title: Capital punishment in California

text: Donte McDaniel, a condemned inmate, was sentenced to death in 2004 and has challenged his death sentence by challenging California's sentencing statutes that only require convictions to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt and to be unanimous but not requiring either for sentencing decisions. Therefore, under current law, a defendant needs to be found guilty by all jurors beyond a reasonable doubt but the jury does not need to be unanimous to find true any aggravating circumstances that makes one eligible to be sentenced to death, nor does the jury have to find those circumstances to be true beyond a reasonable doubt. If the Supreme Court of California rules in McDaniel's favor, hundreds of death sentences would be overturned and the court may strike down capital punishment in the state in its entireity. McDaniel has received the support of Governor Gavin Newsom along with the county district attorney's of Contra Costa, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Joaquin, and Santa Clara counties, along with former Los Angeles County District Attorney Gil Garcetti in an "amicus curiae" brief filed with the court.


title: Capital punishment in California

text: On December 7, 2020, Assembly members Marc Levine (D-10) and David Chiu (D-17) introduced Assembly Constitutional Amendment 2 in the California State Legislature. The constitutional amendment would amend the constitution to prohibit the use of capital punishment as a punishment for any violations of law. The amendment is coauthored by Assembymembers Laura Friedman (D-43), Mike Gipson (D-64), and Mark Stone (D-29), along with state senator Scott Wiener (D-11). The resolution needs a 2/3 majority of each house of the Legislature before the resolution can be placed before the voters during the 2022 California elections. If more voters vote Yes than No on the question in 2022, the state constitution will be amended to prohibit the use of capital punishment in California as a punishment for any violations of law. Currently, the resolution is pending before the Committee on Public Safety.


title: Capital punishment in California

text: On August 26, 2021, efforts to overhaul California's death penalty were weakened after the California state Supreme Court unanimously ruled that current state law provided little legal support for any overhaul in the case of People v McDaniel.


title: Capital punishment in California

text: When the prosecution seeks the death penalty, the sentence is decided by the judge and the jury must be unanimous.


title: Capital punishment in California

text: In case of a hung jury during the penalty phase of the trial, a retrial happens before another jury. If the second or any subsequent jury is also deadlocked, the judge has discretion to order another retrial or impose a life sentence.


title: Capital punishment in California

text: Under the state Constitution, the power of clemency belongs to the Governor of California. But if the offender was twice convicted of a felony, the governor can grant a commutation only on recommendation of the Supreme Court of California, with at least four judges concurring.


title: Capital punishment in California

text: Executions are carried out by lethal injection, but an inmate sentenced before its adoption may elect to be executed by gas inhalation instead. If one of these two methods is held invalid, the state is required to use the other method.


title: Capital punishment in California

text: California has one of America's broadest lists of capital crimes and capital circumstances. The Penal Code provides for the possibility for a sentence of death for:


title: Capital punishment in California

text: Due to the amount of capital circumstances in California, almost every first-degree murder is punishable by death.


title: Capital punishment in California

text: Additionally, the Military and Veterans Code provides for possible capital punishment in either of the following if such act or acts, or failure to act, results in a death:


title: Capital punishment in California

text: Men condemned to death in California must (with some exceptions) be held at San Quentin State Prison, while condemned women are held at Central California Women's Facility (CCWF) in Chowchilla. San Quentin also houses the state execution chamber. Women executed in California would be transported to San Quentin before being put to death.


title: Capital punishment in California

text: , official California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) records show 697 inmates sentenced to death in California, the lowest it has been since 2011, primarily due to suicide, death from other causes, fewer juries willing to sentence people to death, and resentencing's by newly elected progressive district attorneys, among other things. 23 of those on death row are women, held at the female death row in the Central California Women's Facility (CCWF) in Chowchilla.


title: Capital punishment in California

text: On January 31, 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that the current death row at San Quentin State Prison will be dismantled within two years and that the inmates housed at said facility will be transferred to other maximum security state prisons. In that time, the death row at San Quentin will be repurposed "into something innovative and anchored in rehabilitation,” according to corrections’ spokeswoman Vicky Waters. Inmates transferred will be required to work paid prison jobs, albeit that 70% of their wages will be withheld and designated as restitution to the families of the relevant victims. A pilot program that began in early 2020 has already removed 116 condemned men to other facilities. The women incarcerated at Chowchilla State Prison will also have the opportunity to move to less restrictive housing and work programs, with 8 of the 21 inmates there having done so already.


title: Capital punishment in California

text: , Black people constitute a plurality of inmates sentenced to death, with 35.58% of inmates sentenced to death being Black. The second largest group of people sentenced to death are White (31.85%), while Hispanics/Mexicans are the third largest group of people sentenced to death (25.04%).


title: Capital punishment in California

text: In 2008, the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice criticized the high number of aggravating factors as giving to local prosecutors too much discretion in picking cases where they believe capital punishment is warranted. The Commission proposed to reduce them to only five (multiple murders, torture murder, murder of a police officer, murder committed in jail, and murder related to another felony). Columnist Charles Lane went further, and proposed that murder related to a felony other than rape should no longer be a capital crime when there is only one victim killed.


title: Capital punishment in California

text: In 2021, the California Committee on Revision of Penal Code unanimously voted to recommend that the Legislature to abolish capital punishment in the state. A staff justified the vote by issuing a memorandum that states that "[e]liminating the death penalty is a critical step towards creating a fair and equitable justice system for all in California, as the ultimate punishment is plagued by legal, racial, bureaucratic, financial, geographic, and moral problems that have proven intractable."


title: Capital punishment in California

text: In the mid 2000, LAPD arrested a young man Juan Catalan after a little girl was shot dead. Catalan was sentenced to death after a witness stated that he looked like the killer. Catalan turned out to be innocent; it was a documentary (Curb your enthusiasm) which showed him seated at a Dodgers game, thus exonerating him.


title: Capital punishment in California

text: The Field Research Corporation found in February 2004 that when asked how they personally felt about capital punishment, 68% supported it and 31% opposed it (6% offered no opinion). This was a decrease from 72% support two years previous, and an increase from 63% in 2000. This poll was asked about the time that Kevin Cooper had his execution stayed hours before his scheduled death after 20 years on death row. When asked if they thought the death penalty was generally fair and free of error in California, 58% agreed and 32% disagreed (11% offered no opinion). When the results were broken down along ethnicity, of the people who identified themselves as African American, 57% disagreed that the death penalty was fair and free of error.


title: Capital punishment in California

text: A poll in March 2012 found that "61% of registered voters from the state of California say they would vote to keep the death penalty, should a death penalty initiative appear on the November 2012 ballot" An August 2012 poll found that "support for Prop 34, which would repeal California's death penalty, fell from 45.5% to 35.9%."


title: Capital punishment in California

text: A PPIC poll from September 2012 showed that 55% of all adults and 50% of likely voters prefer life in prison without the possibility of parole over the death penalty when given the choice.


title: Capital punishment in California

text: A Field Poll in September 2014 showed that 56% support the death penalty, down from 69% three years earlier. Support for the death penalty in California had not been at this low a level since the mid-1960s.


title: Capital punishment in California

text: Number of death sentences per county . There are 703 inmates awaiting execution but there are 711 death sentences since some inmates have received multiple death sentences.


title: Capital punishment in California

text: List of the year when each one of the people currently on death row were received by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation .


title: Delta Air Lines Flight 191

text: Delta Air Lines Flight 191 was a regularly scheduled Delta Air Lines domestic service from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Los Angeles with an intermediate stop at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW). On August 2, 1985, the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar operating Flight 191 encountered a microburst while on approach to land at DFW. The aircraft impacted ground over short of the runway, struck a car near the airport, collided with two water tanks, and disintegrated. The crash killed 137 people and injured 26 others. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that the crash resulted from the flight crew's decision to fly through a thunderstorm, the lack of procedures or training to avoid or escape microbursts, and the lack of hazard information on wind shear.


title: Delta Air Lines Flight 191

text: The aircraft was a Lockheed L-1011-385-1 TriStar (registration number N726DA). It was delivered to Delta on February 28, 1979, and the airline had operated it continuously since that date. Three Rolls-Royce RB211-22B engines powered the aircraft.


title: Delta Air Lines Flight 191

text: The crew consisted of three flight crew members, and eight cabin crew members. Of the 11 crew members, only three flight attendants survived the crash.


title: Delta Air Lines Flight 191

text: The captain, Edward Michael "Ted" Connors Jr., age 57, had been a Delta Air Lines employee since 1954. He qualified to captain the TriStar in 1979 and had passed his proficiency checks. The NTSB report mentioned that past flight crews who had flown with Connors prior to the accident described him as a meticulous pilot who strictly adhered to company policies. The report also stated that Connors "deviated around thunderstorms even if other flights took more direct routes" and "willingly accepted suggestions from his flight crew." Since his qualification in 1979, Connors had passed all eight en route inspections that he had undergone; the NTSB report also notes that he had received "favorable comments" regarding "cockpit discipline and standardization". Connors had logged over 29,300 hours of flight time, 3,000 of which had been in the TriStar.


title: Delta Air Lines Flight 191

text: Flight 191's first officer was Rudolph Przydzial "Rudy" Price Jr., age 42, who had been a Delta Air Lines employee since 1970. Delta captains who flew with Price described him as an "above average first officer" and possessing "excellent knowledge" of the TriStar. Price had logged 6,500 flight hours, including 1,200 in the TriStar.


title: Delta Air Lines Flight 191

text: The flight engineer, Nicholas Nestor "Nick" Nassick, age 43, had been a Delta Air Lines employee since 1976. He had logged 6,500 hours of flight time, including 4,500 in the TriStar. Fellow Delta employees described him as "observant, alert, and professional".


title: Delta Air Lines Flight 191

text: Connors had served with the U.S. Navy from 1950 to 1954 and fought in two tours in the Korean War. Price had served with the U.S. Navy from 1964 to 1970 and fought in four tours in the Vietnam War. Nassick had served with the U.S. Air Force from 1963 to 1976 and fought in four tours in the Vietnam War. The pilots were based in Atlanta, the flight attendants were Miami/Ft. Lauderdale based.


