title: Thursday Night Football

text: In January 2014, it was reported that the NFL was planning to sub-license a package of up to eight "Thursday Night Football" games to another broadcaster for the 2014 season. The league had negotiated with its existing broadcast partners, along with Turner Sports. These eight games were to be simulcast by NFL Network, and reports indicated that ESPN planned to place the games on ABC in the event it won the rights, bringing the NFL back to the network for the first time since Super Bowl XL and the move of "Monday Night Football" to ESPN in 2006. The remaining games would remain exclusive to NFL Network, in order to satisfy carriage agreements with television providers guaranteeing a minimum number of games to air exclusively on the channel. The decision came as the league wished to heighten the profile of its Thursday night games, which had suffered from relatively lower viewership and advertising revenue in comparison to other games.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: On February 5, 2014, the NFL announced that CBS had acquired the partial rights to "TNF" for the 2014 season. Under the agreement, all of the "Thursday Night Football" telecasts would be produced by CBS Sports and called by the network's primary announcing team of Jim Nantz and Phil Simms. The first eight games of the season were simulcast nationally on NFL Network and CBS; the remaining games in the package only aired nationally on NFL Network, but per league broadcast policies, were simulcast on local stations in the participating teams' markets. CBS affiliates were given right of first refusal to air the local simulcast before it is offered to another station (as had occurred in Cincinnati, Ohio where the market's NBC affiliate WLWT aired a game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Cleveland Browns instead of CBS affiliate WKRC-TV). A Saturday doubleheader was also added on Week 16: NFL Network aired the early game, while CBS aired the second, prime time game.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: The NFL considered CBS's bid to be the most attractive, owing to the network's overall ratings stature (CBS had been the highest-rated broadcast network in the U.S. since the 2005-06 television season), a commitment to aggressively promote the Thursday games across its properties, and its plans to utilize CBS Sports' top NFL talent and production staff across all of the games in the package to ensure a major improvement in quality over the previous, in-house productions. CBS staff also cited experience with its joint coverage of the NCAA Men's basketball tournament with Turner Sports as an advantage in its collaboration with NFL Network staff, as talent from both networks collaborate on pre-game, halftime and post-game coverage. During the games, a distinct graphics package co-branded with both CBS and NFL Network logos was used, certain players on each team wore microphones, and 4K cameras were used to allow zoom-in shots during instant replays.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: With the move of selected games to CBS, media executives expected more major match-ups to appear on "Thursday Night Football" than in previous years in order to attract better viewership; in the past, "Thursday Night Football" had been criticized for often featuring games between lesser and poorer-performing teams. CBS and the NFL unveiled the games scheduled for "Thursday Night Football" in April 2014; CBS's slate of games featured a number of major divisional rivalries, including New York Giants–Washington, Green Bay–Minnesota, and its opening game on September 11, 2014, featuring the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: In the wake of the controversy surrounding Ravens player Ray Rice (who had been removed from the team and suspended from the NFL earlier in the week following the discovery of footage showing the player physically assaulting his wife, Janay, who was engaged to Rice at the time the security camera footage was recorded), changes were made to pre-game coverage on the first game in order to accommodate additional interviews and discussion related to the incident. Among these changes were the removal of an introductory segment featuring Rihanna (who was similarly assaulted by fellow performer Chris Brown in 2009) performing her song "Run This Town". Following complaints by Rihanna on Twitter regarding the removal, the song was pulled entirely from future broadcasts.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: The rights were negotiated under a one-year contract valued at $275 million; on January 18, 2015, the NFL announced that it would renew the arrangement with CBS for the 2015 season, with its value increasing to around $300 million.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: In November 2015, "The Hollywood Reporter" reported that in response to the success of the package under CBS, the NFL was planning to negotiate a long-term contract for "TNF", with CBS, Fox, NBC, and Turner Sports showing interest. The "New York Post" reported that this deal would also include the sale of a stake in NFL Network itself.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: On December 16, 2015, it was reported that the NFL was shopping the "TNF" package as a one-year deal with an option for a second year, similarly to the current arrangement with CBS; the league also requested that bidders outline goals for "growing" NFL Network. The league was also reportedly interested in selling non-exclusive digital rights to simulcast the games to another partner, such as Amazon.com, Apple Inc., Google, or Yahoo! (which exclusively streamed an International Series as part of a trial during the 2015 season, but would shut down its original video content service in January 2016). In January 2016, it was reported that the NFL was considering splitting the "TNF" package across multiple broadcasters in tandem with the possibility of expanding the overall package to 17 games. It was also reported that ESPN and Turner Sports were not interested in the package due to its short-term nature, and that Fox was attempting to outbid CBS.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: On February 1, 2016, the NFL announced that "TNF" would be shared between CBS, NBC, and NFL Network for the 2016 and 2017 seasons. CBS and NBC would each air five games (resulting in a schedule of ten games on broadcast television in comparison to eight under the previous deal), followed by an additional eight games exclusively on NFL Network to satisfy NFL Network's retransmission consent contracts with cable providers; the eight NFL Network-exclusive games included six Thursday contests, a Sunday morning International Series contest, and a Christmas Day game. As with the previous contract, all games will be simulcast by NFL Network. Commissioner Roger Goodell stated that the league was "thrilled to add NBC to the "TNF" mix, a trusted partner with a proven track record of success broadcasting NFL football in primetime, and look forward to expanding with a digital partner for what will be a unique tri-cast on broadcast, cable and digital platforms." On April 5, 2016, it was revealed that Twitter had acquired non-exclusive worldwide digital streaming rights to the ten broadcast television TNF games. The collaboration will also include streaming content on Twitter's Periscope service, such as behind the scenes access. This also gave NBC a rare distinction of holding two primetime NFL packages, with them already holding Sunday Night games.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: Rogers Media, who owns television rights to the "TNF" package in Canada through the end of the 2016 season but has not yet acquired digital rights (the majority of the NFL's media rights in Canada are owned by Rogers's rival, Bell Media), successfully forced Twitter to block the game streams in that country, overriding the league's insistence that the free stream be global. Due to the streaming deal, over-the-top television providers PlayStation Vue and Sling TV are also required to black out the simulcast of the games on NFL Network.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: The first game produced by NBC Sports was broadcast exclusively on NFL Network on November 3, 2016, while the first game simulcast nationally on NBC aired on November 17. A cappella group Pentatonix recorded a reworked version of their song "Sing" ("Weekend Go") to serve as the opening theme song for NBC's "TNF" telecasts; NBC also commissioned new instrumental theme music by Jimmy Greco, "Can't Hold Us Down", which was performed by members of the orchestra from the Broadway musical "Hamilton". Both were retained for NBC's games in 2017.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: On April 4, 2017, it was announced that Amazon.com had acquired non-exclusive streaming rights to the ten broadcast television games for the 2017 season over their Amazon Prime Video service, under a deal valued at $50 million, a five-fold increase over the $10 million paid by Twitter. The streams were exclusive to paid Prime subscribers. The deal includes $30 million worth of promotion. Amazon planned several special features for its inaugural game, including broadcasting alternate feeds with Spanish, Portuguese, and a secondary English broadcast featuring soccer commentators Ross Dyer and Tommy Smyth (intended for international viewers unfamiliar with the rules and terminology of American football), and a pre-show hosted by Tiki Barber and Curtis Stone that featured presentations of NFL merchandise available for purchase on Amazon.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: The November 16, 2017 telecast between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tennessee Titans was the first NFL broadcast to intentionally use the Skycam as its primary camera angle, as opposed to the usual sideline camera that has been used since telecasts of NFL games began in 1939. NBC Sports had previously switched to a skycam-only presentation for portions of two Sunday night games earlier that season because of fog and smoke (and, sixteen years prior, during its coverage of the XFL); positive reaction to the impromptu change prompted NBC to experiment with using the strategy for the full game. The Skycam Angle was also used for the December 14 telecast between the Denver Broncos and the Indianapolis Colts.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: In early January 2018, "Bloomberg" reported that ABC/ESPN and Fox Sports had both made bids for the next "TNF" package. Both Fox and Fox Sports 1 were named as potential outlets for the package in the Fox Sports bid, which was intended to showcase Fox's continued commitment to sports after the sale of its entertainment businesses to ESPN's majority-owner The Walt Disney Company (which excluded the Fox network itself and Fox Sports' national operations, such as FS1, among other assets). CBS and NBC were also considering renewing their existing contracts, but had requested a lower rights fee to compensate for the decreasing viewership of the NFL ("TNF" had been cited as one factor in the downturn, due to a perceived oversaturation of nationally televised games). It was also reported that the NFL would also allow digital companies to make bids for exclusive rights to the "TNF" package which forego a television partner entirely, unlike the previous non-exclusive deals with Twitter and Amazon.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: On January 30, 2018, it was reported by multiple sources that Fox had won the package. The next day, the NFL officially announced that Fox had acquired the broadcast television rights to the "TNF" package under a five-year deal lasting from 2018 through 2022 (which is aligned with the conclusion of the NFL's other television deals). The Fox network would air eleven games per season in simulcast with NFL Network, and Fox Sports would produce all games within the package. ESPN reported that Fox would be paying around $60 million per game—an increase over the estimated $45 million per game paid by CBS and NBC under the previous contract, totaling an estimated $660 million per season. The Fox deal was terminated a season early in 2021.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: Amazon renewed its digital rights for the 2018 and 2019 seasons; in contrast to 2017 in which the games required an Amazon Prime subscription, for 2018 and 2019, Amazon also carries game coverage for free on its live streaming platform Twitch. Alongside the main Fox feed, British English, and Spanish options, the Amazon Prime streams offer an alternate commentary feed featuring ESPN anchor Hannah Storm and NFL Network chief correspondent Andrea Kremer—the first all-female commentary team in NFL history. The Twitch streams offer access to the service's standard chat room (along with special football-themed emotes), an interactive extension, and co-streams featuring prominent personalities, while streams on Amazon Fire devices offer integration with the X-Ray feature to access statistics and other content.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: Fox employed 45 cameras, a dual-skycam setup, triple-lens pylon cameras, and Intel True View replay systems where available. "Fox NFL Thursday" originated from Fox News Channel's Studio F in New York City, as well as an outdoor plaza setup on Sixth Avenue ("Fox Square") with a scaled football field and an audience. A new graphics package was produced by Drive Studio, inspired by Times Square to reflect its New York City-based studio programming; unlike CBS and NBC, Fox utilized the same in-game presentation it uses for all other NFL games broadcast by the network.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: For 2019, Fox announced that it would produce all of its games in 1080p upscaled to 4K, with hybrid log–gamma (HLG) high-dynamic-range color, beginning with its season premiere September 26, 2019. The telecasts were distributed via the Fox Sports app, Prime Video, and to participating television providers. HDR was only supported through television providers, but Fox stated that HDR and surround sound support would be enabled via streaming "soon".


title: Thursday Night Football

text: Due a carriage dispute between Dish Network and Fox resulting in the removal of its owned-and-operated stations and cable networks, it was reported that Fox had pushed NFL Network to black out its simulcast of the October 3, 2019 game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Seattle Seahawks for Dish Network subscribers to prevent circumvention. However, due to a clause in Dish's carriage agreement that forbade the channel from performing provider-specific programming substitutions, NFL Network agreed to forego the simulcast entirely, and the game was made exclusive to Fox (making it the first "TNF" game to not air in some capacity on NFL Network). Fox and Dish agreed to a multi-year carriage agreement on October 6, 2019.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: On April 29, 2020, Amazon renewed its digital rights through the 2022 season, maintaining the "TNF" simulcasts and digital content, and also adding exclusive international rights to one late-season game per-season outside of the package (which will be produced by CBS). For its simulcasts, Amazon replaced the British feed with a new "Scout's Feed" with extended analysis by Bucky Brooks and Daniel Jeremiah (akin to the ESPN "film room" broadcasts of college football games), and ""NFL Next" Live" on Twitch (with viewer interactivity).


title: Thursday Night Football

text: On October 19, because of a COVID-19 outbreak involving the Tennessee Titans, the originally scheduled Thursday Night game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills, was moved to the following Monday due to the Titans playing the Bills the previous Tuesday. The Chiefs won 26–17. In a similar move, the Baltimore Ravens had their scheduled Week 13 "TNF" game against the Dallas Cowboys postponed to the following Tuesday. The Ravens had dealt with their own outbreak, which included positive tests from players including reigning MVP Lamar Jackson. For that reason, the Ravens had to postpone their Thanksgiving game against the Pittsburgh Steelers three times, the first time was originally postponed to the Sunday after Thanksgiving in the afternoon, then postponed a second time to the following Tuesday night, then postponed again to the following Wednesday in the afternoon. The postponements forced the Steelers' Week 13 game against the Washington Football Team to be moved from Sunday, December 6, to Monday, December 7, and as mentioned, the Cowboys-Ravens game a day later, with both games remaining on NFL Network, Fox, and Prime Video.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: In March 2021, Amazon acquired exclusive rights to "TNF" as part of the next round of NFL broadcasting agreements from 2023 through 2033. NFL Network, Fox, and Amazon subsequently opted out of the final year of the current agreement, meaning that Amazon's rights would begin in the 2022 NFL season instead.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: Along with lead play-by-play announcer Al Michaels, "Sunday Night Football" producer Fred Gaudelli moved from NBC to Amazon; Gaudelli explained that his production operated under a notion that they needed to produce a "great" broadcast before they could start "breaking things and being different", as NFL viewers had specific expectations as to how a game should be broadcast. Jared Stacy, Amazon's head of global live sports production, stated that they were "challenged by our leadership to figure out what’s next and to take some swings". Gaudelli went as far as suggesting that the on-field down and distance graphic use Amazon's "smile" symbol as an arrow. Amazon will employ 13 "super slo-mo" cameras, two Skycams, and TrackMan ball tracking. Pinar Toprak composed new theme music for the telecasts. Features from the previous simulcasts of "TNF" on Amazon platforms will return, including X-Ray, and broadcasts on Twitch. Amazon also plans alternate broadcasts for Prime Video and Twitch, such as one that features the sports comedy team Dude Perfect.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: It was reported that Amazon was seeking advertising rates 20% higher than those of Thursday games in past seasons. Per a corporate policy prohibiting advertising that "encourage, glamorize or depict excessive consumption of alcohol" on its platforms, Amazon is not allowing commercials for alcoholic beverages to air during its telecasts (although they may still appear in advertising slots sold by the league, or as part of commercial time held by local broadcasters).


title: Thursday Night Football

text: As with all other NFL telecasts not on national broadcast television, all "Thursday Night Football" games are required to be simulcast on a broadcast television station in the home market of each participating team. To ensure availability of the broadcasts at commercial establishments such as bars and restaurants (which might not be configured to handle streaming-only broadcasts), Amazon partnered with DirecTV (currently the exclusive carrier of NFL Sunday Ticket) to carry its "Thursday Night Football" telecasts on special channels for its business customers. In addition, Amazon reached an agreement with Nielsen Media Research to provide audience measurement under a three-year deal, allowing the games' viewership on Prime Video, Twitch, out-of-home, and on local broadcast stations to be tabulated in the Nielsen ratings.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: Amazon carried a preseason game on August 25, 2022, featuring the San Francisco 49ers at the Houston Texans. The first regular season game on September 15, 2022 featured the Los Angeles Chargers at the Kansas City Chiefs. Nielsen reported an average of 13 million viewers across all measured platforms, which were in line with the average numbers that were garnered by Fox's "Thursday Night Football" broadcasts in the 2021 season, and an increase of five million over that year's season opener (which was an NFL Network-exclusive game).


title: Thursday Night Football

text: The Week 9 game featuring the Philadelphia Eagles at the Houston Texans on November 3, 2022, aired on the same night as Game 5 of the 2022 World Series, which featured the Phillies and Astros, the respective cities' MLB teams. Due to the change in schedule, the NFL had to reassign the required local-station simulcasts from WTXF-TV in Philadelphia and KRIV in Houston, to, respectively, WPHL-TV and KTXH. This was the only conflict between a World Series game and an NFL primetime telecast in 2022, as the NBC package avoided them. Coincidentally, Michaels called "SNF" games for 16 seasons before moving to "TNF" and, of course, called the Eagles–Texans game.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: On October 18, 2022, the NFL announced that "Thursday Night Football" would add a game on the Friday after Thanksgiving beginning in 2023.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: The initial NFL Network team consisted of HBO Sports' Bryant Gumbel as play-by-play announcer, NBC Sports' Cris Collinsworth as the color commentator for the Thursday telecasts, and Dick Vermeil replacing Collinsworth for Saturday telecasts. In 2007, Collinsworth replaced Vermeil alongside Gumbel for all games.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: Gumbel left the network after the 2007 season and his then-HBO colleague Bob Papa, who is also the radio voice of the New York Giants, was brought in to replace him. Collinsworth stayed on until the end of the 2008 season, then left to take over for the retiring John Madden as lead analyst on "NBC Sunday Night Football". NFL Network replaced him with Matt Millen, who returned to broadcasting in 2009, and then added former ESPN analyst Joe Theismann for 2010.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: For 2011, then ESPN and now CBS play-by-play man Brad Nessler took over the Thursday night broadcast. He was joined by NFL Network draft analyst and NBC Notre Dame color man Mike Mayock, and the pairing spent three seasons calling games.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: As a result of CBS taking over production responsibilities for the "TNF" broadcasts, its number one broadcast team of Jim Nantz and Phil Simms took over the broadcast booth. With NBC adding games in 2016, Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth, the broadcast team of "NBC Sunday Night Football", were required under league contract to do the same. NBC had initially hired former "Monday Night Football" play-by-play man Mike Tirico for Thursdays before the league nixed the idea of any separate broadcast teams for Sunday and Thursday nights. Tirico would eventually call three "Sunday Night Football" games, including the Thanksgiving night game which is in the "SNF" package, in order for NBC to allow Michaels over a week's rest before the end of the season. Tirico would also call the December 22, 2016 "TNF" game alongside Collinsworth, as well as two NBC-produced "Thursday Night Special" game broadcasts on December 18 and Christmas Day, respectively, both alongside former USFL and NFL quarterback Doug Flutie, who serves as the analyst for NBC's college football coverage as well. On May 31, 2017, it was announced that Tirico would replace Michaels full-time for NBC's "Thursday Night Football" games. For 2017, Kurt Warner would similarly fill in for Collinsworth on two non-Thursday games.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: For 2017, CBS hired Tony Romo as its lead color commentator. Numerous complications needed to be resolved, namely Romo's reluctance to cover both Sunday and Thursday nights as required under the "Thursday Night Football" contract, and the fact that Simms remains under contract with CBS through the next several years. However, the network confirmed via press release that Romo's duties would include Sunday and Thursday games.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: With "TNF" moving to Fox in 2018, the network announced that its top team of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman would call the games, after months of speculation that five-time NFL MVP Peyton Manning would be hired by the network to call their Thursday games. The duo was joined by Erin Andrews, who normally works with Buck and Aikman on Sundays, Kristina Pink, and Mike Pereira, one of two rule analysts for Fox. In previous seasons prior to Fox's "TNF" contract, Buck did not call any NFL games during late October, working Major League Baseball playoff games instead. For 2018, none of Fox's scheduled MLB playoff broadcasts landed on a Thursday (Fox carried the NLCS and the World Series that year), so Buck continued to broadcast both sports, crisscrossing the country in seven cities over a 22-day period. The following year, the Chiefs–Broncos telecast fell on the same evening as Game 4 of the ALCS, requiring Buck to leave New York City for Denver and Joe Davis to fill in on baseball.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: NFL Network has occasionally used non-Fox Sports broadcast teams for the games that air exclusively on that network. On October 14, 2018, the NFL announced via press release, that the "NFL GameDay Morning" studio team of Rich Eisen, Steve Mariucci, Kurt Warner, and Michael Irvin, would be calling the Eagles-Jaguars London Game on October 28. They were joined by Melissa Stark, who made her first appearance as a sideline reporter since ABC's coverage of Super Bowl XXXVII, and Peter Schrager, from Fox Sports, and NFL Network's "Good Morning Football". The network kept the four-man booth for the 2019 London Games.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: For 2018 and 2019, NFL Network borrowed Mike Tirico from former "TNF" holder NBC to serve as play-by-play for the network's Saturday games (Browns-Broncos and Ravens-Chargers in 2018, and Bills-Patriots in 2019), and reunited him with Warner on color commentary. Tirico and Warner were joined by Schrager on the sidelines. The early Saturday games in 2018 (Texans-Jets and Redskins-Titans) were announced by the trio of Curt Menefee, Steve Mariucci, and Nate Burleson, with Stark on the sideline. Menefee and Mariucci were both dropped from Saturday coverage in 2019, as they was replaced by Eisen and Joe Thomas for Texans-Buccaneers, the early game of the tripleheader in 2019, while Fox's B-Team of Kevin Burkhardt, Charles Davis, and Pam Oliver called Rams-49ers, the third game of the 2019 Saturday tripleheader.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: Tirico had been scheduled to call Saturday games again in 2020, but after Al Michaels failed to clear NBC protocols for COVID-19, Tirico was dispatched to "Sunday Night Football" and Joe Davis worked the Saturday broadcasts with Warner. In 2021 NFL London Game was produced by CBS with Greg Gumbel and Adam Archuleta, Joe Davis and Kurt Warner paired up again Raiders vs. Browns in week 15 and Colts vs. Cardinals in week 16, Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen worked Colts vs. Patriots in week 15 and the "TNF" game between the 49ers and Titans in week 16.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: After unsuccessfully attempting to lure Aikman away from Fox for "TNF" full-time (with both Joe Buck and Aikman ultimately leaving Fox for ESPN and "Monday Night Football" instead), Amazon hired Al Michaels and ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit as its lead broadcast team. In July 2022, Amazon then added former ESPN and ABC News reporter Kaylee Hartung as its sideline reporter.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: Each game telecast on NFL Network was preceded by "NFL GameDay Kickoff", which broadcast live from the site of each game and featured Colleen Wolfe as its host, with Joe Thomas, Michael Irvin, and Steve Smith Sr., or other NFL Network colleagues as analysts. The show generally begins two hours before game time (6:00 p.m. ET). NFL Network later introduced a second studio show earlier in the afternoon, "TNF First Look", hosted by Andrew Siciliano.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: CBS games were preceded by "Thursday Night Kickoff", hosted by James Brown, Bill Cowher, and Deion Sanders, and was simulcast on CBS and NFL Network. NBC games were preceded by "Football Night in America" (which was renamed in reference of the host city of the game, such as "Football Night in Tampa"), hosted by Liam McHugh, Tony Dungy, and Rodney Harrison, and were likewise simulcast on NBC and NFL Network. NFL Network’s pregame crew typically joined the NBC and CBS crews for pregame coverage. NBC and CBS would join NFL Network’s pregame coverage at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time during its games. This resulted in some controversy among viewers and the producers of syndicated programming in the locally programmed timeslot before network primetime, where the pre-game affects programs such as "Wheel of Fortune", "Jeopardy!" and "Entertainment Tonight" (all distributed by CBS's sister syndication division CBS Media Ventures), along with several other programs, which then require pre-emption or slotting on lower-profile alternate timeslots or stations to air in markets where they are carried by CBS, Fox, or NBC affiliates in order to accommodate the Thursday games.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: For Fox, game telecasts were preceded by "Fox NFL Thursday". In 2018, it was hosted with a fixed lineup hosted by Michael Strahan, with analysts Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, and insider Jay Glazer. Unlike CBS and NBC, the NFL Network crew would not join Fox’s pregame coverage, as the latter’s pregame became the main pregame show for TNF. In 2019, Strahan remained host, but with Bradshaw and Long rotating as analyst, alongside analyst Tony Gonzalez, and insider Peter Schrager, serving as insider. Fox also signed Rob Gronkowski to make appearances on the program. To accommodate Strahan's commitments to ABC's morning show "Good Morning America", the program was broadcast from New York City, with studio segments originating from Fox News Channel's studios rather than Fox Sports' Los Angeles studios. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the pre-game show moved to Los Angeles with Curt Menefee serving as main host. Strahan made remote appearances during the season due to his "GMA" commitments. Gonzalez left Fox prior to the 2021 season to pursue other film and television projects.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: Amazon's games are preceded by "TNF Tonight", which is hosted from the game site by Charissa Thompson, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Tony Gonzalez, and Richard Sherman, with contributions by Andrew Whitworth, Taylor Rooks, and Michael Smith.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: As with all other national games, Westwood One provides radio broadcasts of "Thursday Night Football" games as part of its national radio package for the NFL. Ian Eagle handles play-by-play, with Tony Boselli handling color analysis.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: This table shows the National Football League teams' all-time standings for games played on "Thursday Night Football".


title: Thursday Night Football

text: Upon the original launch of the Thursday and Saturday night games, few television service providers carried the NFL Network due to disputes during the network's terms in its carriage contracts during negotiations. These disputes were magnified throughout the 2007 season, as two high-profile matchups were to be broadcast by the network. The first was a matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers which was scheduled for the week after Thanksgiving and saw both teams at 10–1, vying for the top seed in the NFC, and the second was Week 17 Saturday night game between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants, where the Patriots had a chance to become the first team since the 1972 Miami Dolphins to end a regular season undefeated.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: In the first case, fans were displeased that a matchup between two teams at such a critical point in the season was not available on broadcast television except in the Dallas and Green Bay markets. To avoid such a problem with the potential sixteenth victory for the Patriots, CBS and NBC bought broadcast rights to the game so it could be seen by a nationwide audience on both cable and broadcast television. This ended up causing another controversy, however, as the move by the networks infringed on the exclusivity that would normally have been enjoyed by WWOR-TV in New York City and WCVB-TV in Boston, which were the Giants' and Patriots' respective local over-the-air broadcasters for cable-televised games (the game aired on these stations, as well as on WCBS-TV, WNBC, WBZ-TV and WHDH in the teams' market areas).


title: Thursday Night Football

text: "Thursday Night Football" games on NFL Network are among the lowest-rated nationally televised NFL broadcasts. Critics have argued that the games televised on "Thursday Night Football" have been of lower quality than other prime time games, as they often featured match-ups between lesser or poor-performing teams, and that the shortened rest between games triggered by Thursday games also has an effect on their overall quality. In an analysis by "Sports on Earth" writer Aaron Roberts, it was determined that most Thursday games were of average or above-average quality in comparison to normal, non-prime time games, but that this was "by design" due to the leverage of other NFL broadcasters on how games are scheduled throughout the season (which traditionally prioritizes "major" games for either late-afternoon or Sunday and Monday nights).


title: Thursday Night Football

text: The move of selected games to CBS brought improved ratings: the inaugural game was the highest-rated program of the night, with an audience share of 13.7 and an average of 20.7 million viewers, representing a 108% increase in ratings over the first NFL Network game in 2013. The game, whose ratings were boosted by coverage of the Ray Rice scandal, also brought CBS its highest prime time ratings on a Thursday night since May 2006. While lower, at 9.6 million viewers, the Week 3 game between the Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers was also the highest-rated program of the night. The first four games of the package, however, featured blowout victories. In total, average viewership of the games increased from around 7 million to around 11.8 million in the 2014 season.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: Controversy over ratings and the quality of play in Thursday night contests escalated when on November 28, 2016, a report circulated that the league was considering ending the franchise. The NFL, however, denied this rumor. The subsequent game on December 1, 2016 between the Dallas Cowboys and the Minnesota Vikings was the highest rated "Thursday Night Football" of the season.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: During the 2016 season, current and former players including Richard Sherman, J. J. Watt, and Charles Woodson expressed their dislikes for Thursday Night Football, with Richard Sherman calling it a "poopfest".


title: Thursday Night Football

text: The September 20, 2018 game between the New York Jets and Cleveland Browns, which saw the debut of Cleveland's first overall pick Baker Mayfield, as well as the team breaking a nearly two-year losing streak, set a record for the highest-rated NFL Network-exclusive broadcast in "Thursday Night Football" history, with a 5.2 household rating and over 8 million viewers.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: As mentioned, a team needing to play a Thursday night game can result in a shortened rest period for players between games. On October 6, 2014, Arian Foster, then of the Houston Texans, made a statement considering it hypocritical for the NFL to emphasize the safety of players (particularly in regards to concussions) while allowing its players to play a game on only three days' rest, which he considered to be equally "dangerous". Richard Sherman of the Seattle Seahawks has also voiced displeasure about Thursday night games reducing prep time, and wrote a 2016 editorial for "The Players' Tribune" about the games. Sherman's 2017 season (and his run with the Seahawks; he would sign a new deal with the San Francisco 49ers in the 2018 off-season) would end on November 9, 2017 during a Thursday night game against the Arizona Cardinals, when he ruptured his Achilles tendon.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: On January 29, 2015, the NFL released its health and safety report, which sntates that an average of 4.8 injuries were sustained during Thursday games compared to 6.9 injuries per game on Sundays and Mondays.


