Retro TV1

Dinosaurs

2009-07-23T13:46:00.005-04:00

Dinosaurs is an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on ABC from April 26, 1991 to July 20, 1994. The show, about a family of anthropomorphic dinosaurs, was produced by Michael Jacobs Productions and Jim Henson Productions in association with Walt Disney Television.

Origins
News stories written at the time of the show's premiere highlighted Dinosaurs' connection to Jim Henson, who had died the year before. "Jim Henson dreamed up the show's basic concept about three years ago," said a New York Times article in April 1991. "'He wanted it to be a sitcom with a pretty standard structure, with the biggest differences being that it's a family of dinosaurs and their society has this strange toxic life style,' said [his son] Brian Henson. But until The Simpsons took off, said Alex Rockwell, a vice president of the Henson organization, 'people thought it was a crazy idea.'

In the late 1980s, Jim Henson had worked with illustrator/designer William Stout on a feature film starring animatronic dinosaurs with the working title of The Natural History Project; a 1993 article in The New Yorker said that Henson continued to work on a dinosaur project (presumably the Dinosaurs concept) until the "last months of his life."

The television division of the Walt Disney Company began working on the series in 1990 for CBS before the series landed on ABC.

Overview
Dinosaurs is initially set in 60,000,003 BC with the years, months and days counting toward zero. (In the first episode, Robbie asks his father if he ever questions what they are counting down to.) The show centers on the Sinclair family (a reference to Sinclair Oil Corporation which uses a dinosaur as its logo) - the father (Earl Sinclair, a reference to Earl Holding, Sinclair Oil's principal owner), the mother (Fran Sinclair), the son (Robbie Sinclair), the daughter (Charlene Sinclair), the baby (Baby Sinclair), and the grandmother (Ethyl Phillips, a reference to Phillips Petroleum and ethyl gasoline).

Earl's job is to push over trees for the Wesayso ("We Say So") Corporation (alluding to the fact that petroleum comes from compressed trees and other organic matter, keeping with the petroleum theme of the show) with his friend and coworker Roy Hess (Hess Corporation is another regional petroleum chain). Another reference to petroleum companies is Earl's boss, named B.P. Richfield. Earl's employer, the Wesayso Corporation's logo also is a reference to DuPont Chemical's traditional oval logo.

Characters
The focus of the show's plot is the Sinclair family: Earl, Fran, Robbie, Charlene and Baby.

One of the show's most popular characters is the mischievous Baby (occasionally referred to as "Junior" until the second season, where he was officially named "Baby Sinclair"). Baby's mannerisms were loosely based on writer and producer Bob Young's youngest child Ethan.

Baby's favorite pastime is to hit Earl repeatedly over the head with a frying pan while shouting, "Not the mama!" Frequently, when Baby should be hurt (such as after having been hurled through the air), he will throw his arms up enthusiastically and exclaim, "Again!" A music video was produced for a song based on another of Baby's catchphrases, "I'm the Baby, Gotta Love Me".

Curiously, the Sinclair family members all appear to belong to wildly different species: while Earl identifies himself as a carnivorous megalosaurus and Robbie is similar in appearance (albeit much slimmer), Fran most closely resembles a hadrosaur (a herbivore), and Charlene resembles a ceratopsian (another herbivore). Baby Sinclair looks vaguely ankylosaurid, but is much more human-looking than any real dinosaur.

Other supporting characters are Ethyl Phillips, Roy Hess, B.P. Richfield, Monica Devertebrae and Spike. Humans have appeared in several episodes as cavemen, and the dinosaur characters often expressed the belief that humans could never develop intelligence. A recurring joke is that the dinosaurs do not know how to tell male and female humans apart and usually switch them in conversation, or as shown in one episode ("The Mating Dance") in which zookeepers unknowingly pair two obviously male humans together and cannot figure out why they will not produce offspring. There are also other recurring characters, typically Earl's Wesayso Corporation co-workers.

Topical issues
Topical issues featured in Dinosaurs include environmentalism, women's rights, sexual harassment, objectification of women, censorship, civil rights, body image, steroid use, allusions to masturbation (in the form of Robbie getting caught doing a mating dance by himself), drug abuse, racism, peer pressure, rights of indigenous peoples, corporate crime, government interference of parenting, and allusions to homosexuality and communism (in the guise of herbivorism).

The two-part episode "Nuts to War," in which the two-legged dinosaurs go to war with the four-legged dinosaurs over rights to pistachio trees, aired in February and March 1992, and was almost certainly in response to the Persian Gulf War. Dialogue in the episode addresses war profiteering (by the Wesayso Corporation of B.P. Richfield, Earl's boss, which sells weaponry to both sides), the casualties of war (limited to one two-legger, which the Sinclair family thought for a time was Robbie), the war's use as a distraction from domestic issues during an election year, government suppression of information, and the harassment of the antiwar movement. The (politically) hawkish dinosaurs created a catchphrase for their political party: "We Are Right" (W.A.R.). Earl, originally a hawk but later disillusioned, takes to protesting the war with a sign reading "Pistachio Eaters Against the Chief Elder" (P.E.A.C.E.), a backronym.

In the episode "I Never Ate For My Father," in lieu of carnivorism, Robbie chooses to eat vegetables, and the other characters liken this to , irreverence, communism, and drug abuse.

In the final season, "The Greatest Story Ever Sold" (a take off of The Greatest Story Ever Told) even references religion when the Sinclair family becomes eager to learn the meaning of their existence. The Elders dictate a new system of beliefs, and the entire cast (with the exception of Robbie) abandons science to blindly following the newly popular "Potato-ism." The religion arbitrarily brings about a set of strange and pointless rules that they decree all dinosaurs must adhere to, possibly a parody of the Ten Commandments. Robbie and a reluctant Earl refuse to follow the rules leading to their punishment of being burned at the stake. Just as they are about to be executed, the fire mysteriously goes out. It is considered a sign, and the two are allowed to go free. The episode ends with them speculating as to whether there really is a god who created and watches over them.

In another episode, Earl switches bodies with a tree and raises the issue of conservation. This is more dramatically explored in the series finale.

Series finale
The series finale of Dinosaurs concerns the irresponsible actions of the dinosaurs toward their environment, and the ensuing Ice Age which leads to their demise. The episode "Changing Nature" begins with the failure of a beetle swarm to show up and devour a form of creeper vine. It is shown that the Wesayso Corporation has constructed a wax fruit factory on the swampland that serves as the beetles' breeding grounds, causing the extinction of the species. Fearing a public relations fiasco more than any environmental threat, Wesayso quickly puts Earl in charge of an attempt to destroy the vines, which have grown out of control without the beetles to keep them in check. Earl proposes spraying the plant with defoliant, which works only too well; not only does the defoliant eradicate all the vines, but all other plant life on the planet as well.

B.P. Richfield assumes that the creation of clouds will bring rain, allowing the plants to grow back, and so decides to create clouds by dropping bombs in the planet's volcanoes to cause eruptions and cloud cover. The dark clouds instead instigate global cooling, in the form of a gigantic cloudcover (simulating the effects of what the viewer would recognize as nuclear winter) that scientists estimate would take "tens of thousands of years" to dissipate; viewers are thus left in no doubt as to the final fate of the dinosaurs.

The final scene of the series depicts a color-warped broadcast from newscaster Howard Handupme, eerily staring into the camera in a slowly freezing studio, and droning, "And, taking a look at the long-range forecast, continued snow, darkness, and extreme cold. This is Howard Handupme. Goodnight. (pause) Goodbye." The credits then roll over a shot of the Sinclairs' house, slowly disappearing beneath a snowdrift, while a melancholy string instrumental plays. The episode contains a clear, dark message of environmental responsibility and, while not overt in its portrayal of the extinction of the dinosaurs (their fate is only implied, not depicted), the episode was still a marked change from the series' normal humor. "Changing Nature" merited a special parental warning in TV Guide's listings the week it aired, cautioning that its subject matter might frighten or disturb younger viewers.

The shows within the show

The Sinclair family watches TV.While Dinosaurs was a TV show, several jokes in the series were at the expense of television shows in general. Earl often wants to watch TV rather than do something more practical, and several jokes accuse television of "dumbing down" the population and making it lazy. Four episodes had themes related to television. In "Family Challenge", Earl gets the family to go on a game show in order to win a new TV when both of the household's televisions are destroyed. In "Fran Live", Fran gets a call-in show when she suggests that the host of the show "Just Listening With Frank" should give advice rather than just listen. In "Network Genius", Earl starts working for ABC (the Antediluvian Broadcasting Company) and recommends several "stupid" shows for the network; when these shows drastically reduce the IQ of the population, he recommends "smart" shows to save the world. In "Georgie Must Die", Earl attempts to thwart the evil plans of an orange hippo reminiscent of Barney from Barney & Friends.

A few characters in the shows within Dinosaurs made repeat appearances. Howard Handupme, whose name was a reference to the fact that he was a hand puppet, was the standard news anchor for the Dinosaur News Network (DNN). Mr. Lizard, a parody of Mr. Wizard, was a scientist demonstrating several dangerous aspects of nature and science for his child assistant, who inevitably died in each episode (by such methods as watching the effects of what happens when you put an open flame next to a mixture of sulfur, phosphorus, and gasoline; having Timmy see how a rocket engine works by sticking his head into the exhaust while Mr. Lizard turns it on; and the effects of putting nitroglycerine in a blender), prompting Mr. Lizard to quip, "We're going to need another Timmy!" Captain Action Figure shows up in children's programming that Fran mistakes for a commercial. Whenever Captain Action Figure mentions a product, the screen flashes "Tell Mommy I WANT THAT!". Before the appearance of Georgie, Dinosaurs used a puppet highly reminiscent of Barney named "Blarney" in two episodes. During his appearances, members of the Sinclair family commented on his annoying characteristics and failure to teach anything to children. As the powers behind Barney & Friends have threatened legal action to subdue Anti-Barney Humor, it is possible that Dinosaurs received a legal warning, resulting in the creation of the Georgie character.

Dinosaurs Intro

Dinosaurs "The Mighty Megalosaurus" S1E1 Part 1

Dinosaurs "The Mighty Megalosaurus" S1E1 Part 2

Dinosaurs "The Mighty Megalosaurus" S1E1 Part 3

NBC chickens out.(quite likely the ONLY political post EVER to appear here on RETRO TV1)

2009-07-07T18:03:00.008-04:00

This past Saturday, NBC issued the following press release:

"NBC is not planning live coverage [of the Michael Jackson memorial], but will wrap up highlights in a one-hour prime-time special Tuesday night. Chris Jansing will anchor live coverage of the memorial on MSNBC."

I must admit, I was shocked. "Holy cow," I thought, "The dipwads who run NBC actually have a pair."

Well, it seems the NBC brass underwent a cojones-ectomy and subsequently backpedaled like Roberto Duran shouting "No mas" while being pummeled by Miley Cyrus. In the wake of NBC's complete 180° on Sunday I received the following update from an eagle-eyed reader:

"NBC executives changed their minds Sunday and decided to join other networks that will televise Michael Jackson's memorial service live this week. NBC had initially planned only a one-hour prime-time special on Tuesday night, but said Sunday it would also cover the event live. It was not immediately clear who would anchor."

So, unsurprisingly, NBC execs collapsed like a wet soufflé. The empty suits at NBC couldn't bring themselves to break away from the mass of news-lemmings marching into the sea. No sir! True to form they chickened out and elected to show us something that will be on every other channel on the face of the planet.

Don't they understand they have a responsibility? It's time for us to move on from Michael Jackson and start dissing Sarah Palin.

So here we are, stuck again. Enjoy your day..................................
Unless, of course, the President gets a hangnail.

Intervention

2009-06-09T22:08:00.005-04:00

Intervention is an American television program about the realities facing addicts of many kinds.

Each program follows one or two participants, each of whom suffers from an addiction or other mentally and/or physically damaging problem and believes that they are being filmed for a documentary on their problem. Their situations are actually being documented in anticipation of an intervention by family and/or friends. Each participant has a choice: go into rehabilitation immediately, or risk losing contact, income, or other privileges from the loved ones who instigated the intervention. Often, other tactics are used to persuade the addicted person into treatment, which vary depending on the situation; some of these include threats to invoke outstanding arrest warrants, applying for custody of the addict's children, foreclosing on the addict's property, and break-up of marriages or other relationships. The producers usually follow up months later to monitor the addicted person's progress and film it for "follow-up" episodes of the series or for shorter "web updates" available on the show's website.

Show description

The addict(s) featured on the show receive an offer of a 90-day treatment plan at one of a number of rehabilitation facilities featured on the series. As in real life, not all interventions featured on Intervention end well. Some addicts have walked out of the intervention and refused to go to the treatment facility; others have agreed to get treatment only to leave treatment early due to rule violations, behavior problems, or a general desire not to be in attendance any more. Some addicts who leave early go to prison or enter another facility to continue treatment; many do not.

Occasionally, during the filming of an episode, the plight of another addict in the featured addict's circle becomes apparent, and the show often makes additional plans to help the other addict find treatment as well. The success rate of these mini-interventions parallels the main interventions' success rates.

In situations where the family/friends/other members of the addict's circle have become co-dependents or are otherwise traumatized by the addict's behavior, the interventionist usually recommends that the entire family seek some form of counseling to enable them to move on with their own lives. This has led to some very happy family reunions (Coley, a serious meth addict, got clean while his family went through counseling, and his marriage to wife Francine was saved by the intervention), but has also led to complete dissolution of relationships (Leslie, a suburban housewife alcoholic, went through court-ordered rehab while her family received counseling at the Betty Ford Clinic; after both treatment programs ended, Leslie and her husband finalized their divorce).

Each episode ends with a series of black screens, upon which appear a short narrative discussing the addicts and their progress since the intervention (including a sobriety date, if known), followed by a screen that invites viewers to find out more information on addiction and recovery at the show's official website, InterventionTV.com. The black screens are updated with new information each time the show is re-aired on A&E, and some video updates are made available on the show's official website. Occasionally, a black screen update documents an outreach to the addict from fans of the series. The black screen update for drug addicted siblings Brooks and Ian's follow-up episode that re-aired in early 2008 indicated that Brooks had met and married a fan of the show in 2007. At the end of the original episode featuring alcoholic banker and bar brawler Jacob, he stated that he was planning to enroll in college for the upcoming semester; the black screen update for his episode that re-aired in early 2008 indicated that a fan of the series had contacted the producers after the show's airing and offered to pay for Jacob's college education.

In conjunction with interventions that involve strong drug addictions where sudden withdrawal of the drug can be dangerous, a nurse travels with the addict to the rehab center, providing medical assistance to keep the addict from suffering during the journey. Patients with addictions that could cause serious risk to their health upon cessation of the substance abuse will usually spend 1-2 weeks in a detox facility before entering the rehab phase of their recovery.

Interventionists

The "cast" for each episode is primarily the addict and their family members, circle of friends and others. The other regular cast member in each episode is the interventionist, whose job it is to conduct the intervention. The show features four specialists:

* Jeff VanVonderen: A former pastor and alcoholic who became a full-time interventionist to help families through their moral and social issues involved with addiction.

* Candy Finnigan: A former addict who became an interventionist to help women work through their addictive issues.
* Ken Seeley: A former meth addict who founded Intervention-911, a service specializing not just in interventions but also in finding appropriate treatment centers for each kind of addict.
* Tara Fields, PhD: Also a licensed marriage counselor and family therapist. She made an appearance in Episode 9 and Episode 19.
* Jenn Berman, PsyD: made a single appearance in Episode 22; she was the interventionist for Annie, who suffered from eating disorders.

Celebrity subjects

Most episodes feature "everyday" people struggling with their addictions, but entertainment professionals have also been featured.

* Chuckie Negron, the son of Three Dog Night vocalist Chuck Negron, was featured in a Season Two episode as he battled heroin addiction.
* Vanessa Marquez, a supporting actress on the first three seasons of ER, appeared in a Season One episode suffering from a compulsive-shopping disorder.
* Travis Meeks, lead singer of the popular Alternative rock band Days of the New, appeared in a Season One episode focusing on his methamphetamine addiction.
* Antwahn Nance, a 6'10" former NBA power forward for the LA Clippers, was featured in Season Two as he ended up homeless due to his crack cocaine addiction.
* Tressa Thompson, a women's shot put champion whose Olympic dreams were crushed by her methamphetamine drug abuse, was featured in Season Four.
* Chad Gerlach, a member of the Postal Service Pro Cycling Team who ended up living on the streets and smoking crack cocaine after his dismissal from the team, was featured in Season Five.

Addictions

Addictions covered by the show have included:

* sexual addiction
* alcoholism
* anorexia
* bulimia
* drug addiction, both legal (over-the-counter medication, prescription drugs) and illegal (heroin, meth, crack, cocaine)
* gambling addiction
* compulsive shopping
* plastic surgery addiction
* self-injury
* video game addiction
* rage addiction
* food addiction
* inhalants addiction
* psychological issues that can exacerbate an addiction, such as bipolar disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder

Alyson

Alyson, was a former White House intern with a full academic scholarship to a prestigious university. She was a 4.0 student before her dalliance with drugs caused her to drop out of college. 45:42 minutes

Red Shoe Diaries

2009-05-25T23:09:00.002-04:00

Red Shoe Diaries is an erotic and drama series that aired on the American cable television network Showtime from 1992 to 1997 and distributed by Playboy Entertainment overseas. Most episodes were directed by either Zalman King, Rafael Eisenman or both.

