New York New Year

In the United States, New Year’s Eve is a major social holiday. One of the top destination cities for New Year’s Eve from 2003 to 2006 has been New York. Las Vegas’s America’s Party? is also attracting a large number of New Year’s Eve party goers with the famous Las Vegas Strip being closed to vehicles and fireworks launched from numerous rooftops.

In the past 100 years the “ball dropping” on top of One Times Square in New York City, broadcast to all of America (and rebroadcast in many other countries), is a major component of the New Year celebration. The 11,875-pound (5,386 kg), 12-foot (3.7 m) diameter Waterford crystal ball located high above Times Square is lowered, starting at 11:59:00pm and reaching the bottom of its tower 60 seconds later, at the stroke of midnight (12:00:00am). This is repeated in many towns and cities across the United States. From 1981 to 1988, New York City dropped an enlarged apple in recognition of its nickname. It is sometimes referred to as “the big apple” like the city itself; the custom derives from the time signal that used to be given at noon in harbors.

From 1972 through 2007 (except in 1999), Dick Clark hosted televised coverage of the event called Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, shown on ABC, and now renamed Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest for the arrival of 2009. The show did not air for the arrival of 2000 as it was preempted by ABC 2000 Today. From 1956 to 1976 on CBS, Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians serenaded the United States from the ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on Park Avenue in New York City. The Royal Canadians continued on CBS until 1978, and Happy New Year, America replaced it in 1979, continuing until 1995. The song Auld Lang Syne has become a popular song to sing at midnight on New Year’s Eve, with the Lombardo version being the standard. NBC also has hosted New Year’s coverage; traditionally, the networks’ late night hosts have hosted special editions of their regular shows (including a special Central Time Zone-specific countdown on Late Night with Conan O’Brien), but since 2005, the network has opted for a special entitled New Year’s Eve with Carson Daly. Fox, CNN, and Fox News Channel also have their own New Year’s specials.

Some of the famous events in New York on New Year’s eve:

• Times Square All Access Pass :  Access Multiple Times Square Parties & SEE THE BALL DROP!!!! Thu, Dec 31, 09 6:00 PM – 4:00 AM
• Bryant Park Grill : Bring in 2010 in style at Bryant Park Grill, Thu, Dec 31, 09 10:00 PM – 4:00 AM
  China Grill : NYC’s #1 Upscale Party in Times Square – A Night to Remember, Thu, Dec 31, 09 9:30 PM – 3:00 AM
  Bourbon Street : Mardi Gras Themed New Years Eve Party in Times Square!, Thu, Dec 31, 09 8:00 PM – 4:00 AM
  Espace : Rated Most Exclusive Party in the Heart of Times Square!, Thu, Dec 31, 09 9:00 PM – 3:00 AM
  Mars 2112 in Times Square : Rated #1 Themed Nightclub in Times Square, Thu, Dec 31, 09 9:00 PM – 4:00 AM
  Sequoia : Alizé presents New Years Eve on the Water ,Thu, Dec 31, 09 9:00 PM – 3:00 AM
  Carlton Hotel : Voted New York’s Most Glamorous Hotel Party on New Years, Thu, Dec 31, 09 9:00 PM – 3:00 AM
  Webster Hall : Music by “MSTRKRFT” at the Annual New Year’s Eve Ball ,Thu, Dec 31, 09 8:00 PM – 9:00 AM
• Bryant Park Grill : Bring in 2010 in style at Bryant Park Grill, Thu, Dec 31, 09 10:00 PM – 4:00 AM
• China Grill : NYC’s #1 Upscale Party in Times Square – A Night to Remember, Thu, Dec 31, 09 9:30 PM – 3:00 AM
• Bourbon Street : Mardi Gras Themed New Years Eve Party in Times Square!, Thu, Dec 31, 09 8:00 PM – 4:00 AM
• Espace : Rated Most Exclusive Party in the Heart of Times Square!, Thu, Dec 31, 09 9:00 PM – 3:00 AM
• Mars 2112 in Times Square : Rated #1 Themed Nightclub in Times Square, Thu, Dec 31, 09 9:00 PM – 4:00 AM
• Sequoia : Alizé presents New Years Eve on the Water ,Thu, Dec 31, 09 9:00 PM – 3:00 AM
• Carlton Hotel : Voted New York’s Most Glamorous Hotel Party on New Years, Thu, Dec 31, 09 9:00 PM – 3:00 AM
• Webster Hall : Music by “MSTRKRFT” at the Annual New Year’s Eve Ball ,Thu, Dec 31, 09 8:00 PM – 9:00 AM

Data from the spacecraft also suggests water is still being formed on the moon, the British newspaper said. NASA’s website says it will hold a media briefing at 1440 hrs (local time) on September 24 to “reveal new scientific findings about the moon” from data collected during national and international space missions.

Chandrayaan-1, was India’s first unmanned lunar probe. It was launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation in October 2008, and operated until August 2009. The mission included a lunar orbiter and an impactor. India launched the spacecraft by a modified version of the PSLV, PSLV C11 on 22 October 2008 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Nellore District, Andhra Pradesh, about 80 km north of Chennai, at 06:22 IST (00:52 UTC). The mission was a major boost to India’s space program, as India researched and developed its own technology in order to explore the Moon. The vehicle was successfully inserted into lunar orbit on 8 November 2008.
On 14 November 2008, the Moon Impact Probe separated from the Chandrayaan orbiter at 20:06 and struck the south pole in a controlled manner, making India the fourth country to place its flag on the Moon.The probe impacted near Shackleton Crater at 20:31 ejecting underground soil that could be analysed for the presence of water ice.
The estimated cost for the project was Rs. 386 crore (US$ 80 million).
The remote sensing lunar satellite had a mass of 1,380 kilograms (3,042 lb) at launch and 675 kilograms (1,488 lb) in lunar orbit. It carried high resolution remote sensing equipment for visible, near infrared, and soft and hard X-ray frequencies. Over a two-year period, it was intended to survey the lunar surface to produce a complete map of its chemical characteristics and three-dimensional topography. The polar regions are of special interest as they might contain ice. The lunar mission carries five ISRO payloads and six payloads from other space agencies including NASA, ESA, and the Bulgarian Aerospace Agency, which were carried free of cost.
After suffering from several technical issues including failure of the star sensors and poor thermal shielding, Chandrayaan stopped sending radio signals at 1:30 AM IST on August 29, 2009 shortly after which, the ISRO officially declared the mission over. Chandrayaan operated for 312 days as opposed to the intended two years but the mission achieved 95 percent of its planned objectives.

Chandrayaan 1 Launch

Chandrayaan completes 100 days

Streaming live video by Ustream

History

The Los Angeles-based Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) established the Emmy Awards as part of an image-building and public relations opportunity.[4] The name “Emmy” was chosen as a feminization of “immy”, a nickname used for the image orthicon tubes that were common in early television cameras. To complement the name, the statuette was designed to depict a winged woman holding an atom, which has since become the symbol of the TV Academy’s goal of supporting and uplifting the art and science of television: The wings represent the muse of art; the atom the electron of science.
The first Emmy Awards were presented on January 25, 1949 at the Hollywood Athletic Club, but solely to honor shows produced and aired locally in the Los Angeles area. Shirley Dinsdale has the distinction of receiving the very first Emmy, for Most Outstanding Television Personality, during that first awards ceremony.
In the 1950s, the ATAS expanded the Emmys into a national event, presenting the awards to shows broadcast nationwide. In 1955, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) was formed in New York as a sister organization to serve members on the East Coast, and help to also supervise the Emmys. The NATAS also established regional chapters throughout the United States, with each one developing their own local Emmy awards show for local programming.
Originally there was only one Emmy Awards ceremony held per year to honor shows nationally broadcast in the United States. That changed when the Daytime Emmy Awards, a separate awards show specifically just for daytime programming, was first held in 1974. Other area-specific Emmy Awards ceremonies soon followed. Also, the International Emmy Awards, honoring television programs produced and initially aired outside the U.S., was established in the early 1970s. Meanwhile, all Emmys awarded prior to the emergence of these separate, area-specific ceremonies are listed along with the Primetime Emmy Awards in the ATAS’ official records.
In 1977, due to various conflicts, the ATAS and the NATAS agreed to split ties. However, they also agreed to share ownership of the Emmy statue and trademark, with each responsible for administering a specific set of award shows.

Primetime Emmys

The Primetime Emmys are presented in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming. Ceremonies generally are held in mid-September, on the Sunday before the official start of the fall television season, and are currently broadcast in rotation among the ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX networks.
Some award categories presented to behind-the-scenes personnel such as art directors, costume designers, cinematographers, casting directors, and sound editors are awarded at a separate Creative Arts Emmys ceremony held a few days earlier

The plot revolves around a widowed housewife (Mary-Louise Parker) from an affluent California suburb who becomes her neighborhood’s marijuana dealer to make ends meet. The title is a play on words, referring to both the slang term for marijuana and widow’s weeds, it also refers to the tendency of American suburbs to grow quickly and pervasively, with the dwellings and their residents being almost as indistinguishable as weeds; this is mirrored in the show’s theme song “Little Boxes” and opening credits, and is a recurring theme of the show itself. The theme song changes in the second season. The change consists of a different version every week.

Weeds currently comprises five seasons that began airing in August 2005. It was the highest rated series for Showtime its first year; its fourth-season premiere attracted 1.3 million viewers to Showtime, the channel’s highest-ever viewership; the season as a whole averaged 962,000 viewers.[citation needed] Showtime announced on July 18, 2008 that two more seasons of thirteen episodes each will be produced. Season 5 premiered to 1.2 million viewers, with a rerun on the same night adding another 500,000 viewers for a cumulative 1.7 million.

Mary-Louise Parker won a Golden Globe for her performance on the show, and Jenji Kohan won a WGA award for her screenplay for the pilot episode.

Season 5 of Weeds premiered on Monday, June 8th, 2009 at 10 p.m. on Showtime.

A version of this Wikipedia article, as its introduction appeared from May 16–21, 2009, was used as the show’s opening credits sequence for the July 20, 2009 episode “Where the Sidewalk Ends”.

Weeds has something of a history of episodes leaking to the Internet. Creator Jenji Kohan has stated that she does not mind episodes being distributed on the internet in this way, saying, “Revenue aside, I don’t expect to get rich on Weeds. I’m excited it’s out there. Showtime is great, but it does have a limited audience.”

In 2006, before season 2 started airing on Showtime, the first few episodes were leaked online.

The next year, the first two episodes of the third season appeared online on July 22, 2007 (nearly a month before the August 13 season premier date). The third appeared online on July 24, with the fourth appearing just three days later. The fourth episode was, however, an incomplete version–among other things, some dubbed lines were not complete (notably part of a voice mail message by U-Turn is spoken by a distinctly different actor, and a card simply reading “End Credits” was inserted instead of the actual credits. Due to the high quality of the leaked episodes, downloaders of the torrents speculated that the episodes were leaked intentionally to garner interest in the show and to create an Internet buzz.

Mark Wahlberg and Stephen Levinson serve as the show’s co-executive producers, and the show’s premise is loosely based on Wahlberg’s experiences as an up-and-coming movie star. The series deals with themes of male friendship and with life in Hollywood. In accordance with this, numerous celebrities have guest-starred on the show.

According to Mark Wahlberg, Entourage was initially conceived when his assistant asked if he could film Wahlberg and his friends, calling them “hilarious”. Other reports credit Eric Weinstein, a long-time friend of Wahlberg’s, with the idea of filming the successful actor’s group of friends. In order to be more satirical of the Hollywood lifestyle, a fictional approach was chosen rather than a straight documentary.

Vincent Chase, the show’s main character, was envisioned to be more similar to Wahlberg, but it was decided that some of his and his friends’ activities (particularly some elements of their criminal past) would not work well on television. A lighter approach was subsequently decided upon.

However, according to Donnie Carroll, who was the inspiration for the Albert character, the idea for a show involving an actor and his friends had come from him. It had originated as a book idea, centered on Carroll’s own life and his experiences with Wahlberg, titled From the ‘Hood to Hollywood, A Soldier’s Story.

Entourage revolves around Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier), a young, up-and-coming actor who eventually becomes an A-list star. His experiences are loosely based on those of Mark Wahlberg, who is also executive producer on the show. His best friend and manager is Eric Murphy (Kevin Connolly). “E”, as his friends call him, is based on Wahlberg’s friend and executive producer Eric Weinstein. He’s also been reported to be inspired by Stephen Levinson, Wahlberg’s manager.

Vincent’s older brother Johnny “Drama” Chase (Kevin Dillon), is also Vince’s personal chef and trainer. Johnny is a D-list actor who was in the fictional show Viking Quest during his younger days. His role in the new fictional hit show Five Towns has begun to resurrect his fame and career. This character is based on Johnny “Drama” Alves (cousin of Mark Wahlberg), whom Donnie Wahlberg had hired to keep his younger brother out of trouble.

Rounding out the entourage of friends is Salvatore, known as “Turtle” (Jerry Ferrara), who is another of Vince’s old friends from childhood. Turtle’s official role is as Vince’s driver and assistant, though his value as such is often brought into question. This character is based on Mark Wahlberg’s former “gofer” Donnie Carroll aka “Donkey”. Carroll auditioned for the role, but the Boston-native was turned down when it was decided the actors would have to be New Yorkers. Carroll died on December 18, 2005 after an asthma attack.

Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven) is Vince’s abrasive but lovable agent. The role has led to several nominations and Emmy Awards for Piven. Ari is based on Wahlberg’s real-life agent Ari Emanuel.

Kevin Connolly, Adrian Grenier, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara, and Jeremy Piven have been credited in every episode in the opening credits since season one. Debi Mazar who had a recurring guest star role as Shauna in season 1 began to receive opening credits billing in season 2. Her appearances in season 3 were limited due to her pregnancy and Mazar made her final regular appearance in episode 42. She made appearances in seasons 4, 5 and 6, Mazar was credited as a special guest star. (Perrey Reeves) Mrs. Ari and (Rex Lee) Lloyd had recurring roles in the first two seasons. Starting in season three, Reeves and Lee were credited as “starring” in the end credits in the episodes that they appeared in. After Debi Mazar left on maternity leave, Reeves began to receive in the opening credits starting in season 4 replacing Mazar’s credit, and is now credited whether she appears in the episode or not. Rex Lee’s name also now appears in the opening credits as of season 5 whether he appears in the episode or not. Also In season 4, Rhys Coiro’s recurring character Billy Walsh was given a bigger role in the storyline, and Coiro was credited as “starring” in the first six episodes of the season. However, when his character returned in episode 52, he was again credited as a guest star. Gary Cole guest starred in three episodes of season 5 as agent Andrew Klein, beginning with season 6 he was credited as “starring” in the end credits. Canadian actress Emmanuelle Chriqui has portrayed E’s on-again, off-again girlfriend Sloan McQuewick (daughter of Malcolm McDowell’s character Terrance McQuewick) as a recurring guest star from season 2 to 5, beginning with season 6 she was credited as “starring”. E’s most recent girlfriend is Ashley, played by Alexis Dzien

The plot revolves around a widowed housewife (Mary-Louise Parker) from an affluent California suburb who becomes her neighborhood’s marijuana dealer to make ends meet. The title is a play on words, referring to both the slang term for marijuana and widow’s weeds, it also refers to the tendency of American suburbs to grow quickly and pervasively, with the dwellings and their residents being almost as indistinguishable as weeds; this is mirrored in the show’s theme song “Little Boxes” and opening credits, and is a recurring theme of the show itself. The theme song changes in the second season. The change consists of a different version every week.

Weeds currently comprises five seasons that began airing in August 2005. It was the highest rated series for Showtime its first year; its fourth-season premiere attracted 1.3 million viewers to Showtime, the channel’s highest-ever viewership; the season as a whole averaged 962,000 viewers.[citation needed] Showtime announced on July 18, 2008 that two more seasons of thirteen episodes each will be produced. Season 5 premiered to 1.2 million viewers, with a rerun on the same night adding another 500,000 viewers for a cumulative 1.7 million.

Mary-Louise Parker won a Golden Globe for her performance on the show, and Jenji Kohan won a WGA award for her screenplay for the pilot episode.

Season 5 of Weeds premiered on Monday, June 8th, 2009 at 10 p.m. on Showtime.

A version of this Wikipedia article, as its introduction appeared from May 16–21, 2009, was used as the show’s opening credits sequence for the July 20, 2009 episode “Where the Sidewalk Ends”..

Weeds has something of a history of episodes leaking to the Internet. Creator Jenji Kohan has stated that she does not mind episodes being distributed on the internet in this way, saying, “Revenue aside, I don’t expect to get rich on Weeds. I’m excited it’s out there. Showtime is great, but it does have a limited audience.”

In 2006, before season 2 started airing on Showtime, the first few episodes were leaked online.

The next year, the first two episodes of the third season appeared online on July 22, 2007 (nearly a month before the August 13 season premier date). The third appeared online on July 24, with the fourth appearing just three days later. The fourth episode was, however, an incomplete version–among other things, some dubbed lines were not complete (notably part of a voice mail message by U-Turn is spoken by a distinctly different actor, and a card simply reading “End Credits” was inserted instead of the actual credits. Due to the high quality of the leaked episodes, downloaders of the torrents speculated that the episodes were leaked intentionally to garner interest in the show and to create an Internet buzz.

The show mainly follows veteran fireman Tommy Gavin (Denis Leary) and his ever troublesome family as they deal with real life issues, either with post 9/11 trauma or domestic problems. Tommy has to struggle with the loss of his cousin and best friend Jimmy Keefe, who died on September 11, 2001, and frequently visits Tommy in visions. In the pilot episode, Tommy and his wife have already separated and Tommy has moved across the street. He is ill-tempered, self destructive, hypocritical, manipulative, and a relapsed alcoholic. He has realized how much he has contributed to the breakup of his family, and constantly struggles to reconcile with them. He loves his children very much, and desires to get back together with his wife. However, despite slowly making steps toward his redemption, tragedy always seems to be right around the corner.

Created by Denis Leary and Peter Tolan, the show premiered on the FX Network in 2004. Rescue Me is produced by Cloudland Company, Apostle, DreamWorks Television and Sony Pictures Television.

It was announced on August 28, 2009 that FX had decided to end the series in 2011 after a total of seven seasons. The finale is expected to coincide with the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

Season 1

The first season of Rescue Me debuted on July 21, 2004 and began by introducing the members of New York City Fire Department’s Ladder Company 62 aka “62 Truck” and exploring their lives, both at home and inside the firehouse. It focused on main character Tommy Gavin as he dealt with the effects of September 11, 2001 attacks, which, for him, include seeing the ghost of his cousin Jimmy Keefe as well as those of various people he failed to save over the years. Gavin and his wife are separated and, from across the street, he sees her begin to date again and concocts a “secret evil plan” to get her back and prevent her from taking his children and leaving the state.

In other stories; Chief Jerry Reilly attacks a gay former firefighter in a bar after the guy speaks to the press and claims that at least 20 of the 343 men who died during the 9/11 attacks were gay. Sean Garrity begins to date one of Franco Rivera’s (many) ex-girlfriends, which leads to Franco finding out that he has a daughter with the woman, whom he takes in after the mother’s overdose death. Tommy also gets involved with Jimmy’s widow Sheila, and “Probie” Mike Silletti begins to date a “fat chick” named Theresa (Ashlie Atkinson), which he keeps secret. Kenny Shea deals with 9/11 by writing poetry, and then starts to have an affair.

After fireman Billy Warren dies in a fire, the city sends Laura Miles to replace him. She clashes with the guys in general, who do not want a woman on their crew, and with Tommy in particular, whom she is watching and believes is growing dangerous as he takes more and more seemingly unnecessary risks on the job. The season comes to a close with Tommy’s mistake at a fire causing Franco to get hurt, and Tommy’s eventual transfer out of the house after the rest of the crew find out he has been seeing Sheila and gotten her pregnant. In the final scene of the final episode he shows up at his wife’s house, only to find her and his children missing, along with everything in the house.

Season 2

The second season premiered on June 21, 2005. It began with Tommy at a new firehouse on Staten Island and his replacement at 62 Truck, Sully, becoming everyone’s favorite. Sully leaves after the crew finds out that he likes to wear women’s clothing and shun him. This clears the way for Tommy to return. Back in the old house Tommy shifts his focus to finding his family and dealing with his father, who took an unannounced vacation and came home with a new (rich) wife, Jenny Ng. Sheila loses the baby, but lies about it to keep Tommy near.

Meanwhile, Tommy and Johnny Gavin find out that their father had a long going affair during their childhood, which produced two children. Soon they suspect their new-found brother, a priest, is a pedophile. Mike stalks his ex-girlfriend. Chief Jerry’s wife gradually deteriorates from Alzheimer’s and he is forced to seek help from his estranged son before placing her in a long-term care facility. Laura and Franco begin dating, but Laura eventually leaves Franco and the firehouse. Lt. Shea is conned by a prostitute, resulting in him losing his entire life savings. Jenny Ng dies, and Tommy’s estranged sister Maggie shows up.

Tommy and his family reconcile for a time, but when their only son Connor is killed by a drunk driver it’s too much for Janet to handle. It only gets worse when Johnny finds out the driver may not do time, so Tommy’s uncle, Teddy, murders him in public.

Season 3

The third season began on May 30, 2006. Tommy and Janet are now re-separated and Teddy is in jail for murder. Janet begins sleeping with Johnny, Tommy’s brother. Tommy and Johnny fight it out in the street, and, later, following an argument, Tommy and Janet have a very physical sex scene. The violence of the act is contrasted with his post-coital attitude and the suggestion that she may have enjoyed it.

Meanwhile Lt. Shea, still smarting from getting conned, is becoming testy with everyone on the crew and slowly spiraling down. The Probie (Mike) begins a sexual relationship with his (male) roommate and Tommy falls back into things with Sheila, Jimmy’s widow. Sheila wants to get Tommy back and begins to drug him to have sex. Maggie soon finds herself dating Sean Garrity, among others.

Janet gets pregnant with either Johnny’s or Tommy’s baby and wants to have it to replace Connor. The crew finds out about Probie’s possible homosexuality and Tommy comes to his defense. Franco starts to date Alicia (Susan Sarandon), a rich older woman who eventually takes his daughter from him (he is unable to do anything about it because he had taken her from foster care without permission and therefore is not the girl’s guardian anyway). Lt. Shea moves in with Tommy and begins seeing Teresa, a soon-to-be ex-nun with whom he plans on moving to Florida to be first mate on his cousin’s boat. Chief Riley tries to meet his wife’s increasing health care costs by taking a second job at a bar. Later he suffers a heart attack after having sex with Karlene, an illegal immigrant who cares for his wife.

During a stakeout, Johnny is shot three times through the back and killed by someone who was contracted to kill him to stop him from testifying against a powerful drug dealer. During his funeral Sean and Maggie decide to get married at the cemetery. Rosemarie Gavin is also introduced, the long lost sister of Tommy, Johnny, and Maggie. She is deaf and had been shunned by her parents but reconciles with her father.

With the house seemingly breaking up Tommy decides to retire and move in with Sheila. He changes his mind after talking with Janet about her pregnancy and hearing that Mike isn’t transferring, Lou has changed his mind about the boat and Franco has failed a lieutenant’s exam.

While at Sheila’s new house he tells her he is not retiring from the FDNY. Distraught, she drugs him and accidentally starts a fire. The fire is able to spread while Sheila is overwhelmed by frustration, and the finale closes without making it clear if either Tommy or Sheila made it out of the house.

Season 4

The fourth season of Rescue Me premiered on June 13, 2007. Tommy and Sheila are apparently rescued by firefighters, but are then accused of arson and insurance fraud. Janet has given birth to the baby and Tommy has come to accept it as his own. Unfortunately, the baby’s hair finally comes in and it is “jet black” in color, leaving them to now believe that it is Johnny’s son instead.

Teddy is released from prison and immediately abandons his new wife in a coffee shop. Colleen runs away from home and moves in with her boyfriend leaving her parents enraged.

Depressed after being told that he can no longer serve in active duty due to his poor heart, Jerry shocks everyone by taking his own life.

Janet is suffering from postpartum depression and is also deeply affected by her inability to bond with her new son. The baby cries constantly and his crying seems to worsen when Janet holds him. Getting wind of this, Sheila has approached Tommy about them giving her the baby; she has offered Tommy $850,000 in payment. She continues to hound Tommy about this and Tommy has not told Janet of Sheila’s offer. Seeing how his wife is suffering and how the baby is being neglected and seemingly rejected by everyone in the family but himself, Tommy is reluctantly beginning to re-consider Sheila’s offer.

Tommy soon decides to give the baby to Sheila after contemplating throwing him off into the Hudson river at the request of his brother’s ghost. After Janet learns of what Tommy has done she runs him down with her car. After she realizes that he is OK, she sends the youngest daughter up to Sheila’s apartment and steals the baby back. Meanwhile Tommy has a breakdown in the apartment in which all of his ghostly friends including Jimmy let him know that they are tired of his selfishness and leave him.

Tommy then shares custody with Sheila by bribing his daughter Colleen with a no limit credit card. Colleen gives the baby to him when she has him, so he can in turn give it to Sheila. Colleen’s boyfriend uses the credit card to buy a wedding ring. After Tommy learns this, he goes to the recording studio to sort out Colleen’s boyfriend and destroys his guitar. The boyfriend tells Tommy the ring wasn’t for Colleen, but for another girl. Relieved of this he apologizes to the boyfriend and wishes him and his new girlfriend the best of luck. When the boyfriend explains this to Colleen, he says its because Tommy scares him and that is why he left Colleen, so now of course Colleen hates Tommy even more.

Maggie Gavin and Sean Garrity are on and off throughout the whole season ending with Garrity pretending to be an alcoholic to spend time with Maggie and an eventual final split.

The family starts their own AA meetings due to the high amount of alcoholics in the family. Michael Gavin, Tommy’s father, refuses to attend meetings but contacts Tommy and tells him that he’s going to be sober ironically at a bar to “keep his friends close and his enemies closer”. Tommy struggles to maintain his sobriety the entire season.

Tommy also begins seeing a woman Valerie (Gina Gershon) who can’t be touched after she orgasms during sex. She and Tommy are on and off due to Tommy’s periodic want for his ex-wife Janet.

Janet has also taken a job, where she is dating her new, much younger boss.

A new firefighter also joins the house. He’s a new guy named Bart, but insists on being called Shawn. The crew decides to call him Black Shawn to distinguish him from Sean Garrity but Black Shawn is not happy with this. Due to Lou and Franco negotiating to get him for their basketball team, he says he doesn’t want to be referred to as Black Shawn and he is virtually absolved of any probie work, which initially angers Garrity, Mikey, and most of all, Tommy. However, due to Black Shawn’s ability to prove himself worthy in the face of a fire, he is accepted by the whole house, including Tommy, who pays him begrudging respect.

The season ends with Tommy, Lou, Sean, Michael Gavin (Tommy’s Dad), and Uncle Teddy attending a Newark Bears minor league baseball game at the request of Tommy’s dad. Tommy and his father take the close up seats while the rest of the crew take seats higher up in the same section. Lou explains to Garrity how Baseball is like life, waiting for something to come and not being awake for it to happen, but having enough time for a beer, a hot dog, and maybe a blowjob here and there. Also, Colleen is seen attending a picnic with Black Shawn. The last shot is of Tommy showing his father a hit, and his dad not responding or waking up. Tommy realizes that his father has died and puts his arm around him and continues to watch the game.

Minisodes

On June 23, 2008, webisodes seasons began airing on crackle.com and between shows on FX. Ten episodes aired. Viewers can also find complete episodes of the first four seasons on Crackle.

Season 5

The show was renewed for a fifth season of 22 episodes. In an interview with on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Thursday, May 15, 2008, Leary revealed season 5 had been delayed until March 2009 because of the writer’s strike, but that all 22 episodes would air on consecutive weeks. Michael J. Fox joined the cast, playing Janet’s (Andrea Roth) new love interest. According to the L.A. Weekly, on December 1, 2008 during an appearance at Book Soup in West Hollywood, Leary revealed plot details for season 5, specifically a retrospective look into the events leading up to and surrounding 9/11 by each of the characters, (subsequently Tommy and Lou vie for the the affections of the woman who is writing the story) is the plot line in the first 10 episodes of season 5, which premiered on April 7, 2009[2]. The season ends with Tommy’s uncle holding the bar and, in grief stricken rage, shoots Tommy twice in the shoulder and orders all the fellow firefighters to watch Tommy slowly bleed to death.

Season 6

On June 16, 2009, the Los Angeles Times website confirmed Rescue Me will return in 2010 with a sixth season due to increased ratings for the 5th season.

Although each country has made its own adaptations and changes to the format, the general concept has stayed the same: “housemates” are confined to a specially designed house where their every action is recorded by cameras and microphones at all times and they are not permitted any contact with the outside world.

In most versions, at regular intervals (normally once weekly, as introduced in the UK version, although in most early series it was every two weeks), the housemates are invited to vote to have one of a number of nominated housemates evicted from the house. In some cases, two housemates may be evicted simultaneously (a “double eviction”), or rarely, no housemates will be removed for that week. At the end of the game, the last remaining housemate is declared the winner of that particular series and receives prizes, often including a large amount of money, a car, a holiday and (in some editions) a house.

From a sociological and demographic perspective, this format allows the opportunity for analysis of how people react when forced into close confinement with people who lie outside their comfort zone, since they may hold different opinions or ideals from other contestants, or simply belong to a different group of people than a contestant normally interacts with. Indeed, the format is ideally suited to such analysis because the viewer is afforded the opportunity to see how a person reacts on the outside through the constant recording of their actions and also what they feel on the inside through the Diary Room. The results can range from violent or angry confrontations to genuine and tender connections (often including romantic interludes), providing entertainment to the public.

Besides living together under continuous observation, which is the major attraction of the contest, the program relies on four basic props: the stripped-bare back-to-basics environment in which they live, the evictions, the weekly tasks and competitions set by Big Brother and the “Diary Room”, in which the housemates individually convey their thoughts, feelings, and frustrations and reveal their nominees for eviction.

In the first season of most series of Big Brother, the house that the housemates had to live in was very basic. Although essential amenities such as running water, furniture and a limited ration of food were provided, luxury items were often forbidden. This added a survivalist element to the show, increasing the potential for social tension within the house. Nowadays, almost all series provide a modern house for the contest, with a jacuzzi, sauna, VIP suite, loft and other luxuries.

The housemates are required to do housework, and are set tasks by the producers of the show, who communicate with the housemates via the omnipresent authority figure known to them only as “Big Brother”. The tasks are designed to test their teamwork abilities and community spirit, and in some countries the housemates’ shopping budget or weekly allowance often depends on the outcome of any given tasks. The housemates have a weekly allowance with which they can buy food and other essentials.

At regular intervals, the housemates each privately nominate a number of fellow housemates that they wish to see evicted from the house. The housemates with the most nomination points are then announced and viewers are given the opportunity to vote via telephone for whom they wish to see evicted. The only known exception to this process is the American version, in which the housemates themselves vote to evict each other. After the votes are tallied, the “evictee” leaves the house and is interviewed live by the host of the show, usually in front of a studio audience.

The series is notable for involving the Internet. Although the show typically broadcasts daily updates in the evening (which are sometimes criticized for their heavy editing), viewers can also watch a continuous, 24-hour feed from multiple cameras on the web. These websites were highly successful, even after some national series started charging for access to the video stream. In some countries, Internet broadcasting was supplemented by updates via email, WAP and SMS. The House is even shown live on satellite television, although in some countries, such as the UK, with a 10-15 minute delay to allow libelous or unacceptable content (such as references to people who are not taking part in the program and have therefore not consented to have personal information about them broadcast) to be removed.

Despite derision from many intellectuals and other critics, the show has been a commercial success around the world. The voyeuristic nature of the show, in which contestants volunteer to surrender their privacy in return for minor celebrity status and a comparatively small cash prize, has attracted much scorn. On numerous occasions, participants in the various series have become sexually involved with each other, sometimes engaging in intercourse in front of Big Brother’s cameras. This recorded material is typically not broadcast due to its explicit nature, as in the Australian and American editions. Other editions, however, such as the German and British versions, do broadcast it. The Internet stream also captures such moments, which has led to some controversy, with certain jurisdictions such as Greece attempting to have the show removed from the airwaves.

Most international versions of the show remain quite similar to each other in that their main format remains true to the original fly on the wall, observational style, with the emphasis being on human relationships. This is taken to the extent that contestants are forbidden from discussing nominations or voting strategy altogether. The U.S. version, however, has since 2001 taken on a significantly different format from the others in their second season, with a far stronger emphasis on strategy, competition and voting.

The show's second 12-episode season premiered on June 14, 2009. On July 30, 2009, HBO confirmed that a third season of True Blood will be released in the summer of 2010.[2]Alan Ball has said that he plans to start shooting the third season before Christmas 2009.

True Blood details the co-existence of vampires and humans in Bon Temps (meaning “good time” in French), a fictional small Louisiana town. The series centers on Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), a telepathic waitress at a bar, who falls in love with vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer).[1][4]

The first season received critical acclaim and won several awards, including one Golden Globe.

