title: Under Siege 2: Dark Territory

text: Middle Eastern terrorists have offered Dane $1 billion to destroy the Eastern seaboard by using Grazer to target a nuclear reactor located under the Pentagon. Dane demonstrates Grazer to investors by destroying a Chinese biological weapons facility that was passing itself off as a fertilizer production plant. After one investor offers an additional $100 million, despite the weapon's primary intention for subterranean targets, Dane destroys an airliner carrying the investor's ex-wife.


title: Under Siege 2: Dark Territory

text: The U.S. government has difficulty locating Dane or Grazer. When officials destroy what they think is Grazer, Dane explains the NSA's best intelligence satellite was destroyed. As long as the train keeps moving, his location cannot be determined.


title: Under Siege 2: Dark Territory

text: With Zachs' help, Casey takes matters into his own hands. He faxes a message to the owner of the Mile High Cafe, who relays the word to Admiral Bates. Bates quickly understands that Dane and the terrorists are on the train, and reluctantly approves a mission by two F-117 stealth bombers to destroy the train.


title: Under Siege 2: Dark Territory

text: Zachs discovers that they are on the wrong tracks and are on a collision course with a Southern Pacific bulk freight train carrying gasoline tank cars. Casey kills the mercenaries one by one and releases the hostages, but Dane uses his computer skills to find the Stealth bombers and re-target Grazer to knock them out before they complete their mission. Aware of Casey's past, Penn uses Sarah as a bait to lure him to a fight, but Casey gains the upper hand and fatally breaks his neck.


title: Under Siege 2: Dark Territory

text: Casey finds Dane about to depart in a chopper hovering over the train. When Dane informs Casey that there is no way to stop the satellite from destroying Washington, Casey shoots him. The bullet destroys his computer and injures Dane, who falls out of a window of the train. Control of the satellite is restored at the Pentagon and it is destroyed by remote control one second before it would have fired on the Pentagon, just before the two trains collide.


title: Under Siege 2: Dark Territory

text: The crash happens on a trestle, resulting in an explosion that destroys the bridge and kills Scotty, the mercenary driving the train. Casey races through the exploding train, and grabs a rope ladder hanging from the chopper. Dane, who survived the gunshot and the crash, also catches onto the ladder. He attempts to climb onto the helicopter, screaming that he and Casey should join forces. Casey shuts the door, severing Dane's fingers and the latter falls to his death.


title: Under Siege 2: Dark Territory

text: Casey informs the Pentagon that the passengers are safe, having previously detached the last two cars from the rest of the train. Later on, Sarah and Casey pay their final respects at James' gravestone.


title: Under Siege 2: Dark Territory

text: The film was an early credit for Matt Reeves who wrote the script with a friend of his in college. Reeves later said, "There was a big action spec market, a lot of movies that were selling, and so we wrote this movie with my thought being, ‘And then I will be able to finance my student film and that way I can become a director’."


title: Under Siege 2: Dark Territory

text: The script was called "Dark Territory" at one stage and "End of the Line" at another. When they finished writing it "the spec market crashed and it didn't sell." But the script was optioned by Warner Brothers, who decided to turn the film into a sequel to "Under Siege".


title: Under Siege 2: Dark Territory

text: Reeves said the film was originally "meant to be very much like a "Die Hard" movie, which I guess "Under Siege" really was too, except the difference was that in the "Under Siege" movies that tension is how soon before Seagal will rip out someone's larynx. And what I love about "Die Hard" was this idea of the underdog, that here's this guy, especially in that first movie, who's a cop from New York who doesn't even have shoes. And somehow he has got to save this building, save the day. That was what that movie was supposed to be, but it didn't end up being that."


title: Under Siege 2: Dark Territory

text: According to Morris Chestnut Seagal rewrote many of the scenes he was in. "The only time they really stuck to the script or had ad libs was the stuff when he really wasn't there. It was a lot of stuff, because at that time I think he was flying a helicopter, he was doing something... He would come to set, "Okay, you're gonna say this. I'm gonna say this and this is gonna happen and then you do that." That's how we did a lot of that movie."


title: Under Siege 2: Dark Territory

text: Part of the film was shot in Chatsworth's Stony Point Park. The production painted some of the boulders, which upset rock climbers who claimed it made them unsafe.


title: Under Siege 2: Dark Territory

text: Director Geoff Murphy called making the film "a very dreary process and very highly contentious at the time – lots of arguments and stuff. There was a point during the editing where I observed this incredibly high energy beast emerging, and I didn't know where it had come from, because there wasn't any of that energy on the set. It seemed to grow out of the editing process."


title: Under Siege 2: Dark Territory

text: "Under Siege 2" opened at #2 at the box office under "Apollo 13" in 2,150 theaters and made $12,624,402 for the weekend.


title: Under Siege 2: Dark Territory

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the review aggregation website, the film has an approval rating of 34% based on 32 reviews and an average rating of 4.73/10. The site's critical consensus states, "Utterly forgettable and completely unnecessary, "Under Siege 2" represents a steep comedown from its predecessor – and an unfortunate return to form for its star." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 52 out of 100 based on reviews from 21 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Under Siege 2: Dark Territory

text: Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" gave the film a three-star rating in his review, while Peter Rainer of the "Los Angeles Times" wrote that "the action upstaged the actors." Leonard Klady of Variety magazine notes Seagal's confidence but says he is betrayed by his limited performance. Klady praises the villains for their performances, but says "they and others are saddled with pedestrian dialogue and motivation."


title: Under Siege 2: Dark Territory

text: Jenny McCarthy unsuccessfully auditioned for a role in the film. She said Seagal auditioned her and asked her to take off her clothes.


title: Under Siege 2: Dark Territory

text: Katherine Heigl, who was sixteen at the time the film was made, said that on the last day of filming Seagal told her, "'You know Katie, I got girlfriends your age.' And I said, 'Isn't that illegal?' And he said, 'They don't seem to mind'."


title: Under Siege 2: Dark Territory

text: In October 2016, Seagal announced that a script for a third film was being written by Woodie Mister. By December of that year, Mister stated that the script was completed and whether it moves forward was up to Seagal and studio executives. The pair collectively stated that the project would be a joint-venture production between Steamroller Productions, eAtlantica Productions.


title: Under Siege 2: Dark Territory

text: In November 2021, it was announced that the reboot was in development. Timo Tjahjanto will serve as director, with a script written by Umair Aleem, based on an original story co-written by the pair. The project will be a joint-venture production between Warner Bros. Pictures, and Max Original Films, and is intended to be released exclusively via streaming on HBO Max. Production is expected to commence after the completion of Tjahjanto's work on "The Last Train to New York".


title: XFL (2001)

text: The XFL was a professional American football league that played its only season in 2001. The XFL was operated as a joint venture between the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) and NBC. The XFL was conceived as an outdoor football league that would begin play immediately after the National Football League season ended, to take advantage of the perceived lingering public desire to watch football after the NFL and college football seasons conclude. It was promoted as having fewer rules to encourage rougher play than other major leagues, while its telecasts featured sports entertainment elements inspired by professional wrestling (and in particular, the WWF's then-current "Attitude Era"), including heat and kayfabe, and suggestively-dressed cheerleaders. Commentary crews also featured WWF commentators (such as Jesse Ventura, Jim Ross, and Jerry Lawler) joined by sportscasters and veteran football players. Despite the wrestling influence, the games and their outcomes were legitimate and not based on scripted storylines.


title: XFL (2001)

text: The XFL operated as a single entity with all teams owned by the league, in contrast to most major professional leagues, which use a franchise model with individual owners. The league had eight teams in two divisions, and each franchise was based in a market that either currently had an NFL team (New York/New Jersey, Chicago, San Francisco); had previously supported other pro leagues like the United States Football League, the original World League, or the Canadian Football League (Memphis, Orlando, Birmingham, Las Vegas); or was the largest market without a professional franchise (Los Angeles). Co-owner NBC served as the main carrier of XFL games, with UPN and TNN also carrying selected games.


title: XFL (2001)

text: The first night of play brought higher television viewership than NBC had projected, but ratings exponentially plummeted for subsequent games, with criticism directed toward its overall quality of play, on-air presentation, and connection to the WWF. NBC and the WWF both lost $35 million on their $100 million investment in the inaugural season, prompting NBC to pull out of the venture after one season. While plans were made to continue without NBC (with plans for expansion teams as well), UPN allegedly made inordinate demands of the league, which hastened its demise. The league ceased operations entirely in May 2001. Its closure was announced just a few weeks after the league's season championship game, in which the Los Angeles Xtreme defeated the San Francisco Demons, on April 21, 2001, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.


title: XFL (2001)

text: Despite its short-lived existence, the XFL did pioneer several on-air technologies that would later become commonplace in football telecasts, such as aerial skycams, and on-player microphones. WWE owner Vince McMahon maintained control of the XFL brand after the league ceased operations, despite many, including McMahon himself, considering the original league to be a "colossal failure." Interest in the league was revived when ESPN Films released a "30 for 30" documentary surrounding the league, and shortly after the film debuted, McMahon began preparing for a new iteration of the league in 2020. The new XFL was run by a new McMahon-controlled company independent from the present-day WWE, and did not utilize the sports entertainment elements featured in the previous incarnation. The second iteration of the XFL's inaugural season was aborted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the league suspended operations and filed for bankruptcy in April 2020, with McMahon relinquishing the XFL brand in a sale to his former WWE wrestler Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia that August.


title: XFL (2001)

text: Created as a 50–50 joint venture between NBC and WWE-owned subsidiary WWE Properties International, Inc. under the company name "XFL, LLC", the XFL was created as a "single-entity league;" instead of the franchise model used by the NFL and other major leagues, or the hybrid model where investors in the league are given operations over teams (as used in Major League Soccer), the XFL uniformly owned and operated all of its teams as one corporation, with no individual owners. Vince McMahon's original plan was to purchase the Canadian Football League (after the CFL initially approached him about purchasing the Toronto Argonauts) and "have it migrate south," while NBC, who had lost their long-held broadcast rights to the NFL's American Football Conference (AFC) to CBS in 1998, was moving ahead with Time Warner to create a football league of their own.


title: XFL (2001)

text: The concept of the league was first announced on February 3, 2000. The XFL was originally conceived to build on the success of the NFL and professional wrestling. It combined the traditional game of American football with the kayfabe and stunts of professional wrestling. As WWF was, at the time, in the midst of its "Attitude Era" (which marked a shift in a mature and provocative direction for its content), the XFL's presentation likewise would reflect that approach toward football. It was hyped as "real" football without penalties for roughness and with fewer rules in general. The games would feature players and coaches with microphones and cameras in the huddle and in the locker rooms. Stadiums featured trash-talking public address announcers and scantily-clad cheerleaders who were encouraged to date the players. Instead of a pre-game coin toss, XFL officials put the ball on the ground and let a player from each team scramble for it to determine who received the kickoff option. The practice was dubbed "The Human Coin Toss" by commentators, and one player famously separated his shoulder on the first scramble, missing the rest of the season.


title: XFL (2001)

text: The XFL featured extensive television coverage, with three games televised each week on NBC, UPN, and TNN. To accommodate this, it placed four of its teams in the four largest U.S. media markets: New York City/North Jersey, Chicago, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Greater Los Angeles (this was during the NFL's 21-year absence from the Los Angeles metro area). The remaining four teams were placed in markets that had previously hosted teams in second-tier and/or rival major leagues: Birmingham, Memphis, Las Vegas, and Orlando. All of the XFL's markets except Las Vegas had hosted teams in the United States Football League in the 1980s; Las Vegas, along with Birmingham and Memphis, had hosted short-lived CFL teams in the 1990s.


title: XFL (2001)

text: The XFL chose unusual names for its teams, most of which either referenced images of uncontrolled insanity (Maniax, Rage, Xtreme, Demons) or criminal activity (Enforcers, Hitmen, Outlaws, and the Birmingham Blast). After outrage from Birmingham residents who noted that Birmingham had a history of notorious "blasts", including the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in 1963 and Eric Rudolph's 1998 bombing of a local abortion clinic, the XFL changed the name of the Birmingham team to the more benign "Birmingham Thunderbolts" (later shortened to "Bolts").


title: XFL (2001)

text: Contrary to popular belief, the "X" in XFL did not stand for "extreme", as in "eXtreme Football League". When the league was first organized in 1999, it was originally supposed to stand for "Xtreme Football League"; however, there was already a league in formation at the same time with that name, and so promoters wanted to make sure that everyone knew that the "X" did not actually stand for anything (though McMahon would comment that "if the NFL stood for the 'No Fun League', the XFL will stand for the 'extra fun league'"). The other Xtreme Football League, which was also organized in 1999, merged with the Arena Football League's minor league AF2 before ever playing a single game. In a much later article describing the origins of the league's name, "Sports Illustrated" stated: " The F and the L act to indicate, if only indirectly, a football league. But the X is a variable. It could mean anything."


title: XFL (2001)

text: The only main draft for the league took place over a three-day period from October 28 to October 30, 2000. A total of 475 players were selected initially, with 65 additional players then selected in a supplemental draft on December 29, 2000.


title: XFL (2001)

text: The XFL's opening game took place on February 3, 2001, one year after the league was announced, less than one week following the NFL's Super Bowl XXXV. The first game was between the New York/New Jersey Hitmen and the Las Vegas Outlaws at Sam Boyd Stadium in Whitney, Nevada.


title: XFL (2001)

text: The league's regular season structure was set up so that each team played teams in its own division twice in the season, home and away (the same as the National Football League) and played against teams in the other division once. The season ran ten weeks, with no bye weeks.


title: XFL (2001)

text: The league's western division was far more competitive than the east, with the four teams' records ranging from 7–3 (for eventual champion Los Angeles) to 4–6 (Las Vegas, who finished last after losing its last three games to end up one game out of a playoff spot). In the East, New York and Chicago both were hampered by slow starts and ineffective starters before making personnel changes that improved their play, while Orlando, under quarterback Jeff Brohm, who owned the league's highest QB rating at 99.9 during the 2001 XFL season, soared to first place, winning its first six games before Brohm suffered a career-ending injury and the team regressed (the team went 2–2 in his absence). Birmingham started the season 2–1 before a rash of injuries (and tougher competition, as its two wins were against New York and Chicago) led to the team losing the last seven games. Injuries were a major problem across the league: only three of the league's eight Opening Day starting quarterbacks —Los Angeles's Tommy Maddox, San Francisco's Mike Pawlawski and Memphis's Jim Druckenmiller—were still starters by the end of the season. Birmingham and Las Vegas were both on their third-string quarterbacks by the end of the ten-week season.


title: XFL (2001)

text: The top two teams in each division qualified for the playoffs. To avoid teams having to play each other three times in a season, the league set up the semifinal round of the playoffs so that the games would feature teams from opposite divisions: the east division champion (Orlando) hosted the west division runner-up (San Francisco), and likewise for the west champion and east runner-up (Los Angeles and Chicago, respectively). Los Angeles and San Francisco each won their playoff games to advance to the XFL championship.


title: XFL (2001)

text: The opening game ended with a 19–0 victory for the Outlaws, and was watched on NBC by an estimated 14 million viewers. During the telecast, NBC switched over to the game between the Orlando Rage and the Chicago Enforcers, which was a closer contest than the blowout taking place in Las Vegas. The opening night drew a 9.5 Nielsen rating.


title: XFL (2001)

text: The opening-week games actually delivered ratings double those of what NBC had promised advertisers (and more viewers than the 2001 Pro Bowl). The audience declined to a 4.6 in week 2, still an acceptable rating for NBC, but further ratings declines eventually led to the network abandoning the league after the season.


title: XFL (2001)

text: A further problem was that the XFL itself was the brainchild of Vince McMahon, a man who was ridiculed by mainstream sports journalists due to the stigma attached to professional wrestling as being "fake"; many journalists even jokingly speculated whether any of the league's games were rigged, although nothing of this sort was ever seriously investigated.


title: XFL (2001)

text: Ebersol was disappointed with the opening game's poor quality of play. Even longtime NBC sportscaster Bob Costas joined in the mocking of the league. Ebersol purposely allowed Costas and other NBC Sports veterans to opt out of the network's coverage of the league (hence with the exception of former "NFL on NBC" analyst Mike Adamle, its coverage was helmed mostly by younger unknowns and professional wrestling figures), and Costas in particular did not like McMahon's approach to the sport. In an appearance on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" in February 2001, after the league's second week of play, Costas joked: "It has to be at least a decade since I first mused out loud, 'Why doesn't somebody combine mediocre high school football with a tawdry strip club?' Finally, somebody takes my idea and runs with it." Costas interviewed a defiant McMahon for an episode of his HBO show "On the Record" as the league was in decline, an interview that the 2017 documentary "This Was the XFL" portrayed as being an omen of the league's collapse.


title: XFL (2001)

text: The Citrus Bowl, which had a total capacity of 65,438 at the time, had its upper decks closed off for XFL games.


title: XFL (2001)

text: Despite boasts of a "rules-light" game and universally negative reviews from the mainstream sports media early on, the XFL played the standard brand of 11-man American outdoor football that was recognizable, aside from the opening game sprint to determine possession and some other changes, some of which were modified during the season as it progressed. The league's coaches vetoed a proposal to eliminate ineligible receivers (allowing any player to receive a forward pass) midway through the season, on account that the change would be too radical.


title: XFL (2001)

text: The league's game balls were made by Spalding, and were unique in that instead of being the standard brown, the ball was black with a red "X" going across the sides of the ball. The balls were later found to be slippery and difficult to handle, and the balls had to be rubbed with sandpaper to make them usable.


title: XFL (2001)

text: The league deliberately avoided placing teams in stadiums with artificial turf, which at the time had a bad reputation both for being unsightly as well as being more hazardous to play on compared to natural turf. The league's requirement for grass fields automatically ruled out the use of domed stadiums since no such stadium capable of accommodating a grass football field existed in the U.S. in 2001 (the only retractable roof stadiums complete at the time were used exclusively for Major League Baseball; the first retractable roof stadium for NFL use was not completed until Reliant Stadium opened for the expansion Houston Texans in 2002). Furthermore, every XFL field was designed identically, with no individual team branding on the field. Each end zone and 50 yard line was decorated with the XFL logo, with the endzones also being painted black.


title: XFL (2001)

text: Most of the league's stadiums were football-specific facilities, the only exception being San Francisco's Pacific Bell Park (home of the San Francisco Giants) which was built primarily for baseball, but (unlike many newer baseball-specific stadiums) can accommodate football. Two XFL stadiums (Giants Stadium and Soldier Field) were also then-current NFL stadiums, while two others (Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium) had previously hosted NFL games; the NFL would return to the Coliseum when the Rams returned to Los Angeles in 2016. The remaining fields were in regular use as college football venues at the time.


title: XFL (2001)

text: The home team in every stadium was required to occupy the sideline opposite the press box in order to be visible to the television cameras. Due to the odd field dimensions in San Francisco, teams playing there were permitted to occupy the same sideline (a similar arrangement existed in the NFL when the Green Bay Packers played home games at Milwaukee County Stadium and in stadiums previously used by the Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Kansas City Chiefs and Minnesota Vikings).


title: XFL (2001)

text: The all-grass field stipulation caused the league to skip over several of the country's largest markets, including Houston and Philadelphia, since they lacked a large grass stadium in 2001. In the league's two northernmost markets, Chicago and New York/New Jersey (the latter of which played in Giants Stadium during a brief window in which the stadium's usual artificial turf had been replaced by natural grass), the combination of the all-grass requirement, midwinter playing season and the fact that the XFL followed shortly after the NFL had used both fields for a full season (in Giants Stadium's case, two full seasons, since the Giants and Jets shared the stadium; the Giants also hosted two playoff games following the 2000 season) caused significant damage to the playing fields; at Chicago's Soldier Field, the wear and tear on the field was such that by midseason, the midfield logo of the NFL's Chicago Bears was clearly visible amid a stretch of dirt and dead grass.


title: XFL (2001)

text: At the time, "next generation" artificial surfaces (which much more closely mimicked grass in appearance, feel and player safety) were slowly being introduced in professional football. In 2000, the Seattle Seahawks were the first professional team to play on next-generation artificial turf at the University of Washington's Husky Stadium, where the Seahawks played in 2000 and 2001 following the demolition of the Kingdome and prior to the completion of CenturyLink Field). Giants Stadium would have a next generation artificial surface installed in 2003; Soldier Field was renovated extensively in 2002 but retained its grass field. Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium and Legion Field have also installed next-generation turf fields since the demise of the original XFL.