title: Delta Air Lines Flight 191

text: Of the 152 passengers aboard, 128 were killed in the crash. Twelve of the 24 survivors were seated in a cluster near the tail of the aircraft. The NTSB report lists 126 passenger fatalities rather than 128, but notes that two of the passengers listed as survivors died more than 30 days after the crash, on September 13 and October 4, 1985. Of the dead, 73 originated from the Miami metropolitan area. Of them, 45 were from Broward County, 19 were from Palm Beach County, and 9 were from Dade County. One of the passengers was Don Estridge, known to the world as the father of the IBM PC; he died aboard the flight along with his wife. Two IBM summer interns, four IBM employees from the IBM branch office in Burbank, California, and six additional family members of IBM employees died as well.


title: Delta Air Lines Flight 191

text: Flight 191 was a regularly scheduled passenger flight from Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California, with a scheduled stop at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. The flight departed Fort Lauderdale on an instrument flight rules flight plan at 14:10 Central Daylight Time (). The flight's dispatch weather forecast for DFW stated a "possibility of widely scattered rain showers and thunderstorms." Another dispatch weather alert warned of "an area of isolated thunderstorms ... over Oklahoma and northern and northeastern Texas." The flight crew reviewed these notices before takeoff.


title: Delta Air Lines Flight 191

text: As the aircraft flew past New Orleans, Louisiana, a weather formation near the Gulf Coast strengthened. The flight crew decided to deviate from the intended route to make the more northerly Blue Ridge arrival to DFW. The flight held for 10–15 minutes over the Texarkana, Arkansas VORTAC. At 17:35, the crew received an Automatic Terminal Information Service (ATIS) broadcast for weather on approach to DFW, and the Fort Worth Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) air traffic controller cleared the flight to the Blue Ridge, Texas VORTAC and instructed the flight to descend to .


title: Delta Air Lines Flight 191

text: At 17:43:45, the Fort Worth ARTCC controller cleared the flight down to . The controller suggested they fly a heading of 250° toward the Blue Ridge approach, but Captain Connors replied that the route would take them through a storm cell, stating, "I'd rather not go through it, I'd rather go around it one way or the other." After a brief exchange, the controller gave the flight a new heading. At 17:46:50, the controller cleared the flight direct to Blue Ridge and instructed the flight crew to descend to . The captain expressed his relief that the controller did not send them on the original trajectory. At 17:51:19, the second officer commented, "Looks like it's raining over Fort Worth." At 17:51:42, the Fort Worth ARTCC controller transferred the flight to DFW Airport Approach Control, which cleared the flight to descend to . Two minutes later, the controller asked the Delta flight to deviate by 10° and to slow their airspeed to . The flight acknowledged the request. As the flight descended, the crew prepared the aircraft for landing. At 17:56:19, the feeder controller cleared the flight down to . Nine seconds later, the controller announced that rain was north of the airport, and that the airport would be using instrument landing system (ILS) approaches.


title: Delta Air Lines Flight 191

text: At 17:59:47, Price said, "We're gonna get our airplane washed." Around the same time, the captain switched to the arrival radio frequency and informed the approach controller that they were flying at . The controller replied that the flight should expect to approach Runway 17L (now Runway 17C). At 18:00:36, the approach controller asked an American Airlines flight that was two aircraft ahead of Flight 191, and on the same approach, if they could see the airport. The flight responded, "As soon as we break out of this rain shower we will." At 18:00:51, Flight 191 was instructed to slow to and to turn to heading 270°. Flight 191 was instructed to descend to at 18:01:34. One minute later, the approach controller turned the flight toward Runway 17L and cleared them for an ILS approach at or above . Half a minute afterward, the controller asked the flight to reduce their speed to , which the flight crew acknowledged. At 18:03:30 the controller advised, "And we're getting some variable winds out there due to a shower ... out there north end of DFW." Several seconds later, an unidentified flight crew member commented, "Stuff is moving in."


title: Delta Air Lines Flight 191

text: Just ahead of Flight 191, a Learjet 25 was on the same approach to Runway 17L. While on final approach, the Learjet flew through the storm north of the airport and encountered what was later described as "light to moderate turbulence". The Learjet encountered heavy rain and lost all forward visibility, but was able to continue its ILS approach and land safely. When later asked why he did not report weather conditions to the tower, the Learjet's captain testified that he had nothing to report because "the only thing that we encountered was the heavy rain." The tower controller handling landings on Runway 17L saw lightning from the storm cell after the Learjet landed, but before he saw Flight 191 emerge from the storm.


title: Delta Air Lines Flight 191

text: At 18:03:46, the approach controller once again asked Flight 191 to reduce its speed, this time to , and then handed the flight over to the tower controller. Twelve seconds later, the captain radioed the tower and said, "Tower[:] Delta one ninety one heavy, out here in the rain, feels good." The tower controller advised Flight 191 that the wind was blowing at with gusts up to , which the captain acknowledged. The flight crew lowered the landing gear and extended their flaps for landing. At 18:04:18, Price commented, "Lightning coming out of that one. ... Right ahead of us." The captain called out that they were at at 18:05:05. Fourteen seconds later, he cautioned Price to watch his airspeed. At the same time, the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) captured the beginning of a sound identified as rain hitting the cockpit. The captain warned Price, "You're gonna lose it all of a sudden, there it is." At 18:05:26, the captain told Price, "Push it up, push it way up." Several seconds later, the CVR recorded the sound of the engines spooling up. Connors then said, "That's it." At 18:05:36, Connors exclaimed, "Hang on to the son of a bitch!" From this point, the aircraft began a descent from which it never recovered. The angle of attack (AOA) was over 30° and began to vary wildly over the next few seconds. The pitch angle began to sink and the aircraft started descending below the glideslope.


title: Delta Air Lines Flight 191

text: At 18:05:44, with the aircraft descending at more than the ground proximity warning system (GPWS) sounded. The captain responded by declaring "TOGA", aviation shorthand for the order to apply maximum thrust and abort a landing by going around. The first officer responded by pulling up and raising the nose of the aircraft, which slowed but did not stop the plane's descent. At 18:05:52, still descending at a rate around , the aircraft's landing gear made contact with a plowed field north of the runway and east of the runway centerline. Remaining structurally intact, Flight 191 remained on the ground while rolling at high speed across the farmland. The main landing gear left shallow depressions in the field that extended for before disappearing and reappearing a few times as the aircraft approached Texas State Highway 114.


title: Delta Air Lines Flight 191

text: The aircraft struck a highway street light, and its nose gear touched down on the westbound lane of Highway 114, skidding across the road at at least . The aircraft's left engine hit a Toyota Celica driven by 28-year-old William Mayberry, killing him instantly. As the aircraft continued south, it hit two more street lights on the eastbound side of the highway and began fragmenting. The left horizontal stabilizer, some engine pieces, portions of the wing control surfaces, and parts of the nose gear came off the aircraft as it continued along the ground. Some witnesses later testified that fire was emerging from the left wing root. Surviving passengers reported that fire began entering the cabin through the left wall while the plane was still moving. A survivor stated that he watched passengers attempt to escape the fire by unbuckling their seatbelt and try to flee, but were sucked out of the plane, while others who stayed caught on fire due to leaking jet fuel. He only survived due to being doused by rain from openings in the plane. The aircraft's motion across open land ended when it crashed into two water tanks on the edge of the airport property; the aircraft grazed one water tank about south of Highway 114, and then struck the second one. As the left-wing and nose struck the water tank, the fuselage rotated counterclockwise and was engulfed in a fireball. The fuselage from the nose rearward to row 34 was destroyed. The tail section emerged from the fireball, skidding backward, and came to rest on its left side before wind gusts rotated it upright.


title: Delta Air Lines Flight 191

text: All airport fire and emergency units were alerted within one minute of the crash. Forty-five seconds after first being alerted, three fire trucks from the airport's fire station No. 3 arrived at the crash and began fighting the fire. Additional units from fire stations No. 1 and No. 2 arrived within five minutes, and despite high wind gusts and heavy rain, the fire was mostly under control within 10 minutes after the alert was sounded.


title: Delta Air Lines Flight 191

text: The first paramedics arrived within five minutes of the crash and immediately established triage stations. In later testimony to NTSB officials, on-site EMTs estimated that without the on-scene triage procedures, at least half of the surviving passengers would have died. Most of the survivors of Flight 191 were located in the aircraft's rear smoking section, which broke free from the main fuselage when the aircraft hit the water tanks. Authorities transported most of the survivors to Parkland Memorial Hospital.


title: Delta Air Lines Flight 191

text: The cockpit and passenger section forward of seat row 34 had been completely fragmented by impact with the water tanks and postcrash fires; all but eight of the occupants in this section were killed. The remainder of the surviving passengers and crew were in the rear cabin and tail section, which separated relatively intact and landed on its side in an open field, and most of these were in the center and right portions of the fuselage from seat row 40 rearwards. Overall, the disintegration of the Tristar was so extensive that the NTSB investigation was quite difficult. Survivors reported that fire broke out in the cabin prior to hitting the tanks and began spreading through the aircraft's interior, which is consistent with the right wing's collision with the light pole and fuel tank ignition. Some of the people in the tail section were unable to free themselves due to injuries, so rescue crews had to extricate them. Most survivors were also soaked with jet fuel, further adding to the difficulty of exiting the wreckage.


title: Delta Air Lines Flight 191

text: Two of the passengers who initially survived the crash died more than 30 days later. On the ground, an airline employee who assisted in rescuing survivors was hospitalized overnight for chest and arm pain. The crash ultimately killed 137 people, including 128 of the 152 passengers and eight of the 11 crew (including all three flight crew members), and the driver of the car.


title: Delta Air Lines Flight 191

text: Delta Air Lines Flight 191 has the second-highest death toll of any aviation accident involving a Lockheed L-1011 anywhere in the world, after Saudia Flight 163.


title: Delta Air Lines Flight 191

text: Numerous public safety agencies responded to the crash, including the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport Department of Public Safety, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Irving Fire Department, the Irving Police Department, and all available third-watch personnel from the Dallas Police Department's Northwest Patrol Division and the Northeastern Sector of the Fort Worth Police Department's Patrol Division.


