title: Julie Burchill

text: Burchill's co-written book with Chas Newkey-Burden, "Not in My Name: A Compendium of Modern Hypocrisy", appeared in August 2008, and is dedicated "to Arik and Bibi" (Ariel Sharon and Benjamin Netanyahu). According to Gerald Jacobs, writing for "The Jewish Chronicle" in 2008, "this book does not merely stand up for Israel, it jumps up and down, cheers and waves its arms". The newspaper described her as "Israel's staunchest supporter in the UK media". When asked if Israel has any flaws, she responded: "Yes. They are much too tolerant of their freaking neighbours, much too reasonable".


title: Julie Burchill

text: She declared in 2005, after Ariel Sharon's withdrawal of Israeli settlers from the Gaza Strip, that "Israel is the only country I would fucking die for. He's the enemy of the Jews. Chucking his own people off the Gaza; to me that's disgusting". Besides writing occasional pieces for "The Guardian", she wrote four articles for the centre-right politics and culture magazine "Standpoint" between July and October 2008.


title: Julie Burchill

text: At the end of June 2010 it was announced Burchill would be writing exclusively for "The Independent", contributing a weekly full-page column for the paper. The connection lasted less than 18 months. Burchill wrote her last column for "The Independent" at the end of October 2011. Admitting he had tried to recruit Burchill for "The Sun" in the 1980s, Roy Greenslade commented: "my admittedly occasional reading of her columns in recent years has left [me] feeling that she realises her old schtick is no longer working. She has run out of steam – and sympathetic newspaper editors".


title: Julie Burchill

text: Commenting on the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, Burchill wrote in "The Independent": "It would be wonderful to think that what replaces Mubarak will be better. But here's the thing about Middle Eastern regimes: they're all vile. The ones that are 'friendly' are vile and the ones that hate us are vile. Revolutions in the region have a habit of going horribly wrong, and this may well have something to do with the fact that Islam and democracy appear to find it difficult to co-exist for long."


title: Julie Burchill

text: On 13 January 2013, Burchill wrote an article for "The Observer" defending Suzanne Moore after a reference by Moore to transsexuals had been greeted with a great deal of criticism. In Burchill's view, it showed the "chutzpah" of transsexuals to have their "cock cut off and then plead special privileges as women". There were a number of objections to her writing from members of the transgender community and non-transgender community alike. The editor of "The Observer", John Mulholland, responded on the comments page to what he described as "many emails protesting about this piece" and stated that he would be looking into the issue. Liberal Democrat MP Lynne Featherstone, formerly a junior Minister for Women and Equalities, called for the dismissal of Burchill and Mulholland in response to the piece. The article was withdrawn from the website the following day and replaced with a message from Mulholland, but reappeared on the "Telegraph" website. On 18 January, "The Observer"s Readers Editor Stephen Pritchard defended the decision to remove the article from the newspaper's website, quoting the editor who took that decision as saying "This clearly fell outside what we might consider reasonable. The piece should not have been published in that form. I don't want the "Observer" to be conducting debates on those terms or with that language. It was offensive, needlessly. We made a misjudgment and we apologise for that".


title: Julie Burchill

text: In her 1987 essay collection "Damaged Gods: Cults and Heroes Reappraised", Burchill criticised what she called "the anti-Semitism of politicized American blacks" such as Jesse Jackson, who had referred to New York City as "Hymietown." Burchill wrote, "imagine how the blacks would have gnashed their diamond-studded teeth if a Jewish leader had publicly referred to Harlem as 'Nigger-town'!".


title: Julie Burchill

text: In 1999, Burchill said she "found God", and became a Lutheran and later a "self-confessed Christian Zionist". In June 2007, she announced that she would undertake a theology degree, although she subsequently decided to do voluntary work instead as a way to learn more about Christianity.


title: Julie Burchill

text: In June 2009, "The Jewish Chronicle" reported that Burchill had become a Friend of Brighton and Hove Progressive Synagogue and was again considering a conversion to Judaism. According to "TheJC", she had attended Shabbat services for a month, and studying Hebrew, she described herself as an "ex-Christian", pointing out that she had been pondering on her conversion since the age of 25. Burchill said that "At a time of rising and increasingly vicious anti-semitism from both left and right, becoming Jewish especially appeals to me. ... Added to the fact that I admire Israel so much, it does seem to make sense – assuming of course that the Jews will have me". She wrote in November 2012: "The things I love about the Jews are: their religion, their language and their ancient country".


title: Julie Burchill

text: Burchill clashed with Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah of the Brighton and Hove Progressive Synagogue, and the Rabbi's lesbian partner, Jess Woods. Among the reasons for their differences was Rabbi Sarah's defence of Muslims and her advocacy of the Palestinian cause. In Burchill's words, the rabbi "respects PIG ISLAM". Rabbi Sarah told "The Independent" in September 2014: "The problem is [Burchill] doesn’t have any in-depth knowledge. I can imagine her endlessly watching the film "Exodus" with Paul Newman. She’s got a kind of Hollywood view of Jews. You know, ‘Jews are so clever, we’ve survived ...'."


title: Julie Burchill

text: In 2014, Burchill's crowdfunded book "Unchosen: The Memoirs of a Philo-Semite" was published. Tel Aviv-based writer Akin Ajayi in "Haaretz" thought "the reactionary solipsism of "Unchosen" is far removed from the affectionate warmness that a love of the Jewish people can be". Burchill's ex-husband, Cosmo Landesman, considered it to be an "exhilarating and exasperating mix of the utterly brilliant and the totally bonkers". He observes that "there are plenty of Jews Julie doesn't love" including the "millions of Jews around the world who have ever criticised Israel. Her love is blind, deaf and dumb to such an obvious contradiction". "Guardian" columnist Hadley Freeman wrote: "Burchill divides up the chosen people into Good Jews (hardliners, Israelites) and Bad Jews (liberal Jews) with the enthusiasm of an antisemite. Hilariously, she sets herself up as the Jewishness Police, railing against Jews who are not Jewish enough". In his review in "The Independent", Keith Kahn-Harris, described "Unchosen" as "occasionally touching, sometimes bigoted and sporadically hilarious" but that it "often degenerates into EDL-style abuse that lacks any redeeming wit."


title: Julie Burchill

text: Burchill has written novels and made television documentaries. Her lesbian-themed novel for teenagers "Sugar Rush" (2004) was adapted into a television drama series produced by Shine Limited for Channel 4. Lenora Crichlow's portrayal of the central character Maria Sweet inspired the 2007 sequel novel "Sweet". Burchill has made television documentaries about the death of her father from asbestosis in 2002 (BBC Four) and "Heat" magazine broadcast on Sky One in 2006.


title: Julie Burchill

text: "Welcome To The Woke Trials: How #Identity Killed Progressive Politics" was planned to be issued by Tabatha Stirling of Stirling Publishing in summer 2021 after being dropped by its original publisher following Burchill's defamatory tweets to Ash Sarkar. On 14 March 2021, when referencing her new publisher Burchill announced that, with Stirling, "I've found someone who's JUST LIKE ME." Stirling is alleged to have written a series of articles for Patriotic Alternative as "Miss Britannia", describing her son's school as "a hellhole for sensible, secure White boys" and claimed "there is one member of staff who is openly gay, and I mean RuPaul extra gay". On 16 March 2021, Burchill announced she would not publish her book with Stirling Publishing, the same day she issued a public apology for libel and harassment of Sarkar. The book was subsequently published by Academica Press.


title: Julie Burchill

text: Burchill has described her own style as "the writing equivalent of screaming and throwing things". For her novel "Sugar Rush" her publicist described her as "Britain's most famous and controversial journalist". One of her most consistent themes is the championing of the working class against the middle class in most cases, and she has been particularly vocal in defending 'chavs'. According to Will Self, "Burchill's great talent as a journalist is to beautifully articulate the inarticulate sentiments and prejudices of her readers". For Michael Bywater, Burchill's "insights were, and remain, negligible, on the level of a toddler having a tantrum". John Arlidge wrote in "The Observer" in 2002: "If Burchill is famous for anything it is for being Julie Burchill, the brilliant, unpredictable, outrageously outspoken writer who has an iconoclastic, usually offensive, view on everything.


title: Julie Burchill

text: In November 1980, former Sex Pistols front man John Lydon gave an interview to Ann Louise Bardach in which he referred to Burchill and Tony Parsons as "toss-bag journalists, desperately trying to get in on something" in response to their book, "The Boy Looked at Johnny", and described its chapter on amphetamines as "stupidity". Lydon was incensed by Burchill and Parsons attributing his talent to his alleged use of the drug in their book.


title: Julie Burchill

text: In October 1999, in an article for "The Guardian", she wrote: "young men succeed in suicide more often than girls isn't really the point. Indeed, the more callous among us would say that it was quite nice for young men finally to find something that they're better at than girls". After a previous occasion when Burchill wrote "suicides should be left to get on with it", she "received a small number of letters from people whose sons had killed themselves".


title: Julie Burchill

text: In 2002, her life was the subject of a one-woman West End play, "Julie Burchill is Away", by Tim Fountain, with Burchill played by her friend Jackie Clune. A sequel by Fountain, "Julie Burchill: Absolute Cult", followed in 2014, with Lizzie Roper in the central role.


title: Julie Burchill

text: In 2003, Burchill was ranked number 85 in Channel 4's poll of "100 Worst Britons". The poll was inspired by the BBC series "100 Greatest Britons", though it was less serious in nature. The aim was to discover the "100 worst Britons we love to hate". The poll specified that the nominees had to be British, alive and not currently in prison or pending trial. In 2005, on the 25th anniversary of John Lennon's murder, she told "The Guardian": "I don't remember where I was but I was really pleased he was dead, as he was a wife-beater, gay-basher, anti-Semite and all-round bully-boy." In the essay "Born Again Cows" published in "Damaged Gods" (1987), she wrote: "When the sex war is won prostitutes should be shot as collaborators for their terrible betrayal of all women."


title: Julie Burchill

text: On 6 June 2021, and shortly after the announcement of the birth of the daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Burchill tweeted: "What a missed opportunity. They could have called it Georgina Floydina!”, a reference to George Floyd. Her comments were widely condemned, with racial equality activist Shola Mos-Shogbamimu stating: "She’s (Lilibet) referred to as 'IT'. The utter disrespect & dehumanisation of #HarryandMeghan children because of their proximity to ‘Blackness’ is Racist"; actress Kelechi Okafor wrote: "Likening baby Lilibet to George Floyd is to hone in on the fact she isn't fully white...She refers to Lilbet as 'it' even though it has been announced that the baby is a girl and she could've addressed her as such...Disgusting scenes." On 8 June, via her Facebook account, Burchill announced that she had been sacked by "The Daily Telegraph" as a result of her online comments.


title: Julie Burchill

text: In December 2020, Burchill posted a series of defamatory tweets and Facebook posts about journalist Ash Sarkar, which included claims that Sarkar condones paedophilia and is supportive of Islamist terrorism. Burchill called on her Facebook followers to "wade in on Twitter" against "the Islamists" and the "nonces". As a result of the comments, her publisher, Little, Brown Book Group, cancelled the scheduled publication of "Welcome to the Woke Trials", stating that her comments about Islam were “not defensible from a moral or intellectual standpoint”.


title: Julie Burchill

text: In March 2021, after being sued for libel and harassment, Burchill retracted her comments, issued a full apology and paid substantial damages to Sarkar, including her legal costs.


title: Julie Burchill

text: Burchill stated: "I should not have sent these tweets, some of which included racist and misogynist comments regarding Ms Sarkar's appearance and her sex life." She further apologised for "liking" posts calling on Sarkar to kill herself and promised to refrain from any further harassment of Sarkar.


title: Julie Burchill

text: Burchill married Tony Parsons (whom she met at "NME") in 1979 at the age of 20. She left Parsons three years later, leaving behind a son, which was followed by years of rancour in the media, described in 2002 as "a steady stream of vitriol in both directions"; she had claimed to have persevered with the "sexual side" of their marriage "by pretending that my husband was my friend Peter York". Her relationships, particularly with Parsons, have featured in her work; Parsons later wrote that "It's like having a stalker. I don't understand her fascination with someone whom she split up with 15 years ago".


title: Julie Burchill

text: Immediately after her relationship with Parsons, Burchill married Cosmo Landesman, the son of Fran and Jay Landesman, with whom she also had a son. The sons from her marriages with Parsons and Landesman lived with their fathers after the separations. After splitting from Landesman in 1992, she married for a third time in 2004, to Daniel Raven, around 13 years her junior, and the brother of her former lover Charlotte Raven. She wrote of the joys of having a "toyboy" in her "Times" column in 2010. Fellow NME journalist/author Paul Wellings wrote about their friendship in his book "I'm A Journalist...Get Me Out of Here". She has written about her lesbian relationships, and declared that "I would never describe myself as 'heterosexual', 'straight' or anything else. Especially not 'bisexual' (it sounds like a sort of communal vehicle missing a mudguard). I like 'spontaneous' as a sexual description". In 2009 she said that she was only attracted to girls in their 20s, and since she was now nearly 50, "I really don't want to be an old perv. So best leave it".


title: Julie Burchill

text: She has lived in Brighton and Hove since 1995 and a book on her adopted home town titled "Made in Brighton" (Virgin Books) was published in April 2007. Her house in Hove was sold (and demolished for redevelopment as high-density flats) around 2005 for £1.5 million, of which she has given away £300,000, citing Andrew Carnegie: "A man who dies rich, dies shamed."


title: Julie Burchill

text: Burchill's second son, Jack Landesman, died by suicide in late June 2015, aged 29. In an article for "The Sunday Times Magazine", she wrote of his inability over many years to experience pleasure and the serious mental health issues from which he suffered.


title: Asees Kaur

text: Asees Kaur (born 26 September 1988) is an Indian singer. She has participated in various singing reality shows including "Indian Idol" and" Awaz Punjab Di". In 2021, her song "Raatan Lambiyan" from "Shershaah", with Tanishk Bagchi, became a huge hit. She has won many awards including 2 Filmfare Awards and an IIFA Award.


title: Asees Kaur

text: Kaur aspired to become a playback singer at a very young age. She started singing Gurbani at the age of 5. She made her Bollywood debut with "Dildara Reprise" from "Tamanchey". Since then, she has worked with various music composers on several Bollywood songs including "Ve Maahi" from "Kesari", "Makhna" from "Drive", "Bandeya Re Bandeya" & "Tere Bin" from "Simmba", "Akh Lad Jave" and "Chogada" from "Loveyatri" and "Bolna" from "Kapoor & Sons".


title: Asees Kaur

text: Kaur hails from Panipat, Haryana. Born on 26 September 1988, she started singing at the age of 5. It was her father who pushed her for reciting Gurbani. She learnt the Gurbani by herself and won accolades at the first attempt in competitions. She is an alumnus of Bal Vikas public School, Panipat, Haryana and completed her M.Com. from S D (PG) College Panipat.


title: Asees Kaur

text: As she grew up, she decided to take up singing professionally. She trained under Ustad Puran Shahkoti from Jalandhar. Her version of the Gurbani released in India and she garnered tremendous appreciation for the same. She started reciting Gurbani at various events. Her siblings were also actively involved in the Gurbani recitation.


title: Asees Kaur

text: Asees participated in a Punjabi reality show, "Awaz Punjab Di", following which she came to Bombay and met various music composers.


title: Asees Kaur

text: Asees is known for the song "Ve Maahi" that was trending on all platforms. She performed "Bolna" at the GIMA 2016 Fanpark. Her singles "Gal Karke" with Desi Music Factory, "Kisi Aur Naal" with VYRL Originals and "Mujhe Jeene De" with Panoctave India were instant hits and topped the charts.


title: Asees Kaur

text: In September 2021, Kaur along with Renuka Panwar featured at the Times Square in New York City for their song "52 Gaj Ka Daman".


title: Who Shot Ya?

text: "Who Shot Ya" or often "Who Shot Ya?" is a song by Brooklyn, New York, rapper the Notorious B.I.G., also called Biggie Smalls, backed by Sean Combs as the "hype man". Puffy's emerging record label, Bad Boy Entertainment, released it on February 21, 1995, on an alternate reissue of Biggie's single "Big Poppa/Warning," out since December 5, 1994. While this 1994 release climbed the Billboard Hot 100, its new B side "Who Shot Ya"—now Biggie's "most infamous classic," with an instrumental now iconic—revised some vocals of a "Who Shot Ya" track, rapped by Biggie and Keith Murray, already issued on a mixtape from a Harlem DJ earlier in 1995. Recalled as "menacing magic" that helps "define New York rap," "Who Shot Ya" was "controversial and hugely influential." Widely interpreted as a taunt at 2Pac, the single provoked a "rap battle" between the two rappers, formerly friends.


title: Who Shot Ya?

text: Biggie, when interviewed, explained his "Who Shot Ya" lyrics as portraying a rivalry between drug dealers. Sharing the mixtape track's instrumental, the single replaces the Murray verse with a second Biggie verse, and expands Puffy's "hype man" vocals. Beyond a synthesized kick drum added, the instrumental is simply a sample that "chillingly" loops a portion of soul singer David Porter's 1971 song "I'm Afraid the Masquerade is Over," album "Victim of the Joke? An Opera". A "snippet" of the mixtape track, but Murray's verse, plays in "K. Murry Interlude," a brief skit on Uptown Records singer Mary J Blige's R&B album "My Life", coproduced by Puffy, released on November 29, 1994. That day, James "Jimmy Henchman" Rosemond, managing an Uptown Records rapper, booked Tupac to record a cameo. Reaching the studio's Times Square building lobby, Tupac was shot resisting robbery by waiting gunmen.


title: Who Shot Ya?

text: Tupac instantly blamed Rosemond, and soon suspected privity by Puffy and Biggie. Once a January jailhouse interview of Tupac, hinting the suspicions, was read in "Vibe" magazine's April issue, "Who Shot Ya" intervening, "the industry rumor mill was churning." The central persons all disputed Tupac's portrayal, and Biggie called "crazy" the rumors blaming him via "Who Shot Ya" lyrics. Either way, the single's timing was suspect. Out of prison, Tupac answered in June 1996 by the B side "Hit 'Em Up"—accusing and menacing Biggie and Puffy by name—which legendary "diss track" inflamed the rap community's East/West rivalry to its peak. In "Vibe", then, Puffy denied any aggression at Tupac, and Biggie called "Who Shot Ya" initially "the intro to that shit Keith Murray was doing on Mary J Blige's joint." Biggie's puzzling explanation indirectly spotlit Puffy's vocals, shouting "East Coast, motherfucker!".


title: Who Shot Ya?

text: Tupac's fatal shooting in September 1996 and Biggie's in March 1997, both officially unresolved, drew speculations partly blaming the "rap battle." Biggie and studio associates who witnessed his "Who Shot Ya" recording have unanimously disputed that it, or Biggie's "saying that phrase," targeted Tupac. Nashiem Myrick, the main producer, avowed "no reason, no motive, at all, to have set 'Pac up," a query tied to the song. It was reissued in 1999 on the posthumous Biggie album "Born Again", in 2001 on a "Big Poppa/Warning" reissue with remixes, in 2004 on a remaster of his 1994 or debut album "Ready to Die", and in 2007 on his compilation album "Greatest Hits". In 2014, the mixtape version, key inspiration to rapper Jay-Z in 1995, drew renewed notice. Rock band Living Colour's music video to a 2016 cover version protests gun violence. "Who Shot Ya?" is now a trope beyond music.


title: Who Shot Ya?

text: In July 1993, Uptown Records' founder Andre Harrell fired his unbridled A&R man and record producer Sean "Puffy" Combs, age 23, whose new label, Bad Boy Entertainment, then found parenting by Clive Davis's Arista Records. By late 1994, Bad Boy prevailed via rapper Craig Mack's hit single "Flava in Ya Ear," yet especially by Bad Boy's first album, "Ready to Die", released on September 13, 1994, the debut album of gangsta rapper the Notorious B.I.G., or Biggie Smalls. The album is mostly grim and hardcore, but Puffy removed "Who Shot Ya" from it.


title: Who Shot Ya?

text: Biggie wanted the first single to be "Machine Gun Funk." Puffy made the first two A sides instead friendly songs—"Juicy" and then "Big Poppa," songs that Biggie resisted recording—to increase radio appeal and sales, yet placed harder songs as their B sides. The "Big Poppa" B side, "Warning," an album track, thus in practice a "double A side," relies on the instrumental of Isaac Hayes's cover version of "Walk on By," and casts Biggie suspecting that members of his own circle will set up him up for a robbery. Each of the two songs received its own music video.


title: Who Shot Ya?

text: An underground "Who Shot Ya" differing—but same instrumental—was released in 1995 before the single. Amid lore of this mixtape version, some speculated that it was a myth. (In 2017, DJ EFN casually ventured that he may have had an underground issue on vinyl in a white sleeve, as used by DJs, before December 1994.) In 2014, when the mixtape "Who Shot Ya" was traced to DJ S&S, a renowned issuer of New York mixtapes in the 1990s, its original audio was publicized. Like a mixtape track, it is only two minutes long—one Biggie verse, 24 bars, then one Keith Murray verse, 23 bars, amid "hype man" Puffy tersely yelling announcements—but the verses are longer than the standard 16 bars.


title: Who Shot Ya?

text: In 2004, Brooklyn rapper Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter recollected, about the mixtape, "I've heard songs I like, but the last time I remember being truly, truly inspired was when I heard 'Who Shot Ya.' " One night, Kareem "Biggs" Burke, cofounder of Jay-Z's label, Roc-A-Fella Records, drew him to Harlem's 125 Street, entered his car, inserted the tape, and fled. Jay-Z reflects, "He knew that if I heard 'Who Shot Ya?,' it's going to inspire me to make songs even hotter. But that song, it was so crazy. It just had an effect on everybody. The world stopped when he dropped 'Who Shot Ya?' " On Jay-Z's debut June 1996 album's track "Brooklyn's Finest," guest Biggie includes the phrase "who shot ya" and the word "warning".


title: Who Shot Ya?

text: Closing the week of February 25, 1995, the "Big Poppa/Warning" single—released December 5, 1994—had spent six weeks, including five weeks at No. 1, on "Billboard"'s Hot Rap Singles chart. The single entered the main popular songs chart, the Billboard Hot 100, the week ending January 14 and, enduring 24 weeks, peaked at No. 6 on March 18. Yet on February 21, Bad Boy issued a new "Big Poppa/Warning" with an added B side, "Who Shot Ya," which grew Biggie's menacing persona. The track also includes "hype man" Puffy, previously friendly, yelling in uncharacterisic aggression. The instrumental is basically a repeating portion of soul singer David Porter's 1971 song "I'm Afraid the Masquerade is Over," variously sampled in numerous rap songs. "Who Shot Ya" is among the most influential and historic. In 2020, "Vulture.com", owned by "New York" magazine, ranked it #52 among "100 songs that define New York rap."


title: Who Shot Ya?

text: Published lyrics may omit Puffy's vocals, repeatedly yelling, in part, "As we proceed— / to give you what you need— / 9-5, motherfuckers— / Get live, motherfuckers— / As we proceed— / to give you what you need— / East Coast, motherfuckers— / Bad Boy, motherfuckers—." Otherwise, one writer estimates, "The story Biggie tells in 'Who Shot Ya?' is simple and brutal. Someone's out to get him, but Biggie gets the drop on his foe." MTV recognizes Biggie's verses for, nonetheless, "using the art of music to make the art of war sound beautiful." "Biggie, menacing as ever," describes a writer in "Billboard", "makes use of negative space in his verses that give his threats a biblical intensity." Meanwhile, the instrumental, "deceptively candied," "lends the missive a psychedelic quality." Yet this instrumental was heard briefly by R&B fans since the November 29, 1994, release of Mary J Blige's second album, "My Life", first in track one, titled "Intro," and then in track six, "K. Murray Interlude."


title: Who Shot Ya?

text: In 2014, a publicity piece for New York rap DJ and Hot 97 radio host Funkmaster Flex's new book announced, "The song 'Who Shot Ya' was originally an intro for Mary J Blige's album. Uptown/MCA said it was too hard. The song in its original form had a verse from Big, Keith Murray, and LL Cool J, though LL never did his verse. The song still exists!' "


title: Who Shot Ya?

text: "Who Shot Ya" traces to the Uptown Records recording of R&B singer Mary J Blige's second or November 1994 album, "My Life". Its record producers were Carl "Chucky" Thompson, Prince Charles Alexander, and Sean "Puffy" Combs, while Nashiem Myrick, studio manager, "played a big role." Prince Alexander was a Bad Boy regular, whereas Chucky Thompson and Nashiem Myrick were among "the Hitmen," the inner circle of staff record producers at Bad Boy Entertainment. Puffy began Bad Boy in 1992 while A&R director at, and initially in partnership with, Andre Harrell's Uptown Records.


title: Who Shot Ya?

text: Myrick had joined Bad Boy at its outset in 1993 as "studio intern," but in 1994 was its "production coordinator." Myrick, as the main producer of "Who Shot Ya," recalls Puffy tasking him to make an instrumental for rapper Keith Murray as an interlude on Blige's album. Myrick thus "came up with 'Who Shot Ya' "—or at least its basic instrumental—Myrick recalled in 2013. Despite the "Who Shot Ya" impetus or evolution being retold with some discrepancies across the interviewed witnesses—Biggie himself, Nashiem Myrick, Chucky Thompson, and Biggie's protégé Lil' Cease—agreed is that Puffy declared the result "too hard" for the R&B album.


title: Who Shot Ya?

text: "My Life" opens with the track titled "Intro," 64 seconds long, which at 22 seconds begins and sustains the "Who Shot Ya" instrumental, without any of its vocals, at low volume under Puffy's speech, soon in dialog with Mary J Blige's. Track six is "K. Murray Interlude," 22 seconds long, which opens with the same instrumental and nearly six bars of Murray's verse, nearly a quarter of his full verse. Midway into Murray's final full line included—"My subliminals mix with criminal chemicals"—Puffy speaks atop it, "Yo, Big Chuck, put on some of that smooth shit, man." Midway into Murray's next line, all music aborts, whereupon a mechanical noise occurs twice, and the track ends.


title: Who Shot Ya?

text: Puffy, savvy on classic records, often told producers exactly what to sample, but sometimes left the task open. In this case, Nashiem Myrick recalls an open task and the initial instrumental confusing Puffy, because the mixing console showed only one audio source, no isolated drum track. The instrumental was simply one sample on loop, the drums native, explained Myrick. Puffy then tasked Jean-Claude "Poke" Olivier, of the Trackmasters production duo, who both worked for Bad Boy, to simply embellish the drums.


title: Who Shot Ya?

text: Poke's programming of a synthesized kick drum, heavier and "fluffy," on a drum machine completed the instrumental. Otherwise, it is simply a sample from "I'm Afraid the Masquerade is Over" by soul singer David Porter, the Isaac Hayes coproducer who, alike Hayes, and sharing backing vocalists with Hayes, reinterpreted and extended popular hits. Porter's cover version and extension of this 1939 classic is on his "rock/soul opera" concept album, released in January 1971, that became a cult classic, titled "Victim of the Joke? An Opera."


title: Who Shot Ya?

text: Chucky Thompson, interviewed in 2014, recalled a customary occasion of record shopping with Nasheim Myrick, and this time also entering the studio later while Myrick—inclined to scour records for samples—was playing one of these records in search of a portion to sample, then found one, and played it, looping, for hours. Puffy meanwhile, having eventually entered the studio with Biggie, "got the idea to use it as an interlude for Mary's "My Life" album," recalls Thompson.


title: Who Shot Ya?

text: Thompson adds, "Biggie originally rapped the verse on the interlude, and he was later replaced by Keith Murray." "The reason why Keith Murray was brought in was due to B.I.G.'s verse on the interlude. If we kept his original verse, Puff would have been forced to place an "Explicit Lyrics" sticker on the album, and he didn't want to do that to Mary, so they brought Keith Murray in to replace Biggie." "This sample," says Thomas, "ended up being used for the Notorious B.I.G.'s song 'Who Shot Ya.' "


title: Who Shot Ya?

text: Nashiem Myrick, interviewed in 2013, explained, "Actually, that joint was not meant for Big. We was working on the Mary, "My Life", album. Puff came to me and said, 'Listen, I need an interlude beat for Keith Murray.' So one day, I got some time. I'm looking through the stuff in the studio, the CDs and records—"boom", "boom"—I come across this record I always wanted to listen to. It's long, it's like 9 minutes long, 11 minutes long, however. Went through the whole record, came up with 'Who Shot Ya.' Keith Murray came through. LL actually came—do the rap on it—but he couldn't finish it. Puff said, 'Go get your man Big, and get him on that record: we have to have it done by Monday.' It was Friday. Found Big. Big came to the studio, blessed me. And that's history." (LL Cool J, around this time managed by Puffy, was a guest—along with Biggie, Busta Rhymes, and Rampage—on a remix of Bad Boy's first single, Craig Mack's "Flava in Ya Ear.")


title: Who Shot Ya?

text: Biggie, when variously interviewed and asked about "Who Shot Ya," explained the lyrics as portraying a young drug dealer's turf war against an older drug dealer, that "I wrote," and that it "was finished," too, "way before" late November 1994. "It was supposed to be the intro to that shit Keith Murray was doing on Mary J. Blige's joint," Biggie asserted. Mainstays at Biggie's recording sessions were members of his rap clique Junior M.A.F.I.A., especially Lil' Cease, who recounts his alliance with Biggie from their Brooklyn neighborhood, whom Biggie brought into the music industry, and who seemingly was one of only two persons within the music industry whom Biggie thoroughly trusted. In 2017, Cease indicated that "Who Shot Ya" recording, too, was "way before" late November 1994, but that "Keith Murray, LL Cool J, and Big" were the original artists on "Who Shot Ya," planned as "the intro to Mary J, "My Life", album." Cease added that once this original was rejected as "too hard" for her album, Biggie took it and, adding a verse to replace Keith Murray's verse, made it his own.


title: Who Shot Ya?

text: The November 1994 attack on Tupac was a turning point in American popular music. Although Biggie never conceded the accusation, "Tupac Shakur and a legion of his fans interpreted the Biggie B-side 'Who Shot Ya?' as a troll job," a barely veiled taunt. In any case, a "rap battle" ensued. Tupac's June 1996 answer song, "Hit 'Em Up," taking lyrical menace to unprecedented extreme, was personal and overt, "arguably the most passionate and unhinged diss record in history." Tupac had been otherwise incarcerated across 1995 into October, but associating menace and homicide began before Tupac's release from prison. The new trend in rap culture promptly figured into pop culture.


title: Who Shot Ya?

text: In May 1993, on Bad Boy's first visit to Los Angeles, Biggie, upon his first single, "Party and Bullshit," sought and met Tupac. In August and September, in New York to rap, Tupac visited Biggie in Brooklyn, and they rapped shows together in Manhattan. Biggie joined Tupac and Randy "Stretch" Walker—of the Live Squad rap/production team from Queens, New York—yielding a new trio of running, rapping, and recording mates. Yet in July, Puffy's firing from Uptown Records paused Biggie's album recording, an 18 months total while Biggie struggled financially. Puffy placed Biggie as guest on two more singles, Mary J. Blige's "What's the 411?" remix and Super Cat's "Dolly My Baby."


title: Who Shot Ya?

text: Tupac, star of the films "Juice" and "Poetic Justice" had his second album "Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z..." (1993) yield his first Top 20 hits on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 chart, "I Get Around" and "Keep Ya Head Up". In November, in New York shooting March 1994 film "Above the Rim", he socialized much with underworld boss Jacques "Haitian Jack" Agnant. Brooklyn boxer Mike Tyson advised Tupac, "I think you're out of your league." Tupac's first Rolex purchase was to enter Agnant's circle. Biggie recalled presence at the purchase, but Tupac's thereupon maybe favoring company wealthier than Biggie, who warned Tupac to avoid Agnant. Tupac, feeling Agnant a friend, reportedly told him of the advice, causing Biggie backlash from Agnant's circle.


title: Who Shot Ya?

text: In June 1996, Biggie reflected, "There's shit that motherfuckers don't know. I saw the situation and how shit was going, and I tried to school the nigga." "He knows when all that shit was going down, I was schooling a nigga to certain things, me and Stretch—God bless the grave." Stretch died in an unsolved shooting on November 30, 1995. "But he," Biggie said of Tupac, "chose to do the things he wanted to do. There wasn't nothing I could do. But it wasn't like he wasn't my man." By the November 30, 1994, nonfatal shooting of Tupac, he and Biggie, as write retrospective sources lacking details, either were simply still "friends," or had sustained "smaller kerfuffles," or, per street rumors, "had a war brewing."


title: Who Shot Ya?

text: Tupac recalled Jacques "Haitian Jack" Agnant introducing him to James "Jimmy Henchman" Rosemond, who recalled instead introducing Tupac to Agnant. Both fearsome in New York City's criminal underworld, Agnant and Rosemond were managers and promoters reputed to extort and rob disfavored music artists. On November 29, 1994, Rosemond hired Tupac to record at Quad Recording Studios with his client Little Shawn, rapper, Uptown Records, and record producer Bryce Wilson. Tupac, amid "major beef" with Agnant, and confronted by Rosemond for it on November 25, was leery. Present was Uptown's boss Andre Harrell, summoned by Rosemond. Rosemond recalled "plenty of people." Tupac recalled "about 40." Little Shawn, as if "everybody must have known this cat was coming," recalled it "like a fucking party." Puffy, hanging out, recalled nearby filming for the "Warning" music video, then going to visit Biggie on a higher of Quad's five floors, but getting sidetracked on this floor, Quad's required reception stop.


title: Who Shot Ya?

text: Biggie, although sometimes reportedly with Puffy, Harrell, and Rosemond when Tupac arrived upstairs, was instead on a higher floor recording with his own rap group, Junior M.A.F.I.A. Near 12:30 AM, Tupac, Stretch, and two other men entered the building lobby, where Tupac was shot resisting successful robbery of $40 000 of jewelry. Stretch's manager, Freddie "Nickels" Moore, was nonfatally shot in the abdomen, "but that," Tupac later said, "was the bullet that went through my leg." Once upstairs, Tupac instantly blamed Rosemond, and later grew convinced of his guilt. Tupac would ultimately question lobby events as to Stretch, others' reactions upstairs, and "Who Shot Ya" release. In response, Tupac would eventually record "Hit 'Em Up," assailing Biggie and Puffy, whereas "Against All Odds," , assails Agnant and Rosemond for setting him up. By then or eventually, each complained about Tupac's airing names and gripes in the media and allegedly fostering cinematic drama in his own life.


title: Who Shot Ya?

text: For a November 1993 incident in his Midtown Manhattan hotel suite, Tupac Shakur's November 1994 trial led to December 1 conviction of sexual abuse, first degree, for groping. On February 7, 1995, denied probation, he received prison—four years and six months—parole eligibility in 18 months. A January 1995 jailhouse interview of Tupac—disavowing his own "Thug Life" ethos, vowing only directly positive acts, and leery at conduct by Stretch during and by others upstairs after the November 1994 shooting—appeared in "Vibes April issue. It, allegedly, "accused" Biggie and "blamed" Puffy, or "implicates" them and Andre Harrell. Puffy called it, instead, "open-ended, like me and Big and Andre had something to do with" the attack, a main topic via "Who Shot Ya" when New York radio station Hot 97 interviewed Biggie. Replying in "Vibe"'s August issue, rather, each party but Stretch and Biggie recalled the injured Tupac acting like a movie role.


title: Who Shot Ya?

text: James "Jimmy Henchman" Rosemond further called Tupac a "coward" who tried "street" ways but failed "the test" and was, "hysterically, talking about, "'Call the police".' " Puffy spoke of empathy and hope his "Thug Life" ethos "is really over," but added, "if you gonna be a motherfuckin' thug, you gots to live and die a thug." Tupac was, Biggie estimated, "the realest nigga in the game," but, recently assailed severely, "was just confused," maybe seeking cover or shelter by the interview, "just shitting on everybody." "And then," Biggie added, "the story just "completely" got switched around: niggas saying "I" set him up and "I'm" the one that got him shot. They're saying that my record 'Who Shot Ya?' is about him." "Niggas was taking little pieces of the song and trying to add it to the story, and that shit is crazy." Stretch called Tupac "my man," but demanded he "recognize what the fuck he's doing"—"telling niggas' names and all that shit" in "the media"—breaking a "street" "rule that's never to be broken."


title: Who Shot Ya?

text: On November 6, 1994, at a nightclub with a recent movie costar, Tupac met gossip columnist A J Benza, whereby New York's "Daily News" reported Tupac's viewing his own former codefendant Jacques "Haitian Jack" Agnant as a "hanger-on," maybe a government informant, who caused the rape and gun case. Street gossip then foresaw attack on Tupac. Rosemond, angered, would call the November 30 attack "discipline," but reassert innocence. Agnant eventually recounted issuing order to "not" attack Tupac, but a then close ally, angered by the newspaper story, ""especially in" New York City," setting up this attack, anyway. Widely viewed as its mastermind, Rosemond alleged that Tupac, being theatrical, "makes a situation to sell records," and recalled ordering Tupac to stop blaming Biggie and Puffy, who "ain't got nothing to do with this." Puffy, citing Tupac's deeming the gunmen's identifies open knowledge on the street, called himself and Biggie "scapegoats."


title: Who Shot Ya?

text: Reportedly, New York police had within the Bad Boy or Uptown label a confidential informant who named Biggie as the attack's contractor, but government misinformation is possible. Tupac heard street word that Biggie simply withheld warning of it. Rosemond, disputing the storied five gunshot wounds, asserted Stretch's recount of only one gunshot, when a robber's grabbing Tupac's hand, trying to draw the gun, discharged it. Lil' Cease recalls this a consensus—whereby Bryce Wilson cites gunpowder on Tupac's boxers—a variant question of who shot him. Biggie called him, in "Vibe"'s August 1995 issue, "just confused more than anything. You get shot and then you go to jail for something you ain't even do. That could twist a nigga's mind up." But as "Vibe"'s excerpt omitted, Biggie also expressed appall at, he said, "what really went down": pistol-whipping and self-inflicted gunshot but, then, "just getting a little bit too happy with the situation, trying to make movies. Everything was a movie to him."


title: Who Shot Ya?

text: Biggie consistently disputed that "Who Shot Ya" targeted Tupac. Still, some call it a diss track, if "subliminal." Biggie recorded his lyrics "months" before Tupac was shot in November 1994, but Puffy removed the song from Biggie's album, released in September 1994. On both the mixtape track and the B side, however, Puffy shouts, "9-5." Naima Cochrane, who "went on to work at Bad Boy" after working at a law firm that "represented the full roster of producers" at Bad Boy, judges, " 'Who Shot Ya' sounds exactly like a track that accidentally launched rap's biggest feud between Biggie and Tupac."


title: Who Shot Ya?

text: In 2009, the biographical film "Notorious" was released, and Rahman Dukes, who with coworkers had done research for it, announced, "Biggie himself clears up 'Who Shot Ya' misunderstanding." Dukes prefaces that Lil' Cease, who was Biggie's main rap buddy, as well as DJ Mister Cee, who had discovered Biggie, denied it as a Tupac taunt. Dukes adds, "Hell, even Diddy"—formerly Puffy—"shot down those claims." Dukes asserts, "Only the late, great B.I.G. could clear matters up, but we all know that's not possible." Dukes reports a "long-lost freestyle" with "a few bars," "a bit of hard-core evidence," but leaves it for listeners to judge.


title: Who Shot Ya?

text: On the other hand, in 2010, rap magazine "XXL" assessed "8 subliminal diss records" and appraised, " 'Who Shot Ya?' remains highly contested, but the lyrics to 'Long Kiss Good Night' were even more direct." "In the April 2003 issue of "XXL", Lil' Cease confirms the record was aimed at 'Pac, while Puff contends that 'If Biggie was going to do a song about 2Pac, he would have just come out with it and said his name.' " Released posthumously, "Long Kiss Goodnight" itself features Puffy's "ad lib" disclaimer—"And we ain't talking about no other rap niggas"—but this song, nonetheless, "was definitely about 'Pac, no 2 ways about it," concludes "XXL" by citing other lyrics.


title: Who Shot Ya?

text: "XXL" meanwhile estimated about "Who Shot Ya?" that "the timing of its release and the perceived subliminal shots"—including allegedly "telling lyrics" in Biggie's second verse, new in the single—"lead us to believe that this was most likely a diss record." In 2014, however, Bad Boy staff producer Chucky Thompson, key in "Ready to Die" production, and witness to "Who Shot Ya" production, asserted, "I still have that recording with me today, and him saying that phrase had absolutely nothing to do with Tupac." Nashiem Myrick, the song's main producer, asserted, "We have no reason, no motive, at all, to have set 'Pac up. What's the motive? What's the issue? It's no issue. So, nah."


title: Who Shot Ya?

text: However, in August 2022, former Bad Boy Records president Kirk Burrowe's admitted on Youtube that the Notorious B.I.G.'s song "Who Shot Ya?" was indeed intended for Tupac. Burrowes then candidly explains himself, elaborating that the artists may not have known but that his former record label boss Sean Combs thinks in different dimensions at once, explaining one is to the lower level and masses to understand, a level in between, and a higher level of principalities and power basis, in what he calls 3-dimensional chess. He explains that "Who Shot Ya?" could mean different things to different people, i.e. artists Notorious B.I.G. and/or Lil Cease, but it did what it was supposed to do, and that was intentionally address Tupac's shooting and benefit Bad Boy Records commercially. Burrowes states it was an "idea" meant to "aggrivate a wound" and act like they didn't intend it afterward. Burrowes closes by stating, "We did poke at them with that and we acted like we didn't but you know we did, Ya."


title: Live in Front of a Studio Audience

text: Live in Front of a Studio Audience is a series of live television specials that was first broadcast by ABC on May 22, 2019. Conceptualized and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, the specials feature all-star casting for live recreations of sitcom episodes that originally aired in the 1970s and 1980s.


title: Live in Front of a Studio Audience

text: The specials are co-produced by Norman Lear's Act III Communications, Kimmel's Kimmelot, and Will Ferrell's Gary Sanchez Productions — in association with Sony Pictures Television Studios (owner of the rights to the original series) via the ownership of the Embassy Television library (the original producer of "All in the Family" and its spin-offs "The Jeffersons" and "Good Times").


title: Live in Front of a Studio Audience

text: The first special recreated two episodes involving George Jefferson (played by Jamie Foxx), with "All in the Family" represented by "Henry's Farewell" (the character's on-screen debut) and "A Friend in Need" (the first episode of "The Jeffersons"). The first special was seen by 10.4 million viewers; a repeat was seen by 2.49 million viewers. The second special was broadcast on December 18, 2019, and recreated another "All in the Family" episode and an episode of "Good Times".


title: Live in Front of a Studio Audience

text: A third special recreated "The Facts of Life" third-season episode "Kids Can Be Cruel" and "Diff'rent Strokes"s first-season episode "Willis' Privacy" It aired on December 7, 2021.


title: Live in Front of a Studio Audience

text: "All in the Family" is about a working-class white family living in Queens, New York. Its patriarch is Archie Bunker (Carroll O'Connor), an outspoken, narrow-minded man. Archie's wife Edith (Jean Stapleton) is sweet and understanding, though somewhat naïve and uneducated; her husband sometimes disparagingly calls her "dingbat." Their only child, daughter Gloria (Sally Struthers), is generally kind and good-natured like her mother, but displays traces of her father's stubbornness and temper; unlike them, however, she is a feminist. Gloria is married to college student Michael Stivic (Rob Reiner)referred to as "Meathead" by Archiewhose values are likewise influenced and shaped by the counterculture of the 1960s. The two couples represent the real-life clash of values between the Greatest Generation and Baby Boomers. For much of the series, the Stivics live in the Bunkers' home to save money, providing abundant opportunity for them to irritate each other. – The show is set in the Astoria section of Queens, with the vast majority of scenes taking place in the Bunkers' home at 704 Hauser Street. Occasional scenes take place in other locations, especially during later seasons, such as Kelsey's Bar, a neighborhood tavern where Archie spends a good deal of time and which he eventually purchases, and the Stivics' home after Mike and Gloria move to the house next door. The house seen in the opening is at 89-70 Cooper Avenue near the junction of the Glendale, Forest Hills, and Rego Park sections of Queens. Supporting characters represent the demographics of the neighborhood, especially the Jeffersons, a black family, who live in the house next door in the early seasons.


title: Live in Front of a Studio Audience

text: "The Jeffersons" focuses on George and Louise Jefferson, an African-American couple who have been able to move from Queens to Manhattan owing to the success of George's dry-cleaner chain. The show was launched as the second spin-off of "All in the Family", on which the Jeffersons had been the neighbors of Archie and Edith Bunker. The show was the creation of Norman Lear. "The Jeffersons" eventually evolved into more of a traditional sitcom but did reference such issues as alcoholism, racism, suicide, gun control, being transgender, and adult illiteracy. The epithets "nigger" and "honky" were used occasionally, especially during the earlier seasons.


title: Live in Front of a Studio Audience

text: "Good Times" focuses on James and Florida Evans and their three children living in a housing project in inner-city Chicago with their exuberant neighbor and Florida's best friend Willona Woods. The series was a spin-off of "Maude" (which was itself a spin-off of "All in the Family"). Florida was employed as Maude Findlay's housekeeper in Tuckahoe, New York, and James (named "Henry") was employed as a New York City firefighter. When Florida and Henry moved to "Good Times", the producers decided to change the characters' history to fit a new series that was well into development rather than start from scratch to create a consistent starring vehicle. Henry's name was changed to James, and there was no mention of anything connected to "Maude". "Good Times" was set in a traditional sitcom format, but dealt with serious issues of poverty, social class, racism, addiction, alcoholism, gang violence, gun violence, child abuse, homelessness, and politics. Controversially, in later seasons the show increasingly focused on the popular character of J.J., the Evans' oldest son, whom some critics, including the actors who played his parents, considered a negative stereotype of African-Americans.


title: Live in Front of a Studio Audience

text: "The Facts of Life" is a spin-off of "Diff'rent Strokes" in which the Drummonds' housekeeper, Mrs. Garrett, moves to Peekskill, New York to work as the housemother of a dormitory at Eastland, an all-girls boarding school. Unusually for a spin-off, it premiered less than a year after the series that spawned it. Owing to its setting in a dormitory, the first season features a large cast of students, but in the second season, the cast was streamlined substantially and for the majority of the show's run, it focuses on Mrs. Garrett and four core girls: spoiled Blair, naive Natalie, gossipy Tootie, and tough Jo. The show's school-based setting combined with its long run necessitated a thematic shift in season five in which Mrs. Garrett leaves Eastland to open a gourmet food shop in Peekskill, and the four core girls come to live with her behind the shop as they attend different schools and work for Mrs. Garrett.


title: Live in Front of a Studio Audience

text: "Diff'rent Strokes" is about a pair of working-class African-American children from Harlem, New York, Arnold and Willis Jackson, who are taken in and eventually adopted by wealthy white industrialist Philip Drummond upon the death of their mother, Mr. Drummond's housekeeper. Other members of the Drummond household include Mr. Drummond's teenage daughter, Kimberly, and his new housekeeper, Edna Garrett; Mrs. Garrett departed for her own series midway through the second season and was succeeded by two other housekeepers. Early episodes deal with the culture shock of two children of limited means suddenly being vaulted into high society, but these themes were largely dropped in later seasons as the Jackson brothers became used to their privileged life on Park Avenue and began referring to Mr. Drummond as "Dad." Nonetheless, the sitcom continued to address serious issues such as drug abuse, child sexual abuse, disabilities and eating disorders. In doing so, it became one of the era's best-known purveyors of the very special episode.


title: Live in Front of a Studio Audience

text: The first special was announced on April 19, 2019 (which aired May 22). Jimmy Kimmel deemed "All in the Family" and "The Jeffersons" as his favorite TV series of all-time, and stated: "the fact that a group of Oscar winners eagerly agreed to play these iconic characters is a testament to the greatness of these shows and their creator, Norman Lear." On May 10, 2019, it was announced that Anthony Anderson, Ike Barinholtz, and Sean Hayes would be part of the cast.


title: Live in Front of a Studio Audience

text: "Live in Front of a Studio Audience" was broadcast from the Sony Pictures Studios lot in Culver City, California. Many of the details regarding the special, including which episodes would be performed, guest stars, and other aspects, were kept as surprises to encourage viewership. Lear remarked that "the whole thing was Jimmy's idea", and that the two shows' relevance remained the same in the current political climate, explaining that "seriously, the most amazing thing is listening to these two shows where we agreed word for word — we would not change a word, and nothing has been changed". Lear also hoped that the special could become a larger franchise in its own right.


title: Live in Front of a Studio Audience

text: Justina Machado was originally announced as playing Florence Johnston; however, during the live broadcast, original "The Jeffersons" cast member Marla Gibbs made a surprise appearance to reprise her role as Florence. Veteran actress Fran Bennett portrayed Mother Jefferson. The original episodes aired between 1973 and 1976 on CBS, respectively.


title: Live in Front of a Studio Audience

text: A second special was announced on November 5, 2019 (which aired December 18), featuring episodes of "All in the Family" and "Good Times". On December 11, 2019, it was announced that Harrelson, Tomei, Kemper, and Barinholtz would reprise their "All in the Family" roles, and would be joined by Kevin Bacon, Jesse Eisenberg, and the previously announced Machado in yet to be revealed roles. It was also revealed that Anderson, who previously played Henry Jefferson in the first special, and Patti LaBelle would sing the "Good Times" theme song. The following day, the special's "Good Times" cast was announced: Viola Davis as Florida Evans, with Andre Braugher as James Evans, Jay Pharaoh as J.J. Evans, Asante Blackk as Michael Evans, Corinne Foxx as Thelma Evans, Tiffany Haddish as Willona Woods, and Jharrel Jerome in another yet-to-be revealed role. ABC also announced that it would air special "retro" promos for its current programming during the broadcast, which were modeled upon ABC's on-air presentation from the mid-1970s and early to mid 80s. Several ABC stations similarly planned to air their own throwback promos for local newscasts during the special, such as network owned-and-operated stations WTVD-TV and WLS-TV. The original broadcast was occasionally interrupted by ABC News special reports of updates on the impeachment of Donald Trump. Nevertheless, the final half hour tied with the "Survivor" season finale for the number 2 spot, losing to only the season finale of "The Masked Singer".


title: Live in Front of a Studio Audience

text: A third special was announced on November 18, 2021, for the principal cast of the "Diff'rent Strokes" reenactment, and the cast of "The Facts of Life" reenactment was announced on November 29. It aired December 7.


title: Live in Front of a Studio Audience

text: On January 11, 2022, ABC Entertainment president Craig Erwich confirmed that there would be more installments of "Live in Front of a Studio Audience".


title: Live in Front of a Studio Audience

text: Film critic Caroline Framke of "Variety" felt that "with meticulous attention to set detail and wig shapes, ABC's live staging of 'Henry's Farewell' and 'A Friend in Need' managed to feel both like an artifact of a nostalgic past and the urgent present", noting that Archie had "retained his notoriously ugly streaks of sexism and racism", while the word "nigger" had to be censored from the "Jeffersons" episode due to current broadcast standards. Framke similarly noted that "some of the punchlines reveal[ed] their age, but as Lear warned us ahead of time, far more hit close to home" (especially if one were to, for example, "swap out every Nixon mention for Trump"), and that "the deja vu does tend to create an extra depressing level to the proceedings." She felt that most of the starring roles were trying to "impersonate" their original actors with mixed results (also noting that Jamie Foxx had broken character to point out his flubbed line, blurting out that "[everyone's] sitting at home thinking their TV is messed up"), but that Marisa Tomei "stole just about every scene", and that they were backed by a supporting cast that "more often than not, have had ample experience on their own comedies borne of the Lear tradition". She concluded that "TV could frankly do a whole lot worse than gathering talented performers to tackle smart, topical comedy with such visceral joy that they're practically vibrating off the screen. That the material remains so stubbornly timely is a bonus — and a warning."


title: Live in Front of a Studio Audience

text: The first special was seen by 10.4 million viewers, with a 1.7 share among viewers 18–49, making it the most-watched program of the night. The live special was followed by a half-hour retrospective on the two shows, "All About All in the Family & The Jeffersons" (seen by 7.9 million), and the series finale of "Whiskey Cavalier" (3.64 million). The special also gave ABC its most watched season-closing Wednesday since 2007.


title: Live in Front of a Studio Audience

text: An encore presentation of the special and retrospective were aired on May 25, 2019, with a 0.4/2 rating/share and 2.49 million viewers.


title: Live in Front of a Studio Audience

text: The second special was seen by 5.8 million viewers, with a 1.1 share among viewers 18–49. Despite the massive drop in viewership, the special scored ABC's biggest audience on the Wednesday before Christmas since 2009.


title: Live in Front of a Studio Audience

text: The third special was seen by 4.8 million viewers, with a .96 share among viewers 18–49. Despite the decline in viewership, the special scored the best ratings of the evening.


title: Xenosaga Episode I

text: Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht is a role-playing video game developed by Monolith Soft and published by Namco for the PlayStation 2; the game was released in 2002 in Japan and 2003 in North America. It is the first entry in the "Xenosaga" trilogy and forms part of the wider "Xeno" metaseries. Gameplay features exploration of environments through a linear narrative, while battles use turn-based combat with the player characters fighting both on foot and piloting large mecha dubbed A.G.W.S.; combat in turn features a system of button combinations for attack types, and multiple leveling systems.


title: Xenosaga Episode I

text: Set far in the future when humanity has left Earth, the plot follows Shion Uzuki, an employee of Vector Industries; and KOS-MOS, a battle android design to fight the hostile alien Gnosis. Forced to escape a Gnosis attack and head for the planet of Second Miltia, Shion and KOS-MOS are pulled into a fight between the Galaxy Federation and the hostile U-TIC Organization. With others who join them as they head to safety, they face a deeper mystery surrounding U-TIC's goals and the plans of the immortal Albedo Piazzolla.


title: Xenosaga Episode I

text: Development began in 2000 under the codename "Project X" following the founding of Monolith Soft. Intended as a spiritual successor to the 1998 video game "Xenogears", multiple staff were carried over including director and co-writer Tetsuya Takahashi, co-writer Soraya Saga, character designer Kunihiko Tanaka, and composer Yasunori Mitsuda. The game received generally positive reviews from critics and sold over one million copies worldwide. Its direct sequel, "Xenosaga Episode II", was released in 2004 in Japan and 2005 overseas. The final "Xenosaga" game, "Xenosaga Episode III", was released in 2006. The game received an which aired in 2005, and was re-imagined along with "Episode II" as part of "Xenosaga I & II" for the Nintendo DS.


title: Xenosaga Episode I

text: "Xenosaga Episode I" is a role-playing video game; the player controls a party of characters, navigating them through a variety of environments tied to the progression of the story. Gameplay segments are separated by story sequences told mainly through traditional full-motion cutscenes. Exploring environments, the party can collect a variety of items, some of which can be used in gameplay to boost a character's statistics or restore health. During the course of the game, a database is unlocked that documents the game's story events and terminology. The player can access several mini-game "plug-in" systems through Shion's portable console, and an e-mail system that allows players to make playful decisions that have little significance to the main plot. The console can also be used to access to cleared areas of the game; these grant access to side quests separate from the main storyline.


title: Xenosaga Episode I

text: While navigating environments, enemies are visible within the environment, with engagement being optional. If the player chooses to engage, some environmental elements such as combustible objects can be used to alter an enemy's statistics and grant the player an advantage in battle. When battle begins, the three-character player party and the enemy party fight in a dedicated combat arena. The combat is governed by a turn-based battle system. Each character has access to melee and ranged standard attacks, can use items to affect the party or enemies, and guard against attacks. The player party's attacks are determined through button combinations, with different combinations triggering different attack sequences that can have secondary effects on the party and neighboring enemies. Attack combinations can be customized by the player between battles.


title: Xenosaga Episode I

text: Each attack uses Action Points (AP), with AP remaining after each turn carried over to the next turn. Special moves for each character are unlocked by building up AP over several turns. When a minimum of three AP are available, a character can perform an exclusive action which deals high damage to their opponent. More powerful attacks can be performed with higher amounts of AP. In addition, characters can perform Ether moves, powerful attacks and support actions which drain their Ether Points (EP). Both player and some enemy party members also have a "Boost" meter, which when full allows that character to perform an additional action while taking away an opponent's turn.


title: Xenosaga Episode I

text: The party has access to mecha, which can be equipped by surrendering a turn. Mecha have their own set of moves and boast more powerful attacks than the main party, but also carry over damage between battles. Following the victory, the party is awarded with in-game currency which can be used to purchase items and accessories at shops. The party is also awarded experience points which raise a character's experience level, along with a variety of skill points. These are divided into EP to fuel Ether abilities, along with Skill Points (SP) and Tech Points (TP). SP are assigned to activate passive effects drawn from different accessories, while Tech Points raise the effectiveness and power of Tech attacks unlocked as the character's experience level rises.


title: Xenosaga Episode I

text: "Xenosaga Episode I" takes place in a universe based around science fiction. In the year "20XX", the Zohar—an artifact dating from the beginning of the universe which connects to the realm of a god-like energy dubbed U-DO—was unearthed by an archeological expedition in Kenya; the Zohar is key to enabling humanity to travel in space beyond the Solar System. Over 4000 years in the future, humanity has left Earth behind to colonize the galaxy following a terrible event, resulting in Earth's location being lost and the planet being dubbed "Lost Jerusalem": by the game's events, humanity has adopted a new calendar system dubbed "Transcend Christ" (T.C.), with the game's events taking place in T.C. 4767—equivalent to A.D. 7277. Humanity is now spread across 500,000 planets, with their governments forming the Galaxy Federation. Planets are connected through a time warp travel network called the Unus Mundus Network (U.M.N.). The U.M.N. is managed by Vector Industries, which also controls interests in the Federation's military. Existing alongside humans are Realians, synthetic humans who hold equal status with natural humans. The Federation has come under attack from the ancient alien Gnosis, which begin decimating Federation worlds. As normal weapons are ineffective against them, Vector develops two different weapon systems designed to fight them: humanoid mecha dubbed A.G.W.S. (Anti Gnosis Weapon System), and the similar but more powerful KOS-MOS battle androids. Another hostile faction is the U-TIC Organization, a once-scientific group that now wishes to gain control of the Zohar. A key episode in the game's backstory is the Miltian Conflict, a war between U-TIC and the Federation which triggered the Gnosis' arrival and caused Miltia to be swallowed in a space-time anomaly.


title: Xenosaga Episode I

text: The main characters are Shion Uzuki, a human scientist employed by Vector Industries, and her creation the prototype anti-Gnosis battle android KOS-MOS. She is assisted on the project by Allen Ridgeley, and during her time on the Federation ship "Woglinde" interacts with Federation officers Andrew Cherenkov and Luis Virgil. As the story progresses, Shion and KOS-MOS meet the crew of the passenger freighter "Elsa", a ship associated with the Kukai Foundation run by Gaignun Kukai and "Jr.", the latter captaining the "Durandal"; both Gaignun and Jr. are artificial beings dubbed U.R.T.Vs, with Jr.'s gifts meaning his body has not aged beyond childhood. Among the crew of the "Elsa" is chaos, a melancholy young man with a mysterious past. The group are joined by the cyborg Ziggy—short for "Ziggurat 8"—and the prototype Realian MOMO. The main antagonists are Margulis, the leader of the U-TIC Organization; and Albedo Piazzolla, Jr. and Gaignun's brother. Events are monitored by Wilheim, CEO of Vector; and Nephilim, a young girl connected to the Zohar.


title: Xenosaga Episode I

text: Shion is running final tests on KOS-MOS aboard the "Woglinde" when the crew retrieve a Zohar Emulator, one of thirteen replicas of the Zohar. Cherenkov monitors Shion's progress, but is also a U-TIC spy furthering their goal of finding the original Zohar. Following the Zohar Emulator's retrieval, the "Woglinde" is attacked by Gnosis. KOS-MOS self-activates and protects Shion's team, in the process killing Virgil with friendly fire to save Shion and Allen. KOS-MOS brings them and Cherenkov on board the "Elsa", which is heading to their destination of Second Miltia. When a Gnosis attacks, chaos' ability to dispel them saves Cherenkov's life. The attack begins mutating Cherenkov, tormenting him with visions of his past as a soldier who failed to adjust to civilian life and killed many people including his wife. During these periods, Shion becomes concerned about KOS-MOS's behavior, and Allen worries about Shion's emotional state. Alongside these events, the cyborg Ziggy is dispatched to rescue the Realian MOMO from U-TIC, as data stored inside her could open the way to the original planet Miltia, lost in a disaster for which her creator Joachim Mizrahi is blamed. Ziggy rescues MOMO and narrowly escapes, fending off attacks by Margulis. Albedo, who is working with U-TIC for his own goals, sets out in pursuit of MOMO.


title: Xenosaga Episode I

text: The "Elsa" is pulled out of hyperspace and swallowed by a giant Gnosis. During their attempts to escape Cherenkov transforms into a Gnosis. The group are forced to kill the transformed Cherenkov before escaping on the "Elsa" and being rescued by Jr.. During the subsequent battle, KOS-MOS activates previously-unseen weaponry and absorbs the attacking Gnosis. While traveling with Jr., the group learn that the Kukai Foundation are gathering and storing the Zohar Emulators created by Mizrahi. Meanwhile, U-TIC uses agents within the Federation to doctor footage of Jr.'s battle with U-TIC and implicate the group in the destruction of the "Woglinde". The group travel to the Kukai Foundation base above Second Miltia, operated by Jr.'s brother Gaignun. They are subsequently held hostage by Federation troops due to U-TIC's influence. With help from an ally of Gaignun, the group retrieve evidence from within KOS-MOS's memory center which can exonerate them.


title: Xenosaga Episode I

text: While inside KOS-MOS's memory, the group are guided through a dream-like realm constructed from their repressed bad memories, all the way observed by Nephilim, with whom chaos is acquainted. Shion also meets a vision of Febronia, a Realian woman killed in the Miltian Conflict, who asks Shion to "free" her sisters Cecily and Cathe for the sake of both humans and Realians. Before fulfilling their mission, Nephilim tells them that KOS-MOS was designed to stop the energies of U-DO from entering their reality, an event which caused the original planet Miltia to vanish into a space-time void and could potentially destroy the universe. Due to surviving a Gnosis encounter and remaining human, Shion has the capacity to change the future for the better. During these events, Albedo captures and psychologically tortures MOMO before triggering the "Song of Nephilim", a song which attracts swarms of Gnosis.


title: Xenosaga Episode I

text: The Federation fleet try to destroy the Kukai base as it appears to be the source of the Song, but Wilhelm—who has been secretly observing events—arrives with a private fleet that destroys the Gnosis and protects the base. KOS-MOS then uses an advanced weapon to detect the Song's source in a cloaked spaceship. Boarding the spaceship, the group rescue MOMO and fight Albedo, but are stopped by a blue-cloaked man who allows Albedo to escape with a piece of data extracted from MOMO that could grant access to Miltia. Albedo then summons Proto Merkebah, a research ship created by Mizrahi to summon U-DO, and destroys the Federation fleet before aiming Proto Merkebah's weapons at Second Miltia's capital. The blue-cloaked man—revealed to be a resurrected Virgil—observes events before being summoned away. Shion's group infiltrates Proto Markebah and destroys its core while Albedo flees. Escaping Proto Merkebah as it self-destructs, KOS-MOS shields the damaged "Elsa" as it enters Second Miltia's atmosphere.


title: Xenosaga Episode I

text: "Xenosaga Episode I" was the debut game title of Japanese developer Monolith Soft. Company founder Tetsuya Takahashi acted as director and co-writer. Takahashi had previously worked at Square on the PlayStation RPG "Xenogears". Initially planned as a six-part series and despite there being concept work for a sequel, "Xenogears" was left as a standalone project while Square decided to focus on their established franchises such as "Final Fantasy". Another stated reason was that Square said they did not have the money available to invest in his concept. Following his departure from Square due to disagreeing with their strategy, Takahashi searched for another company which could help him create the game he and others from the "Xenogears" project envisioned. According to producer Hirohide Sugiura, most of the companies they contacted suggested forming Monolith Soft as an independent developer, with only Namco suggesting that they become a subsidiary, and was willing to both fund the production and manage the logistics and marketing, allowing Monolith Soft staff to focus solely on creating the game. Following this agreement, Namco helped in the development and marketing of the game. While production of the game began following the foundation of Monolith Soft in 2000, Takahashi had been working on the game's concept since 1999, intending it as a spiritual successor to "Xenogears" rather than a remake or sequel. Production at Monolith Soft took two years. The development budget apparently reached ¥1 billion—approximately US$7,700,000.


title: Xenosaga Episode I

text: "Xenosaga Episode I" was developed by a core team of between 60 and 80 people, expanding to over 100 people at its most active development period. Among the staff, twenty of them had previously worked on "Xenogears". The biggest issue faced when building the team was that they were developing for the PlayStation 2, a console with far more power than any previous console they had worked on. A major improvement in Takahashi's view over his work on "Xenogears" was that he was able to make the entire game using 3D graphics, something he had been unable to do with "Xenogears". Due to the amount of preparatory work and getting accustomed to the new hardware, actual development did not start until 2000, lasting approximately a year. Namco provided development support with the motion capture technology. Takahashi later noted that the sheer number of young and inexperienced developers in Monolith Soft negatively impacted development, with the graphics engine being completed only six months before the game's release. Prior to its announcement, the game was developed under the working title "Project X".


title: Xenosaga Episode I

text: Character designs were cooperatively handled by Kunihiko Tanaka and Kouichi Mugitani, while mecha designs were handled by Mugitani and Junya Ishigaki. Mugitani also worked on the game as production designer. The art director was Yasuyuki Honne, who had previously worked on both "Xenogears" and "Chrono Cross", while character motion was handled by Norihiro Takami. Honne collaborated with Takami in creating the character motions for cutscenes. When creating the designs, Tanaka was given an outline of a character by Takahashi in addition to comparisons with real-life actors, and then created the designs from that. Tanaka's art style—which gave characters large eyes dominating their faces—provided a challenge for the team as Takahashi wanted to be as close to the original artwork as possible, but the expressive power of the large-eyed facial design could easily be "destroyed" by the wrong lighting. Takami worked hard on character models to make sure the large eye styling was preserved without upsetting the model's balance. Mugitani and Ishigaki respectively handled the designs for Vector staff and the Federation. KOS-MOS was initially designed by Tanaka, but he had considerable trouble finalizing her design. Mugitani then contributed, creating something close to KOS-MOS's final design, which was then polished by Tanaka. Tanaka also had difficulty creating Shion's design, giving her glasses as an easy way of showing her personality.


title: Xenosaga Episode I

text: The scenario for "Episode I" was co-written by Takahashi and his wife Soraya Saga. To ensure development of the game remained focused, Takahashi consulted the entire staff on the script's direction before the main production began. Takahashi initially planned "Xenosaga" to span six games, with a narrative divided into three parts all featuring the dual figures of KOS-MOS and chaos. The character of KOS-MOS was created by Takahashi. While human characters created by Takahashi and Saga were typically shown as strong despite having fragile bodies, KOS-MOS was designed to be the opposite; an "unbreakable" person with a fragile spirit. The names of KOS-MOS and chaos were deliberate plays on the philosophical concepts of order and chaos in the universe, tying into elements of Zen incorporated into the world structure. The game made heavy use of Biblical mythology, a trait shared with later entries in the series. The game's subtitle is taken from the native title of "The Will to Power", a collection of notes by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. The use of Nietzsche's works and concepts was a recurring element in the series; within the context of "Episode I", the subtitle directly reflects the game's characters and the strength of their will. The Federation's military structure was based on the United States Army with some elements from the Imperial Japanese Army mixed in. In addition to references to Nietzsche, Takahashi incorporated references to Richard Wagner such as the ship name "Woglinde" due to Wagner's historic association with Nietzsche.


title: Xenosaga Episode I

text: "Xenosaga Episode I" was first announced in June 2001, scheduled for release later that year. In September of that year, it was confirmed that the game had been delayed into February the following year. The game was released in Japan on February 28, 2002. In an interview, Takahashi confirmed that Western localization would begin following the game's Japanese release. The game was localized for the West by Interone Inc, with English dubbing handled by ZRO Limit Productions and Animaze. The localization process took over a year. While all blood, gore, religious references and adult language were retained in the Western release, one scene between the adult Albedo and the childlike MOMO had its more erotic elements toned down for the Western release. The game released in North America on February 25, 2003. This version, with the English voice work and additional costumes and bonus features, was later released in Japan under the title "Xenosaga Episode I Reloaded" on November 20, 2003.


title: Xenosaga Episode I

text: The music was composed by Yasunori Mitsuda, who had previously worked with "Takahashi" on the score of "Xenogears". Mitsuda worked as both composer and orchestrator. Mitsuda was almost unable to collaborate on the project due to a tight schedule, but they were able to bring him in. As opposed to most RPG scores at the time, Mitsuda collaborated with Takahashi to create tracks for specific scenes in the game rather than a smaller number of repeating tracks. Due to the game's religious references, the score incorporated Gregorian chants. The score was performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Multiple soundtrack albums were released, first from DigiCube and later through Mitsuda's own label Sleigh Bells. A single was released for the game's theme song "Kokoro".


title: Xenosaga Episode I

text: "Xenosaga Episode I" reached the top of sales charts, selling over 240,000 units within three days of its release. By the end of the year, the game was the seventh best-selling game of 2002, with sales of near 340,000 units. While no exact figures were given, Namco reported that "Episode I" was one of their games that had seen commercial success internationally. In July 2003, Namco announced that the game had sold over one million copies worldwide.


title: Xenosaga Episode I

text: Japanese magazine "Famitsu" positively noted the world and character development, while "GamePro" stated that the story and characters "[rivaled] that of a good, hard, science-fiction novel or the best anime series available". Greg Kasavin of "GameSpot" enjoyed the narrative, but felt that the Biblical elements were only there for shock value rather than being meaningful additions. Christian Nutt of "GameSpy" felt that the strong characters helped support the narrative. "IGN"s Jeremy Dunham was highly positive about the story and the development of characters, but noted that some might be dissatisfied with the unresolved story elements held over to later games. Jake Alley of "RPGamer" called the story "interesting", while "Eurogamer"s Rob Fahey praised the complexity and depth of the narrative. Multiple journalists noted the high number and length of cutscenes, with some enjoying them while others felt there were too many.


title: Xenosaga Episode I

text: "GamePro" noted that the game was enjoyable despite it appearing "convoluted at first, even for RPG [veterans]". Kasavin appreciated the lack of random encounters and enjoyed the strategic flow of battle, while Nutt appreciated both the game's challenge and its deep mechanics. Dunham praised both the ease of gameplay following its introductory stages and the customization options available. He was less positive about most of the mini-games available. Fahay felt that the game had "excellent" gameplay, and like Sasavin praised the removal of random encounters. The A.G.W.S. mechs were seen by several reviewers as a lackluster addition to the gameplay. The mechanic used to enable the player to revisit dungeons was also frequently seen as contrived.


title: Xenosaga Episode I

text: Kasavin called "Episode I" "a great-looking game" despite some lip-synching issues, and praised the cinematography and graphics used in cinematics. Nutt called the environments "pure visual pleasure" and the character models "both varied and uniformly excellent". Dunham praised the cinematography and gave particular praise to the animations of facial movements and expressions. Fahay, while generally finding the graphics excellent, praised the merging of cinematic and real-time graphics to create a smooth experience while playing the game. The music was generally praised by reviewers, although Kasavin and Alley felt that it was too scarce during gameplay segments. The English voice earned contrasting opinions from reviewers; while Alley and Nutt gave praise to the English cast, Dunham and Kasavin were less impressed by the overall performances, with Dunham comparing the dub to an average dub of a Japanese anime.


title: Xenosaga Episode I

text: At the first Spike Video Game Awards in 2003, "Xenosaga Episode I" was nominated for the "Best Fantasy Game" and "Best Animation" category, but lost to "" and "Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball" respectively.


title: Xenosaga Episode I

text: The international success of "Xenosaga Episode I" prompted Namco to offer developer MonolithSoft more support, with Namco's then-Vice President Yoichi Haraguchi to name the company as a valuable development partner alongside Namco Tales Studio. A manga adaptation was written by Atsushi Baba and published through "Monthly Comic Zero Sum". The manga was released by the comic's publisher Ichijinsha across three volumes between 2004 and 2006. Following the release of "Episode I", a supplementary disc was created titled "Xenosaga Freaks". Released on April 28, 2004, "Freaks" is split into four segments; a visual novel segment featuring multiple characters from the game, a minigame dubbed "XenoPitten", a dictionary that explains the game's terminology, and a demo for the game's official sequel. "Freaks" was part of a movement with the "Xenosaga" series to turn it into a multimedia franchise, with the project growing substantially larger than previously planned.


title: Xenosaga Episode I

text: The sequel, "Xenosaga Episode II", was developed by a new team with Takahashi overseeing the project so the series could be taken in a new direction by younger staff members within Monolith Soft. The scenario, written by Norihiko Yonesaka based on the initial draft by Takahashi and Saga, ended up leaving out a lot of the originally planned content. "Episode II" was released in Japan in June 2004, while it was released in North America in February 2005. The sequel was also published in Europe by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe in October of that year. Both "Episode I" and "Episode II" were re-imagined for the Nintendo DS as "Xenosaga I & II", released in March 2006. Co-developed by Monolith Soft and Tom Create, the scenario was supervised by Takahashi and included material which needed to be cut from the original releases of the first two "Xenosaga" games. "Xenosaga I & II" remains exclusive to Japan.


title: Xenosaga Episode I

text: Development of "Xenosaga Episode III" began while work was finishing on "Episode II". While the team were open to further entries based on the game's commercial performance, it was designed to be the last entry in the series. Arai and Yonesaka returned respectively as director and scriptwriter. Takahashi provided the scenario draft and supervised the writing. "Episode III" released in 2006 in Japan and North America. "Episode III" was the last game released in the "Xenosaga" series.


title: Xenosaga Episode I

text: Following the success of the game, a twelve-episode anime adaptation titled "" was produced by Toei Animation; while no staff from the game were involved in the anime's production, the staff wanted to keep the anime as close to the game's events as possible. First announced in 2004, the anime was first broadcast on TV Asahi between January and March 2005. The anime was first licensed and dubbed by A.D. Vision. The license was later picked up by Funimation Entertainment. Multiple staff from "Xenosaga: The Animation" would later take part in the production of "Xenosaga I & II".


title: Rice cake

text: A rice cake may be any kind of food item made from rice that has been shaped, condensed, or otherwise combined into a single object. A wide variety of rice cakes exist in many different cultures in which rice is eaten and are particularly prevalent in Asia. Common variations include cakes made with rice flour, those made from ground rice, and those made from whole grains of rice compressed together or combined with some other binding substance.


