title: Battle of Waterloo

text: So far, a reason given for the absence of human remains in any quantity was that European battlefields of the time were often scoured for bones to make bone meal, which was much in demand as a fertilizer before the discovery of superphosphates in the 1840s. This theory however is questionable, as actual evidence for it is lacking. In 2022 however, historians Dr. Bernard Wilkin (Belgium) and Rob Schäfer (Germany), supported by the British battlefield archaeologist Professor Tony Pollard, have concluded that in the aftermath of the conflict, local farmers dug up the corpses of horses and men and sold them to the local beet sugar industry. There, the ground-down bones were fired in kilns to make bone-char, which was then used to filter sugar syrup as part of the production process.


title: Battle of Waterloo

text: As part of the bicentennial celebration of the battle, in 2015 Belgium minted a two-euro coin depicting the Lion monument over a map of the field of battle. France officially protested against this issue of coins, while the Belgian government noted that the French mint sells souvenir medals at Waterloo. After 180,000 coins were minted but not released, the issue was melted. Instead, Belgium issued an identical commemorative coin in the non-standard value of euros. Legally valid only within the issuing country (but unlikely to circulate) it was minted in brass, packaged, and sold by the Belgian mint for 6 euros. A ten-euro coin, showing Wellington, Blücher, their troops and the silhouette of Napoleon, was also available in silver for 42 euros.


title: Edward Norton

text: Edward Harrison Norton (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received numerous awards and nominations, including a Golden Globe Award and three Academy Award nominations.


title: Edward Norton

text: Born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised in Columbia, Maryland, Norton was drawn to theatrical productions at local venues as a child. After graduating from Yale College in 1991, he worked for a few months in Japan before moving to New York City to pursue an acting career. He gained immediate recognition and critical acclaim for his debut in "Primal Fear" (1996), which earned him a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor and an Academy Award nomination in the same category. His role as a reformed neo-Nazi in "American History X" (1998) earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. He also starred in the film "Fight Club" (1999), which garnered a cult following.


title: Edward Norton

text: Norton emerged as a filmmaker in the 2000s. He established the production company Class 5 Films in 2003, and was director or producer of the films "Keeping the Faith" (2000), "Down in the Valley" (2005), and "The Painted Veil" (2006). He continued to receive critical acclaim for his acting roles in films such as "The Score" (2001), "25th Hour" (2002), "The Illusionist" (2006), "Moonrise Kingdom" (2012), and "The Grand Budapest Hotel" (2014). His biggest commercial successes have been "Red Dragon" (2002), "Kingdom of Heaven" (2005), "The Incredible Hulk" (2008), "The Bourne Legacy" (2012), and "" (2022). For his role in the black comedy "Birdman" (2014), Norton earned another Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.


title: Edward Norton

text: Despite critical plaudits, Norton has gained notoriety for being difficult to work with, including incidents such as editing the final cuts and rewriting screenplays against the will of other producers. He is discreet about his personal life and has expressed no interest in being a celebrity. Besides acting and filmmaking, he is an environmental activist and social entrepreneur. He is a trustee of Enterprise Community Partners, a non-profit organization which advocates for affordable housing, and serves as president of the American branch of the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust. He is also the UN Goodwill Ambassador for Biodiversity. He is married to Canadian film producer Shauna Robertson, with whom he has one child. In March 2022, on the day of another sentencing of Russian opposition leader and political prisoner Alexei Navalny, Norton became the first celebrity sponsor of the international Anti-Corruption Foundation.


title: Edward Norton

text: Edward Harrison Norton was born into a progressive Episcopalian family in Boston, Massachusetts, on August 18, 1969. He was raised in Columbia, Maryland. His father, Edward Mower Norton Jr., served in Vietnam as a Marine lieutenant before becoming an environmental lawyer and conservation advocate working in Asia and a federal prosecutor in the Carter administration. His mother, Lydia Robinson "Robin" Rouse, was an English teacher who died of a brain tumor in 1997. Norton's maternal grandfather, James Rouse, was the founder of real-estate developer The Rouse Company and co-founder of the real estate corporation Enterprise Community Partners. He has two younger siblings named Molly and James.


title: Edward Norton

text: At age five, Norton saw the musical "Cinderella" with his parents at the Columbia Center for Theatrical Arts (CCTA), which ignited his interest in the theater. He enjoyed watching films with his father as a pre-teen, but later reflected that he was fascinated with the cinematography rather than the acting. Norton recalled that it was theater and not films that inspired him to act. He made his professional debut at the age of eight in the musical "Annie Get Your Gun" at his hometown's Toby's Dinner Theatre. At the CCTA, he acted in several theatrical productions directed by Toby Orenstein.


title: Edward Norton

text: In 1984, Norton won the acting cup at Pasquaney, an annual summer camp for boys in Hebron, New Hampshire, where he later returned as a theater director. He subsequently immersed himself in films, naming Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro as two of his early inspirations because "the ones [he] liked were also the ones who made [him] think [he] could do it because they weren't the most handsome guys". He graduated from Wilde Lake High School in 1987. He attended Yale College, where he earned a BA in History. While there, he also studied Japanese, acted in university productions, and was a competitive rower. After graduating from Yale in 1991, conversant in Japanese, Norton worked not-for-profit as a representative for his grandfather's company Enterprise Community Partners in Osaka, Japan. He also trained in aikido and krav maga in both the U.S. and Japan.


title: Edward Norton

text: After five months in Japan, Norton moved to New York City, where he supported himself working odd jobs. He took six months researching different acting techniques, focusing on method acting. He later took lessons from acting coach Terry Schreiber after discovering he was looking for a Japanese translator to help direct a play in Tokyo. Norton described him as a great teacher who encouraged students to become "multilingual actors" with different techniques for versatile roles.


title: Edward Norton

text: Norton also wrote scripts for plays at the Signature Theatre Company and starred in Off-Broadway theater. His performance in Brian Friel's "Lovers" brought him to the attention of playwright Edward Albee, whose one-act plays Norton enjoyed. In 1994, Norton auditioned for Albee's "Finding the Sun" but did not get the part. Albee found a new role for him instead and had Norton read for "Fragments". The playwright was impressed with Norton's rehearsal performance and cast him for its world premiere. Albee remarked that Norton was a rare actor "who really knocked me out". Norton recalled that he was inspired by Al Pacino, who also began his career in theater while struggling to establish himself in New York.


title: Edward Norton

text: In 1995, casting agent Shirley Rich discovered Norton. He then rented a studio space near The Public Theater and presented his auditions of Shakespearean works to her. Impressed by his acting, she introduced Norton to the executives of the noir drama "Primal Fear", an adaptation of William Diehl's 1993 novel. He was selected for the part over two thousand other prospects. Released in 1996, "Primal Fear" features Norton in the role of Aaron Stampler, an altar boy who is charged with the murder of a Roman Catholic archbishop and is defended by Martin Vail (Richard Gere). His performance was lauded by critics; the "Chicago Sun-Times" praised Norton's character as "completely convincing", while the "San Francisco Chronicle" dubbed the actor "the one to watch" after his compelling debut. Norton won a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor and was nominated for an Academy Award in the same category for his role in the film. Norton starred in two other films released in 1996; he played Holden Spence in the musical "Everyone Says I Love You" and lawyer Alan Isaacman in the biographical drama "The People vs. Larry Flynt".


title: Edward Norton

text: In 1998, Norton starred alongside Matt Damon in "Rounders", which follows two friends who urgently need cash and play poker to pay off a huge debt. The film and Norton's performance received a lukewarm response; "Entertainment Weekly" wrote that his acting "never really goes anywhere", while the "Chicago Reader" observed that his character was not good enough to make the film interesting. His role in the crime drama "American History X", released later that year, earned him widespread acclaim. In it, Norton portrays Derek Vinyard, a reformed neo-Nazi, who abandons his preconceived ideology after three years in prison. During production, Norton was allegedly dissatisfied with director Tony Kaye's first screening. Consequently, he took over the editing (uncredited) and finished the final cut, which was 40 minutes longer than Kaye's version. "The New Yorker" wrote that he gave Derek an "ambiguous erotic allure" which made the film memorable, while the "Chicago Tribune" deemed his performance an immediate contender for an Oscar. Norton received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor, and won a Golden Satellite Award in the same category.


title: Edward Norton

text: In the 1999 David Fincher-directed film "Fight Club", Norton played an unnamed unreliable narrator who feels trapped in his white-collar job. The film is based on Chuck Palahniuk's 1996 novel. To prepare for the role, Norton took lessons in boxing, taekwondo and grappling. "Fight Club" premiered at the 1999 Venice International Film Festival. During promotion for the film, Norton explained that "Fight Club" examines the value conflicts of Generation X as the first generation raised on television, by probing "the despair and paralysis that people feel in the face of having inherited this value system out of advertising". While the film divided contemporary critics, Norton's role was widely applauded. "Time" magazine labeled him "excellent", and "Variety" magazine was impressed by his embracing a range of techniques needed for his character. For his performance, Norton was nominated for Best Actor by the Online Film Critics Society. Despite under-performing at the box office, "Fight Club" became a cult classic after its DVD release in 2000.


title: Edward Norton

text: In 2000, Norton made his directorial debut with the romantic comedy "Keeping the Faith", starring as a priest named Brian Finn. The film received mixed critical reviews. "The Dallas Morning News" praised his acting and labeled the film "a smart directorial debut". "Entertainment Weekly" remarked that Norton's emergence as a director was decent, but criticized the plot because it "proposes heavy theological aims, then disavows any such thing". In 2001's heist film "The Score", Norton plays Jack Teller, an ambitious young thief caught in an unlikely alliance with experienced thief Nick Wells (Robert De Niro) arranged by his long-time friend Max (Marlon Brando). "The Score" and Norton's performance was well received. The "San Francisco Chronicle" stated that despite starring with screen legends De Niro and Brando, Norton's acting "outdoes even that of Brando". The "Los Angeles Times" also lauded him as an "enormously gifted young actor" who pulled off the character successfully.