Synopsis
The tested episodes always open with a quick montage of a newspaper personals section ad under 'Red Shoes' seeking women to mail in their personal diaries with stories of love, passion and/or betrayal.' The presenter and host Jake Winters (David Duchovny) is then shown walking on desolate train tracks with his dog Stella. He begins reading a letter from his post office box out loud that begins with "Dear Red Shoes..." He first took out the ad after the suicide of his fiancée, and his subsequent confrontation of the man she was having an affair with, a construction worker who gave her a pair of red high heels, inspiring both the ad and the shows title. He placed the ad in the newspaper in an effort to understand why it happened and learn his fiancee's reasons for killing herself through the stories of women in similar situations.

Storylines usually have a thin plot revolving around some intrigue and the sexual awakening of a girl or woman who often also narrates. Well photographed, artful, sensuous love scenes with nudity as well as sultry, moody music are characteristic for most episodes. There is no story arc or characters connecting the different stories other than Jake Winters introducing each episode.

Red Shoe movies
The series led to several Red Shoe Diaries movies, including one television movie released in 1992. Nineteen other direct to video Red Shoe movies were also released throughout and after the series' run.

Syndication and DVD release
The Red Shoe Diaries episodes are currently (May 2008) running on the Canadian television channel Bravo!, early Saturday morning. From time to time, episodes can also be viewed on Showtime and are also available for sale on DVD.

A man reads his dead lover's erotic diary and finds a record of her escapades with and without him. 1:45:00 minutes

NCIS

2009-04-28T20:47:00.002-04:00

NCIS (promoted as Navy NCIS in season one), aka Navy NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service or NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service, is an American police procedural television series revolving around a fictional team of special agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which conducts criminal investigations involving the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps.

The concept and characters were initially introduced in a two-part episode of the CBS series JAG (episodes 8.20 and 8.21). The show, a spin-off from JAG, premiered on September 23, 2003 on CBS and, to date, has aired five full seasons. Donald Bellisario, who created JAG, as well as the well-known series Magnum P.I., Airwolf, and Quantum Leap, executive produces NCIS. NCIS was originally referred to as “Navy NCIS”. However "Navy" was later dropped, as it was redundant. NCIS returned for its sixth season on September 23, 2008 in the US, and in the UK, Friday April 17, 2009 on FX (sky channel 164).

Premise

NCIS is a television show that follows a fictional team of Naval Criminal Investigative Service Major Case Response Team (MCRT) special agents, headquartered at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. It is described by the actors and producers (on special features on DVD releases in the USA) as being distinguished by its comedy elements, ensemble acting and character-driven plots.

NCIS is the primary law enforcement and counter-intelligence arm of the United States Department of the Navy, which includes the United States Marine Corps. NCIS investigates all major criminal offenses (felonies), those crimes punishable under the Uniform Code of Military Justice by confinement of more than one year, within the Department of the Navy. This can be seen when the “NCIS team” is frequently assigned to high-profile cases such as the death of the President's military aide, a bomb situation on a U.S. Navy warship, the death of a celebrity on a reality show set on a USMC base, terrorist threats, and kidnappings.

The “NCIS team” is led by Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon). Gibbs’ team is composed of Special Agent and Senior Field Agent Anthony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly), Special Agent Timothy McGee (Sean Murray) and Mossad Liaison Officer Ziva David (Cote de Pablo), who replaced Caitlin 'Kate' Todd (Sasha Alexander) when she was shot by Ari Haswari (Rudolf Martin) at the end of season two. Ari himself is then killed by his half- sister Ziva in the beginning of season three. The team is assisted in their investigations by Chief Medical Examiner Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum), Forensic Specialist Abby Sciuto (Pauley Perrette) and Assistant Medical Examiner Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen).

NCIS is currently led by Director Leon Vance (Rocky Carroll). The first Director seen in the series, Thomas Morrow (Alan Dale) left after a promotion to Deputy Director of DHS. Jenny Shepard (Lauren Holly) was appointed Director after Morrow; she was killed in a shootout at the end of the fifth season.

Main cast
Main article: List of NCIS characters
Name ↓ Portrayed by ↓ Occupation ↓ Character Status ↓
Leroy Jethro Gibbs Mark Harmon Special Agent In Charge // Major Case Response Team Supervisor, NCIS Regular (2003–Present)
Anthony DiNozzo Michael Weatherly Special Agent // Major Case Response Team Senior Field Agent, NCIS
Reassigned as an Agent Afloat in Season 5 ("Judgment Day")
Transferred back to the Major Case Response Team in Season 6 ("Agent Afloat") Regular (2003–Present)
Ziva David Cote de Pablo Mossad Liaison Officer, NCIS
Liaison position was terminated in Season 5 ("Judgment Day")[1]
Liaison position reinstated Season 6 ("Last Man Standing") Regular (2005–Present)
Timothy McGee Sean Murray Special Agent // Major Case Response Team Junior Field Agent, NCIS
Transferred to Cybercrimes Division in Season 5 ("Judgment Day")
Transferred back to the Major Case Response Team in Season 6 ("Last Man Standing") Regular (2004–Present)
Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard David McCallum Chief Medical Examiner and Forensic Expert, NCIS Regular (2003–Present)
Abby Sciuto Pauley Perrette Forensic and Evidence Specialist, NCIS Regular (2003–Present)
Leon Vance Rocky Carroll Director, NCIS
former Assistant Director, NCIS Regular (2008–Present)
Jimmy Palmer Brian Dietzen Assistant Medical Examiner, NCIS Recurring (2004–Present)
Tobias Fornell Joe Spano Senior Special Agent, FBI Recurring (2003–Present)
Mike Franks Muse Watson Retired Supervisory Special Agent, NIS; Mentor to L. Jethro Gibbs Recurring (2005–Present)
Cassie Yates Tamara Taylor Special Agent, NCIS Recurring (2005-present)
Trent Cort David Dayan Fisher Undercover Field Agent, CIA Recurring (2006-Present)
Michelle Lee Liza Lapira Special Agent // Lawyer, NCIS
Killed in Season 6 ("Dagger") by Gibbs in order to kill a suspect Former recurring (2006–2008)
Jenny Shepard Lauren Holly Former Director, NCIS
Killed during a gun fight. Season 5 ("Judgment Day") Former regular (2005–2008)
Caitlin "Kate" Todd Sasha Alexander Special Agent, NCIS
Killed by Ari Haswari in Season 2 ("Twilight") Former regular (2003–2005)
Dr. Jeanne Benoit Scottie Thompson Doctor, Monroe University Hospital Former recurring (2006–2008)
Paula Cassidy Jessica Steen NCIS Special Agent, NCIS
Killed in Season 4 ("Grace Period") by a suicide bomber Former recurring (2003–2007)
Hollis Mann Susanna Thompson Lt. Colonel, U.S. Army, CID retired Former recurring (2006–2007)
Thomas Morrow Alan Dale Former Director, NCIS
Deputy Director, DHS Former recurring (2003–2005)
Gerald Jackson Pancho Demmings Former Assistant Medical Examiner, NCIS Former recurring (2003–2005)

Production

Name

Prior to the launch of the first season, advertisements on CBS identified the show as "Naval CIS." By the time of the launch of the first episode, NCIS was airing under the name Navy NCIS, the name it held for the entire first season. Since the "N" in NCIS stands for "Naval,” the name Navy NCIS was technically redundant (an example of RAS syndrome). The decision to use this name was reportedly made by CBS, over the objections of Bellisario, in order to:

* Attract new viewers (particularly those of JAG), who might not know the NCIS abbreviation.
* Disambiguate between NCIS and the similarly-themed and similarly-spelled CBS series CSI and its spinoffs. (The original title, for instance, was often misquoted as Navy CSI.”)

After its successful first season, the name of the series was shortened to NCIS.

Filming location

NCIS is set in the Washington D.C. area but is filmed in Santa Clarita, California.

* The sound stages are in Santa Clarita, California
* The series is shot throughout southern California

Crew changes

It was reported in May 2007 that Donald Bellisario would be stepping down from the show. It turns out, due to a disagreement with series star Mark Harmon, that Bellisario's duties as show runner/head writer would be taken over by longtime show collaborators, including co-executive producer Chas. Floyd Johnson and Shane Brennan, with Bellisario retaining his title as Executive Producer.

NCIS - Toxic (Season 6, Episode 21)

When a government scientist goes missing, Abby is recruited to carry on his work, but the team worries that she may meet the same fate as her predecessor 43:41 minutes

I Get That a Lot

2009-04-15T22:38:00.004-04:00

I Get That A Lot is the name of a reality television special about celebrities who assume everyday working class jobs that aired on CBS on April 1, 2009, at 8 PM.

Hidden cameras are used to capture the celebrities on the job. When they are recognized they deny their real identities and say "I get that a lot", except at the end of the segment at which time the cameras are revealed and they come forward about their identity.

Episode one

The first episode had supermodel Heidi Klum working at a pizza shop, rapper and actor Ice-T selling shoes, Survivor host Jeff Probst working a cash register, country music star LeAnn Rimes waiting tables, singer and actress Jessica Simpson working as a computer technician, Extra host Mario Lopez selling hot-dogs from a vending stand in Central Park, and Subway spokesman Jared Fogle working at a Subway.

I Get That A Lot - Full Episode

Celebrities trick everyday citizens in a case of supposed mistaken identity. Working ordinary jobs, these celebrities confuse customers who can't decide if it's the actual celebrity or an astonishing look-alike. 42:09 minutes

The 39 Steps

2009-03-31T22:40:00.002-04:00

The 39 Steps is a 1935 British thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, based on the adventure novel The Thirty-nine Steps by John Buchan. The film stars Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll.

There have been four major film versions of the book. Hitchcock's original has been the most acclaimed, and remains so today: In 1999 it came 4th in a BFI poll of British films, while in 2004 Total Film named it the 21st greatest British movie of all time.

Plot
Canadian Richard Hannay (Robert Donat) is at a London music hall theatre, watching a demonstration of the superlative powers of recall of "Mr. Memory" (Wylie Watson) when shots are fired. In the ensuing panic, he finds himself holding a frightened Annabella Smith (Lucie Mannheim), who talks him into taking her back to his flat. There, she tells him that she is a spy, being chased by assassins. She claims to have uncovered a plot to steal vital British military secrets, implemented by a man with the top joint missing from one of his fingers. She mentions the "thirty-nine steps", but does not explain its meaning.

That night, Smith is fatally stabbed with Hannay's bread knife, but manages to warn him to flee. He sneaks out of the watched flat disguised as a milkman and takes a train to Scotland, where she had told him she was going to visit a man. He sees the police searching the train and learns from a newspaper that he is the target of a nationwide manhunt as a murder suspect. In desperation, he enters a compartment and kisses the sole occupant, the attractive Pamela (Carroll), in an attempt to escape detection. She however frees herself from his unwanted embrace and alerts the policemen. Hannay jumps from the train onto the Forth Rail Bridge and escapes.

He stays the night with a poor crofter (farmer) (John Laurie) and his young wife (Peggy Ashcroft), who flirts with Hannay. The next morning, he leaves in the farmer's Sunday coat, and calls at the house the woman had told him of. There he tells his story to the seemingly respectable Professor Jordan (Godfrey Tearle), who then reveals that he is missing part of a finger. Jordan shoots Hannay and leaves him for dead, but luckily, the bullet is stopped by the farmer's hymnbook, left in a coat pocket.

Hannay goes to the local police, but they refuse to believe his story, since they know Jordan well. Hannay jumps through a window and escapes into the crowd. He tries to hide himself in a political meeting, but is mistaken for the introductory speaker; he gives a rousing impromptu speech (without knowing a thing about the candidate he is introducing), but is recognised by Pamela, who gives him up once more. He is handcuffed and taken away by "policemen". Hannay eventually realises they are agents of the conspiracy when they bypass the nearest police station. When the car is stopped by a flock of sheep blocking the road, one of the henchmen handcuffs him to Pamela, but he escapes, dragging an unwilling Pamela along.

They travel across the countryside and stay the night at an inn, the girl still not believing Hannay's story. While he sleeps, she manages to slip out of the handcuffs, but then eavesdrops on one of the fake policemen on the telephone downstairs; the conversation confirms Hannay's assertions.

She returns to the room and sleeps on a sofa. Next morning, she tells him what she heard, and is sent to London to pass it on to the police. No secrets have been reported missing however, so they do not believe her. Instead, they follow her to get to Hannay.

She leads them to Mr. Memory's show at the London Palladium. When the performer is introduced, Hannay recognises his theme music - it's the annoyingly catchy tune he hasn't been able to forget for days. Hannay puts two and two together and realises that the spies are using Mr. Memory to smuggle the secrets out: he has them memorised. As the police take him into custody, he shouts out a question: "What are the 39 Steps?" Mr. Memory compulsively begins to answer, "The Thirty-Nine Steps is an organisation of spies, collecting information on behalf of the foreign office of ...." Jordan shoots him and tries to flee, but is apprehended. The dying Mr. Memory recites the information stored in his brain, a design for a silent aircraft engine.

Adaptation

The film departs substantially from Buchan's novel, introducing a love interest. In this film, 'The 39 Steps' refers to the clandestine organisation itself, whereas in the book and in the other film versions, it refers to physical steps, albeit located in different places and with different significances to the plots.[2] When in the film Annabella ("Franklin Scudder" in the novel) tells Hannay she is travelling to meet a man in Scotland, Hitchcock is avoiding one of Buchan's wild, unexplained implausibilities: the way in which Hannay, with the whole country to hide in, chances to walk into the one house where the spy ringleader lives.

Cast

* Robert Donat as Richard Hannay
* Madeleine Carroll as Pamela
* Lucie Mannheim as Annabella Smith
* Godfrey Tearle as Professor Jordan
* Peggy Ashcroft as Margaret, the crofter's wife
* John Laurie as John, the crofter
* Helen Haye as Mrs. Louisa Jordan, the professor's wife
* Frank Cellier as Sheriff Watson
* Wylie Watson as Mr. Memory

Hitchcockian elements

The 39 Steps is the first in a line of Hitchcock films based upon the idea of an innocent man on the run, including Saboteur (1942) and North by Northwest (1959).

Alfred Hitchcock cameo: A signature occurrence in almost all of Hitchcock's films, he can be seen tossing some litter while Robert Donat and Lucie Mannheim run from the theatre at the beginning of the film.

The 39 Steps
Feature Film|1:22:17|
Spies and the police chase a handcuffed couple who cannot stand each other

His Girl Friday

2009-03-21T14:05:00.002-04:00

His Girl Friday is a 1940 screwball comedy, a remake of the 1931 film The Front Page, which is an adaptation by Charles Lederer, Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur of their play of the same name. The "twist" to His Girl Friday is that the one of the lead roles was converted from a man to a woman.

The film stars Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell and features Ralph Bellamy. It was directed by Howard Hawks and is noted for the rapid-fire pace of its dialogue.

The film was #19 on American Film Institute's "100 Years, 100 Laughs" and has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. Today the film is in the public domain(even though the 1928 play it is based on is still under copyright), which hasn't prevented Columbia Pictures from issuing official video releases of the film.

Walter Burns (Cary Grant) is a hard-boiled editor for The Morning Post whose ex-wife and former star reporter, Hildegard "Hildy" Johnson (Rosalind Russell) is about to marry bland insurance man Bruce Baldwin (Ralph Bellamy) and settle down to a quiet life as a wife and mother in Albany, New York – but Burns has other ideas. He entices the reluctant Johnson into covering one last story: the upcoming execution of convicted murderer Earl Williams (John Qualen).

Walter does everything he can to keep Hildy from leaving, including setting Bruce up so he gets arrested over and over again on trumped-up charges. He even kidnaps Hildy's stern mother-in-law-to-be (Alma Kruger). When Williams escapes from the bumbling sheriff (Gene Lockhart) and practically falls into Hildy's lap, the lure of a big scoop proves to be too much for her. She is so consumed with writing the story that she hardly notices as Bruce realizes his cause is hopeless and leaves to return to Albany.

The crooked mayor (Clarence Kolb) and sheriff need the publicity from the execution to keep their jobs in an upcoming election, so when a messenger (Billy Gilbert) brings them a reprieve from the governor, they try to bribe the man to go away and return later, when it will be too late. Walter and Hildy find out just in time to save Walter from being arrested for kidnapping.

Afterwards, Walter offers to remarry Hildy, promising to take her on the honeymoon they never had in Niagara Falls, but then Walter learns that there is a newsworthy strike in Albany, which is on the way to Niagara Falls by train.

