document_title: Color television

question_text: when did the first colored tv come out

question_tokens: when did the first colored tv come out

text: Color television

text: Development[edit]

text: The human eye's detection system in the retina consists primarily of two types of light detectors, rod cells that capture light, dark, and shapes/figures, and the cone cells that detect color. A typical retina contains 120 million rods and 4.5 million to 6 million cones, which are divided among three groups that are sensitive to red, green, and blue light. This means that the eye has far more resolution in brightness, or "luminance", than in color. However, post-processing in the optic nerve and other portions of the human visual system combine the information from the rods and cones to re-create what appears to be a high-resolution color image.

text: The eye has limited bandwidth to the rest of the visual system, estimated at just under 8 Mbit/s.[1] This manifests itself in a number of ways, but the most important in terms of producing moving images is the way that a series of still images displayed in quick succession will appear to be continuous smooth motion. This illusion starts to work at about 16 frame/s, and common motion pictures use 24 frame/s. Television, using power from the electrical grid, tunes its rate in order to avoid interference with the alternating current being supplied – in North America, some Central and South American countries, Taiwan, Korea, part of Japan, the Philippines, and a few other countries, this is 60 video fields per second to match the 60 Hz power, while in most other countries it is 50 fields per second to match the 50 Hz power.

text: In its most basic form, a color broadcast can be created by broadcasting three monochrome images, one each in the three colors of red, green, and blue (RGB). When displayed together or in rapid succession, these images will blend together to produce a full-color image as seen by the viewer. One of the great technical challenges of introducing color broadcast television was the desire to conserve bandwidth, potentially three times that of the existing black-and-white standards, and not use an excessive amount of radio spectrum. In the United States, after considerable research, the National Television Systems Committee[2] approved an all-electronic system developed by RCA which encoded the color information separately from the brightness information and greatly reduced the resolution of the color information in order to conserve bandwidth. The brightness image remained compatible with existing black-and-white television sets at slightly reduced resolution, while color televisions could decode the extra information in the signal and produce a limited-resolution color display. The higher resolution black-and-white and lower resolution color images combine in the eye to produce a seemingly high-resolution color image. The NTSC standard represented a major technical achievement.

text: Early television[edit]

text: Experiments in television systems using radio broadcasts date to the 19th century, but it was not until the 20th century that advances in electronics and light detectors made development practical. A key problem was the need to convert a 2D image into a "1D" radio signal; some form of image scanning was needed to make this work. Early systems generally used a device known as a "Nipkow disk", which was a spinning disk with a series of holes punched in it that caused a spot to scan across and down the image. A single photodetector behind the disk captured the image brightness at any given spot, which was converted into a radio signal and broadcast. A similar disk was used at the receiver side, with a light source behind the disk instead of a detector.

text: A number of such systems were being used experimentally in the 1920s. The best-known was John Logie Baird's, which was actually used for regular public broadcasting in Britain for several years. Indeed, Baird's system was demonstrated to members of the Royal Society in London in 1926 in what is generally recognized as the first demonstration of a true, working television system. In spite of these early successes, all mechanical television systems shared a number of serious problems. Being mechanically driven, perfect synchronization of the sending and receiving discs was not easy to ensure, and irregularities could result in major image distortion. Another problem was that the image was scanned within a small, roughly rectangular area of the disk's surface, so that larger, higher-resolution displays required increasingly unwieldy disks and smaller holes that produced increasingly dim images. Rotating drums bearing small mirrors set at progressively greater angles proved more practical than Nipkow discs for high-resolution mechanical scanning, allowing images of 240 lines and more to be produced, but such delicate, high-precision optical components were not commercially practical for home receivers.[citation needed]

text: It was clear to a number of developers that a completely electronic scanning system would be superior, and that the scanning could be achieved in a vacuum tube via electrostatic or magnetic means. Converting this concept into a usable system took years of development and several independent advances. The two key advances were Philo Farnsworth's electronic scanning system, and Vladimir Zworykin's Iconoscope camera. The Iconoscope, based on Kálmán Tihanyi's early patents, superseded the Farnsworth-system. With these systems, the BBC began regularly scheduled black-and-white television broadcasts in 1936, but these were shut down again with the start of World War II in 1939. In this time thousands of television sets had been sold. The receivers developed for this program, notably those from Pye Ltd., played a key role in the development of radar.

text: By 22 March 1935, 108-line black-and-white television programs were being broadcast from the Paul Nipkow TV transmitter in Berlin. In 1936, under the guidance of "Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda" Joseph Goebbels, direct transmissions from fifteen mobile units at the Olympic Games in Berlin were transmitted to selected small television houses (Fernsehstuben) in Berlin and Hamburg.

text: In 1941 the first NTSC meetings produced a single standard for US broadcasts. US television broadcasts began in earnest in the immediate post-war era, and by 1950 there were 6 million televisions in the United States.[3]

text: All-mechanical color[edit]

text: The basic idea of using three monochrome images to produce a color image had been experimented with almost as soon as black-and-white televisions had first been built.

text: Among the earliest published proposals for television was one by Maurice Le Blanc in 1880 for a color system, including the first mentions in television literature of line and frame scanning, although he gave no practical details.[4] Polish inventor Jan Szczepanik patented a color television system in 1897, using a selenium photoelectric cell at the transmitter and an electromagnet controlling an oscillating mirror and a moving prism at the receiver. But his system contained no means of analyzing the spectrum of colors at the transmitting end, and could not have worked as he described it.[5] An Armenian inventor, Hovannes Adamian, also experimented with color television as early as 1907. The first color television project is claimed by him,[6] and was patented in Germany on March 31, 1908, patent № 197183, then in Britain, on April 1, 1908, patent № 7219,[7] in France (patent № 390326) and in Russia in 1910 (patent № 17912).[8]

text: Scottish inventor John Logie Baird demonstrated the world's first color transmission on July 3, 1928, using scanning discs at the transmitting and receiving ends with three spirals of apertures, each spiral with filters of a different primary color; and three light sources, controlled by the signal, at the receiving end, with a commutator to alternate their illumination.[9] The demonstration was of a young girl wearing different coloured hats. Noele Gordon went on to become a successful TV actress, famous for the soap opera Crossroads. Baird also made the world's first color broadcast on February 4, 1938, sending a mechanically scanned 120-line image from Baird's Crystal Palace studios to a projection screen at London's Dominion Theatre.[10]

text: Mechanically scanned color television was also demonstrated by Bell Laboratories in June 1929 using three complete systems of photoelectric cells, amplifiers, glow-tubes, and color filters, with a series of mirrors to superimpose the red, green, and blue images into one full color image.

text: Hybrid systems[edit]

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text: As was the case with black-and-white television, an electronic means of scanning would be superior to the mechanical systems like Baird's. The obvious solution on the broadcast end would be to use three conventional Iconoscopes with colored filters in front of them to produce an RGB signal. Using three separate tubes each looking at the same scene would produce slight differences in parallax between the frames, so in practice a single lens was used with a mirror or prism system to separate the colors for the separate tubes. Each tube captured a complete frame and the signal was converted into radio in a fashion essentially identical to the existing black-and-white systems.

text: The problem with this approach was there was no simple way to recombine them on the receiver end. If each image was sent at the same time on different frequencies, the images would have to be "stacked" somehow on the display, in real time. The simplest way to do this would be to reverse the system used in the camera; arrange three separate black-and-white displays behind colored filters and then optically combine their images using mirrors or prisms onto a suitable screen, like frosted glass. RCA built just such a system in order to present the first electronically scanned color television demonstration on February 5, 1940, privately shown to members of the US Federal Communications Commission at the RCA plant in Camden, New Jersey.[11] This system, however, suffered from the twin problems of costing at least three times as much as a conventional black-and-white set, as well as having very dim pictures, the result of the fairly low illumination given off by tubes of the era. Projection systems of this sort would become common decades later, however, with improvements in technology.

text: Another solution would be to use a single screen, but break it up into a pattern of closely spaced colored phosphors instead of an even coating of white. Three receivers would be used, each sending its output to a separate electron gun, aimed at its colored phosphor. Although obvious, this solution was not practical. The electron guns used in monochrome televisions had limited resolution, and if one wanted to retain the resolution of existing monochrome displays, the guns would have to focus on individual dots three times smaller. This was beyond the state of the art at the time.

text: Instead, a number of hybrid solutions were developed that combined a conventional monochrome display with a colored disk or mirror. In these systems the three colored images were sent one after each other, in either complete frames in the "field-sequential color system", or for each line in the "line-sequential" system. In both cases a colored filter was rotated in front of the display in sync with the broadcast. Since three separate images were being sent in sequence, if they used existing monochrome radio signaling standards they would have an effective refresh rate of only 20 fields, or 10 frames, a second, well into the region where flicker would become visible. In order to avoid this, these systems increased the frame rate considerably, making the signal incompatible with existing monochrome standards.

text: The first practical example of this sort of system was again pioneered by John Logie Baird. In 1940 he publicly demonstrated a color television combining a traditional black-and-white display with a rotating colored disk. This device was very "deep", but was later improved with a mirror folding the light path into an entirely practical device resembling a large conventional console.[12] However, Baird was not happy with the design, and as early as 1944 had commented to a British government committee that a fully electronic device would be better.

text: In 1939, Hungarian engineer Peter Carl Goldmark introduced an electro-mechanical system while at CBS, which contained an Iconoscope sensor. The CBS field-sequential color system was partly mechanical, with a disc made of red, blue, and green filters spinning inside the television camera at 1,200 rpm, and a similar disc spinning in synchronization in front of the cathode ray tube inside the receiver set.[13] The system was first demonstrated to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on August 29, 1940, and shown to the press on September 4.[14][15][16][17]

text: CBS began experimental color field tests using film as early as August 28, 1940, and live cameras by November 12.[18] NBC (owned by RCA) made its first field test of color television on February 20, 1941. CBS began daily color field tests on June 1, 1941.[19] These color systems were not compatible with existing black-and-white television sets, and as no color television sets were available to the public at this time, viewing of the color field tests was restricted to RCA and CBS engineers and the invited press. The War Production Board halted the manufacture of television and radio equipment for civilian use from April 22, 1942 to August 20, 1945, limiting any opportunity to introduce color television to the general public.[20][21]

text: Fully electronic[edit]

text: As early as 1940, Baird had started work on a fully electronic system he called the "Telechrome". Early Telechrome devices used two electron guns aimed at either side of a phosphor plate. The phosphor was patterned so the electrons from the guns only fell on one side of the patterning or the other. Using cyan and magenta phosphors, a reasonable limited-color image could be obtained. He also demonstrated the same system using monochrome signals to produce a 3D image (called "stereoscopic" at the time). Baird's demonstration on August 16, 1944 was the first example of a practical color television system.[22] Work on the Telechrome continued and plans were made to introduce a three-gun version for full color. However, Baird's untimely death in 1946 ended development of the Telechrome system.[23][24]

text: Similar concepts were common through the 1940s and 50s, differing primarily in the way they re-combined the colors generated by the three guns. The Geer tube was similar to Baird's concept, but used small pyramids with the phosphors deposited on their outside faces, instead of Baird's 3D patterning on a flat surface. The Penetron used three layers of phosphor on top of each other and increased the power of the beam to reach the upper layers when drawing those colors. The Chromatron used a set of focusing wires to select the colored phosphors arranged in vertical stripes on the tube.