title: XFL (2001)

text: Replacing the coin toss at the beginning of each game was an event in which one player from each team fought to recover a football 20 yards away in order to determine possession. Both players lined up side by side on one of the 30-yard lines, with the ball being placed at the 50-yard line. At the whistle, the two players would run toward the ball and attempt to gain possession; whichever player gained possession first was allowed to choose possession (as if he had won a coin toss in other leagues). The XFL's first injury infamously resulted from the opening scramble; Orlando free safety Hassan Shamsid-Deen suffered a separated shoulder prior to the Rage's 33–29 season-opening win over the Chicago Enforcers at Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium on February 3. He ended up missing the remainder of the campaign.


title: XFL (2001)

text: After every touchdown scored, no extra point after kicks were done, due to the XFL's perception that an extra-point kick was a "guaranteed point." To earn a point after a touchdown, teams ran a single offensive down from the two-yard line (functionally identical to the NFL / NCAA / CFL two-point conversion, but for just a single point as it had been before the two-point conversion was adopted). By the playoffs, two-point and three-point conversions had been added to the rules. Teams could opt for the bonus points by playing the conversion farther back from the goal line. However, touchdowns were still worth 6 points.


title: XFL (2001)

text: This rule, as originally implemented, was similar to the WFL's "Action Point", and was identical to a 1968 "Pressure Point" experiment by the NFL and the American Football League, used only in preseason interleague games that year.


title: XFL (2001)

text: In 2015, the NFL, CFL and other professional leagues would address the "guaranteed point" concerns by moving the extra point kick back to the 15-yard and 25-yard lines, respectively, thus making the length of the kick the same distance (taking into account the NFL's position of the goalposts on the end line, and the CFL's goalposts being positioned on the goal line). The Alliance of American Football (AAF) in 2019 adopted this "no extra point kick" rule from the original XFL, albeit making the scrimmage play conversion two points as in other levels of the game. The revived XFL plans on keeping the conversion system used during the playoffs.


title: XFL (2001)

text: Ties were to be resolved in similar fashion to the NCAA and in the CFL today, with at least one possession by each team, starting from the opponent's 20-yard line. There were differences: there were no first downs and thus teams had to score within four downs, and the team that had possession first in overtime could not attempt a field goal until fourth down. If that team managed to score a touchdown in fewer than four downs, the second team would only have that same number of downs to match or beat the result. If the score was still tied after one overtime period, the team that played second on offense in the first OT would start on offense in the second OT (similar to the rules of college football overtime). The process would be repeated until a winner was determined; unlike the CFL and NFL, but like college football, games could not end in ties even in the regular season.


title: XFL (2001)

text: The XFL allowed full bump and run coverage early in the season. Defensive backs were allowed to hit wide receivers any time before the quarterback released the ball, as long as the hit came from the front or the side.


title: XFL (2001)

text: Following the fourth week of the season, bump and run was restricted to the first five yards from the line of scrimmage (similar to NFL and CFL) in an effort to increase offensive production.


title: XFL (2001)

text: Unlike the NFL, but like the World Football League and Arena Football League before it, the XFL allowed one offensive player to move toward the line of scrimmage once he was outside the tackles.


title: XFL (2001)

text: The XFL imposed a number of restrictions on punting that are not present in most other leagues' rules, the net effect of which made punts in the XFL operate under rules more akin to kickoffs. The purpose of these provisions was to keep play going after the ball was punted, encouraging the kicking team to make the ball playable and the receiving team to run it back. To this effect:


title: XFL (2001)

text: For the initial weeks of the season, the XFL forbade all players on the kicking team from going downfield before a kick was made from scrimmage on that down, similarly to a rule the NFL considered in 1974. For the rest of the season the XFL modified it to allow one player closest to each sideline downfield ahead of the kick, the same modification the NFL adopted to their change just before their 1974 exhibition games started.


title: XFL (2001)

text: Allowing the kicking team to recover a punt did encourage noticeably more quick kicks over the course of the XFL's lone season than was typically seen in the NFL over the preceding decades, including a quick kick during the Million Dollar Game (that particular kick, executed by San Francisco on a third-and-31 play, succeeded in taking Los Angeles off-guard, but the kick also backfired as the Demons could not recover the kick and Los Angeles returned it for a touchdown).


title: XFL (2001)

text: The XFL used a play clock of 35 seconds from the end of the previous play, five seconds shorter than the contemporary NFL play clock of 40 seconds (but still longer than the CFL's 20 seconds, timed from the spotting of the football), in an effort to speed up the game.


title: XFL (2001)

text: The XFL limited each team to an unusually low 38 players, as opposed to 53 on NFL teams and 80 or more on unlimited college rosters. This was similar to the CFL, which had a comparable 40 man roster limit in 2001. This was partly to limit payroll costs, and partly because the XFL wanted to curb the use of "specialists," something which the NFL has sometimes come under criticism for. To comply with roster limits, most team only carried two quarterbacks and one kicker who doubled as the punter.


title: XFL (2001)

text: The XFL paid standardized player salaries. Quarterbacks earned US$5,000 per week, kickers earned $3,500, and all other uniformed players earned $4,500 per week, though a few players got around these restrictions (Los Angeles Xtreme players Noel Prefontaine, the league's lone punting specialist, and Matt Malloy, a wide receiver) by having themselves listed as backup quarterbacks. Players on a winning team received a bonus of $2,500 for the week, $7,500 for winning a playoff game. The team that won the championship game split $1,000,000 (roughly $25,000 per player). Players did not receive any fringe benefits, and had to pay for their own health insurance.


title: XFL (2001)

text: The XFL allowed its players to wear a nickname on the back of their jersey, as opposed to the legal last name most professional sports leagues have required since the 1960s. Players could change the nickname any time they wanted, and a few players chose to change the nicknames on a weekly basis depending on their opponent. The league's use of backfield camera angles gave these nicknames even greater exposure. Nevertheless, two teams, Orlando and Birmingham, imposed policies that forbade players from using nicknames. Orlando's ban was voted upon by the players, although Jeff Brohm objected. Birmingham's players were banned from doing so by coach Gerry DiNardo, a notoriously strict disciplinarian more accustomed to coaching at the college level. DiNardo previously alienated players at Vanderbilt and LSU and later did so at Indiana with his iron-fisted rule. The Thunderbolts were the only professional team he would ever coach.


title: XFL (2001)

text: Rod Smart, a running back who played in the first XFL nationally televised game, was the first player to gain notice from his nickname, "He Hate Me."


title: XFL (2001)

text: Although the XFL was not the first football league to feature the "sky cam", which enables TV viewers to see behind the offensive unit, it helped to popularize its unique capabilities. For the first several weeks, the league used the sky cam and on-field cameramen (nicknamed the "Bubba Cam" after WWE's cameraman, Bubba, who couldn't get medical clearance to cover the XFL) extensively, giving the television broadcasts a perspective similar to video games such as the "Madden" series.


title: XFL (2001)

text: During player interviews, particularly later in the season as attendances declined, the television crews took extensive efforts to avoid capturing the empty stands on camera. When they did show the stands, it was just mostly close ups of individual sections that were full. Player interviews at sparsely-attended games were often shot from a camera angle in close proximity and low to the ground pointed upward, giving the perspective of the camera being operated by a little person.


title: XFL (2001)

text: After the XFL's failure, the sky cam was adopted by the NFL's broadcasters; the device has subsequently come into use on all major networks. NBC in particular switched back to the XFL camera angles in 2017, when traditional cameras were too far away to cut through thick fog and smoke on some of the "Sunday Night Football" games that year; response was so positive that the network opted to use two of its "Thursday Night Football" games to experiment with intentionally broadcasting most of the game through that angle.


title: XFL (2001)

text: At the beginning of the season, NBC showed a feature game at 8 p.m. Eastern Time on Saturday nights, also taping a second game. The second game, in some weeks, would air in the visiting team's home market (as was the case in week 6 for the Enforcers-Maniax game, and in week 7, for the Maniax-Hitmen game) and be put on the air nationally if the feature game was a blowout (as was the case in week one) or encountered technical difficulties (as was the case in week two). Two games were shown each Sunday: one at 4 p.m. Eastern on TNN and another at 7 p.m. Eastern on UPN. The XFL also had a fairly extensive local radio presence, often using nationally recognized disc jockeys. The morning radio duo of Rick and Bubba, for instance, was the radio broadcast team for the Birmingham Thunderbolts. Super Dave Osborne was a sideline reporter for Los Angeles Xtreme broadcasts on KLSX; WMVP carried Chicago Enforcers games.


title: XFL (2001)

text: Unusually for a professional league, the XFL did not feature a studio wraparound. The network offered "XFL Gameday", a pregame show featuring radio shock jocks Opie and Anthony for the first four weeks of the season, but the show was not carried nationwide and most affiliates joined in just before the game. Halftime consisted mostly of live look-ins into the player locker rooms, as coaches discussed their strategy and halftime adjustments with their players, as well as cheerleader performances. The XFL also, at McMahon's request, followed a somewhat different format than traditional professional football telecasts: The announcers more closely followed the model of professional wrestling where the color commentator had a villain-like role, while the sideline reporters (who were predominantly male, a rare example of the XFL being more "conservative" than the NFL at the time, which was incorporating attractive female sideline reporters) were former players and experienced sportscasters who were relied upon for more expert analysis than usual.


title: XFL (2001)

text: In the third week of the season, the games were sped up through changes in the playing rules, and broadcasts were subjected to increased time constraints. The reason was the reaction of Lorne Michaels, creator and executive producer of "Saturday Night Live", to the length of the Los Angeles Xtreme versus Chicago Enforcers game that went into double overtime. The double overtime periods combined with a power outage earlier in the game due to someone not fueling a generator before the game delayed the contest, causing the start of "Saturday Night Live" to be pushed back from 11:30 p.m. Eastern Time to 12:15 a.m. Sunday morning. This angered Michaels, who expected high ratings with Jennifer Lopez as the show's host. For the rest of the season, the XFL cut off coverage at 11:00 Eastern Time, regardless of whether or not the game was over (there were exceptions, for the Chicago and Memphis markets for the Enforcers-Maniax game in week 6, and in New York and Memphis markets for the Maniax-Hitmen game in week 7). NBC Sports has retained this policy for other sports it runs in Saturday night time slots since the XFL's closure; in 2018, a National Hockey League telecast was cut off under similar circumstances.


