SUCCESS : A BRIEF ( and not a shorts ) HISTORY OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL AMERICAN TELEVISION SERIES AND THE FUTURE OF TV . (A true story by a Part -Time President ). ( c ) PCGI PIRON 2014- 2015 . FOREWORD . Hello ! (Snapshot) This work of art , first published in the US and copyrighted , comes in two versions : one is a text version stripped of all fanciness which the real world has to offer ; one is a splendid HTML/PDF version , which is eventually personally watermarked , contains better letters , Internet links , Endnotes , my bonus epilogue (“ The Whole 11 Yards “ scenario with abominable YouTube trailer ) and “educational snapshots “ ( photos ) of some television and other events ( only for educational , academic purposes ). To receive “That work of Art “ , made by a Part-Time President , a donation of USD 6 is required to cover all work and to receive the famous HTML/ PDF in Your email box from my mailbox , being the specifically designated . There is no “ Money Back Guarantee “ (mouse cannot administrate ), but You will not be disappointed . There is an awful lot of wordplay in this oevre , and I only hope it makes You smile . Do not be offended by the many truths in this small epic ; those are not Hilarious , nor Bushesque , as if such might be a preview as to who may or may not become President of the US ( anymore ) . AN INTRODUCTION IN TECHNICOLOR , PANAVISION , PICTURES AND CAMERAS . Hello Again (there are other pictures in this story … , ii but this moving image returns in “ The whole 11 Yards “ trailer , at the end . ) (Snapshot) TECHNICOLOR is a film procedure which originally came to the fore , at large scale , by WALT DISNEY , in his animated “Fantasia “ ( 1937 ) , but the procedure was actually developped in Boston , Maine and Delaware , between 1914 and 1921 , after which it was used in several movies , mainly short ones , including several Disneys ( as , for example , the Silly Symphonies , which appear outdated at this time ) . (Internet link ) Especially after WWII , it became standard part of long “real -life movies “, some of which contained the mixture of animated and real- life figures . A technique also quite recently used , for example in “ Who framed Roger Rabbit “ ( 1988) (Internet link ) , or “ Looney Tunes : Back in Action “ (2003 ) (Internet link ) . I am still appalled by what was made with Technicolor in the 60 's , as in the wonderful “ The Great Race “ (Snapshot) (Internet link ) ( with TONY CURTIS ) , an artwork of a film directed by BLAKE EDWARDS , released in 1965 , which apparently provided inspiration for cinematographers as Mr . ZEMECKIS in his “ Back to the future “ trilogy . (Internet link ) By 1952 , KODAK developped a KODACHROME 35 mm format , which meant that , by the mid-sixties , the TECHNICOLOR procedure would have been more or less abandonned , albeit it is paradoxically still widely used in combination with KODAK film . (Internet link ) Moviemaking requires very expensive cameras ( with expensive lenses ) - in “ 24 “ : PANAVISION cameras of about 500000 USD , with lenses of about 200000 USD . Those machines are typically rented , not bought , and require the very expensive process of using real film - indeed KODAK stable in “ 24 “ . (Season 5 of “24 “ on DVD has a fascinating documentary about the “ Unsung heroes : 24 camera department “ )(Snapshot) PANAVISION is a company in Woodland Hills , CA , which brought it's first and rather heavy camera to market by 1954 , to provide a lightweight Panaflex 35 mm camera by 1972 , when Panavision was part of Warner Communications (since 1968 ) . (Internet link ) The first movie with the Panaflex was Steven Spielberg's The Sugarland Express ( 1974 ) . By 1982 , when founder ROBERT GOTTSCHALK did die ( at 64 ) , the company moved between different investors/ investor firms . In 1991 , it unsuccessfully brought a new 65 mm camera to market , System 65 , which in fact had already been beaten by an Arri camera in 1989 , the Arriflex 765 . By 2000 , mainly at the instigation of GEORGE LUCAS and his Star Wars franchise , a digital camera was developped in a joint venture between SONY ( which provided camera body and sensors ) and Panavision , making the lenses , resulting in the SONY HDW-F900 CineAlta HDCAM .(Internet link ) By 2004 , the Genesis digital camera was introduced by Panavision ( containing some SONY electronics ) , after which SONY was bought out . Panavision cameras allow to shoot in 3 formats : 1.33 ( TV ) , 1.85 ( Widescreen ) and 2.35/2.40 ( modern 35 mm ). In television and movies , Panavision is occasionally beaten again by an Arri camera , being the Alexa .(Internet link ) Because the cameras are nominally expensive , those are also rented ; for Arri/Alexas , such happens for example via OTTO NEMENZ , on Vine Street in L.A. . (Internet link ) Arri made it into the movies too : one example is “ Iron Man 3 “ , with ROBERT DOWNEY JR. ; another the fascinating “ Into the Blue “ , with PAUL WALKER and JESSICA ALBA . (2005 ) . Recently (2014 ) the Arri Alexa made it into the television series “ Rush “ ( FOX ) . In fact , the entire world of digital photography and filmmaking is in a very fast flux . The “smartphone “ goes quickly into higher megapixels . And one can shoot special images already . This is what I got out of my own Android smartphones or digital cams ; the previous one is my neighborhood in thermal vision : (Snapshot) A picture from a moving train : (Snapshot) A picture against the sun , technically forbidden : (Snapshot) A 2002 picture at night : (Snapshot) Latter a wonderful picture : I do remember where I took it ; it is some kind of mystery though . But I can do it again . New “sportcams “ capable to withstand “ shocks while filming “ quickly go from 720P to 1080P , and the latter is the standard digital television norm . As far as I know , one of the first large digital cameras to make a commercial movie was developped by the team surrounding GODFREY REGGIO , when making “ KOYAANISQUATSI “ by 1982 . THOMAS MANN ( see further , as to MIAMI VICE ) did use about the smallest cameras ever when filming “ ALI “ ( boxer ) , featuring WILL SMITH , shown here in the HBO documentary about the making of Ali . (Snapshot) Now what does a good digital camera have ? it should contain the best WIFI ( allowing the camera to be operated from a phone or tablet ). it should contain a replaceable hard drive of at least 1TB (standard format ) it should be extremely shockproof ( the 1080P HITACHI I bought was not shockproof enough ) it should be attachable to a drone , not too peep into the neighbor's sunbathing habits , but to make very fast swirling and moving pictures from the sky . Maybe 720P will do , but , as stated , the television standard is 1080P . It should have an extremely good stereo microphone , which is “ windstill “ , but normally sound is still overdubbed , so it must be possible to turn the microphone “off “ . Latest news is that the Chinese Xiaomi , making cheap high-end smartphones , comes out with inexpensive digital (sports ) cameras . STATISTICS and NIELSEN . If any course at the university would start with “ statistics “ it would be considered extremely dangerous , making most people drop out or commit suicide . That is why we start here with “viewer statistics “ , from NIELSEN , the most deciding factor in the renewal or cancellation of a television show , and I worked it all into this beautiful tabloid : (Table ) Serie Runtime Friends 1994-2004 Cheers 1982- 1993 Frasier 1993- 2004 Magnum 1980- 1988 JAG 1995- 2005 NCIS 2004- present CSIVegas 2000- present WestWing 1999- 2006 24 2001-2010 MiamiVice 1984- 1989 NIELSEN is of course a very well known name in marketing , since the early days (1923 in Chicago ) when ARTHUR C NIELSEN SR started to collect marketing data . By 1939 , the company moved into international marketing research , to be HQ'd in NEW YORK at this time . (Internet link ) By the time television ever became important ( the 1950's ) , the marketing firm started to develop and acquire systems to measure household response to whatever is on television ( or with respect to movies ) . Such is now a very complicated system also known as Cipher Electronic Research . Eventually , not too long ago (by 1996 ) , the media division was split off from the parent ( the marketing researchers ) , becoming NIELSEN MEDIA RESEARCH -NMR . In 1999 , NMR was taken over by the Dutch amalgam VERENIGDE UITGEVERS MAATSCHAPPIJ (VNU ). By 2001 , very visionary , VNU took over the entire NIELSEN company (thus also consumer marketing research ) , making it NIELSEN HOLDINGS . So if You ever want to know what sells at or after any Super Bowl ( + 100 million TV viewers ) , You cannot wonder that a second of advertising at the Super Bowl would go for at least 400000 USD . FRIENDS . (Sept . 1994 - May 2004 ) . MATTHEW PERRY claimed recently that he wanted “Friends “ to come together again . It was already very popular by the Second Season , and , according to some viewer numbers , by 1998 – 1999 , “Friends “ was about the most popular TV show , to hit the high “more than 50 million viewers “ by May 6 , 2004 (“ The last one “ ) . At present , it seems outdated .(Internet link ) It is all about six young people in NY , albeit almost the entire series was recorded in Burbank , Ca . and evolved around 3 actors mainly : DAVID SCHWIMMER ( who also directed some episodes ) , MATTHEW PERRY and JENNIFER ANNISTON . I was pretty bored with the initial scenes in the “ Central Perk cafe “ . It only gets better after Mr. SCHWIMMER became more academic , and Mr. PERRY became an executive in Oklahoma . I think that the best episode , most imaginative , is “ The one after Joey and Rachel kiss “.(Snapshot) “Joey “ (MATT LEBLANC ) became a separate show , but ran only two seasons ( 2004 -2006 ) , with about 10 million viewers . To credit MATTHEW PERRY ( who appears in a new show in 2015 , being “ The odd couple “ ) , he did an excellent job in movies as “ The whole nine /ten yards “ ( 2000 / 2004 )(Internet link ) for which I wrote a new scenario covering “The whole 11 yards “ ( but I cannot reach Bruce or David Willis ) - ( See “Epilogue “ , further ) , and also an excellent job in the legal divorce comedy “Serving Sara “ ( 1992 , with Elisabeth Hurley ) playing in NY and Texas , from which this famous oneliner : Someone to MATTHEW : “ Kiss my ass “ , after which M. retorts “ My mouth is not big enough “ . CHEERS ( 1982- 1993) and FRASIER ( 1993 – 2004 ) . Cheers is a comedy show which technically plays at a bar in Boston (MA ) , originally named “The Bull and Finch pub “ , while most episodes were recorded at a Paramount lot in Hollywood , Ca. (now part of CBS .) It was devised as a mixture of the “ Mary Tyler Moore Show “ (Internet link ) and the absurd British hotel series “ Fawlty Towers “ (Internet link ) . Most of the episodes were directed by JAMES BURROWS . The main actors were TED DANSON ( Bar patron ) , GEORGE WENDT ( “Norm” , accountant ) , JOHN RATZENBERGER ( “Cliff “ , mailman ) - those two came in only later as “ regulars “ - , KELSEY GRAMMER ( “ Frasier “ , psychiatrist , who only popped up in the Third Season ( Sept. 1983 ) to become a “regular “ in the Fifth Season (Sept 1985 ) , and two women , SHELLEY LONG ( “Diane “, intellectual waitress ) and KRISTIE ALLEY ( “Rebecca “ ) who replaces “ Diane “ as off the Sixth Season ( Sept . 1986 ). According to the Nielsen ratings , Season 6 was the most “penetrating “ , with about 24 % . The final episode would have drawn more than 80 million viewers . Interestingly , the Bar interior was licensed by the Head of Paramount to Marriot , since about 1995 , to build 15 airport pubs ( which I never found ) ; also one was built in London ( Regent Street ) , which was closed by 2009 . CBS acquired the licensing rights by 2006 . I saw many of them in overview , and personally think that one of the best ones happens in Season 6 , “Broken vase at corporate cocktail party and the Squeaky shoes club “ ( written by JEFFREY DUTEIL and directed by JOHN RATZENBERGER ( “Cliff “ )) (snapshot ). Facebookers , of course , have other preferences , and those were released as a “fan DVD “ by Paramount in 2002 , mostly involving the “neurotic Diane “ : 1. "Give Me a Ring Sometime" (season 1, episode 1) 1. "Diane's Perfect Date" (season 1, episode 17) 2. "Pick a Con, Any Con" (season 1, episode 19) 3. "Abnormal Psychology" (season 5, episode 4) 4. "Thanksgiving Orphans" (season 5, episode 9) 5. "Dinner at Eight-ish" (season 5, episode 20) 6. "Simon Says" (season 5, episode 21) 7. "An Old Fashioned Wedding", parts one and two (season 10, episodes 25) “Frasier “ became a TV story since 1993 , technically playing in Seattle , Washington , shot at Paramount in Hollywood , L.A. , onto the same Cheers set , made basically by the same people , and ran until 2004 . But the Cheers magic never took on again , in my view . I did look at the second season , and only remember two episodes : one with BEBE NEUWIRTH ( who has a new friend ) and the one where Sam Malone comes by in Frasier 's radio studio and home , supposedly in Seattle . Neuwirth to Frasier : “ Brian is a seismologist at MIT “ ; Frasier : “ Oh , that's perfect , Brian being a seismologist and You having so many faults “ . (Snapshot) MAGNUM PI (Dec 1980 – May 1988 ) , JAG (Sept 1995 – May 2005 ) , NCIS ( 2003 – present ) , NCIS : LOS ANGELES (2009 – present ) and NCIS : NEW ORLEANS ( 2014 – present ) . MAGNUM P.I. ( Private Investigator ) belongs to the most successful television programs , with about 20 million US viewers in the period 1980 -1985 . TOM SELLECK (P.I. ), who would have been US Navy Seal and ONI – NIA ( Office of Naval Intelligence – Naval Intelligence Agency ) , is beautifully juxtaposed with JOHN HILLERMAN , an actor from Texas , who superbly plays a British Army Sergeant Major from the Yorkshire department , and such on O'ahu , Hawaii . The masterplan to do so , apparently in a follow up to Hawaii Five -O ( which ran from 1968 till 1980 to be remade since 2010 with an average of 11 million viewers )(Internet link ) , came from DONALD P. BELISSARIO ( who also made JAG – see further ) , GLEN A. LARSON (the original creator of the 1978 television series “Battlestar Galactica” ) , TOM SELLECK himself and apparently also ANDREW SCHNEIDER , their Producer-Writer in Hollywood . The series led to a splendid TV Theme ( written , as it goes , by MIKE POST and PETE CARPENTER , who wrote other inventive music for the show ) , a red FERRARI 308 GTSi regularly on the screen , and very humorous conversations . Even when it's popularity was waning , in the last 3 Seasons , I still found jewels in Season 7 ( 1987 ) , which was strangely released without any subtitles in Western Europe ( Region 2 ). There is a moving FRANK SINATRA playing a NY police official on Hawaii , and a cinematographically and audiowise stunning “ Murder by night “ , in a kind of San Francisco Dashiel Hammett mesh -up of the same series , apparently designed by GLEN LARSON ( from the Far Side ? ) .I did not understand that episode too well , however . One of the most impressive episodes came , in my humble opinion , in Season 2 , as “ From Moscow to Maui “ , written by ANDREW SCHNEIDER , about a Russian MIG pilot who gives up his plane to the US , seeking to extract his girlfriend from the Russian athletics team training on Hawaii . (Snapshot) The same “ pilot – legal affairs “ imbroglio is the main theme of JAG ( “ Judge Advocate General “ ) , made by the same DONALD P . BELISSARIO . Based vaguely on the splendid ROB REINER movie “ A Few Good Men “ ( with star performances by TOM CRUISE as JAG Lawyer and JACK NICHOLSON as the US Commander on Guantanamo ) , it covers the legal exploits of the JAG department of the US Navy . After a hesitating start in 1995 , it was about the most popular TV program by 1998-1999 ( Season 4 ) to reach it's absolute peak in Season 7 ( 2001-2002 ). “JAG” is made up of four persons juxtaposed , who all do an immense acting job : JOHN M. JACKSON , who plays the head JAG ( ADMIRAL CHEGWIDDEN ). DAVID JAMES ELLIOT , who plays JAG Lawyer CAPT HARMON RABB . CATHERINE BELL , who plays JAG Lawyer LT. COL SARAH MACKENZIE . PATRICK LABYORTEAUX , who plays JAG Lawyer LT . CMDR. BUD ROBERTS . STEVE CULP also does an excellent job , as an occasionally recurring CIA agent ROBERT WEBB . While technically playing in Falls Church , VA and the rest of the world , it was filmed most of the time in California and on real US Navy vessels . A feast for the eye , on most occasions . What I would choose as “exemplary “ is the Season 4 Episode “Act of Terror “ , which appears to suggest that the USS COLE bombing ( Yemen ) had some Washington DC bystanders . From other sources ( leads to Ostend , Belgium , for example ) , I know that some investigative leads were not thoroughly explored . (Snapshot) As Mr. BELISSARIO pointed out a long time ago , US investigative leads abroad sometimes go to NCIS , which in turn may engage the FBI ( via it's Legal Attaches in Embassies ) ; albeit the proper route in some locations would be JAG , with it's precise role of being (international ) detective , prosecutor and criminal lawyer ( in accordance with the (US ) Uniform Code of Military Justice ) . Out of JAG / Mr. BELISSARIO came , willfully since 2003 , the NCIS television series , which eventually then still “divided “ as NCIS : LOS ANGELES (2009 ) and NCIS : NEW ORLEANS (2014 ) . NCIS (Internet link ) ( “Naval Criminal Investigative Service” ) was created and initially produced again by Mr. BELLISARIO , runs from 2003 up to today on a “procedural shows wave “ , but contains no known actors from JAG , and far less humor . I bought Season 3 , and was disappointed by a lack in casting , color scheme , convincing content and said humor .The overview docs may be illuminating though , in creating an accurate picture ( See : “ The real N.C.I.S. Declassified “ ) , criminal investigative support for the Department / Secretary of the Navy , would have a 150 locations , of which about 50 overseas . JAG would have 15 overseas locations . Sometimes , duties would overlap , as in the case of a Colonel in Panama , suspected with his wife to be involved in the US drug trade , which is the subject of a JAG episode in Season 5 , which is quite suspenseful and also funny . These : (Snapshot) (Snapshot) NCIS : LOS ANGELES ( 2009 -present ) was created by one SHANE BRENNAN . ( average : 16 mio US viewers ) . NCIS : NEW ORLEANS (Internet link ) was created by one GARY GLASBERG , is filmed there , started in Sept . 2014 , and is on and running . ( again : average of about 16 million US viewers ). More about procedural shows in the last chapter . MIAMI VICE . (Sept 1984 – May 1989 ) . Miami Vice was intended as a departure from series as “ Magnum PI “ , (except for the fact that lead actor Sonny also drove around in fake or real Ferraris ) , in that it had to be “ more colorful “ and intentionally laced with popular 80's music , to appeal to the “ MTV ( videoclip ) generation “ . The creator , ANTHONY YERKOVICH , who previously did the Third Season of the police (Bronx , NY , but recorded in L.A. ) series “ Hill Street Blues “ (Internet link ) (1981-1987 ) , recalls that long periods of music , without talking , were normally reserved for movies , not for television episodes . The Director , MICHAEL MANN ( who seems to have been waning since ) , turned to composer JAN HAMMER to create electronic scores for the series ; the original theme (Miami Vice Theme ; Crockett's theme ) became one of the most popular TV music themes of all times . Although the original idea was to shoot “Miami” in L.A. , eventually it was shot in Miami itself , with Technicolor ( movie ) cameras . Each episode would have cost 1,3 million USD on average . The series reached it's absolute peak in the Second Season ( 1985-1986 ) , to go down and down ever since . Main actors were DON JOHNSON (“Sonny “ ) and PHILIP MICHAEL THOMAS (“Rico “ ) , acting as Two Detectives trying to cope with the Miami drug trade . Originally also JEFF BRIDGES and NICK NOLTE were considered for the role of “Sonny “ , but both declined , since , by 1984 , it was apparently not very lucrative for a film actor to venture into TV . I think that I also have to mention JOHN DIEHL ( “Larry “ ) , successful in bringing more humor to the series . I found the most enticing episode to be “ Heart of Darkness “ of Season 1 , wherein ED O' NEILL (“Al Bundy “ , from “Marriage with children “ , of which the humor seems a little bit childish by now ) plays a hardened criminal undercover agent , quite a star performance . (Snapshot) Here ED with the bucks in “ Married with children “ : (Snapshot) THE WEST WING ( 1999-2006 ) , STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP (2006 – 2007 ) , 30 ROCK ( 2006-2013 ) and THE NEWSROOM ( 2012- 2014 ) . Three ( 1,2 and 4 ) of these television shows are technically creations by AARON SORKIN . When he did leave the West Wing ( WW ) by the Fifth Season , he apparently “took” some main protagonists of WW into Studio 60 , pretending to make a Saturday Night Live ( NY ) in Hollywood , focusing on backstage movements . TIM BUSFIELD , who plays an inquisitive journalist in WW , became Studio 60 production head ; ALLISON JANNEY , who made it from White House Press Secretary to Chief of Staff in the WW , props up in Studio 60 , but cannot save the show ; JOHN GOODMAN , who performs as a President -stand -in in WW , does a funny job as Judge in Pahrump , Nevada , but cannot save the show either ; BRADLEY WHITLOCK , the intellectual overachiever in WW , plays the executive Producer of Studio 60 , this time on coke , but that cannot save the show either . Not even MATTHEW PERRY nor AMANDA PEET , in their own funny glow from “The Whole Nine Yards “ (Internet link ) (2000 ) and “The whole Ten Yards “ (Internet link ) (2004 ) could save the day , since they were apparently too stressed to be funny at “60” . Significantly and ironically , the most memorative episode of Studio 60 is the one called “ The disaster Show “ ., when the propmasters and cue card boys ( who still uses “cue cards “ ? not a Teleprompter ? ) go on a wild strike . (Snapshot) West Wing is a totally different story , albeit it also focusses , all the time , on “ media and press relations “ , this time by the White House . It was actually based on a movie , “ The American President “ (1995 ) , with a screenplay by SORKIN , MICHAEL DOUGLAS as President and MARTIN SHEEN ( President in the WW ) as “ Chief of Staff “ . The budget was 2 , 7 mio USD per episode , but such was written to be overrun several times . The inventive cinematics ( called “ walk and talk “ shots , which are STEADYCAM shots swiveling around persons talking and walking ) are credited to THOMAS SCHLAMME ( who also features in “ Studio 60 “ - but with worse cameras apparently ). Season 3 and Season 4 deal , inter alia , with domestic and international terrorism .I started out with Season 3 ( 2001 -2002 ) , which had the highest amount of viewers ( + 17 mio ) and kept eventually 10 episodes ( with the impossible DVD letterbox format – which later became 4:3 ) (Snapshot) (Snapshot) At Season 4 ( 2002 – 2003 ) (last snapshot ) viewers were already down to a mere 13, 5 mio ; I did boil my summary down to 68 minutes and remarked a relatively strong presence of MATTHEW PERRY and especially JOHN GOODMAN by the end of that Season . Season 5 (2003 -2004 ) is a remarkable feat : it envisions a government shutdown , as happened with the Obama administration recently ( 2013 ) in reality ; it is also about a trade agreement in the White House (then : Central America ) , as one is now justifiably in the making between the US and the EU and the US and the Pacific . As far as I know , it is the best Season made , albeit it also contains some falsifications . JOHN GOODMAN plays pro-tempore President of the US ( without Presidential Library in the making ...) ; STEVE CULP ( see JAG ) again does a though job , now as a Republican Congressman ; MATTHEW PERRY plays an ex- law clerk to a waning Chief justice ; WILLIAM DEVANE (see “24” , where he is Secretary of Defense ) does convincingly as Secretary of State who cannot be nominated as Vice -President ; there is a wonderful episode with Sesame Street characters ; and MARTIN SHEEN ( the “President “ ) learns how to play baseball . JOHN SPENCER ( playing Chief of Staff ) should still be heralded here for his strong performance . There is the anomaly that someone Jewish would be dominant at some point in the White House , since Jews are less than 1 % of the US population ; at a certain moment , MARTIN SHEEN seems genuinely concerned about “ Belgian anti-immigration party Flemish Bloc “ ( who are in reality no skin-heads in a three-piece suit … ), but apparently was not even aware about life-threatening immigration in Antwerp (where the Flemish Bloc is domiciled ) all the time , or about the fact that real Americans do not like “ reckless immigration “ either . One also has to be wary about carefully concealed “ Democrat “ lies , portraying Republicans as either senile ,”geriatrics “ stupid , power abusive or downright naïve . The US public has a different opinion , albeit here or there , there may be someone abusive . Those are the lies similar to “Miss Congeniality'” 2000 SANDRA BULLOCK , remembering a non-existent “ standing ovation “ for ROSEANNE BARR at the Super Bowl , where her performance of the National Anthem nearly caused her to be shot by country -loving Americans ; or when SANDRA loves RUTH GINSBURG , who considered that shooting people near a Seven -Eleven in Florida was a new form of free speech ; or when SANDRA portrays GEORGE BUSH as a potential Guest of Horror at a national US beauty Pageant . What surprised me also is that the cameras used in The West Wing were far superior to whatever used at Studio 60 , as if camera supplier OTTO NEMENZ could never find his way to Sunset . A better version of the same concept would be “ 30ROCK “ , a creation at NBC by one TINA FEY , who presented on “Saturday Night Live “ , with an average of about 5 million viewers . xvii (Snapshot) AARON SORKIN also made “The Newsroom “ ( at Home Box Office , HBO ) as off 2012 , this time with comedy genius JEFF DANIELSxviii , who , according to me , did an extremely funny job in the legal comedy “Trial and error “ (Internet link )( 1997 ) , in fact a must -see . JEFF also plays a public attorney in a Newsroom , tackling some difficult legal issues , as far as personnel is concerned , but also as to tacky news ; such however with a far more serious attitude than at the ingenious “Trial and error “ . “The Newsroom “ is in fact a political farce , from the Democrat side , apparently with some hotheads from UCAL ( University of California ) , trying to find new enemies where there are none in reality ( trying to attack the MITT ROMNEY campaign , in 2012 , for example ). At the same time , one is critical about the US military , for example in it's “GENOA mission” , but AARON SORKIN thereby goes for intellectual dishonesty , not pretending to know that any covert or overt US military mission always comes from the President of the US (then OBAMA 2008-2012 ) , in the “Situation Room “ , which figures prominently is SORKIN's West Wing . (Snapshot) The “ Situation Room “ does exist in reality , and could be seen on television at the time when BIN LADEN was killed by Special Ops in Pakistan . ( see further , as to “The Unit “ ) . It was recorded at the Sunset (Gower ) Studios ( this time with better cameras than at “Studio 60 “ , being Alexas by OTTO NEMENZ ) , but only ran for 3 seasons , to end by Dec . 2014 . 24 ( 2001 – 2010 plus 2014 ), THE UNIT ( 2006-2009 ) and HOMELAND ( 2011-present ). “24 “ (Internet link ) is a very brutal anti-terrorist series ( age : +18 ) , of the post “9-11 Terrorist attack “ (2001 ) era , albeit the show concept was already pushed by creator JOEL SURNOW before 2001 . There are several overlaps with “ The West Wing “ , as well in actors ( WILLIAM DEVANE ) , as in shared resources . Special attention is to be given to GLENN MORSHOWER , who pops up regularly in Presidential (“ 24 “ : Head Secret Service “ ; “WestWing “ : “ US military adviser , 3rd Season -2001) ) or even sheriff environments ( CSI Season 2 - , “ Overload “ - see further ) , with a very solid personality . As to “Air Force One “ ( The Presidential airplane ) , the same set was used in “ 24 “ as in “The West Wing “ . It has been written convincingly that the “ 24 “ franchise , as far as the President and other actors would go , did borrow from “ Air Force One “ , the totally fictional 1997 Presidential movie with actor HARRISON FORD . One of the feats of “24 “ is that several episodes turn around Presidential candidate and later President David Palmer ( DENNIS HAYSBERTH ) , which has been written to have aided BARACK OBAMA as first black President of the US in 2008 . The show has been written to have a profound influence even in American foreign policy , being critical of , for example , China and Russia . I am also disgusted about the frequent abuse of torture , but such seems also to have been critical of the BUSH Jr– CHENEY accredited abuses in that field . Ironically , many Presidents fall like flies in “24 “ and there are several assassination attempts . Season 1 : Preventing 2 assassination attempts on Senator Palmer in the Californian Presidential Primary . Remark : the DVD version contains an excellent navigation menu , which provides an overview of the TV episodes , of which a rather meaningless snapshot here : (Snapshot) Season 2 : Nuclear bomb in Los Angeles . (Snapshot) Season 3 : Deadly virus threat in American cities . (Snapshot) Season 4 : Terrorists kidnap Secretary of Defense Heller ( WILLIAM DEVANE ) and his daughter Raines ( KIM RAVER ) . (Snapshot) Season 5 : Nerve gas in the US . (Snapshot) Season 6 : Russian suitcase with nuclear bombs . (Snapshot) Season 7 : Compromise to the US National Security firewall CIP . (Snapshot) Season 8 : Russian plot , mainly playing in NY , to get an Islamic terrorist and a Russian -Islamic dirty bomb plot to achieve the same . In 2014 , the “ 24 “ series was followed up with a 12 episode series ( May -July 2014 ) playing mainly in London named “ 24 :Live another day “ , trying to stop an assassination attempt on now President Heller (WILLIAM DEVANE ) . There are several plans in the works to continue the series on television and in movie theaters . Of specific note is the contribution of JON CASSAR , who often explains , in the DVD extras , how certain images were in fact made . Of specific note is the use of simultaneous split-screens . Not that such feat was not brought before , even in Technicolor movies in the 1960's , but now this technique , often 3 or 4 moving splits at one time , came widely to television . (Snapshot) Seasons 2 and 3 have explanatory documentaries , but those do lack English subtitles . Those only became available as off Season 4 DVD docs . Season 7 only has a very small documentary , again without English subtitles . As if I were doing the Post -Production myself , I brought each of the six seasons down to a number of minutes and seconds , as to the feature film and the documentaries . To anyone's surprise , maybe , it reads like the following , dependent on the relative importance of the Season . (Viewers US : approx. ) Season 2 : Feature : 202 minutes ; Doc : 13 minutes . (compare : 14 mio viewers ) Season 3 : Feature : 89 minutes ; Doc : 24 minutes . ( comp : 11 mio ) Season 4 : Feature : 379 minutes ; Doc : 26 minutes . ( comp : 12 mio ) Season 5 : Feature : 274 minutes ; Doc : 134 minutes . ( comp : 14 mio ) Season 6 : Feature : 522 minutes ; Doc : 102 minutes . ( comp : 13 mio ) Season 7 : Feature : 118 minutes ; Doc : 16 minutes . ( comp : 13 mio ) I especially appreciated Season 4 for the feature , and Seasons 5 and 6 on DVD for the docs . The writers themselves thought that they would have bungled Season 6 ( which apparently they did not ). In fact , “24 “ has two spin-offs , “ HOMELAND “ ( 2011- present ) and “THE UNIT “ (2006-2009 ) . HOMELAND , which involves “24 “ producer HOWARD GORDON , does have a close look at what may go wrong at the CIA counterterrorist unit in Virginia , while mainly filmed in North Carolina . I saw the first Season , which involves ( see “ 24 “ ) another terrorist attempt against the Vice -President of the US , who has the ambition to run for President . (Snapshot) THE UNIT ( 2006 -2009 ) (Internet link ) DENNIS HAYSBERTH , “forced “ to leave as President in “24 “ , did move on , in an apparent “collaboration “ between CBS and FOX , to head “The Unit “ , a US Elite counter terrorist unit ( commonly referred to as Delta Force ) . Which developped since 1977 to be officially allowed by Congress in 1979 . Initially , in 2006 , the series commanded about 16 million viewers , to slow down since . It is suggested several times that the Special Op's base fort would be located in the state of Missouri . But also that even those US military teams , which can be put to work anywhere in the world , need the approval of the President of the US , in the famous but real “Situation room “ , and such since 1979 , before such action can be undertaken . By the time BIN LADEN was killed in Pakistan , a real view could be had on that “Situation room “ , the fact that OBAMA was really present , and that real actions by the Special Ops team could be followed live ( video and audio ) . From Season 1 , I kept 6 episodes out of 13 , including “Security “ (Beirut , to prevent the Russians from selling nuclear technology to the Iranians ) , while also the documentary ( Inside Delta Force - which is also the book by ERIC HANEY the series is based upon ) could be illuminating . (Snapshot) From Season 3 , I kept 5 episodes out of 11 , being primarily “ Pandemonium 1 / 2 “ , about the unit being shut down due to a governmental investigation (art.32-war crimes ) , the CIA which infiltrated and betrayed The Unit and it 's return back to action against a nerve-gas bomb ( a subject also familiar to 24 ). There is also a story about a British MI-5 agent ( counterintelligence ) who would be treason with a Russian nuclear chemist in London , where it was filmed . ( “ Side angle side “) Moreover , a doc feature about the writers , who ironically “ collectively “ went on strike that season . (Snapshot) In the first season , apparently a rather “ bleak “ color scheme was used ; it got better ( more vivid colors ) by Season 2 . The latter had/has 23 episodes of which I chose 10 . It contains special featurettes on “Weapons “ , the making of a submarine special ( “Sub -conscious” ) and a doc on the season's finale . (Snapshot) CSI LAS VEGAS (2000 – present ) , CSI MIAMI (2002 – 2012 ) , CSI NY (2004 – 2013 ) , CSI CYBER (2015 - ) , BONES ( 2005 – present ) and THE MENTALIST ( 2008 – Feb 2015 ) . CSI (Crime Scene Investigation ) (Internet link ) (2000- present , already 15 Seasons ) is a creation by one ANTHONY E. ZUIKER , plays generally in Las Vegas , and is primarily recorded at different locations in California . It has above 20 million viewers for the first 7 Seasons , after which that number went down to about 12 million US viewers today . There was a “ parental warning “ as off the Third Season , and a pretty confusing UK age limit is part of the Second Season , which I did watch very carefully . One later CSI happens to be TED DANSON (“Cheers “) , who would come , since 2000 , out of Seattle , Wa. , where Frasier (KELSEY GRAMMER ) claimed to be at home since 1993 . Out of the same came two “spin – offs “ , the first being CSI MIAMI (2002-2012 ) ,created by the same ZUIKER in CSI , via the non-credible Second Season episode 2.22 “ Cross - jurisdictions “ ( age -rated “15 “ , but even too decadent or violent for persons aged 18 ); filmed primarily in CA ( not in Miami ) ; at it's height ( Third Season ) CSI MIAMI had about 19 million US viewers , while at the end ( 2012 ) a mere 11 million . (Snapshot) Out of the more than 20 episodes of CSI Season 2 , I chose only 2 in total , being “Overload “ ( 2.3 ) , UK age rated 18 and initially not even violent and “ The finger “ ( 2.14 ) (age rated 15) . Albeit containing a few interesting documentaries , those all came without the required English subtitles ( necessary for forensics , technical subject ) . I also saw Season 3 , kept 6 episodes out of 23 (which are all UK rated 15 ) , and then some of the docs ( again without obligatory subtitles ) . I got a little bit annoyed at the wave to weave two totally different crime stories into the same eps . (Snapshot) Came Season 4 (2003 ) , where the cameras were still not up to the best digital standards , and where subtitles were again unheard of . Score is 8 out of 23 . (Snapshot) One gets a view into the Post-Production “ Soundroom “ at the TODD/SOUNDELUX studio in Hollywood : (Snapshot) The Second “spin-off “ was CSI NY , which ran for Nine Seasons from 2004 till 2013 , but was actually never as popular as “LAS VEGAS “ or “ MIAMI “ , with an average of about 12,5 million viewers . CSI CYBER (Internet link ) started in March 2015 , as “ special assignments of the FBI Cyber Team in Quantico , Va “, and is a spin-off of CSI as it ran in 2014 , in episode 316 ( April 30 , 2014 ) , with about 10 million viewers . BONES (Internet link ) ( 2005 – present ) just comes from another television channel ( FOX instead of CBS ) , covers about the same ground as CSI , and sometimes also gives the impression to have emanated from too many “X-files “ . Generally , it is viewed by about 9 million people . Based on the works of forensic anthropologist KATHY REICHS , who produces the series , and who can be seen and heard in a documentary accompanying Season 1 . Albeit the story plays in Washington DC ( in an environment where the FBI may call upon the Smithsonian ) , about everything is filmed on sets in L.A. It is a creation by one HART HARTSON and one BARRY JOSEPHSON ; the latter happens to resemble EDWARD SNOWDEN . One person ( a certain JOHN LEONARD apparently , in 2005 ) called it a “sexed -up version of all the CSIs “, but I prefer to differ , since I found “Bones “ to be more cold and clinical than CSI . The forensic specialist , of whom there were only 52 accredited in the US by 2008 , is “BONES” ( EMILY DESCHANEL ) , who was weirdly enough said to be encouraged into Bones by JERRY BRUCKHEIMER , who produces CSI for CBS ; the FBI agent ( base of the legal cases ) is “BOOTH”( DAVID BOREANAZ ). Season 1 ( + 15 ) contains some surprises , as the appearance of JOHN M. JACKSON , ( Admiral Chegwidden from JAG) popping up here and there .Contains some useful documentaries , The life of Kathy Reichs , Squints , and The Real Definition . I only kept 4 episodes out of 22 . (Snapshot) I also carefully studied Season Two ( which features a very bad RYAN O'NEILL , who uses torture to obtain info – something completely unnecessary ) , contains one episode playing ironically but not too convincingly in Las Vegas , and one in Florida , as well as two documentaries ( with English subtitles ) , in splendid colors , inter alia about the visual effects used in the show . In total , on 21 episodes , I kept 6 . (Snapshot) The MENTALIST (Internet link ) ( 2008 - FEB 2015 ) is a lighter and far better version of “forensics “ ( + 15 ) , featuring SIMON BAKER . He would perform for a fictional “ California Bureau of Investigations “ ( CBI ) headquartered in Sacramento . He is assisted by two women , being ROBIN TUNNEY ( Senior Agent ) and AMANDA RIGHETTI ( Agent Van Pelt ) . A red line in the story is a serial killer named “Red John “ , who did also kill SIMON BAKER's wife and daughter ; such seems reminiscent of the serial killer “PIG “ CHARLES MANSON , who should already have been put on death row in CA by the 1960's . Several familiar faces return , as STEVE CULP , who happily gets shot in the “Pilot “ ( Eps 1 , Season 1 ) . Reminds me how SIMON BAKER was shot , this time on a beach , in the +18 movie JUDAS KISS (1998 ) , about the kidnapping of an internet software CEO , corruption at New Orleans police and at the Louisiana Governor , with a star role for EMMA THOMPSON as FBI agent . The episodes contain far more humor than the comparable CSI or BONES , and are at least “illuminating “ , as creator /producer BRUNO HELLER explained . At “The Mentalist “ , there is also an episode of a corpse which fell from the sky ( as premeditated murder ) , just like at an episode of “ Bones “ . ( S1.5.1 (17 ) : “ Carnelian Inc.” , written by BRUNO HELLER , directed by KEVIN DOWLING ) . And it contains an episode about a severed hand coming from a Las Vegas casino owner on California soil , reminiscent somewhat of “ The finger “ at CSI . ( S1.2.2 ( : “ Red Handed “, written by ERIKA GREEN SWAFFORD , directed by CHRIS LONG ) . (Snapshot) In total , I kept 10 episodes out of 23 , which is a rather good result . It is also shot with Panavision cameras , which are better ( better resolution ) than at Bones ; but the cameras in Season 1 were apparently not well suited for many “ swirling “ shots outside , since those got too hazy . The first Season of “The Mentalist “ drew on average 16 million viewers , to go downhill slightly every year , to be ended by Feb 18 , 2015 . Of course , I also had to buy the Second Season , and kept 12 out of 23 . The stories at some time are hard to believe physically or legally , but the great amount of humor makes up with largesse . (Snapshot) I again bought Season 3 , of which I kept 10 episodes ( out of 24 ) ; there is a documentary about the one episode directed by Simon Baker , being “ Red Moon “ ; a general overview snapshot here : (Snapshot) “The Mentalist “ reminds me in some fashion also of the “ Persuaders “ ( ROGER MOORE / TONY CURTIS ) (Internet link ) , from beginning seventies , which has not been optimally digitally remastered yet , but at least here a snapshot : (Snapshot) TV DISTRIBUTION Since we are talking US television shows , there is always the question of “ syndication “, which is especially First – run syndication , mainly internationally , and Off -network syndication ( “ rerun “ ) nationally and eventually internationally . When the internet virtually did not exist ( not with sufficient bandwith ) , let's say before the end of the 90's , there were only cable reruns in the US , such since 1993 , which did fetch an amount per episode between 300.000 USD and 1,2 million USD by 1996 . CSI is reported to have cost 1.3 million per episode as off it's first-run syndication , which had to with it's appeal internationally . The advent of the internet with sufficient bandwith has changed that picture . But there are still problems with streaming TV series via the internet above a picture quality of 720 P ( while most television shows are produced in 1080 P ). An hour of 1080 P television generally requires an internet download capacity of about 1.5 GB ( per hour ) . In an article in Time Europe by March 15 , 2015 , “Must -Stream TV “ : “ The finale of the urbane , witty Cheers drew over 80 million viewers ; the finale of the urbane , witty 30 Rock (with ALEC BALDWIN ) , not quite 5 million . “ ( Intermezzo : I saw the second season ( 2007-2008 ) of “ 30 Rock “ ( 2006-2013 ) ( referring to 30 Rockefeller Plaza NY , the GE building , parent of NBC ) , and was only convinced by humor bigger than Monty Python , when ALEC BALDWIN moved up to be President of GE , to work next at Homeland Security ; a snapshot : (Snapshot) And then You have to know that , in 2009 , COMEDY CENTRAL and WGN AMERICA , acquired the “ off - network syndication rights “ ( apparently in some cases , in the Netherlands for example , internationally ) for purportedly 800.000 USD per episode ; and the market evolves so fast that NBC.com at present streams some episodes for free . ) Most of the major players ( FOX , NBC , ABC , UNIVERSAL .. ) work via HULU (Internet link ) , a pay per month website which reruns the television show , with advertising in the US , in my view far too fast , as off the next day of first national broadcast . But the channels also do so directly ( FOX , NBC , ABC , CBS ..) There are also other players who offer several choices , on a pay -per -month rate , amongst them streamers as Netflix ( which has more than 60 million subscribers worldwide) and Amazon . Those players and their customers are called the “ cable cutters “ or “ cord cutters “ , would be younger minded ; do not want to be bound by a cable company . But , it was remarked , in fact You replace one “ monopoly “ ( cable ) with another kind of monopoly ( broadband internet ) Just like some cable companies had their own TV shows produced , now major “ streamers “ like Netflix sponsor the same : “ House of cards “ , for example (Internet link ) , ( 2013-present ( 3rd Season )) , outbidding HBO . So HBO also starts to stream , as off April 2015 . (Snapshot) The cable companies ( as TNT , Turner , HBO ) still sponsor their own “ TV series “ , as for example “ The last ship “ (Internet link ) ( 2014 -present , to be continued by 2015-2016 ) , made by a production company ( Platinum Dunes ) involving MICHAEL BAY ( “Transformer “ series ) , with the support of the US Navy . (Snapshot) To give an impression of the impossible international smorgasbord apparently made by the Swedish cook from the Muppet Show , look at the Western European and international situation in syndication as to the mundane but funny TV series “Californication “ ( 2007 -2014 ) (Internet link ) :  Australia – Network Ten, Eleven, Showcase  Austria – ORF  Belgium – Acht  Brazil – Warner Channel / SBT / I-Sat  Canada – The Movie Network in (English), Movie Central in (English) / V in (French)  Colombia – Warner Channel  Denmark – TV2 Zulu/TV2 Danmark  Finland – Nelonen  France – M6, Paris Première  Germany – AXN, RTL2  Ireland – Seasons 1 through 4 available on UPC On-Demand. Formerly on Channel 6.  Italy – Italia 1 / Jimmy  Mexico – Warner Channel  Netherlands – Comedy Central, HBO  New Zealand – TV3  Norway – TV 2 (Norway)  Portugal – RTP2, FOX  Spain – FDF  South Africa – DStv, SABC  Sweden – TV4   Switzerland – RTS Un in (French) / SRG SSR in (French and German)  Venezuela – Warner Channel You can compare this to the international syndication of “ Melrose Place “ (Internet link ) ( a spin -off from “Beverly Hills , 90210 “ ) , which ran between 1992 and 1999 , 7 Seasons , which is on Netflix since 2011 , and of which I only found the music at the end of each episode enticing : Australia: Network Ten, Fox8 Belgium: VTM Bolivia: Red Uno Brazil: Rede Globo and Rede Bandeirantes Canada: MCTV, CIVT, CHRO-TV, TVA Colombia, Coestrellas, Canal A Denmark: TV2 Finland: MTV3, SubTV, MTV3 AVA (from January 4, 2010) Germany: RTL France: TF1 Hungary: HBO, RTL KLUB, TV2 (Hungary), FEM3 Ireland: RTÉ (later rerun on CBS Drama) Italy: Italia 1, Rai 4 Latin América (22 countries):Sony Entertainment Television. Netherlands: Veronica, RTL 7 Norway: TV3, TV2 Zebra, TV2, TV2 Bliss (currently) Spain: Telecinco and Cuatro Sweden: TV3, TV4, TV400 Switzerland: TSR (French), DRS (German), TSI (Italian). United Kingdom: Sky One (later rerun on Five, LivingTV, Ftn, CBS Drama) Venezuela: RCTV Of course , I also had to make it in another tabloid , with , in the middle columns , the usual internet distribution in the countries focussed upon : (Table) SERIES ( CALIFORNICATION ; MELROSE PLACE ; 30ROCK ) SYNDICATION : AUSTRALIA BELGIUM SOUTHAMERICA GERMANY ITALY NETHERLANDS NORWAY PORTUGAL SPAIN SWEDEN UK I also did add the smorgasbord of “ 30Rock “ , which is above, with the major change to Comedy Central in 2009 , which plays especially in the UK and the Netherlands :  Australia: Seven Network broadcast the first season Mondays and Wednesdays at 22:30 from December 4, 2007. The second season began showing on June 9, 2008, on Mondays at 23:30, and the third from February 2, 2009 in the same timeslot. From December 2009, the third season was rebroadcast at the earlier time of 22:30 Mondays and Tuesdays, where it grew significantly in popularity, but the fourth was nonetheless broadcast Mondays at 23:30 once more, beginning February 1, 2010. 7mate later aired the show in the earlier timeslot of 21:30 on Mondays. Season five was broadcast at 22:30, Thursdays from October 21, 2010.  Germany: ZDFneo, a new digital channel from ZDF, was launched on November 1, 2009, with the German-dubbed version of 30 Rock as its flagship program. The series' free television debut that night on that channel registered a 0.0 rating, with fewer than 5000 viewers tuning in. TNT Serie, a German version of the TNT channel, broadcast the series to cable and pay satellite viewers since February 2009.  Italy: The first two seasons aired on Lei, Sky's television channel oriented to female audience. Starting from season 3, it airs on Sky Uno. On April 11, 2011 national channel Rai 4 started airing all seasons free to air.  Mexico: Seasons 1, 2, 3, 4 and currently 5 are aired on Sony Entertainment Television, a cable network in the Mexican market which shows a number of U.S. prime time programs from NBC, CBS, ABC and the Lifetime network, as well as syndicated U.S. series.  Netherlands: 30 Rock airs on Comedy Central Netherlands.  Norway: The show is aired on NRK3 and Canal9.  Portugal: The first two seasons aired on FOX:Next and RTP2. The show is currently being aired on FX.[citation needed]  Spain: Known as "Rockefeller Plaza", seasons 1, 2 and 3 have aired on laSexta and other channels. The fourth season hasn't been aired yet.  United Kingdom: The first season premiered on October 11, 2007 on Five. The premiere was watched by 790,000 viewers, which was 6% of all people watching television in the country at the time it was broadcast. 30 Rock originally aired at 10:45 pm, but was moved to 11:05 pm, airing back-to-back episodes . Season two was broadcast from February 20, 2009 at 9 pm on 5USA. For season three, the series moved to Comedy Central and began airing from October 5, 2009. Season four followed from April 19, 2010, season five from February 10, 2011,[155] and season six from March 30, 2012. Internet TV in the US is getting bigger and bigger , given this list : ABC Amazon Instant Video CBS Crackle Coastone.tv Disney Epix Feeln FilmOn Fox on Demand HBO GO Hulu inravio.com NBC Direct Netflix OVGuide Popcornflix PBS Roku Skweez Media The Adult Internet Television Network SBNTV1 The Sumlin Broadcasting Network Sportskool Sportskool TheBlaze TV (formerly GBTV) TikiLIVE Vudu WWE Network NimbleTV HBO does “internet TV “ on the go since April 2015 . Apple will do so in the Fall of 2015 . Those typically portray themselves as a “software service “ . The distributors may compete with the producers . CBS distributes “ The Mentalist “ on the web , in fact produced and originally distributed by Warner TV . (Internet link ) To make things easier , Warner TV distributes the same via WarnerTV.com . (Snapshot) ESPN Sports at present sues Verizon Cable for “breach of contract “ , when providing “simple plans”. The easiest would be , according to someone in the US , to buy ( on demand ) via a set -top – box as ROKU (Internet link ) which , till March 2013 , only did 720P on WIFI 802.11 n ( 2.4 GHz ), but since then ( ROKU 3 ) also 1080P on WIFI dual band ( 5 GHz ) . It would allow to shop across Netflix , Amazon , Hulu etc . , the other internet software providers . ( I have no shares in ROKU ) . Since a few months , there are ROKU smart TVs for sale in the US ( built- in- ROKU ) , in a collaboration with television maker TCL . Advantage is that , while the set includes a ROKU remote control , You can also administer Your TV via Your smartphone or tablet , with an app ( application ) , simply available via for example ANDROID / GOOGLE PLAY , apparently since Feb . 15 , 2015 . This one : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.roku.remote&hl=en , which , on Your smartphone/tablet should look like this : (Snapshot) Latest news is that SHARP will distribute ( via BestBuy ) ROKU built-in HDTVs , on which the layout would be this : (Snapshot) The easiest and least expensive way may be to tap officially into the websites of the major producers or distributors , if their web streaming works in the country . SOME OBSERVATIONS AND CONCLUSION . Of course , one day , I will make movies myself . I had an idea for a 105-minute feature called “ The Cubicle “ , which would certainly be a box office hit . As an epilogue , the cheer donators do also receive a scenario for “ The whole 11 Yards “ , and You can play a role by liking the scenario and possible television series of the same via the YouTube entry at the very end , where You find the most unprofessional trailer ever for “The 11 Yards” ever , be it as part of the famous TV series “ Alfred Bitchcock Presents “ . (YouTube link) EPILOGUE : THE WHOLE 11 YARDS AND TV SERIES SCENARIO ( with or without YouTube link ) : THE WHOLE 11 (AND 12 ) YARDS (SCENARIO ) . A movie featuring : BRUCE WILLIS MATTHEW PERRY / AMANDA PEET / A few minutes ( at most 10 ) . NATASHA HENSTRIDGE / KEVIN POLLAK " The usual suspects " ( unknown "rats " people ). The voice of KIEFER SUTHERLAND .( at most 1 minute ) ROSEANNA ARQUETTE ( 1 minute ) CLINT EASTWOOD ( 1 minute ) and oneCLINT WESTWOOD ( JEFF DANIELS ) . About ten minutes . Introduction by KIEFER SUTHERLAND : "Previously on The Yards " (flashbacks from The Whole 9/10 Yards ) And " These events take place in 24 days " . Starting at 10 AM when : LAZLO GOGOLAK is re-released from prison , this time in California beginning 2016 . Wants to retrieve his money in the Cayman Islands , where the balance , from 200 million, is down to 154 million USD . He demands the GLOCK of his driver to retrieve some " money stashed away " in California , and robs a "7-11 " in black and white surveillance camera , " wired for sound " by the inventive store manager . He will go on a kind of robbery spree in 5 states , without hurting or killing anyone , simply with the GLOCK. He knows a casino boss in the Bahamas ( where part of the movie is theoretically recorded and where Gogolak will have a suite at the local Casino of Chuck ( Charles ) Mangione ) ( "Chuck's Palace " ) . A cameo role ( 1 minute ) for CLINT EASTWOOD . In the limo , on the way : Driver : " Where will we go , boss ? " GOGOLAK : " The Bahamas . I have some old friends there . We will take route 66 , via St. Louis , and go to Florida , where I will rent a small boat . But first we have to find us a TARGET store . " LAZLO greets his compadres in the Bahamas as "The Rats in the Packs " . Enters CLINT EASTWOOD : " Ah , Lazlo , what ill wind brings You here ? " CLINT is prepared to help out for 15 % of the proceeds ( the take ) and excuses himself because he needs to go snorkeling . GOGOLAK : " A deal is a deal ... " Feds are well aware of the release and centrally track the limo and the cell phone of the driver from the beginning , to know where Lazlo will go . This FEDS role is centrally played by POLLAK , being HANS WURST , as team similar to " 3000 Miles from Memphis " . The first conversations between those two ( POLLAK and ... ) , playing cards , involve X falling when leaning backwards too far ( " Are You still listening ? " ) , and also divulges the tracking . They can see the " black and white surveillance tape wired for sound " ( the hold - up ) , sent by a cellphone onto their big screen . . ( GOGOLAK asks for store manager assistance , limping , for 2 bottles of Mountain Dew and chips , in a paper bag , and then asks for another paper bag , pulls the GLOCK , gets the cash money and the manager's cell phone . Says POLLAK when watching this coverage : " He is finally getting funny " ... . GOGOLAK to his driver when limping with the two paper bags out of the store : " This must be more than 3000 bucks . This is better than a hamburger plaece .... " ) . Next he will hit the TARGET store ( which requires cooperation of a not-too-busy one inside the store ) . The scenario there will be told to POLLAK as Fed by a local Sheriff who was asked to stand down after the theft -robbery because it is a federal fugitive case coordinated by POLLAK . The Sheriff is informed that the Fed hopes that GOGOLAK will lead to a stashed fortune of about 200 million USD which he will hopefully bring back to the US . The story by the Sheriff : " Individual , limping , in the store immediately asked for bellboy assistance due to limping . Then stuffed a cart with an airbag suitcase , sports shoes , underwear , a warm trainer , an electric toothbrush and five rolls of toothpaste , two bottles of Mountain Dew and 30 Snickers candy bars . Then intentionally disabled the cart , convinced the bellboy to cram it all into the airbag suitcase , and then chose the shortest way to the exit , shouting to anyone working there , only mildly interested , that it had all been paid for , and that bellboy was simply there to bring it all to the car on the parking lot . Then took bellboy on a ride in the limo , after taking his cell phone , and released person a mile further , in the middle of nowhere ." POLLAK has to convince Sheriff that no crimes will be committed by same in the Sheriff's juridiction , but expects one or another gas station , bank or motel to still fall victim to the GLOCK . POLLAK , the Fed , has to convince Sheriff that he should file a report allowing TARGET to file an insurance claim , and he will need a copy of the same Report , to prove an interstate criminal case . "Jawohl" . After which POLLAK / HANS WURST says : " He is getting funnier by the minute .... " . Only very late it is known that he will not go to the Bahamas on a "small Floridian boat " , which is originally thought to be a speedboat , but which happens to be a cruise ship ( " The pirate of the Caribbean " , in CGI .) The Fed plan involves at least planting 1 million marked kidnap money on GOGOLAK via the DEA in the Bahamas should he return to the US . The cruise ship is only known at the last moment . The killing by GOGOLAK of his chauffeur , after also taking his cell phone , is prevented by having him provided with a KEVLAR vest during an overnight stay in a motel in the country .