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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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Actor Jorge Gracia plays Hugo "Hurley" Reyes in ABC's Lost

"The Beginning of the End" is the fourth season premiere, and seventieth episode overall, of the American Broadcasting Company's serial drama television series Lost. It was aired on ABC in the United States and CTV in Canada on January 31, 2008. Co-creator/executive producer Damon Lindelof and executive producer Carlton Cuse wrote the premiere in late July 2007, with most of the episode directed on location in Oahu, Hawaii in August and September by executive producer Jack Bender. With this premiere, Jeff Pinkner no longer serves as an executive producer and staff writer. The episode was watched by 16 million Americans, bringing in the best ratings for Lost in seventeen episodes. According to Metacritic, "The Beginning of the End" garnered "universal acclaim". The narrative takes place 93 days after the crash of Oceanic Flight 815, on December 23, 2004. The stranded crash survivors make contact with Naomi Dorrit's (played by Marsha Thomason) associates on a nearby freighter, but the survivors divide when they hear that those on the freighter may not be coming to rescue the survivors. Flashforwards show the post-island lives of Hurley Reyes (Jorge Garcia) and Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox). They are lying to the public about their time on the island. In flashforwards, Hurley has visions of his deceased friend Charlie Pace (Dominic Monaghan); in the present, Hurley grieves over Charlie's death on the island. Daniel Faraday (Jeremy Davies) makes his first appearance in "The Beginning of the End".

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Credit: Cecil Stoughton

John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and others watching flight of Astronaut Alan Shepard on television. Shepard was the second person and the first American in space. He later commanded the Apollo 14 mission, and was the fifth person to walk on the moon.

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... that in the television series sequel Imortal (2010), Angel Locsin portrayed the lead role as the daughter of her lycan character in the Lobo TV series?
... that Uncle Waffles learned how to DJ during the COVID-19 lockdowns, and then retired from being an Eswatini TV presenter once her music career took off?
... that before pursuing a career in music, Lauren Jenkins was the host of a wrestling television show?
... that just four years after starting up, the president of Satellite Television & Associated Resources commented that his entire industry had "gone down the drain"?
... that Jaega Wise co-hosted the television series Beer Masters alongside musician James Blunt?
... that Indian historian R. Champakalakshmi was a script consultant for Bharat Ek Khoj, a television series based on Jawaharlal Nehru's The Discovery of India?

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Thanks to television, for the first time the young are seeing history made before it is censored by their elders.

— Margaret Mead

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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 Molly Badham, co-founder of Twycross Zoo, trained the chimpanzees who appeared in the long-running Brooke Bond PG Tips television advertisements?

...that Dyesebel, a popular mermaid character in Filipino comic books, cinema and television, was based on Philippine folklore?

...that the color signals of Israel Broadcasting Authority television transmissions were erased until 1981, to insure equality for families who couldn't afford color-tv?

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

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Publicity still, c. 1962

Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (/ˈkoʊmoʊ/; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an American singer, actor, and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, from 1943 until 1987.

"Mr. C.", as he was nicknamed, reportedly sold over 100 million records worldwide and pioneered a weekly musical variety television show. His weekly television shows and seasonal specials were broadcast throughout the world. He recorded primarily vocal pop and was renowned for recordings in the intimate, easy-listening genre pioneered by multimedia star Bing Crosby. In the official RCA Records Billboard magazine memorial, his life was summed up in these few words: "50 years of music and a life well lived. An example to all." (Full article...)

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

General images

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

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

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

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The anime series Buso Renkin is based on the manga series of the same name written by Nobuhiro Watsuki. The series is directed by Takao Kato and produced by Xebec. The episodes follow Kazuki Muto who becomes an Alchemic warrior in the battle against Alchemic monsters known as Homunculi.

The production of the Buso Renkin anime was announced by the release of a minute-long internet trailer. Buso Renkin aired between October 5, 2006, and March 29, 2007, on TV Tokyo. The episodes were later released in nine DVD compilations between January 25, 2007, and September 21, 2007 by Geneon Universal Entertainment. A DVD box set containing the whole series was released on November 26, 2009. (Full article...)
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The Voice is an American singing competition television series which premiered on NBC on April 26, 2011. Based on the original The Voice of Holland, the series features several stages of competition to search for new vocal talent contested by aspiring singers, age 13 or over, drawn from public auditions. The show has four coaches who choose their favourite artists during the audition rounds, and guide their selected teams through the remainder of the season. The winner is subsequently determined by television viewers; the prizes include $100,000 and a record deal with Universal Music Group. The Voice has been very successful since its premiere, drawing high ratings for the network and becoming one of the highest-rated shows in the country.

The Voice has been nominated for numerous awards, including forty Emmy Award nominations, winning six times, including three awards in the Outstanding Reality-Competition Program category and three awards for its lighting design. The Voice has additionally received nominations for six consecutive Critics' Choice Television Awards for Best Reality Series (four wins), seven People's Choice Awards (four wins), four Television Critics Association Awards and six Teen Choice Awards (three wins for the series), among other awards. The series has received nominations for its diversity, including one GLAAD Media Award, two Imagen Awards, and three NAACP Image Awards. (Full article...)
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Game of Thrones is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. The series is based on George R. R. Martin's series of fantasy novels, A Song of Ice and Fire. The series takes place on the fictional continents of Westeros and Essos, and chronicles the power struggles among noble families as they fight for control of the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms. The series starts when House Stark, led by Lord Eddard "Ned" Stark (Sean Bean), is drawn into schemes surrounding King Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy).

The series premiered on April 17, 2011, on HBO. David Benioff and D. B. Weiss both serve as executive producers, along with Carolyn Strauss, Frank Doelger, Bernadette Caulfield, and George R. R. Martin. Filming for the series took place in a number of locations, including Croatia, Northern Ireland, Iceland, and Spain. Episodes were broadcast on Sunday at 9:00 pm Eastern Time, and the episodes are between 50 and 82 minutes in length. All eight seasons are available on DVD, Blu-ray and Ultra HD Blu-ray. (Full article...)
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The Philo T. Farnsworth Award being accepted by Goddard Space Flight Center engineer Richard Nafzger, actress June Lockhart, and Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin on behalf of NASA in 2009.

The Philo T. Farnsworth Award (also called the Philo T. Farnsworth Corporate Achievement Award) is a non-competitive award presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) as part of the Primetime Engineering Emmy Awards to "an agency, company or institution whose contributions over time have significantly impacted television technology and engineering". Named for Philo Farnsworth, the inventor of the first fully working all-electronic television system and receiver, the winner is selected by a jury of television engineers from ATAS's Engineering Emmy Awards Committee, who consider "all engineering developments which have proven their efficacy during the awards year and determines which, if any, merit recognition with an Engineering Emmy statuette". The accolade was first awarded in 2003 as a result of about a year of lobbying to ATAS by Farnsworth's wife Pam Farnsworth and Hawaii-based Skinner Entertainment management and production firm owner Georja Skinner.

At an annual award ceremony held in various locations, the ATAS presents the winner with a copper, gold, nickel and silver statuette of a winged woman holding an atom that was designed by engineer Louis McManus. It was first presented at the 55th Primetime Engineering Emmy Awards ceremony in September 2003. Motion picture equipment company Panavision was selected as the inaugural recipient for its work in developing "specialty camera items, cranes and dollies, Video assists, 35mm optics, cameras, lighting, trucks and grips". Since then, another 16 agencies, companies and institutions have received the award and none have won more than once. No award was given between 2005 and 2007 and in 2020. It has been presented to two separate recipients for different reasons in a calendar year once, in 2010, to the Desilu production company and the Digidesign audio technology firm. As of the 75th Primetime Engineering Emmy Awards, the National Association of Broadcasters is the most recent winner in this category for its work on the 100th anniversary "as 'the voice of America’s broadcasters', working to advance their interests through public policy advocacy, educational initiatives and support for content and technology innovation." (Full article...)
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The Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series Directing Team is an award presented annually by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) and Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS).