Cast
Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, and Ralph Bellamy

* Cary Grant as Walter Burns
* Rosalind Russell as Hildegard "Hildy" Johnson
* Ralph Bellamy as Bruce Baldwin
* Alma Kruger as Mrs. Baldwin, Bruce's mother
* Gene Lockhart as Sheriff Peter B. Hartwell
* Clarence Kolb as Mayor Fred
* Abner Biberman as Louis "Diamond Louie" Palutso
* John Qualen as Earl Williams
* Helen Mack as Molly Malloy, Earl's girlfriend
* Porter Hall as Reporter Murphy
* Ernest Truex as Reporter Roy V. Bensinger
* Cliff Edwards as Reporter Endicott
* Roscoe Karns as Reporter McCue
* Frank Jenks as Reporter Wilson
* Regis Toomey as Reporter Sanders
* Frank Orth as Duffy, Walter's copy editor
* Billy Gilbert as Joe Pettibone
* Pat West as Warden Cooley
* Edwin Maxwell as Dr. Max J. Eggelhoffer

Production

His Girl Friday was originally supposed to be a straightforward retelling of The Front Page, with both the editor and reporter being men, however during auditions, Howard Hawks' secretary read reporter Hildy Johnson's lines. Hawks liked the way the dialogue sounded coming from a woman, so the script was rewritten to make Hildy female, and the ex-wife of editor Walter Burns. Most of the original dialogue and all of the characters' names (with the exception of Bruce Baldwin, Hildy's fiance, who was of course a woman in the play) were left the same.

Hawks had a very difficult time casting this film. While Cary Grant's casting was almost immediate, the character of Hildy was a far more complicated process. At first, Hawks wanted Carole Lombard for the role, whom he had directed in the screwball comedy Twentieth Century, but the cost of hiring Lombard in her new status as a freelancer proved to be far too expensive, and Columbia could not afford her. Katharine Hepburn, Claudette Colbert, Margaret Sullavan, Ginger Rogers and Irene Dunne were offered the role, but turned it down, Dunne because she felt the part was too small and needed to be expanded. Jean Arthur was offered the part, and was suspended by the studio when she refused to take it. Joan Crawford was reportedly also considered for the part.

Hawks then turned to Rosalind Russell, who was annoyed by the fact that she had not been his first choice, even arriving at her audition with wet hair. During filming, Russell noticed that Hawks treated her like an also-ran, so she confronted him: "You don't want me, do you? Well, you're stuck with me, so you might as well make the most of it." In her autobiography, Life Is A Banquet, Russell wrote that she thought that her character did not have as many good lines as Cary Grant's did, so she hired her own writer to "punch up" her dialogue. With Hawks encouraging ad-libbing on the set, Russell was able to slip her writers' work into the movie. Only Grant was wise to this tactic and greeted her each morning, saying, "What have you got today?"

The film had the working title of The Bigger They Are, and was in production from 27 September to 21 November 1939. It premiered in New York City on 11 January 1940. It went into general American release on 18 January.

His Girl Friday is noted for the rapid-fire pace of the repartee, using overlapping dialogue to make conversations sound more realistic, with one character speaking before another was finished. Hawks told Peter Bogdanovich, "I had noticed that when people talk, they talk over one another, especially people who talk fast or who are arguing or describing something. So we wrote the dialogue in a way that made the beginnings and ends of sentences unnecessary; they were there for overlapping." To get the effect he wanted, Hawks had the sound mixer on the set turn the various overhead microphones on and off as required for the scene, as many as 35 times.

Cary Grant's character describes Ralph Bellamy's character by saying "He looks like that actor...Ralph Bellamy!" According to Bellamy, the remark was ad libbed by Grant. Columbia studio head Harry Cohn thought it was too cheeky and ordered it removed, but Hawks insisted that it stay. Grant also makes several "inside" remarks in the film. When his character is arrested for kidnapping, he describes the horrendous fate suffered by the last person who crossed him: Archie Leach (Grant's real name). When Earl Williams attempts to get out of the roll-top desk he's been hiding in, Grant says, "Get back in there, you Mock Turtle." The line is in the original version of The Front Page and Grant also played "The Mock Turtle" in the 1933 film version of Alice in Wonderland.

His Girl Friday
Feature Film|1:31:43|
Editor tries to keep ace reporter from remarrying

Super Size Me

2009-03-19T23:40:00.003-04:00

Super Size Me is a 2004 documentary film written, produced, directed by, and starring Morgan Spurlock, an American independent filmmaker. Spurlock's film follows a 30-day time period (February to beginning of March 2003) during which he limits himself to only eat McDonald's food. The film documents this lifestyle's drastic effects on Spurlock's physical and psychological well-being, and explores the fast food industry's corporate influence, including how it encourages poor nutrition for its own profit. During the filming, Spurlock dined at McDonald's restaurants three times per day, sampling every item on the chain's menu at least once. He also "super-sized" his meal every time he was asked. Spurlock consumed an average of 20.92 megajoules or 5,000 cal (the equivalent of 9.26 Big Macs) per day during the experiment. As a result, the then-32-year-old Spurlock gained 24½ lbs. (1¾ stone, 11.1 kg), a 13% body mass increase, and experienced mood swings, sexual dysfunction, and liver damage. It took Spurlock fourteen months to lose the weight he gained.

The stated driving factor for Spurlock's investigation was the increasing spread of obesity throughout U.S. society, which the Surgeon General has declared "epidemic," and the corresponding lawsuit brought against McDonald's on behalf of two overweight girls, who, it was alleged, became obese as a result of eating McDonald's food. Spurlock points out that although the lawsuit against McDonald's failed (and subsequently many state legislatures have legislated against product liability actions against producers and distributors of "fast food"), much of the same criticism leveled against the tobacco companies applies to fast food franchises (except that these companies never lied about their product), although it could be argued that fast food, though physiologically addictive,is not as addictive as nicotine.

The documentary was nominated for an Academy Award for Documentary Feature.

On February 2005, Super Size Me Educationally Enhanced DVD edition was released. It is an edited version of the film designed to be integrated into a high school health curriculum.

MSNBC has also broadcast an hour long version of the film, in addition to the regular version.

Film premise

Experiment

As the film begins, Spurlock, age 32 at the time the movie was filmed in 2003, is physically above average, as attested to by three doctors (a cardiologist, a gastroenterologist, and a general practitioner), as well as a nutritionist and a personal trainer. He enlists all three to track his health during the month-long binge. All of the health professionals predict the "Mcdiet" will have unwelcome effects on his body, but none expect anything too drastic, one citing the human body as being "extremely adaptable." Prior to the experiment, Spurlock ate a varied diet but always had vegan evening meals to appease his then-girlfriend (now wife), Alexandra, a vegan chef. At the beginning of the experiment, Spurlock, who stands 6 feet 2 inches (188 cm) tall, had a body weight of 185.5 lb (84.1 kg).

Spurlock starts the month with breakfast near his home in Manhattan, where there are an average of four McDonald's (and 66,950 residents, and twice as many commuters) per square mile (2.6 km²). He also elects to ride in taxis more often, since he aims to keep the distances he walks in line with the 5,000 steps (approximately two miles) walked per day by the average American. Spurlock has several stipulations which govern his eating habits:

* He must fully consume three McDonald's meals per day.
* He must sample every item on the McDonald's menu at least once over the course of the 30 days (this he managed in nine days).
* He must only ingest items that are offered on the McDonald's menu. This includes bottled water. Any and all outside consumption of food is prohibited. He can't eat non-McItems.
* He can only SuperSize the meal when asked.
* If asked, he has to supersize the meal.
* He will attempt to walk about as much as a typical American, based on a suggested figure of 5,000 steps per day, but he did not closely adhere to this, as he walked relatively more while in New York than Houston.

Day 2 brings Spurlock's first Super Size meal, at the McDonald's on 34th Street and Tenth Avenue, which happens to be a meal made of a Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese, Super Size french fries, and a 42 ounce Coke, which takes 22 minutes to eat. He experiences steadily increasing stomach aches during the process, which culminates in Spurlock vomiting in the parking lot.

After five days Spurlock has gained almost 10 pounds (4.5 kg) (from 185.5 to about 195 pounds). It is not long before he finds himself with a feeling of depression, and he claims that his bouts of depression, lethargy, and headaches are relieved by a McDonald's meal. One doctor describes him as "addicted." He has soon gained another 13 pounds (6 kg), putting his weight at 203.5 lb (92 kg). By the end of the month he weighs about 210 pounds (95.5 kg), an increase of about 24.5 pounds (about 11 kg). Because he could only eat McDonald's food for a month, Spurlock refused to take any medication at all. At one weigh-in Morgan lost 1 lb. from the previous weigh-in, but it was hypothesized by a nutritionist that he had lost muscle mass, which weighs more than an identical volume of fat.

Spurlock's girlfriend, Alexandra Jamieson, attests to the fact that Spurlock has lost much of his energy and sex drive during his experiment. It was not clear at the time if Spurlock would be able to complete the full month of the high-fat, high-carbohydrate diet, and friends and family began to express concern.

In Day 21, Spurlock has heart palpitations. Consultation with his concerned internist, Dr. Daryl Isaacs advises him to stop what he is doing immediately to avoid any serious health problems. He compares Spurlock with the protagonist played by Nicolas Cage in the movie Leaving Las Vegas who deliberately drinks himself to death over a similar time period. Despite this warning, Spurlock decides to continue the experiment.

Spurlock makes it to day 30 and achieves his goal. In thirty days, he "Supersized" his meals nine times along the way (five of which were in Texas, three in New York City.) All three doctors are surprised at the degree of deterioration in Spurlock's health. One of them states that the irreversible damage done to his liver could cause a heart attack even if he lost all the weight gained during the experiment. He notes that he has eaten more McDonald's meals than most nutritionists say the ordinary person should eat in 8 years (eating McDonald's once or twice a month per saying, which rounds up to 96 McMeals in an 8 year stretch).

Findings

Text at the conclusion of the movie states that it took Spurlock 5 months to lose 20 pounds (9 kg) and another 9.5 months to lose the last 4.5 pounds. His girlfriend Alexandra Jamieson, a vegan chef (not a dietitian or medical doctor), began supervising his recovery with her "detox diet," which became the basis for her book, The Great American Detox Diet.

"The bottom line, they're a business, no matter what they say, and by selling you unhealthy food, they make millions, and no company wants to stop doing that."

The movie ends with a rhetorical question, "Who do you want to see go first, you or them?" with a cartoon tombstone for Ronald McDonald ("1954-2012") as a backdrop. The cartoon of the tombstone originated in The Economist where it appeared in an article addressing the ethics of marketing toward children.

In the DVD release of the movie, a short epilogue was added about McDonald's discontinuation of the Super Size option six weeks later, as well as its recent emphasis of healthier menu items such as salads, and the release of the new adult happy meal. However, it is shown that the salads can contain even more calories than hamburgers, if the customer piles cheese and dressing on them. It is claimed that these changes had nothing to do with the film.

Another issue that Spurlock focuses on is the way McDonald's targets young children with ads before the kids themselves realize how harmful their food is. McDonald's spends approximately $1.4 billion annually on advertising, most of which is directed at pre-teens. In the movie, Spurlock jokes that he will battle the socialization of his children by punching them in the face every time they pass a McDonald's so that the golden arches do not elicit happy memories.

Reaction

The film opened in the U.S. on May 7, 2004, and grossed a total of $28,548,087 worldwide, making it the 9th highest grossing documentary film of all time. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary but lost to the film Born into Brothels. Also, the film received highly positive reviews; scoring, for example, 93% on Rotten Tomatoes. "Super Size Me" received two thumbs up on At the Movies with Ebert and Roeper.

Criticism

Critics of the film, including McDonald's, argue that the author intentionally consumed an average of 5,000 calories per day and did not exercise, and that the results would have been the same regardless of the source of the overeating. He was eating solely McDonald's food in keeping with the terms of a potential judgment against McDonald's in court documents highlighted at the beginning of the film.

The film addresses such objections by highlighting that a part of the reason for Spurlock's deteriorating health was not just the high calorie intake but also the high quantity of fat relative to vitamins and minerals in the McDonald's menu, which is similar in that regard to the nutritional content of the menus of most other U.S. fast-food chains.

About 1/3 of his calories came from sugar. His nutritionist, Bridget Bennett RD, cited him about his excess intake of sugar from "milkshakes and cokes". It is revealed toward the end of the movie that over the course of the diet, he consumed "over 30 pounds of sugar, and over 12 lbs. of fat from their food". The nutritional side of the diet was not fully explored in the film because of the closure, during the 30 days, of the clinic which was monitoring this aspect.

Spurlock claimed he was trying to imitate what an average diet for a regular eater at McDonald's, for a person who would get little to no exercise, would do to them. It is possible that 5,000 calories per day is an average diet for a typical consumer of McDonald's or any other fast food source, despite the fact that the average adult male only requires 2,500 calories per day to maintain their weight. However, Spurlock did not demonstrate that anyone, let alone a substantial number of people, eat at McDonald's three times per day. In fact McDonald's is mentioned during the movie to have two classes of users of their restaurants: There are the "Heavy Users," (about 72% of the people, who eat at their restaurants once or twice a week), and the "SUPER Heavy Users" (about 22% of the customers, who eat McDonald's just about every day of the year). But no one was found who ate at McDonalds three times a day. Morgan said that he was eating in thirty days the amount of fast food most nutritionists suggest someone should eat in eight years. Spurlock did theorize during the course of the film, however, that the average McDonald's consumer likely wasn't eating other, healthier foods in the interim. The film has also been criticized for its stereotypical view of American obesity and for being vegan propaganda, primarily due to Spurlock's girlfriend being vegan herself.

Impact:
Subsequent to the showing of the film at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, the Super Size fries and beverage were retired from the menu and McDonald's replaced them with more "healthful" alternatives though McDonald's denied that this was in reaction to the movie. In Summer 2006, Super Size beverage was brought back under the name 'Summer Size', but only for a limited time. The corporation did, however, issue a press release on their website, denouncing Spurlock's film and blaming the filmmaker for being a part of the problem, and not the solution. Morgan also mentions in the documentary that despite the addition of healthier options around the same time, McDonald's also added the McGriddle breakfast sandwich to their menu; Morgan called it one of the most unhealthy sandwiches they've ever made, saying it has more fat than the Big Mac and more sugar than their pack of cookies.

The film received the highest-ever opening for a documentary in Australia, and within two weeks of release, it sparked a massive negative ad campaign, with McDonald's admitting the essential unhealthiness of their food but blaming the customer for overindulging. Russo stated to News Limited that customers had been surprised that the company had not addressed the claims. McDonald's placed a 30-second ad spot in the opening trailers of all viewings of Super Size Me and also offered to pay movie theaters to allow McDonald's employees to distribute apples to patrons as they exited the film.

In recent years however, some McDonald's outlets in Australia have offered more nutritious alternatives to their customary menu, particularly where breakfast is concerned. This includes offerings of fresh fruit, and direct resale of popular breakfast cereals made by other companies. The "deli choices" breakfast items are also only made after ordering, so there is less chance of eating food that has been left to sit for some minutes. As of 2008 all burgers are now made to order.

In the United Kingdom, McDonald's placed a brief ad in the trailers of showings of the film, pointing to the website www.supersizeme-thedebate.co.uk (archive). The ads simply stated, "See what we disagree with. See what we agree with."

In April 2006, when British newspaper The Guardian distributed a free DVD of the film, McDonald's placed a full-page advertisement on the back, which included a telephone number for complaints.

This movie's creation gave Spurlock an idea: a show entitled 30 Days, which aired on the American channel FX, British channel More 4, and on Australian Network Ten.

Super Size Me
Feature Film|1:39:56|
Documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock puts his health on the line in this examination of the food industry.

Kings

2009-03-16T19:47:00.003-04:00

Kings is an inspiring exploration of the timeless David vs. Goliath struggle. The show is set in a modern metropolis under siege where the fighting has gone on for too long and cost far too many lives. When David Shepherd (Christopher Egan, “Resident Evil: Extinction”), a brave young soldier, rescues the king’s (Golden Globe winner Ian McShane, “Deadwood”) son from enemy territory, he sets events in motion that will finally bring peace. Suddenly, David is thrust into the limelight, earning the affections of women -- including the king’s daughter. When he’s promoted to captain, he becomes the reluctant poster boy for hope. But for David, the line between his allies and enemies will blur as the power players in the kingdom go to great lengths to see him fall.

Goliath, Parts 1 and 2 (Season 1, Episode 1)

When an unknown soldier saves the life of the King's son in battle, he's thrust into the limelight and politics of the kingdom. 1:23:23 minutes

2009-03-09T21:39:00.002-04:00

Boys and Girls is a romantic comedy film that was released in 2000, directed by Robert Iscove. It has been said to be a new generation version of the movie When Harry Met Sally.[weasel words] The two main characters, Ryan (played by Freddie Prinze, Jr.) and Jennifer (Claire Forlani), are teenagers who meet on an airplane. Although they meet several more times, they hate each other until reunited at UC Berkeley, where they fall in love. They sleep together, but Jennifer regrets it; despite their differences, they eventually get together.

Summary

Jennifer and Ryan are students at UC Berkeley, acquaintances off and on since early adolescence. She's witty, literary, and independent; he's deliberate, serious, and always working on a plan. They take walks, console each other over break-ups, and share his plans. She's headed for Italy after graduation. Then, to their equal surprise, they spend a night together. Her response is to run away from continued intimacy and want to stay friends; he's hurt by her response, so he withdraws. Can it all get sorted out before she leaves town?