title: Thursday Night Football

text: During their September 29, 2022 game against Cincinnati, Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa hit the ground with his left elbow, back and back of his helmet after taking a sack. Tagovailoa demonstrated a fencing response, and was stretchered off the field and transported to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center with head and neck injuries. He was discharged from the hospital later that night. The game took place only four days after the Dolphins' previous game against Buffalo, where Tagovailoa was briefly taken out of the game due to a head injury (initially reported by the team as a back injury), but returned to the game afterward. That decision prompted an investigation by the NFLPA as a possible violation of concussion protocol; the NFL stated there were indications that the concussion protocol had been followed in this case. The NFL faced scrutiny over its concussion policy following the game, with critics arguing that Tagovailoa should not have been cleared to play at all (especially with the shortened rest between the games and the multiple injuries); the league's chief medical officer Allen Sills stated that "we want to be thorough, and we want to be consistent and be fair to everyone involved and make sure that we have all the data on hand before we reach a final determination."


title: Thursday Night Football

text: The injury also prompted discussions over how such situations should be handled during broadcasts, as Amazon faced criticism for airing multiple, graphic replays of the injury during the telecast, and limiting discussion of the event during the halftime show. The first injury was discussed during a segment of the pre-game show, and acknowledged by color commentator Kirk Herbstreit after the second injury. A more extensive discussion did occur during the post-game show, where reporter Michael Smith stated that "I think there’s room for both concern for Tua — and frustration and outrage." ESPN analyst Cris Canty argued that the lack of discussion at halftime was an example of the NFL "protecting its own interest", while NBC Sports "ProFootballTalk" analyst Michael David Smith felt it was hypocritical of Richard Sherman to have signed with Amazon to join the "Thursday Night Football" studio panel, despite his previous criticisms of the games over player safety.


title: Akudama Drive

text: Tagushi was inspired after seeing Kodaka's work in the "Danganronpa" series and both agreed to work together. Inspired by Quentin Tarantino's 1992 film "Reservoir Dogs", Kodaka wrote the original draft of similar villains who acts as the protagonists. After showing his ideas to Too Kyo Games, the project was greenlighted and Pierrot was brought in to create appealing action scenes. A manga adaptation has also been serialized, while a character CD soundtrack was released in Japan.


title: Akudama Drive

text: Critical response to the series was positive based on the cyberpunk setting as well as the handling of the main cast, most notably the lead Swindler. It is widely considered to be one of the best anime of 2020. Reviewers noted that the series primarily centered around the ideals of justice.


title: Akudama Drive

text: In a dystopian future where Kansai became a vassal state of Kantō, multiple highly skilled criminals, called Akudama, are sent a message from an anonymous client to free a death row prisoner named Cutthroat before they are executed. Four Akudama respond to the challenge and descend into Kansai Police Headquarters to earn a big payday. However, once inside, they discover the job was part of a larger scheme by their client to make them work together on a bigger job: to infiltrate the "Shinkansen" and steal precious cargo from a vault at the front of the train. Roped into the job are an ordinary girl arrested on a minor charge but forced to keep up the appearance of a Swindler, and a low-level Hoodlum who was accidentally broken out of jail during the initial heist. The team must work together to finish the job and earn their large payday, all while keeping ahead of the Executioners from the Kansai Police on their tail.


title: Akudama Drive

text: "Akudama Drive" was directed by Tomohisa Taguchi. This series originated with Taguchi's positive impression of Kazutaka Kodaka's work in "Danganronpa" franchise and both agreed to work together in this new project. Both were fans of the films "Reservoir Dogs" (1992), "Pulp Fiction" (1994), and "The Usual Suspects" (1995). This fascination with these films went into their desire to make a story set in a cyberpunk world with a Quentin Tarantino-inspired plot. Due to the cast being composed of seven protagonists, the team originally meant to call it "Akudama Seven". The appeal of "Reservoir Dogs" led to the team to develop a unique cast with different features, all being referred by pseudonyms rather than personal names. Norimitsu Kaihō commented that the cast is meant to be rebellious in contrast to similar series where the cast relies on each other.


title: Akudama Drive

text: The series had been planned ever since 2014. Kodaka recommended the anime to fans of the steampunk and crime genres. In the making of the series, Kodaka had the idea of the main cast being villains. Kaihō and Kodaka had multiple talks in the making of the anime's script and left it to Taguchi to decide how to handle it once finishing it. Art director Yoshio Tanioka received aid from the directors of each episodes in regards to storyboards. The lighting was done by Saori Goda to generate a balance between the multiple colors while photography director Kazuhiro Yamada finished combining all their work. Tanioka denied a cyberpunk comparison and instead referenced "Japan, Kansai, and Showa". The Tsūtenkaku and Osaka Castle were carefully designed to give the setting the feeling the series was set in Osaka. Taguchi personally revised scenes of the series. For him, the biggest asset was having Tanioka as art director based on his idea that helped visualize the setting of "Akudama Drive". Goda personally revised the colors presented through the animation. This also helped to create cells and shading.


title: Akudama Drive

text: Asahi Production did the series' animation. They were primarily in charge of creating monitors or holograms. On the other hand, there were many cases where the signboard was drawn by art, and the signboard on the screen of the first episode. In the Kansai city scene, signboards drawn with art and signboards of 2D works are mixed. The placement of the "2D Works sign" was done at the time of shooting, and the color and density of the monitor material were adjusted so that it blended in with the background. In addition, hologram processing was added to the signboards drawn by art. The setting were described by the art directors as a hybrid of everyday life and delusions. Telephone poles and quaint houses on the way to work were also added to the setting. The city of Kansai includes cutting-edge high-tech in order to make it nostalgic. The opening and ending video sequences were created to give multiple ideas to the viewers in regards to what the series is about while also showing appealing music. The characters were adapted by Cindy H. Yamauchi, who worked in order to make them stand out as individuals. Most of the series' voice acting was done in March 2020. In order to make the narrative more thrilling, during recording of the series, the Executioners were given more ruthless lines and interactions than the Akudama, even though the latter are criminals. Tomoyo Kurosawa was praised by the staff members for her work as Swindler.


title: Akudama Drive

text: Although the series is influenced by multiple works, the team wanted it to be a unique cyberpunk series based on the elements they wrote taken from Japanese culture. Other influences include Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner" (1980) and Mamoru Oshii's film "Ghost in the Shell" (1995). Taguchi wanted to entertain Western audience besides the Japanese which is why the anime takes place in Kansai, as Taguchi believed the Kansai city of Osaka felt more Japanese to overseas tourists than Tokyo. The artistic direction was hence based on the Osaka streetscape from the 1960s and 1970s. Once Taguchi and Kodaka agreed to work together, the latter showed Too Kyo Games his ideas for the series, which the studio greenlighted. Kodaka specifically chose the studio Pierrot to coanimate the series, believing its previous works were fitting for an action series.


title: Akudama Drive

text: The character of Swindler was revised from Kodaka's original vision as he wanted to show a character who could not fit into the Akudama, but Taguchi revised her for his own take of a protagonist. As a result, Kodaka considers Swindler as a young girl who would surprise the audience. While Kodaka agreed that character designer Komatsuzaki does not care about his works sharing similarities, the team wanted each of them to stand out in the same fashion protagonists of "Danganronpa" stand out. Yamauchi revised Swindler and Sister's design for the series' second half, giving them a more adult feel based on the video game "".


title: Akudama Drive

text: Subaru Kimura's portrayal of Hoodlum was noted to fit the director's original approach. Yūichirō Umehara was found as the fitting voice actor for Courier, with the staff finding that if he talked too much, he would be out of character. Umehara explained he found it a fitting yet challenging job due to Courier's silent personality via his lack of interactions. Umehara in particular enjoyed the work of Tomoyo Kurosawa (Swindler) and Takahiro Sakurai (Cutthroat) based on the appeal they give to their characters, with the former for portraying a different type of Akudama based on her innocence and the latter for showing areas of dementia when talking as well as due to the fact the are more involved in interactions. He felt it was an entertaining work as a result of interacting with other famous voice actors like Akio Ōtsuka (Master) and Shunsuke Takeuchi (Brawler).


title: Akudama Drive

text: Megumi Ogata's voice acting was done to create a sexually appealing woman in contrast to her previous roles which included young males. The staff described Brawler as a "bishōnen" yet muscular character. Takeuchi's pitch was carefully done to fit the idea of Brawler. Originally a child, Hacker was transformed into a more mature person in the making of the series to fit the demographic. Shun Horie was told by the staff to give him a cold personality. The team found Cutthroat as the most difficult character to write. Brother was originally older than Sister, but Yamauchi altered them to make them look like twins while retaining their original clothes.


title: Akudama Drive

text: The Executioners' outfits were based on the Imperial Japanese Army and police officers. Master originally had a caring experience in the character table, but was altered due to his dark job. Yamauchi referred to the certain character in a certain special effects work while following the concept art for the hairstyle. The disciples had no major changes ever since their concept art. Only the hairstyle was altered due to the artist's preference. Boss was modeled after Judi Dench.


title: Akudama Drive

text: The producer was concerned about the series promoting "evil" and came up with the idea of every character dying in a "cool" way similar to "Reservoir Dogs". The finale was inspired by the 1994 film "" and the survival of Natalie Portman's character. Rather than having the dilemma of surviving, Kodaka agreed with the team that each character would die without regrets. Meanwhile, the surviving characters, Brother and Sister, were sent to the Shikoku region with the idea of giving the series an idea of hope. However, their fates were left ambiguous and Kodaka believes explaining it would require writing another series to focus on their journey.


title: Akudama Drive

text: Kodaka claims the series was specifically created to appeal to the overseas market. When it comes to writing, Kodaka took more priority when dealing with the beginning. As the "Reservoir Dogs" inspired characters are criminals, Kodaka wanted to give each a meaningful death based on his philosophies when writing characters: Kodaka claims that deaths help to properly fulfil the cast. Due to the fact that the Akudama were criminals, Kodaka envisioned them as individuals that had to die in the series. Early sketches of the series involved more brutal scenes, but Kodaka decided to use a "pop" aesthetic for the narrative. As Swindler goes from an accidental criminal, the narrative explores her acceptance of any dark actions she has to commit for her job which involves her decision to protect Brother and Sister even if she has to kill people.


