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WWE Smackdown

WWE Smackdown

Friday Night SmackDown! is a professional wrestling show that airs in the United States on UPN, in Canada on The Score Network and in the United Kingdom on Sky Sports. It is produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). The show is generally seen by wrestling fans as WWE's "B show" to its older counterpart, the live Monday night show RAW. The SmackDown! stars typically perform four shows in a week. WWE usually tapes its Tuesday evening show for UPN to air on Friday evening of the same week. However, the show is occasionally broadcast live. From its launch in 1999 SmackDown! was shown on Thursday nights, but as of September 9, 2005, the show moved to Friday nights [http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_main/1,1002,271|95394|1|,00.html]. To reflect this change, the show is now referred to as Friday Night SmackDown! SmackDown! is the parent show to WWE Velocity. The current theme song of SmackDown! is "Rise Up" by Drowning Pool.

Show history

Pre-brand extension

Drowning Pool WWF SmackDown! (as it was originally known) was set up to compete against WCW's Thursday night show, Thunder. In the spirit of the WWF's Attitude Era, the show was originally planned to be two hours of WWF Divas in primetime TV. However, this did not work out, and instead SmackDown! became a complementary show to RAW. SmackDown! first appeared in April 1999 using the RAW is WAR set as a single television special. However as the year continued, the WWF found itself experiencing a meteoric rise as new wrestling fans tuned in week after week to catch RAW is WAR. In August 1999, SmackDown! officially debuted on UPN. Like WCW Thunder, SmackDown! was recorded on Tuesdays and then broadcast on Thursdays. The new WWF show was so popular that WCW moved Thunder on Wednesdays in the hope of holding on to fans rather than losing them to the WWF. SmackDown!, like Thunder, made heavy use of the color blue, earning it the nickname "The Blue Show" amongst wrestling fans. The original SmackDown! theme was not performed by a band like the RAW is WAR theme; instead, the WWF created a fast-paced theme that was a mixture of techno and rock. The first SmackDown! set was also unique as it featured an oval-shaped Titantron (which was dubbed the "OvalTron"), entrance and stage which made it stand out from the RAW set and its rectangular Titantrons. An added feature to the original set was the ability for the Titantron to be moved to either the left or right of the stage. Throughout the show's early existence, top WWF superstar The Rock routinely called SmackDown! "his" show, in reference to the fact that the name was derived from one of his catchphrases "Layeth the smack down." In August 2001, as part of celebrating SmackDown!s 2nd anniversary, the show received its current logo and set, and a new theme song performed by Marilyn Manson. The September 11, 2001 event was cancelled due to the terrorist attacks. On September 13, 2001, SmackDown! was broadcast live as the first major and televised event since the attacks as thousands were in attendance. The ring ropes are usually blue for the SmackDown! shows but were red, white and blue for this night; these colors were commonly used during the 1980s and through the 1990s. They would remained that way, with an American Flag on the mini-tron, for two weeks.

Brand extension

1990s In early to mid-2002, WWE underwent something they called the "Brand Extension." This meant that the two WWE TV shows (RAW and SmackDown!) would become competition for each other. This came about after WWE purchased their two biggest competitors, WCW and ECW. The brand extension was publically announced during a telecast of WWF RAW on March 25, 2002, and became official the next day. The Brand Extension would bring about change like nothing WWE had seen before. Wrestlers would become “show-exclusive”, wrestling for their specific show only. At the time this excluded the Undisputed Champion and Women's Champion as originally, those titles were defended on both shows. However, later in 2002, Brock Lesnar, then the WWE Champion, refused to defend the title on RAW, causing the title to become SmackDown!-exclusive. Following that, both shows then got their own exclusive championships. In January 2005, the Oakland Tribune reported that Leslie Moonves, co-President and co-Chief Operating Officer of UPN's parent company, Viacom, announced that SmackDown! will not be renewed on UPN after Viacom's contract with WWE expires in 2006. This article was later revealed to be in error; Moonves was in fact saying that SmackDown! may not be renewed, as opposed to will not be renewed [http://www.pwinsider.com/ViewArticle.asp?id=7967&p=1]. The SmackDown! brand has a sister show, Velocity, that consists of lower-card matches and recaps of that week's SmackDown! On March 10, 2005, Viacom announced that they would not seek to extend their deal to air WWE programming on Spike TV when it expired in September 2005. [http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050311/tv_nm/television_wwe_dc_1] This included Velocity, which formerly aired on Spike TV but was converted into a webcast on WWE's website, when WWE programming moved to the USA Network, Rumors abound that the show will not be renewed when its contract with UPN expires unless WWE can find a new network to broadcast SmackDown!, which seems unlikely. However, SmackDown! will continue to air on UPN at least until the contract to air that show expires in 2006. It is possible that WWE's "lame duck" status with Viacom on Spike TV is what prompted its moving SmackDown! to the Friday night death slot for the Fall 2005 season. Sources within WWE were reportedly unaware of the move. [http://www.pwinsider.com/ViewArticle.asp?id=10396&p=1] [http://www.pwinsider.com/ViewArticle.asp?id=10397&p=1] On June 6, 2005, WWE Champion John Cena switched brands from SmackDown! to RAW as part of the month-long Draft Lottery. This effectively left SmackDown! without a World Title. During this time, United States Champion Orlando Jordan was billed as the top champion on the show. On June 23 2005, in Tucson, SmackDown! General Manager Theodore Long announced a six-man elimination match between John "Bradshaw" Layfield, Booker T, Chris Benoit, The Big Show (replaced by SmackDown! draftee Christian after The Big Show was drafted to RAW), and Muhammad Hassan to crown the first SmackDown! Champion. On the June 30 episode of SmackDown!, JBL won the match. Long appeared afterward and stated that even though JBL had won the match, SmackDown! didn't need a Championship anymore. Batista, the World Heavyweight Champion, entered the ring as SmackDown!s final draft lottery pick. Long also revealed that JBL was the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship.

Friday Night SmackDown!

SmackDown! was renamed Friday Night SmackDown! as a result of the show moving to Friday nights. WWE promoted this move with the tagline "TV that's changing Friday nights." Friday Night SmackDown! made its series/season premiere on September 9, 2005. The program still airs on Thursdays in Canada on The Score. In the United Kingdom, Sky Sports airs SmackDown! on Fridays before the United States due to the time difference. This is the first time a major weekly WWE show airs internationally before it hits screens in the US. The events of Hurricane Katrina affected the first edition of Friday Night SmackDown! in the US. Due to a special fundrasing concert to help those affected airing on UPN along with other major US networks at the same time the first edition would have been broadcast, only the second hour of the show was shown on UPN. The first hour was instead streamed from WWE's website. Other countries, including Canada, United Kingdom and Australia received the full two-hour show. WWOR-TV (UPN 9, New York, New York) also aired both hours of the show on tape delay on Saturday, due to a previous commitment to broadcast the New York Yankees on Friday nights. Friday Night SmackDown! stars had some exposure at WWE Homecoming, RAW's return to USA Network on October 3, 2005. On October 15, 2005, it was announced that a new Juniors Division will be formed and be exclusive to Friday Night SmackDown! The Juniors division will consist of wrestlers that are at or below 5 feet (152 cm) tall. [http://www.wwe.com/inside/news/juniors] The Juniors division has been mainly used for comedy matches. SmackDown! earned a major victory at Survivor Series 2005 after their 5 man tag team consisting of Rey Mysterio, Bobby Lashley, Batista, Randy Orton, and JBL defeated Team RAW consisting of Kane, Big Show, Shawn Michaels, Carlito, and Chris Masters. Also SmackDown! General Manger Theodore Long defeated RAW General Manager Eric Bischoff with the help of The Boogeyman.

