Portal:Television

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 flat-panel, mainly LEDs. 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. (Full article...)

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Carnivàle (/ˌkɑːrnɪˈvæl/) is an American television series set in the United States Dust Bowl during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The series, created by Daniel Knauf, ran for two seasons between 2003 and 2005. In tracing the lives of disparate groups of people in a traveling carnival, Knauf's story combined a bleak atmosphere with elements of the surreal in portraying struggles between good and evil and between free will and destiny. The show's mythology draws upon themes and motifs from traditional Christianity and gnosticism together with Masonic lore, particularly that of the Knights Templar order.

Carnivàle was produced by HBO and aired between September 14, 2003, and March 27, 2005. Its creator, Daniel Knauf, also served as executive producer along with Ronald D. Moore and Howard Klein. Jeff Beal composed the original incidental music. Nick Stahl and Clancy Brown starred as Ben Hawkins and Brother Justin Crowe, respectively. The show was filmed in Santa Clarita, California, and nearby Southern California locations.

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Fuji TV headquarters

Fuji Television Network, Inc. Kabushiki Gaisha Fuji Terebijon is a Japanese television network based in Odaiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan. It is known as Fuji TV Fuji Terebi or CX. It is the flagship TV station of Fuji News Network (FNN) and Fuji Network System or FNS. It also has a relationship with Nippon Broadcasting System, Inc.

Did you know (auto-generated) -

• ... that Ruslana Pysanka, who hosted a Ukrainian television program with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, died as a refugee in Germany?
• ... that the European version of the video game Tomba! uses the theme song of the television series No Sweat as its opening theme?
• ... that the exclusive secret society Hamilton House from the television show Gossip Girl was based on St. Anthony Hall, a social and literary fraternity?
• ... that Singaporean singer Dawn Gan played herself in a television drama about aspiring singers?
• ... that reporter Bobbie Wygant got her first television show after filling in while its host was sick with the flu?
• ... that actor Tatsunari Kimura ate pancakes and drank coffee while talking for eight hours during the filming of the television drama Old-Fashioned Cupcake?

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More did you know

• ...that The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D'oh! of Homer, a book that analyzes the The Simpsons using philosophical concepts, is the main textbook in philosophy courses offered at some universities?

• ...that the 1994 Guinness television advertisement Anticipation used jump cutting techniques to make an actor appear to be performing a physically impossible dance?

• ...that model Albert Reed, selected to appear in September 2007 on the United States television show Dancing with the Stars, admits that he cannot dance?

• ...that the final episode of the 1986 television series Outlaws recycled footage from The Oregon Trail, because actors Rod Taylor and Charles Napier appeared in both programs?

• ...that Russian television implied that Filipp Kirkorov won the Eurovision Song Contest 1995 with "Kolibelnaya Dlya Vulkana" when he in fact only came 17th?

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Nichols at the San Diego Comic-Con in 2012

Austin Nichols (born April 24, 1980) is an American actor and director, known for his role as Julian Baker in The CW drama series One Tree Hill. He is also known for his roles in the films The Day After Tomorrow and Wimbledon. He starred as John Monad in the HBO drama series John from Cincinnati, and portrayed Spencer Monroe in the AMC horror drama series The Walking Dead. (Full article...)

General images

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

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  The first mass-produced Czechoslovak TV-set Tesla 4001A (1953–57) (from History of television)
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  RCA 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)
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  Ad for the beginning of experimental television broadcasting in New York City by RCA in 1939 (from History of television)
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  Manfred von Ardenne in 1933 (from History of television)
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  This 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)
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  Ferdinand Braun (from History of television)
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  RCA 630-TS, the first mass-produced television set, which sold in 1946–1947 (from History of television)
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  The Philco Predicta, 1958. In the collection of The Children's Museum of Indianapolis (from History of television)
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  A color television test at the Mount Kaukau transmitter site, New Zealand in 1970.
  A test pattern with color bars is used to calibrate the signal. (from Color television)
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  LG Electronics smart TV from 2011 (from Smart TV)
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  Hovannes Adamian c. 1900s (from Color television)
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  Public television in France uses 819 line b&w high definition, from 1959 until 1983 (TF1). (from History of television)
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  The 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)
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  Family watching TV, 1958 (from History of television)
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  Comparison of image quality between ISDB-T (1080i broadcast, top) and NTSC (480i transmission, bottom) (from Digital television)
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  Samsung's discontinued Orsay platform (from Smart TV)
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  An early Smart TV from 2012 running the discontinued Orsay platform (from History of television)
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  Smart TVs on display (from Smart TV)
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  Philo Farnsworth in 1924 (from History of television)
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  Baird in 1925 with his televisor equipment and dummies "James" and "Stooky Bill" (right) (from History of television)
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  First television test broadcast transmitted by the NHK Broadcasting Technology Research Institute in May 1939 (from History of television)
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  LG Smart TV using the Web browser (from Smart TV)
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  Color bars used in a test pattern, sometimes used when no program material is available (from History of television)
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  A map depicting digital terrestrial television standards (from Digital television)
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  DBS satellite dishes (from History of television)

  Featured lists -

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

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No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod. code	U.S. viewers (millions)
36	1	"Stark Raving Dad"	Rich Moore	Al Jean & Mike Reiss	September 19, 1991 (1991-09-19)	7F24	22.9
37	2	"Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington"	Wes Archer	George Meyer	September 26, 1991 (1991-09-26)	8F01	20.2
38	3	"When Flanders Failed"	Jim Reardon	Jon Vitti	October 3, 1991 (1991-10-03)	7F23	22.8
39	4	"Bart the Murderer"	Rich Moore	John Swartzwelder	October 10, 1991 (1991-10-10)	8F03	20.8
40	5	"Homer Defined"	Mark Kirkland	Howard Gewirtz	October 17, 1991 (1991-10-17)	8F04	20.6
41	6	"Like Father, Like Clown"	Jeffrey Lynch & Brad Bird	Jay Kogen & Wallace Wolodarsky	October 24, 1991 (1991-10-24)	8F05	20.2
42	7	"Treehouse of Horror II"	Jim Reardon	Al Jean & Mike Reiss	October 31, 1991 (1991-10-31)	8F02	20.0
				Jeff Martin & George Meyer
				Sam Simon & John Swartzwelder
43	8	"Lisa's Pony"	Carlos Baeza	Al Jean & Mike Reiss	November 7, 1991 (1991-11-07)	8F06	23.0
44	9	"Saturdays of Thunder"	Jim Reardon	Ken Levine & David Isaacs	November 14, 1991 (1991-11-14)	8F07	24.7
45	10	"Flaming Moe's"	Rich Moore & Alan Smart	Robert Cohen	November 21, 1991 (1991-11-21)	8F08	23.9
46	11	"Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk"	Mark Kirkland	Jon Vitti	December 5, 1991 (1991-12-05)	8F09	21.1
47	12	"I Married Marge"	Jeffrey Lynch	Jeff Martin	December 26, 1991 (1991-12-26)	8F10	21.9
48	13	"Radio Bart"	Carlos Baeza	Jon Vitti	January 9, 1992 (1992-01-09)	8F11	24.2
49	14	"Lisa the Greek"	Rich Moore	Jay Kogen & Wallace Wolodarsky	January 23, 1992 (1992-01-23)	8F12	23.2
50	15	"Homer Alone"	Mark Kirkland	David M. Stern	February 6, 1992 (1992-02-06)	8F14	23.7
51	16	"Bart the Lover"	Carlos Baeza	Jon Vitti	February 13, 1992 (1992-02-13)	8F16	20.5
52	17	"Homer at the Bat"	Jim Reardon	John Swartzwelder	February 20, 1992 (1992-02-20)	8F13	24.6
53	18	"Separate Vocations"	Jeffrey Lynch	George Meyer	February 27, 1992 (1992-02-27)	8F15	23.7
54	19	"Dog of Death"	Jim Reardon	John Swartzwelder	March 12, 1992 (1992-03-12)	8F17	23.4
55	20	"Colonel Homer"	Mark Kirkland	Matt Groening	March 26, 1992 (1992-03-26)	8F19	25.5
56	21	"Black Widower"	David Silverman	Story by : Thomas Chastain & Sam Simon Teleplay by : Jon Vitti	April 9, 1992 (1992-04-09)	8F20	17.3
57	22	"The Otto Show"	Wes Archer	Jeff Martin	April 23, 1992 (1992-04-23)	8F21	17.5
58	23	"Bart's Friend Falls in Love"	Jim Reardon	Jay Kogen & Wallace Wolodarsky	May 7, 1992 (1992-05-07)	8F22	19.5
59	24	"Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?"	Rich Moore	John Swartzwelder	August 27, 1992 (1992-08-27)	8F23	17.2


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  Mad Men is an American period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner, produced by Lionsgate Television and broadcast on the cable network AMC. It premiered on July 19, 2007, and ended on May 17, 2015, after seven seasons and ninety-two episodes. Set in New York City amid the social changes of the 1960s, the show follows the people working at an advertising agency on Madison Avenue. It stars Jon Hamm as Don Draper, an advertising executive at the fictional Sterling Cooper agency (later Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce) who, despite his professional successes, struggles to handle secrets from his past and to maintain his personal and family life. Other members of the show's original ensemble cast include Elisabeth Moss as Peggy Olson, Vincent Kartheiser as Pete Campbell, January Jones as Betty Draper, Christina Hendricks as Joan Holloway, and John Slattery as Roger Sterling; the cast saw numerous changes during its run.
  
  Mad Men has been widely praised as one of the greatest television series of its era and of all time, and during its run, it earned numerous accolades for its acting, writing, directing, and technical achievements. Among these recognitions, it won sixteen Primetime Emmy Awards from 116 nominations. The series won the award for Outstanding Drama Series four times from eight nominations, tying the record for most wins in the category. Its win in 2008 for its first season made it the first basic cable series to win the award. Hamm was also nominated eight times for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, ultimately winning the award once in 2015. However, despite these successes, the show often came up notably empty-handed; its seventeen nominations without a win in 2012 set an Emmys record for largest shutout in a year, and Hamm's win in 2015 was the show's only acting win from thirty-seven nominations. (Full article...)
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  Laurence Olivier in a promotional still for Rebecca (1940).

  
  Laurence Olivier (1907–1989) was an English actor who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, dominated the British stage of the mid-20th century. He also worked in films throughout his career, playing more than fifty cinema roles. From 1935 he performed in radio broadcasts and, from 1956, had considerable success in television roles.
  
  After attending drama school, Olivier began his professional career with small touring companies before being taken on in 1925 by Sybil Thorndike and her husband, Lewis Casson, as a bit-part player, understudy and assistant stage manager for their London company. In 1926 he joined the Birmingham Repertory Company, where he was given the chance to play a wide range of key roles. In 1930 he had his first important West End success in Noël Coward's Private Lives, and in 1935 he played in a celebrated production of Romeo and Juliet alongside Gielgud and Peggy Ashcroft, and by the end of the decade he was an established star. In the 1940s, together with Richardson and John Burrell, Olivier was the co-director of the Old Vic, building it into a highly respected company. There his most celebrated roles included Shakespeare's Richard III and Sophocles's Oedipus. In the 1950s Olivier was an independent actor-manager, but his stage career was in the doldrums until he joined the avant garde English Stage Company in 1957 to play the title role in The Entertainer. From 1963 to 1973 he was the founding director of Britain's National Theatre, running a resident company that fostered many future stars. His own parts there included the title role in Othello (1964) and Shylock in The Merchant of Venice (1970). (Full article...)
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No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod. code	U.S. viewers (millions)
81	1	"Stewie Loves Lois"	Mike Kim	Mark Hentemann	September 10, 2006 (2006-09-10)	4ACX32	9.93
82	2	"Mother Tucker"	James Purdum	Tom Devanney	September 17, 2006 (2006-09-17)	4ACX31	9.23
83	3	"Hell Comes to Quahog"	Dan Povenmire	Kirker Butler	September 24, 2006 (2006-09-24)	4ACX33	9.66
84	4	"Saving Private Brian"	Cyndi Tang	Cherry Chevapravatdumrong	November 5, 2006 (2006-11-05)	4ACX34	8.45
85	5	"Whistle While Your Wife Works"	Greg Colton	Steve Callaghan	November 12, 2006 (2006-11-12)	4ACX35	9.04
86	6	"Prick Up Your Ears"	James Purdum	Cherry Chevapravatdumrong	November 19, 2006 (2006-11-19)	5ACX01	9.30
87	7	"Chick Cancer"	Pete Michels	Alec Sulkin & Wellesley Wild	November 26, 2006 (2006-11-26)	5ACX02	9.49
88	8	"Barely Legal"	Zac Moncrief	Kirker Butler	December 17, 2006 (2006-12-17)	5ACX03	8.91
89	9	"Road to Rupert"	Dan Povenmire	Patrick Meighan	January 28, 2007 (2007-01-28)	5ACX04	8.80
90	10	"Peter's Two Dads"	Cyndi Tang	Danny Smith	February 11, 2007 (2007-02-11)	5ACX05	7.97
91	11	"The Tan Aquatic with Steve Zissou"	Julius Wu	Mark Hentemann	February 18, 2007 (2007-02-18)	5ACX06	8.53
92	12	"Airport '07"	John Holmquist	Tom Devanney	March 4, 2007 (2007-03-04)	5ACX08	8.59
93	13	"Bill & Peter's Bogus Journey"	Dominic Polcino	Steve Callaghan	March 11, 2007 (2007-03-11)	5ACX07	8.05
94	14	"No Meals on Wheels"	Greg Colton	Mike Henry	March 25, 2007 (2007-03-25)	5ACX09	7.97
95	15	"Boys Do Cry"	Brian Iles	Cherry Chevapravatdumrong	April 29, 2007 (2007-04-29)	5ACX10	8.13
96	16	"No Chris Left Behind"	Pete Michels	Patrick Meighan	May 6, 2007 (2007-05-06)	5ACX11	7.95
97	17	"It Takes a Village Idiot, and I Married One"	Zac Moncrief	Alex Borstein	May 13, 2007 (2007-05-13)	5ACX12	7.22
98	18	"Meet the Quagmires"	Dan Povenmire & Chris Robertson	Mark Hentemann	May 20, 2007 (2007-05-20)	5ACX13	9.15

Season	Episodes		Originally aired
			First aired	Last aired	Network
Pilot			January 11, 2007 (2007-01-11)		Nicktoons
1	26		April 5, 2010 (2010-04-05)	September 27, 2010 (2010-09-27)	Cartoon Network
2	26		October 11, 2010 (2010-10-11)	May 9, 2011 (2011-05-09)
3	26		July 11, 2011 (2011-07-11)	February 13, 2012 (2012-02-13)
4	26		April 2, 2012 (2012-04-02)	October 22, 2012 (2012-10-22)
5	52		November 12, 2012 (2012-11-12)	March 17, 2014 (2014-03-17)
6	43		April 21, 2014 (2014-04-21)	June 5, 2015 (2015-06-05)
7	26		November 2, 2015 (2015-11-02)	March 19, 2016 (2016-03-19)
8	27		March 26, 2016 (2016-03-26)	February 2, 2017 (2017-02-02)
9	14		April 21, 2017 (2017-04-21)	July 21, 2017 (2017-07-21)
10	16		September 17, 2017 (2017-09-17)	September 3, 2018 (2018-09-03)

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Treehouse of Horror, also known as The Simpsons Halloween Specials, is a series of Halloween-themed episodes of the animated sitcom The Simpsons, each consisting of three separate, self-contained segments. These segments usually involve the family in some horror, science fiction, or supernatural setting and always take place outside the normal continuity of the show. Therefore, they are considered non-canon.

The original "Treehouse of Horror" episode aired on October 25, 1990, and was inspired by EC Comics Horror tales. From "Treehouse of Horror" (1990) to "X" (1999), every episode has aired in the week preceding or on October 31; "II" and "X" are both the only episodes to air on Halloween. Between "XI" (2000) to "XIX" (2008) and "XXI" (2010), due to Fox's contract with Major League Baseball's World Series, episodes had originally aired in November. "XX" (2009) and each Treehouse of Horror episode since "XXII" (2011) has aired in October, with the exception of season thirty two's "XXXI" (2020), which was originally scheduled for October 18, but was postponed to November 1 due to the 2020 NLCS reaching game 7. This was the first time since "XXI" that a Treehouse of Horror episode aired in November. The same thing happened with season thirty-five's "XXXIV" (2023), which aired on November 5. (Full article...)

Charlie Brooker is the series creator, and has received seven awards for his work on Black Mirror.

Black Mirror is a British science fiction anthology series created by Charlie Brooker. From 2011 to 2013, the first two series aired on British network Channel 4, as did the special "White Christmas" (2014); the following four series were released on the American streaming platform Netflix from 2016 to 2023. There are twenty-seven episodes in the show's first six series, and an additional interactive film Bandersnatch (2019). Inspired by The Twilight Zone, each episode of Black Mirror is standalone and explores the common theme of technology and its side-effects.

Black Mirror has received positive reception from critics and has been nominated for ninety-nine awards, winning twenty-seven of them. The most acclaimed episodes are "USS Callister", which won four Emmy Awards, and "San Junipero", which won two. Additionally, the interactive film Black Mirror: Bandersnatch won two Emmy Awards. As actors rarely appear in more than one episode, the only people to receive multiple awards for their work on the show are writer Charlie Brooker, who has won seven, and executive producer Annabel Jones, who has won four. The series has been nominated for seventeen British Academy Film Awards, winning two, and fifteen Emmy Awards, winning nine. (Full article...)