title: XFL (2001)

text: In the face of declining ratings, NBC and the XFL aggressively promoted that the week 6 game between the Orlando Rage and Las Vegas Outlaws would feature a behind-the-scenes visit into the locker room of the Rage's cheerleaders at halftime. The heavily promoted event was actually a kayfabe sketch with McMahon and a cameraman, who knocks himself unconscious on the locker room door trying to run in. This was followed by a suggestive dream sequence with the cheerleaders, including a surprise cameo by Rodney Dangerfield. The "New York Daily News" reported that the scene would likely be the "[last] salacious WWF-style stunt for the rest of the season", citing internal sources indicating that NBC wished to pivot the telecasts back towards a football-oriented product, including hiring NFL alumni as analysts, and reinstating Vasgersian as the lead commentator.


title: XFL (2001)

text: The XFL producers desired a more impactful and unique experience than could be attained by other sports leagues. The existing PA sound systems in the football stadiums could not provide the audio levels required for the desired experience. To attain the this experience the XFL used a custom speaker support system designed by Maryland Sound International. This "Hi-Sonic Speaker Support Pole" could support heavier and louder speaker systems akin to the type that are used for larger music concerts. The speaker pole system was placed at the corners of the field and served to bring the sound down to the field level so the fans could really experience the game.


title: XFL (2001)

text: It was believed that the willingness of Las Vegas bookmakers to take bets on XFL games established their legitimacy, dispelling concerns that the league was using predetermined storylines as in professional wrestling. However, the league was panned by critics as boring football with a tawdry broadcast style, although the broadcasts on TNN and to a lesser extent UPN and the Matt Vasgersian–helmed NBC coverage were considered comparatively professional.


title: XFL (2001)

text: The WWF and NBC each lost a reported $35 million, only recouping 30% of their combined initial $100 million investment. On April 21, 2001, the season concluded as the Los Angeles Xtreme defeated the San Francisco Demons 38–6 in the XFL Championship Game (which was originally given the moniker "The Big Game at the End of the Season", but was later dubbed the Million Dollar Game, after the amount of money awarded to the winning team, which if divided, gave each player less than the losing team in the Pro Bowl).


title: XFL (2001)

text: Though paid attendance at games remained respectable, if unimpressive (overall attendance was only 10% below what the league's goal had been at the start of the season), the XFL ceased operations after just one season due to low television ratings. Facing stiff competition from the NCAA basketball tournament, the NBC telecast of the Chicago/NY-NJ game on March 31 received a 1.5 rating, at that time the lowest ever for any major network primetime weekend first-run sports television broadcast in the United States.


title: XFL (2001)

text: Despite initially agreeing to broadcast XFL games for two years and owning half of the league, NBC announced it would not broadcast a second XFL season; the network no longer had a full season of Saturday nights to offer the league because it had acquired the rights to the 2002 Winter Olympics, even if the XFL had been more successful or profitable. WWF Chairman Vince McMahon initially announced that the XFL would continue, as it still had UPN and TNN as broadcast outlets. In fact, expansion teams were being explored for cities such as Washington, D.C. and Detroit (Washington would later receive its team in the revived XFL). However, in order to continue broadcasting XFL games, UPN demanded that "WWF SmackDown!" broadcasts be cut from two hours to one and a half hours. McMahon found these terms unacceptable and he announced the XFL's closure on May 10, 2001. McMahon's chief adviser, a perplexed Nathan Livian, was quoted as saying "the situation is, indeed, very bad".


title: XFL (2001)

text: The XFL ranked No. 3 on "TV Guide"s list of the TV Guide's worst TV shows of all time in July 2002, as well as No. 2 on ESPN's list of biggest flops in sports, behind Ryan Leaf. In 2010, TV Guide Network also listed the show at No. 21 on their list of "25 Biggest TV Blunders".


title: XFL (2001)

text: Many stories recapping the history of the XFL show photos of the crash of its promotional blimp in Oakland, California, portraying it retrospectively as an ill-omen for the league. The incident occurred a month before the opening game on Tuesday, January 9, 2001. The blimp was in Oakland as the league had flown it over the between the Oakland Raiders and Miami Dolphins and intended to do the same with the following week's AFC Championship, also in Oakland. The pilots lost control of the airship and were forced to evacuate. The ground crew were unable to secure the vehicle and the "unattended blimp then floated five miles north over the Oakland Estuary, at one point reaching 1,600feet, or about the height of the Central Park Tower in Midtown Manhattan (listed as the second tallest building in the United States as of ), until its gondola caught on a sailboat mast in the Central Basin marina. It draped over the roof of the Oyster Reef restaurant—next to where the boat was moored—and a nearby power line." While the pilot was hospitalized, no other major injuries were reported. The blimp needed $2.5million in repairs (equivalent to $million in ), while the sailboat and restaurant had only minor damages.


title: XFL (2001)

text: Before the season started, a fictional XFL game appeared in the 2000 film "The 6th Day", set in 2015.


title: XFL (2001)

text: NBC continued airing professional league football beyond the demise of the XFL, starting with the Arena Football League television coverage from 2003 to 2006. In 2006, NBC returned to coverage of NFL games with "NBC Sunday Night Football", eventually adding "Thursday Night Football" to its coverage in 2016.


title: XFL (2001)

text: The XFL's racier-than-average cheerleaders helped inspire the Lingerie Football League (now Extreme Football League) and the "Lingerie Bowl" from 2003 to 2006. The LFL is currently the largest women's American football professional league.


title: XFL (2001)

text: XFL team names and logos sometimes appear in movies and television where professional football needs to be dramatized, as licensing for NFL logos may be cost prohibitive (such as in the Arnold Schwarzenegger starring sci-fi film "The 6th Day").


title: XFL (2001)

text: The United Football League later placed all four of its inaugural franchises in former XFL markets and stadiums. However, the UFL drew far fewer fans than the XFL average, and much less media attention: for example, the XFL's San Francisco Demons drew an average of 35,000 fans, while the UFL's California Redwoods drew an average of 6,000, despite both playing in the same ballpark. Three of the four charter teams, including the Redwoods, moved to other markets by the time of the UFL's third season.


title: XFL (2001)

text: ESPN produced a documentary surrounding the league, "This Was the XFL", as part of its anthology series "30 for 30". The film discusses the longtime friendship between McMahon and Ebersol, as seen through the eyes of Dick's son, Charlie Ebersol, who directs the film. McMahon, Dick Ebersol, Dick Schanzer, Rusty Tillman, Al Luginbill, Rod Smart, Tommy Maddox, Paris Lenon, league President Basil DeVito, costume designer Jay Howarth, Jesse Ventura, Matt Vasgersian, Jonathan Coachman, Bob Costas and Jerry Jones all provided interviews for the film. It debuted at Doc NYC November 11, 2016, and premiered on ESPN on February 2, 2017.


title: XFL (2001)

text: Notable players included league MVP and Los Angeles quarterback Tommy Maddox, who signed with the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers after the XFL folded (Maddox later became the starting quarterback for the Steelers in 2002 and led them to that year's playoffs, as well as continuing to start for them into 2004). Los Angeles used the first pick in the XFL draft to select a former NFL quarterback, Scott Milanovich. Milanovich lost the starting quarterback job to Maddox, who was placed on the Xtreme as one of a handful of players put on each team due to geographic distance between the player's college and the team's hometown. Another of the better-known players was Las Vegas running back Rod Smart, who first gained popularity because the name on the back of his jersey read "He Hate Me." Smart, who was only picked 357th in the draft, later went on to play for the Philadelphia Eagles, Carolina Panthers, Oakland Raiders and the Edmonton Eskimos of the CFL. His Panther teammate Jake Delhomme named his newborn horse "She Hate Me" as a reference to him. Smart played in Super Bowl XXXVIII, becoming one of seven XFL players to play in a Super Bowl. Receiver Yo Murphy also achieved this as a member of the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI, along with winning the 95th Grey Cup with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2007. Tommy Maddox played for a Super Bowl team (the Pittsburgh Steelers) in Super Bowl XL in Detroit, (although Maddox, by then a third-string quarterback, did not play in the game, which turned out to be his last appearance in uniform before retiring). Lastly, Las Vegas Outlaws DB Kelly Herndon played in Super Bowl XL with the Seattle Seahawks in 2005, where he is remembered for intercepting a pass and returning it a then-record 76 yards. Although he did not play for an NFL team after the XFL's lone season, former Las Vegas Outlaw offensive guard Isaac Davis also had a notable NFL career, playing in 58 games over a six-year career. Davis started for the San Diego Chargers in Super Bowl XXIX. John Avery went on to play for both the Edmonton Eskimos and the Toronto Argonauts where he was an All Star selection in 2002 and won a Grey Cup in 2004.


title: XFL (2001)

text: The last active player to have played in the XFL is Canadian placekicker Paul McCallum, who last played for the BC Lions in the 2016 CFL season.


title: XFL (2001)

text: The 2001 XFL games are now part of the WWE Video Library, the rights to which have been held by NBC's streaming service Peacock since March 2021.


title: XFL (2001)

text: In September 2012, WWE attempted to file a new XFL trademark for use in wrestling and football which was previously filed in 2009 under XFL LLC. The application remained pending since WWE never put together a "Statement of Use" for the trademark. In July 2015, the XFL's first trademark extension was granted.


title: XFL (2001)

text: On December 15, 2017, it was reported that McMahon was seriously considering a revival of the XFL. WWE didn't confirm or deny the rumors, but released a statement that McMahon was launching a new company known as Alpha Entertainment, that was looking to expand into sports and entertainment properties "including professional football", and that WWE itself wasn't returning to professional football.


title: XFL (2001)

text: Noted wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer speculated that McMahon was starting a shell corporation with his own money to protect WWE shareholders on a potential XFL revival. A revival of the XFL would air either on traditional TV or the WWE Network, and would be toned down compared to its original incarnation due to CTE concerns in football that surfaced in the early 2010s. On December 22, 2017, McMahon sold $100 million worth of WWE shares, which required notification to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; the SEC reported that it was done so that McMahon could fund Alpha Entertainment. WWE shares did in fact decline slightly due to the report, with Citigroup downgrading WWE shares from "buy" to "neutral".


title: XFL (2001)

text: On January 25, 2018, Alpha Entertainment announced a new incarnation of the XFL which began play in 2020. The XFL does not utilize the same sports entertainment gimmicks as the original, instead focusing on adjusting rules to increase the speed of play. NBC has no involvement with this incarnation, which is instead carried by the outlets of ESPN Inc. and (during its 2020 season) Fox Corporation. Following the 2020 season (cut short by stay-at-home orders tied to the COVID pandemic), McMahon sold the XFL to a consortium led by his former wrestler Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) along with Johnson's business partners Dany Garcia and RedBird Capital.


title: Fred Flintstone

text: Fred Flintstone is the main character of the animated sitcom "The Flintstones", which aired during prime-time on ABC during the original series' run from 1960 to 1966. Fred is the husband of Wilma Flintstone and father of Pebbles Flintstone and together the family live in their homely cave in the town of Bedrock. His best friend is his next door neighbor, Barney, who has a wife named Betty and an adopted son, named Bamm-Bamm.


title: Fred Flintstone

text: Fred lives in the fictional prehistoric town of Bedrock, a world where dinosaurs coexist with modernized cavepeople and the cavepeople enjoy "primitive" versions of modern conveniences such as telephones, automobiles, and washing machines. Fred's trademark catchphrase yell is "yabba dabba doo!", a phrase that was originally his club's cheer, and later adopted as part of the theme song from the third season on and used in the 1994 live-action "Flintstones" film.


title: Fred Flintstone

text: Since the original series' run, Fred has appeared in various other cartoon spinoffs, live action adaptations, music videos, video games, and commercials.


title: Fred Flintstone

text: While the mid-1980s spin-off series "The Flintstone Kids" depicts Fred as a child, the series may be apocryphal due to its presenting Wilma as a childhood friend of Fred and Barney; the original series asserts that they first met as young adults. Still, the series' depiction of Fred as the only child of Ed (a handyman) and Edna (homemaker) Flintstone might be canon. (Pops Flintstone was in a comic strip.)


title: Fred Flintstone

text: As young adults, Fred and Barney worked as bellhops at a resort. There, they met and fell in love with Wilma and Betty, who were working there as cigarette girls. Fred met Wilma's mother, Pearl Slaghoople, and the two took an instant dislike to each other. An unspecified amount of time later, Fred married Wilma.


title: Fred Flintstone

text: Fred is a typical blue-collar worker, who works as a "bronto crane operator" at Slate Rock and Gravel Company (also known as Rockhead and Quarry Cave Construction Company in earlier episodes). Fred's job title in the second-season episode "Divided We Sail" is "geological engineer".


title: Fred Flintstone

text: During the original series' third season, Wilma gives birth to the couple's daughter, Pebbles. Years later, when Pebbles is a teenager, Fred and Barney join the Bedrock police force for a time as part-time police officers. Eventually, Fred becomes a grandfather to the adult Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm's twins, Chip and Roxy. Fred's family grew again in "A Flintstone Family Christmas", when he and Wilma adopted an orphaned caveboy named Stony, and despite a rough start, Fred and his new son bonded well.


title: Fred Flintstone

text: The Flintstone family's paternal side originally came from the prehistoric state of Arkanstone in Camp Mastodon, where they had been engaged in a feud similar to the Hatfield–McCoy feud. The feud was originally started by an ancestor of Fred's making a joke about a Hatrock family portrait ("I don't know what the artist got for doing that painting, but he should've gotten life!"). In the fourth-season episode "Bedrock Hillbillies", the feud is ended when Fred helps rescue Pebbles and a Hatrock baby, only to start up again when Fred makes the same joke as his ancestor. The Hatrocks later appear in the follow-up fifth-season episode "The Hatrocks and the Gruesomes", where they visit Bedrock. The last of the Camp Mastodon Arkanstone Flintstones was Fred's great-great-grand-uncle Zeke Flintstone who lived to 102.


title: Fred Flintstone

text: Other relatives of Fred include: Rocco Rockbottom "Rocky/Stony" Flintstone, Fred's grandfather, who was a Camp Mastodon veteran of Air Force Stone World War One; Uncle Giggles Flintstone, a rich, eccentric practical joker whose jokes drive Fred into a mad rage; James Hardrock, Edna's father; Uncle Tex Hardrock, Fred's rich Texan uncle; Tumbleweed and Mary Lou Jim, Fred's rich Texan cousins.


title: Fred Flintstone

text: Fred's personality was based on those of early television's Ralph Kramden of "The Honeymooners" and Chester A. Riley of "The Life of Riley", both roles held at various times by Jackie Gleason. (Riley was more closely associated with William Bendix, who originated the role, though Gleason replaced Bendix due to a contract dispute for "The Life of Riley's" first season on television.) Much like Ralph, Fred tends to be loud-mouthed, aggressive, temperamental and constantly scheming ways to improve his family's working class lot in life, often with unintended results. Also like Ralph, despite his harshness, he is friendly, and has a loving heart, who is very devoted to his family and cares a lot about his best friend and next door neighbor Barney Rubble. Fred loses his temper easily and is very impatient, but he seems free of malice and never holds a grudge. Although his loudness irritates the people around him, Fred proves friendly, often going out of his way to help others. Also, although Fred often annoys Wilma with his immaturity, he is known to go to great lengths to please his family and apologize when he goes too far. Other known characters from other programs may also be known to have personalities based on Fred Flintstone including Archie Bunker from "All in the Family" and "Archie Bunker's Place" (both played by Carroll O'Connor), George Jefferson from "The Jeffersons" (played by Sherman Hemsley), Mel Sharples from "Alice" (played by Vic Tayback) and Frank DeFazio from "Laverne & Shirley" (played by Phil Foster).


title: Fred Flintstone

text: Fred's interests include bowling, playing pool, golf, poker and lounging around the house. Fred has won championships with his bowling skills; in one episode, he goes so far as to take ballet lessons in order to improve his game. The nickname of "Twinkletoes" stuck with him when Fred attended a local university and became eligible to play on their football team, and it became his call sign. Fred is also an excellent golfer. Fred is a member of the Loyal Order of Water Buffalos Lodge (named "the Loyal Order of Dinosaurs" in an early episode). Fred also has a serious gambling problem; the mere mention of the word "bet" causes Fred to stammer "bet" over and over again (sounding like a clucking chicken) and go on gambling binges. Fred is also an avid driver. In the fifth-season episode "Indianrockolis 500", Fred entered the famed prehistoric auto race under the pseudonym "Goggles Paisano".


title: Fred Flintstone

text: Fred's catchphrase is "Yabba-Dabba-Doo!"; Alan Reed, voice actor who provided Fred's voice from 1960 to 1977, reportedly said the inspiration for the phrase came from his mother, who used to say, "A little dab'll do ya," probably borrowed from a Brylcreem commercial. When the script called for a simple "yahoo", Alan either asked if he could alter the phrase or he ad-libbed. It inspired, in the 1970s a short-lived fruit drink called "Yabba Dabba Dew" and may or may not have also inspired George Jetson's similar-sounding catchphrase, "Hooba-dooba-dooba" (or "Hooba-Dooba"). It does, however, become the subject of a song by Hoagy Carmichael which the singer-songwriter performs in one episode of "The Flintstones". Fred's ability to carry a tune was quite good in his younger years. One early episode sees Fred (with Barney, who is a skilled drummer) perform at a nightclub with his musician friend "Hot Lips Hannigan" where his singing caused teenage girls to swoon over him; on this occasion, he was nicknamed the "Golden Smog". In another first-season episode, "Girls' Night Out", Fred recorded a demo record at a carnival of the song "Listen to the Rocking Bird", which ended up making him a teenage singing idol named "Hi Fye". As the series progressed, however, his voice became worse and worse (even during his success as a singer, Wilma was never impressed by Fred's voice), eventually to the point that a temporary maid the Flintstones hired quit rather than having to hear Fred sing. (Alan Reed himself was not a good singer; in instances where he was expected to sing well, a stand-in—usually Henry Corden from 1965 onward—would be used.)


title: Fred Flintstone

text: Due to his impulsive and short-tempered behavior and stubborn and somewhat selfish nature, Fred seems to be accident-prone. Even his most innocent and mundane actions often cause widespread confusion. At the end of the closing credits, Fred puts the Flintstones housecat "Baby Puss" outside; the cat however jumps back inside and puts Fred out who begins to knock on the door of his house and starts yelling "Wilma", to open the door.


title: Fred Flintstone

text: According to the original series' third-season episode "The Birthday Party" (originally aired April 5, 1963), Fred's birthday is February 2. Fred's address has varied through the series' run, with addresses given for the Flintstone residence including, 201 Cobblestone Lane (October 21, 1960 - "No Help Wanted" episode), 345 Cave Stone Road, 39 Stone Canyon Way, and 1313 Cobblestone Way. Fred's address was cited as "35 Cobblestone Rd" in the 1961 episode "The X-Ray Story".


title: Fred Flintstone

text: George O'Hanlon originally auditioned for the role of Fred Flintstone. He later went on to voice George Jetson, another Hanna-Barbera character in the animated sitcom "The Jetsons". Alan Reed was the original voice artist of Fred (minus the original short pilot where he was voiced by Daws Butler, who also voiced him on a 1973 record) until Reed's death in 1977.


title: Fred Flintstone

text: Henry Corden occasionally voiced Fred on records throughout the 1960s, and also provided the singing voice for Fred in "The Man Called Flintstone". Following Reed's death, Corden officially took over the role until his retirement in 2000, although he continued to voice him in Post Pebbles commercials until his death in 2005. Corden voiced Fred's father and mother in "The Flintstone Kids", while young Fred was voiced by both Lennie Weinrib and Scott Menville at different points.


title: Fred Flintstone

text: Australian voice actor Keith Scott provided Fred's voice in various commercials throughout the 1980s and 1990s and the live show "Hanna-Barbera Gala Celebrity Nite" at the Wonderland Sydney amusement park in Australia.


title: Fred Flintstone

text: Jeff Bergman voiced Fred in "Flintstones/Jetsons: Timewarp" and performed the character throughout the 1990s and 2000s for various Cartoon Network and Boomerang commercials and bumpers, and voiced him in "", his guest appearance in "Johnny Bravo", some episodes of "Family Guy", and more recently "". James Arnold Taylor voiced Fred in commercials following Corden's death, up until 2011, as well as his guest appearance in "The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy". Taylor returned to voice Fred in 2016 for a Columbus Zoo commercial. He has also been voiced in recent years by Scott Innes (in a Toshiba commercial),


title: Fred Flintstone

text: Other voices include Maurice LaMarche (in ""), Stephen Stanton (in "Robot Chicken"), Dave Coulier (in "Robot Chicken"), Fred Tatasciore (in "MAD"), Seth Green (in "Robot Chicken"), and Rick Zieff (in "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve 2021"). In various Italian dubs, Fred's voice was provided by Italian voice actor Carlo Bonomi.


title: Fred Flintstone

text: In the first live-action film, "The Flintstones", Fred was played by John Goodman, who also provided his voice for the film's pinball adaptation. In the prequel film, "The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas", in which Fred is portrayed as younger than he was in the original, he was played by British actor Mark Addy.


title: Fred Flintstone

text: Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble were pitchmen for Winston cigarettes, the show's sponsor at the time. In one ad, Fred and Barney saw the men working hard at the quarry and decided to retire out of sight for a smoke break. After extolling the virtues of their favorite brand, Fred lit up and delivered the catch phrase: "Winston tastes good like a cigarette should." A similar ad featured Wilma and Betty as well. By the original series' third season, Winston had been dropped in favor of Welch's.


title: Roger Gracie

text: Roger Gracie (born Roger Gracie Gomes; 26 September, 1981) is a Brazilian retired mixed martial artist and former professional Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) competitor. The son of coral belt Mauricio Gomes and grandson of BJJ founder Carlos Gracie, Roger Gracie is one of jiu-jitsu's most decorated and accomplished athletes and considered by many as the greatest competitor in jiu-jitsu history.


title: Roger Gracie

text: A member of both IBJJF Hall of Fame and ADCC Hall of Fame, Gracie won 10 IBJJF world championship titles across multiple weight classes, every year from 2004 to 2010, becoming the first competitor to win the open weight division 3 times. He is also a two-time European Champion, and a Pan Champion. Gracie is an ADCC Submission Fighting weight, absolute, and superfight champion, the only athlete to win gold in both his weight class and the open weight division with a 100% submission-rate. Gracie retired in 2017 after defeating then BJJ world champion Marcus Buchecha, leaving jiu-jitsu without a single submission defeat in his record.


title: Roger Gracie

text: Competing concurrently in MMA, Gracie is the 2016 One World Cruiserweight Champion, a former Strikeforce and UFC middleweight contender, holding at the time of his retirement in 2017 a professional record of 8–2.


title: Roger Gracie

text: Roger Gomes Gracie was born on 26 September, 1981 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. His mother, Reila Gracie, was a daughter of Carlos Gracie, the founder of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and his father, Mauricio Gomes, was a jiu-jitsu black belt under Rolls Gracie and a famous competitor in the 1970s known as . From a very young age Gracie started training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.


title: Roger Gracie

text: During his teenage years, after training with his uncle Rilion Gracie, Gracie started competition. In 1999 he won the Brazilian National Jiu-Jitsu Championship fighting as blue belt in the middleweight division then the following year Gracie won the 2000 Pan American Championship followed by the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship both in the medium-heavy blue belt division. That same year, 18-year-old Gracie was arrested by the Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro together with three other grapplers (Rafael Lima, Rafael Ramos and Murilo Carvalho), for allegedly shooting paintball and rubber bullets guns at three transvestites. Gracie was not prosecuted but the incident led her mother to send him to London to live with his father, who had moved to England to set up the first Gracie Barra academy in the UK.


title: Roger Gracie

text: Training in the UK with his father and in Brazil with his uncle Carlos Gracie, Jr., Gracie won another world championship title in 2001, this time as a purple belt, in the medium heavy division, under team Gracie Barra; Also in 2001 after receiving his brown belt he won the Brazilian Nationals for the second time. In 2002 as a brown belt Gracie won both the heavyweight division and the open class becoming double world champion for the first time. Competing at the 2003 ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship taking place for the first time in Sao Paulo on 17 May, Gracie arrived third in the - category, after defeating Mário Sperry and Rigan Machado but losing to John-Olav Einemo (2–0). In 2003 at age 22, Gracie received his black belt from his uncle Carlos Gracie Jr.


title: Roger Gracie

text: In his first year as black belt Gracie won silver at the 2003 World Championship after losing by points to Márcio Cruz. In 2004 Gracie won the ADCC South American Trials held in Campos Brazil, winning both his weight class (-) and the open weight division with a 100% submission-rate.


title: Roger Gracie

text: At the 2004 World Jiu-Jitsu Championship, Gracie won the super heavyweight division but lost the final of the Absolute in a controversial match, after his opponent Ronaldo "Jacaré" Souza refused to tap out after getting armbared, got his arm dislocated as a result, then stayed away from Gracie with his broken left arm tucked into his belt, to keep his lead on points and win the match.


title: Roger Gracie

text: In May 2005 Gracie competed in the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship taking place at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach California. Gracie won all 8 of his matches, both at the super heavyweight and at the absolute weight classes, submitting Ronaldo Souza with a rear naked choke from standing, becoming the first grappler in history to win both divisions after submitting every single opponents. That same year Gracie won the 2005 World Jiu-Jitsu Championship with silver in Absolute, then double gold at the 2005 European Open Championship winning the ultra heavyweight division and defeating Ronaldo Souza in the Absolute.


title: Roger Gracie

text: In April 2006 competing at the Pan American Championship taking place at California State University , Gracie won silver in the super heavyweight division after losing by points to Xande Ribeiro, the fourth loss of his career; he then won gold in Absolute after submitting the same Ribeiro in a triangle within 30 seconds. Gracie won another world title in 2006, at the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship taking place in Rio de Janeiro, after defeating Robert Drysdale in the super heavyweight final, Gracie then won silver in Absolute, after losing by points against Xande Ribeiro, in the last few seconds of the fight;


title: Roger Gracie

text: In 2007 Gracie won both divisions, earning double world championship gold for weight and absolute, submitting all his opponents except Fernando Pontes "Margarida"; At the 2007 ADCC world championships in Trenton, New Jersey, Gracie fought and won by points, a superfight against Jon Olav Einemo, one of only four men who had managed to defeat him in the past, Gracie became in the process the first ADCC triple crown winner.


title: Roger Gracie

text: The following year Gracie became the 2008 World Champion but lost the Absolute final against Xande Ribeiro after the clock ran out. At the 2009 World Championship Gracie submitted all of his opponents, in the super heavyweight and in the absolute weight class, with a "cross choke from mount", winning double gold again.


title: Roger Gracie

text: In 2010 Gracie fought his last world championship, Gracie won both divisions, winning 8 fights with a "choke from the back", defeating Ricardo Abreu by points in the Super Heavyweight final, and winning the Absolute without fighting, after Romulo Barral forfeited due to an injury. Gracie became the first athlete to win 3 Open weight titles at black belt level. Gracie announced leaving BJJ competition to focus on his mixed martial arts career.


title: Roger Gracie

text: In 2012, Gracie returned to grappling competition for one night only at Metamoris 1, a submission only superfights event, to face Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida "the new 22-year-old heavyweight jiu-jitsu sensation', the bout was ruled a draw, while the match, which lasted 20 minutes, was noted by some as "one of the greatest grappling matches ever recorded".


title: Roger Gracie

text: In July 2015, having not competed jiu-jitsu in 5 years, Gracie returned to competitive grappling to face Rodrigo Comprido, at a superfight American Nationals event during the UFC Fan Expo, winning via armbar in about 4 minutes.


title: Roger Gracie

text: On 23 July 2017, at "Gracie Pro jiu-jitsu" an event taking place at Carioca Arena 1 in Rio de Janeiro, Gracie faced Marcus "Buchecha" Almeida for a 15-minute superfight dubbed "the most-anticipated rematch in jiu-jitsu history", at that point both fighters held 10 world championship titles and were considered the greatest competitors in the sport. In the five previous years Gracie only fought one match against Rodrigo Comprido while Buchecha fought seventy matches winning more world championship titles than any other fighter at the time. Gracie submitted Buchecha with a lapel choke at the 6:52 mark of the match, right after his win, Gracie announced his final retirement from BJJ competition.


title: Roger Gracie

text: Having never been submitted in 20 years of competition, holding 14 World Jiu-Jitsu Championship titles (10 as black belt), with three gold and five silver in the open weight division, Gracie is regarded by many as the greatest jiu-jitsu competitor of all time. In May 2014 he was inducted into the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation Hall of Fame.


title: Roger Gracie

text: On 14 November 2021, Gracie became the first person to be inducted into the ADCC Hall of Fame, owing in part to his two gold medals at the 2005 ADCC world championship and his superfight victory in 2007. In July 2022 Gracie received his 5th Stripe on his BJJ black belt from his father, Mauricio Gomes.


title: Roger Gracie

text: Gracie made his MMA debut in 2006, defeating veteran Ron Waterman by armbar submission in the 1st round at the Bodogfight pay-per-view "USA vs Russia". On May 18, 2008, Gracie competed at Sengoku 2, where he defeated Yuki Kondo at 2:40 min of round 1 by rear naked choke.


title: Roger Gracie

text: Gracie announced at the December 19, 2009, Strikeforce Evolution show that he had signed a contract with Strikeforce to make his American MMA debut. On September 11, 2011, Gracie suffered his first MMA loss when he faced former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Muhammed Lawal. Gracie was knocked out in the first round. Gracie made his middleweight debut against UFC veteran Keith Jardine at on July 14, 2012, winning the fight via unanimous decision. Gracie then won his next bout via submission defeating Anthony Smith at


title: Roger Gracie

text: On January 15, 2013, the UFC announced that Gracie would be one of 20 Strikeforce fighters folding into the organisation, making him the 4th member of the Gracie family to fight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.


title: Roger Gracie

text: Gracie lost by unanimous decision to Tim Kennedy on July 6, 2013, at UFC 162. After the Kennedy fight his contract with the organisation expired and they chose not to renew it.


title: Roger Gracie

text: In August 2014, Gracie signed a multi-fight deal with Singapore based promotion ONE Championship. Gracie returned to the Light Heavyweight division, known as "Cruiserweight" on ONE, and in his debut faced James McSweeney at on December 5, 2014. He won the fight via TKO in the third round.


title: Roger Gracie

text: On May 6, 2016, he defeated Michal Pasternak for the inaugural ONE FC Cruiserweight Championship, winning the bout by Arm Triangle in the first round.


title: Roger Gracie

text: On October 14, 2017 Gracie announced his retirement from MMA three months after retiring from Brazilian jiu-jitsu.


title: Roger Gracie

text: With the help of his father, 8th degree coral belt Maurício "Maurição" Motta Gomes, Roger established the "Roger Gracie Academy" in 2004 in Ladbroke Grove, London. Notable Black belt promotions include Raymond Stevens, Nicolas Gregoriades and Kywan Gracie Behring.


title: Quinn Cook

text: Quinn Alexander Cook (born March 23, 1993) is an American professional basketball player who plays for the Zhejiang Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He played college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils and was one of the top rated basketball recruits in the class of 2011. Cook won the 2015 NCAA national championship with Duke, and won two NBA championships, one with the Golden State Warriors in 2018 and one with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020. He has also played for the Dallas Mavericks, the New Orleans Pelicans, and the Cleveland Cavaliers.


title: Quinn Cook

text: Cook started his high school career at DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland. Cook played his freshman, sophomore, and junior, seasons at DeMatha. During Cook's career at DeMatha, the Stags had an 85–18 record and finished as the number one ranked team in the state of Maryland during Cook's junior season.


title: Quinn Cook

text: During the summer prior to his senior season, Cook announced that he would be transferring to Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Virginia.


title: Quinn Cook

text: Following his junior season, Cook was named the Washington Post All-Met Player of the Year, becoming the first junior in 30 years to receive the award and was the only junior to be named 2010 All-Met first team. Cook was also named to the Washington Post 2009 All-Met third team, the only sophomore to be listed among the ‘09 All-Met teams.


title: Quinn Cook

text: Cook was invited to play in the fifth annual Boost Mobile Elite 24 game prior to his senior season, joining future Duke teammates Austin Rivers, Alex Murphy, and Michael Gbinije in the game.


title: Quinn Cook

text: During Cook's senior season at Oak Hill Academy he led the Warriors to a 31–4 record, averaging 19.1 ppg, 10.9 apg and 2.5 steals. After the season, he was named a Second Team All-American by Maxpreps and played in the 2011 McDonald's All-American Game.


title: Quinn Cook

text: Cook signed his letter of intent to play basketball at Duke University on November 4, 2010; his announcement was broadcast live on ESPNU. He chose Duke over Villanova, UCLA, and North Carolina. When asked why he decided to attend Duke, he stated, "The reason I chose Duke is because of Coach K."


title: Quinn Cook

text: Cook was ranked the #38 player by ESPNU, the #38 player by Rivals.com, and the #37 player by Scout.com coming out of high school.


title: Quinn Cook

text: Cook was a part of a five player recruiting class for Duke in 2011, which also included Austin Rivers, Alex Murphy, Marshall Plumlee and Michael Gbinije. Duke's 2011 class was the second best recruiting class in the entire country according to ESPNU.


title: Quinn Cook

text: Although Duke traveled to China and Dubai during the summer prior to his freshman season, Cook was forced to sit out all four exhibition games due to a lingering knee injury that he suffered during the summer before his freshman year. Cook's debut with the Blue Devils was October 14, 2011, at Duke's annual Countdown to Craziness, he scored 7 points and passed for 2 assists in his first game as a Blue Devil. Cook's career high during his freshman season was 14 points, which came against UNC Greensboro on December 19, 2011.


title: Quinn Cook

text: Cook was a member of the 2015 NCAA national champion Duke team, averaging 15.3 points and 2.6 assists per game.


title: Quinn Cook

text: After going undrafted in the 2015 NBA draft, Cook joined the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Orlando Summer League and the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Las Vegas Summer League. In September 2015, he signed with the Cavaliers, only to be waived by the team on October 24 after appearing in six preseason games. On October 30, he was acquired by the Canton Charge of the NBA Development League as an affiliate player of the Cavaliers. On November 14, he made his professional debut in a 106–99 loss to the Maine Red Claws, recording 15 points, one rebound, one assist and one steal in 36 minutes. On February 5, 2016, he was named in the East All-Star team for the 2016 NBA D-League All-Star Game as a replacement for the injured DeAndre Liggins. On April 11, he was named Rookie of the Year after averaging 19.6 points and 5.4 assists to go with 3.9 rebounds in 43 games while shooting 47 percent from the field and connecting on a team-high 86 three-pointers. At the season's end, he was named to the All-NBA D-League Third Team and the All-Rookie Team.


title: Quinn Cook

text: In July 2016, Cook joined the NBA D-League Select Team for the 2016 NBA Summer League. On September 24, 2016, he signed with the New Orleans Pelicans, but was waived on October 22 after appearing in three preseason games. On November 1, he was reacquired by the Canton Charge. On February 18, 2017, he was named the MVP of the 2017 D-League All-Star Game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome after recording an 18-point, 12-assist double-double.


title: Quinn Cook

text: On February 26, 2017, Cook signed a 10-day contract with the Dallas Mavericks. He made his NBA debut the following day, recording two points, two rebounds and two assists in 17 minutes off the bench, in a 96–89 win over the Miami Heat. On March 7, 2017, he had his best game as a Maverick, scoring 10 points in a 122–111 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.


title: Quinn Cook

text: On March 19, 2017, Cook signed a 10-day contract with the New Orleans Pelicans. He went on to sign a second 10-day contract on March 29, and a rest-of-season contract on April 8. On the same day, Cook scored a career-high 22 points with three assists and grabbed a rebound in a 101–123 loss to the Golden State Warriors. On July 25, 2017, he was waived by the Pelicans.


title: Quinn Cook

text: Cook was signed by the Atlanta Hawks for training camp and was waived on October 13, 2017 as one of the team's final preseason roster cuts. He signed a two-way contract with the Golden State Warriors on October 17, 2017 and was recalled to the team on November 13, 2017. Cook got his first NBA start on December 6, 2017, against the Charlotte Hornets, and scored eight points with three assists and three rebounds in 22 minutes. On March 16, 2018, Cook scored a then career-high 25 points with three assists, three steals and four rebounds in a 93–98 loss to the Sacramento Kings. The following night on March 17, 2018, Cook set another career-high 28 points in scoring along with four assists and four rebounds in a 124–109 win over the Phoenix Suns. On March 29, 2018, Cook set another career-high 30 points in scoring along with three assists and four rebounds in a 107–116 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. Cook continued to be a key factor for the Golden State Warriors with the recent injuries to Stephen Curry. As a result of this, the Warriors signed him to a two-year deal on April 8, 2018, to help ensure his eligibility to play in the postseason. On April 14, 2018, Cook made his debut in NBA playoffs, coming off from bench with five points, two assists, four rebounds plus a block in a 113–92 blowout win over the San Antonio Spurs. The Warriors made the 2018 NBA Finals after defeating the Houston Rockets in 7 games in the Western Conference Finals. The Warriors went on to win the NBA Championship after defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers in four games.


title: Quinn Cook

text: The Warriors made it to the 2019 NBA Finals, but were defeated in 6 games by the Toronto Raptors. On June 28, 2019, the Warriors extended Cook with a qualifying offer, making him a restricted free agent, but rescinded the qualifying offer on July 3.


title: Quinn Cook

text: On July 6, 2019, Cook signed with the Los Angeles Lakers. Cook won his second NBA championship when the Lakers defeated the Miami Heat in six games in the 2020 NBA Finals. On November 19, 2020, the Lakers waived Cook. On December 4, 2020, Cook re-signed with the Lakers. On February 24, 2021, Cook was waived by the Lakers.


title: Quinn Cook

text: On March 12, 2021, Cook signed a 10-day contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and signed another on March 22.


title: Quinn Cook

text: On September 23, 2021, Cook signed with the Portland Trail Blazers, but was waived on October 16 after two preseason games.


title: Quinn Cook

text: On October 26, 2021, Cook signed with Lokomotiv Kuban of the VTB United League until the end of the 2021–22 season. On December 28, he parted ways with the team. Cook averaged 5.5 points, 2.7 assists and one rebound per game in six games.


title: Quinn Cook

text: On February 23, 2022, after Cook signed an NBA entry contract, he was acquired off of waivers by the Stockton Kings.


title: Quinn Cook

text: On 14 December 2022, Cook scored a career-high 54 points in just 29 minutes of action against Shandong Heroes of the CBA.


title: Quinn Cook

text: Cook was named to the 2009–10 USA Basketball Men's Developmental National Team on May 28, 2009. He was a member of the 2009 USA U16 National Team that posted a 5–0 mark, captured the 2009 FIBA Americas U16 World Championship gold medal and qualified the U.S. for the 2010 FIBA U17 World Championship, he started all five games and averaged 15.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, and a team-high 5.0 assists per game. He was also a member of the 2010 USA U17 World Championship Team that posted an 8–0 record and captured the gold medal. Cook started all eight games and averaged 7.5 points and 3.0 rebounds per game, while dishing out a tournament-leading 7.4 assists.


title: Quinn Cook

text: On January 16, 2011, he was named to the 2011 USA Basketball Junior National Select Team which competed against a World Select Team in the annual Nike Hoop Summit. Cook had 12 points and 3 assists in 16 minutes, and Team USA went on to beat the World Select Team 92–80.


title: Quinn Cook

text: Cook's late father, Ted Cook, was a noted entrepreneur. Both of Quinn's parents attended Howard University.


title: Basilica of Saint-Denis

text: The Basilica of Saint-Denis (, now formally known as the ) is a large former medieval abbey church and present cathedral in the commune of Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris. The building is of singular importance historically and architecturally as its choir, completed in 1144, is widely considered the first structure to employ all of the elements of Gothic architecture.


title: Basilica of Saint-Denis

text: The basilica became a place of pilgrimage and a necropolis containing the tombs of the Kings of France, including nearly every king from the 10th century to Louis XVIII in the 19th century. Henry IV of France came to Saint-Denis to formally renounce his Protestant faith and become a Catholic. The Queens of France were crowned at Saint-Denis, and the royal regalia, including the sword used for crowning the kings and the royal sceptre, were kept at Saint-Denis between coronations.


title: Basilica of Saint-Denis

text: The site originated as a Gallo-Roman cemetery in late Roman times. The archaeological remains still lie beneath the cathedral; the graves indicate a mixture of Christian and pre-Christian burial practices. Around the year 475 AD, St. Genevieve purchased some land and built Saint-Denys de la Chapelle. In 636 on the orders of Dagobert I the relics of Saint Denis, a patron saint of France, were reinterred in the basilica. The relics of St-Denis, which had been transferred to the parish church of the town in 1795, were brought back again to the abbey in 1819.


title: Basilica of Saint-Denis

text: In the 12th century, the Abbot Suger rebuilt portions of the abbey church using innovative structural and decorative features. In doing so, he is said to have created the first truly Gothic building. In the following century the master-builder Pierre de Montreuil rebuilt the nave and the transepts in the new Rayonnant Gothic style.


title: Basilica of Saint-Denis

text: The abbey church became a cathedral on the formation of the Diocese of Saint-Denis by Pope Paul VI in 1966 and is the seat of the Bishop of Saint-Denis, currently (since 2009) Pascal Delannoy. Although known as the "Basilica of St Denis", the cathedral has not been granted the title of Minor Basilica by the Vatican.


