James L. Avery, Sr.
James La Rue Avery (November 27, 1945 – December 31, 2013) was an American actor. He was best known for his roles as Philip Banks in ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'', Shredder in ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'', Judge Michael Conover on ''L.A. Law'', Steve Yeager in ''The Brady Bunch Movie'', Haroud Hazi Bin in ''Aladdin'', and Dr. Crippen on ''The Closer'' (2005–2007). Early life Avery was born on November 27, 1945, in Pughsville, Virginia, to mother Florence J. Avery. His father denied paternity and was not listed on his birth certificate. Florence would eventually move James to Atlantic City, New Jersey. He served in the U.S. Navy in the Vietnam War from 1968 to 1969, and eventually moved to San Diego, California, where he began to write poetry and TV scripts for PBS. He won an Emmy for production during his tenure there, and then received a scholarship to UC San Diego, where he attended Thurgood Marshall College (then Third College), earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Suffolk, Virginia
Suffolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and as such has no county. As of the 2020 census, the population was 94,324. It is the 9th most populous city in Virginia and the largest city in Virginia by boundary land area as well as the 14th largest in the country. Suffolk is located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. This also includes the independent cities of Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Virginia Beach, and smaller cities, counties, and towns of Hampton Roads. With miles of waterfront property on the Nansemond and James rivers, present-day Suffolk was formed in 1974 after consolidating with Nansemond County and the towns of Holland and Whaleyville. The current mayor (as of 2021) is Mike Duman. History Prior to colonization, the region was inhabited by the indigenous Nansemond people. The settlement of Suffolk was established in 1742 by Virginian colonists as a port town on the Nansemond River. It was originally na ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Hill Street Blues
''Hill Street Blues'' is an American serial police procedural television series that aired on NBC in prime-time from January 15, 1981, to May 12, 1987, for 146 episodes. The show chronicles the lives of the staff of a single police station located on Hill Street in an unnamed large city. The "blues" are the police officers in their blue uniforms. The show received critical acclaim, and its production innovations influenced many subsequent dramatic television series produced in the United States and Canada. In its debut season, the series won eight Emmy Awards, a debut season record later surpassed only by ''The West Wing''. The show won a total of 26 Emmy Awards (out of 98 Emmy Award nominations) during its run, including four consecutive wins for Outstanding Drama Series. Background MTM Enterprises developed the series on behalf of NBC, appointing Steven Bochco and Michael Kozoll as series writers. The writers were allowed freedom to create a series that brought together a nu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Iron Man (TV Series)
''Iron Man'', also known as ''Iron Man: The Animated Series'', is an American animated television series based on Marvel Comics' superhero Iron Man. The series aired from 1994 to 1996 in syndication as part of '' The Marvel Action Hour'', which packaged ''Iron Man'' with another animated series based on Marvel properties, the ''Fantastic Four'', with one half-hour episode from each series airing back-to-back. The show was backed by a toy line that featured many armor variants. This series of ''Iron Man'' was among the few television series to be re-recorded in THX. This may have been usual at the time for a motion picture, but it is rare for a television series. Off the heels of the release of the live-action ''Iron Man'' film in 2008, reruns began airing on the Jetix block on Toon Disney. Series overview Although only lasting two seasons, ''Iron Man'' was the subject of a major overhaul between seasons when its production studio was changed. The result was a massively chang ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
That '70s Show
''That '70s Show'' is an American television Period piece, period teen sitcom that aired on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox from August 23, 1998, to May 18, 2006. The series focuses on the lives of a group of six teenage friends living in the fictional town of Point Place, Wisconsin, from May 17, 1976, to December 31, 1979. The main teenage cast members were Topher Grace, Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher, Danny Masterson, Laura Prepon, Wilmer Valderrama, and Lisa Robin Kelly. The main adult cast members were Debra Jo Rupp, Kurtwood Smith, Don Stark, Tommy Chong, and Tanya Roberts. In 1999, the show was remade for the ITV (TV network), ITV network in the United Kingdom as ''Days Like These (TV series), Days Like These'' using almost verbatim scripts with minor changes to cultural references. Cast Young cast *Topher Grace as Eric Forman (That '70s Show), Eric Forman (seasons 1–7; special guest season 8): Eric is a nice person, physically slight and somewhat clumsy. He has a fast wit a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Michael Kelso
Michael Christopher Kelso is a fictional character and one of the five male leads on Fox Network's ''That '70s Show'', portrayed by Ashton Kutcher. Tall, lanky and long-haired, Kelso had been accepted as the local idiot until he moved to Chicago for the eighth season. His behavior is very much in line with a stereotypical oversexed lunkhead or "himbo" who gets through life on his good looks. He spends most of the series in a mutually parasitic relationship with the equally vapid Jackie Burkhart, whom he continues to obsess over following their numerous breakups. In spite of his stupidity, Kelso is shown on several occasions not to be immature, simply unmotivated. When he is either forced to or chooses to, Kelso displays startling intelligence unbecoming of his usual personality or hi-jinx. Near the end of the series, Kelso becomes one of the first characters to completely break away from adolescence and into adulthood when he impregnates a girl with whom he had a one-night stand. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
The Division
''The Division'' is an American police procedural drama television series created by Deborah Joy LeVine starring Bonnie Bedelia. The series focuses on a team of female detectives and police officers in the San Francisco Police Department. The series premiered on Lifetime on January 7, 2001 and ended on June 28, 2004 after 88 episodes. Overview The show focused on the lives of five policewomen in the felony division headed by Captain Kate McCafferty (Bonnie Bedelia). Storylines revolved around the women's personal and professional lives, and their attempts to balance both. The series tackled such topics as alcoholism, drug addiction, homophobia, and sexual abuse. The series premiered on January 7, 2001, earning a 3.1 rating and the "largest audience of any basic cable original series" that year. After four seasons, the show was canceled on June 28, 2004. It was the network's second "longest-running scripted series". After its cancellation, ''The Division'' was rebroadcast on ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
List Of The Closer Characters
This is a list of characters from the television series ''The Closer'', which ran from 2005 to 2012 on TNT in the United States. The series centers on the officers of the LAPD's Priority Murder Squad (season 1), renamed Priority Homicide Division (seasons 1–4), then renamed the Major Crimes Division (seasons 4–7). Many of these characters reappeared in the spin-off series '' Major Crimes''. Main characters (See individual articles for character bios) Recurring characters Los Angeles Police Department *Captain Sharon Raydor (Mary McDonnell): An internal-affairs officer who is introduced during season 5, initially to investigate a shooting in which Sgt. Gabriel is accused of misconduct; later she takes on the case of the controversial death of a material witness who had been in Brenda's custody. Often described as a stickler for the rules, Sharon's constant scrutiny of Major Crimes earns her the distrust of Brenda and her squad. Over time, Brenda and Sharon develop a grudging ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Sparks (TV Series)
''Sparks'' is an American sitcom that aired on UPN from August 26, 1996, to March 2, 1998. The series stars James Avery, Robin Givens, Terrence Howard, Miguel A. Núñez Jr., Kym Whitley and Arif S. Kinchen. The sitcom is set in Los Angeles, California, and is about the everyday lives of a family of lawyers running a family-owned law practice. Reruns of the show aired on BET in the late 1990s. Content The show stars James Avery as Alonzo Sparks, a lawyer running a family law firm with his sons Maxey (Miguel A. Núñez Jr.) and Greg (Terrence Howard) in inner-city Los Angeles, California. Cast Main * James Avery as Alonzo Sparks * Miguel A. Núñez Jr. as Maxey Sparks * Terrence Howard as Greg Sparks * Robin Givens as Wilma Cuthbert * Kym Whitley as Darice Mayberry * Arif S. Kinchen as LaMarr Hicks Recurring * Wanda-Lee Evans as Judge * Phill Lewis as Detective Floyd Pitts * Hawthorne James as Claude * Rod McCary as Attorney Mason * Michael Warren as Desmond Special guest appea ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
TV Guide
TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ... TV listings, listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corporate history Prototype The prototype of what would become ''TV Guide Magazine'' was developed by Lee Wagner (1910–1993), who was the circulation director of Macfadden Communications Group#Macfadden Publications, MacFadden Publications in New York City in the 1930s – and later, by the time of the predecessor publication's creation, for Cowles Media Company – distributing magazines focusing on movie celebrities. In 1948, Wagner printed New York City area lis ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Philip Banks (The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air)
Philip Zeke Banks, commonly referred to as Uncle Phil, is a prominent supporting character on the American TV sitcom, ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'', played by James Avery from 1990 to 1996. A self-made wealthy lawyer, Banks is the uncle of the delinquent Will, and takes Will into his home in posh Bel Air, Los Angeles, following Will's neighborhood troubles in Philadelphia. The character has often been cited as "one of the best TV dads of all time". In the 2022 reboot series, Bel-Air, the character is played by Adrian Holmes. Characterization Banks is "the stern but loving uncle to Will Smith's character", parenting in this way both with Will and with his own children. By the end of the series, Banks has come to think of Will as his own son. Avery sought to portray the character as "an Uncle Phil that everybody wishes was their uncle", and felt that it was important to show African-Americans striving for success. Outside of his family life, the character was "a former hippie-ac ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
FM (American TV Series)
''FM'' is an American television sitcom which aired on NBC in 1989 and 1990."Checking the casserole with Robert Hays of 'FM'". ''The Index-Journal'', April 8, 1990. The series title was a pun, referring both to the show's setting at an FM radio station and to its themes of female-male interaction."Creators hope 'FM' is on right wavelength". ''Ukiah Daily Journal'', August 27, 1989. Plot Set in Washington, D.C., the series was a workplace comedy which took place at 91.6/WGEO, a small public radio station."Robert Hays is down to earth in new series, 'FM'". ''The San Bernardino Sun'', August 17, 1989. Robert Hays starred as program director Ted Costas, a man whose harried professional life and eccentric coworkers distract him from dealing with problems in his personal life, particularly his relationships with women. The women in his life include Lee-Ann Plunkett (Patricia Richardson), his ex-wife and a political commentator with the station; Gretchen Schreck (DeLane Matthews), a young ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |