document_title: The Canterbury Tales

question_text: who tells the first story in canterbury tales

text: The Canterbury Tales

text: Text[edit]

text: The question of whether The Canterbury Tales is a finished work has not been answered to date. There are 84 manuscripts and four incunable editions of the work, dating from the late medieval and early Renaissance periods, more than for any other vernacular literary text with the exception of The Prick of Conscience. This is taken as evidence of the Tales' popularity during the century after Chaucer's death.[7] Fifty-five of these manuscripts are thought to have been originally complete, while 28 are so fragmentary that it is difficult to ascertain whether they were copied individually or as part of a set.[8] The Tales vary in both minor and major ways from manuscript to manuscript; many of the minor variations are due to copyists' errors, while it is suggested that in other cases Chaucer both added to his work and revised it as it was being copied and possibly as it was being distributed. Determining the text of the work is complicated by the question of the narrator's voice which Chaucer made part of his literary structure.

text: Even the oldest surviving manuscripts of the Tales are not Chaucer's originals. The very oldest is probably MS Peniarth 392 D (called "Hengwrt"), written by a scribe shortly after Chaucer's death. The most beautiful, on the other hand, is the Ellesmere Manuscript, a manuscript whose order and many editors have followed even down to the present day.[9][10] The first version of The Canterbury Tales to be published in print was William Caxton's 1476 edition. Only 10 copies of this edition are known to exist, including one held by the British Library and one held by the Folger Shakespeare Library.

text: In 2004, Linne Mooney claimed that she was able to identify the scrivener who worked for Chaucer as an Adam Pinkhurst. Mooney, then a professor at the University of Maine and a visiting fellow at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, said she could match Pinkhurst's signature, on an oath he signed, to his handwriting on a copy of The Canterbury Tales that might have been transcribed from Chaucer's working copy.[11]

text: Order[edit]

text: In the absence of consensus as to whether or not a complete version of the Tales exists, there is also no general agreement regarding the order in which Chaucer intended the stories to be placed.[12][13]

text: Textual and manuscript clues have been adduced to support the two most popular modern methods of ordering the tales. Some scholarly editions divide the Tales into ten "Fragments". The tales that make up a Fragment are closely related and contain internal indications of their order of presentation, usually with one character speaking to and then stepping aside for another character. However, between Fragments, the connection is less obvious. Consequently, there are several possible orders; the one most frequently seen in modern editions follows the numbering of the Fragments (ultimately based on the Ellesmere order).[12] Victorians frequently used the nine "Groups", which was the order used by Walter William Skeat whose edition Chaucer: Complete Works was used by Oxford University Press for most of the twentieth century, but this order is now seldom followed.[12]

text:
Fragment
Group
Tales

01Fragment I
A

General Prologue,
The Knight's Tale,
The Miller's Tale,
The Reeve's Tale,
The Cook's Tale

02Fragment II
B1

The Man of Law's Tale

03Fragment III
D

The Wife of Bath's Tale,
The Friar's Tale,
The Summoner's Tale

04Fragment IV
E

The Clerk's Tale,
The Merchant's Tale

05Fragment V
F

The Squire's Tale,
The Franklin's Tale

06Fragment VI
C

The Physician's Tale,
The Pardoner's Tale

07Fragment VII
B2

The Shipman's Tale,
The Prioress's Tale,
Sir Thopas' Tale,
The Tale of Melibee,
The Monk's Tale,
The Nun's Priest's Tale

08Fragment VIII
G

The Second Nun's Tale,
The Canon's Yeoman's Tale

09Fragment IX
H

The Manciple's Tale

10Fragment X
I

The Parson's Tale

tag: table

text: An alternative ordering (seen in an early manuscript containing The Canterbury Tales, the early-fifteenth century Harley MS. 7334) places Fragment VIII before VI. Fragments I and II almost always follow each other, just as VI and VII, IX and X do in the oldest manuscripts. Fragments IV and V, by contrast, vary in location from manuscript to manuscript.

text: Language[edit]

text:
The Merchant's Prologue

Recording in reconstructed Middle English pronunciation

Problems playing this file? See media help.

text: Chaucer wrote in late Middle English, which has clear differences from Modern English. From philological research, we know certain facts about the pronunciation of English during the time of Chaucer. Chaucer pronounced -e at the end of words, so that care was [ˈkaːrə], not /kɛər/ as in Modern English. Other silent letters were also pronounced, so that the word knight was [kniçt], with both the k and the gh pronounced, not /naɪt/. In some cases, vowel letters in Middle English were pronounced very differently from Modern English, because the Great Vowel Shift had not yet happened. For instance, the long e in wepyng "weeping" was pronounced as [eː], as in modern German or Italian, not as /iː/. Below is an IPA transcription of the opening lines of The Merchant's Prologue:

text:
'Wepyng and waylyng, care and oother sorwe
I knowe ynogh, on even and a-morwe,'
Quod the Marchant, 'and so doon oother mo
That wedded been.'[14]

ˈweːpɪŋɡ and ˈwailɪŋɡ ‖ ˈkaːr‿and ˈoːðər ˈsɔrwə ‖
iː ˈknɔu əˈnoːx ‖ ɔn ˈɛːvən and aˈmɔrwə ‖
ˈkwɔd ðə ˈmartʃant ‖ and ˈsɔː ˈdoːn ˈoːðər ˈmɔː ‖
ðat ˈwɛddəd ˈbeːn ‖[15]

'Weeping and wailing, care and other sorrow
I know enough, in the evening and in the morning,'
said the Merchant, 'and so does many another
who has been married.'

text: Although no manuscript exists in Chaucer's own hand, two were copied around the time of his death by Adam Pinkhurst, a scribe with whom he seems to have worked closely before, giving a high degree of confidence that Chaucer himself wrote the Tales.[16] Because the final -e sound was lost soon after Chaucer's time, scribes did not accurately copy it, and this gave scholars the impression that Chaucer himself was inconsistent in using it.[17] It has now been established, however, that -e was an important part of Chaucer's grammar, and helped to distinguish singular adjectives from plural and subjunctive verbs from indicative.[18]

text: Sources[edit]

text: No other work prior to Chaucer's is known to have set a collection of tales within the framework of pilgrims on a pilgrimage. It is obvious, however, that Chaucer borrowed portions, sometimes very large portions, of his stories from earlier stories, and that his work was influenced by the general state of the literary world in which he lived. Storytelling was the main entertainment in England at the time, and storytelling contests had been around for hundreds of years. In 14th-century England the English Pui was a group with an appointed leader who would judge the songs of the group. The winner received a crown and, as with the winner of The Canterbury Tales, a free dinner. It was common for pilgrims on a pilgrimage to have a chosen "master of ceremonies" to guide them and organise the journey.[19] Harold Bloom suggests that the structure is mostly original, but inspired by the "pilgrim" figures of Dante and Virgil in The Divine Comedy.[20] New research suggests that the General Prologue, in which the innkeeper and host Harry Bailey introduces each pilgrim, is a pastiche of the historical Harry Bailey's surviving 1381 poll-tax account of Southwark's inhabitants.[21]

text: The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio contains more parallels to The Canterbury Tales than any other work. Like the Tales, it features a number of narrators who tell stories along a journey they have undertaken (to flee from the Black Death). It ends with an apology by Boccaccio, much like Chaucer's Retraction to the Tales. A quarter of the tales in The Canterbury Tales parallel a tale in the Decameron, although most of them have closer parallels in other stories. Some scholars thus find it unlikely that Chaucer had a copy of the work on hand, surmising instead that he must have merely read the Decameron at some point,[22] while a new study claims he had a copy of the Decameron and used it extensively as he began work on his own collection.[23] Each of the tales has its own set of sources that have been suggested by scholars, but a few sources are used frequently over several tales. They include poetry by Ovid, the Bible in one of the many vulgate versions in which it was available at the time (the exact one is difficult to determine), and the works of Petrarch and Dante. Chaucer was the first author to use the work of these last two, both Italians. Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy appears in several tales, as the works of John Gower do. Gower was a known friend to Chaucer. A full list is impossible to outline in little space, but Chaucer also, lastly, seems to have borrowed from numerous religious encyclopaedias and liturgical writings, such as John Bromyard's Summa praedicantium, a preacher's handbook, and Jerome's Adversus Jovinianum.[24] Many scholars say there is a good possibility Chaucer met Petrarch or Boccaccio.[25][26][27][incomplete short citation][28][incomplete short citation][29]

text: Genre and structure[edit]

text: The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories built around a frame narrative or frame tale, a common and already long established genre of its period. Chaucer's Tales differs from most other story "collections" in this genre chiefly in its intense variation. Most story collections focused on a theme, usually a religious one. Even in the Decameron, storytellers are encouraged to stick to the theme decided on for the day. The idea of a pilgrimage to get such a diverse collection of people together for literary purposes was also unprecedented, though "the association of pilgrims and storytelling was a familiar one".[30] Introducing a competition among the tales encourages the reader to compare the tales in all their variety, and allows Chaucer to showcase the breadth of his skill in different genres and literary forms.[31]

text: While the structure of the Tales is largely linear, with one story following another, it is also much more than that. In the General Prologue, Chaucer describes not the tales to be told, but the people who will tell them, making it clear that structure will depend on the characters rather than a general theme or moral. This idea is reinforced when the Miller interrupts to tell his tale after the Knight has finished his. Having the Knight go first gives one the idea that all will tell their stories by class, with the Monk following the Knight. However, the Miller's interruption makes it clear that this structure will be abandoned in favour of a free and open exchange of stories among all classes present. General themes and points of view arise as the characters tell their tales, which are responded to by other characters in their own tales, sometimes after a long lapse in which the theme has not been addressed.[32]

text: Lastly, Chaucer does not pay much attention to the progress of the trip, to the time passing as the pilgrims travel, or to specific locations along the way to Canterbury. His writing of the story seems focused primarily on the stories being told, and not on the pilgrimage itself.[33]

text: Style[edit]

text: The variety of Chaucer's tales shows the breadth of his skill and his familiarity with many literary forms, linguistic styles, and rhetorical devices. Medieval schools of rhetoric at the time encouraged such diversity, dividing literature (as Virgil suggests) into high, middle, and low styles as measured by the density of rhetorical forms and vocabulary. Another popular method of division came from St. Augustine, who focused more on audience response and less on subject matter (a Virgilian concern). Augustine divided literature into "majestic persuades", "temperate pleases", and "subdued teaches". Writers were encouraged to write in a way that kept in mind the speaker, subject, audience, purpose, manner, and occasion. Chaucer moves freely between all of these styles, showing favouritism to none.[34] He not only considers the readers of his work as an audience, but the other pilgrims within the story as well, creating a multi-layered rhetorical puzzle of ambiguities. Thus Chaucer's work far surpasses the ability of any single medieval theory to uncover.[35]

