title: Gilmore Girls

text: Warner Home Video released all seven seasons of "Gilmore Girls" on DVD, in regions 1, 2 and 4, mainly in full-screen ratio due to Amy Sherman-Palladino's preference at the time of original release. The full series DVD boxset was released in 2007. Special features include deleted scenes, three behind-the-scenes featurettes, cast interviews, montages, and one episode commentary (for "You Jump, I Jump, Jack").


title: Gilmore Girls

text: On October 1, 2014, all seven seasons of the series began streaming on Netflix's "Watch Instantly" service in the United States; all episodes, including the three seasons before The WB transitioned the series to HD broadcast from season four on, are in that format. On July 1, 2016, "Gilmore Girls" became available on Netflix worldwide. All seasons of "Gilmore Girls" are also available for digital download on the iTunes Store, Amazon.com and other digital sales websites, with all digital sites offering all episodes in HD.


title: Gilmore Girls

text: Upon debut, "Gilmore Girls" was lauded for the distinct, dialogue-infused style created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, the strength of the dynamic familial themes, and the performances of its cast, particularly leading star Lauren Graham. On Metacritic, the first season has an average rating of 81 out of 100 from 26 reviews, indicating "universal praise".


title: Gilmore Girls

text: In the "San Francisco Chronicle", John Carman wrote "It's cross-generational, warm-the-cockles viewing, and it's a terrific show. Can this really be the WB, niche broadcaster to horny mall rats?" Caryn James of "The New York Times" called it a "witty, charming show" that "is redefining family in a realistic, entertaining way for today's audience, all the while avoiding the sappiness that makes sophisticated viewers run from anything labeled a 'family show. Ray Richmond of "The Hollywood Reporter" declared it "a genuine gem in the making, a family-friendly hour unburdened by trite cliche or precocious pablum," while Jonathan Storm of "The Philadelphia Inquirer" dubbed it "a touching, funny, lively show that really does appeal to all ages". David Zurawik of "The Baltimore Sun" called "Gilmore Girls" "One of the most pleasant surprises of the new season".


title: Gilmore Girls

text: For the second-season premiere, Hal Boedeker of the "Orlando Sentinel" praised the show as "one of television's great, unsung pleasures", and said "Series creator Amy Sherman-Palladino writes clever dialogue and ingratiating comedy, but she also knows how to do bittersweet drama." Emily Yahr of "The Washington Post" retrospectively called the second installment "Pretty much a perfect season of television". Viewers were concerned that the show would suffer when Rory left for college after season 3, and Yahr commented that the show was not "the same" from this point but gave seasons four and five a positive 7/10.


title: Gilmore Girls

text: The last two seasons were less positively received. Maureen Ryan of the "Chicago Tribune" described the sixth season as "uneven at best", explaining, "the protracted fight between Lorelai and Rory Gilmore left the writers scrambling to cram the show with filler plots that stretched many fans' patience to the limit." The introduction of Luke's daughter has been described as "pretty much the most hated plot device in "Gilmore Girls" history". Ken Tucker from "Entertainment Weekly" rated the seventh season "C", describing it as "a death-blow season [which] was more accurately "Gilmore Ghosts", as the exhausted actors bumped into the furniture searching for their departed souls and smart punchlines". But he concluded that before this came "six seasons of magnificent mixed emotions" among a "perfect television idyll". Giving the show an overall rating of "A−", he added, "industry ignorance of the writing and of Graham's performance in particular will remain an eternal scandal".


title: Gilmore Girls

text: "Gilmore Girls" was listed as one of "Time" magazine's "All-Time 100 TV Shows". and was ranked the 87th greatest American television series in "TV (The Book)", authored by critics Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz in 2016. "Entertainment Weekly" placed "Gilmore Girls" 32nd on its "New TV Classics" list, and included the show on its end-of-the-2000s "best-of" list, and "The A.V. Club" named "They Shoot Gilmores, Don't They?" as one of the best TV episodes of the decade. Alan Sepinwall included the show in his "Best of the 00s in Comedies" list, saying: ""Gilmore" offered up an unconventional but enormously appealing family ... As the quippy, pop culture-quoting younger Gilmores were forced to reconnect with their repressed elders, creator Amy Sherman-Palladino got plenty of laughs and tears out of the generational divide, and out of showing the family Lorelai created for herself and her daughter in the idealized, Norman Rockwell-esque town of Stars Hollow. At its best, "Gilmore Girls" was pure, concentrated happiness."


title: Gilmore Girls

text: In 2016, Amy Plitt of "Rolling Stone" reflected on the enduring appeal of "Gilmore Girls", and noted that it stood out from other family shows like "7th Heaven", "The OC" and "Everwood" by being "far richer, deeper ... The characters were funny and relatable, the banter was zinger-heavy, the familial drama was poignant and the romantic chemistry ... was off the charts."


title: Gilmore Girls

text: Viewer ratings for "Gilmore Girls" were not large, but the numbers were a relative success for the small WB network and it became one of their flagship series. For its first season the show aired in the tough Thursday 8pm/7pm Central time slot dominated by "Friends" on NBC and "Survivor" on CBS. Critical acclaim encouraged the network to move it to Tuesday evenings, as part of a push to promote the series and due to the move of Tuesday stalwart "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" to UPN in the same timeslot. During season 2, ratings for "Gilmore Girls" surpassed "Buffy" and it became The WB's third-highest-rated show, with viewer numbers that grew by double digits in all major demographics. For seasons 4–7, "Gilmore Girls" was up against the US's top-rated show "American Idol", which led to a drop in viewers, but with Season 5 it became The WB's second-most-watched prime time show. The series was often in the top 3 most-viewed shows in its timeslot for women under 35.


title: Gilmore Girls

text: In its 2016 syndicated release, "Gilmore Girls" averaged 100,000–120,000 viewers per episode, for an annual viewership of 11 million on each of its networks. The same year, the chief content officer for Netflix, Ted Sarandos, cited "Gilmore Girls" as one of the streaming channel's most watched shows worldwide.


title: Gilmore Girls

text: "Gilmore Girls" earned several accolades, but did not receive much attention from the major awarding bodies. Its only Emmy nomination was for Outstanding Makeup for a Series, for the episode "The Festival of Living Art", which it won in 2004. Michael Ausiello has attributed this to "a notorious bias against the WB". Recognition did come from the American Film Institute, who named "Gilmore Girls" one of the ten best shows of 2002, and the Television Critics Association (TCA) who named it Outstanding New Program of the Year in 2001. The TCA Awards also nominated the show for Outstanding Drama in 2001 and 2002, and Outstanding Comedy in 2005. The Satellite Awards nominated it for Best Series – Musical or Comedy in 2002 and 2004, while it was nominated for Favorite Television Drama at the People's Choice Awards 2005. The show was honored by the Viewers for Quality Television with a "seal of quality" in 2000. The series also achieved considerable attention from the Teen Choice Awards, where it received multiple nominations and wins including the award for Choice Comedy Series in 2005.


title: Gilmore Girls

text: Lauren Graham was nominated for one Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards for her work on the first and second seasons, and received five successive nominations at the Satellite Awards. The TCAs nominated her for Individual Achievement in Drama in 2002, then for Comedy in 2006. She also received a Family Television Award, and she won the Teen Choice Award for Parental Unit three times. Alexis Bledel won a Young Artist Award, two Teen Choice Awards, and a Family Television Award. She was also nominated by the Satellite Awards in 2002, as was Kelly Bishop for her supporting performance in 2002 and 2004.


title: Gilmore Girls

text: "Gilmore Girls" is considered a cult classic, with an "avid following". During the run of the show this was mostly a small but dedicated group, predominantly of females, but its audience has grown steadily since it came off the air. The series experienced a resurgence when it became available on Netflix in October 2014, introducing it to a new generation of viewers. When the revival was announced in 2015, star Lauren Graham credited it to the campaigning and persistence of the fans. At this point, according to "The Washington Post", the show became "a quirky pop culture obsession". The enduring popularity of "Gilmore Girls" is considered to come from its comforting quality and cross-generational appeal. It is particularly known as a show that mothers and daughters watch together.


title: Gilmore Girls

text: The Gilmore Girls Fan Fest has become an annual event since its inauguration in 2016. The unofficial festival takes place in Connecticut over an October weekend, and includes panels with cast and crew, themed activities, and screenings. For the 16th anniversary of the show, 200 coffee houses around the US and Canada were transformed into "Luke's Diners". For two weeks in winter 2018–19, Warner Bros. added a special feature to their studio tour that recreated the Stars Hollow set and displayed props and costumes from the series. The show has an active fandom, posting in internet forums and creating work such as fan fiction. Special "Gilmore Girls" trivia nights have been held at venues in multiple different cities.


title: Gilmore Girls

text: The "Irish Independent" has commented that "Even though it preceded social media, "Gilmore Girls" has been internet gold for the past few years. Thanks to its snappy one-liners, it's spawned thousands of memes that have introduced the BuzzFeed generation to its coffee-swilling, cheeseburger-loving, critically-thinking characters." The show has been parodied on "Mad TV" and "Family Guy", and featured in an episode of "Six Feet Under". A cocktail bar in Brooklyn devised a menu inspired by the show. Warner Bros. has produced a range of "Gilmore Girls" merchandise, including T-shirts, mugs, and dolls.


title: Gilmore Girls

text: Three collections of academic essays that analyze the show have been published: "Gilmore Girls and the Politics of Identity" (2008); "Screwball Television: Critical Perspectives on Gilmore Girls" (2010); and "Gilmore Girls: A Cultural History" (2019). In 2002, four young adult novels were published that adapted scripts from the first and second seasons into novel form, told from Rory's first-person point of view. There have also been several unofficial, fan-based guides to the series, including "Coffee At Luke's: An Unauthorized Gilmore Girls Gab Fest" (2007), "The Gilmore Girls Companion" (2010), "You've Been Gilmored!: The Unofficial Encyclopedia and Complete Guide to Gilmore Girls" (2020), and "But I'm a Gilmore!: Stories and Experiences of Honorary Gilmore Girls: Cast, Crew, and Fans" The program is also the source of a book club, in which followers aim to read all 339 books referenced on the show, and the inspiration for a cookbook called "Eat Like a Gilmore".


title: Gilmore Girls

text: "Gilmore Girls" is the basis for the successful podcast "Gilmore Guys" (2014–2017), which was named by "Time" as one of the 50 best podcasts of 2017 – the only television-based inclusion. It follows the hosts, Kevin T. Porter and Demi Adejuyigbe, as they watch every episode of the series. Sadaf Ahsan of the "National Post" commented that it "helped reignite – and, for some, initiate – fan fervour" towards "Gilmore Girls".


