Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is the son of the comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. Stiller was a member of a group of comedic actors colloquially known as the Frat Pack. His films have grossed more than $2.6 billion in Canada and the United States, with an average of $79 million per film. Throughout his career, he has received various awards and honors, including an Emmy Award, a Directors Guild of America Award, a Britannia Award and a Teen Choice Award.
John Carroll O'Connor was an American actor whose television career spanned over four decades. O'Connor found widespread fame as Archie Bunker, the main character in the CBS television sitcoms All in the Family (1971–1979) and its continuation, Archie Bunker's Place (1979–1983). O'Connor later starred in the NBC/CBS television crime drama In the Heat of the Night (1988–1995), where he played the role of police chief William "Bill" Gillespie. In the late 1990s, he played Gus Stemple, the father of Jamie Buchman on Mad About You. In 1996, O'Connor was ranked number 38 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time. He won five Emmys and one Golden Globe Award.
Thomas Jacob Black is an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is known for roles in family and comedy films, in addition to his voice work in animated films. His awards include an Emmy Award, a Grammy Award, and nominations for three Golden Globe Awards.
The Hot Spot is a 1990 American neo-noir romantic thriller film directed by Dennis Hopper, based on the 1953 novel Hell Hath No Fury by Charles Williams, who also co-wrote the screenplay. It stars Don Johnson, Virginia Madsen, and Jennifer Connelly, and features a score by Jack Nitzsche played by John Lee Hooker, Miles Davis, Taj Mahal, Roy Rogers, Tim Drummond, and drummer Earl Palmer.
White Hunter Black Heart is a 1990 American adventure drama film produced, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood. It is based on the 1953 book of the same name written by Peter Viertel, who cowrote the screenplay with James Bridges and Burt Kennedy. The screenplay was the last that Bridges wrote before his death in 1993.
Scud: The Disposable Assassin is a humorous, hyperkinetic science fiction comic by Rob Schrab about a world in which one can buy robot assassins out of vending machines, the most popular of which are intelligent robots that kill a specified target and then self-destruct.
Channel 101 is a non-profit monthly short film festival in Los Angeles, which has a sister festival in New York City, Channel 101 NY. Channel 101 is a creation of Dan Harmon and Rob Schrab in which participants submit a short film in the format of a pilot under five minutes in length. The event is structured such that a panel of previously successful submitters choose what pilots are shown, and a live audience at The Downtown Independent decides which pilots continue as a series for the next screening in much the same way TV programs are rated and managed. According to the Channel 101 website, "Channel 101 is a chance to sit in the worn-out chair of the fat network exec, drunk on the blood of lowly artists whose right to exist is given in exchange for their ability to nourish... You run the network. You pick the programming."
Robby Christopher Schrab is an American comic book creator, screenwriter, director, and producer. He is the creator of the comic book Scud: The Disposable Assassin, co-writer of the feature film Monster House, co-creator of the competitive film festival Channel 101, and the co-creator of Comedy Central's The Sarah Silverman Program. He has directed three seasons of The Sarah Silverman Program and episodes of Childrens Hospital, Blue Mountain State, Community, Parks and Recreation, The Mindy Project, Workaholics, Creepshow, and the second revival season of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
The Frat Pack is a nickname given to a group of American comedy actors who have appeared together in many of the highest-grossing comedy films since the mid-1990s. The group is usually considered to include Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell, Steve Carell, Jack Black, and Vince Vaughn.
Thomas Frank Mankiewicz was an American screenwriter, director, and producer of motion pictures and television whose credits included James Bond films and his contributions to Superman: The Movie (1978) and the television series Hart to Hart. He was the son of Joseph Mankiewicz and nephew of Herman Mankiewicz. He is not related to the similarly named Wolf Mankowitz who worked on the first James Bond film, uncredited.
The Dead Alewives was an improvisational comedy troupe during the 1980s and 1990s from Milwaukee. Some of the group's individual members went on to become noteworthy after the group's breakup.
James Evan Wilson, M.D., is a fictional character on the Fox medical drama House. He is played by Robert Sean Leonard. The character first appears in the show's pilot episode when he introduces a medical case to the protagonist, Dr. Gregory House. Wilson is Dr. House's only true friend; he frequently provides him with consultations and aid. Wilson is the head of the Department of Oncology at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital.
Daniel James Harmon is an American screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the creator and producer of the NBC sitcom Community (2009–2015), creator and host of the comedy podcast Harmontown (2012–2019), co-creator of the Adult Swim animated sitcom Rick and Morty (2013–present) and its subsequent franchise along with Justin Roiland, and co-founder of the alternative television network and website Channel 101 along with Rob Schrab.
The pilot episode of the television series Smallville premiered on The WB on October 16, 2001. It was written by series developers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, and directed by David Nutter. The Smallville pilot introduces the characters of Clark Kent, an orphaned alien with superhuman abilities, and his friends and family who live in the fictional town of Smallville, Kansas. It follows Clark as he first learns of his alien origins, and attempts to stop a vengeful student from killing Smallville High School students. The episode introduces many themes that were designed to run either the course of the season or the entire series, such as the triangular relationships of the main characters.
Bruce Wayne was a planned television series focusing on a young Bruce Wayne before he became Batman. The idea was conceived as a pitch from screenwriter Tim McCanlies in late 1990s, and went as far into development until being shelved in favor of, at that time, the planned film Batman: Year One.
Peep World is a 2010 American comedy-drama film directed by Barry W. Blaustein and written by Peter Himmelstein. It stars Judy Greer, Michael C. Hall, Taraji P. Henson, Kate Mara, Ron Rifkin, Ben Schwartz, Sarah Silverman, Lesley Ann Warren and Rainn Wilson. The story revolves around the Meyerwitz family causing trouble to each other after the youngest member reveals each other's secrets in his novel. It premiered at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival on September 15, 2010, and was theatrically released by IFC Films on March 25, 2011. Peep World garnered a negative reception from critics over its script and the cast portraying broad caricatures.
"Finale" is the series finale of the American comedy television series The Office. It serves as the 24th and 25th episodes of the ninth season, and the 200th and 201st episodes of the series overall. The episode was written by series developer and executive producer Greg Daniels and directed by Ken Kwapis, who directed the series' pilot episode. It originally aired on NBC on May 16, 2013, preceded by an hour-long series retrospective.
Ben Weston is a fictional character from Days of Our Lives, an American soap opera on the NBC network, most notably portrayed by Robert Scott Wilson. The role was originated by Justin Gaston in 2014, as Ben Rogers, when the character was introduced as the new love interest of Abigail Deveraux, and was later revealed to be the estranged brother of Jordan Ridgeway.
Zoolander 2 is a 2016 American action comedy film co-produced and directed by Ben Stiller who wrote the script alongside Justin Theroux, John Hamburg, and Nicholas Stoller. The sequel to the 2001 film Zoolander, the film stars most of the principal cast members from the previous film reprising their roles such as Stiller, Owen Wilson, Will Ferrell, Christine Taylor, Milla Jovovich, Nathan Lee Graham, Theroux, Billy Zane, Tommy Hilfiger, and Jerry Stiller while Alexander Skarsgård and Andy Dick also returned in different roles. New cast members include Penélope Cruz, Kristen Wiig, Cyrus Arnold, Fred Armisen, Kyle Mooney, Jon Daly, Sting, and Benedict Cumberbatch.