text: With this, Chaucer avoids targeting any specific audience or social class of readers, focusing instead on the characters of the story and writing their tales with a skill proportional to their social status and learning. However, even the lowest characters, such as the Miller, show surprising rhetorical ability, although their subject matter is more lowbrow. Vocabulary also plays an important part, as those of the higher classes refer to a woman as a "lady", while the lower classes use the word "wenche", with no exceptions. At times the same word will mean entirely different things between classes. The word "pitee", for example, is a noble concept to the upper classes, while in the Merchant's Tale it refers to sexual intercourse. Again, however, tales such as the Nun's Priest's Tale show surprising skill with words among the lower classes of the group, while the Knight's Tale is at times extremely simple.[36]

text: Chaucer uses the same meter throughout almost all of his tales, with the exception of Sir Thopas and his prose tales. It is a decasyllable line, probably borrowed from French and Italian forms, with riding rhyme and, occasionally, a caesura in the middle of a line. His meter would later develop into the heroic meter of the 15th and 16th centuries and is an ancestor of iambic pentameter. He avoids allowing couplets to become too prominent in the poem, and four of the tales (the Man of Law's, Clerk's, Prioress', and Second Nun's) use rhyme royal.[37]

text: Historical context and themes[edit]

text: The Canterbury Tales was written during a turbulent time in English history. The Catholic Church was in the midst of the Western Schism and, though it was still the only Christian authority in Europe, was the subject of heavy controversy. Lollardy, an early English religious movement led by John Wycliffe, is mentioned in the Tales, which also mention a specific incident involving pardoners (sellers of indulgences, which were believed to relieve the temporal punishment due for sins that were already forgiven in the Sacrament of Confession) who nefariously claimed to be collecting for St. Mary Rouncesval hospital in England. The Canterbury Tales is among the first English literary works to mention paper, a relatively new invention that allowed dissemination of the written word never before seen in England. Political clashes, such as the 1381 Peasants' Revolt and clashes ending in the deposing of King Richard II, further reveal the complex turmoil surrounding Chaucer in the time of the Tales' writing. Many of his close friends were executed and he himself moved to Kent to get away from events in London.[38]

text: While some readers look to interpret the characters of The Canterbury Tales as historical figures, other readers choose to interpret its significance in less literal terms. After analysis of Chaucer's diction and historical context, his work appears to develop a critique of society during his lifetime. Within a number of his descriptions, his comments can appear complimentary in nature, but through clever language, the statements are ultimately critical of the pilgrim's actions. It is unclear whether Chaucer would intend for the reader to link his characters with actual persons. Instead, it appears that Chaucer creates fictional characters to be general representations of people in such fields of work. With an understanding of medieval society, one can detect subtle satire at work.[39]

text: Religion[edit]

text: The Tales reflect diverse views of the Church in Chaucer's England. After the Black Death, many Europeans began to question the authority of the established Church. Some turned to lollardy, while others chose less extreme paths, starting new monastic orders or smaller movements exposing church corruption in the behaviour of the clergy, false church relics or abuse of indulgences.[40] Several characters in the Tales are religious figures, and the very setting of the pilgrimage to Canterbury is religious (although the prologue comments ironically on its merely seasonal attractions), making religion a significant theme of the work.[41]

text: Two characters, the Pardoner and the Summoner, whose roles apply the Church's secular power, are both portrayed as deeply corrupt, greedy, and abusive. Pardoners in Chaucer's day were those people from whom one bought Church "indulgences" for forgiveness of sins, who were guilty of abusing their office for their own gain. Chaucer's Pardoner openly admits the corruption of his practice while hawking his wares.[42] Summoners were Church officers who brought sinners to the Church court for possible excommunication and other penalties. Corrupt summoners would write false citations and frighten people into bribing them to protect their interests. Chaucer's Summoner is portrayed as guilty of the very kinds of sins for which he is threatening to bring others to court, and is hinted as having a corrupt relationship with the Pardoner.[43] In The Friar's Tale, one of the characters is a summoner who is shown to be working on the side of the devil, not God.[44]

text: Churchmen of various kinds are represented by the Monk, the Prioress, the Nun's Priest, and the Second Nun. Monastic orders, which originated from a desire to follow an ascetic lifestyle separated from the world, had by Chaucer's time become increasingly entangled in worldly matters. Monasteries frequently controlled huge tracts of land on which they made significant sums of money, while peasants worked in their employ.[45] The Second Nun is an example of what a Nun was expected to be: her tale is about a woman whose chaste example brings people into the church. The Monk and the Prioress, on the other hand, while not as corrupt as the Summoner or Pardoner, fall far short of the ideal for their orders. Both are expensively dressed, show signs of lives of luxury and flirtatiousness and show a lack of spiritual depth.[46] The Prioress's Tale is an account of Jews murdering a deeply pious and innocent Christian boy, a blood libel against Jews that became a part of English literary tradition.[47] The story did not originate in the works of Chaucer and was well known in the 14th century.[48]

text: Pilgrimage was a very prominent feature of medieval society. The ultimate pilgrimage destination was Jerusalem,[49] but within England Canterbury was a popular destination. Pilgrims would journey to cathedrals that preserved relics of saints, believing that such relics held miraculous powers. Saint Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, had been murdered in Canterbury Cathedral by knights of Henry II during a disagreement between Church and Crown. Miracle stories connected to his remains sprang up soon after his death, and the cathedral became a popular pilgrimage destination.[50] The pilgrimage in the work ties all of the stories together and may be considered a representation of Christians' striving for heaven, despite weaknesses, disagreement, and diversity of opinion.[51]

text: Social class and convention[edit]

text: The upper class or nobility, represented chiefly by the Knight and his Squire, was in Chaucer's time steeped in a culture of chivalry and courtliness. Nobles were expected to be powerful warriors who could be ruthless on the battlefield yet mannerly in the King's Court and Christian in their actions.[52] Knights were expected to form a strong social bond with the men who fought alongside them, but an even stronger bond with a woman whom they idealised to strengthen their fighting ability.[53] Though the aim of chivalry was to noble action, its conflicting values often degenerated into violence. Church leaders frequently tried to place restrictions on jousts and tournaments, which at times ended in the death of the loser. The Knight's Tale shows how the brotherly love of two fellow knights turns into a deadly feud at the sight of a woman whom both idealise. To win her, both are willing to fight to the death. Chivalry was on the decline in Chaucer's day, and it is possible that The Knight's Tale was intended to show its flaws, although this is disputed.[54] Chaucer himself had fought in the Hundred Years' War under Edward III, who heavily emphasised chivalry during his reign.[55] Two tales, Sir Topas and The Tale of Melibee are told by Chaucer himself, who is travelling with the pilgrims in his own story. Both tales seem to focus on the ill-effects of chivalry—the first making fun of chivalric rules and the second warning against violence.[56]

text: The Tales constantly reflect the conflict between classes. For example, the division of the three estates: the characters are all divided into three distinct classes, the classes being "those who pray" (the clergy), "those who fight" (the nobility), and "those who work" (the commoners and peasantry).[57] Most of the tales are interlinked by common themes, and some "quit" (reply to or retaliate against) other tales. Convention is followed when the Knight begins the game with a tale, as he represents the highest social class in the group. But when he is followed by the Miller, who represents a lower class, it sets the stage for the Tales to reflect both a respect for and a disregard for upper class rules. Helen Cooper, as well as Mikhail Bakhtin and Derek Brewer, call this opposition "the ordered and the grotesque, Lent and Carnival, officially approved culture and its riotous, and high-spirited underside."[58] Several works of the time contained the same opposition.[58]

text: Relativism versus realism[edit]

text: Chaucer's characters each express different—sometimes vastly different—views of reality, creating an atmosphere of testing, empathy, and relativism.[34] As Helen Cooper says, "Different genres give different readings of the world: the fabliau scarcely notices the operations of God, the saint's life focuses on those at the expense of physical reality, tracts and sermons insist on prudential or orthodox morality, romances privilege human emotion." The sheer number of varying persons and stories renders the Tales as a set unable to arrive at any definite truth or reality.[59]

text: Liminality[edit]

text: The concept of liminality figures prominently within The Canterbury Tales.[34] A liminal space, which can be both geographical as well as metaphorical or spiritual, is the transitional or transformational space between a “real” (secure, known, limited) world and an unknown or imaginary space of both risk and possibility.[60] The notion of a pilgrimage is itself a liminal experience, because it centers on travel between destinations and because pilgrims undertake it hoping to become more holy in the process. Thus, the structure of The Canterbury Tales itself is liminal; it not only covers the distance between London and Canterbury, but the majority of the tales refer to places entirely outside the geography of the pilgrimage. Jean Jost summarises the function of liminality in The Canterbury Tales,

text: "Both appropriately and ironically in this raucous and subversive liminal space, a ragtag assembly gather together and tell their equally unconventional tales. In this unruly place, the rules of tale telling are established, themselves to be both disordered and broken; here the tales of game and earnest, solas and sentence, will be set and interrupted. Here the sacred and profane adventure begins, but does not end. Here, the condition of peril is as prominent as that of protection. The act of pilgrimaging itself consists of moving from one urban space, through liminal rural space, to the next urban space with an ever fluctuating series of events and narratives punctuating those spaces. The goal of pilgrimage may well be a religious or spiritual space at its conclusion, and reflect a psychological progression of the spirit, in yet another kind of emotional space."[61]

text: Liminality is also evident in the individual tales. An obvious instance of this is the Friar’s Tale in which the yeoman devil is a liminal figure because of his transitory nature and function; it is his purpose to issue souls from their current existence to hell, an entirely different one.[62] The Franklin’s Tale is a Breton Lai tale, which takes the tale into a liminal space by invoking not only the interaction of the supernatural and the mortal, but also the relation between the present and the imagined past.[63]

text: Influence on literature[edit]

text: It is sometimes argued that the greatest contribution that this work made to English literature was in popularising the literary use of the vernacular English, rather than French or Latin. English had, however, been used as a literary language for centuries before Chaucer's life, and several of Chaucer's contemporaries—John Gower, William Langland, and the Pearl Poet—also wrote major literary works in English. It is unclear to what extent Chaucer was responsible for starting a trend rather than simply being part of it.[citation needed] It is interesting to note that, although Chaucer had a powerful influence in poetic and artistic terms, which can be seen in the great number of forgeries and mistaken attributions (such as The Floure and the Leafe, which was translated by John Dryden), modern English spelling and orthography owe much more to the innovations made by the Court of Chancery in the decades during and after his lifetime.[citation needed]

text: Reception[edit]

text: While Chaucer clearly states the addressees of many of his poems (the Book of the Duchess is believed to have been written for John of Gaunt on the occasion of his wife's death in 1368), the intended audience of The Canterbury Tales is more difficult to determine. Chaucer was a courtier, leading some to believe that he was mainly a court poet who wrote exclusively for the nobility. He is referred to as a noble translator and poet by Eustache Deschamps and by his contemporary John Gower. It has been suggested that the poem was intended to be read aloud, which is probable as this was a common activity at the time. However, it also seems to have been intended for private reading as well, since Chaucer frequently refers to himself as the writer, rather than the speaker, of the work. Determining the intended audience directly from the text is even more difficult, since the audience is part of the story. This makes it difficult to tell when Chaucer is writing to the fictional pilgrim audience or the actual reader.[64]

text: Chaucer's works may have been distributed in some form during his lifetime in part or in whole. Scholars speculate that manuscripts were circulated among his friends, but likely remained unknown to most people until after his death. However, the speed with which copyists strove to write complete versions of his tale in manuscript form shows that Chaucer was a famous and respected poet in his own day. The Hengwrt and Ellesmere manuscripts are examples of the care taken to distribute the work. More manuscript copies of the poem exist than for any other poem of its day except The Prick of Conscience, causing some scholars to give it the medieval equivalent of bestseller status. Even the most elegant of the illustrated manuscripts, however, is not nearly as highly decorated as the work of authors of more respectable works such as John Lydgate's religious and historical literature.[65]

text: 15th century[edit]

text: John Lydgate and Thomas Occleve were among the first critics of Chaucer's Tales, praising the poet as the greatest English poet of all time and the first to show what the language was truly capable of poetically. This sentiment was universally agreed upon by later critics into the mid-15th century. Glosses included in The Canterbury Tales manuscripts of the time praised him highly for his skill with "sentence" and rhetoric, the two pillars by which medieval critics judged poetry. The most respected of the tales was at this time the Knight's, as it was full of both.[66]

text: Literary additions and supplements[edit]

text: The incompleteness of the Tales led several medieval authors to write additions and supplements to the tales to make them more complete. Some of the oldest existing manuscripts of the tales include new or modified tales, showing that even early on, such additions were being created. These emendations included various expansions of the Cook's Tale, which Chaucer never finished, The Plowman's Tale, The Tale of Gamelyn, the Siege of Thebes, and the Tale of Beryn.[67]

text: The Tale of Beryn, written by an anonymous author in the 15th century, is preceded by a lengthy prologue in which the pilgrims arrive at Canterbury and their activities there are described. While the rest of the pilgrims disperse throughout the town, the Pardoner seeks the affections of Kate the barmaid, but faces problems dealing with the man in her life and the innkeeper Harry Bailey. As the pilgrims turn back home, the Merchant restarts the storytelling with Tale of Beryn. In this tale, a young man named Beryn travels from Rome to Egypt to seek his fortune only to be cheated by other businessmen there. He is then aided by a local man in getting his revenge. The tale comes from the French tale Bérinus and exists in a single early manuscript of the tales, although it was printed along with the tales in a 1721 edition by John Urry.[68]

text: John Lydgate wrote The Siege of Thebes in about 1420. Like the Tale of Beryn, it is preceded by a prologue in which the pilgrims arrive in Canterbury. Lydgate places himself among the pilgrims as one of them and describes how he was a part of Chaucer's trip and heard the stories. He characterises himself as a monk and tells a long story about the history of Thebes before the events of the Knight's Tale. John Lydgate's tale was popular early on and exists in old manuscripts both on its own and as part of the Tales. It was first printed as early as 1561 by John Stow, and several editions for centuries after followed suit.[69]

text: There are actually two versions of The Plowman's Tale, both of which are influenced by the story Piers Plowman, a work written during Chaucer's lifetime. Chaucer describes a Plowman in the General Prologue of his tales, but never gives him his own tale. One tale, written by Thomas Occleve, describes the miracle of the Virgin and the Sleeveless Garment. Another tale features a pelican and a griffin debating church corruption, with the pelican taking a position of protest akin to John Wycliffe's ideas.[70]

text: The Tale of Gamelyn was included in an early manuscript version of the tales, Harley 7334, which is notorious for being one of the lower-quality early manuscripts in terms of editor error and alteration. It is now widely rejected by scholars as an authentic Chaucerian tale, although some scholars think he may have intended to rewrite the story as a tale for the Yeoman. Dates for its authorship vary from 1340 to 1370.[71]

text: Literary adaptations[edit]

text: This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: Many literary works (both fiction and non-fiction alike) have used a similar frame narrative to The Canterbury Tales as an homage. Science-fiction writer Dan Simmons wrote his Hugo Award winning novel Hyperion based on an extra-planetary group of pilgrims. Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins used The Canterbury Tales as a structure for his 2004 non-fiction book about evolution titled The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution. His animal pilgrims are on their way to find the common ancestor, each telling a tale about evolution.

text: Henry Dudeney's book The Canterbury Puzzles contains a part reputedly lost from what modern readers know as Chaucer's tales.

text: Historical-mystery novelist P.C. Doherty wrote a series of novels based on The Canterbury Tales, making use of both the story frame and Chaucer's characters.

text: Canadian author Angie Abdou translates The Canterbury Tales to a cross section of people, all snow-sports enthusiasts but from different social backgrounds, converging on a remote back-country ski cabin in British Columbia in the 2011 novel The Canterbury Trail.

text: Adaptations and homages[edit]

text: The Two Noble Kinsmen, by William Shakespeare and John Fletcher, a retelling of "The Knight's Tale", was first performed in 1613 or 1614 and published in 1634. In 1961, Erik Chisholm completed his opera, The Canterbury Tales. The opera is in three acts: The Wyf of Bath’s Tale, The Pardoner’s Tale and The Nun’s Priest’s Tale. Nevill Coghill's modern English version formed the basis of a musical version that was first staged in 1964.

text: A Canterbury Tale, a 1944 film jointly written and directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, is loosely based on the narrative frame of Chaucer's tales. The movie opens with a group of medieval pilgrims journeying through the Kentish countryside as a narrator speaks the opening lines of the General Prologue. The scene then makes a now-famous transition to the time of World War II. From that point on, the film follows a group of strangers, each with his or her own story and in need of some kind of redemption, who are making their way to Canterbury together. The film's main story takes place in an imaginary town in Kent and ends with the main characters arriving at Canterbury Cathedral, bells pealing and Chaucer's words again resounding. A Canterbury Tale is recognised as one of the Powell-Pressburger team's most poetic and artful films. It was produced as wartime propaganda, using Chaucer's poetry, referring to the famous pilgrimage, and offering photography of Kent to remind the public of what made Britain worth fighting for. In one scene a local historian lectures an audience of British soldiers about the pilgrims of Chaucer's time and the vibrant history of England.[72]

text: Pier Paolo Pasolini's 1972 film The Canterbury Tales features several of the tales, some of which keep close to the original tale and some of which are embellished. The Cook's Tale, for instance, which is incomplete in the original version, is expanded into a full story, and the Friar's Tale extends the scene in which the Summoner is dragged down to hell. The film includes these two tales as well as the Miller's Tale, the Summoner's Tale, the Wife of Bath's Tale, and the Merchant's Tale.[73]

text: On April 26, 1986, American radio personality Garrison Keillor opened "The News from Lake Wobegon" portion of the first live TV broadcast of his A Prairie Home Companion radio show with a reading of the original Middle English text of the General Prologue. He commented, "Although those words were written more than 600 years ago, they still describe spring."

text: Television adaptations include Alan Plater's 1975 re-telling of the stories in a series of plays for BBC2: Trinity Tales. In 2003, BBC again featured modern re-tellings of selected tales.[74]

text:
The Knight

The Squire

The Reeve

The Miller

The Cook

The Wife of Bath

The Franklin

The Shipman

The Manciple

The Merchant

The Clerk of Oxford

The Sergeant of Law

The Physician

The Parson

The Monk

The Prioress

The Second Nun

The Nun's Priest

The Friar

The Summoner

The Pardoner

The Canon Yeoman

Geoffrey Chaucer

text: Notes[edit]

text:
Jump up ^ Carlson, David. "The Chronology of Lydgate's Chaucer References". The Chaucer Review, Vol. 38, No. 3 (2004), pp. 246–254. Accessed 6 January 2014.
Jump up ^ The name "Tales of Caunterbury" appears within the surviving texts of Chaucer's work. Its modern name first appeared as Canterbury talys in John Lydgate's 1421–1422 prologue to the Siege of Thebes.[1]
Jump up ^ Encyclopedia Brittanica
Jump up ^ Prestwich, Michael (2014). Medieval People: Vivid Lives in a Distant Landscape. London: Thames & Hudson. pp. 4. An Age of Plague 1300–1400. ISBN 9780500252031.
Jump up ^ "Geoffrey Chaucer (1342–1400) "The Canterbury Tales" (in middle english and modern english)". www.librarius.com. Retrieved 2015-09-25.
Jump up ^ Black, Joseph (2011). The Broadview Anthology of British Literature. Canada: Broadview Press. pp. 229–331.
Jump up ^ Pearsall, 8.
Jump up ^ Cooper, 6—7
Jump up ^ Pearsall, 10, 17.
Jump up ^ Cooper, 8.
Jump up ^ Linne R. Mooney (2006), "Chaucer's Scribe," Speculum, 81 : 97–138.
^ Jump up to: a b c Cooper, 7
Jump up ^ Pearsall, 14–15.
Jump up ^ Text from The Riverside Chaucer, ed. by Larry D. Benson, 3rd edn (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987), p. 153.
Jump up ^ Based on the information in Norman Davies, "Language and Versification", in The Riverside Chaucer, ed. by Larry D. Benson, 3rd edn (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987), pp. xxv–xli.
Jump up ^ Linne R. Mooney, "Chaucer’s Scribe", Speculum, 81 (2006), 97–138.
Jump up ^ e.g. Ian Robinson, Chaucer's Prosody: A Study of the Middle English Verse Tradition (London: Cambridge University Press, 1971).
Jump up ^ Seminal studies included M. L. Samuels, "Chaucerian Final '-e'", Notes and Queries, 19 (1972), 445–48, and D. Burnley, "Inflection in Chaucer's Adjectives", Neuphilologische Mitteilungen, 83 (1982), 169–77.
Jump up ^ Cooper, p. 10.
Jump up ^ Bloom, Harold (11 November 2009). "Road Trip". New York Times. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
Jump up ^ Sobecki, Sebastian (2017). "A Southwark Tale: Gower, the 1381 Poll Tax, and Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales". Speculum. 92 (3): 630–660. doi:10.1086/692620.
Jump up ^ Cooper, pp. 10–11.
Jump up ^ Biggs, Frederick M. Chaucer's Decameron and the Origin of the Canterbury Tales. D.S. Brewer,. Cambridge. ISBN 9781843844754. OCLC 971521732.
Jump up ^ Cooper, pp. 12–16.
Jump up ^ Brewer, p. 227. Although Chaucer undoubtedly studied the works of these celebrated writers, and particularly of Dante before this fortunate interview; yet it seems likely, that these excursions gave him a new relish for their compositions, and enlarged his knowledge of the Italian fables.
Jump up ^ Brewer, p. 277. ...where he became thoroughly inbued with the spirit and excellence of the great Italian poets and prose-writers: Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio; and is said to have had a personal contact interview with one of these, Petrarch.
Jump up ^ Hendrickson, pp. 183–192. Professor G. L. Hendrickson of the University of Chicago gives a detailed analysis as to Chaucer coming in contact with Petrarch.
Jump up ^ Rearden, p. 458. There can be no moral doubt but that Chaucer knew Petrarch personally. They were both in France many times, where they might have met. They were both courtiers. They both had an enthusiasm for scholarship. Whether they met then, or whether Chaucer, when on his visit to Genoa, specially visited the Italian, it does not appear. ...but the only reason that such a visit could not have occurred lies in the fact that Petrarch himself does not record it. Still, on the other hand, would he have mentioned the visit of a man who was the servant of a barbarous monarch, and whose only claim to notice, literary-wise, was his cultivation of an unknown and uncouth dialect that was half bastard French?
Jump up ^ Skeat (1874), p. xxx. And we know that Petrarch, on his own shewing, was so pleased with the story of Griselda that he learnt it by heart as well as he could, for the express purpose of repeating it to friends, before the idea of turning it into Latin occurred to him. Whence we may conclude that Chaucer and Petrarch met at Padua early in 1373; that Petrarch told Chaucer the story by word of mouth, either in Italian or French; and that Chaucer shortly after obtained a copy of Petrarch's Latin version, which he kept constantly before him whilst making his own translation.
Jump up ^ "Sources and Analogues of the Canterbury Tales", 2002, p. 22.
Jump up ^ Cooper, 8–9.
Jump up ^ Cooper, 17–18.
Jump up ^ Cooper, 18.
^ Jump up to: a b c Podgorski, Daniel (December 29, 2015). "Puppetry and the "Popet:" Fiction, Reality, and Empathy in Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales". The Gemsbok. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
Jump up ^ Cooper, 22–24.
Jump up ^ Cooper, 24–25.
Jump up ^ Cooper, 25–26.
Jump up ^ Cooper, 5–6.
Jump up ^ Donald R. Howard, Chaucer and the Medieval World (London, 1987), pp. 410–417.
Jump up ^ Bisson, pp. 49–51, 56–62.
Jump up ^ Bisson, pp. 50.
Jump up ^ Bisson, pp. 61–64.
Jump up ^ Bisson, pp. 66–67.
Jump up ^ Bisson, pp. 67–68.
Jump up ^ Bisson, pp. 73–75, 81.
Jump up ^ Bisson, pp. 91–95.
Jump up ^ Rubin, 106–107.
Jump up ^ "The Prioress's Tale", by Prof. Jane Zatta.
Jump up ^ Bisson, pp. 99–102.
Jump up ^ Bisson, pp. 110–113.
Jump up ^ Bisson, pp. 117–119.
Jump up ^ Bisson, pp. 123–131.
Jump up ^ Bisson, pp. 132–134.
Jump up ^ Bisson, pp. 139–142.
Jump up ^ Bisson, pp. 138.
Jump up ^ Bisson, pp. 141–142.
Jump up ^ Bisson, pp. 143.
^ Jump up to: a b Cooper, 19
Jump up ^ Cooper, 21.
Jump up ^ Bishop, Norma J. "Liminal Space in Travellers’ Tales: Historical and Fictional Passages (Folklore, Ritual, History).” Order No. 8615152 The Pennsylvania State University, 1986. Ann Arbor: ProQuest. Web. 30 Sep. 2015.
Jump up ^ Jost, Jean. “Urban and Liminal Space in Chaucer’s Knight’s Tale: Perilous or Protective?” Albrecht Classen, ed. Fundamentals of Medieval and Early Modern Culture : Urban Space in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Age. Berlin, DEU: Walter de Gruyter, 2009. Print.
Jump up ^ Bloomfield, Morton W. “The ‘Friar’s Tale’ as a Liminal Tale.” The Chaucer Review 17.4 (1983): 286–291. Print.
Jump up ^ Nowlin, Steele. “Between Precedent and Possibility: Liminality, Historicity, and Narrative in Chaucer's ‘The Franklin's Tale.’" Studies in Philology 103.1 (2006): 47–67. Print.
Jump up ^ Pearsall, 294-5.
Jump up ^ Pearsall, 295-97.
Jump up ^ Pearsall, 298–302.
Jump up ^ Trigg, Stephanie, Congenial Souls: Reading Chaucer from Medieval to Postmodern, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2002, p. 86. ISBN 0-8166-3823-3.
Jump up ^ Trigg, pp. 86–88, 97.
Jump up ^ Trigg, pp. 88–97.
Jump up ^ Brewer, Charlotte, Editing Piers Plowman: The Evolution of the Text, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996, pp. 8–9. ISBN 0-521-34250-3.
Jump up ^ Ohlgren, Thomas, Medieval Outlaws, Parlor Press, 2005, pp. 264–265. ISBN 1-932559-62-0.
Jump up ^ Ellis, Steve, Chaucer at Large, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2000, pp. 64–65. ISBN 0-8166-3376-2.
Jump up ^ Pencak, William, The Films of Derek Jarman, Jefferson: McFarland & Co, 2002, pp. 178–9. ISBN 0-7864-1430-8.
Jump up ^ "BBC – Drama – Canterbury Tales". BBC Drama article about the series. Retrieved 6 May 2007.
Jump up ^ "On These Walls: Inscriptions and Quotations in the Buildings of the Library of Congress". Retrieved 31 December 2012.

tag: ol


document_title: Two Occasions

question_text: who sings i only think of you on two occasions

root

text: Two Occasions

text:
"Two Occasions"

Single by The Deele

from the album Eyes of a Stranger

Released
1988

Format
7" single

Recorded
1987

Genre
R&B, quiet storm

Length
4:17

Label
Solar

Songwriter(s)
Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Darnell "Dee" Bristol, Sid Johnson

Producer(s)
L.A. Reid & Babyface for Deelesongz Inc

The Deele singles chronology

"Can-U-Dance"
(1987)
"Two Occasions"
(1988)
"Shoot Em Up Movies"
(1988)

"Can-U-Dance"
(1987)
"Two Occasions"
(1988)
"Shoot Em Up Movies"
(1988)

text: "Two Occasions" is an R&B song written by Babyface, Darnell Bristol and Sid Johnson (who was the former manager for Babyface's early group, Manchild) [1]. It was produced by Babyface and L.A. Reid for The Deele's third studio album Eyes of a Stranger (1987). The ballad was released as the album's second single in 1988.[1] It's the only song on the album that features Babyface on lead vocals,[2] which alternate between himself, Bristol, and Carlos "Satin" Greene throughout the course of the song. It has since been remade into a live version with added vocals from Babyface with all original vocals from The Deele intact; this version appeared on the 12" maxi single and also three years later on his album, A Closer Look.[3]

tag: p

text: The song and Babyface were later referenced by Mariah Carey in her 2005 hit song, "We Belong Together."[4]

text: The song is also sampled in the 2009 hit song "Want It, Need It" by Plies featuring Ashanti. It was also sampled in the song "I Still Love You" by Next (group) on their Rated Next album. Rap/Hip Hop artist Charlie Manhattan, released his version of "Two Occasions," in 2007, which was taken from his solo debut album, The Manhattan Project.[5]

text: Faye Wong also sampled the song in "Miss You Night and Day" found in her 1992 album, Coming Home.

text: Reception[edit]

text: Craig Lytle, in his review of the album for Allmusic, called "Two Occasions" a "quiet-storm classic" with "superb arrangement and production", declaring the song "worthy of a number-one ranking."[2] In 1989, the song won a BMI Pop Award.[6]

text: Although the band's first hit "Body Talk" actually had a higher placement on the R&B chart, "Two Occasions" is widely considered The Deele's most successful single. It peaked at number ten on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, number four on the Hot R&B and number twenty-one on the Adult Contemporary chart.[1]

text: Charts[edit]

text:
Chart (1988)
Peak
position

U.S. Billboard Hot 100[1]
10

U.S. Billboard Hot R&B[1]
4

U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary[1]
21

text: Notes[edit]

text:
^ Jump up to: a b c d e "Billboard". Billboard.com – Artist Chart History – The Deele. Retrieved 1988.  Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
^ Jump up to: a b "Allmusic". allmusic (((Eyes of a Stranger > Overview))).
Jump up ^ https://www.allmusic.com/album/a-closer-look-r1094
Jump up ^ Sanneh, Kelefa (August 4, 2005). "New York Times". The Summer Buzz: Cicadas and Mariah Carey. Retrieved 2005.  Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
Jump up ^ Marisa Brown. "Charlie Manhattan – Music Biography, Streaming Radio and Discography – AllMusic". AllMusic.
Jump up ^ "Babyface Awards". Babyface Fan – Awards. November 5, 1989.

text: 1988 singlesThe Deele songsSongs written by Babyface (musician)Song recordings produced by Babyface (musician)Songs written by Darnell Bristol1987 songsContemporary R&B balladsSong recordings produced by L.A. ReidQuiet storm songs

tag: ul

text: CS1 errors: datesArticles with hAudio microformats


document_title: The 40-Year-Old Virgin

question_text: who plays the daughter in the 40 year old virgin

text: The 40-Year-Old Virgin

text: Plot[edit]

text: Andy Stitzer (Steve Carell) is a forty year old virgin who lives alone, his apartment filled with his collection of action figures and video games. At a poker game with his co workers David (Paul Rudd), Cal (Seth Rogen), Mooj (Gerry Bednob), and Jay (Romany Malco), when conversation turns to past sexual exploits, the group learns that Andy is still a virgin, and resolve to help him lose his virginity.

text: The men give Andy different and sometimes contradictory advice, both on his appearance and how to interact with women. Cal advises Andy to simply "ask questions," which he practices on bookstore clerk Beth (Elizabeth Banks), who quickly becomes intrigued by him. David gives Andy his porn collection, encouraging him to masturbate. Mooj admonishes Andy that children are what give life meaning.

text: Andy begins to socialize and form friendships with his co workers. David, after running into his ex girlfriend Amy, has an emotional breakdown at work. Store manager Paula (Jane Lynch) promotes Andy to fill in for him.

text: Jay attempts to quicken the process by tricking Andy into meeting a prostitute. When Andy discovers the hooker is a male transvestite, he insists that his friends stop trying to help him. Andy lands a date with Trish Piedmont (Catherine Keener), a woman he met on the sales floor.

text: During Andy and Trish's first date, as they are about to have sex, they are interrupted by Trish's teenage daughter Marla (Kat Dennings). Trish suggests that they postpone having sex, to which Andy enthusiastically agrees.