title: Rice cake

text: Burmese cuisine has a variety of snacks and desserts called mont made with various types of rice, rice flour and glutinous rice flour. Sweet Burmese "mont" are generally less sweet than counterparts in other parts of Southeast Asia, instead deriving their natural sweetness from constituent ingredients (e.g., grated coconut, coconut milk, glutinous rice, etc.).


title: Rice cake

text: Rice cakes are a common snack in the Philippines and Filipinos have created many different kinds. In Filipino, desserts (mostly rice-derived ones) are known as kakanin, derived from the word "kanin", meaning "prepared rice." Rice cakes were also formerly known by the general term "tinapay" (), but that term is now restricted to mean "bread" in modern Filipino. Nevertheless, two general categories of rice cakes remain: "puto" for steamed rice cakes, and "bibingka" for baked rice cakes. Both are usually prepared using "galapong", a viscous rice paste derived from grinding uncooked glutinous rice that has been soaked overnight. "Galapong" is usually fermented, as the old term "tinapay" implies.


title: Rice cake

text: Some of these rice cakes can be considered savory. "Putong bigas", the most common type of "puto", for instance, is traditionally paired with the savory pig's blood stew "dinuguan". "Bibingka galapong" can also be topped with meat or eggs. Aside from these, non-dessert rice cakes eaten as accompaniment to savory meals also exist, the most widespread being the "puso".


title: Rice cake

text: In Indonesia rice cakes can be plain and bland tasting, and are often treated as a food staple, as an alternative to steamed rice.


title: Rice cake

text: Numerous types of Indonesian kue (traditional cake) are made using glutinous rice or rice flour. They can be sweet or savoury. Varieties include:


title: Rice cake

text: Steamed rice cake in an earthenware steamer was the oldest principal food for Koreans before sticky rice took over upon the invention of the iron pot. Now, there are hundreds of different kinds of Korean rice cake or "tteok" eaten year round. In Korea, it is customary to eat "tteok guk" (tteok soup) on New Year's Day and sweet tteok at weddings and on birthdays. It is often considered a celebratory food and can range from rather elaborate versions or down to the plain-flavored tteok. Rice cakes are chosen for particular occasions depending on their color and the role they play in Korea's traditional yin-yang cosmology.


title: A Dirty Shame

text: A Dirty Shame is a 2004 American satirical sex comedy film written and directed by John Waters and starring Tracey Ullman, Johnny Knoxville, Selma Blair, Chris Isaak, Suzanne Shepherd and Mink Stole.


title: A Dirty Shame

text: "A Dirty Shame" is currently the last film directed by Waters, who said that the film's poor box office performance had prevented him from making more films.


title: A Dirty Shame

text: The people of Harford Road are firmly divided into two camps: the neuters, the puritanical residents who despise anything even remotely carnal; and the perverts, a group of sex addicts whose unique fetishes have all been brought to the fore by accidental concussions.


title: A Dirty Shame

text: Repressed Sylvia Stickles finds herself firmly entrenched in the former camp. One day, after leaving her promiscuous daughter Caprice (nicknamed Ursula Udders because of gargantuan breasts and a penchant for indecent exposure while dancing at a local dive bar) locked up over the garage, under house arrest "for her own good", Sylvia is smacked on the head by a passing car and meets Ray-Ray Perkins, a local mechanic and self-styled "sex saint" who opens her mind to a whole new world of sensual pleasure, as he and his followers search for the ultimate sex act.


title: A Dirty Shame

text: Eventually, through a series of bizarre head knockings, everyone in the Harford Road area of Baltimore becomes a sex addict, as Ray-Ray shoots semen out of his head and becomes the messiah of "Let's Go Sexin'!"


title: A Dirty Shame

text: John Waters decided to make the film after discovering several sexual slang terms and branches existed on the internet, explaining the groups and terminology found in the film. The film was shot entirely on-location in Baltimore on Harford Road which is prominently featured in the film. In a featurette on the DVD veteran stage actress Suzanne Shepherd recalled that when she was cast as Big Ethel, she was completely unfamiliar with Waters' work and she had no idea what to expect when she showed up for the first script review. Horrified by what she was reading, she became so distraught that she began to cry. She tried to quit the project but Waters and her cast mates managed to persuade her to stay. Paul Giamatti was originally slated to play Vaughn Stickles, but dropped out before filming began.


title: A Dirty Shame

text: The film received an NC-17 rating from the MPAA. Many major theater chains will not screen a film with that rating, and many media outlets limit or refuse advertising for NC-17 rated films, thus severely limiting distribution. When Waters asked what he would need to cut for them to give his film an R rating, he was told that the ratings board "stopped taking notes." After Waters unsuccessfully attempted to appeal the rating, the film was released with the NC-17 classification.


title: A Dirty Shame

text: "A Dirty Shame" received mixed reviews from critics, with its unashamed vulgarity being both lauded and lampooned. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 53% based on 117 reviews and an average rating of 5.6/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "John Waters casts his provocative eye towards libido in a sex satire that won't leave audiences feeling too "Dirty", but this sophomoric farce doesn't strike a nerve like his best work -- a real "Shame"." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 56 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: A Dirty Shame

text: A gross-out pioneer, Waters has always had more on his mind than delirious, sex-crazed silliness. By allowing people to speak freely about their sexual urges and practices with a bluntness that is jaw-droppingly hilarious, Waters has drawn deeply upon comedy's liberating power. The more the sex addicts talk about their hang-ups the more comically harmless they seem, and thus it's all the more absurd for the puritanical to try to punish them for their various pursuits of pleasure.


title: A Dirty Shame

text: Waters has always harnessed poor taste to lampoon attempts to limit freedom of expression. This raucously gritty and high-spirited film could scarcely be bluer in terms of the language, but from Waters it comes as a gust of fresh air.


title: A Dirty Shame

text: "A Dirty Shame" is Waters unleashed, and wicked, kinky fun for anyone except the twits who rated it NC-17...You may even shed a tear when Sylvia bonds with her daughter by confessing, "I'm a cunnilingus bottom." OK, the jokes are hit-and-miss and the plot is nonexistent, but the Waters spirit stays consistently and sweetly twisted. When the cast takes to the streets singing, "Let's go sexin'", you want to cheer them on.


title: A Dirty Shame

text: On the other end of the spectrum was Roger Ebert, who gave the film one star out of a possible four, elaborating


title: A Dirty Shame

text: There is in show biz something known as "a bad laugh". That's the laugh you don't want to get, because it indicates not amusement but incredulity, nervousness or disapproval. John Waters' "A Dirty Shame" is the only comedy I can think of that gets more bad laughs than good ones...We go to a Waters film expecting bad taste, but we also expect to laugh, and "A Dirty Shame" is monotonous, repetitive and sometimes wildly wrong in what it hopes is funny.


title: A Dirty Shame

text: "A Dirty Shame" opened on September 17, 2004, on one Baltimore screen to $29,384. The next weekend, it expanded to 133 venues, where it grossed $448,914 ($3,375 per screen). It ended its North American run with $1,339,668 (as of November 7, 2004). Overseas, the film earned an additional $574,498 (as of July 14, 2005), making its global box office total come to $1.9 million.


title: A Dirty Shame

text: The film was released on DVD on June 14, 2005. There is both a full uncensored(original/ higher than R) version and an edited, R-rated cut sold through Blockbuster, Wal-Mart and Best Buy as well as Target dubbed ""The Neuter Version"". The R-rated version is heavily censored and removes most of the profanities including altered dialogue such as "sex toy". Additionally, a scene in which two characters stand naked in their doorway is replaced by one in which the characters are clothed. In an interview, Waters stated that this version is "essentially for brainless people and 'really weird collectors'".


title: A Dirty Shame

text: Netflix claimed to stream the NC-17 version but for a time, it was the censored version. It has since replaced it with the uncensored cut. A heavily censored version aired on LOGO, a cable channel for gay interest. Despite several internet sites and even the spine of the DVD stating that it is "The Neuter Version", the Australian release of the film is the NC-17 version with all profanity and nudity intact. It is rated R18+ for "sexual references and adult themes".


title: Processed meat

text: Processed meat is considered to be any meat which has been modified in order to either improve its taste or to extend its shelf life. Methods of meat processing include salting, curing, fermentation, smoking, and/or the addition of chemical preservatives. Processed meat is usually composed of pork or beef, but also poultry, while it can also contain offal or meat by-products such as blood. Processed meat products include bacon, ham, sausages, salami, corned beef, jerky, hot dogs, lunch meat, canned meat, chicken nuggets, and meat-based sauces. Meat processing includes all the processes that change fresh meat with the exception of simple mechanical processes such as cutting, grinding or mixing.


title: Processed meat

text: Meat processing began as soon as people realized that cooking and salting prolongs the life of fresh meat. It is not known when this took place; however, the process of salting and sun-drying was recorded in Ancient Egypt, while using ice and snow is credited to early Romans, and canning was developed by Nicolas Appert who in 1810 received a prize for his invention from the French government.


title: Processed meat

text: The preservative sodium nitrite (E250) (mixed into curing-salt) is well known for its supposed role in inhibiting the growth of "Clostridium botulinum" bacteria spores in processed and refrigerated meats. However, a 2018 study by the British Meat Producers' Association determined that legally permitted levels of nitrite have no effect on the growth of the "Clostridium botulinum" bacteria which causes botulism, in line with the UK’s Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food opinion that nitrites are not required to prevent "C. botulinum" growth and extend shelf life.


title: Processed meat

text: A principal concern about sodium nitrite is the formation of carcinogenic nitroso-compounds in meats containing sodium nitrite or potassium nitrate, especially nitrosyl-haem. In addition to nitrosyl-haem, carcinogenic nitrosamines can be formed from the reaction of nitrite with secondary amines under acidic conditions (such as occurs in the human stomach) as well as during the curing process used to preserve meats.


title: Processed meat

text: Nitrate and nitrite are consumed from plant foods as well as animal foods, with 80% of a typical person's nitrate consumption coming from vegetables, especially leafy and root vegetables such as spinach and beets. Some nitrate is converted to nitrite in the human body. Nitrate and nitrite are classified as generally recognized as safe (GRAS) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and are not "directly" carcinogenic. Yet, when nitrate or nitrite interact with certain components in meat, such as heme iron, amines, and amides, they can form nitroso compounds, which may contribute to the association between consumption of processed meats and higher incidence of colorectal cancer.


title: Processed meat

text: The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) at the World Health Organization (WHO) classifies processed meat as Group 1 (carcinogenic to humans), because the IARC has found sufficient evidence that consumption of processed meat by humans causes colorectal cancer.


title: Processed meat

text: A 2016 report by the American Institute for Cancer Research and the World Cancer Research Fund found that processed meat consumption also increases the risk of stomach cancer.