Current champions


- World Heavyweight Champion1: Batista
- WWE United States Champion 2: Vacant
- WWE Tag Team Champions 3: MNM (Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro)
- WWE Cruiserweight Champion 4: Juventud Footnotes: 1: The World Heavyweight Championship was created by Eric Bischoff when Brock Lesnar refused to defend the title on RAW, it is currently on the SmackDown! brand after current champion, Batista, was drafted from RAW on June 30, 2005. Although the title was originally the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, it does not share the lineage with World Championship Wrestling.
2: The original WCW United States Championship was once unified with the WWE Intercontinental Championship. The title was revived by Stephanie McMahon, along with Stone Cold Steve Austin reintroducing the Intercontinental Championship for RAW. This title shares lineage with World Championship Wrestling.
3: This is a completely new tag team championship. The original WWE Tag Team championship became RAW exclusive and was renamed the World Tag Team Championship.
4:This championship originally was the WCW Cruiserweight Championship. WWE adopted it and dropped their own Light Heavyweight Championship in favor of it. It also became SmackDown! exclusive.

- :The WWE Women's Championship was originally defended on both SmackDown! and RAW after the brand extension took place in 2002. However, in August 2002, the WWE made the title, RAW exclusive, concentrating on building a proper Women's division on that show and thus the SmackDown! Divas are unable to compete for the title. Melina did challenge Trish Stratus for the title at Survivor Series 2005 in an inter-brand match although she ultimately came away empty-handed. In December 2005, WWE announced that the WWE Women's Championship will now be defended on both shows.

Recurring segments

In addition to wrestling matches and backstage vignettes, SmackDown! has also had several recurring segments as part of its program. The first of these was a new incarnation Rowdy Roddy Piper's famous "Piper's Pit" interview series. After Piper's exit from WWE, René Duprée hosted a similar segment called Café de René. 2004 saw the introduction of two segments to the show. "The Kurt Angle Invitational" featured Kurt Angle wrestling professional wrestlers who were allegedly from the town the show was taped in. The Kurt Angle Invitational became an exclusive to RAW when Angle was drafted to that show from Smackdown. $1,000,000 Tough Enough was the latest edition of the reality show hosted by former WWE performer Al Snow. 2005 saw the advent of "Carlito's Cabana" an interview segment that was Carlito's answer to RAW's Chris Jericho's "Highlight Reel." After Carlito was drafted to "RAW", he took his interview segment with him. "The Peep Show" hosted by one of "SmackDown!" 2005 draft lottery picks, Christian, replaced the segment for a few months until Christian left the company for TNA Wrestling.

General managers and "owners"


- Vince McMahon (owner) (March 18, 2002 - July 18, 2002)
- Stephanie McMahon (July 18, 2002 - October 19, 2003)
- Paul Heyman (October 23, 2003 - March 22 2004)
- Kurt Angle (March 25, 2004 - July 22, 2004)
- Theodore Long (July 29, 2004 - present)

See also


- Current World Wrestling Entertainment roster
- Previous World Wrestling Entertainment roster
- Tributes to Eddie Guerrero, including the November 13, 2005, SmackDown! tribute to the late Eddie Guerrero (aired November 18, 2005)

External links


- [http://www.wwe.com/shows/smackdown/ Official SmackDown! website]
-
- [http://steveswrestling.com/info/smackdown.html SmackDown! results by year]
- [http://www.geocities.com/odainnurse/sdratings.html SmackDown! Ratings History] Friday Night SmackDown! Category:UPN network shows Category:1990s TV shows in the United States Category:2000s TV shows in the United States ja:スマックダウン

Professional wrestling

:For the Nintendo Entertainment System video game by Nintendo, see Pro Wrestling (video game). Pro Wrestling (video game).]] Professional wrestling is a form of performance art where the participants engage in simulated sporting matches. Originating in the days of travelling carnival shows, professional wrestling's humbler beginnings include strongman feats, hook wrestling, and other acrobatic performances. It should be noted that in the earlier parts of the 20th Century, "professional wrestling" was at times, just that, a professional contest of amateur style wrestlers competeing for a purse with similar league structure to professional boxing. However, these contests disappeared from the sports world with the advent of television, due to their extreme length and lack of drama. It was found over the years to be much more profitable when contests were arranged for both length and dramatic effect. For over a century, professional wrestling promoters and performers claimed that the competition was completely real and vehemently defended secrets of the trade (a situation known as kayfabe). Any pretense of sporting competition was dropped in the late 1990s, when Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation began to frequently describe its events as "sports entertainment," along with a formal change of moniker to World Wrestling Entertainment. (Although the name change was in response to a lawsuit from the World Wildlife Fund against the World Wrestling Federation over the rights to the initials "WWF" in the United Kingdom, the increasing use of the term "entertainment" leading up to the suit's resolution seemed to explain McMahon's willingness to change the name.)

Reality and fantasy

Professional wrestling is "simulated" in the sense that the outcomes are predetermined, the maneuvers rehearsed and executed cooperatively, and their effects upon the opponent exaggerated. Some treat the performance as a form of entertainment or drama, and would not use the term "fake" in describing it. Various pro-wrestling moves cause genuine pain and can cause serious injury if performed incorrectly. The moves may involve knowledge and skill in gymnastic sports such as weight lifting and tumbling; these can be seen as a form of stunt work performed live and without benefit of backup safety devices such as those used in filmmaking. The vast majority of the matches have pre-determined results and are said to be "worked". The results are determined by "bookers" to maximize "heel heat" for the bad guy and "(baby)face heat" for the good guy, often in the context of a long-running "feud" or storyline. Typically the wrestlers will work out some signature "spots" marking key moments in the match in advance. During the match, the move sequences and transitions are improvised with the participants "calling spots" to each other to inform them of their next up-coming move. The referee is also often involved in executing the match to schedule and dealing with unforeseen circumstances. The vast majority of bleeding incidents in wrestling are "real", and are typically induced by using hidden razor blades to cut oneself on the forehead; the act of cutting is known in the business and among fans as "blading", and bleeding is known as "juicing". If a wrestler bleeds without being cut, such as due to an accidental broken nose, he is said to be "juicing hardway". If a wrestler hits another wrestler harder than he should on purpose, that is called "stiff," "being stiff," a "potato" or "potato shot." Besides the somewhat real violence however, there have constantly been times where the division between reality and fantasy has been blurred, especially when it comes to who should win the matches. See the Clique as an example of this. On occasion, although increasingly rarely in recent decades, a wrestler will shoot, or ignore the script and attempt to win legitimately. This is also known as "going into business for yourself." In the past, promotions' World Champions were often intentionally-chosen "hookers" such as Lou Thesz who could defend themselves if the fight became real.

Rules

Lou Thesz] The simulated nature of professional wrestling is only one of the many differences it has with traditional wrestling. Other differences can be found by looking at the supposed rules of pro wrestling. The referee has ultimate control in any match, and has so much authority that a decision reversal can only be made by the referee involved in the match; even the promotion owner has no influence over this decision. Of course, even this "rule" is subject to modification, depending on current storylines within the promotion. A common means of this is a promotion owner or other high official modifying the stipulations of a match to invalidate a referee's decision. A "motto" in the pro-wrestling world used to describe the interpretation of the rules (actually more like loose guidelines) is: "You can't call what you don't see", implying that anything is justified as long as the referee doesn't see. This is often used as a plot twist to drastically change the momentum in a match. One of the better-known occurrences has a referee getting "accidentally" knocked senseless or thrown outside of the ring. While he's stunned, one wrestler, usually a Face, will suddenly have the match won, only to then have it robbed from them via outside interference, a foreign object, or some other unfair means. The referee, unaware of what happened, will recover just in time to notice a pin that reflects the new situation, and make an effortful three-count. In addition to pinfall, a match can be won by submission, count-out, disqualification, or failure to answer a ten count. Punching is permitted as long as the wrestler's fist is open (this is known as a "chop"). You may only kick with the flat part of the foot, and "low blow" only refers to actually striking the crotch. If either wrestler is in contact with the ropes or if any part of the wrestler is underneath the ropes, all contact between the wrestlers must be broken before the count of five. This strategy is used very often in order to escape from a submission hold, and also, more seldom, a wrestler can place his foot on the ropes to avoid losing by pinfall.

Pinfall

In order to win by pinfall, a wrestler must pin both his opponent's shoulders against the mat while the referee slaps the mat three times. This is the most common form of defeat. Since the 1990s, however, the "both shoulders on the mat" condition has been overlooked, if not outright ignored. It is, most often, illegal to use the ropes to secure oneself or gain leverage while pinning, and is therefore a popular cheating method for heels.

Submission

To win by submission, the wrestler must make his opponent give up, usually, but not necessarily, by putting him in a submission hold (i.e. leg-lock, arm-lock, etc.). Passing out in a submission hold constitutes a loss by knockout. To determine if a wrestler has passed out, the referee usually picks up and drops his hand. If it drops three consecutive times without the wrestler having the strength to stop it from falling, the wrestler is considered to have passed out. This has been largely ignored since around 1995, although it is still used when an "old-school" wrestler is working a match. Today, a wrestler can indicate a submission by "tapping out", that is, tapping a free hand against the mat. The tapout is not a traditional part of professional wrestling; it was introduced during the mid-1990s in response to the increased popularity of mixed martial arts competitions, where the tapout has always been accepted. Rarely, some promotions have used the option of a verbal submission, in case of the wrestler's arms being inactive due to the submission manouever.

Count-out

A count-out happens when a wrestler is out of the ring long enough for the referee to count to 10 (in some promotions it can be a 20 count). If both wrestlers are outside the ring, the count is broken if either one re-enters the ring. If not both wresters will be disqualified, aiso known as an "double count-out" or "impossible draw". If both of the wrestlers are lying on the mat and not moving, the referee may issue a ten count. One wrestler reaching his knees will break the count. If neither wrestler reaches his or her knees or feet, it is considered a draw, also known as an "in ring count-out." It should be noted that the count out rule indicates that a wrestler cannot win a match while any part of his opponents body is not in the ring. This allows pinfalls and submissions holds to be escaped by grabbing hold of one of the ring ropes, thus indicating to the referee that they are partially out of the ring and forcing him to break the hold or stop the count. This is also why the referee will start a count once a wrestler has reached the top rope, he is out of the ring area.

Disqualification

Offenses punishable by disqualification include:
- Performing any illegal holds or maneuvers, such as refusing to break a hold when an opponent is in the ropes, choking or biting an opponent, staying on the top turnbuckle, and repeatedly punching with a closed fist, for more than a referee-administered five count.
- Any outside interference involving a person not involved in the match striking or holding a wrestler. If someone attempts to interfere but is ejected from the ring by a wrestler or referee before this occurs, there is usually no disqualification.
- Striking an opponent with a foreign object (unless the rules of the match specifically allow this).
- A direct low-blow to the groin.
- Laying hands on the referee. In practice, the "rules" of the fight are often violated without disqualification due to the referee being "distracted" and not seeing the offense, or the referee seeing the offense but allowing the match to continue. Almost always, a referee must see the violation with his own eyes to rule that the match end in a disqualification and the referee's ruling is almost always final. Indeed, it is not uncommon for the referees themselves to get "knocked out" during a match. While the referee remains "unconscious," rules are often violated at will.

Title matches

Unless specifically noted, a wrestler cannot win a championship title from his opponent by defeating him by count-out or disqualification; in the event of a count-out or a disqualification, the champion retains his title even if he loses the match. A wrestler must pin his opponent or force him to submit in order to win a championship.

Variations

The rules for a one-on-one pro wrestling match have not always been the same. For instance, the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) had a rule that your opponent couldn't be thrown over the top rope. The now-defunct WCW or World Championship Wrestling, an offshoot of the NWA, formerly had a rule stating you could not jump off the top rope onto a prone opponent. Both instances would have caused a disqualification. The World Wrestling Federation (now World Wrestling Entertainment) once disqualified wrestlers for pulling their opponent's ringwear or tights while covering for a pin. The move is still illegal in most promotions, but only breaks the hold or pin.

Pro wrestling as entertainment

See Commedia dell'arte for an artistic predecessor to this style of entertainment. The commedia dell'arte influence can be seen in a number of non-match related elements of professional wrestling. Some examples of these include storylines, gimmicks, interviews, and angles. These "non-wrestling" elements – used to build excitement and interest in professional wrestling matches – have been referred to as "sports entertainment". While professional wrestling moved increasingly to fixed matches during the late-1800s and early 1900s, for most of the 20th century professional wrestling was promoted as a legitimate sport. It is from this tension between performance and athletic reality that the concept of "kayfabe" originated. As the 20th century progressed, promoters spent less time focusing on believable sports action, and more time presenting it as a "sports entertainment" spectacle. For a brief time, comedian Andy Kaufman began wrestling women during his act and was the self-proclaimed "Inter-gender Wrestling Champion of the World". Another major step in this direction was taken when Vince McMahon took control of the WWF, now known as WWE. Besides taking his federation into the territory boundries of the NWA, marking the first truly national pro wrestling promotion, and his national WrestleMania pay-per-view shows, McMahon also came up with the "Rock and Wrestling" concept. In fact, a key distinction between McMahon and competitors like Jim Crockett Promotions (the forerunner to WCW) and the American Wrestling Association was the carnival atmosphere created by the promoter's gimmicks and angles. Indeed, if the term "sports entertainment" was not invented by McMahon, WWE has certainly popularized its use. A popular myth within professional wrestling fandom suggests McMahon adopted the term because staged entertainment insurance premiums are lower than for those for live sporting events. Another suggested reason is to give his business a sense of "legitimacy" in the business community as a form of entertainment, rather than as a "fake" sport. Similarly, McMahon "educated" his fan base, through the 1980s, that they weren't witnessing an improvised sporting contest, and instead that they should tune in for the sports-entertainment aspect; in other words, at least implying that the event was bettered, not diminished, by the very fact that it was being "worked." This was a cunning move, especially given that his competitors were still often presenting themselves as being legitimate sports (WCW commentator Tony Schiavone continued to use the phrase "Greatest moment in the history of our sport" well into the 1990s). The WWF's "Rock and Wrestling" era has been derided by critics, and professional wrestling "purists", as presenting "cartoonish" characters, interviews, and slapstick skits as opposed to "real" wrestling. Others, however, point out that—aside from cable television and video—McMahon's focus on entertainment was key to pro wrestling's 1980s revival in popularity. This debate is still ongoing within pro wrestling fandom, especially within the "smark" community. Since then, Extreme Championship Wrestling, WCW's nWo gimmick, and the WWF / WWE's "Attitude" era further progressed the development of the non-wrestling aspects of professional wrestling.

Promotions

The organizations that schedule and produce professional wrestling performances and known as wrestling promotions. Currently, the only major wrestling organisations left in North America are the United States promotions of World Wrestling Entertainment and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, a former NWA member that is still loosely linked to that organization; and the Mexican lucha libre promotions Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre and Asistencia Asesoría y Administración. Of these, WWE is by far the largest and most influential throughout the world. While these organizations are the most prominent and popular, there are many other smaller, regional promotions known as indies, many of which are, like TNA, official territories of the NWA. Other major independent promotions include Ring of Honor and Combat Zone Wrestling. Outside North America, there are other federations throughout Europe and also in Japan, Puerto Rico and the rest of the Caribbean. See also: List of wrestling promotions

See also

Terminology


- Professional wrestling aerial techniques (e.g. Shooting Star Press, Moonsault)
- Professional wrestling attacks
- Professional wrestling double-team maneuvers
- Professional wrestling finishers
- Professional wrestling holds (e.g. Boston crab)
- Professional wrestling match types
- Professional wrestling schools
- Professional wrestling slang
- Professional wrestling throws (e.g. Suplex, Powerbomb, Piledriver, DDT, Backbreaker, Neckbreaker, Brainbuster)

Professional wrestling worldwide


- Professional wrestling in Japan
- Professional wrestling in Mexico
- Professional wrestling in United Kingdom

Lists of wrestlers


- List of professional wrestlers
- List of professional wrestling stables

Types of professional wrestling


- List of professional wrestling styles
- Real Pro Wrestling

External links


- [http://dmoz.org/Sports/Wrestling/Professional/ DMOZ]
- [http://www.wrestlingblog.com/ Wrestling Blog: submit your own Wrestling Blog]
- [http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com ProWrestlingHistory.com]
- [http://www.obsessedwithwrestling.com/home/index.html Obsessed with wrestling - biographies, results, title histories, etc]
- [http://www.wrestlepower.com WrestlePower News and information pertaining to WWE and TNA]
- [http://www.geocities.com/wisereborn The Wrestling Follower]
- [http://www.mediaman.com.au/profiles/wrestling.html Media Man Wrestling Directory]
- [http://www.wrestling-dungeon.net Warned.net - Wrestling News and Articles]
- [http://www.wrestling-caricatures.com Wrestling Caricatures] Information, rumors, and trivia
- ja:プロレス th:มวยปล้ำอาชีพ

Television program

A television program is the content of television broadcasting. The content of an individual broadcast may be referred to as a television program (U.S., Canada, and Australia), television programme (UK, NZ, Ireland and South Africa) or television show. A program may be a one-off broadcast or, more usually, part of a periodically returning television series. A television series that is intended to air a finite number of episodes is usually called a miniseries. Americans call a short run lasting less than a year a season; Europeans call this a series. This season or series usually consists of 10–24 installments of the series. A single instance of a program is called an episode, although this is sometimes also called a "show" or "program." A one-off broadcast may be called a "special." A television movie is a movie that is initially aired on television rather than being released in cinemas or direct-to-video, although many successful television movies are later released on video.

What television programming is

The content of television programs may be factual, as in documentaries, news, and reality television, or fictional as in comedy and drama. It may be topical as in the case of news and some made-for-television movies or historical as in the case of such documentaries or fictional series. It may be primarily instructional as in the case of educational programming, or entertaining as is the case in situation comedy, reality TV, and variety shows. A drama program usually features a set of actors in a somewhat familiar setting. The program follows their lives and their adventures. Many shows, especially before the 1980s, maintained a status quo where the main characters and the premise changed little. If some change happened to the characters lives during the episode, it was usually undone by the end. (Because of this, the episodes could usually be watched in any order.) Since the 1980s, there are many series that feature progressive change to the plot, the characters, or both. Common TV program periods include regular broadcasts (like TV news), TV series (usually seasonal and ongoing with a duration of only a few episodes to many seasons), or TV miniseries which is an extended film, usually with a small pre-determined number of episodes and a set plot and timeline. Miniseries usually range from about 3 to 10 hours in length, though critics often complain when programs hit the short end of that range and are still marketed as "minis." In the UK, the term "miniseries" is only usually used in references to imported programmes, and such short-run series are usually called "serials" there. In the United States, most regular television series have 22 episodes per year. In general, dramas usually last 44 minutes (an hour with commercials), while comedies last 22 (30 with commercials). However, with the rise of cable networks, especially pay ones, series and episode lengths have been changing. Cable networks usually feature series lasting thirteen episodes. Many British series have significantly shorter yearly runs. Old television shows begin with a title sequence, show opening credits at the bottom of the screen over the beginning of the show, and include closing credits at the end of the show. However, in the 1990s shows began cold opening with a "teaser" (a short beginning to the episode, designed to catch the viewer's attention), followed by a title sequence, and a commercial break. More plot-driven shows begin with a "previously" (a short introduction to past major plot events through excerpts), even before the teaser. And, to save time, some shows omit the title sequence altogether, folding the names normally featured there into the opening credits. While television series appearing in TV networks are usually commissioned by the networks themselves, the real revenue for the producers is typically when the product is sold into syndication. However, with the rise of the DVD home video format, box sets containing entire seasons or the complete run have become a significant revenue source as well.

How programs are made

:What follows is the standard procedure for shows on network television in the United States. Someone (called the show "creator") comes up with the idea for a new television series. This consists of the concept, the characters, usually some crew, and sometimes some big-name actors. They "pitch" it to the various television networks, hoping to find one that's interested. If a network is interested, they will "order" a pilot (a prototype first episode of the series). To create the pilot, the structure and team of the whole series needs to be put together. If the network likes the pilot, they will "pick up" the show for their next season (UK: series). Sometimes they'll save it for "midseason" or request re-writes and further review (know in the industry as "Development hell"). And other times they'll pass entirely, leaving the show's creator forced to "shop it around"' to other networks. Many shows never make it past the pilot stage. If the show is picked up, a "run" of episodes is ordered. Usually only 13 episodes are ordered at first, although a series will typically last for at least 22 episodes (the last nine episodes sometimes being known as the "back nine", borrowing a term from golf). The show hires a "stable" of writers, who usually work in parallel: the first writer works on the first episode, the second on the second episode, and so forth. When all of the writers have been used, the assignment of episodes continues starting with the first writer again. On other shows, however, the writers work as a team. Sometimes they will develop story ideas individually, and pitch them to the show's creator, who then folds them together into a script and rewrites them. The executive producer, often the show's creator, is in charge of running the show. They pick crew and cast (subject to approval by the network), approve and often write series plots, and sometimes write and direct major episodes. A whole host of other producers of various names work under him or her, to make sure the show is always running smoothly. Once the script for a show is written, a director is found for the episodes. The director's job is to turn the words of the script into film. They decide how scenes should be "staged" and where the cameras should be placed; they also often coach the actors, including any guest stars who may be in the particular episode. On television shows, directors are often interchangeable, mainly serving the dictates of the writer. A director of photography takes care of making the show look good, doing things with lighting and so on. Finally, an editor cuts the various pieces of film together, adds the musical score, and assembles the completed show. The show is then turned over to the network, which sends it out to its affiliates, which air it in the specified timeslot. If the Nielsen Ratings are good, the show is kept alive as long as possible. If not, the show is usually cancelled. The show's creators are then left to shop around remaining episodes, and the possibility of future episodes, to other networks. On especially successful series, the producers sometimes call a halt to a series on their own like M
- A
- S
- H and end it with a concluding episode which sometimes is a big production called a series finale. If the show is popular or lucrative, and a number of episodes (usually 100 episodes or more) are made, it goes into syndication where broadcast rights are then resold.

Common genres


- TV comedy (typically situation comedy or sketch comedy)
- TV documentary
- TV drama (including dramedy)
- TV talk shows
- TV news
- TV current affairs shows
- TV cartoons
- TV infomercials
- TV miniseries
- Game shows
- Soap operas
- Reality TV

See also


- Alphabetical list of television programs
- Continuity
- Dead air
- List of television program categories
- TV series (China) ja:テレビ番組

UPN

UPN (which originally stood for the United Paramount Network) is a television network in the United States, owned by CBS Corporation Inc., which also owns the more widespread CBS network. Because of this dual corporate ownership, in several large American cities, the local CBS and UPN stations are operated as "duopolies."

History

Paramount Pictures (the "P" in UPN) has played an pivotal role in the development of network television; it was a partner in the DuMont Television Network, and the Paramount Theaters chain, spun off from the corporate/studio parent, was an early, important component of the ABC television network's survival in the 1950s. In the wake of the successful Universal Studios ad hoc syndicated package Operation Prime Time (which featured first a miniseries adaptation of John Jakes's novel The Bastard and went on to several more productions), Paramount had earlier contemplated its own television network with the Paramount Television Service. Set to launch in Spring 1978, its programming would have consisted of only one night a week. Thirty "Movies of the Week" would have followed Star Trek: Phase II on Saturday nights. When the decision was made to transform Phase Two into Star Trek: The Motion Picture, plans for the new Paramount network were scrapped. But Paramount and its eventual parent Viacom didn't forget about the possibility. Independent stations, even more than network affiliates, were feeling the growing pressure of audience erosion to cable television in the 1980s and 1990s, and there were unaffiliated commercial stations in most of the major markets, at least, even after the foundation of Fox in 1987. Meanwhile, Paramount, long successful in syndication with repeats of Star Trek and I Love Lucy, found itself with several impressively popular first-run syndicated series by the turn of the 1990s, in Entertainment Tonight, The Arsenio Hall Show, Friday the 13th: The Series, and, perhaps most importantly of all, the two new Star Trek franchises, Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Meanwhile, Paramount had formed Paramount Stations Group had been formed when it purchased the TVX Group, which owned several independent stations in major markets, a move not unlike that of the purchase of the Metromedia Group by Fox several years previously. All indicators suggested what was to come. UPN was launched January 16, 1995, as the United Paramount Network, a joint venture between Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries. The "U" in UPN came from United Television, a Chris-Craft subsidiary. Both companies owned independent stations in several large cities in the United States. Each controlled 50 percent of the network. The first telecast, the two-hour pilot of Star Trek: Voyager, was an auspiciously widely viewed start; however, Voyager would never achieve such viewership levels again, nor would any of the series debuting on UPN's second night of broadcasting survive the season. In contrast, The WB Network (UPN's arch-rival) would debut two days later, with four series, only one of which would not survive its first season. In 2000, Paramount's parent company, Viacom, bought out Chris-Craft's share to gain 100 percent control of the venture. Shortly afterward, Viacom dropped the "United" name for its new network, opting to change the official corporate name to be the three-letter initials, "UPN." Viacom also aimed to relaunch UPN as The Paramount Network, using the famous Paramount Pictures mountain logo as the new network logo. This idea was abandoned after many affiliates protested, citing that the new branding might cause confusion and erode viewership. Later in 2000, Viacom bought CBS, thus creating CBS-UPN duopolies in Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco and Detroit. Chris-Craft later sold its television group to Fox. The sale placed UPN's future in doubt, as it included the network's flagship, WWOR-TV in New York, as well as West Coast flagship KCOP-TV in Los Angeles. Fox later bought the third-largest UPN affiliate, WPWR-TV in Chicago. The largest owned-and-operated UPN station is WPSG-TV in Philadelphia. Although considered a major network by the Nielsen ratings, UPN is not (as of fall 2004) available in all areas of the United States. In some areas, UPN programming is shown off-pattern by affiliates of other networks. Some affiliates have also been known to extensively preempt network programming in order to broadcast local sporting events. These factors have led to the network struggling in the ratings over the past few years, with its most recent ST franchise, Star Trek: Enterprise, perhaps suffering the most and ultimately being cancelled by the network in a controversial decision in February 2005. The most consistent ratings performer for the network has been their Thursday offering from World Wrestling Entertainment (formerly the WWF), WWE SmackDown!. In the 2004-2005 season, the network was getting consistently better ratings than the WB, much of this thanks to the WWE. Executives at UPN also suggested those same-season Nielsen ratings may underrepresent the viewership of its core African-American audience, after noticing a 20% dip in key demographics for its African-American-oriented situation comedies early in the season. That said, new shows began to breathe life into the network starting in Fall 2003 with America's Next Top Model, in Fall 2004 with Veronica Mars and Kevin Hill (starring Taye Diggs), and in Fall 2005 with Chris Rock's Everybody Hates Chris. Network executives have stated that UPN's current desired demographic is young women and African-Americans. This was seen as a contributing factor in the network's decision to drop the Star Trek franchise, and also in the decision not to re-new its contract with the WWE, leaving the future of SmackDown beyond 2006 clouded. It was estimated in 2003 that UPN is viewable by 85.98% of all households, reaching 91,689,290 houses in the United States. UPN has approximately 143 full-power owned-and-operated or primary affiliate stations in the U.S. and another 65 stations air some UPN programming as secondary affiliates. Many existing operate an UPN affiliate on one of their digital channels.

Programming

The first official UPN network programming was the series Star Trek: Voyager. Other early UPN programs included the action show Nowhere Man starring Bruce Greenwood, the action show Marker starring Richard Grieco, the action comedy Legend starring Richard Dean Anderson and the science fiction themed action show, The Sentinel. After Voyager's 7-season run came to an end, UPN began broadcasting the newest Star Trek spin-off, Star Trek: Enterprise. UPN also bought the rights to broadcast the popular television shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Clueless, and Roswell from 20th Century Fox and ABC after The WB cancelled the series. The network also produced some special programs. For example, they presented the Iron Chef USA program during Christmas 2001. UPN also shows the WWE's Smackdown show, America's Next Top Model, Girlfriends, Veronica Mars, Everybody Hates Chris, loosely based on the childhood of comedian Chris Rock, and in the summer of 2005 UPN aired R U the Girl, in which pop group TLC searched for a woman to join them on a new song. UPN has a new policy of "not picking up other networks' scraps," which was a strong argument when fan pressure was generated in 2004 for them to pick up Angel, the spin-off of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Television movies

Although they currently run them very rarely, UPN has produced a number of television movies. Almost all of them were science-fiction, and mostly ran during the late 1990s. For a full list, see Television movies produced for UPN.

Notes


- John Consoli, "UPN's Start-of-Week Blues", Mediaweek, October 25, 2004.
- According to Simon Cowell's biography they were offered American Idol before Fox and turned it down.

See also


- List of programs broadcast by UPN
- List of United States television networks
- List of UPN affiliates

External links


- [http://www.upn.com UPN Official Site]
- [http://www.forbes.com/digitalentertainment/2005/08/26/upn-tv-marketing-cx_variety_0826upn.html UPN: The Small Network That Could] Category:United States television networks Category:UPN television network Category:Viacom subsidiaries

Canada

Canada is the second largest country in the world in terms of area, extending from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean with claims extending to the North Pole. The northern-most country on the mainland of North America, Canada has land borders only with the United States. Governed as a parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy, Canada is a federation of ten provinces with three territories. Initially constituted in 1867, the country's constitution was patriated in 1982 from the United Kingdom. Canada's head of state is its monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II, who is represented in Canada by the Governor General, presently Michaëlle Jean. The head of government is the Prime Minister, currently Paul Martin; his minority government recently lost a vote of non-confidence in the Canadian House of Commons and asked for the dissolution of the Parliament by the Governor General, who then issued a Royal proclamation authorising the issue of election writs, and stating a federal election will take place on 2006 January 23. Canada's official languages are English and French. As of 2005, its official population estimate is approximately 32.4 million [http://www.statcan.ca/english/edu/clock/population.htm].

Overview

The capital city is Ottawa, Ontario, the seat of Canada's Parliament. The Governor General, the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Loyal Opposition, and the Speaker of the House of Commons have official residences in the National Capital Region.National Capital Region, Ontario.]] Originally a union of British colonies with significant French influence and entitled as a "dominion", Canada is a founding member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, and La Francophonie. Canada defines itself as a bilingual and multicultural nation:
- English is the official (and majority) language in most provinces of Canada.
- French is the official language of Quebec, an official language of New Brunswick, and is spoken in various areas throughout the country.
- Several Aboriginal languages have official status in the Northwest Territories; Inuktitut is the majority language in Nunavut and has official status there. Canada is a technologically advanced and industrialized nation. It is a net exporter of energy because of its large fossil fuel deposits, nuclear energy generation, and hydroelectric power capacity. Its diversified economy relies heavily on an abundance of natural resources and trade, particularly with the United States, with which it has had a long and complex relationship. Canada has ten provinces and three territories: Canada's major cities that are not capital cities include Montreal, Quebec; Vancouver, British Columbia; and Calgary, Alberta.

Canada's name

The name Canada is believed to come from the Huron-Iroquois word kanata, which means "village" or "settlement". In 1535, locals used the word to tell Jacques Cartier the way to Stadacona, site of present-day Quebec City. Cartier used Canada to refer not only to Stadacona, but also to the entire area subject to Donnacona, Chief at Stadacona; by 1547, maps began referring to this and the surrounding area as Canada.

History

Aboriginal tradition holds that the First Peoples have inhabited parts of what is now called Canada since the dawn of time. Archaeological records show that these lands have been inhabited for at least 10,000 years. Several Viking expeditions occurred circa AD 1000, with evidence of settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows. British claims to North America date from 1497, when John Cabot reached what he called Newfoundland, though it is unclear whether Cabot landed in current Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, or Maine. French claims date from explorations by Jacques Cartier (from 1534) and Samuel de Champlain (from 1603). Neither Cabot's nor Cartier's explorations left any permanent settlers behind. On August 5, 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert claimed Newfoundland as England's first overseas colony under Royal Charter of Queen Elizabeth I. In 1604, French settlers were the first Europeans to settle permanently in what is now Canada. After an unsuccessful winter in St. Croix Island (today in Maine), they settled Port-Royal in what is now the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia, but moved to found Quebec City in 1608. The current Acadians are descendants of settlers who came later in the same century and re-founded Port-Royal. New France was generally the name given to the French colonies of Canada and Acadia (and later Louisiana).Louisiana, depicts British General Wolfe's final moments during the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759.]] British settlements were established along the Atlantic seaboard and around Hudson Bay. As these colonies expanded, a struggle for control of North America took place between 1689 and 1763 (see French and Indian Wars), exacerbated by wars in Europe between France and Great Britain. France progressively lost territory to Great Britain, surrendering peninsular Nova Scotia in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht and the remainder of New France including what was left of Acadia in the Treaty of Paris (1763). During and after the American Revolution approximately 70,000 [http://www.uelac.org/whatis.html] Loyalists fled the Thirteen Colonies. Of these, roughly 50,000 United Empire Loyalists [http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0850061.html] settled in the British North American colonies which then consisted of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, the Province of Quebec, and Prince Edward Island (created 1769). To accommodate the Loyalists, Britain created the colony of New Brunswick in 1784 from part of Nova Scotia, and divided Quebec into Lower Canada and Upper Canada under the Constitutional Act of 1791. The War of 1812 began when the U.S. attacked British forces in Canada in an attempt to end British influence in North America (and particularly, the British seizures of American merchant ships in the Atlantic). In April 1813, U.S. forces burned York (now Toronto). The British/Canadians retaliated with the burning of Washington (DC) in a surprise attack in August 1814, but were subsequently turned back at Plattsburgh, Baltimore, and New Orleans. The Treaty of Ghent was signed in December 1814. It was only after the French and Napoleonic wars ended in Europe that large-scale immigration to Canada resumed. The Canadas were merged into a single colony, the United Province of Canada, with the Act of Union (1840) in an attempt to assimilate the French Canadians. Once the U.S. agreed to the 49th parallel north as its border with western British North America, the British government created the colonies of British Columbia in 1848 and Vancouver Island in 1849. By the late 1850s, politicians in the Province of Canada had launched a series of western exploratory expeditions with the intention of assuming control of Rupert's Land (administered by the Hudson's Bay Company) and the Arctic. In 1864 and 1866, British North American politicians, in what became known as the Great Coalition, held three conferences to create a federal union. Spearheaded by John A. Macdonald, on July 1, 1867, three colonies—Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick—were granted a constitution, the British North America Act, by the United Kingdom, creating the Dominion of Canada. The term "Canadian Confederation" refers to this 1867 unification of the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec (formerly Canada East or Lower Canada), and Ontario (formerly Canada West or Upper Canada). The remaining British colonies and territories soon joined Confederation. By 1880 Canada included all of its present area except for Newfoundland and Labrador, which joined in 1949. (It should be noted that, although part of Canada, Alberta and Saskatchewan did not gain Provincial status until 1905.) Newfoundland and Labrador In 1919, Canada became a member of the League of Nations and, in the Imperial Conference of 1926, Canada assumed full control of its own through the Balfour Declaration. In 1927, Canada appointed its first ambassador to a foreign country, the United States. In 1931, the Statute of Westminster gave the Balfour Declaration constitutional force, confirming that no act of the UK's parliament would thereafter extend to Canada without its consent. Canadian citizenship was first distinguished from British in 1947; judicial appeals to the British Judicial Committee of the Privy Council ended in 1949. The power to amend Canada's constitution remained with the British parliament, although subject to the Statute of Westminster, until it was finally "patriated" to Canadian control by the Canada Act 1982. The Quebec sovereignty movement has led to two referendums held in 1980 and 1995, with votes of 59.6% and 50.6% respectively against its proposals for sovereignty-association. In 1997, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled unilateral secession by a province to be unconstitutional.

Geography

unconstitutionalCanada occupies the northern portion (precisely 41%) of North America. It is bordered to the south by the contiguous United States and to the northwest by Alaska. The length of these borders are 6,416 km (3,987 mi) and 2,477 km (1,539 mi), respectively. Off the southern coast of Newfoundland lies Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, an overseas community of France. The country stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west (hence the country's motto). To the north lies the Arctic Ocean; Greenland is to the northeast. Since 1925, Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic between 60° and 141° W longitude ([http://atlas.gc.ca/site/english/maps/historical/territorialevolution/1927/1]); this claim is not universally recognized. The northernmost settlement in Canada (and in the world) is Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Alert on the northern tip of Ellesmere Island – latitude 82.5° N – just 834 kilometres (518 mi) from the North Pole. Also, the magnetic North Pole lies within Canadian boundaries (although is moving towards Siberia). Canada is the world's second-largest country in total area, after Russia. Much of Canada lies in Arctic regions, however, and thus Canada has only the fourth-most arable land area behind Russia, China, and the U.S. The population density of 3.5 people per square kilometre (9.0/mi²) is among the lowest in the world: Canada has more land area than the U.S., but only one-ninth of its population. The most densely populated part of the country is the Quebec City-Windsor Axis in the east. To the north of this region is the broad Canadian Shield, an area of rock scoured clean by the last ice age, thinly soiled, rich in minerals, and dotted with lakes and rivers—over 60% of the world's lakes are in Canada. The Canadian Shield encircles the immense Hudson Bay, extending from Great Bear Lake in the Northwest Territories at its westernmost point, to the Atlantic coast in Labrador in the east. Newfoundland, North America's easternmost island if Greenland is excluded, is at the mouth of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the world's largest estuary. The Canadian Maritimes protrude eastward from the southern coasts of Quebec. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are divided by the Bay of Fundy, which experiences the world's largest tidal variations. Prince Edward Island is Canada's smallest province. Prince Edward Island; at 5 959 m (19,551 ft), Canada's highest point and second highest in North America.]]West of Ontario, the broad, flat Canadian Prairies spread toward the Rocky Mountains, which separate them from British Columbia. Northern Canadian vegetation tapers from coniferous forests to tundra and finally to Arctic barrens in the far north. The northern Canadian mainland is ringed with a vast archipelago containing some of the world's largest islands. Some specific geographical features of note include the world's largest freshwater island, Manitoulin Island, which divides Georgian Bay and Lake Huron and the world's longest freshwater beach, Wasaga Beach, on the Georgian Bay shoreline. Thanks to past glacial activity in the Canadian Shield, Canada boasts a considerable reserve of fresh water and more lakes than any other nation, roughly two million in all, the overwhelming majority of which are relatively small.

Climate

Canada has a reputation for cold temperatures in the winter months. Winters can be harsh in many regions of the country, particularly in the Prairie Provinces. Temperatures can reach lows of -50°C (-58°F) in the far North however, such low temperatures are not the norm; the record coldest temperature in North America was -63°C (-81°F), at Snag, Yukon, in 1947. Coastal British Columbia is an exception: it enjoys a temperate climate with much milder winters than the rest of the country however, rainy winters are common. Summers in Canada range from mild (low 20s Celsius [70°F]) on the east and west coasts, to hot (mid 20s to low 30s Celsius [75-90°F]) in Central Canada, the Prairies and the intermontane regions of British Columbia. The highest recorded temperature in Canada was 45°C (113°F) at both Midale and Yellow Grass in Saskatchewan on July 5, 1937. For a more complete description of weather norms around Canada, go to www.climate.weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/climate_normals/index_e.html

Politics

1937] Canada's head of state is the monarch, currently Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and commonly referred to as the Queen of Canada. However, the day-to-day duties of head of state are exercised by the Governor General, who is generally a retired politician, military leader, or other notable Canadian; the current Governor General is Michaëlle Jean. All government authority is derived from the monarch, and executive power is wielded by the Prime Minister of Canada and the cabinet. The Governor General is formally appointed by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister and is a non-partisan figure who fulfils many ceremonial and symbolic roles including providing Royal Assent to bills, reading the Speech from the Throne, officially welcoming dignitaries of foreign countries, presenting honours such as the Order of Canada, signing state documents, formally opening and ending sessions of Parliament, and dissolving Parliament for an election. The Governor General is also the titular Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Armed Forces. The position of Governor General also beholds considerable reserve powers, but these have been rarely used. The last to do so was Jeanne Sauvé, who ignored the National Capital Commission and closed the grounds of Rideau Hall in the late 1980s; the most famous use of the Governor General's extraordinary powers was during the King-Byng Affair in 1926. Canada's constitution governs the legal framework of the country and consists of [http://lois.justice.gc.ca/en/const/index.html written text] and unwritten traditions and conventions (see Westminster system). The federal government and the governments of nine provinces agreed to the patriation of the constitution, with procedures for amending it, at a meeting of First Ministers in November 1981. The Quebec government did not agree to the changes, and Quebec nationalists refer to that night as the Night of the Long Knives. The patriation of the Constitution included the adoption of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees basic rights and freedoms for Canadians that, generally, cannot be overridden by legislation of any level of government in Canada. It contains, however, a "notwithstanding clause", which allows the federal parliament and the provincial legislatures the power to override other sections of the Charter temporarily, for a period of five years. notwithstanding clause]]The position of Prime Minister, Canada's head of government, in practice belongs to the leader of the political party who can command a majority in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister and his or her cabinet are formally appointed by the Governor General; however, the Prime Minister effectively chooses the cabinet and the Governor General, by convention, has to appoint the Prime Minister's desired choices. The Cabinet is drawn, by convention, from members of the prime minister's party in both legislative houses, though mostly from the Commons. Executive power is exercised by the prime minister and cabinet, all of whom are sworn into the Privy Council of Canada and become ministers of the Crown. The Prime Minister exercises a great deal of individual political power, especially in terms of the appointment of other officials within the government and civil service. The legislative branch of government has two houses: the elected House of Commons and the appointed Senate. Each member in the Commons is elected by simple plurality in one electoral district or "riding"; general elections are called by the Governor General when the prime minister so advises, and must occur every five years or less. Members of the Senate, whose seats are apportioned on a regional basis, are chosen by the prime minister and formally appointed by the Governor General, and serve until age 75. electoral district]]Canada has four main political parties today. The traditionally centrist / left-of-centre Liberal Party of Canada formed the government in Canada for most of the 20th century, and is the party of the current Prime Minister Paul Martin. The only other party to have formed a government is the now-defunct, right-of-centre Progressive Conservative (PC) Party and its predecessor, the Conservative Party, which was the dominant political party in the 19th century. The PC Party merged with the Canadian Alliance to form a new rightist Conservative Party of Canada in December 2003. The New Democratic Party (NDP) is the major party furthest to the political left. The Bloc Québécois promotes Quebec independence from Canada and currently holds a majority of Quebec's seats in the Commons. There are many smaller parties and, while none have current representation in Parliament, the list of historical parties with elected representation is substantial. Canada's judiciary plays an important role in interpreting laws and has the power to strike down laws that violate the constitution. The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court and final arbiter; its nine members are directly appointed by Cabinet. All judges at the superior and appellate levels are selected and appointed by the federal government, after consultation with non-governmental legal bodies. The federal cabinet also appoints justices to superior courts at the provincial and territorial levels. Judicial posts at the lower provincial and territorial levels are filled by their respective governments (see Court system of Canada for more detail). Common law prevails everywhere except in Quebec, where civil law predominates. Criminal law is solely a federal responsibility and is uniform throughout Canada. Law enforcement, including criminal courts, is a provincial responsibility, but in most provinces policing is contracted to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). The RCMP is one of few police forces in the world to perform three different levels of enforcement: municipal, provincial, and federal.

