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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 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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Arrested Development is a character-driven American television comedy series about a formerly wealthy, habitually dysfunctional family. The show is presented in a mockumentary format, complete with narration, archival photos, and historical footage. Although set in Newport Beach and Balboa Island, California, it was primarily filmed on location around Culver City and Marina del Rey. The show was created by Mitchell Hurwitz (The Ellen Show, The John Larroquette Show, and The Golden Girls). Television veteran Ron Howard is an executive producer and the uncredited narrator. It has aired on broadcast networks around the world, including Fox in the United States, CBC in Canada and BBC Two in the United Kingdom. Since debuting on November 2, 2003, the series received six Emmy Awards, one Golden Globe, copious critical acclaim, a cult fan base, fan-based websites, and a spot on Time's 100 Greatest Shows of All Time. Despite the thorough approval from critics, Arrested Development never climbed in the ratings. Fox aired the final four episodes of the third season in a block as a two-hour series finale on February 10, 2006, opposite the opening ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympics.

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Credit: Holger.Ellgaard

The Kaknäs tower (Swedish: Kaknästornet) is a TV tower in Gärdet in Stockholm, Sweden. It has 72 pillars. The tower is a major hub of Swedish television, radio and satellite broadcasts. It was finished in 1967, designed by architect Bengt Lindroos, and the height is 155 metres (509 ft) or 170 metres (560 ft) with the antenna included. The tower is owned by the national Swedish broadcasting company Teracom. The tower's name comes from the ancient name of the area, Kaknäs.

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... that among the special events broadcast by the Maine Television Network during its brief existence were a fashion show, a basketball tournament, and an ordination ceremony?
... that Donald A. Morgan is the first director of photography to be inducted into the Television Hall of Fame?
... that Colorado public television station KTSC operates from two studios named for the same benefactor?
... that former CIA agent Bazzel Baz was hired to be a consultant for The Blacklist television series and instead became a cast member?
... that Czech television reporter and author Vladimír Škutina was arrested and imprisoned twice for his use of political satire?
... that radio station KWKC dropped its application for a TV station in order to speed the arrival of television to Abilene, Texas, which would otherwise have been 89th in line?

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It is pretty amazing to go from being a print cartoonist to having a hit animated television show, although I secretly expected it [The Simpsons] do well.

— Matt Groening

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...that copies of the 1982 biopic Will: G. Gordon Liddy, about a Watergate co-conspirator, are stored in the Nixon Presidential Materials collection at the U.S. National Archives?

...that the air-date of "The Beginning of the End", the fourth season premiere of the television series Lost, means that the season may be interrupted by the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike even if a settlement is reached?

...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 Gordon Murray, the creator of classic British children's television shows Trumpton, Camberwick Green and Chigley, burnt all but one of his puppets on a bonfire in the 1980s?

...that Judy Morris, co-writer of the Academy Award winning Happy Feet has also acted in many of the most popular North American and Australian television programs since the age of 10?

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Bana in 2009

Eric Banadinović, AM (born 9 August 1968), known professionally as Eric Bana (/ˈbænə/), is an Australian actor. He began his career in the sketch comedy series Full Frontal before gaining notice in the comedy drama The Castle (1997). He achieved further critical recognition for starring in the biographical crime film Chopper (2000), and as the titular character in Hulk (2003).

After a decade of roles in Australian TV shows and films, Bana gained Hollywood's attention for his performance in the war film Black Hawk Down (2001). He played Hector in the war epic Troy (2004), and took a leading role in Steven Spielberg's historical thriller Munich (2005). In 2009, he played the villain Nero in the science-fiction film Star Trek, which was a critical and commercial success. Bana continued to work steadily in the 2010s, portraying Lieutenant commander Erik S. Kristensen in Lone Survivor (2013), and playing police sergeant Ralph Sarchie in the horror film Deliver Us from Evil (2014). In 2018, Bana played the title role in a true crime miniseries, Dirty John. In 2020, he returned to Australia to star in outback thriller The Dry. (Full article...)

