Shogun (2024-206)

This TV program centers around the samurai of ancient Japan

Summary

-A mysterious ship from Europe is found stranded in a Japanese fishing village. Meanwhile, Lord Yoshii Toranaga finds secrets that could tip things his way and destroy his enemies

Cast

-Cosmo Jarvis: John Blackthorne

-Hiroyuki Sanada: Yoshii Toranaga

-Anna Sawai: Toda Mariko

-Tadanobu Asano: Kashigi Yabushige

-Yuki Kedoin: Takemaru

-Takehiro Hira: Ishido Kazunari

-Hiroto Kanai: Kashigi Omi

-Yuki Kura: Yoshii Nagakado

-Shinnosuke Abe: Buntaro

-Saeko Kimura: Mariko's Lady in Waiting

-Tommy Bastow: Father Martin Alvito

-Hiromoto Ida: Lord Kiyama

-Kengo Hashimoto: Ishido's Gray Kosho #1

-Yutaro Ryan Oka: Toranaga's Gray Kosho #1

Did You Know?

-John Blackthorne was based on a real historical figure named William Adams. Adams spoke a good number of languages, including Portuguese

-Traditionally, the home where the Emperor resided, was considered the capital. From the years of 794 to 1868, the Emperor resided in Heian-kyo, which is modern day Kyoto. After 1868, the seat of the Japanese government and Emperor's home was moved to Edo, which was later renamed Tokyo

-A woman married to a samurai would receive, as a wedding gift, a small dagger called a kwaiken

-The Samurai were armed with two swords: the longer, more iconic Katana (long sword) and a smaller Wakizashi (mid sword). The Katana was used by the foot soldiers, who would use it to attack from a distance. The Wakizashi was a shorter sword used for close combat situations and as a backup in case the katana was rendered unusable. The Wakizashi was even used to commit seppuku (ritual suicide) is needed. There was also a third weapon, a Tanto (dagger). This was used for combat and seppuku as well

-While the samurai were away at battle, the women married to the samurai and the women of the villages were trained in combat to protect the home and village

-The word samurai means "servant". They actually referred to themselves as "bushi", meaning "warrior"

-Cathay is the older name for China

-Hatamoto means "under the banner" or "near the banner", in reference to their literal position on the battlefield and position to their lord. This closeness also applies off the battlefield and represented a strong trust in all matters. It also references an advisor, or even a high-ranking samurai in areas like diplomacy, trade, foreign policy and battlefield tactics. William Adams, the man Blackthorne is based on, began as an advisor to Tokugawa, advising him on trade and diplomacy. Eventually, he earned the title of Hatamoto, which gave him a lot of influence in matters, especially foreign policy

-Traditionally in Chinese, Japanese and Korean custom, it was customary to put family name first. However, starting in the 19th century, Japanese began adopting the practice of given name first and family name second. In 1875, the government created the Family Register Law, making it required for all Japanese to register their family name for tax purposes

-Hiroyuki Sanada performed all of his own stunts

-This series is based on a novel of the same name by James Clavell. Many of the characters on the program are based on real people

• John Blackthorne: William Adams
• Ferreira: Horatio Neretti
• Father Martin Alvito: Joao Rodriguez
• Yoshi Toranaga: Tokugawa Ieyasu
• Toda Mariko (Maria): Hosokawa Gracia or Akechi Tama
• Toda Buntaro Hirokatsu (Husband of Mariko): Hosokawa Tadaoki
• Toda Hiromatsu (Toranaga's Kara or Second in Command / Father of Buntaro): Hosokawa Fujitaka
•  Ishido: Ishida Mitsunari
• Onoshi: Otani Yoshitsugu
• Kiyama: Konishi Yukinaga / Takayama Ukon
• Sugiyama: Maeda Toshiie

-A naginata is a long pole with a sharp curved blade at the end. It was used by the samurai class of feudal Japan. This traditional Japanese blade was also used by warrior women in nobility. The word translates into "reaping sword" or "mowing down sword". It can be between 1-3 feet long and is sharpened on one side. It was believed this weapon evolved from a tool used for farming

-The executive producer of this program is Michaela Clavell, the daughter of author James Clavell

-Leprosy, which is now known as Hansen's disease, was a deadly disease described in ancient customs. It's an infectious disease results in severe, disfiguring skin lesions and nerve damage in the arms, legs, lungs around your eyes and other parts of the body. It's spread through airborne respiratory droplets, such as coughing and sneezing. It is curable and treatment in the early stages is done through multi-drug prophylactics. If left untreated, the disease can progress and result in permanent disabilities. There were some cases where the virus was so common that those afflicted were exiled to colonies like Molokai in Hawaii or Carville, Louisiana in the US

-Elizabeth I was the ruling Queen of England during the period this program takes place

-Both Hiroyuki Sanada and Nestor Carbonell appeared in the 2004 series Lost, but didn't share any scenes together

-This program reunites both Tadanobu Asano and Hiroyuki Sanada after their 2021 film Mortal Kombat

-This is the first non-English TV program to win a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series. It's also the second to be nominated after the 2021 program Squid Game

-Despite his character requiring a translator during his interactions with John Blackthorne, Hiroyuki Sanada is fluent in English

-Despite his character requiring a translator during his interactions with John Blackthorne, Tadanobu Asano is fluent in English

Diagnosis Murder (1993-2001)

This detective show involves a doctor working as a consultant for the police, including his detective son

Summary

-Dr. Mark Sloane (Dick Van Dyke) is a doctor at Community General Hospital who helps his detective son solve crimes

Cast

-Dick Van Dyke: Dr. Mark Slone

-Barry Van Dyke: Steve Sloane

-Victoria Rowell: Amanda Bentley-Livingston

-Charlie Schlatter: Dr. Jesse Travis

-Michael Tucci: Norman Briggs

-Scott Baio: Dr. Jack Stewart

-Delores Hall: Delores Mitchell

-Shane Van Dyke: Alex Smith

-Kim Little: Nurse Susan Hilliard

Did You Know?

-The series was only renewed a few episodes at a time, according to Dick Van Dyke

-There was one episode that required a motorcycle stunt. Since the production team didn't have enough money in the budget to perform it, Dick Van Dyke used LightWave 3-D software on his home computer to create the visual effects, since he is a computer animation enthusiast. They were used on the show and he was paid $200 for creating this sequence

-Some were concerned that Dick Van Dyke was considered too old to play a still-working doctor when the series began

-When the series started, Dick Van Dyke was already 67 years old

-Dick Van Dyke decided to retire from the role, so the series only lasted 8 seasons

-When Victoria Rowell was pregnant, between seasons 2 and 3, her pregnancy was written into the role. It was said Amanda was married to a serviceman never seen on the program

-When Scott Baio left the show, it was explained that his character, Dr. Jack Stewart, had left Community General Hospital to start his own practice in Colorado

-To prepare for their roles, Dick Van Duke, Victoria Powell, Scott Baio and Charlie Schlatter all had to use medical dictionaries to pronounce the medical terminology

-In the episode "Gangland", it was said that Amanda was a foster child. In real life, Victoria Rowell, who played Amanda, was a foster child

-Victoria Rowell is a second cousin of singer / actress Beyonce Knowles-Carter

-Prior to becoming Chief of Internal Medicine and doing consulting work with the police, Dr. Mark Sloan was a doctor who worked with the MASH Unit

-This show helped launch the careers of Barry Van Dyke, Dick's son and Charlie Schlatter

-Dr. Mark Sloan served in the US Army, in a medical unit during the Korean War. Dick Van Dyke spent his time in the US Army Air Force during WWII in real life

Hey Arnold! (1996-2022)

This popular cartoon was on in the mid to late 1990s

Summary

-Arnold is a typical 9 year old kid growing up in the city of Hillwood, Washington, who lives in a multi-ethnic boarding house and has a unique assortment of friends and neighbors

"Stoop Kid"

"Four Eyed Jack"

"Eugene's Bike"

"Arnold Betrays Iggy"

"Heat / Snow"

"Arnold's Christmas". This is a sad, but good episode, where you find out Mr. Hyunh had to give his daughter to a soldier during the fall of Saigon

"Downtown Fruits"

Cast

-Francesca Marie Smith: Helga Pataki / Sheena

-Jamil Walker Smith: Gerald Johanssen

-Dan Castellaneta: Arnold's Grandpa

-Justin Shenkarow: Harold Berman

-Christopher Walberg: Stinky Petersen

-Sam Gifaldi: Sid

-Anndi McAfee: Phoebe Heyerdahl

-Craig Bartlett: Brainy / Radio DJ

-Olivia Hack: Rhonda Wellington

-Tress MacNeille: Arnold's Grandma / Miss Slovak

-Kath Soucie: Miriam Pataki / Marilyn Berman

-Spencer Klein: Arnold (voice)

-Maurice LaMarche: Bob Pataki

-Steve Viksten: Oskar Kokoschka

-Dom Irrera: Ernie Potts

-David Wohl: Principal Wartz / Jerry Berman

-Ben Diskin: Eugene Horowitz

-James Keane: Marty Green

-Adam Wylie: Thaddeus "Curly" Gammelthorpe

-Ashley Buccille: Lila Sawyer

-Nika Futterman: Olga Pataki

-Dan Butler: Mr. Simmons

-Baoan Coleman: Mr. Hyunh

Did You Know?

-The show never really said where Arnold lives. You strongly suspect it might be in New York because of the shots of what looks like the Brooklyn Bridge. But actually the city in which Arnold calls home is a blend of Seattle, Brooklyn and Portland. There also hints that the city is called Hillwood because of the Hillwood Medical Center or Hillwood Zoo. That it's referencing the city of Hillwood, in Washington State

-The girls on the show were based on girls that creator Craig Bartlett knew and liked when he was a kid

-This was said to be the first animated show for children using actual children to provide the voices

-Initially, the show started out as claymation-type animation, one of which appeared on Sesame Street. And, also for a short time, it started out as a Simpsons-style series

-The only person who provided a voice who was not a child between the ages of nine to fifteen was creator Craig Bartlett, who voiced the character Brainy

-This show and The Simpsons have quite a lot in common. Craig Bartlett, who created Hey Arnold! is a brother in law to The Simpsons creator Matt Groening. Also, Dan Castellaneta, who voices Homer Simpson, also provided the voice of Arnold's grandpa. And even Gerald's tall hair resembles Marge Simpson

-It was a running gag throughout the show that Arnold's last name was never revealed. His grandpa always called him "short man". It was eventually revealed in the made for TV movie The Jungle Movie that Arnold's last name was Shortman

-The 2017 made for TV movie The Jungle Movie revealed what happened to Arnold's parents

-Mr. Green is the local neighborhood butcher. His character was based on the Ernest Borgnine character in the 1955 film Marty

-In the episode "Arnold's Halloween", he and his friends make a fake broadcast about a potential alien invasion. The "UFO" ends up being a nearby water tower decorated with lights. The name of the place where the UFO will land being Well's Ridge. This is a reference to Orson Wells, who did an actual broadcast, which was mistaken for an authentic alien invasion, for the H.G. Wells novel War of the Worlds, where aliens came to Earth

-Former Nickelodeon executive Geraldine Laybourne was the inspiration for Helga Pataki's middle name. It was a running joke throughout the series about Helga's name being Helga G. Pataki. This was confirmed by Craig Bartlett, who verified that he wanted to pay tribute to Laybourne by giving Helga the name Geraldine as her middle name

-On the outside of the Sunset Arms Boarding House, there is a sign that reads "No Children, Pets OK." This sign is also seen at other places, especially at the public pool Arnold and Gerald try to get into in the "Heat / Snow" episode