title: Killing Eve

text: Killing Eve is a British spy thriller television series, produced in the United Kingdom by Sid Gentle Films for BBC America and BBC Three. The series follows Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh), a British intelligence investigator tasked with capturing psychopathic assassin Villanelle (Jodie Comer). As the chase progresses, the two develop a mutual obsession. Based on the "Villanelle" novel series by Luke Jennings, each of the show's series is led by a different female head writer. The first series had Phoebe Waller-Bridge as the head writer, the second series Emerald Fennell, the third series Suzanne Heathcote and the fourth series Laura Neal.


title: Killing Eve

text: The first series premiered on BBC America on 8 April 2018, and on BBC iPlayer on 15 September 2018 through BBC Three. The third series premiered on 12 April 2020 for BBC America, and on 13 April 2020 for BBC iPlayer, and concluded on 31 May 2020. The fourth (and final) series premiered on 27 February 2022 on BBC America, 28 February 2022 on BBC iPlayer and 5 March 2022 on BBC One and concluded on 17 April 2022.


title: Killing Eve

text: The first two series were praised, whereas the final two series received more mixed responses, with the fourth in particular drawing significant backlash from critics and audiences. The show broke weekly ratings increases, and received several accolades, including British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series. Both Oh and Comer were praised for their performances, winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, respectively. Comer and Fiona Shaw have also received British Academy Television Awards for their performances.


title: Killing Eve

text: In the first season, Eve is bored with her protection role in MI5 and, after brashly investigating the behind-the-scenes of a witness she is handling, she is fired. However, her passion for female assassins later leads to her joining an undercover division within MI6 whose task is to pursue and locate Villanelle, a ruthless international assassin who works for a secret organization called The Twelve. When Eve and Villanelle cross paths they begin a cycle of obsession which leads them away from their individual missions and closer to each other.


title: Killing Eve

text: In the second season, after a violent encounter at the end of season one, Eve and Villanelle resume their obsessive relationship while continuing their separate missions. Eve works to solve kills set by The Twelve while Villanelle continues to kill for The Twelve; however, after a new killer appears on the scene, the focus changes for The Twelve and MI6, as both women are pitted to work with each other. A dangerous mission leads Eve and Villanelle to Rome where their own lives are at stake.


title: Killing Eve

text: The third season picks up six months after the fallout of the mission in Rome. Eve, traumatised by her near-death experience at the hands of Villanelle, quits MI6 and begins living a low-profile existence, whilst Villanelle attempts to discover new ways of earning a living after she stops killing for The Twelve. However, the unexpected arrival of her former Twelve trainer leads Villanelle to question who she really is and if killing is what she's made for, whereas Eve begins looking into The Twelve again after they murder someone close to her, leading both women to cross paths once more.


title: Killing Eve

text: The fourth and final season picks up soon after the third with Eve now desperate for revenge on The Twelve whilst Villanelle is eager to change for Eve. However, due to their different outlooks on their personal missions, Eve and Villanelle begin to clash leading them off into their separate directions but both eventually aiming for the same goal, destroying The Twelve.


title: Killing Eve

text: Sally Woodward Gentle, of Sid Gentle Films, optioned Luke Jennings's "Codename Villanelle" in 2014, saying that "the notion of a female assassin was not unique", but that Jennings's take was "fresh, intelligent and tonally much bolder than others", adding that she was particularly interested because "It wasn't exploitative. We really enjoyed the character of Villanelle and the inventiveness of her kills, but we were particularly engaged with the mutual obsession between the women". Jennings's story began as a four-part novella published between 2014 and 2016. Following the stage success of "Fleabag", Phoebe Waller-Bridge was recruited to write the show, which was then commissioned by BBC America in November 2016.


title: Killing Eve

text: Sandra Oh was the first to be cast in June 2017, as the title character Eve Polastri, and IMG agreed distribution rights later that month. Oh reportedly was confused over which character she would be playing when she first received a breakdown, thinking that she would not have the option to audition for the young assassin and not even considering the lead. Later her agents informed her that she would be reading for the role of Eve.


title: Killing Eve

text: For the role of Villanelle, the production considered over 100 actresses before Jodie Comer was cast, about a month after Oh. Sally Woodward Gentle told "Backstage" that the production "didn't want Villanelle to be like "Nikita" or "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"—that male fantasy version of what a woman who'd come for them might look like. We wanted her to be able to disappear into a crowd". Comer's first audition involved acting out the kitchen scene from "I Have a Thing About Bathrooms" with Oh, where the two clicked.


title: Killing Eve

text: Initially, Waller-Bridge considered casting herself as either Eve or Villanelle, but discarded this idea as she wanted a larger age gap between the leads. Kirby Howell-Baptiste was cast as Elena in August 2017.


title: Killing Eve

text: In August 2019, "Deadline Hollywood" announced that Harriet Walter and Danny Sapani had joined the cast for the third series. More cast additions were revealed in November, including Gemma Whelan, Predrag Bjelac, Camille Cottin, Steve Pemberton, Raj Bajaj, Turlough Convery, and Evgenia Dodina.


title: Killing Eve

text: Filming for the first series began on 17 July 2017 in Tuscany, extending to further locations in Paris, Berlin, Bucharest, Cheshunt, Turville, London and West London Film Studios. The Viennese Cafe opening scenes were shot at Bar Garibaldi in Colle di Val d'Elsa, a small hilltop town north west of Siena, Tuscany. The building used as Eve's base is in Warwick House Street, just off Trafalgar Square. In the London pub scene, the external shot shows The Albert pub in Victoria Street; the interiors were of the dark-panelled Old Nick in Sandland Street. In episode three, Villanelle lures David Haig's character Bill Pargrave into tailing her out of Berlin Friedrichstraße station and along a neighbouring Berlin tramway street before entering a busy nightclub, the location of which was Fabric, opposite London's Smithfield Market. Bucharest's neoclassical Romanian Athenaeum concert hall was converted into a decadent café for the penultimate Moscow scene. Filming also took place at Nell's Café, a popular roadside café off the A2 near Gravesend in Kent, as well as at the nearby M2 motorway. Filming also took place at the Radcliffe Camera in Oxford and production concluded on 15 December 2017.


title: Killing Eve

text: Filming for the third series began in August 2019, Filming locations included Viscri and Comandău in Romania. Additionally, several locations were used in Barcelona, Spain, among them the Arc de Triomf on Passeig de Lluís Companys and the Port Vell Aerial Tramway. The interior of Vilanelle's Barcelona apartment was shot inside the , a noted "Modernista" apartment block in the Plaça de Lesseps which was designed in 1906 by the architect . Production for the third series ended in January 2020 in London.


title: Killing Eve

text: Filming for the fourth and final series began on 7 June 2021 and ended on 6 November 2021. Margate in Kent features throughout Episodes four to seven, with filming taking place on the beach, various streets, Dreamland, the Nayland Rock Hotel and Sands Café.


title: Killing Eve

text: The band Unloved, featuring Jade Vincent, Keefus Ciancia, and David Holmes, were commissioned to score the series.


title: Killing Eve

text: Shortly before its premiere, "Killing Eve" was renewed for a second series. Luke Jennings's sequel, "", was published in March 2019, shortly before the second-series premiere; the book is said to diverge from the television series, but also to "share common DNA" because of Jennings's continued collaboration with the creators. In July 2018, "The Hollywood Reporter" reported that Waller-Bridge delegated some responsibility for the second series, hiring Emerald Fennell as head writer, and Lisa Brühlmann and Francesca Gregorini as directors.


title: Killing Eve

text: Less than twelve hours after the premiere of the second series, BBC America renewed the series for a third. Suzanne Heathcote served as showrunner, so that each new season of "Killing Eve" brings on a new female showrunner.


title: Killing Eve

text: On 3 January 2020, "Killing Eve" was renewed for a fourth series ahead of the premiere of the third series. On 20 February, Laura Neal was announced as the head writer as well as an executive producer of the fourth series. In March 2021, it was confirmed that the fourth series would be its last.


title: Killing Eve

text: In the United Kingdom, the series was shown on BBC One in September 2018 and as stream-only on BBC Three. The first episode was broadcast on 15 September 2018, and seen by 8.25million viewers within the first twenty-eight days. The second series was released in its entirety on BBC iPlayer on 8 June 2019, with its first episode being shown on BBC One the same day.


title: Killing Eve

text: Irish broadcaster RTÉ2 was the first broadcaster in Europe to premiere the show, with the first episode broadcast to 76,000 viewers on 27 August 2018. The final season will premiere on 1 March 2022 on RTÉ One.


title: Killing Eve

text: In New Zealand, second-series episodes premiered two days before their US broadcast on TVNZ Ondemand. Episodes will air on TVNZ 2 the same day as the US broadcast. The second series began broadcasting on 7 April 2019, shown concurrently in the United States by both BBC America and AMC.


title: Killing Eve

text: In Canada, the series debuted on 22 July 2018 on Bravo! The series continues to be broadcast on the channel which is now branded as CTV Drama Channel. It is also available on the Canadian streaming network Crave.


title: Killing Eve

text: On 14 February 2020, it was announced that the third series would premiere on 26 April 2020; however, the premiere date was later moved up to 12 April 2020.


title: Killing Eve

text: In "The New Yorker," Jia Tolentino characterised both Polastri and Villanelle as "deeply strange" and possessed of a "wild, unlikely interior weirdness and flux", writing that it seemed equally possible that they "could team up, or try to kill each other, or fall into bed". Judy Berman wrote in "The New York Times" that Agent Polastri tracks assassin Villanelle not as hero and villain but as "two broken women whose flaws bind them together in a twisted "pas de deux"". Villanelle is romantically interested in women and, as Willa Paskin wrote in "Slate", is captivated by Polastri perhaps in part because of a "shared brusqueness".


title: Killing Eve

text: Despite being enemies professionally, both characters are professional, childless women, "hard-working, ambitious, and slightly obsessive", whose respective worlds "betrayed and deceived them at every turn". Melanie McFarland wrote in "Slate" that they are "two of a kind" and "can trust in each other's constancy", with Priscilla Frak writing in "The Huffington Post" that both women are "fueled by a volatile cocktail of ambition, curiosity and morbid adoration". Angelica Jade Bastién wrote in "Vulture" that, with Eve, Villanelle "feels something beyond (the) crushing boredom" she normally experiences, while Eve looks at Villanelle as "an escape into feminine excess". Perceiving "mirror-image similarities between them, for the good and the bad", executive director Emerald Fennell posited the question, "What does it look like when a psychopath starts to learn how to feel things, and when a woman who's incredibly empathetic and intuitive starts to lose those parts of herself?"


title: Killing Eve

text: Fennell also said that the Eve and Villanelle relationship will always be the core of the show, in accordance with the perception of BBC reviewer Caryn James who wrote that the "series' true allure is the deeply complicated love-hate dynamic between those two characters", NPR's reviewer Terry Gross' view that the character dynamic "sets "Killing Eve" apart from other thrillers", and a Dan Snierson review in "Entertainment Weekly" that the series portrays "TV's most mesmerizing, twisted relationship".


title: Killing Eve

text: Jia Tolentino wrote in "The New Yorker" that the "amoral" Villanelle's existence is "saturated with pleasure", in contrast to Eve's career as a "bored security-state functionary". Series writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge explained that Polastri has a "sense of self-consciousness and guilt" that cripples her – a perfect counterpoint to Villanelle, who, as Ashley Boucher noted in "TheWrap," only does things that might bring joy.


title: Killing Eve

text: Hanh Nguyen wrote in "IndieWire" that, even when Villanelle invades her home Eve "can't quite capture who Villanelle is as a person" since the assassin always seems to be a few steps ahead, and that Polastri, possessed of a "frustrating attraction", "keeps banging her head on the enigmatic wall that is Villanelle". And Melanie McFarland wrote in "Salon" that, though Villanelle has the opportunity to kill Polastri during the break-in, forces within Villanelle–despite having been "raised to kill without guilt or concern"–compel her to want Polastri alive.


title: Killing Eve

text: Angelica Jade Bastién wrote in "Vulture" that, after Villanelle manipulates Polastri into committing a brutal murder, the women are "finally stripped of their proxies, and the electric tension between them is laid bare". Sandra Oh described Polastri's ultimately misguided belief that she is "special" enough to control Villanelle, that they have a "special" connection, but—upon telling Villanelle that Villanelle doesn't know what love is—learns otherwise: Villanelle shoots her, a counterpoint to Eve having stabbed Villanelle earlier. Villanelle had later reflected on Polastri's having stabbed her, "Sometimes when you love someone, you will do crazy things".


title: Killing Eve

text: BBC America president Sarah Barnett commented that "there is a marvelous sea change happening where we are profoundly shifting away from an invisible, unconscious assumption that the big stories have men at the center, and anything else is a subset of that". Matt Zoller Seitz noted in "Vulture" that, even in contrast to films such as "Silence of the Lambs" and "Hannibal" in which one lead character is female, the conflict between Polastri and Villanelle is more equal despite the fact one entered as "an MI5 paper-pusher" and the other as an experienced assassin. Along similar lines, Melanie McFarland wrote in "Salon" that most feminist narratives are framed in terms of a male-female dynamic, but Polastri and Villanelle explore "patriarchy's impact on the already delicate complexities of female relationships": though sisterhood is powerful, "it's also complicated and devoid of guarantees" and "can be false and a trap".


title: Killing Eve

text: Ben Goldberg wrote in "Into" that the relationship between Polastri and Villanelle—"often sexual, at times romantic, and occasionally vengeful"—"resists simple categorization". Their mutual affectation suggests an alternative lifestyle, the couple performing an "elaborate dance, edging closer to one other while always being just slightly out of reach". The characters’ mutual interest is "rooted in a desire of an unknown–a life away from the men that presently structure their lives".


title: Killing Eve

text: Showrunner-writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge remarked that the characters "give each other life in a way that's more complex than a romantic relationship. It's sexual, it's intellectual, it's aspirational." Along these lines, Melanie McFarland wrote in "Salon" that the show's "careful awareness of the love languages of fashion, music and setting all play roles in strengthening (the audience's) affair" with the characters. Hannah Giorgis wrote in "The Atlantic" that its "greatest success" is how alluring it makes Villanelle to an intelligence agent dedicated to tracking her down. Calling "Killing Eve" a "sexually charged female-buddy-comedy espionage nailbiter", Jenna Scherer wrote in "Rolling Stone" that the actresses "share a crackling chemistry, one that situates them in a gray realm between bitter enemies and would-be lovers".


title: Killing Eve

text: Shannon Liao noted in "The Verge" that "some say that demanding physical expressions of sexuality or other concrete confirmations of queer relationships... can erase subtler, more complex relationships", and that this pair's mutual obsession "ventures into homoerotic territory" without explicit physical consummation. Accordingly, the show has largely escaped criticisms of "age-old issues dealing with LGBTQ representation on-screen, like queerbaiting or male-fantasy lesbianism", with Liao concluding that ""Killing Eve" is one of the only shows pushing the envelope in the espionage genre on race, gender, and sexuality". Natalie Adler wrote in "BuzzFeed News" that the show is about "femme power, femme cruelty, femme treachery—an explicitly queer power, one that doesn't suffer cis men". Kate Arthur wrote in "Buzzfeed News" that this relationship "has never before existed between women on television: a queer will-they-or-won't-they romance in which one suitor is an admitted psychopath".


title: Killing Eve

text: Jia Tolentino wrote in "The New Yorker" that the "women are deeply strange, forming a collective study in improbable contrasts, strung together by each actor's charisma". Matt Zoller Seitz wrote in "Vulture" that Oh's performance as Polastri actually makes Villanelle's character feel more plausible – as "an incarnation of Eve's sublimated aggression and assertiveness". Though Jia Tolentino wrote in "The New Yorker" that Villanelle's character "works" because of Comer's "mercurial, unassailable charisma", and Willa Paskin wrote in "Slate" that Comer's Villanelle (twisted and conscienceless but also irrepressible) is "flat-out incredible" and Mike Hale agreed in "The New York Times" that Comer is good in that "showier part". Hale added that it is Ms. Oh who ensures the series is "more than a cute gloss on the glamorous international caper."


title: Killing Eve

text: A pink tulle dress worn in the first-series episode "I'll Deal with Him Later", designed by Molly Goddard, was heralded as a "fashion moment" that inspired the dresses worn on red carpets in the subsequent awards season, including an overwhelming showing of pink at the 91st Academy Awards ceremony in 2019.


title: Killing Eve

text: The show has had three costume designers: Phoebe de Gaye for the first series, Charlotte Mitchell for the second, and Sam Perry for the third.


title: Killing Eve

text: The character Villanelle's relationship to fashion has been described by many people. Gilly Ferguson of "Grazia" says that she has become a "style icon". Luke Jennings, author of the book series on which the show is based, says that "Clothes reflect her status and independence[...] She doesn't have to conform or please anyone's gaze"; Charlotte Mitchell agrees that "She plays by her own rules". Sonia Saraiya of "Vanity Fair" considers Villanelle's outfits "their own subplot"; she notes that the character choosing to live in Paris is also a nod to the emphasis on fashion in the show. Melania Hidalgo of "The Cut" writes that "Villanelle reverses the style of a typical femme fatale, wearing everyday basics on her missions while saving the choicest items in her wardrobe for her days off"; in reference to a specific outfit, Steff Yotka of "Vogue" says that Villanelle has "redefined the look of an international assassin story" by subverting classic tactical gear and sleekness. Mitchell also said of Villanelle that she "uses color to provoke reactions", pointing to the pink Molly Goddard dress.


title: Killing Eve

text: Considered Villanelle's fashion foil by "Entertainment Weekly", Eve Polastri has been described as considering fashion "trivial" and not bothering to dress well. Jennings suggested that even if she cared, "she'd be hopeless at it"; Mitchell and de Gaye crafted outfits that match Eve's practical attitude, with Mitchell saying that she "wears elastic waists [because] she doesn't have time to do up a button fly". Other choices include more clothes made of linen to more easily appear dishevelled. Eve is allowed some moments of being well-dressed, however, which are significant to the plot, including trying on dresses that Villanelle has chosen for her in her own stolen suitcase.


title: Killing Eve

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the first series has an approval rating of 96% based on 154 reviews, with an average rating of 8.3/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Seductive and surprising, "Killing Eve"s twist on the spy vs. spy concept rewards viewers with an audaciously entertaining show that finally makes good use of Sandra Oh's talents." On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 83 out of 100 based on 22 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".


title: Killing Eve

text: Jenna Scherer, writing in "Rolling Stone", described "Killing Eve" as "hilarious, bloody, unclassifiable" and idiosyncratic, "a stylish story of obsession and psychopathy that's disarmingly warm and lived-in". Scherer went on to write that the show "undermines every rule of TV", with what it does best being its "dry wit, razor-wire tension, sex appeal and the looming threat of violence". Hanh Nguyen wrote on IndieWire that one of the show's most appealing aspects is "how it subverts expectation", allowing it to "constantly surprise and delight". Troy Patterson wrote in "The New Yorker" that the story discloses "a life independent of genre conventions" and that the triumph of the show's style is its "reconciliation of the outlandish and the intimate", adding that the "Jason Bourne-style escapism of the bare premise, inflected by the assertively odd tone, yields fresh depictions of fear and grief". In the context of "Vulture"s selection of Sandra Oh as the best actress on television (June 2018), Matt Zoller Seitz wrote that there was "no precedent" for the "wild extremes" of the show's "comedy and thriller elements". While Mike Hale acknowledged in "The New York Times" that "scenes and characterizations play out differently than we're used to" and the comic style is distinctive, he also wrote – in contrast to most reviewers – of being "just as conscious of (the show's) congruences with standard examples of the genre ... as ... of the differences", citing "Berlin Station", "La Femme Nikita", "Covert Affairs" and "Homeland".


title: Killing Eve

text: Scherer described the show as a feminine take on a traditionally masculine genre—"more interested in giving space to character beats and the weird chaos that can leak into the best-laid plans". Similarly, Melanie McFarland wrote for "Salon" that "Killing Eve" has been dubbed a "feminist thriller", calling it a "perfect show for the #MeToo era", saying that it "slakes one's desire to see piggish misogynists get what's coming to them" but also delves into complex trust issues among women and shows "sisterhood's might and peril (as) powerful ... but ... also complicated and devoid of guarantees". Along the same lines, Willa Paskin wrote in "Slate" that "Killing Eve" is a story about "the literal dangers of underestimating women: of not seeing the woman who can kill you, underestimating the woman who can stop her". Paskin added that "The disfigured, beating heart of Killing Eve is the way that Villanelle's gender and manner, her very femininity, keep our acculturated brains from being appropriately terrified of her".


title: Killing Eve

text: Jia Tolentino acknowledged in "The New Yorker" how critics have noted that women characters are substituted for men "in every meaningful part", that the men are "formulaic" but the women are "deeply strange". However, Tolentino asserted that "Killing Eve" "isn't shaped around the concept of women; it's shaped around "these" women, who are unlike any others in their wild, unlikely interior weirdness and flux". She added that a defining feature of the show is its "constant reversals in tone and rhythm", with the show's thrill coming "from pattern rather than resolution".


title: Killing Eve

text: Ben Goldberg wrote in "Into" that the series "never outright explains its characters' sexualities, but unlike shows that queerbait their audiences, "Killing Eve" does not need to name the relationship between Eve and Villanelle in order to recognize it", adding that the show "does not shy away from its characters' sexual attraction but also complicates this narrative at every turn".


title: Killing Eve

text: Hannah Giorgis wrote in "The Atlantic" that the show's greatest success is "how alluring it makes its villain: to both Eve ... and audiences", and that Villanelle's character subverts feminine stereotypes so as to "carve a jagged space into the serial-killer canon".


title: Killing Eve

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the second series has an approval rating of 92% based on 163 reviews, with an average rating of 8.15/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "With the titillating cat-and-mouse game still rooted at its core, "Killing Eve" returns for an enthralling second season of considerably higher stakes, hilariously dark humor and a captivating dynamic between characters, solidifying its position as one of the best spy thrillers out." On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 86 out of 100 based on 22 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".


title: Killing Eve

text: Chitra Ramaswamy wrote in "The Guardian" that the show "uproots the tired old sexist tropes of spy thrillers then repots them as feminist in-jokes, patriarchal piss-takes, tasteless murders and blooms of sapphic chemistry". Describing how Villanelle "does what she always does—exploit society's misogyny by imitating a victim of it"—Emily Nussbaum wrote in "The New Yorker" that the potent idea that undergirds the show is that "femininity is "itself" a sort of sociopathy, whose performance, if you truly nail it, might be the source of ultimate power".


title: Killing Eve

text: Angelica Jade Bastién wrote in "Vulture" that the second season, with new showrunner Emerald Fennell, "trades in the precise mordant wit of series creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge for something more garish and horrifying", further describing the "wild consumption" of food and clothing "that builds into the closest thing the show has come to a genuine sex scene between" the two women. Bastién also perceived that ""Killing Eve" is deeply indebted to film noir, a genre whose backbone is the ways people lose their soul in the face of desire—...but it's a noir operating at the tenor of a fairy tale".


title: Killing Eve

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the third series has an approval rating of 80% based on 158 reviews, with an average rating of 6.75/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "If "Killing Eve"s third season doesn't cut quite as deep, it's still a fiendishly delightful showcase for Jodie Comer and Sandra Oh's killer chemistry." On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 63 out of 100 based on 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: Killing Eve

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the fourth series has an approval rating of 56% based on 89 reviews, with an average rating of 6.55/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Villanelle's found religion in "Killing Eve"s climactic season, but this series has spun its wheels for so long that the thrill is gone." On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 55 out of 100 based on 14 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: Killing Eve

text: The series's ending received a backlash from its fanbase and critics, who called it unsatisfying and cruel. The finale was accused of perpetuating the "Bury Your Gays" trope; killing a queer main character moments after she achieved happiness, with no real contextual reason for the death. The episode was quickly added to ‘worst TV finale’ lists. Jennings, in an article for "The Guardian", consoled upset fans, deeming the ending 'a bowing to convention'. Other accusations of homophobia, present throughout the season, included the religious-themed redemption arc for Villanelle, as well as the overall treatment of the relationship between Eve and Villanelle. A series of comments made by Sally Woodward Gentle and showrunner Laura Neal in post-season interviews had referred to the controversial death scene as a sort of "rebirth" for the surviving main character, allowing her to return to a "normal life".


title: Killing Eve

text: Prior to filming, series four generated an earlier backlash when Kayleigh Llewellyn tweeted a screenshot of a Zoom call with the other writers. This led to criticism of the lack of diversity in the writer's room, given one of the programme's leads, Eve Polastri, was an Asian woman. Woodward Gentle later responded, stating, "You look at that room and it's full of brilliant female writers, we've got a really strong LGBTQ contingent, but it's not good enough and we need to do better."


title: Killing Eve

text: Review aggregator Metacritic reported in early December 2018 that more individual television critics included "Killing Eve" in their 2018 year-end Top Ten lists than any other show.


title: Killing Eve

text: In November 2018, "Killing Eve" was chosen as "Time" magazine's Best Show of 2018, the magazine's Judy Berman writing that "the characters were multidimensional but incomplete, their mutual obsession fueled by the sense that each woman had something crucial the other lacked". It was number three on "The New York Post's" Decider.com "Best TV Shows of 2018" list, being praised for "brilliant writing" and "nuanced performances". It was also second on the "25 Best TV Shows of 2018" list from "Paste" magazine, which labelled it as "the best new series of the year".


title: Killing Eve

text: In December 2018, "The Guardian" named "Killing Eve" the best TV show of 2018, describing it as a "high-wire act of misdirection that subverted stale genre expectations" and saying that it "mix[es] genres – spy thriller, comedy, action film, workplace drama and... farce – without it collapsing into a tonal mess". "The New York Times" included "Killing Eve" in its "Best TV Shows of 2018" list, stating that the series was "infused ... with the brio of a dark comedy, though its hour length marked it as crime drama". "The New York Times" also included Oh's and Comer's performances in its list of "Best Performances of 2018", noting "these two women are inventive about how to be funny in a thriller" and "make run-of-the mill embarrassment seem more lethal than any bullet". NPR included the show on its list of "Favorite TV Shows of 2018", saying that it may be "the strangest—and most compelling—story of how opposites attract on TV this year".


title: Killing Eve

text: "The Washington Post" listed "Killing Eve" as the third best show of 2018, calling the "sleeper hit... splendidly paced". "USA Today" listed the show at fifth place on its "Best TV Shows of 2018" list, remarking that it "completely surprises you, from its writing to its performances to its direction to the names on the poster". "New York" magazine's pop culture website Vulture included the series as number seven on Jen Chaney's "10 Best TV Shows of 2018" list, remarking on its immediate and escalating "sense of propulsive daring" and its infusion of "feminine energy". "TV Guide" named Oh's and Comer's performances as the second best TV performance of 2018, and said that the show "ended up on pretty much everyone's Best of 2018 lists". "Vanity Fair" listed the show at second place on its "Best TV Shows of 2018" list, saying that "watching "Killing Eve" is like spraying a disinfectant for the musty tropes of prestige drama directly onto your brain" and inviting viewers to "come for the black comedy; stay for the fashion".


title: Killing Eve

text: "Rolling Stone" named the show as the fourth best TV show of 2018, describing it as "exciting and scary while making room for the quippy dialogue and smart observations about how women interact". IndieWire listed "Killing Eve" as the fourth best new TV show of 2018, saying that "exploring identity and dark desires, the series never met an impulse it didn't pursue to its extreme", and that "outrageous and often off-kilter dark humor only highlights the show's transgressive charms". Livingly Media listed the series as the third best TV show of 2018, saying it is "loaded with quippy dialogue and razor-sharp observations about how women interact in increasingly destructive environments". Mashable rated the show number four on its "Best New TV Shows of 2018" list, praising the two lead actors and commenting that the show was "exactly the weird, psychosexual romp (that) 2018 needed".


title: Killing Eve

text: In September 2019, "The Guardian" ranked "Killing Eve" 30th on its list of the 100 best TV shows of the 21st century, stating that "few shows in TV history have scythed on to the screen with as much elan". In December 2019, "The New York Times" named the show as 9th on its Best International TV Shows of the Decade, characterising it as "a riff on the romantic spy thriller that can be darkly funny one moment and devastating the next".


title: Killing Eve

text: The first series had unbroken weekly ratings growth among adults aged 25–54 and 18–49, which no other television show had accomplished in more than a decade. The final episode's 1.25million viewers (Nielsen live+3) was 86 percent greater than for the premiere. The second series was simulcast on both AMC and BBC America, with its premiere drawing a combined total of 1.17 million viewers.


title: Killing Eve

text: When the first episode of the second series was shown on BBC One it had 3.5 million viewers taking a 21% audience share.


title: Killing Eve

text: In March 2021, Sid Gentle Films confirmed that "Killing Eve" would conclude with its fourth series. Additionally, the development of a potential, unnamed, spin-off series was being considered.


title: Killing Eve

text: In April 2022, it was confirmed that a spin-off focusing on Carolyn Martens' early life at MI6 was in the early stages of development.


The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT) represents the United States in men's international soccer competitions. The team is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and is a member of FIFA and CONCACAF.


title: United States men's national soccer team

text: The U.S. team has appeared in eleven FIFA World Cups, including the first in 1930, where they reached the semi-finals to finish third, the best result ever by a team from outside UEFA and CONMEBOL. They returned in 1934 and 1950, defeating England 1–0 in the latter, but did not qualify again until 1990. As host in 1994, the U.S. received an automatic berth and lost to Brazil in the round of sixteen. They qualified for the next five World Cups (seven consecutive appearances (1990–2014), a feat shared with only seven other nations), becoming one of the tournament's regular competitors and often advancing to the knockout stage. The U.S. reached the quarter-finals in 2002, and controversially lost to Germany. In the 2009 Confederations Cup, the Americans eliminated top-ranked Spain in the semi-finals before losing to Brazil in the final, the team's only appearance in the final of a major intercontinental tournament.


text: The U.S. also competes in continental tournaments, including the CONCACAF Gold Cup and Copa América. The U.S. won seven Gold Cups and the inaugural edition of the CONCACAF Nations League, and finished fourth in two Copa Américas in 1995 and 2016. The team's head coach is Gregg Berhalter, who has been in charge of the team since November 29, 2018. Brian McBride has been its general manager since January 10, 2020.


text: The first U.S. national soccer team was constituted in 1885, when it played Canada in the first international match held outside the United Kingdom. Canada defeated the U.S. 1–0 in Newark, New Jersey. The U.S. had its revenge the following year when it beat Canada 1–0, also in Newark, although neither match was officially recognized. The U.S. earned both silver and bronze medals in men's soccer at the 1904 St. Louis Summer Olympics through Christian Brothers College and St. Rose Parish, though the tournament is declared official only by the IOC (FIFA doesn't endorse tournaments held before 1908). The U.S. played its first official international match under the auspices of U.S. Soccer on August 20, 1916, against Sweden in Stockholm, where the U.S. won 3–2.


text: The U.S. fielded a team in the 1930 World Cup in Uruguay, the first ever World Cup to be played. The U.S. began group play by beating Belgium 3–0. The U.S. then earned a 3–0 victory over Paraguay, with FIFA crediting Bert Patenaude with two of the goals. In November 2006, FIFA announced that it had accepted evidence that Patenaude scored all three goals against Paraguay, and was thus the first person to score a hat trick in a World Cup. In the semifinals, the U.S. lost to Argentina 6–1. There was no third place game. However, using the overall tournament records in 1986, FIFA credited the U.S. with a third-place finish ahead of fellow semifinalist Yugoslavia. This remains the U.S. team's best World Cup result, and is the highest finish of any team from outside of South America and Europe.


text: The U.S. qualified for the 1934 World Cup by defeating Mexico 4–2 in Italy a few days before the finals started. In a straight knock-out format, the team first played host Italy and lost 7–1, eliminating the U.S. from the tournament. At the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, the U.S. again lost to Italy in the first round and were eliminated, although this time with a score of 1–0. Italy went on to win both tournaments, being a dominant team of that era.


text: The 1950 World Cup in Brazil was the next World Cup appearance for the U.S., as it withdrew in 1938 and the tournament wasn't held again until 1950. The U.S. lost its first match 3–1 against Spain, but then won 1–0 against England at Independência Stadium in Belo Horizonte. Striker Joe Gaetjens was the goal scorer. Called "The Miracle on Grass", the result is considered one of the greatest upsets in the history of the World Cup. In their third game of the tournament, a 5–2 defeat by Chile saw the U.S. eliminated from the tournament. The U.S. would not make another appearance in the World Cup finals for four decades.


text: The national team spent the mid-to-late 20th century in near complete irrelevance in both the international game and the domestic sporting scene. There was only one World Cup berth for CONCACAF during this period until 1982. The emergence of the North American Soccer League in the 1960s and 1970s raised hopes that the U.S. national team would soon improve and become a global force. However such hopes were not realized and by the 1980s the U.S. Soccer Federation found itself in serious financial struggles, with the national team playing only two matches from 1981 to 1983. U.S. Soccer targeted the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and the 1986 World Cup as means of rebuilding the national team and its fan base. The International Olympic Committee declared that teams from outside Europe and South America could field full senior teams, including professionals (until then, the amateur-only rule had heavily favored socialist countries from Eastern Europe whose players were professionals in all but name). The U.S. had a very strong showing at the tournament, beating Costa Rica, tying Egypt, losing only to favorite Italy and finishing 1–1–1 but didn't make the second round, losing to Egypt on a tiebreaker (both had three points).


text: To provide a more stable national team program and renew interest in the NASL, U.S. Soccer entered the national team into the NASL league schedule for the 1983 season as Team America. This team lacked the continuity and regularity of training that conventional clubs enjoy, and many players were unwilling to play for the national team instead of their own clubs when conflicts arose. Team America finished the season at the bottom of the league, with U.S. Soccer canceling the experiment and withdrawing the national team from the NASL after one season. By the end of 1984, the NASL had folded, leaving the U.S. without a single professional-level outdoor soccer league.


text: The U.S. bid to host the 1986 FIFA World Cup after Colombia withdrew from contention due to economic concerns, but FIFA selected Mexico to host the tournament. In the last game of CONCACAF qualifying for the 1986 World Cup, the U.S. needed only a tie against Costa Rica to reach the final qualification group against Honduras and Canada. U.S. Soccer scheduled the game to be played in Torrance, California, an area with many Costa Rican expatriates, and marketed the game almost exclusively to the Costa Rican community. Costa Rica won the match 1–0, and kept the U.S. from reaching its fourth World Cup finals.


text: In 1988, U.S. Soccer attempted to re-implement its national-team-as-club concept, offering contracts to players to train with the national program full-time while occasionally loaning them to club teams as a revenue source for the federation. This brought many key veterans back into the program and allowed the team to begin playing more matches which, combined with an influx of talent from new youth clubs and leagues established across the nation in the wake of the NASL's popularity, allowed the national team to end the 1980s with optimism and higher hopes of qualifying for the 1990 World Cup than had existed for previous tournaments.


text: On July 4, 1988, FIFA named the U.S. as the host of the 1994 World Cup (success of the 1984 Summer Olympics played the major role), under significant international criticism given the perceived weakness of the national team and the lack of a professional outdoor league. This criticism diminished somewhat when a 1–0 win against Trinidad and Tobago, the first road win for the U.S. in nearly two years, in the last match of the 1989 CONCACAF Championship, earned the U.S. its first World Cup appearance in 40 years.


text: The team was coached by Bob Gansler in preparation for the 1990 World Cup in Italy, with two of the team's more experienced players, Rick Davis and Hugo Perez, recovering from serious injuries and unavailable for selection. Rather than fill out his team with veteran professionals from U.S. indoor soccer leagues as suggested by some, Gansler and his assistant Stejem Mark chose to select many younger players with better conditioning for the outdoor game, including some amateurs playing for college teams. The U.S. entered the tournament as massive underdogs and suffered defeats in all three of its group games to Czechoslovakia, Italy, and Austria.


text: After qualifying automatically as the host of the 1994 World Cup under Bora Milutinović, the U.S. opened its tournament schedule with a 1–1 tie against Switzerland in the Pontiac Silverdome in the suburbs of Detroit, the first World Cup game played indoors. In its second game, the U.S. faced Colombia, then ranked fourth in the world, at the Rose Bowl. Aided by an own goal from Andrés Escobar, the U.S. won 2–1. Escobar was later murdered in his home country, possibly in retaliation for this mistake. Despite a 1–0 loss to Romania in its final group game, the U.S. made it past the initial round for the first time since 1930. In the round of 16, the U.S. lost 1–0 to the eventual champion Brazil. Despite this success, the team fired Bora in 1995, reportedly because he was not interested in administrative duties.


text: In a 1995 friendly, the U.S. came back from 3–0 to win 4–3 against Saudi Arabia, the biggest comeback in the team's history. That same year, the team participated as guest team in the 1995 Copa América, where they finished 1st on its group after beating Chile and Argentina, advancing to quarter finals. On that stage, the U.S. defeated Mexico on penalties but lost to Brazil 1–0 in semifinals. United States finished 4th. after losing to Colombia 4–1.


text: In the 1998 World Cup in France, the team lost all three group matches, 2–0 to Germany, 2–1 to Iran, and 1–0 to Yugoslavia, finishing dead last in the field of 32. Head coach Steve Sampson received much of the blame for the performance as a result of abruptly cutting team captain John Harkes, whom Sampson had named "Captain for Life" shortly before, as well as several other players who were instrumental to the qualifying effort, from the squad. Thomas Dooley became the Captain at that point. It emerged in February 2010 that Sampson removed Harkes from the team due to Harkes allegedly having an affair with teammate Eric Wynalda's wife.


text: The U.S. qualified for the 2002 World Cup; under Bruce Arena, the U.S. reached the quarterfinals, its best finish in a World Cup since 1930. The team advanced in the group stage with a 1W–1L–1D record, beginning with a 3–2 upset win over Portugal, followed by a 1–1 tie with co-host and eventual semifinalist, South Korea. The third and final match was a 3–1 loss to Poland; the team still got to the round of 16 when South Korea defeated Portugal. This set the stage for a face-off with continental rivals Mexico, the first time they met in a World Cup. The U.S. won the game 2–0. Brian McBride opened the scoring early, and Landon Donovan doubled the lead in the 65th minute. In the quarterfinals, where it met Germany, the U.S. lost 1–0 after being denied a penalty when Torsten Frings handled the ball to prevent a Gregg Berhalter goal. All of the U.S. games in the 2002 World Cup were played in South Korea and all their victories came wearing the white uniform, while their only defeats came while wearing the blue uniform.


text: In the 2006 World Cup, after finishing top of the CONCACAF qualification tournament, the U.S. was drawn into Group E along with the Czech Republic, Italy, and Ghana. The United States opened its tournament with a 3–0 loss to the Czech Republic. The team then tied 1–1 against Italy, who went on to win the World Cup. The U.S. was then knocked out of the tournament when beaten 2–1 by Ghana in its final group match, with Clint Dempsey scoring the U.S.'s only goal in the tournament – the goal against Italy had been an own goal by Italian defender Cristian Zaccardo. Following the tournament, Arena's contract was not renewed. After the national team remained dormant for the rest of 2006 while negotiating with various coaches, the federation hired former Chicago Fire, MetroStars and Chivas USA head coach Bob Bradley in early 2007.


text: Bradley began his competitive career with the national team with the 2007 Gold Cup. In the final, the United States beat Mexico 2–1, which qualified it for the 2009 Confederations Cup.


text: The U.S. had a notable performance at the 2009 Confederations Cup. In the semifinals, the U.S. defeated Spain 2–0. At the time, Spain was atop the FIFA World Rankings and was on a run of 35 games undefeated. With the win, the United States advanced to its first-ever final in a men's FIFA tournament. The team lost 3–2 to Brazil after leading 2–0 at half time.


text: The United States then hosted the 2009 Gold Cup. In the final, the United States was beaten by Mexico 5–0. This defeat broke the U.S. team's 58-match home unbeaten streak against CONCACAF opponents, and was the first home loss to Mexico since 1999.


text: In the Fourth round of the 2010 World Cup qualification, the U.S. began by beating Mexico 2–0. The February 2009 loss extended Mexico's losing streak against America on U.S. soil to 11 matches. Jozy Altidore became the youngest U.S. player to score a hat-trick, in a 3–0 victory over Trinidad and Tobago. Near the end of the summer of 2009, the United States lost 2–1 to Mexico at Estadio Azteca. On October 10, the U.S. secured qualification to the 2010 World Cup with a 3–2 win over Honduras. Four days later, the U.S. finished in first place in the group with a 2–2 tie against Costa Rica.


text: In the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the U.S. team was drawn in Group C against England, Slovenia and Algeria. After drawing against England (1–1) and Slovenia (2–2), the U.S. defeated Algeria 1–0 with a stoppage-time goal from Landon Donovan, taking first place in a World Cup Finals group for the first time since 1930. In the round of 16, the U.S. was eliminated by Ghana, 2–1. On FIFA's ranking of World Cup teams the U.S. finished in 12th place out of the 32-team field.


text: The U.S. again hosted the Gold Cup in 2011. The U.S. advanced past the group stage, then defeated Jamaica 2–0 in the quarterfinals and Panama 1–0 in the semifinals before losing to Mexico 4–2 in the final. Later in the summer, Bob Bradley was relieved of his duties and former German national team manager Jürgen Klinsmann was hired as head coach.


text: The U.S. had some success in friendlies in 2012 and 2013. The U.S. team won 1–0 in Italy on February 29, 2012, the team's first-ever win over Italy. On June 2, 2013, the U.S. played a friendly against Germany at a sold-out RFK Stadium in Washington D.C., with the U.S. winning 4–3. In July 2013, the U.S. hosted the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup where it went undefeated in the group stage and won with a 1–0 victory over Panama in the final, with Landon Donovan winning the tournament's golden ball award.


text: A 4–3 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina in an international friendly match in Sarajevo represented the 12th straight win for the USMNT, the longest winning streak for any team in the world at that time. The 12 game winning streak ended September 6, 2013, when the U.S. lost to Costa Rica 3–1 in San José. In 2013 the national team played the final round of qualification, and by defeating Mexico in September, the U.S. clinched a spot in the 2014 World Cup.


text: The U.S. absorbed many German elements leading up to the 2014 World Cup. U.S.'s German head coach Jürgen Klinsmann surprised the U.S. soccer world by calling up five "Jürgen Americans"—half-blooded Germans born and professionally trained in Germany—to the 23-men squad in the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The U.S. was drawn into Group G, along with Ghana, Germany, and Portugal. The U.S. took revenge on the Ghanaians, winning 2–1. They tied their second group game against Portugal 2–2. In the final game of the group stage, the U.S. fell to Germany 1–0, but moved on to the knockout stage on goal difference. This was the first time that the team made two consecutive trips to the knockout stage of the FIFA World Cup. In the round of 16, the U.S. lost 2–1 to Belgium in extra time, despite goalkeeper Tim Howard making a World Cup record 15 saves during the match.


text: The national team's next tournament under Klinsmann was the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup. The U.S. were eliminated by Jamaica 2–1 in the semifinals, before losing to Panama on penalties in the third place match. The fourth-place finish was the worst Gold Cup performance by the national team since 2000, and the first time the team failed to make the tournament final since 2003. In the 2015 CONCACAF Cup playoff to determine the region's entry to the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup, the U.S. were defeated 3–2 by Mexico at the Rose Bowl. In June 2016, the U.S. played as hosts of Copa América Centenario. The U.S. topped Group A on goal difference against Colombia. The U.S. beat Ecuador 2–1 in the quarterfinals, but then fell to Argentina 4–0 and lost to Colombia again 1–0 in the third place match. They finished fourth at the Copa América, tying their best finish ever in 1995.


text: Following consecutive losses to Mexico and Costa Rica in the opening games of the final round of qualification for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Klinsmann was removed as national team coach and technical director and replaced by previous U.S. head coach Bruce Arena. World Cup qualification resumed on March 24, 2017, where Arena and his team had a record 6–0 win over Honduras. Four days later, the team traveled to Panama City, drawing Panama 1–1. After beating Trinidad and Tobago 2–0, the U.S. got their third ever result in World Cup Qualification at the Estadio Azteca when they drew 1–1 against Mexico. In July 2017, the U.S. won their sixth CONCACAF Gold Cup with a 2–1 win over Jamaica in the final. Following a 2–1 defeat to Trinidad and Tobago on October 10, 2017, the U.S. failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, missing the tournament for the first time since 1986. Many pundits and analysts called this the worst result and worst performance in the history of the national team.


text: Following Arena's resignation on October 13, 2017, assistant coach Dave Sarachan was named interim head coach during the search for a permanent replacement. The search for a permanent head coach was delayed by the USSF presidential election in February 2018 and the hiring of Earnie Stewart as general manager in June 2018. Gregg Berhalter, coach of the Columbus Crew and a former USMNT defender, was announced as the team's new head coach on December 2, 2018.


text: Under Berhalter the team lost in the 2019 Gold Cup Final 1–0 against Mexico, denying them a chance at becoming back to back champions. Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, an influx of new young talent began to grow into a host of players playing for top European clubs, with Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams, Yunus Musah, Brendan Aaronson, Sergiño Dest, and Gio Reyna being some of the more notable names. This new group won the inaugural CONCACAF Nations League in 2021 with a classic 3–2 victory against Mexico in the final. An entirely different team also won the Gold Cup against Mexico later that summer. With a 1–0 friendly victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina on December 18, 2021, the team set a program record for wins in a calendar year, with 17 wins, 2 losses, and 3 draws. The young group has been widely described as America's golden generation.


text: The United States qualified for the 2022 World Cup by finishing third in the final qualifying round. The qualifying campaign included an unbeaten record at home and a draw away to Mexico at Estadio Azteca. Grouped with England, Iran, and Wales in Group B, the team advanced to the knockout stage as runners-up with five points and without losing a game. There, they faced the Netherlands, suffering a 1–3 defeat.


text: Since their first unofficial game against Canada, the most common U.S. uniform has been white tops with blue shorts. In 1950, the U.S. adopted a Peru-styled diagonal stripe or "sash" across the shirt. The stripe has been on third uniforms for 2003, 2004, and 2006, as well as the 2010 home, road and third uniforms. An additional color scheme based on the U.S. flag has been occasionally used (most prominently in the 1994 World Cup and 2012–13 qualifiers as well the 1983 Team America franchise of the North American Soccer League) comprising a shirt with red and white stripes with blue shorts.


text: German brand Adidas provided the uniform for the United States from 1984 until 1994. Since 1995, American company Nike has been the uniform supplier.


text: The teams of Mexico and the United States are widely considered as the two major powers of CONCACAF. Matches between the two nations often attract much media attention, public interest and comment in both countries. Although the first match was played in 1934, their rivalry was not considered major until the 1980s, when the teams began to frequently compete in CONCACAF cups. On August 15, 2012, the United States defeated Mexico at Estadio Azteca in the first victory for the U.S. against Mexico on Mexican soil in 75 years.


text: Ever since their first meeting in 1934, the two teams have met 74 times, with Mexico leading the overall series 36–22–16 (W–L–T), outscoring the U.S. 144–86. However, since the 1990s, the tide began to change due to a rapid growth of soccer in the United States. During the 21st century, the series has favored the U.S. 17–9–7 (W–L–T). Either the United States or Mexico has won every edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup except one (the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup was won by Canada).


text: The US has a second, less bitter rival in Canada. The two teams frequently face each other in the Gold Cup, however the United States has historically been the stronger side. America currently leads the series 16-10-12 (W-L-T). The United States has qualified for 11 World Cups while Canada has qualified for two. Until recently, Canada was not seen as a competitive rival by a number of American fans as they had not beaten the United States in a 34-year stretch. That streak was snapped on October 15, 2019, when Canada defeated the United States 2–0 at BMO Field in Toronto. The following month, on November 15, the United States beat Canada 4–1 in Orlando. Since then, matches between the two have been very competitive. The US defeated Canada 1–0 in a 2021 Gold Cup matchup in Kansas City. In 2022 World Cup qualifying, Canada earned a 1–1 draw in Nashville and defeated the US 2–0 in Hamilton.


text: In recent years the United States has also begun to develop a rivalry with Costa Rica. The most notable match, and the impetus of the rivalry itself, occurred on Friday, March 22, 2013, in a 2014 World Cup qualifying match played at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City under blizzard conditions. Costa Rica filed a protest with FIFA due to field conditions when the United States won the game 1–0, but the protest was denied. The game has already been dubbed in soccer lore as "Snow Clasico" for the conditions. The United States have never defeated Costa Rica in Costa Rica, losing 10 meetings and drawing twice.


text: There have been two main supporter groups backing the United States men's national soccer team, Sam's Army and The American Outlaws. Sam's Army started shortly after the 1994 World Cup in the United States and were active through 2014. Sam's Army members wore red to matches and sung or chanted throughout the match. They often brought huge U.S. flags and other banners to the game.


text: The American Outlaws was started in Lincoln, Nebraska in 2007 as a local supporters' group. The group's membership attempted to address a lack of consistency from game to game in supporter organization and social events on match days. To achieve this goal, the American Outlaws became a nationwide, non-profit supporters' group. Some American Outlaws members wear U.S. flag bandanas over their faces and commonly wear soccer supporter scarves. Some branches of the American Outlaws have their own scarves specific to their branch.


text: The U.S. men's national team has had a tremendous following on social media, especially Twitter and Instagram in recent years. Interest in young American players and the attention they bring has led to an increase in foreign investment in U.S. players.


text: The United States does not have a dedicated national stadium like most other national teams; instead, the team has played their home matches at 116 venues in 29 states and the District of Columbia. Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, located in the national capital of Washington, D.C., has hosted 24 matches, the most of any stadium. The state of California has hosted 114 matches, the most of any state, and the Los Angeles metropolitan area has hosted 77 matches at several venues in and around the city of Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum hosted 20 matches from 1965 to 2000, but fell out of use due to its age. The Rose Bowl, a 92,000-seat venue in Pasadena, has hosted 17 national team matches, as well as the 1994 FIFA World Cup Final, the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup Final, and the 1984 Olympics Gold Medal Match.


text: Warner Bros. Discovery Sports has the English language rights for U.S. Soccer broadcasts from 2022 to 2030. All matches are streaming live on HBO Max with matches also on TNT and TBS. In June 2021, CBS Sports acquired partial rights to select U.S. Soccer matches, including FIFA World Cup qualifiers and the Nations League Finals, to be broadcast mainly on CBS Sports Network and the Paramount+ streaming service, with some matches being broadcast nationwide on CBS. Univision Deportes has the Spanish language rights to all U.S. Soccer broadcasts from 2015 to 2022. These agreements do not apply to FIFA World Cup away qualifiers, whose rights are distributed by the host country. Therefore, these matches can often be found on other networks such as beIN Sports and Telemundo.


text: The following is a list of match results from the previous 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.


text: The U.S. regularly competes at the FIFA World Cup, the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the CONCACAF Nations League, and the Summer Olympics. The U.S. has also played in the FIFA Confederations Cup, the Copa América by invitation, as well as several minor tournaments.


text: The best result for the United States in a World Cup tournament came in 1930 when the team reached the semifinals. The team included six naturalized internationals, five of them from Scotland and one from England. The best result in the modern era is the 2002 World Cup, when the U.S. reached the quarterfinals. The worst world Cup tournament results in the modern era were group stage eliminations in 1990, 1998, and 2006, although the country failed to even qualify for the final tournament in 2018.


text: In the Confederations Cup, the United States finished in third place in both 1992 and 1999, and were runner-up in 2009. The United States appeared in their first intercontinental tournament final at the 2009 Confederations Cup. In the semifinals, the United States upset top ranked Spain 2–0, to advance to the final. In the final, the United States lost 3–2 to Brazil after leading 2–0 at halftime.


text: The U.S. men's soccer team have played in the Summer Olympics since 1924. From that tournament to 1980, only amateur and state-sponsored Eastern European players were allowed on Olympic teams. The Olympics became a full international tournament in 1984 after the IOC allowed full national teams from outside FIFA CONMEBOL & UEFA confederations. Ever since 1992 the men's Olympic event has been age-restricted, under 23 plus three overage players, and participation has been by the United States men's national under-23 soccer team.


text: In regional competitions, the United States has won the CONCACAF Gold Cup seven times, with their most recent title in 2021. They won the inaugural CONCACAF Nations League in 2021. Their best ever finish at the Copa América was fourth-place at the 1995 and 2016 editions.


title: James Earl Jones

text: James Earl Jones (born January 17, 1931) is an American actor. He has been described as "one of America's most distinguished and versatile" actors for his performances in film, television, and theater, and "one of the greatest actors in American history". With a career spanning six decades, Jones is among the few performers awarded an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony (EGOT). Jones's voice has been praised as a "a stirring basso profondo that has lent gravel and gravitas" to his projects, including live-action acting, voice acting, and commercial voice-overs.


title: James Earl Jones

text: Born with a childhood stutter, Jones has said that poetry and acting helped him overcome the disability. A pre-med major in college, he served in the United States Army during the Korean War before pursuing a career in acting. Since his Broadway debut in 1957, he has performed in several Shakespeare plays including "Othello", "Hamlet", "Coriolanus", and "King Lear". Jones made his film debut in Stanley Kubrick's 1964 film "Dr. Strangelove". Jones worked steadily in theater winning his first Tony Award in 1968 for his role in "The Great White Hope", which he reprised in the 1970 film adaptation earning him Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations. He received his second Golden Globe Award nomination for his leading role opposite Diahann Carroll in the 1974 romantic comedy-drama film "Claudine". Jones gained international fame for providing the voice of Darth Vader in the "Star Wars" franchise, beginning with the original 1977 film.


title: James Earl Jones

text: He won his second Tony Award in 1987 for his role in August Wilson's "Fences". Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Jones appeared in a number of other successful films, including "Conan the Barbarian" (1982), "Matewan" (1987), "Coming to America" (1988), "Field of Dreams" (1989), "The Hunt for Red October" (1990), "The Sandlot" (1993), and "The Lion King" (1994). During the 21st century, Jones has continued working in the theater, starring alongside Phylicia Rashad in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" in 2008, and Angela Lansbury in Gore Vidal's "The Best Man" (2012) on Broadway and in an Australian tour of "Driving Miss Daisy" (2013). He also appeared in "You Can't Take it With You" (2014) with Annaleigh Ashford and in "The Gin Game" (2015–16) alongside Cicely Tyson. Jones has reprised his roles in recent "Star Wars" media, "The Lion King" (2019) and "Coming 2 America" (2021).


title: James Earl Jones

text: Over his career, Jones has won three Tony Awards (out of five nominations), two Primetime Emmy Awards and a Grammy Award. He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1985. Jones was presented with the National Medal of the Arts by President George H. W. Bush in 1992. He received the Kennedy Center Honor in 2002. Jones was invited by President Barack Obama to perform Shakespeare at the White House Evening for Poetry in 2009. That same year he also received the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. He received an Honorary Academy Award on November 12, 2011. Jones received an Honorary Doctor of Arts degree from Harvard University on May 25, 2017. He was honored with a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2017. On September 12, 2022, the Cort Theatre, a Broadway theater in Manhattan, New York City, was renamed the James Earl Jones Theatre in his honor.


title: James Earl Jones

text: James Earl Jones was born in Arkabutla, Mississippi, on January 17, 1931, to Ruth ("née" Connolly); (1911–1986), a teacher and maid, and Robert Earl Jones (1910–2006), a boxer, butler and chauffeur. His father left the family shortly after James Earl's birth and later became a stage and screen actor in New York and Hollywood. Jones and his father did not get to know each other until the 1950s, when they reconciled. He has said in interviews that his parents were both of mixed African-American, Irish and Native American ancestry.


title: James Earl Jones

text: From the age of five, Jones was raised by his maternal grandparents, John Henry and Maggie Connolly, on their farm in Jackson, Michigan; they had moved from Mississippi in the Great Migration. Jones found the transition to living with his grandparents in Michigan traumatic and developed a stutter so severe that he refused to speak. "I was a stutterer. I couldn't talk. So my first year of school was my first mute year, and then those mute years continued until I got to high school." He credits his English teacher, Donald Crouch, who discovered he had a gift for writing poetry, with helping him end his silence. Crouch urged him to challenge his reluctance to speak through reading poetry aloud to the class.


title: James Earl Jones

text: Jones was educated at the Browning School for boys in his high school years and graduated in 1949 as vice president of his class from Dickson Rural Agricultural School (now Brethren High School) in Brethren, Michigan. He attended the University of Michigan, where he was initially a pre-med major. He joined the Reserve Officers' Training Corps and excelled. He felt comfortable within the structure of the military environment and enjoyed the camaraderie of his fellow cadets in the Pershing Rifles Drill Team and Scabbard and Blade Honor Society. During the course of his studies, Jones discovered he was not cut out to be a doctor.


title: James Earl Jones

text: Instead, he focused on drama at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance with the thought of doing something he enjoyed, before, he assumed, he would have to go off to fight in the Korean War. After four years of college, Jones graduated from the university in 1955.


title: James Earl Jones

text: With the war intensifying in Korea, Jones expected to be deployed as soon as he received his commission as a second lieutenant. As he waited for his orders, he worked as a part-time stage crew hand at the Ramsdell Theatre in Manistee, Michigan, where he had earlier performed. Jones was commissioned in mid-1953, after the Korean War's end, and reported to Fort Benning to attend the Infantry Officers Basic Course. He attended Ranger School and received his Ranger Tab. Jones was assigned to Headquarter and Headquarters Company, 38th Regimental Combat Team. He was initially to report to Fort Leonard Wood, but his unit was instead sent to establish a cold-weather training command at the former Camp Hale near Leadville, Colorado. His battalion became a training unit in the rugged terrain of the Rocky Mountains. Jones was promoted to first lieutenant prior to his discharge.


title: James Earl Jones

text: He moved to New York, where he studied at the American Theatre Wing. He worked as a janitor to support himself.


title: James Earl Jones

text: Jones began his acting career at the Ramsdell Theatre in Manistee, Michigan. In 1953, he was a stage carpenter. During the 1955–57 seasons, he was an actor and stage manager. He performed his first portrayal of Shakespeare's "Othello" in this theater in 1955. His early career also included an appearance in the ABC radio anthology series "Theatre-Five". In 1957, he made his Broadway debut as understudy to Lloyd Richards in the short-lived play "The Egghead" by Molly Kazan. The play ran only 21 performances, however three months later, Jones created the featured role of Edward the butler in Dore Schary's "Sunrise at Campobello" at the Cort Theatre in January 1958.


title: James Earl Jones

text: During the early to mid 1960s, Jones acted in various works of William Shakespeare, becoming one of the best known Shakespeareian actors of the time. He tackled roles such as "Othello" and "King Lear", Oberon in "A Midsummer Night's Dream", Abhorson in "Measure for Measure", and Claudius in "Hamlet".


title: James Earl Jones

text: Also during this time, Jones made his film debut in Stanley Kubrick's "" (1964) as the young Lt. Lothar Zogg, the B-52 bombardier. Jones would later play a surgeon and Haitian rebel leader in "The Comedians", alongside Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor and Alec Guinness.


title: James Earl Jones

text: In December 1967, Jones starred alongside Jane Alexander in Howard Sackler's play "The Great White Hope" at the Arena Stage in Washington D.C. Jones took the role of the talented but troubled boxer "Jack Jefferson," who is based on the real champion Jack Johnson. The play was a huge success when it moved to Broadway on October 3, 1968. The play was well received, winning the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Jones himself won the 1969 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play, and the Drama Desk Award for his performance.


title: James Earl Jones

text: In 1969, Jones participated in making test films for the children's education series "Sesame Street"; these shorts, combined with animated segments, were shown to groups of children to gauge the effectiveness of the then-groundbreaking "Sesame Street" format. As cited by production notes included in the DVD release "", the short that had the greatest impact with test audiences was one showing bald-headed Jones counting slowly to ten. This and other segments featuring Jones were eventually aired as part of the "Sesame Street" series itself when it debuted later in 1969 and Jones is often cited as the first celebrity guest on that series, although a segment with Carol Burnett was the first to actually be broadcast. He also appeared on the soap opera "Guiding Light".


title: James Earl Jones

text: In 1973, Jones played Hickey on Broadway at the Circle in the Square Theater in a revival of Eugene O'Neill's "The Iceman Cometh". Jones played Lennie on Broadway in the 1974 Brooks Atkinson Theatre production of the adaptation of John Steinbeck's novella, "Of Mice and Men", with Kevin Conway as George and Pamela Blair as Curley's Wife. That same year he starred in the title role of William Shakespeare's "King Lear" opposite Paul Sorvino, René Auberjonois and Raul Julia at the New York City Shakespeare Festival in Central Park.


title: James Earl Jones

text: In 1970, Jones reunited with Jane Alexander in the film adaptation of "The Great White Hope". This would be Jones' first leading film role. Jones portrayed boxer Jack Johnson, a role he had previously originated on stage. His performance was acclaimed by critics and earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. He was the second African-American male performer after Sidney Poitier to be nominated for this award. "Variety" described his performance declaring, "Jones' re-creation of his stage role is an eye-riveting experience. The towering rages and unrestrained joys of which his character was capable are portrayed larger than life."


title: James Earl Jones

text: In "" (1972), Jones starred as a senator who unexpectedly becomes the first African-American president of the United States. The film also starred Martin Balsam and Burgess Meredith.


title: James Earl Jones

text: In 1974, Jones co-starred with Diahann Carroll in the film "Claudine", the story of a woman who raises her six children alone after two failed and two "almost" marriages. The film is a romantic comedy and drama, focusing on systemic racial disparities black families face. It was one of the first major films to tackle themes such as welfare, economic inequality, and the typical marriage of men and women in the African American community during the 1970s. Jones and Carroll received widespread critical acclaim and Golden Globe nominations for their performances. Carroll was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress.


title: James Earl Jones

text: In 1977, Jones made his debut in his iconic voiceover role as Darth Vader in George Lucas' space opera blockbuster film "Star Wars: A New Hope", which he would reprise for the sequels "The Empire Strikes Back" (1980) and "Return of the Jedi" (1983). Darth Vader was portrayed in costume by David Prowse in the film trilogy, with Jones dubbing Vader's dialogue in postproduction because Prowse's strong West Country accent was deemed unsuitable for the role by director George Lucas. At his own request, Jones was uncredited for the release of the first two "Star Wars" films, though he would be credited for the third film and eventually also for the first film's 1997 "Special Edition" re-release. As he explained in a 2008 interview:


title: James Earl Jones

text: In 1977, Jones also received a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for "Great American Documents".


title: James Earl Jones

text: In late 1979, Jones appeared on the short-lived CBS police drama "Paris", which was notable as the first program on which Steven Bochco served as executive producer. Jones also starred that year in the critically acclaimed TV mini-series sequel "" as the older version of author Alex Haley.


title: James Earl Jones

text: In 1987, Jones starred in August Wilson's play "Fences" as Troy Maxson, a middle aged working class father who struggles to provide for his family. The play, set in the 1950s, is part of Wilson's ten-part "Pittsburgh Cycle". The play explores the evolving African American experience and examines race relations, among other themes. Jones won widespread critical acclaim, earning himself his second Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play.


title: James Earl Jones

text: Beside the "Star Wars" sequels, Jones was featured in several other box office hits of the 1980s: the action/fantasy film "Conan the Barbarian" (1982), the Eddie Murphy comedy "Coming to America" (1988), and the sports drama/fantasy "Field of Dreams" (1989) which earned an Academy Award for Best Picture nomination. He also starred in the independent film "Matewan" (1987). The film dramatized the events of the Battle of Matewan, a coal miners' strike in 1920 in Matewan, a small town in the hills of West Virginia. He received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for his performance.


title: James Earl Jones

text: In 1985, Jones lent his bass voice as Pharaoh in the first episode of Hanna-Barbera's "". From 1989 to 1992, Jones served as the host of the children's TV series "Long Ago and Far Away".


title: James Earl Jones

text: Jones appeared in several more successful films during the early-to-mid 1990s, including "The Hunt for Red October" (1990), "Patriot Games" (1992), "The Sandlot" (1993), "Clear and Present Danger" (1994), and "Cry, the Beloved Country" (1995). He also lent his distinctive bass voice to the role of Mufasa in the 1994 Disney animated film "The Lion King".


title: James Earl Jones

text: Jones has the distinction of winning two Primetime Emmys in the same year, in 1991 as Best Actor for his role in "Gabriel's Fire" and as Best Supporting Actor for his work in "Heat Wave".


title: James Earl Jones

text: He has played lead characters on television in three series. The second show aired on ABC between 1990 and 1992, the first season being titled "Gabriel's Fire" and the second (after a format revision) "Pros and Cons". In both formats of that show, Jones played a former policeman wrongly convicted of murder who, upon his release from prison, became a private eye. In 1995, Jones starred in "Under One Roof" as Neb Langston, a widowed African-American police officer sharing his home in Seattle with his daughter, his married son with his children, and Neb's newly adopted son. The show was a mid-season replacement and lasted only six weeks, but earned him another Emmy nomination. He also portrayed Thad Green on "Mathnet", a parody of "Dragnet" that appeared in the PBS program "Square One Television". In 1998, Jones starred in the widely acclaimed syndicated program "An American Moment" (created by James R. Kirk and Ninth Wave Productions). Jones took over the role left by Charles Kuralt, upon Kuralt's death.


title: James Earl Jones

text: James has guest starred in many television shows over the years, including for NBC's "Law & Order", "Frasier", and "Will & Grace", and ABC's "". In 1990, Jones performed voice work for "The Simpsons" first "Treehouse of Horror" Halloween special, in which he was the narrator for the Simpsons' version of Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven". He also voiced the Emperor of the Night in "Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night" and Ommadon in "Flight of Dragons". Accompanied by the Morgan State University choir, Jones spoke the U.S. National Anthem before the 1993 Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Baltimore. In 1996, he recited the classic baseball poem "Casey at the Bat" with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, and in 2007 before a Philadelphia Phillies home game on June 1, 2007.


title: James Earl Jones

text: During the 2000s Jones made appearances on various television shows such as CBS's "Two and a Half Men", the WB drama "Everwood", Fox's medical drama "House, M.D.", and CBS's "The Big Bang Theory".


title: James Earl Jones

text: In 2002, Jones received Kennedy Center Honors at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. Also at the ceremony included fellow honorees Paul Simon, Elizabeth Taylor, and Chita Rivera. President George W. Bush joked, "People say that the voice of the president is the most easily recognized voice in America. Well, I'm not going to make that claim in the presence of James Earl Jones." Those there to honor Jones included, Sidney Poitier, Kelsey Grammer, Charles S. Dutton, and Courtney B. Vance.


title: James Earl Jones

text: He also has done the CNN tagline, "This is CNN", as well as "This is CNN International", and the opening for CNN's morning show "New Day". Jones was also a longtime spokesman for Bell Atlantic and later Verizon. He also lent his voice to the opening for NBC's coverage of the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics; "the Big PI in the Sky" (God) in the computer game "Under a Killing Moon"; a Claymation film, "The Creation"; and several other guest spots on "The Simpsons". Jones narrated all 27 books of the New Testament in the audiobook "James Earl Jones Reads the Bible".


title: James Earl Jones

text: Although uncredited, Jones's voice is possibly heard as Darth Vader at the conclusion of "" (2005). When specifically asked whether he had supplied the voice, possibly from a previous recording, Jones told "Newsday": "You'd have to ask Lucas about that. I don't know."


title: James Earl Jones

text: On April 7, 2005, Jones and Leslie Uggams headed the cast in an African-American Broadway revival version of "On Golden Pond", directed by Leonard Foglia and produced by Jeffrey Finn. In February 2008, he starred on Broadway as Big Daddy in a limited-run, all-African-American production of Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer Prize-winning drama "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof", directed by Debbie Allen and mounted at the Broadhurst Theatre. In November 2009, James reprised the role of Big Daddy in "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof" at the Novello Theatre in London's West End. This production also stars Sanaa Lathan as Maggie, Phylicia Rashad as Big Mamma, and Adrian Lester as Brick.


title: James Earl Jones

text: In 2009, Jones appeared as a patient in the fourth episode of the sixth season of the medical drama House M.D.


title: James Earl Jones

text: Also in 2009, for his work on film and television, Jones was presented with the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award by Forest Whitaker.


title: James Earl Jones

text: In October 2010, Jones returned to the Broadway stage in Alfred Uhry's "Driving Miss Daisy", along with Vanessa Redgrave at the Golden Theatre.


title: James Earl Jones

text: In November 2011, Jones starred in "Driving Miss Daisy" in London's West End, and on November 12 received an honorary Oscar in front of the audience at the Wyndham's Theatre, which was presented to him by Ben Kingsley.


title: James Earl Jones

text: In March 2012, Jones played the role of President Art Hockstader in Gore Vidal's "The Best Man" on Broadway at the Schoenfeld Theatre: he was nominated for a Tony for Best Performance in a Lead Role in a Revival. The play also starred Angela Lansbury, John Larroquette (as candidate William Russell), Candice Bergen, Eric McCormack (as candidate Senator Joseph Cantwell), Jefferson Mays, Michael McKean, and Kerry Butler, with direction by Michael Wilson.


title: James Earl Jones

text: In 2013, Jones starred opposite Vanessa Redgrave in a production of "Much Ado About Nothing" directed by Mark Rylance at The Old Vic, London.


title: James Earl Jones

text: From February to June 2013, Jones starred alongside Dame Angela Lansbury in an Australian tour of "Driving Miss Daisy".


title: James Earl Jones

text: In 2014, Jones starred alongside Annaleigh Ashford as Grandpa in the Broadway revival "You Can't Take it With You" at the Longacre Theatre, Broadway. Ashford received a Tony Award nomination for her performance.


title: James Earl Jones

text: On September 23, 2015, Jones opened in a new revival of "The Gin Game" opposite Cicely Tyson, in the John Golden Theater, where the play had originally premiered (with Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy). The play had a planned limited run of 16 weeks. It closed on January 10, 2016.


title: James Earl Jones

text: In 2013–2014, he appeared alongside Malcolm McDowell in a series of commercials for Sprint in which the two recited mundane phone and text-message conversations in a dramatic way. In 2015, Jones starred as the Chief Justice Caleb Thorne in the American drama series "Agent X" alongside actress Sharon Stone, Jeff Hephner, Jamey Sheridan, and others. The television series was aired by TNT from November 8 to December 27, 2015, running only one season and 10 episodes.


title: James Earl Jones

text: Jones officially reprised his voice role of Darth Vader for the character's appearances in the animated TV series "Star Wars Rebels" and the live-action film "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" (2016), as well as for a brief voice cameo in "" (2019).


title: James Earl Jones

text: In 2019, he reprised his voice role of Mufasa for the CGI remake of "The Lion King", directed by Jon Favreau, in which he was the only original cast member to do so. According to Favreau, Jones's lines remained mostly the same from the original film. Chiwetel Ejiofor, who voiced Mufasa's evil brother Scar in the remake, said that "the comfort of [Jones reprising his role] is going to be very rewarding in taking [the audience] on this journey again. It's a once-in-a-generation vocal quality."


title: James Earl Jones

text: Jones reprised the role of King Jaffe Joffer in "Coming 2 America" (2021), the sequel to "Coming to America" (1988). In 2022, his voice was used via Respeecher software for Darth Vader in the Disney+ miniseries "Obi-Wan Kenobi". During production, Jones signed a deal with Lucasfilm authorizing archival recordings of his voice to be used in the future to artificially generate the voice of Darth Vader. In September 2022, Jones announced that he would retire from the role of voicing Darth Vader with future voice roles for Vader being created with AI voice software using archive audio of Jones.


title: James Earl Jones

text: In 1968, Jones married actress and singer Julienne Marie, whom he met while performing as Othello in 1964. They had no children and divorced in 1972. In 1982, he married actress Cecilia Hart, with whom he had one child, son Flynn (born 1982). Hart died from ovarian cancer on October 16, 2016.


title: James Earl Jones

text: In April 2016, Jones spoke publicly for the first time in nearly 20 years about his long-term health challenge with type 2 diabetes. He was diagnosed in the mid-1990s after his doctor noticed he had fallen asleep while exercising at a gym.