Foreign relations

Canada has a close relationship with the United States, sharing the world's longest undefended border, co-operating on some military campaigns and exercises, and being each other's largest trading partners. Canada also shares a history and long relationship with the United Kingdom as its "mother country". United Kingdom.]] In the last century, Canada has been an advocate for multilateralism, making efforts to reach out to the rest of the world and promoting itself as a "middle power" able to work with large and small nations alike. This was clearly demonstrated during the Suez Crisis when Lester B. Pearson mollified the tension by introducing the idea of peacekeeping and the inception of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force. In 1957, Pearson was the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. In that spirit, Canada developed and has tried to maintain a leading role in UN peacekeeping efforts. Canada has cumulatively contributed more troops to peacekeeping operations worldwide than all other nations combined and currently serves in over 40 different peacekeeping missions, most recently in Afghanistan. Canada has contributed in some way to all UN peacekeeping missions. Canada is a member of the United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, La Francophonie, the Organization of American States (OAS), North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the World Trade Organization, the G8, and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

Military

Asia-Pacific Economic CooperationA founding member of the NATO alliance, Canada currently employs about 62,000 regular and 26,000 reserve military personnel.[http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/about/family_e.asp] The unified Canadian Forces (CF) are comprised of army, navy, and air force branches. Major CF equipment deployed includes 2,400 armoured fighting vehicles, 34 combat vessels, and 140 combat aircraft. Defence is an exclusive federal jurisdiction: defence spending in fiscal year 2004-5 was approximately $14 billion.[http://www.vcds.forces.gc.ca/dgsp/pubs/rep-pub/ddm/rpp/rpp05-06/sec3c_e.asp] However, in the 2005 federal budget, the Liberal government allocated an additional $12.8 billion over five years to the armed forces, and committed to increasing troop levels by an additional 8,000 regular and reserve personnel over the same period.[http://www.fin.gc.ca/budget05/speech/speeche.htm] Canadian forces have served in various wars including World War I, World War II, the Korean War and recently, in Afghanistan. Since Lester B. Pearson proposed the first UN peacekeeping force in 1956, the Canadian Forces have served in 42 peacekeeping missions — more than any other country. Canada was also the prime destination of American draft dodgers during the Vietnam War. These factors – along with its comparatively low level of military spending, other positions such as nuclear non-proliferation, and an international treaty banning personnel land mine usage – have led to Canada sometimes being referred to as a pacifist country. Battles significantly contributing to Canada's development and self-identity include the Battle of Vimy Ridge, the Second Battle of Ypres, the Third Battle of Ypres, and Juno Beach. Currently, CF personnel are involved in the NATO mission in Afghanistan. Smaller missions are also taking place in Haiti and Kosovo. Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) has participated in two relief operations in the last year. The two-hundred member relief crew helped in Southeast Asia after the December 2004 tsunami, and DART was also deployed in response to the devastating earthquake that struck the Kashmir region in South Asia in October 2005. Moreover, CF (and RCMP) personnel recently assisted in Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

Provinces and territories of Canada

Canada is composed of ten provinces and three territories. The provinces have a large degree of autonomy from the federal government, the territories somewhat less. Each has its own provincial or territorial symbols. The provinces are responsible for most of Canada's social programs (such as health care, education, and welfare) and together collect more revenue than the federal government, an almost unique structure among federations in the world. The federal government can initiate national policies that the provinces can opt out of, but this rarely happens in practice. Equalization payments are made by the federal government to ensure that reasonably uniform standards of services and taxation are kept between the richer and poorer provinces. All provinces have unicameral, elected legislatures headed by a Premier selected in the same way as the Prime Minister of Canada. Each province also has a Lieutenant-Governor representing the Queen, analogous to the Governor General of Canada, appointed on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Canada, though with increasing levels of consultation with provincial governments in recent years. Lieutenant-Governor.]] Most provinces have provincial counterparts to the three national federal parties. However, some provincial parties are not formally linked to the federal parties that share the same name. Some provinces have regional political parties, such as the Saskatchewan Party. The provincial political climate of Quebec is quite different: the main split is between separatism, represented by the Parti Québécois, and federalism, represented by the Parti Libéral du Québec. The three territories have fewer political powers than provinces, having been created by acts of the national Parliament rather than having their status enshrined in the Constitution. There is no lieutenant-governor to represent and fulfil the functions of the Queen, but each has a politically neutral Commissioner appointed by the federal government to act as its senior representative. Only Yukon's legislature follows the same political system as the provincial legislatures. The other two territories use a consensus government system in which each member runs as an independent and the premier is elected by and from the members. There is also interest within Canada and the Turks and Caicos Islands, an overseas UK territory in the Caribbean, for the latter to enter into Confederation.

Economy

Caribbean, depicting (from top to bottom) Wilfred Laurier, John A. Macdonald, Queen Elizabeth II, William Lyon Mackenzie King, and Robert Borden.]]As an affluent, high-tech industrial society, Canada today closely resembles the U.S. in its market-oriented economic system, pattern of production, and high living standards. In the last century, the impressive growth of the manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy into one primarily industrial and urban. Canada has vast deposits of natural gas on the east coast and in the west, and a plethora of other natural resources contributing to self-sufficiency in energy. The 1989 Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (which included Mexico) touched off a dramatic increase in trade and economic integration with the U.S. Since 2001, Canada has successfully avoided economic recession and has maintained the best overall economic performance in the G8. Two long-term concerns loom. One is the continuing political differences over the Constitution between Quebec and the rest of Canada, periodically raising the possibility of Quebec independence. As the economy becomes stronger, notably in Quebec, fears of separation have generally waned. Another concern is the "Brain Drain", the emigration of professionals to the U.S. in search of higher pay, lower taxes, and high-tech opportunities. (However, a [http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_PrintFriendly&c=Article&cid=1124920225033&call_pageid=971358637177&DPL=IvsNDS%2f7ChAX&tacodalogin=yes recent Toronto Star article] claims that the "Brain Drain" of doctors has abated, as more are returning to Canada due to high insurance rates in the U.S. and a more efficient medicare system in Canada.) Simultaneously, a larger, under-recognised "Brain Gain" is occurring, as educated immigrants (particularly from developing countries, a controversy in and of itself) continue to enter Canada [http://www.statcan.ca/english/indepth/81-003/feature/eqhi2000006003s1a01.htm].

Demographics

The 2001 national census recorded 30,007,094 people, and as of October 2005 the population has been estimated by Statistics Canada as 32.3 million people[http://www.statcan.ca/english/edu/clock/population.htm], an increase of some 2.3 million people by both immigration and natural growth. About three-quarters of Canada's population live within 150 km of the U.S. border, and a similar proportion live in urban areas. In the 2001 census, 39.42% of respondents reported their ethnic origins as "Canadian", most of whom are believed to be of British, Irish, and French heritage of earlier immigrants. In addition, 20.17% identified their origin as English, 15.75% as French, 14.03% as Scottish, and 12.90% as Irish. Numerous other groups were also reported. Ethnic origins reported by more than 1 million people included: German (9.25%), Italian (4.29%), Chinese (3.69%), Ukrainian (3.61%) and North American Indian (3.38%). Close to four million people reported they were members of a visible minority, amounting to 13.44% of the total population. (Note that Aboriginal peoples are not considered visible minorities). Also, the 2001 census reported that Canada had 5,448,480 immigrants. [http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/products/highlight/Immigration/Page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo=PR&Code=0&View=1&Table=1&StartRec=1&Sort=2&B1=Counts] According to the last census[http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/products/analytic/companion/rel/contents.cfm], 72% of Canadians identified as being Christians; of this, Catholics make up the largest group – 43% of Canadians. One-sixth of Canadians declared no religious affiliation, and the remaining 12% were affiliated with religions other than Christianity.

Language

Catholics]] Canada's two official languages are English and French. On July 7, 1969, under the Official Languages Act, French was made commensurate to English throughout the federal govern