Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant documents that can help answer the question.
Query: When did Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends first air?
Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends is a children's television series based on The Railway Series by the Rev. W. Awdry which was first broadcast in 1984. This article lists Thomas books in the Pictureback series.Introduces Thomas, Edward, Henry, Gordon and Sir Topham Hatt.
Introduces Proteus
Due to the bankruptcy of Television South, the series did not continue production past 13 episodes. Following the initial airing of the series throughout 1989, television rights were sold to an unknown party, while all models and sets from the series sold to Britt Allcroft. Modified set props and tugboat models were used in "Thomas & Friends" from 1991 onwards, with footage from the original program being heavily dubbed and edited for use in the American children's series "Salty's Lighthouse".
"Mystery Science Theater 3000" premiered on KTMA at 6:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 1988 with its first episode, "Invaders from the Deep", followed by a second episode, "Revenge of the Mysterons from Mars" at 8:00 p.m. The choice of running the premiere on Thanksgiving was by happenstance, as the station felt the show was ready to go at that point, according to Hodgson. Initially, the show's response was unknown, until Mallon set up a phone line for viewers to call in. Response was so great that the initial run of 13 episodes was extended to 21, with the show running to May 1989. Hodgson and Mallon negotiated to secure the rights for the show for themselves, creating Best Brains, Inc., agreeing to split ownership of the idea equally. During this time a fan club was set up and the show held its first live show at Scott Hansen's Comedy Gallery in Minneapolis, to a crowd of over 600.
The earliest use of the railway as a backdrop for filming purposes appears to have been in 1946 when "I See A Dark Stranger" used Union Mills station in the opening scenes, doubling as a station in Ireland. The Isle of Man was one of the locations for the movie "Thomas and the Magic Railroad" when Castletown station became "Shining Time station" while the goods shed at Port Erin became Burnett Stone's workshop, containing a replica of "Lady", although the trains themselves were not used during production. Other locations were used to represent the entrance to Burnett's workshop (an old lead mine) and the entry to the Magic Railroad (near the old lead mine), and a workshop in Port Erin was used to store properties, presumably including the Lady replica. The railway has also been used during the filming of "The Brylcreem Boys" using on-board views and Douglas station, "Five Children & It" for which Castletown station was fitted with a temporary canopy and given period set dressing, Channel 4's production of "Cinderella" that saw Santon station used heavily, the BBC adaptation of "The Ginger Tree" in which it doubled for communist Russia using the carriage shed at Douglas, lineside scenes and Castletown station (№ 11 "Maitland" was painted matte black for this production and remained in this guide for the remainder of the 1989 season) as well as being the subject of a 1988 BBC documentary as part of the "Train Now Departing..." series in an episode called "Steam in the Isle Of Man". Other television credits include an adaptation of "The Legend Of The Tamworth Two", the television movie "Stiff Upper Lips" and the long-running travelog show "Wish You Were Here...?" which featured Sir Norman Wisdom.
The Thick of It is a British comedy television series that satirises the inner workings of modern British government. It was first broadcast for two short series on BBC Four in 2005, initially with a small cast focusing on a government minister, his advisers and their party's spin-doctor. The cast was significantly expanded for two hour-long specials to coincide with Christmas and Gordon Brown's appointment as prime minister in 2007, which saw new characters forming the opposition party added to the cast. These characters continued when the show switched channels to BBC Two for its third series in 2009. A fourth series about a coalition government was broadcast in 2012, with the last episode transmitted on 27 October 2012. In a 2012 interview, series creator Armando Iannucci said the fourth series of the programme would probably be its last.
Star Trek: The Animated Series ("ST: TAS"), originally aired as Star Trek and as The Animated Adventures of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek, is an American animated science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry. It originally aired from September 8, 1973 to October 12, 1974 on NBC, spanning 22 episodes over two seasons. The second series in the "Star Trek" franchise, it is the first sequel to "". Set in the 23rd century, when Earth is part of a United Federation of Planets, it follows the adventures of the Starfleet vessel USS "Enterprise" as it explores the Milky Way galaxy.