title: Delta Air Lines Flight 191

text: After a long investigation, the NTSB deemed the cause of the crash to be attributable to pilot error (for their decision to fly through a thunderstorm), combined with extreme weather phenomena associated with microburst-induced wind shear. The NTSB also determined that a lack of specific training, policies, and procedures for avoiding and escaping low-altitude wind shear was a contributing factor.


title: Delta Air Lines Flight 191

text: The NTSB attributed the accident to lack of the ability to detect microbursts aboard aircraft; the radar equipment aboard aircraft at the time was unable to detect wind changes, only thunderstorms. After the investigation, NASA researchers at Langley Research Center modified a Boeing 737-200 as a testbed for an onboard Doppler weather radar. The resultant airborne wind shear detection and alert system was installed on many commercial airliners in the United States after the Federal Aviation Administration mandated that all commercial aircraft must have on-board wind shear-detection systems.


title: Delta Air Lines Flight 191

text: The NTSB was also critical of the airport for failing to notify emergency services in surrounding municipalities in a timely manner. While the airport's on-site emergency services were notified almost immediately, the DFW Department of Public Safety (DPS) Communications Center did not begin notifying off-site emergency services until nearly 10 minutes after the crash and did not finish its notifications until 45 minutes after the crash. During notifications, DPS also failed to request ambulances from the adjacent communities of Irving, Grapevine, and Hurst; however, Hurst responded with ambulances after personnel at its ambulance company overheard the airport crash report on a radio-frequency scanner. The NTSB concluded that the overall emergency response was effective due to the rapid response of on-airport personnel, but found "several problem areas" which under different circumstances "could affect adversely the medical treatment and survival of accident victims at the airport".


title: Delta Air Lines Flight 191

text: Following the crash and the ensuing NTSB report, DFW's DPS made improvements to its postcrash notification system, including the introduction of an automated voice notification system to reduce notification times. In 1988, following the crash of Delta Air Lines Flight 1141 while taking off from DFW, DPS completed its notification of nearby emergency services in 21 minutes; the NTSB described this as a "significant improvement" over response times after the Delta Flight 191 crash. Based on the improved response times, the NTSB issued a Safety Recommendation on January 9, 1990, calling for airport executives nationwide to consider the benefits of using automated voice notification systems for their emergency aid notifications. Pilots were also required to train to react to microbursts and to quickly take evasive action in order to safely land the plane.


title: Delta Air Lines Flight 191

text: The Delta Flight 191 crash resulted in the longest aviation trial in American history, lasting 14 months from 1988 to 1989 and presided over by Federal Judge David Owen Belew Jr. of the Northern District of Texas. The trial featured the first use of computer graphic animation as substantive evidence in federal court; while the use of such animation is now routine, its use in the Flight 191 litigation was novel enough that it became the featured cover story of a 1989 issue of "ABA Journal", the magazine of the American Bar Association. Preparing the animated video for trial cost the Department of Justice around $100,000 to $150,000 (equivalent to $ to $ today), and it required nearly two years of work. The court found that both government personnel and the Delta flight crew were negligent, but that Delta was ultimately responsible because its pilots' negligence was the proximate cause of the accident, and the ruling was upheld on appeal to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.


title: Delta Air Lines Flight 191

text: The Discovery Channel Canada/National Geographic television series "Mayday" dramatized the crash of Flight 191 in a season-five episode titled "Invisible Killer". The crash had previously been discussed in the "Mayday" season-one episode "Racing the Storm", which covered the weather-related crash landing of American Airlines Flight 1420.


title: Delta Air Lines Flight 191

text: The crash was featured on an episode of "When Weather Changed History" and "Why Planes Crash" on The Weather Channel, and the episode "Deadly Weather" of Survival in the Sky on The Learning Channel.


title: Delta Air Lines Flight 191

text: Working as a reporter for the "Fort Lauderdale News and Sun-Sentinel" in 1986, future renowned crime fiction author Michael Connelly and two other reporters conducted extensive interviews of survivors of Delta Flight 191 and wrote an article detailing their experiences during and after the crash. The article explored the topic of survivor guilt and earned Connelly and his co-writers a finalist position for the Pulitzer Prize.


title: Delta Air Lines Flight 191

text: Ten years after the crash, survivors and family members of victims gathered in Florida to recognize the tenth anniversary of the crash. In 2010, 25 years after the accident, a memorial was installed at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport's Founders Plaza in Grapevine.


title: French West Africa

text: French West Africa (, ) was a federation of eight French colonial territories in West Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, French Sudan (now Mali), French Guinea (now Guinea), Ivory Coast, Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso), Dahomey (now Benin) and Niger. The federation existed from 1895 until 1958. Its capital was Saint-Louis, Senegal until 1902, and then Dakar until the federation's collapse in 1960.


title: French West Africa

text: Until after World War II, almost none of the Africans living in the colonies of France were citizens of France. Rather, they were "French subjects", lacking rights before the law, property ownership rights, rights to travel, dissent, or vote. The exception was the Four Communes of Senegal: those areas had been towns of the tiny Senegal Colony in 1848 when, at the abolition of slavery by the French Second Republic, all residents of France were granted equal political rights. Anyone able to prove they were born in these towns was legally French. They could vote in parliamentary elections, which had been previously dominated by white and mixed-race residents of Senegal.


title: French West Africa

text: The Four Communes of Senegal were entitled to elect a deputy to represent them in the French parliament in 1848–1852, 1871–1876, and 1879–1940. In 1914, the first African, Blaise Diagne, was elected as the deputy for Senegal in the French Parliament. In 1916, Diagne pushed a law through the National Assembly (loi Blaise Diagne) granting full citizenship to all residents of the so-called Four Communes. In return, he promised to help recruit millions of Africans to fight in World War I. Thereafter, all black Africans of Dakar, Gorée, Saint-Louis, and Rufisque could vote to send a representative to the French National Assembly.


title: French West Africa

text: As the French pursued their part in the scramble for Africa in the 1880s and 1890s, they conquered large inland areas, and at first, ruled them as either a part of the Senegal colony or as independent entities. These conquered areas were usually governed by French Army officers, and dubbed "military territories". In the late 1890s, the French government began to rein in the territorial expansion of its "officers on the ground", and transferred all the territories west of Gabon to a single governor based in Senegal, reporting directly to the Minister of Overseas Affairs. The first governor-general of Senegal was named in 1895, and in 1904, the territories he oversaw were formally named French West Africa (AOF). Gabon would later become the seat of its own federation French Equatorial Africa (AEF), which was to border its western neighbor on the modern boundary between Niger and Chad.


title: French West Africa

text: In 1905, the French officially abolished slavery in most of French West Africa. From 1906 to 1911, as emancipation progressed, over a million slaves in French West Africa fled from their masters to earlier homes.


title: French West Africa

text: After the Fall of France in June 1940 and the two battles of Dakar against the Free French Forces in July and September 1940, authorities in West Africa declared allegiance to the Vichy regime, as did the colony of French Gabon in AEF. Gabon fell to Free France after the Battle of Gabon in November 1940, but West Africa remained under Vichy control until the Allied landings in North Africa in November 1942.


title: French West Africa

text: Following World War II, the French government began a process of extending limited political rights in its colonies. In 1945 the French Provisional Government allocated ten seats to French West Africa in the new Constituent Assembly called to write a new French Constitution. Of these five would be elected by citizens (which only in the Four Communes could an African hope to win) and five by African subjects. The elections brought to prominence a new generation of French-educated Africans. On 21 October 1945 six Africans were elected, the Four Communes citizens chose Lamine Guèye, Senegal/Mauritania Léopold Sédar Senghor, Ivory Coast/Upper Volta Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Dahomey/Togo Sourou-Migan Apithy, Soudan-Niger Fily Dabo Sissoko, and Guinea Yacine Diallo. They were all re-elected to the 2nd Constituent Assembly on 2 June 1946.


title: French West Africa

text: In 1946, the Loi Lamine Guèye granted some limited citizenship rights to natives of the African colonies. The French Empire was renamed the French Union on 27 October 1946, when the new constitution of the Fourth Republic was established. In late 1946 under this new constitution, each territory was for the first time (excepting the Four Communes) able elect local representatives, albeit on a limited franchise, to newly established General Councils. These elected bodies had only limited consultative powers, although they did approve local budgets. The Loi Cadre of 23 June 1956 brought universal suffrage to elections held after that date in all French African colonies. The first elections under universal suffrage in French West Africa were the municipal elections of late 1956. On 31 March 1957, under universal suffrage, territorial Assembly elections were held in each of the eight colonies (Togo as a UN trust Territory was at this stage on a different trajectory). The leaders of the winning parties were appointed to the newly instituted positions of Vice-Presidents of the respective Governing Councils — French Colonial Governors remained as Presidents.


title: French West Africa

text: The Constitution of the French Fifth Republic of 1958 again changed the structure of the colonies from the French Union to the French Community. Each territory was to become a "Protectorate", with the consultative assembly named a National Assembly. The Governor appointed by the French was renamed the "High Commissioner", and made head of state of each territory. The Assembly would name an African as Head of Government with advisory powers to the Head of State. Legally, the federation ceased to exist after the 1958 French constitutional referendum to approve this French Community. All the colonies except Guinea voted to remain in the new structure. Guineans voted overwhelmingly for independence. In 1960, a further revision of the French constitution, compelled by the failure of the French Indochina War and the tensions in Algeria, allowed members of the French Community to unilaterally change their own constitutions. Senegal and former French Sudan became the Mali Federation (1960–61), while Ivory Coast, Niger, Upper Volta and Dahomey subsequently formed the short-lived Sahel-Benin Union, later the Conseil de l'Entente.


title: French West Africa

text: The administrative structure of French colonial possessions in West Africa, while more homogeneous than neighboring British possessions, was marked by variety and flux. Throughout the history of the AOF, individual colonies and military territories were reorganized numerous times, as was the "Government General" in Dakar. French Upper Volta was formed and parceled out to neighboring colonies twice. The future states of Mauritania and Niger remained out of the federation until the 1920s and 1940s respectively. They were "Military Territories", directly controlled by the French Army. World War II, and the passing of the Loi Cadre ("Overseas Reform Act of 1956"), both radically restructured the administration of the colonies. French Togoland, seized by France from Germany in World War I, was for most of this period not nominally a colony but a Mandate territory.


title: French West Africa

text: In theory, the Governors-General of the AOF reported directly to the Minister of Colonies in Paris, while individual colonies and territories reported only to Dakar. Originally created in 1895 as a union of Senegal, French Sudan, French Guinea and Ivory Coast only, the federation was placed on a permanent footing in 1904. A governor-general was based first in Saint-Louis, then (from 1902) in Dakar (both in Senegal, the oldest French settlement). The AOF subsequently expanded to neighbouring French-ruled territories: Dahomey was added in 1904, after having been put under colonial tutelage in 1892; Mauritania in 1920, and when the territory of Upper Volta was divided from French Sudan by colonial decree in 1921, it automatically also entered the AOF. Between 1934 and 1937, the League of Nations Mandate territory of French Togoland was subsumed into Dahomey, and between its seizure from Germany in World War I and independence it was administered through the AOF. In 1904, both Mauritania and Niger were classed "Military Territories": ruled by the AOF in conjunction with officers of the French Colonial Forces.


title: French West Africa

text: Each colony of French West Africa was administered by a Lieutenant Governor, responsible to the Governor General in Dakar. Only the Governor-General received orders from Paris, via the Minister of Colonies. The Minister, with the approval of the French Chamber of Deputies (French National Assembly after 1946), chose Lieutenants Governor and Governors-General.


title: French West Africa

text: Beginning in 1946, a Grand Council of French West Africa was created in Dakar. Two representatives from each colony, usually the Lieutenant Governor and a representative of the French population there, were seated. This council had only consultative powers over the office of the Governor General. The functioning of such bodies rested upon the Indigénat legal code of 1885.


title: French West Africa

text: Despite this state of flux, and with the exception of the Senegalese Communes, the administrative structure of French rule at the lower levels remained constant, based upon the Cercle system. This was the smallest unit of French political administration in French colonial Africa that was headed by a European officer. They might range in size, but French Sudan (modern Mali) consisted of less than a dozen Cercles for most of its existence. Thus, a Cercle Commander might be the absolute authority over hundreds of thousands of Africans.


title: French West Africa

text: A Cercle consisted of several cantons, each of which in turn consisted of several villages, and was almost universal in France's African colonies from 1895 to 1946.


title: French West Africa

text: The "Cercle Commander" (""commandant de cercle"") was subject to the authority of a District Commander, and the government of the colony above him, but was independent of the Military structure (outside Military areas, e.g.: modern Niger and Mauritania prior to the Second World War). Below the "Cercle Commander" were a series of African "Chefs de canton" and "Chefs du Village": "chiefs" appointed by the French and subject to removal by the Europeans. As well, the "Cercle Commander" made use of a large number of servants, employees, and African officers such as the "Gardes-de-cercle" police, any military units seconded to them by government authorities, and sub-administrators such as the "Precepteur du marché" trade inspectors, etc.


title: French West Africa

text: Because of administrative practice and geographic isolation, Cercle Commanders had a tremendous amount of power over the lives of the Africans around them. The Cercle Commanders also had tremendous power over the economic and political life of their territories. Legally, all Africans outside the Four Communes of Senegal were "subjects" under the Indigénat legal code of 1885. This code gave summary powers to French administrators, including the rights to arrest, try, punish and imprison subjects. It also gave French local authorities the right to requisition forced labour, usually limited to able-bodied men for a few weeks a year, but in practice having few restrictions. These "tools" included the Civilizing mission ideology common in the period following the First World War. Every new Cercle Commander might well bring with him vast projects for development and the restructuring of the people's lives he governed.


title: French West Africa

text: The other official office particular to the local administration of French West Africa was the "Chief". These were Africans appointed by French officials for their loyalty to France, regardless of their rights to local power. These chiefs were assigned created territories based on the scale of a French Canton, as well as on the small scale tribal structures the French found in the coastal areas of the Rivières du Sud colony in the 1880s, modern Guinea. The Canton, then, was much smaller than, and qualitatively different from, the pre-colonial states of the Sahel (such as the Toucouleur Empire) which the French would later conquer.


title: French West Africa

text: They were styled "Chefs de canton", "Chefs du Village", or occasionally taking the title of precolonial states assimilated by the French structure whole. This last was uncommon, but became more prevalent in the later colonial territories conquered, as fewer administrators were available to rule over larger, less populated territories with strong pre-colonial state structures.


title: French West Africa

text: Where these larger polities resisted the French, they were often broken into small chiefdoms. Larger polities which presented a segment of the elite who would work with the French were maintained under new leadership. The Sultan of Agadez, the Sultan of Damagaram, and the Djermakoy of Dosso are examples of these large scale "Chefs de canton". But even these rulers were replaced by individuals handpicked by French authorities.


title: French West Africa

text: Regardless of source, chiefs were given the right to arm small numbers of guards and made responsible for the collection of taxes, the recruitment of forced labour, and the enforcement of "customary law". In general, Canton Chiefs served at the behest of their Cercle Commander and were left to see to their own affairs as long as calm was maintained and Administrative orders were carried out.


title: French West Africa

text: With an area of some (mostly the desert or semi-desert interior of Mauritania, Sudan and Niger) extending from Africa's westernmost point to the depths of the Sahara, the Federation contained more than ten million inhabitants at its creation, and some 25 million at its dissolution. The AOF included all of the Senegal River valley, most of the Niger River valley, and most of the West African Sahel region. It also included tropical forests in Ivory Coast and Guinea, the Fouta Djallon highlands, and the Aïr Mountains of modern Niger.


title: French West Africa

text: The French colonial territories in the federation issued their own postage stamps until 1943. In many cases the stamps were inscribed with the name of the federation ""Afrique Occidentale Française"" as well as the colony's own name.


title: French West Africa

text: In 1943 and 1944, stamps of Senegal and Mauritania were overprinted with new values and valid throughout French West Africa.


title: French West Africa

text: The first issues printed specifically for the federation were the Eboue common design type and a definitive series depicting colonial soldiers, both in 1945. A series of 1947 featured 19 scenes and people of the various colonies, then during the 1950s there were about 30 various commemoratives. The last issue inscribed "Afrique occidentale française" and "RF" was the Human Rights issue of December 1958.


title: French West Africa

text: It was followed by a Stamp Day issue on 21 March 1959, which omitted the federation's name and was inscribed "CF" along with "Dakar-Abidjan" for use in Ivory Coast and Senegal.


title: Booby trap

text: A booby trap is a device or setup that is intended to kill, harm or surprise a human or another animal. It is triggered by the presence or actions of the victim and sometimes has some form of bait designed to lure the victim towards it. The trap may be set to act upon trespassers that enter restricted areas, and it can be triggered when the victim performs an action (e.g., opening a door, picking something up, or switching something on). It can also be triggered by vehicles driving along a road, as in the case of improvised explosive devices (IEDs).


title: Booby trap

text: Booby traps should not be confused with mantraps which are designed to catch a person. Lethal booby traps are often used in warfare, particularly guerrilla warfare, and traps designed to cause injury or pain are also sometimes used by criminals wanting to protect drugs or other illicit property, and by some owners of legal property who wish to protect it from theft. Booby traps which merely cause discomfort or embarrassment are a popular form of practical joke.


title: Booby trap

text: The Spanish word translates to "stupid, daft, naïve, simple, fool, idiot, clown, funny man, one who is easily cheated" and similar pejorative terms. The slang of , , translates to "dunce". Variations of this word exist in other languages (such as Latin), with their meaning being "to stammer".


title: Booby trap

text: In approximately 1590, the word began appearing in the English language as "booby", meaning "stupid person, slow bird". The seabird in question was the genus "Sula", with their common name being boobies. These birds have large flat feet and wide wingspans for marine habitats but are clumsy and slow on shore making them easy to catch. The birds are also known for landing aboard seagoing vessels, whereupon they have been eaten by the crew.


title: Booby trap

text: The phrase booby trap originally applied to schoolboy pranks, but took on its more sinister connotation during World War I. The term "booby trap" gives rise to the idea that an individual with the misfortune to be caught in the trap does so because the individual is a "booby", or that an individual who is caught in the trap thereby becomes a "booby".


title: Booby trap

text: The word itself now has formal usage and a legal definition, as per the "Protocol on Mines, Booby-Traps and Other Devices".


title: Booby trap

text: A military booby trap may be designed to kill or injure a person who activates its trigger, or employed to reveal the location of an enemy by setting off a signalling device. Most, but not all, military booby traps involve explosives.


title: Booby trap

text: There is no clear division between a booby trap and buried conventional land mines triggered by a tripwire or directional mine. Other, similar devices include spring-guns and mechanisms such as the SM-70 directional antipersonnel mine.


title: Booby trap

text: What distinguishes a booby trap is that its activation is intended to be unexpected to its victim. Thus booby trap design is widely varied, with traps or their trigger mechanisms often hidden. Frequently at least part of the device is improvised from standard ordnance, such as an artillery shell, grenade, or high explosive. However, some mines have features specifically designed for incorporation into booby traps and armies have been equipped with a variety of mass-produced triggering mechanisms intended to be employed in booby traps deployment.


title: Booby trap

text: Part of the skill in placing booby traps lies in exploiting natural human behaviors such as habit, self-preservation, curiosity or acquisitiveness. A common trick is to provide victims with a simple solution to a problem, for example, leaving only one door open in an otherwise secure building, thereby luring them straight toward the firing mechanism.


title: Booby trap

text: An example that exploits an instinct for self-preservation was used in the Vietnam War. Spikes known as punji sticks were hidden in grassy areas. When fired upon soldiers instinctively sought to take cover by throwing themselves down on the ground, impaling themselves on the spikes.


title: Booby trap

text: Attractive or interesting objects are frequently used as bait. For example, troops could leave behind empty beer bottles and a sealed wooden packing case with "Scotch Whisky" marked on it before leaving an area. The rubble-filled packing case might be resting on top of an M5 or M142 firing device, connected to some blocks of TNT or to some C4 explosive stuffed into the empty fuze pocket of a mortar shell. Alternatively, the weight of the packing case might simply be holding down the arming lever of an RGD-5 grenade with a zero-delay fuze fitted and the pin removed. Either way, when the case is moved, the booby trap detonates, killing or severely injuring anyone in the immediate area. Many different types of bait object can be used. For example, soldiers may be tempted to kick a beer can lying on the ground as they walk past it. However the can, partially filled with sand to add weight, may be resting on top of an M5 pressure-release firing device screwed into a buried M26 grenade.


