100 Greatest TV Shows

[Hulk With A Mustache]

77. My So-Called Life



Genre: Teen drama.
Created by: Winnie Holzman.
Executive Producer(s): Scott Winant, Winnie Holzman, Charles S. Carroll, Marshall Herskovitz, and Edward Zwick.
Starring: Claire Danes (Angela Chase), Bess Armstrong (Patricia “Patty” Chase), Tom Irwin (Graham Chase), Lisa Wilhoit (Danielle Chase), Jared Leto (Jordan Catalano), Wilson Cruz (Enrique “Ricky” Vasquez), Devon Gummersall (Brian Krakow), A. J. Langer (Rayanne Graff), and Devon Odessa (Sharon Cherski). Narrated by Claire Danes as Angela Chase, Devon Gummersall as Brian Krakow, and Lisa Wilhoit as Danielle Chase.
Country of Origin: United States.
Number of Seasons: 1.
Number of Episodes: 19.
Running Time: 43 minutes.
Original Channel: ABC.
Original Run: August 25, 1994 – January 26, 1995.
Spinoffs: Was the basis for Mein Leben & Ich ("My life & me"), a German television program.

My So-Called Life was created by Winnie Holzman and produced by Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz. Winnie Holzman was an award-winning writer but had not written much for television and was not making a living with writing at the time she got the idea for My So-Called Life, a project she had initially been calling 'Someone Like Me'. Holzman spent time at Fairfax High School in Los Angeles (through a program with the Writer's Guild in which writers could guest teach) as research for writing the show. Her brother Ernest Holzman had been working as a cinematographer with producers Zwick and Herskovitz on their hit show thirtysomething when he introduced his sister Winnie to the producers, who grudgingly agreed to look at her "spec" script for what would become the pilot of My So-Called Life. They were pleasantly surprised that the draft pilot was brilliant and worked with Winnie to shape the show. Ernest Holzman went on to work as director of photography on several episodes of My So-Called Life. Zwick and Herskovitz, in many ways pioneers of the type of naturalistic television characters that distinguish the shows they have produced, had worked on the TV series Family in the mid-seventies and had struggled to develop a young female character that was played by Kristy McNichol on the show. They have said that in some ways, the character of Angela Chase on My So-Called Life was a "spiritual descendant" of the earlier character and that the chance to portray a young woman honestly in a television drama drew them to the project. The genesis of Angela Chase's signature voice-over was in Winnie Holzman's struggle to write. The producers encouraged Holzman to write in the voice of a character as if she were writing a diary. Much of what was written for this exercise was used in Angela's voice-over dialogue in the pilot for the show. The show focused on the life of Angela Chase, a 15-year-old sophomore at Liberty High School. The other characters of the show were Angela’s family, her mom Patty, her dad Graham, and her little sister Danielle, and her friends, the wild, sexually active, and irresponsible Rayanne; the gay and bi-racial (Latino and Black) Ricky; the very conventional and academically minded Sharon; the remarkably intelligent and conformist Brian; and the good-looking, popular, and rebellious slacker Jordan. My So-Called Life brought up issues that were usually not mentioned in family series in the mid-nineties, when it was aired. These include child abuse, homophobia, teenage alcoholism, homelessness, adultery, kinky sex, school violence, same-sex parenting, censorship, and drug use, among many others. While a lot of shows brought up these themes as a one-time issue (a "very special episode") that would be introduced as a problem at the beginning of an episode and resolved at the end, in My So-Called Life they were just a part of the world. The very title of the show emphasized how the perception of meaninglessness that many teenagers experience is the main theme of the series. The show depicted teenage years as difficult and confusing as opposed to a light, fun-filled time of pranks and jokes. The world of My So-Called Life was devoid of last-minute miracles, (aside from an angel in the Christmas episode) of simple resolutions and instant revelations. The interior voice-overs in My So-Called Life came, with two exceptions (Brian and Danielle), from Angela's point of view. Creator Winnie Holzman has said, "Even though it was perceived that way by some, I didn't see it as a teen show. I wasn't writing it that way. That implies some exploitative or objectifying view of it." The rise in popularity of adolescent and youth programming in the wake of the show has led some to suggest that Holzman and the show's producers, Zwick and Herskovitz, were pioneers. Herskovitz has said, "We take comfort in knowing the show was ahead of its time and that feels good." Holzman added, "I wrote this show from inside the experience. It was a personal experience. By being personal a writer can evoke authentic, emotional responses from the audience. The experience of creating this show changed me in that it gave me an understanding of how hungry people are for an experience where they do feel connected to a story on a deep level. That [fans of the show] felt this story touched them on that deep level was very touching to me and it makes me want to do it more. I was able to see the depth of that played out in my own life and I could see that what we had done was real for millions of people. They were responding to stories and characters which so much love and need. I was very touched by that." Sixteen-year-old actress Alicia Silverstone was one of the actresses who read for the lead part of Angela and was very good but was deemed to be too polished and too self-possessed to effectively play a character who could project a sense of doubt and anxiety about her place in the world. A 13-year-old Claire Danes had appeared only in one small part on the show Law & Order, but on the strength of her appearance was noticed by casting directors and was brought in to read for the part of Angela Chase while she was in Los Angeles reading for a Steven Spielberg project. The producers and casting director were blown away by the depth of Danes's audition and knew she was the one to bring the character of Angela to life. However, they had grave concerns about having a 13-year-old actress in the lead on an hour-long drama shot on film, as her working hours would be so restrictive as to make production very challenging. To that point, most shows about young teenagers were played by actors over 18. The producers argued about this issue and eventually decided to take a risk and cast Danes in the lead. The limits of Danes's working hours turned out to serve the show as the producers were forced to expand the screen time of the ensemble actors, making a richer dramatic structure. The producers settled on a four-act formula in which there would be at least two major scenes in which Danes's character would not appear. This challenged the writers to expand and develop additional characters, like Rickie Vasquez, played by Wilson Cruz. The alienation felt by the character of Rickie only mirrored and added depth to that felt by Angela, adding to the complexity of the show. Jared Leto was not initially envisioned as a series regular, having been originally hired only for the pilot, but the casting director and producers were impressed with his auditions and early performances. They said they "could never catch him acting." In fact, for a while he did a good job of fooling the producers into thinking he was somewhat like the dimwit he played as he often remained in character between shots. They were genuinely surprised to discover that Leto was such an articulate, intelligent person. He did not initially see himself as being on a television series, as he was mostly interviewing for film work at the time he landed the role. By design the parent characters were written flatly in the pilot, as that was how the lead character Angela perceived them. However, Bess Armstrong and Tom Irwin were such strong actors and brought so much to their portrayals that it was difficult to keep them that way. The show was written gradually as the network ordered additional episodes. Holzman has said that she did not allow herself to think too far ahead but instead she wrote "in response to what [she] was feeling and seeing on the set as characters were developing." She was very interested in "polarized people who come together." The characters of Rayanne and Sharon were created as two opposing forces who were gradually brought together to great dramatic effect. The relationship between these opposing characters was something that was decided upon well into the season. Production of the show was spread out over an unusually long period of time. More than two years lapsed between the shooting of the pilot and the final episode of the show. The pilot itself was not picked up until after the normal time the networks made their orders for shows for the fall 1994 season. The network was still unsure about the show after picking up the pilot, thus they only ordered the production of six episodes, as opposed to the standard order of a half-season of 13 or a full season of 22. Each time the network made a request for new episodes they only ordered six or seven shows at a time. This often caused long gaps in production. Vigilant viewers may notice some subtle changes in the appearance of various actors (especially Devon Gummersall, who had the most dramatic physical change) and in some of the sets. Despite the uneven production schedule, episodes were generally shot in sequence, though there were one or two episodes (such as the Rayanne-overdose episode, 'Other People's Mothers') that were flipped in sequence and aired in a different order than they had been shot. However, as the storylines for each of the episodes were self-contained and were not contingent on dependent narrative elements, continuity was not affected. The producers developed a strong working relationship with ABC from having created and produced Thirtysomething. Zwick and Herskovitz were allowed to rely on their own judgment and were not subjected to interference or pressure from the network brass, which is a fairly rare situation in network television. Scott Winant, director of the pilot and several episodes of the season, had been a member of the Bedford Falls family and worked with Zwick and Herskovitz on Thirtysomething. He was already an accomplished director at the time he began working on My So-Called Life. When the producers screened the show's pilot, they were astonished at how much his work was an advance even for him. Zwick said, "Scott took the material and ran with it. He understood it and brought to it his own alienated understanding of that particular moment in adolescence. But it was not retro. It was very present. Something remembered but also something very contemporary. What impressed me most was when I saw what he had done with his focus on the flickering fluorescent lights in Angela's homeroom. That was in itself a metaphor for the show: of something shorting out....something not working." Holzman says "Shooting the pilot was magical. Everyone could feel how good it was going to be. It had a lot to do with Claire and how amazing she was. One of my favorite memories was the night we grabbed that long shot on the street near the end of the episode. We were under so much pressure because we were going to lose Claire at any moment [due to union work rules and laws that pertain to underaged actors]. It always felt like the production was just about to lose Claire. She was always running off to take a French test or something. We always had to rush to get something shot. But that says a lot about her incredible talent because she's just come in without a lot of rehearsal and she'd just do it. And she was only this 14-year-old girl. She was that remarkable. Anyway, that night Claire was tense. Her parents were tense. We were running out of time. But my brother [Ernest Holzman] stayed focused and saw the beauty and romance in that long shot on the street with Angela and Brian. It was he who was pushing to get that shot. He was instrumental in finding that moment, in seeing it and in pushing to get it. It became one of the most iconic images from the show." The producers were routinely impressed with Danes's natural acting talent. Danes's audition was a scene that appeared in the pilot in which Angela Chase confronts her best friend Sharon Cherski (later played by Devon Odessa) in the bathroom at school. The producers said that when Danes read the part, her face flushed red and her eyes filled with tears as she read the scene. They were impressed by the physical reaction and authenticity she was able to conjure. Danes repeated the exact reaction when she read a second time for the producers, a third time for network executives, and then when they shot it numerous times during the actual production of the pilot. Producer Ed Zwick recalled how he marveled at Danes's acting ability during a scene in which she had to tell her mother "to an embarrassing degree" that she was not having sex with Jordan. "We were shooting the scene in the parents' bedroom. The only direction I gave Claire was to sort of put her hand over her face sheepishly as her mother was talking. We started to roll and she just nailed it. She was incredibly natural. We shot the master in one take. Went around the other side. Did one take of coverage on Bess and then one on Claire and we had it. I had never worked so fast before."

Holzman: "We were shooting in an actual high school in LA that was actually open and had students in it (The school scenes were shot on location at University High School). They gave us, like, a wing of the school. I remember the crew having to hold [our shots] for the bells. I was smoking at the time and I was always having a tough time finding a place to smoke because they wouldn't let you smoke there. Being in that high school was so surreal. I saw a projector in one of the classrooms that looked just like the ones that they had in my high school in the 1970s. Everything was the same. It was so bizarre because there I was back in high school, looking as if nothing had changed, and my brother was there with me and I was sneaking off to smoke cigarettes. It was almost as if everything had contrived to make me feel like I was right back in high school again."

While filming the scene in the pilot in which Angela, Rickie, and Rayanne are unable to get into the nightclub 'Let's Bolt', Wilson Cruz approached Holzman and in a candid moment confessed that he was incredibly intimidated watching Danes work as her performances were so natural and they apparently came so easily to her. Holzman told him that he should not be intimidated but should learn from it as it was truly a gift. Holzman has said there was something wonderful about working in the presence of someone so talented. She said that all of the young actors gave 110% percent of themselves and that there was great pleasure in writing the show because everyone in the cast and crew was so strongly behind it. There was something magical about using kids who were actually in such a stage of growth and transition. She saw it as one of the key advantages of using actors who were authentically the ages they were portraying. The producers have said that Danes possessed such genius, maturity, and a sense of inner grace that they often were at a loss to know where to pitch their sensibilities with her. The show's final episode was written at a time when producers thought they would very likely be picked up for a second season. Holzman said, "That's why it was written that way." For its original run in the United States, it aired on Thursday nights at 8 p.m. ET against four top-10 hit sitcoms: Mad About You and Friends on NBC, as well as the popular Martin and Living Single on FOX, undoubtedly contributing to the series' low ratings. The producers said that they could not fault ABC for the creative freedom and support they gave them during production, as there were probably few networks that would have even put My So-Called Life on the air in the first place. However, it was clear that ABC had tremendous difficulty in effectively promoting the show. My So-Called Life was produced at a time that predated the explosion of youth and teen programming. The culture of television would change significantly in the years that immediately followed, most notably with the rise of The WB and UPN, networks which would eventually cater to the teenaged audience My So-Called Life sought after, in the late 1990s and early 2000s (The WB and UPN launched just two weeks and one week respectively before My So-Called Life's run on ABC ended). However, in the 1994-95 season ABC simply did not understand that there was a market for a show that appealed to 15-year-old girls. Holzman never intended the show to be exclusively for teens. This may have been even more confusing for the network in terms of placement and promotion as the show clearly was of interest to a broader audience. In the end, not enough viewers of any age were watching the show during its initial network run. ABC was more focused on larger ratings numbers and wider demographics. Holzman said, "It is one thing to have huge ratings, but it is quite another to have smaller ratings but with an extremely passionate following. I don't understand why the network did not understand that." In conversations with then ABC President Bob Iger, producers Zwick and Herskovitz told him that by broadcasting My So-Called Life the network was giving a voice to millions of young women who otherwise had no voice on network television. The show was making money for the network, and, as such, they told Iger he should keep the show on the air for no other reason than "good corporate works"; yet ABC could simply not yet see the economic appeal of an audience of teenage girls. The cancellation was in large part due to low ratings and ABC's inability to promote the show. However, actress Claire Danes was also a strong catalyst for the show's demise. Producer Marshall Herskovitz said in an interview in 2000 that "such a long time had passed since Danes had signed on to the pilot that she was ready to leave and do film." Not insignificant was the arduous schedule and the mental and physical demands of the production of episodic television, especially for young actors who must balance school work with rehearsal and time on the set. Herskovitz said Danes and her parents approached the show's creators and told producers that she did not want to be involved with the show moving forward if they were picked up for a second season. The producers were fully committed to continuing the show. In perhaps one of the first times in the history of the new and burgeoning World Wide Web, fans were using the new technology as a tool for grassroots mobilization of fan support. Fans also took out expensive advertisements in Variety and the Hollywood Reporter urging ABC to renew the show, yet they had no way of knowing about the internal strife in the show's last days. Once Holzman heard that Danes was no longer behind the show, her attitude changed as well. She said, "When I realized that Claire truly did not want to do it any more, it was hard for me to want to do it. The joy in writing the show was that everyone was behind it and wanted to do it. And I love her. So part of the joy and excitement and happiness would have gone out of me if she had not been on board 100%. I wasn't able to say this at the time, but in retrospect it was a blessing for it to end at a time when we all enjoyed doing it. That's not to say that if the network had ordered more shows that I wouldn't have given it my best. But there was a rightness in how short the season was. This was a show about adolescence and sort of ended in its own adolescence. There was an aura about how short the series was like all things that die young. The show ended at a point that it was still all potential." The rumors of the end of the show strongly divided its passionate fans. Flame wars raged across the Internet, especially after Steve Joyner of Operation Life Support (the group that worked so hard to save the show), as well as some cast members, confirmed the rumors, angrily themselves, in some cases. Joyner's letter was entitled "Claire Danes Brings Death to 'Life'." Fans were sharply divided between those who believed or disbelieved the reports, and those who thought it was forgivable in any event for a teenage actress to find a way out of a long contract. Others believed Danes's desire to leave was not acceptable, especially given her feigned support for the movement to save the show. Many fans felt betrayed due to having spent significant time and money to save the show when its star was secretly working against them. In a September 2004 edition of Entertainment Weekly, Danes admitted her role in the show's demise, while insisting that she didn't have enough power to cause the cancellation by herself. It is generally accepted that ABC seriously considered bringing it back for a second season and may have even intended to, as then-executive Ted Harbert claims, because of its devoted fanbase, its quality, and its critical acclaim. However, the low ratings combined with Danes's reluctance to return ended the series. ABC had no interest in getting into a public quarrel with a 15-year-old actress. Winnie Holzman theorized that the network was so on-the-fence about renewing the show that in some ways they used Danes' unwillingness to return as a convenient excuse not to renew the show. On November 19, 2002, BMG released My So-Called Life: The Complete Series on DVD in a 5-disc box set. This set has since gone out of print, as BMG lost the distribution rights for the show. The distribution rights are now owned by Buena Vista. On October 30, 2007, Shout! Factory re-released My So-Called Life on DVD in Region 1 in a 6-disc box-set that features an entire disc of special features, including an interview with series star Claire Danes. Shout! Factory is a distribution company that has released short-lived shows in the past. In promotion of the October 2007 DVD release, ABC posted the My So-Called Life pilot on its online Full Episode Player on Friday, November 30, 2007. The second episode, entitled "Dancing in the Dark", was released the subsequent Friday, followed by the third episode, "Guns and Gossip", the next Friday. Each episode has been available online for two weeks. On September 13, 2007, Eurovideo released the complete series on DVD in Germany in Region 2 in a 5-disc boxset with German and English soundtrack but no special features. The series is available in Australia in a five-disc set. It was not previously screened on network TV in that country.

Where as Beverly Hills 90210 got the snowball rolling on shows about teens with serious problems, My So-Called Life was the snow that got added onto that snowball, making it a giant ball heading towards the town below and demolishing it within seconds. Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz made their name in TV with thirtysomething, a drama about solipsistic adults who saw their every minor crisis as an all-consuming tragedy. In other words, they were adults that acted like teenagers. And in the producers' follow-up high-school drama, along with creator Winnie Holzman, the same navel-gazing was somehow more sympathetic and appropriate. Angela Chase was a fully realized TV teen, smart and perceptive one minute, whiny and unstable the next, ready to burst into red-faced tears after getting jerked around by learning-challenged heartthrob Jordan Catalano. Angela's narration was angsty in that '90s, suburban, I've-listened-to-In-Utero-a-million-times way ("School is a battlefield for your heart."). And, let’s not forget those other teens: Ricky Vasquez, the first openly gay teen character on TV; Rayanne Graff, the sexually active wild child; Sharon Cherski, a representation of a suffocating world of boredom and conventions that is in stark contrast to Rayanne’s wild world; and Brian Krakow, socially awkward and self-righteous. The teen-angst cult favorite was gloomier than 90210 and got cancelled after one season. It brought up a lot of deep theme: child abuse, homophobia, teenage alcoholism, homelessness, adultery, kinky sex, school violence, same-sex parenting, censorship, and drug use. And, it didn’t resolve things at the end of the episode. It depicted teenage years as difficult and confusing as opposed to a light, fun-filled time of pranks and jokes, i.e. real. But, its striking humanity and raw emotion made the show more relatable and all the more painful given the high school memories it dredged up (which is why the anger over its cancellation was so pronounced). Nevertheless, the show lives on in the hearts of its fans and on DVD, ensuring that it will touch people’s hearts for years to come. School may be a battlefield for your heart, but this show won the battle for our hearts anyway.

[Hulk With A Mustache]

Tomorrow, numbers 76 and 75, aka one quarter of the way done! Here are the hints:

Everyone has affection for this guy, and remember, when you hear the secret word, be sure to SCREAM REAL LOUD!!!!

[Hulk With A Mustache]

It maybe late, but it is countdown time. Here's 76:

76. Pee-Wee’s Playhouse



Genre: Children's show.
Created by: Paul Reubens.
Executive Producer(s): Paul Reubens.
Starring: Paul Reubens (Pee-Wee Herman and Billy Baloney), Laurence Fishburne (Cowboy Curtis), Lynne Marie Stewart (Miss Yvonne), Phil Hartman (Captain Carl), S. Epatha Merkerson (Reba the Mail Lady), Gilbert Lewis (The King Of Cartoons, first season), William H. Marshall (The King Of Cartoons subsequent seasons), Roland Rodriguez (Tito, first season), Vic Trevino (Ricardo), Shirley Stoler (Mrs. Steve), Suzanne Kent (Mrs. Renee), Dixie (Johann Carlo), Natasha Lyonne (Opal, first season), Shaun Weiss (Elvis, first season), Diane Yang (Cher, first season), Vaughn Tyree Jelks (Fabian, second season), Alisan Porter (Li'l Punkin, second season), Stephanie Walski (Rapunzel, second season), John Paragon (Jambi and Pterri, Season 1 and 3-5), George McGrath (Globy, Dog Chair, the Green dinosaur, one of the Flowers, the Yellow fish, Cowntess, and Pterri, Season 2), Alison Mork (Chairry, Magic Screen, Chicky Baby, and Chandelier), Ric Heitzman (Mr. Window, Cool Cat, one of the Flowers, the Purple fish, Door-to-Door Salesman, and Exercise Belt), Wayne White (Dirty Dog, Mr. White, Randy, the Blue dinosaur, and one of the Flowers), Gregory Harrison (Knucklehead, first season, and Conky, first season), Kevin Carlson (Clockey, the Red dinosaur, Floory, Knucklehead, second season, and Conky, subsequent seasons), and Anna Seidman (Penny).
Country of Origin: United States
Number of Seasons: 5.
Number of Episodes: 45.
Running Time: 23 minutes.
Original Channel: CBS.
Original Run: September 13, 1986 – November 10, 1990.
Spinoffs: The show was based on Paul Reubens’s stage show, The Pee-wee Herman Show. The stage show led to a movie: “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure” (1985). In 1987, another Pee-Wee movie was made: “Big Top Pee-Wee.” There was also a Pee-Wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special.

The Pee-Wee Herman character was created by Paul Reubens and was an almost exact copy in clothing and persona of 1950s children's TV show host Pinky Lee. David Letterman said of the character, "What makes me laugh...is that it has the external structure of a bratty little precocious kid, but you know it's being controlled by the incubus -- the manifestation of evil itself." Pee-Wee first appeared as a cameo character in a revue that was staged while Reubens was a member of the Los Angeles-based comedy troupe The Groundlings. The character first appeared on film in “Cheech & Chong's Next Movie.” Reubens then developed a live stage show starring Pee-wee entitled The Pee-Wee Herman Show, which featured many characters that would go on to appear in Playhouse, including Captain Carl, Jambi the Genie, Miss Yvonne, Pterri the Pterodactyl and Clocky. When it became successful, he sold it to HBO in 1981, where it was filmed as an adult comedy special. Reubens then teamed with young director Tim Burton in 1985, and they made the comedy film “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure.” It became one of the year's surprise hits and was hugely profitable—costing a relatively modest $6 million to make, but taking in $45 million at the box office. Thanks to the movie's runaway success, in 1986 CBS offered Reubens a Saturday morning TV timeslot, total creative control and a huge budget of $325,000 per-episode (a figure usually reserved for prime-time sitcoms). The result was a children's show, combining live action, video effects, animation, puppetry, and vintage cartoons. The creative design of the show was concocted by a slew of artists including Gary Panter (the art director), Craig Bartlett, Richard Goleszowski, Greg Harrison, Ric Heitzman, Phil Trumbo, and Wayne White. Several filmmaking styles and techniques were featured on the program including chroma key, stop-motion animation, and claymation (designed by Aardman Animations). Many now-well-known TV and film actors appeared on the show, including Sandra Bernhard, Laurence Fishburne, Phil Hartman, Steve James, Natasha Lyonne, S. Epatha Merkerson, Jimmy Smits, and Lynne Stewart. Future heavy metal musician and filmmaker Rob Zombie was also a production assistant. The music for the show was provided by artists including Mark Mothersbaugh, The Residents, Todd Rundgren, Danny Elfman, Mitchell Froom, Van Dyke Parks, George Clinton, and Dweezil Zappa. The opening prelude theme is an interpretation of Martin Denny's "Quiet Village." The theme song, which originally followed the prelude, was performed by Cyndi Lauper (credited as Ellen Shaw).

The human characters on the show included:
Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne), a "cowboy" in the 1950's pop culture sense. He also has his hair in a jheri curl mullet;

Captain Carl (Phil Hartman first season),a gritty, unshaven sea captain with a gruff voice, but a somewhat shy demeanor. He came by the playhouse to show him interesting things from the ocean. His tolerance for Pee-Wee’s antics was often tested whenever he stopped by. The character was more adult-oriented in the HBO special and Miss Yvonne appeared to have deep feelings for him;

Miss Yvonne (Lynne Marie Stewart), a woman obsessed with beauty and cosmetics, who often flirted with Pee-wee and many of the other male characters on the show. She was given the title "the most beautiful woman in Puppetland" by the puppet characters (especially Mr. Window, who would usually introduce her). Yvonne wore a large brown wig, gaudy dresses and heels, and her appearance was always accompanied by some sort of theme music. She, like Ricardo, also has a medical background, as evidenced by her nurse get-up and actions in "Pee-wee Catches a Cold". Unlike many regulars, Yvonne appeared in almost every Playhouse episode, and in a few episodes, she even danced with Pee-wee herself;

Reba the Mail Lady (S. Epatha Merkerson), a mail carrier who was often confused with the playhouse rules. At one point in the series, she had a boyfriend named Derek (who was played by martial arts movie actor, Steve James). She also had a pet dog which Pee-wee recovered when she lost him;

The King of Cartoons (Gilbert Lewis, first season, William H. Marshall, subsequent seasons), he showed a brief cartoon during his segment. His catch phrase was "Let the cartoon begin!" The original King of Cartoons used a film projector to show the cartoons (which he would aim at the lens of the camera shooting the actual show). On later seasons, the King would turn on a television set with a remote control;

Tito (Roland Rodriguez first season only), the Latino playhouse lifeguard. He usually came into the house during snack time or during a gathering;

Ricardo (Vic Trevino), a Latino soccer player with an apparent medical background. He replaced Tito after the first season;

Mrs. Steve (Shirley Stoler, first season only; mentioned in an episode of a later season), a frequent visitor to the playhouse during the first season. Enjoyed eating and "snooping around" when Pee-wee wasn't seen;

Mrs. Renee (Suzanne Kent), a neighbor of Pee-Wee’s, who replaced Mrs. Steve after the first season;

Dixie (Johann Carlo, first season), a taxi driver who introduced the King of Cartoons in the first season by playing her trumpet (frequently referring to him as "King Cartoon");

The Playhouse Gang (first season)—Natasha Lyonne (Opal), Shaun Weiss (Elvis), and Diane Yang (Cher), three children who interacted with Pee-wee during the first season. They were replaced by three other children for the subsequent second season;

The Playhouse Gang (second season)—Vaughn Tyree Jelks (Fabian), Alisan Porter (Li'l Punkin), and Stephanie Walski (Rapunzel), three children who interacted with Pee-wee, but only in two episodes of the second season. Their only notable personality trait is that Li'l Punkin never spoke, instead whispering in Pee-wee's or other characters' ears. She spoke occasionally, but only in unison with the other two, and once she sang a song.

The puppets on the show included:

Jambi (John Paragon), a blue-faced (later green) genie who lived in a jeweled box. Usually appeared once per show to grant Pee-wee a wish, often with unexpected results. Sometimes he appeared more than once per show or not at all. His catchphrases included "Wish? Did somebody say 'Wish'?", and the magic words "Mecca lecca hi, mecca hiney ho" (which grew more complicated as the show progressed);

Chairry (Alison Mork), a bluish-green armchair with eyes on the chair back, a mouth between the seat cushions, and armrests that flapped around and occasionally hugged Pee-wee when he sat on her;

Magic Screen (Alison Mork), a screen on rolls that slightly resembled an Etch-A-Sketch, it flashed in an array of colors when not in use; it also showed films, and Pee-wee would frequently jump into the screen itself to interact with a fantasy land inside, usually to "connect the dots." Magic Screen once mentioned having a relative, Movie Screen. In the Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special, Magic Johnson stated that he and Magic Screen were cousins. Magic Screen is addressed as "she" and "her" in the puppeteers' commentary indicating that Magic Screen is actually female;

Pterri (John Paragon, Seasons 1, 3 — 5, and George McGrath, Season 2), a green pterodactyl and one of Pee-wee's closest friends; he usually acted like a young child. Pterri was afraid of thunderstorms and was very sensitive. He was often picked on by Randy, and sometimes hung out with Globey. In the HBO special, The Pee-Wee Herman Show, he worked for Captain Carl as a sort of "talking parrot" element;

Mr. Window (Ric Heitzman), the window to the left of the playhouse door when inside the playhouse; he had googly eyes and talked by moving his yellow window pane up and down. His role on the show was to introduce other characters (usually Miss Yvonne), and occasionally serve as a means for Pterri to enter and exit the playhouse (though Mr Window would only open up his "mouth" about half to two-thirds of the time);

Clockey (Kevin Carlson), a yellow and red clock shaped like a map of the United States; he often introduced "Penny" cartoons and the like by asking Pee-wee "Do you know what time it is?... Time for a Penny cartoon (etc.)!." He originated in the HBO special acting in a similar manner;

Conky (Gregory Harrison, Season 1, and Kevin Carlson, subsequent seasons), the playhouse robot, who gave Pee-wee the "secret word" each week and served as a "brain" element in the show. He spoke with a stutter, and was made from various parts of old electronics, including an old camera attachments (eyes), a boombox (chest), phonograph (torso), and a typewriter with no keys (head). The robot referred to himself as "Conky 2000" (after the first season, though he used this in episode #3 in the first season) when Pee-wee turned him on. According to evidence suggested in the episode "Conky's Breakdown", there may be more than one Conky robot;

Globey (George McGrath) A spinning globe with a pair of arms at the base and a large face in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Globey spoke with a French-sounding accent and would often help Pee-wee out with geography, language, astronomy, or history questions. He sometimes hung out with Pterri, and, like Pterri, acted in the manner typical of a young child;

Puppet Band—Wayne White (Dirty Dog), Ric Heitzman (Cool Cat), and Alison Mork (Chicky Baby), three puppets forming a jazz combo in a stage set to resemble an alley. They normally spoke in rhyme;

Mr. Kite (Wayne White), a pink kite that occasionally appeared in one of the playhouse windows;

Randy (Wayne White), a red-headed string puppet who served as the playhouse bully, usually making life miserable for Pee-wee and the playhouse characters. Once talked Pee-wee into prank-calling police officer "Daryl" (George McGrath) on the Picturephone, suggesting that he might be a juvenile delinquent;

Billy Baloney (Paul Reubens), a hand puppet, slightly resembling Randy in appearance (but blonde), who Pee-Wee himself operated on occasion;

Dog Chair (George McGrath), a white chaise longue, which was similar to Chairry but resembling the face of a dog. He sat next to Chairry, but was used and referred to much less often; Ant Farm, occasionally, Pee-Wee would check to see what the ants were up to; a short close-up sequence would follow which featured the ants engaging in some "human" activity. On one occasion, they actually managed to get out of the farm;

The Dinosaur Family—George McGrath (Green), Ric Heitzman (Blue), and Kevin Carlson (Red), a den of miniature, claymation dinosaurs who lived in a mouse hole in the playhouse. The dinosaurs would frequently be zoomed in on to see what they were doing; Food, the contents of Pee-wee's refrigerator. Various claymation food items including pizzas, vegetables, french fries, and others that would dance and juggle to Pee-wee and friends' amusement;

Flowers (Ric Heitzman, George McGrath, and Wayne White), three flowers living in a flowerbed in the window to the right of the playhouse door. After Dixie left the show, they introduced the King of Cartoons;

Fish—Ric Heitzman (Purple) and George McGrath (Yellow), the fish lived in the playhouse aquarium. Their trademark was that often when something happened, the purple fish would make a snide remark regarding the situation, which the yellow fish would follow up with a witty comment. Both fish would then cackle, an act reminiscent of Muppets Statler & Waldorf; Penny (Anna Seidman), a claymation short featuring a blonde girl with pennies for eyes, who described some situation in her life. She would reappear later outside the show on public service commercials;

Knucklehead (Gregory Harrison, Season 1, and Kevin Carlson, Season 2), a large image of a side view of a fist, with "googly eyes" and lipstick, who told bad knock-knock jokes. He had a bit part in the HBO special, The Pee-wee Herman Show, but as a sock puppet who acted and sounded differently;

Cowntess (George McGrath), a life-sized, talking cow that spoke in an elegant accent;

Door-to-Door Salesman (Ric Heitzman), a caricatured salesman, dressed in a tacky suit and a humongous head, who rang the doorbell and shouted "I'm going door to door to make you this incredible offer!" (occasionally he could be heard starting another sentence, "I'm sure by now you have realized-") while a horror movie-style effect played in the background. This caused Pee-wee to slam the door and scream, occasionally frustratedly saying, "Salesman!" This character was retired after the first season. Pee-Wee once let him in during a party, saying, "What's your incredible offer?", to which the salesman replied "Free foil!", which Pee-wee gladly accepted for his foil ball;

Floory (Kevin Carlson), a section of the playhouse floor that stood up and talked. For the first season he was covered by Pee-wee's tepee, but after Pee-wee and his friends remodeled the playhouse, he emerged;

Chandelier (Alison Mork), a talking chandelier with a French accent who appeared in later seasons;

Exercise Belt (Ric Heitzman), a vintage vibrating belt exercise machine. Pee-wee would sometimes get on it, turn it on, and then get stuck on it. Conky would usually have to get him out;

Toys, Pee-wee's strange toys, that he keeps in a smiley face shaped window, with movable shelves inside. Their space on the wall was taken over by Clocky; and

El Hombre, a Spanish language cartoon shown toward the later run of the series.

There were some notable cameos in the show:

Yvona (Lynne Marie Stewart), a female alien, who was captured by Zyzzybalubah and locked in a cage. Bears a striking resemblance to Miss Yvonne and has similar theme music. It is implied by her in "Playhouse in Outer Space" that Zyzzy has kept Yvona as his slave for years (when she says "It's always been like this.");

Zyzzybalubah (George McGrath), a malevolent male alien, who hypnotized Conky into making his own name the secret word and launched the Playhouse into space. He calls anyone he captures his "friends" but Pee-wee sets him straight;

Conky Repairman Johnny Wilson (Jimmy Smits), fixed problems with Conky, the playhouse robot;

Rhonda (Sandra Bernhard), a picturephone operator;

Roger (Voiced by Wayne White), a large, green monster that invaded the playhouse. He resembled a giant eyeball, had several mouths and one leg, and spoke in a language incomprehensible to Pee-wee until he wished he could understand the monster (at which point he learned his name in English). During this episode, Roger talked to his mother on the Picturephone; during the conversation, Roger's mother said the Secret Word in their language, at which point they both screamed while a bunch of symbols appeared on the screen. At the end of the episode, Roger left the Playhouse with Pee-wee on the back of Pee-wee's scooter. Roger made another appearance in the "Pajama Party" episode;

Rusty (Calvert DeForest), a strange old man who hung out with the Playhouse Gang - and acted exactly like them, if not more childish. Oddly enough, he wears a "Playboy" pin on his hat, among others;

Derek (Steve James), Reba's boyfriend, a fireman. He was going to take Reba to the firemen's ball, but after it got canceled because of a fire at the ballroom itself, they don't know where else to go. So Pee-wee allows Derek and Reba to have their date right there at the playhouse; they would play drive-in, with Magic Screen as the screen and Pee-wee and Miss Yvonne as Derek and Reba's chaperones.

Notable characteristic of the show were its gags and other humor bits that occurred regularly. Some of them included:

The Secret Word: At the beginning of each show, viewers were told the day's "Secret Word" and were instructed to "scream real loud" every time a character on the show said the word, which was given to Pee-wee by Conky. Immediately after receiving the Secret Word, Pee-wee would try to demonstrate the usage of the word by usually trying to trick someone in the playhouse into saying it, usually followed by Pee-wee accidentally saying the word himself. The word was always used continuously throughout the episode, and Pee-wee always said it right before he got onto his scooter at the end of the show.

Connect the Dots: Most episodes would involve Pee-wee leaping into Magic Screen, tossing a number of dots from his pocket, and playing a connect-the-dots game with them, accompanied by his singing "Connect the dots - laa la laa la laa" several times. (This is similar to the principal element of the 1950s TV show Winky Dink and You, where the viewer followed a moving dot with a crayon, drawing a shape on a vinyl sheet covering the screen.) He would then interact with the object the dots had formed in a cartoon environment, until some kind of disaster occurred, and then leaping out of the screen and landing safely on Chairry, who would usually proclaim, "Gotcha!". However, on at least one occasion, Pee-wee landed on the floor, and Chairry exclaimed "Safe!" and held her arms out like a baseball umpire.

Role Playing: Pee-Wee often claimed the Playhouse and everything in it to be his, and he often played the role of an authority figure to prove his point—exaggerating the role to an extreme scale (as a judge, a boss, and a librarian, to name a few). During these games, he gave everyone else "inferior" positions in each game. The tables were eventually turned once and for all in the final episode, when Miss Yvonne said "How could you even think of selling the Playhouse without first consulting us?! It belongs to all of us! You just remember that, Pee-wee, it's all our Playhouse!"

"Marry It" Joke: Pee-Wee or another character would say that he or she loved something, to which someone else would reply, "Then why don't you marry me/him/her/it?". In the "Pajama Party" episode, Pee-wee finally did marry a bowl of fruit salad in a formal ceremony.

Gifts: Every time Pee-Wee was given a gift, he never gave someone time to explain what the gift was upon showing him the box or bag; he usually simply told the giver(s) to "fork it over".
Snack Time: Most episodes had a recipe segment called "Snack Time," in which Pee-wee taught kids how to make a simple dish for themselves; although, in early episodes, Snack Time was a short segment involving one character teasing another character with food. The segment often began with Pee-wee opening the refrigerator and catching the food off-guard, dancing and having a good time in a claymation kind of animation, exposing the secret life of the fruits and vegetables in the refrigerator. The food items quickly settled down once they realized they had been caught. Snacks ranged from French toast to ice pops to something as simple as a banana or even a glass of water.

Eating gag: When Pee-Wee ate or tasted something, typically during Snack Time, he often exclaimed enjoyment by saying, "Mmm, (object)-y!". For example, he would say "Mmm, lemony!" when tasting something with a lemon flavor. This gag was later used on The Simpsons by Homer and by Johnny Bravo in the Cartoon Network cartoon of the same name. An example of the joke being used during other situations was an innuendo, where Pee-wee was describing the bust that Dirty Dog made for Miss Yvonne in the episode Playhouse in Outer Space; he said "Mmmm, busty!" and laughed.

Foil and Rubber Band Balls: Occasionally during the first season, someone would give Pee-wee a piece of aluminum foil, at which point he would exclaim, "Let's see how big my foil ball is today!" The ball was rolled out, and Pee-wee attached the new piece in sheer delight. Pee-wee stopped using the foil ball in the second season, citing the fact that it became too big to keep in the playhouse. He donated it to the foil museum. It was replaced by a ball comprised almost entirely of rubber bands in the second season; the gag was continued by someone occasionally giving Pee-wee a rubber band (at which point he would exclaim "Wow! A rubber band for my rubber band ball!" before putting it on).

Can I? Gag: When ever someone in the playhouse asked Pee-wee a question that started with "Can I...", he would respond with, "I don't know, can you?" Usually following this, the person would ask the question again with "May I..." in front.

Beg Me: On occasion, when someone asked Pee-wee if they could do something, he normally said no, followed by him saying Beg me.

Picturephone and Picturephone calls: A videophone called "Picturephone" was a prominent feature on the show, remaining virtually unchanged throughout the series, except for the phone's ringing and interior. A large photo booth-like area in the shape of a woman's head was the exterior. The lips served as saloon doors that could be opened and closed at will. Inside was a TV monitor, a tin can handset, several controls for the user to pull, press and twist, and lights to brighten the inside. Also, a pull-down drape was often seen; it parodied a lot of modern-day artwork, such as American Gothic. On some occasions, Pee-wee wore a silly hat that matched the drape's theme. The phone's "ringing" was accompanied by a flash of shapes and patterns on the monitor. The interior only had one seat, but three people could get inside it. The "conversations", which implied the existence of other "Picturephones", were actually pre-recorded video films of any character that Pee-wee "called". He would usually call "I'll get it! I'll get it!" and answer "Pee-wee's Playhouse. Pee-wee speaking." before the caller's image would appear on the monitor. The phone itself was always an empty tin can of Del Monte fruit cocktail and/or vegetables.

Pen Pal Letters: When Reba arrived with mail for Pee-wee, it would usually be letters from his international pen pals. Pee-wee would then sit down on Chairry and read them. He started with the country or state (China, New York, Australia, etc.), followed by Globey pointing them out on his head. On one particular occasion, however, Pee-wee received no pen pal letters at all (because he didn't write any letters himself), which caused him to go into an infantile tantrum. One of the few complaints of the show was that the people portrayed in the pen pal letters were often very stereotypical of their native country or state.

Magic Glasses: On numerous occasions, Pee-wee would put on a pair of magic glasses, which had attached to it a weird hat with a monkey's head and arms on it. The monkey would usually say, "Put me on!" before Pee-wee did so. The lenses of the glasses revealed numerous things in different points in time, including a distorted version of the Playhouse (seen in two episodes).
Lip Synching: Many episodes involve Pee-wee or some other character singing a song. But they usually don't use their own voice; instead, they pantomime (or lip synch) to the song, thus making them sound like they had more than one type of voice.

Each episode usually contained a running gag particular to that episode, and/or a specific occasion that would send Pee-wee into an emotional frenzy. Some of these gags and moments included: In the episode "Luau For Two", Pee-wee put Scotch Tape on his face, similar to a scene in Pee-wee's Big Adventure and hid behind Chairry to scare an unsuspecting Captain Carl.
In the episode "Party!", the food in Pee-wee's freezer is found dancing to the song "Tequila" in a manner almost identical to a dance Pee-wee did to the song in Pee-wee's Big Adventure, even going so far as wearing the exact same platform shoes Pee-wee did in that scene. In the episode "Fire in the Playhouse", Pterri incorrectly said Jambi's name as "Zombie". Later, in "Front Page Pee-wee," Pterri said Jambi's name correctly. Interestingly, both Pterri and Jambi are played by the same actor (namely, John Paragon). In the episode "Stolen Apples", the flashing word on the screen and the bell sounds fizzled out when Pee-wee "screamed" in exasperation over not getting any pen pal letters, a clear indication of his infantile behavior. In the episode "The Gang's All Here", Pee-wee slowly got really annoyed at having the Playhouse Gang around, and ultimately asked the kids to leave for unacceptable behavior: "I'd like to have an informal chat with you, okay?" (everyone screams at the sound of the secret word; Pee-wee glares and everyone goes silent) "That's better. Now look, you guys know that I like you, right? (kids nod silently) Good, and I'm sure you'll understand what I'm about to say. The Playhouse is a place where we can all play. You guys are playing too loud, and too rough! You can't run around in the Playhouse, and scream, and jump on the furniture! Now you know that you're welcome to come and play any time that you want... but, for now, I think that the best thing for each of you to do is to go home, and reflect... on what I just told you." Once they left, however, Pee-wee proceeded to do everything he claimed they were wrong for doing (running around, jumping on furniture, etc.), and the gang then returned, as they had hidden behind Mr. Window and saw Pee-wee go against his own words. In "Sick? Did Someone Say Sick?", Randy the Bully changed the Secret Word rules, to where everyone had to bark like a dog instead of screaming when the word was said. This outraged Pee-wee. However, later in the episode, everyone (including Pee-Wee) still barked like a dog when the secret word was said. In the episode "Why Wasn't I Invited?", Pee-wee missed the secret word "ALL". After becoming frustrated that he hadn't been invited to Cowntess' birthday party, he threw a tantrum in which he exclaimed at the end, "It doesn't make any sense at all!". Neither Pee-wee nor the remaining friends at the Playhouse took notice. In "Love That Story", Pee-wee plays connect-the-dots with Magic Screen (but this time with magic beans instead of dots), and ends up at the top of a beanstalk. After jumping off to evade the giant on top, he lands on Chairry and claims he has whiplash. He threatens to sue Magic Screen, and they both laugh. In the episode "Pajama Party!", in which Pee-wee hosts a slumber party for all of the main cast, the secret word of the day is "watch". Miss Yvonne, who arrived at the playhouse not yet in her pajamas, claimed that she brought her sleeping clothes with her, and that she was going to change into them later on. Pee-wee then replies by saying "Mmmm. Can I watch?", causing everyone to scream. After this, Yvonne blushes and Pee-wee ends the conversation by saying "Just kidding!". In that same episode, Pee-wee exclaims "I love fruit salad!" Everyone replies with "Why don't you marry it?" Pee-wee then says "Maybe I will!" There is a huge wedding for Pee-wee & Fruit Salad. There have been at least two episodes in which Pee-wee objects to screaming at the secret word. First, in "Pee-wee Catches a Cold", he shouts at everyone to stop screaming and show him some "consideration" while he is in bed sick. Second, in "Love That Story", while they play "library", Pee-wee orders everyone to be silent when they scream at the word. They immediately close their mouths as the music cringes at his outburst.

As soon as it first aired, Pee-wee's Playhouse fascinated media theorists and commentators, many of whom championed the show as a postmodernist hodgepodge of characters and situations which appeared to soar in the face of domineering racist and sexist presumptions. For example, Pee-wee's friends, both human and non, were of diverse cultural and racial origin. In its entire run, Pee-wee's Playhouse won 22 Emmys as well as other awards. "I'm just trying to illustrate that it's okay to be different — not that it's good, not that it's bad, but that it's all right. I'm trying to tell kids to have a good time and to encourage them to be creative and to question things," Reubens told an interviewer in Rolling Stone. CBS and Reubens mutually agreed to end the show in 1991 after 5 seasons and 45 episodes. In July 1991, Reubens was arrested for allegedly exposing himself in a Sarasota, Florida, adult movie theater, causing CBS to immediately stop airing Playhouse re-runs. Although the series Pee-wee's Playhouse had already ended by that time, CBS reacted by dropping its reruns from their lineup. Reubens made a deal with the Sarasota County court: in exchange for a fine and producing a few PSAs, he was given a clean record. On August 15, 1998, the show returned to television in reruns on Fox Family Channel, only to go off the air once again the following year. Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block began airing the show Monday through Thursday on July 10, 2006. After the first week only the "Quiet Village" part of the opening was shown, leaving out the Cyndi Lauper vocal. "Quiet Village" was not part of the first week of broadcasts. The newer opening theme and prelude created for the 1990-91 season was left off. Adult Swim originally slated to end airings on the weekdays on October 19, 2006 and move the show to Sundays at 10 PM. In late December 2006, Adult Swim moved the show to Sunday nights, returning it to the schedule at 1:30 AM. Several episodes were initially released by Hi-Tops Video, the "children's imprint" of Media/Heron Communications, in 1988. They were then reissued on video by MGM/UA Home Entertainment in 1996, along with several episodes that were not released on video the first time. Finally, all 45 episodes were released on DVD by Image Entertainment in 2004. It should also be noted that the Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special was released during each of these three times.

In 1986, the genre of the kid’s show got changed irrevocably. Pee-Wee’s Playhouse debuted on CBS, bringing a postmodern surreal twist on the genre. Paul Reubens's sweet, surreal Saturday-morning show was a gift to all ages. Reubens's hyperactive man-child lived in a house populated by living furniture, a French talking globe and a genie, and visited by jheri-curled Cowboy Curtis (a young Laurence Fishburne). Pee-Wee knew what kids wanted: cartoons, craziness and a secret-word excuse to SCREAM REAL LOUD! And, he gave it to them. With its camp, gender transgressiveness (Mrs. Steve?) and Miss Yvonne's over-the-kids'-heads innuendoes, some parents found the show too adult, which is one of the reason parents began watching the show with their kids. That was another thing that made Pee-Wee’s Playhouse stand out: while it was made for kids, it had an adult side to it. The show originated as a stage show with the kid show format, only aimed at adults. When adults watched Pee-Wee’s Playhouses, they were a little weirded out after they had watched and enjoyed him ironically on an HBO special a few years earlier. Now, he was actually speaking to KIDS, and he was doing so with the bizarre anthropomorphism and innocence slash hyper-assholery turned way, way up. Then, when Reubens was arrested at an adult movie theater in 1991 for indecent exposure (with a mugshot that looked nothing like Pee-Wee Herman and a lot like Paul Reubens tired of playing Pee-Wee Herman), it was over. Well, actually, the show had ended before Reubens got arrested. But, CBS did stop airing the reruns. However, the show would live on, being aired on FOX Family and Adult Swim, and many people who appeared on the show would go on to bigger and better things (Laurence Fishburne became Morpheus, Phil Hartman went on to Saturday Night Live, Jimmy Smits played everything on TV from lawyer to detective to President of the United States, and S. Epatha Merkerson is now on Law And Order.) But, the main thing is that Reubens left behind several seasons of a show that taught kids it was OK to be weird and different, even if real life didn't return the favor to him.

[Hulk With A Mustache]

75. Everybody Loves Raymond



Genre: Sitcom.
Created by: Philip Rosenthal.
Executive Producer(s): Philip Rosenthal, Stu Smiley, Rory Rosegarten, Ray Romano, Lew Schneider, Tucker Cawley, Steve Skrovan, Jeremy Stevens, Aaron Shure, and Mike Royce.
Starring: Ray Romano (Raymond Barone), Patricia Heaton (Debra Barone), Madylin Sweeten (Alexandra “Ally” Barone), Geoffrey Barone (Sawyer Sweeten), Michael Barone (Sullivan Sweeten), Brad Garrett (Robert Barone), Monica Horan (Amy Louise MacDougall-Barone), Doris Roberts (Marie Barone), and Peter Boyle (Frank Barone).
Country of Origin: United States.
Number of Seasons: 9.
Number of Episodes: 210.
Running Time: 22 minutes.
Original Channel: CBS.
Original Run: September 13, 1996 – May 16, 2005.
Spinoffs: Though not an official spinoff, but The King Of Queens was created as a starring vehicle for Kevin James (he played Kevin in early seasons of Everybody Loves Raymond). There were some crossover episodes between King Of Queens and Raymond, with Romano, Heaton, Garrett, Roberts, and Boyle guest-starring as their Raymond characters on The King Of Queens.

The show was created by Philip Rosenthal and was based on the stand-up comedy of Ray Romano. Many of the situations from the show are based on the real-life experiences of Ray Romano (who is represented by the Ray Barone character he plays) and the writing staff. The main characters on the show are also loosely based on Romano's family members. The show revolves around the life of Italian-American Ray Barone, a newspaper sportswriter from Lynbrook, Long Island. Ray lives with his wife, Debra Barone, their daughter, Ally, and their identical twin sons, Michael and Geoffrey. Ray's parents and brother Robert frequently make their presence known to the frustration of Ray and especially Debra. Unfortunately for Ray, he always has to hear about it from Debra. Debra particularly finds herself at odds with Ray's mother, Marie — a passive-aggressive woman. Ray often finds himself in the middle of all the problems and arguments. His biggest nemesis is his brother Robert, who is insecure about Ray being the favorite son. Although Robert and Ray are frequently seen fighting like children and picking on each other, the brothers are very devoted to each other. Robert frequently calls Ray "Cubby" and stands up for him, while Ray has a great admiration for Robert, who is a police officer. Their father, Frank, is very tough and does not like to show his feelings, but through the years several episodes were crafted to show how much he loves his family. Ray and Debra have their share of marital disagreements, with Debra frequently denying Ray sex, and Ray prefers watching sports television to talking to his wife. A recurring theme on the show has them having a long interaction each night while in bed, just before going to sleep, and sometimes there is a sweetness between them. It was one of the most critically acclaimed American sitcoms of its time. Everybody Loves Raymond was nominated for and won many awards. In fact, four cast members won an Emmy for acting with Romano winning once for Best Actor in a Comedy Series, Heaton winning twice for Best Actress in a Comedy Series, Garrett winning three times for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, and Roberts winning four times for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. Peter Boyle was nominated seven times for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series and lost each time, a notorious Emmy snub. The show reruns in syndication on different cable channels such as TBS, and in most TV markets on local stations.

If you have watched multiple or all the episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond, then you’ll notice that there are not references to the year and/or decade the episodes take place in. Creator Philip Rosenthal did this on purpose because he wanted the show to be a classic. And, with its mixture of timelessly witty writing and superbly unselfish ensemble acting, Raymond was a ready-made classic. “I’m doing the show for CBS, but in the back of my mind, I’m doing it for Nick at Nite,” Rosenthal once admitted. “I want it to last forever.” Well, it seems like he has achieved that goal. Working with Rosenthal, co-writer and star Ray Romano took two seemingly dead-tired genres, the family comedy and the stand-up vehicle, and pumped fresh life into them both. Closely modeled on his own life, Romano’s show casted him as Ray Barone, a sportswriter who live on Long Island with his wife Debra and three children, Ally, Michael, and Geoffrey. Right across the street from his pushy parents, Marie and Frank, and divorced-cop brother Robert, who later moved out of his parents house and got married to Amy. Sounds like a standard family sitcom setup, right? Wrong. What set Everybody Loves Raymond apart from other family sitcom is the complexity of its characters. Debra can go from nice to total bitch in a matter of no time. Marie is a passive-aggressive nightmare who thinks she’s quietly hiding her favoritism to Ray, her resentment to Debra, and her tricks to control everyone from people, but it is quite obvious that she is doing so. Robert is completely jealous of Raymond, his job, his family, and the fact that their mother always favored Raymond over him. And, Frank is an obnoxious loudmouth who could make a nun turn violent. (By the way, in my opinion, Frank is the best character on the show and pretty much the sole reason to watch any episode. It is a shame Peter Boyle never got Emmy for his role, because he played the character to perfection. That isn’t to say the other actors weren’t good; they were (Doris Roberts definitely deserves those Emmys she won). But, I always felt Boyle was the best.) And, always stuck in the middle was Raymond, an idiot who will go out of his way to avoid a confrontation but somehow either gets stuck in the middle of one or ends up starting one. And, yes, the characters can be perceived as one-dimensional at times, but there are times when they show some concern for others and themselves (In one episode, Marie ruined an interview Robert had with the FBI by sending a letter to the New York field office; but it is revealed that she did it only because she was scared he would die on the job.) Plus, the interplay among the relatives is as acutely observed as that of any Eugene O’Neill play, and the scripts are laced with one-liners worthy of early Woody Allen (Raymond on his life: “I always thought that I wanted to write the Great American Novel. But then I remembered, I don’t even want to READ the Great American Novel.”) It was smartly written and finely acted; Raymond deserved everybody’s love. As for Rosenthal’s goal of being on Nick at Nite, well, it seems like that is just a matter of time.

[Hulk With A Mustache]

Tomorrow, the countdown rolls on with numbers 74 and 73. Here are the hints:

It's a f***ing western, you goddamn son of a bitch!, and not found.

[Beav]

First one's Deadwood

[The Lodger]

Jul 10, 2008 23:34:41 GMT -5 Beav said:

First one's Deadwood

Love Deadwood, but the Wire says hello.

[Hulk With A Mustache]

It's countdown time, once more. Here's 74:

74. Deadwood



Genre: Western, Drama.
Created by: David Milch.
Executive Producer(s): David Milch, Gregg Fienberg, and Mark Tinker.
Starring: Timothy Olyphant (Seth Bullock), Ian McShane (Al Swearengen), Molly Parker (Alma Garret Ellsworth), Jim Beaver (Whitney Ellsworth), John Hawkes (Sol Star), Brad Dourif (Doc Cochran), Paula Malcomson (Trixie), William Sanderson (E. B. Farnum), Kim Dickens (Joanie Stubbs), Robin Weigert (Calamity Jane), Dayton Callie (Charlie Utter), W. Earl Brown (Dan Dority), Bree Seanna Wall (Sofia Metz), Powers Boothe (Cy Tolliver), Leon Rippy (Tom Nuttall), Sean Bridgers (Johnny Burns), Jeffrey Jones (A.W. Merrick), Ricky Jay (Eddie Sawyer), Garret Dillahunt (Jack McCall, 2004, and Francis Wolcott, 2005), Titus Welliver (Silas Adams), Larry Cedar (Leon), Peter Jason (Con Stapleton), Geri Jewell (Jewel), Keone Young (Mr. Wu), Richard Gant (Hostetler), Josh Eriksson (William Bullock), Sarah Paulson (Miss Isringhausen), Franklyn Ajaye (Samuel Fields), Ray McKinnon (Reverend Smith), Alice (Krige Maddie), Zach Grenier (Andy Cramed), Stephen Tobolowsky (Hugo Jarry), Ralph Richeson (Pete Richardson), Michael Harney (Steve Fields), Gerald McRaney (George Hearst), Gill Gayle (The Huckster), Gale Harold (Wyatt Earp), Austin Nichols (Morgan Earp), Brian Cox (Jack Langrishe), Alan Graf (Captain Joe Turner), Cleo King (Aunt Lou), Brent Sexton (Harry Manning), Jennifer Lutheran (Jen), and Keith Carradine (Wild Bill Hickock).
Country of Origin: United States.
Number of Seasons: 3.
Number of Episodes: 36.
Running Time: 55 minutes.
Original Channel: HBO.
Original Run: March 21, 2004 – August 27, 2006
Spinoffs: None. Two TV movies featuring characters from the show were to be made, but it seems unlikely that these will be made.

Deadwood was created by David Milch. The series is set in the 1870s in Deadwood, South Dakota, before and after its annexation to the Dakota Territory. The series charts Deadwood's growth from camp to town, incorporating themes ranging from the formation of communities to western capitalism. The show features a large ensemble cast, and many historical figures, such as Seth Bullock, Al Swearengen, Wild Bill Hickok, Sol Star, Calamity Jane, Wyatt Earp, E. B. Farnum, Charlie Utter, and George Hearst, appear as characters on the show. The plotlines involving these characters include historical truths as well as substantial fictional elements. Some of the characters are fully fictional, although they may have been based on actual persons. Milch has pointed out repeatedly in interviews that the intent of the show was to study the way that civilization comes together from chaos. Initially, he intended to study this within Roman civilization, but HBO's Rome series (then in production) motivated him to look into the Deadwood community. The need to make the narrative tie to Milch's vision of society may account for why historical divergence occurs at times. Although the series touches on a variety of issues including race, prostitution, misogyny, violence, politics, and immigration, the crux of most of the major storylines center on this issue of bringing order from chaos. The series can be conceptually framed by the major plot points that govern the changing status of the city:

Law in Deadwood: In the first season, the major focus of the story is on the rivalry between Swearengen and Bullock. Swearengen governs the city like a warlord and Bullock is the only significant opposing voice. By the end of the season, a compromise is brought in where law stands in the town, albeit with concessions.

Politics in Deadwood: Toward the end of the first season and governing the second and third seasons, the status of Deadwood within the United States becomes the most critical issue. A variety of business and political forces repeatedly push for either sovereignty or absorption into other territories or towns. The show takes great pains to show the corruption of the political interests and their ability to employ violence that matches Swearengen's.

Business in Deadwood: Initially foreshadowed by Cy Tolliver's arrival in Deadwood in the first season, business interests from beyond are studied at length. As with politics, the show juxtaposes Swearengen's violence with that of Tolliver and George Hearst. Whereas Swearengen is brutal overtly, Hearst masks his involvement in attacks and violence through the series.
Architecture in Deadwood: The buildings progress from crude walled tents at the outset of the first season to more elaborate buildings by the second season, with key ones getting window glass.

Power in the United States: In short, the series accurately depicts the role of entrepreneurial vice lords in generating political communities. Swearengen is shown dispensing patronage like a typical "political machine boss" which is not so far-fetched as saloons were used to debate politics, hold meetings and trials etc. Infamous councilmen in Chicago's Levee District were similarly saloon owners, gang bosses, and pimps. Gangs could be counted on to "get out the vote" of whichever immigrant community the boss was plugged into.

The changing nature of the American West: The series follows the dying days of the 'Wild' West, as the rugged individualism that drove people like Seth Bullock to set up in the camp is undone and replaced by corporate capitalism, bigger government and the corruption inherent in either structure. Eventually, the camp is changed entirely, with individual prospectors moved out and all gold mining consolidated into George Hearst's holdings.

From its debut Deadwood has drawn attention for its use of extremely explicit, modern profanity, especially among the more coarse characters. It is a deliberate anachronism on the part of the creator with a twofold intent. As Milch has explained in several interviews and on the DVD commentary tracks, originally the characters were to use period slang and swear words. Such words, however, were based heavily on the era's deep religious roots and tended to be more blasphemous than scatological. Instead of being shockingly crude (in keeping with the tone of a frontier mining camp), the results sounded downright comical. As one commentator puts it "… if you put words like "goldarn" into the mouths of the characters on "Deadwood," they'd all wind up sounding like Yosemite Sam.". Instead, it was decided the show would use current profanity in order for the words to have the same impact on modern audiences as the blasphemous ones did back in the 1870s. In fact, in early episodes, the character of Mr. Wu seems to know only three words of English: the mangled name of one character ("Swedgin"), "San Francisco", and his favorite derogatory term for those he dislikes, "cocksucka." The other intent in regards to the frequency of the swearing was to signal to the audience the lawlessness of the camp in much the same way that the original inhabitants used it to show they were very self-aware of the fact they were living outside the bounds of "civil society." The issue of the authenticity of Deadwood's dialogue has even been alluded to in the show itself. Early in the second season, after E.B. Farnum has fleeced Mr. Wolcott of $10,000, Farnum tries to console the geologist:

EB: Some ancient Italian maxim fits our situation, whose particulars escape me.
Wolcott: Is the gist that I’m shit outta luck?
EB: Did they speak that way then?

The word "f***" was said 43 times in the first hour of the show (as reported by MTV Canada, 2006). It has also been reported that the series had a total count of "f***s" of 2980, and a cumulative FPM of 1.56. In addition to the use of fictional characters that interact with real life Deadwood inhabitants and the use of modern profanity, some liberties have been taken in regards to known events of the time and great liberties taken when it comes to real personalities:

Wild Bill Hickok's Funeral: While the series suggests that the interment of Wild Bill was a sparsely attended affair, it was in fact quite the opposite. While Charlie Utter was indeed away when Hickok was killed, he returned and was the person who claimed the body. He placed an advertisement in the local paper and attended the funeral.

Gem Variety Saloon: This was not built until April 7th, 1877, the second of Al Swearengen's Deadwood establishments. In 1876 when Bullock and Star arrived, Swearengen ran a small establishment called the Cricket Saloon, which featured prize-less "prize fights" of bare knuckled brawls among miners as the entertainment.

Charlie Utter: Unlike the somewhat unkempt man, uncomfortable in urban settings of the show, the real life Charlie Utter was a man known for the pride he took in his appearance. He dressed in hand-tailored suits and kept his long blonde hair and mustache well-groomed at all times, keeping combs and mirrors with him constantly. He slept on high-quality blankets. Quite unusual for the time, he also took daily baths.

Seth Bullock: Seth was not married to his brother's widow, but to the woman who was reportedly his childhood sweetheart, whom he married in Utah in 1874. Robert Bullock was not Seth's brother, but a cousin. He did not have a son at the time his wife came to join him, but a daughter who was still just a toddler. He would later have a son.

Al Swearengen: Al was not originally from England, but Iowa. At the time the story opens in 1876, he was still operating the smaller Cricket Saloon. He was also still married to Nettie Swearengen, his first wife (but in keeping with his fictional counterpart, she divorced him on the grounds of mistreatment some time later).

Deadwood received almost universal praise from critics over the course of its three year run. According to metacritic.com, the third season had near universal acclaim with only one negative review coming from Newsday's Verne Gay. The praise generally centered on the strength of the writing and Milch's unique style of dialogue. The strength and depth of the casting was cited repeatedly by critics and further substantiated by numerous nominations for best casting in a dramatic series. Although it did not receive the same level of attention at awards shows as other HBO programs (notably The Sopranos and Six Feet Under), the writers, costume, casting, and art direction were repeatedly nominated for major awards. Ian McShane was another major exception to the show's relative anonymity, winning a Golden Globe award in the second season. In an interview with Paris Review in 2006, Laura Albert, of JT LeRoy fame, acknowledged being one of the show's writers. On May 13, 2006, HBO confirmed it had opted not to pick up the options of the actors, which were set to expire on June 11, 2006. This meant that a fourth season with the current cast as it stands was unlikely, though HBO had stressed that the show was not canceled and talks regarding its future were ongoing. The chance of the show returning in its current state of cast and crew, however, was limited. On June 5, 2006, HBO and creator David Milch agreed to make two two-hour telefilms in place of a fourth season, after Milch declined a short-order of 6 episodes. This was because in the show's original form, each season was only a few weeks in length, with each episode being one day, in the town of Deadwood. The final two-hour format would release these time restraints and allow for a broader narrative to finish off the series. In a January 13, 2007, interview, David Milch stated that he still intends to finish the 2 films, if possible. On July 12, 2007, HBO executives admitted that producing the telefilms would be difficult and put the chances of their ever being made at "50-50." Actor Ian McShane claimed in an interview on October 1, 2007, that the show sets are due to be dismantled and that the movies would not be made. Actors Jim Beaver and W. Earl Brown commented a day later that they considered the series to now be over. All three seasons are available on DVD. HBO was responsible for the North American DVD releases, while Paramount Home Entertainment handled international distribution -- the latter being a byproduct of CBS Paramount Television (the successor-in-interest to the television unit of Paramount Pictures) handling worldwide TV distribution for the series (acquired from Rysher Entertainment). Season 3 was released on June 12, 2007.

Deadwood was not your daddy’s or granddaddy’s western. It wasn’t as nice or clean as Bonanza or Gunsmoke. It was vulgar and dirty, much like the actual West. In this Western, the West is not so much won as stolen: first, of course, from the barely seen Indians, then by mining corporations from the prospectors who risked death and ruin to find the gold in them-thar hills. (These thar ones being the Black Hills, of South Dakota, just after Little Big Horn.) It blew away traditional TV westerns' freshly-scrubbed vision of the frontier life and illustrated how the West was really won, via curse-happy whores, emotionally reticent lawmen, and a town full of backstabbers and rule breakers. The law is as much a bludgeon as a savior, as the powerful strike sweetheart deals and the little guys scrabble as best they can: Al Swearengen, the Bowie-knife-wielding saloonkeeper; Seth Bullock, the lawman with rage issues; Cy Tolliver, the ruthless owner of Swearengen’s rival saloon; and Calamity Jane, the drunk, brokenhearted former pal of the doomed Wild Bill Hickok. Written with Shakespearean filigree by David Milch, these characters gave Deadwood its vulgar poetry. And, boy was it vulgar (almost 3,000 f-words throughout the series). And, yes, I know that the show used modern profanity instead of the profanity of the era; but that profanity doesn’t have the same impact as it does today. The profanity of the late 19th century (goldarn, yellow lilly livered) is laughable by today’s standards and wouldn’t have had the impact that the cuss words we use today do. Plus it wasn’t just profanity for profanity’s sake. Creator David Milch gave his colorful cast of characters some of the most poetically foul language since Eminem. And, the show will go down as the dirtiest looking TV show in the history of television. But, the vulgarity and the dirtiness helped the show. It was gorgeous in its ugliness, its black-hearted deeds, and tapestries of expletives, which kept the tale trundling along. Underneath that muck and despair hides exquisite expressions of soul-baring tenderness, much in the way the mud around this 1870s mining camp hell obscures nuggets of gold. It’s a shame the show got cancelled. It didn’t get as much attention from HBO as some of their other shows, namely The Sopranos and The Wire; but it was just as good as them. And, Deadwood may have started a Western rebirth in Hollywood; I’ve seen a lot more Westerns hitting the theaters since the show aired. And, those Westerns are about as dark and profane as Deadwood was. Deadwood was a dark, dirty, and vulgar show that was all the more beautiful because of it, and it changed how Westerns are perceived. Now, we'll never look at Rawhide the same again.

[Hulk With A Mustache]

73. Lost



Genre: Drama, Thriller, Science fiction, Adventure, and Mystery.
Created by: Jeffrey Lieber, J.J. Abrams, and Damon Lindelof.
Executive Producer(s): Damon Lindelof, Carlton Cuse, Bryan Burk, Jack Bender, and J. J. Abrams.
Starring: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Mr. Eko, Seasons 2 and 3), Naveen Andrews (Sayid Jarrah), Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond Hume, Seasons 2 to 4), Jeremy Davies (Daniel Faraday, Season 4), Emilie de Ravin (Claire Littleton), Michael Emerson (Ben Linus, Seasons 2 to present), Matthew Fox (Dr. Jack Shephard), Jorge Garcia (Hugo “Hurley” Reyes), Maggie Grace (Shannon Rutherford, Seasons 1 and 2), Josh Holloway (James “Sawyer” Ford), Malcolm David Kelley (Walt Lloyd, Season 1), Daniel Dae Kim (Jin-Soo Kwon), Yunjin Kim (Sun-Hwa Kwon), Ken Leung (Miles Straume, Season 4), Evangeline Lilly (Kate Austen), Rebecca Mader (Charlotte Staples Lewis, Season 4), Elizabeth Mitchell (Juliet Burke, Seasons 3 and 4), Dominic Monaghan (Charlie Pace, Seasons 1 to 3), Terry O'Quinn (John Locke), Harold Perrineau (Michael Dawson, Seasons 1, 2, and 4), Michelle Rodriguez (Ana Lucia Cortez, Season 2), Kiele Sanchez (Nikki Fernandez, Season 3), Rodrigo Santoro (Paulo, Season 3), Ian Somerhalder (Boone Carlyle, Season 1), and Cynthia Watros (Libby, Season 2).
Country of Origin: United States.
Number of Seasons: 4, but the show will end after two more seasons air.
Number of Episodes: 83, with two 16-episode seasons to come.
Running Time: 43 minutes.
Original Channel: ABC.
Original Run: September 22, 2004 – TBA 2010.
Spinoffs: None, so far.

The series began development in January 2004, when Lloyd Braun, head of ABC at the time, ordered an initial script from Spelling Television based on his concept of a cross between the novel Lord of the Flies, the movie Cast Away, the television series Gilligan's Island, and television's popular reality show Survivor. Gadi Pollack notes that some of "the influences of Lost came from...the game Myst." Jeffrey Lieber was hired and wrote Nowhere, based on his pitch to write the pilot. Unhappy with the result and a subsequent rewrite, Braun contacted J. J. Abrams, who had a deal with Touchstone Television (now ABC Studios), and was also the creator of the TV series Alias, to write a new pilot script. Although initially hesitant, Abrams warmed up to it on the condition that the show have a supernatural angle to it, and collaborated with Damon Lindelof to create the series' style and characters. Together, Abrams and Lindelof also created a series "bible", and conceived and detailed the major mythological ideas and plot points for an ideal five to six seasons run for the show. The development of the show was constrained by tight deadlines, as it had been commissioned late in the 2004 season's development cycle. Despite the short schedule, the creative team remained flexible enough to modify or create characters to fit actors they wished to cast. Lost's two-part pilot episode was the most expensive in the network's history, reportedly costing between US $10 and US $14 million, compared to the average cost of an hour-long pilot in 2005 of US $4 million. The show, which debuted on September 22, 2004, became one of the biggest critical and commercial successes of the 2004 television season. Along with fellow new series Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy, Lost helped to reverse the flagging fortunes of ABC. Yet, before it had even been aired, Lloyd Braun was fired by executives at ABC's parent company, Disney, because he had greenlighted such an expensive and risky project. The world premiere of the pilot episode was on July 24, 2004 at Comic-Con International in San Diego. Episodes have a distinct structure: following a recap of events relevant to the upcoming narrative, each show begins with a cold open. Often a close up of a character's eye will follow. At a dramatic juncture, the screen cuts to black and the title graphic, slightly out-of-focus, glides towards the viewer accompanied by an ominous, discordant sound. The opening credits generally appear alphabetically by last name over the scenes that immediately follow. While there is a continuous story arc, each episode relates events concurrently with off-island flashbacks and later, flashforwards, centered on a particular character. The majority of episodes end with a suspenseful twist or cliffhanger, revealed just seconds before a smash cut to black and the title graphic. Others, following a plot resolution, will finish with a reflective closing scene that precedes a simple fade to black, and in particularly tragic or heart-felt closing scenes, the booming noise that accompanies the title graphic will be silenced, amplifying the impact of the event. Lost is filmed on Panavision 35 mm cameras almost entirely on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. The original island scenes for the pilot were filmed at Mokulç'ia Beach, near the northwest tip of the island. Later beach scenes take place in secluded spots of the famous North Shore. Cave scenes in the first season were filmed on a sound stage built at a Xerox parts warehouse, which had been empty since an employee mass shooting took place there in 1999. The sound-stage and production offices have since moved to the Hawaii Film Office-operated Hawaii Film Studio, where the sets depicting Season 2's "Swan Station" and Season 3's "Hydra Station" interiors were built. Various urban areas in and around Honolulu are used as stand-ins for locations around the world, including California, New York, Iowa, Miami, South Korea, Iraq, Nigeria, United Kingdom, Paris, Thailand, Berlin and Australia. For example, scenes set in a Sydney Airport were filmed at the Hawaii Convention Center, while a World War II-era bunker was used as an Iraqi Republican Guard installation. Extensive archives of filming locations are tracked at a repository at the Lost Virtual Tour. Out of the 324 people on board Oceanic Flight 815, there are 72 initial survivors (71 humans and 1 dog) spread across the three sections of the plane crash. The opening season featured 14 regular speaking roles, making it the second largest cast in a currently-airing American prime time television show behind Desperate Housewives. While a large cast makes Lost more expensive to produce, the writers benefit from more flexibility in story decisions. According to series executive producer Bryan Burk, "You can have more interactions between characters and create more diverse characters, more back stories, more love triangles." The initial season had 14 major roles getting star billing. Naveen Andrews portrayed former Iraqi Republican Guard Sayid Jarrah. Emilie de Ravin played the pregnant Australian Claire Littleton. Matthew Fox acted as the troubled surgeon and protagonist Jack Shephard. Jorge Garcia portrayed Hugo "Hurley" Reyes, an unlucky lottery winner. Maggie Grace played Shannon Rutherford, a former dance teacher. Josh Holloway acted as con man James "Sawyer" Ford. Yunjin Kim played Sun-Hwa Kwon, the daughter of a powerful Korean businessman and mobster, with Daniel Dae Kim as her husband Jin-Soo Kwon. Evangeline Lilly portrayed fugitive Kate Austen. Dominic Monaghan acted as ex-rock star drug addict Charlie Pace. Terry O'Quinn played the mysterious John Locke. Harold Perrineau portrayed construction worker Michael Dawson, while child actor Malcolm David Kelley acted as his young son, Walt Lloyd. Ian Somerhalder played Boone Carlyle, chief operating officer of his mother's wedding business and step brother of Shannon. During the first two seasons, some characters were written out to make room for new characters with new stories. Boone Carlyle was the first major character to be written out, dying near the end of season one. Walt became a guest star after the events of the first season's finale, making rare appearances throughout season two. Shannon's departure eight episodes into season two made way for newcomers Mr. Eko, a Nigerian Catholic priest and former criminal played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje; Ana Lucia Cortez, an airport security guard and former police officer played by Michelle Rodriguez; Bernard Nadler, a dentist and the husband of Rose; and Libby, a purported clinical psychologist portrayed by Cynthia Watros. Ana Lucia and Libby were written out of the series toward the end of season two. In season three, Henry Ian Cusick received star billing as former Scottish soldier Desmond David Hume, as did Michael Emerson in the role of Ben Linus (formerly known as Henry Gale), a high ranking member of the "Others." In addition, three new actors joined the regular cast: Elizabeth Mitchell, as fertility doctor and "Other" Juliet Burke, and Kiele Sanchez and Rodrigo Santoro as background survivor couple Nikki Fernandez and Paulo. Eko was written out early in the season, and Nikki and Paulo were written out mid-season in their first flashback episode. Charlie was written out in the third season finale. In season four, Harold Perrineau rejoins the main cast to reprise the role of Michael Dawson, now suicidal and on a desperate redemptive journey to redeem himself from his previous crimes. Along with Perrineau, additional new actors — Jeremy Davies as Daniel Faraday, a nervous physicist who takes a scientific interest in the island; Ken Leung as Miles Straume, a sarcastic supposed ghost whisperer, and Rebecca Mader as Charlotte Staples Lewis, a hard-headed and determined anthropologist and successful academic — have joined the cast. Claire, who mysteriously disappears with her dead biological father near the end of the season, will not return as a series regular for the fifth season. Michael is written out in the fourth season finale. Numerous supporting characters have been given expansive and recurring appearances in the progressive storyline. Danielle Rousseau (Mira Furlan), a French member of an earlier scientific expedition to the island first encountered as a voice recording in the pilot episode, appears throughout the series; she is searching for her daughter, who later turns up in the form of Alex Rousseau (Tania Raymonde). In the second season, married couple Rose Henderson (L. Scott Caldwell) and Bernard Nadler (Sam Anderson), separated on opposite sides of the island (she with the main characters, he with the tail section survivors) were featured in a flashback episode after being reunited. The storylines regarding the fate of Desmond Hume led to the introduction of Penelope "Penny" Widmore (Sonya Walger), Hume's long-time girlfriend who has been searching for him since his disappearance, and her father, corporate magnate Charles Widmore (Alan Dale), whose destiny seems intertwined with the island's. The introduction of the "Others," inhabitants of the island, has featured such characters as Tom aka Mr. Friendly (M. C. Gainey), Ethan Rom (William Mapother), Goodwin Stanhope (Brett Cullen) and Richard Alpert (Nestor Carbonell), all of whom have been shown in both flashbacks and the ongoing story. The final days of the third season introduced Naomi Dorrit (Marsha Thomason), would-be rescuer with a mysterious freighter expedition, and Matthew Abbadon (Lance Reddick), apparently an employee of Widmore Industries. Jack's father Christian Shephard (John Terry) has appeared in multiple flashbacks of various characters, as has Anthony Cooper (Kevin Tighe), Locke's father and the man who conned Sawyer's parents, and many others. In the fourth season, Kevin Durand plays Martin Keamy, a mercenary hired by Charles Widmore. Many of the first season roles were a result of the executive producers' liking of various actors. The main character Jack was originally going to die in the pilot, and was hoped to be played by Michael Keaton; however, ABC executives were adamant that Jack live. Before it was decided that Jack would live, Kate was to emerge as the leader of the survivors; she was originally conceived to be more like the character of Rose. Dominic Monaghan auditioned for the role of Sawyer, who at the time was supposed to be a suit-wearing city con man. The producers enjoyed Monaghan's performance and changed the character of Charlie, originally a middle-aged former rock star, to fit him. Jorge Garcia also auditioned for Sawyer, and the part of Hurley was written for him. When Josh Holloway auditioned for Sawyer, the producers liked the edge he brought to the character (he reportedly kicked a chair when he forgot his lines and got angry in the audition) and his southern accent, so they changed Sawyer to fit Holloway's acting. Yunjin Kim auditioned for Kate, but the producers wrote the character of Sun for her and the character of Jin, portrayed by Daniel Dae Kim, to be her husband. Sayid, played by Naveen Andrews, was also not in the original script. Locke and Michael were written with their actors in mind. Emilie de Ravin who plays Claire was originally cast in what was supposed to be a recurring role. In the second season, Michael Emerson was contracted to play Ben ("Henry Gale") for three episodes. His role was extended to eight episodes because of his acting skills, and eventually for the whole of season three and season four. Season 1 featured 24 episodes, which aired on Wednesdays at 8:00 pm in the United States from September 22, 2004. A plane crash strands the surviving passengers of Oceanic Flight 815 on a seemingly deserted tropical island, forcing the group of strangers to work together to stay alive. Their survival is threatened by mysterious entities including polar bears, an unseen creature that roams the jungle, and the island's malevolent inhabitants known as the "Others". They encounter a Frenchwoman named Danielle Rousseau who was shipwrecked on the island over 16 years earlier and find a mysterious metal hatch buried in the ground. An attempt is made to leave the island on a raft. Season 2 featured 23 episodes that were aired in the United States and Canada on Wednesdays at 9:00 pm starting on September 21, 2005. Most of the story, which continues 45 days after the crash, focuses on the growing conflict between the survivors and the Others, with the continued clash between faith and science being thematic in certain episodes. While some mysteries are resolved, new questions are raised. New characters are introduced, including the tail-section survivors and other island inhabitants. More island mythologies and insights into the survivors' pasts are divulged. The hatch is explored and the existence of The DHARMA Initiative and its benefactor, the Hanso Foundation, are revealed. As the truth about the mysterious Others begins to unfold, one of the crash survivors betrays the other castaways, and the cause of the plane crash is revealed. Season 3 featured 22 episodes (one of which was a two-part, double-length episode) that were seen in the United States and Canada beginning on October 4, 2006 and on following Wednesdays at 9:00 pm. The series returned from hiatus on February 7, 2007 and was aired at 10:00 pm. The story continues 67 days after the crash. New crash survivors and Others are introduced, as the crash survivors learn about the Others and their history on the mysterious island. One of the Others and a new island inhabitant join the survivors while a survivor defects to the Others. A war between the Others and the survivors comes to a head, and the survivors make contact with a rescue team. Season 4 was planned (prior to the Writers Guild of America strike) to feature 16 episodes, to be broadcast beginning in the U.S. and Canada on January 31, 2008. Due to the writers' strike, the season instead lasted only 14 episodes, consisting of the 8 pre-strike episodes already filmed and aired, and 6 post-strike hours airing beginning April 24 in the United States. This included a 3-hour finale airing in three parts entitled "There's No Place Like Home." The first part aired on Thursday, May 15 10 pm ET, and parts 2 and 3 aired in a 2-hour special on May 29, from 9–11 pm ET. This season focuses on the survivors dealing with people from the freighter Kahana which has come to the Island, and the escape of the Oceanic Six (their post-island deeds being shown in flashforwards). In parallel to its character development, episodes of Lost include a number of mysterious elements that have been ascribed to science fiction or supernatural phenomena. The creators of the series refer to these elements as composing the mythology of the series, and they form the basis of fan speculation. Among the show's mythological elements is a "monster" that roams the island; a mysterious group of inhabitants whom the survivors refer to as "The Others"; an organization called the DHARMA Initiative that has placed several research stations on the island; a sequence of numbers that have made frequent appearances in the lives of the characters in the past, present and future; and personal connections or synchronicity between the characters, of which they are often unaware. At the heart of the series is a complex and cryptic storyline that spawns numerous unresolved questions. Encouraged by Lost's writers and stars, who often interact with fans online, viewers and TV critics alike have taken to widespread theorizing in an attempt to unravel the mysteries. Theories mainly concern the nature of the island, the origins of the "monster" and the "Others," the meaning of the numbers, and the reasons for both the crash and the survival of some passengers. Several of the more common fan theories have been discussed and rejected by the show's creators, the most common being that the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 are dead or in purgatory. This was specifically denied by J.J. Abrams. Furthermore, Lindelof has rejected speculation that spaceships or aliens influence the events on the island, or that everything seen is a fictional reality taking place in someone's mind. Carlton Cuse dismissed the theory that the island is a reality TV show and the castaways unwitting housemates and Lindelof, many times, has refuted the theory that the "monster" is a nanobot cloud similar to the one featured in Michael Crichton's novel Prey. There are several recurring elements and motifs on Lost, which generally have no direct effect on the story itself, but expand the show's literary and philosophical subtext. These elements include frequent appearances of the colors black and white, which reflect the dualism within characters and situations; as well as rebellion in almost all characters, especially Kate; dysfunctional family situations, as portrayed in the lives of nearly all the main characters; apocalyptic references, including Desmond's pushing the button to forestall the end of the world and the DHARMA Initiative's goal to alter the parameters of the Valenzetti Equation and prevent the end of humanity; coincidence versus fate, revealed most apparently through the juxtaposition of the characters Locke and Mr. Eko; conflict between science and faith, embodied by the leadership tug-of-war between Jack and Locke; and references to numerous works of literature, including mentions and discussions of particular novels. There are also many allusions in characters' names to famous historical thinkers and writers, such as John Locke (after the philosopher), Jeremy Bentham (after the philosopher), Danielle Rousseau (after philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau), Desmond Hume (after philosopher David Hume), Juliet Burke (after philosopher Edmund Burke), Mikhail Bakunin (after the anarchist philosopher), Daniel Faraday (after physicist Michael Faraday), George Minkowski (after mathematician Hermann Minkowski), Richard Alpert (the birth name of spiritual teacher Ram Dass), Henry Gale (after the astrophysicist and author), Kate Austen (after author Jane Austen), and Charlotte Staples Lewis (after author CS Lewis). As a cult television show, Lost has generated a dedicated and thriving international fan community. Lost fans, sometimes dubbed Lostaways or Losties, have gathered at Comic-Con International and conventions organized by ABC, but have also been active in developing a large number of fan websites, including Lostpedia, and forums dedicated to the program and its related incarnations. Because of the show's elaborate mythology, its fansites have focused on speculation and theorizing about the island's mysteries, as well as on more typical fan activities such as producing fan fiction and videos, compiling episode transcripts, shipping characters, and collecting memorabilia. Anticipating fan interest and trying to keep its audience engrossed, ABC embarked on various cross-media endeavors, often using new media. Fans of Lost have been able to explore ABC-produced tie-in websites, tie-in novels, an official forum sponsored by the creative team behind Lost ("The Fuselage"), "mobisodes," podcasts by the producers, an official magazine, and an alternate reality game (ARG) "The Lost Experience." An official fanclub was launched in the summer of 2005 through Creation Entertainment. Due to the show's popularity, references to the series and elements from its story have appeared in parody and popular culture usage. These include appearances on television, such as on the series Veronica Mars, Will & Grace, Bo Selecta, The Sarah Silverman Program, My Wife And Kids, Chuck, Notes from the Underbelly and The Office; as well as on the cartoons Family Guy, American Dad!, South Park, The Simpsons, and Venture Brothers; and even on a commercial for KFC Hawaii. Also, Red vs. Blue, a Machinima Comic science fiction seemed to have poked fun at it in (one of) the ending(s) to the series, episode 100. The makers of Red vs. Blue also poked fun at the Lost intro in an episode of The Strangerhood. Lost was also featured as an easter egg in Valve Corporation's videogame, Half-Life 2: Episode Two. Similarly the Lost numbers 4, 8, 15 and 16 can be seen on the loading screen for the video game Skate.. In spoilers for the next set of Magic: The Gathering cards, a card called Springjack Shepherd exists, that brings with him a herd of goats and has the flavor text, "Live together, die alone." Comic books such as Catwoman and The Thing, daily strips Monty and Over the Hedge, web comics Piled Higher and Deeper and Penny Arcade and humor magazine Mad have all incorporated Lost references. Similarly, several rock bands have published songs whose themes and titles were derived from the series, such as Moneen ("Don't Ever Tell Locke What He Can't Do"), Senses Fail ("Lost And Found" and "All The Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues"), and Gatsbys American Dream ("You All Everybody" and "Station 5: The Pearl"). After the episode "Numbers" aired on March 2, 2005, numerous people used the eponymous figures (4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42) as lottery entries. According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, within three days, the numbers were tried over 500 times by local players. Likewise, in the same period, over 200 people in Michigan alone used the sequence for the Mega Millions lottery and by October, thousands had tried them for the multi-state Powerball lottery. In addition to traditional terrestrial and satellite broadcasting, Lost has been at the forefront of new television distribution methods. It was one of the first series issued through Apple's iTunes Store service for playback on an iPod or within the iTunes software. Since October 2005, new episodes, without commercials, have been available for download the day after they air on ABC, for American audiences. On August 29, 2007 Lost became one of the first TV programs available for download in the UK store. Since the airing of Season 4 in the UK, episodes of Lost are available the Monday after the Sunday they air on Sky One. "Lost" was also among the first TV shows on the German iTunes store. In April 2006, Disney announced that Lost would be available for free online in streaming format, with advertising, on ABC's website, as part of a two-month experiment of future distribution strategies. The trial, which ran from May to June 2006, caused a stir among network affiliates who were afraid of being cut out of advertising revenue. The streaming of Lost episodes direct from ABC's website was only available to viewers in the United States due to international licensing agreements. As of May 2008, full episodes from Seasons 1–4 are available as high-definition streaming video on the ABC website, but only to users in the US who use Microsoft or Apple operating systems. New episodes are available the day after original primetime airing. Viewers are required to view five or six 30-second advertising spots, equally dispersed throughout the episode. These spots appear as an overlay graphic ad with smaller video ad and feature high-profile advertisers. Episodes from both season one and season two were available on the UK's Channel 4's website, but have since expired. Both parts of "Pilot" were available to watch for free, and other episodes cost GB£0.99 each. Due to licensing agreements, the service was only accessible in the UK. Virgin Media has made the first three seasons of Lost available on demand via their TV Choice On Demand function, allowing viewers to watch the first three seasons at any time in high-definition or standard definition. Currently, only Season Two and Three are available. All episodes available on the service are free to Virgin Media subscribers. As of November 25, 2006, Lost episodes were available on Sky's VOD service, Sky Anytime. Users with the correct Sky Subscription can download recent Lost episodes for free, however, much like Channel 4's 4OD application, they expire. Users without a relevant Sky subscription for Lost can exchange prepaid credit for rental of an episode. Other online distribution sites include: France's TF1 website, AOL Video, Microsoft's Xbox Live service, and HOT V.O.D. service in Israel. The first season of Lost was released under the title Lost: The Complete First Season as a widescreen seven-disc Region 1 DVD box set in the USA on September 6, 2005, two weeks before the premiere of the second season. It was distributed by Buena Vista Home Entertainment. In addition to all the episodes that had been aired, it included several DVD extras such as episode commentaries, behind-the-scenes footage and making-of features as well as deleted scenes, deleted flashback scenarios and a blooper reel. The same set was released on November 30, 2005 in Region 4, and on January 16, 2006 in Region 2. As has become standard for Region 2, the series was first released split into two parts: the first twelve episodes of series 1 were available as a wide screen four-disc Region 2 DVD box set on October 31, 2005, while the remaining thirteen episodes of series 1 were released on January 16, 2006. The DVD features available on the Region 1 release were likewise split over the two box sets. The second season was released under the title Lost: The Complete Second Season - The Extended Experience as a wide screen seven-disc Region 1 DVD box set in the USA on September 5, 2006 and on Region 2 DVD on October 2, 2006. Each of these releases also contained DVD extras, including Behind the Scenes Footage, deleted scenes and a "Lost Connections" chart, which shows how all of the characters on the island are inter-connected with each other.[40] Again, the series was initially delivered in two sets for Region 2: the first twelve episodes were released as a widescreen four-disc DVD box set on July 17, 2006, while the remaining episodes of series 2 were released as a four-disc DVD box set on October 2, 2006. The set was released in Region 4 on October 4, 2006. The third season was released under the title Lost: The Complete Third Season - The Unexplored Experience on DVD and Blu-ray Disc in Region 1 on December 11, 2007. As with Seasons 1 and 2, the third season release includes audio commentaries with the cast and crew, bonus featurettes, deleted scenes, and bloopers. The Season 3 was released in Region 2 solely on DVD on October 22, 2007, though this time only as a complete set, unlike previous seasons. The fourth season is currently set to be released as Lost: The Complete Fourth Season - The Expanded Experience in Region 1 on December 9, 2008 on both DVD and Blu-ray Disc. It will also be released on DVD in Region 2 on October 27, 2008. The set is expected to include audio commentaries, deleted scenes, bloopers and bonus featurettes. Both Seasons 1 and 2 of Lost have sold successfully on DVD. The Season 1 boxset entered the DVD sales chart at number two in September 2005, and the Season 2 boxset entered the DVD sales chart at the number one position in its first week of release in September 2006, believed to be the second TV-DVD ever to enter the chart at the top spot. First day DVD sales for Lost Season 2 are thought to have been as high as 500,000 copies sold. On May 7, 2007, ABC Entertainment President Stephen McPherson announced that Lost will end during the 2009–2010 season with a "highly anticipated and shocking finale." "We felt that this was the only way to give [Lost] a proper creative conclusion," McPherson said. Beginning with the 2007–2008 television season, the final 48 episodes of Lost would have been aired as three seasons with 16 episodes each, with Lost concluding in its sixth season. Due to the writers strike, the fourth season featured 14 episodes, and Seasons 5 and 6 will have 17 episodes each. Lindelof stated that Lost would return in January 2009 for a fifth season. Executive producers Lindelof and Cuse stated that they "always envisioned Lost as a show with a beginning, middle, and end," and that by announcing when the show would end that viewers would "have the security of knowing that the story will play out as we've intended." Lindelof and Cuse stated that securing the 2010 series-end date "was immensely liberating" and helped the series rediscover its focus. Lindelof noted, "We're no longer stalling."

You know, Lost isn’t perfect. There are a lot of things wrong with it. It promised to answer a lot of questions in the Season 1 finale but gave few answers and more questions. It stalled a little in the middle of Seasons 2 and 3. It has yet to show us how Libby ended up in the same mental hospital that Hugo resided in prior to winning the lottery and ending up on the island. It gave us Nikki and Paulo (honestly, I didn’t really hate these two, though I don’t really understand why they were brought in and would have been happy if they had never appeared.). And, there were times it gave us more questions and no answers. Lost can be confusing and frustrating to the point where you just say, “f*** IT!!!! I’M NEVER WATCHING THIS f***ING SHOW EVER AGAIN!!!!” However, the frustration it creates ironically makes it so great! Why? Because, when Lost is good, it is fantastic! And, when it’s bad, it is horrible because the show is capable of doing such quality work and disappoints fans when it doesn’t. But, in a way it's a misnomer to call Lost one of TV's best shows. It's a fine show on the level of character, with such great characters like the heroic Jack, the charmingly sarcastic Sawyer, the haunted Kate, the wise and mysterious Locke, the tortured Sayid, and the manipulative Ben, and writing, like the fantastic Season 2 finale that beautifully focused on Desmond’s painful journey to being stuck in the hatch pushing the numbers to keeps the hatch from exploding. However, with just those things, Lost could have easily been a forgotten underrated show. But, what makes it a classic is that it's the finest interactive game ever to appear in your living room once a week. An elaborate fractal pattern of intersecting stories concerning plane survivors on a not-quite-deserted island, a secretive international organization, a group of Others who were first presented as bad guys and now seem to be the good guys they said they were, polar bears on a tropical island, and a monster made of smoke, Lost only begins with the 60 minutes you see on TV. Its mysteries, clues and literary-historical allusions demand research, repeat viewing, freeze-framing and endless online discussions. And, in a medium where executives assume that viewers will flee anything that remotely challenges them, Lost proves that millions of people will support a difficult, intelligent, even frustrating story. Just as long as you blow the right kind of smoke at them.

[Hulk With A Mustache]

Tomorrow, numbers 72 through 69. Here are the hints:

A show that featured bad acts, a show with two animal spies, the British show that an American show was based on, and Don't make me angry; you wouldn't like me when I'm angry.

[rrm15]

Jul 11, 2008 22:02:21 GMT -5 Hulk With A Mustache said:

Tomorrow, numbers 72 through 69. Here are the hints:

A show that featured bad acts, a show with two animal spies, the British show that an American show was based on, and Don't make me angry; you wouldn't like me when I'm angry.

The Gong Show, U.K. Office, Hulk, and I don't know what else.

73 isn't bad. ;D

[Hulk With A Mustache]

Countdown time, people. Here's number 72:

72. The Gong Show



Genre: Game show.
Created by: Chuck Barris.
Executive Producer(s): Chuck Barris.
Starring: Chuck Barris (1976-1980), John Barbour (1976), Gary Owens (1976-1977), Don Bleu (1988-1989), Johnny Jacobs (Announcer, 1976-1980), Charlie O'Donnell (Announcer, 1988-1989).
Country of Origin: United States
Number of Seasons: 5
Number of Episodes: Unknown.
Running Time: 30 minutes.
Original Channel: NBC (1976-1980), Syndication (1976-1980, 1988-1989).
Spinoffs: Extreme Gong, a mid-1990s revival hosted by George Gray that aired on the Game Show Network; The Gong Show with Dave Attell, a new revival that will air soon on Comedy Central; Red Faces, a segment on the long running Australian variety show Hey Hey It's Saturday was also similar to The Gong Show; an Indonesian Show aired on Trans TV based on Gong Show and also called Gong Show; A one-off British version of The Gong Show, aired on Channel 4 at Christmas 1985; Let Me Entertain You, a 2006 BBC Television talent show with a similar format to The Gong Show; and the Spanish language program Sábado gigante regularly airs a similar segment, El chacal de la trompeta ("The Jackal of the Trumpet"), a Gong Show like contest

The Gong Show was created by Chuck Barris, the creator of other popular game shows, like The Dating Game and The Newlywed Game. Each show presented a contest between amateur performers of often dubious talent, with a panel of three celebrity judges. The program's frequent judges included Jaye P. Morgan, Arte Johnson, Rip Taylor, Jamie Farr, and Anson Williams. Rex Reed was notorious for being the harshest critic, often giving acts a 9 when they received perfect 10s from the other judges. If any one of the judges considered an act to be particularly bad, he or she could strike a large gong, thus forcing the performer to stop. Most of the performers took the gong with sheepish good grace, but there were exceptions. Originally, panelists had to wait 20 seconds before they could gong an act; this was later extended to 30, and finally 45. Knowing this, some contestants deliberately stopped performing just before the 45-second rule kicked in, but Barris would overrule this gambit and disqualify them. On other occasions, an act would be gonged before its minimum time was up; Barris would overrule the gong, and the hapless act would be obliged to continue with the full knowledge that their fate was already sealed. When an act was on the verge of being gonged, the laughter and anticipation built as the judges patiently waited to deliver the coup de grace: They would stand up slowly and heft their mallets deliberately, letting everyone know what was coming. Sometimes, pantomimed disputes would erupt between judges, as one celebrity would attempt to physically obstruct another from gonging the act. The camera would cut back and forth between the performers onstage, and the mock struggle over their fate. Sometimes an act was "Gang-Gonged", meaning it was so bad that it was gonged by two or even all three judges at once. If the act survived without being gonged, he/she/they were given a score by each of the three judges on a scale of zero to ten, for a maximum possible score of 30. On the NBC run, the contestant who achieved the highest combined score won the grand prize of what Chuck Barris referred to as the "highly unusual amount of" $516.32 (reportedly the Screen Actors Guild's minimum pay for a day's work) and a "Golden Gong" trophy. On the subsequent syndicated run, the prize was $712.05 (later upped to $716.32). In the event of a tie, three different tiebreakers were used in at various times during the show's run; at first, the studio audience decided the winner by their applause; later, the producers chose the winner; later still, the celebrities chose the winner. When Barris announced the final score, a dwarf in formal wear (former Munchkin Jerry Maren) would run onstage, throwing confetti while balloons dropped from overhead. Originally, the show was advertised as having each day's winning contestants come back after a few weeks (this is also mentioned in the pilot episode) to compete in a "tournament of champions", with the winner being given the chance to appear in an unspecified nightclub act. However, only one of these tournaments was ever held. The winners on the NBC version became eligible to appear on the syndicated version for a chance to earn that show's prize. Hostesses included Siv Aberg, a Swedish-born model who appeared on Barris's syndicated New Treasure Hunt, actress Marlena Clark, porn actress Carol Connors, and Barris's then-teenaged daughter Della. Johnny Jacobs and, on occasion, Jack Clark served as announcers. The show celebrated many holidays such as Christmas, the Fourth of July, and Thanksgiving, but invariably did so by singing the Irving Berlin standard, "Easter Parade." (When Easter was feted, the cast and crew would sing "White Christmas.") The annual Christmas episode also featured a major rule change; for one day, in honor of the holiday spirit, judges were not permitted to gong contestants. Predictably, Christmas shows were heavily loaded with the most unappealing acts available. Among those that acted as "celebrity judges" were Phyllis Diller, Dr. Joyce Brothers, Jaye P. Morgan, The Unknown Comic, Jamie Farr, Rex Reed, David Letterman, Scatman Crothers, Pat Harrington, and Steve Garvey. The game was hosted by Chuck Barris himself, but he was not the original host. Barris was an emergency replacement for John Barbour. Barbour, who later hosted Real People for NBC, objected to the show's satirical concept and tried to steer it towards a traditional amateur-hour format. The very earliest episodes had the celebrity judges earnestly giving helpful advice to the amateur performers. An NBC executive who had watched Barris rehearse the show suggested that Barris replace Barbour. Barris accepted but resisted the requirement that he wear a tuxedo; he only caved in when the executive threatened not to take the show at all. In time, tuxedos gave way to, in many episodes, much more casual attire; in addition, he began wearing a variety of unfashionable hats on stage, frequently changing them during the show. Barris was ill at ease before the camera. He had a nervous habit of clapping his hands together and pointing to the camera while talking. He did this so often that, by the show's second year, it had become a running gag. Audience members began clapping their hands in unison with Barris whenever they saw him doing it. Barris caught on, and would sometimes pretend to clap, deliberately stopping short to sucker the audience. Producer Chris Bearde, formerly of Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In and The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, clashed with Barris over the show's content, favoring scripted comedy over chaotic nonsense. (Bearde's "new talent" segments on Laugh-In had featured oddball performers, the most famous being Tiny Tim.) Bearde eventually withdrew from The Gong Show, leaving Barris in full charge of the show. Before long, Barris was working so loosely that some viewers assumed he was drunk or worse. He would pull his hat down over his eyes, totally obscuring them. His monologues, never exactly crisp or slick, occasionally rambled. Barris later recounted in an interview that he was never drunk, and that he would not allow drugs in his production company. If Barris enjoyed an act, it was obvious; he would stand there beaming. For the losers, no matter how untalented, Barris was unfailingly positive about their performances, often consoling them after being gonged with supposedly comforting words like "I don't know why they did that! I loved your act. But then again, I also like getting a tick bath." Or, "But then again, I love cramps." The celebrity who had gonged the performer was typically asked "Why'd you do that?" and was expected to provide an explanation, joke, or further insult. Frequently, Barris would lead into commercial breaks with the cryptic promise, "We'll be right back, with mor-re stuff…right after this message!" Milton DeLugg, a popular musician and bandleader during the 1940s, got the Gong Show job by default. As musical director for the network, he was responsible for any NBC project that required special music (like the annual telecasts of the Thanksgiving Day parade). Barris initially regarded Milton DeLugg as "an anachronism", but he soon found that DeLugg was very much attuned to the crazy tone of the show, and his band, which included top jazz players like Bob Findley, Joe Howard and Lanny Morgan, kept the show's energy level high. The band even led into station breaks, with Barris's enthusiastic "Take me into the commercial, Milt!" DeLugg remained associated with Barris for many years after the Gong Show ended. The show had many running gags and characters who appeared as regular performers:

The Unknown Comic (Murray Langston, formerly of the Sonny and Cher TV stock company) was a stand-up comedian who told intentionally corny jokes while wearing a paper bag over his head. On one occasion the Unknown Comic brought a dog on stage -- with a paper bag over its head. "You've heard of a boxer?", asked Langston. "This is a bagger!" Eventually, Langston would beckon to "Chuckie" and tell insulting jokes at his expense ("Have you ever made love to your wife in the shower?" "No." "Well, you should, she loves it!"). Barris would then feign anger and eject Langston from the show. Langston later made appearances as a judge on the show.

Gene-Gene the Dancing Machine was Gene Patton, a beefy, middle-aged black man wearing a warm-up suit and flat hat. Gene-Gene's arrival would always be treated as though it were a glorious surprise to everyone on the show, especially Barris. Upon hearing the opening notes to his theme music (an arrangement of "Jumpin' at the Woodside,'" a popular Count Basie song), Barris's face would light up and he would stop the show, yielding the stage to Gene-Gene. Members of the crew would toss random objects from the wings, littering the stage while Gene-Gene danced on, seemingly unaware of the activity around him. Barris and the panelists would enthusiastically mimic Gene-Gene's dance moves, which consisted primarily of a slow-footed chug-chug motion, punctuated by an occasional, exultant fist pointed skyward. Typically, the dance break would be interrupted by a commercial or by the show's promotional announcements. In reality, Patton was an NBC stagehand whose backstage dancing caught the attention of Barris, who moved him out in front of the curtain. Occasionally, Gene-Gene filled in as one of the three mallet-wielding judges. Patton's popularity was such that his retirement from NBC made the national news wires in 1997, unique attention for a stagehand.

Scarlett and Rhett were wardrobe master Jefferson Becker and makeup artist Peter Mims, dressed as Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler from Gone with the Wind. Their act always began with Rhett bellowing, "I don't give a damn!" and the shocked Scarlett gasping, "You can't say that on television!" Rhett would respond by asking, "Well, can I say this, Scarlett?" and launch into a vulgar riddle along the lines of "Why are pool tables green?" Scarlett would answer, "Why, Rhett?" "Because if someone was--" and the off-color punchline would invariably be bleeped out. After two or three jokes, and the same number of shocked reactions, Barris would stop the act and close the curtain.

Larry Spencer, played by the show's writer of the same name, wore an old-fashioned black cape and top hat; the audience was encouraged to hiss at him as if he were a villain from 19th century melodrama.

"Larry And His Magic _____", an alleged musician (also portrayed by Spencer) whose various appearances featured a series of different instruments. His call-and-response act featured him proclaiming, "I'm gonna play my (trumpet, fiddle, xylophone, kettle drum, etc.)" and the audience shouting back, "Whatcha gonna do?" This exchange would be repeated twice, after which he would announce, "I'm gonna play my (instrument) nowwww!" Instead of playing, though, he would merely repeat his audience-punctuated declaration. After a few verses of this, the skit would inevitably end with Spencer failing to play his instrument. Either time would run out, the instrument would malfunction or be booby trapped, or he would manage to produce a few inept notes before being permanently interrupted by Barris.

Chuckie's Fables, featuring "The Mighty Gong Show Players", an alleged acting troupe (in actuality, members of the production and stage crews). Barris would flop into a rocking chair and read a narrative from an oversized storybook, while the Players would pantomime the action behind him. These stories always ended with a convoluted moral. The name was a takeoff on the "Mighty Carson Art Players" from the Tonight Show, which in turn was a copy of Fred Allen's "Mighty Allen Art Players."

The Worm, a supposed "dance craze" consisting of three men who flung themselves to the floor and wriggled on the ground. At the end of each of their performances, Barris would come out and say, "One - More - Time!" The Worm would often be performed four or five times in succession before the commercial break interrupted the men's performance.
The show's air of spontaneity was abetted by various comic appearances by supporting staff members.

The Gong Show was infamous for a few acts that, by contemporary 70s standards, were especially controversial. The most memorable of all of them was an act called "Have You Got a Nickel?" (also known as "The Popsicle Twins"), which consisted of two 17-year-old girls, sitting on stage and provocatively sucking Popsicles, all with no musical accompaniment. Jaye P. Morgan would not allow either of the other judges (Phyllis Diller and Jamie Farr) to hit the gong on the non-act. The Gong Show Movie includes 10 seconds of footage from the Popsicle Twins.

Years later, Barris told an interviewer that the censors would regularly reject acts that he thought were safe enough to air. So, he made it a point to submit acts to the censors that were totally over the line, in the hope that some of the less questionable ones would slip through. The Popsicle Twins' act was, in Barris's mind, far too suggestive, and he'd submitted it as a stalking horse. In a May 2007 interview with Minneapolis deejay Dan Barriero, Barris corrected the commonly-held belief that the women were merely portraying minors, revealing that the girls were just 17 years old at the time. He said that the usually diligent censors were asleep at the wheel during pre-screening and the act was allowed to go on in the Eastern and Central time zones before they realized what was going on, but the network did censor the telecast for the Mountain and Pacific time zones. As performers, the Popsicle Twins' act did not go over very well at all with the celebrity judges, who awarded it a combined score of only 12 points, though they did receive a perfect 10 from Jaye P. Morgan, who quipped, "That's how I got started!"). Another impromptu moment came in early 1978, when Jaye P. Morgan unbuttoned her blouse and exposed her breasts during a female contestant's performance; this "flashing" incident was the last straw for NBC, who promptly dropped her from the show for the remainder of its daytime run (though she would continue to appear as a regular on the nighttime syndicated version). Morgan often inserted risqué material into the programs, such as during a performance by Chuck D'Imperio, "The Shower Singer". D'Imperio sang "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" while naked in a shower, inspiring judges Morgan, Jamie Farr and Arte Johnson to do a rousing dance around the shower stall at center stage. Jaye P. poked her head inside the shower, and later commented, "I didn't care too much for his singing, but I'll certainly give him a big 10 for what I saw in the shower!" The two biggest Gong Show-related show-biz successes were Andrea McArdle and Cheryl Lynn. Twelve-year-old McArdle appeared on an early show in 1976, shortly before winning the lead role in the hit Broadway musical Annie. Lynn was signed to a recording contract as a result of her appearance and recorded the top-20 disco hit "Got To Be Real." Among the other true talents that appeared on the show were singer Box Car Willie, comics Paul Reubens and Joey D'Auria ("Professor Flamo", later WGN's second Bozo the Clown), singer/actress Louanne, comic juggler Hillary Carlip, impressionist Michael Winslow, and a band called The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, which evolved into Oingo Boingo. NBC decided to take the chance on Barris's talent show to fix a scheduling problem at 12:30 p.m. Eastern/11:30 a.m. Central. This was NBC's least important time slot, running only 25 minutes (leaving room for a five-minute newscast anchored by Edwin Newman), so the actual program content was less than 20 minutes. Many NBC affiliates in larger Eastern Time Zone markets opted not to run network programming during the noon hour at all, preferring to broadcast local news and talk shows instead. Thus Gong made its debut mainly on medium-market and smaller stations (or on large-market rival stations that picked up the program from the NBC affiliate that had rejected it, as occurred in Boston). After the New Year, Gong found itself at 4 p.m./3 Central, succeeding the cancelled soap Somerset. However, numerous NBC affiliates had been pre-empting the slot for years, meaning that Gong ran at a disadvantage against CBS's Tattletales and ABC's The Edge of Night. By early December, the network decided to return Gong to 12:30/11:30; at the start of the year, NBC had discontinued the five-minute newscast, meaning the program could remain at a full 30 minutes. Despite fairly respectable ratings for a non-soap-opera midday show, NBC cancelled Gong, with its final episode to air on July 21, 1978. Much speculation occurred as to the network's true motivations for dumping the show. Barris himself has commented that the official reason he heard was that NBC acted in response to both "lower than expected ratings" and a desire by the network to "re-tailor the morning shows to fit the standard morning demographics." America Alive, a magazine-style variety program hosted by Art Linkletter's son Jack, replaced Gong. Following the cancellation, many critics and industry analysts, including Gene Shalit and Rona Barrett, reported having heard comments from within NBC's programming department from "sources preferring anonymity" that the true reason behind the cancellation was Barris's refusal to tone down the racy nature of the show. According to the sources, after the "Popsicle Twins" incident and Morgan's "breast baring", Barris had been given an ultimatum by NBC's Standards and Practices department to deliver cleaner shows, with a particular eye to the potential children and youth watching the show. Barris, however, continued to deliver shows with the same amount of supposedly questionable content, apparently in an effort to call the network's bluff. NBC allowed Barris to continue the show for the rest of the contract, and Barris made no perceptible change in preparation for the finale. On the final episode, staff member Larry Gotterer appeared as "Fenwick Gotterer" to host the show, after Chuck started the show doing a "Chuck's Fables" sketch. The rest of the show was done in sort of a way to explain the life of the show, and its cancellation. Barris managed to have the last word on the cancellation: he appeared as a contestant himself. Playing in a country music band called "The Hollywood Cowboys" with the house band's rhythm section, Barris sang Johnny Paycheck's Take This Job and Shove It, and even gave the camera a "middle finger salute" to accentuate his point. The network censored the offending digit in the same way it handled offensive celebrity score cards: the word "OOPS!" superimposed over a still shot of the set. Barris was gonged by Jamie Farr. Gene-Gene the Dancing Machine then came out after a few more skits, and did his famous dance. The rest of the cast, including staff members, people who participated, and even Jaye P. Morgan (who by then was banned from the daytime show) all joined in at the end to dance with him. Gong continued in syndication for two years after NBC's daytime dismissal, often airing on weekends. Not surprisingly, with censors largely out of the picture, this evening version pushed the envelope even further, with local stations making the decision about whether the show would be suitable for local mores and taste. In all likelihood, this version was chiefly responsible for the show's cult following, since it usually reached a far larger audience than had been possible on daytime. A syndicated weekday revival of The Gong Show, hosted by San Francisco disc jockey Don Bleu, ran during the 1988-1989 season, but lasted only one year. Each winner was paid $701. In 1980, “The Gong Show Movie” was released by Universal Pictures to scathing reviews and was quickly withdrawn from theatrical release. It is considered a minor cult classic by some. Advertising proclaimed it as "The Gong Show that Got Gonged by the Censor". It is seen periodically on cable TV but has never been released on DVD. “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind” is a film directed by George Clooney and written by Charlie Kaufman, based on the autobiography of Chuck Barris. Part of the film chronicles the making of The Gong Show, and features several clips from the original series. Following the success of the print and screen versions of Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, GSN (The Game Show Network) produced a documentary called The Chuck Barris Story: My Life on the Edge. At the height of the show's popularity, NBC gave Barris a prime-time variety hour, The Chuck Barris Rah Rah Show. This was played somewhat more seriously than the zany Gong Show, with Jaye P. Morgan singing straight pop songs as in her nightclub and recording days, and bygone headliners like Slim Gaillard reprising their old hits for an enthusiastic studio audience. Spinoffs include "The $1.98 Beauty Show" hosted by Rip Taylor. All episodes of The Gong Show are presumed to exist and have been seen on GSN (except the Gary Owens version). An episode of John Barbour's week has been aired by GSN, and an episode of the Owens version is on the trading circuit. The Gong Show was later revived on the Game Show Network as Extreme Gong, in which viewers could call in and vote on whether or not the act was bad. It was hosted by George Gray, better known as the host of the syndicated version of The Weakest Link. Comedy Central announced that a new incarnation called The Gong Show with Dave Attell will debut at 10:00 PM EST on July 17, 2008. Among the new show's celebrity judges will be Steve Schirripa, Brian Posehn, Andy Dick, Ron White, Jim Norton, Adam Carolla, Kate Walsh, Dave Navarro, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, and Greg Giraldo.

American Idol is a very popular show right now. Though the show is about finding the best singing talent from a group of talented singers, the best and most entertaining part of the show is the audition process. Why? Because most of the people who audition are horrible! They sing badly and usually wear some unusual outfit. And, they bomb miserably, followed by Simon Cowell explaining in great detail how bad they are. Watching a bad act is bomb is entertaining as hell. But, American Idol wasn’t the first show to prove this; that distinction goes to The Gong Show. Never has TV featured so many hilariously untalented people in one place. In this Chuck Barris-created amateur half hour, viewers were subjected to eardrum-splitting renditions of “Feelings,” jokes from the Unknown Comic, a woman who whistled through her nose, and-GONG!-I’ll channel the spirit of celebrity judge Jamie Farr and spare you the rest. During its run, many critics excoriated The Gong Show as one of the worst shows in TV history. Today, it is seen as an inspiration for much of the modern-day genre of reality television. Although many televised talent shows had preceded it, The Gong Show's sardonic outlook continues to influence many unsympathetic talent and celebreality shows including American Idol, America's Got Talent, and especially Pants-Off Dance-Off, where the often out-of shape stripper contestants are frequent objects of derision. Hell, if it hadn’t had been for the Gong Show, we never would have heard of William Hung or, ironically, Kelly Clarkson (What!? She’s not that bad!) The Gong Show proved that there is a market for bad entertainment, and in an age of irony, it is one of the best kinds of entertainment there is.

[Hulk With A Mustache]

71. The Rocky And Bullwinkle Show



Genre: Animated series, comedy.
Created by: Jay Ward and Alex Anderson.
Executive Producer(s): Ponsonby Britt.
Starring: Bill Scott (Bullwinkle J. Moose), June Foray (Rocket “Rocky” J. Squirrel, Natasha Fatale, and Nell Fenwick), Edward Everett Horton (Narrator for Fractured Fairy Tales segment), Paul Frees (Boris Badenov, Captain Peachfuzz, Cloyd, Inspector Fenwick, Narrator #1 for Dudley Do-Right, and additional voices), William Conrad (Narrator for Rocky And Bullwinkle and Dudley Do-Right segments), Walter Tetley (Sherman), Charles Ruggles (Aesop), Daws Butler (Aesop Jr. and additional voices), Hans Conried (Snidely Whiplash), Julie Bennett (additional voices), and Dorothy Scott (additional voices).
Country of Origin: United States
Number of Seasons: 5.
Number of Episodes: 130.
Running Time: 30 minutes
Original Channel: ABC (Rocky And His Friends), NBC (The Bullwinkle Show).
Original Run: 1959 – 1961 (Rocky And His Friends), 1961 – 1964 (The Bullwinkle Show).
Spinoffs: There have been a few films based on the show: “Boris and Natasha,” a 1992 live-action film about Rocky and Bullwinkle’s archrivals; “Dudley Do-Right,” a 1999 film based on the Dudley Do-Right segments; and “The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle,” a 2000 filmed based on the Rocky and Bullwinkle segments.

The idea for the series was created by Jay Ward and Alex Anderson, who had both previously collaborated on Crusader Rabbit, and was based upon the original property The Frostbite Falls Revue. This original show was about a group of forest animals running a TV station. The group included Rocket J. Squirrel, Oski Bear, Canadian Moose (Bullwinkle), Sylvester Fox, Blackstone Crow, and Floral Fauna. The show in this form was created by Jay Ward's partner Alex Anderson. Ward wanted to produce the show in Los Angeles. However, Anderson, who lived in the San Francisco Bay area, did not want to relocate. As a result, Ward hired Bill Scott, who became the head writer and co-producer at Jay Ward Productions, and who wrote all of the Rocky and Bullwinkle features. Ward was also joined by writers Allan Burns (who later became head writer for MTM Enterprises) and Chris Hayward. The series began with the pilot Rocky the Flying Squirrel. Production began in February 1958 with the hiring of voice actors June Foray, Paul Frees, Bill Scott, and William Conrad. Eight months later, General Mills signed a deal to sponsor the cartoon, under the condition that the show be run in a late-afternoon time slot, where it could be targeted towards children. Subsequently, Ward hired most of the rest of the production staff, including writers and designers. However, no animators were hired, since Ward was able to convince friends of his at Dancer, Fitzgerald, & Sample, an advertising firm that had General Mills as a client, to buy an animation studio in Mexico called Gamma Productions S.A. de C.V. (formerly known as Val-Mar Animation.) This outsourcing of the animation for the series was considered financially attractive by General Mills, but caused numerous problems. Bill Scott, when interviewed by animation historian Jim Korkis in 1982, described some of the problems that arose in the production of the series:

We found out very quickly that we could not depend on the Mexico studio to produce anything of quality. They were turning out the work very quickly and there were all kinds of mistakes and flaws and boo-boos. They would never check. Mustaches popped on and off Boris, Bullwinkle's antlers would change, colors would change, costumes would disappear. By the time we finally saw it, it was on the air.

When first shown on NBC, the cartoons were introduced by a Bullwinkle puppet, voiced by Bill Scott, who would often lampoon celebrities, current events, and especially Walt Disney, whose program Disneyland was the next show on the schedule. On one occasion, "Bullwinkle" encouraged children to pull the tuning knobs off the TV set. "In that way," explained Bullwinkle, "we'll be sure to be with you next week!" After the network received complaints from parents of an estimated 20,000 child viewers who apparently followed Bullwinkle's suggestion, Bullwinkle told the children the following week to put the knobs back on with glue "and make it stick!" The puppet sequence was dropped altogether. He also did a segment called "Dear Bullwinkle" which 4 episodes are on Season 1 DVD. The lead characters and heroes of the series were Rocket "Rocky" J. Squirrel, a flying squirrel, and his best friend Bullwinkle J. Moose, a dim-witted but good-natured moose. Both characters lived in the fictional town of Frostbite Falls, Minnesota, which was based on the real life city of International Falls, Minnesota. The scheming villains in most episodes were the fiendish, but inept, agents of the fictitious nation of Pottsylvania: Boris Badenov, a pun on Boris Godunov, and Natasha Fatale, a pun on femme fatale. Boris and Natasha were commanded by the sinister Mr. Big and Fearless Leader. Other characters included Gidney & Cloyd, little green men from the moon who were armed with scrooch guns; Captain Peter "Wrongway" Peachfuzz, the captain of the S.S. Guppy; and the inevitable onlookers, Edgar and Chauncy. Each episode comprises two "Rocky & Bullwinkle" cliffhanger shorts that stylistically emulated early radio and film serials. The plots of these shorts would combine into much larger story arcs that would span numerous episodes. For example, the first and also the longest story arc of the series was called Jet Fuel Formula and consisted of 40 shorts (20 episodes). Each story arc would place the mighty moose and plucky squirrel in a different adventure, ranging from seeking the missing ingredient for a rocket fuel formula, to tracking the monstrous whale Maybe Dick, to a desperate attempt to prevent mechanical, metal-munching, moon mice from devouring the nation's television antennas. Rocky and Bullwinkle confront a number of obstacles and enemies in the course of their adventures, most frequently the two Pottsylvanian nogoodniks, Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale. At the end of most episodes, the narrator, William Conrad, would announce two humorous titles for the next episode that typically were puns of each other. For example, during an adventure taking place in a mountain range, the narrator would state, "Be with us next time for 'Avalanche Is Better Than None,' or 'Snow's Your Old Man.'" The narrator also frequently had conversations with the characters, thus breaking the fourth wall in the process. Each episode was introduced with one of four standard opening sequences: 1. Rocky flies about snow-covered mountains. Below him, hiking on a snowy trail, Bullwinkle is distracted by a billboard featuring his name, and walks off a ledge. He becomes a large snowball as he rolls downhill. Rocky flies to him and pushes against the snowball, slowing it to a halt just at the edge of another cliff. Bullwinkle pops out of the snowball to catch the teetering squirrel at the cliff edge. 2. In a circus, Rocky is preparing to jump from a very high diving board into a tub of water tended by Bullwinkle. However, when Rocky jumps, he ends up flying around the circus tent, while Bullwinkle chases after him carrying the tub. As Rocky lands safely, Bullwinkle tumbles into the tub. 3. Rocky is flying acrobatically about a city landscape. Bullwinkle is high atop a flagpole painting a sign, and is knocked from his perch as the squirrel flies by. Rocky attempts to catch the plummeting moose with a butterfly net, but the moose falls through it. Rocky then flies lower to find his friend suspended from a clothesline, having fallen into a pair of long johns. 4. Similar to the previous opening, Rocky is again flying about the city. Bullwinkle is suspended from a safety harness on a large billboard, posting a sign. He loses his balance as the squirrel zooms past him and tumbles off the platform. The moose lands on a banner pole mounted on the side of a building, and the recoil springs him back into the air. He lands on a store awning, slides down it, and drops a few feet to a bench on which Rocky is seated. The impact launches the squirrel off the bench, and Bullwinkle nonchalantly catches him in his left hand to end the sequence. The "Rocky & Bullwinkle" shorts served as "bookends" for several other popular supporting features, including:

Dudley Do-Right of the Mounties, a parody of early 20th century melodrama and silent film serials of the Northern genre. Dudley Do-Right was a Canadian Mountie in constant pursuit of his nemesis, Snidely Whiplash, who sported the standard "villain" attire of black top hat, cape, and oversized mustache. This is one of the few Jay Ward cartoons to feature a background music track. As was standard in Ward's cartoons, jokes often functioned on two levels. A standard gag was to introduce characters in an irised close-up with the name of the "actor" displayed in a caption below, a convention seen in some early silent films. However, the comic twist was using the captions to present silly names or subtle puns. Occasionally, even the scenery was introduced in this manner, as when "Dead Man's Gulch" was identified as being portrayed by "Gorgeous Gorge," a reference to professional wrestler Gorgeous George.

Peabody's Improbable History featured a talking dog genius named Mister Peabody who had a pet boy named Sherman. Sherman and Peabody would use Peabody's "WABAC machine" (pronounced "way-back", and partially a play on names of early computers such as UNIVAC and ENIAC) to go back in time to discover the real story behind historical events, and in many cases, intervene with uncooperative historical figures to ensure that events actually transpire as history has recorded.

Fractured Fairy Tales presented familiar fairy tales and children's stories, but with storylines altered and modernized for humorous effect. This series was narrated by Edward Everett Horton.
Aesop & Son was similar to Fractured Fairy Tales (complete with the same theme music), except it dealt with fables instead of fairy tales. The typical structure consisted of Aesop attempting to teach a lesson to his son using a fable. After hearing the story, the son would erode the fable's moral with a pun. This structure was also suggested by the feature's opening titles, which showed Aesop painstakingly carving his name in marble using a mallet and chisel and then his son, with a jackhammer and raising a cloud of dust, appending "& Son." Aesop was voiced (uncredited) by actor Charlie Ruggles.

Bullwinkle's Corner featured the dimwitted moose attempting to inject culture into the proceedings by reciting poems and nursery rhymes, inadvertently and humorously butchering them. Poems subjected to this treatment include several by Robert Louis Stevenson ("My Shadow", "The Swing" and "Where Go the Boats"), William Wordsworth's "Daffodils", "Little Miss Muffet", "Little Jack Horner", and "Wee Willie Winkie", J. G. Whittier's "Barbara Frietchie", and "The Queen of Hearts" by Charles Lamb. Simple Simon (nursery rhyme) is performed with Boris as the pie man, but as a variation of the famous Abbot and Costello routine "Who's On First?"

Mr. Know-It-All again featured Bullwinkle posing as an authority on various topics. Disaster invariably ensued.

Rocky and Bullwinkle Fan Club, a series of abortive attempts by Rocky and Bullwinkle to conduct the club's business. The fan club consisted only of Rocky, Bullwinkle, Boris, Natasha, and Captain Peter Peachfuzz. Notably, these shorts seemingly break the fourth wall by showing these characters "out of character," as opposed to their portrayals in the serialized Rocky and Bullwinkle episodes.

The World of Commander McBragg, short features on revisionist history as the title character would have imagined it; this was actually prepared for Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales (and later shown on The Underdog Show). Although the shorts were animated by the same animated company, Gamma Productions, they were actually produced for Total Television, rather than Ward Productions. These segments were part of pre-1990 syndicated versions of The Bullwinkle Show (and also appear in syndicated episodes of The Underdog Show, Dudley Do Right And Friends, and Uncle Waldo's Cartoon Show).

The show was broadcast for the first time in the fall of 1959 on the ABC television network under the name Rocky and His Friends. In 1961, the series was moved to NBC, where it was renamed The Bullwinkle Show. Subsequently, in 1964, the show returned to ABC, where it was canceled within a year. However, reruns of episodes were still continually aired on ABC until 1973, at which time the series went into syndication. In addition, an abbreviated fifteen minute version of the series ran in syndication in the 1960s under the title The Rocky Show. This version was sometimes shown in conjunction with The King and Odie, a fifteen minute version of Total Television's King Leonardo and his Short Subjects. The King and Odie was similar to Rocky and Bullwinkle in that it was sponsored by General Mills and animated by Gamma Productions. Sponsor General Mills retains all United States television rights to the series, which remains available in domestic syndication through The Program Exchange, although the underlying rights are now owned by Bullwinkle Studios, a joint venture of copyright holder Ward Productions and Classic Media. Two packages, each containing different episodes, are available. The syndicated version of The Bullwinkle Show contains 98 half-hour shows (#801-898). The first 78 comprise the Rocky & Bullwinkle storylines from the first two seasons of the original series (these segments originally aired under the Rocky And His Friends title). Other elements in the half-hours (Fractured Fairy Tales, Peabody's Improbable History, Dudley Do-Right Of The Mounties, Aesop And Son, and short cartoons including Bullwinkle's Corner and Mr. Know-It-All) do not necessarily correspond to the original broadcast sequence. The final 20 syndicated Bullwinkle Show episodes feature later Rocky & Bullwinkle storylines (from "Bumbling Bros. Circus" through the end of the series, minus "Moosylvania") along with Fractured Fairy Tales, Bullwinkle's Corner and Mr. Know-It-All segments repeated from earlier in the syndicated episode cycle. (Originally, many of the syndicated shows also included segments of Total Television's The World Of Commander McBragg, but these cartoons were replaced with other segments when the shows were remastered in the early 1990s.) Another package, promoted under the Rocky And His Friends name but utilizing The Rocky Show titles, features other storylines not included in the syndicated Bullwinkle Show series. The current syndicated Rocky And His Friends package still retains the 15-minute format (consisting of 156 individual episodes), but like The Bullwinkle Show, its content differs from the versions syndicated in the 1960s. In fact, neither package includes all the supporting cartoon segments; however, all of the Fractured Fairy Tales (91), Peabody's Improbable History (91), and Aesop And Son (39) segments are syndicated as part of Tennessee Tuxedo And His Tales, and 38 of the 39 Dudley Do-Right cartoons are syndicated as part of Dudley Do Right (sic) And Friends. Syndicated versions of the shows distributed outside of the United States and Canada are again different, combining all of the various segments under the package title Rocky And Bullwinkle And Friends; it is this version of the show that is represented on official DVD releases by Classic Media. There was a syndicated daily newspaper comic strip titled Bullwinkle starting in 1962 with original stories drawn by Al Kilgore. Rocky and Bullwinkle comic books have been released by Gold Key Comics and Star Comics (an imprint of Marvel Comics). The 1980s Star Comics series were called Bullwinkle and Rocky. The comics, although clearly for children, did contain numerous references spoofing issues such as celebrity worship or the politics of the 1980s. In one issue, Bullwinkle owns a small company, which makes him eligible to compete in a fun run in Washington DC for presidents of small companies. When Bullwinkle says he is there for the race, it is mistaken that he is campaigning for President. The comic also spoofed US President Ronald Reagan, and he personally thanks Bullwinkle for stopping Boris & Natasha by rewarding him with monogrammed jelly beans. Another comic broke the fourth wall when the narrator is outraged at a plot of Boris', to which Boris claims he has control of everyone "by capturing the Marvel Comics building and tying up the editor". When the narrator says how this is morally wrong, Boris quiets him by saying "you will agree or you will not find find paycheck in mail this month!" A live-action made-for-television feature film Boris and Natasha, starring the two spies, was produced in 1992. Neither Rocky nor Bullwinkle appear in this film; however two characters are identified as 'Moose' and 'Squirrel'. A theatrical film starring Rocky and Bullwinkle, The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, was released in 2000. It was mostly live-action with Rocky and Bullwinkle appearing as computer-generated characters. For the film, June Foray returned to voice Rocky, while Bullwinkle was voiced by Keith Scott. Although the movie retained the spirit and feel of the original cartoons, most critics didn't think the film was as humorous as the original cartoon. Dudley Do-Right, a theatrical live-action film, was released in 1999 and starred Brendan Fraser and Sarah Jessica Parker. A live-action Peabody's Improbable History was planned for release in 2001, but the film was cancelled due to Universal Pictures' Dudley Do-Right and The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle underperforming at the box-office. More recently, the film's production has been revived by DreamWorks Animation to now be a computer-animated film. In 2002, Jay Ward Productions established a partnership with Classic Media called Bullwinkle Studios. In 2003 and 2004, the partnership produced DVDs of the first two seasons of the series, which were renamed (for legal reasons) Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends. In September 2005, the third season was released onto DVD. According to a pamphlet accompanying the DVDs for the first season, the DVDs use the second season opening, which Ward's daughter Tiffany says was her father's favorite. Nevertheless, the DVDs for the third season just use the opening and closing from the first season. In addition, the DVDs for the first two seasons replaced the original music with themes Ward produced for the third season.
In 2005, Bullwinkle Studios released a series of "best of" DVD compilations of popular segments of the series: two volumes of "The Best of Rocky and Bullwinkle", plus the single-volume "The Best of Boris and Natasha", "The Best of Mr. Peabody and Sherman" and "The Best of Dudley Do-Right". These compilations contain episodes from the entire run of the show, including the otherwise-unreleased seasons four and five. So far, there has been no word on when (or if) the Complete Season 4 and/or Season 5 will be released.

Okay, I’m cheating here a little bit. Technically, I’m putting two shows in one spot: Rocky And His Friends and The Bullwinkle Show, collectively known as The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. However, both show are so similar that they are practically one show. Plus, The Bullwinkle Show started airing on NBC the same year Rocky And His Friends ended its run on ABC. Nevertheless, considering that we didn't all get blown up, I think we can now agree that the Cold War was worth it, if only for giving us this Ike-era spy-vs.-spy send-up. The cartoon series was many a baby boomer’s introduction to satire and irony. It featured the spunky, plucky, and heroic Rocket J. Squirrel and the dimwitted and cowardly but poetry lover Bullwinkle J. Moose defending the US of A against Pottsylvanian sneak Boris Badenov and the slinky Natasha Fatale. The creations of writer-animator Jay Ward and Alex Anderson (though Ward was the primary writer) parodied old-fashioned movie serials that most of its audience probably didn’t even remember existed as well as Cold War espionage. The show was also famous for Mountie Dudley Do-Right; time-traveling canine inventor Mr. Peabody and his boy Sherman; and the Fractured Fairy Tales narrated by Edward Everett Horton. In all this, Ward’s achievement was to bring a love of puns (Bullwinkle was an alum of Wassamatta U), a fast pace, and a wiseacre, Mad-magazine, nothing-sacred sensibility to cartoons. It was the first animated series aimed at tickling grown-ups as much as the kiddies. And, while Rocky and Bullwinkle may not have won the space race, it gave red-blooded American kids a leg up on the Russkies in appreciating satire.

[Hulk With A Mustache]

70. The Office (U.K.)



Genre: Comedy, Mockumentary, and Satire.
Created by: Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant.
Executive Producer(s): Anil Gupta and Jon Plowman.
Starring: Ricky Gervais (David Brent), Martin Freeman (Tim Canterbury), Mackenzie Crook (Gareth Keenan), Lucy Davis (Dawn Tinsley), Patrick Baladi (Neil Godwin), Ralph Ineson (Chris Finch), Stirling Gallacher (Jennifer Taylor-Clarke), Joel Beckett (Lee), Ben Bradshaw (Ben), Nicola Cotter (Karen Roper), Jamie Deeks (Jamie), Vincent Franklin (Rowan, training facilitator), Jane Lucas (Sheila), Ewen Macintosh (Keith Bishop), Emma Manton (Emma), Ron Merchant (Gordon), Alexander Perkins (Ralph), Phillip Pickard (Phillip), David Schaal (Glynn),
Sally Bretton (Donna, Series 1), Oliver Chris (Ricky Howard, Series 1), Angela Clerkin (Jackie, Series 1), Yvonne D'Alpra (Joan, Series 1), Robin Hooper (Malcolm, Series 1), Julie Fernandez (Brenda, Series 2), Tom Goodman-Hill (Ray, Series 2), Jennifer Hennessy (Jude, Series 2), Matthew Holness (Simon, the computer geek, Series 2), Rachel Isaac (Trudy, Series 2), Stephen Merchant (Oggie, Series 2), Tony MacMurray (Tony, Series 2), Stacey Roca (Rachel, Series 2), and Howard Saddler (Oliver, Series 2).
Country of Origin: United Kingdom.
Number of Seasons: 2 (Technically, they’re called Series in the UK.)
Number of Episodes: 14.
Running Time: 30 minutes.
Original Channel: BBC Two.
Original Run: July 9, 2001 – December 27, 2003
Spinoffs: There are several versions in many countries: The Office (United States), Le Bureau (France), Stromberg (Germany), Os Aspones (Brazil), and La Job (Quebec).

The show was created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. It is set in Slough, England, a satellite town of London, immortalized for its lack of appeal by John Betjeman in his poem "Slough" ("Come, friendly bombs..."), in a small branch of the fictitious paper company Wernham Hogg (where "life is stationery"). The show has no laugh track and is in the mockumentary style, devised at a time when documentaries such as Airport and A Life of Grime (which follow people performing their jobs) were popular. The office is headed by regional manager David Brent (Gervais). He considers himself to be a successful maverick in the business world and a Renaissance man, talented in philosophy, music and comedy. Although he believes himself to be friendly, hilarious, and well-liked, he is in reality petty, pompous and snide. His immature behaviour comes across as he bumbles around the office, always hovering around the camera, telling unfunny jokes, performing hackneyed impressions, and generally getting himself into trouble by talking before thinking. Although Brent considers himself to be a modern, politically correct man he often displays patronizing (and at times offensive) attitudes towards women, ethnic minorities, homosexuals and disabled people. Much of the series' comedic success stems from Brent, who frequently makes attempts to win favour with his employees and peers with embarrassing or disastrous results. Brent's character flaws are used to comic effect, including numerous verbal gaffes, unconscious racism, sexism and other social faux-pas. Brent’s assistant ("to the regional manager") and second-in-command is Gareth Keenan (Mackenzie Crook), who is also a lieutenant in the Territorial Army. Gareth is a humorless jobsworth with few attractive personality traits. He is obsessed with military violence and his service in the Territorial Army and perpetually annoys Tim with ridiculous, pretentious comments. He prides himself in being Team Leader, not realizing his title is mostly meaningless, and imposes the little authority he has on his co-workers. Like David Brent, Gareth is arrogant and oblivious. The rest of the office quietly recognizes Gareth as David Brent's lapdog. However it is seen in the Christmas special that Gareth has taken an ugly side against David Brent and patronizes him and humiliates him to the cameras, which is almost a turn of the tables as it is seen on several occasions in the first and second series, David is treating Gareth poorly. Gareth shares a desk with the unassuming Tim Canterbury (Martin Freeman) and is a nemesis to him. Tim Canterbury (Martin Freeman) is a sales rep at Wernham Hogg. Unlike David Brent, Tim is funny and unpretentious. His witticisms and friendliness make him one of the most likeable characters of the show. However, he leads an unsatisfying life—at 30, he still lives with his parents and works at a job he believes to be completely pointless. Although he wishes to leave Wernham Hogg to pursue his greater aspirations, his insecurity has prevented him from taking any significant action. Stuck in his drab lifestyle, he maintains his sanity by pursuing an improbable romance with the receptionist, Dawn Tinsley, and by playing practical jokes on Gareth. Tim’s relationship with bored receptionist Dawn Tinsley (Lucy Davis) is a major arc in the series. Dawn Tinsley (Lucy Davis) is Wernham Hogg's receptionist, and David Brent's dogsbody (gofer). She frequently has to put up with Brent's attempts at humor and social interaction. Like her friend and co-worker Tim, she is aware of the sad state of her unfulfilling life: he has been in a long, rocky engagement with her fiancée Lee (Joel Beckett) and gave up illustrating children's books to pursue her current fruitless career. Their flirtation soon builds to a mutual romantic attraction, despite her engagement to the dour and laddish warehouse worker, Lee. Several other recurring characters, although not central to the episodes, have made their mark on office life. These include: "Big" Keith Bishop (Ewen Macintosh): Keith works in the accounts department. Slow-talking, emotionless and suffering from eczema, he is a man of few words. When he does speak, his comments can be surprising and sometimes disturbing. He likes eating scotch eggs and watching Peak Practice. Chris "Finchy" Finch (Ralph Ineson): David's so-called "best friend", he is probably the only character in the series who is genuinely cruel. He is a confident, openly sexist, rasping-voiced northerner with a natural flair for bullying others with swift, humiliating putdowns (with Brent being his usual target). He likes to dominate conversations and is successful with women, but shows a humorless vicious streak when he loses the staff quiz in series one. David acts as his lackey, laughing at his jokes and attempting to ride his coat-tails into the limelight. Finch repays him with disdain. Jennifer Taylor-Clarke (Stirling Gallacher): David's boss in the first series. Jennifer is a serious-minded professional, and David's behaviour and comedy-driven style of management are shown to be puerile and ineffectual by contrast. David calls her Camilla Parker-Bowles: "Not to her face, of course... not 'cause I'm scared of her." Lee (Joel Beckett): Dawn's fiancé, who works in the company's warehouse. She met him in school and they have been together ever since. Whereas Dawn has dreams and yearns to be playful, Lee is humorless, unromantic and casually and obliviously dismissive of Dawn's ideas of being an illustrator. His idea of an amorous proposal was a four-word notice in the newspaper, "Lee love Dawn, marriage?", to save money. It is clear from an early stage that Dawn stays with him out of a fear of loneliness rather than real love; Lee is safe and dependable. Lee is also more manly and physically imposing than Tim, Dawn's other potential interest, and for that reason Tim finds him intimidating. Ricky (Oliver Chris): Introduced as David's new temp in the pilot. He was primarily featured in episode three, where he and Tim form a team for trivia night under the name "the Tits". The two end up winning, thanks to Ricky successfully answering a tie-breaker question on Shakespeare, against Chris Finch. Finch, angered, challenges him over the circumstances of the victory in a petty feud, where Ricky calls him and Brent "sad little men". It is announced by Brent in the season one finale that Ricky is leaving. Donna (Sally Bretton): Donna is introduced in Series 1, Episode 2 as the daughter of David's best friends Ron and Elaine, who has come to work at the office, and is staying with David. Donna makes a quick impact in the office, and fails to reciprocate Gareth's romantic feelings towards her. Later, David confronts her for not returning home, and Donna angrily announces she stayed at her boyfriend's house, later revealed to be Ricky. She is almost always wearing a purple top. Neil Godwin (Patrick Baladi): David's boss in the second series. Originally David's counterpart at the Swindon branch of the company, Neil was promoted ahead of him when David failed a medical examination. Neil is young, charming, professional and energetic. He is a more competent manager than David, has a better relationship with the staff and, to pour vinegar into the wound, finds it easier to make the staff laugh. Brent is hugely resentful and jealous of him, and makes occasional (and largely unsuccessful) attempts to either undermine or rival him. Rachel (Stacey Roca): Another of the series two intake from Swindon. Rachel is bubbly and considered attractive by both Gareth and Tim. She and Tim start a relationship, making Dawn somewhat melancholy. After a deluded Gareth reveals his plans to seduce Rachel, he is shocked to discover that Rachel and Tim are now an item. However, toward the end of the second series, as she begins to pressure Tim to make a greater commitment, Tim realizes that his ongoing love for Dawn is far greater than his feelings for Rachel and breaks off the relationship. Rachel is not seen again after the second series. Trudy (Rachel Isaac): Welsh Trudy is first introduced in series two as one of several of the new intake from the Swindon branch. Almost immediately, she establishes herself as something of a fun time girl, blending in well with the rest of the staff and enjoying a booze fuelled birthday celebration in her honor at the office. Her casual, sexually charged nature doesn't go unnoticed by the male members of staff and both Gareth and Chris Finch take interest in her. We see her and Finch having sex in the less than exotic surroundings of a car park. By the time of the Christmas special, it initially seems that Trudy has mellowed somewhat, although she is seen in a passionate clinch with Oliver by the end of the Christmas party. Trudy is also quick to challenge Brent's style of management. Oliver (Howard Saddler): One of the series two intake from Swindon. Oliver is good natured, tolerant, easy-going and quiet, which is lucky for him as he is the only black person working in the office. As such he is the target for most of David's well-meaning but hideously misguided attempts to show what a politically correct and racially tolerant man he is. In the Christmas Specials, we see Oliver's co-worker Sheila clearly attracted to him, although he actually ends up in a steamy clinch with the more confident Trudy. Brenda (Julie Fernandez): Another of the former employees of the Swindon branch, Brenda is a wheelchair user, which naturally brings out the worst in David. During a fire drill, he and Gareth attempt to carry Brenda down the stairs but ultimately, as they see it as being too much effort for a mere drill, abandon her on the way down. Brenda is not impressed by David's patronizing behaviour. She, like Oliver, is another character whose purpose is to highlight the gap between David's vision of himself as a modern enlightened man and the reality of his ignorance and thoughtlessness. Gareth, like Brent, is also seen to be incredibly awkward around Brenda. In 2004, Microsoft UK commissioned two 20-minute corporate videos featuring David Brent being interviewed by Jeff (Stephen Merchant), a Microsoft employee who becomes increasingly exasperated by Brent's antics. The ongoing theme is Brent's obvious resentment at the company's success. Brent also appears to believe he has what it takes to become the next managing director of Microsoft and continually drops hints to that effect. While not on general release, the videos emerged on the internet in 2006. They were posted on both YouTube and Google Video. The clips also appeared on certain peer-to-peer networks. Microsoft was unhappy with the leak, stating that the videos "were never intended to be viewed by the public". In January 2004, The Office won the Golden Globe Award for "Best Television Series: Musical Or Comedy", beating nominees Arrested Development, Monk, Sex and the City and Will & Grace. It was the only British comedy in 25 years to be nominated for a Golden Globe, and the first ever to win one. Ricky Gervais was also awarded the Golden Globe for "Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series: Musical or Comedy" for his role. The series won the Best TV Comedy award, and Gervais the Best TV Comedy Actor award, at the British Comedy Awards 2002. In 2004, the BBC's Britain's Best Sitcom public poll voted it the 25th all-time favourite out of a preselected list of 100. In 2005, the series' concluding two-part special was nominated for two Emmys in the categories of "Outstanding Made for Television Movie" and "Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special."

A lot of the TV shows that Americans love are based on shows that originated in the United Kingdom: American Idol, Sanford and Son, and All In The Family. Yes, us Americans are unoriginal and owe a lot of its TV classics to the motherland. However, rarely does a British show that was the basis for an American show become just as popular and is as revered in America as its American clone. The Office is one such show. Much of what we love about the American Office comes from the British Office, such as finding the humor in awkwardness, two co-workers falling in love (Dawn and Tim in England; Pam and Jim in America), a shrewd brown-noser co-worker (Gareth Keenan in England; Dwight Schrute in America), and the boss who tries to be a friend character (David Brent in England; Michael Scott in America). And, much like the American show, it is the boss in the British Office that is the heart and soul of the show. Ricky Gervais delivers a cringe-tastic performance as David Brent, a paper-company manager and frustrated singer-comedian, who's never met a work situation he couldn't turn into a potential lawsuit. Whether accidentally braining a new hire with a soccer ball, trying to carry a handicapped woman during a fire drill and just leaving her on the stairs because it was too hard to carry her, or hijacking a training session with a sing-a-long of Free Love Freeway, Brent combines a blinkered egocentrism with the pitiable determination to be liked: "I've created an atmosphere where I'm a friend first, boss second. Probably entertainer third." What makes Brent funny is that he's wrong; what makes him sympathetic is that he really believes he's right, and with mainly good intentions. He may have been neither a good friend nor boss in the end, but he was certainly entertaining. And, sure there are many differences between both shows (The American version has gone on longer than its predecessor, and there is the obvious lighter mood of the American version, compared to the British version’s melancholy). However, just like the American show, the Office from the U.K. taught us that a thankless, dead-end, penny-ante joke of a job at a sullen workplace headed by a deluded, boorish, pompous ass of a boss happens is funny when it happens to someone else.

[Hulk With A Mustache]

69. The Incredible Hulk



Genre: Drama, Science Fiction.
Created by: Kenneth Johnson.
Executive Producer(s): Kenneth Johnson.
Starring: Bill Bixby (Dr. David Banner), Lou Ferrigno (The Hulk), and Jack Colvin (Jack McGee).
Country of Origin: United States.
Number of Seasons: 5.
Number of Episodes: 82.
Running Time: 60 minutes.
Original Channel: CBS.
Original Run: November 4, 1977 (pilot), November 28, 1977 (TV movie sequel to pilot), March 10, 1978 – May 12, 1982
Spinoffs: Three TV movies based on the show were made in the late 1980s-early 1990s: “The Incredible Hulk Returns” (1988), “The Trial Of The Incredible Hulk” (1989), and “The Death Of The Incredible Hulk” (1990).

In early 1977, Frank Price, head of Universal Television, offered producer and writer Kenneth Johnson a deal to develop a TV show based on any of several characters they had licensed from the Marvel Comics library. Johnson turned down the offer at first, but then, while reading the Victor Hugo novel, Les Misérables, he became inspired and began working to develop the Hulk comic into a TV show. Johnson saw fit to change the name of the Hulk's comic book alter ego, Dr. (Robert) Bruce Banner, to "Dr. David Banner" for the TV series. This change was made, according to Johnson, because he did not want the series to be perceived as a comic book series, so he wanted to change what he felt was a staple of comic books, and Stan Lee's comics in particular, that major characters frequently had alliterative names. On the DVD commentary of the pilot of The Incredible Hulk, Johnson also says that it was a way to honor his late son David. However, according to Stan Lee, Universal changed the name because "Bruce Banner" sounded, in the eyes of the network, like a "gay character" name, and David sounded much better ("Bruce" ultimately became the TV Banner's middle name, as it had been in the comics. It is visible on David's tombstone at the end of the pilot episode). Johnson also omitted the comic book's supporting characters from his TV adaptation. Instead, he opted for a variety of more realistic, 'regular person' characters, most of whom changed with each episode. Additionally, Johnson changed the character's origin story. Rather than being exposed to gamma rays while saving someone who had wondered on-grounds during a botched atomic testing explosion, "David" Banner was gamma-irradiated in a laboratory mishap. Yet another significant change was altering Banner's occupation, from nuclear physicist (in the comics) to medical researcher/physician. Although the comic-book Hulk's degree of speaking ability has varied over the years, the television Hulk did not speak at all -- he merely growled and roared repeatedly. Finally, despite its Marvel Comics roots, fantasy and science fiction themes were minimized in the series. In the majority of episodes, the only supernatural element was the Hulk himself. For the role of Dr. David Banner, Johnson cast veteran television actor/director Bill Bixby, Johnson's first choice. At first, Bixby resisted accepting the part; but, after reading the script, he quickly signed-on. Next, character actor Jack Colvin was cast as "Jack McGee", the series' recurring antagonist. Modeled after the character of Javert in Les Misérables, "Mr. McGee" was a cynical, tabloid newspaper reporter who relentlessly pursued the Hulk after personally witnessing the "urban legend" in action. Though initially skeptical of the Hulk's existence, McGee comes to endure endless ridicule from both his peers and the authorities for believing that "the Jolly Green Giant" is real. The most daunting task, however, was finding someone to play the Hulk. Arnold Schwarzenegger auditioned, but was rejected due to his inadequate height (according to Johnson in his commentary on a DVD release). Actor Richard Kiel was hired for the role, and production commenced on the pilot movie. However, during filming, Kenneth Johnson's own son pointed out that Kiel's tall-but-under-developed physique did not resemble the Hulk's at all. Soon, Kiel was replaced with professional bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno, although a very brief shot of Kiel (as the Hulk) remained in the pilot (said Johnson, in his DVD commentary). The premise of the show is: Dr. David Banner is a physician/scientist who is traumatized by the tragic car accident that killed his beloved wife. Haunted by his inability to save her, Banner studies incidents of people who, while in danger, summon superhuman strength in order to save their threatened loved ones. He concludes that high levels of gamma radiation from sunspots are the cause. To test his theory, he bombards his own body with gamma radiation. Unknown to Banner, his equipment has been upgraded, causing him to administer a far higher dose than he intended. During a rainstorm later that evening, he suffers a flat tire and injures himself while trying to change it. The anger resulting from the pain triggers his first transformation into the Hulk. The Hulk destroys Banner's car and wanders through the woods all night. The next morning, the Hulk stumbles upon a girl who is camping with her father, and attempts to befriend her (ala The Monster in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein). In the ensuing confusion, the Hulk is shot by the girl's father, but manages to escape. Once calm and unharrassed, he eventually transforms back into Banner, who has no memory of the tire-changing incident or the events thereafter. Unsure of how to proceed, Banner seeks out his research partner, Dr. Elaina Marks (Susan Sullivan). Her amazement at Banner's healing powers (his gunshot wound is nearly healed) is replaced by shock and horror when Banner tells her that he bombarded himself with gamma rays. While Banner and Dr. Marks (the only other person who knows what happened to him) try to reverse the process, the interference of a reporter named Jack McGee (Jack Colvin) results in the fiery destruction of their laboratory. Elaina dies from injuries she sustained in the explosion; McGee witnesses the Hulk carrying her away from the burning building, and surmises that the Hulk started the fire and killed both Banner and Marks. Banner, now presumed dead, is forced to go into hiding while trying to find a cure for his condition. In a manner vaguely similar to the popular series The Fugitive, this forms the basis of the TV series: Banner endlessly drifts from place to place, assuming different identities and odd jobs to support himself. Along the way, Banner finds himself feeling obliged to help the people he meets out of whatever troubles have befallen them. Often Banner's inner struggle is paralleled by the dilemmas of the people he encounters, who find in Banner a sympathetic helper. As Kenneth Johnson states, "what we were constantly doing was looking for thematic ways to touch [-on] the various ways that the Hulk sort of manifested itself in everyone. In Bixby and his character, David Banner, it happened to be anger. In someone else, it might be obsession, or it might be fear, or it might be jealousy or alcoholism! The Hulk comes in many shapes and sizes. That's what we tried to delve into in the individual episodes." Despite his attempts to stay calm no matter how badly he is treated, Banner inevitably finds himself in dangerous situations that trigger his transformations into the Hulk. Meanwhile, Mr. McGee continues to pursue the incredible story of the mysterious monster, whom he believes got away with a double-murder. Ultimately, Banner changes (or even saves) someone's life for the better. Nonetheless, he (almost always) flees town, scared that publicity over the Hulk's 'rampages' will eventually bring unwanted scrutiny of him from the local authorities and/or McGee. The story (almost always) ends with Banner hitch-hiking down some outbound highway or road -- a strikingly haunting and sad piano song playing in the background (as the ending credits visualize). The mood conveys Banner's inner sense of hopelessness: the quest of a man desperate to one day find the cure that will bring him peace, an end to his endless running, and the ability to reclaim a normal life. Unlike Marvel's Hulk, the television Hulk was not bulletproof. However, he possesses an accelerated-healing ability which allows him to recover from injuries very quickly. The Incredible Hulk was the beginning series of the highly-rated Friday-night block on CBS, where it was followed by The Dukes of Hazzard and Dallas. The series lineup began as such in 1979 and remained that way until 1981, when the Hulk moved to a new night during the abbreviated fifth and final season. In 1981, with a major entertainment union strike on the horizon, the production team continued filming episodes for the show's 5th season directly upon completion of the fourth. However, with seven of these "in the can," CBS cancelled the show due to a slight change in the ratings and budget. Rumors were going around at the time that Bill Bixby's contract was up, and that he wanted to move on. Bixby had wanted to see his character being cured from being the Hulk. Also, both executive producer Kenneth Johnson and producer Nicholas Corea had gone to Harvey Shepard, who was president of CBS entertainment at the time, to ask for clearance to shoot nine unfilmed scripts for the series to give the show a mid-season run. They were turned down, and the pilot and the first four seasons were released into general syndication. By that time the union had gone on strike as expected, and that autumn CBS aired five of the seven "5th season" episodes made, running the last two and repeating three of the others the following summer. That fall, all seven were added to the rerun package. The nine unfilmed scripts included, "Los Indios," Parts 1-2 (Season 3), "Double Exposure," (Season 3), "The Trial of Jack McGee," (Season 5), "David Banner, RIP," (Season 5), "The Steel Mill," (Season 5), "The Survivors," (Season 5), "Killer on Board," (Season 5), and "Eyes of the Beholder," (Season 5). Also, Johnson and Corea had wanted to do a two-hour series finale in which Banner is caught and is found out to be alive, goes on trial for the death of Elaina Marks, resolves things with McGee, and gets cured from his hulk-outs. Two episodes of the series appeared first as stand-alone movies, but were later re-edited into one-hour length (two-parters) for syndication: “The Incredible Hulk” (pilot) and “The Incredible Hulk: Death in the Family” (retitled Return of the Incredible Hulk for overseas release). They were produced as pilots before the series officially began in 1978. Six years after the cancellation of the television series in 1982, three television movies were produced with Bixby and Ferrigno reprising their roles. All of these aired on NBC: “The Incredible Hulk Returns” (1988) - David Banner meets a former student (played by Steve Levitt), who has a magical hammer that summons Thor (played by Eric Allan Kramer), a Viking warrior prevented from entering Valhalla. Set up as a back-door pilot for a live-action television series starring Thor. This project marked Colvin's final appearance as Jack McGee, and the character's storyline was left unresolved. “The Trial of the Incredible Hulk” (1989) - David Banner meets a blind lawyer named Matt Murdock and his masked alter ego, Daredevil. The Incredible Hulk and the Daredevil battle the Kingpin of Crime, although he was referred to only by his birth name, Wilson Fisk. Daredevil was portrayed by Rex Smith, while John Rhys-Davies portrayed Fisk. This was also set up as back-door pilot for a live-action television series starring Daredevil. Stan Lee has a cameo appearance as one of the jury members overlooking Banner's trial. “The Death of the Incredible Hulk” (1990) - David Banner falls in love with an Eastern European spy (played by Elizabeth Gracen) and saves two kidnapped scientists. The film ends with the Hulk taking a fatal fall from an airplane, reverting to human form just before he dies, and allowing Banner to make a dying declaration. Despite the apparent death of the Hulk in the 1990 film, more Incredible Hulk television movies were planned, including a proposed Rebirth of the Incredible Hulk (to help launch a pilot for Iron Man) and another television movie featuring She-Hulk. In the mid-1980s, there was also talk about doing a television movie with the cast from the 1977-1979 live action Spider-Man television series. However, all such projects were cancelled when Bill Bixby died of cancer in November 1993. All three of the NBC TV movies (The Incredible Hulk Returns, The Trial of the Incredible Hulk and The Death of the Incredible Hulk) have been available on DVD since 2003; the first two were released by Anchor Bay Entertainment, while The Death of the Incredible Hulk was released by 20th Century Fox home video. A double-sided DVD entitled The Incredible Hulk - Original Television Premiere, which contained the original pilot and the "Married" episodes, was released by Universal Studios DVD in 2003 to promote Ang Lee's Hulk motion picture. A six-disc set entitled The Incredible Hulk - The Television Series Ultimate Collection was released by Universal DVD later in 2003. This set includes several notable episodes including "Death in the Family," "The First," and "Prometheus." On July 18, 2006, Universal released The Incredible Hulk - Season One on DVD. This set contains the original pilot movies, the entire first season, and a "preview" episode ("Stop the Presses") from Season Two. On July 17, 2007, Universal released The Incredible Hulk - Season Two on DVD as a 5-disc set. The set included the entire second season, the Married episodes (AKA Bride of the Incredible Hulk), and preview episode (Homecoming) from season three. On June 3, 2008, Universal released The Incredible Hulk - Seasons Three and Four on DVD in time to promote Louis Leterrier's film The Incredible Hulk. The fifth season is scheduled to be released on DVD in October 2008.

With a show based on comic book but is nothing like it, stared Eddie’s father and a former Mr. Teen Universe, and passed over Jaws (the James Bond henchmen) and the Terminator for the title role, 1970s television doesn’t get any more quintessentially 1970s or any better than The Incredible Hulk. Look for a casual Hulk fan and chances are you’ll find someone who watched the Hulk TV series and thought it was really cool. That’s not to say there aren’t casual fans of the comic or hardcore fans of the TV series. But, it took money and motivation to buy a comic book, which was the only Hulk exposure around in the 1970s. However, turning on your TV on a Friday night to CBS didn’t cost you a thing. Plus, you got cool Hulk action without having to read! The Incredible Hulk TV show was a cool and fun for several reasons. For one, it was nothing like the comic books. The only similarities between the two are the premises. So, anyone who didn’t read the comics could watch the show and not be lost. Another reason was to see Lou Ferrigno destroy stuff and occasionally beat up some thugs who tried to take on the Hulk and didn’t know any better (And, a few occasions, he fought a creature equal to his size and strength). But, what made the show great were the themes. By taking themes from Les Misérables (Banner being chased by the authorities and reporter Jack McGee), Frankenstein (The Hulk just wants a little love), and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (this one is pretty obvious), creator Kenneth Johnson gave us a show that was deeply complex, dealing with loneliness and having to hide secrets from other people out of fear it will hurt them. Johnson and the other Hulk writers managed to make a show about a man turning into a monster as real as it possibly could be. And, of course, there was Bill Bixby. While he might not have been as popular as Ferrigno (at the height of his popularity, Lou received 2,000 pieces of fan mail a week), he was the glue that held the whole thing together. Bixby infused Dr. David Banner with warmth and humanity and added class to a show that could have been second-rate kitsch. He pretty much turned the show from being looked down on to something that everyone wanted to copy. The Incredible Hulk was a great show because it was a little bit dusty and definitely down to earth.

[Hulk With A Mustache]

Tomorrow, numbers 68-65. Here are the hints:

A show with a lot of propane and propane accessories, a soapy medical drama, acquaintances, and a heavenly creature.

[rrm15]

A show with a lot of propane and propane accessories, a soapy medical drama, acquaintances, and a heavenly creature.

King of the Hill, Greys Anatomy?, and not sure what else.

[Beav]

King of the Hill, General Hospital, Friends, and... Angel?

[Splinter]

If Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles isn't in the top 10 I riot

[Hulk With A Mustache]

And, the countdown rolls on. Here's number 68:

68. King Of The Hill



Genre: Animated sitcom.
Created by: Mike Judge and Greg Daniels.
Executive Producer(s): Mike Judge, Greg Daniels, Norm Hiscock, Malisa Caroselli, Jim Dauterive, Christy Stratton, John Altschuler, Dave Krinsky, and Garland Testa.
Starring: Mike Judge (Hank Hill, Boomhauer, Stuart Dooley, and Monsignor Martinez), Kathy Najimy (Peggy Hill), Pamela Segall Adlon (Bobby Hill and Clark Peters), Brittany Murphy (Luanne Platter Kleinschmidt and Joseph Gribble prepubescent), Breckin Meyer (Joseph Gribble pubescent), Johnny Hardwick (Dale Gribble), Ashley Gardner (Nancy Gribble and Didi Hill), Stephen Root (William “Bill” Fontaine De la Tour Dauterive, Buck Strickland, and Topsy), Toby Huss (Kahn Souphanousinphone, Sr., Cotton Hill, and Joe Jack), Lauren Tom (Minh Souphanousinphone and Kahn “Connie” Souphanousinphone, Jr.), Jonathan Joss (John Redcorn), and Tom Petty (Elroy “Lucky” Kleinschmidt).
Country of Origin: United States.
Number of Seasons: 12.
Number of Episodes: 235.
Running Time: 22 minutes.
Original Channel: FOX.
Original Run: January 12, 1997 – present
Spinoffs: None.

In early 1995, after a successful run of Beavis and Butt-head on MTV, Mike Judge co-created King Of The Hill with former The Simpsons writer Greg Daniels. It centers around the Hills, a suburban Methodist family proud of its Texas heritage. Unlike many animated sitcoms of its type that generally tend to feature unusual or impossible events, King Of The Hill attempts to retain a realistic approach, featuring Americans with average IQs and seeking humor in the otherwise conventional or sometimes even mundane. Judge is a former resident of Dallas, Texas suburb Garland, considered the basis of the setting of the series, the fictional Arlen. Judge loosely based his creation of Hank Hill from a character in Beavis and Butt-Head, Mr. Anderson. When Mike Judge pitched the series to Fox, he drew the characters as menacing looking, stereotypical "rednecks" with jagged teeth that protruded from their mouths when they spoke; Hank, Peggy, and Bobby were the only three characters whose present form closely resembles their original concept drawings (though originally Peggy was significantly overweight). However, Judge decided to make the characters look more realistic to go the realistic tone of the show. Although rumored to be modeled after Judge himself, Dale is based on Robert Patrick, whom Judge had originally wanted to voice the character. Recently, King Of The Hill joined the ranks of other FOX Network series like Futurama and Family Guy in its placement within a questionable time slot and has faced frequent preemptions from sporting events (mostly The NFL on FOX) featuring overtime play and post-game commentary. The series' tenth season was largely composed of episodes that did not get to air the previous season. After its debut, the series became a huge success for the FOX Network and was named one of the best television series by various publications, including Entertainment Weekly, Time and TV Guide. For the 1998 season, the series outperformed The Simpsons in ratings, and brought more viewers to its lead-out program The X-Files. It quickly became one of the highest rated programs, finishing behind The X-Files and ahead of The Simpsons. Fox also earned a double profit from the series success, since Twentieth Century Fox produced the show. King of the Hill is set in Arlen, Texas. Arlen is a fictional town, although several references to surroundings are mentioned. In a 1995 interview prior to the show's debut, Judge described the setting as "a town like Humble." Like most fictional towns, the basis for the town does not originate from one specific place. However, there is much to support the theory that Temple, Texas is the real location of Arlen. It is the location of Scott and White Hospital. As such, it is noted that Bobby drove to this hospital, arguably the most recognizable in all Central Texas. "Furthermore, with Bill (one of Hank's beer drinking buddies) working on a large Army base, the location of Fort Hood is right beside Temple/Killeen, Texas." Other clues also point to Temple. One episode in which Dale's wife, a weather forecaster, reports live from a wildfire points to a map that shows Arlen located just where Temple is located on a Texas map. Also in an episode titled "What Makes Bobby Run" in which Bobby, serving as Arlen's Longhorn mascot, attempts to kidnap the armadillo mascot of Arlen's arch-rival. That arch rival was Belton, located just west of Temple. Another hint that the location is actually Temple is found in Season 10 Episode 13, "The Texas Panhandler." While Bobby and Joseph stand out on the street holding signs pointing to deluxe apartments, behind Joseph's head, the word "Temple" can be seen as part of the sign for a video store. When he moves his head, the sign reads, "Temple of Videos," pointing to what is likely an in-joke and a hint at the town's location. In Season 8 Episode 15, "Apres Hank, le Deluge," a flood watch is issued for lowlying areas, including Travis County and Heimlich County. Temple is located approximately 65 miles north of Austin, Texas, which is located in Travis County. It seems likely that, if they were affected by the same flood, the counties are adjacent or nearby. Bell County, in which Temple is located, is only two counties north of Travis County. King Of The Hill uses the standard set-up of a situational comedy or "sitcom" as its premise, depicting a family and their lives in a typical American town. It documents the Hills' day-to-day-lives in the small Texas town of Arlen, exploring modern themes ranging from parent-child relationships, to friendship and loyalty, to justice, envy and hubris. As an animated sitcom, however, King of the Hill's scope is generally larger than that of a regular sitcom. The patriarch of the Hills is Hank Hill, a salesman of "propane and propane accessories," who has an obsession with his lawn, Buck Strickland, propane and the Dallas Cowboys. He is uncomfortable with intimacy and sexuality but has a healthy relationship with his wife, as well as the rest of his family. Hank's trademark grunting sigh in times of discomfort and the phrase "I tell you what" are running gags on the series. In contrast with his emotional distance with the members of his family, he dotes unashamedly on his dog, Ladybird. Hank is also known to be passively prejudicial in a sexist manner, disallowing his son Bobby from any untraditional and "feminine" activities. Hank is married to Peggy Hill, a substitute Spanish teacher who has a poor grasp of the language (referring to it phonetically as "es-pa-nole"). Peggy is also a freelance newspaper columnist, real estate agent, notary public, and Boggle champion. Peggy frequently speaks the phrases "Oh, yeah!" when she exerts effort into a task, and "Oh, Peggy!", a self-compliment after a perceived accomplishment. Usually well-meaning and open-minded, she often displays her naïveté and arrogance; with an inflated sense of her intelligence and appearance, she considers herself knowledgeable, clever and physically attractive, but is blind to the truth due, most likely, to severe narcissism. The two have a son, Bobby Hill, a chubby 13-year-old, who wants to be a famous prop comic when he is older. Bobby lacks his father's athletic prowess, dislikes most sports with the exception of wrestling, baseball, and track which he played for Tom Landry Middle School. He also attempted to play football and soccer. He has a rather wacky sense of humor that clashes with Hank's more collected manner. Hank's discomfort with Bobby's proclivities is a regular narrative element in the series, and he has stated this with phrases like "The boy ain't right" and "What has the MTV done to you, son?" because he is thought of by his father, as potentially being homosexual; however, some evidence opposes this. In addition to the lead family, the show includes an array of quirky characters: co-workers, teachers, family friends, extended relatives, townspeople and local celebrities. Occasionally, the series features guest stars. Luanne Platter is named after a plate from Luby's, a cafeteria that is famous throughout Texas. The main cast of voices is Mike Judge, Kathy Najimy, Pamela Aldon, Johnny Hardwick, Stephen Root, and Brittany Murphy. Billy West, Ashley Gardner, Toby Huss, Lauren Tom, David Herman, Breckin Meyer, Jonathan Joss and Tom Petty have recurring roles in the series. In addition, the show has many celebrity appearances, though rarely as themselves, including: Trace Adkins, Pamela Anderson, Jennifer Aniston, Will Arnett, Tom Arnold, Diedrich Bader, Big Boi, Clint Black, Lisa Hartman Black, Brooks & Dunn, Dennis Burkley, Gary Busey, Drew Carey, Kelly Clarkson, Mo Collins, David Cross, Johnny Depp, Laura Dern, Ani DiFranco, Dale Earnhardt, Shannon Elizabeth, Will Ferrell, Sally Field, Nathan Fillion, John Force, Brendan Fraser, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Paul Giamatti, Vince Gill, Jeff Goldblum, John Goodman, Topher Grace, Green Day, Kirk Hammett, Ed Harris, Phil Hendrie, Dennis Hopper, Michael Keaton, Jamie Kennedy, Kid Rock, Johnny Knoxville, Lisa Kudrow, Laura Linney, Lucy Liu, Heather Locklear, Lindsay Lohan, Bernie Mac, Danny Masterson, Rue McClanahan, Matthew McConaughey, Mary Tyler Moore, Willie Nelson, No Doubt, Brad Pitt, Laura Prepon, Brad Renfro, Alan Rickman, John Ritter, Chris Rock, "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Dax Shepard, Cybill Shepherd, Gene Simmons, Robert Smith, Snoop Dogg, Ben Stiller, George Strait, Meryl Streep, Sum 41, Mikey Teutul, Paul Teutul Jr., Paul Teutul Sr., Billy Bob Thornton, Tone Lōc, Randy Travis, Danny Trejo, Jane Wiedlin, Fred Willard, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon, Amy Hill, Dwight Yoakam, Renee Zellweger and ZZ Top. Jazz musician Chuck Mangione has a recurring part as himself. Musician Tom Petty has a recurring role as Lucky, the boyfriend (later husband) of Luanne Platter. During the tenth season in 2005, the show was scheduled to be canceled, however the series managed to attract high ratings and was renewed. FOX renewed it for seasons eleven and twelve, making it the second longest-running animated television series after The Simpsons.

If you watch an episode of The Simpson, you’ll probably see an episode with a ridiculous plot (Homer becomes a tow truck driver). If you watch an episode of South Park, you’ll probably see a surreal episode (Imaginationland, for example). If you watch an episode of Family Guy, then you’ll see something that couldn’t possibly happen (pretty much of the cutaway gags that fill the show episodes). But, if you watch an episode of King Of The Hill, you’ll probably see an episode that could happen to people in real life (narrow urethra, a son who doesn’t live up to you expectations, a friend stuck in a horrible situation, a wife whose poor Spanish ends up getting her arrested in Mexico for kidnapping a girl…okay, maybe not the last one, but still). King Of The Hill is the most acutely observed, realistic sitcom about regional American life bar none. I should know; I live in town about as small as Arlen and the feeling and tone of that show is just like that of Nashville, Arkansas. The show has a lot more realism than its peers, which makes it a little more appealing. But, at the same time, it has over the top characters much like its peers: the paranoid conspiracy nut Dale Gribble, the cantankerous ready-to-fight-anyone Cotton Hill, and the annoying suck-up Khan Souphanousinphone, just to name a few. However, the animated series is a lot like its protagonist, Texas propane salesman Hank Hill; it isn't flashy, never gets a lot of attention, but it does its job year in and year out. With a harsh war-veteran father (Cotton), a pudgy son more interested in prop-comedy than football and a stubborn (Bobby), a narcissistic wife (Peggy), Hank tries to avoid both his dad's callousness and P.C. feel-goodism while sticking to his principles of hard work in a world that rewards shortcuts. Creator Mike Judge makes Hank funny in his pained Boy-Scout rectitude without making him a figure of fun for it, and with its canvas of mega-stores and Laotian yuppies, the show sees modern America's fine detail like an electron microscope.