text: FCC color[edit]

text: In the immediate post-war era the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was inundated with requests to set up new television stations. Worrying about congestion of the limited number of channels available, the FCC put a moratorium on all new licenses in 1948 while considering the problem. A solution was immediately forthcoming; rapid development of radio receiver electronics during the war had opened a wide band of higher frequencies to practical use, and the FCC set aside a large section of these new UHF bands for television broadcast. At the time, black and white television broadcasting was still in its infancy in the U.S., and the FCC started to look at ways of using this newly available bandwidth for color broadcasts. Since no existing television would be able to tune in these stations, they were free to pick an incompatible system and allow the older VHF channels to die off over time.

text: The FCC called for technical demonstrations of color systems in 1948, and the Joint Technical Advisory Committee (JTAC) was formed to study them. CBS displayed improved versions of its original design, now using a single 6 MHz channel (like the existing black-and-white signals) at 144 fields per second and 405 lines of resolution. Color Television Inc. demonstrated its line-sequential system, while Philco demonstrated a dot-sequential system based on its beam-index tube-based "Apple" tube technology. Of the entrants, the CBS system was by far the best-developed, and won head-to-head testing every time.

text: While the meetings were taking place it was widely known within the industry that RCA was working on a dot-sequential system that was compatible with existing black-and-white broadcasts, but RCA declined to demonstrate it during the first series of meetings. Just before the JTAC presented its findings, on August 25, 1949, RCA broke its silence and introduced its system as well. The JTAC still recommended the CBS system, and after the resolution of an ensuing RCA lawsuit, color broadcasts using the CBS system started on June 25, 1951. By this point the market had changed dramatically; when color was first being considered in 1948 there were fewer than a million television sets in the U.S., but by 1951 there were well over 10 million. The idea that the VHF band could be allowed to "die" was no longer practical.

text: During its campaign for FCC approval, CBS gave the first demonstrations of color television to the general public, showing an hour of color programs daily Mondays through Saturdays, beginning January 12, 1950, and running for the remainder of the month, over WOIC in Washington, D.C., where the programs could be viewed on eight 16-inch color receivers in a public building.[25] Due to high public demand, the broadcasts were resumed February 13–21, with several evening programs added.[26] CBS initiated a limited schedule of color broadcasts from its New York station WCBS-TV Mondays to Saturdays beginning November 14, 1950, making ten color receivers available for the viewing public.[27][28] All were broadcast using the single color camera that CBS owned.[29] The New York broadcasts were extended by coaxial cable to Philadelphia's WCAU-TV beginning December 13,[30] and to Chicago on January 10,[31][32] making them the first network color broadcasts.

text: After a series of hearings beginning in September 1949, the FCC found the RCA and CTI systems fraught with technical problems, inaccurate color reproduction, and expensive equipment, and so formally approved the CBS system as the U.S. color broadcasting standard on October 11, 1950. An unsuccessful lawsuit by RCA delayed the first commercial network broadcast in color until June 25, 1951, when a musical variety special titled simply Premiere was shown over a network of five East Coast CBS affiliates.[33] Viewing was again restricted: the program could not be seen on black-and-white sets, and Variety estimated that only thirty prototype color receivers were available in the New York area.[34] Regular color broadcasts began that same week with the daytime series The World Is Yours and Modern Homemakers.

text: While the CBS color broadcasting schedule gradually expanded to twelve hours per week (but never into prime time),[35] and the color network expanded to eleven affiliates as far west as Chicago,[36] its commercial success was doomed by the lack of color receivers necessary to watch the programs, the refusal of television manufacturers to create adapter mechanisms for their existing black-and-white sets,[37] and the unwillingness of advertisers to sponsor broadcasts seen by almost no one. CBS had bought a television manufacturer in April,[38] and in September 1951, production began on the only CBS-Columbia color television model, with the first color sets reaching retail stores on September 28.[39][40] But it was too little, too late. Only 200 sets had been shipped, and only 100 sold, when CBS discontinued its color television system on October 20, 1951, ostensibly by request of the National Production Authority for the duration of the Korean War, and bought back all the CBS color sets it could to prevent lawsuits by disappointed customers.[41][42] RCA chairman David Sarnoff later charged that the NPA's order had come "out of a situation artificially created by one company to solve its own perplexing problems" because CBS had been unsuccessful in its color venture.[43]

text: Compatible color[edit]

text: While the FCC was holding its JTAC meetings, development was taking place on a number of systems allowing true simultaneous color broadcasts, "dot-sequential color systems". Unlike the hybrid systems, dot-sequential televisions used a signal very similar to existing black-and-white broadcasts, with the intensity of every dot on the screen being sent in succession.

text: In 1938 Georges Valensi demonstrated an encoding scheme that would allow color broadcasts to be encoded so they could be picked up on existing black-and-white sets as well. In his system the output of the three camera tubes were re-combined to produce a single "luminance" value that was very similar to a monochrome signal and could be broadcast on the existing VHF frequencies. The color information was encoded in a separate "chrominance" signal, consisting of two separate signals, the original blue signal minus the luminance (B'–Y'), and red-luma (R'–Y'). These signals could then be broadcast separately on a different frequency; a monochrome set would tune in only the luminance signal on the VHF band, while color televisions would tune in both the luminance and chrominance on two different frequencies, and apply the reverse transforms to retrieve the original RGB signal. The downside to this approach is that it required a major boost in bandwidth use, something the FCC was interested in avoiding.

text: RCA used Valensi's concept as the basis of all of its developments, believing it to be the only proper solution to the broadcast problem. However, RCA's early sets using mirrors and other projection systems all suffered from image and color quality problems, and were easily bested by CBS's hybrid system. But solutions to these problems were in the pipeline, and RCA in particular was investing massive sums (later estimated at $100 million) to develop a usable dot-sequential tube. RCA was beaten to the punch by the Geer tube, which used three B&W tubes aimed at different faces of colored pyramids to produce a color image. All-electronic systems included the Chromatron, Penetron and beam-index tube that were being developed by various companies. While investigating all of these, RCA's teams quickly started focusing on the shadow mask system.

text: In July 1938 the shadow mask color television was patented by Werner Flechsig (1900–1981) in Germany, and was demonstrated at the International radio exhibition Berlin in 1939. Most CRT color televisions used today are based on this technology. His solution to the problem of focusing the electron guns on the tiny colored dots was one of brute-force; a metal sheet with holes punched in it allowed the beams to reach the screen only when they were properly aligned over the dots. Three separate guns were aimed at the holes from slightly different angles, and when their beams passed through the holes the angles caused them to separate again and hit the individual spots a short distance away on the back of the screen. The downside to this approach was that the mask cut off the vast majority of the beam energy, allowing it to hit the screen only 15% of the time, requiring a massive increase in beam power to produce acceptable image brightness.

text: In spite of these problems in both the broadcast and display systems, RCA pressed ahead with development and was ready for a second assault on the standards by 1950.

text: Second NTSC[edit]

text: The possibility of a compatible color broadcast system was so compelling that the NTSC decided to re-form, and held a second series of meetings starting in January 1950. Having only recently selected the CBS system, the FCC heavily opposed the NTSC's efforts. One of the FCC Commissioners, R. F. Jones, went so far as to assert that the engineers testifying in favor of a compatible system were "in a conspiracy against the public interest".

text: Unlike the FCC approach where a standard was simply selected from the existing candidates, the NTSC would produce a board that was considerably more pro-active in development.

text: Starting before CBS color even got on the air, the U.S. television industry, represented by the National Television System Committee, worked in 1950–1953 to develop a color system that was compatible with existing black-and-white sets and would pass FCC quality standards, with RCA developing the hardware elements. ("Compatible color," a phrase from advertisements for early sets, appears in the song "America" of West Side Story, 1957.) RCA first made publicly announced field tests of the dot sequential color system over its New York station WNBT in July 1951.[44] When CBS testified before Congress in March 1953 that it had no further plans for its own color system,[45] the National Production Authority dropped its ban on the manufacture of color television receivers,[46] and the path was open for the NTSC to submit its petition for FCC approval in July 1953, which was granted on December 17.[47] The first publicly announced network demonstration of a program using the NTSC "compatible color" system was an episode of NBC's Kukla, Fran and Ollie on August 30, 1953, although it was viewable in color only at the network's headquarters.[48] The first network broadcast to go out over the air in NTSC color was a performance of the opera Carmen on October 31, 1953.[49][50]

text: Adoption[edit]

text: North America[edit]

text: Canada[edit]

text: Colour broadcasts from the United States were available to Canadian population centers near the border since the mid-1950s.[51] At the time that NTSC colour broadcasting was officially introduced into Canada in 1966, less than one percent of Canadian households had a colour television set.[51] Colour television in Canada was launched on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's (CBC) English language TV service on September 1, 1966.[51] Private television broadcaster CTV also started colourcasts in early September 1966.[52] Full-time colour transmissions started in 1974 on the CBC, with other private sector broadcasters doing so by the end of the 1970s.[51]

text: Cuba[edit]

text: Cuba in 1958 became the second country in the world to introduce color television broadcasting, with Havana's Channel 12 using standards established by the NTSC Committee of United States Federal Communications Commission in 1940, and American technology patented by the American electronics company RCA, or Radio Corporation of America. But the color transmissions ended when broadcasting stations were seized in the Cuban Revolution in 1959, and did not return until 1975, using equipment acquired from Japan's NEC Corporation, and SECAM equipment from the Soviet Union, adapted for the American NTSC standard.[53]

text: Mexico[edit]

text: Guillermo González Camarena independently invented and developed a field-sequential tricolor disk system in México in the late 1930s, for which he requested a patent in México on August 19 of 1940 and in the USA in 1941.[54] González Camarena produced his color television system in his laboratory Gon-Cam for the Mexican market and exported it to the Columbia College of Chicago, who regarded it as the best system in the world.[55][56] Goldmark actually applied patent for the same field-sequential tricolor system in USA on September 7 of 1940;[13] while González Camarena made his application in México nineteen days before, on August 19 of 1940.