Cast

* Claire Forlani as Jennifer Burrows
* Freddie Prinze Jr. as Ryan Walker
* Alyson Hannigan as Betty
* Jason Biggs as Hunter / Steve
* Amanda Detmer as Amy
* Brendon Ryan Barrett as Young Ryan Walker
* Raquel Beaudene as Young Jennifer Burrows
* David Smigelski as Homecoming King
* Blake Shields as Homecoming Knight
* Gay Thomas as N.Y. Flight Attendant

Boys and Girls (full movie) 1/9

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Boys and Girls (full movie) 9/9

Lie To Me

2009-03-04T23:51:00.003-05:00

Lie To Me is an American television midseason replacement that premiered on the FOX television network on January 21, 2009. The main character, Dr. Cal Lightman (played by Tim Roth), aided by his colleague Dr. Gillian Foster (Kelli Williams), detects deception by observing body language and microexpressions through the Facial Action Coding System, using this talent to assist clients (such as law enforcement). The character is based on Paul Ekman, notable psychologist and expert on body language and facial expressions. This show is similar to Lifetime's Angela's Eyes.

The series will be broadcast by Network Ten in Australia and Global TV in Canada.
In the UK, the show will premiere in late Spring on Sky1. In Sweden the show premiered on TV4 on February 25.

Main Cast

* Tim Roth as Dr. Cal Lightman, an expert on body language, whose team assists local and federal law organizations in the investigations of crimes. He appears to enjoy spotting peoples lies and uses it to annoy the person. Though many people don't trust his science, he is able to shut them up just as quick by showing off his skills in a way that embarrasses the accuser as well. His character is based on Dr. Paul Ekman, notable psychologist and expert on body language and facial expressions.

* Kelli Williams as Dr. Gillian Foster, colleague and assistant to Dr. Lightman. She appears to be oblivious to the fact that her husband is cheating on her which for some reason Lightman informs his associates not to tell her. This could be due to the fact that she always tries to look on the positive side of the reactions she reads where Lightman always sees the negative.

* Monica Raymund as Ria Torres, a "natural" at deception detection, and a former TSA agent who now works for The Lightman Group. Though she is a "natural", Loker has pointed out that she lacks the academic knowledge to read certain actions properly and sometimes lets her own emotions cloud her judgement.

* Brendan Hines as Dr. Eli Loker, works in The Lightman Group who always tells the truth (stating to have taken a vow to speak 100% of the truth a practice known as radical honesty) and speaks his mind. He is also a hopeless flirt and hits on practically every available woman he sees.

Recurring

Hayley McFarland as Emily Lightman, Cal Lightman's teenage daughter. She seems to be put off by the fact that her father can read every lie she says, believing that he doesn't trust her, and he uses his cold reading to screen her boyfriends.

Plot

Season One

The season opens with Cal and Gillian hiring a new associate: former TSA officer Ria Torres. Ria scored extraordinarily high on Cal's deception detection diagnostic, and is called a "natural" at deception detection. Her innate talent in the field clashes with Cal's academic approach, and he often shows off by rapidly analyzing her every facial expression. She counters by reading Lightman, when he least expects it, and peppers conversations with quotes from his books. Eli, who took a vow of 100% honesty, is instantly attracted to her (and what appears to be every other available woman mentioned on the show). Cal and Ria handle high-profile murder/deception cases throughout the season, while Gillian and Eli focus more on white-collar crimes (such as a basketball player accused of taking bribes).

Pilot
Lie To Me
Season 1 : Ep. 1|46:42||Closed Captions available
The son of a family of devout Jehovah’s Witnesses is accused of killing his teacher after being caught fleeing the scene of her murder.

One Day at a Time

2009-02-25T23:35:00.005-05:00

One Day at a Time was a long-running American situation comedy on the CBS network that aired from December 16, 1975 to May 28, 1984. It portrayed Ann Romano, a divorced mother, played by Bonnie Franklin, her two teenage daughters Julie and Barbara Cooper (Mackenzie Phillips, Valerie Bertinelli) and Schneider, their building superintendent (Pat Harrington).

The show was created by Whitney Blake and Allan Manings, a husband-and-wife writing duo who were both actors in the 1950s and 1960s. The show was based on Whitney Blake's own life as a single mother, raising her child, future actress Meredith Baxter. The show was developed by Norman Lear and later Embassy Television.

Like many shows developed by Lear, One Day at a Time was more of a comedy-drama, using its half-hour to tackle serious issues in life and relationships, particularly those related to second wave feminism. The show's nine years give it the second-longest tenure of any Lear-developed sitcom under its original name, after The Jeffersons (All in the Family and its continuation series Archie Bunker's Place had a combined 12-year run, but only eight of those years were under the show's original name).

Premise
The show starred Broadway character and former child actress Bonnie Franklin as Ann Romano, a woman who, echoing sentiments common to the 1970s, felt that she had always been either someone's daughter, wife, or mother and wanted to "find herself." She divorces her husband (played occasionally by veteran actor Joseph Campanella) and moves to Indianapolis with her two daughters, seventeen-year-old Julie (Mackenzie Phillips), the older, more rebellious/offensive one, and the more-mature fifteen-year-old Barbara (Valerie Bertinelli). The theme of the series rests on Ann's desire to prove that she can live and raise her children independently. However during the first season, Ann is courted by steady boyfriend/lawyer, David Kane (actor/director Richard Masur).

She is helped by Dwayne Schneider (Pat Harrington), often referred to only by his last name , who is the superintendent of Ann's apartment building. His "drop-in" visits are so frequent that he is effectively an unofficial member of the family. One of Schneider's running gags is his attempts to hide that his middle name is "Florenz" (pronounced "Florence," in honor of Florenz Ziegfeld). Schneider also frequently hits on Romano, employing clumsy double entendres she breezily rebuffs.

During this time period the show reflected a trend found in other shows such as Barney Miller, MASH, Good Times and All in the Family) in its mixture of a sitcom format with elements more commonly associated with drama series or made-for-TV movies of the week, including multi-week storylines dealing with social issues, including:

Suicide: In a two-part episode, Barbara freaks out when a new girl at school begins hanging around her incessantly. When Barbara shuns the girl, she attempts suicide by drug overdose. Though she survives, it is revealed her problems go much deeper owing to, among other things, a neglectful mother.

Birth control: When Ann confronts Barbara about "the pill", Barbara says that she's not on the pill, but just wanted guys to think she was. Ann replies, "If they think you are, you'd better be."

Pre-marital sex: Teenager Barbara wrestles with the question of losing her virginity. After much self-examination, she decides against it.

In a four-part episode, "The Older Man", Julie is dating a man more than twice her age, much to Ann's consternation. When the couple comes home from a date very late one night, Ann berates the man, but when Julie gets in Ann's face ("You lonely, Ma? You want him??"), Ann angrily slaps her. (The slap loudly hit full in Phillips' face causing a shocked reaction from the studio audience)

Infidelity: Julie moves back home with her new fiance and his friend Max in tow. As the two men leave, Ann and the others inadvertently catch Julie secretly kissing Max goodbye and exchanging 'I-love-yous'.

Sexual harassment: Barbara decides to fight back against a teacher who makes a blatant pass at her. She later finds out he made similar advances to a classmate. Initially, the two decide to expose him, but the classmate backs out at the last minute.

Plot
The basic setup of the show underwent many convoluted twists.

After her divorce, Ann Romano (formerly Cooper; she resumed use of her maiden name, while her children kept their father's) and her daughters move from Logansport, Indiana into an Indianapolis apartment building and Ann gets a job as an account executive at the advertising firm of Conners & Davenport (Mr. Conners was played by John Hillerman, Mr. Davenport by Charles Siebert). In the beginning of the second season, David proposes to Ann, but she turns him down; David leaves to work as a lawyer in Los Angeles. That same year, a wisecracking neighbor is added, Ginny Wrobliki (Mary Louise Wilson), as Schneider's love interest; however, she lasts only one season (it was later reported that Bonnie Franklin had Wilson fired from the show, accusing her of upstaging her).

During the fifth (1979-80) season, Julie gets married and later moves away to Houston with her flight attendant husband Max Horvath (director Michael Lembeck); this plot device was written in so that Mackenzie Phillips could undergo drug rehabilitation. This season also sees the introduction of Ann's mother, Grandma Katherine Romano (Nanette Fabray).

In the sixth (1980-81) season, Ann leaves her advertising job, rather than relocate to another city, and starts a freelance business with Nick Handris (Ron Rifkin). They become romantically involved, but Nick dies in a car wreck caused by a drunk driver, at which point Ann starts raising Nick's teenage son, Alex (Glenn Scarpelli).

During the seventh (1981-82) season, after hitting some bumps in her business, Ann goes into business with her ex-nemesis from Conners & Davenport, Francine Webster (Shelley Fabares - the real life niece of co-star Nanette Fabray). Alex moves back with his remarried mother, Felicia (Elinor Donahue). Actress Mackenzie Phillips returns when Julie and Max move back to Indianapolis. Barbara marries her new dental student boyfriend Mark Royer (Boyd Gaines).

During the eighth (1982-83) season, Ann marries Mark's divorced father, Sam (Howard Hesseman), Julie gives birth to a daughter named Annie, (named after her mother) and the two daughters and their husbands move into a house together.

The show ends in its ninth (1983-84) season, with the 'family' moving off for different reasons. With continued health problems for actress Mackenzie Phillips she was written out of the show when her character of Julie deserts her family and disappears. Ann and Sam move to London after she accepts a job offer. Schneider moves to Florida to take care of his orphaned nephew and niece.

Real-life drama
Mackenzie Phillips became addicted to cocaine, and was fired in 1980 after many highly publicized absences from the set. She returned in 1981, but she had continued 'health' problems and left the show a second time early in its final (1983-84) season.

Theme song
The popular bouncy theme song for One Day at a Time, "This is It", was composed by legendary Brill Building songwriter Jeff Barry, and performed by RCA recording artist Polly Cutter.

Ratings
The highest the show ever got in the Nielsen ratings was #8 during the 1976-77 season, when it tied with the ABC Sunday Night Movie and Baretta, but it consistently placed in the top 10 or 20. However, the network moved the show around on the prime time schedule no less than 11 times.

It was best known in the 1980s as a staple of the CBS Sunday night lineup, one of the most successful in TV history, along with Archie Bunker's Place, Alice, and The Jeffersons.

Syndication
CBS aired daytime reruns of the show for three years. From September 17, 1979 to February 1, 1980, it aired at 3:30pm (EST) on the daytime schedule; in February 1980 it was moved; the time depended on the TV market. Most affiliates aired the show at noon or 4pm. It moved to 10am in September 1981, and a year later, it was replaced by The $25,000 Pyramid.

One Day at a Time was aired on E! Entertainment Television in the early and mid-1990s, at first in the afternoons and then, as time went on, earlier and earlier in the morning. Eventually, the show left the network entirely and hasn't been aired nationally since.

In 2006, the show was available to some Comcast digital cable customers in America as part of Comcast's retro-themed "Tube Time" on-demand network.

As of January 2009, the show can be seen weekdays at 4:00 PM EST on the digital cable specialty channel DejaView. Selected Minisodes from the first three seasons are available to view for free on Crackle.

Cast reunions
The One Day at a Time Reunion was a 60-minute CBS retrospective special which aired on Tuesday February 22, 2005 at 9:00pm ET, reuniting Bonnie Franklin, Mackenzie Phillips, Valerie Bertinelli and Pat Harrington to reminisce about the series and their characters. Recurring cast members Richard Masur, Shelley Fabares, Nanette Fabray, Michael Lembeck and Glenn Scarpelli shared their feelings about their time on the show in separate interviews. The special was included as a bonus on One Day at a Time: The Complete First Season DVD set.

On February 26, 2008, Franklin, Phillips, Bertinelli and Harrington reunited once again to talk about life on the set, Phillips' drug problems and the show's theme song on NBC's Today Show as part of a week-long segment titled "Together Again: TV's Greatest Casts Reunited".

Bertinelli, Harrington and (on tape) Franklin appeared on the September 10, 2008 episode of Rachael Ray to celebrate Ray's 40th birthday

Julie's Job
Season 1 : Ep. 11|25:29|
Julie's determination to learn from her own mistakes forces Ann to let her accept a job, even though it's against her better judgment.

The College Man
Season 1 : Ep. 12|25:31|
Julie's excitement turns to hurt and jealousy when her blind date seems to only have eyes for Ann. Julie has trouble coping with the problem and with her mother because Ann fails to see what is really happening.

Spaceballs: The Animated Series

2009-02-18T21:39:00.003-05:00

Spaceballs: The Animated Series, also known as Spaceballs: The Series, is an animated television series based on the parody sci-fi film Spaceballs that was to be aired exclusively on G4 TV but has since been aired on both G4 and Canada's Super Channel.

Production

Production began in early 2005 under the supervision of Brooksfilms, MGM and Berliner Film Company. Mel Brooks not only directed the writing, but also voiced two characters, President Skroob and Yogurt, both of whom he played in the film. Daphne Zuniga and Joan Rivers also reprise their roles from the film, however, Bill Pullman and Rick Moranis do not. Tino Insana replaces John Candy as "Barf." Rumors that Brooksfilms was folding have been denied by Brooks.

Delayed series premiere

Some promotional items on the series were seen at the 2007 Comic-Con and a total of 13 episodes were planned to debut during the fall of 2007, although this "deadline" passed by with no sign of the show on G4's schedule. A start date of June 1, 2008 was later reported, but the series was delayed once again. Despite the lack of information in the United States, the series premiered on Canada's Super Channel. and remained absent from G4 in America until its eventual series premiere on September 21, 2008. The first four episodes of the series were shown following an airing of the original film.

Cast

* Mel Brooks as President Skroob / Yogurt
* Daphne Zuniga as Princess Vespa
* Joan Rivers as Dot Matrix
* Tino Insana as Barf
* Rino Romano as Lone Starr
* Dee Bradley Baker as Dark Helmet

Spidermawg
Spaceballs: The Animated Series
Season 1 : Ep. 13|22:08|
Barf is bitten by an alien spider and transforms into the newest superhero, Spidermawg, half man, half dog, half spider!

'Operation Bikini'

2009-02-12T23:26:00.002-05:00

Operation Bikini is a film released in 1963 by American International Pictures. It was by Anthony Carras and starred Tab Hunter, Frankie Avalon, and Scott Brady.

The casting was aimed to capture a varied audience. While Operation Bikini was nominally a WWII war movie, it shared a number of cast members — Avalon, Jody McCrea, and Eva Six — with American International's Beach Party (soon to become a franchise), and thrown into the mix were character actor Jim Backus, former screen heartthrob Tab Hunter, and Gary Crosby (son of Bing). Avalon even got to sing in two musical interludes — which were shot in color, despite the rest of the movie's being shot in black and white!

Plot summary
The film takes place aboard an American submarine in the Pacific during World War II. The sub's commander (Brady) is ordered to stop and pick up an underwater demolition team led by Lt. Hayes (Hunter), whose mission is to locate and destroy a U.S. submarine sunken in a lagoon off Bikini Atoll before the Japanese are able to raise it and capture the advanced radar system on board.

The members of the demolitions team include Seaman Joseph Malzone (Avalon), Will Sherman (McCrea), and Ronald Davayo (Aki Aleong), the only member of the team who speaks Japanese. Malzone carries a photo of his girl, which he affixes to the torpedo above his bunk. In two musical (and colorful) dream sequences, Malzone expresses his devotion to "The Girl Back Home".

Upon arriving at the atoll, the demolitions team meet up with a local band of guerrillas, including native interpreter Paul (Marc Cavell) and the buxom Reiko (Eva Six). After Paul is killed by a Japanese patrol, some kind of romance seems to germinate between Reiko and Hayes, or possibly Malzone; anyway, before anything can come of it, a Japanese cutter comes up the river on a patrol, and Reiko is killed in the skirmish. The gruff but good-hearted bosun's mate (Backus) is wounded in the same fight, and Sherman has to take him back to Carey's sub, where he reports the team's discovery that the lagoon where the radar sub sank is full of Japanese vessels. Carey relays this news to the nearest American carrier.

Meanwhile, the rest of the team uses the captured Japanese cutter to sail straight into the lagoon. Malzone and Hayes dive to the sunken sub, but when the crew of a Japanese salvage boat opens fire on the cutter, Davayo rams the boat in a suicide attack. After setting their explosive charges, Malzone and Hayes are guided back to Carey's sub by Sherman (possessor of the "finest pair of lungs in the Navy"), just as a fleet of American dive bombers arrive to finish off the Japanese vessels in the lagoon.

'Operation Bikini': Full Length (1963)

A Navy officer's underwater demolition team must find a sunken U.S. sub before the Japanese do. 1:20:36 minutes

Saturday Night At The Movies

2009-02-07T13:01:00.004-05:00

Howard the Duck

Feature Film |1:50:30 |Rating : PG | A sarcastic humanoid duck is pulled from his home world to Earth where he must stop an alien invader.

Movie wizard George Lucas presents this comedy adventure about a fast-talking, cigar-chomping, beer-loving duck from a parallel universe who somehow winds up in Cleveland. The incredible fantasy has Howard in love with rock singer Beverly Switzler (Lea Thompson), and doing battle with the evil Dark Overlord as he attempts to return to his own planet. The zany spoof of life, love, comic books and horror movies is a wholesome good time.

Plot
The film begins late at night in "Duckworld," which is a version of planet Earth, but with talking ducks living there in place of human beings. The audience sees Howard enter his apartment, a working duck exhausted by a long day (indicated by an answering phone message left by his mother). While he tries to relax, his armchair begins to vibrate violently and takes off like a rocket with Howard being unable to get off the chair. The chair enters orbit, before ending up in Cleveland on planet Earth.

Howard is immediately confronted by a gang of punks, who think he is a child in costume. The gang carries him into a club in which Beverly's (Lea Thompson) band Cherry Bomb are playing, only to be chucked out by the bouncer also thinking he is wearing a costume to get entry while being a minor. After ending up in an oil drum, Howard hears a fight going on outside, which is involving Beverly and two thugs pretending to be fans. Howard uses his skills of "Quack Fu" to defend Beverly. Intimidated by a talking duck, the thugs scamper. Beverly, after explaining to the Duck that he is on a different planet, invites him to her apartment, which is rented out by the manager of her band.

The next day, Beverly takes Howard to see Phil Blumburtt (Tim Robbins), who she believes is a scientist that can help Howard get back to Duckworld. Howard is unimpressed when Phil asks him to do impossible activities like burning a hole through a plank of wood and leaves in disgust. In desperation, Phil drops the bombshell by revealing that he is really a janitor. This only infuriates Howard further and he dismisses Beverly, leaving to cope with life on Earth by himself, with his first task to look for a job. Via an employment agency, he lands a job working in a hot tub sauna. But he leaves soon after due to unfair treatment by his boss. Howard shows his nastier side when he gets revenge by pushing his boss into a bath of green mud.

Feeling run out of self-esteem, Howard takes a bus ride back to Cleveland. Howard shortly enters the club while Cherry Bomb are inside performing and overhears the band's manager mocking the band, sardonically claiming that he's going to pay the band their salary while making it obvious to his friends that he has no intention to. Howard joins the conversation by confronting the manager and saying he does not like the way he is "talking about Beverly". A fight on the bar engages and Howard eventually threatens the bands manager to give him the money. This happens, and the manager is told by Howard that he has been dismissed. While Cherry Bomb are playing, they are unaware of Howard's presence and are disappointed at the behavior of their crowd, before Phil turns up and sees Howard with the band. Phil later manages to pull off one of Howard's feathers and quickly scarpers. Before leaving, he says the reason why Howard ended up on Earth can be discovered by comparing the feather with one they have back at the lab.

Howard rejoins Beverly and accompanies her back to her apartment. In a bizarre scene, the two begin to flirt and almost engage in sexual intercourse. They are interrupted when Blumburtt arrives (but she does claim that she's "joking" with Howard). Phil comes along with two of his colleagues in attendance, Dr. Walter Jenning (Jeffrey Jones), and Larry (David Paymer) who explain to Howard that they were doing a routine procedure at the lab, only for the experiment to go out of control, causing the laser to hit Howard's planet instead. After the resulting explosion, a single feather fell and was later shown to match the one Blumburtt got from Howard. This proves that their laser was responsible for transporting Howard out of his parallel universe to our own.

Howard suggests he can be sent back to Duckworld if the laser can be put into reverse. He is taken to the Dynatechnics lab alongside Beverly, only to find out on arrival that the laser is seriously damaged due to another explosion. The explosion brings down a "Dark Overlord" who is not seen by the audience at the time, and takes over Jenning's body. Meanwhile the police arrive and arrest Howard on the charges of "illegal alien", which the detective makes up on the spot. Aided by Beverly, Howard is able to get the keys to his handcuffs off the guarding policeman.

While on the run, Howard and Beverly bump into Dr. Jenning again, but this time he is in the state of being taken over by the Dark Overlord. With Howard and Beverly both unaware of this, they escape in Jenning's car onto the freeway with him driving dangerously due to his worsening possession. They stop outside a diner just before he is fully taken over. Inside the Diner, the Overlord explains his attempts to call forth his fellow aliens from the Nexus of Sominus so that they may take over the world. Apparently, overlords can only exist on Earth inside another human's body as their appearance would be seen as "hideous and revolting". Shortly after, a fight between Howard and a group of truckers engages, only for the fight to end with the Dark Overlord kidnapping Beverly and driving off in an articulated truck. Howard finds Phil inside a police car wearing handcuffs. After being freed (but not uncuffed), Phil leads Howard to an escape route, and they discover a light aircraft operated by pedals and a small petrol powered engine. The vehicle is inoperable, so Phil, still handcuffed, gets Howard to help him with a nearby tool kit to repair it. The next day dawns with the police discovering them just as they are about to make their escape. Initially unsuccessful, Howard succeeds in taking off. This sees Howard get revenge on a group of duck hunters, by flying low enough so they fall into the water. The pursuing police cars are eventually outrun, but the plane becomes unable to fly after having its wings demolished during an incident with a freight train. Fortunately, they land in a lake.

Meanwhile, the Dark Overlord realizes he is running out of power; he then uses the truck's cigarette lighter as a temporary source of energy to keep his strength up. To fully recharge, he attends a power station tour while Beverly stays tied up in the back of the truck.

On the tour a unit is shown to the visitors which holds one million kilowatts of power, which the Dark Overlord breaks into to recharge before escaping. With Beverly still tied up, he returns to the Dynatechnics lab and straps her to a metal bed held underneath the laser so that she will also become possessed by an Overlord.

Howard and Phil return to the lab, where Phil reveals that there is a laser projectile that can in theory destroy the Overlord, but has "not yet been tested." After breaking the lock of the storage facility that contains the weapon, and breaking the chain of Phil's handcuffs, Howard discovers an electric buggy and presses a button on it. This causes the buggy to shoot off into the lab and knock the door down. Howard jumps into the vehicle with the laser projectile on it, and activates the laser while aiming at Jenning. At first, Howard thinks he's destroyed the Overlord alongside Jenning. But Jenning comes back to life to explain that all Howard has done is free the Overlord from his body.

The Overlord, now exposing himself in his scorpion-like form, aims his tail at Phil and Beverly and shoots a laser at them, which puts them in a frozen state. Meanwhile, Howard attempts to board the buggy, but the Overlord reaches out at his leg, dragging him away. Jenning however uses an electric cutting device to slice off the tail.

Back into the buggy, Howard runs over the Overlord's foot causing considerable pain, before spinning back round to face the Overlord and once again aims the laser. The Overlord taunts Howard as a "puny little duck" and prepares to fire. But Howard beats him to it and destroys the Overlord, which causes Phil and Beverly to return to their normal state.

However, the laser is still in the process of bringing down the other Overlords, with Howard having no choice but to destroy the laser to prevent Earth from being invaded. This results in Howard's loss of a ride home, a decision he comes to accept as it means Earth is safe. Howard becomes Beverly's manager and hires Phil as an employee on her tour.

Reaction

Box office
When Howard the Duck was released on August 1, 1986, it opened at 1,554 U.S. theaters, in which it grossed $5,070,136 and was the third-ranking movie for that week. During its run in theaters, the film grossed $16,295,774 domestically. In the film's second week in U.S. theaters, its earnings dropped 46.36%, and it ranked #8 on the box-office chart. The film was the 34th biggest-opening film of 1986 in the country. Howard the Duck made $37,962,774 worldwide ($21,667,000 non-USA).

Critical reception
The film was widely panned and was a U.S. box office bomb. In his Movie Guide, Leonard Maltin calls the film a "hopeless mess of a movie... Gargantuan production produces gargantuan headache". The film was also among Siskel and Ebert's picks for the "Worst Films of 1986".

Flipper

2009-02-03T22:18:00.004-05:00

Flipper (1995), is an American television series, also known as The New Adventures of Flipper. It is a remake of the 1964 Flipper television series. The first two seasons appeared first in syndication; seasons 3 and 4 appeared on the PAX network.

The 1995 version brought back Bud Ricks as a scientist doing marine research in Florida. The dolphin Flipper was one with whom Dr. Ricks was working.

Wedding Bell Blues
Flipper
Season 2 : Ep. 31|44:31|
A drug dealer takes over the yacht where Quinn is about to wed.

Pearl Maker
Flipper
Season 1 : Ep. 12|43:42|
When Pam and Keith follow an agitated and chattering Flipper to a deserted reef, they discover dangerous criminals experimenting with genetically engineered oysters.

The Secret Millionaire

2009-02-01T13:21:00.003-05:00

The Secret Millionaire is a reality television show which originated in the UK, in which millionaires go incognito into impoverished communities and agree to give away tens of thousand of pounds (or hundreds of thousands of dollars in the U.S. version). Members of the community are told the cameras are present due to a documentary filming. The UK version is produced by the independent production company RDF Media and was created by Stephen Lambert. It first aired in 2006 on the UK's Channel 4, with a second season playing in 2007.

UK version
The first millionaire to appear in the series was 26 year-old Ben Way. A third series of the show began on Channel 4 on 5 August 2008. The first episode of Series 3 featured businessman James Benamor, who has been criticised in the media[citation needed] by investing in the sub-prime market and sharp practice in his company the Richmond Group. A 10-part fourth series is expected to air in Spring 2009.[citation needed]

U.S. version
An American version of the show premiered December 3, 2008, on Fox.

Like the British version, the Fox show features wealthy benefactors each week that go undercover in the most deprived neighborhoods of the United States. For one week, the millionaires mingle within the community and live on a very low-cost budget; this the very first time doing so for many of them. At the end of the show, the millionaires reveal their identities and proceed to donate a minimum of $100,000 (which they sometimes divide among the recipients).

Fox has aired six episodes of the hour-long series, including a two-hour premier. The millionaires have included Internet Advertising tycoon Gurbaksh Chahal; Todd and Gwen Graves, of the restaurant chain Raising Cane's; Century Software founder Gregory Haerr; DUB Magazine founders Myles and Cynthia Kovacs; attorney, broker and sportswear entrepreneur Gregory Ruzicka, and his son Cole; and Baltimore, Maryland civic leader and Baltimore Ravens NFL cheerleader Molly Shattuck.

Format
Each week a millionaire leaves their luxury life behind, takes on a secret identity and lives undercover in a deprived area of the UK or U.S. for a week to ten days. Living on a limited budget with no modern conveniences they must forge their own way in the community – working and volunteering alongside the locals and finding individuals and projects who they think deserve a cut of their fortune. On their final day, the millionaires come clean and reveal their true identity to the people they have chosen, surprising them with overwhelming gifts of thousands of pounds or dollars to improve their lives.

Through this unique experience, extraordinary people and heart-wrenching situations inside deprived communities are revealed. As well as highlighting the positive financial and emotional impact of modern day philanthropy, the program also draws attention to some of Britain's and America's social problems in a touching and personal way. The series has also tackled gritty issues such as gang culture, gun crime, disability, and homelessness in some of the toughest areas.

Episode 6 (Season 1, Episode 9)

Salt Lake City, UT, businessman/entrepreneur Greg Haerr goes undercover in Las Vegas to honor heroes with the gift of a lifetime. 42:46 minutes

Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?

2009-01-30T21:57:00.005-05:00

Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? is an American quiz game show on FOX. It is produced by Mark Burnett and is hosted by Jeff Foxworthy. The show premiered as a three-day special which began on February 27, 2007 with the first two shows each a half-hour in length. Regular one-hour episodes began airing Thursdays from March 1 through May 10, and the first season continued with new episodes beginning May 31. Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? was picked up for the 2007–2008 season, which began on September 6, 2007, and airs in the same timeslot. A syndicated version of the show will begin airing in September 2009, with Foxworthy as host. The show also airs internationally, and the format has been picked up for local versions in a number of other countries. Season 3 began on September 5, 2008, moving to Friday nights at 8PM ET/PT, followed by Don't Forget the Lyrics!.

5th Grader games are played by a single contestant, who attempts to answer ten questions (plus a final bonus question). Content is taken from elementary school textbooks, two from each grade level from first to fifth. Each correct answer increases the amount of money the player banks; a maximum cash prize of US$1,000,000 can be won. Along the way, the player can be assisted by a "classmate", one of five school-age cast members, in answering the questions. Notably, upon getting an answer incorrect or deciding to prematurely end the game, the contestant must state that they are not smarter than a 5th grader.

Occasionally, an episode is aired where the contestant is a celebrity, playing for charity. Celebrities appearing thus far include Regis Philbin, Gene Simmons, Clay Aiken, Tony Hawk, Billy Bush, Kathy Ireland, Jill Mills, Lauren Nelson, Deborah Norville, Kellie Pickler, Jennie Garth, and Rick Fox.

The first person to win the million dollar prize was Kathy Cox, the superintendent of public schools for the U.S. state of Georgia.
Contents

Production

Development

The show was originally pitched as "Do You Remember Grade School?" by Burnett and Zoo Productions to network executives in the form of a six-question version of the quiz; the only network president who was able to finish the quiz as a winner was FOX's Peter Liguori. On January 31, 2007, FOX announced that they had picked up the show for an initial six-episode run, and on February 9, 2007, Foxworthy was announced as the host of the new gameshow. Less than eight weeks after being pitched, the first episode aired.

Set design

The show is filmed in front of a live studio audience, who are arranged in two levels around a rectangular area. One portion of this audience seating is raised above two walls of the main set, with the other situated behind the area where contestants and the host stand.

The main area of the set is originally walled off. As the title sequence plays, two of the walls, designed to appear as hallways, slide away to reveal the main set, modeled after a traditional elementary school classroom, and the children emerge, running through a small hallway containing cubbyholes into which they throw their backpacks. They are then each seated at their respective desks, each marked with a nameplate, atop a raised platform. Beside this platform are two lecterns, one for the contestant (who also emerges from the hallway after being introduced), and the other for his or her "classmate." The lecterns are designed to resemble traditional classroom desks, but have translucent lighted panels and LCD displays mounted on front.

The classroom area also contains two large rear projection screens, which are used to display the list of questions, the current question and the contestant's progress in the game; these screens generally use green backgrounds and white text, reminiscent of a chalkboard, but are also used to display still photographs or video clips of the contestant as a grade-schooler. Another rear projection screen, situated in the audience area, is positioned to appear just over the contestant's shoulder to show the contestant and current question.

The set also contains other miscellaneous props, similar to items that would be found in a classroom; for instance, bookshelves full of books, different plants, a globe, and a teacher's desk are visible. Atop the desk is a fishbowl containing two goldfish, named Darnell and Mike, a presumed reference to Mike Darnell, executive vice president of alternative programming at FOX.

Casting

Each season, a new group of children are cast to appear as the "classmates" on the show. Any child cast must be "smart, funny, and outgoing", and must actually be in grade 5 (age 9, 10 or 11) during the television season.

Contestants who make it through the auditioning process are required to sign a one-year contract stating that they will not tell anybody how much money they make, and that they will not release any information about the actual auditioning process, such as the number of screenings, the questions asked by the auditioners, and the actual criteria for being accepted onto the show. However, most of the children are already well established actors.

Season 1's class (February 2007-August 2007)

* Marki Ann Meyer (replaced Laura partway through the season)
* Laura Marano
* Alana Etheridge
* Jacob Hays
* Spencer Martin
* Kyle Collier

Season 2's class (September 2007-August 2008)

* Mackenzie Holmes
* Sierra McCormick
* Olivia Glowacki
* Cody Lee
* Nathan Lazarus
* Chandler Chaffee (Subbed for Olivia for two episodes)

Season 3's class (September 2008–present)

* Bryce Cass
* Francesca DeRosa
* Jenna Balk
* Jonathan Cummings
* Olivia Dellums

During every classmate's final appearance on the show (Graduation Night), each classmate receives a $25,000 savings bond.

Special episodes

There have been a number of episodes aired that use special contestants. For instance, five episodes of the show had celebrity contestants (talk show and game show host Regis Philbin, singer Clay Aiken, country singer Kellie Pickler (both Pickler and Aiken were on American Idol), super model Kathy Ireland, skateboarder Tony Hawk, Miss America 2007 Lauren Nelson, Access Hollywood host Billy Bush, and the strongest woman in the world, Jill Mills, with their winnings going to charity.

Other examples include an episode with a middle school principal as a contestant (subtitled Principal's Office) and an episode in which a woman was brought up from the audience to be the contestant after her husband won no money. She walked away with $175,000.

In 2007-2008, a bank teller came on to the show and later accepted a deal from Wayne Brady to be a contestant on Don't Forget the Lyrics the same night. She became the first in game show history to ever win nothing on two game shows in one night, which is the main part of the crossover between 5th Grader and Lyrics, which is technically called "A 5th Grader's Lyrics".

On March 13, 2008, a literally just married newlywed; Dara Hewett; played the game after coming straight from her wedding party. Hewett was clad in her wedding dress and glossy dress sneakers; she left with $50,000.

On September 5, 2008, Kathy Cox, the Georgia State Superintendent for public education, was the first person to correctly answer the $1 million dollar question as a World History question: "Who was the longest reigning British monarch?" Her answer was Queen Victoria, enabling her to say to the camera, "I AM smarter than a 5th grader!" However, since the episode aired, due to her and he husband filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in November 2008, the investor charged in creating a fund for the donor schools returned the winnings to Fox, putting the prize money in limbo.

"Visiting Class" episodes bring a second group of five students in to play alongside the regular class at the time. Players are allowed to choose any of these ten students as their classmate during the game. To date, these episodes are:

* July 10, 2008 (season 2): first-season class visited, with Marki Ann in Laura's place (see above)
* September 12/September 19, 2008 (season 3): a set of quintuplets visited, all in their freshman year of college, with their mother as the contestant
* September 19, 2008 (season 3): five dental hygienists visited, with the dentist who employed them as the contestant
* October 31, 2008 (season 3): five cheerleaders for the Boston Celtics visited, with a longtime fan of the team as the contestant

As of December 2008, "Mystery Desk" episodes have begun to air, in which a sixth desk is placed onstage among those for the five regular students. The desk's nametag and occupant are not revealed until the contestant has been introduced.

On October 3, 2008, Robert "Hoot" Gibson became the first contestant to make it to the $1,000,000 question without using any of his cheats. However, he answered the question incorrectly (he forgot 1 common factor) and left with $25,000, donated to the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation.

The October 10, 2008 episode saw Ken Jennings, known for being a longtime Jeopardy! champion, win $500,000 and reclaim the title of being the top game show winnings leader from Brad Rutter (another Jeopardy! alumnus), who had held the record since 2005 after defeating Jennings in the Ultimate Tournament of Champions. He chose not to proceed with the $1,000,000 question, but was asked the question anyway before leaving the set and answered it correctly. Amongst game show fans, this caused much controversy as many claimed he would easily have claimed the million and his participation was merely a publicity stunt.[citation needed]

Upcoming special guests for Season 3 include: Larry The Cable Guy (Foxworthy and Larry both having starred on Blue Collar TV), Bill Goldberg, Sugar Ray Leonard, Dean Cain, and Star Jones.

Gameplay
Question Value
1 $1,000
2 $2,000
3 $5,000
4 $10,000
5 $25,000
6 $50,000
7 $100,000
8 $175,000
9 $300,000
10 $500,000
11 $1,000,000

In each game, the contestant (an adult) is asked a series of eleven questions, spanning ten subjects (such as Gym, Spelling or Art) taken from textbooks for first through fifth grade students. Each question is associated with a grade level; there are two questions per grade, from first to fifth. The player can answer the questions in any order, and each correct answer (with their podium turning green) raises their cumulative amount of winnings to the next level (see table at right); after answering the fifth question correctly, they are guaranteed to leave with at least $25,000. If the player correctly answers the first nine questions, they are given the opportunity to answer a fifth-grade bonus question worth $1,000,000.

Five fifth graders (some of whom are also professional child actors) appear on each show and play along on stage – in general, each episode in a season has the same cast of children. Prior to the show, the children are provided with workbooks which contain a variety of material, some of which could be used in the questions asked in the game. The player chooses one to be their "classmate", who stands at the adjacent podium and is called upon for assistance in choosing a subject; the other four sit at desks off to the side. Each child acts as the classmate for at most two questions (done consecutively), after which another child is picked from those who have not yet played in that game.

Contestants have three forms of answer-assistance options (two cheats and a save), each available for use once per game (up to, but not including, the million dollar subject):

* Peek: The player is shown their classmate's answer and may choose whether to go along with it or not, however, they must answer the question upon using this cheat. In the second season, the podium turns yellow rather than red when a contestant decided to use the Peek. Now, the podium for locked in answers is blue.
* Copy: The player is locked into using their classmate's answer, without being able to see it first.
* Save: If the player answers incorrectly but their classmate is correct, they are credited with a correct answer. This is used automatically on the contestant's first incorrect response.

Once all three forms of assistance are used, the children no longer play an active role in the game. However, they do provide secret answers to be used for dramatic effect.

The rules change slightly for the million dollar subject. The player is only shown the subject of the question before deciding if they will continue or drop out. However, if they choose to see the question, they are no longer eligible to drop out and must answer the question, with no assistance from the classmates. A wrong answer on the question will cause the contestant to drop back down to $25,000.

If the contestant gets an answer wrong (and is not saved, which in this case the podium turns red), they flunk out, and lose all of their winnings (or drop to $25,000, if they had surpassed the fifth question). As well, they may choose to drop out at any point during the game, which entitles them to leave the game with any winnings they have accumulated.

If at any point during the game the player drops out or flunks out, they must face the camera, state their name, and declare "I am not smarter than a 5th grader." However, if the contestant wins the million, they will have the opportunity to declare to the camera "I am smarter than a fifth grader!"

"Classroom Club" questions were introduced into the game at the beginning of the second season. These are chosen from questions written by elementary school students, submitted via the show's Web site. When one is used, the school of the student who wrote it receives a computer lab, courtesy of the show. "Field Trip" questions, introduced in the third season, feature a video clip of a National Geographic Channel correspondent asking the question from an appropriate location somewhere in the world.

Episode 19
Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?
Season 3 : Ep. 19|43:12||Closed Captions available
Contestants compete for $1 million by testing their knowledge according to what they have forgotten since elementary school.

Kitchen Nightmares

2009-01-26T19:22:00.003-05:00

Kitchen Nightmares is an American reality television series on the Fox Broadcasting network, in which chef Gordon Ramsay helps failing restaurants. It is based on the Channel 4 show Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, produced in the United Kingdom. The US show premiered Wednesday September 19, 2007.

In September 2007, a case was filed by a restaurant employee against Ramsay for allegedly staging some dramatic elements in the second episode. The case was dismissed and sent instead to arbitration.

The first season, which focused on restaurants in the Southern California and New York City areas, ended in December, 2007.

The second season premiered on September 4, 2008. Season Two included episodes in the upper midwestern United States as well as New York and California.

In September, 2008, Fox announced that Kitchen Nightmares would return for a third season.

Episodes

Season 1: 2007
# Restaurant Location Original airdate Notes
1. Peter's Babylon, New York Sept. 19, 2007
2. Dillon's New York, New York Sept. 26, 2007 Name changed to Purnima during relaunch.
3. The Mixing Bowl Bellmore, New York Oct. 3, 2007 Closed December 2008
4. Seascape Islip, New York Oct. 10, 2007 Five months after the relaunch of Seascape, the owner sold the restaurant.
5. The Olde Stone Mill Tuckahoe, New York Oct. 17, 2007
6. Sebastian's Toluca Lake, California Nov. 7, 2007 Closed in January 2008.
7. Finn McCool's Westhampton, New York Nov. 14, 2007
8. Lela's Pomona, California Nov. 21, 2007 An epilogue noted the restaurant closed five months after taping was completed when the owner could not meet her debts.
9. Campania Fair Lawn, New Jersey Nov. 28, 2007
10. The Secret Garden Moorpark, California Dec. 12, 2007

Season 2: 2008-2009
# Restaurant Location Original airdate Notes
* Kitchen Nightmares Revisited: Gordon Returns Sept. 4, 2008 Ramsay returns a year later for progress reports on six restaurants from first season.
11. Handlebar Mount Sinai, New York Sept. 11, 2008
12. Giuseppi's Macomb Township, Michigan Sept. 18, 2008
13. Trobiano's Great Neck, New York Sept. 25, 2008
14. Black Pearl New York, New York Sept. 25, 2008 The restaurant closed four days after the episode was broadcast.
15. J Willy's South Bend, Indiana October 30, 2008 The restaurant is advertising for new investors to prevent a forced sale June 1, 2009.
16. Hannah & Mason's Cranbury, New Jersey November 6, 2008
17. Jack's Waterfront St. Clair Shores, Michigan November 6, 2008
18. Sabatiello's Stamford, Connecticut November 13, 2008 Closed in December 2008.[10]
19. Fiesta Sunrise West Nyack, New York November 13, 2008
20. Sante La Brea Los Angeles, California November 20, 2008
21. Cafe 36 La Grange, Illinois January 15, 2009

Reception
Ginia Bellafante of the New York Times found Ramsay's teaching methods and high standards "undeniably hypnotic" and commented that "the thrill of watching Mr. Ramsay is in witnessing someone so at peace with his own arrogance." Doug Elfman of the Chicago Sun-Times said the show is "a very entertaining public service" that "will make you laugh, make you sick and make you think". Randy Cordova of the Arizona Republic found Ramsay "just as blustery and foul-mouthed here as he is on Hell's Kitchen. But he is also oddly endearing, mainly because he genuinely seems invested in the fate of each restaurant".

Some critics found Fox's adaptation of Kitchen Nightmares strayed from the strengths of the original Channel 4 series. Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune said, "Leave it to Fox to take something the Brits did pretty well and muck it up". She added, "Never mind the cooking; this edition of the show appears to be more interested in playing up the family dramas at the restaurants Ramsay visits".
Robert Lloyd of the Los Angeles Times commented, "Whereas the British Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares is fundamentally a food show — it has interesting things to show you about how a restaurant runs and a kitchen works, the wonders of local markets and what you can make from them if you're Gordon Ramsay or willing to follow his instructions — the Fox edition emphasizes mishap, argument and emotional breakdown almost to the exclusion of cuisine".

In addition, one review revealed that at least one restaurant featured in the first season did not actually apply to be featured on the show, but was invited due to the personality of the chef who had previously applied for Hell's Kitchen. According to the review, the business at the restaurant went up 37% after Ramsay's visit.

Fiesta Sunrise (Season 2, Episode 16)

Chef Ramsay is forced to shut down Mexican restaurant "Fiesta Sunrise," in order to bring it back to life. 43:42 minutes

Reba

2009-01-23T22:22:00.008-05:00

Reba is a Golden Globe- and Emmy-nominated American sitcom starring Reba McEntire. It premiered on The WB Television Network (The WB) network in 2001, where it ran for five seasons before The WB merged with UPN to form The CW Television Network (The CW), and it ran on The CW for its final season. When it premiered on The CW, the show became the top rated sitcom on the network, as it was on The WB.

Despite being one of The CW Network's leading shows, the long-running series ended rather abruptly, with its finale airing on Sunday, February 18, 2007.

Synopsis
The show is set in the suburbs of Houston, Texas, and stars Reba McEntire as a wisecracking single mother Reba (Nell) Hart, whose dentist ex-husband Brock (Christopher Rich) has left her to marry young, ditzy Barbra Jean (Melissa Peterman) after an affair with her. Ironically, though Reba sees "B.J." as her nemesis, Barbra Jean considers Reba her best (and perhaps only) friend. As the show progresses Reba slowly and painfully comes to the conclusion that despite all her efforts to hate her, she likes Barbra Jean and considers her a friend. During the show's first season, Reba's oldest daughter, then high school senior Cheyenne (Joanna García) became pregnant. In the pilot episode, Cheyenne married her baby's father, fellow high-schooler Van Montgomery (Steve Howey), a dim-witted but well-meaning football player. Van moves in with them, as his own parents kicked him out for standing by Cheyenne, and comes to view Reba as a surrogate parent (something Reba is very comfortable with). Reba's other two children are Kyra (Scarlett Pomers), an intelligent and rebellious teenager who shares Reba's sarcastic streak, and Jake (Mitch Holleman), a young boy just trying to sort through the mess of his family. Since the fifth season, Van and Reba have been real estate partners. The show strives to comically but realistically portray the trials and tribulations of family life in modern society.

The show was canceled when The WB Television Network and UPN merged into The CW Television Network. However, in an 11th hour move on May 17, 2006, The CW renewed Reba with a 13-episode order, reportedly to fulfill a syndication contract worth $20 million. In November 2006, The CW announced that the show would be paired with 7th Heaven, Sundays at 7 p.m., beginning later that month. Reba encores are scheduled for Sundays at 7:00 p.m. ET/PT, with a new episode at 7:30 p.m. Reba became the top-rated sitcom on the CW, also surpassing the dramas Supernatural, One Tree Hill, and Veronica Mars. The final episode aired on February 18, 2007.

Characters
Character Actor Description
Reba Nell Hart Reba McEntire Reba is a single mother who struggles with taking care of everyone in her house, after her husband divorces her for his dental hygienist. She is temperamental, and prone to sarcastic remarks. But Reba can also be kind and caring, and is usually the sensible one. She worked as a secretary for her ex-husband's dental rival, Eugene. She becomes a real estate agent after she got fired for calling her boss a monkey's butt. Relatives: Father- J.V. (Barry Corbin), Mother- Helen (Dorothy Lyman)

Brock Enroll Hart Christopher Rich Reba's ex-husband, a dentist and golfer, who leaves her for his much younger (and pregnant by their affair) dental hygenist, Barbra Jean. He is vain, and tries to convince everyone (including himself) that he is still young. Brock is also (in season 3) diagnosed with depression. His name is a play on "Rock & Roll". Relatives: Father- John D (died in season 1), Mother- Liz (Jenny O'Hara)

Cheyenne Hart-Montgomery Joanna García Brock and Reba's 17-year-old daughter, who initially is looking forward to her senior year of high school before learning that she is pregnant. She marries her boyfriend, Van Montgomery, and they move in with Cheyenne's mom, Reba. Cheyenne gives birth to their daughter, Elizabeth, after going into labor on graduation day. She can be somewhat air-headed and self-centered, but she can also be kind-hearted. She is very sensitive, especially when she is insulted (mainly by Kyra, her younger sister). She goes to college to study to be a dentist. Cheyenne later helps out at a homeless shelter, improving her shallowness greatly. She also finds out she is an alcoholic, which makes her change her mind about becoming a dentist and so she changed her major and decided to study to be a drug and alcohol counselor.

Van Montgomery Steve Howey The star quarterback of his high school's football team, Van is kicked out of the house when his parents find out that he plans to marry his pregnant girlfriend. He moves in with Reba, and his future in professional sports looks bright until an injury from an accident eventually reveals that he has narrowing of the spine. Later in the series he works as a realtor with Reba. Van is portrayed as a big goof and is not good with words, especially when it comes to Cheyenne. Relatives: Father- Dan, Mother- Sue

Kyra Eleanor Hart Scarlett Pomers The middle child, Kyra is often mean because she has the fewest emotional issues of the family. Many of her traits and looks come from Reba, although she's known to be more manipulative and difficult. In the final season, she decided not to go to college and focus on her music.
Jake Mitchell Hart Mitch Holleman The youngest of the Hart children, Jake is often teased by his sister Kyra. Jake is pretty oblivious of what goes on around him. He acts like normal boy for his age, although in earlier seasons he displays feminine characteristics that worry his father, Brock.

Barbra Jean Booker-Hart Melissa Peterman "BJ" was Brock's dental hygienist and had an affair with him as his marriage to Reba was deteriorating. The result was her getting pregnant, and marrying him after he divorced Reba. Barbra Jean is even more of a goofball than Van, and is often an easy target for Reba's sarcasm. While noisy and annoying, Barbra Jean is a kind-hearted person with good intentions. Her tendency to tell "over-the-top" results in her sharing many random and often bizarre facts about her childhood and past. The most that can be understood is that she was born in Friendly, Texas and at one point during her infancy was "the biggest baby in Juno County." She had a sister, currently married, a brother named "Buzzard" (played by Bryan Callen of MADtv fame) and a father ("Big Daddy") who enjoys drinking and hunting. Brock is afraid of both "Buzzard" and "Big Daddy" because he knows they don't like him. She also claims to have an aunt who spits professionally. In the last season, she lost a large amount of weight and became a weather girl (she told people she was Stormy Clearweather) . In the last episode, she got a job at the weather station as a news girl( she called her segment "Babs Janson:Street Walker). In one episode she falls in love with Hal, her car's navigation narrator(Aside from Crissy.)

Elizabeth Montgomery Alena & Gabrielle Leberger Van and Cheyenne's daughter

Henry Charles Jesus Hart Alexander & Jackson McClellan Brock and Barbra Jean's son

Lori Ann Garner Park Overall Reba's best friend.
Introduced in season one in the episode "Every Picture Tells A Story". Lori Ann was married and divorced three times, presumably because all three husbands cheated on her. Lori Ann was Reba's confidant on her problems with Brock and Barbra Jean and even Cheyenne. During Lori Ann's guest appearances on the series, she is always cruel and evil to Brock, (who is just as cruel and evil back to her), as well as Barbra Jean (who seems to like Lori Ann). One can assume this is because of what Brock and Barbra Jean did to Reba, along with her own personal feelings for Brock. In one of the earlier season plotlines, it's revealed that Lori Ann and Brock once dated before his marriage to Reba. Perhaps the reason Brock's animosity towards Lori Ann are due to his own repressed attraction for her.) Lori Ann's voracious sexual appetite is seen in her continual quest to find a lover. In the episode "Every Picture Tells A Story", when Lori Ann says "men are pigs", Brock retorts with: "Well you must love bacon cause you keep marrying us." Even Reba herself describes Lori Ann as "a desperate, desperate woman" upon hearing that Lori Ann told a priest during confession that "he had nice eyes". In total, Lori Ann only made six appearances in the first season, and one in the second season. Her last episode was "Switch", after that she was never seen again, but was referred to in fourth season episode "Van's Agent", where it was mentioned Lori Ann was going to Jamaica with a man who left the priesthood for her. However, she was never seen or mentioned again after that episode, or in any of the final two seasons of the show.

The Honeymoon's Over or Now What? (Season 1, Episode 2)

Reba clashes with a high school principal who wants to expel Reba?s pregnant teenage daughter. 22:02 minutes

My Name is Earl

2009-01-22T22:55:00.005-05:00

My Name Is Earl is an American sitcom created by Greg Garcia. It is produced by 20th Century Fox Television. In the United States it is broadcast on the NBC television network Thursdays at 8:00 PM Eastern time.

Overview
The series is set in somewhat fictional Camden County (believed to be in Texas or California, as California license plates are seen, though neither of the two states possess such a county) and stars Jason Lee, Ethan Suplee, Jaime Pressly, Eddie Steeples and Nadine Velazquez. Lee stars in the title role as "Earl J. Hickey", a petty crook with occasional run-ins with the law, whose newly won $100,000 lottery ticket is lost when he is hit by a car. Lying in a hospital bed, under the influence of morphine, he develops a belief in the concept of karma when he hears about it during an episode of Last Call with Carson Daly. He decides he wants to turn his life around and makes a list of all the bad things he's ever done. After doing his first good deed, he finds his $100,000 lottery ticket. He sees this as a sign and, with his new lucky money, he proceeds to cross items off the list, one-by-one, by doing good deeds to atone for them.