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

General images

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

Image 1This 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 2Family watching TV, 1958 (from History of television)
Image 3A map depicting digital terrestrial television standards (from Digital television)
Image 4Ad for the beginning of experimental television broadcasting in New York City by RCA in 1939 (from History of television)
Image 5Hovannes Adamian c. 1900s (from Color television)
Image 6First television test broadcast transmitted by the NHK Broadcasting Technology Research Institute in May 1939 (from History of television)
Image 7The Philco Predicta, 1958. In the collection of The Children's Museum of Indianapolis (from History of television)
Image 8The first mass-produced Czechoslovak TV-set Tesla 4001A (1953–57) (from History of television)
Image 9Comparison of image quality between ISDB-T (1080i broadcast, top) and NTSC (480i transmission, bottom) (from Digital television)
Image 10The 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 11Philo Farnsworth in 1924 (from History of television)
Image 12Color bars used in a test pattern, sometimes used when no program material is available (from History of television)
Image 13Public television in France uses 819 line b&w high definition, from 1959 until 1983 (TF1). (from History of television)
Image 14RCA 630-TS, the first mass-produced television set, which sold in 1946–1947 (from History of television)
Image 15Baird in 1925 with his televisor equipment and dummies "James" and "Stooky Bill" (right) (from History of television)
Image 16An early Smart TV from 2012 running the discontinued Orsay platform (from History of television)
Image 17Smart TVs on display (from Smart TV)
Image 18Ferdinand Braun (from History of television)
Image 19Manfred von Ardenne in 1933 (from History of television)
Image 20LG Electronics smart TV from 2011 (from Smart TV)
Image 21RCA 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 22A 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)
Image 23DBS satellite dishes (from History of television)
Image 24LG Smart TV using the Web browser (from Smart TV)
Image 25Samsung's discontinued Orsay platform (from Smart TV)

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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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Tsukihime, Lunar Legend (真月譚月姫, Shingetsutan Tsukihime) is an anime television series. The episodes are directed by Katsushi Sakurabi, animated by J.C.Staff, and produced by the Tsukihime Production Committee, which included Geneon Entertainment, Movic, Tokyo Broadcasting System, and J.C.Staff. The English adaptation of the episodes has been licensed by Geneon Entertainment. The episodes are based on the visual novel Tsukihime by Type-Moon and adapt the source material over twelve episodes. The plot of the episodes follows Shiki Tohno after he moves into his sister's house, and his interactions with the vampire Arcueid Brunestud.

The episodes aired in Japan from October 10, 2003 to December 26, 2003 on BS-i. The episodes received their international premiere on the anime television network Animax, who have also later broadcast the series across its respective networks worldwide in Southeast Asia and South Asia, and its other networks in East Asia, South America and other regions under the title Lunar Legend Tsukihime. (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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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 re-named 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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Big Brother, the American version of the worldwide television show, features contestants (called houseguests) that compete against each other to be the last Big Brother house resident and win $500,000, later $750,000. The series first aired in 2000, and 25 seasons have been completed as of 2023. Big Brother contestants are chosen by the show's producers through an application process that includes a videotape submission, semi-final interviews at select cities, and a final interview in Los Angeles. Contestants are also recruited through various means but then follow the same subsequent interview process to appear on the show.

As of season 25, a total of 333 participants have competed in Big Brother, Big Brother: Over the Top, and Big Brother Reindeer Games and 45 of them have competed in multiple seasons. A total of 34 participants have competed in Celebrity Big Brother, which increases the total number of Big Brother participants to 367. Big Brother 7 was an All-Star edition, which featured 14 returning HouseGuests chosen either through viewer vote or by producers from an initial group of 20 candidates. For Big Brother 11, four past HouseGuests were given the chance to return based on the results of the season's first competition, after which one of them entered the house. Season 13 featured three "Dynamic Duos" from previous seasons, season 14 brought in four Big Brother veterans to coach the 12 new HouseGuests and season 18 saw the return of four returnees playing the game with 12 new houseguests. In Big Brother: Over the Top, former HouseGuests Jason Roy and Jozea Flores were given the chance to return through a public vote. Roy won the public vote and became the 13th houseguest. The 19th season brought along the return of a past houseguest as the 17th houseguest, but that houseguest was actually there to take the spot of one of the 16 new houseguests, as a consequence for one of the newbies taking a temptation. Season 22 was another All-Star edition, featuring 16 returning HouseGuests, all chosen by production. Big Brother Reindeer Games was a special holiday themed "Legends" edition, with 9 returning houseguests, as well as 3 other former houseguests participating solely as hosts. (Full article...)
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The 73rd Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards honored the best in artistic and technical achievement in American prime time television programming from June 1, 2020, until May 31, 2021, as chosen by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The awards were presented across three ceremonies on September 11 and 12, 2021, at the Event Deck at L.A. Live in Downtown Los Angeles, California, preceding the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards on September 19. A total of 99 Creative Arts Emmys were presented across 92 categories. The ceremonies were produced by Bob Bain, directed by Rich Preuss, and broadcast in the United States by FXX on September 18.

The Queen's Gambit won nine awards, leading all programs; The Mandalorian and Saturday Night Live followed with seven wins each. The Mandalorian also received the most nominations with 19, followed by WandaVision with 15 and Saturday Night Live with 14. Program awards went to Boys State, Carpool Karaoke: The Series, Dolly Parton's Christmas on the Square, For All Mankind: Time Capsule, Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal, Love, Death & Robots, Queer Eye, RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked, Secrets of the Whales, Space Explorers: The ISS Experience, Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy, Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man, and 76 Days. Netflix led all networks with 34 wins and 104 nominations. (Full article...)
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The Best Male Athlete with a Disability ESPY Award is an annual award honoring the achievements of a male individual from the world of disabled sports. Established with the aid of disability advocate and former United States Paralympic soccer player Eli Wolff, the accolade's trophy, designed by sculptor Lawrence Nowlan, is presented to the disabled sportsman adjudged to be the best at the annual ESPY Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. The Best Male Athlete with a Disability ESPY Award was first bestowed as part of the ESPY Awards in 2005 after the non-gender specific Best Athlete with a Disability ESPY Award was presented the previous three years (all won by sportsmen). Balloting for the award is undertaken by fans over the Internet from between three and five choices selected by the ESPN Select Nominating Committee, which is composed of a panel of experts. It is conferred in July to reflect performance and achievement over the preceding twelve months.

The inaugural winner of the Best Male Athlete with a Disability ESPY Award in 2005 was Paralympic track and field competitor Marlon Shirley, who won two medals at the 2004 Summer Paralympics and was the first para-athlete to go below eleven seconds in the men's 100-meter category with a time of 10.97 seconds. In 2015, South African wheelchair racer Krige Schabort was selected as the recipient of the award. , he is the only athlete born outside of the United States to have won the accolade, though three additional foreign sportsmen have earned nominations. Track and field athletes have won more awards than any other sport with four with three triathlon winners and two winners each coming in sledge hockey, mixed martial arts, and wrestling. It was not awarded in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The most recent winner of the award was American para-swimmer Brad Snyder in 2022. (Full article...)
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The Jimmy V Award (sometimes called the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance) is awarded as part of the ESPY Awards to "a deserving member of the sporting world who has overcome great obstacles through perseverance and determination". The award is named in honor of North Carolina State University men's basketball coach Jim Valvano, who gave an acceptance speech after receiving the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the 1993 ESPY Awards ceremony which "brought a howling, teary-eyed Madison Square Garden to its feet". Valvano died from adenocarcinoma two months after receiving the award. The Jimmy V Award trophy, designed by sculptor Lawrence Nowlan, is presented at the annual awards ceremony in Los Angeles by The V Foundation, a charitable organization founded in 1993 by ESPN and Valvano to raise money to fund cancer research grants across the United States.

