document_title: List of Bob's Burgers characters

question_text: who voices linda's mom in bob's burgers

question_tokens: who voices linda 's mom in bob 's burgers

text: List of Bob's Burgers characters

text: Belcher family[edit]

text: The Belcher family is a family who runs the family business called Bob's Burgers. Loren Bouchard described their ethnicity:

text:
“
For better, for worse we gave [the main characters] the name Belcher so at least one of Bob's parents hails from some French or French-Canadian lineage. But in a perfect world, we'd have the show about a sort of Greek-Armenian-Italian-Jewish-German polyglot.[1]
”

text: The Belcher family consists of:

text: Bob[edit]

text: Roberto "Bob" Belcher, Jr. (voiced by H. Jon Benjamin) – Standing 6 ft., Bob Belcher is the husband of Linda; the father of Tina, Gene, and Louise; the son of Roberto Belcher, Sr. (nicknamed "Big Bob"); and the main character of the series. He is a third-generation restaurateur, as his father owns a diner, and currently the proprietor of his eponymous burger restaurant (Bob's Burgers) in a shore town. The Season 5 episode "Father of the Bob" begins with a flashback set 30 years prior in which a young Bob states that he is 14 years old, making him 44 in the episode's present. It is also mentioned in the episode that Bob's mother had died sometime prior to the series' beginning. Bob has a tendency to entertain himself by having conversations with inanimate objects and then speak back as the inanimate object, usually in a high, squeaky voice. He also enjoys making puns, utilizing this talent to name his burger specials (i.e. the If Looks Could Kale Burger, New Bacon-ings Burger, etc.) As revealed in "Bob Fires the Kids", his childhood has been described as "crappy," as his father discouraged play. While poor with business management, and cursed with an unlucky streak, his skills at burger cooking have been shown to be excellent, to the point where he has been referred to as a "beef artist." His primary business rival is Jimmy Pesto, who owns an Italian restaurant (Jimmy Pesto’s Pizzeria) across the street from Bob’s Burgers.

tag: ul

text: As shown in the flashback during "Father of the Bob," the "Burger of the Day" special stems from an incident in which he customized a burger by adding chives to it, calling it "Baby You Can Chive My Car." He tried to serve it to one of Big Bob's regular customers who normally ordered a tuna melt, but Big Bob threw the burger away in front of the whole diner. Ten years later, still resentful over not being allowed to cook the way he wanted, Bob turned down Big Bob's offer of a partnership in the diner and opened his own restaurant.

text: Bob prides himself on giving the customer a quality meal and goes the extra mile to ensure that, choosing fresh ingredients he gets from the local farmer's markets and co-op's. His biggest accomplishment is the Meatsiah, a concoction that consists of a steak tartare center with a medium-well cooked burger surrounding it and a burger Wellington surrounding the burger. Bob is allergic to shellfish, particularly lobster, as it causes his face to swell any time he eats it. This is a problem, as the town the Belchers live in has an annual lobster festival (which Bob hates because it takes away from his business). Bob, along with Linda, enjoys drinking and many of the episode gags involve Bob or Linda drinking and getting drunk from wine. Bob also has a tendency to take mind-altering substances such as crack in "Sheesh! Cab, Bob?", absinthe in "An Indecent Thanksgiving Proposal", pain relievers in "Housetrap", and his pain medication in "Burgerboss". It is implied that he is bisexual.

text: Linda[edit]

text: Linda Belcher (voiced by John Roberts) – Standing 5 ft. 10 in., Linda Belcher is Bob's happy-go-lucky and supportive wife and the mother of Tina, Gene, and Louise. Prior to her marriage to Bob, she was engaged to Hugo, who is now a local health inspector ("Human Flesh"). In the fifth-season episode "Eat, Spray, Linda" she turned forty-four years old. She has also referred to herself as a "pre middle aged mother" ("Lindapendent Woman") Linda often calls her husband Bobby, and her attraction to Bob is in part due to his passion for his work, and also due to his "Tom Selleckian" mustache. She remains a loyal and devoted wife despite their frequent financial problems and never having had a honeymoon or a day off in 10 years ("Weekend at Mort's"). She has a preference for mustaches, and says Bob "made himself ugly" when he shaved it off ("Sheesh! Cab, Bob?"). Her passions include singing, dinner theater, porcelain baby figurines, Tom Selleck, nautically themed romance novels, and prenatal yoga. She handles the accounting for the restaurant, though her bookkeeping methods are sometimes troublesome and overly complicated. She is fond of alcohol and is known to say that "Mommy doesn't get drunk; she just has fun." Linda is extroverted, has a thick New Jersey accent, and is somewhat odd; she is also fond of tackling problems using unconventional methods, though her methods are frequently over-optimistic and things sometimes go awry. She often encourages her kids to engage in behavior that Bob finds annoying, and though she wants what's best for her kids, she tends to be scatter-brained. Bob has described her as a "pushover" because she allows people (the kids) to take advantage of her. She has a contentious relationship with Louise and often misunderstands her, even once organizing a slumber party for Louise against her will. She is a talented lyricist, as shown in "Lil Hard Dad;" Gene may have inherited his musical predilection from her. She has tendency to spontaneously burst into song, a trait she shares with her voice actor John Roberts. Many of the songs she is known for are improvised by Roberts, including her "Thanksgiving Song", "Dish-a-Dee-Doo" (a jazzy ditty sung while washing the dishes, as seen in "Mother Daughter Laser Razor"), and a hair-brushing ditty that references the late Harry Truman. Her songs are frequently remade and set to music for the episode's end credits.

text: Tina[edit]

text: Tina Ruth Belcher (voiced by Dan Mintz) – Standing 5 ft. 4 in., Tina Belcher is the eldest Belcher child. She was said to be autistic in the first episode, but the claim was immediately dismissed by her parents. She generally speaks in a low, monotone voice, works part-time at the family restaurant, and is often the voice of reason among the Belcher children, though it is made quite clear Tina's own characteristics rival those of her siblings. She is trying to come to grips with her entry into adulthood, and claims to have a complicated relationship with zombies. She is obsessed with horses, boys (particularly Jimmy Jr.), and buttocks; in various episodes she writes in her journal about touching people's butts, which, to her, is the height of sexual contact. According to her siblings,[2] Tina has written erotic fanfiction of several television shows and movies and has moved on to "erotic friend fiction", in which she uses real-life people. She is a member of the Hormone-iums, a musical revue at Wagstaff that sings songs about puberty, and was formerly a member of the Thundergirls, a Girl Scout-like organization. Tina was aged 12 in early episodes and now 13 since the episode "Sheesh! Cab, Bob?". She is generally soft-spoken and reserved, often in contrast to her more strident siblings. In the show's early developmental stages, the eldest Belcher child was originally written as a boy,[3] Daniel Belcher. Daniel was also voiced by Mintz, whose personality in the never-broadcast pilot is said to have been similar to that of Tina. Tina is also shown to have difficulties with her schoolwork, although she is a hard worker, as shown in "Can't Buy Me Math" when she is put into remedial math and "Bob and Deliver" when guidance counselor Mr. Frond refers to her as a "dum-dum".

text: Gene[edit]

text: Eugene "Gene" Belcher (voiced by Eugene Mirman) – Standing 4 ft. 8 in., Gene Belcher is the middle child and only son in the family, revealed to be 11 years old in season 3.[4] Like Linda, he has an upbeat and enthusiastic attitude about almost everything; however, he closely resembles Bob and has inherited his lobster allergy. He often promotes the restaurant by wearing a burger costume, which he uses to run in a mascot race in the season 1 episode "Torpedo" and using a toy megaphone to hand out samples. In "It Snakes a Village", it is shown that he suffers from ophidiophobia. Gene has a variety of interests and hobbies, with his most well-known being food and music. Though he has no training, he occasionally demonstrates great skill in music and aspires to be a musician; he enjoys playing a Casio-type keyboard and makes fart sounds using it, and creates an elaborate love duet in "Topsy" as well as a one-man show in "Work Hard or Die Trying, Girl." Despite this, Gene is not without his flaws, namely a tendency to be easily distracted, which the family refers to as "Gene-ing out" in "Best Burger", but he is loving and loyal toward his family. He is also unathletic, as seen in several episodes including "Synchronized Swimming", when he has trouble opening a door which Tina then opens with ease, and "Spaghetti Western and Meatballs", when he runs away from a fight in fear.

text: Louise[edit]

text: Louise Belcher (voiced by Kristen Schaal) – Standing 4 ft. 6 in., Louise Belcher is the youngest of the Belcher siblings and is revealed to be 9 years old in season 1.[5] She is still 9 by Christmas five seasons later.[6] In spite of being the youngest, she usually dominates her two older siblings by "wear[ing] down your self esteem over a period of years." Precociously intelligent, manipulative, and aggressive (even towards adults), she is more than willing to exploit people if there is anything to be gained. She has an offbeat and dark sense of humor and picks locks as a hobby. Louise always wears her signature pink hat with bunny ears, regardless of the time of day or situation; to date, viewers have never seen her uncovered head. She claims that she has "a raging staph infection under here" in the episode "Synchronized Swimming" when they try to make her take it off. In "Ear-sy Rider," when a high-schooler stole her hat from her, her head was off screen, then she wore a hoodie till she got it back. Louise is not immune to breaking her tough character persona, however: she called Bob "daddy" until she was eight, felt guilty about almost electrocuting her sister to death, still believes in Santa Claus, has a disturbing crush on a boy-band member, and proclaims she does love her family in the face of death at the end of season 4. Since she was a baby, Louise has always liked Bob more than Linda, opting to spend more time with him as she finds him much more interesting; it can generally be assumed that Louise and Bob have a very strong relationship, although she is the most prone amongst her siblings to mock him. In "Carpe Museum", Louise accidentally reveals her plan to take over the family restaurant when Bob retires, after renaming it to "Louise's Burgers."

text: Relatives of the Belcher Family[edit]