( The assistant Fed tracks the limo in a private plane , which is however never seen ). GOGOLAK was driven through 10 states in the limo " not to be noted at any airport " . The chauffeur also kept the TULIP in the know with his cell phone as to LAZLO's moves , which was noted by LAZLO when he did send out the chauffeur to buy his one way Bahama cruise ship ticket in Florida "Get me a one-way to the Bahams under the name LAZLO .." , when pressing "Last call " , to arrive in the hotel room of TULIP in the Bahamas ( Cheery TULIP : " How is the old fart doing ? " , after which LAZLO tries to retrieve the end of that call ) . The FED assistant will have to join GOGOLAK and his lawyer on the cruise ship with the marked 1 million USD on the way to the Bahamas , despite his tendency to get seasick . "No , You could send someone else ??? Of course not , how will the marked dollars otherwise get into the Bahamas ! " ) . The assistant will secretly involve the DEA Miami with an air suitcase similar to GOGOLAK's , but with the marked dollars . GOGOLAK throws the driver's cell phone into the open sea , after figuring out which Cayman hotel it is . ( " The Ambassador " ) . Follows some interaction between the Cayman Islands and the Bahamas . ( Gogolak had initially only his chauffeur and his lawyer to fall back upon , but plans to rebuild a "team of rats " in the Bahamas . The Caymans and it's design figure in another crime /legal movie , being " The Firm " , with TOM CRUISE and GENE HACKMAN .) First of all , Gogolak comes with his new "strongman " , a man naming himself CLINT WESTWOOD , attorney -at -law ( JEFF DANIELS ) to the Cayman Islands , to "retrieve " his money . He first sees the Cayman bankers where the money was originally deposited . There he comes to know that four signatures are now required to retrieve money from the account . While the numbered account was opened in fact by one IGOR STRAWINSKY .( GOGOLAK to WESTWOOD : " I apparently forgot to bring my violin ...." ) Four Signatures which he tries to forge ( with some free stand -ins playing the foursome with two women ) , obviously to no avail . Next follows his attempt to steal the money , via a shooting hold up team . The hold up team stumbles and fails . After which the Cayman hotel ("The Ambassador " ) conference takes place , whereby LAZLO and WESTWOOD stress that they have to help the needy father , while OSERANSKY constantly falls over the hotel lamp standards . Also when his ex-Canadian wife knocks on the door to have her piece of the pie , since she is also just released from prison in Canada and arrives in the Caymans with a private detective , meddling for moments in the discussions with GOGOLAK . ( " I am entitled to half of Your ( OSERANSKY's ) fortune " and " I can always team up with Mr . GOGOLAK and Mr eh - WESTWOOD - WESTWOOD here .... " ) OSERANSKY forgot to properly finalize his divorce in Canada . She divulges that OZ did send her , in Canadian prison, a New Year's card from The Cayman's , signed " RED JOHN " . ( " I just wanted to be funny .... " ) LAZLO teams up with OSERANSKY's (ex-) wife ( " I will help this Madam out , You know ... I smell some biziness here ..." ) TULIP will stress that LAZLO will always need their assistance in retrieving any money and to get anything to the Bahamas . ( " Maybe You can dig a tunnel from inside the bank straight into the Bahamas .... " ) . After which the ladies go shopping ( TULIP : "Do not overbuy , children ... ")( "for a home , honey , no , ... two homes... " ) in the Caymans , and TULIP and OZ have a more heavy discussion about OZ's patent carelessness . Intermezzo with KIEFER SUTHERLAND's voice : " Previously on " The Rats" , with a small recap . GOGOLAK keeps on pestering the four in the Caymans , inter alia by trying to portray them as drug dealers . TULIP has a plan to invade the Casino in the Bahamas (the females and Oz stay in the Caymans as precaution ) , to explain especially to Gogolak that there is no plan to redistribute the money , even when the father claims to be " needy " . Some insults are traded but noone gets killed . No agreement is reached . During the TULIP visit , the DEA air suitcase filled by the DEA Miami with 1 million marked USD is placed in GOGOLAK's Penthouse suite , who thinks that such comes from TULIP ( " He was not so bad after all ... " ) , together with a false passport and a plane ticket in the name of a Mr . PRETZEL ( with a note in bad handwriting on the air handbag case , read by GOGOLAK : " Dear , The least we could do , signed by "The Rats " ) , after which he finally gives up pestering the foursome and goes for his US return . He leaves a 15 % take behind for CLINT . (" The money is in the bed .... ") While GOGOLAK sails through customs in the Bahamas ( also arranged by the DEA ) , he is welcomed by a guiding stewardess ( "Welcome to Miami , Mr. PRETZEL " ) , where known law enforcement in the US awaits him , as a "tragic case " . The welcome involves the assurance on the tarmac that a limo and a new long "hotel stay" will be his future, due to several "interstate crimes " . After the end credit “ directed by …. “ and “ Written by ….” , I would insert an end scene with POLLAK and as “ The Detectives “ , who enjoy JACK DANIELS and Cigars , saying about GOGOLAK : “ He might be better off than we are …. “ ( Chuckles ) … No one is killed in this "Whole 11 Yards " , suitable also for grown up children ( funny ! ), except for the botched kill attempt on the limo driver . Purpose is to make it into a television series as off Sept 2016 , one monthly episode , whereby the movie also serves as the pilot of the TV adventures , of which the first real episode will be the legal representation with LAZLO present , on his interstate crimes . Episode One - after a pilot on TV ( The L.A. CA criminal case against GOGOLAK due to his criminal spree in five states ): GOGOLAK's attorney starts his opening statement , with the ploy that the defense will prove beyond reasonable doubt that GOGOLAK's criminal behaviour is due to an overdose of SNICKERS chocolate sugar , a ploy , which , according to the same attorney , was successful in the state of Nevada and should also be valid in the state of California . GOGOLAK immediately sacks his attorney ( “ I will be back at my office , Your honor “ ) , when hearing this “defense “ and is going to represent himself . Follows an immense rant , which goes back into the youth of young GOGOLAK . Walking the court with his cane ( still limping ) , he also regularly refers to “ Citizen C(K)ane “ ( referring to the ORSON WELLES movie ) and repeatedly falls into “ ROSEBUD … ROSEBUD ...” whenever he loses the thread of his plea again . He pleads that he absolutely wanted the SNICKERS bars since his mother coldly refused them young GOGOLAK . That he did not use the GLOCK in reality even once , when robbing in five states . That the chauffeur did shoot himself with the GLOCK , since he could not withstand the pressure of GOGOLAK's adventure . This plea of course becomes pretty worthless when the prosecution indicates that the chauffeur will testify at the same trial as to the crimes which he personally witnessed . Sentencing will happen in a next session , but the jury almost immediately reaches a unanimous verdict that GOGOLAK is guilty on all counts . This news is also almost immediately known to WILLIS /PERRY , who state “ Well , fortunately he goes to prison again ; they probably put him in a dog kernel “ ; “But now we can go back to Los Angeles...” (and OSERANSKY :) “ I will be capable to be a dentist again ….” ) following a general denial by WILLIS ; after which they will try to get involved in the Casino business , as a “Montecino on Sunset “ . https://neocities.org/site/success.rss