title: Akudama Drive

text: According to Kodaka, the series' main theme regarding the Executioners and their character arcs involve their concept of crime and justice, which is touched upon with Swindler's death. Taguchi claims the director's cut scene further improves the narrative as it explores more of the chaotic city which Courier was trying to escape from to protect the children. Taguchi and Umehara stated that across the finale the Executioners were developed, most notably through Pupil. However, the staff claimed there is no message and is instead meant to be ambiguous. Swindler's history was compared with Jesus due to how her fate is controversial it is found to the standers.


title: Akudama Drive

text: Norimitsu Kaihō and Taguchi oversaw the series scripts. Cindy H. Yamauchi adapted Rui Komatsuzaki's original character designs for animation. Aida Shigekazu composed the music. The opening theme is "STEAL!!" by SPARK!!SOUND!!SHOW!!, while the ending theme is "Ready" by Urashimasakatasen. A collection of image songs was released on December 23, 2020.


title: Akudama Drive

text: A manga adaptation debuted on "Renta!" with its first two chapters on July 7 with 48 pages, with 24 new pages per chapter every month thereafter. "Renta!" made a popularity poll, which ended with Cutthroat's victory.


title: Akudama Drive

text: "Akudama Drive" was approached by critics from manga and anime before its release. Lauren Orsini from Anime News Network and D. M. Moore from "Polygon" regarded "Akudama Drive" as their most anticipated series from Fall 2020. On its premiere, the series attracted multiple positive reactions from fans and reviews, citing similarities between Kodaka's "Danganronpa" series and the 1982 film "Blade Runner". One reviewer was more skeptical of the premiere, calling the series "edgy". "The Fandom Post" gave the first episode a "B", finding the large cast fun but at the same time hilarious when they are introduced. The following episode earned an "A" with praise focused on the cast's interaction and fight scenes. Although Anime Feminist was concerned about the apparent poor portrayal of female characters citing Doctor's skimpy appearance and Swindler's weak persona, Richard Eisbens from "Biggest In Japan" found the latter intriguing due to how she interacts with the rest of the cast despite her codename giving her the idea of an ordinary person, leading to conspiracy whether or not there was something missing to reveal in the narrative especially based on the writing previously made by the series' staff. Based on the premise and cast, "Syfy.com" considered as "Suicide Squad"-like story with elements of cyberpunk but in the form of a chaotic utopia as a result of how society is viewed. "Comic Book Resources" noted that despite the simplistic personalities the protagonists have, they are still unpredictable to describe as a result of how violent they are due to their nature as Akudama, whom the writer compared to Quentin Tarantino's protagonists from the movie "Reservoir Dogs".


title: Akudama Drive

text: Starting with the series' eighth episode, writers noticed a major change in Swindler's personality symbolized by her change of clothing and hairstyle as she has been forced to become an Akudama due to her adventures with the actual criminals. "The Fandom Post" was impressed how she actually becomes a more violent person in the process due to how she kills two criminals. Both Anime News Network and Anime Feminist enjoyed not only the development but also redesign for not making her more sexually appealing, but criticized her near rape scene, which she found too dark. Her eventual confrontation with Cutthroat was also the subject of praise due to how Swindler has embraced her sins and murders one of the most dangerous characters in the series in a gruesome battle.


title: Akudama Drive

text: The series finale was acclaimed by Anime News Network and "The Fandom Post" for the focus given on Swindler's actions to generate chaos in the society to the point the law is attacked as well as Courier's last job he was given by his ally to protect both Brother and Sister. Syfy.com noted that the finale involved heavy themes that were not subtle such as commentary about the law through the handling of the criminals. The writers also found deeper themes in Swindler's death scene which causes a cross shaped blood and the fact that the series aired in Christmas Eve implied more commentary. Anime Feminist made an article focused on the major character arcs involving Swindler and Pupil as the two characters have moral issues with how citizens are treated in Kansai with the former becoming more active throughout her appearances as she becomes a heroic figure to save Brother and Sister accepting the title of Akudama in the process.


title: Akudama Drive

text: In a general review, "Otaku USA" praised the animation as it "is always spectacular and action choreography/camerawork always hyper-kinetic" but suggested its fans rely on home video to see the uncensored violent scenes which occur multiple times as he was surprised by the large number of deaths in the series. "Syfy.com" also commented on the animation, but found the violence to be too impactful for sensitive viewers. "Comic Book Resources" regarded the animation in regards to the setting as one of the reasons why the anime became popular, referring to Kansai as "distinctively cyberpunk" as well as the dark elements provided subsequently.


title: Akudama Drive

text: Multiple writers from Anime News Network listed "Akudama Drive" as one of their favorite series from 2020, while readers from the same site also voted it as the 9th best anime of the year. Funimation and "UK Anime News" listed it as one of the best anime of 2020, with the latter commenting on to its usage of characters and setting to the point of calling it one of the best sci-fi anime alongside "Id – Invaded". Anime Feminist listed it as a runner up involving the best 2020 anime series regarding it as "transgressive and subversive" for making a likable cast despite their professions and developing Swindler while at the same time criticizing the near rape scene and the apparent racist portrayal of Brawler. In the 2021 Anime Trendings "Anime of the Year Awards", the series won the categories of "Best Anime", "Best Original Screenplay", as well as "Best Sci-Fi and Best Mystery". Courier was also nominated to "Best Boy" in December 2020.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered to the north by Rochford and to the west by Castle Point. It is home to the longest pleasure pier in the world, Southend Pier. London Southend Airport is located north of the city centre.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Southend-on-Sea originally consisted of a few poor fishermen's huts and farms at the southern end of the village of Prittlewell. In the 1790s, the first buildings around what was to become the High Street of Southend were completed. In the 19th century, Southend's status of a seaside resort grew after a visit from Princess Caroline of Brunswick, and Southend Pier was constructed. From the 1960s onwards, the city declined as a holiday destination. Southend redeveloped itself as the home of the Access credit card, due to its having one of the UK's first electronic telephone exchanges. After the 1960s, much of the city centre was developed for commerce and retail, and many original structures were lost to redevelopment. An annual seafront airshow, which started in 1986 and featured a flypast by Concorde, used to take place each May until 2012.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: On 18 October 2021, it was announced that Southend would be granted city status, as a memorial to the Member of Parliament for Southend West, Sir David Amess, a long-time supporter of city status for the borough, who was fatally stabbed on 15 October 2021. Southend was granted city status by letters patent dated 26 January 2022. On 1 March 2022, the letters patent were presented to Southend Borough Council by Charles, Prince of Wales.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Originally the "south end" of the village of Prittlewell, Southend was home to a few poor fishermens' huts and farms at the southern extremity of Prittlewell Priory land. In the 1790s, landowner Daniel Scratton sold off land on either side of what was to become the High Street. The Grand Hotel (now Royal Hotel) and Grove Terrace (now Royal Terrace) were completed by 1794, and stagecoaches from London made it accessible. Due to the bad transportation links between Southend and London, there was not rapid development during the Georgian Era as there was in Brighton. But after the coming of the railways in the 19th century and the visit of Princess Caroline of Brunswick, Southend's status as a seaside resort grew. During the 19th century Southend's pier was first constructed and the Clifftown development built, attracting many summer tourists to its seven miles of beaches and sea bathing. Good rail connections and proximity to London mean that much of the economy has been based on tourism, and that Southend has been a dormitory town for city workers ever since. Southend Pier is the world's longest pleasure pier at . It has suffered fires and ship collisions, most recently in October 2005, but the basic pier structure has been repaired each time.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: As a holiday destination, Southend declined from the 1960s onwards, as holidaying abroad became more affordable. Southend became the home of the Access credit card, as it had one of the UK's first electronic telephone exchanges (it is still home to RBS Card Services – one of the former members of Access), with offices based in the former EKCO factory, Maitland House (Keddies), Victoria Circus and Southchurch Road. Since then, much of the city centre has been developed for commerce and retail, and during the 1960s many original structures were lost to redevelopment – such as the Talza Arcade and Victoria Market (replaced by what is now known as The Victoria Shopping Centre) and Southend Technical College (on the site of the ODEON Cinema, now a campus of South Essex College). However, about 6.4 million tourists still visit Southend per year, generating estimated revenues of £200 million a year. H.M. Revenue & Customs (HMRC), (formerly H.M. Customs and Excise), are major employers in the city, and the central offices for the collection of VAT are located at Alexander House on Victoria Avenue.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: An annual seafront airshow, started in 1986 when it featured a flypast by Concorde whilst on a passenger charter flight, used to take place each May and became one of Europe's largest free airshows. The aircraft flew parallel to the seafront, offset over the sea. The RAF Falcons parachute display team and RAF Red Arrows aerobatics team were regular visitors to the show. The last show was held in 2012; an attempt to revive the show for September 2015, as the Southend Airshow and Military Festival, failed.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: On 15 October 2021, the Member of Parliament for Southend West, Sir David Amess, was fatally stabbed during a constituency meeting in Leigh-on-Sea. On 18 October 2021, the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, announced that the Queen had agreed to grant Southend-on-Sea with city status as a memorial to Amess, who had long campaigned for this status to be granted. Preparations, led by Amess, for Southend to enter a competition for city status in 2022 as part of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee were underway at the time of his death. A "City Week" was held throughout the town between 13 and 20 February 2022, beginning with the inaugural "He Built This City" concert named in honour of Amess. The concert was held at the Cliffs Pavilion and included performers such as Digby Fairweather, Lee Mead, and Leanne Jarvis. Other events such as a city ceremony and the Southend LuminoCity Festival of Light were held during the week. Sam Duckworth, who knew Amess personally, performed at some of the events. On 1 March, Southend Borough Council was presented letters patent from the Queen, by Charles, Prince of Wales, officially granting the borough city status. Southend became the second city in the ceremonial county of Essex, after Chelmsford, which was granted city status in 2012.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Southend-on-Sea was formed as a municipal borough in 1892 with the functions of local government shared with Essex County Council. In 1913, the borough was enlarged by the former area of Leigh on Sea Urban District. In 1914 the enlarged Southend gained the status of county borough, exempt from county council control and a single-tier of local government. The county borough was enlarged in 1933 by the former area of Shoeburyness Urban District and part of Rochford Rural District.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: On 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, Southend became a district of Essex with borough status and its civil parish was abolished. However, in 1998 it again became the single tier of local government when it became a unitary authority.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Upon receiving city status on 1 March 2022, the council voted to rename itself 'Southend-on-Sea City Council'.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Seventeen wards each return three councillors, a total of 51. Councillors serve four years and one third of the council is elected each year, followed by one year without election. Following the 2019 election results, the composition of the council is:


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: The council was controlled by the Conservative Party after they gained control in the 2000 election. They maintained a minority administration after the 2012 local elections, however the council was run by a coalition of Lib Dems, Labour and Independents after June 2014, with the Conservatives gaining overall control again in 2018. In 2019, the coalition regained control. Most day-to-day decisions are by an eight-member executive headed by the council leader.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: The Latin motto, 'Per Mare Per Ecclesiam', emblazoned on the municipal coat of arms, translates as 'By [the] Sea, By [the] Church', reflecting Southend's position between the church at Prittlewell and the sea as in the Thames estuary. The city has been twinned with the resort of Sopot in Poland since 1999 and has been developing three-way associations with Lake Worth Beach, Florida.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Southend Borough Council was criticised as one of the worst financially managed local authorities in England by the Audit Commission report for 2006–07 one of three to gain only one of four stars, the others being Liverpool and the Isles of Scilly. Areas of criticism were the use of consultants and the spending of £3.5 million on taxis during the 2006–07 financial year.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: However, in March 2012, Southend Borough Council was awarded the title of 'Council of the Year 2012' by the Local Government Chronicle.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: During the 2015 general and local election there was a turnout of 62.17%, equating to 80,899 votes cast.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Southend Civic Centre was designed by borough architect, Patrick Burridge, and officially opened by the Queen Mother on 31 October 1967.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: The MP for Southend West was Sir David Amess (Conservative), who served from 1997 until his murder in 2021. Anna Firth has served as the MP for the constituency since the following 2022 Southend West by-election.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Since 2005 the MP for Rochford and Southend East has been James Duddridge (Conservative), who replaced Sir Teddy Taylor. Despite its name the majority of the constituency is in Southend, including the centre of the city; Rochford makes up only a small part and the majority of Rochford District Council is represented in the Rayleigh constituency.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Southend is the seventh most densely populated area in the United Kingdom outside of the London Boroughs, with 38.8 people per hectare compared to a national average of 3.77. By 2006, the majority, or 52% of the Southend population were between the ages of 16–54, 18% were below age 15, 18% were above age 65 and the middle age populace between 55 and 64 accounted for the remaining 12%.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Save the Children's research data shows that for 2008–09, Southend had 4,000 children living in poverty, a rate of 12%, the same as Thurrock, but above the 11% child poverty rate of Essex as a whole.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: The Department for Communities and Local Government's 2010 Indices of Multiple Deprivation Deprivation Indices data showed that Southend is one of Essex's most deprived areas. Out of 32,482 Lower Super Output Areas in England, area 014D in the Kursaal ward is 99th, area 015B in Milton ward is 108th, area 010A in Victoria ward is 542nd, and area 009D in Southchurch ward is 995th, as well as an additional 5 areas all within the top 10% most deprived areas in England (with the most deprived area having a rank of 1 and the least deprived a rank of 32,482). Victoria and Milton wards have the highest proportion of ethnic minority residents – at the 2011 Census these figures were 24.2% and 26.5% respectively. Southend has the highest percentage of residents receiving housing benefit (19%) and the third highest percentage of residents receiving council tax benefit in Essex.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: The urban area of Southend spills outside of the borough boundaries into the neighbouring Castle Point and Rochford districts, including the towns of Hadleigh, Benfleet, Rayleigh and Rochford, as well as the villages of Hockley and Hullbridge. According to the 2011 census, it had a population of 295,310, making it the largest urban area solely within the East of England.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Southend-on-Sea at current basic prices published (pp. 240–253) by "Office for National Statistics" with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: In 2006, travel insurance company InsureandGo relocated its offices from Braintree to Maitland House in Southend-on-Sea. The company brought 120 existing jobs from Braintree and announced the intention to create more in the future. However the business announced the plan to relocate to Bristol in 2016. The building is now home to Ventrica, a customer service outsourcing company.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Southend has industrial parks located at Progress Road, Comet and Aviation Ways in Eastwood and Stock Road in Sutton. Firms located in Southend include Olympus Keymed, Hi-Tec Sports and MK Electric. Southend has declined as a centre for credit card management with only Royal Bank of Scotland card services (now branded NatWest) still operating in the city.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: A fifth of the working population commutes to London daily. Wages for jobs based in Southend were the second lowest among UK cities in 2015. It also has the fourth highest proportion of people aged over 65. This creates considerable pressures on the housing market. It is the 11th most expensive place to live in Britain.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Southend-on-Sea County Borough Corporation had provided the borough with electricity since the early twentieth century from Southend power station. Upon nationalisation of the electricity industry in 1948 ownership passed to the British Electricity Authority and later to the Central Electricity Generating Board. Electricity connections to the national grid rendered the 5.75 megawatt (MW) power station redundant. Electricity was generated by diesel engines and by steam obtained from the exhaust gases. The power station closed in 1966; in its final year of operation it delivered 2,720 MWh of electricity to the borough.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: London Southend Airport was developed from the military airfield at Rochford; it was opened as a civil airport in 1935. It now offers scheduled flights to destinations across Europe, corporate and recreational flights, aircraft maintenance and training for pilots and engineers. It is served by Southend Airport railway station, on the Shenfield–Southend line.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Local bus services are provided by two main companies. Arriva Southend was formerly the council-owned Southend Corporation Transport and First Essex Buses was formerly Eastern National/Thamesway. Smaller providers include Stephensons of Essex.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Southend has a bus station in Chichester Road, which was developed from a temporary facility added in the 1970s; the previous bus station was located on London Road and was run by Eastern National, but it was demolished in the 1980s to make way for a Sainsbury's supermarket. Arriva Southend is the only bus company based in Southend, with their depot located in Short Street; it was previously sited on the corner of London Road and Queensway and also a small facility in Tickfield Road. First Essex's buses in the Southend area are based out of the depot in Hadleigh but, prior to the 1980s, Eastern National had depots on London Road (at the bus station) and Fairfax Drive.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: From 1910 to 1939, the London Underground's District line's eastbound service ran as far as Southend and Shoeburyness.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Besides its main line railway connections, Southend is also the home of two smaller railways. The Southend Pier Railway provides transport along the length of Southend Pier, whilst the nearby Southend Cliff Railway provides a connection from the promenade to the cliff top above.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Two A-roads connect Southend with London and the rest of the country: the A127 ("Southend Arterial Road"), via Basildon and Romford, and the A13, via Tilbury and London Docklands. Both are major routes; however, within the borough, the A13 is now a single carriageway local route, whereas the A127 is entirely dual carriageway. Both connect to the M25 and eventually London.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Southend-on-Sea is one of the driest places in the UK. It has a marine climate with summer highs of around and winters highs being around . Summer temperatures are generally slightly cooler than those in London. Frosts are occasional. During the 1991–2020 period there was an average of 29.6 days of air frost. Rainfall averaged . Weather station data is available from Shoeburyness, which is adjacent to Southend in the eastern part of the urban area.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: All mainstream secondary schools are mixed-sex comprehensives, including Belfairs Academy; Cecil Jones Academy; Chase High School; Southchurch High School; Shoeburyness High School and The Eastwood Academy.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: In 2004, Southend retained the grammar school system and has four such schools: Southend High School for Boys; Southend High School for Girls; Westcliff High School for Boys and Westcliff High School for Girls.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Additionally there are two single-sex schools assisted by the Roman Catholic Church: St Bernard's High School (girls) and St Thomas More High School (boys). Both, while not grammar schools, contain a grammar stream; entrance is by the same exam as grammar schools.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: The main higher education provider in Southend is the University of Essex which has a campus in Elmer Approach on the site of the former Odeon cinema.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: In addition to a number of secondary schools that offer further education, the largest provider is South Essex College in a purpose-built building in the centre of town. Formerly known as South East Essex College, (and previously Southend Municipal College) the college changed name in January 2010 following a merger with Thurrock and Basildon College.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Additionally there is PROCAT that is based at Progress Road, while learners can travel to USP College (formerly SEEVIC College) in Thundersley. The East 15 Acting School, a drama school has its second campus in Southend, while the Southend Adult Community College is in Ambleside Drive. Southend United Futsal & Football Education Scholarship, located at Southend United's stadium Roots Hall, provides education for sports scholarships.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Southend has two football teams, one of professional stature, Southend United. The other, Southend Manor, play in the Essex Senior League. Southend United currently compete in the Vanarama National League.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: There are two rugby union clubs Southend RFC which play in London 1 North and Westcliff R.F.C. who play in London & South East Premier. Southend was formerly home to the Essex Eels rugby league team. Southend was home to the Essex Pirates basketball team that played in the British Basketball League between 2009 and 2011.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Essex County Cricket Club play in Southend one week a season. Previously the festival was held at Chalkwell Park and most recently Southchurch Park, but it has now moved to Garons Park next to the Southend Leisure & Tennis Centre. The only other cricket is local.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: The eight-lane, floodlit, synthetic athletics track at Southend Leisure and Tennis Centre is home to Southend-on-Sea Athletic Club. The facilities cover all track and field events. The centre has a 25m swimming pool and a world championship level diving pool with 1, 3, 5, 7 and 10m boards, plus springboards with the only 1.3m in the UK.