document_title: Rena Sofer

question_text: who is quinn on the bold and beautiful

question_tokens: who is quinn on the bold and beautiful

text: Rena Sofer

text: Early life[edit]

text: Sofer was born in Arcadia, California, the daughter of Susan (née Franzblau), a psychology professor, and Martin Sofer, a Conservative Jewish rabbi.[1][2] Her family subsequently moved to Pittsburgh, where she was raised after her parents' divorce.[1] Sofer attended the Frisch School, a Jewish high school in Paramus, New Jersey.[3] She lived in North Bergen, New Jersey, where her father was Rabbi of Temple Beth El, and graduated from North Bergen High School, before beginning classes at Montclair State College.[4][5]

text: Career[edit]

text: Early daytime television[edit]

text: Sofer first played Lois Marie Cerullo on General Hospital. Her first appearance was in 1993 as a band manager.

text: Daytime television[edit]

text: Sofer's first high-profile role was as Rocky on the daytime soap opera Loving (1988–91). She is perhaps best known for her role as Lois Cerullo on General Hospital (December 15, 1993 – September 24, 1996). She would later return as a guest star (February 7–17, 1997; September 30-October 2, 1997). Her portrayal of the outrageous Lois won Sofer a Daytime Emmy Award in 1995 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.

text: In May 2013, it was announced that Sofer would join the CBS soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful, in a newly created role of Quinn Fuller; her first episode aired on July 12.[6]

text: Primetime television[edit]

text: Sofer has appeared in several high-profile prime time television series in a guest star/supporting cast member roles: Seinfeld, Melrose Place, The Chronicle, Ed, Friends, Spin City, Blind Justice, Ghost Whisperer, 24, NCIS, and Two and a Half Men.

text: Sofer briefly joined the cast of the NBC sitcom Just Shoot Me!, playing the character Vicky Costa.[7] The network later cast Sofer in the short-lived US remake of the UK series Coupling.

text: In recent years, Rena Sofer has appeared in the NBC TV series Heroes as the recurring character Heidi Petrelli, wife of aspiring politician Nathan Petrelli (Adrian Pasdar). She appeared on Two and a Half Men in 2008, as a former girlfriend of the character Charlie Harper (Charlie Sheen).[8] Rena also has guest starred on Dirty Sexy Money playing an intrepid reporter[9] and played a ghost on Ghost Whisperer. In early 2010, Sofer began a recurring role on NCIS as Attorney Margaret Allison Hart, who is a potential love interest for the character Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon). She had a brief guest role on Bones as a love interest for the character Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz).

text: In 2013, Sofer had a publicized appearance on Once Upon a Time, playing Snow White's mother.[10]

text: Film[edit]

text: In film, she appeared as a love interest of Ben Stiller's character in the film Keeping the Faith, starring Jenna Elfman, Stiller and Edward Norton (who also directed). She also played a bride to-be with Melanie Griffith in Sidney Lumet's movie A Stranger Among Us and in Penelope Buitenhuis's movie The Secret of Hidden Lake.

text: She played the P.E. teacher Ms. Desjarden in the television film adaptation of Carrie in 2002.

text: She starred in the television movie Always and Forever which aired October 24, 2009 on the Hallmark Channel.

text: She also starred as Andrea Larson in the television movie Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style.

text: Personal life[edit]

text: Sofer and General Hospital love interest and co-star Wally Kurth became involved as their characters' storyline progressed. In 1995, the actors were married and had a daughter, Rosabel Rosalind Kurth. In 1997, Sofer and Kurth divorced.

text: Sofer married television director/producer Sanford Bookstaver in 2003. On August 5, 2005, Sofer gave birth to her first child with Bookstaver, named Avalon Leone, in Los Angeles.

text: Filmography[edit]

text: Film[edit]

text:
Year
Film
Role
Notes

1992
Stranger Among Us, AA Stranger Among Us
Shayna

1992
Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style
Andrea Larson
TV Movie

1994
Twin Sitters
Judy

1996
Hostile Advances: The Kerry Ellison Story
Kerry Ellison
TV Movie

1997
Stepsister, TheThe Stepsister
Darcy Canfield Ray
TV Movie

1998
Nightmare Street
Penny Randolph

2000
Keeping the Faith
Rachel Rose

2000
Traffic
Helena's Friend

2001
March
Hedy Pullman

2002
Carrie
Miss Desjarden
TV Movie

2006
Secret of Hidden Lake, TheThe Secret of Hidden Lake
Maggie Dolan
TV Movie

2009
Rock Slyde
Sara

2009
Always and Forever
Grace Holland
TV Movie

2010
Sarah
Teenage Sarah

2010
Devil's Teardrop, TheThe Devil's Teardrop
Joan
TV Movie

2011
Another Man's Wife
Hadley Warner
TV Movie

text: Television[edit]

text:
Year
Film
Role
Notes

1987
Another World
Joyce Abernathy

1988-1991
Loving
Amelia McKenzie Domeq

1992
Freshman Dorm
Veronica
2 episodes

1993
Herman's Head
Stephanie
Episode: "When Hermy Met Crawford's Girlfriend"

1993-1997
General Hospital
Lois Cerullo
Main role

1996
Caroline in the City
Risa Glickman
Episode: "Caroline and the Nice Jewish Boy"

1997
Seinfeld
Mary Anne
Episode: "The Muffin Tops"

1998
Glory, Glory
Elizabeth
TV Pilot

1998
Ellen
Jean
Episode: "Womyn Fest"

1998
Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place
Lauren Henderson
Episode: "Two Guys, a Girl, and a Recovery"

1998
Timecop
Dr. Carrie Ann Trent
Episode: "D.O.A."

1998-1999
Melrose Place
Eve Cleary
Main role (Credited as a Recurring Character) 25 episodes

1999
Oh, Grow Up
Suzanne Vandermeer
12 episodes

2000
Opposite Sex
Ms. Gibson
Episode: "Pilot"

2000
Spin City
Sam
Episode: "Lost and Found"

2001
Weber Show, TheThe Weber Show
Dawn Cheswick
Episode: "Dog Eat Dog"

2001
Ed
Bonnie Hane
7 episodes

2001-2002
Chronicle, TheThe Chronicle
Grace Hall
22 episodes

2002
Friends
Katie
Episode: "The One with the Cooking Class"

2002-2003
Just Shoot Me!
Vicki Costa
14 episodes

2003
CSI: Miami
Alison
Episode: "Grave Young Men"

2003
Coupling
Susan Freeman
9 episodes

2005
Blind Justice
Christie Dunbar
13 episodes

2006-2007
Heroes
Heidi Petrelli
5 episodes

2007
24
Marilyn Bauer
12 episodes

2008
Ghost Whisperer
Tammy
Episode: "Ball & Chain"

2008, 2010
Two and a Half Men
Chrissy
2 episodes

2009
Dirty Sexy Money
News Reporter
Episode: "The Facts"

2009
Monk
Kim Kelly
Episode: "Mr. Monk's Favorite Show"

2009
Criminal Minds
Erika Silverman
Episode: "The Slave of Duty"

2010
Bones
Dr. Catherine Bryar
Episode: "The Predator in the Pool"

2010
NCIS
Margaret Allison Hart
6 episodes

2010
Royal Pains
AJ
Episode: "Open Up Your Yenta Mouth and Say Ah"

2010
Medium
Dr. Natalie Salem
Episode: "Native Tongue"

2011-2012
Covert Affairs
Geena
3 episodes

2012
House M.D.
Marlene Reese
Episode: "Man of the House"

2012
Glades, TheThe Glades
Alexis Cane
Episode: "Old Times"

2012
Beauty & the Beast
Sabrina Meyer
Episode: "Bridesmaid Up!"

2013
Once Upon a Time
Queen Eva
Episode: "The Queen is Dead"

2013–present
The Bold and the Beautiful
Quinn Fuller
Main role; 478 episodes

2014
Chicago PD
Doctor
Episode: "Chin Check"

text: Awards and nominations[edit]

text:
List of acting awards and nominations

Year
Award
Category
Title
Result
Ref.

1995

Daytime Emmy Award
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
General Hospital
Won

[11]

1995

Soap Opera Digest Award
Outstanding Younger Lead Actress
General Hospital
Won

[12]


document_title: Weapons of World War I

question_text: what was the most common weapon used in ww1

root

text: Weapons of World War I

text: Firearms[edit]

text: Infantry weapons for major powers were mainly bolt action rifles, capable of firing ten or more rounds per minute. German soldiers carried 7.92 Mauser rifles, which were good for penetration. The British carried the famous Lee–Enfield rifle.[2] Rifles with telescopic sights were used by snipers, and were first used by the Germans.[3]

tag: p

text: Machine guns were also used by large powers; a favorite was the Maxim gun, a fully automatic weapon, with a high volume of concentrated fire, and its French counterpart, the Hotchkiss M1914 machine gun.[4] Their use in defense, combined with barbed wire obstacles, converted the expected mobile battlefield to a static one. The machine gun was useful in stationary battle but was not practical for easy movement through battlefields, and was therefore often dragged or disarmed and carried.

text: Near the end of the war, both sides deployed more mobile light machine guns and submachine guns, such as the M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle and Bergmann MP 18.

text: Grenades[edit]

text: Grenades proved to be effective weapons in the trenches but when the forces arrived their numbers and capabilities were inadequate. Hand grenades were used and improved throughout the war. Contact fuzes became less common, replaced by time fuzes.

text: The British entered the war with the long-handled impact detonating "Grenade, Hand No 1".[5] The No. 15 "Ball Grenade" partially overcame its inadequacies. British forces however mainly used an improvised hand explosive that was at times more difficult to use, yet still useful in battle. This was the Double Cylinder "jam tin" which consisted of a tin filled with dynamite or guncotton, packed round with scrap metal or stones. To ignite, at the top of the tin there was a Bickford safety fuse connecting the detonator, which was lit by either a cigar, or a second person.[5] The "Mills bomb" (Grenade, Hand No. 5") was invented during the war and came into use in 1915. Its improved fusing system killed more of the enemy and fewer of its users. The French meanwhile introduced the F1 defensive grenade.

text: The major grenades used in the beginning by the German Army were the impact-detonating "discus" or "oyster shell" bomb and the Mod 1913 black powder kugelhandgranate with a friction-ignited time fuse.[5] During the war Germany developed the much more effective Model 24 grenade or "potato masher" whose variants remained in use for decades.

text: Hand grenades were not the only attempt at projectile explosives for infantry. A rifle grenade was brought into the trenches to attack the enemy from a greater distance. The Hales rifle grenade got little attention from the British Army before the war began but, during the war, Germany showed great interest in this weapon. The resulting casualties for the Allies caused Britain to search for a new defense.[6]

text: The Stokes mortar, a lightweight and very portable trench mortar with short tube and capable of indirect fire, was rapidly developed and widely imitated.[7] Mechanical bomb throwers of lesser range were used in a similar fashion to fire upon the enemy from a safe distance within the trench.

text: The Sauterelle was a grenade launching Crossbow used before the Stokes morter by French and British troops.

text: Clothing[edit]

text: The British and German armies had already changed from red coat (British army) (1902) or Prussian blue (1910) for field uniforms, to less conspicuous khaki or field gray. Adolphe Messimy, Joseph Gallieni and other French leaders had proposed following suit, but the French army marched to war in their traditional red trousers, and only began receiving the new "horizon blue" ones in 1915.

text: A type of raincoat for British officers, introduced long before the war, gained fame as the trench coat.

text: The principal armies entered the war with mainly cloth caps or leather helmets. They hastened to develop new steel helmets, in designs that became icons of their respective countries.

text: Chemical weapons[edit]

text: Chemical weapons were first used systematically in this war. Chemical weapons in World War I included phosgene, tear gas, chlorarsines and mustard gas. A secret report by Lt Colonel C. G. Douglas, on the physiological effects of chemical weapons, stated that "the particular value of the poison [mustard gas] is to be found in its remarkable casualty producing power as opposed to its killing power". The report said that 1% of British troops died due to chemical weapons, while an estimated 181,000 soldiers were victims of gas casualties.[8] Chlorine gas was first used by Germany, in the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915, with great effect.[9]

text: Chemical weapons were easily attained, and cheap. Gas was especially effective against troops in trenches and bunkers that protected them from other weapons. Studies show[citation needed] that over 1,300,000 people were exposed and intoxicated by gas during the First World War, and 90,000 were killed due to gasses.

text: Chemical weapons attacked an individual’s respiratory system. The concept of choking easily caused fear in soldiers and the resulting terror affected them psychologically. Because there was such a great fear of chemical weapons amongst the soldiers it wasn’t uncommon that a soldier would panic and misinterpret symptoms of the common cold as being affected by a poisonous gas.

text: Aviation[edit]

text: Aviation in World War I started with primitive aircraft, primitively used. Technological progress was swift, leading to ground attack, tactical bombing, and highly publicized, deadly dogfights among aircraft equipped with forward-firing, synchronized machine guns from July 1915 onwards. However, these uses made a lesser impact on the war than more mundane roles in intelligence, sea patrol and especially artillery spotting. Antiaircraft warfare also had its beginnings in this war.

text: German strategic bombing during World War I struck Warsaw, Paris, London and other cities. With the small loads carried by Zeppelins and the first, primitive bombers developed specifically for the purpose, direct damage was slight. Large efforts, however, were diverted from more fruitful military activities to the defense of cities. The Allies made much smaller efforts in bombing the Central Powers.

text: Artillery[edit]

text: In the 19th century, Britain and France exploited the rapid technical developments in artillery to serve a War of Movement. Such weapons served well in the colonial wars of that century, and served Germany very well in the Franco-Prussian War, but trench warfare was more like a siege, and called for siege guns. The German army had already anticipated that a European war might require heavier artillery, hence had a more appropriate mix of sizes. Foundries responded to the actual situation with more heavy products and fewer highly mobile pieces. Germany developed the Paris guns of stupendous size and range. However, the necessarily stupendous muzzle velocity wore out a gun barrel after a few shots requiring a return to the factory for relining, so these weapons served more to frighten and anger urban people than to kill them or devastate their cities.

text: Field artillery entered the war with the idea that each gun should be accompanied by hundreds of shells, and armories ought to have about a thousand on hand for resupply. This proved utterly inadequate when it became commonplace for a gun to sit in one place and fire a hundred shells or more per day for weeks or months on end. To meet the resulting Shell Crisis of 1915, factories were hastily converted from other purposes to make more ammunition. Railways to the front were expanded or built, leaving the question of the last mile. Horses in World War I were the main answer, and their high death rate seriously weakened the Central Powers late in the war. In many places the newly invented trench railways helped. The new motor trucks as yet lacked pneumatic tires, versatile suspension, and other improvements that in later decades would allow them to perform well.

text: Tanks[edit]

text: The British Royal Navy and French industrialists invented tanks in World War I. After initial small-scale use they brought success in the opening assault of the Battle of Cambrai (1917) until German artillerymen learned to resist them. Despite rapidly increasing French production, their numbers remained too small to make more than a modest impact on the progress of the war in 1918. Germany used a few captured enemy tanks, and made a few. Plan 1919 outlined the future use of massive tank formations in great offensives combined with ground attack aircraft.

text: At sea[edit]

text: Pre-war decades had seen great technical improvements in warships, as exemplified by the Dreadnought. German ambitions brought an Anglo-German naval arms race in which the Imperial German Navy was built up from a small force to the world's most modern and second most powerful. The 1916 Battle of Jutland demonstrated the excellence of German ships and crews, but also showed that the High Seas Fleet was not big enough to challenge openly the British blockade of Germany.

text: Submarines and their armament had similarly improved, but few were in service. Germany had already increased production, and quickly built up its U-boat fleet, both for action against British warships and for a counterblockade of the British Isles. 360 were eventually built. The resulting U-boat Campaign (World War I) destroyed more enemy warships than the High Seas Fleet had, and hampered British war supplies as the more expensive surface fleet had not. However, the submarines soon came under persecution by submarine chasers and other small warships using hastily devised anti-submarine weapons. They could not impose an effective blockade while acting under the restrictions of the prize rules and international law of the sea. They resorted to unrestricted submarine warfare, which cost Germany public sympathy in neutral countries and was a factor contributing to the American entry into World War I.

text: Naval mines were deployed in hundreds of thousands, or far greater numbers than in previous wars. Submarines proved surprisingly effective for this purpose. Influence mines were a new development but moored contact mines were the most numerous. They resembled those of the late 19th century, improved so they less often exploded while being laid. The Allies produced enough mines to build the North Sea Mine Barrage to help bottle the Germans into the North Sea, but it was too late to make much difference.


document_title: American Horror Story

question_text: when did this season of american horror story start

text: American Horror Story

text: Episodes[edit]

text:
Season
Title
Episodes
Originally aired

First aired
Last aired

1
Murder House
12
October 5, 2011 (2011-10-05)
December 21, 2011 (2011-12-21)

2
Asylum
13
October 17, 2012 (2012-10-17)
January 23, 2013 (2013-01-23)

3
Coven
13
October 9, 2013 (2013-10-09)
January 29, 2014 (2014-01-29)

4
Freak Show
13
October 8, 2014 (2014-10-08)
January 21, 2015 (2015-01-21)

5
Hotel
12
October 7, 2015 (2015-10-07)
January 13, 2016 (2016-01-13)

6
Roanoke
10
September 14, 2016 (2016-09-14)
November 16, 2016 (2016-11-16)

7
Cult
11[8]
September 5, 2017 (2017-09-05)
November 14, 2017 (2017-11-14)[9]

tag: table

text: Murder House (2011)[edit]

text: Set in the year 2011, the season follows the Harmons, consisting of psychiatrist Ben (Dylan McDermott), his wife Vivien (Connie Britton), and their teenage daughter Violet (Taissa Farmiga), as they move from Boston to Los Angeles to make a fresh start after Vivien's miscarriage lead to Ben having an affair with one of his students, which almost tore their family apart. They move into a restored mansion and soon encounter the resident's housekeeper, Moira (Frances Conroy), as well as their neighbors – the eccentric Langdon family consisting of Constance (Jessica Lange) and her daughter Addie (Jamie Brewer). The Harmons' lives are troubled by the meddling Langdons, as well as by the disfigured Larry (Denis O'Hare), a former resident of the mansion who is secretly in love with Constance, and the scorned Hayden (Kate Mara), Ben's student who follows him to Los Angeles and is pregnant from their affair. Ben and Vivien try to rekindle their relationship as Violet, suffering from depression, finds comfort with Tate (Evan Peters), one of her father's mysterious patients who is plagued by violent dreams. The family soon discovers that the home is haunted by the ghosts of anyone who has ever died on the property. Flashbacks depict the mansion's previous homeowners throughout the last century, dating back to its construction in the 1920s. The season mostly deals with infidelity, with other themes including depression, family, school violence, and sexuality.

text: Asylum (2012–13)[edit]

text: Set in the year 1964, the season follows the patients and staff members of the church-owned Briarcliff Mental Institution, located in Massachusetts, which was founded to treat and house the criminally insane. Kit Walker (Evan Peters), accused of being prolific serial killer "Bloody Face" after the disappearance of his wife but claiming that his wife was abducted by aliens, is incarcerated at Briarcliff. This piques the interest of ambitious journalist Lana Winters (Sarah Paulson), who is yearning to find a story for her big break. At Briarcliff, Kit meets the other patients, many of whom claim to be unjustly institutionalized, including nymphomaniac Shelley (Chloe Sevigny), and the unassuming Grace (Lizzie Brocheré) from France, who appears to be harboring a deep secret of her own. Believed to be a violent serial killer, he becomes the subject of interest of pragmatic psychiatrist Dr. Oliver Thredson (Zachary Quinto) and the sadistic Dr. Arthur Arden (James Cromwell), the latter of whom routinely conducts scientific operations on patients. The institution is run under the watchful eye of the stern Sister Jude (Jessica Lange), as well as her second-in-command, the naive Sister Mary Eunice (Lily Rabe), and the founder of the institution, Monsignor Timothy Howard (Joseph Fiennes). Briarcliff's inhabitants are routinely subject to supernatural and scientific influences, including demonic possession and extraterrestrial abduction. The season mostly deals with insanity, with other themes including female sexuality, corrupt ambition, religion versus science, racism, prejudice, death, and faith.

text: Coven (2013–14)[edit]

text: Set in the year 2013, the season follows the dwindling descendants of the witches who survived the Salem Witch Trials and their struggle to hide their identity in the modern world. Those who share this genetic affliction are being subjected to violent attacks from outside forces, such as religious townspeople and witch hunters. Zoe Benson (Taissa Farmiga), a young teenager completely unaware of the existence of witches, discovers her identity as a Salem descendent after a violent accident that causes the death of her boyfriend. She is sent to an all-girls boarding school in New Orleans which aims to protect and house young women who carry this unique bloodline, and keep them from the dangers of the outside world. There, she meets the other students, narcissistic film star Madison Montgomery (Emma Roberts), outspoken Queenie (Gabourey Sidibe), and enigmatic Nan (Jamie Brewer), and gets romantically entangled with Kyle (Evan Peters), a non-witch and good-natured college student. The school is run by headmistress Cordelia Foxx (Sarah Paulson), head of the Witches Council and eccentric fashionista Myrtle Snow (Frances Conroy), and the mute butler Spalding (Denis O'Hare). Cordelia's mother, Fiona Goode (Jessica Lange), is the Supreme and most powerful witch of her generation, though she regularly avoids her responsibilities, much to the chagrin of Cordelia and her long-time rival Myrtle. After a mob of townspeople discover and nearly kill a lonely, young witch living in the swamps named Misty (Lily Rabe), Fiona returns to the school to ensure the safety of the other young witches, but also to fulfill her own hidden agenda. Events reveal a long-held rivalry between the witches of Salem and the voodoo practitioners of New Orleans, as well as a historic grudge between Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau (Angela Bassett) and socialite serial killer Delphine LaLaurie (Kathy Bates). This season mostly deals with oppression, with other themes including witchcraft, voodoo, racism, prejudice, death, and family, such as the relationships between mothers and daughters.

