Tommy Westphall
Tommy Westphall, portrayed by Chad Allen, is a minor character from the drama television series '' St. Elsewhere'', which ran on NBC from 1982 to 1988. Westphall, who is autistic, played an increased role in ''St. Elsewhere''s final episode, " The Last One", one interpretation of which is that the entire ''St. Elsewhere'' storyline exists only within Westphall's imagination. As characters from ''St. Elsewhere'' have appeared on other television shows and those shows' characters appeared on more shows, and so on, a "Tommy Westphall Universe" hypothesis (postulated by Dwayne McDuffie) argues that a significant amount of fictional episodic television exists within a fictional universe imagined by Tommy Westphall. "The Last One" In the last episode's final two scenes, Donald Westphall – having just returned to St. Eligius – is shown in Dr. Auschlander's office pondering the recent death from stroke of his colleague and mentor. With the aria ''"Chi il bel sogno di Doretta"'' (Dor ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chad Allen (actor)
Chad Allen (born June 5, 1974) is an American psychologist and retired actor. Beginning his career at the age of seven, Allen is a three-time Young Artist Award winner and GLAAD Media Award honoree. He was a teen idol during the late 1980s as David Witherspoon on the NBC family drama '' Our House'' and as Zach Nichols on the NBC sitcom ''My Two Dads'' before transitioning to an adult career as Matthew Cooper on the CBS western drama '' Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman''. He announced his retirement from acting in April 2015. Early life Allen was born Chad Allen Lazzari on June 5, 1974, in Cerritos, California, and grew up in Artesia. He has a twin sister named Charity and a brother named Steve Lazzari who works for Union Pacific Railroad. Allen is of predominantly Italian origin, with a "dose" of German origin. He was raised in a "strict" Roman Catholic household and regards himself as being a "deeply spiritual person" because of his upbringing. Allen attended St. John Bosco High School ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Anchor
An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek ἄγκυρα (ankȳra). Anchors can either be temporary or permanent. Permanent anchors are used in the creation of a mooring, and are rarely moved; a specialist service is normally needed to move or maintain them. Vessels carry one or more temporary anchors, which may be of different designs and weights. A sea anchor is a drag device, not in contact with the seabed, used to minimise drift of a vessel relative to the water. A drogue is a drag device used to slow or help steer a vessel running before a storm in a following or overtaking sea, or when crossing a bar in a breaking sea.. Overview Anchors achieve holding power either by "hooking" into the seabed, or mass, or a combination of the two. Permanent moorings use large masses (common ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Brian Weatherson
Brian Weatherson is the Marshall Weinberg Professor of Philosophy at the University of Michigan. He specializes in epistemology and philosophy of language.http://brian.weatherson.org/cv.pdf Education and career Born in Australia, Weatherson received his PhD from Monash University in 1998, with a dissertation on formal models for reasoning under uncertainty, titled "On Uncertainty." Prior to joining the Michigan department in 2012, he was an associate professor at Cornell University (2008–2011) and Rutgers University (2011–2012), and also taught at Brown University (2004–2007) and Syracuse University (1999–2001). He runs a philosophy-themed blog, "Thoughts, Arguments, and Rants" and is a contributing member of the political blog Crooked Timber. See also * American philosophy * List of American philosophers This is a list of American philosophers; of philosophers who are either from, or spent many productive years of their lives in the United States. {, border= ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dick Wolf
Richard Anthony Wolf (born December 20, 1946) is an American film and television producer, best known for his Law & Order (franchise), ''Law & Order'' franchise. Since 1990, the franchise has included six police/courtroom dramas and four international spinoffs. He is also creator and executive producer of the Chicago (franchise), ''Chicago'' franchise, which since 2012 has included four Chicago-based dramas, and the creator and executive producer of FBI (franchise), ''FBI'' franchise, which since 2018 has also become a franchise after spinning off two additional series. Wolf has also written four books. The first, the non-fiction volume ''Law & Order: Crime Scenes'', is a companion to the ''Law & Order'' television series. ''The Intercept'', ''The Execution'', and ''The Ultimatum'', all of which are works of fiction, are volumes in a thriller (genre), thriller series upon whose writings Wolf collaborates with the NYPD's detective Jeremy Fisk. Wolf has won numerous awards, includi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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John Munch
John Munch is a fictional character played by actor Richard Belzer. Munch first appeared on the American crime drama television series '' Homicide: Life on the Street'' on NBC. A regular through the entire run of the series from 1993 to 1999, Munch is a cynical detective in the Baltimore Police Department's Homicide unit, and a firm believer in conspiracy theories. He is originally partnered with Detective Stanley Bolander ( Ned Beatty). Munch is based on Jay Landsman, a central figure in David Simon's 1991 true crime book '' Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets.'' On the cancellation of ''Homicide'' in 1999, Belzer was offered a regular role as Munch on the '' Law & Order'' spin-off titled ''Special Victims Unit''. He appeared in the first fifteen seasons of that series from 1999 to 2014, and occasionally as a guest thereafter. On ''SVU'', Munch becomes a senior detective in the New York Police Department's Special Victims Unit, and is first partnered with Brian Cassidy ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Law & Order (franchise)
