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The Ratings Game
''The Ratings Game'' is a 1984 comedy cable television film directed by Danny DeVito and produced by David Jablin. The Showtime comedy stars DeVito and Rhea Perlman, and features Huntz Hall, Michael Richards, George Wendt and Jerry Seinfeld. Plot Vic DeSalvo and his brother Goody are successful New Jersey trucking magnates, but Vic has a desire to make it big as a Hollywood producer. He hawks his scripts and ideas from one network executive to another, but he is turned down at each attempt. Finally, he meets an executive at a second-rate company who has just been fired for promoting a show that attracted zero viewers. To avenge himself, he accepts Vic's script and arranges for a pilot episode of ''Sittin' Pretty'', to be filmed. The resultant episode is abysmally awful, both in acting and story, but Vic is only inspired to greater heights. The director and star actor walk out and Vic decides to act as well as write and direct. He throws a huge party to make himself known to "le t ...
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Jim Mulholland
Jim Mulholland (born in Rockville Centre, New York) is an American television writer and film screenwriter. Career At nineteen, he was the youngest writer ever on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson''. He has since won a Writers Guild Award and has received twenty Emmy nominations in the late-night comedy category. He co-wrote the screenplays for ''Amazon Women on the Moon'', ''Oscar'', ''The Ratings Game'', '' Bad Boys'', and television specials including SCTV comedy special ''Public Enemy #2''.Public Enemy #2
Ken Tucker, , November 8, 1991, "The Gold Standard",

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Jerry Seinfeld
Jerome Allen Seinfeld ( ; born April 29, 1954) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He is best known for playing a Jerry Seinfeld (character), semi-fictionalized version of himself in the sitcom ''Seinfeld'', which he created and wrote with Larry David. The show aired on NBC from 1989 until 1998, becoming one of the most acclaimed and popular sitcoms of all time. As a stand-up comedian, Seinfeld specializes in observational comedy. In 2004, Comedy Central named him the 12th-greatest stand-up comedian of all time. Seinfeld produced, co-wrote, and starred in the 2007 film ''Bee Movie'', which was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film. In 2010, he premiered a reality series called ''The Marriage Ref (U.S. TV series), The Marriage Ref'', which aired for two seasons on NBC. Seinfeld is the creator and host of the web series ''Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee'' (2012–2019). He is married to author and philanthropist Jessica Seinf ...
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Showtime Networks
Showtime Networks Inc. is an American entertainment company that oversees the company's pay television, premium cable television television channel, channels, including its flagship service Showtime (TV network), Showtime. It is a subsidiary of media conglomerate Paramount Global under Paramount Media Networks, its networks unit. Overview The company was established in 1983 as Showtime/The Movie Channel, Inc. after Viacom (1952–2006), Viacom and Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment (now Paramount Media Networks) merged their premium channels, Showtime (TV network), Showtime and The Movie Channel respectively, into one division. In 1984, American Express sold their interest in Warner-Amex to Warner Communications (now Warner Bros. Discovery) making Warner the new half-owner of Showtime/TMC. In 1985, Warner sold its half-interest to Viacom, making the company a wholly owned subsidiary of Viacom. 1985 also saw the pay-per-view service In Demand, Viewer's Choice become part of the o ...
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Selma Diamond
Selma Diamond (August 5, 1920 – May 13, 1985) was a Canadian-born American comedian, actress, and radio and television writer, known for her high-range, raspy voice and her portrayal of Selma Hacker on the first two seasons of the NBC television comedy series ''Night Court''. Early life Diamond was born on August 5, 1920, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to a tailor and his wife. They moved when Diamond was a young girl to Brooklyn, New York City, New York. Diamond attended high school in Brooklyn and graduated from New York University. Career Diamond published cartoons and humor essays in ''The New Yorker''. Later, she moved to the West Coast and hired an agent. She worked in radio and, eventually, television. Her first radio writing credit was in 1943 on '' Blue Ribbon Town'' with Groucho Marx. That initial credit turned into a 65-week tenure with Marx's show and a longer friendship with him. She also wrote for the ''Camel Caravan'' with Jimmy Durante and Garry Moore, ''The D ...
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Allyce Beasley
Allyce Beasley ( Tannenberg) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as rhyming, love-struck receptionist Agnes DiPesto in the television series ''Moonlighting''. From 2001 to 2007, she was the announcer on Playhouse Disney, a morning lineup of programming for toddlers on Disney Channel. She appeared briefly as a guidance counselor in the comedy film ''Legally Blonde'' and played Coach's daughter, Lisa Pantusso, on '' Cheers''. She also announced the safety video during The Simpsons Ride at Universal Studios Hollywood and Florida. Early life Beasley was born in Brooklyn, New York as Allyce Tannenberg, the daughter of Marvin, a magazine cartoonist, and Harriet Tannenberg, who worked as a bookkeeper. Beasley is Jewish. She and her family moved frequently during her childhood, living in Philadelphia, Long Island and New York City, before settling in the latter location. She studied philosophy at the State University of New York, aspiring to be a poet. However, ...
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Steve Allen
Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen (December 26, 1921 – October 30, 2000) was an American television personality, radio personality, musician, composer, actor, comedian, and writer. In 1954, he achieved national fame as the co-creator and first host of ''The Tonight Show'', which was the first late-night television talk show. Though he got his start in radio, Allen is best known for his extensive network television career. He gained national attention as a guest host on ''Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts.'' After he hosted ''The Tonight Show'', he went on to host numerous game and variety shows, including his own ''The Steve Allen Show'', ''I've Got a Secret'', and ''The New Steve Allen Show''. He was a regular panel member on CBS's ''What's My Line?'' and, from 1977 until 1981, he wrote, produced, and hosted the award-winning public broadcasting show ''Meeting of Minds'', a series of historical dramas presented in a talk format. Allen was a pianist and a prolific c ...