title: Basilica of Saint-Denis

text: The tall spire, dismantled in the 19th century, is to be rebuilt. The project, initiated more than 30 years ago, was to have begun in May 2020, and is expected to take about 11 years at a cost of about €28 million.


title: Basilica of Saint-Denis

text: The cathedral is on the site where Saint Denis, the first bishop of Paris, is believed to have been buried. According to the "Life of Saint Genevieve", written in about 520, he was sent by Pope Clement I to evangelise the Parisii. He was arrested and condemned by the Roman authorities. Along with two of his followers, the priest Eleutherus and deacon Rusticus, he was decapitated on the hill of Montmartre in about 250 AD. According to the legend, he is said to have carried his head four leagues to the Roman settlement of Catulliacus, the site of the current church, and indicated that it was where he wanted to be buried. A martyrium or shrine-mausoleum was erected on the site of his grave in about 313 AD, and was enlarged into a basilica with the addition of tombs and monuments under Saint Genevieve. These including a royal tomb, that of Aregonde, the wife of King Clothar I.


title: Basilica of Saint-Denis

text: Dagobert I, King of the Franks (reigned 628 to 637), transformed the church into the Abbey of Saint Denis, a Benedictine monastery in 632. It soon grew to a community of more than five hundred monks, plus their servants.


title: Basilica of Saint-Denis

text: Dagobert also commissioned a new shrine to house the saint's remains, which was created by his chief councillor, Eligius, a goldsmith by training. An early "vita" of Saint Eligius describes the shrine:


title: Basilica of Saint-Denis

text: During his second coronation at Saint-Denis, King Pepin the Short made a vow to rebuild the old abbey. The first church mentioned in the chronicles was begun in 754 and completed under Charlemagne, who was present at its consecration in 775. By 832 the Abbey had been granted a remunerative whaling concession on the Cotentin Peninsula.


title: Basilica of Saint-Denis

text: According to one of the Abbey's many foundation myths a leper, who was sleeping in the nearly completed church the night before its planned consecration, witnessed a blaze of light from which Christ, accompanied by St Denis and a host of angels, emerged to conduct the consecration ceremony himself. Before leaving, Christ healed the leper, tearing off his diseased skin to reveal a perfect complexion underneath. A mis-shapen patch on a marble column was said to be the leper's former skin, which stuck there when Christ discarded it. Having been consecrated by Christ, the fabric of the building was itself regarded as sacred.


title: Basilica of Saint-Denis

text: Most of what is now known about the Carolingian church at St Denis resulted from a lengthy series of excavations begun under the American art historian Sumner McKnight Crosby in 1937. The structure altogether was about eighty meters long, with an imposing facade, a nave divided into three sections by two rows of marble columns, a transept, and apse and at the east end. During important religious celebrations, the interior of the church was lit with 1250 lamps. Beneath the apse, in imitation of St. Peter's in Rome, a crypt was constructed, with a Confession, or martyr's chapel, in the center. Inside this was a platform on which sarcophagus of Denis was displayed, with those of his companions Rusticus and Eleutherus on either side. around the platform was a corridor where pilgrims could circulate, and bays with windows. Traces of painted decoration of this original crypt can be seen in some of the bays.


title: Basilica of Saint-Denis

text: The crypt was not large enough for the growing number of pilgrims who came, so in about 832 the abbot Hilduin built a second crypt, to the west of the first, and a small new chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary was constructed next to the apse. The new crypt was extensively rebuilt under Suger in the 12th century.


title: Basilica of Saint-Denis

text: Abbot Suger (c. 1081 – 1151), the patron of the rebuilding of the Abbey church, had begun his career in the church at the age of ten, and rose to become the Abbot in 1122. He was a school companion and then confidant and minister of Louis VI and then of his son Louis VII, and was a regent of Louis VII when the King was absent on the Crusades. He was an accomplished fund-raiser, acquiring treasures for the cathedral and collecting an enormous sum for its rebuilding. In about 1135 he began reconstructing and enlarging the abbey. In his famous account of the work undertaken during his administration, Suger explained his decision to rebuild the church, due to the decrepit state of the old structure and its inability to cope with the crowds of pilgrims visiting the shrine of St Denis.


title: Basilica of Saint-Denis

text: In the 12th century, thanks largely, to Suger, the Basilica became a principal sanctuary of French Royalty, rivalling Reims Cathedral, where the Kings were crowned. The Abbey also kept the regalia of the coronation, including the robes, crowns and sceptre. Beginning in 1124, and until the mid-15th century, the Kings departed for war carrying the oriflamme, or battle flag, of St. Denis, to give the King the protection of the Saint. It was taken to the Abbey only when France was in danger. The flag was retired in 1488, when the Parisians opened the gates of Paris to invading English and Burgundian armies.


title: Basilica of Saint-Denis

text: Suger began his rebuilding project at the western end of St Denis, demolishing the old Carolingian facade with its single, centrally located door. He extended the old nave westwards by an additional four bays and added a massive western narthex, incorporating a new façade and three chapels on the first floor level.


title: Basilica of Saint-Denis

text: In the new design, massive vertical buttresses separated the three doorways and horizontal string-courses and window arcades clearly marked out the divisions. This clear delineation of parts was to influence subsequent west façade designs as a common theme in the development of Gothic architecture and a marked departure from the Romanesque. The portals themselves were sealed by gilded bronze doors, ornamented with scenes from Christ's Passion. They clearly recorded Suger's patronage with the following inscription;


title: Basilica of Saint-Denis

text: On the lintel below the great tympanum showing the Last Judgement, beneath a carved figure of the kneeling Abbot, was inscribed the more modest plea;


title: Basilica of Saint-Denis

text: Suger's western extension was completed in 1140 and the three new chapels in the narthex were consecrated on 9 June of that year, but the Romanesque nave between was yet unchanged. He wrote about the new narthex at the west end and proposed chapels at the east: "Once the new rear part is joined to the part in front, the church shines with its middle part brightened. For bright is that which is brightly coupled with the bright, and bright is the noble edifice which is pervaded by the new light."


title: Basilica of Saint-Denis

text: Suger's great innovation in the new choir was the replacement of the heavy dividing walls in the apse and ambulatory with slender columns, so that the interior of that part of the church was filled with light. He described "A circular string of chapels, by virtue of which the whole church would shine with the wonderful and uninterrupted light of most luminous windows, pervading the interior beauty."


title: Basilica of Saint-Denis

text: Suger's masons drew on elements which evolved or had been introduced to Romanesque architecture: the rib vault with pointed arches, and exterior buttresses which made it possible to have larger windows and to eliminate interior walls. It was the first time that these features had all been drawn together; and the new style evolved radically from the previous Romanesque architecture by the lightness of the structure and the unusually large size of the stained glass windows.


title: Basilica of Saint-Denis

text: The new architecture was full of symbolism. The twelve columns in the choir represented the twelve Apostles, and the light represented the Holy Spirit.


title: Basilica of Saint-Denis

text: Like many French clerics in the 12th century AD, he was a follower of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, a 6th-century mystic who equated the slightest reflection or glint with divine light. Suger's own words were carved in the nave: "For bright is that which is brightly coupled with the bright/and bright is the noble edifice which is pervaded by the new light." Following Suger's example, large stained glass windows filling the interior with mystical light became a prominent feature of Gothic architecture.


title: Basilica of Saint-Denis

text: Two different architects, or master masons, were involved in the 12th-century rebuilding. Both remain anonymous but their work can be distinguished on stylistic grounds. The first, who was responsible for the initial work at the western end, favoured conventional Romanesque capitals and moulding profiles with rich and individualised detailing. His successor, who completed the western facade and upper storeys of the narthex, before going on to build the new choir, displayed a more restrained approach to decorative effects, relying on a simple repertoire of motifs, which may have proved more suitable for the lighter Gothic style that he helped to create.


title: Basilica of Saint-Denis

text: The Portal of Valois was the last of the Gothic structures planned by Suger. It was designed for the original building, but was not yet begun when Suger died in 1151. In the 13th century it was moved to the end of the new transept on the north side of the church. The sculpture of the portal includes six standing figures in the embracements and thirty figures in the voussures, or arches, over the doorway, which probably represent the Kings of the Old Testament. The scene in the Tympanum over the doorway depicts the martyrdom of Saint Denis. In their realism and finesse, they were a landmark in Gothic sculpture.


title: Basilica of Saint-Denis

text: The new structure was finished and dedicated on 11 June 1144, in the presence of the King. The Abbey of St Denis thus became the prototype for further building in the royal domain of northern France. Through the rule of the Angevin dynasty, the style was introduced to England and spread throughout France, the Low Countries, Germany, Spain, northern Italy and Sicily.


title: Basilica of Saint-Denis

text: Suger died in 1151 with the Gothic reconstruction incomplete. In 1231, Abbot Odo Clement began work on the rebuilding of the Carolingian nave, which remained sandwiched incongruously between Suger's Gothic works to the east and west. Both the nave and the upper parts of Suger's choir were replaced in the Rayonnant Gothic style. From the start it appears that Abbot Odo, with the approval of the Regent Blanche of Castile and her son, the young King Louis IX, planned for the new nave and its large crossing to have a much clearer focus as the French 'royal necropolis', or burial place. That plan was fulfilled in 1264 under Abbot Matthew of Vendôme when the bones of 16 former kings and queens were relocated to new tombs arranged around the crossing, eight Carolingian monarchs to the south and eight Capetians to the north. These tombs, featuring lifelike carved recumbent effigies or "gisants" lying on raised bases, were badly damaged during the French revolution though all but two were subsequently restored by Viollet le Duc in 1860.


title: Basilica of Saint-Denis

text: The dark Romanesque nave, with its thick walls and small window-openings, was rebuilt using the very latest techniques, in what is now known as Rayonnant Gothic. This new style, which differed from Suger's earlier works as much as they had differed from their Romanesque precursors, reduced the wall area to an absolute minimum. Solid masonry was replaced with vast window openings filled with brilliant stained glass (all destroyed in the Revolution) and interrupted only by the most slender of bar tracery—not only in the clerestory but also, perhaps for the first time, in the normally dark triforium level. The upper facades of the two much-enlarged transepts were filled with two spectacular 12m-wide rose windows.


title: Basilica of Saint-Denis

text: As with Suger's earlier rebuilding work, the identity of the architect or master mason remains unknown. Although often attributed to Pierre de Montreuil, the only evidence for his involvement is an unrelated document of 1247 which refers to him as 'a mason from Saint-Denis'.