title: 2012 United States Senate elections

text: Brown did better than polls right before the election suggested. Instead of winning by two points (which polls right before the election had suggested) Brown won by six points. Republicans could not come back from the huge margins for the Democrats of Cuyahoga County, Franklin County, Lucas County, and Hamilton County.


title: 2012 United States Senate elections

text: Incumbent Democrat Bob Casey, Jr. won re-election to a second term, defeating Republican nominee Tom Smith, and Libertarian nominee Rayburn Smith.


title: 2012 United States Senate elections

text: The primary elections occurred on April 24, 2012, during which the Republicans and Democrats selected nominees for the general election. The Republican primary was a five-way contest. Tom Smith, the eventual nominee, faced David A. Christian, Sam Rohrer, Marc Scaringi, and Steve Welch. The Democratic primary was not heavily contested. Incumbent Bob Casey, Jr., defeated Joseph Vodvarka by a wide margin. The Libertarian Party nominated Rayburn Smith.


title: 2012 United States Senate elections

text: Casey led most pre-election polls and eventually defeated his opponents to win re-election to a second term in the U.S. Senate. In so doing, Casey became the first Democratic senator from Pennsylvania elected to a second term in 50 years.


title: 2012 United States Senate elections

text: Pennsylvania was considered a battleground state; since the 1970 election of Governor Milton Shapp, partisan control of the governorship had alternated between Democratic and Republican. Additionally, Republicans had controlled the State Senate since 1995, while Democrats assumed control of the State House following the 2006 election, only to lose control in the 2010 election, though the Democrats had won the state in every presidential election from 1992 to 2012.


title: 2012 United States Senate elections

text: Despite many predictions of a close race, the election was not close. Casey, the incumbent, despite being seen as somewhat vulnerable, went into election night with most analysts thinking he would win. Casey would win by more than expected. This can be traced to several factors. Casey trounced Smith in Philadelphia County home of Philadelphia. Casey also won the surrounding collar counties of, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery, which are seen as vital in statewide elections in Pennsylvania. Casey also performed well in Allegheny County home of Pittsburgh. Casey also performed well in Erie. Casey also performed strongly in the Scranton area. Smith did well in rural counties, but it wasn't enough to overcome the lead Casey had built in the huge population centers. Casey was sworn in for his second term beginning at noon on January 3, 2013.


title: 2012 United States Senate elections

text: Incumbent Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse was re-elected to a second term in a landslide by a 30% margin of 65% – 35%. Whitehouse won 53.52% of the vote in 2006.


title: 2012 United States Senate elections

text: Incumbent Republican Bob Corker won a second term. Corker easily won the Republican primary with 85% of the vote. He faced Democratic Party nominee Mark E. Clayton as well as several third-party candidates and several independents.


title: 2012 United States Senate elections

text: Clayton won the Democratic nomination with 30% of the vote, despite raising no money and having a website that was four years out of date. The next day Tennessee's Democratic Party disavowed the candidate over his active role in the Public Advocate of the United States, which they described as a "known hate group". They blamed his victory among candidates for whom the TNDP provided little forums to become known on the fact that his name appeared first on the ballot, and said they would do nothing to help his campaign, urging Democrats to vote for "the write-in candidate of their choice" in November. One of the Democratic candidates, Larry Crim, filed a petition seeking to offer the voters a new primary in which to select a Democratic Nominee among the remaining candidates the party had affirmed as bona fide and as a preliminary motion sought a temporary restraining order against certification of the results, but after a judge denied the temporary order Crim withdrew his petition


title: 2012 United States Senate elections

text: Incumbent Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison retired instead of running for re-election to a fourth full term. Libertarian John Jay Myers was elected by nomination at the Texas Libertarian Party State Convention on June 8, 2012. After the first round of primary on May 29, 2012, a runoff was held July 31, 2012, for both the Democratic and Republican parties, with Paul Sadler and Ted Cruz winning, respectively. Cruz won the open seat.


title: 2012 United States Senate elections

text: Incumbent Republican Orrin Hatch won re-election to a seventh term against former state senator and IBM executive, Scott Howell the Democratic candidate.


title: 2012 United States Senate elections

text: In 2006, incumbent Orrin Hatch won re-election to a sixth term. In 2008, Jason Chaffetz defeated the incumbent Republican U.S. Representative, Chris Cannon, in the 2008 primary for Utah's 3rd congressional district. In 2010, Mike Lee defeated Bob Bennett in the 2010 Utah Senate election. In March 2011, just-elected U.S. senator Mike Lee said he will not endorse Hatch in the primary. In May 2011, Chaffetz told several Utah political insiders that he planned to run, but he would not make an official decision until after Labor Day of 2011.


title: 2012 United States Senate elections

text: In June 2011, prominent conservative radio talk show host Mark Levin endorsed Hatch. The fiscally conservative 501(c)4 organization Club for Growth encouraged Chaffetz to run. The group cited Hatch's support for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, State Children's Health Insurance Program, No Child Left Behind Act, Bridge to Nowhere, and other votes among the reasons why they opposed his re-election. In an interview with "Politico", Chaffetz stated, "After 34 years of service, I think most Utahans want a change. They want to thank him for his service, but it's time to move on. And for me personally, I think he's been on the wrong side of a host of major issues." The congressman cited Hatch's vote in favor of Equal Opportunity to Serve Act and the Health Equity and Access Reform Today Act of 1993. However, Chaffetz ultimately decided against a run.


title: 2012 United States Senate elections

text: Incumbent Independent Bernie Sanders won re-election to a second term in a landslide, capturing nearly three-quarters of the vote. Sanders also received the nomination of the Vermont Progressive Party, but declined both the Democratic and Progressive nominations after the primary.


title: 2012 United States Senate elections

text: Incumbent Democrat Jim Webb retired instead of running for re-election to a second term. Former Governor of Virginia Tim Kaine was unopposed for the Democratic nomination and the Republican party nominated former senator and Governor George Allen through a primary on June 12, 2012. Kaine won the open seat.


title: 2012 United States Senate elections

text: Once Democrat Jim Webb retired, many Democratic candidates were speculated. These included U.S. Congressmen Rick Boucher, Gerry Connolly, Glenn Nye, Tom Perriello and Bobby Scott. However, they all declined and encouraged Kaine to run for the seat, believing he would be by far the most electable candidate. Courtney Lynch, former Marine Corps Officer and Fairfax business consultant and Julien Modica, former CEO of the Brain Trauma Recovery & Policy Institute, eventually withdrew from the election, allowing Kaine to be unopposed in the Democratic primary.


title: 2012 United States Senate elections

text: Robert Byrd held this seat in the U.S. Senate since 1959, after having served in the House of Representatives since 1953, making him the longest-serving person in Congress. Byrd led his party in the Senate from 1977 to 1989, as Majority Leader or Minority Leader. Afterward, as the most senior Democrat in the Senate, he served as President pro tempore of the Senate whenever his party was in the majority, including at the time of his death. After Byrd's death, West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant initially announced that a special election would be held the same day as the regular election for the six-year term. However, that special election was rescheduled to 2010 for it to coincide with the 2010 mid-term elections. Governor Joe Manchin made a temporary appointment of Carte Goodwin to the vacant seat. Goodwin was later replaced by Manchin who won the 2010 special election.


title: 2012 United States Senate elections

text: Raese filed a rematch against Manchin, arguing that he now had more material to criticize Manchin for. One example is how Manchin lost his long-time endorsement from "West Virginians for Life" because of his vote against defunding Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider. Another example is how he is undecided about whether or not to support Obama's re-election campaign. Senior Obama campaign advisor David Axelrod commented in response, "His concern is about his own political well-being." In addition, he voted against U.S. Congressman Paul Ryan's Republican budget.


title: 2012 United States Senate elections

text: Raese wrote an op-ed in the Charleston Gazette saying about Manchin, "Yes, he'll talk like a conservative and act like he's fiscally responsible to appeal to more moderate voters, but under that outward appearance of a lovable rube is the heart of a tax-and-spend liberal."


title: 2012 United States Senate elections

text: Raese continued to make controversial statements. In April 2012, he equated smoking bans with Adolf Hitler's yellow badge. He said "in Monongalia County now, I have to put a huge sticker on my buildings to say this is a smoke-free environment. This is brought to you by the government of Monongalia County. Okay? Remember Hitler used to put Star of David on everybody's lapel, remember that? Same thing." That same day, he referred to President Franklin D. Roosevelt as "Fidel Roosevelt." Raese didn't apologize for his statements on Hitler saying "I am not going to be intimidated by a bunch of bullshit. I'm not apologizing to anybody or any organization. It's my perfect right to make a speech about meaningful subject matters in this country." He also called rocker Ted Nugent a "patriot" for criticizing President Barack Obama.


title: 2012 United States Senate elections

text: Incumbent Democrat Herb Kohl retired instead of running for re-election to a fifth term. Democratic Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district ran unopposed for her party's nomination. The Republican nominee was former Governor of Wisconsin and former Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson, who won with a plurality in a four-way race. In the general election, Baldwin defeated Thompson and won the open seat. She became the first woman elected to represent Wisconsin in the Senate and the first openly gay U.S. senator in history. This is also the first time Thompson lost a statewide race.


