document_title: Ballpoint pen

question_text: who patented the first commercially successful ballpoint pen

text: Ballpoint pen

text: History[edit]

text: Origins[edit]

text: The concept of using a ball point within a writing instrument as a method of applying ink to paper has existed since the late 19th century. In these inventions, the ink was placed in a thin tube whose end was blocked by a tiny ball, held so that it could not slip into the tube or fall out of the pen.

text: The first patent for a ballpoint pen[6][7] was issued on 30 October 1888, to John J. Loud,[8] who was attempting to make a writing instrument that would be able to write "on rough surfaces-such as wood, coarse wrapping-paper, and other articles"[9] which then-common fountain pens could not. Loud's pen had a small rotating steel ball, held in place by a socket. Although it could be used to mark rough surfaces such as leather, as Loud intended, it proved to be too coarse for letter-writing. With no commercial viability, its potential went unexploited[1] and the patent eventually lapsed.[10]

text: The manufacture of economical, reliable ballpoint pens as we know them arose from experimentation, modern chemistry, and precision manufacturing capabilities of the early 20th century.[3] Patents filed worldwide during early development are testaments to failed attempts at making the pens commercially viable and widely available.[11] Early ballpoints did not deliver the ink evenly; overflow and clogging were among the obstacles inventors faced toward developing reliable ballpoint pens.[4] If the ball socket was too tight, or the ink too thick, it would not reach the paper. If the socket was too loose, or the ink too thin, the pen would leak or the ink would smear.[4] Ink reservoirs pressurized by piston, spring, capillary action, and gravity would all serve as solutions to ink-delivery and flow problems.[12][13]

text: László Bíró, a Hungarian newspaper editor frustrated by the amount of time that he wasted filling up fountain pens and cleaning up smudged pages, noticed that inks used in newspaper printing dried quickly, leaving the paper dry and smudge free. He decided to create a pen using the same type of ink.[4] Bíró enlisted the help of his brother György, a chemist,[4] to develop viscous ink formulae for new ballpoint designs.[3]

text: Bíró's innovation successfully coupled ink-viscosity with a ball-socket mechanism which acted compatibly to prevent ink from drying inside the reservoir while allowing controlled flow.[4] Bíró filed a British patent on 15 June 1938.[1][14]

text: In 1941, the Bíró brothers and a friend, Juan Jorge Meyne, fled Germany and moved to Argentina, where they formed Bíró Pens of Argentina and filed a new patent in 1943.[1] Their pen was sold in Argentina as the Birome (portmanteau of the names Bíró and Meyne), which is how ballpoint pens are still known in that country.[1] This new design was licensed by the British, who produced ballpoint pens for RAF aircrew as the Biro. Ballpoint pens were found to be more versatile than fountain pens, especially at high altitudes, where fountain pens were prone to ink-leakage.[4]

text: Bíró's patent, and other early patents on ballpoint pens often used the term "ball-point fountain pen".[15][16][17][18][19][20]

text: Postwar proliferation[edit]

text: Following World War II, many companies vied to commercially produce their own ballpoint pen design. In post-war Argentina, success of the Birome ballpoint was limited, but in mid-1945, the Eversharp Co., a maker of mechanical pencils, teamed up with Eberhard Faber Co. to license the rights from Birome for sales in the United States.[1][10]

text: During the same period, American entrepreneur Milton Reynolds came across a Birome ballpoint pen during a business trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina.[1][10] Recognizing commercial potential, he purchased several ballpoint samples, returned to the United States, and founded Reynolds International Pen Company. Reynolds bypassed the Birome patent with sufficient design alterations to obtain an American patent, beating Eversharp and other competitors to introduce the pen to the U.S. market.[1][10] Debuting at Gimbels department store in New York City on 29 October 1945,[10] for US$12.50 each (1945 US dollar value, about $166 in 2016 dollars),[10] Reynolds Rocket became the first commercially successful ballpoint pen.[1][4][21] Reynolds went to great extremes to market the pen, with great success; Gimbel's sold many thousands of pens within one week. In Britain, the Miles Martin pen company was producing the first commercially successful ballpoint pens there by the end of 1945.[1]

text: Neither Reynolds' nor Eversharp's ballpoint lived up to consumer expectations in America. Ballpoint pen sales peaked in 1946, and consumer interest subsequently plunged due to market-saturation.[10] By the early 1950s the ballpoint boom had subsided and Reynolds' company folded.[1]

text: Paper Mate pens, among the emerging ballpoint brands of the 1950s, bought the rights to distribute their own ballpoint pens in Canada.[22] Facing concerns about ink-reliability, Paper Mate pioneered new ink formulas and advertised them as "banker-approved".[10] In 1954, Parker Pens released The Jotter—the company's first ballpoint—boasting additional features and technological advances which also included the use of tungsten-carbide textured ball-bearings in their pens.[1] In less than a year, Parker sold several million pens at prices between three and nine dollars.[1] In the 1960s, the failing Eversharp Co. sold its pen division to Parker and ultimately folded.[1]

text: Marcel Bich also introduced a ballpoint pen to the American marketplace in the 1950s, licensed from Bíró and based on the Argentine designs.[3][23] Bich shortened his name to Bic in 1953, becoming the ballpoint brand now recognised globally.[4] Bic pens struggled until the company launched its "Writes The First Time, Every Time!" advertising campaign in the 1960s.[4] Competition during this era forced unit prices to drop considerably.[4]

text: Types of ballpoint pens[edit]

text: Ballpoint pens are produced in both disposable and refillable models. Refills allow for the entire internal ink reservoir, including a ballpoint and socket, to be replaced. Such characteristics are usually associated with designer-type pens or those constructed of finer materials. The simplest types of ballpoint pens are disposable and have a cap to cover the tip when the pen is not in use, or a mechanism for retracting the tip,[3] which varies between manufacturers but is usually a spring- or screw-mechanism.

text: Rollerball pens employ the same ballpoint mechanics, but with the use of water-based inks instead of oil-based inks. Compared to oil-based ballpoints, rollerball pens are said to provide more fluid ink-flow, but the water-based inks will blot if held stationary against the writing surface. Water-based inks also remain wet longer when freshly applied and are thus prone to smearing—posing problems to left-handed people (or right handed people writing right-to-left script)—and running, should the writing surface become wet.