It was first awarded at the 1st Daytime Emmy Awards ceremony, held in 1974 when the award was originally called Outstanding Individual Director for a Drama Series. Therefore, between 1974 and 1978; the award only honored individual directors. In 1979, the award was renamed Outstanding Direction for a Drama Series before using its current title years later. Since then, the award has honored the performances of the entire directing team participating in a form of a daytime drama. The awards ceremony was not aired on television in 1983 and 1984, having been criticized for lack of integrity. The Emmy was named after an "Immy," an affectionate term used to refer to the image orthicon camera tube. The statuette was designed by Louis McManus, who modeled the award after his wife, Dorothy. The Emmy statuette is fifteen inches tall from base to tip, weighs five pounds and is composed of iron, pewter, zinc and gold. (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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Glee cast members (clockwise from back left): Mark Salling, Kevin McHale, Lea Michele, Dianna Agron, Amber Riley, Jenna Ushkowitz, Chris Colfer and Cory Monteith

Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that aired on the Fox network in the United States. It focuses on the William McKinley High School glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues. The show was created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan, and features many cover versions of songs performed on-screen by the characters. Murphy is responsible for selecting all of the songs used, and strives to maintain a balance between show tunes and chart hits, as he wants there to be "something for everybody in every episode". Once Murphy selects a song, rights are cleared with its publishers by music supervisor P.J. Bloom, and music producer Adam Anders rearranges it for the Glee cast. Numbers are pre-recorded by the cast, while choreographer Zach Woodlee constructs the accompanying dance moves, which are then taught to the cast and filmed. Studio recordings of tracks are then made. The process begins six to eight weeks before each episode is filmed, and can end as late as the day before filming begins.

At the beginning of the season, Murphy intended for the performances to remain reality-based, as opposed to having the characters spontaneously burst into song. As the season progressed, however, Glee began to utilize fantasy sequences, with paraplegic character Artie imagining himself dancing to "The Safety Dance", and six separate characters performing a fantasy version of "Like a Virgin". The first thirteen episodes of the season averaged five songs per episode. For the final nine episodes, the number of performances increased to eight. The list below contains all 132 musical performances of the first season, with each performance delivering an individual song or a mashup of two or more songs in a single performance. (Full article...)
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(Full article...)
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Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl (かしまし〜ガール·ミーツ·ガール〜, Kashimashi ~Gāru Mītsu Gāru~) is a Japanese animated television series. The episodes were directed by Nobuaki Nakanishi, and animated by the Japanese animation studio Studio Hibari. The series was based on the manga version of the same name, and followed the original story from the first two manga volumes closely for the first nine episodes, though with many differences. In episode ten, the anime starts to deviate from the manga and after that, the storyline in the anime has no connection with the manga. The main plot in the anime is the drama that relates from the three female main characters of Hazumu Osaragi, Yasuna Kamiizumi, and Tomari Kurusu, and their romantic struggles in a love triangle. Yasuna and Tomari vie for Hazumu's affections while Hazumu is initially unable to choose between them.

The televised series aired on the TV Tokyo Japanese television network between January 11, 2006, and March 29, 2006, comprising twelve main episodes. Four pieces of theme music were used in the anime, one opening theme, two ending themes, and one insert song used in episode twelve. The opening theme is "Koisuru Kokoro" (恋するココロ, lit. "The Heart in Love") by Eufonius, the main ending theme is "Michishirube" (みちしるべ, lit. "Route Marker") by Yūmao, the second ending theme only used in the twelfth episode is "Kimi no Tame ni Dekiru Koto" (キミのためにできること, lit. "Something I Can Do For You"), also by Yūmao, and the insert song is "Hanbun" (半分, lit. "Half") by Yukari Tamura. The episodes were released on seven DVD compilations released between April 26, 2006, and October 27, 2006, each containing two episodes. The seventh DVD also contained an original video animation episode "A Girl Falls in Love with a Girl" (少女は少女に恋をした, Shōjo wa Shōjo ni Koi o Shita). The staff that produced the television series also produced the OVA. This episode is set four months after the events of the anime series during the Christmas season. (Full article...)
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Bernard Lee (1908–1981) was an English actor who performed in many light entertainment media, including film, television and theatre. His career spanned from 1934 to 1981, although he made his first appearance on the stage at the age of six. He is perhaps best known for playing M in the first eleven Eon-produced James Bond films.

Lee trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, before making his professional stage debut in 1924. He appeared on film for the first time in 1934 in the Leslie Howard Gordon-directed comedy The Double Event, where he played the part of Dennison. Although he was in wartime service with the Royal Sussex Regiment between 1940 and 1946, he had already been in several films, which were released between 1939 and 1943. He returned to acting after the war and was offered a role in the play Stage Door while awaiting his demob. (Full article...)