McHale's Navy actors Ernest Borgnine (right) and Tim Conway (left), shown here in 1962, were the first credited guest stars. Borgnine made the most guest appearances on the show, appearing in 16 episodes before his death.

In addition to the show's regular cast of voice actors, guest stars have been featured on SpongeBob SquarePants, an American animated television series created by marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. SpongeBob SquarePants chronicles the adventures and endeavors of the title character and his various friends in the fictional underwater city of Bikini Bottom. Many of the ideas for the show originated in an unpublished, educational comic book titled The Intertidal Zone, which Hillenburg created in the mid-1980s. He began developing SpongeBob SquarePants into a television series in 1996 upon the cancellation of Rocko's Modern Life, which Hillenburg directed. The pilot episode first aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on May 1, 1999. The show's thirteenth and current season premiered in 2020, and 276 episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants have aired. A series of theatrical films based on the show began in 2004 with The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.

Guest voices have come from many ranges of professions, including actors, athletes, authors, musicians, and artists. The first credited guest stars were McHale's Navy actors Ernest Borgnine and Tim Conway, who appeared in "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy (I)", the show's sixth episode. Borgnine and Conway have since been featured as recurring characters on the show until 2012. Rock band Ghastly Ones were the first guest stars to appear as themselves, appearing for a special musical performance in the first-season episode "Scaredy Pants". Aside from the aforementioned actors, actress Marion Ross has a recurring role as Grandma SquarePants, SpongeBob's grandmother. Borgnine has made the most appearances, guest starring 16 times. Conway has made 15 guest appearances, while Ross has appeared four times, John O'Hurley appeared three times, and John Rhys-Davies has appeared twice. Michael McKean has also appeared twice, voicing different characters. (Full article...)

Season	Episodes		Originally aired		Average viewers (millions)	Rank
			First aired	Last aired
1	24		September 10, 1993 (1993-09-10)	May 13, 1994 (1994-05-13)	11.21	111
2	25		September 16, 1994 (1994-09-16)	May 19, 1995 (1995-05-19)	14.50	63
3	24		September 22, 1995 (1995-09-22)	May 17, 1996 (1996-05-17)	15.40	55
4	24		October 4, 1996 (1996-10-04)	May 18, 1997 (1997-05-18)	19.20	20
5	20		November 2, 1997 (1997-11-02)	May 17, 1998 (1998-05-17)	19.80	11
The X-Files			June 19, 1998 (1998-06-19)		—	—
6	22		November 8, 1998 (1998-11-08)	May 16, 1999 (1999-05-16)	17.20	12
7	22		November 7, 1999 (1999-11-07)	May 21, 2000 (2000-05-21)	14.20	29
8	21		November 5, 2000 (2000-11-05)	May 20, 2001 (2001-05-20)	13.93	31
9	20		November 11, 2001 (2001-11-11)	May 19, 2002 (2002-05-19)	9.10	63
I Want to Believe			July 25, 2008 (2008-07-25)		—	—
10	6		January 24, 2016 (2016-01-24)	February 22, 2016 (2016-02-22)	9.54	7
11	10		January 3, 2018 (2018-01-03)	March 21, 2018 (2018-03-21)	5.34	91

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Game of Thrones is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. The series is based on George R. R. Martin's series of fantasy novels, A Song of Ice and Fire. The series takes place on the fictional continents of Westeros and Essos, and chronicles the power struggles among noble families as they fight for control of the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms. The series starts when House Stark, led by Lord Eddard "Ned" Stark (Sean Bean), is drawn into schemes surrounding King Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy).

The series premiered on April 17, 2011, on HBO. David Benioff and D. B. Weiss both serve as executive producers, along with Carolyn Strauss, Frank Doelger, Bernadette Caulfield, and George R. R. Martin. Filming for the series took place in a number of locations, including Croatia, Northern Ireland, Iceland, and Spain. Episodes were broadcast on Sunday at 9:00 pm Eastern Time, and the episodes are between 50 and 82 minutes in length. All eight seasons are available on DVD, Blu-ray and Ultra HD Blu-ray. (Full article...)

