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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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"Greatest Hits" is the twenty-first episode of the third season of Lost and sixty-eighth episode of the series. It was written by co-executive producers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz and directed by supervising producer Stephen Williams. The episode first aired on May 16, 2007 on the American Broadcasting Company in the United States and on CTV in Canada. "Greatest Hits" was viewed by 12 million Americans and was well received by critics. The episode takes place on December 22, 2004, 92 days after the crash of Oceanic Airlines Flight 815. A group of survivors prepare for an upcoming raid on their camp by the "Others", while the rest prepare to contact a nearby freighter. Charlie Pace (played by Dominic Monaghan) recounts the five greatest moments of his life, which are depicted in flashbacks, as he prepares to fulfill Desmond Hume's (Henry Ian Cusick) premonitions of his death.

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Credit: National Broadcasting Company/public domain

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.

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... that New Zealand singer Fanny Howie composed the song "Hine E Hine", which aired on New Zealand television every night from 1981 to 1994?
... that Sharp Corporation produced three official variants of Nintendo's Famicom in Japan, one of which was a television set that was subsequently released in the United States?
... that a scene from the television adaptation of the manga It's All About the Looks was filmed at the Tokyo Girls Collection fashion show?
... that the 2017 acquisition of Katz Broadcasting by the E. W. Scripps Company was seen as a validation of the business of diginets?
... that a television in the film Day of Reckoning includes scenes from Big Ass Spider!?
... that actor Tatsunari Kimura ate pancakes and drank coffee while talking for eight hours during the filming of the television drama Old-Fashioned Cupcake?

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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 the book The Psychology of The Simpsons uses this TV series to analyze topics in psychology including clinical psychology, cognition and Pavlovian conditioning?

...that the fight scene between Peter Griffin and a giant chicken on Family Guy episode Blind Ambition was originally created for the episode Cleveland Loretta Quagmire?

...that actress, writer and producer Michelle Paradise created the television series Exes and Ohs without an agent?

..that the time traveling premise featured in the Chrono series of video games was inspired by such television programs as The Time Tunnel?

...that Great American Country television host Nan Kelley (then Nan Sumrall) became Miss Mississippi in 1985 after her fellow Mississippian Susan Akin was crowned Miss America?

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Strickland in April 2005

Katherine Dee Strickland (born December 14, 1975) is an American actress. From 2007 to 2013, she played Charlotte King on the ABC drama Private Practice (2007–2013).

Strickland began acting during high school. She studied acting in Philadelphia and New York City, where she obtained mostly small roles in film, television, and stage projects, among them The Sixth Sense (1999). Her participation in the 2003 Hollywood films Anything Else and Something's Gotta Give led to her receiving significant parts in the 2004 horror films Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid and The Grudge. She was then referred to as "the pride of Patterson" and the horror genre's "newest scream queen", though her performances in both films received mixed critical reviews. In 2005, she garnered positive critical reviews for the romantic comedy Fever Pitch, and she was a regular on the television show The Wedding Bells in 2007. She was subsequently added to the cast of Private Practice. (Full article...)

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

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

Season	Episodes	Originally aired		Rank	Average viewers (in millions)
Season	Episodes	First aired	Last aired	Rank	Average viewers (in millions)
1	22	September 27, 2015 (2015-09-27)	May 15, 2016 (2016-05-15)	55	8.05
2	22	September 25, 2016 (2016-09-25)	May 15, 2017 (2017-05-15)	99	4.53
3	13	April 26, 2018 (2018-04-26)	August 3, 2018 (2018-08-03)	—	—

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Gielgud in 1936

Sir John Gielgud, OM, CH (/ˈɡiːlɡʊd/; 1904–2000) was an English actor and theatre director. He appeared on stage, television and radio and in film in a career that spanned eight decades. Film historian Brian McFarlane, writing for the British Film Institute, wrote of Gielgud that "in terms of the performing arts, it is no exaggeration to say that he towered over the century".