text: Because of a ballpoint pen's reliance on gravity to coat the ball with ink, most cannot be used to write upside-down. However, technology developed by Fisher pens in the United States resulted in the production of what came to be known as the "Fisher Space Pen". Space Pens combine a more viscous ink with a pressurised ink reservoir[4] that forces the ink toward the point. Unlike standard ballpoints, the rear end of a Space Pen's pressurized reservoir is sealed, eliminating evaporation and leakage,[4] thus allowing the pen to write upside-down, in zero-gravity environments, and reportedly underwater.[24] Astronauts have made use of these pens in outer space.[4]

text: Ballpoint pens with "erasable ink" were pioneered by the Paper Mate pen company.[25] The ink formulas of erasable ballpoints have properties similar to rubber cement, allowing the ink to be literally rubbed clean from the writing surface before drying and eventually becoming permanent.[25] Erasable ink is much thicker than standard ballpoint inks, requiring pressurised cartridges to facilitate inkflow—meaning they can also write upside-down. Though these pens are equipped with erasers, any eraser will suffice.[25]

text: The inexpensive, disposable Bic Cristal (also simply Bic pen or Biro) is reportedly the most widely sold pen in the world.[23][26] It was the Bic company's first product and is still synonymous with the company name.[27][28] The Bic Cristal is part of the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, acknowledged for its industrial design.[5][26] Its hexagonal barrel mimics that of a wooden pencil and is transparent, showing the ink level in the reservoir. Originally a sealed streamlined cap, the modern pen cap has a small hole at the top to meet safety standards, helping to prevent suffocation if children suck it into the throat.[29]

text: Multipens are pens that feature multiple varying colored ballpoint refills. Sometimes ballpoint refills are combined with another non-ballpoint refill.

text: Ballpoint pens are sometimes provided free by businesses, such as hotels, as a form of advertising—printed with a company's name; a ballpoint pen is a relatively low cost advertisement that is highly effective (customers will use, and therefore see, a pen daily). Businesses and charities include ballpoint pens in direct mail campaigns to increase a customer's interest in the mailing. Ballpoints have also been produced to commemorate events, such as a pen commemorating the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy.[3]

text: As art medium[edit]

text: Ballpoint pens have proven to be a versatile art medium for professional artists as well as amateur doodlers.[30] Low cost, availability, and portability are cited by practitioners as qualities which make this common writing tool a convenient, alternative art supply.[31] Some artists use them within mixed-media works, while others use them solely as their medium-of-choice.[32]

text: Effects not generally associated with ballpoint pens can be achieved.[33] Traditional pen-and-ink techniques such as stippling and cross-hatching can be used to create half-tones[34] or the illusion of form and volume.[35] For artists whose interests necessitate precision line-work, ballpoints are an obvious attraction; ballpoint pens allow for sharp lines not as effectively executed using a brush.[36] Finely applied, the resulting imagery has been mistaken for airbrushed artwork[37] and photography,[38] causing reactions of disbelief which ballpoint artist Lennie Mace refers to as the Wow Factor.[36][37]

text: Famous 20th-century artists such as Andy Warhol, among others, have utilised ballpoint pens to some extent during their careers.[39] Ballpoint pen artwork continues to attract interest in the 21st century, with contemporary artists gaining recognition for their specific use of ballpoint pens; for their technical proficiency, imagination, and innovation. Korean-American artist Il Lee has been creating large-scale, ballpoint-only abstract artwork since the late 1970s.[30] Since the 1980s, Lennie Mace creates imaginative, ballpoint-only artwork of varying content and complexity, applied to unconventional surfaces including wood and denim.[40] The artist coined terms such as PENtings and Media Graffiti to describe his varied output.[36] More recently, British artist James Mylne has been creating photo-realistic artwork using mostly black ballpoints, sometimes with minimal mixed-media color.[38] In the mid-2000s (decade), Juan Francisco Casas generated Internet attention for a series of large-scale, photo-realistic ballpoint duplications of his own snapshots of friends, utilising only blue pens.[41]

text: Using ballpoint pens to create artwork is not without limitations. Color availability and sensitivity of ink to light are among concerns of ballpoint pen artists.[42] Mistakes pose greater risks to ballpoint artists; once a line is drawn, it generally cannot be erased.[36] Additionally, "blobbing" of ink on the drawing surface and "skipping" of ink-flow require consideration when using ballpoint pens for artistic purposes.[32] Although the mechanics of ballpoint pens remain relatively unchanged, ink composition has evolved to solve certain problems over the years, resulting in unpredictable sensitivity to light and some extent of fading.[42]

text: Manufacturing[edit]

text: Although designs and construction vary between brands, basic components of all ballpoint pens are universal.[3] Standard components of a ballpoint tip include the freely rotating ball itself (distributing the ink on the writing surface), a socket holding the ball in place, small ink channels that provide ink to the ball through the socket, and a self-contained ink reservoir supplying ink to the ball.[4] In modern disposable pens, narrow plastic tubes contain the ink, which is compelled downward to the ball by gravity.[4] Brass, steel, or tungsten carbide are used to manufacture the ball bearing-like points,[4] then housed in a brass socket.[43]

text: The function of these components can be compared with the ball-applicator of roll-on antiperspirant; the same technology at a larger scale. The ball point tip delivers the ink to the writing surface while acting as a buffer between the ink in the reservoir and the air outside, preventing the quick-drying ink from drying inside the reservoir. Modern ballpoints are said to have a two-year shelf life, on average.[4]

text: A ballpoint tip that can write comfortably for a long period of time is not easy to produce as it requires high-precision machinery and thin high grade steel alloy plates. China that currently (2017) produces about 80 percent of the world's ballpoint pens relied up to 2017 on imported ballpoint tips and metal alloys.[44]

text: The common ballpoint pen is a product of mass production, with components produced separately on assembly lines.[43] Basic steps in the manufacturing process include production of ink formulas, moulding of metal and plastic components, and assembly.[3] Marcel Bich was involved in developing the production of inexpensive ballpoint pens.[4]

text: Standards[edit]

text: The International Organization for Standardization has published standards for ball point and roller ball pens:

text: Guinness World Record[edit]

text: The world's largest functioning ballpoint pen was made by Acharya Makunuri Srinivasa in India. The pen measures 5.5 m (18 ft 0.53 in) long and weighs 37.23 kg (82.08 lb 1.24 oz).[50]


document_title: The People's Court

question_text: where is the people's court taped at

question_tokens: where is the people 's court taped at

root

text: The People's Court

text: Conception[edit]

text: When John Masterson devised the original camera-in-court concept in 1975, he first pitched it to Monty Hall, the producer and host of the game show Let's Make a Deal, and his partner, producer-writer Stefan Hatos. They put a young associate, Stu Billett, in charge of selling it, but the networks were not interested. Billett later went out on his own and refined the concept into a show shot in a studio rather than a real courtroom. Small-claims court participants agreed to drop their court cases and accept binding arbitration in a simulated courtroom. The networks expressed interest, but still did not buy it; however, it did sell into the first-run syndication market.[3] The series was executive produced by Ralph Edwards, who also created and hosted the documentary show This Is Your Life, and Stu Billett, who later went on to create Moral Court. John Masterson, whom many consider a pioneer and originator of "reality TV" also created Bride and Groom and Breakfast in Hollywood.