Series creator Alan Ball had previously worked with premium cable channel HBO on Six Feet Under, which ran five seasons. In October 2005, after Six Feet Under’s finale, Ball signed a two-year agreement with HBO to develop and produce original programming for the network. True Blood became the first project under the deal, after Ball became acquainted with Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire Mystery books.[5] One day, while early for a dentist appointment, Ball was browsing through Barnes and Noble and came across Dead Until Dark, the first installment in Harris’ series. Enjoying it, he read the following entries and became interested in “bringing Harris’ vision to television.”[5][6] However, Harris had two other adaptation options for the books when Ball approached her. He said she chose to work with him, though, because “[Ball] really ‘got’ me. That’s how he convinced me to go with him. I just felt that he understood what I was doing with the books.”

The project’s hour-long pilot was ordered concurrently with the finalization of the aforementioned development deal and was written, directed and produced by Ball.[1][5] Cast members Paquin, Kwanten and Trammell were announced in February 2007 and Moyer later on in April.[7][8] The pilot was shot in the early summer of 2007 and was officially ordered to series in August, at which point Ball had already written several more episodes.[1] Production on the series began later that fall,[9] with Brook Kerr, who portrayed Tara Thornton in the original pilot, being replaced by Rutina Wesley.[10] Two more episodes of the series had been filmed before the 2007-08 Writers Guild of America strike shut down production of the 12-episode first season until 2008.[11] That September, after only the first two episodes of the series had aired, HBO placed an order for a second season of twelve episodes of the show, with production scheduled to commence in January 2009 for a summer premiere.[12]

[edit]Opening title sequence

True Blood’s Emmy-nominated title sequence was created by Digital Kitchen, a production studio that was also responsible for creating the title sequence of Six Feet Under. The sequence, which is primarily composed of portrayals of the show’s deep South setting, is played to “Bad Things” by Jace Everett.[13]

Digital Kitchen wished to explore themes of redemption and forgiveness in the opening title sequence.

Conceptually, Digital Kitchen elected to construct the sequence around the idea of “the whore in the house of prayer”[14] by intermingling contradictory images of sex, violence and religion and displaying them from the point of view of “a supernatural, predatory creature observing human beings from the shadows …”[13] Digital Kitchen also wished to explore ideas of redemption and forgiveness, and thus arranged for the sequence to progress from morning to night and to culminate in a baptism.[14]

Most of the footage used in the sequence was filmed on location by Digital Kitchen. Crew members took a four-day trip to Louisiana to film and also shot at a Chicago church and on a stage and in a bar in Seattle.[14] Additionally, several Digital Kitchen crew members made cameo appearances in the sequence.

In editing the opening, Digital Kitchen wanted to express how “religious fanaticism” and “sexual energy” could corrupt humans and make them animalistic. Accordingly, several frames of some shots were cut to give movements a jittery feel, while other shots were simply played back very slowly. Individual frames were also splattered with drops of blood.[14] The sequence’s transitions were constructed differently, though; they were made with a Polaroid transfer technique. The last frame of one shot and the first frame of another were taken as a single Polaroid photo, which was then divided between emulsion and backing. The emulsion was then filmed being further separated by chemicals and those shots of this separation were placed back into the final edit.[13]

Eight different typefaces, inspired by Southern road signage, were also created manually by Camm Rowland for cast and crew credits, as well as the show’s title card.[14]

Primary production completed in April and was not affected by the swine flu outbreak in Mexico. Executive Producer Jim Johnston said, “We had stopped production before this thing reared its ugly head.” The season premiered June 24, 2009.

Bunim-Murray Productions also shot an unscripted 2003 movie called The Real Cancun, although it was unrelated to the series. Mexico also served as the season vacation spot for the cast of The Real World: Los Angeles and Cancun in particular served as the vacation spot for the cast of The Real World: Hollywood.

Almost every season of The Real World, beginning with its fifth season, has included the assignment of a season-long group job or task to the housemates, continued participation in which has been mandatory to remain part of the cast since the Back to New York season. The Cancun cast was assigned to work with the spring break resource site StudentCity.com to serve as guides for visiting college students, helping to, as Jonathan Murray puts it, “give people a safe and fun vacation.”

The cast stayed at the Cancun resort, ME Cancun,[6] at Boulevard Kukulkan, km. 12 in Cancun, Mexico. The resort is located in the hotel zone between the Beach Palace and Park Royal Piramides resorts. Fifteen hotel rooms were converted into the cast’s suite: eleven on the second floor, and four rooms on the third floor. Production Designer Chuck Aubrey used the hotel’s signature furnishings to decorate the suite, along with the vivid colors that are typically used by the Real World production to adorn the residences. The suite, like all of the resort’s other 418 rooms, features an ocean and sunset lagoon view. The suite is currently available to the public under the name SuiteMe.