title: Booby trap

text: Many purpose-built booby-trap firing devices exist such as the highly versatile M142 universal firing device (identical to the British L5A1 or Australian F1A1), or Yugoslavian UMNOP-1 which allow a variety of different ways of triggering explosives e.g. via trip wire (either pulling it or releasing the tension on it), direct pressure on an object (e.g. standing on it), or pressure release (lift/shift something) etc.


title: Booby trap

text: Almost any item can be booby trapped in some way. For example, booby trapping a flashlight is a classic tactic: a flashlight already contains most of the required components. First of all, the flashlight acts as bait, tempting the victim to pick it up. More importantly, it is easy to conceal a detonator, some explosives, and batteries inside the flashlight casing. A simple electrical circuit is connected to the on/off switch. When the victim attempts to turn the flashlight on to see if it works, the resulting explosion blows their hand or arm off and possibly blinds them.


title: Booby trap

text: The only limits to the intricacy of booby traps are the skill and inventiveness of the people placing them. For example, the "bait object" (e.g. a cash box in a corner of the room) which lures victims into the trap may not in fact be booby trapped at all. However, the furniture which must be pushed away in order to get to the bait has a wire attached, with an M142 firing device connected to a 155mm artillery shell on the other end of it.


title: Booby trap

text: A booby trap may be of any size. However, as a general rule the size of most explosive booby traps use between 250 g and 1 kg of explosive. Since most booby traps are rigged to detonate within a metre of the victim's body, this is adequate to kill or severely wound.


title: Booby trap

text: As a rule, booby traps are planted in any situation where there is a strong likelihood of them being encountered and triggered by the targeted victims. Typically, they are planted in places that people are naturally attracted to or are forced to use. The list of likely placement areas includes:


title: Booby trap

text: A booby trap does not necessarily incorporate explosives in its construction. Examples include the punji sticks mentioned above and deadfall traps which employ heavy objects set up to fall on and crush whoever disturbs the trigger mechanism. However, setting non-explosive booby traps is labour-intensive and time-consuming, they are harder to conceal and they are less likely to do serious damage. In contrast, booby traps containing explosives are much more destructive: they will either kill their victims or severely wound them.


title: Booby trap

text: In addition to the obvious ability of booby traps to kill or injure, their presence has other effects such as these:


title: Booby trap

text: Booby traps are indiscriminate weapons. Like anti-personnel mines, they can harm civilians and other unsuspecting noncombatants (during and after the conflict) who are unaware of their presence. The use against civilians is prohibited by the Protocol on Mines, Booby-Traps and Other Devices, and the protocol also prohibits boobytrapping e.g. the wounded or dead, medical equipment, food, and drink.


title: Booby trap

text: During the Vietnam War, motorcycles were rigged with explosives by the National Liberation Front and abandoned. U.S. soldiers would be tempted to ride the motorcycle and thus trigger the explosives. In addition, NLF soldiers would rig rubber band grenades and place them in huts that US soldiers would likely burn. Another popular booby trap was the "Grenade in a Can", a grenade with the safety pin removed in a container and a string attached, sometimes with the grenade's fuse mechanism modified to give a much shorter delay than the four to seven seconds typical with grenade fuses. The NLF soldiers primarily used these on doors and attached them to tripwires on jungle paths.


title: Booby trap

text: The CIA and Green Berets countered by booby trapping the enemy's ammunition supplies, in an operation code-named "Project Eldest Son". The propellant in a rifle or machine-gun cartridge was replaced with high explosive. Upon being fired, the sabotaged round would destroy the gun and kill or injure the shooter. Mortar shells were similarly rigged to explode when dropped down the tube, instead of launching properly. This ammunition was then carefully re-packed to eliminate any evidence of tampering, and planted in enemy munitions dumps by covert insertion teams. A sabotaged round might also be planted in a rifle magazine or machine-gun belt and left on the body of a dead NLF soldier, in anticipation that the deceased's ammo would be picked up and used by his comrades. No more than one sabotaged round would be planted in any case, magazine, or belt of ammunition, to reduce the chances of the enemy finding it no matter how diligently they inspected their supplies. False rumors and forged documents were circulated to make it appear that the Communist Chinese were supplying the NLF with defective weapons and ammunition.


title: Booby trap

text: During the "Troubles" in Northern Ireland, booby trap bombs were often used by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) to kill British Army soldiers and Royal Ulster Constabulary officers. A common method was attaching the bomb to a vehicle so that starting or driving it would detonate the explosive. According to the Sutton Index of Deaths, 180 deaths during the Troubles were the result of booby trap bombs, the vast majority of them laid by the Provisional IRA.


title: Booby trap

text: The largest use of booby traps (between 2000 and 2005, the period of the Intifada) was in the Battle of Jenin during Operation Defensive Shield where a large number (1000-2000 according to Palestinian militant captured in Jenin during the battle


title: Booby trap

text: ) of explosive devices were planted by insurgents. Booby traps had been laid in the streets of both the camp and the town, ready to be triggered if a foot snagged a tripwire or a vehicle rolled over a mine. Some of the bombs were huge, containing as much as 250 lb (110 kg) of explosives. To counter the booby traps, anti-tank and anti-personnel mines the IDF sent armored D9 bulldozers to clear the area out of any explosive device and booby trap planted. The IDF D9 bulldozers were heavily armored and thus did not sustain any damage from the explosions, which were triggered by them as they pushed forwards.


title: Booby trap

text: Eventually, a dozen D9 bulldozers went into action, razing the center of the refugee camp and forcing the Palestinian militants inside to surrender.


title: Booby trap

text: As a rule, most purpose-made military booby-trap firing devices contain some form of spring-loaded firing pin designed to strike a percussion cap connected to a detonator at one end. The detonator is inserted into an explosive charge e.g. C4 or a block of TNT. Triggering the booby trap (e.g. by pulling on a trip-wire) releases the cocked firing pin which flips forward to strike the percussion cap, firing both it and the attached detonator. The resulting shock-wave from the detonator sets off the main explosive charge.


title: Booby trap

text: Booby traps have been applied as defensive weapons against unwelcome guests or against non-military trespassers, but most jurisdictions consider the practice illegal. Many US states have laws specifically against the setting of booby traps and case precedent generally holds the property owner criminally and civilly liable. The highest precedent for this is "People v. Ceballos", 12 Cal. 3d 470 (1974), which was heard before the Supreme Court of California which gave the following remarks when rendering its verdict: Allowing persons, at their own risk, to employ deadly mechanical devices imperils the lives of children, firemen and policemen acting within the scope of their employment, and others. Where the actor is present, there is always the possibility he will realize that deadly force is not necessary, but deadly mechanical devices are without mercy or discretion. Such devices are silent instrumentalities of death. They deal death and destruction to the innocent as well as the criminal intruder without the slightest warning. The taking of human life [or infliction of great bodily injury] by such means is brutally savage and inhuman.


title: Booby trap

text: Many computer viruses take the form of booby traps in that they are triggered when an unsuspecting user performs an apparently ordinary action such as opening an email attachment.


title: Booby trap

text: Instead of being used to kill, maim or injure people, booby traps can also be used for entertainment. Practical joke booby traps are typically disguised as everyday items such as cigars or packets of chewing gum, nuts or other snack items. When the victims attempts to use the item, the trap is triggered. Two of the best known examples of this are the exploding cigar and dribble glass; others include the Snake Nut Can and shocking gum. Booby traps can also be constructed out of household or workplace items and be triggered when the victim performs a common action. Examples of this include loosening the bolts in a chair so that it collapses when sat upon, or placing a bucket of water on top of a partly open door so that when the door is fully opened, the bucket tips onto the victim. A variant is the water bucket which when "thrown" at the target, is full of confetti.


title: John Tucker Must Die

text: John Tucker Must Die is a 2006 teen comedy film directed by Betty Thomas. The film is about a trio of teenage girls who plot to break the heart of school basketball star John Tucker after they learn he has been secretly dating all three and pledging each is "the one". They recruit a shy, unpopular girl in their scheme to publicly humiliate him. Released in North America on July 28, 2006, the film made $68 million worldwide.


title: John Tucker Must Die

text: Teenaged Kate Spencer lives with her single mother, Lori, near Portland, Oregon, where Kate works as a waitress. While at work, Kate sees popular local boy John Tucker on dates with three different girls: chronic overachiever Carrie, head cheerleader Heather, and promiscuous vegan activist Beth. Kate learns from a co-worker that John dates girls from different cliques at his school so that they never interact. John convinces the girls to keep their relationships secret by claiming his father forbids him to date during basketball season.


title: John Tucker Must Die

text: The three girls learn about John's scheme after ending up on the same team in gym class. The girls enlist Kate's help in seeking revenge against John. Meanwhile, Kate becomes friends with John's brother Scott. The girls make several attempts to bring John down, but these initial pranks backfire. John breaks up with all three girls, and they agree that breaking his heart is the ideal revenge. They enlist Kate to be the heartbreaker.


title: John Tucker Must Die

text: After a makeover, Kate joins the cheerleading squad to get John's attention. He tries to flirt with her, but Kate dismisses him. John is dismayed that a girl is impervious to his charms, being shy, and becomes determined to win her affections. He relentlessly chases after Kate, even driving by her house, much to the girls' amusement as they watch him fall for her.


title: John Tucker Must Die

text: After a few dates, Beth notices that Kate is falling for John. To counteract this, Carrie secretly videotapes John bragging to his friends in the locker room, saying he will be "scoring more than baskets" at the upcoming away game. Upon seeing John's chauvinistic behavior, Kate recommits to the plan.


title: John Tucker Must Die

text: At a hotel on the night of the away game, Kate seduces John on a video-chat, instructing him to put on a lacy pair of girl's thong panties and climb out of his room and into hers. He mistakenly climbs into a teacher's room instead, and becomes the laughingstock of the school. John again uses this to his advantage, convincing the boys on his team that wearing the thong panties improves his game. Meanwhile, Kate's mother and Scott both discover the plan and lament the change in Kate's behavior.