tag: p

text: The People's Court is the first court show to use binding arbitration, introducing the format into the genre in 1981. The system has been duplicated by most of the show's successors in the judicial genre. Moreover, The People's Court is the first popular, long-running reality in the judicial genre. It was preceded only by a few short-lived realities in the genre; these short-lived predecessors were only loosely related to judicial proceedings, except for one: Parole (1959) took footage from real-life courtrooms holding legal proceedings.[4] Prior to The People's Court, the vast majority of TV courtroom shows used actors, and recreated or fictional cases (as did radio before that). Among examples of these types of court shows include Famous Jury Trials and Your Witness.

text: The People's Court has had two incarnations. The show's first life was presided over solely by former Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Joseph Wapner.[5][6] His tenure lasted from the show's debut on September 14, 1981, until May 17, 1993, when the show was cancelled due to low ratings.[7] This left the show with a total of 2,484 half-hour episodes and 12 seasons. The show was taped in Los Angeles during its first life. After being cancelled, reruns aired in syndication until September 9, 1994,[8] and on the USA Network from October 16, 1995, to June 6, 1997.[9][10]

text: On September 8, 1997, after being out of production for four years, The People's Court was revived for a second life in first-run syndication as a 60-minute program. Former lawyer and Mayor of New York Ed Koch was chosen as arbiter, which he maintained for two seasons. By the 1999–2000 season, former New York State Supreme Court Judge Jerry Sheindlin (husband of Judy Sheindlin from Judge Judy) succeeded Koch. Sheindlin only lasted one and a half seasons and was replaced towards the end of the 2000–01 season. Since spring 2001, Marilyn Milian has been the judge.

text: First version (1981-93)[edit]

text: The People's Court pilot episode was taped on October 23, 1980, with a second pilot episode taped on January 13, 1981. It debuted in syndication on September 14, 1981.

text: The judge from the show's original 12 years (including the 1980 pilot), was Joseph Wapner. Rusty Burrell was his bailiff,[11] Jack Harrell was the announcer, and Doug Llewelyn was the host and court reporter, who announced the matter of the dispute at the beginning of each trial. He also interviewed the plaintiff and the defendant after the court ruling, to gauge their responses to the verdict. Llewelyn often ended each episode with a jaunty "If you're in a dispute with another party and you can't seem to work things out, don't take the law into your own hands; you take 'em to court", which became something of a 1980s catchphrase. If a case ended with a verdict for the defendant, however, Llewelyn instead ended the episode by saying, "If someone files a lawsuit against you and yet you're convinced you've done nothing wrong, don't be intimidated. The best policy is to go to court and stand up for your rights".

text: The cases often had pun-related names, such as "The Case of the Overdone Underthings" and "A Head with a Beer on It".

text: Judge Wapner greeted his litigants by saying, "I know you've been sworn. I've read your complaint..."

text: Occasionally, if an episode wrapped up a few minutes early, Judge Wapner fielded questions from the courtroom observers, or the legal consultant explained the legal reasons behind Wapner's decisions.

text: The People's Court deals in small-claims matters. When the show premiered in 1981, litigants could not sue for more than US$1,500, which was the limit for small-claims court at the time in California. As the laws in California changed, so did this amount. Starting in 1990, litigants could sue for up to US$5,000, which is now the law in most states.

text: Researchers for the show examined small-claims filings in Southern California and approached the plaintiff and defendant in interesting cases. The producers offered to have Judge Wapner arbitrate the dispute if they would agree to dismiss their action and be bound by Judge Wapner's decision. Through this approach, the show could get real people with real cases. Though the show is decorated and run like a real courtroom, it is not a real court or part of any judicial system, but instead a form of binding arbitration.

text: The losing party does not actually need to pay the judgment, as such. Instead (as is stated in the disclaimer at the end of each show), both parties are paid from a fund (set up by Ralph Edwards-Stu Billett Productions). This fund was based on the amount of the lawsuit claim, but an exact formula was not stated. The fund was to be first divided equally, then any monetary judgment ordered was subtracted from the loser's half (and presumably both halves in the case of cross judgments). Each litigant received at least what remained of their half in shows concluding with that disclaimer.

text: The disclaimer did not call this fund an "appearance fee", a term which appeared later in connection with The People's Court and other court shows. There may have been a later period when The People's Court paid the judgment, plus expenses and only a modest appearance fee to each litigant.[12]

text: Cancellation[edit]

text: After 12 seasons on The People's Court, Wapner was not invited back to the court show in 1993. The producers of The People's Court wished to revamp the series, but did not notify Wapner of this decision. Wapner learned of the decision from his brother-in-law, who read it in The San Francisco Chronicle. Wapner has expressed holding great resentment and bitterness at the court show's producers for finding out this way, and additional resentment over being let go when, according to him, the show was doing well. However, although the show had a good run ratings-wise, the ratings had dropped to an all-time low at around the time The People's Court was cancelled.

text: Wapner stated that he was told years later that the producers did not want to hurt his feelings, but that it was exactly what the producers did. Wapner also stated that he was not notified when the producers decided to revamp the series, and that he held no opinions on The People's Court judges who succeeded him as he never watched the program. He did, however, note that the two People's Court judges who succeeded him, Ed Koch and Jerry Sheindlin, only lasted two seasons each, whereas he lasted 12 seasons. He also emphasized that judges need to be respectful of litigants.[13]

text: Second version (1997-present)[edit]

text: On September 8, 1997, a new version of The People's Court debuted in first-run syndication as a 60-minute program. The series as a whole reached its 32nd season on September 5, 2016, with its 20th season in its current production cycle. By that point, the 1997 revival has already outlasted its original version, which ran 12 seasons. The show's second life has been headed by three judges since its debut.

text: Ed Koch (seasons one-two, 1997-99)[edit]

text: When the new People's Court premiered in 1997, former New York newscaster Carol Martin of WCBS-TV hosted from a studio with Harvey Levin, who was involved with the prior edition of the series as a legal consultant, serving as a co-host in the field taking questions and opinions from people at the Manhattan Mall, then returning to the studio at the end of the show for a wrap-up. Curt Chaplin was hired to serve as the show's announcer and to fill Doug Llewellyn's position as the court reporter, although with the addition of a host, his role was limited to interviewing the litigants after the conclusion of each case.