text: On August 31, 1946 González Camarena sent his first color transmission from his lab in the offices of The Mexican League of Radio Experiments at Lucerna St. No. 1, in Mexico City. The video signal was transmitted at a frequency of 115 MHz. and the audio in the 40 metre band. He obtained authorization to make the first publicly announced color broadcast in Mexico, on February 8, 1963, of the program Paraíso Infantil on Mexico City's XHGC-TV, using the NTSC system which had by now been adopted as the standard for color programming.

text: González Camarena also invented the Simplified Mexican Color TV system as a much more simpler and cheaper alternative to the NTSC system.[57] Due to its simplicity, NASA used a modified version of the Simplified Mexican Color TV system in his Voyager mission of 1979, to take pictures and video of Jupiter.[58]

text: United States[edit]

text: Although all-electronic color was introduced in the U.S. in 1953,[59] high prices and the scarcity of color programming greatly slowed its acceptance in the marketplace. The first national color broadcast (the 1954 Tournament of Roses Parade) occurred on January 1, 1954, but over the next dozen years most network broadcasts, and nearly all local programming, continued to be in black-and-white. In 1956 NBC's The Perry Como Show became the first live network television series to present a majority of episodes in color. CBS's The Big Record, starring pop vocalist Patti Page, was the first television show broadcast in color for the entire 1957-1958 season; its production costs were greater than most movies were at the time not only because of all the stars featured on the hour-long extravaganza but the extremely high-intensity lighting and electronics required for the new RCA TK-41 cameras. It was not until the mid-1960s that color sets started selling in large numbers, due in part to the color transition of 1965 in which it was announced that over half of all network prime-time programming would be broadcast in color that autumn. The first all-color prime-time season came just one year later.

text: NBC made the first coast-to-coast color broadcast when it telecast the Tournament of Roses Parade on January 1, 1954, with public demonstrations given across the United States on prototype color receivers by manufacturers RCA, General Electric, Philco, Raytheon, Hallicrafters, Hoffman, Pacific Mercury, and others.[60] A color model from Westinghouse H840CK15 ($1,295, or equivalent to $11,549 in 2016) became available in the New York area on February 28, 1954 and is generally agreed to be the first production receiver using NTSC color offered to the public;[61] a less expensive color model from RCA (CT-100) reached dealers in April 1954.[62] Television's first prime time network color series was The Marriage, a situation comedy broadcast live by NBC in the summer of 1954.[63] NBC's anthology series Ford Theatre became the first network color filmed series that October.[64]

text: Early color telecasts could be preserved only on the black-and-white kinescope process introduced in 1947. It was not until September 1956 that NBC began using color film to time-delay and preserve some of its live color telecasts.[65] Ampex introduced a color videotape recorder in 1958, which NBC used to tape An Evening With Fred Astaire, the oldest surviving network color videotape. This system was also used to unveil a demonstration of color television for the press. On May 22, 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower visited the WRC-TV NBC studios in Washington, D.C. and gave a speech touting the new technology's merits. His speech was recorded in color, and a copy of this videotape was given to the Library of Congress for posterity.

text: Several syndicated shows had episodes filmed in color during the 1950s, including The Cisco Kid, The Lone Ranger, My Friend Flicka, and Adventures of Superman. The first two were carried by some stations equipped for color telecasts well before NBC began its regular weekly color dramas in 1959, beginning with the Western series Bonanza.

text: NBC was at the forefront of color programming because its parent company RCA manufactured the most successful line of color sets in the 1950s, and by 1959 RCA was the only remaining major manufacturer of color sets.[66] CBS and ABC, which were not affiliated with set manufacturers and were not eager to promote their competitor's product, dragged their feet into color.[67][68] CBS broadcast color specials and sometimes aired its big weekly variety shows in color, but it offered no regularly scheduled color programming until the fall of 1965. At least one CBS show, The Lucy Show, was filmed in color beginning in 1963 but continued to be telecast in black and white through the end of the 1964–65 season. ABC delayed its first color programs until 1962, but these were initially only broadcasts of the cartoon shows The Flintstones, The Jetsons and Beany and Cecil.[69] The DuMont network, although it did have a television-manufacturing parent company, was in financial decline by 1954 and was dissolved two years later.[70]

text: The relatively small amount of network color programming, combined with the high cost of color television sets, meant that as late as 1964 only 3.1 percent of television households in the U.S. had a color set. But by the mid-1960s, the subject of color programming turned into a ratings war. A 1965 ARB study that proposed an emerging trend in color television set sales convinced NBC that a full shift to color would gain a ratings advantage over its two competitors.[71] As a result, NBC provided the catalyst for rapid color expansion by announcing that its prime time schedule for fall 1965 would be almost entirely in color.[72] ABC and CBS followed suit and over half of their combined prime-time programming also was in color that season, but they were still reluctant to telecast all their programming in color due to production costs.[71] All three broadcast networks were airing full color prime time schedules by the 1966–67 broadcast season, and ABC aired its last new black-and-white daytime programming in December 1967.[73] Public broadcasting networks like NET, however, did not use color for a majority of their programming until 1968. The number of color television sets sold in the U.S. did not exceed black-and-white sales until 1972, which was also the first year that more than fifty percent of television households in the U.S. had a color set.[74] This was also the year that "in color" notices before color television programs ended[citation needed], due to the rise in color television set sales, and color programming having become the norm.

text: In a display of foresight, Disney had filmed many of its earlier shows in color so they were able to be repeated on NBC, and since most of Disney's feature-length films were also made in color, they could now also be telecast in that format. To emphasize the new feature, the series was re-dubbed Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, which premiered in September 1961, and retained that moniker until 1969.[75]

text: By the mid-1970s the only stations broadcasting in black-and-white were a few high-numbered UHF stations in small markets, and a handful of low-power repeater stations in even smaller markets such as vacation spots. By 1979, even the last of these had converted to color and by the early 1980s, B&W sets had been pushed into niche markets, notably low-power uses, small portable sets, or use as video monitor screens in lower-cost consumer equipment. By the late 1980s even these areas switched to color sets.

text: Color broadcasting in Hawaii started in September 1965, and in Alaska a year later.[citation needed] One of the last television stations in North America to convert to color, WQEX in Pittsburgh, started broadcasting in color on October 16, 1986 after its black-and-white transmitter, which dated from the 1950s, broke down in February 1985 and the parts required to fix it were no longer available. The then-owner of WQEX, PBS member station WQED, diverted some of its pledge money into getting a color transmitter for WQEX.

text: Early color sets were either floor-standing console models or tabletop versions nearly as bulky and heavy, so in practice, they remained firmly anchored in one place. The introduction of GE's relatively compact and lightweight Porta-Color set in the spring of 1966 made watching color television a more flexible and convenient proposition. In 1972, sales of color sets finally surpassed sales of black-and-white sets. Also in 1972, the last holdout among daytime network programs converted to color, resulting in the first completely all-color network season.

text: Europe[edit]

text: The first regular color broadcasts in Europe were by the United Kingdom's BBC2 beginning on July 1, 1967 (PAL). West Germany's first broadcast occurred in August (PAL), followed by the Netherlands in September (PAL), and by France in October (SECAM). Norway, Sweden, Finland, Austria, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary all started regular color broadcasts before the end of 1969. Ireland's national TV station RTÉ began using color in 1968 for recorded programmes; the first outside broadcast made in color for RTÉ Television was when Ireland hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin in 1971.[76] The PAL system spread through most of Western Europe.

text: More European countries introduced color television using the PAL system in the 1970s and early 1980s; examples include Denmark (1970), Belgium (1971), Yugoslavia/Serbia (1971), Spain (1972, but not fully implemented until 1978), Iceland (1973), Portugal (1976, but not fully implemented until 1980), Albania (1981), and Turkey (1981) and Romania (1983, but not fully implemented until 1990). In Italy there were debates to adopt a national color television system, the ISA, developed by Indesit, but that idea was scrapped. As a result, Italy was one of the last European countries to officially adopt the PAL system in 1977.[77]

text: France, Luxembourg, and most of the Eastern Bloc along with their overseas territories opted for SECAM. SECAM was a popular choice in countries with a lot of hilly terrain, and technologically backward countries with a very large installed base of monochrome equipment, since the greater ruggedness of the SECAM signal could cope much better with poorly maintained equipment. However, for many countries the decision was more down to politics than technical merit.

text: A drawback of SECAM for production is that, unlike PAL or NTSC, certain post-production operations of encoded SECAM signals are not really possible without a significant drop in quality. As an example, a simple fade to black is trivial in NTSC and PAL: you just reduce the signal level until it is zero. However, in SECAM the color difference signals, which are frequency modulated, need first to be decoded to e.g. RGB, then the fade-to-black is applied, and finally the resulting signal is re-encoded into SECAM. Because of this, much SECAM video editing was actually done using PAL equipment, then the resultant signal was converted to SECAM. Another drawback of SECAM is that comb filtering, allowing better color separation, is not possible in TV receivers. This was not, however, much of a drawback in the early days of SECAM as such filters did not become readily available in high-end TV sets before the 1990s.

text: The first regular color broadcasts in SECAM were started on October 1, 1967, on France's Second Channel (ORTF 2e chaîne). In France and the UK color broadcasts were made on UHF frequencies, the VHF band being used for legacy black and white, 405 lines in UK or 819 lines in France, until the beginning of the 1980s. Countries elsewhere that were already broadcasting 625-line monochrome on VHF and UHF, simply transmitted color programs on the same channels.

text: Some British television programs, particularly those made by or for ITC Entertainment, were shot on color film before the introduction of color television to the UK, for the purpose of sales to U.S. networks. The first British show to be made in color was the drama series The Adventures of Sir Lancelot (1956–57), which was initially made in black and white but later shot in color for sale to the NBC network in the United States. Other British color television programs include Stingray (1964–1965), which was the first British TV show to be filmed entirely in color, Thunderbirds (1965–1966) and Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons (1967–1968). However, most UK series predominantly made using videotape, such as Doctor Who (1963–89; 2005–present) did not begin color production until later, with the first color Doctor Who episodes not airing until 1970.