title: 2012 United States Senate elections

text: Republican state senator John Barrasso was appointed to the U.S. Senate on June 22, 2007, by then-governor Dave Freudenthal after U.S. senator Craig Thomas died on June 4, 2007. John Barrasso defeated Nick Carter with 73.4% of the vote in the 2008 special U.S. senatorial election to serve the remainder of the senatorial term. Barrasso remained highly popular in the state with 69% of voters approving of him.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: Hollywood Squares (originally The Hollywood Squares) is an American game show in which two contestants compete in a game of tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The show piloted on NBC in 1965 and the regular series debuted in 1966 on the same network. The board for the game is a 3 × 3 vertical stack of open-faced cubes, each occupied by a celebrity seated at a desk and facing the contestants. The stars are asked questions by the host and the contestants judge the truth of their answers to gain squares in the right pattern to win the game.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: Though "Hollywood Squares" was a legitimate game show, the game largely acted as the background for the show's comedy in the form of joke answers (commonly called "zingers" by the production staff), often given by the stars prior to their real answer. The show's writers usually supplied the jokes. In addition, the stars were given the questions' subjects and bluff (plausible, but incorrect) answers prior to the show. The show was scripted in this sense, but the gameplay was not. In any case, as original host Peter Marshall explained at the beginning of the Secret Square game, the celebrities were briefed prior to the show to help them with bluff answers, but they heard the actual questions for the first time as they were asked on air.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: Marshall hosted the original version of "Hollywood Squares" that aired on NBC from 1966 to 1980, as well as a nighttime syndicated version that ran from 1971 to 1981. It then returned to NBC in 1983 as part of a 60-minute hybrid series with "Match Game", featuring Jon Bauman hosting the "Hollywood Squares" portion of that show. Following Marshall's retirement, the show has since been revived twice in syndication: a version hosted by John Davidson from 1986 to 1989, and another hosted by Tom Bergeron from 1998 to 2004.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: In 2013, "TV Guide" ranked it at No. 7 in its list of the 60 greatest game shows ever. Internationally, there have been multiple versions produced under a variety of names (see International versions below).


title: Hollywood Squares

text: Though there have been variations over the years in the rules of and the prizes in the game, certain aspects of the game have remained fairly consistent. Two contestants competed in every match, one playing X and the other O. With rare exceptions, the matches were male vs. female with the male playing the X position and referred to informally as Mr. X, with the female playing the O position and referred to informally as Ms. Circle. One of the contestants was usually a returning champion.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: Taking turns, each contestant selected a square. The star in that square was asked a question and gave an answer, which was usually preceded by a zinger. The contestants had the choice of agreeing with the star's answer or disagreeing if they thought the star was bluffing. On rare occasions, a star did not know the correct answer to a question and was unable to come up with a plausible bluff. In such instances, the contestant was offered the chance to answer the question and earned or lost the square based on how they answered. Usually the contestants declined, in which case they incurred no penalty, and the same star was asked another question for that contestant to agree or disagree.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: The objective was to complete a line across, vertically, or diagonally or to score as many squares as possible, as contestants could also win by capturing five squares (early in the Marshall run, a player was required to get enough squares to make it mathematically impossible for the opponent to get three in a row; it is possible to capture as many as six squares without blocking the opponent from getting a diagonal three in a row, which did occur in an early episode). Correctly agreeing or disagreeing with a star's answer captured the square. If the contestant failed to agree or disagree correctly, the square went to his/her opponent, unless the square resulted in the opponent winning by default, which was not allowed; in that case, the square remained unclaimed and the opponent got a chance to earn it themselves.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: Bert Parks hosted the 1965 pilot of "Hollywood Squares," which was taped at CBS Television City. A second pilot was taped with comedian Sandy Baron as host. Neither Parks nor Baron were considered to host the series, partly because NBC was “looking for a complete non-entity”, and partly because Baron was considered “too New Yorky”. NBC acquired the rights to the show, which debuted on October 17, 1966, with Peter Marshall as host, a job he held for 15 years. Marshall agreed to host because he did not want rival Dan Rowan to host. "Hollywood Squares" was the final addition to a short-lived game show powerhouse block on NBC, which for the next two years also included "Concentration", "Jeopardy!", "You Don't Say!", "Let's Make a Deal", "Match Game" and others. During most of its daytime run, NBC broadcast "The Hollywood Squares" at 11:30 a.m. Eastern/10:30 a.m. Central; it dominated the ratings until 1976, when it made the first of several time slot moves. The daytime show aired its 3,536th and last episode on June 20, 1980.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: The show also ran at night, first on NBC from January 12 to September 13, 1968, as a mid-season replacement for the short-lived sitcom "Accidental Family". A nighttime syndicated program ran from November 1, 1971, until May 22, 1981. Initially airing once weekly, the syndicated "Squares" added a second airing in 1972 and began airing daily or nightly in September 1980, the show's final season.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: The daytime series was played as a best two-out-of-three match between a returning champion and an opponent, with each individual game worth $200/$400 per match (originally $100 for each game and an additional $300 for the match that totaled $500). Originally, a five-match champion retired with an additional $2,500, the Secret Square prize package (if not yet won) and a new car; the cash bonus was increased through the years. By 1976, the prize for a five-day champion included additional cash ($5,000 or $10,000), two new cars and a luxury vacation, with a total value of somewhere between $20,000 and $25,000. In September 1976, an endgame was added after each match with the champion simply selecting a star, each of whom held an envelope with a prize; the top prize was $5,000, with additional prizes ranging from small kitchen appliances to items worth up to about $2,000.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: The nighttime versions featured the same two contestants playing for the entire half-hour with each completed game worth $300 (NBC prime time) or $250 (syndicated). On the syndicated version, if time ran out with a game still in progress (interrupted by a loud horn that the host called "the tacky buzzer"), each X or O on the board at that point was worth an additional $50 to the contestants, with each contestant guaranteed at least $100 in total winnings. The contestant with the most money at the end of the show won a bonus prize, which for the first seven years of the syndicated series was a car. From 1978 to 1980, the endgame described above was used with each prize worth at least $5,000 including a new car; cash prizes of $5,000 and $10,000 were also available. If the match ended in a tie, one final question was played with the star of one contestant's choosing; if the contestant agreed or disagreed correctly, he/she won the match; otherwise, the match went to the opponent. The nighttime syndicated version's episodes were self-contained, unlike the daytime version where games could straddle.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: For the final (1980–1981) season, the syndicated series left NBC's Burbank, California studio and moved to the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. During the final season, games were no longer scored. Instead, the winner of each game won a prize, and if time ran out before a game could be completed, the prize went to the player with the most squares on the board. Additionally, the season's eight highest-winning contestants were invited back to play in a Grand Championship tournament at the end of the season. The final $100,000 Grand Championship Tournament was played in 1980 and won by Eric Lloyd Scott of Denver, Colorado. Prizes that year included a Geodesic Dome Home from Domes America, a Botany 500 wardrobe, a 50-day cruise on Delta Line Cruises, the first Apple II computer system, the original Sony Betamax, a camper trailer, a motorhome and $20,000 in cash.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: Many celebrities became recognized as regulars on the show. Some regulars were frequently asked questions pertaining to a certain topic or category. For instance, Cliff Arquette (in character as "Charley Weaver"), a history buff, excelled at American history questions; Rich Little almost always received questions about other celebrities, which gave him an opportunity to do an impression of that individual; Wally Cox was also given a lot of celebrity questions for which he usually gave the wrong answer; Roddy McDowall usually gave correct answers about the plays of Shakespeare; Rose Marie often received questions on dating and relationships, playing off her lovelorn comic persona; and Demond Wilson often responded with mock anger to questions that were carefully worded to play upon African-American stereotypes.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: Other regulars and semi-regulars over the years included Nanette Fabray, Kaye Ballard, Morey Amsterdam, Florence Henderson, Buddy Hackett, Marty Allen, Wayland Flowers and Madame, Barbara Eden, George Gobel, Vincent Price, Weird Al Yankovic, Charo, Sandy Duncan, Carol Wayne, Jonathan Winters, Foster Brooks, The Lennon Sisters, Garrett Morris, Karen Valentine, John Davidson and Joan Rivers.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: Paul Lynde was featured in the tactically important center square throughout most of the show's original run. In 1968, after two years on the show, Lynde became the regular center square. Lynde's outrageous jokes earned him three daytime Emmy Award nominations in 1972, 1973 and 1974. He left the series after taping the August 20–24, 1979, week of shows and was replaced by Wayland Flowers; Lynde returned when the series relocated to Las Vegas for the 1980–1981 season.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: The Secret Square game is played as the first game on a given broadcast (or the first complete game, if a show began with a game already in progress) during the daytime series. In this game, a randomly selected Secret Square is shown only to the home audience by the shot of the television camera. A contestant who picked that square during the game won a bonus prize package if they correctly agreed or disagreed with the star. Secret Square prize packages added cash on the daytime edition, which started at around $1,000 for the 1966 episodes; the base amount increased in the later years from 1967 to 1980, by which time a new Secret Square package was worth around $3,500 to $4,500. The package grew daily until won. The question for the star was sealed in a special envelope and was almost always multiple choice.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: For the 1968 NBC primetime series, the first two games are the Secret Square games. One Secret Square offered a trip and the other Secret Square offered a car or occasionally a boat. If not won, the prize offered in the first round carried over to the second round, with a second prize added. If not won in the second round, the Secret Square prize package went unclaimed.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: During the first two seasons of the syndicated series (1971–1973), the first two games were Secret Square games, with the prize packages generally worth about $2,500. If no one claimed the prizes offered in the first round, they were carried over to the second round, and if still not won went unclaimed. Beginning in 1973 and ending in 1978, the first three games had a Secret Square, with each game offering different prize packages, usually worth between $2,000 and $7,000. From 1978 to 1980, the Secret Square games were cut to game numbers two and three (the first two games early on). The Secret Square was not used during the 1980–1981 daily syndicated version.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: Hosted by Peter Marshall and announced by Kenny Williams, "Storybook Squares", a children's version of "Hollywood Squares", aired briefly on Saturday mornings on NBC from January 4 to August 30, 1969 and featured stars dressed as various fictional characters from television and fairy tales as well as historical figures from the past. NBC later brought the concept back to the daytime series in the 1976–1977 season with a slight retooling, where instead of children playing entire families played.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: In an interview with E!'s "True Hollywood Story" on March 30, 2003 (episode 7.21), Marshall lauded the concept, but lamented that by the time each of the characters was introduced, very little of the show's half-hour format was left for actual gameplay.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: In 1983, several years after Orion Pictures acquired "Hollywood Squares" rights owner Filmways, NBC decided to attempt a revival of the series. What resulted was an effort produced by Mark Goodson Productions that combined the "Hollywood Squares" program, under license from Orion, with a revival of the Goodson-produced "Match Game". The 60-minute program was dubbed "The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour" and debuted on October 31, 1983 at 3 PM Eastern, replacing the Peter Marshall-hosted series "Fantasy". Jon Bauman (appearing as himself without his "Bowzer" persona from "Sha Na Na") hosted the "Hollywood Squares" portion of the show. The only regular panelist on this version was Gene Rayburn, who reprised his role as host of "Match Game"; he always occupied the lower left square during "Hollywood Squares", which Bauman also occupied during "Match Game" segments. Most of the semi-regulars were previously better known for "Match Game" (only on two weeks of episodes did a regular from the previous "Hollywood Squares", George Gobel, appear on the panel). The announcer for this version was Gene Wood but was also sub-announced by either Rich Jefferies or Johnny Olson.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: "Hollywood Squares" was always played as the second (middle) segment of the show, and featured the winner of the "Match Game" match played in the first half of the program facing off with the show's returning champion. This version of "Hollywood Squares" saw several different variations on the gameplay. First, the panelists were not given bluff answers or briefed. Second, the questions followed either a multiple-choice or true/false format. Third, for each square a contestant claimed $25 was added to his/her score with each game win starting at $100 for the first and increasing by that amount for subsequent games until time ran out and a winner was declared. In contrast to the original version of the show, players could win games by default if the opposing player incorrectly agreed/disagreed with a celebrity whose square gave the other player a completed row or five-square win. On all other versions of "Squares", the player had to earn the winning celebrity's square on their own. The winner played the Super Match from "Match Game" for a cash prize.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: The "Match Game" segment featured six panelists, as it had from 1973 to 1982; for the "Hollywood Squares" portion, a third tier was added to the panel seating area, with three more celebrities being introduced to the proceedings at the show's midpoint. All nine celebrities could play the Super Match.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: "The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour" was not a success and NBC announced its cancellation in the spring of 1984, with the final episode airing on July 27, 1984. It was replaced the following Monday with the soap opera "Santa Barbara", which ran for nine years.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: Two years after the cancellation of "The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour", a new "Hollywood Squares" series was put into production. Referred to throughout its run as "The New Hollywood Squares", the program debuted on September 15, 1986 and was produced by Century Towers Productions with Rick Rosner serving as executive producer, Ernie De Massa as producer, Paul Ruffino as Location Manager for remote productions, and Orion Television as distributor (Century Towers was a subdivision of Orion formed to produce game shows, specifically this series and the 1987–88 syndicated revival of "High Rollers"; the name was in reference to the street that Orion was headquartered at the time).


title: Hollywood Squares

text: John Davidson, who was a semi-regular panelist on the original "Hollywood Squares", hosted the series. Shadoe Stevens was the announcer for the series and, beginning late in the first season, he also became a regular panelist occupying the bottom center square. Starting with episode #100, Stevens temporary left the show to film the movie "Traxx", and his brother Richard took over as announcer; Stevens returned for the final two weeks of the first season and remained until the series' end. After one season of rotating center squares, former "Hollywood Squares" panelist Joan Rivers joined the series as the permanent center square. Comic actor Jim J. Bullock also became the series' third regular panelist, usually in the upper-left square. All three took turns as guest hosts for Davidson; Howard Stern replaced Stevens as announcer/panelist during his week as host. All music for the program was composed by Stormy Sacks.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: The game used the original version's rule that games could not be won due to an opponent's error. For the first season, each game was worth $500 with a bonus of $100 per square if time ran out in the middle of a game. Beginning in season two, the third and subsequent games were worth $1,000 (or $200 per square). If time had run out with the contestants tied, one more question was asked to one celebrity; if the contestant agreed or disagreed correctly, they won the money for one square and the match. If not, their opponent automatically won. The single-question format was also used on occasions where there was not enough time remaining for a proper third round. The contestant who finished with the most money won the match and went on to the bonus round. Contestants wore name tags on all episodes of this version except for the premiere.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: This version lasted three seasons, ending on June 16, 1989. At the end of the final episode, a video clip from the first week of shows was run, introducing the celebrities who had appeared that week. Davidson, the panelists, the audience, and the crew then sang "Happy Trails" under the credits, with the crew members sitting in the squares and holding up signs that displayed their names and titles. The song continued under a montage of audio clips from the show's run as everyone faded away and the lights gradually went out, leaving only the squares illuminated, and the credits sequence ended on a freeze frame of balloons being showered onto the stage.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: The second game of each show was a Secret Square game. As with the original version, the Secret Square was revealed to the home audience at the start of this game; if a contestant chose that square, a school bell sounded and if the contestant agreed or disagreed correctly, he/she won a prize (usually a trip). The prize did not increase in value from one show to the next if it was not collected.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: The first two seasons of this version of the series employed a bonus round that was similar to the one used on the 1970s game show "Split Second". Five cars, each of the same brand/make, were displayed on the stage for the entire week. The champion chose one of five keys and then chose the car they thought the key would start. The contestant also chose at least one celebrity to stand beside the car or sit in it with them for good luck; at times the entire panel congregated near the car, especially on Friday shows or when a champion reached a fifth win and automatically retired with the car.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: If the chosen key started the car, the contestant won it and retired; otherwise, the contestant returned the next day with that car eliminated should he or she return to the bonus game. After a fifth victory, the contestant automatically won the only car still in play at that point and retired. Every broadcast week started with a new set of five cars; if a champion's reign carried over from the preceding week, one car was eliminated for each of his/her victories to that point, in ascending order of price.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: For the final season, the champion first chose a car, then one of the nine celebrities. Each held a key; five of them had the correct keys, while the other four had keys that would not start any car. If the champion failed to win the chosen car, it remained available after subsequent victories instead of being eliminated. The five-day limit was removed, allowing champions to remain on this show until they either won a car or were defeated.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: In 1991, King World Productions acquired the rights to the entire worldwide "Hollywood Squares" format from Orion Pictures Corporation as that company was going through its bankruptcy phase. King World only acquired format rights and owns copyrights for episodes produced since 1998; Orion retained copyrights to pre-1991 episodes. Six years later, King World decided to bring the series back to television and a revival was put in the works. Whoopi Goldberg was brought in to be the executive producer, and John Moffitt and Pat Tourk Lee were hired as producers. Goldberg's One Ho Productions and Moffitt-Lee Productions joined Columbia TriStar Television as co-production companies with King World, who handled distribution by themselves. This differed from the other two King World/Columbia TriStar collaborations on television at the time, "Jeopardy!" and "Wheel of Fortune", as King World had no role in the production of those two series.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: On September 14, 1998, the revival debuted with Tom Bergeron as its host; former Nickelodeon host Marc Summers was also considered. In addition to her production duties, Whoopi Goldberg served as the permanent center square, with series head writer Bruce Vilanch, Gilbert Gottfried, Martin Mull and Caroline Rhea as regular panelists and Brad Garrett, Bobcat Goldthwait, Jeffrey Tambor, George Wallace, Kathy Griffin and various others as semi-regular panelists. Shadoe Stevens returned as announcer but unlike the previous series, he was not a panelist on this version.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: Following the 2001–2002 season, Goldberg left the series and Moffitt and Lee were fired. Vilanch also left his writing position and Rhea moved to New York to host "The Caroline Rhea Show", a daytime variety series launched to replace "The Rosie O'Donnell Show"; O'Donnell had decided to leave her namesake show before the end of the 2001–02 season and Rhea, who was chosen by O'Donnell to be her replacement, served as guest host for most of the last season. Stevens also left his role as announcer.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: The 2002–2003 season launched with Henry Winkler and his production partner Michael Levitt as the new executive producers and Jeffrey Tambor as the announcer (in addition to retaining his semi-regular appearance). Winkler guest announced for several weeks during the season. Some changes were made to the overall production with the show adopting a new logo that referred to the show as "H2". The set was given a makeover where the contestant desks were replaced with podiums with LED screens inside and a rewritten version of the Teena Marie song "Square Biz" became the theme song.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: After Goldberg's departure, at first the show did not feature a traditional permanent center square. Instead, a new celebrity was in the center square each week. Ellen DeGeneres, Alec Baldwin and Simon Cowell were among those who played center square as was Peter Marshall, who appeared during a special theme week in 2002. Martin Mull was eventually chosen as the permanent center square for the 2003-04 season (though some guests continued to appear as centre square during a few occasional weeks of the season).


title: Hollywood Squares

text: For most of the first five seasons of this "Hollywood Squares" series, the first and second games were worth $1,000 to the winner. The third game was worth $2,000, and every subsequent game until time ran out was worth $4,000. If a contestant did not win anything in the main game, $500 was given to them as a consolation prize. In the early episodes of the first season, contestants only played for half the money; $500 was won for each of the first two games, with $1,000 for the third and $2,000 for all subsequent games and $250 was given as a consolation prize for failing to win a game. The consolation prize amount also was used for each contestant's square in the event that time ran out during a game, and was counted towards their cash total to determine the day's champion.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: The tiebreaker was the same as the previous versions except that the contestant who has won the most games, most squares overall or won the last game played (whichever came first) had the option to play the question or pass it to his/her opponent, with a miss by either contestant giving their opponent the win by default.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: For the first season of this "Hollywood Squares" series, two new contestants competed on each episode. A coin toss determined who would begin the first game during this time. Beginning in the second season, the returning champion rule was reinstated; a contestant could stay on for a maximum of five days. With this change, the incoming challenger began the first game of a match.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: The first season also saw up to two Secret Square games. In the earliest episodes of the series, two Secret Square games were played on each show with a different prize offered for each game. The Secret Square was played in both the second and third games of the day, but after two weeks the Secret Square prize only carried over to the third game if neither contestant had claimed in it the second game. From the second season forward, the Secret Square was only played in the second game.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: Beginning in the second season and continuing until the end of the fifth season, the Secret Square game was played for an accumulating jackpot of prizes that Bergeron referred to as the "Secret Square stash". A new prize was added to the jackpot each day until someone claimed it.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: Originally, the show used the same "pick a star, win a prize" format the Marshall version had used during its last few years on the air. Each of the nine squares hid a different prize, with $10,000 cash ($15,000 in season 3) and a car being the two most expensive. The day's winner simply picked the celebrity they wanted, and won whatever prize was in an envelope that star was holding. As noted by Bergeron at the start of the bonus round each episode, the prizes totaled over $100,000.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: Beginning partway through the first season and continuing until partway through season four, the champion could only win the prize by correctly agreeing/disagreeing with the response that the chosen celebrity gave to a Secret Square-style question. A champion who failed to do was awarded a consolation prize of $2,500 cash in the first season; this award was dropped once returning champions were reinstated in the second season. However, during theme weeks in which contestants only played once, the $2,500 was given for a miss.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: Beginning approximately two months into season four and continuing until the end of that season in June 2002, "Hollywood Squares" instituted a new high-stakes round in response to the recent trend of quiz shows offering big cash prizes.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: The champion faced a general knowledge trivia round with their choice of any of the nine celebrities. Again, each of the celebrities held envelopes with varying dollar amounts hidden inside, ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 (increments of $500). If the champion picked a square that contained more than one person, the champion selected only one person from that square. The champion was given 60 seconds to answer as many questions as possible and was allowed to consult their celebrity partner for help; however, only the champion's answers were accepted. Each correct answer was worth the amount in the envelope, which was revealed at the start of the round.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: At the end of the 60 seconds, the champion was given a choice to either quit with the money earned in the round or attempt to go double-or-nothing on an open-ended final question, with the category given to the contestant before he/she made the decision to play on.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: As part of the overhaul done for the fifth season of "Hollywood Squares", a new bonus round was conceived. Taking a cue from the 1980s syndicated series, the round involved contestants using keys to try to win prizes.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: To start the round, a 30-second speed round was played. One at a time, the champion chose a celebrity and Bergeron would read a statement about them. The champion had to either agree or disagree with the statement.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: Once the 30 seconds were up, Bergeron and the champion moved from the contestant area to the stage floor where the day's prize awaited. For each correct answer the champion gave in the speed round, one key was blacked out on a grid of nine. After the speed round, the champion chose one from the remaining keys. If the key performed the desired action, the champion won the prize.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: If the champion did not win the prize on a particular show, he/she received $1,000 (originally $500) for each correct answer given during the speed round as a consolation. For each subsequent attempt at winning the prize, one additional key was blacked out at the outset of the round.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: Once the champion won a prize, a new prize would be available for him/her to try for if he/she returned to the bonus round the next day. The procedure for each new prize was the same.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: On occasion, a gift certificate to an upscale merchant was placed inside the safe instead of the designated cash prize. This was usually done for special theme weeks or tournaments.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: Also, for theme weeks, each match's winner would have one extra key removed at the start of the round since they would only play once.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: For the sixth and last season of "Hollywood Squares", more changes were made to the series. First, John Moschitta Jr. replaced Jeffrey Tambor as the announcer and Bruce Vilanch returned to the series as an occasional panelist. Second, the game format was scrapped in favor of a return to the two-out-of-three match format last seen on the NBC series in 1980. Each game was worth $1,000 and the first player to win the necessary two games won the match. The Secret Square was still played during the second game but the accumulating jackpot of prizes was discarded in favor of playing for one prize per match, regardless of whether or not the previous match's prize was won. Third, the change in format resulted in the show no longer being self-contained, as matches could and often did straddle episodes.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: The rules, however, were different. All nine keys were in play every time a contestant played the bonus round regardless of whether he/she had won the prize in the previous round or not. Each correct answer in the first half of the round was only worth $500 if the prize was not won.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: Theme weeks used the game format from the first five seasons, with each match played to time and the bonus round serving as the final segment. The winners of these matches played the bonus round for $10,000 cash or a car, and had one key eliminated at the outset before eliminating any additional keys.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: "Hip Hop Squares" aired on MTV2 from May 22 until December 18, 2012 hosted by Peter Rosenberg while the announcer was DJ Ms. Nix (a.k.a. Nicole Lyn), then returned five years later on VH1 hosted by DeRay Davis (who was previously a panelist in the original MTV2 version) while the announcer was executive producer Ice Cube from May 13, 2017 until September 17, 2019. While the MTV2 version played much like the original, the VH1 version featured celebrities as contestants playing for a member of the studio audience.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: From June 23–24, 2014 as part of an event called "FestivAll"; a one-off limited live stage version dubbed "The West Virginia Squares" streamed on local television station WVPB's official YouTube channel and on wvpublic.org in West Virginia only. Hosted by original "Hollywood Squares" host (and local native) Peter Marshall reprising his role while the announcer was Bob Brunner. The trivia questions were mainly focused on the music and history of its state, for only four episodes were taped at the Clay Center. The celebrities that were seen in this version were: Larry Groce, Landau Eugene Murphy Jr., Bil Lepp, Donnie Davidson, Charlie McCoy, Autumn Blair, Joyce DeWitt, Charisse Hailsop, Danny Jones, Steve Bishop, Billy Edd Wheeler and Michael Cerveris. DeWitt was also a panelist on the original version and (like Marshall) was a West Virginia native. No bonus round was played.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: A country music themed version called "Nashville Squares" hosted by Bob Saget aired on CMT from November 1 until November 29, 2019. Similarly to "Hip Hop Squares" (2017 version), celebrities played for a member of the studio audience.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: In 2021, The Hollywood Museum announced a limited run revival of the series as a fundraiser for the organization. Dubbed "Hollywood Museum Squares", each episode is introduced by Marshall and announced by Shadoe Stevens and Harvey (One Episode), with Davidson, Bergeron, Vilanch, Pat Finn and Marc Summers each hosting one of the episodes. The panelists for the game included Loni Anderson, Alison Arngrim, Rico E. Anderson, Gilbert Gottfried, Rich Little, Glenn Scarpelli, Jerry Mathers, Donna Mills, Judy Tenuta and Lindsay Wagner, among others.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: All participants appeared via videoconferencing over a 3D computer simulation of the 1986-89 set designed by Dustin James.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: Writers included Louis Virtel from Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Jason Antoniewicz, a writer from Match Game, College Bowl and Tug of Words, to name a few.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: The programs were directed by Steve Grant and Bob Loudin who directed many television programs including the Davidson Squares.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: The Indonesian version of the show aired at NET. in 2015 and was produced or licensed by FremantleMedia (now Fremantle).


title: Hollywood Squares

text: Watkins-Strathmore produced the first two home versions of the show in 1967. Both versions featured a game board that allowed for writing in the celebrities' names under each square (using crayon, soft lead pencil or a similar wipe-off medium). Each version included four decks of 45 question cards, one of which was marked with asterisks as the "Secret Square" question, which earned the player an extra $100 if answered correctly. Rules allowed for a 3-game match to be played, with $200 awarded for each game (just as the daytime rules specified).


title: Hollywood Squares

text: Ideal issued a version of the game in 1974 with a picture of Peter Marshall on the box. Marshall was the original host of the television version throughout its entire first run. This was the first of the adaptations to feature humorous names for the celebrities. A similar board game based on the UK version under the title "Celebrity Squares" was released by Buckingham Toys five years later in 1979 with a picture of host Bob Monkhouse on the cover. It did not specify a "Secret Square" rule. Matches were best two-out-of-three with no money awards specified.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: Also in 1974, Event Records released a compilation album entitled "Zingers from The Hollywood Squares" (along with two companion books) on vinyl LP and cassette, containing the audio of what were considered to be some of the show's funniest moments. A CD of the album was included in Peter Marshall's 2002 book "Backstage with the Original Hollywood Square".


title: Hollywood Squares

text: Milton Bradley produced two home versions, first in 1980 with a game loosely based on the Marshall version, then in 1986 for the Davidson version, with a 3-D board and twelve "celebrities" to insert into the board. Both versions SPECIFIED that there was no "Secret Square" rule, and like the Ideal version, matches were best two-out-of-three with no money awards specified.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: Parker Brothers released a similar 3-D board/12 celebrity inserts version in 1999, based on the Bergeron version. Early printings did not specify a "Secret Square" rule, but this was later revised so that every question card with a number ending in "5" was a "Secret Square" question worth $1,000 in bonus cash. Games were played until one player/team won $5,000. Alternate rules allowed for timed play (suggesting a 30-minute "as if you were on TV" game), with the player/team ahead once time expired being declared the winner.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: GameTek released a version of "Hollywood Squares" in 1988 for DOS, Commodore 64 and Apple II computers and later for the NES based on the Davidson version. In 1999, Tiger Electronics released an electronic LCD handheld game based on the Bergeron version. In 2002, the official "Hollywood Squares" website had an online version of the show using the celebrities that were on that week. In 2010, Ludia released their version of "Hollywood Squares" for the PC, Wii, iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and on PlayStation 3's PSN downloadable service from November 15, 2011; the games were based upon the 2002–2004 format and featured the voice of host Tom Bergeron and video clips of celebrities Brad Garrett, Kathy Griffin, Jeffrey Tambor and Martin Mull as the center square.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: Of the over 3,000 episodes of the original series, "no one has an exact count" of how many still exist. A substantial number, mostly from the daytime run, may have been destroyed in accordance with NBC policy of the era.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: Game Show Network previously reran a package of 130 episodes from Marshall's hosting run, the majority of which came from the syndication run during the 1970s. At least 13 episodes from the 1968 NBC primetime run are also known to have been part of the Game Show Network rerun package. It was noted at the time that substantially more Marshall episodes than the 130 that GSN aired are believed to exist, but for a number of reasons (including political correctness concerns and personality rights clearance issues) have never been rerun. UCLA has a handful of NBC daytime episodes in their film and television archive.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: The "Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour" episodes exist in their entirety and have been airing on the digital television network Buzzr, which is owned by Fremantle (the successor in interest to Mark Goodson Productions) since 2019.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: The 1986-1989 syndicated series aired as part of USA Network's afternoon game show rerun package from September 11, 1989 to June 25, 1993. This version has not been seen on television since USA stopped airing them.


title: Hollywood Squares

text: The 1998 syndicated series has been rerun on Game Show Network in the past, and every season except one (including the final season) has been carried by the network over the years. Episodes were also rerun on GameTV in Canada.


title: I Can Only Imagine (film)

text: I Can Only Imagine is a 2018 American Christian biographical drama film directed by the Erwin Brothers and written by Alex Cramer, Jon Erwin, and Brent McCorkle, based on the story behind the group MercyMe's song of the same name, the best-selling Christian single of all time. The film stars J. Michael Finley as Bart Millard, the lead singer who wrote the song about his relationship with his father (Dennis Quaid). Madeline Carroll, Trace Adkins, Priscilla Shirer, and Cloris Leachman also star.


title: I Can Only Imagine (film)

text: "I Can Only Imagine" was released in the United States on March 16, 2018. It was a box office success, grossing $86 million worldwide against a production budget of $7 million, earning more than twelve times its budget. It is the fifth highest-grossing music biopic and sixth highest-grossing Christian film of all-time in the United States. Some critics praised it as inspiring and noted it as an improvement compared to other faith-based films, while others called it flat and by-the-numbers. At the 2018 Dove Awards, the film won "Inspirational Film of the Year".


title: I Can Only Imagine (film)

text: Ten-year-old Bart Millard lives with his mother and abusive father Arthur in Texas. One day, Bart's mother drops him off at a Christian camp, where Bart meets Shannon. Upon his return from camp, Bart finds that his mother has left and movers are removing her belongings. Bart angrily confronts Arthur, who denies that his abusiveness was the reason she left.


title: I Can Only Imagine (film)

text: Years later, in high school, Bart and Shannon are dating. Bart plays football to please Arthur, but is injured, breaking both ankles and ending his career. The only elective with openings is music class, so he reluctantly signs up. Initially, Bart is assigned to be a sound technician, but after overhearing him singing, the director casts him in the lead role in the school production of "Oklahoma!". Bart overcomes his reluctance and gives an impressive performance, but does not tell Arthur, who finds out the night of the show when he happens to see a flyer for the show in a diner. Arthur suddenly collapses in pain, and finds out he has cancer, which he hides from Bart. The following morning, Bart antagonizes Arthur, who smashes a plate over his head. At church, Shannon sees the blood and presses Bart to open up, but he responds by breaking up with her, and leaves town to seek his fortune in the city.


title: I Can Only Imagine (film)

text: Bart joins a band in need of a singer, and convinces Christian music producer Scott Brickell to manage the band and secure a showcase in Nashville. Bart surprises Shannon and invites her to tour with the band, and is confused when Shannon flatly refuses. In Nashville, Brickell introduces Bart to established artists Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith, but is unable to convince record executives to sign the band, who do not believe the band, now performing as "MercyMe", is good enough. Devastated, Bart quits the band, but Brickell thinks that Bart needs to resolve issues in his personal life, so Bart reconciles with the band and asks them to wait for him, and leaves to return home.


title: I Can Only Imagine (film)

text: Bart returns home late at night, and is confused to find that Arthur has prepared breakfast for him the next morning. Arthur claims to have become a Christian, but Bart is skeptical and refuses to forgive him, and leaves. In anger and despair, Arthur smashes his old Jeep, which he had asked Bart to help him restore. Bart attempts to drive away in Arthur's pickup, but discovers the terminal cancer diagnosis, and returns to Arthur. Bart forgives his father, and the two form a deep bond, but Arthur soon dies of his illness.


title: I Can Only Imagine (film)

text: After Arthur's funeral, Bart rejoins the band and writes "I Can Only Imagine", and also calls Shannon and apologizes to her for the first time since their breakup. Brickell sends the demo tape to several artists, including Grant, who, deeply moved by the song, asks to record it herself as her next single, and Bart, who just wants the song to be heard, accepts. On stage, Grant begins the song, but can't bring herself to sing it, and calls Bart on stage from the audience to sing it himself. Bart's performance earns an enthusiastic ovation, and he reunites with Shannon, who was also in attendance. The band releases the song as their first single, achieving success on both Christian and mainstream radio.


title: I Can Only Imagine (film)

text: The film was announced in December 2016. Dennis Quaid joined the cast in January 2017. Broadway actor J. Michael Finley, who sang all the songs in the movie, makes his film debut as Bart Millard. The same month, it was announced that the film was slated for release in the spring of 2018. In August 2017, Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions signed on as distributors for the film for a nationwide release in the United States.


title: I Can Only Imagine (film)

text: "I Can Only Imagine" grossed $83.4 million in the United States and Canada and $1.8 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $85.2 million, against a production budget of $7 million. It is the fourth-highest grossing music biopic of all-time in the United States, behind "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Straight Outta Compton" and "Walk the Line". It is also the highest-grossing independent film of 2018.


title: I Can Only Imagine (film)

text: "I Can Only Imagine" was released on March 16, 2018, alongside "Tomb Raider" and "Love, Simon", and was originally projected to gross $2–4 million from 1,620 theaters in its opening weekend. However, after making $6.2 million on its first day (including $1.3 million from Thursday night previews), weekend estimates were increased to $14 million. It ended up grossing $17.1 million, exceeding expectations and finishing third at the box office behind "Black Panther" and "Tomb Raider". 67% of the opening weekend audience was female while 80% was over the age of 35. It was the fourth best-ever opening for a faith-based film, following "The Passion of the Christ" ($83.8 million), "Son of God" ($25.6 million) and "Heaven Is for Real" ($22.5 million). In its second weekend the film was added to 624 additional theaters and dropped just 19% to $13.8 million, again finishing third. It was added to another 395 venues and finished fourth in its third weekend, making $10.4 million (including $3 million on Easter Sunday).


title: I Can Only Imagine (film)

text: The film has been translated and distributed in several countries, including China, according to co-director Jon Erwin:


title: I Can Only Imagine (film)

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads, ""I Can Only Imagine"s message will have the most impact among Christian audiences, but overall, its performances and storytelling represent a notable evolution in faith-based cinema." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 30 out of 100, based on eight critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a rare average grade of "A+" on an A+ to F scale.


title: I Can Only Imagine (film)

text: "The Arizona Republic"s James Ward gave the film 4 stars out of 5 and wrote, "Too often faith-based films — say anything with Kirk Cameron or the terrible "God's Not Dead" series — tend to preach to the choir or hector their audience. The Erwins’ films — "I Can Only Imagine" definitely among them — are more inclusive, charitable of spirit and hopeful, all qualities that are always appreciated, be they rooted in Christian faith or otherwise." David Ehrlich of IndieWire gave the film a "C−" saying: "There’s a reason why all of these movies are so amateurishly made; why they all end with links to religious websites; why they all look like they were shot on an iPhone by a Walmart-brand Janusz Kaminski who lit each interior like the white light of heaven was streaming through every window...Art can be affirmation, but affirmation cannot be art."


title: I Can Only Imagine (film)

text: Faith-based reviewers mostly gave the movie positive reviews. Megan Basham of "World" magazine called Quaid "the real workhorse" and added that he "bears the heavy load of convincingly giving us both a monster and a repentant dad longing to connect with his son. Quaid impresses on both counts." Michael Foust of the "Southern Baptist Texan" gave the film 5 out of 5 stars and wrote, "The screenplay is gripping, the soundtrack is perfect, and the performances by Quaid and Finley had me squirming, laughing and crying."


title: I Can Only Imagine (film)

text: The film was released on iTunes and Google Play on June 5, 2018, and on DVD and Blu-ray on June 12, 2018. "I Can Only Imagine" was the no. 1 film in DVD sales and rentals for the weeks ending June 17 and June 24, 2018. As of February 2020, "I Can Only Imagine" has earned $24 million in home media sales.


title: Koi Jaane Na

text: Koi Jaane Na is a 2021 Indian Hindi-language psychological thriller film directed by Amin Hajee and starring Kunal Kapoor and Amyra Dastur. The film was theatrically released in India on 2 April 2021.


title: Koi Jaane Na

text: The film starts with Kabir in disguise trying to look for something or someone at the discotheque, “EGO”. In a scuffle, he kills drug dealer, Vicky Singhania, with his own taser. Outside the police are planning a raid on the discotheque to capture Vicky. Kabir calmly walks away after the inspector on duty identifies him as the famous inspirational writer and blogger, Kabir.


title: Koi Jaane Na

text: Kabir, however, has other problems in his professional life. A court order gives him three months of relief from the contractual obligation with a publishing house. Kabir was legally required to deliver the second half of his bestseller within six months and failed. They were also given exclusive rights to him, so he cannot write for any other publishing house. His ex-wife Rashmi, now married to the owner of this publishing house, wants to destroy Kabir and take all his possessions i.e. an ancestral home in Panchgani and his jeep that he is very fond of. She suspects that he is writing for someone else as she had received almost his entire wealth in alimony and yet he is still able to lead a comfortable life. She employs private detective, Ricky Rosario, to investigate.


title: Koi Jaane Na

text: On his way to Panchgani, Kabir meets Suhana and takes a liking to her. Suhana works as a receptionist at a resort and enjoys his company. In Panchgani, Ricky is thorough with his job and heavily bribes Bindia, the daughter of the gardener of Kabir's home, to keep an eye on him. When Kabir's is away with Suhana, Ricky breaks in while on the phone with Rashmi. She guides him to a secret room and asks him to check the room for any clues. Ricky finds a hidden laptop and is able to unlock it and extract evidence, proving that Kabir is the ghostwriter for the "Zaran Khan" novel series, which violates his agreement with his current publishing house. However, Ricky tells Rashmi that he was unable to unlock the laptop and found nothing of significance.


title: Koi Jaane Na

text: Later, Ricky meets Kabir to tell him that he would not expose his secret if he pays him three times what Rashmi is paying. Deeply worried, he first tells everything to Suhana and shows her his secret room. Instead of being angry, Suhana is impressed and creates a plan to help him. They meet Ricky to tell him that Kabir would reveal that Ricky is the ghostwriter of Zaran Khan and can take all the proceeds from the royalty of this series. Ricky outrightly rejects this, stating he only wants the cash. That night he is found murdered on the highway with his phone crushed. Police Officer Ashwini Kalsekar investigating the murder considers Kabir as the prime suspect because Ricky had earlier registered a case against Kabir of threatening his live as a pre-emptive action to his blackmail plan. Suhana gives a false statement that she was with him during the time of the murder to save Kabir. Later, she is worried about Ricky's photographer friend who might expose Kabir's secret. She finds his studio's address and visits him that night. She peers inside to see him describing his blackmailing techniques to a man who suddenly slashes his throat. The mysterious man comes out and threatens Suhana to shut her mouth or he would eliminate her along with Kabir.


title: Koi Jaane Na

text: Kabir takes her home but on the way they see a crowd. Kabir stops to investigate and learns about the murder. Meanwhile, Suhana quietly collects her hair clip she had lost there earlier. They return home to find the police officer investigating his secret room. Kabir narrates the entire story to her but she is convinced that only Kabir has a motive for both the murders. Kabir explains to her that he has already found a solution with his lawyer and they would backdate his contracts for the Zaran Khan series to escape the mess. He has already revealed his identity on his blog. Since there is no evidence, she cannot arrest him but asks both of them to visit her office the next day.


title: Koi Jaane Na

text: Later they night, Suhana tells Kabir about her tragic past witnessing her drunk father kill her mother and sister. The next day Suhana tells Kabir she witnessed the second murder. Kabir encourages her to report this to the police. As they approach the police station, Suhana sees the murderer coming out of the police station and asks Kabir to drive away. Kabir drops her at her workplace before going back to the station to learn the identity of the killer. The officer in charge tells him that the person who left the police station is Dr. Rao from St. Paul's hospital in Bangalore, who was first arrested for molestation charges but they let him go because the said victim withdrew her complaint. Kabir visits the hospital and learns that St Paul's hospital is actually a mental asylum and Dr. Rao has left to search for a patient.


title: Koi Jaane Na

text: Finally, there is a faceoff between Suhana and Dr. Rao. She snatches the gun from the police officer and threatens to kill him. Kabir intervenes and reveals the patient Dr. Rao is looking for, is her.


title: Koi Jaane Na

text: That fateful night after she witnessed her father murdering her family, Suhana killed her father. This lead her to suffer from schizophrenia. To help with her illness, she receives treatment from Dr. Rao at St. Paul's. After a staff member tries to molest her, she runs away from the hospital. Her condition deteriorates without her medicine, so when Kabir is threatened by Ricky, her alter ego takes over and she commits the two murders. Kabir is able to calm her down and she surrenders.


title: Koi Jaane Na

text: She is shown to be recovering at St Paul's hospital where Kabir visits her every day. Dr. Rao and the officer discuss the couple and Dr. Rao tells the officer that Suhana is getting better. The charges against were dropped due to her mental condition and by next week, Kabir might be able to take her home. However, the officer is not convinced as she tells Dr. Rao that the case is not over for her as the murders in Zaraan Khan’s novels have actually taken place and she is sure Kabir is infact, Zaraan Khan. Once Suhana is released, Suhana and Kabir might become a dangerous and powerful duo. Though Dr. Rao tells her that Kabir is simply a writer, the officer is not convinced and leaves telling Dr. Rao that they will meet again. After she leaves, Dr. Rao thinks about her words while looking at Kabir and Suhana.


title: Koi Jaane Na

text: The film's music is composed by Tanishk Bagchi, Amaal Mallik, Rochak Kohli and Vikram Negi while the lyrics are written by Amitabh Bhattacharya, Kumaar, Manoj Muntashir and Sham Deewana.


title: Jim Butcher

text: Jim Butcher (born October 26, 1971) is an American author. He has written the contemporary fantasy "The Dresden Files", "Codex Alera", and "Cinder Spires" book series.


title: Jim Butcher

text: Butcher was born in Independence, Missouri, in 1971. He is the youngest of three children, having two older sisters. He has one son, James J. Butcher.


title: Jim Butcher

text: While he was sick with strep throat as a child, Butcher's sisters introduced him to "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Han Solo Adventures" novels to pass the time, thus beginning his fascination with fantasy and science fiction. As a teenager, he completed his first novel and set out to become a writer. After many unsuccessful attempts to enter the traditional fantasy genre (he cites J. R. R. Tolkien, Lloyd Alexander, and C. S. Lewis, among others, as major influences), he wrote the first book in "The Dresden Files"—about a professional wizard, named Harry Dresden, in modern-day Chicago—as an exercise for a writing course in 1996 at the age of 25.


title: Jim Butcher

text: For two years, Butcher floated his manuscript among various publishers before hitting the convention circuit to make contacts in the industry. After meeting Butcher in person, Ricia Mainhardt, the agent who discovered Laurell K. Hamilton, agreed to represent him, which kick-started his writing career. However, Butcher and Mainhardt have since parted ways; Jennifer Jackson is his current agent. Butcher has written two series: "The Dresden Files" and "Codex Alera". Codex Alera has ended after six novels and The Dresden Files are still ongoing; he has also written a Spider-Man novel, entitled "The Darkest Hours", released on June 27, 2006. In addition, he contributed a short story for publication in "My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding" with Charlaine Harris and Sherrilyn Kenyon, among others, released in October 2006. He has since contributed to the anthologies "Many Bloody Returns" in September 2007 and "My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon" in December 2007. In October 2008, he released another short story in "Blood Lite" and a novelette, "Backup", illustrated by Mike Mignola.


title: Jim Butcher

text: Six months after Butcher was signed by Mainhardt, "Storm Front", the first novel in "The Dresden Files", was picked up by Roc/Penguin Books for publishing. It was released as a paperback in April 2000. "Fool Moon" followed nine months later on January 1, 2001, and the third book, "Grave Peril", was published in September 2001. Thereafter, the release schedule slowed, with "Summer Knight" appearing on September 3, 2002. The fifth and sixth books, "Death Masks" and "Blood Rites", appeared in August 2003 and 2004, respectively. Coinciding with the release of "Blood Rites", Butcher published a Harry Dresden short story, entitled "Restoration of Faith", on his website, chronicling Harry's life before "The Dresden Files" as a private eye for Ragged Angel Investigations. In December 2004, the Science Fiction Book Club picked up the first three novels in the series for release in a hardcover omnibus edition titled "Wizard for Hire" for a March–April 2005 rush release in order to arrive on store shelves before the seventh novel in May.


title: Jim Butcher

text: "Dead Beat", released on May 3, 2005, was the first hardback release in the series by Roc. The first printing of 15,000 copies sold out in three days, and the book was immediately reprinted. A second omnibus edition, titled "Wizard by Trade" and containing "Summer Knight" and "Death Masks", appeared in early 2006, followed by "Proven Guilty" on May 2, 2006, the same day as the paperback edition of "Dead Beat". "Proven Guilty" quickly climbed to #21 on the "New York Times" Best Seller List and #91 on the USA Today list. A third omnibus release from the Science Fiction Book Club entitled "Wizard at Large" and containing "Blood Rites" and "Dead Beat" was released in November 2006.


title: Jim Butcher

text: A ninth book from Roc, "White Night", was released on April 3, 2007, shortly after the paperback edition for "Proven Guilty" in February. "White Night" reached the top five of the "New York Times" Best Seller List on an initial printing of 100,000 copies. "Small Favor", the tenth book in the series, was released April 1, 2008. It debuted at number two on the "New York Times" Best Seller List, Butcher's highest debut ever, and number three on the "USA Today" best seller list.


title: Jim Butcher

text: The 12th book in the series, "Changes", was released April 6, 2010. The 13th book, "Ghost Story", was released July 26, 2011. The 14th book, "Cold Days" was released in hardback in November 2012. The 15th book, "Skin Game", was released on May 27, 2014. The series garners a strong following and is now available in several languages, including Spanish, Dutch, French, Czech, Polish, German and Mandarin Chinese.


title: Jim Butcher

text: After the success of Dresden, Butcher returned to the traditional fantasy genre with his second series, "Codex Alera". The series chronicles the life of a young man named Tavi from the Calderon Valley of Alera on the world of Carna. The people of Alera have grown complacent with the trappings of empire (the story is based loosely on the late Roman Empire) and their control of powerful elemental forces known as furies. The inspiration for the series came from a bet Butcher was challenged to by a member of the Del Rey Online Writer's Workshop. The challenger bet that Butcher could not write a good story based on a lame idea, and he countered that he could do it using two lame ideas of the challenger's choosing. The "lame" ideas given were "Lost Roman Legion", and ""Pokémon"".


title: Jim Butcher

text: On March 3, 2003, Jim Butcher announced that Ace won a bidding war against rival publisher Del Rey Books for the rights to the series.


title: Jim Butcher

text: The first novel in the series, "Furies of Calderon", was published in hardcover by Ace, and in August 2004, major booksellers began taking pre-orders for an October 5, 2004 release. "Furies of Calderon" was the first hardcover release for Butcher, and was a significant step forward in making the transition from a part-time to a full-time writer. A paperback version followed in June, 2005, just a month before the release of the second book, "Academ's Fury". It was released in paperback on November 28, 2006, with the third novel, "Cursor's Fury", following on December 5.


title: Jim Butcher

text: While originally intended to be a six-book series, Codex Alera was initially signed as a trilogy. After the series showed success, Roc agreed to publish three more novels in the "Codex Alera" series. The fourth novel, "Captain's Fury", released December 4, 2007 and peaked at #17 on the "New York Times" Best Seller List. The fifth novel, "Princeps' Fury", was released November 25, 2008 and peaked at #13 on the "New York Times" Best Seller List. The sixth and final novel, "First Lord's Fury", was released on November 24, 2009 and has reached #7 on the "New York Times" Best Seller List.


title: Jim Butcher

text: Audio rights to the Codex Alera belong to Penguin Audio. "Captain's Fury" was released in audio format March 27, 2008, read by Kate Reading. Audio versions of the first three books were released in November, 2008. The audio book of "First Lord's Fury" was released simultaneously with the hardcover.


