title: Baker Street (song)

text: The US rock band Foo Fighters covered the song on their 1998 "My Hero" UK CD single release, on the Australian tour pack (Grey cover) release, on the limited-edition European bonus EP and as one of several bonus tracks added to the remastered tenth anniversary release of their second studio album, "The Colour and the Shape", reissued in 2007. The cover does not include the saxophone riff the original is known for, instead being played with electric guitars.


title: Flightless bird

text: Flightless birds are birds that through evolution lost the ability to fly. There are over 60 extant species, including the well known ratites (ostriches, emu, cassowaries, rheas, and kiwi) and penguins. The smallest flightless bird is the Inaccessible Island rail (length 12.5 cm, weight 34.7 g). The largest (both heaviest and tallest) flightless bird, which is also the largest living bird, is the ostrich (2.7 m, 156 kg).


title: Flightless bird

text: Many domesticated birds, such as the domestic chicken and domestic duck, have lost the ability to fly for extended periods, although their ancestral species, the red junglefowl and mallard, respectively, are capable of extended flight. A few particularly bred birds, such as the Broad Breasted White turkey, have become totally flightless as a result of selective breeding; the birds were bred to grow massive breast meat that weighs too much for the bird's wings to support in flight.


title: Flightless bird

text: Flightlessness has evolved in many different birds independently, demonstrating repeated convergent evolution. There were families of flightless birds, such as the now extinct Phorusrhacidae, that evolved to be powerful terrestrial predators. Taking this to a greater extreme, the terror birds (and their relatives the bathornithids), eogruids, geranoidids, gastornithiforms, and dromornithids (all extinct) all evolved similar body shapes – long legs, long necks and big heads – but none of them were closely related. Furthermore, they also share traits of being giant, flightless birds with vestigial wings, long legs, and long necks with some of the ratites, although they are not related.


title: Flightless bird

text: Divergences and losses of flight within ratite lineage occurred right after the K-Pg extinction event wiped out all non-avian dinosaurs and large vertebrates 66 million years ago. The immediate evacuation of niches following the mass extinction provided opportunities for Palaeognathes to distribute and occupy novel environments. New ecological influences selectively pressured different taxa to converge on flightless modes of existence by altering them morphologically and behaviorally. The successful acquisition and protection of a claimed territory selected for large size and cursoriality in Tertiary ancestors of ratites. Temperate rainforests dried out throughout the Miocene and transformed into semiarid deserts, causing habitats to be widely spread across the growingly disparate landmasses. Cursoriality was an economic means of traveling long distances to acquire food that was usually low-lying vegetation, more easily accessed by walking. Traces of these events are reflected in ratite distribution throughout semiarid grasslands and deserts today.


title: Flightless bird

text: Gigantism and flightlessness in birds are almost exclusively correlated due to islands lacking mammalian or reptilian predators and competition. However, ratites occupy environments that are mostly occupied by a diverse number of mammals. It is thought that they first originated through allopatric speciation caused by breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana. However, later evidence suggests this hypothesis first proposed by Joel Cracraft in 1974 is incorrect. Rather ratites arrived in their respective locations via a flighted ancestor and lost the ability to fly multiple times within the lineage.


title: Flightless bird

text: Gigantism is not a requirement for flightlessness. The kiwi do not exhibit gigantism, along with tinamous, even though they coexisted with the moa and rheas that both exhibit gigantism. This could be the result of different ancestral flighted birds arrival or because of competitive exclusion. The first flightless bird to arrive in each environment utilized the large flightless herbivore or omnivore niche, forcing the later arrivals to remain smaller. In environments where flightless birds are not present, it is possible that after the K/T Boundary there were no niches for them to fill. They were pushed out by other herbivorous mammals.


title: Flightless bird

text: New Zealand had more species of flightless birds (including the kiwi, several species of penguins, the takahē, the weka, the moa, and several other extinct species) than any other such location. One reason is that until the arrival of humans roughly a thousand years ago, there were no large land predators in New Zealand; the main predators of flightless birds were larger birds.


title: Flightless bird

text: Ratites belong to the superorder Palaeognathae, which include the volant tinamou, and are believed to have evolved flightlessness independently multiple times within their own group. Some birds evolved flightlessness in response to the absence of predators, for example on oceanic islands. Incongruences between ratite phylogeny and Gondwana geological history indicate the presence of ratites in their current locations is the result of a secondary invasion by flying birds. It remains possible that the most recent common ancestor of ratites was flightless and the tinamou regained the ability to fly. However, it is believed that the loss of flight is an easier transition for birds than the loss and regain of flight, which has never been documented in avian history. Moreover, tinamou nesting within flightless ratites indicates ancestral ratites were volant and multiple losses of flight occurred independently throughout the lineage. This indicates that the distinctive flightless nature of ratites is the result of convergent evolution.


title: Flightless bird

text: Two key differences between flying and flightless birds are the smaller wing bones of flightless birds and the absent (or greatly reduced) keel on their breastbone. (The keel anchors muscles needed for wing movement.)


title: Flightless bird

text: Adapting to a cursorial lifestyle causes two inverse morphological changes to occur in the skeleto-muscular system: the pectoral apparatus used to power flight is paedorphically reduced while peramorphosis leads to enlargement of the pelvic girdle for running. Repeated selection for cursorial traits across ratites suggests these adaptions comprise a more efficient use of energy in adulthood. The name "ratite" comes from the Latin "ratis", raft, a vessel with no keel. Their flat sternum is distinct from the typical sternum of flighted birds because it lacks a keel, like a raft. This structure is the place where flight muscles attach and thus allow for powered flight. However, ratite anatomy presents other primitive characters meant for flight, such as the fusion of wing elements, a cerebellar structure, the presence of a pygostyle for tail feathers, and an alula on the wing. These morphological traits suggest some affinities to volant groups. Palaeognathes were one of the first colonizers of novel niches and were free to increase in abundance until the population was limited by food and territory. A study looking at energy conservation and the evolution of flightlessness hypothesized intraspecific competition selected for a reduced individual energy expenditure, which is achieved by the loss of flight.


title: Flightless bird

text: Some flightless varieties of island birds are closely related to flying varieties, implying flight is a significant biological cost. Flight is the most costly type of locomotion exemplified in the natural world. The energy expenditure required for flight increases proportionally with body size, which is often why flightlessness coincides with body mass. By reducing large pectoral muscles that require a significant amount of overall metabolic energy, ratites decrease their basal metabolic rate and conserve energy. A study looking at the basal rates of birds found a significant correlation between low basal rate and pectoral muscle mass in kiwis. On the contrary, flightless penguins exhibit an intermediate basal rate. This is likely because penguins have well-developed pectoral muscles for hunting and diving in the water. For ground feeding birds, a cursorial lifestyle is more economical and allows for easier access to dietary requirements. Flying birds have different wing and feather structures that make flying easier, while flightless birds' wing structures are well adapted to their environment and activities, such as diving in the ocean.


title: Flightless bird

text: Species with certain characteristics are more likely to evolve flightlessness. For example, species that already have shorter wings are more likely to lose flight ability. Additionally, birds that undergo simultaneous wing molt, in which they replace all of the feathers in their wings at once during the year, are more likely to evolve flight loss.


title: Flightless bird

text: A number of bird species appear to be in the process of losing their powers of flight to various extents. These include the Zapata rail of Cuba, the Okinawa rail of Japan, and the Laysan duck of Hawaii. All of these birds show adaptations common to flightlessness, and evolved recently from fully flighted ancestors, but have not yet completely given up the ability to fly. They are, however, weak fliers and are incapable of traveling long distances by air.


title: Flightless bird

text: Although selection pressure for flight was largely absent, the wing structure has not been lost except in the New Zealand moas. Ostriches are the fastest running birds in the world and emus have been documented running 50 km/h. At these high speeds, wings are necessary for balance and serving as a parachute apparatus to help the bird slow down. Wings are hypothesized to have played a role in sexual selection in early ancestral ratites and were thus maintained. This can be seen today in both the rheas and ostriches. These ratites utilize their wings extensively for courtship and displays to other males. Sexual selection also influences the maintenance of large body size, which discourages flight. The large size of ratites leads to greater access to mates and higher reproductive success. Ratites and tinamous are monogamous and mate only a limited number of times per year. High parental involvement denotes the necessity for choosing a reliable mate. In a climatically stable habitat providing year round food supply, a male's claimed territory signals to females the abundance of resources readily available to her and her offspring. Male size also indicates his protective abilities. Similar to the emperor penguin, male ratites incubate and protect their offspring anywhere between 85 and 92 days while females feed. They can go up to a week without eating and survive only off fat stores. The emu has been documented fasting as long as 56 days. If no continued pressures warrant the energy expenditure to maintain the structures of flight, selection will tend towards these other traits.


title: Flightless bird

text: The only known species of flightless bird in which wings completely disappeared was the gigantic, herbivorous moa of New Zealand, hunted to extinction by humans by the 15th century. In moa, the entire pectoral girdle is reduced to a paired scapulocoracoid, which is the size of a finger.


title: Flightless bird

text: Many flightless birds are extinct; this list shows species that are either still extant, or became extinct in the Holocene (no more than 11,000 years ago). Extinct species are indicated with a cross (†). A number of species suspected, but not confirmed to be flightless, are also included here.


title: Flightless bird

text: Longer-extinct groups of flightless birds include the Cretaceous patagopterygiformes, hesperornithids, the Cenozoic phorusrhacids ("terror birds") and related bathornithids, the unrelated eogruids, geranoidids, gastornithiforms, and dromornithids (mihirungs or "demon ducks"), and the plotopterids.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: Rocko's Modern Life is an American animated television series created by Joe Murray for Nickelodeon. The series centers on the surreal life of an anthropomorphic Australian immigrant wallaby named Rocko and his friends: the eccentric steer Heffer Wolfe, the neurotic turtle Filburt, and Rocko's faithful dog Spunky. It is set in the fictional town of O-Town. Throughout its run to present day, this show is controversial for its adult humor, including double entendre, innuendo, and satirical social commentary, similar to "The Ren & Stimpy Show". The series has gained a cult following.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: Murray created the title character for an unpublished comic book series in the late 1980s, and later reluctantly pitched the series to Nickelodeon, which was looking for edgier cartoonists for its then-new Nicktoons. The network gave the staff a large amount of creative freedom, with the writers targeting both children and adults. The show premiered on September 18, 1993, and ended on November 24, 1996, totaling four seasons and 52 episodes. A special, "", was digitally released on Netflix on August 9, 2019.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: The show launched the careers of voice actors Carlos Alazraqui and Tom Kenny. After the show's cancellation, much of the staff regrouped to work on "SpongeBob SquarePants", created by "Rocko"s creative director Stephen Hillenburg.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: "Rocko's Modern Life" follows the life of an easily frightened immigrant wallaby named Rocko who encounters various dilemmas and situations regarding otherwise mundane aspects of life. His best friends are Heffer Wolfe, a fat and enthusiastic steer; Filburt, a neurotic turtle who often feels awkward or disturbed and his faithful dog Spunky. Living next door to Rocko is a middle-aged couple, Ed Bighead, a cynical and cantankerous toad who despises Rocko, and his compassionate and more friendly wife Bev.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: All of the characters in "Rocko's Modern Life" are anthropomorphic animals of varying species, the vast majority of whom are mentally unstable. Murray said that he matched personalities of his characters to the various animals in the series to form a social caricature.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: The show is set in a fictional town called O-Town located near the Great Lakes. Places in the town include: Chokey Chicken (later renamed "Chewy Chicken"), a parody of KFC and a favorite place/hang-out for Rocko, Heffer, and Filburt; Conglom-O Corporation, a megacorporation with the slogan "We own you" that owns everything in town; Heck, a place of eternal torment run by Peaches where bad people go when they die; Holl-o-Wood, a town that resembles Hollywood and Kind of a Lot O' Comics, a comic book store owned by a cruel toad named Mr. Smitty, where Rocko works.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: Many of the locations in "Rocko's Modern Life" have the letter "O" in them; for example, O-Town and Conglom-O Corporation. When asked about the use of "O" in his show, Murray said:


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: Originally, the character appeared in an unpublished comic book titled "Travis". Murray tried selling the comic book in the late 1980s, between illustrating jobs and did not find success in getting it into production. Many other characters appeared in various sketchbooks. He described the early 1990s animation atmosphere as "ripe for this kind of project. We took some chances that would be hard to do in these current times (the 1990s)". Murray wanted funding for his independent film "My Dog Zero", so he wanted Nickelodeon to pre-buy television rights for the series. He presented a pencil test to Nickelodeon, which afterward became interested in buying and financing the show. Murray had never worked in television before. The industry was coming out of a "rough period" and Murray wanted to "shake things up a bit".


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: Linda Simensky, then in charge of animation development in Nickelodeon, described the Nicktoons lineup and concept to Murray. He originally felt skepticism towards the concept of creating a Nicktoon as he disliked television cartoons. Simensky told him that Nicktoons differed from other cartoons. He then told her that he believed that "My Dog Zero" would not work as a cartoon. He then researched Nickelodeon at the library and found that Nickelodeon's "attitude was different than regular TV". The cable network providers were "making their own rules": for example, Murray stated that he "didn't write for children", which the executives were fine with. Murray was unsure at first, but was inspired by independent animation around him, such as Animation Celebration and MTV's "Liquid Television", and gave the network a shot. At the time, Nickelodeon was selling itself as a network-based as much around the edge as around kids' entertainment. It aimed to appeal to college students and parents as much as children.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: Murray developed the Rocko character after visiting a zoo in the Bay Area and coming across a wallaby that seemed to be oblivious to the chaos around him. Murray combed through his sketchbooks, developed the "Rocko's Modern Life" concept, and submitted it to Nickelodeon believing that the concept would likely be rejected. Murray felt they would not like the pilot, and he would just collect his sum and begin funding his next independent film. According to Murray, around three or four months later he had "forgotten about" the concept and was working on "My Dog Zero" when Simensky informed him that Nickelodeon wanted a pilot episode. Murray said that he was glad that he would get funding for "My Dog Zero". On his website he describes "My Dog Zero" as "that film that Linda Simensky saw which led me to "Rocko"." "Sucker for the Suck-O-Matic" was originally written as the pilot; the executives decided that Heffer Wolfe, one of the characters, would be "a little too weird for test audiences". Murray, instead of removing Heffer from "Sucker for the Suck-O-Matic", decided to write "Trash-O-Madness" as the pilot episode.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: In the original series pilot, Rocko was colored yellow. His color was changed when a toy merchandising company informed Nick they were interested in marketing toys but did not want to market Rocko because "they already had a yellow character". Murray changed Rocko's color to beige, but after the pilot aired, the company opted out of producing toys for the series, so the color change was pointless. When the series was in development prior to the release of the first episode, the series had the title "The Rocko Show".


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: In November 1992, two months prior to the production of season 1 of "Rocko's Modern Life", Murray's first wife committed suicide. Murray had often blamed his wife's suicide on the show being picked up. He said, "It was always an awful connection because I look at "Rocko" as such a positive in my life." Murray felt that he had emotional and physical "unresolved issues" when he moved to Los Angeles. He describes the experience as like participating in a "marathon with my pants around my ankles". Murray initially believed that he would create one season, move back to the San Francisco Bay Area, and "clean up the loose ends I had left hanging". Murray said that he felt surprised when Nickelodeon approved new seasons; Nickelodeon renewed the series for its second season in December 1993.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: After season 3, he decided to hand the project to Stephen Hillenburg, who performed most of the work for season 4; Murray continued to manage the cartoon. He said that he would completely leave the production after season 4. He said also that he encouraged the network to continue production, but Nickelodeon eventually decided to cancel the series. He described all 52 episodes as "top notch", and in his view the quality of a television show may decline as production continues "when you are dealing with volume". On his website he said that "In some ways it succeeded and in some ways failed. All I know it developed its own flavor and an equally original legion of fans." In a 1997 interview Murray said that he at times wondered if he could restart the series; he feels the task would be difficult.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: The show was jointly produced between Games Animation and Joe Murray Productions. Since Nickelodeon did not have an animation studio, it had to contract out to other studios. After incidents with "The Ren & Stimpy Show" creator John Kricfalusi, Nickelodeon began not to trust its creators as much and began to form its own studio, Games Animation. However, Murray recalls that they were still able to get a lot done independently. Murray has likened the independence to that of "Termite Terrace" (Warner Bros. Cartoons) from the 1930s. As Nickelodeon began to have more and more success with its animation cartoons, Murray said the "Termite Terrace" mentality was not working as much. Producer Mary Harrington made the move from New York City to Los Angeles to set up Games Animation, in order to produce "Rocko's Modern Life". The crew first began production on the show in January 1993. "Rocko's Modern Life" was Nickelodeon's first in-house animated production.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: Murray's Joe Murray Productions and Games Animation rented office space on Ventura Boulevard in the Studio City neighborhood of the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. The production moved to a different office building on Vineland Avenue in Studio City. Executives did not share space with the creative team. Murray rented a floor in the Writers Guild of America, West building, although the team of Rocko was not a part of the union, which the staff found ironic. Sunwoo Entertainment, and later Rough Draft Studios, assembled the animation. According to Murray, as "Rocko's Modern Life" was his first television series, he did not know about the atmosphere of typical animation studios. Murray said that he opted to operate his studio in a similar manner to the operation of his Saratoga, California studio, which he describes as "very relaxed". His cadre included many veterans who, according to him, described the experience as "the most fun they had ever had!" He, saying that the atmosphere was "not my doing", credited his team members for collectively contributing. Murray described the daily atmosphere at the studio as "very loose", adding that the rules permitted all staff members to use the paging system to make announcements. He stated that one visitor compared the environment of the production studio to "preschool without supervision". Murray stated that 70 people in the United States and over 200 people in South Korea and Japan animated the series.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: Rick Bentley of the "Ventura County Star" said that it was unusual for a cartoon creator to select a wallaby as a main character. Bentley also stated that the Rocko universe was influenced by "everything from Looney Tunes to underground comics". The staff of the show consists of fans of outrageous comedy, both animated and not animated. Tom Kenny cited "Looney Tunes" and "SCTV" as influences for the show, and also stated "I'm sure if you asked Joe Murray or Mr. Lawrence or any of those guys, especially in terms of animation, the weirdest cartoons would, of course, be our favorites—those weird '30s Fleischer brothers "Betty Boop" cartoons and stuff like that."


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: Murray produced the pilot episode, "Trash-O-Madness", at his studio in Saratoga; he animated half of the episode, and the production occurred entirely in the United States, with animation in Saratoga and processing in San Francisco. While directing during recording sessions, Murray preferred to be on the stage with the actors instead of "behind glass" in a control room, which he describes as "the norm" while making animated series. He believes that, due to his lack of experience with children, "Rocko's Modern Life" "skewed kind of older". Murray noted, "There's a lot of big kids out there. People went to see "Roger Rabbit" and saw all these characters they'd grown up with and said, 'Yeah, why don't they have something like that anymore?'" When he began producing "Rocko", he says that his experience in independent films initially led him to attempt to micromanage many details in the production. He said that the approach, when used for production of television shows, was "driving me crazy". This led him to allow other team members to manage aspects of the "Rocko's Modern Life" production. Director and later creative director Stephen Hillenburg met Murray at an animation film festival where he was showing his three short films. Murray hired Hillenburg as a director on the series, making Hillenburg's first job in the animation business as a director.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: Murray designed the logo of the series. He said that, after his design drifted from the original design, Nickelodeon informed Murray of how it intended the logo to look like. Murray also designed the covers of the comic book, the VHS releases, and the DVD releases.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: The writers aimed to create stories that they describe as "strong" and "funny". The writers, including George Maestri and Martin Olson, often presented ideas to Murray while eating hamburgers at Rocky's, a restaurant formerly located on Lankershim in the North Hollywood section of the San Fernando Valley. He took his team members on "writing trips" to places such as Rocky's, the La Brea Tar Pits, and the wilderness. If he liked the story premises, the writers produced full outlines from the premises. Outlines approved by both him and Nickelodeon became "Rocko's Modern Life" episodes. Maestri describes some stories as originating from "real life" and some originating from "thin air". Murray stated that each episode of "Rocko's Modern Life" stemmed from the personal experiences of himself and/or one or more of the directors or writers. He said that he did not intend to use formulaic writing seen in other cartoons; he desired content that "broke new ground" and "did things that rode the edge", and that could be described as "unexpected". He did not hire writers who had previous experience with writing cartoons, instead, hiring writers who worked outside of animation, including improv actors and comic artists. He said that story concept that "ever smacked close to some formula idea that we had all seen before" received the immediate rejection.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, a storyboard writer who went on to create "Phineas and Ferb", says that writers of "Rocko's Modern Life" targeted children and adults. He cites "Rocky and Bullwinkle" as an example of another series that contains references indecipherable by children and understood by adults. Aiming for a similar goal, Marsh described the process as "a hard job". According to him, when censors questioned proposed material, sometimes the team disagreed with the opinions of the censors and sometimes the team agreed with the rationale of the censors. He says that "many people" told him that the team "succeeded in this endeavor" and that "many parents I know really enjoyed watching the show with their kids for just this reason". John Pacenti said the series "seems very much aimed at adults" "for a children's cartoon". Marsh believes that the material written by Doug Lawrence stands as an example of a "unique sense of humor". For instance, Marsh credits Lawrence with the "pineapple references" adding that Lawrence believed that pineapples seemed humorous. The staff drew upon "Looney Tunes" and the Fleischer cartoons to appeal to a wide demographic: having a certain adult sensibility but also enjoyed by kids.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: "Rocko's Modern Life" has been described as similar to that of the output of Warner Bros. cartoons in the Golden Age: a visually driven show heavy on humor, sight gags, and good animation. Instead of a finished script, the animators usually received a three-page outline, requiring them to come up with a majority of the gags and dialogue. The animation team appreciated this approach, with storyboard artist Jeff Myers, formerly of "The Simpsons", quoted as saying "The script [at "The Simpsons"] was carved in stone. Here it's ... more of a challenge and a lot more fun when we're given a rough outline." Murray's animation lacked parallel lines and featured crooked architecture similar to various Chuck Jones cartoons. In an interview, he stated that his design style contributed to the show's "wonky bent feel". Jean Prescott of the "Sun Herald" described the series as "squash-and-stretch". A 1993 "Houston Chronicle" article described the series' setting as having a "reality that is 'squashed and stretched' into a twisted version of real life". The background staff hand-painted backgrounds with Dr. Martin Dyes, while each episode title card consisted of an original painting. Linda Simensky said that she asked the creators of "Rocko's Modern Life" about why the women in the series were drawn to be "top-heavy", the creators told her that they believed that drawing women "the traditional way" was easier. Simensky described the creators as "talented guys" who formed "a boy's club" and added that "we pushed them to be funny, but a lot of their women are stereotypical".


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: There are three versions of the "Rocko's Modern Life" theme song. The first and original version can be heard playing throughout every episode in Season 1 except for episode 8. The second version of the theme song was a slightly remixed version of the first and was used for episode 8. Version 2 had high-pitched, distorted voices in the chorus. The third version of the theme song was performed by Kate Pierson and Fred Schneider from The B-52's. They performed the "Rocko's Modern Life" theme song for the rest of the series.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: At first, Murray wanted Paul Sumares to perform the theme song since Sumares created most of the music found in "My Dog Zero". Murray wanted the same style in "My Dog Zero" exhibited in "Rocko's Modern Life". Nickelodeon wanted a person with more experience. According to Sumares, believing for the request to be a long shot, Murray asked for Danny Elfman and felt stunned when Nickelodeon decided to honor his request by asking Elfman to perform. According to Murray, Elfman, his first choice, was booked. Therefore, he chose the B-52's, his second choice. According to Sumares Murray decided to use the B-52's instead of Elfman. Murray states that the difference between the stories "could just be a recollection conflict because Paul is a brilliant amazing guy." Murray also sought Alan Silvestri. According to Sumares, Viacom did not want to use Silvestri as the organization wanted a band "slightly older kids could identify with."


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: Pat Irwin, a veteran of many bands, including the New York-based instrumental group the Raybeats, and a side gig, the B-52s, spent five years as a music director on the series. Leading a six-piece combo, Irwin brought together musicians such as trombonist Art Baron and drummer Kevin Norton.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: Like "SpongeBob SquarePants" and "Ren & Stimpy", Irwin also uses selections from the APM Music into his score.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: "Rocko's Modern Life" has been noted for its racy humor. Adults made up more than one-fifth of the audience for the show during its run. The series contained numerous adult innuendos, such as Rocko's brief stint as a telephone operator at what is implied to be a sex hotline in the season one episode "Canned": the instructions on the wall behind him helpfully remind all employees to "Be Hot, Be Naughty, and Be Courteous" while he flatly repeats "Oh baby" into the receiver, who turned out to be Mrs. Bighead. Joe Murray noted that the season one episode "Leap Frogs" received "some complaints from some parents" due to its sexual humor, leading to Nickelodeon removing the episode from air for the remainder of the show's run, although it later aired on the cable channel Nicktoons, and was made available on DVD and video streaming sites such as Netflix (formerly) and Paramount+. In a deleted scene from the season one episode "The Good, the Bad and the Wallaby", Heffer encounters a milking machine and finds pleasure, although only his reactions are shown onscreen. According to writer/director Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, the scene was originally supposed to have hearts appearing in Heffer's eyes at the climactic moment. Although it clearly wasn't going to be included, they described the scene to the Nickelodeon censors anyway: "We described the scene, and then waited for the axe to fall, but all they said was 'can you change the hearts to stars?', we said sure, and it went in." The scene, as well as another scene with Heffer saying, "Goodbye" to the milking machine, were later removed. They are intact in the Canadian broadcasts of the episode, however. In addition, the uncut version can still be found on the VHS tape "Rocko's Modern Life: With Friends Like These".


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: There were at least two occurrences of immediate censorship of the series. The original broadcast of the season two episode "Road Rash" featured a scene in which Rocko and Heffer stop at what is suggested to be a love hotel (the "No-Tell Motel") advertising "hourly rates" and ask the horse desk clerk for a room, who infers the two will be engaging in intercourse: "All night? [whistles] Wheeeooo! Okay." The scene was never shown again after its first airing, but a low quality clip was made available online as early as late December 1997, and two higher quality clips have been available as late as 2021. The first airing of the season two episode "Hut Sut Raw" included a scene in which Rocko is picking berries; upon picking one lower on the bush, a bear rushes out whimpering and grasping his crotch. This scene is left intact in the Canadian broadcasts of the episode. Both scenes were edited by Nickelodeon after their first broadcasts and are the only instances of censorship on the season two DVD, released in 2012. On the season three DVD, the "Wacky Delly" segment was shortened by approximately ten seconds to remove footage of Sal Ami repeatedly whacking Betty Bologna over the head with a telephone receiver. In addition, the restaurant named "Chokey Chicken" (a term for masturbation) was renamed "Chewy Chicken" for the series' fourth season. However, in the 2019 special "Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling", they go back to using the original "Chokey Chicken" name. As the series entered reruns after cancellation, more scenes were cut. The entire episode "Leap Frogs", in which Bev Bighead attempts to seduce Rocko, was skipped. The entire episode "Heff in a Handbasket", in which Heffer Wolfe attempts to sell his soul, was also skipped.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: When Shout! Factory and Paramount announced a DVD retail release for the series, there were concerns on whether Nickelodeon would allow them to release the series complete with some of the racier humor that the network eventually cut out for reruns. In the end, Shout! Factory and Paramount only received materials from sources that were edited for broadcast, so the episodes still remained censored on the DVDs.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: The only uncut release of the show on DVD so far was published in Germany in October 2013, although this release is still missing the uncut version of "Road Rash".


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: Back when the show was rerun on Nicktoons, "Leap Frogs" and "Heff in a Handbasket" (the two episodes banned for content) were restored. While the former got removed from the rotation again, the latter was still in circulation until the show itself got removed from the network.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: "Rocko's Modern Life" first ran on Nickelodeon from 1993 to 1996, and was briefly syndicated to local stations by Nick during 1995 and 1996.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: In 2004, the show briefly returned to Nickelodeon as part of "U-Pick Live" Old School Pick, with select episodes airing on June 1 and June 11. In the summer of 2006, the series once again returned to Nick as part of the Nick Rewind block, and in 2007, it was shown on "Superstuffed Nicksgiving Weekend". Reruns of "Rocko's Modern Life" aired on Nicktoons in the United States from May 1, 2002, to September 5, 2011.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: In the UK the series premiered on Nickelodeon UK on November 6, 1993. The series was also screened on Channel 4 from August 9, 1994, until 2000. From 2002 to 2017, it also aired on Nicktoons in the United Kingdom.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: MTV picked up "Rocko's Modern Life" from Nickelodeon in early 1994. In Malaysia, "Rocko's Modern Life" was aired on MetroVision. The series was also shown in Ukraine on ICTV. In Italy, "Rocko's Modern Life" was aired on Rai 2.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: "Rocko's Modern Life" aired again on "NickRewind" (formerly known as "The 90's Are All That") in the US from September 5 to September 23, 2011, and from February 11 to March 1, 2013. On the night leading into April Fools' Day 2013, The 90's Are All That, aired a prank "lost episode" of the series consisting solely of a still picture of a mayonnaise jar. This is a reference to the two-part episode "Wacky Delly", in which the characters attempt to sabotage the show-within-a-show, "Wacky Delly". The series then returned to the block, renamed The Splat, from 2015 to 2021.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: In Canada, it was aired on YTV from 1994 to 2000. The series aired in reruns on Canadian Nickelodeon from November 2, 2009, to August 29, 2022.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: Murray said that the cartoon "resonated" with people because the scenarios depicted in the cartoon involving "the neurosis, the daily chores of everyday life" were based on Murray's own experiences "breaking out into the world" after leaving school. The show had debuted in a preview on September 18, 1993, and officially premiered the following morning, to join Nickelodeon's Sunday morning animation block. On September 18, the series' first night of airing, "Rocko's Modern Life" received a 3.0 in ratings. By January 31, 1994, the series' audience grew by 65%. "Rocko's Modern Life" was at the time the network's highest-rated cartoon launch ever. There was a brief period in 1993 when the network received numerous complaints from members of a religious group that "Ren & Stimpy" and "Rocko's Modern Life" were too adult-oriented to be shown to kids on Sunday mornings. They wanted the shows moved to a different time slot. The network was polite but did not make the programming change.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: Initial reviews of "Rocko's Modern Life" were positive. "The Miami Herald" ran an article about series that were "rais[ing] the standards for children's programming", singling out "Rocko's Modern Life" as "definitely worth a look". Jennifer Mangan of the "Chicago Tribune" likened the series to "The Simpsons", noting the show as another example of adult animation that is "not for kids". "Newsday" highlighted the show's twisted sight gags. Ted Drozdowski of "The Boston Phoenix" stated in the "Eye pleasers" article that he enjoyed "Rocko's Modern Life" because of "jovial excitement", "good-hearted outrage", "humanity", and "pushy animated characterizations". However, not all reviews were positive. Ken Tucker of "Entertainment Weekly" described the series as "a witless rip-off of "Ren & Stimpy": mucus jokes without the redeeming surrealism or contempt for authority." Charles Solomon of the "Los Angeles Times" called the series "rock bottom" and a "tasteless attempt to capture the "Ren & Stimpy" audience", mostly expressing displeasure at the crass humor.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: "Common Sense Media" reviewer Emily Ashby gave "Rocko's Modern Life" four stars, stating that "Rocko's Modern Life" is "modern and funny, but edgy content isn't suitable for young kids.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: The show has seen renewed acclaim. Brahna Siegelberg of "Slate" said that the aspect that was most compelling was that the show had "a really poignant critique of the materialist demands of American life". She added that she "realized that "Rocko" was really a show about how to navigate the adult world; one that could be appreciated by kids for its slapstick humor and absurdity, but had even more to say to young adults—like me". IGN called the show a prime example of the "sophisticated, intelligent brand of children's programming" during Nickelodeon's golden age. "The A.V. Club" also called the show "one of the best series" from that era, praising the show's "impressive commitment to expressive character acting, well-drawn sight gags, and cartoony jokes that play with the form's slapstick strengths." "New York" compared the series' humor, in retrospect, to that of "Office Space" (1999) and praised the subversive, anti-corporate stories.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: Timothy J. Borquez, Patrick Foley, Michael Giesler, Michael A. Gollorn, William B. Griggs, Tom Jeager, Gregory LaPlante, Timothy Mertens, and Kenneth Young of "Rocko's Modern Life" received a 1994 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Film Sound Editing.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: The series won an Environmental Media Award in 1996 for the episode "Zanzibar!", a musical episode focusing on environmentalism, pollution, and deforestation. The award was accepted by the episode's writers, Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, future creators of the hit Disney animated series "Phineas and Ferb".


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: The fourth Nicktoon to debut, "Rocko's" boasts a sizable cult fanbase to this day. Tom Kenny cited "Rocko's Modern Life" as vital in him learning how to do voiceovers for animation. He recalled that seeing Charlie Adler have a two-way conversation with himself as the Bigheads without any edits was "dazzling". Kenny described the show's impact in an interview, saying, ""Rocko's Modern Life" was just one of those shows that were the first break for a lot of people who went on to do other stuff in the business."


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: Some members of the "Rocko's Modern Life" staff created other successful ventures. Mitch Schauer, the show's assistant storyboard artist, would later create "The Angry Beavers", which premiered on Nickelodeon in 1997 and ended in 2001. Stephen Hillenburg pitched "SpongeBob SquarePants" to Nickelodeon in 1997. Murray said of the pitch, "If it goes well, it'll be a blessing to us all." The network bought the show, which premiered in 1999, and it became a popular, critical and financial success, and one of the biggest shows on Nick. Hillenburg stated that he "learned a great deal about writing and producing animation for TV" from his time on "Rocko's Modern Life". Two writers for the series, Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, went on to create "Phineas and Ferb" for the Disney Channel; the show became a ratings success and received numerous award nominations. When Murray returned with a new animated series, "Camp Lazlo" on Cartoon Network, in 2005, much of the former staff of "Rocko's Modern Life" joined him. Murray stated that "We always kept in touch and they told me to look them up if I ever did another project", adding that the crew already knew his sensibilities and an extra decade worth of experience. Carlos Alazraqui, who played Rocko, also ended up playing the main character of Lazlo. Derek Drymon and Nick Jennings, both part of the staff, went on to be responsible for the tone and visual looks of a lot of very successful animated series that came later.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: A person wearing a "Rocko’s Modern Life" hoodie can be seen in the music video for the Blink-182 song "Happy Days".


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: Rocko appears in a "Robot Chicken" skit in the episode "Fila Ogden in: Maggie's Got a Full Load" where he attempts to leave Australia for America, but ends up getting run over by cars in the street.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: Rocko is featured in the trailer for the "Smite" and Nickelodeon crossover, along with Zim from "Invader Zim", and Danny Phantom from the animated series of the same name, released on July 5, 2022. The Nickelodeon exclusive edition was released a week later.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: By January 31, 1994, Nickelodeon received ten "licensing partners" for merchandise for the series. Hardee's distributed "Rocko" toys. Viacom New Media released one game based on the show, "", in the United States on April 1, 1994, for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. In addition, "Microsoft's Nickelodeon 3-D Movie Maker" features various characters from the show. Rocko also appeared as a playable character in the game "". Rocko and Heffer also make cameo appearances in "Nicktoons MLB", and are both playable in "", which features with two racetracks based on the show. Rocko also appears as a playable character in "Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl" via downloadable content. Nick.com created two free online games featuring Rocko, using Shockwave (which requires the Shockwave Player plugin, website also requires Flash Player plugin). Hot Topic sells "Rocko's Modern Life" merchandise such as T-shirts, wristbands, keychains and other items as part of their Nick Classic line. In 1997, plushes of Rocko, Spunky, and Heffer were released exclusively at the Viacom Entertainment Store. They are difficult to find in the present day and age, and in 2016, a different Rocko plush was released.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: During Tom DeFalco's Editor-in-Chief career, Marvel Comics produced a seven-issue "Rocko's Modern Life" comic book series. Marvel published the series from June 1994 to December 1994 with monthly releases.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: Nickelodeon approached Marvel, asking the company to produce comic book series for "Rocko's Modern Life" and "Ren and Stimpy". Marvel purchased the license for Rocko from Nickelodeon. The staff created the comics, and Susan Luposniak, a Nickelodeon employee, examined the comics before they were released. Joe Murray said in a December 2, 2008 blog entry that he drew some of the pages in the comic book series.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: The comics contain stories not seen in the television show. In addition, the comic book series omits some television show characters and places, while some original places and characters appear in the comics. John "Lewie" Lewandowski wrote all of the stories except for one; Joey Cavalieri wrote "Beaten by a Club", the second story of Issue #4.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: Troy Little, a resident of Monroe, Oregon, wrote to Marvel requesting that the title for the comic's letters column should be "That's Life". In Issue 3, published in August 1994, the editors decided to use the title for the comic's "Letters to the Editor" section. In Issue 5, published in October 1994, the editors stated that they were still receiving suggestions for the title of the comic even though they had decided on using "That's Life" by Issue 3.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: Fans have requested that Nickelodeon produce a DVD collection of the series for years. Murray has often got e-mails from fans, and his top question was "When will "Rocko" be on DVD?" Prior to the official DVD releases, Murray stated that he had not heard of any plans for a DVD release and that there are several bootleg DVD releases of the series sold on eBay. He commented, "But at least someone is trying to give "Rocko" fans what they want. Because Nickelodeon sure isn't doing it." Murray worked with his legal team to regain the rights, and an official DVD was released.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: The first home video release of the series in the United States was in 1995, when selected episodes were released on VHS by Sony Wonder. Sony Wonder used "Rocko's Modern Life", alongside other television programs as "leading brands" in order for the company to break into the market. In addition, the "How to Tell if Your Dog is Brainless" short can only be found on the Sony Wonder version of the VHS "Rocko's Modern Life: Machine Madness". Paramount Home Media Distribution re-released the tapes in 1997 and one tape in 1998.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: In July 2008, "Rocko's Modern Life" was added to the iTunes Store as a part of the "Nick Rewind" collection, in four best-of volumes. Eventually, in August 2008, Nickelodeon joined forces with CreateSpace, part of the Amazon.com Inc. group of companies, to make a number of animated and live-action shows available on DVD, many for the first time. The DVDs were published via CreateSpace DVD on Demand, a service that manufactures discs as soon as customers order them on Amazon.com. "Rocko's Modern Life" was available in two best-of collections, released in 2008 and a third best-of collection in 2009.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: All four seasons were available in streaming format on Netflix until May 31, 2013. As of 2021, "Rocko's Modern Life" is now available for streaming on Paramount+. The rarely-seen episode "Closet Clown/Seat to Stardom", and the holiday episodes "Rocko's Modern Christmas!: Can't Squeeze Cheer from a Cheese Log!", "Sugar-Frosted Frights/Ed is Dead: A Thriller", and "Turkey Time/Floundering Fathers", but still has edited versions of "The Good, the Bad and the Wallaby", "Road Rash", and "Hut Sut Raw".


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: In March 2011, Shout! Factory announced that they would release Season 1 in an official box set on June 21, 2011. The two-disc set received relatively positive reviews, only receiving criticism for video quality and the lack of bonus features. According to Joe Murray's website, he struck a deal with Shout! Factory to create the artwork for the Season 2 set; the special features were yet to be announced when he wrote the entry. Season 2 was released on February 7, 2012, with Season 3 following on July 3, 2012. On December 3, 2012, creator Joe Murray announced due to strong DVD sales of the first three seasons, Shout! Factory would release "Rocko's Modern Life: The Complete Series" on DVD on February 26, 2013, along with bonus material from the Rocko's Live event from October 2012; Murray also mentioned that Season 4 would be released individually on DVD soon after the complete series set was released. On February 26, 2013, "Rocko's Modern Life: The Complete Series" was released by Shout! Factory. The fourth and final season was released on October 15, 2013. On November 20, 2018, "Rocko's Modern Life: The Complete Series" was re-released by Paramount Home Media Distribution.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: The complete series was released in Germany on October 4, 2013. The limited edition eight-disc set includes a 3D card, sticker set, postcards, episode guide, and poster, as well as bonus features included on the discs. Since the show was aired uncensored on Nickelodeon Germany in the mid-'90s, the German publishers were able to reconstruct a nearly uncensored release of the show, although this release is still missing the uncut version of "Road Rash". So far, it is the only official DVD box set available that is almost completely uncut.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: "The Best of Rocko's Modern Life" was released in the United Kingdom in 2012 as four one-disc volumes. These were released exclusively for Poundland stores. "Rocko's Modern Life: The Complete Series" was released in the UK on November 12, 2018.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: In Australia, the first three seasons are available on DVD. Season 1 and Season 2 were released on April 3, 2013. Season 3 was released on June 5, 2013.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: On August 1, 2016, a Collector's Edition box set which contains all four seasons was released. It is not known if season four has been released individually. Also released was a Limited Edition 3D artwork for Seasons One and Two. Exclusive DVDs can still be bought at JB Hi-Fi or rented at Video Ezy.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: In September 2015, Nickelodeon stated that some of its old properties were being considered for revivals, and that "Rocko's Modern Life" was one of them.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: On August 11, 2016, Nickelodeon announced that they had greenlit a one-hour TV special, with Joe Murray as executive producer. Murray revealed to "Motherboard" that in the special, Rocko would come back to O-Town after being in space for 20 years, and that it would focus on people's reliance on modern technology. On June 22, 2017, it was announced that the title of the special would be "Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling" and that it would air in 2018. They also reconfirmed that the entire main cast and recurring cast would be reprising their roles, alongside new voice actors Steve Little and co-director Cosmo Segurson. A special sneak peek was released to coincide with the "Rocko" panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2017.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: On May 10, 2019, it was announced that Netflix has acquired the distribution rights to both "Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling" and "" and the streaming service confirmed a day later they would premiere sometime in the summer of 2019.


title: Rocko's Modern Life

text: On July 16, 2019, it was confirmed alongside an exclusive clip by the "Rocko's Modern Life" official Instagram page and various news sources that the show would premiere on Netflix on August 9, 2019.


title: British Leyland

text: British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It was partly nationalised in 1975, when the UK government created a holding company called British Leyland, later renamed BL in 1978. It incorporated much of the British-owned motor vehicle industry, which in 1968 had a 40 percent share of the UK car market, with its history going back to 1895.


title: British Leyland

text: Despite containing profitable marques such as Jaguar, Rover and Land Rover, as well as the best-selling Mini, BLMC had a troubled history, leading to its eventual collapse in 1975 and subsequent part-nationalisation.


title: British Leyland

text: After much restructuring and divestment of subsidiary companies, BL was renamed the Rover Group in 1986, becoming a subsidiary of British Aerospace from 1988 to 1994, then was subsequently bought by BMW. The final surviving incarnation of the company as the MG Rover Group went into administration in 2005, bringing mass car production by British-owned manufacturers to an end. MG and the Austin, Morris and Wolseley marques became part of China's SAIC, with whom MG Rover attempted to merge prior to administration.


title: British Leyland

text: BLMC was founded on 17 January 1968 by the merger of British Motor Holdings (BMH) and Leyland Motor Corporation (LMC), encouraged by Tony Benn as chairman of the Industrial Reorganisation Committee created by the first Wilson Government. At the time, LMC was a successful manufacturer, while BMH (which was the product of an earlier merger between the British Motor Corporation, Pressed Steel and Jaguar) was perilously close to collapse. The Government was hopeful LMC's expertise would revive the ailing BMH, and effectively create a "British General Motors". The merger combined most of the remaining independent British car manufacturing companies and included car, bus and truck manufacturers and more diverse enterprises including: construction equipment, refrigerators, metal casting companies, road surface manufacturers; in all, nearly one hundred different companies. The new corporation was arranged into seven divisions under its new chairman, Sir Donald Stokes (formerly the chairman of LMC). At the time of its founding, BLMC was the world's fifth largest vehicle manufacturer after General Motors, Ford, Chrysler and Volkswagen.


title: British Leyland

text: While BMH was the UK's largest car manufacturer (producing over twice as many cars as LMC), it offered a range of dated vehicles, including the Morris Minor which was introduced in 1948 and the Austin Cambridge and Morris Oxford, which dated back to 1959. Although BMH had enjoyed great success in the 1960s with both the Mini and the 1100/1300, both cars were infamously underpriced and despite their pioneering but unproven front wheel drive engineering, warranty costs had been crippling and had badly eroded those models' profitability.


title: British Leyland

text: After the merger, Lord Stokes was horrified to find that BMH had no plans to replace the elderly designs in its portfolio. Also, BMH's design efforts immediately prior to the merger had focused on unfortunate niche market models such as the Austin Maxi (which was underdeveloped and with an appearance hampered by using the doors from the larger Austin 1800) and the Austin 3-litre, a car with no discernible place in the market.


title: British Leyland

text: The lack of attention to the development of new mass-market models meant that BMH had nothing in the way of new models in the pipeline to compete effectively with popular rivals such as Ford's Escort and Cortina.


title: British Leyland

text: Immediately, Lord Stokes instigated plans to design and introduce new models quickly. The first result of this crash programme was the Morris Marina in early-1971. It used parts from various BL models with new bodywork to produce BL's mass-market competitor. It was one of the strongest-selling cars in the United Kingdom during the 1970s; being the second-most popular new car sold in Britain in 1973, though by the end of production in 1980 it was widely regarded as a dismal product that had damaged the company's reputation. The Austin Allegro (replacement for the 1100/1300 ranges), launched in 1973, gained a similar reputation over its ten-year production life.


title: British Leyland

text: The company became an infamous monument to the industrial turmoil that plagued the United Kingdom during the 1970s. Action by unions frequently brought BL's manufacturing capability to its knees. Despite the duplication of production facilities as a result of the merger, there were multiple single points of failure in the company's production network which meant that a strike in a single plant could stop many of the others. Both Ford and General Motors had militated against this years before by merging their previously separate British and German subsidiaries and product lines (Ford had created Ford of Europe, whilst GM nurtured closer collaboration between Vauxhall and Opel), so that production could be sourced from either British or Continental European plants in the event of industrial unrest. The upshot was that both Ford and Vauxhall ultimately overtook BL to become Britain's two best-selling marques. At the same time, a tide of Japanese imports, spearheaded by Nissan (Datsun) and Toyota exploited both BL's inability to supply its customers and its declining reputation for quality. By the end of the 1970s, the UK Government had introduced protectionist measures in the form of import quotas on Japanese manufacturers to protect the ailing domestic producers (both BL and Chrysler Europe), which it was helping to sustain.


title: British Leyland

text: At its peak, BLMC owned almost forty manufacturing plants across the country. Even before the merger, BMH had included theoretically competing marques that were in fact selling substantially similar badge engineered cars. The British Motor Corporation had never properly integrated either the dealer networks or the production facilities of Austin and Morris. This had been done partly to appease poor industrial relations, as decades old rivalries between Austin and Morris workers at Longbridge and Cowley respectively, had persisted after the 1952 merger and creation of BMC. The upshot was that both plants were producing badge engineered models of otherwise identical Austin and Morris cars so that each dealer network would have a product to sell. This meant that Austin and Morris still, to an extent, competed with each other and meant that each product was saddled with effectively twice the logistics, marketing and distribution costs that it would have if sold under a single name or if production of a single model platform was concentrated in one factory. Although BL "did" eventually end the wasteful double sourcing – for example production of the Mini and the 1100/1300 was concentrated at Longbridge, whilst the 1800 and Austin Maxi ranges moved to Cowley, the production of sub-assemblies as well as component suppliers were scattered all over the Midlands which greatly increased the cost of keeping the factories running.


title: British Leyland

text: BMH and Leyland Motors had expanded and acquired companies throughout the 1950s and 1960s to compete with one another, with the result that when the two conglomerates were brought together into BL there was even more internal competition. Rover competed with Jaguar at the expensive end of the market, and Triumph with its family cars and sports cars against Austin, Morris and MG. Internal politics became so bad that one marque's team would attempt to derail another marque's programs.


title: British Leyland

text: Individual model lines that were similarly sized were therefore competing against each other, yet were never discontinued nor were model ranges rationalised quickly enough; in fact, the policy of having multiple models competing in the same market segment continued long after the merger – for instance BMH's MGB remained in production alongside LMC's Triumph TR6, the Rover P5 competed with the Jaguar XJ, whilst in the medium family sector, the Princess was in direct competition with upscale versions of the Morris Marina and cheaper versions of the Austin Maxi, meaning that economies of scale resulting from large production runs could never be realised. In addition, in consequent attempts to establish British Leyland as a brand in consumers' minds in and outside the UK, print ads and spots were produced, causing confusion rather than attraction for buyers.


title: British Leyland

text: BL marketing and management attempted to draw more obvious distinctions between the marques – most notable was the decision to pitch Morris as a maker of conventional mass-market cars to compete with Ford and Vauxhall and Austin to continue BMC's line of advanced family cars with front-wheel drive and fluid suspension. This resulted in the development of the Morris Marina and the Austin Allegro. The policy's success was mixed. Since the dealership network was still not sufficiently rationalised it meant that Austin and Morris dealers (which had, in BMC/BMH days, each offered a full range of cars both advanced and traditional) had their product range halved and found that they could no longer cater to many previously loyal customers' tastes. The policy was also carried out haphazardly: The advanced, Hydragas-sprung Princess began life in 1975 sold as an Austin, a Morris and a Wolseley before being rebadged altogether under the new Princess name. The Princess (and the Mini, which BL also turned into a marque in its own right) was sold across the Austin-Morris dealership network, making any distinction between the two even more vague to many customers. Critically, the new models that had been introduced by BLMC failed to sell in high enough quantities outside of the home market, despite the UK now being a part of the European Economic Community – with the Allegro and Princess, in particular, having been tailored for European tastes. However, both these vehicles were saloons when the trend in Europe was moving towards family-sized hatchbacks, typified by the Volkswagen Golf in 1974 and the Simca 1307 (Chrysler Alpine) in 1975.


title: British Leyland

text: The company also wasted many of its scant funds on concepts, like the Rover P8 or P9, that would never be produced to earn money for the company.


title: British Leyland

text: These internal issues, which were never satisfactorily solved, combined with serious industrial relations problems with trade unions, the 1973 oil crisis, the three-day week, high inflation and ineffectual management meant that BL became an unmanageable and financially crippled behemoth which went bankrupt in 1975.


title: British Leyland

text: Sir Don Ryder was asked to undertake an enquiry into the position of the company, and his report was presented to the government in April 1975. Following Ryder's recommendations, the organisation was drastically restructured and the Labour Government created a new holding company, British Leyland Limited (BL), of which it was the major shareholder, effectively nationalising the company. Between 1975 and 1980, these shares were vested in the National Enterprise Board which had responsibility for managing this investment. The original seven divisions of the company were now reorganised into four:


title: British Leyland

text: There was positive news for BL at the end of 1976 when its new Rover SD1 executive car was voted European Car of the Year, having gained plaudits for its innovative design. The SD1 was actually the first step that British Leyland took towards rationalising its passenger car ranges, as it replaced two cars competing in the same sector, the Rover P6 and Triumph 2000. More positive news for the company came at the end of 1976 with the approval by Industry Minister Eric Varley of a £140,000,000 investment of public money in refitting the Longbridge plant for production of the company's "ADO88" (Mini replacement), due for launch in 1979. However, poor results from customer clinics of the ADO88, coupled with the UK success of the Ford Fiesta, launched in 1976, forced a snap redesign of ADO88 which evolved into the "LC8" project – eventually launched as the Austin Mini Metro in 1980.


title: British Leyland

text: In 1977, Michael Edwardes was appointed chief executive by the NEB. Edwardes quickly reversed the Ryder Report's policy of giving prominence to the "Leyland" brand, and returned focus back to the individual brands. Leyland Cars was thus renamed "BL Cars Ltd", consisting of two main divisions; "Austin Morris" (the volume car business) and "Jaguar Rover Triumph" (JRT) (the specialist or upmarket division). Austin Morris included MG. Land Rover and Range Rover were later separated from JRT to form the Land Rover Group. JRT later split up into Rover-Triumph and Jaguar Car Holdings (which included Daimler). At the same time the public use of the "British Leyland" name ceased, being abbreviated simply to "BL", whilst the company's "plughole" logo was redesigned with the central "L" removed. The Austin-Morris division was given its own unique brand identity with the introduction of the blue and green "chevron" logo, which was later expanded in use when the car manufacturing operations were further consolidated into the Austin Rover Group in the 1980s.


title: British Leyland

text: In 1978, the company was the subject of an important legal development concerning corporate civil liability. In the case of "Walton v British Leyland", the court held Leyland liable for negligence owing to a design defect in the wheel bearings of their new model of the Allegro. The company were aware of the issue but had decided against a recall. They were held liable for damages as they had failed to take reasonable care, because the costs of the recall were deemed in proportion with the potential risks of injury.


title: British Leyland

text: In 1978, the company formed a new group for its commercial vehicle interests, BL Commercial Vehicles (BLCV) under managing director David Abell. The following companies moved under this new umbrella:


title: British Leyland

text: In December 1978, British Leyland Limited was renamed BL Limited and its subsidiary, which acted as a holding company for all the other companies within the group. The British Leyland Motor Corporation Limited was renamed BLMC Limited at the same time.


title: British Leyland

text: BL's fortunes took another much-awaited rise in October 1980 with the launch of the Austin Metro (initially named the Mini Metro), a three-door hatchback that gave buyers a more modern and practical alternative to the iconic but ageing Mini. This went on to be one of the most popular cars in Britain in the 1980s. Towards the final stages of the Metro's development, BL entered into an alliance with Honda to provide a new mid-range model which would replace the ageing Triumph Dolomite, but would more crucially act as a stop-gap until the Austin Maestro and Montego were ready for launch. This car would emerge as the Triumph Acclaim in 1981, and would be the first of a long line of collaborative models jointly developed between BL and Honda. At the same time, Leyland Trucks introduced the Landtrain, the first in a series of vehicles developed specifically for export markets.


title: British Leyland

text: A rationalisation of the model ranges also took place around this time. In 1980, British Leyland was still producing four cars in the large family car sector—the Princess 2, Austin Maxi, Morris Marina, and Triumph Dolomite. The Marina was succeeded by the Morris Ital in July 1980 following a superficial facelift, and a year later the Princess 2 received a major upgrade to become the Austin Ambassador, meaning that the 1982 range had just two competitors in this sector. In April 1984, these cars were discontinued to make way for a single all-new model, the Austin Montego. The Acclaim was replaced in that same year by another Honda-based product, the Rover 200-series.


title: British Leyland

text: By the end of Michael Edwardes tenure as chairman of BL plc in 1982, the company had been restructured into two distinct parts – the Cars Division (which consisted of Austin-Morris, Rover and Jaguar, and was led by Ray Horrocks) and the Commercial Vehicle Division (which consisted of Land Rover, Leyland Trucks, Leyland Buses and Freight Rover) – whose chief executive was David Andrews. The holding company BL plc was now chaired by Austin Bide in a non-executive capacity. Around this time, the "BL Cars Ltd" division renamed itself Austin Rover, shortly before the launch of the Austin Maestro and Ray Horrocks was replaced by Harold Musgrove as its chairman and chief executive. The emergence of the Austin Rover brand effectively put an end to the separate "Austin-Morris" and "Jaguar-Rover-Triumph" divisions, since by this time, Jaguar now resided in a separate company called Jaguar Car Holdings and was now led by Sir John Egan, and this was later de-merged from BL completely and privatised in 1984. That same year, with both the Morris Ital and the Triumph Acclaim being discontinued, their respective brands were effectively shelved, leaving only the Austin and Rover marques, whilst Land Rover moved into the "Freight Rover Group" alongside the light trucks division. After the divestment of Unipart and the van, truck and bus divisions in 1987 (see below), leaving just two subsidiaries – Austin Rover (volume cars) and Land Rover (SUVs) this essentially remained the basic structure of BL and subsequently the Rover Group until the 2000 break-up.


title: British Leyland

text: In 1986, Graham Day took the helm as chairman and CEO and the third joint Rover-Honda vehicle – the Rover 800-series – was launched which replaced the ten-year-old Rover SD1. Around the same time, BL changed its name to Rover Group and in 1987 the "Trucks Division – Leyland Vehicles" merged with the Dutch DAF company to form DAF NV, trading as Leyland DAF in the UK and as "DAF" in the Netherlands. In 1987, the bus business was spun off into a new company called Leyland Bus. This was the result of a management buyout who decided to sell the company to the Bus & Truck division of Volvo in 1988. That same year, the UK Government controversially tried to privatise and sell-off Land Rover, however this plan was later abandoned. The Austin name was dropped from the Metro, Maestro and Montego in 1987, signalling the end for the historic Austin marque, in a push to focus on the more prestigious (and potentially more profitable) Rover badge. In 1988, the business was sold by the UK Government to British Aerospace (BAe), and shortly afterwards shortened its name to just Rover Group. It subsequently sold the business to BMW, who, after years of investment that ultimately resulted in huge losses, decided to break up the Rover Group, and only retain the Cowley operations and the rights to manufacture the new MINI family of vehicles.


title: British Leyland

text: Land Rover was divested to Ford, who integrated it with its Premier Automotive Group (of which Jaguar was already a part, therefore reuniting the two former BL stablemates), whilst the remains of the volume car business, including the massive Longbridge complex, became the newly independent MG Rover, which collapsed in 2005. Meanwhile, Ford, suffering severe financial problems and teetering on the edge of bankruptcy by the late 2000s decided to dissolve its Premier Automotive Group and sold off most of its brands, with Jaguar and Land Rover being sold to the Indian automaker Tata Motors by the end of 2008. Ultimately only MINI, Jaguar Land Rover and Leyland Trucks would be the surviving automotive manufacturing operations of British Leyland to the present day.


title: British Leyland

text: Many of the brands were divested over time and continue to exist on the books of several companies to this day.


title: British Leyland

text: Until the 1980s, the Leyland name and logo were seen as a recognised and respected marque across India, the wider subcontinent and parts of Africa in the form of Ashok Leyland, a company formed from the partnership of the Ashok group and British Leyland. However, now the Leyland logo is no longer used and the company has been largely Indian in its ownership for over three decades. Now a part of the giant Hinduja Group, Ashok Leyland manufactures buses, trucks, defence vehicles and engines. The company is a leader in the heavy transportation sector within India and has an aggressive expansionary policy. In 1987, the UK-based Hinduja Group bought the India-based Ashok Leyland company. Today, Ashok-Leyland is pursuing a joint venture with Nissan and through its acquisition of the Czech truck maker, Avia, is entering the European truck market directly. With its purchase, in 2010, of a 25% stake in UK-based bus manufacturer Optare, Ashok Leyland has taken a step closer to reconnecting with its British heritage, as Optare is a direct descendant of Leyland's UK bus-making division.


title: British Leyland

text: During the time of British Leyland's transition into Austin Rover during the 1980s, a version of the Rover SD1 was licence built in India as the Standard 2000 from 1985 to 1988, briefly reviving the Standard brand which had been axed in 1968.


title: British Leyland

text: British Leyland also provided the technical know-how and the rights to their Leyland 28 BHP tractor for Auto Tractors Limited, a tractor plant in Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh. Established in 1981 with state support, ATL only managed to build 2,380 tractors by the time the project was ended in 1990 – less than the planned production for the first two years. The project ended up being taken over by Sipani, who kept producing tractor engines and also a small number of tractors with some modest success.


title: British Leyland

text: The dates given are those of the first car of each marque, but these are often debatable as each car may be several years in development.


title: British Leyland

text: Several of these names (including Jaguar, Land Rover and Mini) are now in other hands. The history of the mergers and other key events is as follows.


title: British Leyland

text: In some cases, British Leyland continued to produce competing models from the merged companies at different sites for many years. However, any benefits from the broader number of models were far outweighed by higher development costs and greatly reduced economies of scale.


title: British Leyland

text: Potential benefits associated with rationalising parts usage were lost, as for example, the company made two completely different 1.3-litre engines (BMC A series and the Triumph 1.3-litre), two different 1.5-litre engines (BMC E series and Triumph), four different 2-litre engines (4-cylinder O series, 4-cylinder Triumph Dolomite, 4-cylinder Rover and 6-cylinder Triumph) and two completely different V8 engines (Triumph OHC 3-litre V8 and Rover 3.5-litre V8).


title: British Leyland

text: In contrast to the continued development of competing models, British Leyland continued the practice of badge engineering of models which had started under BMC; selling essentially the same vehicle under two (or more) different marques.


title: Paulo Costanzo

text: Paulo Costanzo (born September 21, 1978) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for playing Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill (Ax) in the TV series "Animorphs", the roles of Rubin Carver in the comedy film "Road Trip", Alexander Cabot in "Josie and the Pussycats", Michael Tribbiani in the NBC sitcom "Joey", Evan R. Lawson in the USA Network series "Royal Pains", and Lyor Boone in the ABC political drama "Designated Survivor".


title: Paulo Costanzo

text: Costanzo was born in Brampton, Ontario. His mother is a singer-songwriter and his father an artist of Italian descent.


title: Paulo Costanzo

text: In 2004, Costanzo was cast in the role of Joey Tribbiani's nephew in the "Friends"' spinoff "Joey", which he played over both seasons.


title: Paulo Costanzo

text: In 2017, he was cast in a series regular role in the second season of ABC's "Designated Survivor" as White House political director Lyor Boone.


title: Paulo Costanzo

text: In 2022, Costanzo appeared in the role of Matteo in the second season of Amazon's comedy series "Upload".


title: Grand Mosque seizure

text: The Grand Mosque seizure lasted from 20 November 1979 to 4 December 1979, when extremist militants in Saudi Arabia calling for the overthrow of the House of Saud besieged and took over Masjid al-Haram, the holiest Islamic site, in the city of Mecca. The besieging militia, known as the Ikhwan, declared that the Mahdi (a messianic figure in Islamic eschatology) had arrived in the form of one of their leaders: Muhammad Abdullah al-Qahtani; the militants called on all Muslims to obey him. In the aftermath of the seizure, the Saudi Arabian Army, supported by France through advisors from the GIGN, fought the Ikhwan for almost two weeks in order to reclaim Masjid al-Haram.


title: Grand Mosque seizure

text: The seizure of the holiest Islamic site, the taking of hostages from among the worshippers, and the ensuing deaths of hundreds of militants, security forces, and hostages caught in the crossfire shocked the Muslim world. Al-Qahtani, the self-proclaimed messiah, was among the 117 militants who were killed by Saudi troops during their recapture of the site. However, leading militant Juhayman al-Otaybi and 68 of his followers survived the assault; they were taken as prisoners and later executed by beheading.


title: Grand Mosque seizure

text: Following the attack, Khalid bin Abdulaziz implemented a stricter enforcement of Islamic law throughout Saudi Arabia and also gave the "ulama" and Muslim conservatives more power over the next decade. Likewise, Saudi Arabia's Islamic religious police became more assertive.


title: Grand Mosque seizure

text: The seizure was led by Juhayman al-Otaybi, a member of the Otaibah family, influential in Najd. He declared his brother-in-law Mohammed Abdullah al-Qahtani to be the Mahdi, or redeemer, who is believed to arrive on earth several years before Judgment Day. His followers embellished the fact that Al-Qahtani's name and his father's name are identical to the Prophet Mohammed's name and that of his father, and developed a saying, ""His and his father's names were the same as Mohammed's and his father's, and he had come to Makkah from the north,"" to justify their belief. The date of the attack, 20 November 1979, was the first day of the year 1400 according to the Islamic calendar; this ties in with the tradition of the "mujaddid", a person who appears at the turn of every century of the Islamic calendar to revive Islam, cleansing it of extraneous elements and restoring it to its pristine purity.


title: Grand Mosque seizure

text: Juhayman's grandfather, Sultan bin Bajad al-Otaybi, had ridden with Ibn Saud in the early decades of the century, and other Otaibah family members were among foremost of the Ikhwan. Juhayman acted as a preacher, a corporal in the Saudi National Guard, and was a former student of Sheikh Abd al-Aziz Ibn Baz, who went on to become the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia.


title: Grand Mosque seizure

text: Al-Otaybi had turned against Ibn Baz "and began advocating a return to the original ways of Islam, among other things: a repudiation of the West; abolition of television and expulsion of non-Muslims." He proclaimed that "the ruling Al-Saud dynasty had lost its legitimacy because it was corrupt, ostentatious and had destroyed Saudi culture by an aggressive policy of Westernization."


title: Grand Mosque seizure

text: Al-Otaybi and Qahtani had met while imprisoned together for sedition, when al-Otaybi claimed to have had a vision sent by God telling him that Qahtani was the Mahdi. Their declared goal was to institute a theocracy in preparation for the imminent apocalypse. They differed from the original Ikhwan and other earlier Wahhabi purists in that "they were millenarians, they rejected the monarchy and condemned the Wahhabi ulama."


title: Grand Mosque seizure

text: Many of their followers were drawn from theology students at the Islamic University in Medina. Al-Otaybi joined the local chapter of the Salafi group "Al-Jamaa Al-Salafiya Al-Muhtasiba" ("The Salafi Group That Commands Right and Forbids Wrong") in Medina headed by Sheikh Abd al-Aziz Ibn Baz, chairman of the Permanent Committee for Islamic Research and Issuing Fatwas at the time. The followers preached their radical message in different mosques in Saudi Arabia without being arrested, and the government was reluctant to confront religious extremists. Al-Otaybi, al-Qahtani and a number of the Ikhwan were locked up as troublemakers by the Ministry of Interior security police, the Mabahith, in 1978. Members of the ulama (including Ibn Baz) cross-examined them for heresy but they were subsequently released as being traditionalists harkening back to the Ikhwan, like al-Otaybi's grandfather and, therefore, not a threat.


title: Grand Mosque seizure

text: Even after the seizure of the Grand Mosque, a certain level of forbearance by ulama for the rebels remained. When the government asked for a fatwa allowing armed force in the Grand Mosque, the language of Ibn Baz and other senior ulama "was curiously restrained." The scholars did not declare al-Otaybi and his followers non-Muslims, despite their violation of the sanctity of the Grand Mosque, but only termed them ""al-jamaah al-musallahah"" (the armed group). The senior scholars also insisted that before security forces attack them, the authorities must offer them the option to surrender.


title: Grand Mosque seizure

text: Because of donations from wealthy followers, the group was well-armed and trained. Some members, like al-Otaybi, were former military officials of the National Guard. Some National Guard troops sympathetic to the insurgents smuggled weapons, ammunition, gas masks and provisions into the mosque compound over a period of weeks before the new year. Automatic weapons were smuggled from National Guard armories and the supplies were hidden in the hundreds of small underground rooms under the mosque that were used as hermitages.


title: Grand Mosque seizure

text: In the early morning of 20 November 1979, the imam of the Grand Mosque, Sheikh Mohammed al-Subayil, was preparing to lead prayers for the 50,000 worshippers who had gathered for prayer. At around 5:00 am he was interrupted by insurgents who produced weapons from under their robes, chained the gates shut and killed two policemen who were armed with only wooden clubs for disciplining unruly pilgrims. The number of insurgents has been given as "at least 500" or "four to five hundred", and included several women and children who had joined al-Otaybi's movement.


title: Grand Mosque seizure

text: At the time the Grand Mosque was being renovated by the Saudi Binladin Group. An employee of the organization was able to report the seizure to the outside world before the insurgents cut the telephone lines.


title: Grand Mosque seizure

text: The insurgents released most of the hostages and locked the remainder in the sanctuary. They took defensive positions in the upper levels of the mosque, and sniper positions in the minarets, from which they commanded the grounds. No one outside the mosque knew how many hostages remained, how many militants were in the mosque and what sort of preparations they had made.


title: Grand Mosque seizure

text: At the time of the event, Crown Prince Fahd was in Tunisia for a meeting of the Arab League Summit. The commander of the National Guard, Prince Abdullah, was also abroad for an official visit to Morocco. Therefore, King Khalid assigned the responsibility to two members of the Sudairi Seven – Prince Sultan, then Minister of Defence, and Prince Nayef, then Minister of Interior, to deal with the incident.


title: Grand Mosque seizure

text: Soon after the rebel seizure, about 100 security officers of the Ministry of Interior attempted to retake the mosque, but were turned back with heavy casualties. The survivors were quickly joined by units of the Saudi Arabian Army and Saudi Arabian National Guard. At the request of the Saudi monarchy, French GIGN units, operatives and commandos were rushed to assist Saudi forces in Mecca.


title: Grand Mosque seizure

text: By evening the entire city of Mecca had been evacuated. Prince Sultan appointed Turki bin Faisal Al Saud, head of the Al Mukhabaraat Al 'Aammah (Saudi Intelligence), to take over the forward command post several hundred meters from the mosque, where Prince Turki would remain for the next several weeks. However, the first task was to seek the approval of the ulama, which was led by Abdul Aziz Ibn Baz. Islam forbids any violence within the Grand Mosque, to the extent that plants cannot be uprooted without explicit religious sanction. Ibn Baz found himself in a delicate situation, especially as he had previously taught al-Otaybi in Medina. Regardless, the ulema issued a fatwa allowing deadly force to be used in retaking the mosque.


title: Grand Mosque seizure

text: With religious approval granted, Saudi forces launched frontal assaults on three of the main gates. Again, the assaulting forces were repulsed. Snipers continued to pick off soldiers who revealed themselves. The insurgents aired their demands from the mosque's loudspeakers throughout the streets of Mecca, calling for the cut-off of oil exports to the United States and the expulsion of all foreign civilian and military experts from the Arabian Peninsula. In Beirut, an opposition organization, the Arab Socialist Action Party – Arabian Peninsula, issued a statement on 25 November, alleging to clarify the demands of the insurgents. The party, however, denied any involvement in the seizure of the Grand Mosque.


title: Grand Mosque seizure

text: Officially, the Saudi government took the position that it would not aggressively retake the mosque, but rather starve out the militants. Nevertheless, several unsuccessful assaults were undertaken, at least one of them through the underground tunnels in and around the mosque.


title: Grand Mosque seizure

text: A team of three French commandos from the Groupe d'Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale (GIGN) arrived in Mecca. The commandos pumped gas into the underground chambers, but perhaps because the rooms were so bafflingly interconnected, the gas failed and the resistance continued. With casualties climbing, Saudi forces drilled holes into the courtyard and dropped grenades into the rooms below, indiscriminately killing many hostages but driving the remaining rebels into more open areas where they could be picked off by sharpshooters. More than two weeks after the assault began, the surviving rebels finally surrendered.


title: Grand Mosque seizure

text: However, this account is contradicted by at least two other accounts, including that of then GIGN commanding officer Christian Prouteau: the three GIGN commandos trained and equipped the Saudi forces and devised their attack plan (which consisted of drilling holes in the floor of the Mosque and firing gas canisters wired with explosives through the perforations), but did not take part in the action and did not set foot in the Mosque.


title: Grand Mosque seizure

text: The Saudi National Guard and the Saudi Army suffered heavy casualties. Tear gas was used to force out the remaining militants. According to a US embassy cable made on 1 December, several of the militant leaders escaped the siege and days later sporadic fighting erupted in other parts of the city.


title: Grand Mosque seizure

text: The battle had lasted for more than two weeks, and had officially left "255 pilgrims, troops and fanatics" killed and "another 560 injured ... although diplomats suggested the toll was higher." Military casualties were 127 dead and 451 injured.


title: Grand Mosque seizure

text: Shortly after news of the takeover was released, the new Islamic revolutionary leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini, told radio listeners, "It is not beyond guessing that this is the work of criminal American imperialism and international Zionism." Anger fuelled by these rumours spread anti-American demonstrations throughout the Muslim world, noted occurring in the Philippines, Turkey, Bangladesh, eastern Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan. In Islamabad, Pakistan, on the day following the takeover, the U.S. embassy in that city was overrun by a mob, which burned the embassy to the ground. A week later, in Tripoli, Libya, another mob attacked and burned the U.S. embassy. Soviet agents also spread rumours that the U.S. was behind the Grand Mosque seizure.


title: Grand Mosque seizure

text: Al-Qahtani was killed in the recapture of the mosque, but Juhayman and 67 other insurgents who survived the assault were captured and later beheaded. They were not shown any leniency. The king secured a fatwa (edict) from the Council of Senior Scholars which found the defendants guilty of seven crimes:


title: Grand Mosque seizure

text: On 9 January 1980, 63 rebels were publicly beheaded in the squares of eight Saudi cities (Buraidah, Dammam, Mecca, Medina, Riyadh, Abha, Ha'il and Tabuk). According to Sandra Mackey, the locations "were carefully chosen not only to give maximum exposure but, one suspects, to reach other potential nests of discontent."


title: Grand Mosque seizure

text: Khaled, however, did not react to the upheaval by cracking down on religious puritans in general, but by giving the ulama and religious conservatives more power over the next decade. He is thought to have believed that "the solution to the religious upheaval was simple: more religion." Initially, photographs of women in newspapers were banned, then women on television. Cinemas and music shops were shut down. School curriculum was changed to provide many more hours of religious studies, eliminating classes on subjects like non-Islamic history. Gender segregation was extended "to the humblest coffee shop," and religious police became more powerful. Not until decades after the uprising would the Saudi government again begin making incremental reforms towards a more permissive society.


title: Mountain range

text: A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arisen from the same cause, usually an orogeny. Mountain ranges are formed by a variety of geological processes, but most of the significant ones on Earth are the result of plate tectonics. Mountain ranges are also found on many planetary mass objects in the Solar System and are likely a feature of most terrestrial planets.


title: Mountain range

text: Mountain ranges are usually segmented by highlands or mountain passes and valleys. Individual mountains within the same mountain range do not necessarily have the same geologic structure or petrology. They may be a mix of different orogenic expressions and terranes, for example thrust sheets, uplifted blocks, fold mountains, and volcanic landforms resulting in a variety of rock types.


title: Mountain range

text: Most geologically young mountain ranges on the Earth's land surface are associated with either the Pacific Ring of Fire or the Alpide belt. The Pacific Ring of Fire includes the Andes of South America, extends through the North American Cordillera along the Pacific Coast, the Aleutian Range, on through Kamchatka Peninsula, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, to New Zealand. The Andes is long and is often considered the world's longest mountain system.


title: Mountain range

text: The Alpide belt includes Indonesia and Southeast Asia, through the Himalayas, Caucasus Mountains, Balkan Mountains fold mountain range, the Alps, and ends in the Spanish mountains and the Atlas Mountains. The belt also includes other European and Asian mountain ranges. The Himalayas contain the highest mountains in the world, including Mount Everest, which is high and traverses the border between China and Nepal.


title: Mountain range

text: Mountain ranges outside these two systems include the Arctic Cordillera, the Urals, the Appalachians, the Scandinavian Mountains, the Great Dividing Range, the Altai Mountains and the Hijaz Mountains. If the definition of a mountain range is stretched to include underwater mountains, then the Ocean Ridges form the longest continuous mountain system on Earth, with a length of .


title: Mountain range

text: The position of mountain ranges influences climate, such as rain or snow. When air masses move up and over mountains, the air cools, producing orographic precipitation (rain or snow). As the air descends on the leeward side, it warms again (following the adiabatic lapse rate) and is drier, having been stripped of much of its moisture. Often, a rain shadow will affect the leeward side of a range. As a consequence, large mountain ranges, such as the Andes, compartmentalize continents into distinct climate regions.


title: Mountain range

text: Mountain ranges are constantly subjected to erosional forces which work to tear them down. The basins adjacent to an eroding mountain range are then filled with sediments that are buried and turned into sedimentary rock. Erosion is at work while the mountains are being uplifted until the mountains are reduced to low hills and plains.


title: Mountain range

text: The early Cenozoic uplift of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado provides an example. As the uplift was occurring some of mostly Mesozoic sedimentary strata were removed by erosion over the core of the mountain range and spread as sand and clays across the Great Plains to the east. This mass of rock was removed as the range was actively undergoing uplift. The removal of such a mass from the core of the range most likely caused further uplift as the region adjusted isostatically in response to the removed weight.


title: Mountain range

text: Rivers are traditionally believed to be the principal cause of mountain range erosion, by cutting into bedrock and transporting sediment. Computer simulation has shown that as mountain belts change from tectonically active to inactive, the rate of erosion drops because there are fewer abrasive particles in the water and fewer landslides.


title: Mountain range

text: Mountains on other planets and natural satellites of the Solar System, including the Moon, are often isolated and formed mainly by processes such as impacts, though there are examples of mountain ranges (or "Montes") somewhat similar to those on Earth. Saturn's moon Titan and Pluto, in particular, exhibit large mountain ranges in chains composed mainly of ices rather than rock. Examples include the Mithrim Montes and Doom Mons on Titan, and Tenzing Montes and Hillary Montes on Pluto. Some terrestrial planets other than Earth also exhibit rocky mountain ranges, such as Maxwell Montes on Venus taller than any on Earth and Tartarus Montes on Mars. Jupiter's moon Io has mountain ranges formed from tectonic processes including the Boösaule, Dorian, Hi'iaka and Euboea Montes'.


title: Elli AvrRam

text: Elisabet Avramidou Granlund, (; born 29 July 1990) known professionally as Elli AvrRam, is a Swedish-Greek actress and is now based in Mumbai, India. She is known for her Bollywood movie "Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon". AvrRam came to prominence after participating in the Indian reality TV show "Bigg Boss" in 2013. Elli along with Aamir Khan had a special appearance in the "Koi Jaane Na" film song "Har Funn Maula".


title: Elli AvrRam

text: Elli was born on 29 July 1990 in Stockholm, Sweden. She grew up in Tyresö kommun, Stockholm. Her Greek father, Jannis Avramidis, is a musician who is now settled in Sweden; and her Swede mother, Maria Granlund, is an actress who had a part in Ingmar Bergman's "Fanny and Alexander". AvrRam took an interest in figure skating, singing and dancing from her initial years. AvrRam received training in acting from her mother and aunt who runs a theater in Skåne County, Sweden. AvrRam felt a connection to India since her childhood. In an interview with the local Stockholm newspaper "Mitt i", she said, "Even when I was five, I was fascinated by Indian dance and the colorful clothes." Since her father is a Greek musician, she found some Greek songs are related to Indian melodies. AvrRam dreamt of being a Bollywood actress since her adolescence. She would go to a video store in Stockholm that used to sell Hindi movies and she would buy Bollywood films from there. She also used to watch Hindi films on YouTube.


title: Elli AvrRam

text: At 17, AvrRam became a member of the Stockholm-based Pardesi Dance Group, and gave dance performances, primarily on Bollywood songs.