text: Asia and the Pacific[edit]

text: In Japan, NHK and NTV introduced color television, using a variation of the NTSC system (called NTSC-J) on September 10, 1960, making it the first country in Asia to introduce color television. The Philippines (1966) and Taiwan (1969) also adopted the NTSC system.

text: Other countries in the region instead used the PAL system, starting with Australia (1967, but not fully implemented until 1975), and then Thailand (1969; this country converted from a 525-line system to 625 lines), Hong Kong (1970), the People's Republic of China (1971), New Zealand (1973), North Korea (1974), Singapore (1974), Pakistan (1976, but not fully implemented until 1982), Kazakhstan (1978), Vietnam (1978), Malaysia (1978, but not fully implemented until 1980), Indonesia (1979), India (1979, but not fully implemented until 1982), and Bangladesh (1980). South Korea did not introduce color television (using NTSC) until 1980 (full-time color transmissions began in 1981), although it was already manufacturing color television sets for export. Cambodia was the last country in Asia to introduce color television, officially introduced in 1981 using the PAL system, with full-time color transmissions since 1985.

text: Middle East[edit]

text: Nearly all of the countries in the Middle East use PAL. The first country in the Middle East to introduce color television was Iraq in 1967. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar followed in the mid-1970s, but Israel, Lebanon, and Cyprus continued to broadcast in black and white until the early 1980s. Israeli television even erased the color signals using a device called the mekhikon.

text: Africa[edit]

text: The first color television service in Africa was introduced on the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar, in 1973, using PAL.[78] In 1973 also, MBC of Mauritius broadcast the OCAMM Conference, in color, using SECAM. At the time, South Africa did not have a television service at all, owing to opposition from the apartheid regime, but in 1976, one was finally launched.[79] Nigeria adopted PAL for color transmissions in 1974 in the then Benue Plateau state in the north central region of the country, but countries such as Ghana and Zimbabwe continued with black and white until 1984.[80] The Sierra Leone Broadcasting Service (SLBS) started television broadcasting in 1963 as a cooperation between the SLBS and commercial interests; coverage was extended to all districts in 1978 when the service was also upgraded to color.[81]

text: South America[edit]

text: In contrast to most other countries in the Americas, which had adopted NTSC, Brazil began broadcasting in color in PAL-M. Its first color transmission was on February 19, 1972. However Ecuador was the first South American country to use NTSC color. Its first color transmission was on November 5, 1974. Some countries in South America, including Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay, continued to broadcast in black and white until the early 1980s.

text: Cor Dillen, director and later CEO of the South American branch of Philips, was responsible for bringing color television to South America.[citation needed]

text: Colour standards[edit]

text: There are three main analog broadcast television systems in use around the world, PAL (Phase Alternating Line), NTSC (National Television System Committee), and SECAM (Séquentiel Couleur à Mémoire—Sequential Colour with Memory).

text: The system used in The Americas and much of the Far East is NTSC. Western Europe, Australia, Africa, and Eastern South America use PAL (though Brazil uses a hybrid PAL-M system). Eastern Europe and France uses SECAM.[82] Generally, a device (such as a television) can only read or display video encoded to a standard which the device is designed to support; otherwise, the source must be converted (such as when European programs are broadcast in North America or vice versa). Because a tint control is unnecessary in PAL, NTSC has jokingly been said to stand for Never The Same Colour or Never Twice the Same Colour.[83] Similarly, SECAM has been said to stand for Something Entirely Contrary to the AMericans and PAL to stand for Pay for Additional Luxury or People Are Lilac.

text: This table illustrates the differences:

text:
NTSC M
PAL B,G,H
PAL I
PAL N
PAL M
SECAM B,G,H
SECAM D,K,K',L

Lines/Fields
525/60
625/50
625/50
625/50
525/60
625/50
625/50

Horizontal Frequency
15.734 kHz
15.625 kHz
15.625 kHz
15.625 kHz
15.750 kHz
15.625 kHz
15.625 kHz

Vertical Frequency
60 Hz
50 Hz
50 Hz
50 Hz
60 Hz
50 Hz
50 Hz

Colour Subcarrier Frequency
3.579545 MHz
4.43361875 MHz
4.43361875 MHz
3.582056 MHz
3.575611 MHz

Video Bandwidth
4.2 MHz
5.0 MHz
5.5 MHz
4.2 MHz
4.2 MHz
5.0 MHz
6.0 MHz

Sound Carrier
4.5 MHz
5.5 MHz
5.9996 MHz
4.5 MHz
4.5 MHz
5.5 MHz
6.5 MHz

text: Digital television broadcasting standards, such as ATSC, DVB-T, DVB-T2, and ISDB, have superseded these analog transmission standards in many countries.


document_title: The Rains of Castamere (song)

question_text: who sang the rains of castamere on game of thrones

root

text: The Rains of Castamere (song)

text: Appearances[edit]

text: The song's lyrics first appear in the novel A Storm of Swords, in which "The Rains of Castamere" is sung or mentioned several times. It remembers Tywin Lannister's victory over House Lannister's rebellious vassals of Reyne ("the Reynes of Castamere") and Tarbeck, about 40 years before the events of the novels. The stanza of the song that is reproduced in the novels and adapted for the television series tells of the vassals' defiance – "And who are you, the proud lord said / That I must bow so low?" – and the subsequent obliteration of their houses: "But now the rains weep o'er his hall / With no one there to hear." Late in the novel, the song is performed at the Red Wedding, another massacre of Tywin Lannister's enemies.[1]

tag: p

text: In the TV series, the song was first heard when Tyrion Lannister whistled a small part in the first episode of the second season.[2] An instrumental version can be heard during Tyrion's speech right after King Joffrey abandons the battlefield in the same episode. In season 2 episode 9, there is a scene Bronn is singing "The Rains of Castamere" among the Lannisters soldiers. When one of the soldiers ask him "Where'd you learn the Lannister song?" Bronn replies "Drunk Lannisters." The season 2 soundtrack contains a rendition of the song "The Rains of Castamere" by the indie rock band The National, sung by their vocalist Matt Berninger.[3] On the published track list, the title is spelled "The Rains of Castomere" rather than "Castamere" as in the novels. The spelling is corrected on the printed listing on the liner notes that come with the disc.[4]  It was played over the end credits of the ninth episode, "Blackwater".

text: In season 3, an instrumental version of "The Rains of Castamere" plays over the end credits in episode 7, "The Bear and the Maiden Fair".[5] In episode 9 of season 3, also titled "The Rains of Castamere", an instrumental version of the song is played by the musicians at the Red Wedding.

text: In episode 2 of season 4 of Game of Thrones ("The Lion and the Rose"), Icelandic band Sigur Rós makes a cameo appearance as musicians performing their rendition of "The Rains of Castamere" at the wedding of Joffrey and Margaery. Joffrey stops them midway by throwing coins at them. Their version also plays over the closing credits of this episode.[6]

text: An orchestral rendition of the song appears as House Lannister's theme throughout seasons 3 and 4, available in the soundtrack as "A Lannister Always Pays His Debts."

text: Credits and personnel[edit]

text: Personnel adapted from the album liner notes.[7]

text:
The National – band, primary artist
Ramin Djawadi – composer, primary artist, producer
David Benioff – liner notes

D.B. Weiss – liner notes
George R.R. Martin – lyricist

tag: table


document_title: List of NCIS: New Orleans characters

question_text: who is the actress who plays rita on ncis new orleans

text: List of NCIS: New Orleans characters

text: Overview[edit]

text:
Character
Portrayed by
Occupation
Seasons

1
2
3
4

Dwayne Cassius Pride
Scott Bakula
NCIS Supervisory Special Agent
Main

Christopher LaSalle
Lucas Black
NCIS Special Agent
Main

Meredith Brody
Zoe McLellan
NCIS Special Agent
Main
N/A

Sebastian Lund
Rob Kerkovich
NCIS Forensic Agent
Main

Loretta Wade
CCH Pounder
Chief Medical Examiner
Main

Sonja Percy
Shalita Grant
NCIS Special Agent
Recurring
Main

Patton Plame
Daryl "Chill" Mitchell
NCIS Computer Specialist
Recurring
Main

Tammy Gregorio
Vanessa Ferlito
NCIS Special Agent
N/A
Main

text: Main cast and characters[edit]

text: Dwayne Cassius Pride[edit]

text:
Dwayne Cassius Pride

NCIS: New Orleans character

Dwayne Pride (Scott Bakula)

First appearance
"Crescent City" (NCIS)
March 25, 2014

Created by
Gary Glasberg

Portrayed by
Scott Bakula

Information

Full name
Dwayne Cassius Pride

Nickname(s)
King

Occupation
Federal agent

Affiliation
Naval Criminal Investigative Service
Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office

Title
Special Agent-in-Charge, NCIS New Orleans Field Office

Family
Cassius Pride (father)
Unnamed mother

Spouse(s)
Linda Pride (ex-wife)

Children
Laurel Pride (daughter)

text: Dwayne Cassius "King" Pride (Scott Bakula) is a Supervisory Special Agent. He is also a New Orleans native and former Jefferson Parish deputy sheriff. He is also a long-time friend of Leroy Jethro Gibbs, the main character of NCIS; both were part of a group of NCIS agents known as the "Fed Five" who gained fame for apprehending Spencer Hanlon, aka "The Privileged Killer". [For years, the Privileged Killer was erroneously believed to be Victor Lourde, who had been framed by a member of the "Fed Five," Dan MacClain. When MacClain is murdered, the teams discover his frame-up and the reason for it. Their investigation leads them to the Hanlon father and son.] He was initially assigned to the Marine Corps Support Facility in Algiers, Louisiana.[1] He and his now-estranged wife Linda used to live in the Lower Garden District. His daughter, Laurel, is a music major at Louisiana State University. In "Chasing Ghosts" and "Le Carnivale de la Mort", it is revealed that Pride's father, Cassius (Stacy Keach), is incarcerated in the Gretna Correctional Facility. As of the beginning of season two, Dwayne and Linda officially divorced. With the money Dwayne got from selling their home he paid for Dr. Wade's assistant Danny's college, Laurel's college, a place for his father (if he makes parole), as well as buying a fixer-upper bar.[2][3] Pride has the second highest arrest record in the history of Jefferson Parish's Sheriffs Office.[4] In season three, Pride personally recruits Agent Gregorio to his team.

text: Christopher LaSalle[edit]

text:
Christopher LaSalle

NCIS: New Orleans character

Christopher LaSalle (Lucas Black)

