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Dino Stamatopoulos

Dino Stamatopoulos

Dino Stamatopoulos is a television comedy writer, actor and producer who has worked on Mr. Show, Mad TV, and Late Night with Conan O'Brien. He was nominated for an Emmy in 1998 for "Outstanding Writing for a Variety or Music Program" and in 1999 for "Outstanding Music and Lyrics". He is currently working on Tom Goes to the Mayor with Mr. Show alumni Bob Odenkirk. According to Bob Odenkirk's wife's book, "Mr. Show: What Happened? The Complete Story and Episode Guide" by Naomi Odenkirk, a brief story of Dino's comedy beginnings: - In high school, Dino wrote for his school variety show and was astounded he could get laughs. - He did a duo act with Andy Dick, of sitcom and Mtv fame. One bit where Andy played the dummy for Dino as a ventriloquist. The Dummy speaks very slowly, because you find out later, he's overdosing on sleeping pills. Another where they did a 'Who's On First' bit, where Dino would mess up, and Andy would actually punch him. Andy: "That bit was so dark and twisted that some nights it went over very well, some nights it freaked everybody out." - Dino had written a spec script for a Simpson's episode, just out of love for the show, and Andy convinced him to submit to The Ben Stiller Show, which got him hired. He worked with Bob Odenkirk there. -After Stiller got cancelled, he moved to New York and joined the writing staff of Late Night with Conan O'Brien, also with Bob Odenkirk. -Dino is credited with creating the word "Crunk", the all-purpouse cuss word you can say on TV. Most remember this from a Madonna interview parody.

Comedy

Comedy is the use of humor in from theater, where it simply referred to a play with a happy ending, in contrast to a tragedy. A recognized characteristic of comedy is that it is an intensely personal enjoyment. People frequently don't find the same things amusing, but when they do it can help to create powerful bonds. Humor being subjective, one may or may not find something humorous because it is either too offensive or not offensive enough. Comedy is judged according to a person’s taste. Some enjoy cerebral fare; others prefer less-sophisticated scatological humor (i.e. the "fart joke") or slapstick. A common gender stereotype that plays on this convention is that men love the comedy of The Three Stooges, while women do not. Mel Brooks on comedy and tragedy: "Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die."

Comedy drama

Comedy is the term applied to theatrical dramas the chief object of which are to amuse. It is contrasted on the one hand with tragedy and on the other with farce, burlesque, and so on. As compared with tragedy it is distinguished by having a happy ending (this being considered for a long time the essential difference), by quaint situations, and by lightness of dialogue and character-drawing. As compared with farce it abstains from crude and boisterous jesting, and is marked by some subtlety of dialogue and plot. It is, however, difficult to draw a hard and fast line of demarcation, there being a distinct tendency to combine the characteristics of farce with those of true comedy. This is perhaps more especially the case in the so-called "musical comedy," which became popular in Great Britain and America in the later 19th century, where true comedy is frequently subservient to broad farce and spectacular effects.

Derivation

The word "comedy" is derived from the Greek κωμοιδια, which is a compound either of κωμος (revel) and ωιδος (singer), or of κωμη (village) and ωιδος: it is possible that κωμος itself is derived from κωμη, and originally meant a village revel. The word comes into modern usage through the Latin comoedia and Italian commedia. It has passed through various shades of meaning. In the middle ages it meant simply a story with a happy ending. Thus some of Chaucer's Tales are called comedies, and in this sense Dante used the term in the title of his poem, La Commedia (cf. his Epistola X., in which he speaks of the comic style as "loquutio vulgaris, in qua et mulierculae communicant"; again "comoedia vero remisse et humiliter"; "differt a tragoedia per hoc, quod t. in principio est admirabilis et quieta, in fine sive exitu est foetida et horribilis"). Subsequently the term is applied to mystery plays with a happy ending. The modern usage combines this sense with that in which Renaissance scholars applied it to the ancient comedies. The adjective "comic" (Greek κομικος), which strictly means that which relates to comedy, is in modern usage generally confined to the sense of "laughter-provoking": it is distinguished from "humorous" or "witty" inasmuch as it is applied to an incident or remark which provokes spontaneous laughter without a special mental effort. The phenomena connected with laughter and that which provokes it, the comic, have been carefully investigated by psychologists, in contrast with other phenomena connected with the emotions. It is very generally agreed that the predominating characteristics are incongruity or contrast in the object, and shock or emotional seizure on the part of the subject. It has also been held that the feeling of superiority is an essential, if not the essential, factor: thus Hobbes speaks of laughter as a "sudden glory." Physiological explanations have been given by Kant, Spencer and Darwin. Modern investigators have paid much attention to the origin both of laughter and of smiling, the development of the "play instinct" and its emotional expression.

See also

Forms


- Stand-up comedy
  - Alternative comedy - a largely British term relating to comedians in the ascendant throughout the 1980s and beyond.
  - Improvisational comedy - though not confined to stand-up, it is commonly held in high regard on the stand-up circuit.
  - Impressionists
- Sketch comedy - short comedy scenes as in contrast to sitcom.
- Television comedy and Radio comedy
  - Situation comedy
- Comedy film
  - gross-out film
  - Parody film
  - Horror film
  - romantic comedy film
  - screwball comedy film
  - slapstick film
  - splatstick film (sic)
  - anarchic comedy film
- Comic novel
- Musical comedy
- Tragicomedy
- Dramedy (AKA Comedy-drama)

Styles


- Black comedy
- satire
- parody
- adage
- irony

Historical or theatre


- clown (see also krumping)
- Commedia dell'arte - historically, a form of improvisational theatre, chiefly from the 16th to 18th centuries.
- Farce - most often thought of as theatrical, but has been adapted for other media.
- Jesters - clowns associated with the middle ages.
- Vaudeville - comedy performed in theatres that declined as television ownership increased.