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No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod. code	U.S. viewers (millions)
104	1	"Bart of Darkness"	Jim Reardon	Dan McGrath	September 4, 1994 (1994-09-04)	1F22	15.1
105	2	"Lisa's Rival"	Mark Kirkland	Mike Scully	September 11, 1994 (1994-09-11)	1F17	16.7
106	3	"Another Simpsons Clip Show"	David Silverman	Jon Vitti	September 25, 1994 (1994-09-25)	2F33	13.5
107	4	"Itchy & Scratchy Land"	Wes Archer	John Swartzwelder	October 2, 1994 (1994-10-02)	2F01	14.8
108	5	"Sideshow Bob Roberts"	Mark Kirkland	Bill Oakley & Josh Weinstein	October 9, 1994 (1994-10-09)	2F02	14.4
109	6	"Treehouse of Horror V"	Jim Reardon	Bob Kushell	October 30, 1994 (1994-10-30)	2F03	22.2
				Greg Daniels & Dan McGrath
				David X. Cohen
110	7	"Bart's Girlfriend"	Susie Dietter	Jonathan Collier	November 6, 1994 (1994-11-06)	2F04	15.3
111	8	"Lisa on Ice"	Bob Anderson	Mike Scully	November 13, 1994 (1994-11-13)	2F05	17.9
112	9	"Homer Badman"	Jeffrey Lynch	Greg Daniels	November 27, 1994 (1994-11-27)	2F06	15.5
113	10	"Grampa vs. Sexual Inadequacy"	Wes Archer	Bill Oakley & Josh Weinstein	December 4, 1994 (1994-12-04)	2F07	14.1
114	11	"Fear of Flying"	Mark Kirkland	David Sacks	December 18, 1994 (1994-12-18)	2F08	15.6
115	12	"Homer the Great"	Jim Reardon	John Swartzwelder	January 8, 1995 (1995-01-08)	2F09	20.1
116	13	"And Maggie Makes Three"	Swinton O. Scott III	Jennifer Crittenden	January 22, 1995 (1995-01-22)	2F10	17.3
117	14	"Bart's Comet"	Bob Anderson	John Swartzwelder	February 5, 1995 (1995-02-05)	2F11	18.7
118	15	"Homie the Clown"	David Silverman	John Swartzwelder	February 12, 1995 (1995-02-12)	2F12	17.5
119	16	"Bart vs. Australia"	Wes Archer	Bill Oakley & Josh Weinstein	February 19, 1995 (1995-02-19)	2F13	15.1
120	17	"Homer vs. Patty and Selma"	Mark Kirkland	Brent Forrester	February 26, 1995 (1995-02-26)	2F14	18.9
121	18	"A Star Is Burns"	Susie Dietter	Ken Keeler	March 5, 1995 (1995-03-05)	2F31	14.4
122	19	"Lisa's Wedding"	Jim Reardon	Greg Daniels	March 19, 1995 (1995-03-19)	2F15	14.9
123	20	"Two Dozen and One Greyhounds"	Bob Anderson	Mike Scully	April 9, 1995 (1995-04-09)	2F18	11.6
124	21	"The PTA Disbands"	Swinton O. Scott III	Jennifer Crittenden	April 16, 1995 (1995-04-16)	2F19	11.8
125	22	"'Round Springfield"	Steven Dean Moore	Story by : Al Jean & Mike Reiss Teleplay by : Joshua Sternin & Jennifer Ventimilia	April 30, 1995 (1995-04-30)	2F32	12.6
126	23	"The Springfield Connection"	Mark Kirkland	Jonathan Collier	May 7, 1995 (1995-05-07)	2F21	12.7
127	24	"Lemon of Troy"	Jim Reardon	Brent Forrester	May 14, 1995 (1995-05-14)	2F22	13.1
128	25	"Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One)"	Jeffrey Lynch	Bill Oakley & Josh Weinstein	May 21, 1995 (1995-05-21)	2F16	15.0

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This is a list of recognized content, updated weekly by JL-Bot (talk · contribs) (typically on Saturdays). There is no need to edit the list yourself. If an article is missing from the list, make sure it is tagged (e.g. {{WikiProject Television}}) or categorized correctly and wait for the next update. See WP:RECOG for configuration options.