One for the Angels
"One for the Angels" is the second episode of the American anthology television series The Twilight Zone. It aired on October 9, 1959 on CBS. Lou Bookman is a kindly sidewalk pitchman who sells and repairs toys and trinkets, is adored by the neighborhood children. One day, Bookman is visited by Mr. Death, who tells him that he is to die at midnight of natural causes. Unable to dissuade Death, Bookman instead convinces him to wait until Bookman has made his greatest sales pitch: "one for the angels". Death agrees, Bookman announces he is retiring, smug that he has cheated Death. Death concedes Bookman has found a loophole in their agreement, but warns Bookman that someone else now has to die in his place. Death chooses Maggie, a little girl who lives in Bookman's apartment building and is a friend of his. Maggie falls into a coma. Bookman begs Death to take him instead. Bookman gets out his wares and begins to eloquently boast one item after or another, making the greatest sales pitch of his life—one so great that he entices Death himself.
Death buys item after item and does not remember his appointment with Maggie until it is past midnight, when he has missed it. When Maggie awakens, her doctor leaves the apartment and sees Bookman, assuring him that Maggie will live. Death observes that by making that great sales pitch, Bookman has met the original terms of their deal. Now content and willing to accept his fate, Bookman packs his things and leaves with Death toward Heaven, remarking that "you never know who might need something up there", he looks to Death, adding "Up there?" and Death replies, "Up there, Mr. Bookman. You made it." Ed Wynn as Lewis J. "Lou" Bookman Murray Hamilton as Mr. Death Dana Dillaway as Maggie Polanski Zicree, Marc Scott: The Twilight Zone Companion. Sillman-James Press, 1982 DeVoe, Bill.. Trivia from The Twilight Zone. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. ISBN 978-1-59393-136-0 Grams, Martin.. The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9703310-9-0 Sander, Gordon F. Serling: the rise and twilight of television's last angry man.
New York: Penguin Books, 1992. ISBN 0-525-93550-9 "One for the Angels" on IMDb "One for the Angels" at TV.com
The Last Flight (The Twilight Zone)
"The Last Flight" is episode 18 of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. Part of the production was filmed on location at Norton Air Force Base in San Bernardino, California; the vintage 1918 Nieuport 28 biplane was both owned and flown by Frank Gifford Tallman, had appeared in many World War I motion pictures. Flight Lieutenant William Terrance "Terry" Decker of 56 Squadron Royal Flying Corps lands his Nieuport biplane on an American airbase in France, after flying through a strange cloud, he is taken into custody and questioned by the American base commander, Major General Harper, his provost marshal, Major Wilson. Decker identifies himself and his squadron and claims that the date is March 5, 1917, he is informed that it is March 5, 1959. Decker tells the officers that he and his comrade Alexander "Old Leadbottom" Mackaye were fighting seven German aircraft; the Americans tell him that Mackaye is alive and is an Air Vice Marshal in the Royal Air Force, a war hero from World War II who saved hundreds, if not thousands of lives by shooting down German bombers over London.
The American officers add that Air Vice Marshal Mackaye, in addition to being alive and well, is coming to the base that day for an inspection. Major Wilson tries to help Decker remember. Decker confesses that he has avoided combat throughout his service, that he deliberately abandoned the outnumbered Mackaye when the two were attacked by the German fighters, he refuses to believe. When Wilson suggests that someone else helped Mackaye, Decker realizes that he has been given a second chance, he tells the American officer that there was no one within fifty miles who could have come to Mackaye's aid, so if Mackaye survived, it had to be because Decker went back himself. Knowing he cannot have much time to go back to 1917, Decker pleads with Wilson to release him from custody; when Wilson refuses, Decker escapes. Running outside, he locates his plane, punches a mechanic who tries to get in his way, starts the plane's engine, he is about to take off when Wilson puts a pistol to his head. Decker tells Wilson he will have to shoot him to stop him, as he would rather die than remain a coward.
After hesitating, Wilson allows him to escape and Decker flies his plane into white clouds and vanishes. Major Wilson is rebuked by Major General Harper for believing such a fantastic story and for allowing Decker to escape; when Mackaye arrives, Wilson asks he. Mackaye, says Decker saved his life. In March 1917, Mackaye and Decker were attacked. Decker flew off into a cloud, Mackaye believed at first that Decker had abandoned him. Decker came diving out of the cloud, proceeded to shoot down three of the German planes before being shot down himself. General Harper shows Mackaye Decker's badge and personal effects, startling Mackaye, who remarks that those items had never been returned by the Germans. Major Wilson suggests that "Old Leadbottom"—a nickname known only by Mackaye's comrades back in World War I—sit down while it is explained how these items came into the Americans' possession; this was the first episode of The Twilight Zone scripted by Richard Matheson. Rod Serling had adapted the episode "And When the Sky Was Opened" from a short story of Matheson's.
The United States Air Force major general refers to Mackaye as "sir", suggests that he is a superior officer inspecting the air base. However, Mackaye is ranked as an air vice marshal, a Royal Air Force rank equivalent to major general, thereby making the two officers equals – unless the American general was junior in rank by date of commission; the Royal Flying Corps never flew the Nieuport 28, which did not enter service until 1918. The death of Georges Guynemer is mentioned by Decker but Guynemer died in September 1917, six months after Decker's last flight. 56 Squadron was not deployed until April 1917, at which point it flew the S. E.5 aircraft. The rank of flight lieutenant existed in the Royal Naval Air Service and in the RAF but it never was used in the Royal Flying Corps. However, the only reference to "flight lieutenant" is during Mr. Serling's introduction. However, "Second lieutenant" the most junior commissioned officer rank is equal to a "Pilot Officer" in the RAF. Flight Lieutenant is equal to the Army rank of Captain.
DeVoe, Bill.. Trivia from The Twilight Zone. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. ISBN 978-1-59393-136-0 Grams, Martin.. The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9703310-9-0 "The Last Flight" on IMDb
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is a 2017 American epic space-opera film written and directed by Rian Johnson. It is the second installment of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, following The Force Awakens, the eighth episode of the main Star Wars film franchise, it was distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The film's ensemble cast includes Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Lupita Nyong'o, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Gwendoline Christie, Frank Oz in returning roles, with Kelly Marie Tran, Laura Dern and Benicio del Toro joining the cast, it features the first posthumous film performance by Fisher, who died in December 2016, the film is dedicated to her memory. The plot follows Rey as she receives Jedi training from Luke Skywalker, in hopes of turning the tide for the Resistance in the fight against Kylo Ren and the First Order, while General Leia Organa and Poe Dameron attempt to escape a First Order attack on the dwindling Resistance fleet.
The Last Jedi is part of a new trilogy of films announced after Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm in October 2012. It was produced by Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy and Ram Bergman, with The Force Awakens director J. J. Abrams as an executive producer. John Williams, composer for the previous films, returned to compose the score. A number of scenes were filmed at Skellig Michael in Ireland during pre-production in September 2015, but principal photography began at Pinewood Studios in England in February 2016, wrapped in July 2016. Post-production was finished in September 2017; the Last Jedi had its world premiere at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on December 9, 2017, was released in the United States on December 15, 2017. It grossed over $1.3 billion worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of 2017, the seventh-highest-ever grossing film in North America and the ninth-highest-grossing film of all time during its theatrical run. It is the second-highest-grossing film of the Star Wars franchise, turned a net profit of over $417 million.
The film received positive reviews, with praise for the ensemble cast, visual effects, musical score, action sequences and emotional weight. The film received four nominations at the 90th Academy Awards, including Best Original Score and Best Visual Effects, as well two nominations at the 71st British Academy Film Awards. A sequel, titled The Rise of Skywalker, is scheduled for release on December 20, 2019. Following the destruction of Starkiller Base, General Leia Organa leads the flight of Resistance forces from D'Qar, when a First Order fleet arrives. Poe Dameron leads a costly counterattack that destroys a First Order dreadnought, the remaining Resistance escapes into hyperspace. Rey, having traveled to Ahch-To with Chewbacca and R2-D2 aboard the Millennium Falcon, attempts to recruit Luke Skywalker to the Resistance. Disillusioned by his failure to train Kylo as a Jedi, under self-imposed exile, Luke refuses to help and says that the Jedi should end. Meanwhile, the First Order uses a device to attack the Resistance.
Leia's son Kylo Ren hesitates to fire on the lead Resistance ship after sensing his mother's presence, but his wingmen destroy the bridge, killing most of the Resistance's leaders. Leia survives by using the Force. After R2-D2 plays the hologram of Leia from A New Hope, Luke decides to train Rey as a Jedi. Rey and Kylo begin communicating through the Force, puzzling them both. After Kylo tells Rey what happened between him and Luke that caused him to choose the dark side, Luke confesses that he momentarily contemplated killing Kylo upon sensing that Snoke was corrupting him. Convinced that Kylo can be redeemed, Rey leaves Ahch-To. Luke hesitates. Yoda's Force ghost appears and destroys the library by summoning a bolt of lightning, saying Rey has all she needs to learn, encouraging Luke to learn from his failure. Meanwhile, Poe sends Finn, mechanic Rose Tico, BB-8 to Canto Bight to find someone who can disable the First Order's tracking device, they meet the hacker DJ, escape the city with the help of some stablehand children and riding animals they set free.
Finn and Rose infiltrate Snoke's ship—as Rey arrives—but are betrayed by DJ and delivered to Captain Phasma. Kylo brings Rey to Snoke, who says he facilitated the connection between her and Kylo as part of a plan to destroy Luke. Meanwhile, new Resistance leader Vice Admiral Holdo reveals her plan to evacuate the remaining Resistance members using small transports. Believing her actions to be cowardly and futile, Poe leads a mutiny. Leia stuns Poe, allowing the evacuation to begin. Holdo remains on the ship to mislead Snoke's fleet. DJ reveals the Resistance's plan to the First Order, the evacuation transports are destroyed. Ordered to kill Rey, Kylo instead kills Snoke and defeats his guards alongside Rey. Rey hopes that Kylo has returned to the light side, but he instead asks her to rule the galaxy with him. Refusing and Kylo each use the Force to try to take Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber, splitting it in two. Holdo sacrifices herself by ramming into Snoke's flagship at lightspeed. Rey escapes in the chaos, while Kylo declares himself Supreme Leader.
BB-8 frees Rose. When the First Order arrives, Poe and Rose attack with old speeders. Rey and Chewbacca draw TIE fighters away in the Falcon, while Rose stops Finn from completing a suicide run against the enemy siege cannon, which subsequently penetrates
Time Enough at Last
"Time Enough at Last" is the eighth episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. The episode was adapted from a short story written by Lynn Venable; the short story appeared in the January 1953 edition of the science fiction magazine If: Worlds of Science Fiction about seven years before the television episode first aired. "Time Enough at Last" became one of the most famous episodes of the original Twilight Zone and has been parodied since. It is "the story of a man who seeks salvation in the rubble of a ruined world" and tells of Henry Bemis, played by Burgess Meredith, who loves books, yet is surrounded by those who would prevent him from reading them; the episode follows Bemis through the post-apocalyptic world, touching on such social issues as anti-intellectualism, the dangers of reliance upon technology, the difference between aloneness and loneliness. Witness Mr. Henry Bemis, a charter member in the fraternity of dreamers. A bookish little man whose passion is the printed page, but, conspired against by a bank president and a wife and a world full of tongue-cluckers and the unrelenting hands of a clock.
But in just a moment, Mr. Bemis will enter a world without bank presidents or wives or clocks or anything else. He'll have a world all to himself... without anyone. Henpecked, far sighted bank teller and avid bookworm Henry Bemis works at his window in a bank, while reading David Copperfield, which causes him to shortchange an annoyed customer. Bemis's angry boss, his nagging wife, both complain to him that he wastes far too much time reading "doggerel"; as a cruel joke, his wife asks him to read poetry from one of his books to her. Seconds she destroys the book by ripping the pages from it, much to Henry's dismay; the next day, as usual, Henry takes his lunch break in the bank's vault, where his reading will not be disturbed. Moments after he sees a newspaper headline, which reads "H-Bomb Capable of Total Destruction", an enormous explosion outside the bank violently shakes the vault, knocking Bemis unconscious. After regaining consciousness and recovering the thick glasses required for him to see, Bemis emerges from the vault to find the bank demolished and everyone in it dead.
Leaving the bank, he sees that the entire city has been destroyed, realizes that a nuclear war has devastated Earth, but that his being in the vault has saved him. Seconds, hours, they crawl by on hands and knees for Mr. Henry Bemis, who looks for a spark in the ashes of a dead world. A telephone connected to nothingness. A neighborhood bar, a movie, a baseball diamond, a hardware store, the mailbox of what was once his house and is now a rubble, they lie at his feet as battered monuments to what is no more. Mr. Henry Bemis on an eight-hour tour of a graveyard. Finding himself alone in a shattered world with canned food to last him a lifetime and no means of leaving to look for other survivors, Bemis succumbs to despair; as he prepares to commit suicide using a revolver he has found, Bemis sees the ruins of the public library in the distance. Investigating, he finds that the books are still legible, his despair gone, Bemis contentedly sorts the books he looks forward to reading for years to come, with no obligations to get in the way.
Just as he bends down to pick up the first book, he stumbles, his glasses fall off and shatter. In shock, he picks up the broken remains of the glasses he is blind without, says, "That's not fair. That's not fair at all. There was time now. There was—was all the time I needed…! It's not fair! It's not fair!" and bursts into tears, surrounded by books he now can never read. The best laid plans of mice and men... and Henry Bemis... the small man in the glasses who wanted nothing but time. Henry Bemis, now just a part of a smashed landscape, just a piece of the rubble, just a fragment of what man has deeded to himself. Mr. Henry Bemis... in the Twilight Zone. "Time Enough at Last" was one of the first episodes written for The Twilight Zone. It introduced Burgess Meredith to the series, he narrated for the 1983 film Twilight Zone: The Movie, which made reference to "Time Enough at Last" during its opening sequence, with the characters discussing the episode in detail. Footage of the exterior steps of the library was filmed several months after production had been completed.
These steps can be seen on the exterior of an Eloi public building in MGM's 1960 version of The Time Machine. John Brahm was nominated for a Directors Guild award for his work on the episode; the book that Bemis was reading in the vault and that flips open when the bomb explodes is A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus by Washington Irving. Although the overriding message may seem to "be careful what you wish for, you just might get it", there are other themes throughout the episode as well. Paramount among these is the question of solitude versus loneliness, as embodied by Bemis' moment of near-suicide. Additionally, the portrayal of societal attitudes towards books speaks to the contemporary decline of traditional literature and how, given enough time, reading may become a relic of the past. At the same time, the ending "punishes Bemis for his antisocial behavior, his greatest desire is thwarted". Rod Serl
Dane Clark
Dane Clark was an American character actor, known for playing, as he labeled himself, "Joe Average". Clark was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Jewish immigrants - Samuel, a sporting goods store owner, his wife, Rose, his actual date of birth is a matter of some dispute among different sources. He graduated from Cornell University in 1926 and earned a law degree in 1928 at St. John's University School of Law in Queens, New York. During the Great Depression, he worked as a professional boxer, minor league baseball player, construction worker, in modeling, among others. Modeling brought him in contact with people in the arts, he perceived them to be snobbish, with their talk of the "theatah", "I decided to give it a try myself, just to show them anyone could do it." Clark's early acting experience included work with the Group Theatre in New York City. He progressed from small Broadway parts to larger ones taking over the role of George from Wallace Ford in the 1937 production of Of Mice and Men.
His other Broadway credits include Mike Downstairs, A Thousand Clowns, Fragile Fox, The Number, Dead End, Waiting For Lefty, Till the Day I Die, Panic. Clark's first film was The Pride of the Yankees, he had an uncredited bit in The Glass Key at Paramount. Clark got his big break when he was signed by Warner Bros. in 1943. He worked alongside some of his era's biggest stars in war movies such as Action in the North Atlantic, his breakthrough part, opposite Humphrey Bogart. According to Clark, Bogart gave him his stage name. Hollywood newspaper columnist Louella Parsons wrote in 1942 that Warner Bros. first changed his name to Zane Clark but decided on Dane Clark because "Too many confused Zane Clark with Jane Clark."He was third billed in Destination Tokyo beneath Cary Grant and John Garfield, in The Very Thought of You with Dennis Morgan and Eleanor Parker. He had one of the leads in Hollywood Canteen, playing an actual role while most Warners stars made cameo appearances as themselves. Clark had the lead in the 1944 short film I Won't Play with Janis Paige, which received the 1945 Academy Award for Best Short Subject.
Clark supported Morgan in God Is Garfield in Pride of the Marines. Exhibitors voted Clark the 16th most popular star at the US box office in 1945. Clark supported Bette Davis and Glenn Ford in A Stolen Life and was promoted to top billing for Her Kind of Man, a crime film, he followed it with That Way with Women, Deep Valley, Embraceable You. Republic Pictures borrowed him to play the lead for Frank Borzage in Moonrise. At Warner Bros. he was in Whiplash. Clark went to United Artists for Without Honor back to Warner Bros. for Backfire and Barricade. He travelled to England to make Highly France for Gunman in the Streets. Back at Columbia he was in Never Trust a Gambler, he acted in the United Artists Western Fort Defiance. He went back to Britain for The Gambler and the Lady, Murder by Proxy and Five Days, all for Hammer Films. In the US, he was in Go Man Go with the Harlem Globetrotters and Toughest Man Alive. During the 1950s, he became one of a small group of actors awarded life membership in The Actors Studio.
Clark played Peter Chambers in the short-lived radio program Crime and Peter Chambers, a half-hour show which aired from April 6 to September 7, 1954. Clark first appeared on television in the late 1940s, after the mid-1950s worked much more in that medium than in feature films. In the 1954-1955 season, he co-starred as the character Richard Adams, with Gary Merrill in the role of Jason Tyler, in the NBC crime drama Justice, about attorneys of the Legal Aid Society of New York. In 1955 he was acting on stage when the female he was acting against died in his arms, he went back to films for Outlaw's Son. In 1959, he reprised Humphrey Bogart's role as Slate in Bold Venture, a short-lived television series, he guest starred on a number of television shows, including Faye Emerson's Wonderful Town, Appointment with Adventure, CBS's Rawhide in the episode "Incident of the Night Visitor", The Twilight Zone, in the episode "The Prime Mover". In 1970, he had a role in The McMasters, he played Lieutenant Tragg in the short-lived revival of the Perry Mason television series in 1973, appeared in the 1976 miniseries Once an Eagle.
Clark was married twice: firstly, to Margot Yoder, a painter, from 1941 until her death in 1970. Clark died on September 1998, of lung cancer at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California, his remains were his ashes given to his widow. Dane Clark on IMDb Dane Clark at AllMovie Dane Clark at the Internet Broadway Database
Avatar: The Last Airbender (season 3)
Season Three of Avatar: The Last Airbender, an American animated television series on Nickelodeon, first aired its 21 episodes from September 21, 2007 to July 19, 2008. The season was created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, starred Zach Tyler Eisen, Mae Whitman, Jack DeSena, Jessie Flower, Dante Basco, Dee Bradley Baker, Greg Baldwin, Grey DeLisle and Mark Hamill as the main character voices; this third and final season focuses on Aang's quest to defeat the tyrannical Fire Lord Ozai and restore harmony and order to the world. The season is followed by The Promise, The Search, The Rift comic series that take place one or two years after the hundred-year war's end; the final season features twenty-one episodes, one more than the previous two seasons. The season finale consisted of the four episodes airing together as a two-hour television movie. Season Three received a similar positive critical reception to that of the previous seasons; the season, the four-part finale "Sozin's Comet", received much critical acclaim, with praises from sources such as DVD Talk.
Between October 30, 2007 and September 16, 2008, Nickelodeon released four DVD volumes and a "Complete Box Set". The season was produced by and aired on Nickelodeon, owned by Viacom; the season's executive producers and co-creators were Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, who worked alongside episode director and co-producer Aaron Ehasz. Most of the individual episodes were directed by Ethan Spaulding, Lauren MacMullan and Giancarlo Volpe. Episodes were written by a team of writers, which consisted of Aaron Ehasz, Elizabeth Welch Ehasz, Tim Hedrick, John O'Bryan, along with creators DiMartino and Konietzko; the season's music was composed by "The Track Team", which consists of Jeremy Zuckerman and Benjamin Wynn, who were known to the show's creators because Zuckerman was Konietzko's roommate. In the season's beginning, protagonist Aang and his friends Sokka and Toph are traveling through the Fire Nation, conjuring a plan for invading the Fire Nation and looking for a teacher to teach Aang Firebending.
Midway through the season, Aang gathers friends he met in previous episodes and leads a failed invasion into the Fire Nation. Former antagonist and anti-hero Zuko changes sides and joins Aang, serving as his Firebending teacher until the four-part series finale when Aang defeats the Fire Lord and ends the one hundred-year war in a surprising way: he uses a new ability to permanently rid Ozai of his natural firebending abilities to avoid violating selfless Air Nomad teachings. All of the central characters remained the same: Zach Tyler Eisen voices Aang, Mae Whitman voices Katara, Jack DeSena voices Sokka, Jessie Flower voices Toph, Dante Basco voices Zuko, Dee Bradley Baker voices Appa and Momo, Grey DeLisle voices Azula. Additionally, Mark Hamill joins the cast to voice Fire Lord Ozai after having minor appearances throughout the first and second seasons of the series, while Greg Baldwin now voices Iroh due to Mako Iwamatsu's passing; the season received critical acclaim. Jamie S. Rich from DVD Talk remarked, "In addition to the solid writing, Avatar the Last Airbender has amazing animation.
The character designs, with its roots in classic Asian folklore, are colorful and inventive, the overall animation is smooth and executed". Jamie S. Rich wrote in another review: Henrik Batallones, a BuddyTV Staff Columnist noted the wide variety of positive reviews from the press for the series finale, noting that sources such as The New York Times and Toon Zone gave Avatar: The Last Airbender "glowing reviews"; the season received praise for its video and sound quality. Nick Lyons from DVD Talk felt that the video quality appeared better than previous seasons, which had garnered additional awards, he remarks that the sound is "spot on...as per usual." At the 2008 Annie Awards, the season won "Best Animated Television Production for Children". At the same Annie Awards, Joaquim Dos Santos won the "Best Directing in an Animated Television Production" caption for his directing in "Into the Inferno". Joaquim Dos Santos gave Avatar: The Last Airbender a nomination at Annecy 2008 for his work with "The Day of Black Sun Part 2: The Eclipse".
Additionally, music editor and composer Jeremy Zuckerman and the sound editing team were nominated a Golden Reel award for "Best Sound Editing in a Television Animation" for their work in "Avatar Aang". The first three DVD volumes contain five episodes each, the fourth volume contains six. A boxed set contained all four volumes; the first DVD was released on October 30, 2007, the complete boxed set was released on September 16, 2008. They are released by Paramount Home Entertainment; each of the individual Season Three DVDs comes complete with an exclusive comic book. The Complete Book 3 Collection DVD includes the following DVD extras: Inside Sozin's Comet: Exclusive Four-Part Commentary by Creators, The Women of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Book 3 Finale Pencil Test Animation and Into the Fire Nation at San Diego Comic-Con; the boxed set was released on February 2010 in the United Kingdom. 1.^ Production code format taken from the commentary for "Sozin's Comet Part 1: The Phoenix King" General Specific
Television in the United States
Television is one of the major mass media of the United States. As of 2011, household ownership of television sets in the country is 96.7%, with 114,200,000 American households owning at least one television set as of August 2013. The majority of households have more than one set; the peak ownership percentage of households with at least one television set occurred during the 1996–97 season, with 98.4% ownership. As a whole, the television networks that broadcast in the United States are the largest and most distributed in the world, programs produced for U. S.-based networks are the most syndicated internationally. Due to a recent surge in the number and popularity of critically acclaimed television series during the 2000s and the 2010s to date, many critics have said that American television is undergoing a modern golden age. In the United States, television is available via broadcast – the earliest method of receiving television programming, which requires an antenna and an equipped internal or external tuner capable of picking up channels that transmit on the two principal broadcast bands high frequency and ultra high frequency, in order to receive the signal – and four conventional types of multichannel subscription television: cable, unencrypted satellite, direct-broadcast satellite television and IPTV.
There are competing video services on the World Wide Web, which have become an popular mode of television viewing since the late 2000s with younger audiences as an alternative or a supplement to the aforementioned traditional forms of viewing television content. Individual broadcast television stations in the U. S. transmit on either VHF channels 2 through 13 or UHF channels 14 through 51. During the era of analog television, broadcast stations transmitted on a single universal channel; the UHF band spanned from channels 14 to 83, though the Federal Communications Commission has twice rescinded the high-end portions of the band from television broadcasting use for emergency and other telecommunications purposes in 1983 and 2009. As in other countries, television stations require a license to broadcast and must comply with certain requirements in order to retain it. Free-to-air and subscription television networks, are not required to file for a license to operate. Over-the-air and free-to-air television do not necessitate any monthly payments, while cable, direct broadcast satellite, IPTV and virtual MVPD services require monthly payments that vary depending on the number of channels that a subscriber chooses to pay for in a particular package.
Channels are sold in groups, rather than singularly. Most conventional subscription television services offer a limited basic tier, a minimum base package that includes only broadcast stations within the television market where the service is located, public and government access cable channels. Elevated programming tiers start with an expanded basic package, offering a selection of subscription channels intended for wide distribution. A la carte subscription services in the U. S. are limited to pay television channels that are offered as add-ons to any programming package that a customer of a multichannel video programming distributor can subscribe to for an additional monthly fee. The United States has a "decentralized", market-oriented television system in regard to broadcast television; the nation has a national publi