text: Andy's friends begin to encounter the consequences of their lifestyles. David, obsessed with Amy, takes a vow of celibacy. Jay, who previously boasted of his promiscuity, gets into an argument with a customer after his girlfriend breaks up with him over his infidelity. Jay concedes to Andy that sex can ruin a relationship.

text: Andy and Trish's relationship grows. Trish encourages Andy's dream of starting a business, suggesting that fund it by selling his collectibles. Andy takes Marla to a group session at a sexual health clinic, where she reveals she is a virgin. Andy, trying to defend her against derision, admits that he is also a virgin but is disbelieved and ridiculed. Marla later says that she knows Andy is a virgin, but agrees to let him tell Trish himself.

text: On the couple's 20th date, the limit they agreed for their abstinence, Andy is still resistant, which upsets Trish. Trish demands he explain his reticence, and Andy accuses her of trying to change him against his will. He leaves for a nightclub where he meets his friends, gets drunk and praises them for encouraging him to have sex. Andy runs into Beth and the pair soon leave for her apartment. Marla convinces Trish to make up with Andy. By this time Andy has sobered up and is having second thoughts. His friends arrive and encourage him to go back to Trish.

text: Andy returns to his apartment, where he finds Trish waiting for him. He attempts to apologize, but Trish, having found various suspicious items in his apartment, is now afraid that Andy may be some sort of sexual deviant. Andy tries to defend himself and declares his love for her, but she leaves in alarm and disgust. Andy chases after her on his bike, but collides with her car and flies through the side of a truck. Trish rushes to his side, and Andy finally confesses that he is a virgin as explanation for his behavior. Trish is surprised but relieved, and they kiss.

text: Later, Andy and Trish are married in a lavish ceremony with everyone in attendance, with a sidelong mention that Andy's action figures sold for over half a million dollars. Afterwards, they consummate the marriage, the aftermath of which transitions into a musical scene where the characters sing and dance to "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In".

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Steve Carell as Andy Stitzer
Catherine Keener as Trish Piedmont
Paul Rudd as David
Romany Malco as Jay
Seth Rogen as Cal
Jane Lynch as Paula
Elizabeth Banks as Beth
Leslie Mann as Nicky
Kat Dennings as Marla Piedmont
Gerry Bednob as Mooj
Jordan Masterson as Mark
Shelley Malil as Haziz
Jonah Hill as eBay Customer
Marisa Guterman as Girl with Braces
Marika Dominczyk as Bernadette
Mindy Kaling as Amy
Mo Collins as Gina
Kimberly Page as Carol
Laura Bottrell as Girl with Blue Bra
Stormy Daniels as Herself
Loudon Wainwright III as Priest
Cedric Yarbrough as Health Clinic Dad #1
David Koechner as Health Clinic Dad #2
Jeff Kahn as Health Clinic Dad #3
Kevin Hart as Smart Tech Customer
Rose Abdoo as Mother at Restaurant
Jazzmun as transvestite prostitute
Nancy Carell as Health Clinic Counselor
Nick Lashaway as Boy at Health Clinic
Wyatt Smith as Boy at Wedding (Uncredited)
Ann Christine as Kim (Uncredited)
Jenna Fischer as Woman #1 (Uncredited)
Phyllis Smith as Mrs. Stitzer (Uncredited)

text: Production[edit]

text: Production on the film was nearly halted by Universal Pictures after five days of filming, allegedly due to concerns that the physical appearance of Carell's character resembled that of a serial killer.[5] Production was started on January 17, 2005, and wrapped on April 1, 2005.[citation needed]

text: The production used over a million feet of film, a milestone reached on the last day of filming and recognized with free champagne by Technicolor.[6] Using the conversion of 90 feet of film per minute, this means that the shooting ratio for the film is 96:1 for the theatrical (84:1 for the unrated version).

text: Reception[edit]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, the film has an approval rating of 85% based on 181 reviews and an average rating of 7.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Steve Carell's first star turn scores big with a tender treatment of its titular underdog, using raunchy but realistically funny comedy to connect with adult audiences."[7] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 73 out of 100 based on 35 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[8]

text: Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale.[9] Rotten Tomatoes declared it the "Best Reviewed Comedy of 2005."[10]

text: Ebert and Roeper gave the film a "two thumbs up" rating. Roger Ebert said, "I was surprised by how funny, how sweet, and how wise the movie really is" and "the more you think about it, the better The 40-Year-Old Virgin gets."[11] The pair gave minor criticisms, with Ebert describing "the way she (Catherine Keener as 'Trish') empathizes with Andy" as "almost too sweet to be funny" and Richard Roeper saying that the film was too long, and at times extremely frustrating.[11] Roeper later chose the film as the tenth best of 2005.[12]

text: Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the movie an A-, saying that Carell "plays him [Andy] in the funniest and most surprising way possible: as a credible human being." Manohla Dargis of The New York Times called the film a "charmingly bent comedy," noting that Carell conveys a "sheer likability" and a "range as an actor" that was "crucial to making this film work as well as it does."[13]

text: The film was criticized by Harry Forbes of Catholic News Service for promoting "the false premise that there's something intrinsically wrong with an unmarried man being sexually inexperienced,"[14] and by conservative columnist Cal Thomas for not being a "tribute to self control or purity."[15]

text: In December 2005, the film was chosen by the American Film Institute as one of the ten best movies of the year, the only comedy film to be so recognized (though the comedy-drama The Squid and the Whale was also chosen). The film was also ranked No. 30 on Bravo's 100 Funniest Movies.

text: Box office[edit]

text: The film was a summer hit, and opened at No. 1 at the box office, grossing $21,422,815 during its opening weekend, and stayed at No. 1 the following weekend. The film grossed a total of $109,449,237 at the domestic market, and $67,929,408 overseas, for a total of $177,378,645. The film was 25th in global gross, and 19th in the United States that year.[1] The film was released in the United Kingdom on September 2, 2005, and topped the country's box office that weekend.[16]

text: Accolades[edit]

text: The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

text:
2008: AFI's 10 Top 10:

Nominated Romantic Comedy Film[17]

text: The Film won the award for Best Comedy at The 11th Critic's Choice Movie Awards Ceremony, being the first movie to take the prize home.

text: Home media[edit]

text: On home video the film was released with an additional 17 minutes under the banner "unrated".[18] For the 100th Anniversary of Universal the theatrical edition was released on Blu-ray. This version also had a similar banner of "unrated".

text: Disclaimer[edit]

text: The American Humane Association withheld its "no animals were harmed..." disclaimer due to the accidental deaths of several tropical fish used in the film.[19]


document_title: Blue Bloods (TV series)

question_text: who is the actress who plays the mayor in blue bloods

text: Blue Bloods (TV series)

text: Premise[edit]

text: The series follows the Reagan family of police officers with the New York City Police Department (NYPD). Francis Xavier "Frank" Reagan is the Police Commissioner. Frank's oldest son Danny is an NYPD detective, his youngest son Jamie is an NYPD police officer, and his daughter Erin is an assistant district attorney. Frank's middle son Joe was murdered by a crooked cop in the line of duty in events that pre-date the series, when he was involved with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigating a group of corrupt NYPD cops. Frank's father Henry is a former NYPD beat cop who rose through the ranks to Police Commissioner. Each member of the family represents a different aspect of police work or the legal process: Frank as the commissioner, Danny as the detective, Jamie as the beat cop and Erin as the prosecutor. Additionally, while each person's story might occasionally interweave with another's, the show also follows the professional relationships with their respective partners and colleagues. Frank with Garrett Moore, the NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Public Information and later Sid Gormley, the Special Assistant to the Commissioner; Danny with Detective Maria Baez; Jamie with Officer Edit "Eddie" Janko; and Erin with Detective Anthony Abetemarco in the DA's office.

text: Both Henry's and Frank's wives are deceased. Erin is divorced and has one college student daughter, Nicky, who lives with her. Danny is married to Linda, an ER nurse, and they have two sons, Jack and Sean. Linda dies offscreen between Seasons 7 and 8. Jamie is unmarried, though romantic feelings develop between him and his partner, Eddie; they acknowledge their mutual attraction during season 7.

text: A show signature is the Sunday dinner scene around the large table in Frank and Henry's home. The four generations of Reagans gather to eat and discuss their week, which naturally includes current cases or controversies depicted in each episode. The grandchildren often have meaty or moral issue questions which the various adults answer, sometimes with differing viewpoints. The conversation may also include family members ribbing each other, and Henry or Frank dispensing wise advice. Sometimes the conversation breaks down in acrimony because of differing feelings or perspectives among family members on emotional issues, but the family always remains loving and united. The Sunday dinner has been a Reagan family tradition for more than a century, and is well-known to their friends and neighbors.

text: Cast and characters[edit]

text: Main[edit]

text:
Actor
Character
Seasons

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Len Cariou
Commissioner (ret.) Henry Reagan
Main

Tom Selleck
Commissioner Francis “Frank” Xavier Reagan
Main

Donnie Wahlberg
Detective Daniel “Danny” Reagan
Main

Bridget Moynahan
ADA Erin Reagan
Main

Will Estes
Officer Jamison “Jamie” Reagan
Main

Amy Carlson
Linda Reagan
Recurring
Also starring
Main

Sami Gayle
Nicole "Nicky" Reagan-Boyle
Recurring
Also starring
Main

Jennifer Esposito
Detective Jackie Curatola
Also starring

Marisa Ramirez
Detective Maria Baez

Recurring
Also starring

Vanessa Ray
Officer Edit "Eddie" Janko

Recurring
Also starring

text: Recurring[edit]

text:
Robert Clohessy as Lieutenant Sidney "Sid" Gormley, Special Assistant to the Commissioner (season 5–present), Detective Sergeant of the 54th Precinct (seasons 1–5)
Gregory Jbara as Garrett Moore, NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Public Information
Abigail Hawk as Detective Abigail Baker, Commissioner's Detective Squad & Commissioner's primary aide
Nicholas Turturro as Sergeant Anthony Renzulli, Jamie's first partner & training officer, 12th Precinct supervisor
Andrew Terraciano as Sean Reagan, Danny and Linda's younger son
Tony Terraciano as Jack Reagan, Danny and Linda's older son
James Nuciforo as Detective Jim Nuciforo, Commissioner's Detective Squad & Commissioner's security detail
David Ramsey as Mayor Carter Poole (seasons 2–7)
Ato Essandoh as Reverend Darnell Potter (seasons 2–present)
Brian Roland as Richard, assistant to ADA Reagan (season 2–present)
James Lesure as DA Investigator Alex McBride (season 5–present)
Bruce Altman as Mayor Frank Russo (season 1); while he is credited under that character name in Season 1, the name is never actually mentioned. When he makes a return appearance in Season 3, his character is introduced as "Former Mayor Robert Levitt".
Bobby Cannavale as District Attorney Charles Rosselini (season 1)
Noelle Beck as Sue Connors, Commissioners' Deputy Press Secretary (season 1)
Dylan Moore as Sydney Davenport, brief fiancée of Jamie (season 1)
John Ventimiglia as Dino Arbogast, Chief of Department (season 4), Organized Crime Control Bureau Chief (season 2)
Peter Hermann as Jack Boyle, defense attorney and Erin's ex-husband (seasons 3, 4, 7, and 8)
Sebastian Sozzi as Officer Vincent "Vinny" Cruz (season 3)
Megan Boone as Detective Candice "Mac" McElroy (season 3)
Megan Ketch as Detective Kate Lansing (season 3)
Amy Morton as Trial Bureau Chief ADA Amanda Harris (seasons 3 & 4)
Bebe Neuwirth as Kelly Peterson, Inspector General of the NYPD (season 4)
Holt McCallany as District Attorney Robert McCoy (seasons 4 & 5)
Jeff Wincott as ESU Captain Mancuso (guest seasons 3 & 5)
LaTanya Richardson as Lieutenant Dee Ann Carver, Commanding Officer of the 54th Precinct (season 5)
Steve Schirripa as Det. Anthony Abetemarco, a DA investigator who works with Erin (season 6-present)
Sean Christopher Franson as Interim Director of Investigations (seasons 4 and 6)
Mark Linn-Baker as Carlton Miller. Public Affairs Chief for the Mayor's Office (season 7-present)
Stacy Keach as Archbishop Kevin Kearns (season 7-present)
Lorraine Bracco as Mayor Margaret Dutton. Former Public Advocate who takes over as Interim Mayor after Carter Poole resigns (season 8-present)

text: Episodes[edit]

text:
Season
Episodes
Originally aired
Nielsen ratings

First aired
Last aired
Rank
Viewers
(in millions)

1
22
September 24, 2010 (2010-09-24)
May 13, 2011 (2011-05-13)
19
12.58[5]

2
22
September 23, 2011 (2011-09-23)
May 11, 2012 (2012-05-11)
22
12.16[6]

3
23
September 28, 2012 (2012-09-28)
May 10, 2013 (2013-05-10)
14
13.17[7]

4
22
September 27, 2013 (2013-09-27)
May 9, 2014 (2014-05-09)
10
13.63[8]

5
22
September 26, 2014 (2014-09-26)
May 1, 2015 (2015-05-01)
13
13.77[9]

6
22
September 25, 2015 (2015-09-25)
May 6, 2016 (2016-05-06)
10
13.07[10]

7
22
September 23, 2016 (2016-09-23)
May 5, 2017 (2017-05-05)
8
14.07[11]

8
22[12]
September 29, 2017 (2017-09-29)
TBA
TBA
TBA

text: Production[edit]

text: Selleck mentioned that he was drawn to the project because of the strong pilot script and that he was concerned about becoming involved in an ongoing series because he did not want to compromise his commitment to the Jesse Stone television movies.[13] Beginning January 19, 2011, Blue Bloods was moved to Wednesdays at 10 p.m. for a four-week tryout.[14] In February 2011, the series returned to its Friday night time slot due to the series premiere of Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior. In the UK, the show helped launch Sky Atlantic by premiering on Tuesday, February 1, 2011, at 10:30 p.m.[15] In Australia, the show premiered in February 2011 in a primetime Wednesday slot on Network TEN, then from February 2013 for season two was moved from the network's primary SD channel to its HD channel one alongside White Collar, then on August 26, 2013, the show moved back to the primary SD channel on Mondays for season three. In New Zealand, the show premieres on July 13, 2013 on TV3 replacing CSI: NY in a primetime Saturday slot after Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

text: On October 20, 2012, CBS announced that Jennifer Esposito was being dropped from the series, with her character, Detective Curatola, being placed on indefinite leave of absence.[16] Esposito and CBS had been at odds over her limited availability for work after the actress was diagnosed with celiac disease. She had missed a week after collapsing on set earlier in the season. According to Esposito, CBS challenged her request for a reduced work schedule, and further, kept her from finding work elsewhere.[16] In a press release from CBS, the network said that Esposito had "informed us that she is only available to work on a very limited part-time schedule. As a result, she's unable to perform the demands of her role and we regretfully had to put her character on a leave of absence."[16] Curatola's last appearance was in the season three episode "Nightmares". (Four years later, she was hired for the CBS crime drama NCIS.)

text: According to TV by the Numbers, by committing itself to a third season of Blue Bloods, CBS all but guaranteed a fourth season,[17] because, as a CBS Television Studios production, CBS had a financial incentive to produce at least the minimum number of episodes needed for stripped syndication.[17] On March 27, 2013, CBS made it official by renewing Blue Bloods for a fourth season to begin in the fall of 2013.[18]

text: Blue Bloods was renewed for a fifth season on March 13, 2014.[19][20]

text: Broadcast[edit]

text: In Australia, the series premiered on Network Ten's primary channel on February 2, 2011.[21] Due to poor ratings of the first season, Ten moved the series to its HD channel One, which premiered the second season on October 31, 2011.[22] Due to decreased viewership of Ten's primary channel, season three moved back from August 26, 2013,[23] and season four returned on March 17, 2014.[24]

text: In New Zealand, the series premiered on TV3 on July 13, 2013.[25]

text: In the United Kingdom and Ireland, Sky Atlantic premiered the series on February 1, 2011,[26] with season two returning on October 4, 2011,[26] season three on December 13, 2012,[26] and season four on November 28, 2013.[27] Season five premiered on January 21, 2015.[28]

text: Reruns[edit]

text: Reruns of Blue Bloods air nationally in the United States on Ion Television and WGN America, the latter of which airs the show daily. CBS Television Distribution currently distributes the series to local outlets on weekends, with two episodes being offered. Repeats of Blue Bloods air on Pick in the UK

text: Reception[edit]

text: Reviewers have praised the series' on-location shooting.[29] The New York Daily News praised Selleck's performance as Frank Reagan,[29] while also praising the family dinner scene for discussion of morally complex issues.[29]

text: The Daily News drew comparisons between Selleck's characters Jesse Stone and Frank Reagan, saying that both Reagan and Stone are moral, principled men of few words.[29] In Entertainment Weekly's annual Fall TV Preview, Ken Tucker named Blue Bloods one of the "5 Best New Shows" of 2010.[30]

text: Laura Hudson at Slate stated that the series "perfectly caters to [white America's] perspective on the police", in that it hides how American police deals with race. She argues it "has a habit of depicting people who speak up against the police as malicious, manipulative, or deceptive—and a lot of those people happen to be minorities" as well as that "accusations leveled at police by citizens are almost always revealed to be fraudulent, and concerns about racial bias are almost always manufactured, deceitful, or overblown", describing it as "the perfect white-privilege lullaby".[31]

text: Ratings[edit]

text: The pilot episode garnered 15.246 million viewers because of the Live + 7 days after with viewings from DVRs. Without the DVR adding to the live viewing the show's debut episode garnered a total of 13.02 million viewers.[32]

text: Overall, the ratings have been steady for the series, after the pilot episode. The lowest viewer total of 8.88 million occurred in episode eight of season seven (which ran against Game 3 of the 2016 World Series), and is to date the only episode that had fewer than 9 million initial-broadcast viewers.[33] The second season finale on May 11, 2012 was watched by 10.73 million viewers and received a 1.2/4 ratings/share among adults ages 18–49.[34] The highest (non-pilot) live viewership of 12.93 million occurred in episode 14 of season four ("Manhattan Queens"), which was the series' 81st episode.[35]

text: In January 2013, CBS announced via press release that Blue Bloods was the first scripted Friday series in 10 years to average at least 13 million viewers (live + 7), gaining eight percent more viewers than the previous year. The second season of CSI in 2001 had 14.78 million viewers, while the fourth season of Law & Order: SVU in 2003 had 14.92 million.[36]

text:
Season
Time slot (ET)
# Ep.
Premiered
Ended
TV season
Rank
Viewers
(in millions)

Date
Premiere viewers
(in millions)
Date
Finale viewers
(in millions)

1

Friday 10:00 p.m.

22

September 24, 2010

13.01[37]

May 13, 2011

11.79[38]
2010–2011
No. 19
12.58[39]

2
22

September 23, 2011

12.06[40]

May 11, 2012

10.73[34]
2011–2012
No. 22
12.16[41]

3
23

September 28, 2012

11.22[42]

May 10, 2013

10.30[43]
2012–2013
No. 14
13.17[44]

4
22

September 27, 2013

11.70[45]

May 9, 2014

11.78[46]
2013–2014
No. 10
13.63[47]

5
22

September 26, 2014

10.88[48]

May 1, 2015

11.28[49]
2014–2015
No. 13
13.77[50]

6
22

September 25, 2015

10.08[51]

May 6, 2016

10.10[52]
2015–2016
No. 10
13.07[10]

7
22

September 23, 2016

10.55[53]

May 5, 2017

9.24[54]
2016–2017
No. 8
14.07[55]

8

September 29, 2017

10.04[56]

2017–2018
TBA
TBA


document_title: TomSka

question_text: where did beep beep ima sheep come from

question_tokens: where did beep beep ima sheep come from

text: TomSka

text: Early life and education

text: As a child, Ridgewell began making short films using his parents' video camera. Not long after YouTube was established, Ridgewell created CakeBomb, a website which he posted his video creations, including his viral animated video series asdfmovie and his friend Edd Gould's Eddsworld. Ridgewell graduated from University of Lincoln,[4] where he created a series of unofficial "advertisements" for the university which received millions of views.[5]

text: Career

text: As a professional YouTuber, Ridgewell earns money from revenue from his videos on the website.[6] He also has made short films for BBC and Comedy Central. He has been discussed and interviewed in relation to this, especially when the medium of online video was in its infancy.[2][7] He has also appeared as a guest on the BBC's The One Show, and has appeared as a radio and TV guest internationally.[8]

text: In October 2007, Tomska created a secondary channel called DarkSquidge.[9] As of March 2018, the channel has over 780,000 subscribers and more than 101 million views.[9] The content that Ridgewell uploads on this channel differs greatly from that of his main channel. While his main channel consists of sketch comedy and animations,[10] DarkSquidge shows behind the scenes footage of TomSka related projects and videos, as well as vlogging. Ridgewell also engages in social commentary on this platform, covering a range of topics such as mental health, sexual health, and body positivity. The YouTuber uploaded weekly vlogs to the channel dubbed as "Last Week". After ending "Last Week", Tom then made a monthly vlogging series called "Last Month".

text: In 2008, Ridgewell released the first installment of asdfmovie, an animated sketch comedy series featuring very short clips of minimally-detailed characters in surreal and occasionally darkly humorous situations. There have been ten episodes as of April 2017, as well as two "deleted scene" videos, a promotional video with Marmite, and four music videos; "I Like Trains", "Mine Turtle", "Everybody Do The Flop", and "The Muffin Song".[11] The song "Beep Beep I'm a Sheep" by Canadian musician Todd "LilDeuceDeuce" Bryanton with vocals by Ridgewell and Gabriel "BlackGryph0n" Brown, released alongside asdfmovie10, was featured in the dance rhythm game Just Dance 2018.[12] A book based on the asdfmovie series, titled Art is Dead: the asdf book, was written by Ridgewell, illustrated by Matt Ley, and published by Little Brown on October 29, 2015.[13][14] A second book titled Sam Kills Christmas, written by Ridgewell and Eddie Bowley with illustrations by Dorina Herdewijn, is scheduled for release on November 18, 2018.[15]

text: In 2012, Ridgewell founded a media production company, TurboPunch Ltd., located in London. Ridgewell currently works there alongside co-writer Eddie Bowley and video editor Elliot Gough.[16]

text: Also in 2012, he took charge of the production of Eddsworld after the show's original creator, Edd Gould, died of leukemia. He left the series in 2016, handing the show over to Edd's family. In 2013, Ridgewell was featured in YouTube's first "Comedy Week".[17] He was featured on the cover of Wired UK in February 2013 as part of a feature titled "How YouTube Reinvented the Entertainment Business"[18] and was selected by YouTube as a guest host for its Geek Week series in August. The BBC announced that Ridgewell will be appearing as a guest presenter on the Dan and Phil show from September 2014 on BBC Radio 1.[19][20][21]

text: In 2014, Ridgewell, in collaboration with video game developer Pixel Spill Studios, created the game KatataK, a side-scrolling shoot 'em up for iOS and Android devices.[22]

text: In January 2015, Ridgewell launched a new webtoon, Crash Zoom, on his TomSka channel. It is animated by Ben "Wonchop" Smallman, who also animated some of the asdfmovie episodes.[23] It features three young characters, Lucy, Ben, and Kate, in their various surreal exploits.[24]

text: In 2016, TomSka filmed several sketches with the BBC in a trial for a potential sketch show on BBC Three. These sketches were not picked up by the BBC, however, and he later posted the clips on his own YouTube channel.[25]

text: Personal life

text: Ridgewell had a twin sister, Amelia, who died in a car accident as an unborn child.[26]

text: He was raised a Jehovah's Witness, but no longer practices this faith.[27] Despite this, he has expressed a belief in a god.[26]

text: Books

text:
Art is Dead: the asdf book (2015, Little Brown Book Group, ISBN 9780751563047)[28]
Sam Kills Christmas (2018, Little Brown Book Group, ISBN 0751563056)

text: Notes

text: Jump up ^ "asdf" pronounced /ˈæzdəf/


document_title: Voltron: Legendary Defender

question_text: when does the 6th season of voltron come out

text: Voltron: Legendary Defender

text: Overview[edit]

text: For millennia, the evil Galra Empire has plagued the universe by destroying other civilizations and enslaving various races. The only known threat strong enough against the empire's power and plans is the legendary "Defender of the Universe" Voltron, a 100-meter tall robot warrior composed of five lion mechas whose pilots are known as the Paladins. At the crux of the war that ended with the destruction of planet Altea, Voltron was separated by King Alfor of Altea in order to protect Voltron from falling into the Galran Emperor Zarkon's possession. King Alfor bonded the five lion's energies to his daughter Allura's life force and sent them across the universe to different locations until the time for the next generation of Paladins to appear and pilot Voltron arrived. Princess Allura, her retainer Coran, and the Altean Castle of Lions were hidden on planet Arus along with the Black Lion.

text: In the present, the Galra Empire's path of conquest and search for Voltron has led them to Earth's solar system. A group of space pilots – Shiro, Keith, Lance, Pidge, and Hunk – discover the Blue Lion and immediately get swept up into the Galran War. They meet Princess Allura, become the new Paladins, and reunite the five lions to form Voltron, beginning their fight to liberate the universe from the Galra Empire.

text: Cast and characters[edit]

text: Main[edit]

text: Voltron Alliance[edit]

text:
Josh Keaton as Takashi "Shiro" Shirogane – The Black Paladin, the pilot of the Black Lion and Guardian Spirit of Sky. The Leader of the Defenders of the Universe, Shiro was captured by the Galra Empire a year before the start of the series during which he was given a weaponized prosthetic right arm. A natural, decisive leader, Shiro is calm and always in control. At the end of season two, Shiro reclaims his personal bayard weapon from Zarkon that enables them to defeat him, but Shiro mysteriously vanishes afterwards. In season three, it is revealed he was teleported to a Galra ship, as he ended up on one before escaping and was eventually found by the team. After finding that the Black Lion no longer accepts him as its true paladin, he continues to aid the team by providing guidance and support to them from the Castle of the Lions. At the start of season four, Shiro manages to re-establish his bond with the Black Lion when Keith was absent during an intense battle. In season five, he has become an unwitting mole of Haggar, who can see through his eyes to keep an eye on Lotor. After Keith and the Altean Romelle revealed Lotor's true intentions, Haggar takes full control over Shiro, and Keith discovers that the Shiro besides them is a clone, while the true Shiro died during the fight at the end of season two and his soul lies inside the Black Lion. Afterwards, Shiro is revived when Allura uses her powers to transfer his soul from the Black Lion to the clone's body. In season 7 following his return to Earth, he becomes the captain of the Atlas, a Garrison battleship and and joins the fight against Sendek.
Steven Yeun as Keith – The Red Paladin, the pilot of the Red Lion, and Guardian Spirit of Fire. Formerly a cadet at Galaxy Garrison academy before being expelled, Keith is an orphan and a lone wolf as a result. Sullen and temperamental, Keith spends his free time honing his skills for battle. In season two, Keith discovers he has Galra blood, apparently from his maternal side of the family. The revelation comes from a knife which associated him with a secret rebel group of the Galra called the "Blade of Marmora", but also ends up straining Allura's trust in him for a while. Due to Shiro's absence, Keith takes over as the head of Voltron as the new pilot of the Black Lion in season three. At the start of season four, Keith officially steps down as the leader of Voltron, handing the position back to Shiro so that he can continue to work with the Blade of Marmora. At the end of season five, Keith is reunited with his Galra mother, Krolia. He rejoins the Paladins in the end of season six, piloting the Black Lion during their fight with Lotor.
Jeremy Shada as Lance – The Blue Paladin, the pilot of the Blue Lion and Guardian Spirit of Water. Lance was the fighter pilot of his team at Galaxy Garrison academy. Cocky and confident, Lance is the comic relief of the Defenders and likes to think of himself as a ladies' man as well as the sharpshooter. Lance has maintained a one-sided rivalry with Keith from when the two were at the Galaxy Garrison together, but the two have shown to be an effective team. Lance becomes the new pilot of the Red Lion from season three onward.
Bex Taylor-Klaus as Katie "Pidge Gunderson" Holt – The Green Paladin, the pilot of the Green Lion and Guardian Spirit of Forest. Katie disguised herself as a boy named Pidge Gunderson to get into Galaxy Garrison academy to find out what happened to her father and brother who disappeared whilst on the same mission which Shiro was captured on. A technical genius, Pidge is the smartest member of the team able to create specialist modifications for the Green Lion such as a cloaking device (which only lasts thirty seconds) and she re-purposed a Galran drone to work for her, naming it Rover, who later sacrifice itself to protect her. During her time as a Paladin, she eventually rescues her family and while her brother Matt keeps fighting for the alliance, her father returns to Earth to warn the Galaxy Garrison about the war against the Galra.
Tyler Labine as Hunk – The Yellow Paladin, the pilot of the Yellow Lion and Guardian Spirit of Land. Hunk was the engineer of his team at Galaxy Garrison academy. A gentle giant with an equally large appetite, Hunk is the heart of the team, lifting them up and making peace between them. After witnessing first hand the devastation and misery that Zarkon's conquest of the universe has brought upon the people of various worlds, Hunk is determined to free those enslaved.
Kimberly Brooks as Princess Allura – Crown Princess of Altea, the daughter of King Alfor, Allura was the last known female Altean. Pilot and keeper of the Castle of Lions, a structure that is both a castle and a spaceship, Allura granted the Defenders their titles and sent them on their mission to defeat Zarkon and liberate the universe. Allura wishes more than anything to finish her father's work in stopping Zarkon. In season three, she becomes the new pilot of the Blue Lion as the Pink Paladin. As an Altean, Allura's abilities include the chameleon-like ability to blend in with other species and magical abilities related to quintessence. She has a telepathic bond with some Altean mice that had ended up in the same cryo-pod that she was hibernating inside of.
Rhys Darby as Coran – The Royal advisor to Princess Allura's family, Coran was the last known male Altean. Energetic and excitable, Coran serves Allura dutifully whilst being fiercely protective of her. He tends to ramble on and on about his past, particularly about his supposedly daring feats or past experiences. Despite his odd and quirky character, he is a reliable and steadfast ally to his princess and the Paladins.

text: Galra Empire[edit]

text:
Neil Kaplan as Emperor Zarkon – The Emperor of the ruthless Galra Empire, and the ruler of most of the known universe after spending the last ten thousand years conquering it. He desires the Lions of Voltron, whom he is powerful to contend against, due to both the threat they pose to campaign along with the revelation that he was the former Black Paladin that motivates his claim of the Lions as his own property. During the season two finale, Zarkon faces Voltron and the Paladins in an experimental mecha armor and is defeated but left in a coma for most of season three until he was revived by Haggar and begins a manhunt for Lotor. In season five, Lotor seems to have killed him in a duel to the death, and he is declared dead by the empire.
Cree Summer as Witch Haggar – Zarkon's primary advisor, and leader of the Druids, dark mystics who fanatically serve the Galra Empire. Haggar is both a dangerous sorceress and a mad scientist. She combines her unnatural magic with abominable science to arm Galra soldiers with powerful weapons, create terrible monsters later called "Ro-beasts" to fight Voltron, and leech all manner of living things, including entire planets, of the mystical energy known as Quintessence for the Galra to use in their conquest of the universe. In battle, her magical abilities allow her to teleport, cast illusions, fog the minds of others with hallucinations, and use her hands to project energy blasts and shields. Haggar is eventually revealed to be an Altean alchemist named Honerva, Zarkon's wife who played a role in Voltron's origins ten millennia ago. While afflicted by the same corruption that inflicted Zarkon, Haggar lost her all memory of her former life and gradually recovered her memories as she traveled the mystical realm of Oriande where Altean alchemy originated. The trip restores Haggar to her original state as Honerva.
A.J. Locascio as Prince Lotor – The son of Zarkon and Honerva, making him a Galra-Altean hybrid, who assumes control of the Galra Empire following his father's inability to lead while in critical condition. Possessing a Messianic complex, Lotor's ideology that strength comes from worthy followers from conquered worlds, rather than resource expansion and subjugation, is reflected in his personal all-female strike team who are half-Galra like himself. While acting as ruler, ignoring matters that he deems a waste of time, Lotor has been working on his own plans to obtain Quintessence which results with him branded an outlaw by Zarkon once he returns to power. Forming an alliance with the Paladins after saving them from Haggar's ambush, Lotor manages to win back the Galra throne after defeating his father in a battle to the death and subsequently dealing with insurgents, but Lotor's alliance with the Paladins falls apart once it is revealed that he secretly saved many Alteans at the time during the past war, hiding them away and allowing them to thrive, only to sacrifice a majority of them so he can use their harvested quintessence for his plans, as revealed by Keith and the Altean Romelle. It is eventually revealed that Lothor's goal is to establish a new Altean Empire, one that will even span across other realities, and he will dispose of anything, even his own forces if need be, to accomplish this, as he fights Voltron using his own giant robot formed from his Sincline ships, which has the ability to enter the Quintessence field at will. As the fight enters the Quintessence field itself, the exposure to all that quintessence drives Lothor mad with power, just like Zarkon, but Lotor is defeated when Allura has Voltron use all of its power, both from itself and the constant power it gets from Quintessence field, against him. As the power makes Voltron increasingly difficult to keep together, they are forced to abandon Lotor in the Quintessence field.

text: Production[edit]

text: On January 5, 2016, Netflix and DreamWorks Animation announced a new original animated Voltron series to debut in 2016 as an expansion of their existing multi-year agreement.[12] Voltron is one of several series planned for initial development and debut in 2016, including Guillermo del Toro's animated Trollhunters.[13] Lauren Montgomery and Joaquim Dos Santos, both known for their work on the Avatar: The Last Airbender and its sequel The Legend of Korra, served as showrunners while fellow crew member Tim Hedrick served as head writer.[14] On March 25, 2016, at WonderCon it was announced that the voice cast would consist of Steven Yeun as Keith, Jeremy Shada as Lance, Bex Taylor-Klaus as Pidge, Josh Keaton as Shiro, Tyler Labine as Hunk, Kimberly Brooks as Princess Allura; and Rhys Darby as Coran and Neil Kaplan as King Zarkon.[15] Cree Summer later confirmed that she would be voicing Witch Haggar.[16] The first season premiered on June 10, 2016, and consisted of 13 episodes.

text: It was announced at San Diego Comic-Con that season two will premiere on Netflix in late 2016.[17] A few months later, at New York Comic Con, it was announced that the second season will premiere on January 20, 2017.[3] The second season saw a special premiere at the New York Comic Con in October 7, 2016, where an episode was shown at the Voltron panel.[18] The second season premiered on Netflix on January 20, 2017, and consisted of 13 episodes.[3]

text: The third season premiered on Netflix on August 4, 2017, and consisted of 7 episodes. The fourth season premiered on October 2017, and consisted of 6 episodes.[19] The series was revealed at WonderCon 2017 to have a 78-episode commitment from Netflix.[4]

text: The fifth season premiered on March 2, 2018, and consisted of 6 episodes.

text: The sixth season premiered on June 15, 2018, and consisted of 7 episodes.

text: The seventh season premiered on August 10, 2018, and consisted of 13 episodes.

text: Episodes[edit]

text:
Season

Episodes

Originally released

First aired

1

13

June 10, 2016

2

13

January 20, 2017

3

7

August 4, 2017

4

6

October 13, 2017

5

6

March 2, 2018

6

7

June 15, 2018

7

13

August 10, 2018

8

13

TBA

text: Reception[edit]

text: Voltron: Legendary Defender has received critical acclaim. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 100% approval rating for the first season, based on 11 reviews, with Critic Consensus being that "Voltron: Legendary Defender honors its source material with beautifully expressive animation and impactful action."[20]

text: In reviewing the first season Max Nicholson of IGN wrote, “DreamWork’s Voltron Legendary Defender delivers exactly the kind of show you’ve come to expect from the amazing creative team behind The Legend of Korra.” He rated the series an 8.9 out of 10. Sarah Moran of ScreenRant gave a positive review of the first. Moran wrote, “It isn’t trying to reinvent or really improve on the original conceit of Voltron, but Legendary Defender is certainly a welcomed take on a classic cartoon; one that should appeal to fans both new and old.” Shamus Kelly from Den of Geek gave the series 5 stars out of 5. Kelly wrote, “Seriously, you won’t be disappointed. It’s something special that doesn’t come around often in television.”

text: Awards and nominations[edit]

text:
Year
Award
Category
Nominee
Status
Ref.

2017

44th Annie Awards

Best/Animated TV Broadcast Production For Children's Audience

Episode: "Return of the Gladiator"

Nominated

[21]

Kidscreen Awards

Best Animated Series, Teens and Tweens

Voltron: Legendary Defender

Nominated

[22]

IGN's Best of 2016 Awards

Best Animated Series

Voltron: Legendary Defender

Nominated

[23]

6th Annual BTVA Awards

BTVA People's Choice Award for Best Vocal Ensemble in a New Television Series

Voltron: Legendary Defender

Won

[24]

Best Male Lead Vocal Performance in a Television Series

Jeremy Shada (Lance)

Nominated

Best Female Lead Vocal Performance in a Television Series

Kimberly Brooks (Allura)

Won

Best Male Vocal Performance in a Television Series in a Supporting Role

Neil Kaplan (Emperor Zarkon)

Won

BTVA People's Choice Award for Best Male Vocal Performance in a Television Series in a Supporting Role

Neil Kaplan (Emperor Zarkon)

Won

IGN's Best of 2017 Awards

Best Animated Series

Voltron: Legendary Defender

Nominated

[25]

2018

Kidscreen Awards

Best Animated Series, Teens and Tweens

Voltron: Legendary Defender

Nominated

[26]

7th Annual BTVA Awards

BTVA People's Choice Award for Best Vocal Ensemble in a Television Series

Voltron: Legendary Defender

Won

[27]

BTVA People's Choice Award for Best Male Vocal Performance in a Television Series

Rhys Darby (Coran)

Won

Best Male Vocal Performance in a Television Series in a Supporting Role

AJ Locascio (Prince Lotor)

Won

BTVA People's Choice Award for Best Male Vocal Performance in a Television Series in a Supporting Role

AJ Locascio (Prince Lotor)

Won

BTVA People's Choice Award for Best Female Vocal Performance in a Television Series in a Guest Role

Alyson Stoner (Florona)

Won

text: Comics[edit]

text: Three comic series detailing events happening in between episodes were announced in January 2016. Taking story ideas that were deemed too outlandish and too epic to be contained in a 23-minute episode from the animated series, these comic series bridges the time lapse between seasons.[28]

text: Volume 1 (2016)[edit]

text: The first miniseries consisted of five issues, published by Lion Forge Comics. It was written by show head writer Tim Hedrick and Mitch Iverson, and illustrated by Digital Art Chefs. A special cover variant of issue #1 was available at San Diego Comic-Con in 2016, with a limited release of 250 copies.[29] Issue #2 was released on August 2, 2016,[30] followed by issue #3 on October 5, 2016,[31] issue #4 on November 9, 2016,[32] and issue #5 on November 20, 2016.[33] The whole series will be collected in a graphic novel and was initially scheduled for a December 2016 release,[28] but got pushed back to January 3, 2017, then was finally released January 25, 2017, according to Lion Forge.[34][35] The second series will be announced after the release of the graphic novel.[28] A motion comic of issue 1 with full voice acting by the series cast was released on June 15, 2017, at the DreamWorksTV YouTube channel.[36] The story takes place in between the season 1 episodes "Rebirth" and "Crystal Venom."

text:
Issue

Release Date

Writer(s)

Artist(s)

Collection

ISBN

#1[9]

July 13, 2016

Tim HedrickMitch Iverson

Digital Art Chefs

Voltron: Legendary DefenderVolume 1RELEASEDJANUARY 25, 2017

9781941302217

#2[37]

August 24, 2016

#3[38]

October 5, 2016

#4[39]

November 9, 2016

#5[40]

November 30, 2016

text: Volume 2 (2017)[edit]

text: During the Voltron: Legendary Defender panel at WonderCon 2017, it was announced that the second series of five issues would debut in May 2017.[41] The date was pushed back to late June due to production delays.[42], however the date was pushed back on October 4, 2017 where was published where lssue 2 and 3 was published on the same day, November 1, 2017 and issue 4 was published on November 15, 2017, lssue 5 was published on December 13, 2017, the Vol. 2 Trade Paperback was published on January 31, 2018. The story takes place in between the season 2 episodes "Shiro's Escape" and "Greening the Cube."

text:
Issue

Release Date

Writer(s)

Artist(s)

Collection

ISBN

#1

October 4, 2017

Tim HedrickMitch Iverson

Jung GwanJi-in Choi

Voltron: Legendary DefenderVolume 2: PilgrimageRELEASEDJANUARY 31, 2018

9781941302354

#2

November 1, 2017

RubineBeni Lobel

#3

RubineJung Gwan YooBeni Lobel

#4

November 15

RubineBeni Lobel

#5

December 13, 2017

RubineBeni LobelPuste

text: Volume 3 (2018)[edit]

text: Volume 3 is set to debut on July 11, 2018.[43] The story is set between season 4 and season 5.

text:
Issue

Release Date

Writer(s)

Artist(s)

Collection

ISBN

#1

July 11, 2018

Mitch Iverson

Gung Gwan YooJi-in ChoiRubineBeni Lobel

Voltron: Legendary DefenderVolume 3: AbsolutionRELEASEDJANUARY 9, 2019

9786976585055

#2

August 8, 2018

RubineBeni Lobel

#3

September 12, 2018

Edwin PrasetyaPuste

#4

#5

text: International broadcast[edit]

text:
Country

Channel

 United Kingdom

NetflixGoogle PlayPop

 France

Netflix

 Italy

K2

 Germany

NetflixSuper RTL

 Philippines

NetflixTV5

Asia

DreamWorks Channel

 Canada

Family Chrgd  Netflix

 Australia

Netflix  ABC Me

 Hungary

Minimax

 Romania

Minimax

text: Home media[edit]

text: The first two seasons were released on DVD in Region 1 by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment on June 12, 2018.[44] The series is also scheduled for DVD releases in the UK, Italy, and Germany.

text: Promotion and merchandising[edit]

text: To promote the series in between the release of season 1 and 2, a Robeast fanart contest was announced via social media on October 18, 2016.[45] The winner was announced on December 27, 2016 on social media under the username "Zilla B".[46] A virtual-reality video game based on the series, known as Voltron VR Chronicles, was released for Steam, Oculus and PlayStation 4 via PlayStation Network.