title: Edward Norton

text: Norton appeared in four films released in 2002. He played kids show host Sheldon Mopes, who quickly rises to fame for his character "Smoochy the Rhino", in the black comedy "Death to Smoochy". It received negative critical feedback for its plot. He also portrayed Nelson Rockefeller in the biopic film "Frida", which depicts the life of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (Salma Hayek). Norton rewrote the script several times without credit, focusing on the historical context and adding some humor while retaining Kahlo's real-life crude personality. The final screenplay, with Norton's contribution, received positive reviews from critics as well as admiration from the film's co-stars including Hayek and Alfred Molina. In the horror film "Red Dragon", Norton starred as retired FBI profiler Will Graham, who is assigned to track down a mysterious serial killer utilizing his psychological abilities. During production, Norton and director Brett Ratner argued frequently over the script. "He likes to challenge the director. It's all about intellectual debate," Ratner told "The Times" in 2003. "... Edward's instinct is going to be, 'I have to take over this film.' He's going to try to rescue the film. That's both a blessing and a curse." Despite mixed reviews, "Red Dragon" was Norton's most profitable venture in 2002, grossing over $200 million. Norton also co-produced and featured in "25th Hour", a film about post-9/11 New York City.


title: Edward Norton

text: Paramount Pictures forced Norton to star in the heist film "The Italian Job" (2003), threatening to sue him for violating a three-film contract he had signed; the studio had previously distributed 1996's "Primal Fear" and 2001's "The Score". Norton, accordingly, refused to promote the film's release. His performance was well received by critics, with "The New Yorker" calling him "intelligent and incisive ... one of those rare actors who hold the audience's attention with everything they say". "Rolling Stone" praised his character as "perversely magnetic" despite giving the film a negative review. During this time, Norton co-founded a production company, Class 5 Films, with Yale classmate Stuart Blumberg and film producer Bill Migliore. Norton was cast as Baldwin IV, the leper king of Jerusalem, in 2005's epic historical film "Kingdom of Heaven". Reviewers criticized the film's lack of depth, despite the spectacular cinematography. Jack Moore described Norton's performance in "Kingdom of Heaven" as "phenomenal", and "so far removed from anything that he has ever done that we see the true complexities of his talent". It grossed over $211 million worldwide. Norton's next lead role was in the neo-western film "Down in the Valley" (2005), playing a delusional man who purports to be a cowboy. While the film was criticized for its narrative, Norton received plaudits for his acting.


title: Edward Norton

text: Norton had two major film roles in 2006, starring as Eisenheim the magician in "The Illusionist" and bacteriologist Walter Fane in "The Painted Veil". Set in 19th-century Austria-Hungary, "The Illusionist" was loosely based on novelist Steven Millhauser's short story "Eisenheim the Illusionist" and received generally positive critical reviews. The "San Francisco Chronicle" dubbed the film "rich and elegant" and wrote of Norton's character: "he doesn't just seduce the on-screen audience but the audience watching in the movie theater". The "Houston Chronicle" similarly lauded the film for its vibrant plot and described Norton's performance as "mysterious and understated". Norton co-produced "The Painted Veil", in which he starred with Naomi Watts, who portrayed his character's unfaithful wife. Like his previous venture, "The Painted Veil" garnered positive feedback from reviewers. "The Guardian" applauded the film as "faultless" and "powerful" as well as Norton's "genuinely affecting" performance. "Entertainment Weekly" appreciated that Norton's production effort did not affect his conventionally compelling acting.


title: Edward Norton

text: Norton appeared in two documentaries in 2007: "Brando", which chronicles the life and career of screen legend Marlon Brando, with whom Norton co-starred in 2001's "The Score", and "Man from Plains", which depicts the post-presidency endeavors of former U.S. president Jimmy Carter. His next lead film role was Marvel Cinematic Universe's Bruce Banner, and the accompanying alter ego Hulk in the big-budget superhero film "The Incredible Hulk", released in 2008. Norton initially turned down the part as he felt the 2003 version "Hulk" "strayed far afield from a story that was familiar to people, ... which is a fugitive story". He provided rewrites of the script every day of filming. Director Louis Leterrier welcomed his contributions, saying that, "Edward's script has given Bruce's story real gravitas". However, screenwriter Zak Penn was displeased with Norton's changes. The Writers Guild of America credited Penn as the sole writer, arguing that Norton had not contributed significantly to the screenplay. Norton did not participate in promoting the film and went to Africa for humanitarian activities instead. This led to rumors that Norton was sparking conflicts with the film's producers. He dismissed the accusations and said that the media had misrepresented the "healthy" collaborations for headlines.


title: Edward Norton

text: "The Incredible Hulk" received generally favorable reviews upon release. "The Wall Street Journal" felt that Norton's presence improved the film to "a thunderously efficient enterprise" from the 2003 version. Conversely, the "Los Angeles Times", while recognizing Norton's decent performance, opined that the film lacked a solid script. It was a box office success, grossing over $263 million. Norton was expected to reprise his role in future Marvel Cinematic Universe ventures, including the 2012 blockbuster "The Avengers". However, he was replaced by Mark Ruffalo, allegedly due to Norton's "disputes" with Marvel. Norton later claimed that he chose not to play Hulk again because he "wanted more diversity" and opted against associating himself with one character throughout his career.


title: Edward Norton

text: He also starred in the crime drama "Pride and Glory" (2008) as Ray Tierney, an honest detective assigned to investigate the precinct run by his older brother. Reviewers criticized the film for its cliched plot. In 2009, Norton produced the documentary "", which follows former U.S. president Barack Obama's campaigns leading to his 2008 election victory. Norton planned for this project in 2006, when Obama was a senator from Illinois, elaborating that Obama was "an interesting prism through which to examine politics". He had two lead film roles in 2010. He portrayed Brown University Professor Bill and his identical twin Brady Kincaid in the comedy "Leaves of Grass", and convicted arsonist Gerald "Stone" Creeson in the crime film "Stone". Both received weak reviews; "Leaves of Grass" was praised for Norton's performance but criticized for its conflicting tonal shifts, while "Stone" was panned because of a clumsy plot with excessive twists.


title: Edward Norton

text: Norton had two lead film roles in 2012. He starred as scoutmaster Randy Ward in charge of finding his missing camper in the coming-of-age film "Moonrise Kingdom", directed by Wes Anderson. The film was acclaimed by critics and grossed over $68 million. His other lead role was in the action thriller "The Bourne Legacy", the fourth installment in the "Bourne" series. In the film, Norton portrayed retired Air Force colonel Eric Byer, who decides to terminate an illegal operation after it is exposed to the FBI, and kill everyone involved. "The Bourne Legacy" received lukewarm reviews but has been Norton's highest-grossing venture so far, earning over $276 million worldwide. Norton also produced the comedy-drama "Thanks for Sharing" (2012) under his company Class 5 Films. This production venture received a mixed response. "The Guardian" panned the film as "smug and humourless", while "The Washington Post" called it "surprisingly wise, funny and affecting".


title: Edward Norton

text: In 2014, Norton played in two Academy Award-winning films, "The Grand Budapest Hotel" and "Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)". He collaborated again with director Anderson for "The Grand Budapest Hotel", which featured an ensemble cast and won four Academy Awards. In the black comedy "Birdman", Norton played Broadway method actor Mike Shiner, who is talented but hard to work with. The film, as well as Norton's performance, was well received by critics. The "Los Angeles Times" lauded him for successfully portraying the volatility of the character, and "Newsday" complimented his "truly moving" poetic delivery. The film won the Academy Award for Best Picture and earned Norton his third Academy nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Besides acting, Norton announced in February 2014 that he would direct "Motherless Brooklyn", a crime drama based on the acclaimed 1999 novel by Jonathan Lethem. Norton had wanted to work on the project since 1999 but did not begin until Brett Ratner, director of 2002's "Red Dragon", joined in to help production. The film was released on November 1, 2019, and received mixed reviews. "Toronto Star"'s Peter Howell praised Norton's direction, but thought the film was complex and too long.


title: Edward Norton

text: Norton had voice-acting roles in the animated features "Sausage Party" (2016) and "The Guardian Brothers"—the English-dubbed version of the Chinese animated film "Little Door Gods" (2017). He played Whit Yardsham, an estranged friend and business partner of Howard Inlet (Will Smith) in the 2016 drama "Collateral Beauty". The film was panned by critics for its incoherent screenplay. Norton worked again with director Anderson for the 2018 stop motion film "Isle of Dogs", in which he voiced Rex, a member of a pack of five dogs. In 2022, Norton portrayed tech billionaire Miles Bron in "".


title: Edward Norton

text: Since coming to fame in the mid 1990s, Norton has opted not to discuss his personal life in public, saying that he 'believes that excessive media coverage can distract him from fulfilling his role as an actor'. Following the release of "The People vs. Larry Flynt" (1996), tabloids spread rumors that Norton and his onscreen co-star Courtney Love were dating. Norton insisted that he was not romantically involved with Love, and the two were only friends and colleagues. However, appearing on an episode of "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson", Love stated they had dated for "four years". This was in addition to her references in a 2006 interview to their past relationship. She said that Norton had been a "mediator" and "communicator" between her and her daughter Frances Bean Cobain, calling him a "force of good".


title: Edward Norton

text: After Norton had ended his relationship with Love in 1999, he started dating Salma Hayek, with whom he later appeared in the 2002 biopic "Frida". Norton absented himself from the premiere of "The Italian Job", in which he starred, to attend the premiere of "The Maldonado Miracle", Hayek's directorial debut. The two broke up in 2003. Hayek still remains friends with Norton. She recalled in a 2017 piece for "The New York Times" that Norton "beautifully rewrote the script [of "Frida"] several times and appallingly never got credit" after she had rejected Harvey Weinstein's sexual demands and Weinstein, in retaliation, had given her "a list of [four] impossible tasks with a tight deadline," including "a rewrite of the script, with no additional payment, or writer's credit" before he would make the film. In 2011, Norton proposed to Canadian film producer Shauna Robertson after dating for six years. The pair married in 2012, and welcomed their first son, Atlas, in 2013.


