document_title: Home and Away

question_text: when does home and away return april 2018

text: Home and Away

text: History[edit]

text: After the Seven Network cancelled their soap opera Neighbours on 12 July 1985 due to low ratings, rival network Ten picked it up and turned it into a success.[1] A couple of years later, Seven's head of drama, Alan Bateman, became desperate to get back into the soap market and began to work out how to launch another soap that was not a copy of Neighbours.[2] While on a trip to Kangaroo Point, New South Wales with his family, Bateman began talking to locals who were "up in arms" over the construction of a foster home for children from the city.[2][3] Seeing the degree of conflict the "influx of parentless children on a tight-knit community" was having, Bateman came away with the idea for a new serial.[3] He explained "Nobody in the community wanted them to move in and I began to wonder how streetwise city kids would adapt to the new lifestyle. Suddenly I thought, there is my slice of life in a community."[2] Bateman began outlining the storyline and set the serial in the fictional town of Summer Bay. While Seven Network executives were unconvinced by the idea, audience research was positive.[2] The soap opera was initially called Refuge, but the name was changed to the "friendlier" title of Home and Away once production began.[2]

text: Home and Away has since become the second-longest drama series in Australian television after Neighbours.[4][5] During the show's first season in 1988, a rape storyline for the character Carly Morris (Sharyn Hodgson) outraged the public and a protest erupted, as viewers deemed it an inappropriate subject to be covering in an early evening time slot.[6] In 2002, several former characters such as Frank Morgan (Alex Papps), Carly Morris (Sharyn Hodgson), Steven Matheson (Adam Willits), Blake Dean (Les Hill) and Sophie Simpson (Rebekah Elmaloglou) returned for a special storyline to mark the 150th anniversary of settlement in Summer Bay.[7][8] The storyline featured a majority of the cast boarded onto a ferry boat for a night cruise; however, a massive storm ruined the celebrations, leading the boat to sink.[9] In July 2005, Home and Away celebrated its 4000th episode, which saw many former cast members return for Alf Stewart's (Ray Meagher) surprise 60th birthday party.[10][11][12] In March 2007, the commercial television industry's Annual Code Complaint Report revealed that Home and Away was the eighth most complained about show on Australian television, and the only drama series in the top ten complaint list.[13] From 1 July 2005 to 30 June 2006, there were 23 written complaints about the show as viewers thought it was inappropriate for it to be shown in its 7:00 pm timeslot.[13]

text: In March 2009, it was alleged that Seven had agreed to censor a then-upcoming lesbian kiss scene between Charlie Buckton (Esther Anderson) and Joey Collins (Kate Bell), after receiving many complaints from conservative groups and mothers who did not want their children exposed to same-sex relationships in a family show.[14][15] Seven's head of creative drama, Bevan Lee, later confirmed that the censorship allegations were in fact false and that the scene would still go to air as planned.[16] Home and Away celebrated its 21st year in production in Sydney on 23 July 2009.[4] The mayor of Sydney's Pittwater Council presented cast members with the key to Palm Beach, the filming location for the show.[4] At the end of 2011, Cameron Welsh left his role as the series producer.[17][18] Welsh previously played the character Mitch McColl from 1999 until 2001 and then became the series producer for Home and Away in 2007.[17] Former All Saints producer Lucy Addario took over as series producer in January 2012.[17][18] In August 2012, Home and Away's official Australian Facebook page reached one million likes, becoming the first Australian television show to reach this milestone.[19] The Facebook page was established in November 2009 and is followed by fans mostly in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom.[19] In 2013, Home and Away celebrated its 25th anniversary and former cast member Kate Ritchie (Sally Fletcher) returned for a special storyline to coincide with the celebrations.[20][21] For the first time in the show's history, Home and Away aired a two-hander episode, featuring only the characters Ricky Sharpe (Bonnie Sveen) and Darryl "Brax" Braxton (Steve Peacocke), on 14 February 2016.[22][23]

text: Settings[edit]

text: Home and Away is set in Summer Bay, a fictional seaside town of New South Wales. Locations within the town include the beach, a high school, diner, bait shop, garage and a  surf club, which includes a gym, small kiosk and an upstairs restaurant.[24] Characters in the show live at surrounding neighbouring areas such as the Summer Bay House, Summer Bay Caravan Park, Beach House, The Farmhouse, Pier Flat, and Saxon Avenue. Other fictional towns mentioned and sometimes seen in Home and Away are Mangrove River and Yabbie Creek.[25][26]

text: Palm Beach in Sydney's Northern Beaches district has been used as the location for Summer Bay since Home and Away began in 1988.[24][26][27] It has since become popular with tourists, and tours to the show's exterior sets at Palm Beach run throughout the year.[24][28][29] The exterior scenes are filmed mainly at Palm Beach and at Fisherman's Beach in Collaroy.[24][26][30] Interior scenes for the show were filmed at the Seven Network's Sydney studios in Epping until 2010. Following the closure of these studios in early 2010, the interiors are now filmed at the Australian Technology Park in Redfern.[31][32] The Jackeroo Ranch estate in Kenthurst had been used for the exterior sets of the Summer Bay House and Caravan Park since 1988.[26] After both sets were destroyed by a bushfire in December 2002, the caravan park set was moved and filmed at other locations such as the Waratah Park Earth Sanctuary between 2007–09 and the Lane Cove River Tourist Park between 2010–14.[26][33][34] A replica of the Summer Bay House was rebuilt in its original location at the Kenthurst estate several years later, with the exception of a grey roof instead of a red one.[26][35] The caravan park set moved back to the estate after the house was rebuilt, and both exterior sets made their on-screen returns in 2015.[36] The Summer Bay House is the only house to still be seen on screen since the pilot episode.[26]

text: Aside from New South Wales, Home and Away has also filmed scenes in other states of Australia. In May 2012, the show filmed scenes at Flinders Ranges and Nilpena Station in South Australia for a storyline in which Casey Braxton (Lincoln Younes) was kidnapped and taken to the outback by Kyle Braxton (Nic Westaway).[37][38][39]  The following month, Home and Away filmed scenes in Melbourne for the second time.[40] In November 2014, the show filmed an episode at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra with several cast members, as a tribute to the Anzac Centenary. The episode centered around Alf Stewart (Ray Meagher), "who becomes upset with the younger generation's perceived lack of respect for Anzac Day, and joins the school trip to Canberra to visit the War Memorial."[41][42] Outside of Australia, Home and Away has filmed in Hawaii once and in the UK three times.[37][43][44]

text: Broadcasting[edit]

text: In Australia, Home and Away currently airs on the Seven Network at 7:00 pm from Mondays to Thursdays, going up against rival current affairs shows A Current Affair on the Nine Network, and The Project on Network Ten.[45] The show is on air for approximately 45 weeks each year.[46] Each season is usually broadcast from January/February and conclude with the season finale in November/December, as it goes off air for two months during the Christmas and New Year period. All aired episodes shown during the week are available to watch on the Seven Network's 7plus app, as part of their catch up TV service.[47][48] They are also broadcast in an omnibus edition each Sunday on Seven's digital multichannel 7Two.[49]

text: When the show first began in 1988, it aired at 5:30 pm in Adelaide, at 6:00 pm in Melbourne and Sydney, at 6:30 pm in Brisbane, and at 7:00 pm in Perth.[50] In January 1992, Seven moved Home and Away to the 7:00 pm timeslot across the network.[50] On 3 November 2009, 7Two began airing repeat episodes of the show from the very beginning at 9:30 am, before moving to 9:00 am.[49][51] Since its premiere, the show had been screened as a 22-minute episode each weeknight. However, beginning in March 2013, Better Homes and Gardens began replacing Home and Away on Fridays to make way for Seven's AFL coverage.[52] Friday's episodes of Home and Away now air on Thursdays at 7:30 pm.[52] As of 2018, Home and Away currently airs sporadically, with episodes consisting from four to six episodes per week.[47]