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Jayne Meadows
Jayne Meadows (born Jane Cotter; September 27, 1919 – April 26, 2015), also known as Jayne Meadows Allen, was an American stage, film and television actress, as well as an author and lecturer. She was nominated for three Emmy Awards during her career and was the elder sister of actress and memoirist Audrey Meadows as well as the wife of original ''Tonight Show'' host Steve Allen. Early life Jayne Meadows was born Jane Cotter in 1919, in Wuchang, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, the elder daughter of American Episcopal missionary parents, the Rev. Francis James Meadows Cotter and his wife, the former Ida Miller Taylor, who had married in 1915.Miss Ida M. Taylor to be Bride of Rev. F.J.M. Cotter on May 27
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Ron Rifkin
Ron Rifkin (born Saul M. Rifkin; October 31, 1939) is an American actor best known for his roles as Arvin Sloane on the spy drama ''Alias'', Saul Holden on the drama '' Brothers & Sisters'', and District Attorney Ellis Loew in ''L.A. Confidential''. Personal life Saul M. Rifkin was born in New York City to Miriam and Herman Rifkin, who was born in Russia. He is the oldest of three children. He was raised as an Orthodox Jew and remains Jewish though he left Orthodoxy at the age of 32. His wife, Iva Rifkin, owns a fashion design business. Career In 2001, Rifkin's association with Touchstone Television began when he played intelligence agent Arvin Sloane in ''Alias'', opposite Jennifer Garner. From 2006 to 2011, he played second-in-command businessman Saul Holden on ''Brothers & Sisters'', opposite Sally Field. He also played Bonnie Franklin's second boyfriend Nick on '' One Day at a Time.'' He was a series regular during the sixth season. In the season 7 premiere, "Alex Moves In", ...
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Jason Hervey
Jason Robert Hervey (born April 6, 1972) is an American actor and television producer. He is best known for his role as Wayne Arnold on ''The Wonder Years''. Early life and acting Hervey was born in Los Angeles, the son of Marsha, a talent agent, and Alan Hervey, a retail sales manager. In his early career, Hervey had small roles in films including ''Back to the Future'', '' Pee-wee's Big Adventure'', ''Meatballs Part II'', '' Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment'', and had a recurring role as Charlie in the final season of ''Diff'rent Strokes''. His big break came as a cast member of the successful family dramedy''The Wonder Years'', as the older brother of Fred Savage's character. He ranked at #71 on VH1's 100 Greatest Kid Stars for the role. Hervey's role on ''The Wonder Years'' led to a later guest appearance on the animated show ''Justice League Unlimited''. He appeared alongside Savage in the episode "Hawk and Dove", where Hervey provided the voice of the younger, more ...
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Basil Hoffman
Basil Harry Hoffman (January 18, 1938 – September 17, 2021) was an American actor with a film and television career spanning five decades, mostly in supporting roles. He starred in films with many award-winning directors, including Alan Pakula and Robert Redford. He also authored two books about acting, including ''Acting and How to Be Good at It''. Early years Hoffman was born in Houston, Texas in January 1938, the son of Beulah (née Novoselsky) and David Hoffman, an antique dealer. He graduated from Tulane University; and he spent two years at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, receiving a scholarship for the second, graduating year. Career His thirteen years of work in New York included many plays, some roles in episodic television, a recurring character on ''One Life to Live'' on ABC, hundreds of commercials and a film role in ''Lady Liberty'' with Sophia Loren, directed by Mario Monicelli. He made his first trip to Los Angeles in 1974. In that ...
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Louis Giambalvo
Louis Giambalvo (born February 8, 1945) is an American actor, frequently seen on television in guest roles. Early life and education Giambalvo was born and raised in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City, where he attended Catholic school. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts and MFA from Harpur College (now Binghamton University) and was a founding member of the avant-garde Colonnades Theater Lab in Greenwich Village, along with other members Danny DeVito and Peter Scolari. In 1979, Giambalvo moved to Los Angeles, California to begin his film and television career. Career His television credits include: ''Barney Miller'', ''Hart to Hart'', '' St. Elsewhere'', ''Hill Street Blues'', ''The Love Boat'', ''Remington Steele'', ''The A-Team'', ''Simon & Simon'', '' Fame'', ''Knots Landing'', ''Murder, She Wrote'', '' Star Trek: Voyager'', ''Brooklyn South'', '' Ally McBeal'', '' ER'', ''NYPD Blue'' (Mr. Bucci), ''Boston Legal'', ''Without a Trace'', '' CSI'', ''Ugl ...
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Barry Corbin
Leonard Barrie Corbin (born October 16, 1940) is an American actor. He is best known for his starring role as Maurice Minnifield on the television series ''Northern Exposure'' (1990–1995), which earned him two consecutive Primetime Emmy Award nominations. His other notable credits include the films ''Urban Cowboy'' (1980), '' Stir Crazy'' (1980), ''WarGames'' (1983), and ''No Country for Old Men'' (2007), as well as the television series ''Dallas'' (1979–1984), ''Lonesome Dove'' (1989), ''One Tree Hill'' (2003–2009), ''The Closer'' (2007–2012), ''The Ranch'' (2016–2020), and ''Yellowstone'' (2021). Early life Corbin was born in Lamesa, the seat of Dawson County, south of Lubbock in West Texas. He is the son of the former Alma LaMerle Scott (1918–1994), a teacher, and Kilmer Blaine Corbin, Sr. (1919–1993), a school principal, judge, and Democratic member of the Texas State Senate for two terms, from 1949 to 1957. His mother gave him his middle name in honor of ...
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