The Television Portal
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, entertainment, news, and sports.
Television became available in crude experimental forms in the late 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. In the near future, LEDs are expected to be gradually replaced by OLEDs. Also, major manufacturers have announced that they will increasingly produce 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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W2XBS, Schenectady, New York. In 1928, Felix the Cat was one of the first images ever broadcast by television when RCA chose a papier-mâché Felix doll for an experimental broadcast on W2XBS. The doll was chosen for its tonal contrast and its ability to withstand the intense lights needed in early television and was placed on a rotating phonograph turntable and televised for about two hours each day. The doll remained on the turntable for nearly a decade as RCA fine-tuned the picture's definition, and converted to electronic television.
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that ethnic broadcasting pioneer Shushma Datt was the first Canadian woman to obtain a CRTC broadcast licence?
- ... 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 the 1999 video game Interplay Sports Baseball Edition 2000 used a public-address announcer while its rivals were switching to two commentators as featured on real MLB game broadcasts?
- ... that German war criminal Hans Walter Zech-Nenntwich gave a television interview after escaping from prison?
- ... that Thomas Flatley compared closing WNHT television in Concord, New Hampshire, to putting down his dog?
- ... that the 1960 television play Sacco-Vanzetti Story was called "one of the most controversial ever seen on television"?
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More did you know
- ...that The Simpsons' history began when Matt Groening conceived of the dysfunctional family in the lobby of James L. Brooks's office?
- ...that popular 1950s game show Down You Go is one of the only U.S. television series to air on all four networks of television's Golden Age: ABC, NBC, CBS and DuMont?
- ...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 Melbourne rock band The Strangers appeared on weekly television for nine years straight?
- ...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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San Diego Comic-Con in 2012 |
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General images
Hovannes Adamian c. 1900s (from Color television)
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)
An early Smart TV from 2012 running the discontinued Orsay platform (from History of television)
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)
Samsung’s discontinued Orsay platform (from Smart TV)
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)
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)
The first mass-produced Czechoslovak TV-set Tesla 4001A (1953–57) (from History of television)
The Philco Predicta, 1958. In the collection of The Children's Museum of Indianapolis (from History of television)
Manfred von Ardenne in 1933 (from History of television)
Smart TVs on display (from Smart TV)
Family watching TV, 1958 (from History of television)
LG Smart TV using the Web browser (from Smart TV)
DBS satellite dishes. (from History of television)
RCA 630-TS, the first mass-produced television set, which sold in 1946–1947 (from History of television)
Baird in 1925 with his televisor equipment and dummies "James" and "Stooky Bill" (right). (from History of television)
Comparison of image quality between ISDB-T (1080i broadcast, top) and NTSC (480i transmission, bottom) (from Digital television)
Color bars used in a test pattern, sometimes used when no program material is available. (from History of television)
A map depicting digital terrestrial television standards (from Digital television)
Ad for the beginning of experimental television broadcasting in New York City by RCA in 1939 (from History of television)
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Featured lists -
The 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards honored the best in American prime time television programming from June 1, 2019, until May 31, 2020, as chosen by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The ceremony was originally to be held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was instead hosted from the Staples Center, while winners gave speeches remotely from their homes or other locations. It aired live on September 20, 2020, following the 72nd Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards on September 14–17 and 19. During the ceremony, Emmy Awards were handed out in 23 categories. The ceremony was produced by Done and Dusted, directed by Hamish Hamilton, and broadcast in the United States by ABC. Jimmy Kimmel served as host for the third time.
At the main ceremony, Schitt's Creek won all seven comedy categories including Outstanding Comedy Series, becoming the first comedy series to complete a sweep of those categories. Succession and Watchmen each won four awards, including Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Limited Series, respectively. Other winning programs include Euphoria, I Know This Much Is True, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, The Morning Show, Mrs. America, Ozark, RuPaul's Drag Race, and Unorthodox. Including Creative Arts Emmys, Watchmen led all programs with 11 wins and 26 nominations, while HBO took home 30 awards to lead all networks. ( Full article...)- The episodes of the Bleach anime television series are based on Tite Kubo's original manga series of the same name. It is directed by Noriyuki Abe, produced by TV Tokyo, Dentsu and Pierrot, and was broadcast in Japan from October 5, 2004, to March 27, 2012. The series follows the adventures of high school student Ichigo Kurosaki who can see spirits and becomes a Soul Reaper, after assuming the duties of Soul Reaper Rukia Kuchiki.