''Law & Order'' is a media franchise composed of a number of related American television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment. They were originally broadcast on NBC, and all of them deal with some aspect of the criminal justice system. Together, the original series, its various spin-offs, the TV film, and crossover episodes from other shows constitute over 1,000 hours of programming. Shared people and resources in a common fictional setting are the connecting links between the shows, e.g., Hudson University and the ''New York Ledger'' tabloid newspaper. Many supporting characters, such as district attorneys, psychologists, and medical examiners are also shared among the shows. Occasionally, crossovers of main characters or shared storylines between two of the shows will occur. A few major characters have also left the cast of one show within the franchise only to eventually join another. The music, style, and credits of the shows tend to be similar ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The X-Files
''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), who investigate X-files unit, X-Files: marginalized, unsolved cases involving paranormal phenomena. The original television series aired from September 1993 to May 2002, on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox. The program spanned List of The X-Files episodes, nine seasons, with 202 episodes. A short The X-Files (season 10), tenth season consisting of six episodes ran from January to February 2016. Following the ratings success of this revival (television), revival, ''The X-Files'' returned for an The X-Files (season 11), eleventh season of ten episodes, which ran from January to March 2018. In addition to the television series, two feature films have been release ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Science Fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universes, extraterrestrial life, sentient artificial intelligence, cybernetics, certain forms of immortality (like mind uploading), and the singularity. Science fiction predicted several existing inventions, such as the atomic bomb, robots, and borazon, whose names entirely match their fictional predecessors. In addition, science fiction might serve as an outlet to facilitate future scientific and technological innovations. Science fiction can trace its roots to ancient mythology. It is also related to fantasy, horror, and superhero fiction and contains many subgenres. Its exact definition has long been disputed among authors, critics, scholars, and readers. Science fiction, in literature, film, television, and other media, has beco ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Showrunner
A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also the head writer, script and story editor. They consult with network and studio bosses and lead the artistic vision of the show, including the writers room, editing department, as well as select the set design, staff, cast members, and each actor's wardrobe and hairstyle. In many instances, the showrunner also created the show, and subsequent seasons could feature different showrunners. While the director has creative control over a film's production, and the executive producer's role is limited to investing, in television shows, the showrunner outranks the episodic directors. History In a January 1990 submission to the United States Congress House Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Adminis ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Life On The Street
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energy transformation, and reproduction. Various forms of life exist, such as plants, animals, fungi, protists, archaea, and bacteria. Biology is the science that studies life. The gene is the unit of heredity, whereas the cell is the structural and functional unit of life. There are two kinds of cells, prokaryotic and eukaryotic, both of which consist of cytoplasm enclosed within a membrane and contain many biomolecules such as proteins and nucleic acids. Cells reproduce through a process of cell division, in which the parent cell divides into two or more daughter cells and passes its genes onto a new generation, sometimes producing genetic variation. Organisms, or the individual entities of life, are generally thought to be open systems that maint ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ed Begley Jr
Edward James Begley Jr. (born September 16, 1949) is an American actor and environmental activist. Begley has appeared in hundreds of films, television shows, and stage performances. He played Dr. Victor Ehrlich on the television series '' St. Elsewhere'' (1982–1988). The role earned him six consecutive Primetime Emmy Award nominations and a Golden Globe Award nomination. He also co-hosted, along with wife Rachelle Carson, the green living reality show titled ''Living with Ed'' (2007–2010). Equally prolific in cinema, Begley's films include ''Blue Collar'' (1978), '' An Officer and a Gentleman'' (1982), ''This Is Spinal Tap'' (1984), ''The Accidental Tourist'' (1988), and '' She-Devil'' (1989). He is a recurring cast member in the mockumentaries of Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy, including '' Best in Show'' (2000), ''A Mighty Wind'' (2003), '' For Your Consideration'' (2006), and ''Mascots'' (2016). In 2020 he was cast along his wife Rachelle in the award-winnin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Alfre Woodard
Alfre Woodard (; born November 8, 1952) is an American actress. She has received various accolades, including four Primetime Emmy Awards (tying the record for the most acting Emmys won by an African-American performer, along with Regina King), a Golden Globe Award, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award and two Grammy Awards. In 2020, ''The New York Times'' ranked Woodard seventeenth on its list of "The 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century". She is also known for her work as a political activist and producer. Woodard is a founder of Artists for a New South Africa, an organization devoted to advancing democracy and equality in that country. She is a board member of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Woodard began her acting career in theater. After her breakthrough role in the Off-Broadway play ''For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf'' (1977), she made her film debut in ''Remember My N ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |