Portal:Television

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The Television Portal

Flat-screen television receivers on display for sale at a consumer electronics store in 2008

Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, entertainment, news, and sports. The medium is capable of more than "radio broadcasting," which refers to an audio signal sent to radio receivers.

Television became available in crude experimental forms in the 1920s, but only after several years of further development was the new technology marketed to consumers. After World War II, an improved form of black-and-white television broadcasting became popular in the United Kingdom and the United States, and television sets became commonplace in homes, businesses, and institutions. During the 1950s, television was the primary medium for influencing public opinion. In the mid-1960s, color broadcasting was introduced in the U.S. and most other developed countries.

In 2013, 79% of the world's households owned a television set. The replacement of earlier cathode-ray tube (CRT) screen displays with compact, energy-efficient, flat-panel alternative technologies such as LCDs (both fluorescent-backlit and LED), OLED displays, and plasma displays was a hardware revolution that began with computer monitors in the late 1990s. Most television sets sold in the 2000s were still CRT, it was only in early 2010s that flat-screen TVs decisively overtook CRT. Major manufacturers announced the discontinuation of CRT, Digital Light Processing (DLP), plasma, and even fluorescent-backlit LCDs by the mid-2010s. LEDs are being gradually replaced by OLEDs. Also, major manufacturers have started increasingly producing smart TVs in the mid-2010s. Smart TVs with integrated Internet and Web 2.0 functions became the dominant form of television by the late 2010s.^{[better source needed]} (Full article...)

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"The Beginning of the End" is the fourth season premiere, and seventieth episode overall, of the American Broadcasting Company's serial drama television series Lost. It was aired on ABC in the United States and CTV in Canada on January 31, 2008. Co-creator/executive producer Damon Lindelof and executive producer Carlton Cuse wrote the premiere in late July 2007, with most of the episode directed on location in Oahu, Hawaii in August and September by executive producer Jack Bender. With this premiere, Jeff Pinkner no longer serves as an executive producer and staff writer. The episode was watched by 16 million Americans, bringing in the best ratings for Lost in seventeen episodes. According to Metacritic, "The Beginning of the End" garnered "universal acclaim". The narrative takes place 93 days after the crash of Oceanic Flight 815, on December 23, 2004. The stranded crash survivors make contact with Naomi Dorrit's (played by Marsha Thomason) associates on a nearby freighter, but the survivors divide when they hear that those on the freighter may not be coming to rescue the survivors. Flashforwards show the post-island lives of Hurley Reyes (Jorge Garcia) and Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox). They are lying to the public about their time on the island. In flashforwards, Hurley has visions of his deceased friend Charlie Pace (Dominic Monaghan); in the present, Hurley grieves over Charlie's death on the island. Daniel Faraday (Jeremy Davies) makes his first appearance in "The Beginning of the End".

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A television station is a type of broadcast station that broadcasts both audio and video to television receivers in a particular area. Traditionally, TV stations made their broadcasts by sending specially-encoded radio signals over the air, called terrestrial television. Individual television stations are usually granted licenses by a government agency to use a particular section of the radio spectrum (a channel) through which they send their signals.

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... that in the 1970s, Coors Brewing Company owned Television News Inc., which provided newsfilm to North American TV stations?
... that in the television series sequel Imortal (2010), Angel Locsin portrayed the lead role as the daughter of her lycan character in the Lobo TV series?
... that Singaporean singer Dawn Gan played herself in a television drama about aspiring singers?
... that Windows 3.1 had a special version, known as Modular Windows, that was controlled via television?
... that an Illinois radio station closed down to reduce interference with television reception?
... that John Wesley Shipp, who played the Flash in the 1990 television series, was cast as his father in the pilot episode of 2014's The Flash?

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...that The Simpsons' history began when Matt Groening conceived of the dysfunctional family in the lobby of James L. Brooks's office?

...that the fight scene between Peter Griffin and a giant chicken on Family Guy episode Blind Ambition was originally created for the episode Cleveland Loretta Quagmire?

...that the proposed BBC television special Planet Relief, created to raise awareness of climate change, was cancelled before it was made, for fear that it would be biased against climate sceptics?

...that Tomorrow's Pioneers, a television program for children produced by Hamas, features a mascot similar to Mickey Mouse?

...that the Zambian district of Chiengi has no television or telephone service?

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George Formby, OBE (born George Hoy Booth; 26 May 1904 – 6 March 1961), was an English actor, singer-songwriter and comedian who became known to a worldwide audience through his films of the 1930s and 1940s. On stage, screen and record he sang light, comic songs, usually playing the ukulele or banjolele, and became the UK's highest-paid entertainer.

Born in Wigan, Lancashire, he was the son of George Formby Sr, from whom he later took his stage name. After an early career as a stable boy and jockey, Formby took to the music hall stage after the early death of his father in 1921. His early performances were taken exclusively from his father's act, including the same songs, jokes and characters. In 1923 he made two career-changing decisions – he purchased a ukulele, and married Beryl Ingham, a fellow performer who became his manager and transformed his act. She insisted that he appear on stage formally dressed, and introduced the ukulele to his performance. He started his recording career in 1926 and, from 1934, he increasingly worked in film to develop into a major star by the late 1930s and 1940s, and became the UK's most popular entertainer during those decades. The film historian Brian McFarlane writes that on film, Formby portrayed gormless Lancastrian innocents who would win through against some form of villainy, gaining the affection of an attractive middle-class girl in the process. (Full article...)

List of selected biographies
James T. Aubrey Kroger Babb Rudolph Cartier Sydney Newman Eric Bana Kylie Minogue Peter Jennings KaDee Strickland Austin Nichols Aaron Sorkin Jake Gyllenhaal Dan Rather Brad Pitt Walter Cronkite Tom Brokaw John Le Mesurier Dan Castellaneta Perry Como Red Skelton Rose Catherine Pinkney

General images

The following are images from various television-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Ad for the beginning of experimental television broadcasting in New York City by RCA in 1939 (from History of television)
Image 2Baird in 1925 with his televisor equipment and dummies "James" and "Stooky Bill" (right) (from History of television)
Image 3Hovannes Adamian c. 1900s (from Color television)
Image 4The earliest photograph of a television picture, showing the face of Oliver Hutchinson in June 1926. The television picture was projected using Baird's television camera. (from History of television)
Image 5Samsung's discontinued Orsay platform (from Smart TV)
Image 6Philo Farnsworth in 1924 (from History of television)
Image 7RCA 630-TS, the first mass-produced television set, which sold in 1946–1947 (from History of television)
Image 8An early Smart TV from 2012 running the discontinued Orsay platform (from History of television)
Image 9The first mass-produced Czechoslovak TV-set Tesla 4001A (1953–57) (from History of television)
Image 10Smart TVs on display (from Smart TV)
Image 11Color bars used in a test pattern, sometimes used when no program material is available (from History of television)
Image 12A map depicting digital terrestrial television standards (from Digital television)
Image 13Family watching TV, 1958 (from History of television)
Image 14LG smart TV using the Web browser (from Smart TV)
Image 15The Nipkow disk. This schematic shows the circular paths traced by the holes, which may also be square for greater precision. The area of the disk outlined in black shows the region scanned. (from History of television)
Image 16An RCA Victor Color TV ad featuring milliner Lilly Daché in 1959. (from Color television)
Image 17Manfred von Ardenne in 1933 (from History of television)
Image 18RCA CT-100 at the SPARK Museum of Electrical Invention playing Superman. The RCA CT-100 was the first mass-produced color TV set. (from Color television)
Image 19Comparison of image quality between ISDB-T (1080i broadcast, top) and NTSC (480i transmission, bottom) (from Digital television)
Image 20First television test broadcast transmitted by the NHK Broadcasting Technology Research Institute in May 1939 (from History of television)
Image 21LG Electronics smart TV from 2011 (from Smart TV)
Image 22Ferdinand Braun (from History of television)
Image 23This live image of actress Paddy Naismith was used to demonstrate Telechrome, John Logie Baird's first all-electronic color television system, which used two projection CRTs. The two-color image would be similar to the basic Telechrome system. (from Color television)
Image 24DBS satellite dishes (from History of television)
Image 25The Philco Predicta, 1958. In the collection of The Children's Museum of Indianapolis (from History of television)
Image 26Tihanyi' Radioskop patent (1926) was recognized as Document of Universal Significance by the UNESCO (from History of television)

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Featured lists have been determined by the Wikipedia community to be the best lists on English Wikipedia.

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The Cecil B. DeMille Award is an honorary Golden Globe Award bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) for "outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment". The HFPA board of directors selects the honorees from a variety of actors, directors, writers and producers who have made a significant mark in the film industry. It was first presented at the 9th Golden Globe Awards ceremony in February 1952 and is named in honor of its first recipient, director Cecil B. DeMille. The HFPA chose DeMille due to his prestige in the industry and his "internationally recognized and respected name". DeMille received the award the year his penultimate film, The Greatest Show on Earth, premiered. A year later in 1953, the award was presented to producer Walt Disney.

The award has been presented annually since 1952, with exceptions being 1976, 2008, 2022, and 2024. The second incident was due to the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike's cancellation of that year's ceremony. The award that year was meant to honor director Steven Spielberg, but due to the cancellation of the ceremony, the award was presented to him the following year. The third occurrence resulted from various media companies, actors, and other creatives boycotting the awards in protest over its lack of action to increase the membership diversity of the HFPA. In 2024, the award was shelved to make way for additional categories at that year's ceremony. (Full article...)
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The Simpsons shorts are a series of animated short films that aired as a recurring segment on Fox variety television series The Tracey Ullman Show for three seasons, before the characters spun off into The Simpsons, their own half-hour prime-time show. They feature Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie, and a few secondary characters. The series was created by Matt Groening, who designed the Simpson family and wrote many of the shorts. The shorts first aired on April 19, 1987, starting with "Good Night". The final short to air was "TV Simpsons", originally airing on May 14, 1989. The Simpsons later debuted on December 17, 1989, as an independent series with the Christmas special "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire".

One marketing study found that only 14 percent of Americans were familiar with the shorts, compared to 85 percent in November 1990 who were familiar with the Simpsons family, 11 months after the full-length show began airing. (Full article...)
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The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) television series are American superhero television shows produced by Marvel Television and Marvel Studios, based on characters that appear in publications by Marvel Comics. The series are set in, or inspired by, the shared universe of the MCU film franchise.

The MCU first expanded to television after Marvel Television was formed in 2010, with that studio producing 12 series with ABC Studios and its production division ABC Signature Studios from September 2013 to October 2020. These premiered across broadcast, streaming, and cable respectively on ABC, Netflix and Hulu, and Freeform. The main ABC series were inspired by the films and featured film characters, while a connected group of series for Netflix crossed over with each other. Young adult focused series were produced for Freeform and Hulu. The latter also had a group of series called "Adventure into Fear" planned before Marvel Television was shut down in December 2019. (Full article...)
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Kristen Schaal's portrayal of Sarah Lynn in the episode "That's Too Much, Man!" earned her a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance.

BoJack Horseman is an American adult animated tragicomedy created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg. Presented as a sitcom set primarily in Los Angeles, the series tells the story of the eponymous anthropomorphic horse (voiced by Will Arnett), who is a washed-up star of a 1990s sitcom who plans his return to celebrity relevance with an autobiography to be written by human ghostwriter Diane Nguyen (Alison Brie). He also has to contend with his cat agent Princess Carolyn (Amy Sedaris), human roommate Todd Chavez (Aaron Paul), and former dog rival Mr. Peanutbutter (Paul F. Tompkins), as well as his struggles with depression and addiction. The series premiered on Netflix on August 22, 2014, and concluded on January 31, 2020, after six seasons and 77 episodes.

Despite mixed reviews upon its debut, critics were significantly more positive towards the second half of the first season, and the subsequent seasons received widespread critical acclaim. GQ hailed the show as one of the best of the decade, and IndieWire ranked BoJack Horseman as the greatest animated TV show of all time. The show has been lauded for its realistic take on depression, trauma, addiction, self-destructive behavior, racism, sexism, sexuality, and the human condition. (Full article...)
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Rental Magica (レンタルマギカ, Rentaru Magika) is a Japanese animated television series . Its episodes are directed by Itsuro Kawasaki and produced by the Japanese animation studio ZEXCS and Victor Entertainment. ZEXCS produced the animation and Victor Entertainment was responsible for developing the music. They are based on the light novel series Rental Magica by Makoto Sando and illustrated by pako, and adapt the source material over twenty-four episodes. The plot of the episodes follows Itsuki Iba, the newly appointed president of Astral, a company that dispatches magicians to perform jobs involving supernatural phenomena, and his interactions with his employees and Astral's competitors.

The episodes aired from October 7, 2007, to March 23, 2008, on Chiba TV and TV Saitama, with the episodes later broadcast on KBS Kyoto, Sun TV, Tokyo MX TV, TV Aichi, TV Hokkaido, TV Kanagawa, and TVQ Kyushu Broadcasting Co. The order that the episodes air in is nonlinear; for instance, the first episode broadcast is the sixth episode chronologically. The exceptions are episodes four, eight, and episodes sixteen through twenty, which are in the same broadcast and chronological order. (Full article...)
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Jacob Hoggard, the lead singer of Hedley, finished third on the second season of Canadian Idol.

Canadian Idol was a Canadian interactive reality game show series. The series premiered their first season in 2003 on CTV and was on air for six seasons. Based on the American version of the show, American Idol, it is part of the Idol series. Canadian Idol was the most-watched Canadian English-language television series of 2008. The show began with a tour across Canada, in which singers audition in front of four judges: Jake Gold, Sass Jordan, Zack Werner, and Farley Flex. The show was cancelled due to the slowing economy.

The show's age requirements allowed people to enter only if they were between 16 and 28 years of age. During every season, the final round of competition featured ten singers, except for season one when it had eleven finalists. 61 contestants have reached the finals of their respective Canadian Idol season. Out of the contestants listed, 26 of them were under the age of 20, including three winners and four runners-up. Seventeen finalists came from the province of Ontario, while British Columbia and Alberta each had nine. Alberta had the most Canadian Idol winners with three—Kalan Porter, Melissa O'Neil, and Theo Tams; Newfoundland and Labrador had the most runners-up with two—Rex Goudie and Craig Sharpe. Prince Edward Island was the only province to never have had a finalist. There has never been a Canadian Idol finalist from a Canadian territory. Toronto, Ontario was the hometown for the most Canadian Idol finalists with five, followed by Abbotsford, British Columbia with four. Rob James, Dwight d'Eon, and Drew Wright were 28 at the time their season's final round began, making them the oldest finalists to have performed; Emily Vinette, Daryl Brunt, Craig Sharpe, and Martha Joy were 16 at the time their season's final round began, making them the youngest finalists to have been in the finals. (Full article...)
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Romanek at the 2010 Tokyo International Film Festival

American filmmaker Mark Romanek directed his first music video in 1986, for The The's "Sweet Bird of Truth". He earned his first MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction nomination for "Free Your Mind", performed by En Vogue, in 1993. Romanek later directed "Closer" for the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, which contains imagery involving terror, sexuality, and animal cruelty. In 1995, he directed the video for "Scream", set in space and performed by Michael and Janet Jackson, as well as the New Age surrealistic "Bedtime Story", performed by Madonna. They are two of the most expensive music videos ever made, costing $7 million and $5 million, respectively. "Scream" gained 11 nominations at the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards, including Romanek's second Best Direction nomination, and his first Grammy Award for Best Music Video, Short Form.

In 1996, Romanek directed the Mary Poppins-inspired "Novocaine for the Soul" for the rock band Eels. The following year, he directed Fiona Apple's "Criminal", which explores themes of voyeurism and adolescence; and won his second Grammy Award for Best Music Video, Short Form for "Got 'til It's Gone", performed by Janet Jackson, Q-Tip and Joni Mitchell. For his work in "Hurt" (2003), performed by Johnny Cash, Romanek earned another MTV nomination, and won his third Grammy. In 2004, he directed the auto-biographical music video for Jay-Z's "99 Problems", for which he won his first MTV award. Their subsequent collaborations—the installation-style 10-minute short film for "Picasso Baby" (2013), and the animation video for "The Story of O.J." (2017)—were nominated for Grammy Award for Best Music Video. (Full article...)
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24 title card. The television series, created by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran, first aired on Fox on November 6, 2001.

24 is an American dramatic action/thriller television series co-created by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran that premiered on Fox on November 6, 2001. The show centers on the fictitious Los Angeles branch of the U.S. government's "Counter Terrorist Unit" (CTU). The series is presented in real time format; each one-hour episode depicts one hour's worth of events, and each season is a 24-hour period in the life of protagonist Jack Bauer (played by Kiefer Sutherland), a CTU agent. The first six seasons of the show are set in Los Angeles and nearby locations – both real and fictional – in California, although other locations have been featured. The television film Redemption is primarily set in the fictional African country, Sangala. The seventh shifts locations to Washington, D.C., and the eighth season is set in New York City. The ninth season Live Another Day takes place in London.

The first three seasons aired over a complete television season between October and May, taking hiatuses between blocks of episodes. Beginning with the fourth season, Fox scheduled 24 to premiere midseason in January with a two-night four-hour premiere, with new episodes airing every week until a two-hour finale in May. Season seven was due to premiere on January 13, 2008, but was delayed an entire year due to the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike. Fox aired a two-hour "prequel" film, 24: Redemption, on November 23, 2008, that bridges the gap between seasons six and seven. Season seven premiered on January 11, 2009, with a four-hour premiere over two consecutive nights. Fox announced that the eighth season would be the final season of 24, with the series finale airing May 24, 2010. With the conclusion of the eighth season, 24 aired a total of 192 episodes and the 2-hour television film, 24: Redemption. In 2013, Fox announced that 24 would return with a ninth season titled 24: Live Another Day containing 12 episodes which debuted on May 5, 2014. (Full article...)
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Hitohira (ひとひら, lit. Petal) is a Japanese animated television series. The episodes are directed by Akira Nishimori and produced by the Japanese animation studio XEBEC M2 and Genco. They are based on the Hitohira manga by Izumi Kirihara, and adapt the source material over twelve episodes. The episodes aired from March 28, 2007, to June 13, 2007, on AT-X, Chiba TV, Sun TV, TV Aichi, TV Kanagawa and TV Saitama.

Two pieces of theme music are used for the episodes: one opening theme and one ending theme. The opening theme is "Yume, Hitohira" (夢、ひとひら, lit. Dream, Petal) by Yūko Asami, and the ending theme is "Smile" (スマイル, Sumairu) by Mai Mizuhashi. (Full article...)
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The fifth season of the One Piece anime series was directed by Kōnosuke Uda and produced by Toei Animation. Like the rest of the series, it follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirates, but instead of adaptating part of Eiichiro Oda's One Piece manga, it features three completely original, self-contained story arcs. The first five episodes, each following their own plots, form the "Dreams!" (ドリームス!) arc. The next three episodes make up the "Shutsugeki! Zenii Kaizoku Dan" (出撃! ゼニィ海賊団, lit. "Sortie! Zenny Pirates") storyline and focus on the Straw Hats meeting an old moneylender. The last five episodes form the "Niji no Kanata e" (虹の彼方へ, lit. "To the Other Side of the Rainbow") arc and deal with the protagonists getting trapped inside a mysterious, rainbow-colored mist.

The season initially ran from November 3, 2002, through February 2, 2003, on Fuji Television in Japan and was released on DVD in five compilations, each containing one disc with two or three episodes, by Avex Mode between March 3 and July 7, 2004. The season was then licensed for a heavily edited dubbed broadcast in English by 4Kids Entertainment. Their adaptation ran from August 4, 2007, through September 22, 2007, on Cartoon Network and omitted seven of the season's thirteen episodes. It was the last season to be dubbed by 4Kids Entertainment. Starting with the sixth season, Funimation took over dubbing new episodes for broadcast on Cartoon Network. Eventually, they began redubbing the series from the start for uncut release on DVD and released the fifth season, relabeled as "One Piece: Season Two – Seventh Voyage", on May 11, 2010. (Full article...)
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Seth MacFarlane, shown here in 2012, created Family Guy, which premiered on January 31, 1999.

Family Guy is an American adult animated television sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the dysfunctional Griffin family, which consists of father Peter (MacFarlane), mother Lois (Alex Borstein), daughter Meg (Lacey Chabert in Episodes 1–9, then Mila Kunis from Episode 10 onwards), son Chris (Seth Green), baby Stewie (MacFarlane), and Brian (MacFarlane), the family dog. The show is set in the fictional town of Quahog, Rhode Island, and lampoons American culture in the form of cutaway gags, science fiction, and tangential vignettes.

The concept of Family Guy was conceived by MacFarlane in 1995 while studying animation at the Rhode Island School of Design. He created two shorts entitled The Life of Larry and Larry & Steve, both of which played a key role in Fox executives' decision to pick up the series in 1998. After two seasons, Fox decided to cancel the show. Despite the cancellation, a third season was produced, after which the series was officially cancelled at the end of the 2001–2002 season. Reruns on Cartoon Network's block Adult Swim drove up interest, and a letter-writing campaign, along with impressive DVD sales, encouraged Fox to bring the show back for the 2005–2006 television season. (Full article...)
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The Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series was an award presented annually by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS). It was given annually from 1985 to 2019 to honor a young actress below the age of 25, who had delivered an outstanding performance in a role while working within the daytime drama industry.

At the 12th Daytime Emmy Awards held in 1985, Tracey E. Bregman was the first winner of this award, for her role of Lauren Fenmore on The Young and the Restless. The awards ceremony had not been aired on television for the prior two years, having been criticized for voting integrity. The award was originally called Outstanding Ingenue in a Drama Series, the criteria of the new category were deemed confusing, performers of differing ages were nominated, and critics argued some were of supporting or lead actress standards. Adding to the confusion, the first winner, Bregman, and the Outstanding Supporting Actress winner that year, Beth Maitland, played characters near to the same age. The category was renamed Outstanding Juvenile Female in a Drama Series in 1989, and began using its current title in 1991. The criteria were later altered, requiring that the actress be aged 25 or below. (Full article...)
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The West Wing is an American political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin and produced by John Wells Productions and Warner Bros. Television. It originally aired on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006, broadcasting 156 episodes over seven seasons. A special episode was also released on October 15, 2020, on HBO Max.

The show follows the lives of White House staffers during the fictional Democratic presidential administration of Josiah Bartlet. The show originally starred Rob Lowe as Sam Seaborn, Moira Kelly as Mandy Hampton, Allison Janney as C. J. Cregg, Richard Schiff as Toby Ziegler, John Spencer as Leo McGarry, Bradley Whitford as Josh Lyman, and Martin Sheen as Bartlet. Over the course of the show's run, the main cast added Dulé Hill as Charlie Young, Janel Moloney as Donna Moss, Stockard Channing as Abbey Bartlet, Joshua Malina as Will Bailey, Mary McCormack as Kate Harper, Jimmy Smits as Matt Santos, Alan Alda as Arnold Vinick, and Kristin Chenoweth as Annabeth Schott. (Full article...)
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Seinfeld is an American television sitcom created by Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David. Seinfeld has been described by some as a "show about nothing", similar to the self-parodying "show within a show" of fourth-season episode "The Pilot". Jerry Seinfeld is the lead character and played as a fictionalized version of himself. Set predominantly in an apartment block on New York City's Upper West Side, the show features a host of Jerry's friends and acquaintances, which include George Costanza, Elaine Benes, and Cosmo Kramer, who are portrayed by Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Michael Richards, respectively.

The series debuted on July 5, 1989, on NBC, as The Seinfeld Chronicles. The pilot episode was met with poor reviews, and as a result, NBC passed on the show. However, NBC executive Rick Ludwin believed the series had potential and therefore gave Seinfeld a budget to create four more episodes, which formed the rest of season 1 and began airing on May 31, 1990. The first season is considered the smallest sitcom order in television history. During its nine-year run, 180 episodes of Seinfeld were produced. The count includes both halves of three one-hour episodes, including the finale, and two retrospective episodes, each split into two parts: "The Highlights of 100", covering the first 100 episodes; and "The Clip Show", also known as "The Chronicle", which aired before the series finale. On November 25, 2004, a special titled The Seinfeld Story was broadcast. This marked the first appearance of Seinfeld on NBC since its series finale in 1998. All nine seasons are available on DVD, Blu-ray and Ultra HD Blu-ray, and, as of 2025, the show is still re-run regularly in syndication. The final episode aired on May 14, 1998. The streaming rights for all 180 episodes of the series transferred from Hulu to Netflix in 2021. (Full article...)
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The first season of the American television comedy The Office premiered in the United States on NBC on March 24, 2005, concluded on April 26, 2005, and consists of six episodes. The Office is an American adaptation of the British TV series, and is presented in a mockumentary format, portraying the daily lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the fictitious Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. The season stars Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, and B. J. Novak.

This season introduced the main characters, and established the general plot, which revolves around Michael Scott (Carell), regional manager of the Scranton branch office, trying to convince the filmmakers of the documentary that he presides over a happy, well-running office. Meanwhile, sales rep Jim Halpert (Krasinski) finds methods to undermine his cube-mate, Dwight Schrute (Wilson); receptionist Pam Beesly (Fischer) tries to deal with Michael's insensitivities and flubs; and temporary employee Ryan Howard (Novak) is acting mostly as an observer of the insanity around him. (Full article...)

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