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Gayle (voiced by Megan Mullally) – Linda's neurotic artist sister, the aunt of Tina, Gene and Louise and the sister-in-law of Bob. Bob dislikes her, much to Linda's consternation. She is desperately lonely and once fell in love with Bob because, Linda explains, she always wants what Linda has. However, men often take an interest in her, including Dr. Yap, Mort, Mr. Frond and Mr. Fischoeder. She loves cats and may suffer from some form of factitious disorder, as she often fakes injuries.
Al (voiced by Sam Seder) – Linda's father, father-in-law of Bob, and the maternal grandfather of Tina, Gene, and Louise. He rarely speaks, is hard of hearing, and wears a hearing aid. He accompanies Gloria everywhere. He has a fetish for the sound of popping balloons.
Gloria (voiced by Renée Taylor) – Linda's mother, mother-in-law of Bob, and maternal grandmother of Tina, Gene and Louise. Bob doesn't like her very much and he always tries to hide from her when she and Al come over to visit.
Roberto "Big Bob" Belcher, Sr. (voiced by H. Jon Benjamin in "Bob Fires the Kids," Bill Hader in "Father of the Bob") – Bob's father, the father-in-law of Linda, and the paternal grandfather of Tina, Gene and Louise. Like his son, Big Bob is a restaurateur who owns his own business called "Big Bob's Diner." He's shown to be a tough loving father towards his own son, as shown in flashbacks. Since his pre-teens, Big Bob has been very controlling of Bob and has put him to work most of the time. He enjoys line-dancing, which he practices at the bar next to his diner.

text: Regular customers at Bob's Burgers[edit]

text: Bob's Burgers features regular ups and downs in customer volume, but two loyal customers help keep the restaurant open.

text:
Teddy (voiced by Larry Murphy) – Teddy Francisco is a talkative, burly contractor who is a loyal and regular customer of the Belcher family restaurant, and a close family friend. He is divorced, lives alone and dates infrequently. In the episode “Thanks-Hoarding”, it is revealed that he is a hoarder. Teddy considers Bob to be his “bestie”, loves the Belchers and wants to be part of their family.[7] Long-winded at times, he frequently tells needlessly detailed stories about mundane situations that usually bore the listener. While he is known to eat nearly anything (on one occasion, he ate a piece of a sponge Bob handed to him and, according to Linda, a receipt) Bob's hamburgers seem to be among his favorite foods. In the episode “Friends with Burger-fits”, Teddy learns that his daily consumption of Bob’s burgers have caused him to develop extremely high cholesterol. Generally mild mannered and affable, Teddy participates in on-going therapy sessions as he sometimes has angry, violent outbursts over minor things which he instantly regrets. He was attractive and physically fit enough in his youth to be cast as a lifeguard in a 1980s exploitation movie The Deepening, filmed at Wonder Wharf. However, an incident during filming took such a psychological toll on him that he resorted to eating and gained a substantial amount of weight.
Mort (voiced by Andy Kindler) – Mort is a mortician and the owner of the "It's Your Funeral" funeral home next to the restaurant and also a regular customer of Bob's Burgers. He is a little odd and has a stereotypically morbid sense of humor. Mort is single, wears an obvious toupee and lives in a stylishly decorated apartment above his funeral home. He is good friends with Bob and Teddy and has cared for the Belcher children on occasion. He has also acted as the Belcher family driver when Tina crashed Bob's car. Mort has a generally good sense of humor about the macabre questions to which he is often subjected regarding his job.

text: Pesto family[edit]

text:
Jimmy Pesto, Sr. (voiced by Jay Johnston) – Jimmy Pesto, Sr., real name James Poplopovich, is the owner of the Italian themed restaurant across the street called "Jimmy Pesto's Pizzeria." Although of eastern European descent he goes by the Italian-sounding name of Pesto, presumably to increase the appeal of his restaurant; he and his family members are invariably referred to by the Pesto last name. He is the father of Jimmy Pesto, Jr., Andy, and Ollie, and is Bob's personal rival. Their rivalry often seems to border on stalking each other and occasionally descends into violence. Their families actually get along well and apart from a few isolated incidents, neither of their businesses actually endanger the other. This is in part because Bob's burgers are genuinely better than the food Jimmy serves, which is often described as being of sub par quality. In one episode where Jimmy tries to outdo Bob by serving burgers, he can be seen weeping in the middle of the night, knowing that the ruse won't last; in another episode, Jimmy competes in a burger cookoff against Bob and a celebrity chef and his "Oregano Burger" is poorly received. It is revealed in "The Belchies" that he and his children's mother are divorced; she has not yet been seen.
Jimmy Pesto, Jr. (voiced by H. Jon Benjamin) – Real name James Poplopovich, Jr., almost always referred to as "Jimmy Junior". Jimmy Pesto, Jr. is the oldest son Jimmy Pesto and speaks with a lisp. Jimmy works as the busboy at Jimmy Pesto's Pizzeria. He is Tina's classmate, love interest and on-again, off-again boyfriend. Tina has a crush on him and tries her best to get his attention (slow dancing with him, forcibly sharing a pasta strand with him, etc.). He switches between thinking Tina is weird and reciprocating her feelings. He is close friends with Zeke, has a noticeable speech impediment, and loves dancing. He appears to be among the most popular students at Wagstaff, though many students turned against him in "The Millie-Churian Candidate" after Louise sabotaged his class president campaign. He has jealous tendencies; in "Stand By Gene" he resents Gene for his friendship with Zeke, and in "Two for Tina" he feuds with Tina's love interest Josh despite their on-and-off relationship. Jimmy has gone on dates with Tina, and Louise said they were dating, however Jimmy tends to forget this from time to time. Louise calls him "brace face" in "The Belchies," implying he wears braces, but these are never seen, as Bob's Burgers rarely shows its characters' teeth.
Andy and Ollie Pesto (voiced by Sarah Silverman and Laura Silverman) – Andy and Ollie Pesto are Jimmy Pesto, Sr.'s blonde twin sons who are the brothers of Jimmy Pesto, Jr. They are very childish and care for each other a lot, experiencing extreme anxiety whenever they must be separated – at one point they imply that their backpacks will miss each other when separated and are nearly run over because they were trying to carry each other across the street. They are classmates and good friends with Louise despite the rivalry between their fathers (as well as Louise's tendency to take advantage of them, such as in "Art Crawl"). Ollie and Andy's intense fondness for each other mimics that of Walter and Perry from Loren Bouchard's previous animated television series Home Movies.

text: Wagstaff School staff[edit]

text: The following characters work at Wagstaff School:

text:
Phillip Frond (voiced by David Herman) – Mr. Frond is the "self-certified" school counselor of Wagstaff School. Bob describes him as a "tall drink of annoying", and he has stuffed dolls that he talks to as if they were real. He feels underused and underappreciated at the school, since nobody really likes him, due to his uptight and strict personality, and his advice is never sought after. He occasionally concocts harebrained schemes to advance his own career, which usually backfire spectacularly.
Coach Blevins (voiced by Larry Murphy) – Coach Blevins is the gym teacher who wears shatterproof goggles.
Mr. Ambrose (voiced by Billy Eichner) – Mr. Ambrose is the school librarian and the cheerleading coach who has a penchant for dramatism.
Mr. Branca (voiced by David Herman) – Mr. Branca is an immigrant janitor from an unknown country. Back in his country, he was its President before a coup d'état occurred.
Ms. Jacobson (voiced by Melissa Bardin Galsky) – Ms. Jacobson is an eighth grade teacher who is usually seen teaching Tina's class which often includes Jimmy Jr., Jocelyn, Tammy Larsen, and Zeke. She was included in Tina's erotic friend fiction in "Bad Tina", where she paired her with Mr. Frond. She is described by Bob as "ridiculously attractive" in "Two for Tina".
Ms. LaBonz (voiced by H. Jon Benjamin) – Ms. LaBonz is the 4th grade teacher who is usually teaching Louise's class which also consisted of Andy and Ollie Pesto, Millie Frock, Regular Size Rudy, and Wayne. She has a habit of stealing supplies from the school.
Ms. Merkin (voiced by Brian Huskey) – Ms. Merkin is a longtime music teacher at Wagstaff. She is a very proficient musician, competent at multiple instruments including drums, ukulele, piano, and guitar. She is supportive of Gene's talent, defecting to his guerrilla Die Hard musical after being replaced in the school musical. In "Itty Bitty Ditty Committee," Gene enlists her to help him improve his musicianship, but he gives up three seconds later, because of the commitment required.
Ms. Schnur (voiced by Sarah Silverman) – Ms. Schnur is the secretary to Principal Spoors who is usually distracted by kids who are sent to Spoors.