text: Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch presided over the court from September 8, 1997, to June 25, 1999 (with reruns airing until September 10).[14] Several months into the run, Martin departed the series and Levin became the series' sole host. The studio segments were done away with and Levin hosted the entire episodes from the viewing area, which eventually moved from the Manhattan Mall to the Times Square visitors' center. Since Levin is now based in Los Angeles with TMZ, the viewing area has moved to the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, California, while production of The People's Court has moved to Connecticut. The opening outlines of the taped cases are shown to people in the outdoor viewing area on a monitor. Their responses are edited into the program.

text: Jerry Sheindlin (seasons three-four, 1999-March 2001)[edit]

text: Judge Jerry Sheindlin (husband of former New York Family Court Judge Judith Sheindlin, the presiding judge over the court show Judge Judy[15][16]) sat on the bench from September 13, 1999,[14] to March 9, 2001, and ratings on the show lagged.[17] The bailiff for both of these judges' tenures was Josephine Ann Longobardi.

text: Marilyn Milian era (since season four, 2001–present)[edit]

text: On March 12, 2001, late in The People's Court's fourth season, retired Florida State Circuit Court Judge Marilyn Milian replaced Sheindlin as presiding judge on the court show.[18] Under Milian, People's Court ratings improved significantly.[17] Milian is the first Latina judge to preside over a courtroom series.[1] Milian is also the show's youngest and first female arbitrator. By the completion of the 16th season of The People's Court (2012–13), Milian had completed 12 and a half seasons presiding over the series, officially making her the longest reigning judge over the program—outlasting Joseph Wapner's reign of 12 seasons. Now in its 20th revival season, Milian enters her 16th season presiding over the series. For the remainder of the 2000–01 season, Davey Jones took over the role as bailiff, replacing Longobardi. In September 2001, Jones was replaced by Douglas McIntosh, who remains in the position as of March 2017[update].

text: In 2008, The People's Court, under Milian's reign, was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award under a new Courtroom/Legal Show category created by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. In 2009 and 2010, the show was nominated again for the Daytime Emmy Award under the same category, but did not win. On May 1, 2013, The People's Court had again been nominated for an Outstanding Legal/Courtroom Program Daytime Emmy, but again did not win.[19]

text: The People's Court finally won a Daytime Emmy in 2014 and again in 2015

text: While the show taped from New York City for the first 15 seasons of the revival, it began taping from Stamford, Connecticut, in the 16th season of its present installment (2012–13).

text: For the show's 20th season, Doug Llewelyn returned to the series for the first time since the end of the original series. He resumed his previous role as reporter, replacing Curt Chaplin, who remains in his announcer role as of March 2017[update]. For his first show back, Judge Milian welcomed him "home" and handed him his suit jacket and microphone.[20]

text: Series overview[edit]

text: Opening monologue[edit]

text: When the original People's Court first hit the air, the monologue was:

text: What you are about to witness is real. The participants are not actors. They are the actual people who have already either filed suit or been served a summons to appear in a California municipal court. Both parties in the suit have agreed to dismiss their court cases and have their disputes settled here, in our forum: The People's Court.

text: Later, the show opened with:

text: What you are witnessing is real. The participants are not actors. They are actual litigants with a case pending in a California municipal court. Both parties have agreed to dismiss their court cases and have their disputes settled here, in our forum: The People's Court.

text: In the 1997 revival, the line was:

text: What you are witnessing is real. The participants are not actors. They are actual litigants with a case pending in a New York metropolitan area court/civil court. Both parties/sides have agreed to drop their claims and have their disputes settled here, in our/Judge Jerry Sheindlin's forum (the latter from the period when Jerry Sheindlin was the presiding judge): The People's Court.

text: When Marilyn Milian replaced Sheindlin in 2001, the previous introduction was revised:

text: What you are witnessing is real. The participants are not actors. They are actual litigants with real cases. They will settle their disputes here, in Judge Marilyn Milian's forum: The People's Court.

text: Later, Milian's introduction was revised:

text: There's a new judge in town, the honorable Marilyn Milian. She will be hearing real cases presented by real litigants who have agreed to have their disputes settled here in our forum: The People's Court.

text: Then the opening was changed to:

text: The whole country's talking about the honorable Marilyn Milian... [soundbite of Judge Milian saying, "Judge here!"]... the hottest judge on television. [Soundbite of Judge saying, "It's my ruling!"] She'll hear real cases from real litigants. Here, in our forum: The People's Court.

text: After a few months the soundbites of Judge Milian's voice were dropped from the opening, and the wording of Curt Chaplin's introduction was slightly changed:

text: Everybody's talking about the honorable Marilyn Milian, the hottest judge on television. Real cases, real litigants. Here, in our forum: The People's Court.

text: In September 2009, the new opening was revealed when the new season premiered:

text: What you are about to witness is real. The participants are not actors. They are actual litigants with a case pending in civil court. Both parties have agreed to drop their claims and have their cases settled here, before Judge Marilyn Milian, in our forum: The People's Court.

text: Litigant compensation[edit]

text: At the end of each show, the following disclaimer appears:

text: Both the plaintiff and the defendant have been paid from a fund for their appearance. The amount, if any, awarded in the case, is deducted from this fund, and the remainder is divided equally between both litigants. The amount of the fund is dependent on the size of the judgment.

text: No information is given as to what relation the amount of the fund bears to the size of the judgment, nor the amount of the fund if a verdict for the defense is rendered.[citation needed]

text: In a talk-show appearance, Judge Wapner gave a few more specifics as to how compensation was typically calculated. In his words, if the plaintiff won, the show would pay his/her judgment and give the defendant $50 for his time, whereas if the defendant won, the parties would "split $500".[citation needed]

text: In 1989, a litigant sued the producers, claiming, "I was only willing to appear because they guaranteed me $1,500. I never would have appeared on that show and made a fool out of myself for a chintzy $250." (In response, an associate producer said that before going on the show, participants are given a packet of information "where everything is clearly outlined to the nth degree.")[12]

text: The New York Post reported on some of the details surrounding compensation for a lawsuit filed by Claudia Evart. "The show pays all damages awarded to defendants and plaintiffs, as well as a $250 appearance fee."[21]

text: Production notes[edit]

text: The 1981–93 life of the show was initially taped at Golden West Broadcasters and, later, Metromedia in Los Angeles, before moving to The Production Group. In New York City, The People's Court first taped episodes at the NEP/Image studios in the former Grand Ballroom of the Hotel Pennsylvania, which was also the studio for the talk show Maury. In 1998, the show began taping at the MTI Studios on the 8th floor at 401 Fifth Avenue, where the courtroom received a makeover. In 2006, the MTI Studios were sold to NEP/Image. At the end credits of some episodes, the show is said to be taped at the NEP/Image studios. The former MTI studios are officially part of NEP Broadcasting's NEP Penn Studios.[citation needed]

text: As of 2012, the show has moved to the Connecticut Film Center in Stamford.[22] The aired episodes are sometimes spliced together in a different order from which they are taped. This is why the judge's blouse color may change and why fewer courtroom observers may be seen during the second half of the show than during the first half. For the 2012 season, the show started broadcasting in widescreen standard definition.