text: Since 2000, Home and Away has ceased broadcast mid-season for two weeks during the Olympic Games and the episode to screen prior to this is referred to as an 'Olympic cliffhanger'. An Olympic cliffhanger episode would usually involve increased drama, with the peak of a storyline, similar to a season finale episode, and the outcome of the cliffhanger to conclude after the Olympics. Olympic cliffhangers have been broadcast in 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2016, with the exclusion of 2012, as the Seven Network did not have the rights to televise the 2012 London Olympics.[53] In addition to this, Home and Away took a transmission break on 3 April 2018 in order to broadcast the 2018 Commonwealth Games, and returned on 16 April 2018.[54]

text: International[edit]

text: Home and Away has been sold to over 80 countries around the world, making it one of Australia's successful media exports.[55][56]

text: In the United Kingdom, Home and Away was first broadcast on ITV from 11 February 1989 until 8 June 2000.[57][58] Home and Away was shown twice a day on ITV, with a lunchtime showing and a tea time repeat; many regions aired it at around 5:10 pm, while others at 6:00 pm or even 6:30 pm.[59][60] The show attracted up to eight million viewers, making it one of ITV's top 30 rated programmes.[60][61] It also helped boost audiences for ITV's regional and early evening news bulletins.[61] During the show's last year on ITV, Home and Away attracted an average audience of 4.4 million for its early-evening repeats.[58] In February 2000, it was announced that Home and Away would be moving to rival Channel 5 after they bought the rights to the show in a £40m auction deal.[60][61] ITV reportedly offered twice the amount by Channel 5, but the Seven Network in Australia were swayed by Channel 5's commitment to the long-term future of the show in a deal of more than five years.[60][61] After its run on ITV ended, Home and Away went off air for 12 months as ITV had an exclusivity clause that prevented any other broadcaster from airing the show for a year.[60][61] After a delay in screening, Home and Away made its debut on Channel 5 on 16 July 2001.[62] Channel 5 currently airs Home and Away at 1:15 pm each week day, with a repeat at 6:00 pm.[63] UK viewers are able to catch up with episodes on 5* and online via Demand 5.[63] From July 2018, Home and Away is available for catch up on Paramount Network, a channel operated by Channel 5.

text: In Ireland, Home and Away is broadcast on RTÉ Television at 1:30 pm on RTÉ One and repeated on RTÉ2 at 6:30 pm each weekday.[64] A repeat of the week's episodes is aired on Saturdays and Sundays on RTÉ2.[64] Viewers in the Republic of Irleand are also able to catch up with episodes on the RTÉ Player.[65] Home and Away is one of RTÉ's most popular drama series. It was the most watched programme of 2014 on the RTÉ Player with over four million viewers.[65] As of 2014, the show is no longer available to view in Northern Ireland via the Sky platform, however, it can still be viewed on free view service Saorview. In New Zealand, Home and Away is broadcast on TVNZ 2 at 5:30 pm each weekday.[66] A repeat of the previous day's episode is shown at 11:00 am weekdays and an omnibus edition is shown on Sunday afternoons.[66] The TVNZ website also offers viewers the chance to watch episodes online with its OnDemand service.[66][67] Home and Away is one of New Zealand's most popular TV series and is one of TVNZ 2's highest-rating shows.[68] The show had previously aired on TV3 since 2002, where it consistently won high ratings for TV3 and helped boost audiences for their 6pm news bulletin.[69][70][71] However, on 5 July 2013, the show's European distributor Endemol cancelled its agreement with TV3, causing them to lose the right to broadcast Home and Away.[69] In the United States, Home and Away began streaming on the subscription service Hulu on 2 March 2015, beginning with the 2015 season.[72] The service no longer receives new episodes, although the complete twenty-eighth season is currently available.[73]

text: Popularity and viewership[edit]

text: The launch of Home and Away in 1988 was hoped to help boost the Seven Network's early evening ratings which had been underperforming in previous years.[50] However, the show struggled to attract high ratings, particularly when compared to rival soap opera Neighbours, which was a huge ratings success at the time.[50] By the end of 1988, Home and Away's ratings had improved.[50] In January 1992, when Neighbours' high-rating era was over, Seven moved Home and Away to the 7:00 pm timeslot, putting both shows up against each other.[50] This caused Network Ten to move Neighbours to the 6.30 pm timeslot two months later.[50] During the early 2000s, Home and Away was averaging 1.3 million viewers[74][75] and in 2007, viewing figures rose to 1.4 million.[76] However, by the end of the decade, the ratings had dropped to an average of 1.1 million viewers.[75] During the early 2010s, viewing figures had further decreased to between 800,000 and 1 million an episode.[77][78] In 2012, Home and Away was averaging 981,000 viewers, down from 1.039 million in 2011 and 1.021 million in 2010.[79]

text: In 2015, the show began going through a serious ratings decline.[68][80] A July 2015 report revealed that the ratings were down 14% compared to the first six months of 2014, which translates to about 140,000 fewer viewers per episode.[68][80] On 6 July 2015, Home and Away ranked 16th in OzTAM's overnight ratings with 750,000 viewers.[68] The following night, the show fell to an even lower figure of 701,000 viewers.[81] A writer for the Australian Associated Press stated that one of the reasons for the ratings decline could be "the viewing habits of Gen Y, which the show is aimed at, have changed dramatically in recent times thanks to the launch of streaming services, Netflix, Stan and Presto. The exact age demographic that Home and Away targets are the same people who do not subscribe to appointment viewing. They prefer to watch shows when they want and don't want to be dictated to by the commercial networks."[68] A Seven spokeswoman commented that Home and Away was still performing well on digital and social platforms and that the overnight ratings were not the only measure of the show's success.[80]

text: Storylines[edit]

text: Home and Away's storylines have ranged from mild to serious issues throughout its run. While the central stories revolve around fostering children, family and teenage problem, school problems and romances,[82][83][84] the series has covered several controversial, adult-themed and detailed issues not suitable for young audiences, despite its early evening time of 7:00 pm. Storylines covered include abortion,[84] accidental death,[84] adultery,[85] adoption, alcoholism,[86] amnesia, amputation, arson, autism, bereavement, brain aneurysm, bulimia, bullying,[84] cancer, cage fighting,[87] career problems,[88] child abuse,[89] cults,[90] cyberbullying, domestic violence,[84] depression, drink driving, drug overdose, drug trafficking and drug use,[84] gambling addiction,[91] health problems,[92][93] hit-and-runs,[94] HIV and AIDS,[95][96] homosexuality,[97] Huntington's disease, incest,[84] miscarriage,[98] murder,[84] imprisonment,[99] kidnapping,[84] marriage problems,[100] obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), paedophilia,[101][102] post-natal depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, prostitution, racism,[84] rape,[84] revenge porn,[103] robbery,[104] self-harm,[89] sex,[105] shootings (including drive-by shootings),[106] stabbings,[84] stalking,[84] stroke, SIDS (cot death),[107] stillbirth, suicide,[83] surrogacy,[84] teacher-student relationships,[84] teenage pregnancy,[108] terminal illness, and witness protection. The show has also featured many natural disaster storylines, including a cyclone, storm, flood, landslide, earthquake, and bushfires.[50][109] There have also been several storylines involving car, bus, plane and boating accidents.[84][109][110] Furthermore, in addition to the show featuring scenes of moderate to strong violence in past episodes, the special episode, Home and Away: All or Nothing, which became available for online streaming in January 2017, is intended for "adult-only" viewing as it is described as the most violent episode of the entire series, as it contains scenes of strong violence.[111]

text: Rating and restrictions[edit]

text: Since 1988, Home and Away has dealt with some controversial issues, despite being broadcast in a G-rated timezone. In 2007, the show breached broadcasting rules when they aired a number of episodes featuring Martha MacKenzie (Jodi Gordon) involved with pole-dancing in the G classification, as the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) said that these episodes should have been rated PG as they contained sexual scenes and references.[112] Since 2008, every subsequent episode has been broadcast under the PG classification and often continues to exceed the rating. A 2010 episode which featured Martha McKenzie engaging in a sexual scene with Liam Murphy (Axle Whitehead) on a kitchen table was deemed "too raunchy" by a television watchdog in New Zealand, as the series was also aired in a G-rated timezone at 5:30 pm on TV3.[113] From 2015, The Early Years episodes which broadcast on weekday mornings on 7Two have been re-rated PG.

text: Characters[edit]

text: When Home and Away began in 1988, it initially focused on the Fletcher family – Tom (Roger Oakley) and his wife Pippa (Vanessa Downing), and their five foster children, Frank Morgan (Alex Papps), Carly Morris (Sharyn Hodgson), Steven Matheson (Adam Willits), Lynn Davenport (Helena Bozich), and Sally Fletcher (Kate Ritchie) – who relocated from the city to live in the seaside town of Summer Bay.[50][114] At the end of the first episode, Tom and Pippa take in their sixth foster child Bobby Simpson (Nicolle Dickson).[50][114] The Fletchers bought the Summer Bay Caravan Park and moved into the Summer Bay House.[3] They quickly built strong friendships with the locals, Ailsa Stewart (Judy Nunn), Alf Stewart (Ray Meagher), Donald Fisher (Norman Coburn), and Neville (Frank Lloyd) and Floss McPhee (Sheila Kennelly).[50][114]

text: While Home and Away features a mix of young cast members and older, more experienced actors, the show has always had a definite youth focus, with the younger characters dominating much of the storylines.[50] Many of the cast have spent several years on Home and Away, including original cast member Judy Nunn who left the series in 2000 after 12 years playing the co-owner of Summer Bay's diner. Other original cast members Norman Coburn played high school principal Donald Fisher until 2003, and Kate Ritchie departed in 2008 after 20 years playing Sally Fletcher.[115][116] Both Coburn and Ritchie along with Ray Meagher (Alf Stewart) entered the 2002 Guinness World Records as the longest-serving actors in an Australian drama series.[117][118][119] Meagher now holds that record alone and he is the only remaining original cast member in the show.[120] Meagher along with Lynne McGranger (Irene Roberts), Ada Nicodemou (Leah Patterson-Baker) and Emily Symons (Marilyn Chambers) are the longest-serving cast members currently in Home and Away.[121][122] In 2010, Georgie Parker joined the cast of Home and Away as Alf's daughter Roo Stewart, originally played by Justine Clarke in 1988–89. Alf and Roo are currently the only two original characters in the series.[123]

text: Celebrity guest appearances[edit]

text: Throughout the years, Home and Away has featured several guest appearances from celebrities such as John Farnham,[124] Johanna Griggs,[124] Sia Furler,[124] Michael Palin,[124] Ian Thorpe,[50] Lleyton Hewitt,[125] Paulini,[126] Nick Grimshaw,[127] Eliza Doolittle,[128] Ed Sheeran,[129] and Jessica Mauboy.[130]

text: Theme song[edit]

text: The theme song to Home and Away was written by Mike Perjanik.[131][132] There have been nine different versions of the theme song used throughout the years. The lyrics remained the same since the show's inception, but a number of verses were gradually cut back over the years due to time restrictions.[133][134] The original version was sung by Karen Boddington and Mark Williams, and was used from 1988 until mid-1995.[135][136] Their version was released as a single in the UK in 1989 and peaked at number 73 on the UK Singles Chart.[137] A new version performed by Doug Williams and Erana Clark debuted in 1995 and the opening theme was shortened in 1996; this version remained until 1999.[138] From 2000 to 2003, the theme song to Home and Away was sung by The Robertson Brothers and it was the first version to use only male vocals.[132][139] A 30-second updated version by The Robertson Brothers was used from 2004 to 2006.[140] In January 2007, a new version was introduced and performed by Israel Cannan, who played the character Wazza in the show.[141] After Cannan's version received many complaints from fans, the Seven Network decided to re-record the theme song in April 2007 with vocals provided by Luke Dolahenty.[131][142][143] A shorter, 15-second version sung by Dolahenty and Tarryn Stokes debuted in 2009.[144][145][146]

text: From 2010 until 2017, the Home and Away theme song was not used in the opening titles and was replaced by a short instrumental version.[147][148] However, Dolahenty and Stokes' version was still used in the closing credits for international broadcasts.[140] In 2018, two new eight-second versions of the theme song made a return to the opening titles after an eight-year absence. One version is sung by a male vocalist, while the other version is sung by a female vocalist; in the opening titles, both only sing the last two lines of the theme: "closer each day, Home and Away".[149] An extended 30-second version by the male vocalist was uploaded onto the Home and Away website.[150]

text: Opening titles[edit]

text: The Home and Away opening titles sequence was initially used to introduce the regular characters in the show. The sequences often featured the characters in couple shots or with family and friends, and showed them in familiar settings around Summer Bay such as the beach.[143] The titles for the show's earlier years featured black brush stroke cutouts around the character shots.[143] 2004 saw Home and Away introduce new picture frame-style opening titles, with characters shown posing in and out of large picture frames in front of beach backgrounds.[143] In January 2007, the show debuted new opening titles along with a new version of the theme song.[141][143] The picture-frame style was still used, but this time the titles featured framed pictures of the characters.[141][143] In 2009, the opening was reduced to 15 seconds and the characters were removed from the titles for the first time in Home and Away's history. They were replaced by a large photo collage showing various locations around Summer Bay.[144] The decision to remove the cast and shorten the titles was due to time restrictions.[134][151] Since then, many viewers in Australia and the UK have wanted the full-length title sequence with the cast to return.[134][151]

text: From 2013 until 2017, Home and Away used a series of five-second opening titles, which changed every week. The various titles mostly featured scenes of bikini-clad women and shirtless men with surfboards at the beach.[147] In 2018, a new series of eight-second titles were introduced along with the return of the show's theme song. The new titles, which currently change during each week, mostly feature two men or two women running down to the ocean for a surf.[149] A 30-second version of the titles, not aired on Australian television, was released on the Home and Away website.[150]

text: Awards and nominations[edit]

text: Home and Away has received many awards and nominations throughout the years. The show has won 46 Logie Awards from 153 nominations,[152] making it the most awarded program in Logie history.[5] In 2015, Home and Away was inducted into the Logie Hall of Fame.[153] The show has also won twelve Australian Writers' Guild Awards and five Australian Directors Guild Awards.[154][155]

text: Merchandise and spin-offs[edit]

text: Since 1988, Home and Away has generated a range of merchandise, including books, magazines, VHS tapes, DVDs and soundtracks. Various annuals and books about the show and its cast and characters were released in the late 1980s and early 1990s.[156][157] Between 2003 and 2005, several fictional books by Leon F. Saunders and Jane Anderson were released and based on characters from Home and Away.[158][159] Episodes of the show have been released on several VHS and DVDs. Home and Away: The Movie was the first VHS released in 1989 and contained the 90-minute pilot episode.[160] Another VHS tape, Home and Away: The Official Summer Bay Special, was released in 1996. It celebrated 2,000 episodes of the show and looked back at memorable moments throughout its earlier years.[161] Home and Away: Secrets and the City and Home and Away: Hearts Divided were the first DVDs released in October 2003, and both contained exclusive episodes that were never aired on television.[162][163] Two further DVDs, Home and Away: Romances and Home and Away: Weddings were released in November 2005 and March 2006, respectively, and featured clips from the most popular romances and weddings in the series' history. Romances featured the pilot episode, while Weddings featured two episodes containing Leah and Vinnie's wedding as a bonus feature.[164][165] Four soundtrack albums were released between 1996 and 2003 that featured music used on the show as well songs from some of the cast members.[166]

text: Home and Away has also produced several spin-off episodes. headLand was a spin-off series focusing on a university. It ran from November 2005 until January 2006, when it was cancelled due to low ratings.[167] In 2013, the show launched their first webisode series titled Home and Away Extras, which introduced new characters Andy (Tai Hara) and Josh Barrett (Jackson Gallagher) before they appeared on-air. The four-part websisode series was released on the show's Yahoo!7 website from 7 August 2013.[168][169] On 19 August 2015, it was announced that former cast members Dan Ewing (Heath Braxton) and Lisa Gormley (Bianca Scott) would be returning for a special spin-off episode titled Home and Away: An Eye for an Eye. The episode was commissioned specially for the local streaming service Presto and did not air on the Seven Network. It centred around the Braxton family and was a feature-length episode running for over an hour. Home and Away: An Eye for an Eye was made available to watch on Presto from 9 December 2015.[170][171][172] Following the success of Home and Away: An Eye for An Eye, it was announced on 6 May 2016 that two more feature-length episodes had been commissioned.[173] The first episode became available on 19 December 2016 and is titled Home and Away: Revenge. The second special, Home and Away: All or Nothing, became available for viewing on 26 January 2017.[174]


document_title: Travelers (The X-Files)

question_text: why does fox mulder wear a wedding band

question_tokens: why does fox mulder wear a wedding band

root

text: Travelers (The X-Files)

text: Plot[edit]

text: In 1990 in Caledonia, Wisconsin, a man named Edward Skur is shot by a police officer during an eviction and the last word he speaks is "Mulder". Fox Mulder (David Duchovny), at this point working with the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit, believes that the man may have had some connection to his father, Bill. Mulder discovers that Skur was reported to have died in 1952. He seeks out Arthur Dales (Darren McGavin), a retired FBI agent who investigated Skur in the 1950s. At first, Dales is reluctant to discuss the case and warns Mulder away. However, Mulder's threat of a subpoena persuades Dales to tell his story.

tag: p

text: In a flashback to the 1950s, Dales (Fredric Lane) and his partner Hayes Michel are sent to arrest Skur (Garret Dillahunt) for being a communist. When Dales is told that Skur hanged himself while in custody, he feels guilty and returns to Skur's house to apologize to his wife. While there, he sees Skur alive and tries to recapture him. In the following struggle, an appendage emerges from Skur's mouth. Skur is forced to flee when a neighbor interrupts the fight. Dales' partner and Roy Cohn warn Dales to change his report about the attack. He does so, but feels guilty about it.

text: Later, Dales and Michel are called to investigate the death of a German doctor in Chevy Chase, Maryland. The local police deny calling them, and Dales finds a coaster for a bar with "come alone" written on the back. At the bar, Dales meets Bill Mulder, an agent from the State Department. Bill tells him that Skur was experimented on along with two other men, who later killed themselves; that Skur killed the German doctor in revenge for what was done to him and that he will kill Dales and Michel too because Skur believes they are part of the plot. While Michel is being killed, Dales tries to telephone him for warning him but to no avail. Dales then tries to investigate his partner's death but Mr. Cohn covers it up.

text: A secretary at the FBI office, Dorothy Bahnsen (Jane Perry), helps Dales find a file that mentions Gissing, one of the two other men mentioned by Bill who had committed suicide. She explains that she files all the unsolved cases under X because there is more room under X than U. Gissing's body is still in the morgue and Dales convinces the technician to cut open the body where they find a strange creature has been sewn into Gissing's chest. Dales goes to Skur's wife and tells her what was done to her husband and that he wants to expose the experiments. Skur's wife goes down into the backyard bomb shelter to tell Skur, but he is overcome by his parasite and kills her.

text: Cohn picks up Dales and takes him to the office of the Director who gives him a speech about patriotism and convinces him to help bring in Skur. They take Dales back to the bar to meet Skur, who attacks Dales. Bill Mulder and the other agent wait outside until they think Dales is dead before rushing in to find that Dales has handcuffed Skur and is still alive.

text: Back in the present Fox Mulder is dismayed to hear what his father was involved in. He asks Dales how Skur escaped and Dales speculates that someone might have helped Skur escape hoping that the truth of what was done to him may one day be revealed. The episode ends with a final flashback of Bill Mulder driving down a road with Skur and giving Skur the keys to the car and walking away.[1]

text: Production[edit]

text: Writing and casting[edit]

text: The episode was written as a tribute to Howard Dimsdale, a screenwriter who was victimized by Hollywood blacklist in the 1950s. Dimsdale wrote several movies under the pseudonym "Arthur Dales", and thus, his name was the inspiration for the character of the same name in "Travelers".[2] For many years, Dimsdale had taught at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles; two of his students were executive producer Frank Spotnitz and co-producer John Shiban. The two decided to combine many of Dimsdale's stories of "paranoia, treachery, and double-dealing" with the idea that "the witch-hunt was actually a smoke screen to conceal something else".[2] The writers soon realized that by setting the episode in the past, they would be able to "trace the roots of both Fox Mulder and the X-Files".[3]

text: This episode does not feature Scully, as Gillian Anderson was busy still filming her final parts of Fight the Future. Noted actor Darren McGavin appears as Arthur Dales. He was requested for the part especially by Chris Carter. Casting director Rick Millikan noted, "McGavin was Chris's inspiration for writing this series. He always had Darren in mind to use somewhere, and that was really his doing. He said 'I want Darren McGavin for this,' and he happened to be available, and we got him."[4] McGavin had originally been casting directors' first choice for the role of Senator Matheson for the second season opener "Little Green Men".[5] McGavin was later sought out to be Mulder's dad, but he again eluded the staff. In the end, McGavin finally agreed to appear on the show playing Dales, the agent who founded the X-Files.[5]

text: Filming[edit]

text: Due to the time crunches of the fifth season, a "convincing period movie" was created in "less time than humanly possible" by members of The X-Files's production staff.[3] Costume designer Jenni Gullet set about renting and creating vintage clothing from the fifties; art director Gary Allen collected older copies of National Geographic to make J. Edgar Hoover's office seem realistic to the period. Allen also constructed the bomb shelter, because his father was a contractor who had actually built several.[3]

text: Special effects supervisor Toby Lindala created the "alien spider" as well as a special facial appliance that allowed the creature to crawl out of Skur's mouth and into his victim. The final film was slightly bleached in post-production to give it a "vintage appearance".[3] The production staff was pleased with the final product, noting that it does justice to both "the painful controversies of the 1950s" and The X-Files as a "contemporary TV series".[3] The episode also contained several in-jokes. The song playing in the German doctor's house is a specially recorded cover of the popular song "Lili Marleen"; the song's record cover reads "Paula Rabwini", a reference to one of the series' producers, Paul Rabwin. Agent Hayes Michel was named after the fiancé of Mary Astadourian, one of series creator Chris Carter's executive assistants.[3]

text: Continuity[edit]

text: In several shots, Mulder can be seen wearing a wedding band. This was David Duchovny's idea; he explained "That was just me, you know, fooling around. I had recently gotten married, and I wanted to wear it." He later described the situation as "so Mulder to never have mentioned that he was married".[6] Series creator Chris Carter later told Duchovny that the situation "creates a problem. If we ever do a show that takes place seven years ago, you'll have to be married."[6] However, Duchovny reassured Carter by pointing out that there were not very many episodes, if any, that had been planned to take place seven years prior to the events in this episode. The inclusion of the detail caused an "Internet frenzy" and the minor detail was never resolved on screen.[6]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Ratings[edit]

text: "Travelers" premiered in the US on the Fox network on March 19, 1998 and in the United Kingdom on February 3, 1999.[7] This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 9.9, with a 15 share, meaning that roughly 9.9 percent of all television-equipped households, and 15 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode.[8] It was viewed by 15.06 million viewers.[8]

text: Reviews[edit]