Conception
Creator and head writer Greg Garcia wrote the pilot while working on another sitcom, Yes, Dear. He initially pitched the series to Fox, which passed on the series. He then approached NBC, which optioned the pilot on a cast-contingent basis, meaning they would order the pilot provided a suitable cast could be assembled.

Jason Lee was approached for the lead role, but was uninterested in working in television and passed on the series twice before finally agreeing to read the pilot script. Though he liked the pilot, he was hesitant to commit to his first TV starring role until after meeting with Garcia, after which he signed on to play Earl Hickey.

Ratings
The series premiered on September 20, 2005, drew in 14.9 million viewers in the United States, earning a 6.6 rating. By the airing of the third episode it was apparent that My Name Is Earl was the highest rated of NBC's new fall offerings, and a full season (22 episodes) was ordered. In its first month, it was also the highest rated new sitcom of the season to air on any network and was the highest rated sitcom on any network in the 18–49-year-old demographic. The show was renewed for a second season (2006-07), a third (2007-08) and then for fourth (2008-09). It will most likely be renewed for a fifth season due to popularity.

Main characters

Earl J. Hickey (Jason Lee) - The protagonist and narrator of the show. He has a long history of petty crime (mostly theft), for which he is trying to atone. Although he lacks a good education, and frequently demonstrates poor judgment, he has a clouded grasp of right and wrong which he tries to impart to his friends. His conversion to a understanding of Karma now drives his life, as he seeks to make up for his past wrongdoing. He is afraid of flying and needles and drives a 1971 or 1972 red El Camino.

Randall "Randy" Hickey (Ethan Suplee) - Earl's younger brother. He is very dimwitted, with a childlike naivete that manifests as both sweetness toward other people, and unawareness of the potentially harmful consequences of his actions. He doesn't fully understand Earl's List, and sometimes resents the importance it now plays in Earl's life, but he supports his campaign out of brotherly love for him. He is afraid of birds, and drives a green 1970 or 1971 Ford Ranchero with wood grain side panels.

Joy Farrah Turner (Jaime Pressly) - Earl's ex-wife, now married to Darnell. She is unsophisticated "trailer trash", self-centered and manipulative, having tricked Earl into marrying her when she became pregnant with another man's child, later having an affair - and child - with Darnell while she and Earl were still married. However she is very protective of her family. She is openly scornful of Earl's List. She has a strong dislike for Catalina ever since she called Catalina a whore. She drives a Subaru BRAT painted with the American flag.

Darnell "Crabman" Turner (Eddie Steeples) - Joy's current husband, and still one of Earl's best friends despite impregnating his then-wife Joy. He now acts as father to Joy's two sons. He works in the local dive "The Crab Shack" where he acts the part of a good-natured fool, but he has a secret past which he hides from everyone as a participant in a witness protection program and quietly demonstrates greater intelligence than those around him (e.g. speaking several languages). A running gag with in the show is that Darnell smokes/consumes marijuana as seen in several episodes the latest were Randy says his hair taste like marijuana a common side effect of heavy doses of THC.

Catalina Aruca (Nadine Velazquez) - The beautiful Latin American who works as a housekeeper at Earl and Randy's motel and as the number one stripper at Club Chubby. She shares a green-card marriage with Randy who had a huge crush on her but this ended when they slept together and he appreciated her as a friend more. She has a strong dislike for Joy since Joy called her a whore when she first saw her. She occasionally breaks the fourth wall when supposedly shouting insults to Joy in Spanish which are actually notes for the fans.

Recurring characters
Carl Hickey (Beau Bridges) — Earl and Randy's father. Earl was supposed to be named after him but due to Carl's cursive writing the word "Carl" looked like "Earl". At the start of the series he refused to have anything to do with Earl, but gradually realizes his son's efforts to improve his life were sincere and they have since become close again.

Kay Hickey (Nancy Lenehan) — Earl and Randy's mother, a friendly woman who gently chides Earl to be nicer to his father. In Season 4, it was revealed she once slept with a neighbor, causing Carl to leave home for a while before he returned and they reconciled.

Dodge Hickey (Louis T. Moyle) — Joy's oldest son by another man. Named Dodge because all she could remember about the father was he drove a Ford pickup truck.

Earl Hickey Jr. (Trey Carlisle) — Joy and Darnell's son due to an affair; legally, Earl's first child.

Kenny James (Adult - Gregg Binkley, child - Andy Pessoa) — Kenny is a childhood victim of Earl's bullying and a formerly suppressed homosexual, who became the first person Earl helped with the List. He is now dating a male police officer.

Patty the Daytime Hooker (Dale Dickey) - A friendly Camden prostitute who also works as a night-time waitress. She got 1500 on her SATs, holds a Masters degree and speaks Bengali.

Ralph Mariano (Giovanni Ribisi) — Earl's childhood friend. He is constantly in trouble with the Law and has betrayed Earl and Randy for as little as $175, but they always forgive him. In season two Earl married Ralph's mom but later had the marriage annulled. He was in jail with Earl but quickly escaped.

Willie the One-Eyed Mailman (Bill Suplee, Ethan Suplee's father). He lost an eye when Joy broke Earl's Def Leppard mirror with a bowling ball and the glass shot into his eye.

Billie Cunningham (Alyssa Milano) — Earl's most recent wife. She is a little crazy and gets very jealous of Earl spending so much time with his List instead of her. After finding inner peace on an Amish-type location near Camden, she not only divorced Earl but gave him $72,000 she'd gotten after being hit by a car.

Liberty Washington (Tamala Jones) — Joy's biracial half-sister. They hated each other for years but eventually bonded to the point where Joy became a surrogate mother for Liberty and her husband Ray-Ray's baby. She tends to treat Ray-Ray exactly the way Joy treats Darnell: with full measures of both hostility and love.

Jerry Hazelwood (Craig T. Nelson) - The prison warden. He is an immature, whiny man who has his job because his wife is the Governor of the unnamed state Camden County is located in. He gave Earl numerous "time off" certificates when Earl helped him out with prison problems, but later broke Earl's spirit by reneging on the agreement, which led Earl to escape from prison.

Mr. Sydney Turtle- He is the beloved pet turtle of Darnell's. He is apparently Jewish and was born in 1913. In "Made A Lady Think I was God", Darnell mentions that
Mr. Turtle had no first name. However on the grave made for Mr. Turtle in "Got the Babysitter Pregnant", it states 'Mr. Sydney Turtle'.

Donny Jones- An intimidating reformed thug who went to jail for a crime that Earl committed. He forgave Earl for committing the crime that he was accused for doing because while Donny was in prison, he read the Bible and started believing in Jesus.

Didi- She is a one-legged girl whom Earl told he loved her. But Earl stole her car and she hated him since. She was #86 on Earl's List, and he completed it when she made him walk all day on one leg.

Other recurring characters include Electrolarynx Guy, Nescobar Aloplop, Doug, Jasper, Bob Smiley, and TV's Tim Stack. Stack usually appears in his Son of the Beach wardrobe, completely intoxicated, or both; he is also a writer for the show.

Several of the show's characters appeared on the July 8, 2008 episode of Celebrity Family Feud. One team, the Hickey family, consisted of Earl, Joy, Randy, Crabman, and Catalina. The other team, dubbed "Camden County," consisted of Tim Stack, Patty, Wilford (Tim's agent), Kenny James, and Nescobar Aloplop. The Camden County team defeated the Hickey family, but lost to the cast of The Office in the finals

Got the Babysitter Pregnant (Season 4, Episode 16)

Earl learns that tough love isn't always so tough when he tries to make amends for impregnating his babysitter. 21:42 minutes

A Charlie Brown Christmas

2008-12-24T22:01:00.006-05:00

A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) is the first of many prime-time animated TV specials based upon the comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. It was produced and directed by former Warner Bros. and UPA animator Bill Meléndez, who also supplied the voice for the character of Snoopy. Initially sponsored by Coca-Cola, the special aired on CBS from its debut in 1965 through 2000, and has aired on ABC since 2001. For many years it aired only annually, but is now telecast at least twice during the Christmas season. The special has been honored with both an Emmy and Peabody award.

A Charlie Brown Christmas is also one of CBS's most successful specials, airing annually more times on that network than even The Wizard of Oz. Oz was shown thirty-one times on CBS, but not consecutively; between 1968 and 1976, NBC showed the film.

Synopsis
On their way to join the rest of the Peanuts gang all skating on a frozen pond, Charlie Brown confides in Linus that even though the holidays are approaching he is still feels depressed despite all the presents and cards and tree decorating. His depression and aggravation only get exacerbated by the goings-on in the neighborhood. Though his mailbox is empty of Christmas cards, he tries sarcastically to thank Violet for the card she "sent" him, though Violet says she didn't send him a card.

Charlie Brown (shouting after Violet as she walks away):
Don't you know sarcasm when you hear it?
Ultimately Charlie Brown visits Lucy in her psychiatric booth. On her advice, he gets involved in directing a school play about the Nativity. She also sympathizes with Charlie Brown about holiday depression, always getting "a lot of stupid toys" instead of what she really wants: real estate.

On the way to the auditorium, Charlie Brown is drawn to Snoopy, who is frantically and gleefully busy decorating his doghouse. After Charlie Brown demands an explanation, Snoopy hands him a flier about a neighborhood lights and display contest. Charlie Brown walks away in frustration at his own dog's being bitten by the commercial bug. He then gets accosted by Sally, who wants Charlie Brown to take dictation for a letter to Santa, in which she ultimately asks him (Santa) to "just send money", particularly tens and twenties, causing Charlie Brown to run away in exasperation of even his sister's commercial corruption.

Charlie Brown arrives at the rehearsals, but try as he might, he cannot seem to get control of the situation as the uncooperative kids are more interested in modernizing the play with dancing and lively music. Charlie Brown, on the other hand, is determined to not let the play become commercial by directing the traditional side of the story.

Thinking the play requires "the proper mood", Charlie Brown decides they need a Christmas tree. So Lucy takes over the crowd and dispatches Charlie Brown to get a "big, shiny aluminum tree...maybe painted pink". With Linus in tow, Charlie Brown sets off on his quest. But when they get to the tree market, Charlie Brown zeroes in on a small baby tree which, ironically as well as symbolically, is the only real tree on the lot. Linus displays surprise upon seeing the tree and exclaims, "Gee, do they still make wooden Christmas trees?” Linus is reluctant about Charlie Brown's choice of this tree, but Charlie Brown is convinced that decorating it will be just right for the play.

They return to the school auditorium with the tree, only to be verbally castigated by everyone, especially Lucy, about his choice of tree. Second guessing himself, Charlie Brown begins to wonder if he really knows what Christmas is about, loudly asking in despair. Linus quietly says he can tell him, and walks to center stage to make his point. Under a spotlight, Linus quotes Scripture, particularly the second chapter of the Gospel of Luke, verses 8 through 14:

"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.' That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown."

Charlie Brown now realizes he does not have to let commercialism ruin his Christmas. With a newly found sense of inspiration, he quietly picks up the little tree and walks out of the auditorium, intending to take the tree home to decorate and show the others it will work in the play.

On the way, he stops at Snoopy's decorated doghouse, which now sports a first prize blue ribbon for winning the display contest. Letting his dog's commercialism roll off his back, Charlie Brown takes an ornament off the doghouse and hangs it on his tree, but the ornament's weight is too much for the small branch and pulls it to the ground much to Charlie Brown's shock.

Charlie Brown (seeing the ornamented branch droop to the ground):
I've killed it. AUGHH! Everything I touch gets ruined! (he walks away, his head hanging in shame)
Unbeknownst to Charlie Brown, the rest of the gang, having also heard Linus' recitative, began to realize they were a little too rough on Charlie Brown and quietly followed him from the auditorium. Linus goes up to the little tree and gently props the drooping branch back to its upright position, ornament and all:

Linus:
I never thought it was such a bad little tree. (wrapping his blanket around the base of the trunk)
It's not bad at all, really. Maybe it just needs a little love.
The rest of the kids grab the other decorations off of Snoopy's doghouse and add them to the tree. When they're done, even Lucy concedes to Charlie Brown's choice:

Lucy (in wonderment):
Charlie Brown is a blockhead, but he did get a nice tree.
The kids then start humming the traditional Christmas carol, "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing." When Charlie Brown returns, he demands to know what is taking place. When he sees what they have done with the tree, he cannot believe his eyes, and all the kids shout:
"MERRY CHRISTMAS, CHARLIE BROWN!"

At this point, the kids, now with Charlie Brown, begin singing "Hark.." as the end credits roll... and the snow again begins to fall.

Themes
The story touches on the over-commercialization of Christmas, and serves to remind viewers of the true meaning of Christmas: the birth of Jesus Christ, continuing a theme explored by satirists such as Stan Freberg and Tom Lehrer during the 1950s.

History
Bringing the Peanuts characters to television was not an easy task. The strip's creators, with funding from sponsor Coca-Cola, presented the CBS network with an idea for a Christmas television special starring Schulz's characters.

The production was done on a shoestring budget, resulting in a somewhat choppy animation style and, from a technical standpoint, poorly mixed sound. With the exception of the actors who voiced Charlie Brown (Peter Robbins) and Lucy (Tracy Stratford), none of the children had any experience doing voice work. This was especially challenging for Kathy Steinberg, who voiced Sally: she was too young to read and needed to be cued line by line during the soundtrack recording. The technical issues are in evidence on the show's audio track, which to some may seem noticeably choppy and poorly enunciated. One of the more noticeable quirks in the special include a shot in which Schroeder abruptly stops playing the piano, but several of the characters continue dancing for a couple of seconds. Melendez has said he remains somewhat embarrassed to see the show repeated every year with all its problems, but Schulz vetoed his idea of "fixing" the program years later.

Network executives were not at all keen on several aspects of the show, forcing Schulz and Melendez to wage some serious battles to preserve their vision. The executives did not want to have Linus reciting the story of the birth of Christ from the Gospel of Luke[1]; the network orthodoxy of the time assumed that viewers would not want to sit through passages of the King James Version of the Bible. A story reported on the Whoopi Goldberg-hosted version of the making of the program (see below) that Charles Schulz was adamant about keeping this scene in, remarking that "If we don't tell the true meaning of Christmas, who will?"

Another complaint was the absence of a laugh track, a common element of children's cartoons at the time. Schulz maintained that the audience should be able to enjoy the show at their own pace, without being cued when to laugh. (CBS did create a version of the show with the laugh track added, just in case Schulz changed his mind. This version remains unavailable.) A third complaint was the use of children to do the voice acting, instead of employing adult actors. Finally, the executives thought that the jazz soundtrack by Vince Guaraldi would not work well for a children's program. When executives saw the final product, they were horrified and believed the special would be a complete flop.

The show first aired on Thursday, December 9, 1965, preempting The Munsters and following the Gilligan's Island episode entitled "Don't Bug the Mosquitos." To the surprise of the executives, it was both a critical and commercial hit. None of the special's technical problems detracted from the show's appeal; to the contrary, it is thought that these so-called quirks, along with several other choices, are what lent the show such an innovative, authentic and sincere feeling. For instance, Linus' recitation was hailed by critics such as Harriet Van Horne of the New York World-Telegram who said, "Linus' reading of the story of the Nativity was, quite simply, the dramatic highlight of the season."

A full 50% of the televisions in the United States were tuned to the first broadcast A Charlie Brown Christmas won an Emmy and a Peabody award, and is considered by many to be a timeless holiday classic. Watching it is an annual tradition for countless viewers. The success of A Charlie Brown Christmas gave rise to a series of animated Peanuts TV specials, several full-length animated feature films, and a Saturday morning cartoon over the years.

In January 2000, one month before Schulz's death, the broadcast rights were acquired by ABC (as part of a deal between the network and Schulz), which is where the special currently airs (and has aired there since CBS's final airing of the special on December 25, 2000). On September 12, 2000, the special was released to DVD. The show enjoyed its 40th anniversary with its broadcast of Tuesday, December 6, 2005. This broadcast had the highest ratings in its time slot.

On December 6, 2001, a half-hour documentary on the special entitled The Making of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" (hosted by Whoopi Goldberg) aired on ABC. This documentary was released (along with the special Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales) as a bonus feature with the special I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown on October 26, 2004.

Versions
The special has not been seen in its original, uncut form since the first three telecasts in 1965, 1966 and 1967. Much of this is due to the opening and closing credits containing references to Coca-Cola, the show's original sponsor. Specific, acknowledged cuts are:

The main titles have Linus crashing into a Coca-Cola sign after Snoopy has spun both him and Charlie Brown around with Linus' blanket. In the versions currently available, the viewer never sees where Linus' trajectory lands him. Instead, they see Charlie Brown landing towards a pine tree which causes more snow to fall on top of him.
In the "fence" scene, where several of the Peanuts gang are attempting to knock cans off a fence with snowballs, Linus is seen knocking down a can with his blanket. In the original airing, this was a Coke can, but it was later replaced with a nondescript can.
The final end credit originally had text and graphics wishing the viewer a "Merry Christmas from the people in your town who bottle Coca-Cola." This is why the "Hark!" chorus sung at the end trails off oddly before the song would normally end, as an announcer originally did a voice over at this point in the credits to repeat and reemphasize the local bottler's well wishes to the TV audience.
Although the FCC eventually imposed rules preventing sponsor references in the context of a story (especially in children's programming), this had no effect upon the decision to impose these edits. The Coca-Cola product placement elements were removed when the company ceased being the sole sponsor, replaced in 1968 by Dolly Madison snack products, who continued to sponsor the Peanuts specials through the 1980s, along with McDonald's.