text: The People's Court is "A Ralph Edwards-Stu Billett Production" in association with Telepictures Productions and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. The original series was distributed by Telepictures, and later Lorimar-Telepictures, which is now part of Warner Bros.

text: Theme music[edit]

text: The theme music, "The Big One (People's Court Theme)", was composed by Alan Stanley Tew. The uptempo theme music, with prominent piano theme and bongo drum rhythm, has been sampled by many artists, including Nelly. It has also been featured in several films and television shows, including the 1977 pornographic film Barbara Broadcast, the 1979 low-budget film Malibu High, the BCTV current affairs show Webster!, SpongeBob SquarePants, The Simpsons, "Blue Harvest", the sixth-season premiere episode of Family Guy, the December 5, 2005, and December 21, 2009, editions of WWE Raw in Tampa, Florida, Malibu High, Boy Meets World, and Popular.[citation needed]

text: Ratings[edit]

text: To date, The People's Court ranks second behind Judge Judy in the ratings for court shows.[23] It had been third behind Judge Joe Brown, but inherited the second spot once Brown's program was cancelled.

text: British version[edit]

text: A British version of the show was produced by STV Productions (then known as "SMG TV Productions") to replace Trisha Goddard's talk show on ITV in 2005. The court reporter was Carol Smillie, the male judge was Jerome Lynch, and the female judge was Rhonda Anderson.[24] The show was considered a failure and not renewed.


document_title: There's No Business Like Show Business

question_text: who wrote the song there's no business like show business

question_tokens: who wrote the song there 's no business like show business

text: There's No Business Like Show Business

text: "There's No Business Like Show Business" is an Irving Berlin song, written for the 1946 musical Annie Get Your Gun and orchestrated by Ted Royal. The song, a slightly tongue-in-cheek salute to the glamour and excitement of a life in show business, is sung in the musical by members of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show in an attempt to persuade Annie Oakley to join the production.[1] It is reprised three times in the musical.

text: The song is also featured in the 1954 movie of the same name, where it is notably sung by Ethel Merman as the main musical number.[2] The movie, directed by Walter Lang, is essentially a catalog of various Berlin's pieces, in the same way that Singin' in the Rain—which starred Donald O'Connor as well—was a collection of Arthur Freed songs. There was also a disco version of the song made during the 1970s, with Merman reprising her singing role in The Ethel Merman Disco Album.[3] The song became one of Ethel Merman's standards and was often performed by her at concerts and on television.

text: Other singers to have recorded the song include Judy Garland,[4] The Andrews Sisters (with Bing Crosby and Dick Haymes), Harry Connick Jr. (from Come by Me, 1999), Susannah McCorkle, and Bernadette Peters. The Andrews Sisters version with Bing Crosby and Dick Haymes was recorded on March 19, 1947[5] and was the only version to reach the Billboard charts, albeit briefly at No. 25.[6]

text: In his liner notes for Susannah McCorkle's version of the song on her Ballad Essentials album Scott Yanow writes "usually performed as a corny razzle-dazzle romp, that piece was drastically slowed down by Susannah who performed all of its known lyrics, including stanzas that show Irving Berlin's lyrics were actually quite touching and meaningful".

text: Tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins did a rendition of the tune on his 1956 Prestige album, Work Time.

text: Popular culture[edit]

text:
The Canadian band Sweeney Todd included part of the lyrics in their song "Say Hello Say Goodbye" from their album If Wishes Were Horses.
The Ethel Merman recording is featured in the film All That Jazz (1979).
From 1976 to 2007 the rock band Genesis played the Ethel Merman recording at the end of gigs—it can be heard at the end of their 1977 live album Seconds Out.
The song is featured during the epilogue of the HBO film, The Late Shift.
During the credits of Noises Off, Niki Haris sings a form of the song.
In the 2000 musical film version of Love's Labour's Lost, Nathan Lane sings a version of the song.
Liza Minnelli performed a portion of the song on her 1992 album "Live From Radio City Music Hall."
In RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars, contestants Latrice Royale and Tammie Brown performed a lip-sync to the Ethel Merman version for the episode "RuPaul's Gaff-In."[7]
British comedian and impressionist Bobby Davro included a sketch "The Kidnapping of Bonnie Langford" on his 1980s ITV show, which concluded with Langford (played by Jessica Martin) loudly performing the song in order to nauseate her kidnappers into releasing her.
The song is sampled in Taco's cover of another Irving Berlin song, "Puttin' On the Ritz", released in 1982.
The song's opening line forms the basis for a dialog between R.K. Maroon and Eddie Valiant in the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988).

tag: ul


document_title: The King of Queens

question_text: who plays carries father on king of queens

text: The King of Queens

text: Plot[edit]

text: Doug and Carrie Heffernan are a working class couple living at "3121 Aberdeen Street" in Rego Park, Queens, New York,[1] along with Carrie's eccentric father, Arthur Spooner.[2] Doug works for the fictional International Parcel Service (IPS) as a delivery driver, while Carrie works as a secretary in Manhattan, first for a law firm and later for a real estate firm. Their lives are complicated by the demands of Arthur, so much so that they eventually hire Holly, a professional dog walker, to spend time with him as she walks dogs in the park.

text: Also featured on the show are Doug's friends Deacon Palmer, Spence Olchin and Richie Iannucci, as well as Doug's cousin Danny Heffernan. Deacon's wife Kelly is Carrie's best friend.

text: Most scenes take place in the Heffernans' home, but other common locations include Doug and Carrie's workplaces, the restaurant "Cooper's" and the residences of friends and family. While locations seen during the theme-song were filmed in areas surrounding New York, the series was filmed in California.

text: The show begins after Doug and Carrie have already married, and how they met is slightly unclear due to continuity issues. In one flashback episode, "Meet By-Product", Doug meets Carrie when he is a bouncer at a nightclub that Carrie attends. However, in another episode, "Road Rayge", Carrie reflects on a song that she says Doug asked her to dance to when they were in junior high school. In a later episode, it was implied that they all went to high school together, as Kelly and Carrie were said to have slept with the same guy neither husband knew of until the day of the guy's wedding.

text: Characters[edit]

text: Main[edit]

text:
Doug Heffernan (played by Kevin James) is an average parcel delivery man with a smart-aleck personality. Doug never hesitates to protest his grievances intensely. Doug's birth date is February 9, 1965. He was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada (unbeknownst to him until the season 5 episode "Dog Shelter"). Some of his misadventures are fueled by his love of food. These basic desires sometimes cause him to think of strange, intricate schemes in order to get what he wants, although they usually fall through in the end, causing constant arguments between Doug and Carrie. Doug's tendency to give in to his temptations, despite promising Carrie otherwise, is another common cause of disagreements. He generally enjoys the simple pleasures of watching sports and playing poker with his friends.
Carrie Heffernan (played by Leah Remini) is Doug's sardonic wife. She has a quick-temper and is occasionally physically abusive to Doug. She has been characterized as scary by Holly and Doug, particularly when she is angry. During a flashback, Carrie concludes that she is happier (she describes herself as never being truly happy) when others are miserable. She never finished college and is employed as a hard-working legal secretary. Her constant attempts to make her relationship with Doug more romantic and meaningful cause Doug frustration, as he prefers a simple life with as few restrictions as possible. The more quick-witted and adventurous of the couple, Carrie often pushes Doug to make more of himself and improve his morals, but she can be just as immoral as he is. Although Carrie scolds Doug for his selfish behavior, she has proven to be selfish as well at times, with little patience for others' problems or tolerance for their quirks. Carrie's best friend is Deacon's wife, Kelly Palmer.
Arthur Spooner (played by Jerry Stiller) is Carrie's widowed father, who has been married three times. His fourth marriage is to Spence's mother (played by Anne Meara, Stiller's real-life wife) during the final season. Arthur is the classic oddball of the family. He lives in the basement of the Heffernan house because he accidentally set fire to his own uninsured home, burning it to the ground in the pilot episode. Very volatile, Arthur is mostly known for his incoherent, irascible outbursts. He tells a lot of questionable stories of what he claims he has been through in his past. Arthur regularly causes chaos in the Heffernan household and gets on Doug's and Carrie's nerves. They sometimes have trouble finding time alone because Arthur tends to get in the way. Arthur also tries to cause trouble with Doug's friends. He especially bullies Spence but also (unsuccessfully) tries it on Deacon, who often refers to him as "the old man".

text:
Deacon John Palmer (played by Victor Williams) is Doug's best friend and co-worker. Towering in height and very athletic, Deacon is a year and a few weeks younger than Doug, but the more mature of the two, in addition to being the classic "family man". Deacon and his wife Kelly have two sons, named Major and Kirby. He is often seen hanging out with Doug, whether it is on their lunch break, over the weekend, or for a family gathering. Although he often experiences relationship problems, Deacon always has time to relax and have fun. He will often help Doug plan elaborate schemes to fool Carrie, but he rarely likes to get involved in the scheme himself. Deacon attended St. John's University in Queens, where he received two bachelor's degrees, one in art history and one in music.[citation needed] In the first-season episode "Best Man", Deacon mentions having served in the National Guard. He also volunteers as a big brother.
Spencer "Spence" Olchin (played by Patton Oswalt) is another friend of Doug's and the nerd of the group. He tends to be paranoid with fragile health and takes an interest in science fiction, fantasy movies, and comic book conventions—interests that his friends do not share. Spence's birthday is February 14. He is of Albanian heritage, and works as a subway token booth clerk. He moved to the New York area from rural West Virginia. In one episode, he is a "house boy" for Deacon and Kelly. His character is based largely on the actor who plays him, Patton Oswalt. Spence demonstrates intelligence and competence in a variety of pursuits, but he is haunted by his family history, his intimidating and troubled mother, and his inability to protect himself. Numerous episodes mention that Spence is asthmatic (a burden he shares with Danny) and allergic to peanuts (however, in the episode "Richie's Song" he is seen eating Peanut M&M's out of Doug's vehicle). In the season eight episode "Hartford Wailer", Spence is said to be from Ottawa. In the series' penultimate episode, "Single Spaced", Spence shows interest in romancing Carrie when it appears she and Doug will divorce.
Richard "Richie" Iannucci (seasons 1–3; played by Larry Romano) is one of Doug's closest friends. He and Doug were roommates before Doug married Carrie (shown in the episode "Meet By-Product"). He was quietly written out of the show in season three so Romano could work on another sitcom (Kristin). During that season, he only appeared in one episode, called "Paint Misbehavin". He mostly addressed Doug as "Moose". Richie was known as the ladies' man among Doug's friends, even admitting to sleeping with Doug's sister. Richie is an FDNY firefighter. He is also somewhat of a con artist. His last appearance on the show was in the episode "Paint Misbehavin'", in which he has sex (offscreen) with Doug's sister Stephanie (Ricki Lake) and afterwards she promises to call him, although she has no intention to. He was also briefly seen in a few clips during the flashback montage at the end of the series finale.
Daniel "Danny" Heffernan (played by Gary Valentine) is Doug's cousin, and he is also seen hanging out with Doug, Deacon and Spence. In the show's early seasons Doug has a negative view of Danny bordering on hate due to the latter's overeagerness to spend time with the former, but at the end of "S'no Job", they become friends and co-workers and regularly hang out along with Deacon and Spence. Danny even becomes Spence's roommate in a small apartment. The two fight like a married couple, and many of the jokes revolve around what looks to their friends like a romantic relationship. At one point, they legally marry in order to get a free TV from a sales pitch for which only married couples are eligible. Danny also used to own a pizza place, and he is divorced from a woman named Eva. He once had the nickname "Stumpy", which was given to him by Doug. Episodes "Silent Mite" and "Paint Misbehavin'" reveal that Danny has asthma and uses an inhaler. Gary Valentine and Kevin James are brothers in real life. They both created last names for acting. Valentine is their father's middle name.
Holly Shumpert (seasons 3–9; played by Nicole Sullivan) is a polite, yet timid dog-walker who along with the Heffernans lives in Queens, where she was hired by Doug and Carrie to walk Arthur. She is often seen arriving at the Heffernan house to pick up Arthur but is also a family friend of the Heffernans. She is often viewed as strange because of her habits, the men she dates and her habit of overdrinking, to which she openly confesses. Holly is a gentle soul, especially as she puts up with Arthur's antics, and is kind to Carrie despite the fact that Carrie often mistreats her. Holly was written out of the series at the beginning of season eight, but she later returned, pregnant, for one last appearance in the series finale ("China Syndrome"). Sullivan appeared as a different character in the season 3 episode "Pregnant Pause".
Sara Spooner (season 1; played by Lisa Rieffel) is Carrie's younger half-sister, an irresponsible aspiring actress. She appears in only five of the first six episodes. She was only mentioned one other time (although not by name) in episode 52 ("Roast Chicken") by Doug as an excuse to his boss to get out of performing a roast. After the show became more popular, Kevin James was asked to explain what happened to Sara during an interview. According to James, the producers could not think of any storylines to develop Rieffel's character, so she was discontinued. During the pilot she was on camera for roughly half the episode. However, in the other episodes in which she was included, her character did not have much to say or do. Subsequent dialogue suggests that Sara Spooner never existed, and that Carrie is an only child. (The disappearance of her character, coupled with the show's subsequent contention that the character never existed, is an example of the "Chuck Cunningham Syndrome".)