Gielgud, a member of the theatrical dynasty the Terry family, began working on stage in 1921 before attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. After completing his studies he worked in repertory theatre and in the West End before establishing himself at the Old Vic in the 1930s. He continued working on the stage until 1990 both as a director and actor. Although he made some films early in his career, he did not start working regularly in the medium until he was in his sixties; in the course of just over thirty years between 1964 and 1998 he appeared in over sixty films. He was active on television and radio, appearing in numerous plays and interviews, and was also in demand as a narrator. (Full article...)
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Friends is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman for NBC. Starring Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green, Courteney Cox as Monica Geller, Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay, Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani, Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing, and David Schwimmer as Ross Geller, it premiered on September 22, 1994, as part of NBC's Must See TV lineup. Its finale aired on May 6, 2004, after ten seasons and 236 episodes. The show follows the characters' personal and professional lives in New York City; according to Crane and Kauffman's original pitch, the show "is about friendship because when you're single and in the city, your friends are your family". Friends became a massive success both during and after its run, and it has frequently been named one of the greatest television shows of all time.

The series has been recognized with numerous accolades, including six Primetime Emmy Awards from sixty-two nominations. At the 54th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2002, Friends won the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series for its eighth season, which coincided with the year the show was the most-watched program in the United States; it received five additional nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series during its run. The main cast members all submitted themselves for supporting acting nominations at the Emmys until 2002, when they submitted themselves for lead acting. Kudrow won the award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series at the 50th Primetime Emmy Awards in 1998, while Aniston won for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 2002; LeBlanc, Perry, and Schwimmer also received Emmy nominations for their performances. Michael Lembeck won an Emmy for directing "The One After the Superbowl", and Bruce Willis and Christina Applegate won Emmys for their guest performances. (Full article...)
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Psych is an American comedy-drama television series which was broadcast from 2006 until 2014. Created by Steve Franks, the series aired on USA Network for eight seasons with a total of one-hundred and twenty one episodes. Psych stars James Roday, Dulé Hill, Maggie Lawson, Timothy Omundson, Kirsten Nelson, and Corbin Bernsen, with Roday and Hill earning award nominations for their respective roles.

Psych received awards from: the Independent Investigations Group, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, the People's Choice Awards and the Imagen Foundation. The series also received nominations for several other awards, including four ALMA Awards, two Creative Arts Emmy Awards, eight Image Awards, one People's Choice Award, and one Satellite Award. In total, Psych received thirty-one award nominations in its eight-year tenure. The show has been recognized in terms of awards for its first episode, "Pilot"; its musical team; the series itself; and actor James Roday. Roday and Hill also lead in nominations, with nine. (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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The Simpsons shorts are a series of animated short films that aired as a recurring segment on Fox variety television series The Tracey Ullman Show for three seasons, before the characters spun off into The Simpsons, their own half-hour prime-time show. They feature Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie, and a few secondary characters. The series was created by Matt Groening, who designed the Simpson family and wrote many of the shorts. The shorts first aired on April 19, 1987 starting with "Good Night". The final short to air was "TV Simpsons", originally airing on May 14, 1989. The Simpsons later debuted on December 17, 1989, as an independent series with the Christmas special "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire".

One marketing study found that only 14 percent of Americans were familiar with the shorts, compared to 85 percent in November 1990 who were familiar with the Simpsons family, 11 months after the full-length show began airing. (Full article...)
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Baccano! is a 2007 anime series directed by Takahiro Omori and produced by Brain's Base and Aniplex. The 16 episodes are adapted from the light novels of the same name written by Ryohgo Narita and illustrated by Katsumi Enami. Told in out-of-order sequences, the story spans three consecutive years of Prohibition-era America during which three seemingly unconnected events occur: two bottles of immortality elixir are passed around Manhattan by gangsters believing it is alcohol, a supposed monster massacres members of two gangs attempting to hijack the transcontinental train Flying Pussyfoot, and a missing man is tracked down by his sister and a gang. The first thirteen episodes aired in Japan from July 26, 2007, to November 1, 2007, on WOWOW, a Japanese pay-per-view station, and the final three were released direct-to-DVD. The series made its North American television debut when it started airing on the Funimation Channel after the channel transitioned to HD in September 2010.

Eight DVD compilations were released by Aniplex, each containing two episodes, with the first released on October 24, 2007, and the eighth on May 28, 2008. A Blu-ray boxset was released January 26, 2011. On July 21, 2008, the English adaptation of Baccano! was licensed by Funimation. They released four DVD compilations, each containing four episodes, with the first released on January 27, 2009, and the fourth on June 16, 2009. A complete DVD collection boxset was released December 29, 2009, and re-released on December 28, 2010, as part of a lower-priced Viridian Collection. A limited edition Blu-ray boxset was released May 17, 2011; the Blu-ray set was later rereleased on July 31, 2012. The entire English-dubbed series was streamed through Hulu during October 2009 and English-subtitled episodes although once available for streaming, have been removed as of December 2017. Funimation streams English-subtitled and English-dubbed episodes through their website. In Australia and New Zealand, the series is licensed by Madman Entertainment, who released the series over four DVDs between June 24, 2009, and October 21, 2009. A boxset was released on March 17, 2010. Baccano! is licensed in the United Kingdom by Manga Entertainment and was released in a complete boxset on October 11, 2010. The series is aired in the Philippines, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia on Animax Asia. (Full article...)
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The Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series is an award presented annually by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) and Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS). It is given to honor an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a supporting role while working within the daytime drama industry.

At the 6th Daytime Emmy Awards held in 1979, Suzanne Rogers was the first winner of this award, for her role as Maggie Horton on Days of Our Lives. The awards ceremony was not aired on television in 1983 and 1984, having been criticized for voting integrity. Following the introduction of a new category in 1985, Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series, one criterion for this category was altered, requiring all actresses to be aged 26 or above. (Full article...)
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John Le Mesurier (born John Elton Le Mesurier Halliley; 5 April 1912 – 15 November 1983) was an English actor who performed in many mediums of light entertainment, including film, radio and theatre. Le Mesurier's career spanned from 1934 until his death in 1983. He is best remembered for his role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the BBC situation comedy Dad's Army, between 1968 and 1977.

Le Mesurier made his professional stage debut in September 1934 in Dangerous Corner at the Palladium Theatre in Edinburgh under his birth name, and appeared on television for the first time four years later as Seigneur de Miolans in the BBC Television broadcast of "The Marvellous History of St Bernard". The broadcast was adapted from a 15th-century manuscript by Henri Ghéon. After wartime service as a captain in the Royal Tank Regiment, Le Mesurier returned to acting and made his radio debut on the BBC Home Service in a March 1947 broadcast of Escape or Die. He continued working in television roles throughout his career, but it was his portrayal in the BBC television play Traitor, of a character loosely based on Kim Philby, which earned him the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor in 1972. (Full article...)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod. code	U.S. viewers (millions)
51	1	"North by North Quahog"	Peter Shin	Seth MacFarlane	May 1, 2005 (2005-05-01)	4ACX01	11.87
52	2	"Fast Times at Buddy Cianci Jr. High"	Pete Michels	Ken Goin	May 8, 2005 (2005-05-08)	4ACX02	9.90
53	3	"Blind Ambition"	Chuck Klein	Steve Callaghan	May 15, 2005 (2005-05-15)	4ACX04	9.26
54	4	"Don't Make Me Over"	Sarah Frost	Gene Laufenberg	June 5, 2005 (2005-06-05)	4ACX03	7.35
55	5	"The Cleveland–Loretta Quagmire"	James Purdum	Mike Henry & Patrick Henry	June 12, 2005 (2005-06-12)	4ACX08	8.21
56	6	"Petarded"	Seth Kearsley	Alec Sulkin & Wellesley Wild	June 19, 2005 (2005-06-19)	4ACX09	7.17
57	7	"Brian the Bachelor"	Dan Povenmire	Mark Hentemann	June 26, 2005 (2005-06-26)	4ACX10	7.34
58	8	"8 Simple Rules for Buying My Teenage Daughter"	Greg Colton	Patrick Meighan	July 10, 2005 (2005-07-10)	4ACX11	6.12
59	9	"Breaking Out Is Hard to Do"	Kurt Dumas	Tom Devanney	July 17, 2005 (2005-07-17)	4ACX12	5.65
60	10	"Model Misbehavior"	Sarah Frost	Steve Callaghan	July 24, 2005 (2005-07-24)	4ACX13	7.04
61	11	"Peter's Got Woods"	Chuck Klein & Zac Moncrief	Danny Smith	September 11, 2005 (2005-09-11)	4ACX14	9.13
62	12	"Perfect Castaway"	James Purdum	John Viener	September 18, 2005 (2005-09-18)	4ACX15	9.59
63	13	"Jungle Love"	Seth Kearsley	Mark Hentemann	September 25, 2005 (2005-09-25)	4ACX16	8.68
64	14	"PTV"	Dan Povenmire	Alec Sulkin & Wellesley Wild	November 6, 2005 (2005-11-06)	4ACX17	8.59
65	15	"Brian Goes Back to College"	Greg Colton	Matt Fleckenstein	November 13, 2005 (2005-11-13)	4ACX18	9.20
66	16	"The Courtship of Stewie's Father"	Kurt Dumas	Kirker Butler	November 20, 2005 (2005-11-20)	4ACX19	9.08
67	17	"The Fat Guy Strangler"	Sarah Frost	Chris Sheridan	November 27, 2005 (2005-11-27)	4ACX20	9.85
68	18	"The Father, the Son, and the Holy Fonz"	James Purdum	Danny Smith	December 18, 2005 (2005-12-18)	4ACX22	8.26
69	19	"Brian Sings and Swings"	Chuck Klein & Zac Moncrief	Michael Rowe	January 8, 2006 (2006-01-08)	4ACX21	8.10
70	20	"Patriot Games"	Cyndi Tang	Mike Henry	January 29, 2006 (2006-01-29)	4ACX25	9.08
71	21	"I Take Thee Quagmire"	Seth Kearsley	Tom Maxwell, Don Woodard & Steve Callaghan	March 12, 2006 (2006-03-12)	4ACX23	8.06
72	22	"Sibling Rivalry"	Dan Povenmire	Cherry Chevapravatdumrong	March 26, 2006 (2006-03-26)	4ACX24	8.22
73	23	"Deep Throats"	Greg Colton	Alex Borstein	April 9, 2006 (2006-04-09)	4ACX26	7.83
74	24	"Peterotica"	Kurt Dumas	Patrick Meighan	April 23, 2006 (2006-04-23)	4ACX27	7.91
75	25	"You May Now Kiss the... Uh... Guy Who Receives"	Dominic Polcino	David A. Goodman	April 30, 2006 (2006-04-30)	4ACX28	7.45
76	26	"Petergeist"	Sarah Frost	Alec Sulkin & Wellesley Wild	May 7, 2006 (2006-05-07)	4ACX29	8.47
77	27	"The Griffin Family History"	Zac Moncrief	John Viener	May 14, 2006 (2006-05-14)	4ACX30	8.03
78	28	"Stewie B. Goode"	Pete Michels	Gary Janetti & Chris Sheridan	May 21, 2006 (2006-05-21)	4ACX05	8.20
79	29	"Bango Was His Name, Oh!"	Pete Michels	Alex Borstein	May 21, 2006 (2006-05-21)	4ACX06	7.87
80	30	"Stu and Stewie's Excellent Adventure"	Pete Michels	Steve Callaghan	May 21, 2006 (2006-05-21)	4ACX07	8.14

'"`UNIQ--templatestyles-00000016-QINU`"'
(Full article...)

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

(Full article...)

Book	Name	Episodes	Originally aired
Book	Name	Episodes	First aired	Last aired
1	Water	20	February 21, 2005 (2005-02-21)	December 2, 2005 (2005-12-02)
2	Earth	20	March 17, 2006 (2006-03-17)	December 1, 2006 (2006-12-01)
3	Fire	21	September 21, 2007 (2007-09-21)	July 19, 2008 (2008-07-19)

(Full article...)

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