated, if you think the show lacks talent and entertainment, wait until you see Johnny Drama appear. That will indeed confirm that rather than watching this garbage you should have watched paint dry instead, although she was always billed as a special guest star, Locklear remained with the show for the rest of its run. Guest Laura Leighton, recurring as Janes trouble-making younger sister Sydney Andrews in the first two seasons, was upgraded to regular for season three. Marcia Cross, recurring as Dr. Kimberly Shaw in season 1, janet Carroll appeared in several episodes as Marion Shaw, Kimberlys domineering mother. Daviss character was killed off in the middle of the fourth season. Patrick Muldoon also arrived in the season as the villainous Richard Hart. Although Muldoon was not billed with the main cast, he appeared in most of the seasons episodes and is also Melrose Places longest recurring character in terms of number of episodes. The season finale featured the exits of series regulars Thorne-Smith, Show, charvet was written out in the middle of season 6, and the beginning of season seven saw the departure of Shue, Rinna, Langton, Milano, and Ashby. The shows seventh season introduced John Haymes Newton as Ryan McBride, Kyles younger brother, and Rena Sofer as Eve Cleary, Sofer was not billed with the main cast. Bissett reprised her role as Jane for the seventh season, category, List of Melrose Place charactersThis table includes only main cast characters, those who are listed in the intro title sequence
8.
Tom Scavo
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Tom Scavo /ˈskɑːvoʊ/ is a fictional character on the ABC television series Desperate Housewives, played by actor Doug Savant. Tom was originally credited as a role throughout Season 1. Early storylines often revolved around Toms position at a firm, causing him to frequently travel. Starting in Season 3, Toms storyline turned to a focus of him trying to find what was next for him, when he finally decides, he opens Scavos Pizzeria, much to Lynettes dismay. After the five year jump, it becomes apparent that Tom is now experiencing a mid-life crisis, Tom Scavo is frequently out of town and seems completely oblivious to Lynettes problems. Tom has been keeping a secret from his wife that only his father, Rodney Scavo and this is speculated to be his secret child, Kayla. Tom decided to become a house-husband after he lost his promotion to Annabel and he seems to truly love Lynette, being prepared to discuss family matters with her if she feels that they need to. Midway through the season, Tom returns to the workplace. When Lynettes boss asks Lynette to send instant messages to his wife to help him heat up his sex life, his wife found out and threatened to leave him unless he fires the person who sent the IMs. Feeling he cannot fire Lynette, he tells his wife it was Tom, deciding to fire him instead, much to Lynettes horror, Ed finds it - discovering that Tom has been falsifying expense reports. When Ed confronts him, the ends with Tom punching Ed in the face. As grounds for dismissal have been met, double grounds in fact, Tom is found out to be meeting another woman after Lynette follows him to Atlantic City and sees them embracing. Lynette later finds out that this woman is actually the mother of his daughter - born before he married Lynette and it is later revealed that the woman is Nora Huntington, they had a one-night stand years before he had met Lynette. She was claiming that she conceived his child, a daughter named Kayla Huntington, Tom later confesses to Lynette that he wants to open up a pizzeria. Nora, however, consistently undermines him behind his back and tries to get Lynette to tell him to drop the idea while planning to tell him that support him. She wanted him back, determined to make a family for Kayla but Tom rejects her and tells Lynette. Tom and Lynette plan to fight Nora for custody of Kayla but before they get to court, Nora confronts Lynette in the supermarket, when Lynette tells Carolyn that Nora made a move on Tom, Carolyn shoots and kills Nora. Lynette promises Nora that shell take care of Kayla, just before she dies, Tom opens his pizzeria and with Lynettes help, gets it ready for the grand opening, overcoming a few hitches along the way
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.
Desperate Housewives
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Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama and mystery series created by Marc Cherry, and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. It originally aired for eight seasons on ABC, from October 3,2004 to May 13,2012, executive producer Cherry served as showrunner. Other executive producers since the season included Bob Daily, George W. Perkins, John Pardee, Joey Murphy, David Grossman. The storyline covers 13 years of the womens lives over eight seasons, the series features an ensemble cast, headed by Teri Hatcher as Susan Mayer, Felicity Huffman as Lynette Scavo, Marcia Cross as Bree Van de Kamp, and Eva Longoria as Gabrielle Solis. Brenda Strong narrates the series as the late Mary Alice Young, appearing sporadically in flashbacks or dream sequences, Desperate Housewives was well received by viewers and critics alike. It won multiple Primetime Emmy, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards, from the 2004–05 through the 2008–09 television seasons, its first five seasons were rated amongst the top 10 most watched series. In 2012, it remained the most-watched comedy series based on data from Eurodata TV Worldwide. Moreover, it was the third-highest revenue earning series for 2010, the show placed #56 on Entertainment Weeklys New TV Classics list. In 2011, it was confirmed that Desperate Housewives would conclude after its eighth season, by the end of the series, it had surpassed Charmed as the longest running hour-long television series featuring all female leads by two episodes. The main mystery of the season is the suicide of Mary Alice Young. The second season premiered on September 25,2005, and its central mystery is that of new neighbor Betty Applewhite, Susans love life becomes even more complicated as her ex-husband Karl Mayer is engaged to Edie and is also started to incline towards Susan. Lynette goes back to her career in advertising while her husband Tom Scavo becomes a father, and Gabrielle decides to be faithful to Carlos. Paul is framed and sent to jail not for the murder he committed in the previous season, the third season premiered on September 24,2006. In the third season, Bree marries Orson Hodge, whose past, meanwhile, Lynette has to adjust to the arrival of Toms previously unknown daughter to the home. The Scavos also experience tension as Tom wants to start a pizzeria, Gabrielle goes through a rough divorce, but finally finds new love in Fairviews new mayor. After being run over by Orson in the season finale, Mike falls into coma. Edie sees her chance to make her move on Mike, Susan loses hope that Mikes memory will return and in the process moves on to a handsome Englishman whose wife is also in a coma, while her daughter Julie Mayer starts dating Edies nephew. Elderly neighbor Karen McCluskey hides something in her freezer, a shooting at the local grocery store leaves two characters dead and changes everyones lives forever