title: Edward Norton

text: Norton's father is an environmental lawyer and conservationist; Norton is an environmentalist. He narrated the four-part National Geographic documentary "Strange Days on Planet Earth" (2005), which examines earth system science. He is an advocate for renewable energy, specifically solar energy. After rising to stardom, Norton bought a solar energy-powered home in Los Angeles and switched to a hybrid car. In 2003, he collaborated with oil company BP to develop the Solar Neighbors program, which aimed to install photovoltaic panels on rooftops of households in Los Angeles. The initiative was welcomed by many of Norton's fellow celebrities, notably Salma Hayek, Brad Pitt, Danny DeVito, Alicia Silverstone and Robin Williams.


title: Edward Norton

text: Norton is a supporter of the African Wildlife Foundation and its "Say No" campaign which raises awareness and fights against illegal poaching of elephants and rhinoceroses for ivory and horn. He is the president of the American branch of the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust. The organization aims to preserve the ecosystems and biodiversity of East Africa through conservation which directly benefits the local Maasai communities. To raise money for the trust, Norton fielded a team of thirty runners for the New York City Marathon on November 1, 2009; the team included himself, three Maasai tribesmen, and fellow celebrity musician Alanis Morissette. He raised over $1.2 million for the Trust after completing his run.


title: Edward Norton

text: After the successful fundraising for the Maasai Conservation, Norton launched an online fundraising platform called Crowdrise in May 2010. The website uses a social-networking framework to help raise funds for charity. In July 2010, the then-Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) named Norton the Goodwill Ambassador for Biodiversity and a spokesperson for the Convention on Biological Diversity. At his designation ceremony, Norton said that biodiversity is an issue that "transcends national boundaries", with people "having lost sight" of the need for environmental protection. As part of his job as a UN Ambassador, Norton has embarked on trips to Africa and participated in programs organized by UN bodies including the Development and Environment Programmes. He also played soccer (football) for "Soccer Aid" in May 2012; the event raised over £4.9 million for UNICEF to assist children worldwide.


title: Edward Norton

text: Norton has served as a member of the board of trustees of Enterprise Community Partners, a non-profit developer of affordable housing founded by his grandparents, since 1998. The company has invested $9 billion in equity capital, pre-development lending, mortgage financing, and house building for low-income Americans. In 2008, Norton initiated the company's plan to embark on green affordable housing. This originated with his concerns over environmental issues and sustainable development in addition to housing problems. He attributed his involvement in community building to his upbringing in Columbia, Maryland, which is a planned city built in the 1960s and home to a diverse population.


title: Edward Norton

text: Norton believes celebrities should "participate quietly" in discussions on politics and social issues as, "Having a public forum tends to make people offer too casual a commentary". During the 2004 presidential election, Norton urged college students to vote against the Republican nominee George W. Bush, further criticizing his plans to cut college financing and his support of tax breaks for the rich. He also made speeches to encourage voters to support Democratic nominee John Kerry. Norton was a supporter of Democrat Eliot Spitzer, former New York governor.


title: Edward Norton

text: During the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections, Norton supported but did not actively campaign for the Democratic nominee Barack Obama, saying that "it's much more interesting to encourage people to engage than to suggest that people should model themselves on me and my views". He produced the 2009 documentary "By the People: The Election of Barack Obama", which chronicles Obama's political activities from 2006 to his 2008 election victory. Norton spoke highly of Obama, crediting him as "a perfect framework" to explore contemporary U.S. politics. He produced a campaign video for Obama's 2012 presidential race with Bennett Miller; the video featured voters from diverse economic and racial backgrounds. He also expressed "grave concerns" over the Trump administration's position regarding climate change. In 2020 Norton donated $8,400 to Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign.


title: Edward Norton

text: Norton has been regarded as one of the most talented actors of his generation. "The Daily Telegraph" observed that "the tag 'finest actor of his generation' clings to him wherever he goes". In "The Observer", Peter Preston noted that his image was unlike that of conventional screen "stars" because his most memorable characters are unlikeable, specifically a neo-Nazi in "American History X". Preston likened his characters to those played by Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro, whom Norton admires. "Interview" magazine commented that Norton has successfully portrayed a wide range of roles and found it impossible to simply characterize him as a leading man, a villain, or a character actor.


title: Edward Norton

text: Despite critical plaudits, Norton is scornful of being seen as a Hollywood A-lister. He feels it necessary to keep his off-screen life to himself and opts for a "normal life". As soon as his career took off in the late 1990s, Norton asserted that, "If I ever have to stop taking the subway, I'm gonna have a heart attack". AllMovie remarked that Norton attained "almost instant stardom" following his 1996 film debut in "Primal Fear" and could have risen to even greater fame. "The Daily Telegraph" attributed Norton's lack of interest in celebrity status to his family of "distinguished political and social activists". Sharing the same sentiment, "Forbes" complimented Norton as "a far cry" from celebrities who do charity works "with a keen eye to furthering their personal brand", citing his involvements in community planning and social entrepreneurship even before his film career.


title: Edward Norton

text: Norton has a strict work ethic and a high desire for professionalism. He is selective in choosing his roles, explaining that, "You don't want to do anything just ... to work with somebody. There are many actors I would like to work with but it has to be the right role". Drew Barrymore, his co-star in the 1996 musical "Everyone Says I Love You", recalled that he was "on the set every day" and "never compromised for a second". He also expects different approaches to projects with different collaborators and wishes for "happy" working situations as long as "the boundaries of the collaboration are well-established in the beginning".


title: Edward Norton

text: Due to his controversial opinions, Norton has earned a reputation for being difficult to work with. Incidents include Norton's editing the final cut of "American History X" (1998), which is 40 minutes longer than director Tony Kaye's version; conflicts with director Brett Ratner on the set of "Red Dragon" (2002); refusing to promote "The Italian Job" (2003); and uncredited rewriting of the screenplay for "The Incredible Hulk" (2008), which angered screenwriter Zak Penn. The "Los Angeles Times" opined that these incidents led to Norton's image as a "prickly perfectionist", which diminishes his reputation. Nevertheless, a few collaborators with whom Norton reportedly had disputes have expressed their respect for him: Kaye wanted to feature Norton in some of his other ventures, and Ratner offered to help with production of Norton's film "Motherless Brooklyn" and got along well with Norton. Some publications interpreted Norton's performance in "Birdman" (2014), in which he portrays a talented but volatile actor, as a self-referential nod to his image.


title: Edward Norton

text: According to the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, Norton's most critically acclaimed films are "Primal Fear" (1996), "Everyone Says I Love You" (1996), "The People vs. Larry Flynt" (1996), "American History X" (1998), "Fight Club" (1999), "The Score" (2001), "Frida" (2002), "25th Hour" (2002), "The Illusionist" (2006), "The Painted Veil" (2006), "Moonrise Kingdom" (2012), "The Grand Budapest Hotel" (2014), "Birdman" (2014), "Sausage Party" (2016) and "Isle of Dogs" (2018). His biggest commercial successes are "Red Dragon" (2002), "Kingdom of Heaven" (2005), "The Incredible Hulk" (2008), and "The Bourne Legacy" (2012), all of which grossed over $200 million worldwide.


title: Edward Norton

text: Norton has been nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actor for "Primal Fear" and "Birdman", and Best Actor for "American History X". He also has two Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actor for "Primal Fear" and "Birdman", winning for the former.


title: Community (TV series)

text: Community is an American television sitcom created by Dan Harmon. The series ran for 110 episodes over six seasons, with its first five seasons airing on NBC from September 17, 2009, to April 17, 2014, and its final season airing on Yahoo! Screen from March 17 to June 2, 2015. Set at a community college in the fictional Colorado town of Greendale, the series stars an ensemble cast including Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi, Yvette Nicole Brown, Alison Brie, Donald Glover, Ken Jeong, Chevy Chase, and Jim Rash. It makes use of meta-humor and pop culture references, paying homage to film and television clichés and tropes.


title: Community (TV series)

text: Harmon based "Community" on his experiences attending Glendale Community College. Each episode was written in accordance with Harmon's "story circle" template, a method designed to create effective and structured storytelling. Harmon was the showrunner for the first three seasons but was fired before the fourth and replaced by David Guarascio and Moses Port. After weaker reviews, Harmon was rehired for the fifth season, after which NBC canceled the series. Yahoo! Screen revived the show for "Community"s sixth and final season.


title: Community (TV series)

text: Despite struggling in the ratings, "Community" developed a cult following and received acclaim for its acting, direction, writing and meta-humor. It won a Primetime Emmy Award from four nominations and received the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Comedy Series in 2012, among other accolades. In September 2022, after several years of speculation and development, a feature-length "Community" film was announced for NBC's streaming service Peacock.


title: Community (TV series)

text: Jeff Winger is disbarred and suspended from his law firm when it is discovered that he lied about having a bachelor's degree from Columbia University. To earn a legitimate degree, he enrolls at Greendale Community College in Colorado. He quickly becomes attracted to his classmate, social activist Britta Perry, and pretends to run a study group in order to spend time with her. Britta invites classmate Abed Nadir (who struggles with social interactions and is obsessed with pop culture), who in turn brings other classmates along: religious single mother Shirley Bennett; naive over-achiever Annie Edison; former high school football star Troy Barnes; and bigoted, politically incorrect elderly millionaire Pierce Hawthorne. Despite their differences, the group's members soon become close friends. They are often roped into helping the college's flamboyant dean, Craig Pelton, in his schemes to make the school seem more respectable, as well as having to deal with the antics of their mentally unstable teacher (and eventual classmate) Ben Chang.


title: Community (TV series)

text: Season 1 follows Jeff's creation of the study group and its subsequent misadventures. Season 2 sees Chang forced to enroll as a student and attempting to join the study group despite secretly planning revenge against it, while Pelton is forced to fight for Greendale's sense of pride against the dean of rival school City College, eventually culminating in a desperate paintball battle. Season 3 focuses on Chang's villainous plot to take over the school, as well as Troy struggling with whether or not to attend the cultlike air conditioning repair school. Season 4 shows the study group in its senior year, with all the characters (especially Abed) struggling with what may be their final moments together, and Chang recovering from amnesia. Season 5 sees Pierce's death and Troy leaving in the middle of the season, while the other characters return to Greendale after graduation to save the school, leading Jeff to take a job there as a teacher. Season 6 ends the series with the characters reflecting on the last six years while new staff member Frankie Dart arrives at the dysfunctional school to make it more respectable, forcing the group to question how much Greendale can be cleaned up while still remaining Greendale.