Definitions


- Comedian
- Comedy club

Comedy events and awards


- British Comedy Awards
- Just for laughs festival
- Melbourne International Comedy Festival
- HBO Comedy Arts Festival

Lists of comedy performers


- List of comedians
- List of entertainer pairs or double acts

by nationality


- Australian comedy
- List of British Comedians
- List of Italian comedians
- List of Finnish comedians
- List of Puerto Rican comedians
- List of Mexican comedians

other


- List of Comedy Central's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time - Almost exclusively American.
- List of Dr Demento's radio show comedians

Lists of comedy programmes


- British comedy - article on British comedy and a list of British comedy programmes.
- Britcom - list of British sitcoms.
- List of British TV shows remade for the American market

Other lists


- List of comedies - theatre/radio/television and from France/Russia/Canada/Australia/UK/US

See also


- Humour
- joke
- Laughter

External links


- [http://www.emerson.edu/comedy Comedy Archives] Site of the American Comedy Archives, dedicated to preserving primary source material from the legends of the comic arts.
- [http://www.comedyclassics.org ComedyClassics.org] Forum for discussion about classic comedy from movies (silent & talkie), radio, and TV.
- [http://comedy.wikicities.com Wikicomedy]
- [http://www.wikihumor.com WikiHumor.com] A wiki dedicated to humor.
- [http://www.splangy.com/radio/ The Sound of Young America] A public radio program featuring interviews with comics.
- [http://www.howtobefunny.net/ Comedy Creation] Methods of creating your own comedy.
- Category:Culture Category:Arts ko:희극 ja:喜劇 simple:Comedy

Writer

The term writer can apply to anyone who creates a written work, but the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. Skilled writers demonstrate skills in using language to portray ideas and images, whether producing fiction or non-fiction. A writer may compose in many different forms, including (but not limited to): poetry, prose, music. Accordingly, a writer in specialist mode may rank as a poet, novelist, composer, lyricist, playwright, mythographer, journalist, film scriptwriter, etc. (See also: creative writing, technical writing and academic papers). Writers' output frequently contributes to the cultural content of a society, and that society may value its writerly corpus -- or literature -- as an art much like the visual arts (see painting, sculpture, photography), music, craft and performance art (see: drama, theatre, opera, musical).

Alternative uses of "writer"

Practitioners within some specialized fields also use the term "writer" to describe their arts. For instance, advertising creatives, gag-writers and graffiti artists also refer to themselves as "writers." In these contexts, "writer" may be considered an alternative use of the term, rather than describing a so-called "literary" or "serious" writer as discussed above. A "writer" can also be mechanic. For example, court reporters often refer to their stenotype machine as a writer. Similarly, some word processors are called "writer", such as OpenOffice.org Writer and Nisus Writer.

See also


- author - a closely-related and overlapping concept
- language
- lists of authors
- List of women writers
- style guide
- writing
- hack writer
- List of writers' conferences
- International PEN
- PEN American Center

External links


- [http://www.wga.org Writers Guild of America, west]
- [http://www.wgae.org Writers Guild of America, east]
- [http://www.writersguild.org.uk Writers' Guild of Great Britain]
- [http://www.writersguildofcanada.com/ Writers' Guild of Canada]
- [http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/ International PEN]
- [http://www.authorssociety.org/ Authors Society.org]
- [http://www.Writing.Com/ Writers] Category:Media occupations Category:Literature ja:著作家 ko:작가 th:นักเขียน

Actor

An actor is a person who acts, or plays a role, in an artistic production. The term commonly refers to someone working in movies, television, live theatre, or radio, and can occasionally denote a street entertainer. Besides playing dramatic roles, actors may also sing or dance or work only on radio or as a voice artist. A female actor may be known as an actress, although some prefer the term "actor", using it as a gender-neutral term. An actor usually plays a fictional character. In the case of a true story (or a fictional story that portrays real people) an actor may play a real person (or a fictional version of the same). Occasionally, actors appear as themselves.

Etymology

"Actor" is directly from the masculine Latin noun actor (feminine, actrix) from the verb agere "to do, to drive, to pass time" + the suffix -or "so./st. who performs the action indicated by the stem". Alternatively from Greek (aktor), leader, from the verb (agō), to lead or carry, to convey, to bring.

History

The first recorded case of an actor performing took place in 534 B.C. (probably on 23 November, though the changes in calendar over the years make it hard to determine exactly) when the Greek performer Thespis stepped on to the stage at the Theatre Dionysus and became the first person to speak words as a character in a play. The machinations of storytelling were immediately revolutionized. Prior to Thespis' act, stories were told in song and dance and in third person narrative, but no one had assumed the role of a character in a story. In honour of Thespis, actors are commonly called Thespians. Theatrical myth to this day maintains that Thespis exists as a mischievous spirit, and disasters in the theatre are sometimes blamed on his ghostly intervention. However, this negative perception dramaticaly changed in 20th Century as acting became an honored and popular profession and art. Part of the reason is due to the rise of the popular appeal and access to dramatic film entertainment and the resulting rise of the movie star in social status and the large salaries they commanded. The combination of public presence and wealth had a profound rehabilitation to the image. In the past, only men could become actors. In the ancient and medieval world, it was considered disgraceful for a woman to go on the stage, and this belief continued right up until the 17th century, when in Venice it was broken. In the time of William Shakespeare, women's roles were played by men or boys, though there is some evidence to suggest that women disguised as men also (illegally) performed.

Actresses in male roles

Women actors sometimes play the roles of prepubescent boys, because in some regards a woman has a closer resemblance to a boy than does a man. The role of Peter Pan, for example, is traditionally played by a woman. The tradition of the principal boy in pantomime may be compared. An adult playing a child occurs more in theater than in film. The exception to this is voice actors in animated films, where boys are generally voiced by women, as heard in "The Simpsons". Opera has several 'pants roles' traditionally sung by women, usually mezzo-sopranos. Examples are Hansel in Hansel und Gretel, and Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro. Mary Pickford played the part of Little Lord Fauntleroy in the first film version of the book. Linda Hunt won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in The Year of Living Dangerously, in which she played the part of a man. Having an actor play the opposite sex for comic effect is also a long standing tradition in comic theatre and film. Most of Shakespeare's comedies include instances of cross dressing, and both Dustin Hoffman and Robin Williams appeared in hit comedy films where they were required to play most scenes dressed as women. Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon famously posed as women to escape gangsters in the Billy Wilder film Some Like It Hot.