title: Jim Butcher

text: On March 4, 2013, "Publishers Weekly" revealed that Butcher had closed a deal with the Penguin Group for the first three books of a steampunk-inspired series called "The Cinder Spires". "Publishers Weekly" quotes Butcher's agent Jennifer Jackson as saying the series "is set in a world 'of black spires that tower for miles over a mist-shrouded surface' and follows a war between two of the Spires: Spire Albion and Spire Aurora". At a Reddit AMA on November 12, 2012, Butcher said "It's kinda League of Extraordinary Gentlemen meets Sherlock meets Hornblower. There are goggles and airships and steam power and bizarre crystal technology and talking cats, who are horrid little bullies." "The Aeronaut's Windlass", the first book in the projected nine book series, was published in September 2015.


title: Jim Butcher

text: "Storm Front" was released in July 2002 as an unabridged eight-CD set, with an unabridged nine-CD set of "Fool Moon" following in August 2003. The "Grave Peril" audiobook shipped as an unabridged 10-CD set on October 28, 2004, with a free T-shirt bundled with all purchases before December 26, 2004. "Summer Knight" was released March 31, 2007.


title: Jim Butcher

text: Butcher was friends with some of the founders of Evil Hat Productions since before they began designing games, and his agent Jennifer Jackson suggested that they might be able to design a role-playing game based on his "Dresden Files" novels; Butcher contacted Evil Hat who agreed to develop and publish "The Dresden Files Roleplaying Game". On December 16, 2004 Butcher also inked a deal with Evil Hat Productions to release the game. The game uses a modified ruleset from Evil Hat's acclaimed "Fate" RPG.


title: Jim Butcher

text: Television writer and producer Morgan Gendel optioned "The Dresden Files" in June 2003, paving the way for a film or television release of the series. On April 5, 2004, Sci Fi announced production of a two-hour backdoor pilot film of "The Dresden Files" based on the events of "Storm Front" in conjunction with Lions Gate Television and Saturn Films, with Nicolas Cage and Norm Golightly set to executive produce. Gendel was listed to write and executive produce the television series, along with Anthony Peckham. Initially, Harry Dresden was listed as "Erik" Dresden, but by the end of 2004 the name had been canned in early drafts of the pilot in favor of Harry.


title: Jim Butcher

text: On October 5, 2005, "Variety" reported that the television project had been officially greenlit by Sci Fi, with Hans Beimler and Robert Wolfe coming on board as executive producers with Cage, Golightly, and Gendel. Production of the pilot took place in Toronto, and the original intent was to air the pilot movie in the summer of 2006. In November, the Sci Fi Wire released casting details for the series, with Paul Blackthorne cast as Harry Dresden over James Marsters, who turned down the opportunity to audition because he was unwilling to relocate from Los Angeles. In May 2006, Sci Fi announced an initial purchase of eleven episodes of "The Dresden Files" and a January 2007 premiere of the two-hour pilot movie. However, the two-hour pilot was not shown, and the show premiered on January 21, 2007 with the episode "Birds of a Feather", originally intended to be the third episode. The show garnered mixed reviews.


title: Jim Butcher

text: After the season one finale aired on April 15, 2007, fans began a letter campaign in an attempt to have the show renewed. Sci Fi decided not to continue production on "The Dresden Files" the following August.


title: Jim Butcher

text: Butcher has received nominations for the Hugo Award for Best Novel for "Skin Game" and "The Aeronaut's Windlass", and a nomination for the Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story for "Welcome to the Jungle". He was also nominated for the Locus Award for Best Collection for "Brief Cases".


title: The Smiler

text: The Smiler is a steel roller coaster located at Alton Towers in Staffordshire, United Kingdom. Manufactured by Gerstlauer, it opened in 2013 as the world's first Gerstlauer Infinity Coaster. It is located in the X-Sector area of the park. With 14 inversions, The Smiler holds the world record for most inversions on a roller coaster.


title: The Smiler

text: Plans to build The Smiler were submitted the local authority in December 2011. Permission was granted on 15 March 2012 following a Staffordshire Moorlands Council meeting, despite some local opposition to its construction. Gerstlauer, a German manufacturing company, was hired to build the roller coaster. Less than a month after obtaining permission, Alton Towers launched a website announcing a new ride – codenamed Secret Weapon 7 (SW7) – for the 2013 season. Its codename followed a similar format used for other roller coasters during their teaser campaigns, such as SW4 for Oblivion and SW6 for Thirteen.


title: The Smiler

text: In June 2012, a trademark filed by Merlin Entertainments, parent company of Alton Towers, hinted that the new ride would be named The Smiler. On 17 October 2012, a number of facts about the coaster were revealed to the public including its maximum speed, track length, ride time, passengers per train and ride cost. Despite the release, Alton Towers did not announce or confirm the name for the ride.


title: The Smiler

text: The site for the new ride was determined to be an area in the park being occupied by the tent that previously contained the Black Hole, a roller coaster which closed after the 2005 season. The park began dismantling the remaining Black Hole structure on 12 April 2012. The first pieces of track arrived at the park in late October 2012. Sections of track were later moved to the construction site on 6 December 2012.


title: The Smiler

text: In January 2013, Alton Towers officially confirmed that the ride would be called The Smiler. In February 2013, the park revealed some of the ride's elements. The trains arrived in March 2013, as Alton Towers began posting images on both Twitter and their official Smiler website. Vertical construction was completed approximately one month later, as the final piece of track was installed at the top of the first lift hill.


title: The Smiler

text: Marketing for The Smiler started around the same time as construction when, on 11 April 2012, a minisite was launched allowing visitors to register for updates on the ride's progress. A competition to be the first to ride the rollercoaster, at this time codenamed "SW7", started in July. To enter guests were invited to scan a QR Code with their smartphone, which subsequently redirected to Alton Towers Official The Smiler Minisite where guests entered their details.


title: The Smiler

text: In September 2012, the park began the second stage of advertisement through the overnight spray painting of a stencil logo (which resembled a smiling face) all over the park. This was followed in October with new boards around the park, new 'subliminal' advertising on different sections of the main Alton Towers website, and a countdown timer on the Alton Towers mini-site. The countdown timer initially gave a scheduled opening date of 16 March 2013, but was removed however on 4 January 2013, as the ride hit delays.


title: The Smiler

text: More overt advertising started in January 2013, when the "Smile" logo was used in various forms across the country. Including billboards in London; ticket barriers at Leeds railway station; projected onto various buildings including Big Ben; and sprayed onto flocks of sheep in areas including Leicestershire, Devon and Perthshire.


title: The Smiler

text: The name of the roller coaster, The Smiler, was revealed on 21 January 2013, the Metro newspaper, and the opening date was set as May (previously it was 16 March).


title: The Smiler

text: In February 2013 a free game app was released containing a full 3D recreation of the actual ride, and a preview of the rides merchandise was published online.


title: The Smiler

text: John Wardley, a ride consultant on the project, confirmed in a radio interview on 19 April 2013 that The Smiler would feature more inversions than any other roller coaster in the world. Although construction had revealed this earlier, the statement was the first official confirmation that The Smiler would break the inversion record. In an earlier interview Wardley had said that The Smiler would have "...5 mind manipulating elements that play around with you on the ride, so it’s more than just a physical rollercoaster."


title: The Smiler

text: From early April and throughout May, Alton Towers published videos online giving snippets of the ride's fictional backstory. This was followed by footage of weather presenter Laura Tobin riding The Smiler, live on ITV's "Daybreak" programme and an advertising campaign on boxes of Krave cereal.


title: The Smiler

text: Initially, The Smiler was expected to make its public debut in March 2013 for the park's opening day, but due to construction delays, the date was pushed back to 23 May 2013. The date had to be pushed back further after technical issues were encountered during testing and a ride incident occurred during its preview event that stranded riders on the lift hill. Following the incident on 17 May 2013, Alton Towers explained on their website that The Smiler would not open on the originally scheduled date due to "unforeseen teething problems."


title: The Smiler

text: The ride's delayed opening initially caused controversy as many had booked advance tickets and had stayed at the Alton Towers Hotel in order to be among the first to ride the coaster. However, Alton Towers later announced it would allow those who had made advanced bookings to change their tickets and hotel reservations free of charge. The Smiler eventually opened on 31 May 2013.


title: The Smiler

text: A key feature of the ride is the large metallic spider-like structure that serves as a centrepoint for the coaster track. Called ‘The Marmaliser,’ it has 5 legs, each with a distinct function to manipulate riders into "smiling". It is also equipped with a wraparound screen, which displays graphics and video relating to the theme of the ride. The roller coaster intertwines within the structure causing greater interaction with riders to enhance the experience. The track is divided into 5 block sections, permitting up to 4 trains to operate on the ride at once, which would create a theoretical capacity of 1200 people per hour (pph).


title: The Smiler

text: The train dispatches from the station, playing audio of a man saying, "Join us!" The train immediately enters into a sweeping drop 180-degrees to the left. Partway through this drop, riders encounter a heartline roll, the ride's first inversion. The train then comes to a stop on block brakes, before ascending the first lift hill. Upon reaching the top, the train drops into another 180-degree right turn before banking into the second inversion, a downward corkscrew. The train drops down into the next two inversions, two consecutive dive loops before travelling over a trimmed airtime hill into the ride's largest element, a Batwing (this element consists of a sidewinder and reverse sidewinder).


title: The Smiler

text: The train then travels through another corkscrew before reaching the second set of block brakes, after a brief pause the train ascends the second lift hill, this time at a 90° vertical angle. The train then enters another drop, 180-degrees to the left, banking into a downward corkscrew. Riders then navigate through a sea serpent roll, followed by a short drop into another trimmed airtime hill. the train then dives into a cobra roll. Upon exiting the cobra roll, the train twists through two consecutive corkscrews before a short left turn into the final brake run. The words "Process complete" are visible to riders as the train returns to the station.