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Southend-on-Sea is home to the world's longest pleasure pier, built in 1830 and stretching some from shore.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: The Kursaal was one of the earliest theme parks, built at the start of the 20th century. It closed in the 1970s and much of the land was developed as housing. The entrance hall, a listed building, used to house a bowling alley arcade operated by Megabowl and casino, however the bowling alley closed in 2019 and the casino closed in 2020. The building currently stands unused.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Southend Carnival has been an annual event since 1906, where it was part of the annual regatta, and was setup to raise funds for the Southend Victoria Cottage Hospital. In 1926 a carnival association was formed, and by 1930 they were raising fund for the building of the new General Hospital with a range of events including a fete in Chalkwell Park. The parades, which included a daylight and torchlight parades were cut down to just a torchlight parade during the 1990s.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: A short funicular railway, constructed in 1912, links the seafront to the High Street level of the town. The lift re-opened to the public in 2010, following a period of refurbishment.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: An amusement park Adventure Island, formerly known as Peter Pan's Playground, straddles the pier entrance. The seafront houses the "Sea-Life Adventure" aquarium.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: The cliff gardens, which included Never Never Land and a Victorian bandstand were an attraction until slippage in 2003 made parts of the cliffs unstable. The bandstand has been removed and re-erected in Priory Park.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: A modern vertical lift links the base of the High Street with the seafront and the new pier entrance. The older Southend Cliff Railway, a short funicular, is a few hundred metres away.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: The London to Southend Classic Car run takes place each summer. It is run by the South Eastern Vintage and Classic Vehicle Club and features classic cars which line the seafront.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: The Southend Shakedown, organised by Ace Cafe, is an annual event featuring motorbikes and scooters. There are other scooter runs throughout the year, including the Great London Rideout, which arrives at Southend seafront each year.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: The Southend-on-Sea Film Festival is an annual event that began in 2009 and is run by the White Bus film and theatrical company based at The Old Waterworks Arts Center located inside a Victorian era Old Water Works plant. Ray Winstone attended the opening night gala in both 2010 and 2011, and has become the Festival Patron.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Since 2008 Chalkwell Park becomes home to the Village Green Art & Music Festival for a weekend every July, but has not run since 2019 due to covid.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Southend High Street runs from the top of Pier Hill in the South, to Victoria Circus in the north. It currently has two shopping centres – the Victoria (built during the 1960s and a replacement for the old Talza Arcade, Victoria Arcade and Broadway Market) and The Royals Shopping Centre (built late 1980s and opened in March 1988 by actor Jason Donovan, replacing the bottom part of High Street, Grove Road, Ritz Cinema and Grand Pier Hotel). Southend High Street has many chain stores, with Boots in the Royals, and Next anchoring the Victoria.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: This was not always the case with many independent stores closing in the 1970s and 1980s – Keddies (department store), J L Dixons (department store), Brightwells (department store), Garons (grocers, caterers and cinema), Owen Wallis (ironmongers and toys), Bermans (sports and toys), J Patience (photographic retailers) & R. A. Jones (jewellers) being the most notable. One of Southend's most notable business, Schofield and Martin, was purchased by Waitrose in 1944 with the name being used until the 1960s. The Alexandra Street branch was the first Waitrose store in 1951 to be made self-service. Southend is home to the largest store in the Waitrose portfolio.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: The longest surviving independent retail business in Southend was Ravens which operated from 1897 to 2017. A Southend family business started in 1937 that was still active in 2014 was Dixons Retail.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: The city of Southend has shopping in other areas. Leigh Broadway and Leigh Road in Leigh-on-Sea, Hamlet Court Road in Westcliff-on-Sea, Southchurch Road and London Road are where many of Southend's independent business now reside. Hamlet Court Road was home to one of Southend's longest-standing business, Havens, which opened in 1901. In May 2017 the store announced they would be closing their store to concentrate as an online retailer.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: There are regular vintage fairs and markets in Southend, held at a variety of locations including the Leigh Community Centre, the Kursaal and the Railway Hotel. A record fair is frequently held at West Leigh Schools, Ronald Hill Grove, Leigh on Sea.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Southend is home to many recreation grounds. Its first formal park to open was Prittlewell Square in the 19th century. Since then Priory Park and Victory Sports Grounds were donated by the town benefactor R A Jones, who also has the sports ground Jones Corner Recreation Ground named after his wife. Other formal parks that have opened since are Chalkwell Park and Southchurch Hall along with Southchurch Park, Garon Park and Gunners Park.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Focal Point Gallery is South Essex's gallery for contemporary visual art, promoting and commissioning major solo exhibitions, group and thematic shows, a programme of events including performances, film screenings and talks, as well as offsite projects and temporary public artworks. The organisation is funded by Southend-on-Sea Borough Council and Arts Council England.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Southend Museums Service, part of Southend on Sea City Council, operates a number of historic attractions, an art gallery and a museum in the city. These include: The Beecroft Art Gallery, Southchurch Hall, Prittlewell Priory, Southend Pier Museum and the Central Museum on Victoria Avenue.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: The Old Waterworks Arts Center operates in North Road, Westcliff in the former Victorian water works building. It holds art exhibitions, talks and workshops.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Metal, the art organisation set up by Jude Kelly OBE has been based in Chalkwell Hall since 2006. The organisation offers residency space for artists and also organises the Village Green Art & Music Festival.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Southend has several small libraries located in Leigh, Westcliff, Kent Elms and Southchurch. The central library has moved from its traditional location on Victoria Avenue to the Forum in Elmer Approach, a new facility paid for by Southend Council, South Essex College and The University of Essex. It replaced the former Farringdon Multistorey Car Park. The old Central Library building (built 1974) has become home to the Beecroft Gallery. This building had replaced the former Carnegie funded free library which is now home to the Southend Central Museum.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: There are a number of theatres. The Edwardian Palace Theatre is a Grade II listed building dating from 1912. It shows plays by professional troupes and repertory groups, as well as comedy acts. The theatre has two circles and the steepest rake in Britain. Part of the theatre is a smaller venue called The Dixon Studio. The Cliffs Pavilion is a large building to host concerts and performances on ice, as well as pantomimes at Christmas opening in 1964. They are both owned by Southend Council and run by Southend Theatres Ltd.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: The most recent closed theatre was the New Empire Theatre. It was, unlike the other two, privately owned. It was used more by amateur groups. The theatre was converted from the old ABC Cinema, which had been the Empire Theatre built in 1896. The New Empire theatre closed in 2009 after a dispute between the trust that run the theatre and its owners. The building was badly damaged by fire on Saturday 1 August 2015 and was demolished in 2017.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: The Clifftown Theatre is located in the former Clifftown United Reformed Church and as well as regular performances is part of the East 15 Acting School campus.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Southend has one cinema – the Odeon Multiplex at Victoria Circus which has eight screens. The borough of Southend had at one time a total of 18 cinema theatres, with the most famous being the Odeon (formerly the Astoria Theatre), which as well as showing films hosted live entertainers including the Beatles and Laurel and Hardy. This building no longer stands having been replaced by the Southend Campus of the University of Essex. There are plans to build a new 10 screen cinema and entertainment facility on the site of the Seaway Car Park.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Southend has appeared in films over the years, with the New York New York arcade on Marine Parade being used in the British gangsta flick "Essex Boys", the premiere of which took place at the Southend Odeon. Southend Airport was used for the filming of the James Bond film "Goldfinger". Part of the 1989 black comedy film Killing Dad was set and filmed in Southend.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Southend and the surrounding areas were heavily used and featured in the Viral Marketing for the Universal Pictures 2022 American science fiction action film sequel "Jurassic World Dominion", with a number of the featured videos on the DinoTracker website filmed in the Southend area doubling for locations around the world. This is due to the fact that local resident and Jurassic World Franchise marketer Samuel Phillips utilised the area for both videos and imagery.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Southend has three major venues; Chinnerys, the Riga Club (formerly at the Cricketers Pub London Road) at The Dickens, and the Cliffs Pavilion. The Railway Hotel is a live music pub, which features a variety of acts, and curates the Southend Pier Festival.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Concerts are also shown at the Plaza, a Christian community centre and concert hall based on Southchurch Road, which was formerly a cinema.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Junk Club, at one time a centre of Southend's music scene, was predominantly held in the basement at the Royal Hotel during the period of 2001–06. Co-run by Oliver "Blitz" Abbott & Rhys Webb, of The Horrors, the underground club night played an eclectic mix from Post Punk to Acid House, 1960s Psychedelia to Electro. It was noted as spearheading what became known as the "Southend Scene" and was featured in the NME, Dazed & Confused, ID, Rolling Stone, Guardian and Vogue. Acts associated with the scene included: The Horrors; These New Puritans; The Violets; Ipso Facto; Neils Children and The Errorplains.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: There have also been a number of popular music videos filmed in Southend, by such music artists as Oasis; Morrissey and George Michael.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Bands and musicians originating from Southend include Busted; Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly; Danielle Dax; Eddie and the Hot Rods; Eight Rounds Rapid; The Horrors; The Kursaal Flyers; Nothing But Thieves; Procol Harum; Scroobius Pip; These New Puritans and Tonight.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Southend is mentioned in a number of songs including as the end destination in Billy Bragg's "A13, Trunk Road to the sea" where the final line of the chorus is "Southend's the end".