text: Wagstaff School students[edit]

text: The following students attend Wagstaff school with the Belcher siblings and the Pesto siblings:

text:
Chloe Barbash (voiced by Stephanie Beatriz) - Chloe Barbash is a student at Wagstaff School. In "Bob Actually", it is revealed that Regular-Sized Rudy has an unrequited crush on her.
Choo-Choo (voiced by Brian Posehn) – Choo-Choo is a student at Wagstaff School and Gene's nemesis. He constantly annoys Gene whenever he tells a joke by saying the punchline before him. He first appeared in "Spaghetti Western and Meatballs" and got his name for saying "choo choo" every time he got into a fight.
Courtney Wheeler (voiced by David Wain) – Gene's ex-girlfriend; an annoying girl who likes Gene in the episode "The Unbearable Like-Likeness of Gene." Gene begins going out with her when he is stuck with answering if he "like-likes" her, so he pairs up with her temporarily. Gene's plans were to dump her until he meets her father Doug who he believes can launch his career in writing jingles. He breaks up with her at her birthday party after she interrupts one of his performances, and she retaliates by upstaging him by staging a musical based on the film Working Girl. In "The Gene & Courtney Show," they reconcile and appear to kindle a romance. Courtney has blonde curly hair and always wears a necklace with a heart pendant on it that always seems to wind up in her mouth.
Darryl (voiced by Aziz Ansari) – Darryl is a student at Wagstaff School and a video game enthusiast. He goes by DRL in reference to his initials for arcade scoreboards. In the episode Nude Beach, he returns to team up with the Belchers in their attempt to sell tickets to a view of the titular nude beach to children at their school.
Henry Haber (voiced by Jim Gaffigan) – Henry Haber is a student at Wagstaff School. He first appears in "Carpe Museum" where he is assigned as Tina's buddy for the museum field trip. In "The Millie-churian Candidate " Henry runs for student body president under the campaign "Chess we Can". He later wins by default after Millie and Louise both get disqualified.
Jeremy (voiced by H. Jon Benjamin) – Jeremy is one of Louise's classmates. He appears in "Topsy" and has increasingly accompanied the Belcher children and their crew. He was first characterized as uptight, ratting on Louise's science project to Mr. Frond in "Topsy," but as evidenced by his willingness to engage in bounce house theft in "House Of 1000 Bounces," he's loosened up a little.
Jocelyn (voiced by John Roberts) – Jocelyn is a student at Wagstaff School. She has blonde curly hair that she wears in a side ponytail and is a cheerleader as well. She displays an obsession with being cool and popular to the point of being unable to have a mind of her own to avoid embarrassing herself. She can often be heard saying things like "That's so cool. Unless you guys don't think so. Then it's lame."
Jodi (voiced by Rachel Dratch) – Jodi is a student at Wagstaff School who has a severe fear of germs. It is extreme enough that she struggles to sit down or touch anything without using hand sanitizer or wearing rubber gloves.
Large Tommy (voiced by Larry Murphy) – Large Tommy is an overweight nerd-looking student who has brown hair and wears a red shirt and glasses. Like Speedo Guy, he appears randomly in the series, mainly in background roles.
Lenny DeStefano (voiced by Larry Murphy) – A student at Wagstaff School. Lenny is an extremely popular and handsome boy, considered the biggest catch at Wagstaff among the girls. His charm apparently extends to adults, as Bob seemed very taken with Lenny during a short car ride together and Ms. Merkin even expressed interest in attending his birthday party.
Mabel "Abby" Haddington (voiced by Rachel Dratch) – Mabel Haddington (better known as Abby) is a student who attends Wagstaff School. She is obsessed with braiding.
Millie Frock (voiced by Molly Shannon) – Millie Frock is a Wagstaff Middle School student who first appeared in the second Bob's Burgers' Halloween episode "Fort Night." She is Louise's age and is obsessed with her. She displays psychopathic tendencies; in "Fort Night," she traps the Belcher children and their friends in a fort overnight as retaliation for Louise refusing to be her friend.
Peter Pescadero (voiced by H. Jon Benjamin) – Peter Pescadero is a wimpy boy who is one of Gene's classmates. He is a terrible dancer and owns a Sasquatch Mask that Gene borrowed as seen in "Beefsquatch." He has partial hearing loss (as mentioned in "The Unbrearable Like-Likeness of Gene") and is also an award winning magician ("Presto Tina-O")
Regular-Sized Rudy (voiced by Brian Huskey) – Rudolph Steiblitz, known as Regular-Sized Rudy to distinguish him from a smaller classmate (Pocket-Sized Rudy), is Louise's classmate and best friend. He has asthma and needs to use his inhaler every two hours. Despite his condition, he loves to have fun and often joins Louise in her mischievous escapades. He keeps cymbals in his backpack. He is a frequent guest on the wine tasting train ("The Kids Rob a Train") where he spends his time with Beans the bean bag chair while his father goes on internet dates.
Tammy Larsen (voiced by Jenny Slate) – Tina's mean girl nemesis, who continuously bullies her. She usually wears heavy makeup and has blonde hair, which she wears in a side ponytail. She acts like the "popular" and "hot" girl, despite the fact that nobody likes her. She was a brunette in her first appearance on the show (in the episode "Bad Tina"), but in subsequent episodes she is blonde (this fact is acknowledged twice in the show: once in the episode "Broadcast Wagstaff School News," in which she taunts Tina by saying "I'm a blonde now so I'm better than you," and the second in the episode "Lice Things Are Lice," in which she says, "You're not a blonde," and Tina replies, "Neither are you.") Andy and Ollie once described her as a "bathroom clown" due to her makeup. Tammy comes from a Jewish family and is at least twelve years old, as she has celebrated her bat mitzvah – or rather she tried to, as Tina wound up taking her place at the party, much to the relief of everyone, including Tammy's own relatives. She is also Wagstaff's head cheerleader and has a problem with passing gas, caused by laughing too hard, by someone lifting her up wrong, or because of nerves.
Zeke (voiced by Bobby Tisdale) – Zeke is a boisterous and immature boy with a slight southern accent, who usually hangs out with Jimmy Junior. Zeke's middle name is Anthony, and his last name is unknown.[8] He's obsessed with wrestling and breasts and makes fart jokes often. He may be a gifted chef, as suspected by Bob in "Bob And Deliver."

text: Other recurring characters[edit]

text:
Bryce (voiced by Joe Lo Truglio) – Bryce is a teenage resident of King's Head Island who participates in the annual Hell Hunt on Halloween night as seen in "Full Bars." He appears again in "Speakeasy Rider" where he is an expert in Go-Karting racing under the name "Bryced Lightning." Bryce finished third in the King's Head Island Grand Prix.
Calvin Fischoeder (voiced by Kevin Kline) – Mr. Fischoeder is an odd local landlord and businessman who dresses in a white suit, a white cape, and a white eyepatch over his left eye, and who has a hairstyle similar to Vanity Fair publisher Graydon Carter. He owns or has a stake in just about everything on the harbor (and many things in town) including the Belcher and Pesto restaurants. He likes Bob despite Bob always being late with his rent (partially because Bob knows a legendary burger recipe that he greatly enjoys and Bob reminds him of his father due to Bob's hairy arms). Louise describes him as being "one white cat away from being a supervillain". His last name is pronounced "Fish-odor." He smokes marijuana, as revealed in "Bob Fires The Kids." In "Ambergris", it is revealed that Calvin has a brother named Felix who is the reason why Calvin wears an eyepatch.
Chuck Charles (voiced by Thomas Lennon) – A daytime talk-show host along with his co-host and (secretly ex-) wife Pam until the Belchers' participation on his show caused their show to be cancelled. He then became the host of a game show called "Family Fracas". He and Pam hid their divorce for the sake of their talk show, but have an antagonistic relationship behind the scenes. Chuck blames the Belchers for his show being cancelled and harbors a grudge against them that has apparently yet to dissipate, if events of "Best Burger" are any indication.
Cynthia Bush (voiced by Lindsey Stoddart) – The mother of Logan Barry Bush. She has appeared in both of the episodes that Logan has appeared in as well and has a similarly contentious relationship with Linda as Logan does with Louise.
Dr. Yap (voiced by Ken Jeong) – He works as the Belcher Family's dentist. He appears as a competent professional, but when the surface is scratched, he is fairly irresponsible and erratic. He is shown to be somewhat lonely and socially awkward, which leads him to inappropriate behavior with his patients and his fraternity brothers. He is the subject of one of Tina Belcher's youthful crushes.
Edith and Harold Cranwinkle (voiced by Larry Murphy and Sam Seder) – The elderly owners of Reflections (an art sale, supplies, and lessons store). Edith is the chairperson of the Art Crawl (an event where local businesses display art work). She frequently antagonizes Bob, but it's never explained why she hates him.
Fanny (voiced by Jordan Peele) – Fanny is Felix Fischoeder's girlfriend. Felix promises her a recording studio at the planned high end condo development along with a nightclub where she can sing. She attempts to kill Calvin Fischoeder and the Belchers, but her plan is ruined by Linda, knocking a rotten wooden pole into the peddle boat that Fanny was on. Fanny is later seen being taken away by the police for attempted murder with the Belchers covering up Felix's attempted murder by stating that Fanny manipulated him.
Felix Fischoeder (voiced by Zach Galifianakis) – Felix Fischoeder is the younger brother of Calvin Fischoeder. Felix is known to be rather neurotic and has emotional issues likely stemming from childhood. Felix is the cause of Calvin's poked out eye. Also to calm him down, they would have to sing a song tributing to Felix, revealing that he is a narcissist. He first appeared in "Ambergris" when he decided to install a new, high-tech bathroom in the restaurant. In the two-part episode "World Wharf II," he and Bob conspire to convince Calvin to destroy Wonder Wharf in order to put up a condominium and get a nightclub for his girlfriend Fanny. When Bob goes back on his deal to convince Calvin to sell Wonder Wharf, Felix ties them up under the pier with the intention of having them drown when the tide comes in but soon regrets his actions and tries to save them. Felix later returned in "Dawn of the Peck" where he conceived the idea of a Running of the Bulls style event called the "Turkey Trot" for the town's Thanksgiving festival, which turned out to be a disaster when the birds attacked the participants.
Gretchen (voiced by Larry Murphy) – She was first introduced in "Lobsterfest". Gretchen has blonde hair, and is Linda's hairstylist. She is somewhat overweight and provocative, speaking frankly about sex and personal issues, to the point of making others uncomfortable. She also is attracted to men with badges or so called "authority-figures". She also goes to the nude beach and has a tattoo of a dolphin on her back.
Hugo Habercore (voiced by Sam Seder) – Hugo is a health inspector who used to be engaged to Linda but was jilted by her for Bob, a fact that causes him no end of frustration. This fact alone causes him to target Bob any chance he gets, to the point of malpractice as a health inspector. His last name was revealed on a chyron during a news report in "Human Flesh".
Ron (voiced by Ron Lynch) – Ron is Hugo's assistant, a trainee health inspector. Often quiet, he is willing to point out Hugo's malpractices when they go too far.
Jairo (voiced by Jon Glaser) – Jairo is a Brazilian capoeira instructor. He first appeared in "Sexy Dance Fighting" as an antagonist and returned in "Sexy Dance Healing" as an ally of Bob, healing his arm with massage. He does not pay rent and has been serially evicted from numerous buildings. His carefree attitude borders on sociopathy, as seen when he dumps excess oil on the street with no thought for potential pedestrian slippage.
Jen (voiced by Wendy Molyneux) – Jen is the babysitter for Gene and Louise when Tina is unavailable or when Tina isn't trusted to watch them. Tina resents her because she replaced her job as a babysitter in "Purple Rain-Union." In the same episode, she is shown to be extremely ticklish and gives Tina a black eye in reaction to being tickled.
Josh (voiced by Ben Schwartz) – A boy that Tina met while in the milk fridge of the supermarket from "Lindapendent Woman." He returns in "Two for Tina" where both he and Jimmy Pesto Jr. both attempt to win over her heart and take her to the dance. He goes to a school for the performing arts and is a ballet dancer.
Kevin (voiced by Tim Heidecker) – The manager of Dusty's Feedbag, a burger restaurant that serves the Belt Buckle Belly Buster burger. The 5 lb. burger proves problematic as Bob is concerned for Teddy's cardiac health.
Logan Barry Bush (voiced by Kurt Braunohler) – Louise's nemesis and Cynthia's son. He first premiered in "Ear-sy Rider" as a bully to the Belcher kids, eventually stealing Louise's hat. He manages to keep it from her until the climax of the episode where Louise gets a biker gang to get it back. He later appears in the episode "Mother Daughter Laser Razor" attending the Mother Daughter seminar where Dakota calls him a "male daughter." His middle name was chosen to make his full name a play on words based on the loganberry bush; his mother Cynthia admits "we didn't think it through."
Marshmallow (voiced by David Herman) – A transgender prostitute that first appeared in "Sheesh! Cab, Bob?" She is dark-skinned and is usually seen in a white monokini. She also appears in Bod to beach.
Marbles (voiced by Jack McBrayer) – A transgender prostitute who first appeared in "Sheesh! Cab, Bob?" She is light-skinned, blonde, and is usually seen in a red dress.
Glitter (voiced by Steve Agee) – A transgender sex worker who Bob regularly ferries around in his taxi in "Sheesh! Cab, Bob?" She is also said to be going under gender reassignment because she mentions the town being full of "Doctors who refuse to cut off your penis." Bob later invites her to Tina's 13th birthday party.
Cha-Cha (voiced by Oscar Nunez) – A transgender prostitute who first appeared in "Sheesh! Cab, Bob?"
Mickey (voiced by Bill Hader) – A former bank robber who took a shine to the Belcher kids. In contrast to stereotypes of criminals, he has an amiable demeanor. He later reformed himself enough to get a job as a ride operator at Wonder Wharf. He also has worked as a pedicab driver.
Mike Wobbles (voiced by Tim Meadows) – The reticent, reluctant, yet available mailman. One of his legs is shorter than the other.
Officer Julia (voiced by Jerry Minor) – Officer Julia is a local police officer. She acts tough with people she arrests. She appears mostly with Officer Cliffany. From the beginning of the season 2, she is written out of the storylines for unknown reasons, though she has made a few cameo appearances since then.
Officer Cliffany (voiced by Sam Seder) – Officer Cliffany is a local tall, androgynous, and overweight police officer. She works frequently with Officer Julia whenever there is a case in town. Like Officer Julia, she was written out of the show after Season 1, though she has made some cameo appearances since then.
One Eyed Snakes – The One Eyed Snakes are a biker gang who are good friends with the Belcher Family. The One Eyed Snakes was founded by Horny Dave and led by him until his death when his motorcycle collided with a semi-trailer truck. There are a total of 18 members in the One Eyed Snakes.

Critter (voiced by Robert Ben Garant) – Critter is the leader of the One Eyed Snakes following the death of Horny Dave. Afterwards, he's seen as a friend of the Belchers, helping the kids build a go-kart from stolen motorcycle parts, sitting with Bob and Linda at the go-kart races, and calling on Bob for help getting out of jail.
Mudflap (voiced by Wendi McLendon-Covey) – Mudflap is a female member of the One Eyed Snakes. At the beginning of "Ear-sy Rider," she is heavily pregnant with a baby whom everybody assumes is Horny Dave's. After Tom delivers her baby boy, she reveals to Critter that she slept with him nine months ago and that he is the father as Horny Dave had a vasectomy in 1995.

Olsen Benner (voiced by Pamela Adlon) – A local news correspondent.
Pam (voiced by Samantha Bee) – A daytime talk-show host along with her co-host and (secretly) ex-husband, Chuck. The Belchers cause her show to be cancelled. Pam later gets a daytime court show called "Pam's Court" despite not being a real judge. Unlike Chuck, she does not harbor resentment toward the Belchers (likely because she doesn't have to put up with Chuck as much thanks to them). Despite initially keeping their divorce secret to the public, Pam harbors deep resentment toward Chuck. She claims that fame ruined their marriage. Pam is a binge drinker.
The Prince of Persuasia (voiced by Rob Huebel) – The Prince of Persuasia (also known as The Deuce) is a "love guru," or more accurately a "pick-up artist" mentioned in the episode "Dr. Yap". Dr. Yap himself is a graduate of the prince's three-step program known as "The Persuasion Arts: The Ancient Art of Picking Up Women." Yap describes the prince to Bob saying: "He's a prophet, and for 3 payments of $900 he can be your best friend." In the subsequent episode "The Unnatural", it was revealed that he also operates several other instructional businesses, including baseball coaching and close-up magic. He uses a different alias/identity for each of these.
Randy Watkins (voiced by Paul F. Tompkins) – Randy is a jack-of-all-trades who alternately appears as a friend or enemy of the Belchers. He has held various odd-jobs in his appearances. In "Sacred Cow," Randy worked as a film maker who constantly makes Bob feel guilty about making burgers by putting a cow next to his restaurant and convincing people not to eat there. In "Food Truckin'," Randy worked as a food truck caterer. In "Easy Commercial, Easy Gommercial," Randy helped the Belcher Family film their Super Bowl commercial.
Reggie (voices by Eddie Pepitone) – The owner of Reggie's Deli. He appears to be a careless restaurateur, openly admitting to using stale bread.
Yuli the Security Guard (voiced by Robert Smigel) – A security guard that works at Family Funtime in "Burger Boss." In "Adventures in Chinchilla-sitting," the security guard was seen working at the roller rink indicating that he is a freelancer. In "Ex Mach Tina", he works as a nighttime security guard for Wagstaff.
Sergeant Bosco (voiced by Gary Cole) – An authoritarian, no-nonsense police sergeant. He arrests Linda in "My Fuzzy Valentine" when she takes his gun in retaliation for his undermining her Speed Dating night. In spite of this, he has a fun-loving side and takes glee in telling his deepest, darkest secrets during speed dating; his partners happily oblige, indicating he might have a way with women. Gretchen is attracted to him. His last name is a reference to the movie Heat, where a detective played by Ted Levine bears the same last name
Speedo Guy (voiced by H. Jon Benjamin) – A unnamed blonde man in a pink speedo and roller blades. He appears randomly in the series, often seen in background scenes in various episodes such as "Burger Wars"' and "The Deepening."
Trev (voiced by David Herman) – Trev is a bartender at Jimmy Pesto's Pizzeria. He serves as Pesto's sycophant, often laughing excessively at his terrible jokes.


document_title: Wanted (2008 film)

question_text: where is the textile mill in the movie wanted

root

text: Wanted (2008 film)

text: Plot[edit]

text: Wesley Gibson works at a dead-end desk job with an overbearing boss, takes medication for panic attacks, and has a live-in girlfriend who cheats on him with his work friend, Barry. One evening, Wesley is told by a woman named Fox that his recently murdered father was an assassin, and the killer, named Cross, is now hunting him. When Cross and Fox engage in a shootout, Wesley panics and is pursued by Cross. Fox flips Wesley into her car and then executes an escape.

tag: p

text: Wesley awakens in a factory surrounded by Fox and other assassins. The group's leader, Sloan, forces Wesley at gunpoint through the Gunsmith to shoot the wings off of several flies, which he does, much to Wesley's shock. Sloan explains that Wesley's panic attacks are actually a rare ability that allows him to distribute massive amounts of adrenaline to his brain, slowing his perception of his surroundings and granting him superhuman strength and speed. He reveals that Wesley's father, as well as Cross, were members of the Fraternity, a society of assassins that maintains balance in the world. Sloan wants to train him so that he may help kill Cross.

text: A panicked Wesley leaves the building and awakens the next morning in his apartment. He discovers that his bank account now contains $3.6 million. Filled with new confidence, he insults his boss in front of the whole office and hits Barry in the face with a keyboard. Fox, waiting for Wesley, chauffeurs him to the Fraternity headquarters, a repurposed cotton mill.

text: Wesley trains under Fox's cruel tutelage, learning endurance, knife fighting, and hand-to-hand combat. He also learns to control and use his abilities for firearm marksmanship, such as curving bullets around targets. Frustrated by his lack of progress and the brutality of the training, Wesley insists he is ready, but Sloan disagrees. Wesley refocuses on his training and starts to excel. Sloan then shows him the Loom of Fate, which has served for 1,000 years in giving coded names of Fraternity targets through errors in the fabric. The Loom identifies those who will create evil and chaos in the future, with Sloan responsible for interpreting the code.

text: After several successful missions, and dumping his girlfriend with the help of Fox, Wesley has an unexpected shootout with Cross, wherein he accidentally kills the Exterminator, a Fraternity member he had befriended. Cross shoots Wesley in the shoulder. Sloan grants Wesley's wish to avenge his father and sends him after Cross—but then secretly gives Fox a mission to kill Wesley, saying that his name has come up in the Loom.

