Working Stiffs (TV Series)
''Working Stiffs'' is an American sitcom which starred James Belushi and Michael Keaton as brothers Ernie and Mike O'Rourke. The pair were janitors who aspired to work their way up in the field of business. The brothers worked in an office building owned by their Uncle Harry. Ernie and Mike also were roommates in an apartment over a cafe where they befriended the owner Mitch and waitress Nikki. Each episode featured slapstick and physical comedy. Penny Marshall directed the pilot. The series aired on CBS. It competed against the highly- rated shows NBC's '' CHiPs'' and ABC's '' The Ropers'' in its timeslot. Nine episodes were produced but after four episodes aired, the series was canceled. After Belushi and Keaton became film stars in the 1980s, six episodes of the show were released on home video. Reruns have also aired on A&E Network, Comedy Central and TV Land. The syndication package included the previously unaired episodes. Cast * James Belushi as Ernie O'Rourke *Mich ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Situation Comedy
A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use new characters in each sketch, and stand-up comedy, where a comedian tells jokes and stories to an audience. Sitcoms originated in radio, but today are found mostly on television as one of its dominant narrative forms. A situation comedy television program may be recorded in front of a studio audience, depending on the program's production format. The effect of a live studio audience can be imitated or enhanced by the use of a laugh track. Critics disagree over the utility of the term "sitcom" in classifying shows that have come into existence since the turn of the century. Many contemporary American sitcoms use the single-camera setup and do not feature a laugh track, thus often resembling the dramedy shows of the 1980s and 1990s rather ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Slapstick
Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such as saws and ladders. The term arises from a device developed for use in the broad, physical comedy style known as ''commedia dell'arte'' in 16th-century Italy. The " slap stick" consists of two thin slats of wood, which make a "slap" when striking another actor, with little force needed to make a loud—and comical—sound. The physical slap stick remains a key component of the plot in the traditional and popular Punch and Judy puppet show. Other examples of slapstick humor include '' The Naked Gun'' and Mr. Bean. Origins The name "slapstick" originates from the Italian ''Batacchio'' or ''Bataccio'' – called the " slap stick" in English – a club-like object composed of two wooden slats used in ''commedia dell'arte''. When struck, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Television Syndication
Broadcast syndication is the practice of leasing the right to broadcasting television shows and radio programs to multiple television stations and radio stations, without going through a broadcast network. It is common in the United States where broadcast programming is scheduled by television networks with local independent affiliates. Syndication is less widespread in the rest of the world, as most countries have centralized networks or television stations without local affiliates. Shows can be syndicated internationally, although this is less common. Three common types of syndication are: ''first-run'' syndication, which is programming that is broadcast for the first time as a syndicated show and is made specifically to sell directly into syndication; ''off-network'' syndication (colloquially called a "rerun"), which is the licensing of a program whose first airing was on network TV or in some cases, first-run syndication;Campbell, Richard, Christopher R. Martin, and Bettina ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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TV Land
TV Land is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its networks division. Originally a spinoff of Nick at Nite consisting exclusively of classic television shows, the channel now airs a combination of recent and classic television series (ranging from the 1960s to the 2010s), original scripted series and limited theatrically released movies. The network is headquartered at One Astor Plaza in New York City. TV Land is available to about 90 million households in the United States as of January 2016. History Launch and debut The network launched at 10:00 p.m. Eastern on April 29, 1996, as Nick at Nite's TV Land. Following a seven-minute short film introducing the network, the first program aired was a syndicated edit of ''The Best of The Ed Sullivan Show'' featuring the Beatles' American debut along with routines by Joan Rivers, Richard Pryor and Señor Wences. The show led off a launch-day lineup that rebroadcast numerous series premi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming in the form of both original, licensed, and syndicated series, stand-up comedy specials, and feature films. It is available to approximately 86.723 million households in the United States as of September 2018. Since the early 2000s, Comedy Central has expanded globally with localized channels in Europe (including the UK), India, Southeast Asia, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand, Middle East, and Africa. The international channels are operated by Paramount International Networks. History 1989–1991: Pre-launch as The Comedy Channel On November 15, 1989, Time-Life, the owners of HBO, launched The Comedy Channel as the first cable channel devoted exclusively to comedy-based programming. On April 1, 1990, Viac ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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A&E Network
A&E is an American basic cable network, the flagship television property of A&E Networks. The network was originally founded in 1984 as the Arts & Entertainment Network, initially focusing on fine arts, documentaries, dramas, and educational entertainment. Today, the network deals primarily in non-fiction programming, including reality docusoaps, true crime, documentaries, and miniseries. As of July 2015, A&E is available to approximately 95,968,000 pay television households (82.4% of households with television) in the United States. The American version of the channel is being distributed in Canada while international versions were launched for Australia, Latin America, and Europe. History Launch A&E launched on February 1, 1984, initially available to 9.3 million cable television homes in the U.S. and Canada. The network is a result of the 1984 merger of Hearst/ ABC's Alpha Repertory Television Service (ARTS) and (pre–General Electric merger) RCA-owned The Entertainme ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rerun
A rerun or repeat is a rebroadcast of an episode of a radio or television program. There are two types of reruns – those that occur during a hiatus, and those that occur when a program is syndicated. Variations In the United Kingdom, the word "repeat" refers only to a single episode; "rerun" or "rerunning" is the preferred term for an entire series/season. A "repeat" is a single episode of a series that is broadcast outside its original timeslot on the same channel/network. The episode is usually the "repeat" of the scheduled episode that was broadcast in the original timeslot earlier the previous week. It allows viewers who weren't able to watch the show in its timeslot to catch up before the next episode is broadcast. The term "rerun" can also be used in some respects as a synonym for '' reprint'', the equivalent term for print items; this is especially true for print items that are part of ongoing series (such as comic strips; '' Peanuts'', for instance, has been in reruns ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Home Video
Home video is prerecorded media sold or rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD, Blu-ray and streaming media. In a different usage, "home video" refers to amateur video recordings, also known as home movies. The home-video business distributes films, television series, telefilms and other audiovisual media in the form of videos in various formats to the public. These are either bought or rented, and then watched privately in purchasers' homes. Most theatrically released films are now released on digital media, both optical and download-based, replacing the largely obsolete videotape medium. the Video CD format remained popular in Asia. DVDs are gradually losing popularity since the late 2010s and early 2020s, when streaming media became mainstream. History As early as 1906, various film entrepreneurs began to discuss the potential of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Film Star
A movie star (also known as a film star or cinema star) is an actor or actress who is famous for their starring, or leading, roles in movies. The term is used for performers who are marketable stars as they become popular household names and whose names are used to promote movies, for example in trailers and posters. The most prominent movie stars are known in the industry as bankable stars. United States Hollywood's early years In the early days of silent movies, the names of the actors and actresses appearing in them were not publicized or credited because producers feared this would result in demands for higher salaries.100 years of movie stars: 1910-1929 , ''The Independent'', January 25, 2010. However, audience curiosity soon undermined ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Ropers
''The Ropers'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on ABC from March 13, 1979, to May 22, 1980. It is a spin-off of '' Three's Company'' and loosely based on the British sitcom '' George and Mildred'', which was itself a spin-off of '' Man About the House'', on which ''Three's Company'' was based. It was taped at CBS Television City in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles, where its parent series, ''Three's Company'', was taping at the time, from February to April 1979 (Season 1) and from July 1979 to February 1980 (Season 2). Plot The series focused on middle-aged couple Stanley (Norman Fell) and Helen Roper ( Audra Lindley), who were landlords to Jack, Janet and Chrissy on ''Three's Company''. In this spin-off, the Ropers have sold their apartment building in the ''Three's Company'' episode "An Anniversary Surprise" (season 3, episode 20) to live in the upmarket community of Cheviot Hills, where the social-climbing Helen struggled to fit in with her neighbo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an Television in the United States, American Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast television network. It is the flagship property of the Disney General Entertainment Content#Current assets, ABC Entertainment Group division of The Walt Disney Company. The network is headquartered in Burbank, California, on Riverside Drive, directly across the street from Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Studios and adjacent to the Roy E. Disney Animation Building. The network's secondary offices, and headquarters of its news division, are in New York City, at its broadcast center at 77 66th Street (Manhattan), West 66th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Since 2007, when Cumulus Media Networks, ABC Radio (also known as Cumulus Media Networks) was sold to Citadel Broadcasting, ABC has reduced its broadcasting operations almost exclusively to television. It is the fifth-oldest major broadcasting network in the world and the yo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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CHiPs
''CHiPs'' is an American crime drama television series created by Rick Rosner and originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to May 1, 1983. It follows the lives of two motorcycle officers of the California Highway Patrol (CHP). The series ran for 139 episodes over six seasons, plus one reunion television film in October 1998. Overview ''CHiPs'' is an action crime drama in a standard hour-long time slot, which at the time required 48 minutes of actual programming. A signature of the show, especially in the later seasons, were frequent over-the-top freeway pileups. For filming, traffic on Los Angeles freeways was non-existent and most chase scenes were done on back roads. The show was created by Rick Rosner, and starred Erik Estrada as macho, rambunctious Officer Francis ("Frank") Llewellyn "Ponch" Poncherello and Larry Wilcox as his straitlaced partner, Officer Jonathan ("Jon") Andrew Baker. With Ponch the more trouble-prone of the pair, and Jon generally the more l ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |