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SHARE THISPrintEmailMore sharingRedditStumbleUponDelicious/* push in config for this share instance */cnn_shareconfig.push({"id" : "cnn_sharebar1","url" : "http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/27/showbiz/oscars-hosts-best-worst-weird/index.html","title" : "Oscars hosts: Best, worst and weirdest "});Oscars hosts: Best, worst and weirdest By Lisa Respers France, CNNFebruary 28, 2014 -- Updated 2011 GMT (0411 HKT)if (typeof cnnArticleGallery=="undefined"){var cnnArticleGallery={};if(typeof cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList=="undefined"){cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList=[];}}var expGalleryPT00=new ArticleExpandableGallery();expGalleryPT00.setImageCount(16);expGalleryPT00.setAdsRefreshCount(3);//cnn_adbptrackpgalimg("Best, worst and weirdest Oscar hosts ", 1);.cnn_html_slideshow_metadata > .cnn_html_media_utility::before{color:red;content:'>>';font-size:9px;line-height:12px;padding-right:1px}.cnnstrylccimg640{margin:0 27px 14px 0}.captionText{filter:alpha(opacity=100);opacity:1}.cnn_html_slideshow_media_caption a,.cnn_html_slideshow_media_caption a:visited,.cnn_html_slideshow_media_caption a:link,.captionText a,.captionText a:visited,.captiontext a:link{color:#004276;outline:medium none}.cnnVerticalGalleryPhoto{margin:0 auto;padding-right:68px;width:270px}
Ellen DeGeneres makes her return to the Dolby Theatre stage this weekend as she hosts the Academy Awards for the second time. Let's see how she stacks up against herself and other hosts of Oscars' past ...cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":true,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":1,"title":"Best, worst and weirdest Oscar hosts "}We are not making this up. In 1958, an animated (and bare-bottomed) Donald Duck co-hosted the show with Bob Hope, Jack Lemmon, Rosalind Russell and James Stewart. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":2,"title":"Weird: Donald Duck"}
We are not making this up. In 1958, an animated (and bare-bottomed) Donald Duck co-hosted the show with Bob Hope, Jack Lemmon, Rosalind Russell and James Stewart. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":2,"title":"Weird: Donald Duck"}
has said the experience felt like "a surreal moment."" border="0" height="360" id="articleGalleryPhoto003" style="margin:0 auto;display:none" width="640"/>In 1987, "Crocodile Dundee" star Paul Hogan co-hosted the show along with Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn. Even Hogan has said the experience felt like "a surreal moment."cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":3,"title":"Weird: Paul Hogan"}Hugh Jackman was high-energy, classy and charming when he hosted the Oscars in 2009. Who could have imagined it from Wolverine?cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":4,"title":"Best: Hugh Jackman"}
Hugh Jackman was high-energy, classy and charming when he hosted the Oscars in 2009. Who could have imagined it from Wolverine?cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":4,"title":"Best: Hugh Jackman"}
After hosting the Academy Awards nine times from 1990 to 2012 (he also opened the 2006 Oscars), it's no secret that Billy Crystal knows how to put on a good show. One of the veteran host's most notable skits took place in 1992. Crystal took the stage wearing a Hannibal Lecter mask because "The Silence of the Lambs" was nominated for seven awards. (The thriller won best picture.)cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":5,"title":"Best: Billy Crystal"}Johnny Carson, the king of late night, hosted the Academy Awards five times between 1979 and 1984. Carson never failed to make the audience laugh.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":6,"title":"Best: Johnny Carson"}
Johnny Carson, the king of late night, hosted the Academy Awards five times between 1979 and 1984. Carson never failed to make the audience laugh.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":6,"title":"Best: Johnny Carson"}
hilarious, lighthearted jokes at the expense of those present." border="0" height="360" id="articleGalleryPhoto007" style="margin:0 auto;display:none" width="640"/>In 2010, three-time host Steve Martin teamed up with his "It's Complicated" co-star Alec Baldwin. The pair earned laughs with their repartee and told some hilarious, lighthearted jokes at the expense of those present.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":7,"title":"Best: Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin"}The fact that Bob Hope hosted the Academy Awards 14 times is enough to earn him a spot on this list. Whether Hope was hosting or co-hosting, he seemed to receive praise from critics. The Academy honored him with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1960.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":8,"title":"Best: Bob Hope"}
The fact that Bob Hope hosted the Academy Awards 14 times is enough to earn him a spot on this list. Whether Hope was hosting or co-hosting, he seemed to receive praise from critics. The Academy honored him with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1960.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":8,"title":"Best: Bob Hope"}
to entering from the ceiling in 2002. But it was the 1996 Academy Awards that earned Goldberg, the first African-American woman to host the show, a spot on this list. "So. Didja miss me?" the comedian said as she took the stage. The quip referenced David Letterman's failed attempt at hosting the year before." border="0" height="360" id="articleGalleryPhoto009" style="margin:0 auto;display:none" width="640"/>Four-time host Whoopi Goldberg has found plenty of creative ways to open the Oscars, from dressing as the "African Queen" in 1999 to entering from the ceiling in 2002. But it was the 1996 Academy Awards that earned Goldberg, the first African-American woman to host the show, a spot on this list. "So. Didja miss me?" the comedian said as she took the stage. The quip referenced David Letterman's failed attempt at hosting the year before.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":9,"title":"Best: Whoopi Goldberg"}
Stewart joked, "Does this town need a hug?" Referencing another contender, "Juno," Stewart added, "All I can say is thank God for teen pregnancy."" border="0" height="360" id="articleGalleryPhoto0010" style="margin:0 auto;display:none" width="640"/>Two-time host Jon Stewart was entertaining as ever when he took the stage in 2008 after the Hollywood writers' strike had come to an end. With best picture nominees such as "There Will Be Blood" and "No Country for Old Men" (which won), Stewart joked, "Does this town need a hug?" Referencing another contender, "Juno," Stewart added, "All I can say is thank God for teen pregnancy."cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":10,"title":"Honorable mention: Jon Stewart"}
"Oprah, Uma. Uma, Oprah," gag." border="0" height="360" id="articleGalleryPhoto0011" style="margin:0 auto;display:none" width="640"/>Critics blasted David Letterman for his hosting abilities after he told -- and retold -- the same joke over and over again at the 1995 Oscars. The "Late Show" host just didn't know when to quit with his "Oprah, Uma. Uma, Oprah," gag.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":11,"title":"Worst: David Letterman"}Chris Rock learned a valuable lesson from hosting the 2005 Academy Awards: Don't diss Jude Law. While Rock was praised by some critics for being himself, he was also chastised by those who simply couldn't take the joke(s).cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":12,"title":"Worst: Chris Rock"}
Chris Rock learned a valuable lesson from hosting the 2005 Academy Awards: Don't diss Jude Law. While Rock was praised by some critics for being himself, he was also chastised by those who simply couldn't take the joke(s).cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":12,"title":"Worst: Chris Rock"}
People had high hopes for Chevy Chase in 1988 after Chase co-hosted the ceremony the year before with Goldie Hawn and Paul Hogan. However, the comedian sealed his fate the moment he delivered his opening line, "Good evening, Hollywood phonies."cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":13,"title":"Worst: Chevy Chase"}Three-time host Jerry Lewis had to resort to improvisation when he hosted the 1959 Academy Awards alongside Bob Hope, David Niven, Sir Laurence Olivier, Tony Randall and Mort Sahl. The show ended early, leaving Lewis to fill 20 minutes of airtime by bringing stars on stage and making them dance.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":14,"title":"Worst: Jerry Lewis"}
Three-time host Jerry Lewis had to resort to improvisation when he hosted the 1959 Academy Awards alongside Bob Hope, David Niven, Sir Laurence Olivier, Tony Randall and Mort Sahl. The show ended early, leaving Lewis to fill 20 minutes of airtime by bringing stars on stage and making them dance.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":14,"title":"Worst: Jerry Lewis"}
Anne Hathaway and James Franco are two of the most awkward hosts in the history of the Academy Awards. Hathaway got flak for trying too hard, while Franco was criticized for having his head in the clouds. "The worst Oscarcast I've seen, and I go back awhile," Roger Ebert tweeted. "Some great winners, a nice distribution of awards, but the show? Dead. In. The. Water."cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":15,"title":"Worst: Anne Hathaway and James Franco"}
The reviews were mixed for Seth MacFarlane when he hosted the show in 2013. While the ratings were high, there was controversy with some of the jokes and tone. The national director of the Anti-Defamation League, speaking about one skit to the New York Times, said: "It wasn't funny. It was ugly." cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":16,"title":"Honorable mention: Seth MacFarlane"}HIDE CAPTIONBest, worst and weirdest Oscar hosts Weird: Donald DuckWeird: Paul HoganBest: Hugh JackmanBest: Billy CrystalBest: Johnny CarsonBest: Steve Martin and Alec BaldwinBest: Bob HopeBest: Whoopi GoldbergHonorable mention: Jon StewartWorst: David LettermanWorst: Chris RockWorst: Chevy ChaseWorst: Jerry LewisWorst: Anne Hathaway and James FrancoHonorable mention: Seth MacFarlane<<<
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| Advertise with us | License our content | About us | Contact us | Work for us | Help CNN TV | HLN | Transcripts cnnad_ugsync(); var cnn_edtnswtchver="edition"; msQueueManager.init('requestFrame',ms_blankURL); if(ms_isLoggedIn()){ CNN_setCookie('CNN_member',true,854400,'/',document.domain); } var jsmd=_jsmd.init(),pageURL=location.href.toLowerCase();if (pageURL.indexOf("/.element/ssi/ads.iframes/")==-1&&pageURL.indexOf("/doubleclick/dartiframe.html")==-1&&pageURL.indexOf("/search/")==-1){if (_jsmd.plugin.gQuery("refresh")){jsmd.trackMetrics("dynamic-autoRefresh","autorefresh","cnn-autorefresh");} else if (_jsmd.plugin.gQuery("is_LR")){} else if (cnn_metadata.template_type_content!="gallery"){jsmd.send();}}/*globals CNN_CB, cnnsocial, cnnzite_mod, sectionName *//* configure apis to load and specify their callbacks */cnnsocial.setapiconfig([{'site' : 'facebook','success' : function() {/* trigger connect-cnnsocial.js calls */window.cnn_fbAsyncInit();}},{ 'site' : 'twitter' }]);var _vrq = _vrq || [];var vrId = 6;if(cnn_edtnswtchver === 'edition'){vrId = 396;}_vrq.push(['id', vrId]);_vrq.push(['automate', false]);_vrq.push(['track', function(){}]);(function(d, a){var s = d.createElement(a),x = d.getElementsByTagName(a)[0];s.async = true;s.src = 'http://a.visualrevenue.com/vrs.js';x.parentNode.insertBefore(s, x);})(document, 'script');/* add the multiple config instance for sharebars */cnnsocial.share.setconfig(cnn_shareconfig);$j(document).ready(function () {'use strict';loadChartbeat("showbiz", "Lisa Respers France, CNN");CNN.initFlipperTicker();/* initialize cnnsocial */cnnsocial.init();});
Britney Spears' December 3 release "Britney Jean" had the weakest opening week of Spears' career.Britney Spears' "Britney Jean" didn't perform well in its first weekThe album sold 107,000 copies, and had a fourth place finishIt's the weakest opening week in Spears' careerGarth Brooks' box set "Blame It On My Roots" was No. 1
The AMC drama "Breaking Bad," about a former high-school chemistry teacher turned corrupt meth kingpin, aired its final episode on Sunday, September 29. Look back at some of the best -- and worst -- TV finales. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":true,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":1,"title":"The best and worst TV finales"}
For "Seinfeld's" final episode, co-creator Larry David returned to write the script. He apparently decided that the four main characters were beyond help, because they ended up in jail following a trial in which many of those they'd wronged testified. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":2,"title":"\'Seinfeld\'"}
Having the characters just hang out at the "Cheers" bar for one last scene (after Sam nearly left them all for Diane) seemed a very appropriate way for "Cheers" to say goodbye. And when a customer knocked on the door, Sam Malone -- in the darkened bar -- said, "Sorry, we're closed."cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":3,"title":"\'Cheers\'"}
The critically acclaimed but low-rated "Freaks and Geeks" shot their series finale early just in case they got canceled, and it was a doozy. From Nick's dance contest, to Daniel playing "Dungeons & Dragons," to Lindsay and Kim secretly following the Grateful Dead for the summer, it was poignant, touching, and everything we loved about this show.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":4,"title":"\'Freaks and Geeks\'"}
After a truly bizarre final season of "Roseanne," it turned out the family did not win the lottery after all. It was just a story Roseanne made up after husband, Dan, died. Kind of a downer ending.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":5,"title":"\'Roseanne\'"}
For "Friends," everything was wrapped up with a bow. Ross ended up with Rachel; Monica and Chandler, with kids in tow, moved out of the building, and Phoebe was married off. Joey was off to L.A. for his own sure-to-be-successful spinoff ... Oops. Still, it was a nice, tidy send-off after 10 years.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":6,"title":"\'Friends\'"}
"The Cosby Show" finale came full circle as Theo -- struggling with school in the series premiere -- graduated college. It was great to see Bill Cosby and Phylicia Rashad hold hands and get one last round of applause from the studio audience.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":7,"title":"\'The Cosby Show\'"}
Capt. Jean-Luc Picard's travels through time with Q, and that last shot of the crew playing cards, made for a fitting farewell for "Star Trek: The Next Generation." And of course the crew of the 24th century Enterprise kept things going for four movies.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":8,"title":"\'Star Trek: The Next Generation\'"}
A record audience watched the tearjerker of a finale for "M*A*S*H" in 1983, as the Korean War ended and everyone prepared to go their separate ways.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":9,"title":"\'M*A*S*H\'"}
"Lost" had one of the most controversial endings of all time, but how could it not? The expectations were so high going into it. For every detractor, there was a defender for this finale -- in which Jack saves the day and dies moments later. The episode was more concerned with an ending to the story than it was in explaining the many mysteries. That was saved for a DVD-only epilogue.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":10,"title":"\'Lost\'"}
In the finale of "Frasier," Niles and Daphne had a kid, Martin married Ronee, and the character of Dr. Frasier Crane left Seattle, with a new potential love interest, bidding goodbye to television after 20 years.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":11,"title":"\'Frasier"}
Long after many viewers cared -- in large part due to the departure of David Duchovny in season 7 -- "X-Files" got Scully and Mulder back together. We learned that aliens would colonize Earth, and the world was set to end on December 22, 2012 (phew, that was close). cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":12,"title":"\'X-Files\'"}
As Buffy and her expanded Scooby gang fought to save the world one last time (though Sunnydale didn't quite survive), the premise behind "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" came to something of a logical conclusion, with every potential Slayer being activated around the world.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":13,"title":"\'Buffy the Vampire Slayer\'"}
Quite possibly the biggest anticlimax in TV history, when Tony Soprano met his family in a restaurant, looked up and then, with Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" playing in the background, fade to black. "Sopranos" fans are still debating that ending.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":14,"title":"\'The Sopranos\'"}
revealed an alternate ending where Jenner returned to his new girlfriend, Lauren Conrad, but honestly who knows what to believe?" border="0" height="360" id="articleGalleryPhoto0015" style="margin:0 auto;display:none" width="640"/>Sure, we all knew that "The Hills" wasn't exactly "reality," but the "revelation" that it was shot at a movie studio was still a bit shocking, if not downright insulting. Apparently Kristin Cavallari and Brody Jenner wanted to leave us with a symbolic final shot that would have us questioning what was real. Earlier this year, MTV revealed an alternate ending where Jenner returned to his new girlfriend, Lauren Conrad, but honestly who knows what to believe?cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":15,"title":"\'The Hills\'"}
TV-movie." border="0" height="360" id="articleGalleryPhoto0016" style="margin:0 auto;display:none" width="640"/>"ALF" producers seemed to be overly confident that the alien sitcom would return for a fifth season, after they had ALF captured by the military in the finale, just before NBC canceled it. We wouldn't know what became of him for several years, when ABC picked up a TV-movie.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":16,"title":"\'ALF\'"}
Everything that happened at St. Eligius over all those years? It was all in the mind of a boy with autism. So were those six seasons of "St. Elsewhere" a giant waste of time?cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":17,"title":"\'St. Elsewhere\'"}
"Dinosaurs," the wacky sitcom with the Jim Henson life-size puppets ended with all of the characters about to be wiped out by the Ice Age. Ha-ha?cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":18,"title":"\'Dinosaurs\'"}
in "The Fugitive," Dr. Richard Kimble finally caught up with that one-armed man who killed his wife and got his ultimate revenge. It doesn't get more satisfying than that in TV drama.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":19,"title":"\'The Fugitive\'"}
"Life on Mars" only lasted a season on ABC, but there was some anticipation to see how the producers would end their version of the series after the UK's incredible finale. It turned out that Sam Tyler's trip to the 1970s was all created in his mind, as he slept in suspended animation, before landing on Mars. A bit literal, don't you think?cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":20,"title":"\'Life on Mars\'"}
Lois and Clark got married (they saved it for the end, unlike the other show with their namesake), and finally, 10 years into "Smallville," we got to see Clark don the iconic red and blue suit.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":21,"title":"\'Smallville\'"}
It was Dwight's wedding day (to Angela, thankfully) and Pam and Jim were ready to move on. Michael Scott showing up to fill the role of Dwight's best man was just one of many things the finale of "The Office" got just right.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":22,"title":"\'The Office\'"}
In the final minutes of "Big Love," Bill is suddenly gunned down by a neighbor and the sister-wives are forced to move on without him. As we learn through an emotional flash-forward scene, even without Bill to bond them, they remain together. Definitely a shocker.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":23,"title":"\'Big Love\'"}
Psychic Allison DuBois could do many things on "Medium," but she couldn't save her husband, Joe. Her belief that her husband was still alive on an island somewhere turned out to be an illusion, and the whole thing was so depressing that it was only saved by a final scene where Allison died many years later and reunited with him.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":24,"title":"\'Medium\'"}HIDE CAPTIONThe best and worst TV finales'Seinfeld''Cheers''Freaks and Geeks''Roseanne''Friends''The Cosby Show''Star Trek: The Next Generation''M*A*S*H''Lost''Frasier'X-Files''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''The Sopranos''The Hills''ALF''St. Elsewhere''Dinosaurs''The Fugitive''Life on Mars''Smallville''The Office''Big Love''Medium'<<<
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