Techniques of acting

Actors employ a variety of techniques that are learned through training and experience. Some of these are: #The rigorous use of the voice to communicate a character's lines and express emotion. This is achieved through attention to diction and projection through correct breathing and articulation. It is also achieved through the tone and emphasis that an actor puts on words #Physicalisation of a role in order to create a believable character for the audience and to use the acting space appropriately and correctly #Use of gesture to complement the voice, interact with other actors and to bring emphasis to the words in a play, as well as having symbolic meaning Shakespeare is believed to have been commenting on the acting style and techniques of his era when Hamlet gives his famous advice to the players:
Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue: but if you mouth it, as many of your players do, I had as lief the town-crier spoke my lines. Nor do not saw the air too much with your hand, thus, but use all gently; for in the very torrent, tempest, and, as I may say, the whirlwind of passion, you must acquire and beget a temperance that may give it smoothness. O, it offends me to the soul to hear a robustious periwig-pated fellow tear a passion to tatters, to very rags, to split the ears of the groundlings, who for the most part are capable of nothing but inexplicable dumbshows and noise: I would have such a fellow whipped for o'erdoing Termagant; it out-herods Herod: pray you, avoid it.
Be not too tame neither, but let your own discretion be your tutor: suit the action to the word, the word to the action; with this special observance: o'erstep not the modesty of nature: for any thing so overdone is from the purpose of playing, whose end, both at the first and now, was and is, to hold, as 'twere, the mirror up to nature; to show virtue her own feature, scorn her own image, and the very age and body of the time his form and pressure. Now this overdone, or come tardy off, though it make the unskilful laugh, cannot but make the judicious grieve; the censure of the which one must in your allowance o'erweigh a whole theatre of others. O, there be players that I have seen play, and heard others praise, and that highly, not to speak it profanely, that, neither having the accent of Christians nor the gait of Christian, pagan, nor man, have so strutted and bellowed that I have thought some of nature's journeymen had made men and not made them well, they imitated humanity so abominably.
O, reform it altogether. And let those that play your clowns speak no more than is set down for them; for there be of them that will themselves laugh, to set on some quantity of barren spectators to laugh too; though, in the mean time, some necessary question of the play be then to be considered: that's villanous, and shows a most pitiful ambition in the fool that uses it. Go, make you ready.

Acting awards


- Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, for film
- Golden Globe Awards for film and television
- Emmy Awards for television
- Genie Awards for film
- Gemini Awards for television
- British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award for film and television
- Tony Awards for the theatre (specifically, Broadway theatre)
- European Theatre Awards for the theatre
- Laurence Olivier Awards for the theatre
- Screen Actors Guild Awards for film and television

See also


- Movie star
- Stunt work
- Lists of actors
- Celebrities

Suggested reading


- An Actor Prepares by Konstantin Stanislavski (Theatre Arts Books, 0878309837, 1989)
- A Dream of Passion: The Development of the Method by Lee Strasberg (Plume Books, 0452261988, 1990)
- Sanford Meisner on Acting by Sanford Meisner (Vintage, 0394750594, 1987)
- Letters to a Young Actor by Robert Brustein (Basic Books, 0465008062, 2005).
- Category:Entertainment occupations ko:배우 ms:Pelakon ja:俳優

Television producer

A Television producer oversees the making of television programs. In television, creative control usually rests with the producer.

Some notable television producers


- J.J. Abrams — series Felicity, Alias and Lost
- David Angell — sitcoms Frasier, Wings, and Cheers
- Alan Ball — series Six Feet Under
- Biddy Baxter — Blue Peter
- Steven Bochco — series Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law and NYPD Blue, among others
- Russell T. Davies — series Queer as Folk and the 2005 revival of Doctor Who
- John de Mol — series Big Brother and Fear Factor (most reality tv)
- Lowell Ganz — sitcoms Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, and Joanie Loves Chachi
- Larry Gelbart — sitcom M
- A
- S
- H
- Roy Huggins — series Maverick, 77 Sunset Strip, The Fugitive and The Rockford Files
- David E. Kelley — series Ally McBeal and The Practice
- Verity Lambert — series Doctor Who, Adam Adamant Lives!, Minder, Jonathan Creek
- James L. Brooks — series The Simpsons and Mary Tyler-Moore, among others
- John Langley — series COPS and Code 3
- Norman Lear — series All in the Family, Sanford and Son, and Maude
- Willy Lindwer — documentary film The Last Seven Months of Anne Frank
- Herman Miller — series Kung Fu
- John Nathan-Turner — series Doctor Who
- Aaron Sorkin — series The West Wing and Sports Night
- Aaron Spelling — series Dynasty and Charmed, among others
- J. Michael Straczynski — series Babylon 5
- Gene Roddenberry — series Star Trek
- Ronnie Waldman — BBC Head of Light Entertainment (1950-1958)
- Michael Wearing — Boys from the Blackstuff, Edge of Darkness and others.
- Greg Weisman — series Gargoyles
- Joss Whedon — series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly
- Dick Wolf — series Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent

See also


- Film producer
- Executive producer
- Show runner
- Producer (for different types of producers)
- Producers Guild of America

External link


- [http://www.producersguild.org/pg/about_a/faq.asp Producers Guild of America Frequently Asked Questions] Category:Entertainment occupations ja:テレビプロデューサー

Mad TV

Mad TV has two meanings:
- MADtv - a TV series.
- Mad TV, a computer game.

Emmy

The Emmy Awards are United States television production awards, similar to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment. Three related but separate organizations present Emmy Awards:
- the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences honors national prime time entertainment (excluding sports);
- the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences recognizes daytime, sports, news and documentary programming; and
- the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences honors programming originating outside the United States. The best-known of the awards are the Primetime Awards (some of which are classified as "Creative Arts Emmys") and the Daytime Emmy Awards.

Primetime Emmys

Primetime Emmys are awarded in the following categories:

- Outstanding Comedy Series
- Directing
  - Directing For A Comedy Series
  - Directing For A Drama Series
  - Directing For A Variety, Music Or Comedy Program
  - Directing For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Dramatic Special
- Outstanding Drama Series
- Individual Performance In A Variety Or Music Program
- Acting
  - Lead Actor In A Comedy Series
  - Lead Actor In A Drama Series
  - Lead Actor In A Miniseries Or A Movie
  - Lead Actress In A Comedy Series
  - Lead Actress In A Drama Series
  - Lead Actress In A Miniseries Or A Movie
- Outstanding Made For Television Movie

- Outstanding Miniseries
- Outstanding Reality Program
- Outstanding Reality-Competition Program
- Supporting Actor
  - Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series
  - Supporting Actor In A Drama Series
  - Supporting Actor In A Miniseries Or A Movie
  - Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series
  - Supporting Actress In A Drama Series
  - Supporting Actress In A Miniseries Or A Movie
- Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Series
- Writing
  - Writing For A Comedy Series
  - Writing For A Drama Series
  - Writing For A Variety, Music Or Comedy Program
  - Writing For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Dramatic Special

Creative Arts Emmys

Creative Arts Emmy are awarded in the following categories:

- Animation
  - Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming Less than One Hour)
  - Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming One Hour Or More)
- Art direction
  - Art Direction For A Multi-Camera Series
  - Art Direction For a Single-Camera Series
  - Art Direction For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special
  - Art Direction For A Variety Or Music Program
- Casting
  - Casting For A Comedy Series
  - Casting For A Drama Series
  - Casting For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special
- Outstanding Choreography
- Cinematography
  - Cinematography For A Multi-Camera Series
  - Cinematography For A Single-Camera Series
  - Cinematography For A Miniseries Or Movie
  - Cinematography For Nonfiction Programming
- Outstanding Commercial
- Costumes
  - Outstanding Costumes For A Series
  - Outstanding Costumes For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special
- Directing for Nonfiction Programming
- Picture Editing
  - Single-Camera Picture Editing For A Drama Series
  - Single-Camera Picture Editing For A Comedy Series
  - Single-Camera Picture Editing For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special
  - Multi-Camera Picture Editing For A Series
  - Multi-Camera Picture Editing For A Miniseries, Movie or A Special
  - Picture Editing For Nonfiction Programming
- Hairstyling
  - Hairstyling For A Series
  - Hairstyling For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special
- Outstanding Lighting Direction
- Outstanding Main Title Design
- Makeup
  - Makeup For A Series, Miniseries, Movie Or A Special (Prosthetic)
  - Makeup For A Series (Non-Prosthetic)
  - Makeup For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special (Non-Prosthetic)

- Music
  - Music Composition For A Series
  - Music Composition For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special
  - Music Direction
  - Outstanding Music And Lyrics
  - Outstanding Main Title Theme Music
- Guest Role
  - Guest Actor In A Comedy Series
  - Guest Actor In A Drama Series
  - Guest Actress In A Comedy Series
  - Guest Actress In A Drama Series
- Outstanding Special Class Program
- Outstanding Children’s Program
- Nonfiction
  - Outstanding Nonfiction Special
  - Outstanding Nonfiction Series
- Reality
  - Outstanding Reality Program
  - Outstanding Reality-Competition Program
- Sound Editing
  - Sound Editing For A Series
  - Sound Editing For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special
  - Sound Editing For Nonfiction Programming
- Sound Mixing
  - Single-Camera Sound Mixing For A Series
  - Single-Camera Sound Mixing For A Miniseries Or A Movie
  - Multi-Camera Sound Mixing For A Series Or Special
  - Sound Mixing For A Variety Or Music Series Or Special
  - Sound Mixing For Nonfiction Programming
- Visual Effects
  - Special Visual Effects For A Series
  - Special Visual Effects For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special
- Stunt Coordination
- Technical Direction
  - Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video For A Series
  - Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special
- Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Special
- Writing for Nonfiction Programming

Daytime Emmys

See Daytime Emmy Awards.

Regional Emmys

There are twenty regional divisions of the National Academy which hand out their own awards, with the ATA&S serving the Los Angeles, California area. These awards are less glamorous and sometimes technical: a 2003 Suncoast Emmy Award, given for productions in Florida and parts of Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana, was awarded for spot coverage of a dump truck chase.

International Emmys

The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences hands out awards which honor the best of non-US television. Identifying these recipients can take months, with judging taking place at various international TV festivals. The best two programs from a particular genre in four regions are selected to go to a semifinal round, from which the nominees are derived. Every nominee is screened at a festival in New York the day before the awards ceremony.

Other Emmys

Awards are also handed out for:
- National TV newscasts and documentaries
- Sports programs and coverage (See Sports Emmy Awards)
- Business and financial reporting
- Technology & Engineering
- Public Service (for public service announcements and whenever TV programs "advance the common good")

History

The first Emmy Awards were presented on January 25, 1949 at the Hollywood Athletic Club. The name "Emmy" was a feminization of "immy", a nickname used for the image orthicon tubes that were common in early television cameras. Shirley Dinsdale has the distinction of receiving the very first Emmy in the first awards ceremony.

See also


- List of Emmy winners
- List of Daytime Emmy winners
- Primetime Emmy Award winners, 2005
- 55th Emmy Awards nominees
- 56th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards

External links


- [http://www.emmys.org/awards/index.php Primetime Emmy Awards]
- [http://www.iemmys.tv/winners.html International Emmy Awards]
- [http://www.emmyonline.org/emmy/awards.html Daytime Emmy Awards]
- National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences chapters
  - [http://boston.emmyonline.org/ Boston / New England]
  - [http://www.chicagoemmyonline.org/ Chicago / Midwest]
  - [http://www.ntacleveland.com/ Cleveland]
  - [http://www.natascolo.org/ Heartland]
  - [http://www.lonestaremmy.org/ Lone Star]
  - [http://www.emmys.com/awards/laareaawards.php Los Angeles]
  - [http://www.mi-nta.org/ Michigan]
  - [http://www.emmymid-america.org/ Mid-America]
  - [http://www.natasmid-atlantic.org/ Mid-Atlantic]
  - [http://nashville.emmyonline.org/ Nashville / Midsouth]
  - [http://www.natasdc.org/ National Capital/Chesapeake Bay]
  - [http://www.nynatas.org/ New York]
  - [http://www.emmysf.tv/ North California]
  - [http://www.natasnw.org/ Northwest]
  - [http://www.ohiovalleyemmy.org/ Ohio Valley]
  - [http://www.nataspsw.com/ Pacific Southwest]
  - [http://www.rockymountainemmy.org/ Rocky Mountain Southwest]
  - [http://www.natassoutheast.tv Southeast]
  - [http://suncoast.emmyonline.org/ Suncoast]
  - [http://www.natas-mn.org/ Upper Midwest]
- [http://www.digitalhit.com/emmy/ Emmy Awards coverage] on DigitalHit.com Category:Emmy Awards ja:エミー賞

1998

1998 (MCMXCVIII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean.

Events

January


- January 1998 - A massive ice storm, caused by El Niño, strikes New England, southern Ontario and Quebec, resulting in widespread power failures, severe damage to forests, and a number of deaths.
- January 1 - Smoking is banned in all California bars and restaurants.
- January 2 - Russia begins to circulate new rubles to stem inflation and promote confidence.
- January 2 - Gunman shoots Antario Teodoro Filho, Brazilian politician and radio presenter, in a middle of his broadcast.
- January 4 - Wilaya of Relizane massacres of 4 January 1998 in Algeria; over 170 killed in three remote villages.
- January 6 - The Lunar Prospector spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon and later found evidence for frozen water in soil in permanently shadowed craters near the Moon's poles.
- January 8 - Ramzi Yousef is sentenced to life in prison for planning the World Trade Center bombing.
- January 8 - Cosmologists announce that the expansion rate of the universe is increasing.
- January 11 - Sidi-Hamed massacre in Algeria; over 100 people killed.
- January 12 - 19 European nations agree to forbid human cloning.
- January 13 - A tourist visiting the White House sprays paint on to marble busts of Giuseppe Ceracchi
- January 14 - Researchers in Dallas, Texas present findings about an enzyme that slows aging and cell death (apoptosis).
- January 15 - The stalker of Howard Stern, Lance Carvin, is sentenced to 2 1/2 years for threatening to kill Stern and his family.
- January 16 - NASA announces that John Glenn will return to space when Space Shuttle Discovery blasts off in October 1998.
- January 17 - Paula Jones accuses President Bill Clinton of sexual harassment.
- January 20 - Nepalese police intercepts a shipment of 272 human skulls in Kathmandu
- January 22 - Suspected "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski pleads guilty and accepts a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.
- January 26 - Lewinsky scandal: On American television, Bill Clinton denies he had "sexual relations" with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
- January 26 - Compaq buys Digital Equipment Corporation.
- January 26 - Monkeys attack people in Ito, Japan
- January 27 - American First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton appears on the Today show calling the attacks against her husband part of a "vast right-wing conspiracy."
- January 28 - Ford Motor Company announces the buyout of Volvo Cars for $6.45 billion.
- January 28 - Gunmen hold at least 400 children and teachers hostage for several hours at an elementary school in Manila, Philippines.
- January 29 - In Birmingham, Alabama a bomb explodes at an abortion clinic killing one and severely wounding another. Serial bomber Eric Rudolph is suspected as the culprit.

February


- February - Iraq disarmament crisis: The United States Senate passes resolution 71, which urged President Bill Clinton to "take all necessary and appropriate actions to respond to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs."
- February 3 - Cavalese cable-car disaster: a United States Military pilot causes the death of 20 people near Trento, Italy when his low-flying plane severs the cable of a cable-car.
- February 3 - Karla Faye Tucker is executed in Texas becoming the first woman executed in the United States since 1984.
- February 4 - An earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter Scale in northeast Afghanistan kills more than 5,000.
- February 6 - Washington National Airport is renamed Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
- February 6 - The French prefect Claude Erignac is assassinated in the streets of Ajaccio (Corse) by a commando of Corsican insurgents, among them Yvan Colonna (trial june 2).
- February 7 - Roger Nicholas Angleton committed suicide in a prison cell in Houston, Texas by cutting himself with razor blades. He admitted to murdering socialite Doris Angleton in her River Oaks home in his suicide note.
- February 10 - A college dropout becomes the first person to be convicted of a hate crime committed in cyberspace.
- February 10 - Voters in Maine repeal a gay rights law passed in 1997 becoming the first U.S. state to abandon such a law.
- February 12 - The presidential line-item veto is declared unconstitutional by a United States federal judge.
- February 14 - Authorities in the United States announce that Eric Rudolph is a suspect in an Alabama abortion clinic bombing.
- February 15 - Dale Earnhardt wins the Daytona 500 in his 20th try after many unsucsessful attempts.
- February 16 - China Airlines Flight 676 crashed into a residential area near by Chiang Kai-shek International Airport, killing 202 people, included all 196 on board and six on the ground.
- February 18 - Two white separatists were arrested in Nevada and accused of plotting a biological attack on New York City subways.
- February 19 - 66-day blackout begins in Auckland, New Zealand.
- February 19 - Larry Wayne Harris of the Aryan Nations and William Leavitt are arrested in Henderson, New York for possession of military grade anthrax
- February 20 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraqi President Saddam Hussein negotiates a deal with U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan, allowing weapons inspectors to return to Baghdad, preventing military action by the U.S. and Britain.
- February 22 - Collapse of one third of the Tower block "Palace II" in Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
- February 23 - Tornadoes in central Florida destroy or damage 2,600 structures and kill 42 (see Florida El Niño Outbreak).
- February 23 - Osama bin Laden publishes fatwa declaring jihad against all Jews and Crusaders.
- February 24 - Hustler publisher Larry Flynt is acquitted of charges of defamation of Jerry Falwell.
- February 24 - A man tries to hijack Turkish Airlines passenger plane claiming that he has a bomb in his teddy bear. Passengers disapprove and apprehend him
- February 28 - Serbian police begin to wipe out so-called "terrorist gangs" in Kosovo.

March


- March 1 - Attack Submarine USS Sea Devil (now ex-Sea Devil (SSN-664)) starts to be deactivated
- March 2 - Data sent from the Galileo probe indicates that Jupiter's moon Europa has a liquid ocean under a thick crust of ice
- March 4 - Gay rights: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that federal laws banning on-the-job sexual harassment also apply when both parties are the same sex.
- March 5 - NASA announced that the Clementine probe orbiting the Moon had found enough water in polar craters to support a human colony and rocket fueling station
- March 5 - NASA announces the choice of United States Air Force Lt. Col. Eileen Collins as commander of a future Space Shuttle Columbia mission to launch an X-ray telescope making Collins the first woman commander of a space shuttle mission.
- March 6 - Closure of the South Crofty tin mine
- March 6 - The Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan is fined for burning a cross in his garden and infringing air regulations in California
- March 10 - American troops stationed in the Persian Gulf begin to receive the first vaccinations against anthrax.
- March 11 - Danish parliamentary election held, unexpectedly returning Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen to power.
- March 14 - An earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale hits southeastern Iran
- March 23 - At the Academy Awards ceremony Titanic wins 11 Oscars
- March 24 - In Jonesboro, Arkansas, two young boys (aged 11 and 13 years) fire upon students at Westside Middle School while hidden in woodlands near the school. Four students and one teacher are killed and 10 injured
- March 26 - Oued Bouaicha massacre in Algeria; 52 people killed with axes and knives, 32 of them babies under the age of 2.
- March 27 - The FDA approves Viagra for use as a treatment for male impotence, becoming the first pill to be approved to treat this condition in the United States.

April


- April 1 - Ukrainian serial killer Anatoly Onoprienko is sentenced to death for 52 murders
- April 5 - In Japan, the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge linking Shikoku with Honshu and costing cost about US$3.8 billion, opens to traffic, becoming the largest suspension bridge in the world.
- April 6 - Pakistan tests medium-range missiles capable of hitting India
- April 7 - Citicorp and Travelers Group announce plans to merge creating the largest financial-services conglomerate in the world, Citigroup
- April 8 - Iraq disarmament crisis: UNSCOM reports to the UN Security Council that Iraq's declaration on its biological weapons program is incomplete and inadequate.
- April 10 - Good Friday: 18 hours after the end of talks deadline the Belfast Agreement is signed between the Irish and British governments and most Northern Ireland political parties, with the notable exception of the Democratic Unionist Party.
- April 16 - A massive tornado occurred in Nashville, Tennessee. It is the first tornado in 11 years to make a direct hit on a major city. (see Nashville Tornado of 1998)
- April 25 - A waste reservoir at Los Frailes mine in Andalusia, Spain, ruptures, discharging heavy metal waste into the Guadiamar River. The pollution threatens the sensitive ecosystem and endangered species of Doñana National Park, Spain's largest nature reserve, but is diverted into the Guadalquivir River. Up to 100 km² of farmland are ruined by the spill. [http://edition.cnn.com/EARTH/9804/25/spain.disaster.reut/]

May


- May 2 - Japanese rock star hide (Hideto Matsumoto) mysteriously dies of asphyxiation.
- May 7 - Apple Computer unveils the iMac.
- May 9 - Dana International, a transexual singer from Israel, wins the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest in Birmingham,UK.
- May 11 - Nuclear testing: In the Rajasthan Desert, India conducts its second series of underground nuclear tests (the first were in 1974) and inflaming its rival neighbor Pakistan (who already has nuclear weapons).
- May 13 - Following India's second round of nuclear tests the United States and Japan impose economic sanctions on the nation.
- May 15 - Iraq disarmament crisis: UNSCOM learns that an Iraqi delegation has travelled to Bucharest to meet with scientists who can provide the country with missile guidance systems.
- May 18 - United States v. Microsoft: The United States Department of Justice and 20 U.S. states file an antitrust case against Microsoft
- May 21 - School shooting: At Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon, Kipland Kinkel (who was suspended for bringing a gun to school) shoots a semi-automatic rifle into a room filled with students killing 2 wounding 25 others after killing his parents at home
- May 21 - Reproductive rights: In Miami, Florida, five abortion clinics are hit by a butyric acid attacker
- May 21 - Suharto resigns, after 32 years as Indonesian President and 7th consecutive re-election by the Indonesian Parliament (MPR). Suharto's hand-picked Vice President, B. J. Habibie, became Indonesia's third president.
- May 21 to September 30 - Expo '98 is held in Lisbon, Portugal, with the title "Oceans, an Heritage for the Future". UNESCO had previously declared 1998 to be the International Year of the Oceans due to the Expo. 12 million people attend the world fair
- May 22 - Lewinsky scandal: A federal judge rules that United States Secret Service agents can be compelled to testify before a grand jury concerning the scandal
- May 27 - Oklahoma City bombing: Michael Fortier is sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined $200,000 for failing to warn authorities about the terrorist plot.
- May 28 - Nuclear testing: In response to a series of Indian nuclear tests, Pakistan explodes six nuclear devices of its own in the Chaghai hills of Baluchistan, prompting the United States, Japan and other nations to impose economic sanctions.
- May 28 - Wife of US comedian Phil Hartman kills him and commits suicide afterwards
- May 30 - Nuclear testing: Pakistan conducts two more nuclear explosions following its first test.
- May 30 - A 6.6 magnitude earthquake hits northern Afghanistan killing up to 5,000.
- May 31 - Geri Halliwell, better known as "Ginger Spice", announced her departure from the biggest selling girl group of all time, the Spice Girls

June


- June 2 - The CIH virus is discovered in Taiwan.
- June 2 - Voters in California approved California Proposition 227, abolishing that state's bilingual education program.
- June 3 - Eschede train disaster: an ICE high speed train derails, causing 101 deaths.
- June 4 - Terry Nichols is sentenced to life in prison for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing
- July 5 - Japan launches a probe to Mars, and thus joins the United States and Russia as a space exploring nation
- June 5 - A strike begins at the General Motors parts factory in Flint, Michigan that quickly spreads to five other assembly plants (the strike lasted seven weeks)
- June 8 - Charlton Heston assumes the presidency of the National Rifle Association.
- June 8 - President Sani Abacha of Nigeria dies of apparent heart failure
- June 12 - A jury in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, convicts 17-year-old Luke Woodham of killing two students and wounding seven others at Pearl High School [http://www.cnn.com/US/9806/12/school.shooting.verdict/]
- June 12 - 13-year old Christina Marie Williams was kidnapped in Seaside, California while taking her dog for a walk.
- June 14 - The Chicago Bulls win their sixth NBA title in 8 years when they beat the Utah Jazz, 87-86 in Game Six. This is also Michael Jordan's last game as a Bull.
- June 16 - The Detroit Red Wings sweep the Washington Capitals in 4 games in the 1998 Stanley Cup Finals.
- June 25 - In Clinton v. City of New York, the United States Supreme Court decides that the Line Item Veto Act of 1996 is unconstitutional.

July


- July 6 - The new Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok opens.
- July 10 - The DNA-identified remains of United States Air Force 1st Lt. Michael Joseph Blassie arrive home to his family in St. Louis, Missouri after being in the Tomb of the Unknowns since 1984
- July 10 - Catholic priests' sex abuse scandal: The Diocese of Dallas agrees to pay $23.4 million to nine former altar boys who claimed they were sexually abused by former priest Rudolph Kos
- July 12 - France defeats Brazil 3-0 to win the Football World Cup 1998
- July 17 - In St. Petersburg, Nicholas II of Russia and his family are buried in St. Catherine Chapel 80 years after he and his family were killed by Bolsheviks
- July 17 - A tsunami triggered by an undersea earthquake destroys 10 villages in Papua New Guinea killing an estimated 1,500, leaving 2,000 more unaccounted for and thousands more homeless
- July 17 - Biologists report in the journal Science how they sequenced the genome of the bacterium that causes syphilis, Treponema pallidum
- July 24 - Russel Eugene Weston Jr. bursts into the United States Capitol and opens fire killing two police officers. He is later ruled to be incompetent to stand trial
- July 25 - The United States Navy commissions the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman and puts her into service
- July 25 - Wakayama Arsenic poison case - 63 poisoned and 4 dead by arsenic in a festival in the town in Wakayama Prefecture in Japan - Masumi Hayashi is arrested for murder
- July 28 - Monica Lewinsky scandal: Ex-White House intern, Monica Lewinsky receives transactional immunity in exchange for her grand jury testimony concerning her relationship with US President Bill Clinton.
- July 31 - UK import ban on landmines

August

landmines
- August 7 - Yangtze River Floods: In China the Yangtze River breaks through the main bank, before this from August 1-5 periphery levees collapsed consecutively in Jiayu County Baizhou Bay. The death toll was more than 12,000 injuring many thousands more.
- August 5 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq officially suspends all cooperation with UNSCOM teams
- August 7 - 1998 U.S. embassy bombings: Bombing of the United States embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya kills 224 people and injures over 4,500. The bombings were linked to Osama Bin Laden.
- August 15 - The Real IRA detonate a car bomb in Omagh, County Tyrone, Ireland, killing 29 and injuring over 200 - the greatest loss of life in a single incident of The Troubles.
- August 16 - Silk-Miller police murders: Australian police officers murdered in Moorabbin, Victoria.
- August 17
  - Monica Lewinsky scandal: US President Bill Clinton admits in taped testimony that he had an "improper physical relationship" with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. On the same day he admits before the nation that he "misled people" about his relationship
  - Russian financial crisis: Devaluation of the rouble. The ruble lost 70% of its value against US dollar in 6 months following August 1998. Several largest Russians banks collapsed, and millions of people lost their savings.
- August 20 - The Supreme Court of Canada states Quebec can not legally secede from Canada without the federal government's approval
- August 20 - 1998 U.S. embassy bombings: The United States military launches cruise missile attacks against alleged Al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and a suspected chemical plant in Sudan in retaliation for the August 7 bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum is destroyed in the attack
- August 26 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Scott Ritter resigns from UNSCOM, sharply criticized the Clinton administration and the U.N. Security Council for not being vigorous enough about insisting that Iraq's weapons of mass destruction be destroyed. Ritter told reporters that "Iraq is not disarming," "Iraq retains the capability to launch a chemical strike."
- August 31 - North Korea reportedly launches Kwangmyongsong, their first satellite. Although North Korea reports that it reached stable orbit, NORAD was never able to confirm this assertion

September


- September 2 - In Canada, pilots for Air Canada launch the first strike in company's history
- September 2 - A McDonnell Douglas MD-11 airliner carrying Swissair flight 111 crashes near Peggys Cove, Nova Scotia after taking off from New York City en-route to Geneva. All 229 people on board are killed
- September 2 - A United Nations court finds Jean-Paul Akayesu, the former mayor of a small town in Rwanda, guilty of nine counts of genocide, marking the first time that the 1948 law banning genocide is enforced
- September 3 - In Somalia, the southern port of Kismayo is declared the capital of independent Jubaland under Muhamed Said Hersi
- September 7 - Google Inc. is founded.
- September 8 - St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Mark McGwire breaks baseball's single season homerun record, formerly held by Roger Maris. McGwire hits #62 at Busch Stadium in the fourth inning off of Chicago Cubs pitcher Steve Trachsel.
- September 9 - The United Nations General Assembly elects Didier Opertiri of Uruguay as president for its 53rd session
- September 14 - GSPC formed in Algeria, splitting off from the GIA over its policy of massacring civilians.
- September 15 - Telecommunications companies MCI Communications and WorldCom complete their $37 billion merger to form MCI WorldCom.
- September 25 - 28 September -- Major creditors of Long-Term Capital Management, a Greenwich, Connecticut based hedge fund, after days of tough bargaining and some informal mediation by officials of the Federal Reserve agree on terms of a re-capitalization -- i.e. they create a consortium that takes over the fund's failing portfolio.
- September 26 - The Adelaide Crows do what the critics said was impossible, win their 2nd AFL (Australian Football League) Premiership to make it Back2Back.
- September 29 - Iraq disarmament crisis: The U.S. Congress passes the "Iraq Liberation Act", which states that the United States wants to remove Saddam Hussein from power and replace the government with a democratic institution.

October


- October 3 — In Australia, John Howard's coalition government was re-elected for a second term.
- October 4 - Leafie Mason is murdered in her Hughes Springs, Texas house by Angel Maturino Resendiz. She was his second victim in his second incident.
- October 6 - Matthew Shepard, a Wyoming college student, is found tied to a fence, the victim of a gay-bashing. He dies on Monday, October 12, becoming a symbol of victims of gay-bashing and sparking public reflection on homophobia.
- October 7 - Oslo Fornebu Airport closes.
- October 7 - United States Congress passes, the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, which gives copyright holders 20 more years of copyright privilege on work which they control the copyright. This effectively freezes the public domain to works created before 1923 in the United States.
- October 8 - Oslo Airport (Gardermoen) opens.
- October 8 - Japan-Republic of Korea Joint Declaration A New Japan-Republic of Korea Partnership towards the Twenty-first Century.
- October 12 - U.S. Congress passes Digital Millennium Copyright Act
- October 14 - Eric Robert Rudolph is charged with 6 bombings including the 1996 Olympic bombing in Atlanta, Georgia
- October 16 - British police place General Augusto Pinochet into house arrest during his medical treatment in Britain
- October 23 - Swatch Internet Time introduced
- October 28 - An Air China jetliner is hijacked by disgruntled pilot Yuan Bin and flown to Taiwan. After landing the plane safely, Yuan Bin was arrested.
- October 29 - Apartheid: In South Africa, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission presents its report, which condemns both sides for committing atrocities
- October 29 - Space Shuttle Discovery blasts-off with 77-year old John Glenn on board, making him the oldest person to go into space. He became the first American to orbit Earth on Tuesday, February 20, 1962.
- October 29 - While en route from Adana to Ankara, a Turkish Airlines flight with a crew of 6 and 33 passengers is hijacked by a Kurdish militant who orders the pilot to fly to Switzerland. The plane instead lands in Ankara after the pilot tricked the hijacking into thinking that he was landing in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia to refuel
- October 29 - In Freehold Borough, New Jersey, Melissa Drexler pleads guilty to aggravated manslaughter for killing her baby moments after delivering him in the bathroom at her senior prom, and is sentenced to 15 years imprisonment
- October 29 - In Göteborg, Sweden two arsonists burn down a disco of a local Macedonian Society - 63 dead, over 200 injured, most of them children of refugees
- October 31 - Iraq disarmament crisis begins: Iraq announces it would no longer cooperate with United Nations weapons inspectors.