title: The Smiler

text: The ride has experienced a number of structural and technical issues since its launch. The most serious incident occurred on 2 June 2015, when a loaded train collided with an empty test train, causing serious injuries to a number of riders. An additional train had recently been added to the circuit when an empty train was dispatched for a test run and stalled mid-ride due to a gust of wind. The ride's block system shut down the ride accordingly, but it was overridden by the engineers on duty, as they were unaware there was now an additional train present that had stalled. This allowed the following train, loaded with passengers, to collide with the stalled train.


title: The Smiler

text: Two riders sat in the front row required leg amputations. Subsequently, Merlin Entertainments decided to close The Smiler, Saw – The Ride at Thorpe Park, and two other roller coasters at Chessington World of Adventures (all of which have since reopened) while safety protocols and procedures were evaluated. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) served a Prohibition Notice upon the Smiler, preventing the ride's use until remedial action had been completed. On 27 July 2015, it was stated by Merlin Entertainments chief executive Nick Varney that The Smiler would "not be opening this summer". The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) initiated a criminal investigation.


title: The Smiler

text: In the incident's aftermath, Alton Towers and its owner Merlin Entertainments allegedly observed a drop in revenue and visitor numbers, which they claim influenced their decision to eliminate up to 190 jobs at the theme park. Six rides were closed during the 2016 season as a result of the crash. Varney released a public statement stating:


title: The Smiler

text: The ride eventually reopened on 19 March 2016 for the start of the 2016 season with additional safety features. Merlin Attractions Operations Ltd was prosecuted by the HSE at North Staffordshire Justice Centre on 22 April 2016, in which the firm pleaded guilty. On 27 September 2016, after a two-day hearing at Stafford Crown Court, Judge Michael Chambers QC fined Merlin Entertainments £5 million; the value of the fine was reduced by one third from £7.5 million as credit for the guilty plea. In September 2018, Vicky Balch and Leah Washington, who lost their legs on the ride after the crash in June 2015, sued Merlin Attractions Operations Ltd for negligence and/or breach of statutory duty.


title: Froy Gutierrez

text: Froylan Gutierrez III (born April 27, 1998) is an American actor and singer, known for playing Nolan Holloway in "Teen Wolf" and Jamie Henson in "Cruel Summer".


title: Froy Gutierrez

text: Gutierrez was born and raised in Highland Park, Texas and attended Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. After an agent saw him in a local play, he began submitting audition tapes in 2015. He is of Caxcan and Mexican descent through his father.


title: Froy Gutierrez

text: In 2017, he appeared in the final season of "Teen Wolf" and on the first season of "One Day at a Time". He was one of the two narrators in the audiobook version of 2018 LGBT romantic comedy "What If It's Us" and its 2022 sequel "Here's To Us". In 2019, he was cast in the second season of Hulu's television series "Light as a Feather". In 2021, he co-starred in Freeform's teen drama "Cruel Summer".


title: Bran Stark

text: Brandon Stark, known as Bran, is a fictional character in the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series of epic fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin, and its television adaptation "Game of Thrones", where he is portrayed by English actor Isaac Hempstead Wright. Introduced in 1996's "A Game of Thrones", Bran subsequently appears in "A Clash of Kings" (1998) and "A Storm of Swords" (2000). He is one of a few prominent characters that are not included in the fourth novel "A Feast for Crows" (2005), but returned in the fifth novel "A Dance with Dragons" (2011).


title: Bran Stark

text: Bran is the second son and fourth child of Lord Eddard and Lady Catelyn Stark of Winterfell, the ancient capital of the North of the kingdom of Westeros. Bran dreams of becoming a knight since childhood, but is rendered paraplegic by Jaime Lannister in the first novel after stumbling upon the latter's affair with twin sister Cersei Lannister. Awaking from a months-long coma, he is subsequently plagued by dreams of a mysterious figure beckoning him to travel north beyond the Wall. Bran's journey alongside a variety of companions lead him deeper into the lore and magic of the North, where he begins to discover various mysterious powers and abilities.


title: Bran Stark

text: Martin told "Rolling Stone" in 2014 that Bran's momentous chapter with Jaime and Cersei is what "hooked" many readers early in the first novel. Bran's characterization in later seasons of the show, including his relationship to the White Walkers and the Night King, has generated many theories in the fandom, as well as significant critical interest.


title: Bran Stark

text: The youngest point of view character in the novels, Bran is in the very first chapter and was set up by Martin as a young hero of the series. Mikal Gilmore of "Rolling Stone" noted in 2014 that the moment in "A Game of Thrones" in which Jaime Lannister pushes Bran to his likely death "grabs you by the throat". Martin commented in the interview:


title: Bran Stark

text: "Booklist" cited Bran as a notable character in 1999, and the "Publishers Weekly" review of "A Game of Thrones" noted, "It is fascinating to watch Martin's characters mature and grow, particularly Stark's children, who stand at the center of the book."


title: Bran Stark

text: Noting Bran's absence in 2005's "A Feast for Crows", James Poniewozik of "Time" wrote in his review of "A Dance with Dragons" (2011):


title: Bran Stark

text: Bran is seven years old at the beginning of "A Game of Thrones" (1996). He is the fourth child and second son of Lord Eddard "Ned" Stark of Winterfell, Hand of the King, and his wife Lady Catelyn, and has five siblings: an older brother Robb, two older sisters Sansa and Arya, a younger brother Rickon, and an older illegitimate half-brother Jon Snow. Bran is constantly accompanied by his direwolf Summer, the intellectually disabled stableboy Hodor (who carries him around after his crippling), and the Reed siblings Meera and Jojen.


title: Bran Stark

text: Martin describes Bran as favoring his mother in appearance, having the thick auburn hair and deep blue eyes of the Tullys. According to Martin, Bran is strong willed, but a sweet and thoughtful boy, well-loved by everyone at Winterfell. Before his fall he enjoyed climbing and exploring the walls and ramparts of the castle. He grew up wanting to be a knight for the kings guard, but those dreams were quickly brought to an end when Bran had to face the fact that he will never walk again.; He is also dutiful and tough-minded.


title: Bran Stark

text: With his dreams of being a knight dashed by the crippling attempt on his life in "A Game of Thrones", duty forces Bran to overcome his new limitations and embrace his new abilities. Although he doesn't realize his newfound powers at first, he grows to discover what he can accomplish. His gradual acceptance of his seemingly-prophetic visions (called the "greensight") and his ability to psychically inhabit his direwolf Summer (which marks him as a type of skinchanger known as a warg) show his growing maturity and his worth beyond the loss of his legs. He also manages to enter Hodor's mind, and later skinchanges into crows and even weirwood trees under the mentorship of the Three-Eyed Crow.


title: Bran Stark

text: In "A Game of Thrones" (1996), Bran accidentally sees Queen Cersei Lannister and her twin brother Ser Jaime having sex; whereupon he is pushed from the window by Jaime to keep the incest a secret, but he survives in a coma. Although it is speculated by some characters that Jamie and Cersei pushed Bran, there were no public accusations made against the crown. While Bran remains unconscious, a fire is set at an opposite tower as a distraction while an attempt is made on his life. Catelyn, who has remained with Bran while Robb takes care of the fire, is able to delay the assassin long enough for Bran's direwolf, Summer, to kill him. Senseless, Bran dreams of his falling from the tower and of a three-eyed crow that offers to teach him to fly. With the crow's guidance, Bran wakes; but having been crippled by the fall, he is unable to walk. Thereafter he relies on the giant simpleton Hodor to move around, and a harness designed by Tyrion Lannister to ride a horse. When Robb rides south to relieve Ned's arrest in King's Landing, Bran becomes the acting Lord of Winterfell.


title: Bran Stark

text: 1998's "A Clash of Kings" finds Robb named King in the North, and Bran, as Robb's heir, rules Winterfell in his brother's absence. When Theon Greyjoy betrays the Starks and captures Winterfell; Bran and Rickon escape, aided by the wildling Osha. To hide his failure, Theon has two other children murdered and proclaims them to be Bran and Rickon. Theon himself is betrayed by Ramsay Snow, the bastard son of Roose Bolton. Having been hiding in the crypts of Winterfell, Bran and his companions emerge to find the castle in ruins. They come upon a mortally wounded Maester Luwin, who advises their traveling party to split. Osha takes Rickon in the direction of White Harbor, while Bran, Hodor, Meera, and Jojen Reed set off north to seek the three-eyed crow. Meanwhile, Bran has slowly accepted the veracity of his dreams, and his ability to psychically inhabit Summer, which makes him a type of skin-changer known as a warg.


title: Bran Stark

text: Bran, Hodor, Meera and Jojen travel north to the Wall in search of the three-eyed crow in "A Storm of Swords" (2000).


title: Bran Stark

text: In "A Dance with Dragons" (2011), Bran, Hodor, Meera and Jojen are joined by the mysterious Coldhands, and a Child of the Forest named Leaf takes them to the three-eyed crow (actually a human telepath), who in turn offers to train Bran in retrocognition and clairvoyance.


title: Bran Stark

text: Bran Stark is played by Isaac Hempstead Wright in the television adaption of the series of books. Like the other children, Bran is aged up for television. He begins the series a 10-year-old child (3 years older than his book counterpart), and is 17 by the end of the series.


title: Bran Stark

text: Brandon "Bran" Stark is the second son and fourth child of Eddard and Catelyn Stark. He was named after his deceased uncle, Brandon.


title: Bran Stark

text: Bran receives one of a litter of recovered direwolves given to the Stark children and names him Summer. During the King's visit to Winterfell, Bran accidentally interrupts the Queen, Cersei, having sex with her brother, Jaime, who shoves him from the window. While he is unconscious and recovering from his injuries, Summer kills an assassin sent to murder Bran. When he awakens Bran cannot recall the events before his fall and finds that he is crippled from the waist down, forced to be carried everywhere by the stableboy Hodor. Slowly, he realizes that he has gained the ability to assume Summer's consciousness, making him a warg or a skinchanger. After his older brother, Robb, is crowned King in the North, Bran becomes Robb's heir and the Lord of Winterfell.