title: John Tucker Must Die

text: Kate tells John that she heard about what he said in the locker room. John makes amends by giving her his watch and asking her to be his girlfriend. Kate tells Heather, Carrie, and Beth that she wants to be out of the plan, as whether they are dating or plotting to destroy John, it is still all about him. At John's birthday, the tape the girls made of John's destruction is played, and Kate reveals the entire plot in front of a devastated John.


title: John Tucker Must Die

text: Heather, Beth, and Carrie defend Kate after a guest throws his drink at her. Still, John appears unfazed, and the party devolves into a cake fight. A few days later, John and Kate agree to be friends, and John resolves to be honest. Scott, happy that Kate confessed, becomes her lab partner again, and it is hinted the two will begin dating.


title: John Tucker Must Die

text: In its opening weekend, the film grossed a total of $14.3 million, ranking third in the box office results for that weekend. The film went on to gross $41.9 million in the United States and Canada, and a total of $68.8 million worldwide. The opening weekend 3rd place rank was at the high-end of studio expectations. The film was heavily promoted to female teenagers on Myspace, and the studio believed this campaign was successful, as the opening weekend audience was 75% female and 68% under 25.


title: John Tucker Must Die

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 27% based on 95 reviews, with an average rating of 4.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "This derivative teen comedy tries to go for cute when it could use more bite." On Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 41 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.


title: John Tucker Must Die

text: Angel Cohn of "TV Guide" gave the film a three stars rating out of four, writing that the 19 to 27 year old age range of the six leads meant that "not one member of this teen picture's cast appears remotely young enough to be in high school", though adding that "veteran director Betty Thomas' light revenge comedy is surprisingly entertaining, if less than original." Cohn concluded, "Teen comedies are notoriously predictable, and screenwriter Jeff Lowell isn't out to rock the genre boat, but his smartly written dialogue and the infectious charm of the cast, particularly Snow and Metcalfe, add up to a winning combination."


title: John Tucker Must Die

text: Jeannette Catsoulis of "The New York Times" wrote that the film is "unforgivably clueless about teen culture" and "can't even sustain the courage of its girl-power convictions." Catsoulis was also critical of Metcalfe's "unconvincing" performance, writing that he musters "fewer expressions than a Botox infomercial."


title: John Tucker Must Die

text: Michael Medved gave "John Tucker Must Die" two stars out of four, calling it "slick, stupid and slightly sleazy," and that at the half-way mark, the plot collapses. He praised Jenny McCarthy, in a supporting role, saying she "...is notably better than the rest of the cast." Medved concedes that his 17-year-old daughter was more the target demographic and that she liked the film enough to want to watch it again.


title: John Tucker Must Die

text: James Berardinelli of "ReelViews" also disliked the film. He gave it 1.5 stars out of 4, saying "The gulf is vast between what the studio wants us to think "John Tucker Must Die" is and what it really is. The marketers and publicists would have us believe this is a dark, edgy teen comedy about a band of two-timed girls taking revenge on the school's biggest hunk. Unfortunately, Betty Thomas' film is neither dark nor edgy (although it occasionally tries masquerading in those categories), nor is it particularly funny." He goes on to mention "The movie may be able to bamboozle a few teen female fans into multiplexes, but it's hard to imagine any of them – even those who swoon at the sight of Jesse Metcalfe – labeling this as better than forgettable. And for anyone outside that demographic unfortunate enough to endure "John Tucker Must Die", the memory will be too painful to fade quickly."


title: John Tucker Must Die

text: Jenny McCarthy's performance in the film earned her a Razzie Award nomination for Worst Supporting Actress.


title: John Tucker Must Die

text: From 6 April 2006 to 24 April 2006, unsigned artists were allowed to submit their music for an online contest on MySpace called The John Tucker Must Die Undiscovered Band Contest. The winning band's song was eligible for inclusion in the movie and on the soundtrack. From these initial submissions, 20 semi-finalists were chosen by members of the MySpace staff. On 1 May 2006, those 20 bands relied on the support of their own fan bases, or MySpace 'friends,' to determine the top 10 finalists who were selected on 19 May 2006. The grand prize winner was chosen on 26 May 2006 by a panel of celebrity judges and music executives. Texas pop/punk band Rockett Queen's song "Next Big Thing" was chosen as the grand prize winner.


title: John Tucker Must Die

text: The John Tucker Must Die Undiscovered Band Contest was hosted by Stefy Rae of the band Stefy. Stefy's Wind-up Records debut was released on 29 August 2006. Two songs from the female-fronted band Stefy were featured in the film as well as songs from The All-American Rejects, Nada Surf, Ben Lee, OK Go, People in Planes, and Motion City Soundtrack, among others.


title: Aranmanai 3

text: Aranmanai 3 () is an 2021 Indian Tamil-language comedy horror film written directed by Sundar C. The film stars an ensemble star cast including Sundar C, Arya, Raashii Khanna and Andrea Jeremiah, with Sakshi Agarwal, Vivek marking the first posthumous release, Myna Nandhini, Yogi Babu, Nalini, Manobala, Sampath Raj, Baby Ovi Bhandarkar, Vincent Asokan, Madhusudhan Rao and Vela Ramamoorthy in prominent roles. It is the third instalment in the "Aranmanai" film series, produced by Khushbu under the banner of Avni Cinemax, with cinematography by U. K. Senthil Kumar, music composed by C. Sathya, and film editing by Fenny Oliver. The story revolves Jyothi (Raashii Khanna), who is threatened by a vengeful spirit, as she tries to discover the truth with her relative Ravi (Sundar C.).


title: Aranmanai 3

text: The film was announced in January 2020 and shoots were scheduled to begin in February. Production and release were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Aranmanai 3

text: "Aranmanai 3" was theatrically released on 14 October 2021, coinciding with Ayudha Puja, The film marks the posthumous release of late actor Vivek. The film received mixed to negative reviews from critics and audience with criticism aimed generic action sequences, outdated plot, the ensemble cast, villain and the lead actor's screen space, but Raashii Khanna's performance and the score received praise. Despite the negative reviews, the film was declared as a commercial success at the box office, and became the one of highest grossing and most profitable Tamil films of 2021.


title: Aranmanai 3

text: The film begins with a young Jyothi encounters a spirit in her home, terrifying her. Her father, Zamindar Rajasekhar, resents Jyothi as her mother died giving birth to her. Believing that she is lying for attention, he angrily sends her off to a boarding school.


title: Aranmanai 3

text: Many years later, a court ruling forces Rajasekhar to open a secret room at the village temple. Rajasekhar is terrified and angry at the ruling, and is shocked when nothing is found inside the room. Soon after, Rajasekhar's manservant and driver, Durai, commits suicide. Jyothi, now an adult, returns for Durai's funeral, and falls in love with her childhood sweetheart, Saravannan.


title: Aranmanai 3

text: Jyothi realizes that the spirit that haunted her is now haunting her young relative Shalu. Jyothi is later lured to her late mother's room and nearly killed by a falling chandelier, but is saved by a portrait of her late mother, Eeshwari. She later has another encounter with both Eeshwari's spirit and the spirit haunting Shalu. One night, Shalu argues with the hostile spirit and is doused in paint thinner. She is chased by flames and rescued by her father, Ravi. Jyothi convinces Ravi to investigate the mysterious occurrences for Shalu's sake.


title: Aranmanai 3

text: Ravi investigates Eeshwari's room and discovers a photo of Jyothi's parents with three servants, with the faces of two servants scratched out. He encounters Eeshwari's spirit and the third servant in the photo is killed shortly after. Ravi and Jyothi bring priests to exorcise the palace. They trap one of the two ghosts, but the other appears and destroys the trap, revealing that it has possessed Saravanan. Ravi tells Jyothi that this spirit is Eeshwari, who was responsible for the murders and the attack on Jyothi.


title: Aranmanai 3

text: Rajasekhar is spooked by the deaths and visits Saamiyaadi, a hermit priest. Saravanan attacks the pair. Ravi manages to rescue Rajasekhar, but Saamiyaadi is left behind and is confronted by Eeshwari. Rajasekhar reveals the truth to Ravi. He had forcibly married Eeshwari after falling for her at her wedding to Saamiyaadi's son, Samikannu. When their child is born, the child resembles Samikannu, and Rajasekhar realizes that she had already been pregnant at the wedding. A furious Rajasekhar has the child secretly killed and buried in the palace, then kills Eeshwari. He replaces the dead child with Durai's newborn daughter and claims her as his own.


title: Aranmanai 3

text: Samikannu steals Eeshwari's body and attempts to use black magic to revive her, but is horrified when she returns as a ghoul and abandons her in the forest. Eeshwari later kills the midwife who poisoned her child and threatens Rajasekhar. Rajasekhar convinces Saamiyaadi to help him destroy the spirit his son revived. Saamiyaadi tricks Samikannu into luring out Eeshwari's spirit and traps her in the hidden room in the temple. During the attempt, Saamiyaadi accidentally kills Samikannu and withdraws to the forest to mourn.


title: Aranmanai 3

text: In the present, Eeshwari reveals that it was Durai who had killed Samikannu on Rajasekhar's order. She wants to replace the soul in Jyothi's body with that of her dead child, believing that Jyothi is living the life that her child should have had. She convinces Saamiyaadi to raise the spirit of Samikannu to help her. Ravi and Jyothi trap and take the spirit of Eeshwari's child to the priests who had helped them. They initially try to lay her and Eeshwari to rest, but they are blindsided by the arrival of Samikannu. Rajasekhar is killed, but Jyothi, Ravi, and the priests manage to banish the three spirits during a holy festival, freeing Saravanan.


title: Aranmanai 3

text: After the release of "Action" (2019), In January 2020, sources claimed that director Sundar C. will make his third installment for the "Aranmanai" film series to following the success of two films "Aranmanai" (2014) and "Aranmanai 2" (2016), and same month it was reported that Sun Pictures is set to produce the film. Later, Sundar announced that the film will be produced by Avni Cinemax and Khushbu within their own production house. He started the casting work for the film in early January 2020.


title: Aranmanai 3

text: Arya and Raashii Khanna confirmed in February 2020 that they had signed the film. The film marks the first collaboration between Arya and Khanna. A source revealed that Khanna's role would have a huge importance in the film. Khanna allotted 30 days to shoot "Aranmanai 3", and a remuneration of ₹1.5 crore was offered to her. The source claimed that Arya would be playing the role of a man possessed by a spirit. Sundar C initially planned to have Hansika Motwani to play the second female lead. However, due to scheduling problems, she didn't sign with the film. Instead, in the same month, Andrea Jeremiah, who had also appeared in the first installment of "Aranmanai film series", signed on as the second female lead. At the time, Sakshi Agarwal, of "Bigg Boss 3" fame, was also in talks for to play an important role, which was later finalised. Later, Yogi Babu, Vivek, Manobala, and several others joined the film. Shankar Mahadevan and Hariharan made cameos in the film. Andrea Jeremiah later reported that she was playing the role of a ghosts, and that the story revolves around her character.


title: Aranmanai 3

text: The filming started at the Gujarat wankaner palace in February 2020. In March 2020, shooting was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and scheduled to resume in November 2020 in Pollachi. It was rescheduled to begin on November 20, 2021. More than Rs. 2 crore had been spent to construct the set used for the climax sequence. In January 2021, shooting was completed. However, the film post-production was delayed as the director Sundar tested positive for COVID-19, and post production work began in February, ending early in March. The climax portions were filmed in 16 days, with 200 background workers, and computer graphics work was conducted for 6 months.


title: Aranmanai 3

text: The film's soundtrack was composed by C. Sathya, who was collaborating for second time with Sundar C. after "Theeya Velai Seiyyanum Kumaru" (2013). Audio rights of the film were acquired by Saregama. The first single "Ratapatata", sung by Arivu, was released on August 30, 2021. The second single "Rasavaachiye", sung by Sid Sriram, was released on September 13, 2021. The third single "Lojakku Mojakku" was sung by Mukesh and released on September 22, 2021. The fourth single "Sengaandhale", sung by Reema, released on October 6, 2021. The fifth and final single, "Theeyaga Thondri", sung by Shankar Mahadevan and Hariharan, was released on 12 October 2021.


title: Aranmanai 3

text: The first look and motion poster were released on 22 April 2021. Exclusive stills of the film were leaked online two months later, and went viral. The official trailer of the film was released on 30 September, landed in a huge response with two million views in one day, and became the highest trending video on YouTube.


title: Aranmanai 3

text: The film release was initially planned for a theatrical release in summer of 2021. However, due to the second wave of COVID-19, the film release and post-production were postponed. It was then scheduled to release in September 2021, and later pushed to October. The film was given a U/A certificate by the Censor Board with 3 cuts, due to scenes that contained "strong violence". The distribution rights for the film were acquired by Red Giant Movies. The film released on 14 October 2021 coinciding with Ayudha Puja.


title: Aranmanai 3

text: Red Giant Movies withheld the satellite rights of this film, and sold it to their own channel Kalaignar TV. The digital rights of the film were sold to ZEE5, where it began streaming on 12 November 2021.


title: Aranmanai 3

text: "Indian Express" gave 0.5 out of 5 stars and called it, "The dumbest film of the year yet". "The News Minute" gave the movie 1.5 stars and said, "No ghost, spirit or spectre doomed to haunt the same house for eternity has felt more trapped than I did in the theatre today. Even an end credit song by Arivu couldn’t keep me from fleeing for the exit the second the lights came on. Avoid Aranmanai 3 with the same dedication that Sundar C shows in evading at arriving at a conclusion in this film."


title: Aranmanai 3

text: The Hindu said Sundar C's third installment in the ‘Aranmanai’ franchise succeeds neither in scaring the audience nor making them laugh. Time of India gave 3 stars to the film and said, "It all happens in predictable fashion, and by the time the film ends, we neither feel overwhelmed nor underwhelmed. That, in a way, is the director's success - making us feel contended [sic] with a passable and instantly forgettable entertainer." Dinamani said, "Overall it is doubtful whether even those who liked the first and second parts of Aranmanai will like this film.


title: Aranmanai 3

text: Subha J Rao of Film Companion wrote, "What is the point of taking forward a franchise when there’s little to redeem it? It’s just a waste of everyone’s time."


title: Aranmanai 3

text: Despite receiving mixed to negative reviews, Aranmanai 3 had a good opening on the first day of its theatrical release and became a hit at the box-office, with the film collecting over Rs 15 crore in the first four days of its release.


title: Aranmanai 3

text: There were complaints among critics and audience about the film's lead actor, Arya's, screen space in the film. The entire team promoted the movie with him, and conveyed that he had been playing a lead role as a spirit. However, his total screen space in the film was only 30 minutes. This "Extended Cameo" in the film was noted as a disappointment.


title: Aranmanai 3

text: Sundar C also confirmed the fourth installment in "Aranmanai film series" titled "Aranmanai 4," he revealed that this sequel will begin on 2023"."


title: Reid Scott (actor)

text: Reid Scott (born Reid Scott Weiner; November 19, 1977) is an American actor. He is best known for his starring role as Brendan "Brando" Dorff in the TBS comedy series "My Boys" (2006–2010) and Deputy Director of Communications Dan Egan in the HBO comedy series "Veep" (2012–2019). Scott also appeared in the romantic comedy film "Home Again" (2017), the superhero film "Venom" (2018), and the comedy-drama film "Late Night" (2019).


title: Reid Scott (actor)

text: Scott was born on November 19, 1977, in Albany, New York, the son of Kathleen and Neil Weiner. He attended La Salle Institute in Troy, New York and Syracuse University, graduating in 2000, before moving to New York City to pursue his acting/writing career.


title: Reid Scott (actor)

text: Scott began his career with roles in the off-Broadway play "Cargo" and several television commercials. In 2002 he won the lead role in the Fox pilot "With You in Spirit", for which he received his Screen Actors Guild card. Scott recalls, "I remember thinking that the money from the pilot was a fortune. It wasn't. After renting a car to get around L.A., paying off some debt and maybe buying a new pair of shoes, I was broke. I had to borrow money from my father just to join SAG."


title: Reid Scott (actor)

text: Since then he has appeared in television and film, most notably "My Boys", an original series on TBS. He appeared in an episode of "Bones", on "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" as Dr. Jeff Tseguay, as Mike in "Motorcity" and in "" as Seth Riggin. Scott joined the cast of Showtime's "The Big C" in 2010. He played Dr. Todd Mauer, oncologist for the main character (played by Laura Linney). He appeared on the big screen in films such as "Amusement" and "Losing Control".


title: Reid Scott (actor)

text: He also voiced Turbo in the Netflix original animated series "Turbo FAST". The series is based on the 2013 film "Turbo".


title: Reid Scott (actor)

text: In June 2014, it was reported that Scott had joined the Nancy Meyers film "The Intern", as a "smooth-talking, cocky young businessman." However, Scott's character is not in the final cut of the film.


title: Reid Scott (actor)

text: In 2020, Scott will play in the lead role of David in the NBC drama pilot "Echo" which was written by JJ Bailey. He played a supporting role as Ben in the 2022 drama film "Wildflower".


title: Reid Scott (actor)

text: On June 21, 2014, Scott married his longtime girlfriend Elspeth Keller. Together they have two sons, Conrad (born March 31, 2015) and Damon (born January 4, 2018).


title: Kolchak: The Night Stalker

text: Kolchak: The Night Stalker is an American television series that aired on ABC during the 1974–1975 season. The series followed wire service reporter Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin) who investigates mysterious crimes with unlikely causes, particularly those involving the supernatural or science fiction, including fantastic creatures. The series was preceded by the two television movies, "The Night Stalker" (1972) and "The Night Strangler" (1973). Although the series lasted only a single season, it rapidly achieved cult status and has remained very popular in syndication.


title: Kolchak: The Night Stalker

text: Chris Carter cited Kolchak as a "tremendous influence" in creating his franchise "The X-Files". In 2005, inspired by that success, "The X-Files" producer Frank Spotnitz resurrected the series as "Night Stalker", with a new cast and characters, as well as subsequent novels and comic books. The new series was a ratings bomb, however, and was quietly cancelled after only six of the ten episodes which had been produced were aired.


title: Kolchak: The Night Stalker

text: The main character originated in an unpublished novel, "The Kolchak Papers", written by Jeff Rice. In it, a Las Vegas newspaper reporter named Carl Kolchak tracks down and defeats a serial killer who turns out to be a vampire named Janos Skorzeny. The novel reveals that his birth name is "Karel", although he uses the anglicized version "Carl". After the success of the TV film and its sequel, the novel was published in 1973 by Pocket Books as a mass-market paperback original, entitled "The Night Stalker", with a photo of Darren McGavin on the cover to tie it to the film.


title: Kolchak: The Night Stalker

text: The second television film, "The Night Strangler", was also turned into a novel (written by Jeff Rice but based on a script by Richard Matheson), published in 1974 by Pocket Books.


title: Kolchak: The Night Stalker

text: Both novels were republished in 2007 by Moonstone in an omnibus edition called "The Kolchak Papers". Moonstone Books has continued to produce "Kolchak" comic books.


title: Kolchak: The Night Stalker

text: ABC approached Rice with an offer to option "The Kolchak Papers", which was adapted eventually by Richard Matheson into a television movie, "The Night Stalker". It was produced by Dan Curtis and directed by John Llewellyn Moxey. Darren McGavin played the role of Carl. The cast also included Carol Lynley, Simon Oakland, Ralph Meeker, Claude Akins, Charles McGraw, Kent Smith, Stanley Adams, Elisha Cook Jr., Larry Linville, Jordan Rhodes, and Barry Atwater as the vampire Janos Skorzeny.


title: Kolchak: The Night Stalker

text: "The Night Stalker" first aired January 11, 1972, and garnered the highest ratings of any television movie at that time (33.2 rating — 54 share). Matheson received a 1973 Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best TV Feature or Miniseries Teleplay.


title: Kolchak: The Night Stalker

text: Impressed by the success of the first television movie, ABC commissioned Richard Matheson to write a second movie, "The Night Strangler" (1973), which featured another serial killer in Seattle who strangled his victims and used their blood to keep himself alive for over a century. Kolchak recruits exotic dancer and psychology student Louise Harper (Jo Ann Pflug) to assist him in tracking down the eponymous strangler.


title: Kolchak: The Night Stalker

text: A fictitious version of Seattle Underground was used as a setting for much of the movie's action, and provided the killer with his hiding place. Dan Curtis both produced and directed the second movie, which also did well in the ratings. Rice wrote a novelization based on Matheson's screenplay. The novel was published in 1974 by Pocket Books as a mass-market paperback original under the title "The Night Strangler" with a close-up photo of the monster's eye to tie in with the movie.


title: Kolchak: The Night Stalker

text: Simon Oakland reprised his earlier role as Kolchak's editor, Tony Vincenzo. The cast also included Richard Anderson, Scott Brady, Wally Cox, Margaret Hamilton, John Carradine, Nina Wayne, and Al Lewis.


title: Kolchak: The Night Stalker

text: Several scenes were filmed with George Tobias playing a reporter who recalled a series of murders he had investigated during the 1930s. These scenes were cut before airing because of time constraints.


title: Kolchak: The Night Stalker

text: In late 1973, Matheson and William F. Nolan completed the script for an intended third television movie, to be titled "The Night Killers", a story about android replicas. ABC decided that it wanted a weekly series instead.


title: Kolchak: The Night Stalker

text: After some negotiation, McGavin agreed to return as Kolchak and also served as the series' executive producer, though he was not credited as such. However, neither ABC nor Universal had obtained Jeff Rice's permission and he sued the studio. The suit was resolved shortly before the series aired in the fall 1974 season, replacing "Toma" on the network's Friday night schedule. Rice received an on-screen credit as series creator. The first four episodes aired under the title of "The Night Stalker". After a month-long hiatus, the series was renamed and returned as "Kolchak: The Night Stalker".


title: Kolchak: The Night Stalker

text: The later home video releases of the television series also used that title. The series theme had originally been part of the music score that Gil Mellé had composed for "The Questor Tapes". While the show was set in Chicago and some generic location/background filming was done there in summer and early fall, the show was filmed primarily in Los Angeles and at Universal Studios.


title: Kolchak: The Night Stalker

text: The show featured a wide range of guest stars and many Hollywood veterans, including: Ken Lynch, Charles Aidman, Randy Boone, Scatman Crothers, Dick Van Patten, Jan Murray, Larry Storch, Jeanne Cooper, Alice Ghostley, Victor Jory, Murray Matheson, Julie Adams, John Dehner, Phil Silvers, Bernie Kopell, Marvin Miller, Carol Ann Susi, Jesse White, James Gregory, Hans Conried, Mary Wickes, Henry Jones, Carolyn Jones, Jackie Mason, Stella Stevens, Abraham Sofaer, David Doyle, Jim Backus, Kathleen Freeman, John Hoyt, Dwayne Hickman, Eric Braeden, Tom Skerritt, Erik Estrada, William Daniels, Jamie Farr, Lara Parker, Pat Harrington Jr., Larry Linville and Richard Kiel. Jimmy Hawkins appeared on the series as a Catholic priest on November 1, 1974, in what proved to be his last acting appearance. McGavin's wife and assistant, Kathie Browne, appeared in the final episode as Lt. Irene Lamont.


title: Kolchak: The Night Stalker

text: In addition, the series provided the first professional writing credit for Robert Zemeckis and his writing partner Bob Gale, who wrote the script for the episode "Chopper". David Chase, creator of "The Sopranos", also worked on the series as a story editor, his first regular crew position in Hollywood. Though Chase is credited on eight episodes as story editor, he also helped rewrite the remaining 12. McGavin and others attribute much of the show's quirky humor to his creative input.


title: Kolchak: The Night Stalker

text: The show's ratings were mediocre and McGavin was growing dissatisfied, resulting in its cancellation after one year. The series aired on Friday nights at 10 p.m., a virtual graveyard for most TV series, particularly one aimed at a younger audience. In January 1975, the show was moved to Friday nights at 8 p.m., where it remained until June 1975. In August 1975, ABC moved Kolchak to Saturday nights at 8 p.m for four final weeks of reruns. McGavin found himself rewriting scripts and doing much of the work of a producer, but without getting either the full credit or the full compensation of one. McGavin had been unhappy with what he felt was the show's "monster of the week" direction, and an exhausting filming schedule. He asked to be released from his contract with two episodes remaining to be filmed, which the network granted in light of the show's dwindling ratings.


title: Kolchak: The Night Stalker

text: Two television movies, "The Demon and the Mummy" and "Crackle of Death", were cobbled together in 1976. Each contains new footage as well as previously screened episodes from the series. McGavin provided a voice-over for both, which allowed the narrative to maintain some continuity.


title: Kolchak: The Night Stalker

text: The "Kolchak" series completely vanished after ABC's final repeat, which was the premiere episode "The Ripper", broadcast early September 1975. On May 25, 1979, "The CBS Late Movie" resurrected "Kolchak" with the fourth installment "The Vampire". The return of "Kolchak" proved a smash success. CBS pulled the series during midsummer and saved it for the fall premiere where it was expected to bring in more viewers. Universal held back four episodes to make two television movies. So successful was "Kolchak" on CBS late night, it was brought back two more times in 1981 and 1987-1988. After 1990, Universal pulled the two episodic "TV movies" and finally released the missing four episodes that CBS was not allowed to air. All 20 episodes of "Kolchak" were seen for the first time since 1975 in their original format on the Sci Fi channel in the early 1990s. They soon followed on Columbia House home video and later on DVD in 2005.


title: Kolchak: The Night Stalker

text: Besides Amazon carrying the DVD set for sale on its website, Netflix would offer it for rental and, by 2013, for on-demand streaming. During the early 2010s, Netflix would have it available to stream for a time, then take it off again. "Kolchak: The Night Stalker" would return for a last time in August 2016, just as Universal was about to release it again on DVD, this time digitally remastered. It was then dropped from the streaming site by 2017. Although the series was not added as part of NBC's new Peacock streaming site in 2020, it was available on the free ad-supported NBC.com. In September, it was added to the MeTV lineup at 11 p.m. Central on Saturdays, along with lots of trivia on its website.


title: Kolchak: The Night Stalker

text: On October 12, 2021, Kino Lorber released the series on Blu-ray using new 2K scans of the interpositives. The release featured commentary tracks by film/tv historians on every episode as well as the original previews for each episode.


title: Kolchak: The Night Stalker

text: The series features Kolchak as a reporter for the Chicago branch of the Independent News Service (INS), a small wire service.


title: Kolchak: The Night Stalker

text: The series managed in its short run to tackle most of the major monster myths, including classics such as vampires, werewolves, mummies and zombies. It also included stories about a doppelgänger, witches, a succubus and a pact with Satan. Four episodes focused on monsters and spirits based in native folklore, with two involving Native American legends, one Hindu and one Creole.


title: Kolchak: The Night Stalker

text: The series also dealt with creatures from science fiction, including a killer android, an invisible extraterrestrial, a prehistoric ape-man spawned from thawed cell samples, and a lizard-creature protecting its eggs.


title: Kolchak: The Night Stalker

text: The series also featured some more esoteric antagonists, including a headless motorcycle rider that hinted at the Headless Horseman myth and an animated knight's suit of armor possessed by a spirit. A story about Jack the Ripper was one of the few based on an actual historical figure, though the series provided a supernatural explanation. An episode about Helen of Troy (Cathy Lee Crosby appeared in the role) dealt with immortality and aging.


title: Kolchak: The Night Stalker

text: Robert (Bob) Cobert scored the music for the original television movies. Gil Mellé wrote the music for the TV series, beginning with the theme that begins with Kolchak whistling in the opening credits. Mellé was hired and the theme was written in 20 minutes, just before the opening credits were shot.


title: Kolchak: The Night Stalker

text: Mellé left the series after the fourth episode, saying it was becoming too light-hearted. Composer Jerry Fielding took over scoring music for the remaining series, augmented by one score each from Greig McRitchie (best known for his collaborations with Fielding, and James Horner), and Luchi De Jesus. Music supervisor Hal Mooney reused much of Mellé's score in various later episodes (most notably "The Spanish Moss Murders", which has no credited score composer) along with material from the other composers.


title: Kolchak: The Night Stalker

text: Two soundtrack albums have been produced. One released in 2000 by Varèse Sarabande features two suites of Cobert's music from the TV movies. The other, a bootleg copy of Melle's private tapes, features his theme and scores written for the first three episodes ("The Ripper", "They Have Been, They Are, They Will Be..." and "The Vampire"), and two cues from the TV movie "The Questor Tapes".


title: Kolchak: The Night Stalker

text: The Mellé theme also appears on the TVT Records' "Television's Greatest Hits Volume 5". However, all licensed soundtrack recordings of the theme use an otherwise rare original recording alternate take of the theme. Initially identifiable by the altered opening whistle, an off-key electronic note is seemingly randomly introduced towards the end, but when synchronized with the picture it corresponds to a specific visual. Mellé was known for his innovative use of electronic orchestration (which was used throughout the series); however, the producers chose not to include this stylistic element in his main title for broadcast, instead opting for a more conventional all-orchestral sound.


title: Kolchak: The Night Stalker

text: The series was cancelled with only 20 episodes completed but the initial order of 26 meant there were scripts that were completed but unproduced for the series. Three additional scripts commissioned before the series was cancelled still survive.


title: Kolchak: The Night Stalker

text: The story is summed up by one of Kolchak's lines in the episode: "What if I told you that a deranged feminist murdered a Casanova lab technician, a sex goddess, and her purveyor?"


title: Kolchak: The Night Stalker

text: Kolchak is assigned to cover a miners' strike in the mountains of West Virginia. He uncovers gruesome murders associated with a backwoods family and Kolchak suspects that they have some sort of inbred monster living with them.


title: Kolchak: The Night Stalker

text: Kolchak is demoted, and is given the choice of writing obituaries or writing articles for the arts section. He chooses the latter, and discovers a painting tied into a series of murders that Vincenzo is covering. These murders occur in a series of three, in which the first victim is hanged, the second executed with an ax, and the third poisoned. Working with an art expert, Kolchak attempts to unravel who or what is behind these bizarre murders and what they have to do with the painting, without alerting Vincenzo that he is working on the same story.