title: Community (TV series)

text: The show features an ensemble cast of characters, focusing on the members of a study group and a recurring group of faculty of Greendale Community College, including the dean.


title: Community (TV series)

text: Most episodes feature titles designed to sound like the names of college courses such as "Introduction to Film", "Anthropology 101" and "Cooperative Calligraphy".


title: Community (TV series)

text: Season 1 premiered on September 17, 2009, in the 9:30 pm ET Thursday time slot. After three episodes, the show was moved to 8:00 pm ET. In October 2009, it was announced that the show had been picked up for a full 22-episode season.


title: Community (TV series)

text: In January 2010, NBC ordered an additional three episodes for the first season, extending it to 25. On March 5, 2010, "Community" was renewed for a second season, which premiered on September 23, 2010. On March 17, 2011, NBC renewed "Community" for a third season. On May 10, 2012, "Community" was renewed for a fourth season consisting of 13 episodes. On May 10, 2013, the show was renewed for a fifth season. On June 30, 2014, it was announced that the show would return for a sixth season of 13 episodes on Yahoo! Screen.


title: Community (TV series)

text: In addition to the regular episodes, NBC produced a series of webisodes. Some focus on the daily life of Dean Pelton and others include a Spanish project, study breaks, and Abed copying his friends' lives and turning them into student films. These webisodes are featured on the front page of the Greendale Community College website on the AV Department page.


title: Community (TV series)

text: On March 2, 2012, it was announced that three animated webisodes would air exclusively on Hulu in lead up to the return of the series on March 15, 2012. Titled "Abed's Master Key", the shorts were written by Dave Seger and Tom Kauffman of Channel 101 and animated by Animax Entertainment. In the webisodes, Abed becomes Dean Pelton's assistant and is given a master key to Greendale.


title: Community (TV series)

text: Dan Harmon emphasized the importance of the cast to making the premise of the comedy work. "Casting was 95 percent of putting the show together," he said in an interview. He had worked with several of the cast members previously. Actor Chevy Chase had long been a favorite of Harmon. Though initially not partial to sitcoms, Chase was persuaded by the quality of the show's writing to take the job. Harmon saw similarities between Chase and the character he plays on the show. Though Chase has often been ridiculed for his career choices, Harmon believed this role could be redeeming: "What makes Chevy and Pierce heroic is this refusal to stop." Harmon had to warn Chase against playing a "wise-ass" the way he often does in his roles, since the character of Pierce is a rather pathetic figure who is normally the butt of the joke himself.


title: Community (TV series)

text: McHale, known from the E! comedy talk show "The Soup", was also impressed by Harmon's writing. He commented, "Dan's script was so head and shoulders above everything else that I was reading." McHale appealed to Harmon because of his likability, which allowed the character to possess certain unsympathetic traits without turning the viewer against him. To play Annie, Harmon wanted someone resembling Tracy Flick, Reese Witherspoon's character in the 1999 movie "Election". Originally the producers were looking for a Latina or Asian Tracy Flick, but they cast Alison Brie, known for her role as Trudy Campbell on "Mad Men".


title: Community (TV series)

text: Harmon based the premise of "Community" on his own experiences. In an attempt to save his relationship with his then-girlfriend, he enrolled in Glendale Community College northeast of Los Angeles, where they would take Spanish together. Harmon got involved in a study group and, somewhat against his own instincts, became close friends with the members, with whom he had very little in common. "I was in this group with these knuckleheads and I started really liking them," he explained, "even though they had nothing to do with the film industry and I had nothing to gain from them and nothing to offer them." With this background, Harmon wrote the show with a main character largely based on himself. He had, like Jeff, been arrogant and emotionally distant to the extreme before he realized the value of understanding other people.


title: Community (TV series)

text: About the creative process behind the writing, Harmon said that he had to write the show as if it were a movie, not a sitcom. Essentially, the process was no different from the earlier works he had done, except for the length and the target demographic.


title: Community (TV series)

text: Each episode of "Community" is written in accordance with Dan Harmon's template of "story circles" that he developed while at Channel 101. Harmon rewrote every episode (except while not working on the show during its fourth season), which helped lend the show his particular voice. Members of the "Community" writing staff have included Liz Cackowski, Dino Stamatopoulos, Chris McKenna, Megan Ganz, Andy Bobrow, Alex Rubens, Tim Saccardo and Matt Warburton. Cast member Jim Rash, who won an Academy Award in 2011 for co-writing the film "The Descendants", also wrote a season four episode.


title: Community (TV series)

text: The show is known for its frequent use of thematic episodes every season, which use clichés and television tropes as single-episode concepts that play with suspension of disbelief while maintaining plot continuity. One notable thematic episode is Season 3's "Remedial Chaos Theory", in which the cast explore seven different parallel realities of the same night, with one key variation being a roll of a single six-sided die in a game of Yahtzee that Jeff uses to dismiss a member of the group to go get a pizza (the seventh variant is that the die was not rolled at all). Frequent episode themes are school-year holidays (Halloween and Christmas being the most frequent), paintball, and various forms of animation.


title: Community (TV series)

text: Filming the show involved a lot of improvisation, particularly from Chase. Of Chase, Harmon said that he "tends to come up with lines that you can actually end scenes with sometimes". He has also called McHale and Glover adept improvisers. Apart from a few exterior scenes shot at Los Angeles City College, the show was filmed at the Paramount Studios lot in Hollywood, California, during seasons one through five. For season six, the series moved to the CBS Studio Center, and featured exterior scenes from Los Angeles City College for the first time since season two. The series used the single-camera technique, where each shot is filmed individually, using the same camera.


title: Community (TV series)

text: The series was renewed for a third season on March 17, 2011. Filming for the season began on July 25, 2011. Jim Rash, who portrays Dean Pelton, was promoted to a series regular after having a recurring role throughout the first two seasons. Michael K. Williams was cast as the study group's new biology professor, who is described as a deeply intense character. John Goodman appears as a recurring character throughout the season as Vice Dean Laybourne, the head of Greendale's air conditioning repair school, and is a foe for Dean Pelton.


title: Community (TV series)

text: "Community" premiered its third season on September 22, 2011. On November 14, 2011, NBC announced that they were removing "Community" from their mid-season schedule, replacing it with the returning series "30 Rock". Fans of the series began a campaign to get the show back on the air using Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook, making hashtags such as #SaveCommunity, #SixSeasonsAndAMovie, and #OccupyNBC trending topics. NBC responded to the backlash by announcing that the network was still planning to film and air the remainder of the 22 planned episodes after the undetermined hiatus, and that the fate of the series would be determined after the planned episodes air.


title: Community (TV series)

text: On December 7, 2011, CollegeHumor released a video titled "Save Greendale (with the cast of "Community")" using the cast of "Community" in-character to promote the series and the school in a PSA-styled video. On December 22, 2011, fans of the series created a flash mob outside of NBC's Rockefeller Center headquarters in New York City to Occupy NBC. The flash mob dressed in Christmas gear, wearing "darkest timeline" goatees, and singing "O' Christmas Troy" from the first season's episode "Comparative Religion" and chanting "Go Greendale, go Greendale, go". On January 6, 2012, NBC entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt announced that "Community" was not canceled, though he did not mention a return date.


title: Community (TV series)

text: On February 21, 2012, creator Dan Harmon announced via Twitter that the third season would resume on March 15, 2012, in its regular timeslot of Thursdays at 8:00 pm.


title: Community (TV series)

text: Series creator and executive producer Dan Harmon was replaced as showrunner for the series in the fourth season, as writers David Guarascio and Moses Port (co-creators of the short-lived "Aliens in America") took over as showrunners and executive producers. Sony Pictures Television, which produces the series with Universal Television, initially said that Harmon would serve as a consulting producer, but Harmon asserted that he was not informed of the deal and would not return in a position without any executive prerogatives. The end of the third season also marked several other departures including executive producers Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan, writer/producer Chris McKenna and actor/writer Dino Stamatopoulos. Frequent episode directors and executive producers Anthony and Joe Russo also left the show in order to direct "".


title: Community (TV series)

text: In early October 2012, NBC delayed the premiere of the fourth season, which had been scheduled for October 19, 2012, without announcing a new date. On October 30, 2012, NBC announced that the fourth season would premiere on February 7, 2013, returning to its original time slot of Thursdays at 8:00 pm.


title: Community (TV series)

text: On November 21, 2012, after saying the “N” word on set, it was announced that Chevy Chase left the show by mutual agreement between the actor and network. As a result of timing and the agreement made, Chase's character Pierce is absent for two episodes—he did not appear in the tenth episode (produced as ninth), "Intro to Knots", and the twelfth episode, "Heroic Origins". He also appeared in a voice-only role in the episode "Intro to Felt Surrogacy", which was the final episode produced for the season, and as part of his agreement to leave the show, Chase was required to record all audio for the scenes where his character, alongside the other characters, appeared as a puppet. The season finale, which was filmed out-of-sequence, as it was the eleventh episode produced, marked Chase's final on-screen appearance as a regular cast member. He appeared in a cameo in the season 5 premiere.


title: Community (TV series)

text: On May 10, 2013, the series was renewed for a fifth season. On June 1, 2013, Harmon announced he would return as showrunner for season five, replacing season four showrunners Moses Port and David Guarascio, with former writer Chris McKenna returning as executive producer. On June 10, Sony Television confirmed the return of Harmon and McKenna for the fifth season. Dino Stamatopoulos, Rob Schrab and the Russo brothers also returned.


title: Community (TV series)

text: Glover decided to not return as a full-time cast member for the fifth season, appearing only in the first five of the 13 episodes. To make up for his absence and Chase's, Jonathan Banks was cast in the fifth season in August 2013 and appeared in 11 of the season's 13 episodes, portraying Buzz Hickey, a criminology professor. Additionally, John Oliver, who played Professor Duncan in the first two seasons, reprised his role in season 5 for multiple episodes.


title: Community (TV series)

text: On May 9, 2014, NBC announced that it had canceled "Community". For several years before its cancellation, fans adopted the slogan "six seasons and a movie", a line from the episode "Paradigms of Human Memory" regarding Abed's hopeful legacy of short-lived NBC series "The Cape". Bids to continue the series were turned down by popular streaming providers like Netflix and Hulu.


title: Community (TV series)

text: On June 30, 2014, the day the cast's contracts were due to expire, Yahoo! announced it had ordered a 13-episode sixth season to stream on Yahoo! Screen, including the main cast along with executive producers Dan Harmon, Chris McKenna, Russ Krasnoff, and Gary Foster. Harmon said, "I am very pleased that "Community" will be returning for its predestined sixth season on Yahoo ... I look forward to bringing our beloved NBC sitcom to a larger audience by moving it online." However, Yvette Nicole Brown dropped out to care for her ailing father, although she made guest appearances in "Ladders" and "Emotional Consequences of Broadcast Television". Paget Brewster was cast as consultant Francesca "Frankie" Dart and Keith David was cast as inventor Elroy Patashnik. Filming began for season six on November 17, 2014, and on December 8, 2014, the series celebrated the milestone of 100 episodes. Filming ended on March 27, 2015.


title: Community (TV series)

text: In a June 3, 2015, interview with "TV Insider", Dan Harmon explained why season six would likely be the last of the series:


title: Community (TV series)

text: Despite the show's "six seasons and a movie" mantra, Yahoo never formally marketed season six as its final season. On July 30, 2015, Joel McHale stated that Yahoo! "wanted to [make more seasons of "Community"], but all of [the actors'] contracts were up after six years." McHale later clarified his statement via Twitter, saying ""Community" is not canceled." Yahoo released a statement: "We've seen tremendous value in our partnership with Sony and are continuing to discuss future opportunities for "Community"." Harmon said he "could have said yes immediately" to season seven, but "given the actors' velocity and trajectory" decided in favor of "getting [the cast] back together for an awesome movie." On January 4, 2016, Yahoo announced it had shut down its Yahoo Screen service, after a $42 million write-down, with its original programming being moved to Yahoo TV for continued public viewing.


title: Community (TV series)

text: In a June 2014 interview with "The Hollywood Reporter", Zack Van Amburg of Sony Pictures Television confirmed that a "Community" film was in the early stages of development. Asked if Sony had plans beyond the sixth season, Amburg said:


title: Community (TV series)

text: One year later, after the sixth season wrapped, Harmon said he was not ready to produce a movie at the end of the season:


title: Community (TV series)

text: In July 2016, during an interview with "Larry King Now", Harmon said that a "Community" movie "will happen", while expressing uncertainty on how to begin its production. In July 2017, in an interview with "Time", he said of a "Community" movie, "I recently had a conversation with a director that's the kind of guy whose weight in the industry could make that happen. For the first time in a long time, I'm actually putting thought into that again." In November 2017, Harmon told The Wrap that both he and Justin Lin were working to make the movie happen.


title: Community (TV series)

text: In January 2018, Pudi said the cast was still excited about the prospect of a film: "We have a little text chain, so we're always like, 'We're ready! We're ready!'" On March 23, 2018, McHale said he was still hopeful about the movie, while noting that he felt bringing Glover back would be vital the film's success and was unsure whether this was feasible. He elaborated: "It would be great to do. I'd do it in a New York minute."


title: Community (TV series)

text: When asked in an interview in June 2019 about doing a "Community" movie, Alison Brie said, "Yeah, I think I would." She later added, "I mean, look, it's like, are we going to do the movie? I feel like if the "Community" movie ever gets made, it should just be made for Netflix, and it would be fun to do, but, I think it would be best if we could get everyone to do it, so I feel like that might be difficult." In a February 2020 Reddit "Ask Me Anything" thread, Brie said she "actually got an interesting call about it this week" when questioned about a "Community" movie and said to "stay tuned".


title: Community (TV series)

text: As the show debuted on Netflix in April 2020, public exposure and interest picked up significantly. That same month during an interview with Collider, Joe Russo was asked if he and his brother Anthony would come back to do the movie. He stated, "We'd certainly be willing to do it. We love our "Community" family. That cast, we're all still very close to all of them. It'd be schedule-depending for us. But I believe there will be a "Community" movie, especially now that it's doing well on streaming. Someone like Netflix could step up and make the movie."


title: Community (TV series)

text: In May 2020, the original cast (excluding Chase) and Harmon announced that they would reunite via a livestream video for a benefit to raise money for the COVID-19 pandemic with a table read of "Cooperative Polygraphy". Pedro Pascal filled in for Walton Goggins, who was unavailable. On May 13, a few days before the table read, Gillian Jacobs talked about her belief that the entire cast would want to return for a movie. In a Q&A session immediately following the May 18 livestream video table read, the cast, including Glover, expressed interest in a movie.


title: Community (TV series)

text: Harmon confirmed in 2021 he had begun work on the script, and that any logistical issues with creating a "Community" movie were mostly solved. He described the challenging part of the movie was more "philosophical", namely whether the movie would be approachable to a viewer unfamiliar with the television show. Harmon said in August 2022 that a movie was "definitely going to happen" and could be expected in "between one and eight years". He said that the movie had an outline and that: "There's a product put together and pitched out in the world".


title: Community (TV series)

text: The Peacock streaming service announced that they had ordered the film in September 2022. Harmon and Andrew Guest will write the film while McHale, Pudi, Brie, Jacobs, Rash and Jeong are set to return. Of the main cast, Glover, Brown and Chase are not confirmed. However, Harmon said in November that Glover was "down to clown". Harmon also said that there had been a bidding war among distributors for the rights to the film, but Peacock outbid other competitors for the film. As of November 2022, the movie's script is being written.


title: Community (TV series)

text: The show's first season received mostly positive reviews, scoring 69 out of 100 based on 23 critics on Metacritic. Season 1 scored 90% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, with the site's critical consensus reading: "Snarky and fast-paced with a surprisingly tender undercurrent and an engaging cast, "Community" is one of the best new comedies of the season". David Bushman (Curator, Television) of the Paley Center for Media called "Community" the best new show of the fall season. Jonah Krakow of "IGN" gave the first season an 8.5 saying that ""Community" eventually ramped up and delivered some amazing stories in the second half of the season."


title: Community (TV series)

text: The second season received high critical acclaim, scoring 86 out of 100 based on 4 critics on Metacritic. Rotten Tomatoes gave the season a 100%, with a critical consensus that reads: ""Community" unfurls into a marvel of meta-madness in its sophomore season, artfully deconstructing sitcom tropes while repeatedly knocking its own emotional beats out of the park". Emily Nussbaum of "New York Magazine" and Heather Havrilesky of Salon.com rated "Community" as the best show of 2010. In "The A.V. Club"s list of the 25 best television series of 2010, "Community" ranked second, stating that the best episodes were "Modern Warfare", "Cooperative Calligraphy", and "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas". IGN named "Community" the best comedy series in both 2010 and 2011.


title: Community (TV series)

text: Acclaim for the show continued in the third season, scoring 82 out of 100 based on 4 critics on Metacritic. It also topped the Metacritic User Poll in the category 'Best Television Show of 2011', receiving 3,478 points. Rotten Tomatoes gave season 3 a 91% with a critical consensus that reads: "The Greendale study group take some of their boldest swings – though not all connect – in this freewheeling third season that nevertheless continues "Community"'s streak as the gold standard for fiendishly clever television". "Community" placed on several critics top television lists; including ranked second by "Paste", fifth by both HitFix and "The Huffington Post", first by Hulu and third on TV.com's Top 100 Everything of 2011.


title: Community (TV series)

text: In 2012, "Entertainment Weekly" listed the show at #15 in the "25 Best Cult TV Shows from the Past 25 Years," with high praise: "The series' affinity for ambitious, high-concept story lines (e.g. few shows are willing to turn over an entire episode to stop-motion animation), meta humor, and constant pop culture allusions has helped it earn the kind of fervent fan following some of its higher-rated comedic competitors must envy." A user poll on Splitsider named "Remedial Chaos Theory" as the best sitcom episode of all time, beating out "The Simpsons" episode "Marge vs. the Monorail".


title: Community (TV series)

text: Reviews for the fourth season were generally positive, but less enthusiastic than the reception of the first three seasons. It scored 69 out of 100 based on 18 critics on Metacritic. The season 4 rating on Rotten Tomatoes is 65%, and the critical consensus reads: "Despite some behind-the-scenes drama, the fourth season of "Community" manages to retain the playful energy, potent humor, and kooky stories the show is famous for". Verne Gay of "Newsday" stated the show was "still defiantly "Community", still good and still uninterested in adding new viewers." On the other hand, "Hitfix"s Alan Sepinwall wrote, "It feels like [Moses] Port, [David] Guarascio and the other writers decided to reverse-engineer the [Dan] Harmon version of "Community", but couldn't quite manage without the missing ingredient of Harmon himself." Mike Hale of "The New York Times" has stated that the series "has been dumbed down, its humor broadened past recognition, and the two episodes provided for review...have fewer laughs between them than a single good scene from the old "Community"."


title: Community (TV series)

text: The fifth season received critical acclaim, scoring an 80 out of 100 based on 15 reviews on Metacritic. Rotten Tomatoes gave the season a 93%, with the critical consensus reading: "With Dan Harmon back as its show runner, "Community" returns with a familiar new energy and more fun, exciting adventures for the Greendale gang". Many critics cited the return of series creator Dan Harmon as a strength. Verne Gay from "Newsday" said of the season that it was "about as good a "Community" restart as anyone could have possibly hoped for."


title: Community (TV series)

text: The sixth season continued to receive positive reviews, scoring a 78 out of 100 based on 12 reviews on Metacritic, and scoring an 89% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus being, "Despite cast and broadcast changes, "Community" manages to remain at the top of its quirky class." Amy Amatangelo of "The Hollywood Reporter" wrote, "Everything fans loved about "Community" remains [...] the show has seamlessly transferred to an online venue." The "Los Angeles Times" Robert Lloyd considered "something special" about the season, commenting that it "lives in consciousness of its own construction in a kind of existential but also dramatically meaningful way." "The New York Times" Mike Hale felt Harmon responsible "for turning countercultural whimsicality into affecting, fast-paced comedy" in the season. "Time" James Poniewozik felt it the same show in humor and quality, though he noted an absent "sense of mission regarding the characters. [...] Maybe it's enough for "Community", free of the ratings pressures of NBC, to live its second life free to be weird and playful and experimental."


title: Community (TV series)

text: Since its final episode, "Community" has appeared on a number of lists determining the greatest television shows of all-time. In "", critics Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz ranked "Community" 54th in their combined top 100 list, placing them in the section titled "Groundbreakers and Workhorses." In 2017, IGN placed it 51st in its top 100 ranking of TV shows, with writer Jonathon Dornbush describing it "as a meta love letter to the films and shows that inspired it and its creator, Dan Harmon."


title: Community (TV series)

text: In 2009, the series received a nomination for Favorite New TV Comedy at the 36th People's Choice Awards.


title: Community (TV series)

text: In 2010, at the 41st NAACP Image Awards, Justin Lin received a nomination for Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series for "Introduction to Statistics". At the 2010 Teen Choice Awards, the series received a nomination for Breakout Show and Ken Jeong was nominated for Breakout Star Male. For "Entertainment Weekly"s 3rd Ewwy Awards, it was nominated for Best Comedy Series, Joel McHale was nominated for Best Lead Actor in a Comedy and Danny Pudi was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy.


title: Community (TV series)

text: In 2011, Betty White received a nomination for Favorite TV Guest Star at the 37th People's Choice Awards. Yvette Nicole Brown won the 2011 Gracie Allen Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. The series received a nomination for Best Directing for a Comedy Series at The Comedy Awards. For the 1st Critics' Choice Television Awards, it was nominated for Best Comedy Series, while Joel McHale and Danny Pudi were nominated for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor in Comedy Series, respectively. The episode "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas" won a 2011 Creative Arts Emmy Award for Individual Achievement in Animation. At the 42nd NAACP Image Awards, Justin Lin was nominated for Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series for the episode "Modern Warfare". At the 27th TCA Awards, "Community" was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy and Danny Pudi was nominated for Individual Achievement in Comedy. The series received four nominations for the 2011 Satellite Awards, for Best Comedy or Musical Series, Joel McHale for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy Series, and Donald Glover for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries, or TV Movie; while it won Best Television Release for the season two DVD set.


title: Community (TV series)

text: In 2012, "Community" was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for the episode "Remedial Chaos Theory", written by Chris McKenna. Also that year, the show won the awards for Favorite Comedy and Favorite Ensemble in the 2012 "TV Guide Magazine" Fan Favorites Awards. "Remedial Chaos Theory" was nominated for a Hugo Award in 2012 for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form. "Community" also won the Hulu "Best in Show" award for 2012, beating "30 Rock", "Parks and Recreation", "New Girl" and "Modern Family" in the first four rounds, and "The Walking Dead" in the final round by 11,000 votes. It won Hulu's "Best in Show" award again in 2013, beating out "Game of Thrones" in the final round with 60% of the votes.


title: Community (TV series)

text: At the 2nd Critics' Choice Television Awards, "Community" received the most nominations and won Best Comedy Series. Joel McHale was nominated for Best Actor in a Comedy Series, Jim Rash and Danny Pudi were nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, and Alison Brie and Gillian Jacobs were nominated Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. "Community" was also nominated for TCA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy at the 2012 TCA Awards.


title: Community (TV series)

text: While sitcoms are often underrepresented in the academic study of television, "Community" is an exception. More specifically, television critics and scholars often reference "Community" when discussing semiotics, the study of signs, in television and film. Television itself does not convey meaning, but rather viewers construct meaning based on recognizable signs and references, so a complex show like "Community" is rich with potential semiotic analysis.


title: Community (TV series)

text: Some critics have even claimed that the show itself is about semiotics. Mordicai Knode of Tor.com suggests the show is "about the tropes of every single genre, it is about the cinematic language and the shared culture we all bring piecemeal to the table when we sit down as audiences."


title: Community (TV series)

text: Dan Harmon fills each episode with signs and references in order for the audience to deconstruct and construct their own meaning, even going so far as to break the fourth wall to give viewers a wink and a nod to the show's complexity. Fans of "Community" require a "certain level of rhetorical and interpretive skills" to pick up on these semiotic layers of the series:"The most important knowledge a viewer brings to the viewing of Community is the subconscious recognition of indicators for other formal systems (meaning other genres or specific texts) with help from subconscious hypotheses and charts that are built on previous experiences with similar works."


title: Community (TV series)

text: Premiering in the 9:30 pm ET spot on September 17, 2009, the pilot episode had a viewership of 7.680 million. In the 18–49 audience, it had a rating of 3.7. As such, it held 93% of this audience from "The Office", which had been in the previous time slot. The show was called the "bright spot for the night" for NBC, seeing how "The Office" was down 18% from the previous year's premiere, while "Parks and Recreation", in the preceding time slot, was down 30%. However, the show, like many other NBC comedies at the time (including "The Office", "Parks and Recreation", and "30 Rock"), would later struggle in the ratings despite critical acclaim, though the show did tend to improve after factoring in DVR ratings. Some commentators noted that the show's uniqueness and ambition prevented it from achieving the broad appeal of other sitcoms.


title: Community (TV series)

text: Note: "Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps."


title: Community (TV series)

text: On March 14, 2012, Comedy Central announced that it had purchased the rights to "Community" for syndication that began airing in September 2013 at the same time as weeknight syndication on local stations. On November 28, 2020, the show made its debut on IFC.


title: Community (TV series)

text: "Community" premiered in syndication in Canada on The Comedy Network on September 4, 2012. In January 2014, the show moved to Canadian sister channel MuchMusic. The series made its Canadian over-the-air broadcast debut in 2018, when the series moved to CHCH.


title: Community (TV series)

text: In the United Kingdom, "Community" aired on subscription cable network Universal TV from 2011 to 2016, with season one also airing on MTV's free-to-air Viva channel and Channel 4 Television Corporation's 4Music.


title: Community (TV series)

text: The first season was released in region 1 on September 21, 2010, in a four-disc set. The set includes all 25 episodes plus bonus features, including commentary on every episode by cast and crew members; extended versions of the "Pilot" and "Communication Studies" episodes; outtakes; "Season One Cast Evaluations" featurette; "Season One Highlight Reel" featurette; "Creative Compromises" featurette; "Advanced Criminal Law" alternative scenes; and three mini episodes.


title: Community (TV series)

text: The second season was released in region 1 on September 6, 2011. It features commentary on every episode by cast and crew members; outtakes; animatics for "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas" and making-of featurettes covering that episode as well as "A Fistful of Paintballs" and "For a Few Paintballs More".


title: Community (TV series)

text: The third season was released in region 1 on August 14, 2012. It features commentary on every episode by cast and crew members; gag reel; deleted scenes; "This is War: Pillows vs. Blankets mockumentary" featurette; and "A Glee-ful "Community" Christmas" featurette.


title: Community (TV series)

text: The fourth season was released in region 1 on August 6, 2013. It features commentary on every episode by cast and crew members; gag reel; deleted scenes; "Inspector Spacetime: Inspection" featurette, and Adventures in Advanced Puppetry featurette.


title: Community (TV series)

text: The fifth season was released in region 1 on August 5, 2014. It features commentary on every episode by cast and crew members; gag reel; and two featurettes, "Re-Animating the '80s" and "Advanced Television Production: 5 Days, 2 Scripts, No Sleep".


title: Community (TV series)

text: The sixth season was released on DVD in region 1 on March 8, 2016. Special features include deleted scenes, a behind-the-scenes featurette on the making of the finale, trivia with the cast and crew, and a gag reel.


title: Community (TV series)

text: The complete series was released on DVD in region 1 on November 15, 2016. Special features include all the features from the first six seasons.


title: Community (TV series)

text: On June 6, 2018, it was announced that "Community: The Complete Series" would be released by Mill Creek Entertainment on high-definition Blu-ray on October 23, 2018.


title: Community (TV series)

text: In the United States, the complete series is available on Hulu and Netflix. The first three seasons are available on Netflix throughout Latin America with Spanish or Brazilian Portuguese subtitles. All six seasons are available via the iTunes Store. The series was available exclusively on Amazon Prime Video UK until February 1, 2015, when seasons one through five also became available on Netflix in the UK and Ireland until 2017. In Australia, the entire series is available on Stan. In 2018, all six seasons were made available on All 4, the streaming service of Channel 4, in the United Kingdom.


title: Community (TV series)

text: The series has been available to stream through Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video in the U.S., Amazon Prime Video and Netflix in Canada, Amazon Prime Video in the United Kingdom, Netflix and TVNZ OnDemand in New Zealand, Netflix in Ireland, Australia and Latin America and All 4 in the United Kingdom.


title: Community (TV series)

text: On April 1, 2020, the series became available to stream on Netflix worldwide. Since "Community"s addition to Netflix, the show began to reach a wider audience and entered into Netflix's top 10 most popular shows in April 2020. Season 6 is still available to view on Yahoo!'s website and app, including exclusive "Communitary" commentary from cast, writers, and producers.


title: Community (TV series)

text: On June 26, 2020, Netflix and Hulu removed the season 2 episode "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" from their platforms due to controversial scenes with Chang playing a dark elf by wearing black make-up and a white wig, which was perceived as blackface. Several other live-action comedies had episodes featuring blackface removed as well. At the time, Harmon did not comment on the episode's removal. In a 2021 interview with "The New York Times", Harmon remarked that "justifiably they're stripping it from the streaming archives because it's got a joke about blackface", but added that it "is probably the best episode of "Community"".


title: Community (TV series)

text: A soundtrack for the first season, titled "Community (Music from the Original Television Series)", was released on September 21, 2010 by Madison Gate Records. The track list includes the main title theme, "At Least It Was Here" by The 88; original songs and incidental music composed for the show (by series composer Ludwig Göransson); and several songs were performed by the characters (a mix of original compositions and covers).


title: Community (TV series)

text: Songs featured on the show that were not released on the soundtrack are available on composer Ludwig Göransson's official website.


title: Community (TV series)

text: Throughout the series, Michael Haggins' song "Daybreak" can be heard. On several occasions the characters are humming the tune and sometimes it can be heard playing on the radio in the background.


title: PlayStation 2

text: The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 30 November 2000. It is the successor to the original PlayStation, as well as the second installment in the PlayStation brand of consoles. As a sixth-generation console, it competed with Nintendo's GameCube, and Microsoft's Xbox. It is the best-selling video game console of all time, having sold over 155 million units worldwide.


title: PlayStation 2

text: Announced in 1999, Sony began developing the console after the immense success of its predecessor. The PS2 offered backward-compatibility for its predecessor's DualShock controller, as well as its games.


title: PlayStation 2

text: The PlayStation 2 received widespread critical acclaim upon release. A total of over 4,000 game titles were released worldwide, with over 1.5 billion copies sold. In 2004, Sony released a smaller, lighter revision of the console known as the PS2 Slim. Even after the release of its successor, the PlayStation 3, it remained popular well into the seventh generation. It continued to be produced until 2013 when Sony finally announced that it had been discontinued after over twelve years of production, one of the longest lifespans of any video game console. New games for the console continued to be made until the end of its life.


title: PlayStation 2

text: Released in 1994, the original PlayStation proved to be a phenomenal worldwide success and signalled Sony's rise to power in the video game industry. Its launch elicited critical acclaim and strong sales; it eventually became the first computer entertainment platform to ship over 100 million units. The PlayStation enjoyed particular success outside Japan in part due to Sony's refined development kits, large-scale advertising campaigns, and strong third-party developer support. By the late 1990s Sony had dethroned established rivals Sega and Nintendo in the global video game market. Sega, spurred on by its declining market share and significant financial losses, launched the Dreamcast in 1998 as a last-ditch attempt to stay in the industry.


title: PlayStation 2

text: Though Sony has kept details of the PlayStation 2's development secret, Ken Kutaragi, the chief designer of the original PlayStation, reportedly began working on a second console around the time of the original PlayStation's launch in late 1994. At some point during development, employees from Argonaut Games, under contract for semiconductor manufacturer LSI Corporation, were instructed to design a rendering chip for Sony's upcoming console. Jez San, founder of Argonaut, recalled that his team had no direct contact with Sony during the development process. Unbeknownst to him, Sony was designing their own chip in-house and had instructed other companies to design rendering chips merely to diversify their options.


title: PlayStation 2

text: By early 1997, the press was reporting that a new PlayStation was being developed and would have backward-compatibility with the original PlayStation, a built-in DVD player, and Internet connectivity. However, Sony continued to officially deny that a successor was being developed. Chris Deering, then-president of SCEE recalled that there was a degree of trepidation among Sony leaders to produce a console which would recapture or exceed the success of its predecessor.


title: PlayStation 2

text: Sony announced the PlayStation 2 on March 2, 1999. Sega's Dreamcast enjoyed a successful US launch on September 9 of that year; fuelled by a large marketing campaign, it sold over 500,000 units within two weeks.


title: PlayStation 2

text: Sony unveiled the PlayStation 2 at the Tokyo Game Show on 20 September 1999. Sony showed fully playable demos of upcoming PlayStation 2 games including "Gran Turismo 2000" (later released as "") and "Tekken Tag Tournament"—which showed the console's graphic abilities and power.


title: PlayStation 2

text: The PS2 was launched in March 2000 in Japan, October in North America, and November in Europe. Sales of the console, games and accessories pulled in $250 million on the first day, beating the $97 million made on the first day of the Dreamcast. Directly after its release, it was difficult to find PS2 units on retailer shelves due to manufacturing delays. Another option was purchasing the console online through auction websites such as eBay, where people paid over a thousand dollars for the console. The PS2 initially sold well partly on the basis of the strength of the PlayStation brand and the console's backward compatibility, selling its entire inventory of 1.4 million units in Japan by 31 March 2000, less than a month after launch. Backward compatibility had been widely seen as a desirable feature for consumers since the debut of the first successor video game console, but prior to the PlayStation 2 only one console had featured true backward compatibility (i.e. without the use of add-ons), the Atari 7800, due to the added hardware costs and industry concerns that backward compatibility could cause the console to appear to be a merely a new model of its predecessor or lead developers to prefer making games for the predecessor system.


title: PlayStation 2

text: Later, Sony added new development kits for game developers and more PS2 units for consumers. The PS2's built-in functionality also expanded its audience beyond the gamer, as its debut pricing was less than many standalone DVD players on the market. This made the console a low-cost entry into the home theater market.


title: PlayStation 2

text: Marketing for the PlayStation 2 reverted to the same tactic used in the early days of the original PlayStation: use 17-year-olds as the target audience, since younger audiences aspire to be teenagers and older audiences enjoy video games at the same level they did when they were 17.


title: PlayStation 2

text: The success of the PS2 at the end of 2000 caused Sega problems both financially and competitively, and Sega announced the discontinuation of the Dreamcast in March 2001, just 18 months after its successful Western launch. Despite the Dreamcast still receiving support through 2001, the PS2 remained the only sixth-generation console for over 6 months before it faced competition from new rivals: Nintendo's GameCube and Microsoft's Xbox. Many analysts predicted a close three-way matchup among the three consoles. The Xbox had the most powerful hardware, while the GameCube was the least expensive console, and Nintendo changed its policy to encourage third-party developers. While the PlayStation 2 theoretically had the weakest specification of the three, it had a head start due to its installed base plus strong developer commitment, as well as a built-in DVD player (the Xbox required an adapter, while the GameCube lacked support entirely). While the PlayStation 2's initial games lineup was considered mediocre, this changed during the 2001 holiday season with the release of several blockbuster games that maintained the PS2's sales momentum and held off its newer rivals. Sony also countered the Xbox by securing timed PlayStation 2 exclusives for highly anticipated games such as the "Grand Theft Auto" series and "".


title: PlayStation 2

text: Sony cut the price of the console in May 2002 from US$299 to $199 in North America, making it the same price as the GameCube and $100 less than the Xbox. It also planned to cut the price in Japan around that time. It cut the price twice in Japan in 2003. In 2006, Sony cut the cost of the console in anticipation of the release of the PlayStation 3.


title: PlayStation 2

text: Unlike Sega's Dreamcast, Sony originally placed little emphasis on online gaming during its first few years, although that changed upon the launch of the online-capable Xbox. Coinciding with the release of Xbox Live, Sony released the PlayStation Network Adapter in late 2002, with several online first-party titles released alongside it, such as "SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs" to demonstrate its active support for Internet play. Sony also advertised heavily, and its online model had the support of Electronic Arts (EA); EA did not offer online Xbox titles until 2004. Although Sony and Nintendo both started late, and although both followed a decentralized model of online gaming where the responsibility is up to the developer to provide the servers, Sony's moves made online gaming a major selling point of the PS2.


title: PlayStation 2

text: In September 2004, in time for the launch of "", Sony revealed a newer, slimmer model of the PlayStation 2. In preparation for the launch of the new models (SCPH-700xx-9000x), Sony stopped making the older models (SCPH-3000x-500xx) to let the distribution channel empty its stock of the units. After an apparent manufacturing issue—Sony reportedly underestimated demand—caused some initial slowdown in producing the new unit caused in part by shortages between the time Sony cleared out the old units and the new units were ready. The issue was compounded in Britain when a Russian oil tanker became stuck in the Suez Canal, blocking a ship from China carrying PS2s bound for the UK. During one week in November, British sales totalled 6,000 units—compared to 70,000 units a few weeks prior. There were shortages in more than 1,700 shops in North America on the day before Christmas.


title: PlayStation 2

text: The PlayStation 2 continued to be produced until 2013 when Sony finally announced that it had been discontinued after over twelve years of production—one of the longest lifespans of any video game console. New games for the console continued to be made until the end of 2013, including "Final Fantasy XI: Seekers of Adoulin" for Japan, and "FIFA 14" for North America. The last game to be released on the PlayStation 2 is "Pro Evolution Soccer 2014", which was released in the United Kingdom on 8 November 2013. Repair services for the system in Japan ended on 7 September 2018.


title: PlayStation 2

text: The PlayStation 2's main central processing unit (CPU) is the 128-bit R5900-based "Emotion Engine", custom-designed by Sony and Toshiba. The Emotion Engine consists of eight separate "units", each performing a specific task, integrated onto the same die. These units include a central CPU core, two Vector Processing Units (VPU), a 10-channel DMA unit, a memory controller, and an Image Processing Unit (IPU). There are three interfaces: an input output interface to the I/O processor running at clock speed of 33.8688MHz or 36.864MHz (Selectable), a graphics interface to the graphics synthesiser, and a memory interface to the system memory. The Emotion Engine CPU has a clock rate of 294.912 MHz (299 MHz on newer versions) and 6,000 MIPS, with a floating point performance of 6.2 GFLOPS.


title: PlayStation 2

text: The GPU is likewise custom-designed for the console, named the "Graphics Synthesiser". It has a fillrate of 2.4 gigapixels per second, capable of rendering up to 75 million polygons per second. The GPU also runs with a clock frequency of 147.456 MHz Which is half the clock speed of the Emotion Engine, 4 MB of DRAM is capable of transmitting a display output of 1280 x 1024 pixels on both PAL and NTSC televisions. The PlayStation 2 has a maximum colour depth of 16.7 million true colours. When accounting for features such as lighting, texture mapping, artificial intelligence, and game physics, the console has a real-world performance of 25 million polygons per second. The PlayStation 2 also features two USB ports, and one IEEE 1394 (Firewire) port for SCPH-10000 to 3900x models only. A hard disk drive can be installed in an expansion bay on the back of the console, and is required to play certain games, notably the popular "Final Fantasy XI".


title: PlayStation 2

text: Software for the PlayStation 2 was distributed primarily on DVD-ROMs, with some titles being published on blue-tinted CD-ROM format. In addition, the console can play audio CDs and DVD films and is backward-compatible with almost all original PlayStation games. The PlayStation 2 also supports PlayStation memory cards and controllers, although original PlayStation memory cards will only work with original PlayStation games and the controllers may not support all functions (such as analogue buttons) for PlayStation 2 games.


title: PlayStation 2

text: The standard PlayStation 2 memory card has an 8 megabyte (MB) capacity and features MagicGate encryption. There are a variety of non-Sony manufactured memory cards available for the PlayStation 2, allowing for a memory capacity larger than the standard 8 MB.


title: PlayStation 2

text: The PlayStation 2 can natively output video resolutions on SDTV and HDTV from 480i to 480p, and some games, such as "Gran Turismo 4" and "Tourist Trophy", are known to support up-scaled 1080i resolution using any of the following standards: composite video [should read component video - the higher resolution RGB connector for video ](480i), S-Video (480i), RGB (480i/p), VGA (for progressive scan games and PS2 Linux only), component [should read composite video - the single, lower resolution yellow connector for video] video (which display most original PlayStation games in their native 240p mode which most HDTV sets do not support), and D-Terminal. Cables are available for all of these signal types; these cables also output analogue stereo audio. Additionally, an RF modulator is available for the system to connect to older TVs.


title: PlayStation 2

text: The PlayStation 2 has undergone many revisions, some only of internal construction and others involving substantial external changes.


title: PlayStation 2

text: The PS2 is primarily differentiated between models featuring the original "fat" case design and "slimline" models, which were introduced at the end of 2004. In 2010, the Sony Bravia KDL-22PX300 was made available to consumers. It was a 22" HD-Ready television which incorporated a built-in PlayStation 2.


title: PlayStation 2

text: The PS2 standard color is matte black. Several variations in color were produced in different quantities and regions, including ceramic white, light yellow, metallic blue (aqua), metallic silver, navy (star blue), opaque blue (astral blue), opaque black (midnight black), pearl white, sakura purple, satin gold, satin silver, snow white, super red, transparent blue (ocean blue), and also Limited Edition color Pink, which was distributed in some regions such as Oceania, and parts of Asia.


title: PlayStation 2

text: In September 2004, Sony unveiled its third major hardware revision. Available in late October 2004, it was smaller, thinner, and quieter than the original versions and included a built-in Ethernet port (in some markets it also had an integrated modem). Due to its thinner profile, it did not contain the 3.5" expansion bay and therefore did not support the internal hard disk drive. It also lacked an internal power supply until a later revision (excluding the Japan version), similar to the GameCube, and had a modified Multitap expansion. The removal of the expansion bay was criticized as a limitation due to the existence of titles such as "Final Fantasy XI", which required the HDD use.


title: PlayStation 2

text: Sony also manufactured a consumer device called the PSX that can be used as a digital video recorder and DVD burner in addition to playing PS2 games. The device was released in Japan on 13 December 2003, and was the first Sony product to include the XrossMediaBar interface. It did not sell well in the Japanese market and was not widely released anywhere else.


title: PlayStation 2

text: PlayStation 2 users had the option to play select games over the Internet, using dial-up or a broadband Internet connection. The PlayStation 2 Network Adaptor was required for the original models, while the slim models included built-in networking ports. Instead of having a unified, subscription-based online service like Xbox Live as competitor Microsoft later chose for its Xbox console, online multiplayer functionality on the PlayStation 2 was the responsibility of the game publisher and ran on third-party servers. Many games that supported online play exclusively supported broadband Internet access.


title: PlayStation 2

text: The PlayStation 2's DualShock 2 controller retains most of the same functionality as its predecessor. However, it includes analogue pressure sensitivity to over 100 individual levels of depth on the face, shoulder and D-pad buttons, replacing the digital buttons of the original. Like its predecessor, the DualShock 2 controller has force feedback, or "vibration" functionality. It is lighter and includes two more levels of vibration.


title: PlayStation 2

text: Specialized controllers include light guns (GunCon), fishing rod and reel controllers, a "" "slime" controller, a "Final Fantasy X-2" "Tiny Bee" dual pistol controller, an "" katana controller, and a "Resident Evil 4" chainsaw controller.


title: PlayStation 2

text: Optional hardware includes additional DualShock or DualShock 2 controllers, a PS2 DVD remote control, an internal or external hard disk drive (HDD), a network adapter, horizontal and vertical stands, PlayStation or PS2 memory cards, the multitap for PlayStation or PS2, a USB motion camera (EyeToy), a USB keyboard and mouse, and a headset.


title: PlayStation 2

text: The original PS2 multitap (SCPH-10090) cannot be plugged into the newer slim models. The multitap connects to the memory card slot and the controller slot, and the memory card slot on the slimline is shallower. New slim-design multitaps (SCPH-70120) were manufactured for these models; however, third-party adapters also permit original multitaps to be used.


title: PlayStation 2

text: Early versions of the PS2 could be networked via an i.LINK port, though this had little game support and was dropped. Some third-party manufacturers have created devices that allow disabled people to access the PS2 through ordinary switches, etc.


title: PlayStation 2

text: Some third-party companies, such as JoyTech, have produced LCD monitor and speaker attachments for the PS2, which attach to the back of the console. These allow users to play games without access to a television as long as there is access to mains electricity or a similar power source. These screens can fold down onto the PS2 in a similar fashion to laptop screens.


title: PlayStation 2

text: There are many accessories for musical games, such as dance pads for "Dance Dance Revolution", "In the Groove", and "Pump It Up" titles and "". Konami microphones for use with the "Karaoke Revolution" games, dual microphones (sold with and used exclusively for "SingStar" games), various "guitar" controllers (for the "Guitar Freaks" series and "Guitar Hero" series), the drum set controller (sold in a box set (or by itself) with a "guitar" controller and a USB microphone (for use with "Rock Band" and "Guitar Hero" series, "World Tour" and newer), and a taiko drum controller for "".


title: PlayStation 2

text: Unlike the PlayStation, which requires the use of an official Sony PlayStation Mouse to play mouse-compatible games, the few PS2 games with mouse support work with a standard USB mouse as well as a USB trackball. In addition, some of these games also support the usage of a USB keyboard for text input, game control (instead of a DualShock or DualShock 2 gamepad, in tandem with a USB mouse), or both.


title: PlayStation 2

text: PlayStation 2 software is distributed on CD-ROM and DVD-ROM; the two formats are differentiated by their discs' bottoms, with CD-ROMs being blue and DVD-ROMs being silver. The PlayStation 2 offered some particularly high-profile exclusive games. Most main entries in the "Grand Theft Auto", "Final Fantasy", and "Metal Gear Solid" series were released exclusively for the console. Several prolific series got their start on the PlayStation 2, including "God of War", "Ratchet & Clank", "Jak and Daxter", "Devil May Cry", "Kingdom Hearts", and "Sly Cooper". "" was the best-selling game on the console.


title: PlayStation 2

text: Game releases peaked in 2004, but declined with the release of the PlayStation 3 in 2006. The last new games for the console were "Final Fantasy XI: Seekers of Adoulin" in Asia, "FIFA 14" in North America, and "Pro Evolution Soccer 2014" in Europe. As of 30 June 2007, a total of 10,035 software titles had been released worldwide including games released in multiple regions as separate titles.


title: PlayStation 2

text: Initial reviews in 2000 of the PlayStation 2 highly acclaimed the console, with reviewers commending its hardware and graphics capabilities, its ability to play DVDs, and the system's backwards compatibility with games and hardware for the original PlayStation. Early points of criticism included the lack of online support at the time, its inclusion of only two controller ports, and the system's price at launch compared to the Dreamcast in 2000. "PC Magazine" in 2001 called the console "outstanding", praising its "noteworthy components" such as the Emotion Engine CPU, 32MB of RAM, support for IEEE 1394 (branded as "i.LINK" by Sony and "FireWire" by Apple), and the console's two USB ports while criticizing its "expensive" games and its support for only two controllers without the multitap accessory.


title: PlayStation 2

text: Later reviews, especially after the launch of the competing GameCube and Xbox systems, continued to praise the PlayStation 2's large game library and DVD playback, while routinely criticizing the PlayStation 2's lesser graphics performance compared to the newer systems and its rudimentary online service compared to Xbox Live. In 2002, CNET rated the console 7.3 out of 10, calling it a "safe bet" despite not being the "newest or most powerful", noting that the console "yields in-game graphics with more jagged edges". CNET also criticized the DVD playback functionality, claiming that the console's video quality was "passable" and that the playback controls were "rudimentary", recommending users to purchase a remote control. The console's two controller ports and the high cost of its memory cards were also a point of criticism.


title: PlayStation 2

text: The slim model of the PlayStation 2 received positive reviews for its incredibly small size and built-in networking, but received criticism for easily overheating due to exclusion of the original model’s built-in fan. The requirement for a separate power adapter was criticized while the top-loading disc drive was noted as being less likely to break compared to the tray-loading drive of the original model.


title: PlayStation 2

text: Demand for the PlayStation 2 remained strong throughout much of its lifespan, selling over 1.4 million units in Japan by 31 March 2000. Over 10.6 million units were sold worldwide by 31 March 2001. In 2005, the PlayStation 2 became the fastest game console to reach 100 million units shipped, accomplishing the feat within 5 years and 9 months from its launch; this was surpassed 4 years later when the Nintendo DS reached 100 million shipments in 4 years and 5 months from its launch. By July 2009, the system had sold 138.8 million units worldwide, with 51 million of those units sold in PAL regions.


title: PlayStation 2

text: Overall, over 155 million PlayStation 2 units were sold worldwide by 31 March 2012, the year Sony officially stopped supplying updated sales numbers of the system.


title: PlayStation 2

text: Using homebrew programs, it is possible to play various audio and video file formats on a PS2. Homebrew programs can also play patched backups of original PS2 DVD games on unmodified consoles and install retail discs to an installed hard drive on older models. Homebrew emulators of older computer and gaming systems have been developed for the PS2.


title: PlayStation 2

text: Sony released a Linux-based operating system, Linux for PlayStation 2, for the PS2 in a package that also includes a keyboard, mouse, Ethernet adapter and HDD. In Europe and Australia, the PS2 comes with a free Yabasic interpreter on the bundled demo disc. This allows users to create simple programs for the PS2. A port of the NetBSD project and BlackRhino GNU/Linux, an alternative Debian-based distribution, are also available for the PS2.


title: Lady Jane Grey

text: Lady Jane Grey ( 1537 – 12 February 1554), later known as Lady Jane Dudley (after her marriage) and as the "Nine Days' Queen", was an English noblewoman who claimed the throne of England and Ireland from 10 July until 19 July 1553.