text: Analyzing the bullet from his shoulder, Wesley realizes that Cross had used a traceable bullet for the first time (as his previous kills were all untraceable). Wesley traces it to a man named Pekwarsky. He and Fox capture Pekwarsky, who arranges a meeting with Cross. When Wesley faces Cross alone on a moving train, Fox crashes a car into the train, causing a derailment. While Cross saves Wesley from falling, Wesley fatally shoots him. Before dying, Cross reveals that he is Wesley's real father. Fox confirms this, and explains that Wesley was recruited because he was the only person Cross would not kill. As Fox prepares to shoot Wesley, he shoots the train window below him and Cross, causing the men to free fall into the river.

text: Wesley is retrieved by Pekwarsky, who takes him to Cross' apartment (which is located just opposite Wesley's) and explains that Sloan started manufacturing targets for profit after discovering that he was targeted by the Loom. Cross discovered the truth, went rogue, and started killing Fraternity members to keep them away from his son. Pekwarsky departs, stating that Cross wished Wesley a life free of violence. Wesley, however, decides to kill Sloan after discovering his father's secret room, containing schematics to the Fraternity base.

text: Wesley attacks the base using explosive rats (a tactic he learned from the Exterminator), killing surviving Fraternity assassins in a massive shootout. Entering Sloan's office, he is surrounded by Fox, Gunsmith and the remaining assassins. Wesley discloses Sloan's deception, to which Sloan reveals that the names of those present had legitimately come up in the Loom, and that he had acted to protect them. He gives the members a choice: kill themselves, per the code, or kill Wesley and use their skills to control the world. As the others choose to kill him, Fox curves a bullet around the room, choosing to follow the code and kill everyone, including herself, but not before throwing her gun to Wesley. Sloan escapes in the mayhem.

text: Wesley, penniless again due to his bank account being wiped out by Sloan, returns to his desk job. Sloan arrives to kill Wesley, but is shocked when the person turns around and is revealed to be a decoy. Wesley shoots Sloan with a sniper rifle from Cross' apartment miles away. Wesley states that he is taking back control of his life before turning to the audience and asking, "What the fuck have you done lately?"

text: Cast[edit]

text:
James McAvoy as Wesley Gibson: A meek 24-year-old who works in a cubicle, but learns he is heir to a career as an assassin
Morgan Freeman as Sloan: Leader of the Fraternity
Terence Stamp as Pekwarsky: One of Cross's compatriots, a master in the science of killing
Thomas Kretschmann as Cross: A rogue assassin who has left the Fraternity
Common as "The Gunsmith": A professional gunman who trains others to use weapons
Angelina Jolie as Fox: An accomplished member of the Fraternity who mentors Wesley

text: The cast also includes: Kristen Hager as Cathy, Wesley's unfaithful and bickering girlfriend; Marc Warren as "The Repairman", an assassin who says he "breaks bad habits" by violently beating people; David O'Hara as Mr. X, the first introduced Fraternity member, who is said to be the greatest assassin that has ever lived; Dato Bakhtadze as "The Butcher", a knife-expert; Konstantin Khabensky as "The Exterminator", a Russian explosives expert befriended by Wesley; Chris Pratt as Barry, Wesley's best friend and colleague, who is having an affair with Cathy; and Lorna Scott as Janice, Wesley's overbearing boss.

text: Production[edit]

text: Development and pre-production[edit]

text: The comic book miniseries Wanted (2003–04), by Mark Millar and J. G. Jones, came to the attention of Universal Pictures through executive Jeff Kirschenbaum, a comic book fan who sought a film adaptation that would be considered a "hard-R" and encouraged the studio to pick up the rights to the miniseries.[5] By 2004, producer Marc Platt had gotten the film rights, and lobbied the studio to get Russian-Kazakh director Timur Bekmambetov, as Platt considered that the visual style and sensibility Bekmambetov showed in Night Watch (2004) and its sequel Day Watch (2006) fit Wanted in the sense that "the comic is dark and edgy but it also has an ironic, comedic tone beneath its violent action."[6] In December 2005, Bekmambetov was hired to direct, his first English-language film, and writers Derek Haas and Michael Brandt were assigned the script.[7] Bekmambetov described the original comic as "risky and very provocative", with "a twist and good characters",[8] and declared that the thing that attracted him the most in Wanted was how it went through various film genres in its plot: "It's a comedy, a tragedy, a drama, a melodrama. Every scene, we change genres and that’s why our movie is different."[6]

text: Universal was initially reluctant on giving a potentially lucrative action film to a filmmaker who had never made an English-language film, but Platt convinced the studio that he could "create an environment that would allow Timur to be himself as a filmmaker and exercise his creative muscles."[6]

text:
Millar was unhappy with the first draft of the screenplay, considering the approach to be "too tame" and "a little bit Americanized" given he wanted "basically be the opposite of the Spider-Man movie, the idea of someone getting powers and realizing they can do what they want, then choosing the dark path." The author only started to support the direction the project was taking once Bekmambetov "came in with his Eastern European madness" and the intention of coming closer to the spirit of the book.[9] Bekmambetov said that he would take liberty in adapting the comic book's world: "It's difficult for me to just follow. It's interesting for me to create. I feel a little bit different how this world has to be executed."[8] In July 2006, screenwriter Chris Morgan was hired to revise the third act of Haas and Brandt's script.[10]
Haas and Brandt returned to refine the character of Wesley Gibson, which they had established in their first draft.[11]

text: Millar saw previsualized footage of the film and said that it exceeded his expectations for the adaptation.[12] He described its first half as being close to the source comic, and added the ending was similar though it was relocated elsewhere from the comic's original setting. The superhero costumes in the series were also removed, with the exception of the leather attire worn by Wesley and Fox. Incidentally, this had been Millar's intent when writing the graphic novel, but he and artist J. G. Jones had forgotten to. Millar said, "I wanted them to have those powers and then just wear those costumes for the initiation, but just for one panel. And then I forgot." Millar also stated that he would have liked to keep the supervillain mythos that dictates the original comic in the film.[9] Millar was favorable to most of the changes in the storyline,[13] which includes the story arc of the Fates issuing death orders in line with the series' original theme of predestination.[14]

text: Casting[edit]

text:
James McAvoy, who had screen-tested for the role early in 2006, was initially rejected because the studio was seeking an actor with conventional Hollywood leading man looks and physique. McAvoy was later recalled, being considered to be the "runt of the litter" among those who tested. According to McAvoy, "They [ultimately] wanted someone geeky."[15]
McAvoy was cast in the role in October 2006.[16]
The Scottish actor, who portrays an American in the film, worked out to improve his physique for the film's action scenes,[17] and suffered several injuries during shooting which included a twisted ankle and an injured knee.[18]

text:
Angelina Jolie was cast in March 2007, after screenwriter Dean Georgaris rewrote the screenplay to tailor the role of Fox for her.[19]
Mark Millar became much more enthusiastic about the project after learning that Jolie had accepted the role of Fox, saying "the only way they could have got a bigger star to play this role is if they'd hired Tom Cruise in drag."[20] Jolie decided to make Fox seem "distant and unattainable" by having her silent in many scenes. She mentioned Clint Eastwood, who had recently directed her in the film Changeling, as a possible influence for this aspect of her performance.[21] Furthermore, she asked for Fox to get killed, suggesting that "[i]f she was to find out she had killed people unjustly and was a part of something that wasn't fair, then she should take her own life."[22]

text: Common became interested in the role due to both the script and the prospect of working with McAvoy, Jolie, and Morgan Freeman.[23] Common learned a great deal about firearms as preparation for the role, but said he is not a strong supporter of guns in real life.[23][24] Konstantin Khabensky, who starred in Bekmambetov's Night Watch, was cast so that the director would have a familiar face around.[25] British television veteran Marc Warren agreed to work in the film because he always wanted to be in a Hollywood blockbuster.[26] Thomas Kretschmann originally intended to pick up the comic series after being cast, but Bekmambetov convinced him not to. Kretschmann said that he undertook "excessive gun training" to "make sure I look good and I look like I know what I'm doing".[27] Kristen Hager originally auditioned for Fox, but accepted the role of Cathy, considering it "fun to play".[28]

text: Filming[edit]

text:
Location plate shooting took place in Chicago in April 2007.[29] Several chase scenes, including one with a low flying helicopter, were shot in Chicago over two days, on Wacker Drive along the Chicago River, between Columbus Drive and LaSalle Street.[30]
The opening scene was filmed using the Carbide & Carbon Building.[31]
Production moved to the Czech Republic later in May,[19] scheduled for 12 weeks of shooting, which included a scene in Pernštejn Castle.[32] Using a former sugar factory in Prague,[33] production designer John Myhre constructed a large textile factory as part of an industrial world, the setting of a mythological environment in which looms create fabrics that weavers interpret as assassination orders.[25] Afterward, filming moved to Budapest, then returned to Chicago in August.[29] While the actors performed many of their own stunts, with free running and parkour in some of the action scenes,[15] and Angelina Jolie being actually strapped to the hood of a moving Dodge Viper, some of the especially high-risk sequences required digital doubles instead.[34] Two full-sized train cars were built, a Chicago 'L' for a training scene where Fox and Wesley run atop a train, and a Czech Pendolino for the derailment, which was stationed in a gimbal equipped with hydraulics to allow the car to tilt and roll as the train crashed.[34] The film originally had both an alternate opening and an alternate ending.[35] The alternate opening, a flashback to ancient times describing the history of the Fraternity and the Loom of Fate, is available on the special edition DVD and Blu-ray.[36]

text: Effects[edit]

text: Eight visual effects companies worked on the film's 800 effects shots, the majority of which was done by Bekmambetov's company Bazelevs Production. The first effects supervisor, Jon Farhat, was forced to withdraw from the production due to illness and was replaced by Stefen Fangmeier, who accepted the task as Wanted would only require four months of work. Once Fangmeier visited Bazelevs in Moscow, the effects were behind schedule, with only 12 finished composites out of the planned 500. Fangemier then brought two other supervisors to assist him in finishing many shots per week, so the job could get done by the deadline, a process the supervisor described as "a creative challenge on one hand, but on the other also a significant production challenge."  Another major contributor was London-based Framestore, responsible for the climactic train crash.[37]

text: Music[edit]

text: Danny Elfman wrote the film's score, a job he accepted for being a fan of Bekmambetov's previous films. Considering the film to be a "weird, twisted, sarcastic thing," Elfman decided to make a guitar-based soundtrack, with the "nastiest sounds" and a "heavy metal approach." This included a rock song written and performed by Elfman, "The Little Things", which is featured throughout the film and on the end credits.[38] The film score has been released on June 24, 2008 in North America by Lakeshore Records.

text: Release and promotion[edit]

text: Wanted was initially set to be released in cinemas on March 28, 2008. However, in December 2007, Universal Pictures announced that it would be pushing back the release date to June 27, 2008, as the studio considered that the film had the potential to stand among the blockbusters that would be released during the United States summer.[39] The film's world premiere happened at the Los Angeles Film Festival on June 19, with Wanted acting as the festival opener.[40] Given the Russian origin of the director, Universal released a specially localized version in Russia. The literary translation of the English dialog was written by the writer Sergey Lukyanenko. Several texts appearing on the screen and important for the plot were translated using CGI, without using subtitles or a voice-over translation. Several famous Russian actors, most of which were also in Bekmambetov's Night Watch and Day Watch, dubbed the main characters, and Konstantin Khabensky dubbed himself as The Exterminator. James McAvoy also provided some words in Russian for Wesley Gibson.[41] Danny Elfman's song "The Little Things" received a version in Russian, performed by Elfman himself,[35][41] and Bekmambetov also directed a music video for the band Delta as part of a viral marketing campaign in Russia.[42]

text: Theatrical run[edit]

text: Wanted debuted in 3,185 theaters and earned $50,927,085 in its opening weekend, placing it at second place after WALL-E. It was the best opening ever for an R-rated film released in June,[43]  only surpassed four years later by both Prometheus and Ted.[44] Internationally, the film grossed $33 million on its opening weekend, breaking records in Russia and South Korea.[45] Wanted grossed $341,433,252, of which $134,508,551 was from North America and $206,924,701 was from elsewhere.[4]

text: Home video[edit]

text: Wanted was released on DVD and Blu-ray on December 2, 2008 in the U.S. Two versions were released, including a single-disc DVD and a two-disc edition of both the DVD and Blu-ray. A collectible two-disc gift-set DVD also included collectible postcards, a lenticular film cel in an acrylic frame, and a photobook of the Assassins.[46] The DVD debuted at second place on the charts (behind The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian),[47] and generated over $65 million in revenue by February 2009.[48] The Blu-ray debuted at first place on the charts.[47]

text: Video games[edit]

text: Sweden-based developer Stillfront AB launched a browser game based on Wanted in April 2008. The Wanted "Fan Immersion Game" was a massively multiplayer online role-playing game where players took the roles of Fraternity hitmen, performing assassination missions, upgrading weapons and ammunition, and creating alliances or rivalries with other players.[49] A video game sequel to the events of the film, Wanted: Weapons of Fate, was released in March 2009. It was developed by GRIN, and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360.[50]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Reviews of Wanted were positive.[51] The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 71% approval rating based on 202 critics (a rating average of 6.6 out of 10) and the consensus, "Wanted is stylish, energetic popcorn fare with witty performances from Angelina Jolie (playing an expert assassin), James McAvoy, and Morgan Freeman that help to distract from its absurdly over-the-top plot."[52] It has a score of 64 out of 100 on Metacritic (based on 38 reviews), indicating "generally favorable reviews."[53] Audiences polled by CinemaScore during Wanted's opening weekend gave the film an average grade of B+ on an A+-to-F scale.[54]

text: Roger Ebert of Ebert & Roeper said "Wanted slams the pedal to the metal and never slows down. Here's an action picture that's exhausting in its relentless violence and its ingenuity in inventing new ways to attack, defend, ambush and annihilate".[55] Richard Roeper said, "It's made for fans of films that really just want to see some great visuals, some amazing sequences and some terrific performances."[56]

text: Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly encapsulated many critics' views, saying that "Wanted is kind of unintelligible and idiotic. Also kind of nasty and brutish. And also undeniably kind of fun..."[57] Likewise, Tom Long of The Detroit News said, "Wanted may be the most absolutely stone bonkers, crazy-good movie of the century. Or it may be a gargantuan piece of trash. Chances are it's a combination of the two. But man, does it rock."[58] Claudia Puig of USA Today found the "thrilling stunts and hyperkinetic action scenes [to be] the undisputed stars of this surprisingly entertaining film."[59]

text:
Conversely, John Rosenblatt of The Austin Chronicle denounced those same attributes, saying, "If Maxim magazine ever decides to branch out into filmmaking, Wanted is just the kind of ear-throttling nonsense it's bound to produce".[60] David Fear of Time Out New York called it "the cinematic equivalent of an energy drink. The film keeps artificially pumping your adrenal glands with mindless, malnutritional sensations, only to leave you crampy and cranky minutes later. ...[T]his exercise in ultraviolence then insults us by having a beaten, bloodied McAvoy inform viewers that he used to be a loser 'just like all of you.'"[61]
Frank Lovece of Film Journal International, one of few mainstream critics to have read the comic-book miniseries, said that the film compared poorly with the source material. Noting that the hero in the comic goes even further, "breaking the fourth wall and positioning himself so that he's 'prison-raping' and taunting the reader for having liked the series", Lovece found that, "[w]hile Millar may have contempt for his readers—and, by extension, the medium in which he works—at least he has his own vision, and gets it across with style and wit"; qualities that, in Lovece's opinion, the movie lacked.[62]

text: In the comics press, Erik Amaya of Comic Book Resources said that "[t]he film's biggest faults lie in how far it strays from the source" and that "[i]f you've ever seen any movie about leather-clad assassins, you already know how this film plays out. The speed and skill of the movie-making balance out those faults, however."[63] Tom McLean of Newsarama noted that, while the story deviated strongly from the source, the movie "stands out as a highly entertaining action film that preserves the comic's core premise and cheeky attitude while taking the story into very different but still satisfying territory."[64]

text: Among European critics, Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian said that the film "looks as if it has been written by a committee of 13-year-old boys for whom penetrative sex is still only a rumour, and the resulting movie plays like a party political broadcast on behalf of the misogynist party", concluding, "In an ideal world, the title would have the word 'Not' tacked on to the front."[65] Kim Newman, writing in Empire, praised Bekmambetov as "the most exciting action-oriented émigré since John Woo" and commented that the film's gruesome violence "hint[s] at the comic's uncomfortable suggestion that escapism is merely a licence to become monstrous."[66]

text: Wanted won the Empire Award for Best Sci-Fi / Superhero Movie of 2008.[67] The film was nominated for two Academy Awards; for Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing (Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño, and Petr Forejt).[68][69] It was also nominated for the Critics Choice Award for Best Action Movie,[70] the Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film,[71] three MTV Movie Awards,[72] and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble.[73]

text: Sequel[edit]

text: Even before the film's release, Mark Millar announced director Timur Bekmambetov was planning a sequel, though Millar denied that he would write a sequel to the comic book. He was instead creating a story along with the producers,[74] that would follow the first film's idea of an international guild of assassins.[75]  Terence Stamp described Pekwarsky as "something that's written for a sequel",[76] and Common expressed interest in a prequel, feeling that both The Gunsmith and Fox deserved more exposition.[77]

text: Chris Morgan would return to write the sequel's screenplay,[78] but departed in April 2009 due to "excessive workload", leaving the task to Evan Spiliotopoulos.[79] In June 2009, Bekmambetov said that pre-production for Wanted 2 was about to get started, with filming scheduled to begin in late fall or winter. The film will have a reported budget of $150 million and will be shot in the United States, India, and Russia. He also added that some of the characters would resurrect, particularly Fox and The Exterminator.[80] On September, the director added that even without a finished script Bazelevs had already done previsualization of the action scenes.[81] In 2010, after reports that Angelina Jolie had pulled out of the sequel,[82] Millar said that the script would be rewritten to remove Fox's return, so production could start that year for a late 2011 release.[83] Eventually the production did not take off, leading Bekmambetov to work on Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter instead.[84]

text: In a 2011 Q&A, producer Jim Lemley said that "Wanted 2 sounds like it will not happen any time soon if at all".[85] That same year, James McAvoy said, regarding the sequel, "I think the studio is keen to make it, and we really want to make it, but we want to make it if it's right and when it's right, and that might not be ever." McAvoy also expressed interest in a sequel focusing on a character other than Wesley.[86] Universal later brought Wanted screenwriters Michael Brandt and Derek Haas to write the sequel, which Haas described as happening "right after the events that just happened; it'll pick up Wesley a few years later and go back in for another round", while also being "Fox-less and loom-less."[87] Haas would later detail that the script featured a new female protagonist, who Wesley would recruit "sort of in the Fox role."[88] Bekmambetov declared during the interviews for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter that after many years of indecision as the Wanted sequel stalled in development, he proposed an idea to the screenwriters wherein the plot followed Wesley while featuring "a great twist."[84]

text: McAvoy declared that since he "had a blast making the first Wanted", he would make a sequel regardless of the quality of the script; however, he also acknowledged that the extended time the film spent in development "suggests to me that they're not finding it very easy to come up with a story that they're passionate about, so we'll have to wait and see."[89] In 2014, McAvoy acknowledged that a potential sequel has been in the talks, saying he "had a couple of versions of script thrown my way" while adding that Universal is still waiting for the right screenplay.[90]


document_title: Publishers Clearing House

question_text: where does the publishers clearing house get their money

text: Publishers Clearing House

text: History[edit]

text: Early history[edit]

text: Publishers Clearing House was founded in 1953 in Port Washington, New York, by Harold Mertz,[4][5] a former manager of a door-to-door sales team for magazine subscriptions.[6] The company started in Mertz's basement with help from his wife LuEsther and daughter Joyce.[7][8] Its first mailings were of 10,000 envelopes from Mertz's home in Long Island, New York, and offered 20 magazine subscriptions. 100 orders were received. Within a few years the company moved out of Mertz's basement into an office building and started hiring staff. When PCH moved its headquarters in 1969, its prior location was donated to the city and renamed the Harold E. Mertz community center.[8] The company revenue had grown to US$50 million by 1981, and $100 million by 1988.[6]

text: In 1967 PCH started its first sweepstakes as a way to increase subscription sales,[9] based on the sweepstakes held by Reader's Digest.[4] The first prizes ranged from 25 cents to $10 and entrants had a 1 in 10 chance of winning. After the sweepstakes increased response rates to mailings, prizes of[8] $5,000[6] and eventually $250,000 were offered.[10] PCH began advertising the sweepstakes on TV in 1974.[7][11] It was the only major multi-magazine subscription business until 1977. Former client Time Inc. and several other publishers formed American Family Publishers (AFP) to compete with PCH after the company refused repeated requests by Time for a larger share of sales revenue from magazine subscriptions.[4][8]

text: AFP and PCH competed for exclusive rights to magazines and for the better promotion and prize ideas. When AFP increased their jackpot to $1 million,[10] then to $10 million in 1985, PCH raised its prizes to match.[4] $7 million in prizes were distributed by 1979,[12] $40 million by 1991[5] and $137 million by 2000.[9] In 1989 two members of its advertising team, Dave Sayer and Todd Sloane, started the Prize Patrol, a publicized event where winners are surprised with a check at their home. The idea was inspired by the 1950s television series "The Millionaire".[4][13][14]

text: In 1992 thousands of discarded sweepstakes entries from contestants who had not bought magazine subscriptions were found in the trash by city employees,[4][15] reinforcing beliefs that the company favored those who made purchases in selecting a sweepstakes winner.[4] PCH said this was done by a disgruntled employee at their mail processing vendor.[8] A class action ensued, which PCH settled by giving discarded entrants a second chance to win.[4][15][16]

text: Government regulation[edit]

text: In the 1990s PCH and its primary competitor, AFP, experienced a series of legal troubles due to concerns that their mailings misled consumers about their odds of winning and implied that magazine purchases increased their chances.[4][10] This led to the Deceptive Mail Prevention and Enforcement Act of 2000, which regulates direct mail businesses.[4] At the senate hearings regarding this Act, PCH said most consumers were not confused about their chances of winning or that purchases did not increase their chances. The company said less than five percent of participants spend more than $300.[8] Government officials from California said 5,000 local consumers paid more than $2,500 each in magazine purchases under the false belief that they were increasing their odds of winning the sweepstakes.[17]

text: Industry sources estimated PCH's response rates decreased by 7-12 percent and its sales volume by 22 to 30 percent in response to the bad publicity from the lawsuits.[6][18] In 2000, PCH laid off a quarter of its 800-person work force.[18]

text: Lawsuits[edit]

text: In 1994 PCH sent mailings telling recipients they were all "finalists", which led to[10] a lawsuit involving the attorneys general of 14 US states.[19][20][21] Later that year, PCH denied wrongdoing, but agreed to pay a settlement of $490,000 and to change their practices.[20] Under the agreement, PCH said it would define terms like "finalist" and disclose the chances of winning.[22]

text: In 1997, a contestant of competitor AFP flew to Tampa, Florida, thinking he had won, though he had not. The resulting publicity caused more lawsuits for both companies.[6] PCH reached a $30 million national settlement in 1999.[8][23] In 2000, another $18 million settlement was reached with 24 states, after the company sent mass mailings that said "You are a winner!" and used mock personalized checks.[17][24] PCH agreed to avoid similar mailings in the future, and add a "sweepstakes fact box" to mailings.[17][24]

text: State attorneys spoke out against the national settlement from 2000 and additional lawsuits were filed by individual states.[8] Another $34 million settlement was reached in 2001 in a lawsuit involving 25 states.[1][25] As part of the settlement, PCH was required to avoid terms like "Guaranteed Winner," add disclaimers to mailings saying that the recipient has not won and that purchasing merchandise won't increase their chances.[26][25][27] PCH reached settlements with all fifty states and agreed to work with a "compliance counsel."[6] PCH apologized in the settlement and said it would contact customers who had spent more than $1,000 on merchandise the prior year".[27]

text: PCH also reached an agreement with Iowa in 2007.[28] In 2010 the company paid $3.5 million to the Attorneys General of 32 states and the District of Columbia to settle possible contempt charges that it had violated the terms of the 2001 agreement. The company denied wrongdoing, but agreed to work with both an ombudsperson and a compliance counsel who would review its mailings quarterly.[29][30][31][32]

text: In April 2014, an investigation by the Senate Special Committee on Aging concluded that PCH had "pushed the limits" of prior agreements and that additional legislation may be needed.[33]

text: Online development[edit]

text: PCH began selling merchandise in 1985[7] with two products. After a Hershey's Chocolate Cookbook and a diet cookbook sold more than other products, the company began expanding into jewelry, media, collectibles, household products and others.[8] The company also shifted its focus online.[1][34] It began selling magazine subscriptions and merchandise on PCH.com in 1996.[35] In 2006, it acquired Blingo Inc., an ad-supported metasearch engine that was later re-branded as PCH Search and Win.[13][36] PCH ran contests on Twitter, Facebook and Myspace. iPhone apps for slot games and trivia were developed. The company created online play-and-win sites like PCH Games (formerly Candystand) and PCHQuiz4Cash, with air-hockey and video poker games.[1]

text: In December 2010, PCH acquired Funtank and its online gaming site Candystand.com.[37] In 2011, PCH promoted a "$5,000 every week for life" sweepstakes in TV ads and the front page of AOL.com.[11][26] The following year the company acquired a mobile marketing company, Liquid Wireless.[38] The company utilized, then stopped then started again utilizing coregistration (through other websites) to expand its customer base.[39]

text: In 2008, a PCH spokesperson said the digital properties were intended to attract younger consumers. By 2013, the internet had become PCH's primary channel of interaction with consumers.[7] The New York Times described the digital transition as "part of an overall effort to collect information on Web users, show them advertisements and use the registration information for PCH’s mailing lists."[1]

text: Products[edit]

text: PCH is a direct-marketing company that sells merchandise, magazine subscriptions and operates several prize-based websites.[11] While best known for the sweepstakes and Prize Patrol it uses to promote its magazine subscriptions,[1][13][35] the majority of the company's revenue now comes from merchandise.[11] The company has been selling books, media, jewelry and other consumer items[4] since the 1980s.[8] PCH operates eight websites, including PCH Search and Win, PCH Lotto, PCH Games, PCH Save and Win, and Candystand.[1][11]

text: The company also sells magazine subscriptions at a discount and advertises subscriptions along with its sweepstakes.[40] It's estimated that companies like PCH keep 75-90 percent of the fees from the original subscription, while publishers use the increased distribution to improve circulation numbers and revenue from renewals.[10][41] PCH popularized the idea of using sweepstakes to sell magazine subscriptions in the direct-marketing market and became known by detractors as a producer of junk-mail for advertising through mass-mailings.[5][40] Documents filed with the New York State Department in 1993 said that year the company mailed 220 million envelopes. Frequent buyers can receive 30-40 mailings a year.[42]

text: Sweepstakes[edit]

text: Although PCH advertises its sweepstakes along with magazine subscriptions, no purchase is necessary to enter or win.[10][42][43] In 1995, PCH began the tradition of announcing winners of its $10 million prize just after the Super Bowl.[44] As of 2012, $225 million in prizes have been distributed.[8] Some of its larger prizes are for $5,000 a week for life,[45] or $10 million.[46] Prizes can also range from $1 Amazon gift cards to $2,500, $1 million or $3 million.[47] The larger cash prizes are paid in installments, typically with a balloon payment at 30 years,[48] reducing the present value of prizes to much less than their nominal values.

text: Sweepstakes scammers often pose as being from Publishers Clearing House and say that a cash payment is needed before they can deliver a prize.[49] According to Chris Irving from PCH "If you are contacted by anyone claiming to represent Publishers Clearing House and they request payment of any amount to collect a prize, do not send any money... You have not heard from the real Publishers Clearing House."[50][51]

text: Odds of Winning[edit]

text: The odds of winning a PCH sweepstakes vary depending on the number of entries and what prize or sweepstakes is involved.[47] According to the official rules, the estimated odds of winning the $1 million a year forever are one in 1.3 billion.[52] As of 2017, the odds of winning $15 million in Giveaway 8800 are 1 in 2.4 billion.[53] Smaller prizes have better odds that may vary from one in 223 to one in 80,000, depending on the prize.[47]

text: Prize Patrol[edit]

text: The Prize Patrol surprises sweepstakes winners at their homes, work or other locations with cash prizes and captures the event on video.[7] Since their introduction in 1989, these reality TV-style videos of prize-winners surprised at their doorstep with checks for $1,000 to $10 million have been used in widely broadcast television commercials, and, more recently, in the company's online acquisition efforts, websites and social media communications.[7][11][26][54] In 2013, a $5 million television campaign modified the traditional prize patrol commercial by digitally altering video from classic sitcoms like The Brady Bunch and Gilligan's Island to show the prize patrol visiting characters in the show.[54]

text: The Prize Patrol has made in-person appearances or delivered prizes on TV programs such as The Oprah Winfrey Show[55] and The Price Is Right.[56][57] Their surprise winning moments have been spoofed by Jay Leno,[58] Conan O'Brien[59] and the cast of Saturday Night Live;[60] woven into the plots of movies such as Let's Go to Prison,[61][62] The Sentinel[63] and Knight and Day;[64][65] and the subject of cartoons.[8]


document_title: Red giant

question_text: where are red giant stars found in the h-r diagram

text: Red giant

text: Characteristics[edit]

text: Red giants are stars that have exhausted the supply of hydrogen in their cores and have begun thermonuclear fusion of hydrogen in a shell surrounding the core. They have radii tens to hundreds of times larger than that of the Sun. However, their outer envelope is lower in temperature, giving them a reddish-orange hue. Despite the lower energy density of their envelope, red giants are many times more luminous than the Sun because of their great size. Red-giant-branch stars have luminosities up to nearly three thousand times that of the Sun (L☉), spectral types of K or M, have surface temperatures of 3,000–4,000 K, and radii up to about 200 times the Sun (R☉). Stars on the horizontal branch are hotter, with only a small range of luminosities around 75 L☉. Asymptotic-giant-branch stars range from similar luminosities as the brighter stars of the red giant branch, up to several times more luminous at the end of the thermal pulsing phase.

text: Among the asymptotic-giant-branch stars belong the carbon stars of type C-N and late C-R, produced when carbon and other elements are convected to the surface in what is called a dredge-up.[1] The first dredge-up occurs during hydrogen shell burning on the red-giant branch, but does not produce a large carbon abundance at the surface. The second, and sometimes third, dredge up occurs during helium shell burning on the asymptotic-giant branch and convects carbon to the surface in sufficiently massive stars.

text: The stellar limb of a red giant is not sharply-defined, contrary to their depiction in many illustrations. Rather, due to the very low mass density of the envelope, such stars lack a well-defined photosphere, and the body of the star gradually transitions into a 'corona'.[2] The coolest red giants have complex spectra, with molecular lines, emission features, and sometimes masers, particularly from thermally pulsing AGB stars.[3]

text: Another noteworthy feature of red giants is that, unlike Sun-like stars whose photospheres have a large number of small convection cells (solar granules), red-giant photospheres, as well as those of red supergiants, have just a few large cells, the features of which cause the variations of brightness so common on both types of stars.[4]

text: Evolution[edit]

text: Red giants are evolved from main-sequence stars with masses in the range from about 0.3 M☉ to around 8 M☉.[5] When a star initially forms from a collapsing molecular cloud in the interstellar medium, it contains primarily hydrogen and helium, with trace amounts of "metals" (in stellar structure, this simply refers to any element that is not hydrogen or helium i.e. atomic number greater than 2). These elements are all uniformly mixed throughout the star. The star reaches the main sequence when the core reaches a temperature high enough to begin fusing hydrogen (a few million kelvin) and establishes hydrostatic equilibrium. Over its main sequence life, the star slowly converts the hydrogen in the core into helium; its main-sequence life ends when nearly all the hydrogen in the core has been fused. For the Sun, the main-sequence lifetime is approximately 10 billion years. More-massive stars burn disproportionately faster and so have a shorter lifetime than less massive stars.[6]

text: When the star exhausts the hydrogen fuel in its core, nuclear reactions can no longer continue and so the core begins to contract due to its own gravity. This brings additional hydrogen into a zone where the temperature and pressure are adequate to cause fusion to resume in a shell around the core. The outer layers of the star then expand greatly, thus beginning the red-giant phase of the star's life. As the star expands, the energy produced in the burning shell of the star is spread over a much larger surface area, resulting in a lower surface temperature and a shift in the star's visible light output towards the red – hence it becomes a red giant. At this time, the star is said to be ascending the red-giant branch of the Hertzsprung–Russell (H–R) diagram.[6]

text: The evolutionary path the star takes as it moves along the red-giant branch, that ends finally with the complete collapse of the core, depends on the mass of the star. For the Sun and stars of less than about 2 M☉[7] the core will become dense enough that electron degeneracy pressure will prevent it from collapsing further. Once the core is degenerate, it will continue to heat until it reaches a temperature of roughly 108 K, hot enough to begin fusing helium to carbon via the triple-alpha process. Once the degenerate core reaches this temperature, the entire core will begin helium fusion nearly simultaneously in a so-called helium flash. In more-massive stars, the collapsing core will reach 108 K before it is dense enough to be degenerate, so helium fusion will begin much more smoothly, and produce no helium flash.[6] The core helium fusing phase of a star's life is called the horizontal branch in metal-poor stars, so named because these stars lie on a nearly horizontal line in the H–R diagram of many star clusters. Metal-rich helium-fusing stars instead lie on the so-called red clump in the H–R diagram.[8]

text: An analogous process occurs when the central helium is exhausted and the star collapses once again, causing helium in a shell to begin fusing. At the same time hydrogen may begin fusion in a shell just outside the burning helium shell. This puts the star onto the asymptotic giant branch, a second red-giant phase.[9] The helium fusion results in the build up of a carbon–oxygen core. A star below about 8 M☉ will never start fusion in its degenerate carbon–oxygen core.[7] Instead, at the end of the asymptotic-giant-branch phase the star will eject its outer layers, forming a planetary nebula with the core of the star exposed, ultimately becoming a white dwarf. The ejection of the outer mass and the creation of a planetary nebula finally ends the red-giant phase of the star's evolution.[6] The red-giant phase typically lasts only around a billion years in total for a solar mass star, almost all of which is spent on the red-giant branch. The horizontal-branch and asymptotic-giant-branch phases proceed tens of times faster.

text: If the star has about 0.2 to 0.5 M☉,[7] it is massive enough to become a red giant but does not have enough mass to initiate the fusion of helium.[5] These "intermediate" stars cool somewhat and increase their luminosity but never achieve the tip of the red-giant branch and helium core flash. When the ascent of the red-giant branch ends they puff off their outer layers much like a post-asymptotic-giant-branch star and then become a white dwarf.

text: Stars that do not become red giants[edit]

text: Very low mass stars are fully convective[10][11] and may continue to fuse hydrogen into helium for up to a trillion years[12] until only a small fraction of the entire star is hydrogen. Luminosity and temperature steadily increase during this time, just as for more-massive main-sequence stars, but the length of time involved means that the temperature eventually increases by about 50% and the luminosity by around 10 times. Eventually the level of helium increases to the point where the star ceases to be fully convective and the remaining hydrogen locked in the core is consumed in only a few billion more years. Depending on mass, the temperature and luminosity continue to increase for a time during hydrogen shell burning, the star can become hotter than the Sun and tens of times more luminous than when it formed although still not as luminous as the Sun. After some billions more years, they start to become less luminous and cooler even though hydrogen shell burning continues. These become cool helium white dwarfs.[5]

text: Very-high-mass stars develop into supergiants that follow an evolutionary track that takes them back and forth horizontally over the HR diagram, at the right end constituting red supergiants. These usually end their life as a type II supernova. The most massive stars can become Wolf–Rayet stars without becoming giants or supergiants at all.[13][14]

text: Planets[edit]

text: This section needs to be updated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (April 2015)

tag: table

text: Red giants with known planets: the M-type HD 208527, HD 220074 and, as of February 2014, a few tens[15] of known K-giants including Pollux, Gamma Cephei and Iota Draconis.

text: Prospects for habitability[edit]

text: Although traditionally it has been suggested the evolution of a star into a red giant will render its planetary system, if present, uninhabitable, some research suggests that, during the evolution of a 1 M☉ star along the red-giant branch, it could harbor a habitable zone for several times 109 years at 2 AU out to around 108 years at 9 AU out, giving perhaps enough time for life to develop on a suitable world. After the red-giant stage, there would for such a star be a habitable zone between 7 and 22 AU for an additional 109 years.[16] Later studies have refined this scenario, showing how for a 1 M☉ star the habitable zone lasts from 108 years for a planet with an orbit similar to that of Mars one to 7015662709600000000♠2.1×108 yr for one that orbits at Saturn's distance to the Sun, the maximum time (7016116763120000000♠3.7×108 yr) corresponding for planets orbiting at the distance of Jupiter. However, for planets orbiting a 0.5 M☉ star in equivalent orbits to those of Jupiter and Saturn they would be in the habitable zone for 7017183034080000000♠5.8×109 yr and 7016662709600000000♠2.1×109 yr respectively; for stars more massive than the Sun, the times are considerably shorter.[17]

text: Enlargement of planets[edit]

text: As of June 2014, 50 giant planets have been discovered around giant stars. However, these giant planets are more massive than the giant planets found around solar-type stars. This could be because giant stars are more massive than the Sun (less massive stars will still be on the main sequence and will not have become giants yet) and more massive stars are expected to have more massive planets. However, the masses of the planets that have been found around giant stars do not correlate with the masses of the stars; therefore, the planets could be growing in mass during the stars' red giant phase. The growth in planet mass could be partly due to accretion from stellar wind, although a much larger effect would be Roche lobe overflow causing mass-transfer from the star to the planet when the giant expands out to the orbital distance of the planet.[18]

text: Well known examples[edit]

text: Many of the well known bright stars are red giants, because they are luminous and moderately common. The asymptotic giant branch variable star Gamma Crucis is the nearest M class giant star at 88 light years.[19] The K0 red giant branch star Arcturus is 36 light years away.[20]

text: Red-giant branch[edit]

text:
Aldebaran (α Tauri)
Arcturus (α Bootis)
Gacrux (γ Crucis)

text: Red-clump giants[edit]

text:
Hamal (α Arietis)
κ Persei
δ Andromedae[21]

text: Asymptotic giant branch[edit]

text:
Mira (ο Ceti)
χ Cygni
α Herculis

text: The Sun as a red giant[edit]

text: In about 5 to 6 billion years, the Sun will have depleted the hydrogen fuel in its core and will begin to expand. At its largest, its surface (photosphere) will approximately reach the current orbit of Earth. It will then lose its atmosphere completely; its outer layers forming a planetary nebula and the core a white dwarf. The evolution of the Sun into and through the red-giant phase has been extensively modelled, but it remains unclear whether Earth will be engulfed by the Sun or will continue in orbit. The uncertainty arises in part because as the Sun burns hydrogen, it loses mass causing Earth (and all planets) to orbit farther away. There are also significant uncertainties in calculating the orbits of the planets over the next 5–6.5 billion years, so the fate of Earth is not well understood. At its brightest, the red-giant Sun will be several thousand times more luminous than today but its surface will be at about half the temperature.