text: Recurring[edit]

text:
Kelly Palmer, Deacon's wife (played by Merrin Dungey) is Carrie's best friend. She has two children with Deacon. Kelly and Deacon experience some serious relationship problems, much more serious than the petty arguments between Doug and Carrie. On one occasion, Deacon mentions being hit in the head with a frying pan. She was absent from the show in 2002 because she needed to take a break from the series; during this period, her character was estranged from Deacon and engaged in a brief affair.
Lou Ferrigno (seasons 3–9; himself) is the actor known for his role as The Incredible Hulk. Ferrigno and his wife are neighbors of the Heffernans. A running gag on the series is that the neighbors (including the Heffernans) are fascinated by him and it gets on his nerves. Lou does not like people telling him Hulk jokes. Other characters often make reference to his previous role as the Hulk. For example, at one point Doug is angry and Lou tries to calm him down; Doug retorts with the famous line from the Hulk series "Don't make me angry; you wouldn't like me when I am angry". Also, in the episode "Gym Neighbors", it is revealed that he has a video game addiction.
Supervisor Patrick O'Boyle (seasons 3–9; played by Sam McMurray) is section supervisor for the fictional International Parcel Service. He is Doug's boss and friend throughout most of the show, whom he mostly refers to as "Heffernan". He is in most IPS scenes throughout the show. He is also a recovering alcoholic and gambling addict. A character named Supervisor Jack O'Boyle (played by John F. O'Donohue) appears in an episode from season one ("White Collar", 1999).
Raymond "Ray" Barone (seasons 1, 2 & 8; 5 episodes; played by Ray Romano) is Doug's Long Island friend. Romano and James appearing on each other's shows was part of a network program crossover, as CBS aired both Everybody Loves Raymond and The King of Queens. Romano's appearance was successful enough to warrant all other lead characters (Patricia Heaton, Brad Garrett, Doris Roberts, and Peter Boyle) to appear as their respective characters as well. Appropriately, the four episodes featuring Romano contained "Ray" in their titles ("Road Rayge", "Rayny Day", "Dire Strayts", and "Raygin' Bulls").
Doug Pruzan (season 2–6; played by Alex Skuby) is Carrie's boss and a lawyer at a Manhattan law firm.
Veronica Olchin (season 1; played by Grace Zabriskie, seasons 5–9 played by Anne Meara) Spence's mother. She is portrayed by Zabriske in her first appearance in "S'aint Valentines", but portrayed by Meara for the rest of the series. Veronica has an on-again/off-again relationship with Arthur, who is portrayed by Meara's real-life husband, Jerry Stiller. Meara had previously appeared in "S'aint Valentines" as a woman who flirts with Arthur. Arthur and Veronica marry in the series finale, but divorced a year later.

text: Series background[edit]

text: Based on the lives of blue-collar couple Doug and Carrie Heffernan, The King of Queens debuted on CBS on September 21, 1998. During its run, it brought in solid ratings (usually ranking in the Top 40) for the most part and was a Monday night staple, competing with shows such as the long-running drama 7th Heaven. In 2003, when scheduled against The West Wing and Nanny 911, it began to drop in the ratings. The final episode aired on May 14, 2007. The series shot at Sony Pictures Studios' Stage 28 in Culver City, California.[3] The character of Arthur was conceived with Jerry Stiller in mind, but he initially turned down the role. Veteran comedian Jack Carter was then cast and a pilot was shot. Soon afterward, Stiller changed his mind and took the part, which required re-shooting of scenes featuring Carter.[4]

text: The King of Queens was partly inspired by the classic television sitcom The Honeymooners, as the characters of Doug and Carrie are based on the Kramden couple, with similar mannerisms and deadpan expressions. In a 2001 episode of the show ("Inner Tube"), the show pays homage to The Honeymooners, as a distraught Doug dreams that he is Ralph Kramden, his wife Carrie is Alice Kramden, and his friend Deacon is Ed Norton. The sequence was filmed in black-and-white and the audio quality (including the audience) matches a 1950s style.[5]

text: The show is currently in syndication worldwide and airs on TBS and TV Land in the United States.[6][7] and on TVTropolis and OMNI in Canada. In Sweden, Germany, Ireland, Romania, Denmark, the UK and Poland it runs on the ComedyCentral network. In April 2014, the show began running weekdays on Channel 4 at 7:35am in the UK and Ireland.[8]

text: Theme song and opening sequences[edit]

text: The season one main opening was a simple eight-second sequence which showed the window of a subway train with moving through and quickly stopping at the original show logo, which then peeled off to reveal the names of the show's creators.

text: Starting with season two, the show added a new theme song called "Baby All My Life I Will Be Driving Home to You", which was written by series writers Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa, composed by Jonathan Wolff and Scott Clausen, and performed by Billy Vera and the Beaters. An instrumental version was used as the closing theme during season two, but was replaced in season three with a new closing theme composed by Kurt Farquhar.

text: The opening credits from seasons two through nine featured an opening shot of Doug getting into an IPS truck, which then cuts to a long shot of an elevated subway station, (Which is the 111 Street Station on the IRT Flushing Line which is on the 7 Line of the New York City Subway) where he drives under the subway station onto which the show's logo is digitally placed, as if it's a street sign. It then cuts to scenes of Doug, Carrie and Arthur spending time around Queens. In the season two sequence, Kevin James' starring credit was placed over a shot of the Brooklyn Bridge with the Manhattan skyline, but was re-edited after the September 11 attacks that felled the World Trade Center. Two short versions of the sequence exist: in original airings where the opening was shortened due to time constraints and in some syndicated airings, the opening featured the shot of the IPS truck going under the bridge, then to the final shot of the credits where Doug and Carrie get ices at the Lemon Ice King of Corona on 108th St in Queens. The second version used in U.S. syndicated airings since 2007 simply features the first eight seconds of the full sequence with the opening establishing shots of Queens placed before the truck scene. In syndicated airings of season one episodes that have aired in the U.S. since the fall of 2007, this version replaced the standard season one sequence in all episodes for unknown reasons.

text: Episodes[edit]

text:
Season
Episodes
Originally aired

First aired
Last aired

1
25
September 21, 1998 (1998-09-21)
May 17, 1999 (1999-05-17)

2
25
September 20, 1999 (1999-09-20)
May 22, 2000 (2000-05-22)

3
25
October 2, 2000 (2000-10-02)
May 28, 2001 (2001-05-28)

4
25
September 24, 2001 (2001-09-24)
May 20, 2002 (2002-05-20)

5
25
September 23, 2002 (2002-09-23)
May 19, 2003 (2003-05-19)

6
24
October 1, 2003 (2003-10-01)
May 19, 2004 (2004-05-19)

7
22
October 27, 2004 (2004-10-27)
May 18, 2005 (2005-05-18)

8
23
September 19, 2005 (2005-09-19)
May 22, 2006 (2006-05-22)

9
13
December 6, 2006 (2006-12-06)
May 14, 2007 (2007-05-14)

tag: table

text: Ratings[edit]

text:
U.S. television ratings

Season
Time slot (EDT)
Season premiere
Season finale
TV season
Rank
Viewers
(in millions)

1
Monday 8:30/7:30c
(September 21, 1998 – May 17, 1999)
September 21, 1998
May 17, 1999
1998–1999
#35
12.5[9]

2
Monday 8:00/7:00c
(September 20, 1999 – May 19, 2003)
September 20, 1999
May 22, 2000
1999–2000
#34
12.7[10]

3
October 2, 2000
May 28, 2001
2000–2001
#26
13.4[11]

4
September 24, 2001
May 20, 2002
2001–2002
#21
13.9[12]

5
September 23, 2002
May 19, 2003
2002–2003
#27
13.0[13]

6
Wednesday 9:00/8:00c
(October 1, 2003 – May 18, 2005)
October 1, 2003
May 19, 2004
2003–2004
#33
11.1[14]

7
October 27, 2004
May 18, 2005
2004–2005
#48
9.8[15]

8
Monday 8:00/7:00c
(September 19, 2005 – May 22, 2006)
September 19, 2005
May 22, 2006
2005–2006
#49
10.0[16]

9
Wednesday 8:00/7:00c / Monday 9:30/8:30c
(December 6, 2006 – May 14, 2007)
December 6, 2006
May 14, 2007
2006–2007
#33
11.4[17]

text: Awards and nominations[edit]

text: Emmy Awards[edit]

text: In 2006, Kevin James received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for his portrayal of Doug Heffernan.

text:
TV Season
Award
Category
Nominee
Episode
Result

2005–2006
Emmy Award
Best Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Kevin James
"Pole Lox"
Nominated

text: The Emmy was won by Tony Shalhoub for his performance on Monk.

text: BMI Awards[edit]

text: In addition, The King of Queens received several BMI Awards during its prime-time run. The series won BMI Awards in the "TV Music Award" category in 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004. These awards were presented to Kurt Farquhar, Josh Goldsmith, Andrew Gross, and Cathy Yuspa.

text: Nominations[edit]

text: The King of Queens was additionally nominated for the 2007 and 2008 People's Choice Awards 'Favorite TV Comedy' award during its final two seasons. In 2004 Scott Heineman and Mark Waters (director) were nominated by the Art Directors Guild for the 'Excellence in Production Design Award'. Victor Williams was nominated in 2007 for 'Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series' by the NAACP Image Awards.[18]

text: Home media releases[edit]

text:
In Region 1, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has released all nine seasons of The King of Queens on DVD in the USA and Canada.
In Region 2, Paramount Home Entertainment has released all nine seasons on DVD in the UK.[19] The series has also been released in Germany by Koch Media, all nine seasons have been released.
In Region 4, Paramount Home Entertainment has released all nine seasons on DVD in Australia.[20]

text:
DVD Name
Ep #
Release Dates

Region 1 (US)
Region 1 (CAN)
Region 2 (UK)
Region 2 (Germany)
Region 4 (Australia)

The Complete First Season
25
(3 discs)
November 18, 2003
August 11, 2009
January 29, 2007
November 26, 2004
January 11, 2007

The Complete Second Season
25
(3 discs)
April 20, 2004
August 11, 2009
July 9, 2007
March 31, 2005
July 12, 2007

The Complete Third Season
25
(3 discs)
February 22, 2005
August 11, 2009
September 15, 2008
September 2, 2005
July 31, 2008

The Complete Fourth Season
25
(3 discs)
April 14, 2005
January 5, 2010
February 9, 2009
December 2, 2005
January 15, 2009

The Complete Fifth Season
25
(3 discs)
June 20, 2006
January 5, 2010
May 18, 2009
May 26, 2006
May 7, 2009

The Complete Sixth Season
24
(3 discs)
September 19, 2006
January 5, 2010
July 13, 2009
November 24, 2006
August 6, 2009[21]

The Complete Seventh Season
22
(3 discs)
January 16, 2007
November 9, 2010[22]
March 22, 2010
March 9, 2007
April 1, 2010

The Complete Eighth Season
23
(3 discs)
May 1, 2007
November 9, 2010[23]
June 21, 2010
August 24, 2007
June 3, 2010

The Complete Ninth Season
13
(2 discs)
September 25, 2007
November 9, 2010[24]
September 20, 2010
October 19, 2007
September 16, 2010

The Complete Series Box Set
207
(27 discs)
November 6, 2007
TBA
May 7, 2012
March 7, 2008[25]
TBA

text: Blu-ray releases[edit]

text: Seasons two[26] and three[27] were released on Blu-ray Disc by Koch Media on November 21, 2008. They are presented with 1080i/25fps VC-1 video, 2.0 DTS audio tracks in both English and German with German subtitles optional. They include the same extras as the DVD releases from Koch Media. Even though they are only released in Germany and Austria, they are not region locked.

text: On March 26, 2015, Koch Media released the whole series on Blu-ray in HD.[28] The complete box set is distributed for Region B/2.[29]