Viz Media obtained the foreign television, home video and merchandising rights to the Bleach anime from TV Tokyo Corporation and Shueisha on March 15, 2006. Subsequently, Viz Media contracted Studiopolis to create the English adaptation of the anime, and has licensed its individual Bleach merchandising rights to several different companies. The English adaptation of the Bleach anime premiered on Canada's YTV in their Bionix programming block on September 9, 2006. Cartoon Network in the U.S. began airing Bleach the following evening on September 10 as part of Adult Swim. ( Full article...) - Dad's Army
is a British sitcom about the Home Guard during the Second World War, produced by David Croft, and written by David Croft and Jimmy Perry. Set in the fictional seaside town of Walmington-on-Sea, located near Eastbourne, it follows a well-meaning platoon of men ineligible for active service as they serve as Britain's "last line of defence". The series was broadcast on BBC1 from 31 July 1968 to 13 November 1977, a total of 80 episodes spread over 9 series, including 3 Christmas specials and 3 missing episodes. 4 short Christmas sketches were also broadcast as part of Christmas Night with the Stars. ( Full article...) 
Part of The Bill's opening sequence
The Bill is a British police procedural television series that ran from 1984 to 2010. The show, whose name is derived from "old bill"—a British slang term for police officers—was unusual among police dramas in that it focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work. The series originated in 1983 as a one-off drama titled Woodentop (another British slang term for the police, derived from the helmets worn by British police officers), written by Geoff McQueen and produced by Thames Television. ITV were sufficiently impressed with Woodentop that they commissioned a series, which started in 1984 under the title of The Bill. At the time of the series' end in August 2010, The Bill was the United Kingdom's longest-running police drama and was among the longest-running of any British television series, having run for almost 27 years.
The Bill has earned various awards and nominations during its run, with the nominations in categories ranging from Best Drama to its camera and editing work to the cast's acting performance. It received nominations for eight awards from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, winning Best Video Cameraman in 1990 and Best Continuing Drama in 2009—an award for which it was unsuccessfully nominated in a further three years. In addition, The Bill enjoyed success at the Inside Soap Awards, where it won Best Drama six times, including four consecutive wins, as well as a nomination in 2010—losing to Waterloo Road. Other awards include a Writers' Guild of Great Britain award for Best Soap/Continuing Drama Series in 2008, Best Serial Drama at the Digital Spy Soap Awards of the same year and a nomination for Most Popular Overseas Drama at the 2005 Logie Awards. The Bill has also received multiple nominations at the EMMAs, National Television Awards, where it won Most Popular Drama in 1996 and 2004, and six Royal Television Society award nominations, having won awards in 2006 and 2008. ( Full article...)- Sacred Games is an Indian streaming television thriller series based on Vikram Chandra's 2006 novel of the same name. Created by Vikramaditya Motwane, the first season was directed by Motwane and Anurag Kashyap, who produced it under their banner Phantom Films. The story follows a troubled police officer, Sartaj Singh (played by Saif Ali Khan), who receives a phone call from gangster Ganesh Gaitonde (played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui); Gaitonde tells him to save the city within 25 days. The series chronicles the events that follow while tracing Gaitonde's past.
Other cast members include Radhika Apte, Girish Kulkarni, Neeraj Kabi, Geetanjali Thapa, Jeetendra Joshi, Rajshri Deshpande, Karan Wahi, Aamir Bashir, Jatin Sarna, Elnaaz Norouzi Kubra Sait, Surveen Chawla, Pankaj Tripathi, Kalki Koechlin, and Ranvir Shorey. The series was conceived after Erik Barmack, the vice-president of Netflix, contacted Motwane in 2014 to create Indian content for the platform. They opted to adapt Chandra's English novel in the Hindi language, to which Motwane agreed. Varun Grover, Smita Singh, and Vasant Nath wrote the episodes of the first season; Grover, Dhruv Narang, Nihit Bhave, and Pooja Tolani wrote the second season. ( Full article...)
The Office is an American television sitcom developed by Greg Daniels and based on the British series of the same name created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. The show premiered on NBC on March 24, 2005, and concluded on May 16, 2013, after airing 201 episodes across nine seasons. Filmed as a mockumentary, the series depicts the everyday lives of a group of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania, branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. The Office initially featured Steve Carell as Michael Scott, Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute, John Krasinski as Jim Halpert, Jenna Fischer as Pam Beesly, and B. J. Novak as Ryan Howard; the show's cast changed significantly during its run.
Despite premiering to mixed reviews during its first season, The Office's subsequent seasons received widespread acclaim and became a success for NBC, though later seasons were criticized for a dip in quality. From 2006 to 2011, the show was nominated six consecutive times for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series, winning for its second season. The show was also nominated for three Golden Globe Awards for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy; five Producers Guild of America Awards for Best Episodic Comedy, winning once; the 2006 TCA Award for Program of the Year; and four TCA Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy, winning twice. The Office was named as one of the top television programs of 2006 and 2008 by the American Film Institute, and in 2007, the series was recognized with a Peabody Award. ( Full article...)
Niven in the 1948 film Enchantment
The British actor David Niven (1910–1983) performed in many genres of light entertainment, including film, radio and theatre. He was also the author of four books: two works of fiction and two autobiographies. Described by Brian McFarlane, writing for the British Film Institute (BFI), as being "of famously debonair manner", Niven's career spanned from 1932 until 1983.
After brief spells as an army officer, whisky salesman and with a horse racing syndicate, he was an uncredited extra in his screen debut in There Goes the Bride; he went on to appear in nearly a hundred films, the last of which was in 1983: Curse of the Pink Panther. During his long film career, he was presented with a Golden Globe Award for his part in The Moon Is Blue (1953) and was nominated for a BAFTA for the titular lead in Carrington V.C. (1955). For his role as Major Pollock in the 1958 film Separate Tables, Niven was awarded the Academy and Golden Globe awards for a performance where "the pain behind the fake polish was moving to observe". According to Sheridan Morley, Niven's other notable works include The Charge of the Light Brigade (1938), The Way Ahead (1944), A Matter of Life and Death (1946)—judged by the BFI to be one of the top twenty British films of all time— The Guns of Navarone (1961) and the role of Sir Charles Litton in three Pink Panther films. ( Full article...)
( Full article...)No.
overallNo. in
seasonTitle Directed by Written by Original air date Prod.
codeU.S. viewers
(millions)127 1 " Road to the Multiverse" Greg Colton Wellesley Wild September 27, 2009 7ACX06 10.17 128 2 " Family Goy" James Purdum Mark Hentemann October 4, 2009 7ACX01 9.66 129 3 " Spies Reminiscent of Us" Cyndi Tang Alec Sulkin October 11, 2009 7ACX03 8.88 130 4 " Brian's Got a Brand New Bag" Pete Michels Tom Devanney November 8, 2009 7ACX02 7.38 131 5 " Hannah Banana" John Holmquist Cherry Chevapravatdumrong November 8, 2009 7ACX05 7.73 132 6 " Quagmire's Baby" Jerry Langford Patrick Meighan November 15, 2009 7ACX04 8.28 133 7 " Jerome Is the New Black" Brian Iles John Viener November 22, 2009 7ACX08 7.38 134 8 " Dog Gone" Julius Wu Steve Callaghan November 29, 2009 7ACX07 8.48 135 9 " Business Guy" Pete Michels Andrew Goldberg & Alex Carter December 13, 2009 7ACX11 7.67 136 10 " Big Man on Hippocampus" Dominic Bianchi Brian Scully January 3, 2010 7ACX09 8.10 137 11 " Dial Meg for Murder" Cyndi Tang Alex Carter & Andrew Goldberg January 31, 2010 7ACX12 6.21 138 12 " Extra Large Medium" John Holmquist Steve Callaghan February 14, 2010 7ACX14 6.42 139 13 " Go, Stewie, Go!" Greg Colton Gary Janetti March 14, 2010 7ACX15 6.72 140 14 " Peter-assment" Julius Wu Chris Sheridan March 21, 2010 7ACX16 6.65 141 15 " Brian Griffin's House of Payne" Jerry Langford Spencer Porter March 28, 2010 7ACX13 7.27 142 16 " April in Quahog" Joseph Lee John Viener April 11, 2010 7ACX18 6.93 143 17 " Brian & Stewie" Dominic Bianchi Gary Janetti May 2, 2010 7ACX20 7.68 144 18 " Quagmire's Dad" Pete Michels Tom Devanney May 9, 2010 7ACX19 7.22 145 19 " The Splendid Source" Brian Iles Based on a short story by : Richard Matheson
Teleplay by : Mark HentemannMay 16, 2010 7ACX17 7.59 146 20 " Something, Something, Something, Dark Side" Dominic Polcino Kirker Butler May 23, 2010 6ACX21
6ACX226.13 147 21 " Partial Terms of Endearment" Joseph Lee Danny Smith June 20, 2010 (UK, TV)
September 28, 2010 (US, DVD)7ACX10 N/A
( Full article...)No.
overallNo. in
seasonTitle Directed by Written by Original air date Prod.
codeU.S. viewers
(millions)1 1 " Death Has a Shadow" Peter Shin Seth MacFarlane January 31, 1999 1ACX01 22.00 2 2 " I Never Met the Dead Man" Michael Dante DiMartino Chris Sheridan April 11, 1999 1ACX02 14.50 3 3 " Chitty Chitty Death Bang" Dominic Polcino Danny Smith April 18, 1999 1ACX04 13.78 4 4 " Mind Over Murder" Roy Allen Smith Neil Goldman & Garrett Donovan April 25, 1999 1ACX03 11.69 5 5 " A Hero Sits Next Door" Monte Young Mike Barker & Matt Weitzman May 2, 1999 1ACX05 12.61 6 6 " The Son Also Draws" Neil Affleck Ricky Blitt May 9, 1999 1ACX06 11.20 7 7 " Brian: Portrait of a Dog" Michael Dante DiMartino Gary Janetti May 16, 1999 1ACX07 13.10 
Roddenberry's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Eugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry (August 19, 1921 – October 24, 1991) was an American screenwriter and producer of several television series, best known for his work in creating the Star Trek franchise. He began a writing career while he was a Sergeant in the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and his first work to be bought by a network was The Secret Defense of 117, although it took four years to be broadcast. During that time, he wrote four episodes of the police procedural Highway Patrol under the pseudonym "Robert Wesley", as the LAPD required employees to seek formal permission to work a second job. After leaving the force, he wrote for several series, such as Have Gun – Will Travel but wanted to become a producer.
He wrote pilots for a series of his own, but these were turned down by the studios until he began work on The Lieutenant. This ran for a single season on NBC on Saturday nights. While involved in that series, he began working on a science fiction premise that became Star Trek. He oversaw the production of the series for the first two seasons, but following budget cuts and the move to an unfavorable timeslot for the third season, he stepped back from working on Star Trek but remained credited as an executive producer. Following the cancellation of the series, he wrote and produced his first feature film, Pretty Maids All in a Row. He also produced several new science fiction pilots: Genesis II (also re-worked into a second pilot, called Planet Earth), The Questor Tapes and Spectre. Of these, Questor was approved to go to a full season, but following disagreements between Roddenberry and the studio over suggested changes, it was canceled. ( Full article...)
Naruto is an anime series based on Masashi Kishimoto's manga series of the same name. The series centers on the adventures of Naruto Uzumaki, a young ninja of the Hidden Leaf Village, searching for recognitions and wishing to become the ninja by the rest of the village to be the leader and the strongest of all. The series was directed by Hayato Date, and produced by Pierrot and TV Tokyo. The episodes are based on the first twenty-seven volumes in Part I of the manga, while some episodes feature original, self-contained storylines.
The 220 episodes that constitute the series were aired between October 3, 2002, and February 8, 2007, on TV Tokyo in Japan. The English version of the series was released in North America by Viz Media, and began airing on September 10, 2005, on Cartoon Network's Toonami programming block in the United States. On September 20, 2008, Cartoon Network ended its Toonami block, but the channel continued sporadically airing episodes of Naruto in the time slots originally occupied by Toonami's programming until January 31, 2009 when episode 209, the last episode to air in the US was shown, due to the closure of Toonami Jetstream. ( Full article...)- ( Full article...)
Season Episodes Originally aired First aired Last aired Precursors 2 2005 2006 Pilot August 14, 2009 1 12 September 6, 2010 November 22, 2010 2 28 November 29, 2010 August 1, 2011 3 40 September 19, 2011 September 3, 2012 4 40 October 1, 2012 August 12, 2013 5 40 September 2, 2013 August 14, 2014 6 31 October 9, 2014 June 25, 2015 7 39 June 26, 2015 June 30, 2016 Film November 25, 2015 8 31 September 26, 2016 January 16, 2017
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News
- 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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Main topics
History of television: Early television stations • Geographical usage of television • Golden Age of Television • List of experimental television stations • List of years in television • Mechanical television • Social aspects of television • Television systems before 1940 • Timeline of the introduction of television in countries • Timeline of the introduction of color television in countries
Inventors and pioneers: John Logie Baird • Alan Blumlein • Walter Bruch • Alan Archibald Campbell-Swinton • Allen B. DuMont • Philo Taylor Farnsworth • Charles Francis Jenkins • Boris Grabovsky • Paul Gottlieb Nipkow • Constantin Perskyi • Boris Rosing • David Sarnoff • Kálmán Tihanyi • Vladimir Zworykin
Technology: Comparison of display technology • Digital television • Liquid crystal display television • Large-screen television technology • Technology of television
Terms: Broadcast television systems • Composite monitor • HDTV • Liquid crystal display television • PAL • Picture-in-picture • Pay-per-view • Plasma display • NICAM • NTSC • SECAM
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WikiProject Television, a WikiProject dedicated to developing and improving articles about
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