Sim as the Laird in Geordie, 1955

The Scottish actor Alastair Sim (1900–1976) performed in many media of light entertainment, including theatre, film and television. His career spanned from 1930 until his death. During that time he was a "memorable character player of faded Anglo-Scottish gentility, whimsically put-upon countenance, and sepulchral, sometimes minatory, laugh".

After studying chemistry at the University of Edinburgh, he was employed, between 1925 and 1930, as a lecturer in elocution at New College, Edinburgh, and also established his own school of drama and speech training. In 1930 he made his professional stage debut as a messenger in Othello at the Savoy Theatre, London—with Paul Robeson and Peggy Ashcroft in the lead roles. During the next five years he appeared on stage in New York and the UK, and spent two years at the Old Vic. (Full article...)

Weaver at the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con.

Sigourney Weaver is an American actress who began her career in the early 1970s by appearing in plays. Throughout her career, she has acted in nearly 40 stage productions. She made her film debut with a minor role in Woody Allen's comedy-drama Annie Hall (1977), but her breakthrough came when she portrayed Ellen Ripley in Ridley Scott's science fiction film Alien (1979). She reprised the role in Aliens (1986), this time helmed by director James Cameron. Her performance netted her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She returned to the role in two more sequels: Alien 3 (1992) and Alien Resurrection (1997), neither of which were as well received. Although originally written as a male role, Ripley is now regarded as one of the most significant female protagonists in cinema history, and consequently, Weaver is considered to be a pioneer of action heroines in science fiction films.

Although best known for her role in the Alien franchise, Weaver has fostered a prolific filmography, appearing in more than 60 films. In 1981, she starred alongside William Hurt in the neo-noir Eyewitness. Her next role was opposite Mel Gibson in the Peter Weir–directed The Year of Living Dangerously (1982). She played Dana Barrett in Ghostbusters (1984), later returning to the franchise in Ghostbusters II (1989), Ghostbusters (2016), and Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021). In 1986, Weaver starred opposite Michael Caine in the erotic thriller Half Moon Street. Her next role was primatologist Dian Fossey in Gorillas in the Mist (1988), for which she won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama. That same year, she also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture for her performance alongside Harrison Ford in Working Girl. Weaver was the first actor to have two acting wins at the Golden Globes in the same year. She also received an Academy Award nomination for both films. (Full article...)

Celebrity Big Brother is a spin-off of the British reality television series Big Brother, broadcast in the UK and Ireland. Originally broadcast on Channel 4 and E4, and later on Channel 5 and 5Star, and ITV1 and ITV2 respectively, it involves a group of celebrities, called housemates, living in isolation from the outside world in a custom-built "house". The actions of the participants are recorded constantly by microphones and cameras situated in each room. Regularly, the housemates nominate two other members of the group each to face eviction; those with the most nominations face a public telephone vote, and the housemate who receives the most public votes is evicted. This procedure continues until the final day, when the viewers vote for who of the remaining participants they want to win the programme. Profits from premium-rate telephone votes are donated to charities such as Comic Relief, Centrepoint and Samaritans. (Full article...)

The British documentary television programme Meerkat Manor (September 2005 – August 2008), produced by Oxford Scientific Films for Animal Planet International, documented the antics of various meerkats being studied by the Kalahari Meerkat Project. The meerkats live in matriarchal groups led by a dominant couple, who have exclusive mating and breeding rights. The remainder of the group is usually the offspring and relatives of the dominant couple.

In the first three series of the four-series programme, five major groups of meerkats were regularly shown, however, its primary focus was on a group called the Whiskers, one of the largest and oldest of the research groups. Other groups featured were neighbouring rival groups of the Whiskers and groups formed by former Whiskers members. During the first series, a group called the Lazuli were depicted as the Whiskers' main rivals, with occasional appearances by the smaller Gattaca group. In the second series, the Commandoes were introduced as one of the toughest rivals the Whiskers had ever faced, and by the third, the Commandoes had forced the Whiskers to move. The Whiskers then acquired two new neighbouring groups, the Zappa, with whom they had frequent confrontations, and the short-lived Starsky group formed by a trio of evicted Whiskers females. In the fourth and final series, one of the Whiskers' females formed a new group, the Aztecs. (Full article...)

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• December 28: US professional wrestler Jon Huber dies aged 41
• September 2: Tributes paid to recently deceased US actor Chadwick Boseman
• May 24: Japanese professional wrestler and Netflix star Hana Kimura dies aged 22
• January 16: BBC newsreader Alagiah to undergo treatment for bowel cancer

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