text: Freak Show (2014–15)[edit]

text: Set in the year 1952 in the quiet town of Jupiter, Florida, the season follows a struggling freak show led by Elsa Mars (Jessica Lange). Decades have passed since the public has looked upon freak shows as a form of entertainment, but Elsa dreams of finding a home for her "monsters", as well as for her own fame and fortune. Other members of her troupe include Jimmy (Evan Peters), a boy born with syndactyly who dreams of living a normal life, and his mother Ethel (Kathy Bates), a bearded lady who is Elsa's second-in-command by maintaining law and order under the tent. A strongman from Ethel's troubled past named Dell (Michael Chiklis), and his three-breasted wife Desiree (Angela Bassett), make waves when they arrive to join the sideshow. To drum up business and save her troupe once and for all, Elsa also recruits conjoined twin sisters Bette and Dot (Sarah Paulson) to perform for her show. In a time when the era of television is beginning to reign high above sideshow acts, these individuals must overcome those who persecute them based on their looks. However, as events unfold, it is revealed that multiple dark entities have taken up residence in Jupiter, with all of their eyes being set on the freaks. A conman named Stanley (Denis O'Hare), posing as a Hollywood executive, arrives with his young protege Maggie (Emma Roberts), with the intention of murdering the freaks and sending their bodies to a museum for profit. The wealthy and spoiled Dandy (Finn Wittrock), enabled by his doting mother Gloria (Frances Conroy), develops an unhealthy obsession with the freaks, particularly Bette and Dot. Perhaps most dangerous of all is a mysterious, deformed serial killer, only known as Twisty the Clown (John Carroll Lynch), who wreaks havoc among the town and appears to be targeting freaks and townspeople alike. This season mostly deals with discrimination, with other themes including prejudice, acceptance, exploitation, entertainment, television, and medical oddities.

text: Hotel (2015–16)[edit]

text: Set in the year 2015, the season follows the strange and dangerous happenings that seem to center around the retro Hotel Cortez in downtown Los Angeles, California, initially built as a secret torture chamber to fulfill the violent desires of founder James Patrick March (Evan Peters). Detective John Lowe (Wes Bentley) arrives at the hotel, based on intel from an anonymous tip, to investigate a grisly string of murders, each of which exemplify a sin in violation of one of the Ten Commandments. He has become estranged from his wife Alex (Chloe Sevigny), who suffers from depression, and his daughter Scarlett (Shree Crooks), after the disappearance of their son Holden (Lennon Henry). As the season unfolds, the Lowes discover that the disappearance of Holden may be related to the strange activities at the hotel, lead by the centuries-old, bloodthirsty vampire Elizabeth, known to others simply as the Countess (Lady Gaga), and her current lover and former heroin addict-turned-vampire Donovan (Matt Bomer). Throughout his investigation, John also becomes entangled with a mysterious heroin junkie named Sally (Sarah Paulson), as well as the ghost of James Patrick March, who is looking for a protege to continue the violent acts he started when he was alive. The hotel's tireless staff includes the surly front desk manager Iris (Kathy Bates), Donovan's mother who took the job to be close to her son, and perceptive transgender bartender Liz (Denis O'Hare), both of whom hesitantly cater to the Countess and her homicidal tendencies. The Countess's relationship with Donovan becomes troubled with the arrival of male model heartthrob Tristan (Finn Wittrock), New York fashion designer and potential purchaser of the hotel Will Drake (Cheyenne Jackson), and her former scorned lover and actress Ramona Royale (Angela Bassett), all of whom become entangled in her hedonistic, violent lifestyle. This season mostly deals with addiction, with other themes including sexuality, insanity, revenge, debauchery, religion, sin, drug use, forgiveness, and death.

text: Roanoke (2016)[edit]

text: Set in the year 2016, the season follows the supernatural events that occur in a renovated farmhouse in North Carolina which is situated on the land where the Roanoke Colony moved after their infamous disappearance. Shelby Miller (Lily Rabe), her husband Matt (André Holland), along with Matt's sister Lee Harris (Adina Porter) recount their harrowing experience living in the farmhouse a year prior in a popular documentary titled My Roanoke Nightmare, including their encounters with the ghosts of the house's previous residents, the violent ghosts of the Roanoke Colony, the cannibalistic Polk family who live nearby, and a mysterious but dangerous entity known as Scathach. The documentary becomes a huge success, featuring dramatic reenactments of the Millers' story starring Audrey Tindall (Sarah Paulson) as Shelby, Dominic Banks (Cuba Gooding Jr.) as Matt, Monet Tumusiime (Angela Bassett) as Lee, Agnes Mary Winstead (Kathy Bates) as Thomasin, the matriarch of the ghost colony, Rory Monahan (Evan Peters) as Edward Mott, the wealthy former owner of the house, William van Henderson (Denis O'Hare) as Dr. Cunningham, a professor who becomes entranced with the paranormal happenings of the area, Dylan (Wes Bentley) as Ambrose, another member of the ghost colony, and an unnamed actress (Lady Gaga) as Scathach. The success of the documentary leads to a sequel titled Return to Roanoke: Three Days In Hell, spearheaded by the producer of the original series, Sidney Aaron James (Cheyenne Jackson), who invites the Millers, as well as many of the reenactment actors, to return to the farmhouse for three days, where all their actions will be captured by hidden cameras. Although the Millers are aware of the entities that reside in the house, all three agree to return, each with their own agenda. The production eventually descends into disaster, however, as cast and crew alike are quickly targeted when the violent entities begin to surface. This season mostly deals with exploitation, with other themes including fame, motherhood, family, publicity, revenge, the media, and television.

text: Cult (2017)[edit]

text: Set in the year 2017, the fictitious town of Brookfield Heights, Michigan, is left divided upon the wake of Donald Trump's presidential election. Local restaurant owner Ally Mayfair-Richards (Sarah Paulson) is left utterly distraught, along with her wife Ivy (Alison Pill). Despite the help of her psychiatrist, Dr. Rudy Vincent (Cheyenne Jackson), Ally becomes increasingly unstable in the following weeks, her long repressed phobias begin to re-emerge, and they begin to affect her relationships with her wife as well as their son Oz (Cooper Dodson). Across town, a young man named Kai Anderson (Evan Peters) rejoices at the election results, enticing him to pursue political power by running for City Council, with the help of his reluctant, liberal sister Winter (Billie Lourd), who was also hired by the Mayfair-Richards household as their babysitter. As Ally attempts to adjust to regular life despite her growing anxiety and paranoia, she becomes terrorized by a group of masked assailants in clown attire who are only present when she is alone, leaving those around her to wonder if she was truly attacked, or if they were merely hallucinations. With Kai's rise to power revealing sinister motives, as well as suspicious activities from other residents such as her eccentric neighbors Harrison (Billy Eichner) and Meadow Wilton (Leslie Grossman) amplifying her growing distrust of those around her, Ally starts to draw connections between her alleged clown attackers and the many strange incidents occurring in Brookfield Heights, and she begins to fear that everyone in town is out to get her. This season mostly deals with marginalization, with other themes including politics, government, conspiracies, paranoia, fear, power, disenfranchisement, the media, and oppression.

text: On October 4, 2016, the series was renewed for a seventh season, which premiered on September 5, 2017.[10][11][12] Ryan Murphy confirmed that the season will be connected to Freak Show; but will be set in modern day.[13] In February 2017, on Watch What Happens Live, Murphy announced that the season would revolve around the 2016 U.S. election and suggested that it may feature a character based on President Donald Trump.[14] In an April 2017 interview, Murphy stated that there would be no actors playing Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, though both would be seen onscreen.[15] Murphy has said that the season will be representative of both sides of the political divide; however, the writer says he will be "illuminating and highlighting" groups of people he believes to be "ignored by the current [Trump] administration and who are afraid and feel terrorized that their lives are going to be taken away."[16]

text: Veteran cast members Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson, Adina Porter, Cheyenne Jackson, Frances Conroy, Mare Winningham, Jamie Brewer and Emma Roberts are scheduled to return for the forthcoming season. Joining them are new cast members Billie Lourd, Billy Eichner, Leslie Grossman, Colton Haynes, Alison Pill, and Lena Dunham.

text: Season 8 (2018)[edit]

text: On January 12, 2017, the series was renewed for an eighth season set to air in 2018.[7] On October 1, 2017, it was announced that cast mainstay Sarah Paulson will return to the eighth season.[17]

text: Season 9 (2019)[edit]

text: On January 12, 2017, the series was renewed for a ninth season set to air in 2019.[7]

text: Production[edit]

text: Conception[edit]

text:
What you saw in the finale was the end of the Harmon house. The second season of the show will be a brand-new home or building to haunt. Just like this year, every season of this show will have a beginning, middle and end. [The second season] won't be in L.A. It will obviously be in America, but in a completely different locale.
“
”

– Murphy on the series' anthology format[18]

tag: div

text: Creators Murphy and Falchuk began working on American Horror Story before their Fox series Glee began production. Murphy wanted to do the opposite of what he had done previously and thus began his work on the series. He stated: "I went from Nip/Tuck to Glee, so it made sense that I wanted to do something challenging and dark. And I always had loved, as Brad had, the horror genre. So it just was a natural for me."[19] Falchuk was intrigued by the idea of putting a different angle on the horror genre, stating that their main goal in creating the series was to scare viewers. "You want people to be a little bit off balance afterwards," he said.[20]

text: In February 2011, FX officially announced that it had ordered a pilot for a possible series from Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, with both Murphy and Falchuk writing and Murphy directing. Dante Di Loreto was announced as executive producer. Production on the series began in April 2011.[21] In July 2011, FX officially announced the project had been picked up to series.[22]

text: From the beginning, Murphy and Falchuk planned that each season of the series would tell a different story.[18] After the first-season finale aired, Murphy spoke of his plans to change the cast and location for the second season.[23] He did say, however, that some actors who starred in the first season would be returning. "The people that are coming back will be playing completely different characters, creatures, monsters, etc. [The Harmons'] stories are done. People who are coming back will be playing entirely new characters," he announced.[18] In November 2012, FX chief executive, John Landgraf, described the unique format of the series stating: "[T]he notion of doing an anthological series of miniseries with a repertory cast – has proven groundbreaking, wildly successful and will prove to be trendsetting."[24]

text: At the 2013 PaleyFest, Falchuk compared the series to horror films: "It does demand a little bit of compassion at the end because you fall in love with these characters in a different way than you would in a movie," he said. "If you want to kill everybody in a movie except one person, you can kind of get away with that, but if you're looking to do a horror TV show, you have a different responsibility to the characters because the audience has a different affection for them."[25]

text: Murphy then explained the process of planning a series' season takes about a year. "We come up with story first and then we come up with the characters," he said. "It is a repertory company, so we'll move people around and sometimes there won't yet be a role for somebody. Like when we started [the second season], I really had no idea that Dylan [McDermott] would be the person to play Sarah's son, but the deeper we got, I thought, that would work great."[25]

text: In an August 2015 article for Entertainment Weekly, Murphy revealed that the show is mulling producing two seasons a year. The first being broadcast in the spring and the second in the fall. He explained, "We're doing something that we've never done before on the show where we're doing two different groups of writers rooms. Some of our writers will be bouncing around but a whole different group coming in late August. The next thing we’re crafting up is very, very different than [Hotel]. Not smaller. But just not opulent. More rogue and more dark."[26]

text: Casting[edit]

text: Connie Britton was first to be cast in the series, portraying female lead Vivien Harmon on Murder House.[27] Denis O'Hare joined second as Larry Harvey.[28] Jessica Lange soon followed as Constance, her first regular role on television.[29] Dylan McDermott joined the cast soon after Lange as the male lead Ben Harmon.[30] Taissa Farmiga and Evan Peters were the last actors to be added to the main cast, portraying Violet Harmon and Tate Langdon, respectively.[31]

text: In March 2012, Murphy revealed that the second season had been conceptualized around Jessica Lange who portrays Sister Jude, a sadistic nun who runs the asylum.[32] Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson, Lily Rabe and Zachary Quinto also return as main cast members in the second season.[33] Peters portrays Kit Walker, an inmate accused of murdering his wife.[34] Paulson portrays Lana, a lesbian reporter who gets committed to the asylum because of her sexuality and intent to snoop around the sanitorium.[35] Rabe's character is Sister Mary Eunice, clumsy second-in-charge to Sister Jude.[36] Quinto portrays Dr. Thredson, a psychiatrist at the asylum.[37][38] Lizzie Brocheré stars as Grace Bertrand, a character described originally as "a fierce, ferocious, extremely sexual, and dangerous wild-child sexpot", but the role was later heavily revamped.[39][40] James Cromwell co-stars as Dr. Arthur Arden, who proclaims to be in charge of the asylum and performs dark experiments on its patients.[41][42][43] Joseph Fiennes starred as Monsignor Timothy Howard, a possible love interest for Sister Jude.[43][44][45]

text: For the third season, series executive producers and co-creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk stated that, as with the second season, "many actors" would return in different roles, beginning with Jessica Lange.[46] Evan Peters and Sarah Paulson were confirmed to return, portraying Kyle Spencer and Cordelia Foxx, respectively. Murphy added that Lange would portray a "real glamour-cat lady", later revealed to be named Fiona Goode.[47] Taissa Farmiga, Violet in the first season, starred as Zoe Benson, a character that is involved in a prominent romance during the season.[48] Lily Rabe co-starred as Misty Day.[49] Series recurring actress Frances Conroy joined as a main cast member, playing the character of Myrtle Snow.[48] Oscar-winning actress Kathy Bates was confirmed to co-star. It was first reported that she would portray "a woman who, at the start, is Lange's character's best friend, but will become her worst enemy", but this was altered.[50] Murphy stated that Bates' character will be "five times worse than [her] Misery character" and is also inspired by a "true event". She portrayed Madame Delphine LaLaurie, an immortal racist.[51] It was announced in May 2013 that Emma Roberts had been added to the cast. Roberts played Madison Montgomery, a "self-involved party girl".[52] In July 2013, season one alum Denis O'Hare also joined the cast in an unknown role,[53] later portrayed as Spalding.

text: In November 2013, Ryan Murphy confirmed that Jessica Lange would be returning for a fourth season, although in a reduced capacity. It was later revealed she would be playing Freak Show owner Elsa Mars.[54] Kathy Bates returned in a main role, portraying bearded lady Ethel Darling.[55] On March 29, 2014, Murphy announced that Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Frances Conroy, Emma Roberts, Denis O'Hare, and Angela Bassett would all return for the fourth season.[56] Paulson portrayed conjoined sisters Bette and Dot Tattler; Peters portrayed "Lobster Boy" Jimmy Darling; Conroy played the well-off Gloria Mott; Bassett portrayed three-breasted hermaphrodite Desiree Dupree; and O'Hare played Stanley, a conman working with Roberts' Maggie Esmerelda. At PaleyFest 2014, it was revealed that Michael Chiklis would be joining the cast as Dell Toledo, the father of Jimmy, ex-husband of Ethel, and current husband of Desiree.[57] Finn Wittrock later joined the main cast as Gloria's spoiled son, Dandy Mott.

text: On the series' fifth cycle, singer-songwriter Lady Gaga was announced as the first and new cast member on February 25, 2015.[58] After a special guest appearance on the previous season, Matt Bomer joined the fifth season's cast along with series newcomer Cheyenne Jackson during PaleyFest 2015.[59] Chloë Sevigny and Wes Bentley were promoted as main cast members, after they appear as recurring special guests in Asylum and Freak Show respectively.[60] Since PaleyFest, Murphy has announced the series returns of Kathy Bates, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters and Angela Bassett.[61] On June 2015, Denis O'Hare will also return for the fifth series.[62] In August 2015, Murphy announced the character roles for the cast: Gaga portrayed Elizabeth Johnson also known as "The Countess", a fashionista who owns the Hotel Cortez; Jackson played desperate fashion designer Will Drake; O'Hare's Liz Taylor was a transwoman bartender who works at the hotel's Blue Parrot Lounge bar; Sevigny played pediatrician Dr. Alex Lowe who was the wife of Bentley's John Lowe, a detective who investigates the murders inside the hotel; Bomer’s role as Donovan was the acquaintance to the Countess and often had conflict between his mother and hotel manager Iris (played by Bates); Bassett portrayed actress Ramona Royale who was the former lover of Elizabeth; Paulson describes her character, Sally as a drug addict who had a rivalry with Iris and forms a bond with John since his visit in the hotel.[63] Peters played serial killer James Patrick March and was the original hotelier of the Hotel Cortez.

text: In February 2016, Angela Bassett confirms she will return to join the main cast of the sixth series during an interview with Larry King.[64] Denis O'Hare announced that he will also appear in the series on a May 2016 interview.[65] On June 2016, Cheyenne Jackson and Evan Peters return for the sixth season as well while Wes Bentley and Kathy Bates were set to appear in the next month.[66][67][68] In August 2016, Sarah Paulson announced that she'll return in the series on the sixth year and Ryan Murphy announced that award-nominated actor Cuba Gooding Jr. joined the main cast while filming on set.[69][70] In September 2016, the full main cast was announced after the pilot episode with the inclusion of André Holland and returning series veteran Lily Rabe.[71] On Halloween 2016, Murphy announced that Paulson's Asylum character, Lana Winters will also appear in the series after the recent appearance of the actress' first role Billie Dean Howard from Murder House in the final episode of the fifth series.[72][73]

text: Filming[edit]

text: The pilot episode was shot on location in a house in Country Club Park, Los Angeles, California, which serves as the haunted house and crime scene in the series. Designed and built in 1908 by Alfred Rosenheim, the president of the American Institute of Architects' Los Angeles chapter, the Tudor or Collegiate Gothic-style single family home was previously used as a convent.[74][75] The first season was filmed on sets which are an exact replica of the house.[76] Details such as Louis Comfort Tiffany stained glass windows and hammered bronze light fixtures were re-created to preserve the look of the house.[74]

text: Production and shooting for the second season began in late July 2012 for a scheduled premiere in mid October.[77] The exteriors for the second season were filmed in Hidden Valley, Ventura County, California, a rural area outside Los Angeles.[78]

text: Principal photography for the third season began on July 23, 2013,[79] in New Orleans, Louisiana.[80][81] It was first reported that the season would film in multiple locations, but filming primarily took place in New Orleans.[82]

text: Principal photography for season 4 began on July 15, 2014, in New Orleans, though the story takes place in Jupiter, Florida.

text: Principal photography for season 5 began on July 14, 2015, in Los Angeles, California, where the story also takes place.[83] Murphy revealed a six-story hotel set was being built on the Fox lot. A dummy set of the hotel was built at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con International, showing an Art Deco style building from the 1920s, inspired by the old Hollywood era.[84]

text: Title sequences[edit]

text: American Horror Story's title screens offer vague hints to important plot elements and events that compose each season. For Murder House, Murphy described the sequence as a mini-mystery and stated that: "By the time you see the ninth episode of this season, every image in that title sequence will be explained," establishing the purpose of the title sequence for future seasons.[85]

text: The opening title sequence was created by Kyle Cooper and his company Prologue. He also created the title sequence for the AMC series The Walking Dead and the 1995 film Seven. The theme music was composed by sound designer Cesar Davila-Irizarry and musician Charlie Clouser.[86] The cinematography was done by Juan Ruiz Anchía and the editing by Gabriel J. Diaz.

text: For the first season, the sequence is set in the Harmons' basement and includes images of postmortem young children, fetuses in jars, skulls, a christening dress, a nurse's uniform, and a figure holding a pair of bloody hedge clippers. A photo of alleged axe murderer Lizzie Borden is shown.

text: The second season's opening sequence is done by the same creative team. "We are shooting a new title sequence with the same team that did last year's," series creator Ryan Murphy said. "The song may stay... not sure."[87] The music was kept, and the new title sequence was set around the Asylum, using shots of inmates raving and surgeons operating on patients with bandages obscuring their faces. Elements include a young girl walking backwards on her hands and feet up a staircase and a shot of the Virgin Mary's smile changing from one of benevolence to one of spite.

text: The third season's opening sequence keeps the same music, and this sequence is the first one to be filmed primarily outside and not in an enclosed location. Shots include figures wearing black robes and capirotes, a bony-skeleton creature with wings and shots of dead goats, the Minotaur from the season also appears. For the first time, there are actual backgrounds that appear with the actor names instead of an all-black background, some of these images include witches hanging and Santa Muerte. Other elements include a black man with piercing eyes and a disturbing smile as well as voodoo dolls. The final shot continues after the figures in black capirotes seize one of their own who is later seen burning at a stake where young, dress-clad witches dance around.

text: The fourth season's opening sequence changed things up, the series theme music remains intact albeit with an added carnival-like soundscape. The sequence is composed of both CGI and stop-motion animation and features strange characters such as a skeleton chimera of a human being and an elephant riding a bicycle, a skeleton of what appears to be a single head but two bodies, a devil-like man, a boy in a wheel chair with deformed legs, a character with severe syndactyly of the hands and feet, a clown who can twist his head around, a woman with a third leg where her genitalia should be, and a demonic cymbal-banging monkey toy. There are also shots of side show attractions like the Human Blockhead, knife throwing and sword swallowing. The main recurring element features a balloon twister popping balloons with a knife.

text: The fifth season's opening sequence also was very different from previous seasons', taking a more biblical approach. The font, while remaining the same as the first four seasons, glow in red against a hotel wallpaper. The Ten Commandments are also shown throughout the video. The intro returns to live-action like the first three seasons. Visuals include many people scrubbing blood all over the walls and the floor, strange things shown through peepholes, people being victims to the hotel, little kids running around the hotel, as well as many different creatures.[88]

text: The sixth season featured no title sequence or opening credits, instead opting for a simple title card (from the first season) which read "American Horror Story", while the series theme music plays over the end credits.

text: In the deveploment of the seventh season, Ryan Murphy confirmed that the opening sequence will return. The seventh season's opening sequence features the series theme music played by a marching band. The sequence is live-action. Visuals include: a gang of clown rises from a casket, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton masks, Benjamin Franklin statue, a dead dog killed by toxic gas, a Merry Go Round, bloody hands that cannot be washed, beehive, toxic smoke released from a grenade, holes in several forms, bloody US flag with sound of a xylophone playing The Star-Spangled Banner, blood covered couple having sex and a handcuffed pinky promise. Clowns also appear throughout the sequence.

text: The title sequence for all seasons of the show use a variation of the Willow typeface that very closely resembles a style for which Scottish designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh was known.[89]

text: Promotion[edit]

text: As part of the promotion for the series, FX launched a "House Call" campaign, in which viewers at home could sign up and come face-to-face with a character from the series.[90] Prior to the series premiere, FX released several clues to shine light on the series. They were offered on the show's official YouTube channel. Ten clues were released.[91] In September 2011, FX launched a website which allows visitors to tour the Murder House throughout the decades and look for clues.[92]

text: In August 2012, the first promo for the second season was released on the American Horror Story Facebook page entitled "Special Delivery", in which a nun carries a couple of buckets filled with body parts through a field. As a church bell rings, the nun empties one bucket's bloody contents, leaving the empty bucket behind, and resumes her trek.[93] Over 20 subsequent teasers were released.[94] Four photos were also released on EW.com.[95] Two televised teasers, titled "Meet the Residents", were released on August 31, 2012. They feature the patients and some staff (such as Dr. Thredson, played by Zachary Quinto, and Sister Mary Eunice, played by Lily Rabe) lying in twin beds and dealing with their individual issues as the heads of the asylum (Jessica Lange, Joseph Fiennes and James Cromwell) look on. The song "Que Sera, Sera", mixed with the show's theme music, plays.[96] To promote Cult, a competition was set up where fans who donated to the Children's Hospital Los Angeles could get a chance to get a walk-on role in an episode, and lunch with Evan Peters.[97]

text: Universal's Halloween Horror Nights[edit]

text: On August 16, 2016, FX announced a deal had been struck to feature an American Horror Story exhibit at Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando for their Halloween Horror Nights. The maze will feature sets and themes from Murder House, Freak Show, and Hotel. Universal said of the experience, "Twisted scenes from Murder House will unleash the evil spirits that possess the Harmon estate, spiraling guests through decades of the tortured dead who previously resided there. In Freak Show, guests will join a troupe of biological misfits in a sinister sideshow where they'll be stalked by the murderous and deformed Twisty the Clown. Finally, guests will succumb to the warped desires of The Countess after checking into the haunted Hotel Cortez, conceived from the beginning as a torture chamber for its customers."[98]

text: In 2017, the show returned as haunted attractions to both parks, with Universal Orlando having an attraction based on Asylum, Coven, and Roanoke, and Universal Studios Hollywood basing their attraction solely on Roanoke.

text: Broadcast[edit]

text: The series premiered on October 5, 2011, and is broadcast on the cable television channel FX in the United States. In November 2011, it premiered internationally on the respective countries' Fox International Channels.[99] The first season premiered on October 5, 2011, and concluded on December 21, 2011. The second season premiered on October 17, 2012, and concluded on January 23, 2013. The third season premiered on October 9, 2013, and concluded on January 29, 2014.[24][80][100] The fourth season premiered on October 8, 2014, and concluded on January 21, 2015.[101] The fifth season premiered on October 7, 2015, and concluded on January 13, 2016. The latter three seasons premiered on the same day and same time with the American broadcasts on FX in Canada, though the first season followed a slightly different schedule as that network launched on October 31, 2011. The series is aired in India on STAR World Premiere HD shortly after its U.S. airing. Along with it, it airs on FX India on standard definition and Fox in UK and Ireland in October 2011.

text: Reception[edit]

text: Critical response[edit]

text:
Season
Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes
Metacritic

Murder House
74% (38 reviews)
62 (30 reviews)

Asylum
84% (43 reviews)
65 (23 reviews)

Coven
84% (34 reviews)
71 (24 reviews)

Freak Show
79% (32 reviews)
69 (19 reviews)

Hotel
63% (43 reviews)
60 (24 reviews)

Roanoke
78% (13 reviews)
72 (9 reviews)

Cult
76% (38 reviews)
66 (24 reviews)

Average
76%
67

text: The first season of American Horror Story received generally positive reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 74% of 38 critics gave the first season a positive review. The site's consensus stated: "Convoluted yet effective, American Horror Story is strange, gory, and twisted enough to keep viewers hooked."[102] The first season scored 62 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 30 reviews.[103] Ken Tucker from Entertainment Weekly awarded the pilot episode a B+, stating: "AHS is pretty much all scare, all the time: a whole lotta screams, sex, jolts, mashed faces, psychotic behavior, and dead babies."[104] Hank Stuever from The Washington Post said in his review that: "Overdoing things is one of Murphy's trademark flaws, but this show has a captivating style and giddy gross-outs."[105] Not all reviews were favorable: Alan Sepinwall of HitFix gave the series a D−, saying: "It is so far over the top that the top is a microscopic speck in its rearview mirror, and so full of strange sounds, sights and characters that you likely won't forget it – even though many of you will wish you could."[106] Sepinwall would later go on to call it one of the worst TV shows of 2011.[107] The Los Angeles Times' Mary McNamara gave it a mixed review, stating that it "collapses into camp... upon more than one occasion" but also noting that it is "hard to look away."[108]

text: The second season, American Horror Story: Asylum, received mostly positive reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 84% of 43 critics gave the season a positive review. The site's consensus is: "American Horror Story: Asylum crosses boundaries to shock and scare with sexy subplots and some innovative takes on current social issues."[109] It scored 65 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 23 reviews.[110] James Poniewozik from Time stated: "AHS: Asylum feels like a more focused, if equally frenetic, screamfest. It's also gorgeously realized, with a vision of its '60s institution setting so detailed you can smell the stale air and incense."[111] Maureen Ryan of The Huffington Post said: "It's to the credit of Asylum's writers, directors and cast that the emotional pain of the characters often feels as real as their uncertainty and terror."[112] Verne Gay from Newsday gave the season a C grade, stating it "has some good special effects, just not much of a story to hang them on."[113] Linda Stasi of the New York Post thought the season was "over the top," adding: "I need to enter [an asylum] myself after two hours of this craziness."[114]

text: The third season, American Horror Story: Coven, received positive reviews. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 84% of 34 critics gave the season a positive review. The site's consensus reads: "A noteworthy ensemble cast combined with creepy storytelling and campy, outrageous thrills make American Horror Story: Coven a potently structured fright-fest."[115] It scored 71 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 24 reviews, the highest score for the show to that point. Not all reviews were positive, however, with criticism focused mainly in regards to the progression of both the story and certain character arcs in the second half of the season. The A.V. Club gave this season the low rating of a D+, with critic Todd Van DerWerff remarking: "It lurched drunkenly from idea to idea, never settling on one long enough to build anything of worth."[116]

text: The fourth season, American Horror Story: Freak Show, received mostly positive reviews. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 79% of 32 critics gave the season a positive review. The site's consensus is: "Though it may turn off new viewers unaccustomed to its unabashed weirdness, Freak Show still brings the thrills, thanks to its reliably stylish presentation and game cast."[117] It scored 69 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 19 "generally favorable" reviews.[118]

text: The fifth season, American Horror Story: Hotel, received mixed reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes reports that 63% of 43 critics gave the season a positive review. The site's consensus is: "Favoring garish style over effective storytelling, the fifth American Horror Story strands a talented cast at Ryan Murphy's Hotel." Audience reception on the same website was also mixed, with 57% of viewers giving the show a favorable review.[119] Hotel scored a 60 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 24 "mixed or average" reviews.[120]

text: The sixth season, American Horror Story: Roanoke, received positive reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes reports that 78% of 13 critics gave the season a positive review. The site's consensus is: "American Horror Story: My Roanoke Nightmare takes a surprising turn away from prior AHS formats, revisiting the deliberate pace of earlier seasons on a spookier, smaller scale, even if the true-crime format feels overdone."[121] It scored a 72 on Metacritic based on six reviews.[122]

text: The seventh season, American Horror Story: Cult, received generally positive reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes reports that 76% of 38 critics gave the season a positive review. The site's consensus is: "American Horror Story: Cult intrigues with timely, over-the-top creepiness – and lots of clowns – despite being hampered by broad political generalizations and occasional holes in the narrative's logic." It scored a 66 on Metacritic based on 24 "generally favorable" reviews.

text: Ratings[edit]

text: The pilot episode of American Horror Story was watched by 3.2 million viewers and averaged a 1.6 rating in the 18–49 years adult demographic, the most sought after by advertisers.[123] These were the best numbers FX had ever received for a series premiere.[124] The episode was seen by 3.2 million total viewers in 59 countries.[125] Ratings increased as the season progressed, with the season finale being watched by 3.22 million viewers and receiving a 1.7 ratings share in the 18–49 years adult demographic.[126] The series premiere aired in November 2011 across Europe and Latin America on Fox International Channels, and ranked as first or second most watched telecast in its timeslot among all paid television in most metered markets.[125] "Numbers so strong, it’s scary. American Horror Story has brought droves of new viewers to a killer global lineup," said Hernan Lopez, the president of Fox International Channels.[125]

text: The second season's premiere gained a 2.2 18–49 ratings share and gathered 3.85 million viewers,[127] marking the highest numbers for the series.[128] By the season's sixth episode, the numbers dropped to a series-low 0.9 18–49 ratings share and 1.89 million viewers;[129] however, they rebounded to above two million viewers for the subsequent episodes,[130][131] and reached 2.29 million viewers for the season's finale.[132] The premiere of the fifth season of the series became the second most-watched telecast in the network's history, only behind the premiere episode of the previous season, which was watched by 6.13 million viewers.[133] The show was subsequently renewed for another season; John Landgraf, the CEO of the network, commented on the show's success by saying that American Horror Story, the network's highest rated series, "has unquestionably joined the ranks of television's landmark series."[134] In 2016, a New York Times study of the 50 TV shows with the most Facebook Likes found that "unlike a lot of shows about the supernatural", American Horror Story was "more popular in cities, but also throughout parts of the Southwest".[135]

text:
Season
Timeslot (ET)
Episodes
First aired
Last aired
TV season
Avg. viewers
(millions)

Date
Viewers
(millions)
Date
Viewers
(millions)

1
Wednesday 10:00 p.m.
12
October 5, 2011
3.18
December 21, 2011
3.22
2011–12
2.82

2
13
October 17, 2012
3.85
January 23, 2013
2.29
2012–13
2.53

3
13
October 9, 2013
5.54
January 29, 2014
4.24
2013–14
4.00

4
13
October 8, 2014
6.13
January 21, 2015
3.27
2014–15
3.85

5
12
October 7, 2015
5.81
January 13, 2016
2.24
2015–16
2.89

6
10
September 14, 2016
5.14
November 16, 2016
2.45
2016–17
2.93

7
Tuesday 10:00 p.m.
11
September 5, 2017
3.93
TBA
TBD
2017–18
TBD

text:
Season
Ep. 1
Ep. 2
Ep. 3
Ep. 4
Ep. 5
Ep. 6
Ep. 7
Ep. 8
Ep. 9
Ep. 10
Ep. 11
Ep. 12
Ep. 13

Murder House
3.18
2.46
2.59
2.96
2.74
2.83
3.06
2.81
2.85
2.54
2.59
3.22
N/A

Asylum
3.85
3.06
2.47
2.65
2.78
1.89
2.27
2.36
2.22
2.21
2.51
2.30
2.29

Coven
5.54
4.51
3.78
3.71
3.80
4.16
4.00
4.07
3.94
3.49
3.46
3.35
4.24

Freak Show
6.13
4.53
4.44
4.51
4.22
3.65
3.91
3.30
3.07
2.99
3.11
2.94
3.27

Hotel
5.81
4.06
3.20
3.04
2.87
2.64
2.64
2.31
2.14
1.85
1.84
2.24
N/A

Roanoke
5.14
3.27
3.08
2.83
2.82
2.48
2.62
2.20
2.43
2.45
N/A

Cult
3.93
2.38
2.25
2.13
2.20
2.15
2.07
2.06
TBD
TBD
TBD
N/A

text: Accolades[edit]

text: American Horror Story has won 59 of its 230 award nominations. The franchise has garnered 28 Primetime Emmy Award nominations, with Jessica Lange winning for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie and for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie, James Cromwell winning for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie, and Kathy Bates winning for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie. It received an additional 50 Creative Arts Emmy Award nominations, winning eleven times, including Outstanding Hairstyling for a Miniseries or a Movie, Outstanding Costumes for a Miniseries, Movie, or Special, Outstanding Sound Editing for a Miniseries, Movie, or Special, and Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup for a Series, Limited Series, Movie or a Special.[142] It has received nine Golden Globe Award nominations, with Lange winning for Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or Television Film,[143] and Lady Gaga winning for Best Actress in a Miniseries or Television Film.[144] The series has also received three Screen Actors Guild Award nominations, with Lange winning for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series.[145] Additional accolades include eighteen Critics' Choice Television Awards nominations, with four wins,[146] the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding TV Miniseries,[147] four Costume Designers Guild Awards nominations, winning three times,[148] eight wins out of ten nominations at the Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild,[149] five People's Choice Awards nominations, winning once,[150] and eleven Satellite Awards nomination, with three wins.[151]


document_title: Presentation program

question_text: list at least four possible purposes for an electronic presentation

text: Presentation program

text: History[edit]

text: Early[when?] presentation graphics software ran on computer workstations, such as those manufactured by Trollman, Genigraphics, Autographix, and Dicomed. It became quite easy[dubious  – discuss] to make last-minute changes compared to traditional typesetting and pasteup. It was also a lot easier to produce a large number of slides in a small amount of time. However, these workstations also required skilled operators, and a single workstation represented an investment of $50,000 to $200,000 (in 1979 dollars).

text: In the mid-1980s developments in the world of computers changed the way presentations were created. Inexpensive, specialized applications now made it possible for anyone with a PC to create professional-looking presentation graphics.

text: Originally these programs were used to generate 35 mm slides, to be presented using a slide projector. As these programs became more common in the late 1980s several companies set up services that would accept the shows on diskette and create slides using a film recorder or print transparencies. In the 1990s dedicated LCD-based screens that could be placed on the projectors started to replace the transparencies, and by the late 1990s they had almost all been replaced by video projectors.

text: The first commercial computer software specifically intended for creating WYSIWYG presentations was developed at Hewlett Packard in 1979 and called BRUNO and later HP-Draw. The first microcomputer-based presentation software was Cromemco's Slidemaster, developed by John F. Dunn and released by Cromemco in 1981.[2][3][4] The first software displaying a presentation on a personal computer screen was VCN ExecuVision, developed in 1982. This program allowed users to choose from a library of images to accompany the text of their presentation.  PowerPoint was introduced for the Macintosh computer in 1987.[5]

text: Features[edit]

text:
A presentation program is supposed to help both the speaker with an easier access to his ideas and the participants with visual information which complements the talk.
There are many different types of presentations including professional (work-related), education, entertainment, and for general communication.  Presentation programs can either supplement or replace the use of older visual-aid technology, such as pamphlets, handouts, chalkboards, flip charts, posters, slides and overhead transparencies. Text, graphics, movies, and other objects are positioned on individual pages or "slides" or "foils". The "slide" analogy is a reference to the slide projector, a device that has become somewhat obsolete due to the use of presentation software. Slides can be printed, or (more usually) displayed on-screen and navigated through at the command of the presenter. An entire presentation can be saved in video format.[6] The slides can also be saved as images of any image file formats for any future reference.[7] Transitions between slides can be animated in a variety of ways, as can the emergence of elements on a slide itself. Typically a presentation has many constraints and the most important being the limited time to present consistent information.

text: Many presentation programs come with pre-designed images (clip art) and/or have the ability to import graphic images, such as Visio and Edraw Max. Some tools also have the ability to search and import images from Flickr or Google directly from the tool. Custom graphics can also be created in other programs such as Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator and then exported. The concept of clip art originated with the image library that came as a complement with VCN ExecuVision, beginning in 1983.

text: With the growth of digital photography and video, many programs that handle these types of media also include presentation functions for displaying them in a similar "slide show" format.  For example, Apple's iPhoto allows groups of digital photos to be displayed in a slide show with options such as selecting transitions, choosing whether or not the show stops at the end or continues to loop, and including music to accompany the photos.

text: Similar to programming extensions for an operating system or web browser, "add ons" or plugins for presentation programs can be used to enhance their capabilities. For example, it would be useful to export a PowerPoint presentation as a Flash animation or PDF document.  This would make delivery through removable media or sharing over the Internet easier.  Since PDF files are designed to be shared regardless of platform and most web browsers already have the plugin to view Flash files, these formats would allow presentations to be more widely accessible.[8]

text: Certain presentation programs also offer an interactive integrated hardware element designed to engage an audience (e.g. audience response systems, second screen applications) or facilitate presentations across different geographical locations through the internet (e.g. web conferencing).[9] Other integrated hardware devices ease the job of a live presenter such as laser pointers and interactive whiteboards.