"Mystery Science Theater 3000" ("MST3K") is an American television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc. The show premiered on KTMA (now WUCW) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on November 24, 1988. The next year, in 1989, the show began its national run on The Comedy Channel/Comedy Central, running for seven seasons on that channel until its cancellation in 1996. The following year, it was picked up by The Sci-Fi Channel and aired for three more seasons there until another cancellation in August 1999 (although repeats continued until 2004). A sixty-episode syndication package titled "The Mystery Science Theater Hour" was produced in 1995.
DuckTales is an American animated television series, produced by Walt Disney Television Animation and distributed by Buena Vista Television. The cartoon series premiered on September 18, 1987, and ran for a total of 100 episodes over four seasons, with its final episode airing on November 28, 1990. Based upon "Uncle Scrooge" and other Duck universe comic books created by Carl Barks, the show follows Scrooge McDuck, his three grandnephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and close friends of the group, on various adventures, most of which either involve seeking out treasure or thwarting the efforts of villains seeking to steal Scrooge's fortune or his Number One Dime.
The first series consist of stories featuring the First Doctor. William Russell reprises the role of Ian Chesterton in the first two stories, while Peter Purves reprises the role of Steven Taylor in the second two. Carole Ann Ford plays Susan Foreman in the first story, Maureen O'Brien plays Vicki in the second and third stories, and Jean Marsh plays Sara Kingdom in the fourth. Additionally, Russell and Purves perform the Doctor's dialogue in their respective stories, while Ford and O'Brien perform the dialogue of Barbara Wright in the first two stories.The second series consists of stories featuring the Second Doctor, played in all four stories by Frazer Hines, who also reprises his original role from the series as the Doctor's companion Jamie McCrimmon. Anneke Wills reprises her role as Polly Wright in the first two stories, Deborah Watling reprises the role of Victoria Waterfield in the third story, and Wendy Padbury reprises the role of Zoe Heriot in the fourth. In addition, the first two stories feature Elliot Chapman as Ben Jackson, originally played by Michael Craze.The third series of the Early Adventures saw Carole Ann Ford, William Russell, Maureen O'Brien, Peter Purves and Jean Marsh reprising their roles as the companions of the First Doctor, joined by Jemma Powell as Barbara Wright, who had previously portrayed the role of original Barbara actress Jacqueline Hill in the 2013 drama "An Adventure in Space and Time", and Dan Starkey as the Sontarans. The second story also features actor James Joyce in the role of a new companion, Jospa. Frazer Hines, Anneke Wills, Elliot Chapman and Wendy Padbury reprise their roles as the Doctor's companions, with Frazer Hines also playing the Second Doctor. Other characters are also played by Anjella Mackintosh, Wanda Opalinska, Kristina Buikaite, Alistair Petrie, Debbie Chazen, Matilda Ziegler, David Sibley, Kerry Gooderson, Ewan Bailey, Alan Blyton, Judith Roddy, Adam Newington, Don McCorkindale, Richenda Carey.
Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) is an American television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Alternaversal Productions, LLC. The show premiered on KTMA (now WUCW) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on November 24, 1988. It later aired on The Comedy Channel/Comedy Central for seven seasons until its cancellation in 1996. Thereafter, it was picked up by The Sci-Fi Channel and aired for three seasons until another cancellation in August 1999. A 60-episode syndication package titled "The Mystery Science Theater Hour" was produced in 1995. In 2015, Hodgson led a crowdfunded revival of the series with 14 episodes in its eleventh season, first released on Netflix on April 14, 2017, with another six-episode season following on November 22, 2018. 217 episodes and a have been produced.
Star Trek is an American space opera media franchise based on the science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry. The first television series, simply called "Star Trek" and now referred to as """", debuted in 1966 and aired for three seasons on the television network NBC. It followed the interstellar adventures of Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and his crew aboard the starship USS "Enterprise", a space exploration vessel, built by the United Federation of Planets in the twenty-third century. The "Star Trek" canon of the franchise includes "The Original Series", an animated series, five spin-off television series, the film franchise, and further adaptations in several media.
Later in the 1970s, WOR-TV looked towards the United Kingdom for alternative offerings. On September 6, 1976, WOR-TV offered a week of programs from Thames Television during prime time; many of these shows had never before been seen on American television, including the first U.S. telecast of "The Benny Hill Show", and an airing of an episode of "Man About the House", which would be adapted by ABC as "Three's Company" the following year. WOR-TV also aired episodes of the ITV musical drama "Rock Follies" and the BBC science-fiction series "Doctor Who" during this period. On April 5, 1980, WOR-TV presented "Japan Tonight!", a seven-hour block of programs from Japan's Tokyo Broadcasting System, featuring shows that were either dubbed or subtitled in English. During this period, various sports telecasts aired on most nights in prime time, with feature films running on nights where sports did not air under the "Million Dollar Movie" banner.
Some British television programs, particularly those made by or for ITC Entertainment, were shot on colour film before the introduction of colour television to the UK, for the purpose of sales to U.S. networks. The first British show to be made in colour was the drama series "The Adventures of Sir Lancelot" (1956–57), which was initially made in black and white but later shot in colour for sale to the NBC network in the United States. Other British colour television programs include "Stingray" (1964–1965), which was the first British TV show to be filmed entirely in colour, "Thunderbirds" (1965–1966) and "Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons" (1967–1968). However, most UK series predominantly made using videotape, such as "Doctor Who" (1963–89; 2005–present) did not begin colour production until later, with the first colour "Doctor Who" episodes not airing until 1971.
In 1915, Ricardo formed Engine Patents Ltd, the company which is today known as Ricardo plc. In this year he was contacted by the Royal Naval Air Service to help with the design of a device to manoeuvre battle tanks into position aboard railway wagons. Around 8000 engines were produced to power the tanks, making this engine the UK's first mass-produced internal combustion engine. Many more of these engines found applications powering generators in workshops, hospitals and camps. The success of this venture yielded £30,000 in royalties and led to Ricardo being able to buy the land and set up the company on its present site in 1919.
Audiences at the time of "Steamboat Willie"'s release were reportedly impressed by the use of sound for comedic purposes. Sound films or "talkies" were still considered innovative. The first feature-length movie with dialogue sequences, "The Jazz Singer" starring Al Jolson, was released on October 6, 1927. Within a year of its success, most United States movie theaters had installed sound film equipment. Walt Disney apparently intended to take advantage of this new trend and, arguably, managed to succeed. Most other cartoon studios were still producing silent products and so were unable to effectively act as competition to Disney. As a result, Mickey would soon become the most prominent animated character of the time. Walt Disney soon worked on adding sound to both "Plane Crazy" and "The Gallopin' Gaucho" (which had originally been silent releases) and their new release added to Mickey's success and popularity. A fourth Mickey short, "The Barn Dance", was also put into production; however, Mickey does not actually speak until "The Karnival Kid" in 1929 when his first spoken words were "Hot dogs, Hot dogs!" After "Steamboat Willie" was released, Mickey became a close competitor to Felix the Cat, and his popularity would grow as he was continuously featured in sound cartoons. By 1929, Felix would lose popularity among theater audiences, and Pat Sullivan decided to produce all future Felix cartoons in sound as a result. Unfortunately, audiences did not respond well to Felix's transition to sound and by 1930, Felix had faded from the screen.
Though not exactly labeled as such, there were early precedents for "television movies", such as "Talk Faster, Mister", which aired on WABD (now WNYW) in New York City on December 18, 1944, and was produced by RKO Pictures, or the 1957 "The Pied Piper of Hamelin", based on the poem by Robert Browning, and starring Van Johnson, one of the first filmed "family musicals" made directly for television. That film was made in Technicolor, a first for television, which ordinarily used color processes originated by specific networks (most "family musicals" of the time, such as "Peter Pan", were not filmed but broadcast live and preserved on kinescope, a recording of a television program made by filming the picture from a video monitor – and the only (relatively inexpensive) method of recording a television program until the invention of videotape).
"Tugs" first aired on CITV in the United Kingdom, and then on Australia's ABC TV. Talks of a second series were never finalised, and eventually all plans to create a follow-up were dropped. Redubbed and heavily edited footage aired later as part of American children's series "Salty's Lighthouse", which aired in 1997.
The first commercial horse-drawn double-decker omnibuses were introduced in England in 1847 by Adams & Co. of Fairfield, Bow, then improved upon by John Greenwood, who introduced a new double-decker in 1852.
The first and second pilots of "The Big Bang Theory" were directed by James Burrows, who did not continue with the show. The reworked second pilot led to a 13-episode order by CBS on May 14, 2007. Prior to its airing on CBS, the pilot episode was distributed on iTunes free of charge. The show premiered on September 24, 2007, and was picked up for a full 22-episode season on October 19, 2007. The show is filmed in front of a live audience, and is produced by Warner Bros. Television and Chuck Lorre Productions. Production was halted on November 6, 2007, due to the Writers Guild of America strike. Nearly three months later, on February 4, 2008, the series was temporarily replaced by a short-lived sitcom, "Welcome to The Captain". The series returned on March 17, 2008, in an earlier time slot and ultimately only 17 episodes were produced for the first season.
Power Rangers is an American entertainment and merchandising franchise built around a live-action superhero television series, based on the Japanese tokusatsu franchise "Super Sentai". Produced first by Saban Entertainment, second by BVS Entertainment, later by SCG Power Rangers and today by Hasbro, the "Power Rangers" television series takes much of its footage from the "Super Sentai" television series, produced by Toei Company. The first "Power Rangers" entry, "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers", debuted on August 28, 1993, and helped launch the Fox Kids programming block of the 1990s, during which it catapulted into popular culture along with a line of action figures and other toys by Bandai. By 2001, the media franchise had generated over $6 billion in toy sales.
The first cartoon from the "What a Cartoon!" project broadcast in its entirety was "The Powerpuff Girls in "Meat Fuzzy Lumkins"", which made its world premiere on Monday, February 20, 1995, during a television special called the "World Premiere Toon-In" (termed "President's Day Nightmare" by its producers, Williams Street). The special was hosted by Space Ghost and the cast of "Space Ghost Coast to Coast", and featured comic interviews and a mock contest with the creators of the various cartoons. The Toon-In was simulcast on Cartoon Network, TBS Superstation, and TNT. To promote the shorts, Cartoon Network's marketing department came up with the concept of "Dive-In Theater" in 1995 to showcase the 48 cartoon shorts. The cartoons were shown at water parks and large municipal swimming pools, treating kids and their parents to exclusive poolside screenings on 9' x 12' movie screens.
Awdry claimed that this stood for "No Where", but later works would identify the railway Thomas and his friends worked on as the fictional North Western Railway. Christopher Awdry lost this model when he was in the US, although it was recreated for a sizzle promo for the 70th Anniversary. However, the Reverend was happy to endorse Payne's account that the locomotive was an LBSC E2, although the first Thomas on the Awdry's model railway, from Stuart Reidpath, lacked extended tanks. In the 1979 Thomas Annual, Awdry wrote:
Hero of the Rails is a 2009 CGI adventure family special and film of the British children's television series "Thomas & Friends". The film introduces full CGI animation replacing live action models, and the addition of a voice cast for the characters alongside the narration to the TV series. The film features the voice of Ben Small and Martin Sherman as Thomas the Tank Engine for the UK and US respectively. It was first released on DVD and on iTunes on 12 January 2010. To promote the film a "Day Out With Thomas 2010: The Hero of the Rails Tour" was held at locations such as the Illinois Railway Museum, where guests could participate in activities such as arts and crafts or ride on a 15-ton replica of Thomas the Tank Engine. A mobile app, "Thomas & Friends: Hero of the Rails", was released in May 2011. This was also the first feature-length Thomas and Friends special made since 2008.
The segments featuring the tugboats in the harbour used footage from the British television series "TUGS", a series produced in 1988 by Robert D. Cardona and David Mitton, who (along with Britt Allcroft) produced the popular series "Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends". Whilst Allcroft drove the Thomas series to popularity among American audiences (through the PBS series "Shining Time Station"), "Tugs" did not spread far beyond its country of origin, lasting one season of 13 episodes (although it was aired and merchandised in the Japanese and Australian markets).
Each broadcast consisted of two episodes from Series 1 to 5 of "Thomas & Friends" (then called "Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends"), with a short music video at the start and one episode of "The Magic Adventures of Mumfie" in between. The show left the air in late 2001, when, after The Britt Allcroft Company changed its name to Gullane Entertainment, the company was acquired by HiT Entertainment in 2002.