November


- November 1 - The European Court of Human Rights is instituted.
- November 3 - Former professional wrestler, Jesse Ventura is elected Governor of Minnesota.
- November 5 - Lewinsky scandal: As part of the impeachment inquiry, House Judiciary Committee chairman Henry Hyde sends a list of 81 questions to US President Bill Clinton
- November 5 - The journal Nature publishes a genetic study showing compelling evidence that Thomas Jefferson fathered his slave Sally Hemings' son Eston Hemings Jefferson
- November 7 - John Glenn returned to Earth aboard the space shuttle Discovery.
- November 9 - In the largest civil settlement in United States history, a federal judge approves a US$1.03 billion settlement requiring dozens of brokerage houses (including Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, and Salomon Smith Barney) to pay investors who claim they were cheated in a wide-spread price-fixing scheme on the NASDAQ
- November 12 - Daimler-Benz completes a merger with Chrysler to form Daimler-Chrysler.
- November 13-14 - Iraq disarmament crisis: U.S. President Clinton orders airstrikes on Iraq. Clinton then calls it off at the last minute when Iraq promises once again to "unconditionally" cooperate with UNSCOM
- November 18 - Iraq disarmament crisis: UNSCOM inspectors return to Iraq.
- November 19 - Lewinsky scandal: The United State House of Representatives' Judiciary Committee begins impeachment hearings against US President Bill Clinton.
- November 20 - A court in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan declares accused terrorist Osama bin Laden "a man without a sin" in regard to the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.
- November 20 - Galina Starovoitova, Russian legislator and democracy advocate, is assassinated in St Petersburg, Russia
- November 23-26 - Iraq disarmament crisis: According to UNSCOM, Iraq once again ends cooperation with the U.N. inspectors, alternately intimidating and withholding information from them
- November 24 - America Online announces it will acquire Netscape Communications in a stock-for-stock transaction worth US$4.2 billion.
- November 26 - Tony Blair becomes the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to address the Republic of Ireland's parliament
- November 26 - Japan-China Joint Declaration On Building a Partnership of Friendship and Cooperation for Peace and Development
- November 30 - Tom Goes to the Mayor is an animated show on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, that aired for the first time on November 14, 2004. Tom Goes to the Mayor started off as a web cartoon on timanderic.com. It was popular enough to get a web sequel, in which David Cross guest stars. Bob Odenkirk apperantly noticed the show's potential, and has been producing it on adult swim. The basic plot of the show centers around Tom Peters, a new citizen to the town of Jefferton who is "full of ideas," and giving them to the Mayor (Who always "tweaks" the ideas, which causes them to backfire). The show features a crude yet distinctive animation style (vaguely reminiscent to sprite comics) which is made by taking photos of the cast with different expressions. The photos are filtered (the effect can be accomplished in Photoshop using the 'photocopy' filter) so that they are made up of only blue and white; resembling mimeographs. There are some live action scenes, usually on a television within the show. Adult Swim has also described this as being one of the most polarizing shows they have had, indicating that fans either love or hate it.

Cast


- Tim Heidecker - Tom Peters / Jan Skylar / Various Tom is a rather low-key thirty-something man whose life is rather listless. Despite the mutilations and failures of his ideas by the moronic Mayor, Tom retains an even-keeled, mellow attitude to it all, never becoming too enthusiastic or distraught. He is often taunted by his stepchildren, (whom his wife Joy had in a previous marriage), not to mention the beratings he receives from Joy, who is depicted as quite possibly the worst wife that anyone could have. Tom has no apparent job (besides "local entrepreneur") and drives a tiny, Yugo-like hatchback that has severe emissions problems.
- Eric Wareheim - The Mayor / Wayne Skylar / Various The Mayor is a friendly yet foolish (and somewhat immature) man who often spends his working days watching TV. He usually gains control of Tom's suggestions for the community and twists them into embarrassments. According to the Adult Swim website, he has served Jefferton for the past twelve years, due to family connections, low voter turnout, and a strange local law which gives the mayor thirteen-year terms of office.
- Bob Odenkirk - Mike Fox / Bartender / Ben Sandleman / Various
- Stephanie Courtney - Renee the Receptionist / Joy Peters
- Craig Anton - City Council Member
- Ron Lynch - City Council Member
- Davin Wood - Music

Premise

The premise behind Tom Goes to the Mayor is vaguely formulaic; Tom has an idea, and someone - usually the Mayor - manages to twist it into something terrible (or at least something non-beneficial). This is not to say that Tom's ideas are good; some of his ideas are portrayed as being better than they really are, such as his "Rats Off To Ya" T-shirts. But, whether Tom's ideas are good or bad, his mere association with them dooms them to failure. Sometimes this failure is assisted by the Mayor, who often adds unwelcome dimensions to Tom's ideas ("Bear Traps") or hi-jacks them completely ("Porcelain Birds"). Often, external forces derail his plans ("Vehicular Manslaughter" , "Rats Off To Ya", "WW Lazerz"), and he is frequently left "holding the bag" after disaster occurs. And, without fail, even when other characters could help Tom, none do so. Even when Tom succeeds at something, such as his role as matchmaker during Toodleday, his efforts are still portrayed as failures. And this is the essence of Tom Goes to the Mayor - the complete haplessness of Tom and his travails as a hyper-tragic figure against an absurdist backdrop.

Guest Stars


- Jack Black - Bear Traps (Bear Trap Brother)
- Kyle Gass - Bear Traps (Bear Trap Brother)
- Jordan Cohen - WWLazers (Terry)
- Patton Oswalt - Pioneer Island (ZYNX!)
- Stuart Maesche - Toodle Day (Guitar man Jason Swillows and himself)
- Jeff Goldblum - Toodle Day (Bill Joel the store owner)
- Davin Wood - WW Lazerz (Various)
- Jeff Garlin - Rats Off To Ya (Pat Croeche)
- John B. Ennis - Porcelain Birds (Bronze Guy)
- Edward Herrmann - Porcelain Birds (Appraiser)
- Maria Bamford - Porcelain Birds (Porcelain Ladies)
- Michael Ian Black - Vehicular Manslaughter (Dr. Ian Black)
- Doug Lussenhop - Vehicular Manslaughter (Roy: the Man in a Tuba Suit)
- Scott Chernoff - Rebirth (Victor Peppar)
- David Cross - Calcucorn (Todd, Joy’s Ex-husband)
- Brian Posehn - Gibbons (Gibbons)
- Sarah Silverman - Pipe Camp (Barb Dunderbarn)
- Fred Willard - Vice Mayor (Garry Friendly)

Episode Guide


- Episode 1: Bear Traps - While the Mayor is watching a television program of Mike Fox's Scared Safe, a show dubiously devoted to child safety, Tom pops by with some half-witted ideas about improving child safety. Somehow, the Mayor comes up with the perfect child-safety solution: bear traps. With the aid of the Bear Trap Brothers (played by Jack Black and Kyle Gass aka Tenacious D), Jefferton becomes the locale of the highest bear-trap-to-child ratio in the state.
- Episode 2: Pioneer Island - Inspired by a TV commercial, the Mayor decides to resurrect the Jefferton theme park Pioneer Island, which burned to the ground many years ago. To celebrate the re-opening of the park, the Mayor launches a week-long "pioneer time" to the town. With Tom as his point man, the Mayor shuts off the town's power, makes everyone exchange their car keys for horses, and dons a turn of the 18th century French courtier costume. Without power, problems ensue, manifested by electronics salesman-turned-warlord Zynx (played by Patton Oswalt), and it's up to Tom to make things right.
- Episode 3: WW Lazerz - Flush with a chest full of WWII memorabilia he got on eBay, Tom pitches an idea for a theme restaurant to the Mayor, who happens to have a grant from the city council for $250,000 for a historical project previously slated for a live monkey encased in an eclair covered with delicious chocolate-flavored sauce. Unfortunately for Tom, the Mayor insists his nephew Terry assist him in his efforts. Terry, though a child in appearance, is actually a twenty-something; his extreme child-like nature is a side affect of the