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: In 1981, Southend became the home of Essex Radio, which broadcast from studios below Clifftown Road. The station was formed by several local companies including Keddies, Garons & TOTS nightclub with David Keddie, owner of the Keddies department store in Southend becoming its chairman. In 2004, the renamed Essex FM, then Heart Essex moved to studios in Chelmsford. It is now part of Heart East.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: On 28 March 2008, Southend got its own radio station for the first time which is also shared with Chelmsford Radio (formerly known as Dream 107.7 FM and Chelmer FM before that), Southend Radio started broadcasting on 105.1FM from purpose-built studios adjacent to the Adventure Island theme park. The station merged with Chelmsford Radio in 2015 and became Radio Essex.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Southend has appeared in several television shows and advertisements. It has been used on numerous occasions by the soap "EastEnders" with its most recent visit in 2022. Southend Pier was used by ITV show "Minder" for its end credits in season 8, 9 and 10, and since 2014 has been home to "Jamie & Jimmy's Friday Night Feast". Advertisements have included Abbey National, CGU Pensions, National Lottery, the 2015 Vauxhall Corsa adverts featuring Electric Avenue, a seafront arcade the 2018 Guide Dogs for the Blind campaign and for the promo for David Hasselhoff's Dave programme "Hoff the Record".


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Southend is the seaside vacation place chosen by the John Knightley family in "Emma" by Jane Austen, published 1816. The family arrived by stage coach, and strongly preferred it to the choice of the Perry family, Cromer, which was 100 miles from London, compared to the easier distance of 40 miles from the London home of the John and Isabella Knightley, as discussed at length with Mr Woodhouse in the novel in Chapter XII of volume one.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: In "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams, after being saved from death in the vacuum of space, Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect find themselves in a distorted version of Southend (a consequence of the starship "Heart of Gold"'s Infinite Improbability Drive). Dent briefly feared that both he and Prefect did in fact die, based on a childhood nightmare where his friends went to either Heaven or Hell but he went to Southend.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: "Dance on My Grave", a book by Aidan Chambers, is set in Southend. Chambers had worked as a teacher in the city's Westcliff High School for Boys for three years.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: There are churches in the borough catering to different Christian denominations, such as Our Lady Help of Christians and St Helen's Church for the Roman Catholic community. There are two synagogues; one for orthodox Jews, in Westcliff, and a reform synagogue in Chalkwell. Three mosques provide for the Muslim population; one run by the Bangladeshi community, and the others run by the Pakistani community.


title: Southend-on-Sea

text: Demolition of the historic covered market began on 23 April 2010. The site became a car park. A temporary market was held there every Friday until 2012 after the closure of the former Southend market at the rear of the Odeon. As of 2013, a market is now held in the High Street every Thursday with over 30 stalls.


title: Ken Osmond

text: Kenneth Charles Osmond (June 7, 1943May 18, 2020) was an American actor and police officer. Beginning a career as a child actor at the age of four, Osmond played the role of Eddie Haskell on the late 1950s to early 1960s television situation comedy "Leave It to Beaver" and reprised it on the 1980s revival series "The New Leave It to Beaver". Typecast by the role, he found it hard to get other acting work and became a Los Angeles police officer. After retiring from police work, he resumed his acting career.


title: Ken Osmond

text: Osmond was born in Glendale, California, the son of Pearl (Hand) and Thurman Osmond. His father was a carpenter and propmaker and his mother, whom he described as "a typical movie mother," had ambitions to get him and his brother, Dayton, into acting. Osmond began going on professional auditions at the age of four, and began working in commercials. His mother took her sons to acting classes every day after school; he eventually studied dance, drama, diction, dialects, martial arts, and equestrian riding.


title: Ken Osmond

text: Osmond began in feature films working as an extra. The first he remembered was an appearance in the film "Plymouth Adventure" with Spencer Tracy and Gene Tierney. He had his first speaking part at age 9, a small role in the film "So Big" starring Jane Wyman and Sterling Hayden.


title: Ken Osmond

text: He continued to appear in small roles in feature films such as "Good Morning Miss Dove", and "Everything But the Truth", and made numerous guest-starring appearances on television series, including "Lassie", "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet", "Wagon Train", "Fury", "Circus Boy", and "The Loretta Young Show". He also appeared in 1958 on the series "Official Detective" as Henry in the episode "The Deserted House".


title: Ken Osmond

text: In 1959, Osmond played 16-year-old "Tommy" in the episode "Dead Aim" of the ABC/Warner Brothers western series "Colt .45," starring Wayde Preston. John Doucette was cast as the bounty hunter Lou Gore, and Bing Russell portrayed Jed Coy in the episode.


title: Ken Osmond

text: Osmond made a guest appearance, in 1964, on "Petticoat Junction". He was in the episode "The Genghis Keane Story", as Harold Boggs.


title: Ken Osmond

text: In the fall of 1957, 14-year-old Osmond was called into a typical "cattle call" audition to read for the role for which he became most identified, that of Wally Cleaver's best (and worst) friend, Eddie Haskell, on the family sitcom "Leave It to Beaver". After a series of call-backs to narrow down the field, Osmond eventually landed the role. The character of Eddie was originally intended to be a "one shot" guest appearance, but those involved with the show were impressed with Osmond's portrayal, and Eddie Haskell eventually became a memorable character on the series throughout its entire six-season run. He appeared in 97 of the series' 235 episodes.


title: Ken Osmond

text: Osmond's portrayal of Eddie Haskell became a cultural reference and archetype for the "behind-your-back" rebel. Teenager Eddie Haskell was polite and obsequious to grownups, but derided adults' social conventions behind their backs. He was constantly trying to involve his friends in activities that would get them into trouble. Parents like Ward and June Cleaver hoped Eddie wouldn't be a model to their children but rather someone to point out as an example of what not to do. Even today, the term "Eddie Haskell" is known to refer to an insincere flatterer or a sycophant.


title: Ken Osmond

text: During the final years of the show, Osmond was in the U.S. Army Reserve as an armorer and was granted leave to film episodes in return for personal appearances for the Army's Special Services.


title: Ken Osmond

text: After "Leave It to Beaver" ended in 1963, Osmond continued to make occasional appearances on such television series as CBS's "Petticoat Junction", "The Munsters", and a final return appearance on "Lassie" in the episode "A Matter of Seconds" (1967) as a motorcycle delivery man who offers the hitchhiking collie a lift in his sidecar. He was cast in the feature films "C'mon Let's Live a Little" (1967) and "With Six You Get Eggroll" (1968). However, he found himself typecast as Eddie Haskell and had difficulty finding steady work. In 2008, Osmond told radio host Stu Shostak in a radio interview, "I was very much typecast. It's a death sentence. In Hollywood you get typecast. I'm not complaining because Eddie's been too good to me, but I found work hard to come by. In 1968, I bought my first house, in '69 I got married, and we were going to start a family and I needed a job, so I went out and signed up for the LAPD."


title: Ken Osmond

text: In 1970, Osmond joined the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and grew a mustache in an effort to remain relatively anonymous among average citizens, although not his co-workers. He worked as a motorcycle officer.


title: Ken Osmond

text: On September 20, 1980, Osmond was struck by three bullets while in a foot chase with a suspected car thief. He was protected from two of the bullets by his bullet-resistant vest, with the third bullet ricocheting off his belt buckle. The shooting was later dramatized in a November 1992 episode of the CBS series "Top Cops". Osmond applied for a disability pension in 1984, but after an evidentiary hearing in 1986, the Los Angeles Board of Pension Commissioners denied his request by a 4–2 vote. Osmond appealed the determination to the Superior Court and in 1988 a judge overturned the Board's denial and awarded Osmond a lifetime pension, and he retired from the force.


title: Ken Osmond

text: In the early 1970s, a story was widely reported that Osmond had become rock star Alice Cooper. According to Cooper, the rumor began when a college newspaper editor asked him what kind of kid he was, to which Cooper replied, "I was obnoxious, disgusting, a real Eddie Haskell." However, the story ended up reporting that Cooper was the real Eddie Haskell. Cooper would later tell the "New Times", "It was the biggest rumor that ever came out about me. Finally, I got a T-shirt that said 'No, I am not Eddie Haskell.' But people still believed it."


title: Ken Osmond

text: Another widely reported urban legend of the 1970s was that Osmond had grown up to become adult film star John Holmes. The story apparently began when fan magazines falsely reported that Osmond had embarked on such a career. The rumor was dispelled when a Los Angeles movie theater lit up its marquee advertising "Eddie Haskell of TV in "Behind the Green Door" X-rated", prompting Osmond himself, then an LAPD officer, to go to the theater to request that the manager remove his character's name from the marquee. Osmond testified at his disability hearing in 1986 that in 1971 he was called into LAPD Internal Affairs and asked to disrobe to prove he was not John Holmes.


title: Ken Osmond

text: In the early 1980s, Osmond sued an adult bookstore in Los Angeles called "Le Sex Shoppe", which was selling an adult video starring Holmes. The video advertised that the film featured "'Little Eddie Haskell' from 'Leave it to Beaver.'" Osmond claimed that the film's advertising defamed him, but the trial court dismissed the case and Osmond appealed to the California Court of Appeals, which also ruled against him, stating that there was no evidence that the owner of the bookstore was aware of the defamatory language on the packaging and therefore had not acted with "malice" in selling the video.


title: Ken Osmond

text: In 1983, Osmond appeared as a game show participant and celebrity guest star on the "Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour", along with "Beaver" co-stars Jerry Mathers, Richard Deacon and Jeri Weil. Osmond returned to acting in 1983 reprising his role as Eddie Haskell in the CBS made-for-television movie "Still the Beaver", which followed the adult Cleaver boys, their friends, and their families. The television movie was a success and led to the revival comedy series "The New Leave It to Beaver", which premiered the following year. The show ran for four seasons from 1984 to 1989, starting on The Disney Channel, and later moving to WTBS. On the show, Osmond played Eddie Haskell as a husband and father, while his character's two sons, Freddie Haskell and Edward "Bomber" Haskell Jr., were played by Osmond's two real-life sons, Eric Osmond and Christian Osmond.


title: Ken Osmond

text: In 1987, Osmond was honored by the Young Artist Foundation with its Former Child Star "Lifetime Achievement" Award for his role as Eddie Haskell. He continued to make television appearances throughout the 1980s and 1990s on the shows "Happy Days" and "Rags to Riches", and the television movie "High School U.S.A.", as well as cameo appearances as Eddie Haskell on such television shows as "Parker Lewis Can't Lose" and "Hi Honey, I'm Home!". In the 1997 feature film "Leave It to Beaver", Osmond played Eddie Haskell Sr., and Adam Zolotin played his son Eddie Haskell Jr. He also had a bit part in the 2016 indie movie "Characterz".