When CBS aired the special in the 1990s, the network made further cuts to the special, including standardizing closing credits (removing the closing carol outright in the process), and trimming out a series of scenes where the characters belittle Charlie Brown for picking a small Christmas tree (cutting straight to laughter), and removing references to commercialism. These cuts were made ostensibly to fit the special into the 30-minute time slot; commercial time had increased by approximately 2 minutes between 1965 and the late 1990s. ABC, upon acquiring the rights to the special in 2000, restored all of these cuts, increasing the length of the special to 32 minutes including commercials.

Home Video Releases
In September 1994 the special was released by Paramount on VHS. In September 2000 it was released on DVD. Bonus features included the 1992 special It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown. On September 23, 2008, was released by Warner Home Video (to which the rights to the Peanuts specials reverted earlier in the year, due to Melendez's connections to WB) as a "remastered" DVD. Bonus features include a restored version of Christmastime Again and a new documentary titled "A Christmas Miracle: The Making of A Charlie Brown Christmas". It is also available in a 4-disc box set with It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, also including an audio CD of Charlie Brown holiday music.

This is also available as a download on the PlayStation Network's video store, and includes It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown and It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown.

Recording
According to Bill Meléndez, some of the child actors could not read, so were given their lines to recite one at a time. Long lines sometimes had to be spliced together in the studio after the recording session was over. This led to the now-familiar Peanuts delivery style

Full cast
Peter Robbins: Charlie Brown

Christopher Shea: Linus van Pelt

Tracy Stratford: Lucille "Lucy" van Pelt

Kathy Steinberg: Sally Brown

Chris Doran: Schroeder and Shermy

Geoffrey Ornstein: Pigpen

Karen Mendelson: Patty

Sally Dryer: Violet Gray

Ann Altieri: Frieda

Bill Meléndez: Snoopy

Influence

Cover from the soundtrack album for A Charlie Brown Christmas

The musical soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas, by jazz composer Vince Guaraldi, has become as well-known as the story itself. In particular, the instrumental "Linus and Lucy" has come to be regarded as the signature musical theme of the Peanuts specials. Additionally "Christmas Time is Here" has become a popular holiday tune. A soundtrack album for the special was released by Fantasy Records and remains a perennial best-seller. (While the soundtrack contains some music that does not appear in the TV special, it also fails to include two musical themes which appear in the special.)

A Charlie Brown Christmas is often credited with spearheading the popular stigmatization of artificial Christmas trees.

A Charlie Brown Christmas has also been performed as a charity stage program in live theatrical venues across the country.

A politically incorrect parody called A Charlie Brown Kwanzaa, that mixes the unauthorized use of footage from the classic TV special with a new soundtrack featuring dialogue performed in exaggerated African American voices, has been available on the Internet since 2000.

A popular viral video combining footage from the special with Outkast's 2003 single Hey Ya! was created by Venis Productions' Ryan King and Dan Hess, leading to a "ceast and desist" order from United Media/United Features Syndicate , distributor of the Peanuts comic strip. although removed from many mirror websites in 2004, the video can still be found occasionally on web video hosting sites.

A Charlie Brownstain Christmas is a short radio skit written by Steve Morrison and produced by the Preston and Steve Morning Show. It is played every year around Christmas Time. The skit features children voice actors brought into the studios and stars Charlie Brownstain and his friend Anus in a discourteous retelling of the classic Christmas tale. It was later animated by a listener in 2007.

Private School

2008-12-22T22:00:00.003-05:00

Christine Ramsay (played by Phoebe Cates) is a young girl who is going to an all-girls private school. She is in love with Jim Green (played by Matthew Modine), who also is going to a private school, an all-boys school near by. Christine has to deal with her rival, Jordan Leigh (played by Betsy Russell), who has the hots for Jim. Jim's uber-slob friend, Bubba Beauregard (played by Michael Zorek), is going out with Betsy, a good friend of Christine's. Betsy (played by Kathleen Wilhoite), thinks that Jim would cheat on Christine when he is around a lot of other girls. Bubba and his pals go over to the girl's school and dress in drag to get inside and see the Promised Land, also known as the girl's shower room. Christine and Jim decide to go out and have a weekend that will be romantic, but things don't go well as they had planned.

Main cast

Actor-Role
Phoebe Cates- Christine Ramsey
Betsy Russell- Jordan Leigh-Jenson
Matthew Modine- Jim Green
Michael Zorek- Bubba Beauregard
Fran Ryan- Miss Dutchbox
Kathleen Wilhoite- Betsy
Ray Walston- Chauncey
Sylvia Kristel- Ms. Regina Copoletta
Jonathan Prince- Roy
Kari Lizer- Rita
Richard Stahl- Mr. Flugel
Julie Kathleen- Payne Coach Whelan
Frank Aletter- Mr. Leigh-Jenson
Frances Bay- Birdie Fallmouth

80's movie classic : Private school uncover

Private school towel scene

Two and Half a men

2008-12-19T21:01:00.002-05:00

Two and a Half Men is an Emmy- and Golden Globe Award-nominated American television sitcom, which premiered on CBS on Monday, September 22, 2003 at 9:30 p.m., ET/PT. The series centers around a freewheeling bachelor, Charlie, whose carefree lifestyle is interrupted when his newly separated brother Alan moves in, along with his son, Jake. The show was co-created by executive producers Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn. In its third season, starting September 2005, it moved to Mondays at 9:00 p.m. (taking Everybody Loves Raymond's time slot). Two and a Half Men debuted in local syndication in September 2007, also soon to be syndicated on the FX cable network in 2010. Production on the show was halted on November 6, 2007 due to the 2007 WGA strike. The show returned March 17, 2008 with nine episodes to conclude the fifth season. CBS also renewed the show for a sixth season, which premiered on September 22, 2008, five years after the first episode of the series initially aired.

Cast and characters

The main cast of Two and a Half Men, from left to right: Melanie Lynskey as Rose, Conchata Ferrell as Berta, Charlie Sheen as Charlie Harper, Holland Taylor as Evelyn Harper, Angus T. Jones as Jake Harper, Jon Cryer as Alan Harper, and Marin Hinkle as Judith Harper

Main Characters
Charlie Sheen as Charles Francis "Charlie" Harper, a hedonistic ladies man, never married [although he once was about to get married to Mia (Emmanuelle Vaugier)], jingle/children's song writer who tends to pick on his younger brother Alan but ultimately loves him. He is the exact opposite of his little brother: relaxed and affluent. He likes his nephew Jake and gives him advice (much of which is not age-appropriate), but the two often trade barbs as well.

Jon Cryer as Alan Jerome Harper, Charlie's divorced chiropractor brother, who is anally retentive but continually stricken with bad luck and teased by Charlie. After losing his house to wife, Judith, during the divorce, he permanently resides with Charlie. He is generally a nice and polite person but seems to have a weakness for women who treat him poorly, which may stem from the non-nurturing relationship he had with his and Charlie's mother. The most practical character on the show, Alan's scruples and frugality are frequent joke-fodder. Jon Cryer plays the part of the younger brother, by two years, yet in real life he is a few months older than Charlie Sheen.

Angus T. Jones as Jacob David "Jake" Harper, spends most of his free time playing video games, eating, and watching television. He loves his father and uncle but is often surly toward them. Jones does not sing the show's catchy theme song, though it's a popular belief; in fact, neither do Sheen nor Cryer. The voice Jones is lip-synching is actually that of female singer and voice-over artist Elizabeth Daily.
Conchata Ferrell (Season 2–; Recurring in Season 1), as their sarcastic housekeeper Berta. Throughout the series, hints have been made of her being bisexual. She has flirted with Teddy Leopold and several other men who enter the house. She has a sister named Daisy, played by Camryn Manheim, with whom she does not get along. She also has a number of daughters and granddaughters who she herself states are "sleazy and easy" and sometimes brings along to work, with the example of Prudence, who is played by Megan Fox.

Marin Hinkle as Judith Harper, Alan's vindictive first ex-wife. She seems to despise Alan and takes any chance to humiliate him. She was the first woman Alan ever slept with, but their marriage was cold and she said that the only time she was ever happy being sexual was when she was pregnant with Jake. Alan often calls out her hypocritical behavior (mostly directed at her disapproval of him having girlfriends around Jake, when she has had relationships with another woman and various men herself) but also seems to still have feelings for her, going as far as having visions of her and her new husband when he began dating a mutual friend of theirs. She made no secret of living luxuriously with Alan's alimony, going as far as to get breast implants. She has since remarried to Dr. Herb Melnick (Ryan Stiles), Jake's pediatrician, a union that brought joy to Alan because it meant he no longer had to pay alimony. She still makes Alan pay child support for activities she doesn't want to trouble Herb with. As of season 6 episode 6 she is pregnant with either Alan's or Herb's child. It hasn't been mentioned since then, but very will be resolved by the end of the season or in an episode in the 7th season.

Holland Taylor as Evelyn Harper, Charlie and Alan's conceited and self-centered mother and Jake's grandmother. She expresses a superficial fondness for her sons and grandson, but rarely lives up to her act of a devoted, but misunderstood, matriarch. Her sons and grandson generally return the favor and go out of their way to avoid interacting with her on most occasions. Her wide-ranging sex life is a recurring gag throughout the series. The family frequently refers to her as "the devil." Charlie keeps her phone number on speed dial as "666. Cute, huh?" and when asked if he knew her favorite perfume, he asked a store clerk if she carried "Chanel No. 666". Once she showed up in a black cloak and Grim Reaper-like staff. Alan asked "Who is it?" and Charlie replied, "It's death." Alan then called out, "Hi, Mom!" Her latest romance ended disastrously when her new husband (Teddy) had a heart attack while sleeping with his "stepdaughter," only for the police to reveal that Teddy was a con artist who had planned to steal all of Evelyn's money and share it with the young woman, who was his much younger partner and lover.

Recurring Characters
Melanie Lynskey (Starring Seasons 1-2; Recurring Season 3-), as their neighbor Rose, a former girlfriend and stalker of Charlie's. She enters and exits Charlie's house by climbing onto the patio and has five ferrets, all named Charlie. Rose earned her undergraduate degree from Princeton University in two years and has a Masters Degree in behavioral psychology from Stanford University. Her family is involved in banking and oil, making them - and implicitly her - wealthy. Rose eventually left for London, England but has since returned to the U.S. and found new ways to woo and stalk Charlie. Rose's father is played by Charlie Sheen's real-life father Martin Sheen. She is shown hanging out with Alan occasionally and they get along very well. They discussed going further in their relationship, but decided to remain friends. Lynskey's character has surprising depths that belie her absurdity. She once created a website devoted to hating Charlie, which turned out to be a social experiment provoking Charlie to understand the emotional damage he tends to leave behind in his relationships.

Ryan Stiles (Recurring Season 2-), as Dr. Herb Melnick, Judith's new husband and Jake's new stepfather. Though he is married to Judith, he is a laid-back guy and he and Alan seem to get along. Alan is just happy that he no longer has to pay Judith alimony, as she used it for selfish purposes. An inconsistency in the story line is the first time he appears, he is named as Greg. A Season 5 episode implied that Herb, though not particularly bright, is remarkably good at cunnilingus.

Former Main Characters
April Bowlby (Season Four; Recurring Season 3), as Kandi, Alan's young, dimwitted ex girlfriend. After an impromptu wedding in Las Vegas, Kandi divorced him and kept their condominium, but they continued to have a semi-regular sexual relationship. When she got a role on a CSI-spoof drama, she signed divorce papers so that Alan wouldn't be able to claim her new-found fortune. She has appeared once more in an episode where the guys, Judith, Herb, Berta, Rose, Evelyn, and Kandi go to Charlie's house for Christmas. It has been claimed that she has a new fiancé. Interestingly, she first appeared as one of Charlie's girlfriends in the episode "Madame and Her Special Friend" in November, 2005 but was listed as "Kimber" in the closing credits.

Notable Guest Stars
Guest stars so far have included Emmanuelle Vaugier as Mia, Jane Lynch as the therapist Dr. Freeman, Jeri Ryan as Sherri, Martin Sheen as Rose's father, Jodi Lyn O'Keefe as Gail, Cloris Leachman as Norma, Denise Richards as Lisa, Richard Lewis as Stan, Teri Hatcher as Judith's sister Liz, Judy Greer as Myra, Heather Locklear as Laura Lang, Megan Fox as Berta's granddaughter Prudence, Gail O'Grady as Kandi's mother Mandi, Kevin Sorbo as Kandi's father Andy, Josie Davis as Sandy, Robert Wagner as Teddy, Jenny McCarthy as Teddy's daughter, Courtney, Ming-Na as Judge Linda Harris, Jenna Elfman as Frankie, Camryn Manheim as Daisy, Brooke Shields as Danielle, Michael Clark Duncan as neighbor Jerome (a fictitious ex-NFL great), Katherine LaNasa as Lydia (one of Charlie's latest ex-girlfriends who is essentially a younger version of his mother) and Enrique Iglesias as the handyman Fernando. Sean Penn, Elvis Costello, Harry Dean Stanton, Steven Tyler have all appeared as themselves, among other guests

As part of a crossover from the writers and executive producer of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, George Eads made a brief cameo appearance on the May 5, 2008 episode.

On November 3, 2008, TV Guide reported that James Earl Jones is due to make a guest appearance on an upcoming episode as a clergyman officiating at a funeral for Charlie.

On November 6, 2008, TV Guide reported that Sheen’s real-life brother Emilio Estevez will guest-star as an old friend of Charlie’s.

Episodes
The show currently has five seasons, with a sixth season in production. The show's 100th episode ("City of Great Racks") aired on October 15, 2007. To celebrate this, a casino-inspired party was held at West Hollywood's Pacific Design Center. Warner Brothers Television also distributed blue Micargi Rover bicycles adorned with the Two and a Half Men logo along with the words "100 Episodes." Each bicycle came with a note saying "You've made us very proud. Here's to a long ride together." The cast also gifted the crew with sterling silver key rings from Tiffany & Co. The key rings were attached to small pendants with "100" inscribed on one side and Two and a Half Men on the other.

Crossover with CSI
Further information: Two and a Half Deaths and Fish in a Drawer
"When Chuck pitched the idea to me … I thought it was an intriguing idea and walked into Naren's office and he said 'what a nut'"
—- Carol Mendelsohn

In 2007, Two and a Half Men creator Chuck Lorre contacted CSI: Crime Scene Investigation executive producer Carol Mendelsohn, about a crossover. At first, the idea seemed unlikely to receive approval; however, it resurfaced when Mendelsohn and Lorre were at the World Television Festival in Canada and they decided to get approval and run with it. Even though the casts' eyebrows raised when they heard about the crossover, they all jumped on board. When Mendelsohn was giving a talk, he accidentally mentioned about the crossover, that same day Variety Magazine was already inquiring about the crossover episodes. Mendelsohn later stated: "We're all used to being in control and in charge of our own shows and even though this was a freelance-type situation … there was an expectation and also a desire on all of our parts to really have a true collaboration. You have to give a little. It was sort of a life lesson, I think." "The biggest challenge for us was doing a comedy with a murder in it. Generally our stories are a little lighter," stated Lorre in an interview. "Would our audience go with a dead body in it? There was a moment where it could have gone either way. I think the results were spectacular. It turned out to be a really funny episode." "Fish in a Drawer" was the first part of the crossover to air, on May 5, 2008, and was written by Sarah Goldfinger, Evan Dunsky, Carol Mendelsohn and Naren Shankar. George Eads is the only CSI: Crime Scene Investigation main cast member to make a cameo on Two and a Half Men. Three days later (May 8, 2008) the second part of the crossover, "Two And a Half Deaths" aired, following Gil Grissom (William Peterson) as he investigates the murder of a sitcom diva named Annabelle (Katey Sagal), who was found murdered while she was filming her show in Las Vegas, Nevada, Sheen, Cryer and Jones all made cameos in this episode.

Awards and nominations
The show has received multiple nominations, including 23 Primetime Emmy Award nominations and two Golden Globe nominations. Conchata Ferrell and Holland Taylor were each nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress - Comedy Series, in 2005 and 2007 (and Taylor again in 2008). Jon Cryer was nominated three times for Outstanding Supporting Actor - Comedy Series (in 2006, 2007 and 2008) and Charlie Sheen was nominated for the Outstanding Lead Actor - Comedy Series in 2006, 2007 and 2008, along with two Golden Globe nominations in 2005 and 2006 for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy. Picture Editor Joe Bella received two Emmys in the category Outstanding Multi-Camera Picture Editing for a Series, for the episodes "That Special Tug" (2006) and "Release the Dogs" (2007). Martin Sheen was nominated for the Outstanding Guest Actor - Comedy Series Emmy in 2006

Two and a half men Theme

Two and Half a men - Squab , Squab , Squab , Squab , Squab.

Two and a Half Men and CSI: - Behind the Scenes Cross Over