text: "Travelers" received mixed reviews from critics. In a 2000 review of season five for the New Straits Times, Francis Dass noted that the episode possessed a "nice retro feel throughout".[9] Dass was also complimentary towards the fact that "Mulder senior is shown in action" during the episode.[9] Todd VanDerWerff from The A.V. Club gave the episode a B and wrote positively of it, noting that, although the entry was designed as a "stall", it felt like a "weird backdoor pilots for [a show] that never happened."[10] He noted that the episode "isn’t as good as it could have been" but argued that the story was "still a mostly fun".[10] In addition, VanDerWerff wrote positively of McGavin's guest starring role and was complimentary towards the "alien spider thing", describing it as "wonderfully gross".[10] Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, in their book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, rated the episode four stars out of five and called it "fresh and urgent".[11] The two wrote that, while the episode was a stopgap, it "cannot be better placed."[11] They argued that "Travlers"'s use of the "Communist witch hunt" conceit and its idea that "serving" means being a patriot, whereas "resisting" means being a traitor —a reference to the previous episode's tagline—themes were well-played.[11] Shearman and Pearson, furthermore, praised McGavin's acting, noting that he was "the series' spiritual father".[11]

text: Other reviews were more critical. John Keegan from Critical Myth awarded the episode 5 out of 10 and wrote, "Overall, this episode is an odd divergence from the normal series format, prompted by the production schedule for the feature film. [...] Acceptable as a stand-alone episode, it simply doesn’t fit within the overall scope of the series, and that makes it hard to judge objectively."[12] Paula Vitaris from Cinefantastique gave the episode a largely negative review and awarded it one star out of four.[13] She noted that the episode, much like the earlier season five entry "Unusual Suspects" was "filler", but that, unlike the earlier episode, "Travelers" was "not particularly entertaining."[13] Vitaris criticized the character of Arthur Dales and wrote that he was "not an intriguing character".[13] However, she did praise the visuals, describing them as "outstanding".[13]


document_title: Mother's Day (2016 film)

question_text: who plays the dad in mother's day

question_tokens: who plays the dad in mother 's day

text: Mother's Day (2016 film)

text: Plot[edit]

text: This article needs an improved plot summary.  (June 2016)

tag: table

text: As Mother's Day nears, a group of seemingly-unconnected people in Atlanta come to terms with their relationships with their mothers. Sandy (Jennifer Aniston) is a divorced mother of two boys whose ex-husband has recently remarried a younger woman, Tina (Shay Mitchell). Sandy is still getting used to this when she meets Bradley (Jason Sudeikis), a former marine, in the supermarket. Bradley's wife, a Marine Lieutenant, has recently passed away, leaving him with their two daughters and missing her terribly. Miranda (Julia Roberts) is an accomplished author who gave up her only child Kristin (Britt Robertson) for adoption at birth; as the adult Kristin has her own child and mulls over marrying the father, she contemplates the missing part in her life and her friend Jesse (Kate Hudson) encourages her to search for her birthmother. Meanwhile, Jesse and her sister Gabi never see their own mother, so they're surprised when their parents suddenly show up, and plenty of catching-up is in order.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Jennifer Aniston as Sandy Newhouse[4]
Kate Hudson as Jesse[4]
Julia Roberts as Miranda Collins[4]
Jason Sudeikis as Bradley Barton[4]
Timothy Olyphant as Henry
Shay Mitchell as Tina, Henry's new wife[5]
Britt Robertson as Kristin[5]
Jack Whitehall as Zack Zimm[5]
Héctor Elizondo as Ramon Navarro/Lance Wallace; Credited "and as always  Héctor Elizondo"
Margo Martindale as Florence, Jesse's mother
Sarah Chalke as Gabi, Jesse's sister
Robert Pine as Earl, Jesse's father
Aasif Mandvi as Russell, Jesse's husband[5]
Cameron Esposito as Max, Gabi's wife
Jon Lovitz as Wally Burn
Loni Love as Kimberly[5]
Lucy Walsh as Jody
Beth Kennedy as Gwenda
Sandra Taylor as Lexy
Ella Anderson as Vicky Barton[6]
Jessi Case as Rachel Barton
Grayson Russell as Tommy
Matthew Walker as Randy
Lisa Roberts Gillan as Betty
Kate Linder as Gigi
Jennifer Garner as Dana Barton
Paul Vogt as Tiny
Owen Vaccaro as Charlie
Scott Marshall as Sam
Christine Lakin as The Hostess
Rory O'Malley as The Customer
Larry Miller as The Motorcycle Cop
Sean O'Bryan as The Male Cop

tag: ul

text: Production[edit]

text: Development[edit]

text: In April 2013, Dennis Dugan confirmed that he would next develop Garry Marshall's comedy film Mother's Day.[7]

text: Casting[edit]

text: On June 30, 2015, four cast members were announced, Julia Roberts, Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson, and Jason Sudeikis, with the film to be directed by Garry Marshall and scripted by Anya Kochoff-Romano and Lily Hollander.[4] Brandt Andersen produced, along with Wayne Rice and Mike Karz.[4] On July 22, 2015, Open Road Films acquired US distribution rights to the film, and it was revealed that Matt Walker and Tom Hines would co-write the script.[8] On August 21, 2015, Ella Anderson joined the film's cast to play Vicky, Sudeikis's character's daughter.[6] On August 26, 2015, Timothy Olyphant, Britt Robertson, Shay Mitchell, Jack Whitehall, Loni Love, and Aasif Mandvi joined the cast.[5] On October 6, Hilary Duff was confirmed to appear, but she declined due to scheduling conflicts with filming the second season of her show Younger.[9]

text: Filming[edit]

text: Principal photography on the film began on August 18, 2015, in Atlanta, Georgia.[10][11] Though shooting her part required only four days, Julia Roberts was paid $3 million.[12]

text: Release[edit]

text: Mother's Day was released domestically on April 29, 2016 by Open Road Films.[8]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: Mother's Day grossed $32.5 million in the U.S. and Canada and $11.3 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $43.8 million against a production cost of $25 million.[13]

text: In the United States and Canada, pre-release tracking suggested the film would gross around $11 million from 3,035 theaters in its opening weekend, trailing fellow newcomer Keanu ($10–14 million projection) but besting Ratchet & Clank ($8–10 million projection).[14] The film grossed $2.6 million on its first day and $8.4 million in its opening weekend, finishing 4th at the box office, behind The Jungle Book ($43.7 million), The Huntsman: Winter's War ($9.6 million), and Keanu ($9.5 million). In its second weekend the film grossed $11.1 million (an increase of 32.5%), finishing 3rd at the box office, behind Captain America: Civil War ($179.1 million) and The Jungle Book ($24.5 million).[15]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 6% based on 146 reviews and an average rating of 2.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Arguably well-intended yet thoroughly misguided, Mother's Day is the cinematic equivalent of a last-minute gift that only underscores its embarrassing lack of effort."[16] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 18 out of 100 based on 30 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike".[17] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[18]

text: Richard Roeper gave the film zero out of four stars, saying, "...nothing could have prepared us for the offensively stupid, shamelessly manipulative, ridiculously predictable and hopelessly dated crapfest that is Mother's Day."[19]

text: Peter Bradshaw, writing in The Guardian, gave the film one star out of five, calling it "as feelgood and life-affirming as a fire in an asbestos factory neighbouring a children's hospital."

text: Accolades[edit]

text:
Award

Category

Recipients

Result

Teen Choice Awards[20]

Choice Movie: Comedy

Mother's Day

Nominated

Choice Movie Actress: Comedy

Jennifer Aniston

Nominated

Golden Raspberry Awards

Worst Actress

Julia Roberts

Nominated

Worst Supporting Actress

Kate Hudson

Nominated


document_title: Earth's orbit

question_text: the shape of the earth's path around the sun

question_tokens: the shape of the earth 's path around the sun

text: Earth's orbit

text: History of study[edit]

text: Heliocentrism is the scientific model that first placed the Sun at the center of the Solar System and put the planets, including Earth, in its orbit. Historically, heliocentrism is opposed to geocentrism, which placed the Earth at the center. Aristarchus of Samos already proposed a heliocentric model in the 3rd century BC. In the 16th century, Nicolaus Copernicus' De revolutionibus presented a full discussion of a heliocentric model of the universe[4] in much the same way as Ptolemy had presented his geocentric model in the 2nd century. This "Copernican revolution" resolved the issue of planetary retrograde motion by arguing that such motion was only perceived and apparent. "Although Copernicus's groundbreaking book...had been [printed] over a century earlier, [the Dutch mapmaker] Joan Blaeu was the first mapmaker to incorporate his revolutionary heliocentric theory into a map of the world."[5]

text: Influence on Earth[edit]

text: Because of Earth's axial tilt (often known as the obliquity of the ecliptic), the inclination of the Sun's trajectory in the sky (as seen by an observer on Earth's surface) varies over the course of the year. For an observer at a northern latitude, when the north pole is tilted toward the Sun the day lasts longer and the Sun appears higher in the sky. This results in warmer average temperatures, as additional solar radiation reaches the surface. When the north pole is tilted away from the Sun, the reverse is true and the weather is generally cooler. Above the Arctic Circle and below the Antarctic Circle, an extreme case is reached in which there is no daylight at all for part of the year. This is called a polar night. This variation in the weather (because of the direction of the Earth's axial tilt) results in the seasons.[6]

text: Events in the orbit[edit]

text: By astronomical convention, the four seasons are determined by the solstices –  the two points in the Earth's orbit of the maximum tilt of the Earth's axis, towards the Sun or away from the Sun –  and the equinoxes –  the two points in the Earth's orbit where the Earth's tilted axis and an imaginary line drawn from the Earth to the Sun are exactly perpendicular to one another. The solstices and equinoxes divide the year up into four approximately equal parts. In the northern hemisphere winter solstice occurs on or about December 21; summer solstice is near June 21; spring equinox is around March 20; and autumnal equinox is about September 23.[7] The effect of the Earth's axial tilt in the southern hemisphere is the opposite of that in the northern hemisphere, thus the seasons of the solstices and equinoxes in the southern hemisphere are the reverse of those in the northern hemisphere (e.g. the northern summer solstice is at the same time as the southern winter solstice).

text: In modern times, Earth's perihelion occurs around January 3, and the aphelion around July 4 (for other eras, see precession and Milankovitch cycles). The changing Earth–Sun distance results in an increase of about 6.9%[8] in total solar energy reaching the Earth at perihelion relative to aphelion. Since the southern hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun at about the same time that the Earth reaches the closest approach to the Sun, the southern hemisphere receives slightly more energy from the Sun than does the northern over the course of a year. However, this effect is much less significant than the total energy change due to the axial tilt, and most of the excess energy is absorbed by the higher proportion of water in the southern hemisphere.[9]

text: The Hill sphere (gravitational sphere of influence) of the Earth is about 1,500,000 kilometers (0.01 AU) in radius, or approximately 4 times the average distance to the moon.[10][nb 2] This is the maximal distance at which the Earth's gravitational influence is stronger than the more distant Sun and planets. Objects orbiting the Earth must be within this radius, otherwise they can become unbound by the gravitational perturbation of the Sun.

text:
Orbital characteristics

epoch
J2000.0[nb 3]

aphelion
152.10×10^6 km (94.51×10^6 mi)
1.0167 AU[nb 4]

perihelion
147.10×10^6 km (91.40×10^6 mi)
0.98329 AU[nb 4]

semimajor axis
149.60×10^6 km (92.96×10^6 mi)
1.000001018 AU[11]

eccentricity
0.0167086[11]

inclination
7.155° to Sun's equator
1.578690°[12] to invariable plane

longitude of the ascending node
174.9°[11]

longitude of perihelion
102.9°[11]

argument of periapsis
288.1°[11][nb 5]

period
365.256363004 days[13]

average speed
29.78 km/s (18.50 mi/s)[3]
107,200 km/h (66,600 mph)

text: The following diagram shows the relation between the line of solstice and the line of apsides of Earth's elliptical orbit. The orbital ellipse goes through each of the six Earth images, which are sequentially the perihelion (periapsis — nearest point to the Sun) on anywhere from January 2 to January 5, the point of March equinox on March 19, 20, or 21, the point of June solstice on June 20, 21, or 22, the aphelion (apoapsis — farthest point from the Sun) on anywhere from July 3 to July 5, the September equinox on September 22, 23, or 24, and the December solstice on December 21, 22, or 23.[7] The diagram shows an exaggerated shape of Earth's orbit; the actual orbit is less eccentric than pictured.

text: Because of the axial tilt of the Earth in its orbit, the maximal intensity of Sun rays hits the Earth 23.4 degrees north of equator at the June Solstice (at the Tropic of Cancer), and 23.4 degrees south of equator at the December Solstice (at the Tropic of Capricorn).[14]

text: Future[edit]

text: Mathematicians and astronomers (such as Laplace, Lagrange, Gauss, Poincaré, Kolmogorov, Vladimir Arnold, and Jürgen Moser) have searched for evidence for the stability of the planetary motions, and this quest led to many mathematical developments and several successive "proofs" of stability for the Solar System.[15] By most predictions, Earth's orbit will be relatively stable over long periods.[16]

text: In 1989, Jacques Laskar's work indicated that the Earth's orbit (as well as the orbits of all the inner planets) can become chaotic and that an error as small as 15 meters in measuring the initial position of the Earth today would make it impossible to predict where the Earth would be in its orbit in just over 100 million years' time.[17] Modeling the Solar System is subject to the n-body problem.


document_title: Meritocracy

question_text: who believed that only philosophers should run the government

text: Meritocracy

text: Definitions[edit]

text: Early definitions[edit]

text: The "most common definition of meritocracy conceptualizes merit in terms of tested competency and ability, and most likely, as measured by IQ or standardized achievement tests."[3] In government and other administrative systems, "meritocracy" refers to a system under which advancement within the system turns on "merits", like intelligence, credentials, and education. These are often determined through evaluations or examinations.[2]

text: In a more general sense, meritocracy can refer to any form of evaluation based on achievement. Like "utilitarian" and "pragmatic", the word "meritocratic" has also developed a broader connotation, and is sometimes used to refer to any government run by "a ruling or influential class of educated or able people."[4]

text: This is in contrast to the original, condemnatory use of the term in 1958 by Michael Young in his work "The Rise of the Meritocracy", who was satirizing the ostensibly merit-based Tripartite System of education practiced in the United Kingdom at the time; he claimed that, in the Tripartite System, "merit is equated with intelligence-plus-effort, its possessors are identified at an early age and selected for appropriate intensive education, and there is an obsession with quantification, test-scoring, and qualifications."[5]

text: Meritocracy in its wider sense, may be any general act of judgment upon the basis of various demonstrated merits; such acts frequently are described in sociology and psychology. Supporters of meritocracy do not necessarily agree on the nature of "merit"; however, they do tend to agree that "merit" itself should be a primary consideration during evaluation. Thus, the merits may extend beyond intelligence and education to any mental or physical talent or to work ethic. As such meritocracy may be based on character or innate abilities. Meritocrats therefore reject evaluation on the basis of race, wealth, family circumstances, and similar criteria.

text: In rhetoric, the demonstration of one's merit regarding mastery of a particular subject is an essential task most directly related to the Aristotelian term Ethos. The equivalent Aristotelian conception of meritocracy is based upon aristocratic or oligarchical structures, rather than in the context of the modern state.[6][7]

text: More recent definitions[edit]

text: In the United States, the assassination of President James A. Garfield in 1881 prompted the replacement of the American Spoils System with a meritocracy. In 1883, The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act was passed, stipulating government jobs should be awarded on the basis of merit through competitive exams, rather than ties to politicians or political affiliation.[8]

text: The most common form of meritocratic screening found today is the college degree. Higher education is an imperfect meritocratic screening system for various reasons, such as lack of uniform standards worldwide,[9][10] lack of scope (not all occupations and processes are included), and lack of access (some talented people never have an opportunity to participate because of the expense, most especially in developing countries).[11] Nonetheless, academic degrees serve some amount of meritocratic screening purpose in the absence of a more refined methodology. Education alone, however, does not constitute a complete system, as meritocracy must automatically confer power and authority, which a degree does not accomplish independently.

text: Etymology[edit]

text: Although the concept has existed for centuries, the term "meritocracy" is relatively new. It was used pejoratively by British politician and sociologist Michael Young in his 1958 satirical essay[2][12][13][14][15] The Rise of the Meritocracy, which pictured the United Kingdom under the rule of a government favouring intelligence and aptitude (merit) above all else, being the combination of the root of Latin origin "merit" (from "mereō" meaning "earn") and the Ancient Greek suffix "-cracy" (meaning "power", "rule").[16] In this book the term had distinctly negative connotations as Young questioned both the legitimacy of the selection process used to become a member of this elite and the outcomes of being ruled by such a narrowly defined group. The essay, written in the first person by a fictional historical narrator in 2034, interweaves history from the politics of pre- and post-war Britain with those of fictional future events in the short (1960 onward) and long term (2020 onward).[17]

text: The essay was based upon the tendency of the then-current governments, in their striving toward intelligence, to ignore shortcomings and upon the failure of education systems to utilize correctly the gifted and talented members within their societies.[18]

text: Young's fictional narrator explains that, on the one hand, the greatest contributor to society is not the "stolid mass" or majority, but the "creative minority" or members of the "restless elite".[19] On the other hand, he claims that there are casualties of progress whose influence is underestimated and that, from such stolid adherence to natural science and intelligence, arises arrogance and complacency.[19] This problem is encapsulated in the phrase "Every selection of one is a rejection of many".[19]

text: It was also used by Hannah Arendt in her essay "Crisis in Education",[20] which was written in 1958 and refers to the use of meritocracy in the English educational system. She too uses the term pejoratively. It was not until 1972 that Daniel Bell used the term positively.[21]

text: History[edit]

text: Ancient times: China[edit]

text: According to scholarly consensus, the earliest example of an administrative meritocracy, based on civil service examinations, dates back to Ancient China.[22][23][24][25]a[›] The concept originates, at least by the sixth century BC, when it was advocated by the Chinese philosopher Confucius, who "invented the notion that those who govern should do so because of merit, not of inherited status. This sets in motion the creation of the imperial examinations and bureaucracies open only to those who passed tests."[26]

text: As the Qin and Han dynasties developed a meritocratic system in order to maintain power over a large, sprawling empire, it became necessary for the government to maintain a complex network of officials.[27] Prospective officials could come from a rural background and government positions were not restricted to the nobility. Rank was determined by merit, through the civil service examinations, and education became the key for social mobility.[27] After the fall of the Han Dynasty, the nine-rank system was established during the Three Kingdoms period.

text: According to the Princeton Encyclopedia on American History:[28]

text: One of the oldest examples of a merit-based civil service system existed in the imperial bureaucracy of China. Tracing back to 200 B.C., the Han Dynasty adopted Confucianism as the basis of its political philosophy and structure, which included the revolutionary idea of replacing nobility of blood with one of virtue and honesty, and thereby calling for administrative appointments to be based solely on merit. This system allowed anyone who passed an examination to become a government officer, a position that would bring wealth and honor to the whole family. In part due to Chinese influence, the first European civil service did not originate in Europe, but rather in India by the British-run East India Company... company managers hired and promoted employees based on competitive examinations in order to prevent corruption and favoritism.

text: Both Plato and Aristotle advocated meritocracy, Plato in his The Republic, arguing that the most wise should rule, and hence the rulers should be philosopher kings.[29]

text: 17th century: spread to Europe[edit]

text: The concept of meritocracy spread from China to British India during the seventeenth century, and then into continental Europe and the United States.[28] With the translation of Confucian texts during the Enlightenment, the concept of a meritocracy reached intellectuals in the West, who saw it as an alternative to the traditional ancient regime of Europe.[30] Voltaire and François Quesnay wrote favourably of the idea, with Voltaire claiming that the Chinese had "perfected moral science" and Quesnay advocating an economic and political system modeled after that of the Chinese.[30]

text: The first European power to implement a successful meritocratic civil service was the British Empire, in their administration of India: "company managers hired and promoted employees based on competitive examinations in order to prevent corruption and favoritism."[28] British colonial administrators advocated the spread of the system to the rest of the commonwealth, the most "persistent" of which was Thomas Taylor Meadows, Britain's consul in Guangzhou, China. Meadows successfully argued in his Desultory Notes on the Government and People of China, published in 1847, that "the long duration of the Chinese empire is solely and altogether owing to the good government which consists in the advancement of men of talent and merit only," and that the British must reform their civil service by making the institution meritocratic.[31] This practice later was adopted in the late nineteenth century by the British mainland, inspired by "Chinese mandarin system."[32]

text: The British philosopher and polymath John Stuart Mill advocated meritocracy in his book, Considerations on Representative Government. His model was to give more votes to the more educated voter. His views are explained in Estlund (2003:57–58):

text:
Mill's proposal of plural voting has two motives. One is to prevent one group or class of people from being able to control the political process even without having to give reasons in order to gain sufficient support. He calls this the problem of class legislation. Since the most numerous class is also at a lower level of education and social rank, this could be partly remedied by giving those at the higher ranks plural votes. A second, and equally prominent motive for plural voting is to avoid giving equal influence to each person without regard to their merit, intelligence, etc. He thinks that it is fundamentally important that political institutions embody, in their spirit, the recognition that some opinions are worth more than others. He does not say that this is a route to producing better political decisions, but it is hard to understand his argument, based on this second motive, in any other way.

So, if Aristotle is right that the deliberation is best if participants are numerous (and assuming for simplicity that the voters are the deliberators) then this is a reason for giving all or many citizens a vote, but this does not yet show that the wiser subset should not have, say, two or three; in that way something would be given both to the value of the diverse perspectives, and to the value of the greater wisdom of the few. This combination of the Platonic and Aristotelian points is part of what I think is so formidable about Mill's proposal of plural voting. It is also an advantage of his view that he proposes to privilege not the wise, but the educated. Even if we agreed that the wise should rule, there is a serious problem about how to identify them. This becomes especially important if a successful political justification must be generally acceptable to the ruled. In that case, privileging the wise would require not only their being so wise as to be better rulers, but also, and more demandingly, that their wisdom be something that can be agreed to by all reasonable citizens. I turn to this conception of justification below.

Mill's position has great plausibility: good education promotes the ability of citizens to rule more wisely. So, how can we deny that the educated subset would rule more wisely than others. But then why shouldn't they have more votes?

text: Estlund goes on to criticize Mill's education-based meritocracy on various grounds.

text: 19th century[edit]

text: In the United States, the federal bureaucracy used the Spoils System from 1828 until the assassination of United States President James A. Garfield by a disappointed office seeker in 1881 proved its dangers. Two years later in 1883, the system of appointments to the United States Federal Bureaucracy was revamped by the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, partially based on the British meritocratic civil service that had been established years earlier. The act stipulated that government jobs should be awarded on the basis of merit, through competitive exams, rather than ties to politicians or political affiliation. It also made it illegal to fire or demote government employees for political reasons.[8]

text: To enforce the merit system and the judicial system, the law also created the United States Civil Service Commission.[8] In the modern American meritocracy, the president may hand out only a certain number of jobs, which must be approved by the Senate.

text: Australia began establishing public universities in the 1850s with the goal of promoting meritocracy by providing advanced training and credentials. The educational system was set up to service urban males of middle-class background, but of diverse social and religious origins. It was increasingly extended to all graduates of the public school system, those of rural and regional background, and then to women and finally to ethnic minorities.[33] Both the middle classes and the working classes have promoted the ideal of meritocracy within a strong commitment to "mate-ship" and political equality.[34]

text: 20th century to today[edit]

text: Singapore describes meritocracy as one of its official guiding principles for domestic public policy formulation, placing emphasis on academic credentials as objective measures of merit.[35]

text: There is criticism that, under this system, Singaporean society is being increasingly stratified and that an elite class is being created from a narrow segment of the population.[36] Singapore has a growing level of tutoring for children,[37] and top tutors are often paid better than school teachers.[37][38][39] Defendants recall the ancient Chinese proverb "Wealth does not pass three generations" (Chinese: 富不过三代), suggesting that the nepotism or cronyism of elitists eventually will be, and often are, replaced by those lower down the hierarchy.

text: Singaporean academics are continuously re-examining the application of meritocracy as an ideological tool and how it's stretched to encompass the ruling party's objectives. Professor Kenneth Paul Tan at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy asserts that "Meritocracy, in trying to 'isolate' merit by treating people with fundamentally unequal backgrounds as superficially the same, can be a practice that ignores and even conceals the real advantages and disadvantages that are unevenly distributed to different segments of an inherently unequal society, a practice that in fact perpetuates this fundamental inequality. In this way, those who are picked by meritocracy as having merit may already have enjoyed unfair advantages from the very beginning, ignored according to the principle of nondiscrimination."[40]

text: Meritocracy in the Singapore context relates to the application of pragmatism as an ideological device which combines strict adherence to market principles without any aversion to social engineering and little propensity for classical social welfarism,[41] is further illustrated by Kenneth Paul Tan in subsequent articles:

text: There is a strong ideological quality in Singapore's pragmatism, and a strongly pragmatic quality in ideological negotiations within the dynamics of hegemony. In this complex relationship, the combination of ideological and pragmatic maneuvering over the decades has resulted in the historical dominance of government by the PAP in partnership with global capital whose interests have been advanced without much reservation.[42]

text: Within the Ecuadorian Ministry of Labor, the Ecuadorian Meritocracy Institute[43] was created under the technical advice of the Singapore government.

text: Most contemporary political theorists, including John Rawls, reject the ideal of meritocracy.[44] However, in recent years, Thomas Mulligan has defended meritocracy.[45][46][47] He argues that a just society in one in which there is equal opportunity and people are judged on their merits.

text: Modern meritocratic movements[edit]

text: Osho[edit]

text: According to Osho, only persons with appropriate qualifications should be allowed to vote. Moreover, all politicians should have appropriate college or university degrees. Only the geniuses of the world should govern. Osho suggested that, first the various nations should become meritocracies, after which they could all be joined to form a global meritocracy.[48]

text: The Meritocracy Party[edit]

text: In 2007 an anonymous British group called The Meritocracy Party published its first manifesto, to which they have now added more than two million words on the subject (discussing Hegel, Rousseau, Charles Fourier, Henri de Saint-Simon, and various other philosophers, scientists, reformers, and revolutionaries). In summary, The Meritocracy Party wants to achieve the following:

text:
A world in which every child gets an equal chance to succeed in life.
The abolishment of party politics.
Only those with a relevant education and work experience should be allowed to vote, rather than just anyone who has reached the age of 18 or 21.
The introduction of 100% inheritance tax, so that the super-rich can no longer pass on their wealth to a select few (their privileged children). This would mean the end of the elite dynasties and hereditary monarchy.
A radically reformed educational system, based on the MBTI personality types, and insights from radical innovators such as Rudolf Steiner and Maria Montessori.
To replace free market capitalism with social capitalism and to replace democracy with a fully transparent meritocratic republic, under a meritocratic constitution.
The end of nepotism, cronyism, discrimination, privilege and unequal chances.

tag: ol

text: On their website The Meritocracy Party lists five meritocratic principles[49] and thirteen primary aims. The Meritocracy International is the host of all meritocratic political parties in the world and the place where these may be found by country of origin.[48]

text: Criticism[edit]

text: The term "meritocracy" was originally intended as a negative concept.[50] One of the primary concerns with meritocracy is the unclear definition of "merit".[51] What is considered as meritorious can differ with opinions as on which qualities are considered the most worthy, raising the question of which "merit" is the highest—or, in other words, which standard is the "best" standard. As the supposed effectiveness of a meritocracy is based on the supposed competence of its officials, this standard of merit cannot be arbitrary and has to also reflect the competencies required for their roles.

text: The reliability of the authority and system that assesses each individual's merit is another point of concern. As a meritocratic system relies on a standard of merit to measure and compare people against, the system by which this is done has to be reliable to ensure that their assessed merit accurately reflects their potential capabilities. Standardized testing, which reflects the meritocratic sorting process, has come under criticism for being rigid and unable to accurately assess many valuable qualities and potentials of students. Education theorist Bill Ayers, commenting on the limitations of standardized testing, writes that "Standardized tests can't measure initiative, creativity, imagination, conceptual thinking, curiosity, effort, irony, judgment, commitment, nuance, good will, ethical reflection, or a host of other valuable dispositions and attributes. What they can measure and count are isolated skills, specific facts and function, content knowledge, the least interesting and least significant aspects of learning."[52] Merit determined through the opinionated evaluations of teachers, while being able to assess the valuable qualities that cannot be assessed by standardized testing, are unreliable as the opinions, insights, biases, and standards of the teachers vary greatly. If the system of evaluation is corrupt, non-transparent, opinionated or misguided, decisions regarding who has the highest merit can be highly fallible.

text: The level of education required in order to become competitive in a meritocracy may also be costly, effectively limiting candidacy for a position of power to those with the means necessary to become educated. An example of this was Chinese student self-declared messiah, Hong Xiuquan, who despite ranking first in a preliminary, nationwide imperial examination, was unable to afford further education. As such, although he did try to study in private, Hong was ultimately noncompetitive in later examinations and unable to become a bureaucrat. This economic aspect of meritocracies has been said to continue nowadays in countries without free educations, with the Supreme Court of the United States, for example, consisting only of justices who attended Harvard or Yale and generally only considering clerkship candidates who attended a top-five university, while in the 1950s the two universities only accounted for around one fifth of the justices.[53] Even if free education were provided, the resources that the parents of a student are able to provide outside of the curriculum, such as tutoring, exam preparation, and financial support for living costs during higher education will influence the education the student attains and the student's social position in a meritocratic society. This limits the fairness and justness of any meritocratic system.

text: Another concern regards the principle of incompetence, or the "Peter Principle". As people rise in a meritocratic society through the social hierarchy through their demonstrated merit, they eventually reach, and become stuck, at a level too difficult for them to perform effectively; they are promoted to incompetence. This reduces the effectiveness of a meritocratic system, the supposed main practical benefit of which is the competence of those who run the society.

text: Meritocracy also has been criticized by egalitarians as a mere myth, which serves only to justify the status quo, with its proponents only giving lip service to equality.[54]

text: In his book Meritocratic Education and Social Worthlessness (Palgrave, 2012), the philosopher Khen Lampert argued that educational meritocracy is nothing but a post-modern version of social Darwinism. Its proponents argue that the theory justifies social inequality as being meritocratic. This social theory holds that Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection is a model, not only for the development of biological traits in a population, but also as an application for human social institutions—the existing social institutions being implicitly declared as normative. Social Darwinism shares its roots with early progressivism, and was most popular from the late nineteenth century to the end of World War II. Darwin only ventured to propound his theories in a biological sense, and it is other thinkers and theorists who have applied Darwin's model to unequal endowments of human ambitions.