The accolade's inaugural winner in 2007 was basketball coach Kay Yow, who successfully led the North Carolina State University women's team to the ACC tournament championship game, and the Sweet 16 (regional semi-finals) of the NCAA Division I Tournament after returning from sessions of breast cancer chemotherapy. Although the award has usually been given to coaches or athletes, it has been presented to two reporters: Stuart Scott (2014) and Craig Sager (2016). The award has been shared twice: Team Hoyt (2013), consisting of the father and son team of Dick and Rick Hoyt, and the father and daughter combination of Devon Still and Leah Still (2015). The 2023 recipient of the Jimmy V Award was Liam Hendriks, an Chicago White Sox closer who was diagnosed with stage four Non-Hodgkin lymphoma and returned to play following his being declared cancer free in April 2023. (Full article...)
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Moonlight is an American paranormal romance television drama created by Ron Koslow and Trevor Munson, who was also executive producer for all episodes with Joel Silver, Gerard Bocaccio, Gabrielle Stanton and Harry Werksman. The series follows private investigator Mick St. John (Alex O'Loughlin), who was turned into a vampire by his bride Coraline (Shannyn Sossamon) on the couple's wedding night fifty-five years earlier. In the present day, he struggles with his attraction to a mortal woman, Beth Turner (Sophia Myles), his friendship with his mentor and fellow vampire Josef Kostan (Jason Dohring), and his dealings with other vampires in Los Angeles.

The series was commissioned by Warner Bros. Television in 2007 as a presentation lasting 14–20 minutes. Alex O'Loughlin, Shannon Lucio, Rade Šerbedžija and Amber Valletta were cast in the lead roles, and Rod Holcomb was hired as director. David Greenwalt joined the staff in May 2007 as showrunner and executive producer with Joel Silver; however, health reasons forced Greenwalt to leave the series. All of the original actors, apart from the male lead role, were recast in June 2007 with Sophia Myles, Jason Dohring and Shannyn Sossamon. A retooled, full-length pilot for television audiences was then shot. (Full article...)
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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...)
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Carmichael in 1972 as Lord Peter Wimsey

The English actor and comedian Ian Carmichael OBE (1920–2010) performed in many mediums of light entertainment, including theatre, radio, television and film. His career spanned from 1939 until his death in 2010. According to Brian McFarlane, writing for The Encyclopedia of British Film, Carmichael "epitomises the good-natured, undemanding pleasures of '50s British cinema".

Carmichael made his professional stage debut in 1939 while he was studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art; his role was as a robot in the science fiction play R.U.R., which lasted for only a week. His studies were interrupted by the Second World War, and he was commissioned into the Royal Armoured Corps; he also joined an entertainment unit, 30 Corps Theatrical Pool, for which he produced twenty shows. At the end of the war he returned to professional acting, and in 1947 he took a role in She Wanted a Cream Front Door, which ran in the West End for nine months. He continued to perform in the theatre throughout the rest of his career, largely in the UK, but also in productions in Canada, South Africa and the USA. In 1947 Carmichael made his debut on television in the revue New Faces. He continued to work in television throughout his life and, according to McFarlane, achieved considerable success with P. G. Wodehouse's The World of Wooster in 1966–1967, in which he played Bertie Wooster, and as Lord Peter Wimsey between 1972 and 1975. (Full article...)
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Reynolds promoting Deadpool 2 at the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con

Ryan Reynolds is a Canadian actor and producer who has appeared in films, television series, videos, and Video games. Reynolds made his acting debut on television in the teen drama Fifteen in 1991. Two years later, he made his feature film debut by playing an orphan raised in India, who is inspired by Mahatma Gandhi to go on a hunger strike in a small town in Canada in Ordinary Magic (1993). Reynolds had a recurring role on the television show The Odyssey (1993). He followed this with minor appearances on The X-Files (1996), and the television film Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996). His breakthrough role was as medical student Michael "Berg" Bergen in the sitcom Two Guys and a Girl.

He also played a slacker in National Lampoon's Van Wilder (2002), and vampire hunter Hannibal King in Blade: Trinity (2004) with Wesley Snipes. Reynolds appeared in lead roles in the commercially successful romantic comedies Just Friends (2005), Definitely, Maybe (2008), and The Proposal (2009). In 2010, he played a military contractor who is captured by terrorists in the psychological thriller Buried. The following year, Reynolds starred in the title role of the superhero film Green Lantern, which received a generally negative reception from the critics and underperformed at the box office leading to a decline in his career. In 2013, he voiced a garden snail in Turbo and a caveman in The Croods. Two years later, he appeared in the drama Mississippi Grind and played lawyer E. Randol Schoenberg in Woman in Gold. (Full article...)

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