First appearance
"Crescent City" (NCIS)
March 25, 2014

Created by
Gary Glasberg

Portrayed by
Lucas Black

Information

Full name
Christopher LaSalle

Occupation
Federal agent

Affiliation
Naval Criminal Investigative Service
New Orleans Police Department (formerly)

Title
Senior Special Agent, NCIS New Orleans Field Office

Family
Beau LaSalle (father, deceased)
Rose LaSalle (stepmother)
Cade LaSalle (older brother)
Unnamed sister

Significant other(s)
Savannah Kelly (girlfriend, deceased)

text: Christopher LaSalle (Lucas Black) is a senior NCIS Special Agent. He is also a native of Alabama. LaSalle was first a detective out of the New Orleans Police Department's Fifth District at the time of Hurricane Katrina[1] and then spent seven years on the NOPD vice squad.[4] He attended the University of Alabama, graduating magna cum laude with a 3.7 GPA. While in college he played the school mascot Big Al. He lives in the French Quarter.[3] He has an older brother Cade[5] who has bipolar disorder[6] and an unnamed sister. He has received multiple commendations for his work at the New Orleans children's hospital.[4] During the first season, he begins a romantic relationship with his high school sweetheart Savannah, though she is later murdered. After this, LaSalle begins sleeping with numerous women, leaving the team concerned for his well-being. In season 3, LaSalle believes he has fathered a child, though the child is later revealed not to be his.

text: In "Ties That Bind", LaSalle's father Beau passed away; he made Chris, with whom he had a contentious if not estranged relationship, executor of his estate and his successor at LaSalle Enterprises.[7]

text: Meredith Brody[edit]

text:
Meredith Brody

NCIS: New Orleans character

First appearance
"Crescent City" (NCIS)
March 25, 2014

Last appearance
"Sleeping with the Enemy" (NCIS: New Orleans)
May 17, 2016

Created by
Gary Glasberg

Portrayed by
Zoe McLellan

Information

Full name
Meredith Brody

Nickname(s)
Merry

Occupation
Federal agent (resigned)

Affiliation
Naval Criminal Investigative Service

Title
Field Agent, NCIS New Orleans Field Office (resigned)

Family
Olivia Brody (mother)
Emily Ann Brody (twin sister, deceased)

Significant other(s)
James Lathom (ex-fiancée)

text: Meredith Brody (Zoe McLellan) is a senior NCIS Special Agent. During NCIS season eleven, she transferred to Pride's team from the Chicago field office. She has a background in interrogation and claims to have a black belt in aikido. She is a graduate of Michigan State University and had a twin sister, Emily Ann Brody, who was murdered.[8][9] Brody was the youngest Special Agent in the history of NCIS Midwest.[4] During the second season, Brody is alerted to the real circumstances behind her sister's death, and working with Sebastian, she arrests the killer. At the end of season two, Brody begins a relationship with a Homeland Security Agent named Russo, who is revealed to be corrupt. Though Brody kills Russo, she resigns from NCIS after beginning to doubt her own abilities. Her resignation leads to an FBI investigation into the team, who are later cleared of all corruption charges at the behest of her replacement, Gregorio.

text: Sebastian Lund[edit]

text:
Sebastian Lund

NCIS: New Orleans character

First appearance
"Musician Heal Thyself" (NCIS: New Orleans)
September 23, 2014

Created by
Gary Glasberg

Portrayed by
Rob Kerkovich

Information

Full name
Sebastian Lund

Occupation
Federal agent

Affiliation
Naval Criminal Investigative Service
Jefferson Parish Coroner's Office

Title
Probationary Special Agent/Forensics Agent, NCIS New Orleans Field Office

Family
Sylvia Lund (mother)

text: Sebastian Lund (Rob Kerkovich) is originally a Jefferson Parish forensic specialist, and Dr. Wade's lab assistant, though he later attends FLETC and joins Pride's team as a Forensics Agent. Sebastian is a hardened conspiracy theorist, and is somewhat socially awkward. In season one, it is revealed that he is in a relationship with a woman named Melissa. In season two, Sebastian helps Meredith Brody uncover the conspiracy surrounding her sister's death. Though the team initially resents Sebastian for enabling Brody, he is later proved to be correct. In 2015, it is revealed that he has been working with Loretta for five years. In season three, he becomes the fifth member of Pride's team after graduating from FLETC. Pride, similarly, contacted Director Vance to note how worried he was about Sebastian's abilities in the field, but also added that he believed he deserved a chance to prove himself.

text: Loretta Wade[edit]

text:
Loretta Wade

NCIS: New Orleans character

Loretta Wade (CCH Pounder)

First appearance
"Crescent City" (NCIS)
March 25, 2014

Created by
Gary Glasberg

Portrayed by
CCH Pounder

Information

Full name
Loretta Wade

Occupation
Medical examiner

Affiliation
Jefferson Parish Coroner's Office
Naval Criminal Investigative Service

Title
Coroner of Jefferson Parish

Children
Danny Malloy (foster son)
CJ Malloy (foster son)

text: Loretta Wade (CCH Pounder) is the Coroner of Jefferson Parish. Wade's office is contracted by NCIS for autopsies and forensics. She is a graduate of Harvard University and moved down to New Orleans after completing medical school. In season one, Loretta begins to foster two children who are involved in an NCIS case. Pride later starts a college fund for the children. Loretta is also Brody's landlord during her tenure at NCIS. In season three, Loretta is hurt by Sebastian's decision to leave the coroner's office, though she later comes to accept his decision.

text: In "Second Line", it is mentioned that Loretta has more than once been asked to join the Orleans Parish Coroner's Office or even run for the position of Orleans Parish Coroner.

text: Sonja Percy[edit]

text:
Sonja Percy

NCIS: New Orleans character

First appearance
"More Now" (NCIS: New Orleans #1.17)
March 10, 2015

Last appearance
"High Stakes" (NCIS: New Orleans #4.19)
April 3, 2018

Created by
Gary Glasberg

Portrayed by
Shalita Grant

Information

Full name
Sonja Percy

Occupation
Federal agent

Affiliation
Naval Criminal Investigative Service
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Title
Special Agent, NCIS New Orleans Field Office

text: Sonja Percy (Shalita Grant) is a NCIS Special Agent and former Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Special Agent. While an ATF agent, Percy helped Pride and the team on their pursuit for Baitfish. At the end of the season one finale "My City", she noted a desire to join Pride's team, a transfer that took place before season two. Despite working as an NCIS Special Agent, Sonja continues to participate in undercover operations for outside agencies, most recently the DEA. In season two, Pride tells Sonja that he will not support her if her secrecy begins to put Chris and Meredith at risk, suggesting she is somewhat expendable and that he will not hesitate to remove her from his team if the operation she's part of endangers the team in any way. In season three, it is revealed that LaSalle was initially unsure of Percy's addition to the team; similarly, Percy is hesitant of Gregorio's arrival, though they come to respect each other. During season two, Percy and LaSalle begin a flirtation, and Gregorio initially believes they are in a relationship.

text: Patton Plame[edit]

text:
Patton Plame

NCIS: New Orleans character

First appearance
"The Recruits" (NCIS: New Orleans)
October 14, 2014

Created by
Gary Glasberg

Portrayed by
Daryl "Chill" Mitchell

Information

Full name
Patton Plame

Nickname(s)
Triple P

Occupation
Federal agent

Affiliation
Naval Criminal Investigative Service

Title
Investigative Computer Specialist, NCIS New Orleans Field Office

text: Patton Plame (Daryl "Chill" Mitchell) is an NCIS investigative computer specialist. According to Brody, he was previously employed by United States Cyber Command. LaSalle refers to Plame as a "hacker".

text: Tammy Gregorio[edit]

text:
Tammy Gregorio

NCIS: New Orleans character

First appearance
"Aftershocks" (NCIS: New Orleans)
September 20, 2016

Created by
Gary Glasberg

Portrayed by
Vanessa Ferlito

Information

Full name
Tammy Gregorio

Occupation
Federal agent

Affiliation
Naval Criminal Investigative Service
Federal Bureau of Investigation

Title
Special Agent, NCIS New Orleans Field Office

Spouse(s)
Ethan McKinley (ex-husband)

Significant other(s)
Hannah Lee (ex-girlfriend)
Eva Azarova (romantic interest)

text: Tammy Gregorio (Vanessa Ferlito) is a Washington FBI Special Agent who first appears as an investigator on a task force assigned to investigate Pride and his team. Brody's unexpected departure increases the attention placed upon the team, and soon Gregorio is seconded to undertake a more thorough investigation. Following the completion of this, Pride requests that she stays on, replacing Brody on a semi-permanent basis. After she was dismissed from the FBI, Gregorio officially joins NCIS and is now on Pride's team; with her former boss - Deputy Director Isler - lobbying for her approval.

text: Gregorio's ex-husband Ethan McKinley disappeared after embezzling $80 million in Katrina relief funds.[10] However, in season 3 episode "Overdrive", it was revealed that she had a relationship with Assistant U.S. Attorney Hannah Lee, making her the first main LGBT character in the franchise (though a recurring gay character, Ned Dorneget, had been previously introduced in the main series). When her ex-husband returns in episode 18, "Slay the Dragon", she tells him that she is a lesbian.

text: In season 3 episode 14 "Pandora's Box (Part II)" Gregorio reveals that she is a lawyer by profession, and joined the FBI after graduating from law school.

text: Recurring cast and characters[edit]

text: Laurel Pride[edit]

text: Laurel Pride (Shanley Caswell) is Pride's daughter who is currently a music major at Louisiana State University. Like her father, she plays piano, and is expected to graduate with Honors. Despite having an affectionate relationship with her father, she feels he is too nice to her boyfriends, and as such notes a desire for him to stop developing "bromances" with them. In season one, her boyfriend Orion is injured in an explosion meant to kill Pride. In season two, she is attacked whilst jogging, though the man suffers cardiac arrest and dies. She is taken hostage shortly after, but is able to disarm her female attacker long enough for Sonja Percy to shoot the attacker dead.

text: Rita Deveraux[edit]

text: Rita Deveraux (Chelsea Field) is a New Orleans Assistant District Attorney and a Reserve Commander in the U.S. Navy's Judge Advocate General Corps. She is a longtime friend, and occasional love interest, of Dwayne Pride. Field is Scott Bakula's off-screen wife.

text: Raymond Isler[edit]

text: Raymond Isler (Derek Webster) is the Executive Assistant Director of the FBI National Security Branch and Agent Tammy Gregorio's direct superior. In this capacity, he leads a Department of Justice investigation into Pride's New Orleans team following the resignation of Agent Brody and the death of Agent Russo. Though Isler initially appears stand-offish with Pride, the two cooperate on numerous occasions in order to halt the activities of the cartel. Isler later fires Gregorio for disobeying a direct order, though he lobbies the Department of Justice to install her on Pride's team.

text: After the takedown of Javier Garcia (Julian Acosta), EAD Isler was promoted to Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. However, when it is revealed that a member of his team was a double agent for the Russians, Isler was demoted to Special Agent.

text: Sasha Broussard[edit]

text: Sasha Broussard (Callie Thorne) is a former member of the New Orleans Broussard crime syndicate, though she claims she is trying to disassociate herself from her family. After she gains the trust of Pride, the team discover she has been assisting Baitfish in his quest to control the entirety of NOLA's criminal enterprises. She is arrested and presumably convicted of her crimes.

text: Douglas Hamilton[edit]

text: Douglas Hamilton (Steven Weber) first appeared as the New Orleans city councilman of District C. Though he shares a mutual dislike with Dwayne Pride, the two often reconcile their differences in the pursuit of safeguarding New Orleans. In season two, Hamilton ran for the office of the Mayor of New Orleans and was elected after the other candidate was arrested for funneling drugs into Hamilton's district. He and Pride are later taken hostage after Hamilton is implicated in a Cold Case homicide, though he is later exonerated, and the real killer is arrested. In season three, a computer hacker leaks Hamilton's sex-tape and emails to the media, jeopardizing his future as a public servant. He was arrested by Pride and removed from office at the end of season three.

text: Paul Jenks[edit]

text: Paul Jenks (John Livingston) is a former member of the Broussard Syndicate and Confidential Informant for Dwayne Pride, known as Baitfish. During season one, he teams up with Sasha Broussard to take over the criminal underground of New Orleans left by the downfall of the Syndicate, and is responsible for multiple murders. He is later arrested by Pride's team, but not before assassinating Savannah Kelly. In "How Much Pain Can You Take?", Jenks tells the team that there's a huge storm coming and is killed seconds later after being shot in the head by an unknown sniper who is later revealed to be Jim Messier, Captain with the New Orleans Police Department.

text: Karen Izzo[edit]

text: Karen Izzo (Sharon Conley) is an Assistant United States Attorney assigned to investigate Pride's team during NCIS: New Orleans's third season.

text: Savannah Kelly[edit]

text: Savannah Kelly (Gillian Alexy) is a long-time love interest of LaSalle, and his "childhood sweetheart". The two reunite after she is revealed to be his brother's therapist, and she and Chris later embark on a romantic relationship. She is murdered by Baitfish in "How Much Pain Can You Take?". Chris takes her death particularly hard, and begins drinking more and seeking affection from multiple women, much to dismay of the team.

text: Naomi Parsons[edit]

text: Agent Naomi Parsons (Kate Beahan) is an Australian ADFIS Agent seconded to New Orleans, and a romantic interest for Dwayne Pride.

text: Jim Messier[edit]

text: Jim Messier (Dylan Walsh) is a Captain with the New Orleans Police Department. In "My City", it is revealed that he was seduced by Sasha Broussard into becoming a mole, which led to him assassinating Baitfish once he was captured by Special Agent Pride and his team. Pride and LaSalle eventually discover a badly beaten Messier at an abandoned motel area with Pride and LaSalle managing to get Messier to safety before the bomb goes off. After being placed under custody, Messier is presumably convicted of his crimes, stripped of his rank as Captain and jailed.

text: Cade LaSalle[edit]

text: Cade LaSalle (Clayne Crawford) is LaSalle's brother who suffers from bi-polar disorder.

text: Danny Malloy[edit]

text: Danny Malloy (Christopher Meyer) is Loretta's elder foster son and C.J.'s older brother. In Season 3, Danny enlisted in the United States Navy rather than go to college, causing some friction between him and Loretta - and also between Loretta and Pride, who refused to talk Danny out of enlisting.

text: C. J. Malloy[edit]

text: C.J. Malloy (Dani Dare) is Loretta's younger foster son and Danny's younger brother.

text: Cassius Pride[edit]

text: Cassius Pride (Stacy Keach) is Pride's incarcerated father.

text: Crossover cast and characters[edit]

text: Abigail Borin[edit]

text: Abigail Borin (Diane Neal) is a CGIS Special Agent in Charge based out of the capitol. Borin first works with Pride's team when she is tasked with interrogating a smuggler whose crimes took place within Coast Guard jurisdiction. She later investigates a double homicide on-board a research vessel, during which she notes she has been temporarily assigned Agent Afloat status. Borin reunites with Pride to investigate the poisoning of a Naval Commander, and in "Rock-a-Bye Baby", the kidnapping of a young child. Borin expresses a desire to join Pride's team, though she had similarly inquired about the possibility of working with Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Pride's friend who is stationed in Washington D.C.

text: Leon Vance[edit]

text: Leon Vance (Rocky Carroll) is the Director of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, based out of Washington. Though he has little physical interaction with the New Orleans team, he often communicates with them via secure satellite conference. He regards Pride and his agents as one of NCIS' most valuable assets (though he has previously praised both Gibbs' NCIS team, and Callen's Los Angeles team in the same manner). In season two, Vance orders a specialist unit to shadow Pride, who is in fear for his life.

text: Others[edit]

text: Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon)

text: Gibbs is a Supervisory Special Agent assigned to NCIS's Major Case Response Team. He is a crossover character from NCIS.

text: Anthony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly)

text: DiNozzo is a Senior Special Agent who was assigned to NCIS's Major Case Response Team. He is a crossover character from NCIS.

text: Timothy McGee (Sean Murray)

text: McGee is a Senior Special Agent assigned to NCIS's Major Case Response Team. He is a crossover character from NCIS.

text: Eleanor Bishop (Emily Wickersham)

text: Bishop is a Special Agent assigned to NCIS's Major Case Response Team. She is a crossover character from NCIS.

text: Nicholas Torres (Wilmer Valderrama)

text: Torres is a Special Agent assigned to NCIS's Major Case Response Team. He is a crossover character from NCIS.

text: Abby Sciuto (Pauley Perrette)

text: Abby is a forensic specialist assigned to NCIS Headquarters. She is a crossover character from NCIS.

text: Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum)

text: Ducky is a medical examiner assigned to NCIS Headquarters. He is a crossover character from NCIS.

text: Sarah Porter (Leslie Hope)

text: Porter is the United States Secretary of the Navy. She is a crossover character from NCIS.

text: Carol Wilson (Meredith Eaton)

text: Carol works for the CDC. She is a crossover character from NCIS.

text: Tobias C. Fornell (Joe Spano)

text: Fornell is a Senior FBI Special Agent. He is a crossover character from NCIS.


document_title: Megan Mullally

question_text: who played the plumber on will and grace

text: Megan Mullally

text: Early life[edit]

text: Mullally was born in Los Angeles, California,[1] the daughter of Martha (née Palmer) and Carter Mullally, Jr.,[2] an actor who was a contract player with Paramount Pictures in the 1950s.[3] Mullally moved to her father's native Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, at the age of six.[4] She is of English, Irish and Scandinavian ancestry, as she stated on TLC's TV show, "Who Do You Think You Are?, which aired May 28, 2018 (S10, E3). She studied ballet from the age of six and performed at the Oklahoma City Ballet during high school, also studying at the School of American Ballet in New York City.

text: Following her graduation from Casady School, she attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where she studied English Literature and Art History, and subsequently became active in Chicago theatre.

text: Career[edit]

text: Television[edit]

text: Mullally moved to Los Angeles in 1985.[citation needed] Two weeks later, she was signed by the William Morris Agency.[citation needed] One of her first acting spots was on a McDonald's commercial that also featured John Goodman.[5] She made her series debut in 1986 in The Ellen Burstyn Show. She subsequently guest starred on sitcoms such as Seinfeld, Frasier, Wings, Ned and Stacey, Mad About You, Caroline in the City, and Just Shoot Me!.  She played a central character in a season-five episode of Murder, She Wrote, "Coal Miner's Slaughter," recalling in 2012, "I hadn't gotten a job for so long, and I was in a complete panic because I didn't know how I was going to pay my rent. So I get a call one day from my agent that I'd gotten offered a guest role, and it paid $5,000. I literally fell down onto my knees and testified and wept. I played some former protégée of Jessica Fletcher. It's one of my favorite things I've ever shot."[6]

text: In 1989, Mullally tested for the co-starring role of Elaine Benes on Seinfeld. The role was eventually given to Julia Louis-Dreyfus.[6] In 1998 Mullally landed the role of Karen Walker, Grace Adler's sarcastic, pill-popping assistant, in the NBC sitcom Will & Grace. She won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in both 2000 and 2006, and was nominated in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005. She won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series three times, in 2002, 2003 and 2004, and with cast members Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, and Sean Hayes, she shared the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series in 2001. She is the first of only two actresses to win a SAG Award three years in a row. She was nominated each year from 2000 until 2003 for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film.

text: In 2005, Mullally saw comedian and actor Bill Hader performing with his Second City class in Los Angeles, and shortly thereafter brought Hader to the attention of Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels. Also in 2005, Mullally was awarded the Women in Film Lucy Award "in recognition of her innovation in creative works that have enhanced the perception of women through the medium of television".[7]

text: Following Will & Grace, Mullally hosted her own talk show, The Megan Mullally Show from 2006 to 2007. She has hosted Saturday Night Live, guest-hosted the Late Show with David Letterman, hosted the 2006 TV Land Awards, and been a featured performer twice on the Tony Awards. She has been featured in advertisements for M&M's, Old Navy, CheapTickets.com, and I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!

text: Mullally guest-starred as 'Bev', an adoption case worker for Liz Lemon in the season-three premiere of the NBC sitcom 30 Rock and returned to play the same character two additional times during the show's run. Other appearances include Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List, Campus Ladies, director/actor David Wain's "Wainy Days," an episode of HBO's Funny or Die, and the Funny or Die web video "That's What She Said."

text: Mullally has guest-starred seven times as Tammy Swanson on the NBC series Parks and Recreation, in the episodes "Ron and Tammy," "Ron & Tammy: Part Two," "Li'l Sebastian," "Ron and Tammys," "The Trial of Leslie Knope," "Ron and Diane," and "Ron and Jammy". Mullally plays the role of the second ex-wife of the character Ron Swanson, who is played by her real-life husband, Nick Offerman.[8] Offerman also had a part on one episode of Mullally's show Will & Grace where he played a plumber who came to Will's mother's house while Will, Karen, Grace, and Jack were visiting.

text: Also in 2009, Mullally starred in the ABC sitcom In the Motherhood. Based on the original web series, the television adaptation focuses on three mothers. She played Rosemary opposite Cheryl Hines and Jessica St. Clair. The series was poorly received and was canceled by ABC due to low ratings after airing just five out of seven episodes produced.

text: Mullally co-starred in 2010 as Lydia on the Starz ensemble series Party Down.[9] Mullally co-starred as "Chief" on the Adult Swim series Childrens Hospital. In 2011, Mullally began a recurring role as Dana Hartz, the mother of Penny (Casey Wilson), on the ABC sitcom Happy Endings. In the following months, Fox announced Mullally would join the series Breaking In when the show returned for a second season on March 6, 2012.

text: Also in 2012, Mullally joined the first season of Bob's Burgers as Aunt Gayle. She would reprise the role in subsequent episodes along with several minor roles.

text: Theatre[edit]

text: This section of a biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (January 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: Mullally made her Broadway debut as Marty in the 1994 revival of Grease,[10] and subsequently appeared as Rosemary in the hit 1995 revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying opposite Matthew Broderick. In 2007, Mullally starred as Elizabeth in Mel Brooks' original Broadway musical, Young Frankenstein. She can be heard on the cast albums of all three productions.

text: In 1996, she starred in You Never Know at the Pasadena Playhouse. Mullally appeared in 2000 as Pamela in the multiple award-winning production of Chuck Mee's The Berlin Circle, for which she won both the LA Weekly Theatre Award and the Backstage West Garland Award. Mullally starred as Beverly in the acclaimed production of Adam Bock's The Receptionist at the Odyssey Theatre (notably, the longest sold-out run of a show in that theatre's history), for which she was awarded the 2010 Backstage West Garland Award for Best Performance by an Actress.

text: From April 13 to June 1 in 2014, Mullally starred alongside her real-life husband, Nick Offerman, in Annapurna at the off-Broadway Acorn Theatre on New York's 42nd Street Theatre Row.[11]

text: Music[edit]

text: Mullally is a member of the band Supreme Music Program.[12] SMP has released three albums to date, The Sweetheart Break-In, Big as a Berry and Free Again!.[12][13]

text: Mullally and Stephanie Hunt formed the band Nancy and Beth in 2012. They went on tour in March 2013, along with Mullally's husband, Nick Offerman.

text: Film[edit]

text: Mullally has appeared in Marc Forster's Sundance competition entry Everything Put Together, Anywhere but Here with Susan Sarandon and Natalie Portman, About Last Night with Demi Moore and Rob Lowe, Speaking of Sex with James Spader, and Stealing Harvard with Tom Green and Jason Lee. Mullally played a singing teacher in the 2009 film remake of Fame,[14] and can be heard on the soundtrack recording. Additionally, Mullally sang the song "Long John Blues" (performed on-screen by Kristen Bell) in 2010's Burlesque. She played one of the leads' mothers in the 2013 indie film The Kings of Summer and Mrs. Van Camp in the movie G.B.F. Mullally played Barb Fleming in the 2016 film Why Him?

text: Personal life[edit]

text: Mullally's first marriage, in the mid-1990s, was to talent agent Michael Katcher.[15]

text: Mullally met actor and future husband Nick Offerman in 2000 while acting in The Berlin Circle,[16] a play produced by the Evidence Room Theatre Company, and they married after dating for 18 months. While they were dating, Offerman appeared in a guest role on Will & Grace, in a 2001 Thanksgiving episode (Season 4, Episode 10, "Moveable Feast, Part 2"). Offerman appeared again, in a different role, in the Season 9 (2018) episode "Friends and Lover". The couple have also appeared together in films such as The Kings of Summer and Smashed, the television series Parks and Recreation, and also performed voice work together in Hotel Transylvania 2.

text: Filmography[edit]

text: Film[edit]

text:
Year

Title

Role

Notes

1983

Risky Business

Call Girl

1985

Once Bitten

Suzette

1986

Last Resort

Jessica Lollar

1986

About Last Night...

Pat

1986

Blue Velvet

Louise

Scenes cut

1991

Queens Logic

Dolores

1999

Anywhere But Here

Woman Buying Car

1999

Best Man in Grass Creek

Co-Worker

2000

Everything Put Together

Barbie

2001

Monkeybone

Kimmy Miley

2001

Speaking of Sex

Jennifer Klink

2002

Stealing Harvard

Patty Plummer

2004

Teacher's Pet

Adele

Voice

2005

Rebound

Principal Walsh

2006

New York (2006 film)

Jasmine

Voice

2007

Bee Movie

Trudy

Voice

2009

Fame

Ms. Fran Rowan

2010

New York 2

Jasmine

Voice

2012

Smashed

Principal Barnes

2013

The Kings of Summer

Mrs. Keenan

2013

G.B.F.

Mrs. Van Camp

2014

Apartment Troubles

Aunt Kimberley

2014

Ernest & Celestine

Lucienne (voice)

English dub

2014

Date and Switch

Patricia

2014

New York 3

Jasmine

2014

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Nina

2015

Hotel Transylvania 2

Linda

Voice

2016

Why Him?

Barb Fleming

2017

Lemon

Simone

2017

Infinity Baby

Hester

2017

The Disaster Artist

Mrs. Sestero

2017

Oh Lucy!

Hannah

2018

New York 4

Jasmine

text: Television[edit]

text:
Year

Title

Role

Notes

1981

The Children Nobody Wanted

Sharon

Television film

1985

First Steps

Cathy

Television film

1986

Tall Tales & Legends

Posy

Episode: "Pecos Bill"

1986

American Playhouse

Lilah

Episode: "Under the Biltmore Clock"

1986–1987

The Ellen Burstyn Show

Molly Brewer Ross

13 episodes

1988

Murder, She Wrote

Molly Connors

Episode: "Coal Miner's Slaughter"

1989

Almost Grown

Bride

Episode: "The Hat That Fell from Space"

1989

China Beach

Cindy

Episode: "The World: Part 2"

1990

Wings

Cindy

Episode: "There Once Was a Girl from Nantucket"

1990

Rainbow Drive

Ava Zieff

Television film

1991

Dear John

Molly

Episode: "Molly and Me"

1991

My Life and Times

Susan

6 episodes

1991–1993

Herman's Head

Yvonne (voice)

2 episodes

1992

The Steadfast Tin Soldier

Ballerina (voice)

Television film

1992

Fish Police

Pearl (voice)

6 episodes

1992

Rachel Gunn, R.N.

Becky Jo

13 episodes

1993

I Yabba-Dabba Do!

Pebbles Flintstone (voice)

Television film

1993

Seinfeld

Betsy

Episode: "The Implant"

1993

Hollyrock-a-Bye Baby

Additional voices

Television film

1993

A Flintstone Family Christmas

Pebbles Flintstone (voice)

Television film

1994

Batman: The Animated Series

Cindy (voice)

Episode: "House and Garden"

1994

Couples

Beth

Television film

1997

Ned and Stacey

Wendy

Episode: "Where My Third Nepal Is Sheriff"

1997

Frasier

Beth Armstrong

Episode: "Four for the Seesaw"

1997

Mad About You

Jane

Episode: "Guardianhood"

1997

The Naked Truth

Vanessa

Episode: "He Ain't Famous, He's My Brother"

1997

Caroline in the City

Vanessa Cassidy

Episode: "Caroline and the Decanter"

1997

Extreme Ghostbusters

Additional voices

Episode: "The True Face of a Monster"

1998

Just Shoot Me!

Stephanie Griffin-Cooper

Episode: "Amblushed"

1998

Winchell

June Winchell

Television film

1998–2006,2017–present

Will & Grace

Karen Walker

210 episodes

2000

3rd Rock from the Sun

Renata Albright

Episode: "Les Liaisons Dickgereuses"

2002

King of the Hill

Teresa (voice)

Episode: "Beer and Loathing"

2002

The Pact

Melanie Gold

Television film

2006

Peep and the Big Wide World

Pink Quack (voice)

Episode: "Quack Quack/One Duck Two Many"

2006

How I Met Your Mother

Barney's Mother (voice)

Episode: "Single Stamina" (Uncredited)

2006

Campus Ladies

Ms. Powell

Episode: "The Dare"

2006–2007

The Megan Mullally Show

Herself (host)

71 episodes

2007

Boston Legal

Renata Hill

Episode: "The Bride Wore Blood"

2008

Bad Mother's Handbook

Nan

Television film

2008

The New Adventures of Old Christine

Margaret

Episode: "Unidentified Funk"

2008–2013

30 Rock

Bev

3 episodes

2008–2016

Childrens Hospital

Chief

60 episodes

2009

In the Motherhood

Rosemary

7 episodes

2009–2015

Parks and Recreation

Tammy Swanson II

9 episodes

2010

Party Down

Lydia Dunfree

10 episodes

2011–present

Bob's Burgers

Gayle / Various voices

10 episodes

2011–2013

Happy Endings

Dana Hartz

3 episodes

2012

Up All Night

Shayna Mund

2 episodes

2012

Breaking In

Veronica Mann

13 episodes

2012–2015

Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja

Mrs. Marilyn Driscoll (voice)

9 episodes

2013

Out There

Rose Stevens (voice)

10 episodes

2013

Web Therapy

Franny Marshall

3 episodes

2013–2015

Axe Cop

Anita / Various voices

13 episodes

2013–2016

Sofia the First

Miss Nettle (voice)

3 episodes

2014

Trophy Wife

Cricket

2 episodes

2015

You, Me and the Apocalypse

Leanne

7 episodes

2016

Life in Pieces

Mary-Lynn

Episode: "Annulled Roommate Pill Shower"

text: Awards and nominations[edit]


document_title: Spirit Airlines

question_text: what kind of planes does spirit airlines fly

text: Spirit Airlines

text: History[edit]

text: Early years (1964–2006)[edit]

text: The company initially started as Clipper Trucking Company in 1964.[4] The company changed its name to Ground Air Transfer, Inc., in 1974. The airline service was founded in 1980 in Macomb County, Michigan, by Ned Homfeld as Charter One, a Detroit-based charter tour operator providing travel packages to entertainment destinations such as Atlantic City, Las Vegas, and the Bahamas. In 1990, Charter One began scheduled service from Boston and Providence, Rhode Island, to Atlantic City. On May 29, 1992, Charter One brought jet aircraft into the fleet and changed its name to Spirit Airlines.[5][6] Scheduled flights between Detroit and Atlantic City began on June 1, 1992.[6] Scheduled flights between Boston and Providence began on June 15, 1992.[6]

text: On April 2, 1993, Spirit Airlines began scheduled service to Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, and St. Petersburg, Florida.[6] Flights between Atlantic City and Fort Myers, Florida, began on September 25, 1993.[7] Service at Philadelphia began in 1994.[8] During the next five years, Spirit expanded further, increasing service from Detroit and adding service in new markets such as Myrtle Beach, Los Angeles, and New York City.