-The radio DJ in this program is a guy known as Nocturnal Ned who works at the local radio station MJZZ. This is actually a caricature of Craig Bartlett, who also lent his voice to various episodes

-According to the show's creators, Arnold's teacher Mr. Simmons was said to be homosexual

-The character Sid was voiced by two brothers named Sam and Taylor Gifaldi. Taylor for one time and Sam for the rest of the time

-In the episode where Stinky Peterson (Christopher Walberg)  makes a commercial, he walks into a studio called Snee-Oosh Studios. This is the actual name of the studio that made the show

-One of the boarding house residents is an always out of work man named Oskar Kokoschka. The name was taken from a 19th century Viennese painter, whose personality was completely different than this character

-Initially, Ruth P. McDougal was a sixth grader and the object of Arnold's love. Gerald tells him constantly that she is in the sixth grade and that it's hopeless. When Lila was introduced in the episode "Ms. Perfect", Ruth was phased out and reduced to being seen as a background character

-Dino Spumoni was an aging crooner based on Dean Martin

-This program is considered unique in that the music is comprised mostly of instrumental jazz. The show's composer Jim Lang said that the music was inspired by jazz legends such as Kenny Burrell and Thelonious Monk

-Seasons 1-3 were created with traditional cels. Around Season 4, the animators had switched to digital ink and paint, resulting in a slightly different look

-Jamil Walker Smith, who voiced Gerald, was allowed to continue voicing his character, even as he hit puberty. In post-production, his voice was pitched up several levels to sound like a younger voice

-"Eugene the Jinx", a severely unlucky kid whose name was Eugene Horowitz, got his name from actor Michael Landon's actual birth name Eugene Orowitz

-In the episode "Curly Snaps / Pre-Teen Scream", PS 118's resident psychopath Curly locks himself in the principal's office with a bag of kickballs and says "I'm mad as heck, and I'm not going to take it anymore!" This is a tribute to the line "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!" from the 1976 film Network

-Arnold's weird cousin Arnie came as a result from a joke people had made about the bad animation they had gotten from another studio

-Many of the stores in the city take their names from writers or directors of the show. Such as Viksten's Pharmacy

-During the first season, the boarding house is home to a mysterious character known only as "Mr. Smith." The creator said he moved out, which is why he was never referenced in later episodes

-Originally Ruth McDougal was meant to have dark blonde hair. But, because it too closely resembled Arnold's hair, it was modified to be more dark red, almost brown

-Arnold's school is PS 118. There is a real life PS 118. It's located in New York City. The one in the cartoon, however, is not a depiction of the actual school

-People think that Arnold is wearing a skirt under his shirt. It's actually a long sleeved plaid shirt with the tails hanging loose under a sweater

-Eugene Horowitz was inspired by Martin Short's character in the 1991 film Pure Luck. He's hopelessly optimistic, but always finding himself on the receiving end of bad luck

-In the beginning of Season 2, Arnold's teacher Miss Slovak was replaced by Mr. Simmons because the principal, known only as Principal Wartz, mentions that Miss Slovak has decided to play golf for a living

-One of Harold's frequent phrases, that he often directs at Helga, is "Madame fortress mommy!" He usually says it under his breath. Justin Shenkarow, who voices Harold, said it one day during a recording session. The show's creator Craig Bartlett asked what it meant and Justin didn't know. Everyone loved it so they kept writing it into the scripts

-Early in the show, the character Lila Sawyer appeared with red hair. Eventually, it was changed to brown hair

-While Lila appears to be sweet and kind, she does develop a slightly darker side. She starts dating Arnold's cousin Arnie in front of Arnold. Fans of the show have considered her to be the most unlikeable character, along with Iggy

Freakazoid (1995-1997)

This cartoon was made by the same people who made the Animaniacs cartoon

Summary

-Dexter Douglas is your typical geeky teenager. Through a computer virus, he is transformed into Washington D.C.'s newest superhero, Freakazoid

Cast

-Paul Rugg: Freakazoid

-Joe Leahy: Narrator

-Tress MacNeille: Debbie Douglas

-Ed Asner: Sgt. Mike Cosgrove

-Jeff Bennett: Cave Guy

-John P. McCann: Douglas Douglas

-Maurice LaMarche: Longhorn

-David Kaufman: Dexter Douglas

-David Warner: The Lobe

-Tracy Rowe: Steff

-Craig Ferguson: Roddy MacStew

-Googy Gress: Duncan Douglas

Did You Know?

-During the initial run of the show, it did very well. Warner Bros tried to sell commercial slots for the show, with the idea that kids would be the main target audience. As it eventually turned out, the people watching it were kids 14 years old or older. It was even considered moving the show to primetime, but it was canceled after only 24 episodes

-The bug infecting Dexter's computer is reminiscent of the FDIV bug that affected the first run of Intel Pentium CPUs in the early part of the 1990s. This made headlines when technical users complained about it, resulting in getting their CPUs put under warranty

-Each member of the Dexter family has a name starting with D: mother Debbie, father Douglas and brother Duncan

-During a 2020 podcast interview for Dread Central at Pensacon 2020, David Warner said one of his favorite acting jobs of all time was playing The Lobe

Tulsa King (2022-)

This relatively new TV show stars Sylvester Stallone as a former New York mafioso exiled from New York and force to set up shop in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The show is still up and running, which is why it says 2022- up top

Summary

-After serving a 25 year prison sentence, Dwight "The General" Manfredi, a Mafia capo, is exiled to Tulsa, Oklahoma

Cast

-Sylvester Stallone: Dwight "The General" Manfredi

-Martin Starr: Bodhi

-Jay Will: Tyson Mitchell

-Garrett Hedlund: Mitch Keller

-Dana Delany: Margaret Devereaux

-Chris Caldovino: Dennis "Goodie" Carangi

-McKenna Quigley Harrington: Grace

-Vincent Piazza: Vince Antonacci

-Annabella Sciorra: Joanne Manfredi

-Dashiell Connery: Clint

-Tatiana Zappardino: Tina Manfredi

-Frank Grillo: Bill Bevilaqua

-Dominick Lombardozzi: Charles "Chickie" Invernizzi

-Ritchie Coster: Caolan Waltrip

-Scarlet Rose Stallone: Spencer

Did You Know?

-This is Sylvester Stallone's first lead role in a television series

-Out of all the filming locations he's ever been to, Sylvester Stallone described Tulsa, Oklahoma, with the dusty weather, the temperatures hovering between 103 degrees-111 degrees, as being "By-far, the roughest" filming location he's ever experienced

-Ritchie Coster kept speaking in what he described as his character's terrible Irish accent for fear of losing it if he stopped speaking

-Dwight's nickname is Cinque Stelle, which is five stars in Italian. It also means Five Star General, the rank of the man who gave him his name, Dwight D. Eisenhower

-The character Spencer is played by Sylvester Stallone's real life daughter Scarlet Rose Stallone

-Most of the series was filmed in Oklahoma City, not Tulsa

-Ironically, Chris Caldovino and Vincent Piazza appeared in another TV show about mobsters. Boardwalk Empire on HBO. Chris played Tonino Luciano and Vincent played "Lucky" Luciano

Chris Caldovino

Vincent Piazza

-Vincent Piazza, Max Casella and Annabella Sciorra also appeared together on the HBO TV show The Sopranos. Vincent Piazza played a character named Hernan O'Brien. Max Casella played a character named Benny Fazio. Annabella Sciorra played a character named Gloria Trillo, a Mercedes car dealership employee and mistress of Tony Soprano

Vincent Piazza, The Sopranos

Max Casella, The Sopranos

Annabella Sciorra, The Sopranos

-This series helped Annabella Sciorra get her career back on track after it was revealed that Harvey Weinstein tried to destroy her career because she refused to sleep with him