text: In the summer of 1994, Spirit Airlines overbooked flights, and 1,400 customers' tickets were canceled.[9] The overbooking occurred because Spirit Airlines had given incorrect instructions to travel agents, causing those tickets not to be valid, even though the customers had paid for the flights.[9] In response to criticism, Spirit Airlines said it would make sure all paid customers would always be able to fly to their destination, even if Spirit Airlines had to book them on a competitor's airline.[9]

text: Spirit initially had their headquarters in Eastpointe, Michigan (formerly East Detroit) in Metro Detroit.[10] It relocated its headquarters in November 1999, moving to Miramar, Florida in the Miami Metropolitan Area.[11] Prior to the decision to move the headquarters to Miramar, Spirit considered Atlantic City, New Jersey and Detroit, Michigan.[12]

text: In 2000, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) fined Spirit Airlines $67,000 for allegedly violating federal regulations on cabin and seat markings and placards.[13] Discrepancies were found in the marking and placarding of emergency equipment, passenger seats, storage areas and doors on eight of Spirit's DC9 and MD80 aircraft.[14][15]

text: In November 2001, Spirit inaugurated service to San Juan, Puerto Rico, and implemented a fully integrated Spanish-language customer service plan including a website and dedicated reservation line.[citation needed]

text: In the fall of 2003, Spirit resumed flights to Washington, D.C.'s Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, which were suspended after the September 11 attacks. Spirit also began service to Grand Cayman, San Francisco, and Boston in 2006, and in 2007 filed DOT applications to offer service to Costa Rica, Haiti, the Netherlands Antilles and Venezuela.[citation needed]

text: In 2006, Spirit exercised options to order 30 Airbus A320-200 aircraft for further expansion. Deliveries began in March 2010.[citation needed]

text: Transition to ultra low cost carrier (2007–present)[edit]

text: On March 6, 2007, Spirit began a transition to an ultra low-cost carrier, following a fare model that decoupled amenities that are often included in the base ticket price of traditional carriers. Passengers who wanted to customize their itinerary or flight experience paid an add-on fee for each additional feature, which enabled the carrier to earn ancillary revenue in excess of 40% of total revenue.[16] These included having an agent print a boarding pass at check-in versus doing it online or at a kiosk,[17] for any large carry-on or checked bags, progressive fees for overweight bags, selected seat assignments, travel insurance, and more.[18] In 2011, Spirit Airlines became the first U.S. airline to charge passengers for carry-on bags. They were later followed by Allegiant Air and Frontier Airlines.[citation needed]

text: On June 3, 2008, Spirit Airlines made a WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notice) application to potentially relocate or lay off hundreds of pilots and flight attendants, and the closure of their San Juan and LaGuardia crew bases.[19] In September 2008, Spirit began advertising on the side of aircraft, overhead bins, tray tables, seatback inserts and bulkheads.[20]

text: In May 2009, after more than four years of inconclusive negotiations between the airline and the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), Spirit pilots overwhelmingly (98% of votes) voted in favor of strike action over compensation, work rules and benefits. At that time, Spirit pilots were among the lowest paid Airbus pilots in the United States. On June 12, 2010, Spirit grounded its flights when its unionized pilots walked out on strike, stranding thousands of passengers. This was the first passenger airline strike by American ALPA-represented pilots since Comair in 2001.[21][22] On June 15, negotiations between the airline and ALPA resumed, and a tentative agreement was reached late in the evening on June 16. The tentative agreement, which Spirit pilots later ratified by a 74% margin, brought Spirit pilots' compensation and benefits in line with comparable Airbus operators in the US. Flights eventually resumed on June 18.[23]

text: On June 20, 2010, Spirit Plus was rebranded as "Big Front Seat" and business class service was discontinued. For an additional fee, a person could choose "Big Front Seat", or upgrade at the airport. In December 2010, Spirit Airlines introduced the Free Spirit World MasterCard.[24]

text: In February 2012, Spirit Airlines established a crew and maintenance base at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada.[25] On December 1, 2012, the airline opened a flight attendant and pilot crew base at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.[26]

text: In April 2012, citing the airline's strict refund policy, Spirit Airlines representative Misty Pinson announced that the airline would not issue a refund to dying veteran Jerry Meekins, who had purchased a non-refundable ticket between Florida and Atlantic City.[27] The 76-year-old Vietnam veteran and Marine tried to get his $197 back after learning his esophageal cancer was terminal and being told by his doctor not to fly.[28] The decision caused outrage among veterans' groups and the general public, some of whom threatened to boycott Spirit unless both a refund and apology were issued. On May 4, Spirit CEO Ben Baldanza apologized for how the situation was handled and personally refunded Meekins' ticket. Additionally, the airline made a $5000 donation to the Wounded Warrior Project in Meekins' name.[29]

text: On Monday, July 1, 2013, a Spirit Airlines jetliner came within two miles of a skydiving aircraft, but was found by the FAA to be in full regulatory compliance.[30]

text: In August 2013, Spirit reached an agreement on a new five-year deal with the Transport Workers Union of America, who represent the airline's flight dispatchers.[31]

text: In November 2014, Morgan Stanley named Spirit the top growth airline pick for investors.[32]

text: In January 2016, Baldanza stepped down as CEO in order to relocate from Florida, and was replaced by former Air Tran CEO Robert L. Fornaro.[33] This prompted rumors of a merger with Frontier Airlines[34]; if the carriers were to merge, it would create the single largest ultra-low cost carrier in the Americas.[35] Fornaro led an effort to change the company and improve working conditions as well as the guest experience, implementing multiple changes such as teaming up with the Disney Institute to create new service standards and changing policies internally to create a more welcoming environment.[36]

text: In September 2017, Spirit temporarily moved their Operations Center from their Fort Lauderdale hub to the Detroit hub, as part of the evacuation for Hurricane Irma.

text: As of November 2017, Spirit's on-time performance is second in the country, behind only Delta Airlines, a significant improvement from December 2015, when it ranked last among thirteen airlines with 68.7% of flights arriving on time.[37] In February 2018, Spirit was the only airline in North America to make the list of the top 10 safest in the world.[38]

text: In January 2018 Skytrax awarded Spirit three stars on their ten star scale upgrading from two in the previous year. They did, however, place at eight in the top ten "Best Low-Cost Airlines in North America" category.[39] [40]

text: Service expansion[edit]

text: On August 7, 2014, Spirit began new service out of Kansas City, Missouri to five destinations.[41]

text: In January 2017, Spirit announced a major expansion into Pittsburgh, which became the 61st city in the carrier's network. Spirit's first Pittsburgh flights launched May 25, when it began daily service to both Dallas/Fort Worth and Myrtle Beach, S.C. The carrier added seven more routes – to Fort Lauderdale, Houston Bush Intercontinental, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Tampa, Ft. Myers and Orlando – by July 13. Spirit began flying from Hartford with two routes to Florida and one to Myrtle Beach. Spirit's first flights from Hartford began April 27 when it launches daily flights to Orlando and four-times-a-week service to Myrtle Beach. Daily service to Fort Lauderdale started June 15. The Florida routes were intended to operate year-round; the South Carolina service to be seasonal.[42]

text: On Nov 10, 2016 Spirit announced new service to begin in Akron, Ohio via the Akron–Canton Airport creating six new routes, their flights launched November 10, when it began daily service to Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Tampa, and Fort Myers. Along with seasonal routes to Tampa, Las Vegas, and Myrtle Beach starting on April 27,2017.[43]

text: In November 2017, Spirit announced a new service expansion in Columbus, Ohio via the John Glenn Columbus International Airport announcing seven new routes for the city - to Fort Lauderdale, Las Vegas, and Orlando year round. Also providing seasonal service to Fort Myers and Tampa. They will offer flights to Myrtle Beach and New Orleans three times per week with service to begin on February 14th, 2018 .[44]

text: Also in November 2017, Spirit announced service to Richmond, VA through Richmond International Airport beginning March 15, 2018 announcing that passengers will be able to connect through either Fort Lauderdale or Orlando to 11 other destinations, including New Orleans and Tampa as well to international destinations like San Jose, Costa Rica; Managua, Nicaragua; and Lima, Peru.[45] On March 18th, 2018 Spirit began service by holding drawings at the airport for complimantary same day vacations on the inaugural flight to Orlando.[46]

text: Destinations[edit]

text: Spirit currently flies to 65 destinations throughout Central America, the Caribbean, South America, and the United States. As of April 2018[update], It maintains crew bases at Atlantic City, Chicago–O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, and Las Vegas.[47] [48]

text: Fleet[edit]

text: Current fleet[edit]

text: As of March 2018[update], the Spirit Airlines fleet consists entirely of Airbus A320 family aircraft.[49][50]

text:
Spirit Airlines fleet

Aircraft
In service
Orders
Passengers
Notes/sources

B
E
Total

Airbus A319-100
31
—
10
135
145
10 aircraft to be retired by 2021[50]

Airbus A320-200
52
10
4
174
178
Deliveries through 2019[50]

8
174
182

Airbus A320neo
5
43
8
174
182
First U.S. airline to fly the A320neo[51]

Airbus A321-200
30
—
8
220
228

Total
118
53

text: Historical fleet[edit]

text: The following aircraft formerly operated in the Spirit Airlines fleet:

text:
Spirit Airlines historical fleet

Aircraft
Total
Year retired
Replacement

McDonnell Douglas DC-9-20
3
2006
Airbus A320 family

McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30
13
2006
Airbus A320 family

McDonnell Douglas DC-9-40
2
2006
Airbus A320 family

McDonnell Douglas MD-81
7
2006
Airbus A320 family

McDonnell Douglas MD-82
14
2006
Airbus A320 family

McDonnell Douglas MD-83
15
2006
Airbus A320 family

McDonnell Douglas MD-87
2
2006
Airbus A320 family