Steptoe and Son is a classic British sitcom that ran on the BBC between 1962-74. The series has two iconic characters – Albert Steptoe and his rag and bone man son Harold. Wildred Brambell as Albert and Harry H. Corbett as Harold both give wonderful performances in the series. As well as being a great comedy, Steptoe and Son has many dramatic elements and social commentary relating to the relationship between father and son, changes in society, their working class existence and their rather old fashioned rag and bone trade. Find out more about this iconic series in this Encyclopedia.

British film company Hammer Films produced a wide selection of popular films from 1937 to 1979. The studio is principally known for its horror films made from the 1950s-1970s. Hammer Horror films were extremely popular. They were – and still are - well regarded, and innovative with many new artistic elements and increasingly adult and violent content. Hammer Horror films had many iconic stars such as Sir Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing; the glamorous women of Hammer Horror were a staple. Find out more about the Hammer Horror series with this book.

The Encyclopedia of Television, second edtion is the first major reference work to provide description, history, analysis, and information on more than 1100 subjects related to television in its international context. For a full list of entries, contributors, and more, visit the Encyclo pedia of Television, 2nd edition website.

Covering the years 1945-2018, this alphabetical listing provides details about 2,923 unaired television series pilots, including those that never went into production, and those that became series but with a different cast, such as The Green Hornet, The Middle and Superman. Rarities include proposed shows starring Bela Lugosi, Doris Day, Humphrey Bogart, Barbara Stanwyck, Orson Welles, Claudette Colbert and Mae West, along with such casting curiosities as Mona Freeman, not Gale Storm, as Margie in My Little Margie, and John Larkin as Perry Mason long before Raymond Burr played the role.

This fully updated and expanded edition covers over 10,200 programs, making it the most comprehensive documentation of television programs ever published. In addition to covering the standard network and cable entertainment genres, the book also covers programs generally not covered elsewhere in print (or even online), including Internet series, aired and unaired pilot films, erotic series, gay and lesbian series, risque cartoons and experimental programs from 1925 through 1945.

Musicians, both fictional and real, have long been subjects of cinema. From biopics of composers Beethoven and Mozart to the rise (and often fall) of imaginary bands in The Commitments and Almost Famous, music of all types has inspired hundreds of films. The Encyclopedia of Musicians and Bands on Film features the most significant productions from around the world, including straightforward biographies, rockumentaries, and even the occasional mockumentary. The wide-ranging scope of this volume allows for the inclusion of films about fictional singers and bands, with emphasis on a variety of themes: songwriter–band relationships, the rise and fall of a career, music saving the day, the promoter’s point of view, band competitions, the traveling band, and rock-based absurdity. Among the films discussed in this book are Amadeus, The Blues Brothers, The Buddy Holly Story, The Commitments, Dreamgirls, The Glenn Miller Story, A Hard Day’s Night, I’m Not There, Jailhouse Rock, A Mighty Wind, Ray, ’Round Midnight, The Runaways, School of Rock, That Thing You Do!, and Walk the Line.With entries that span the decades and highlight a variety of music genres, The Encyclopedia of Musicians and Bands on Film is a valuable resource for moviegoers and music lovers alike, as well as scholars of both film and music.

A comprehensive, colorful guide to every game ever released on the classic Nintendo Entertainment System. One of the most iconic video game systems, the NES is credited with saving the American video games industry in the early 1980s. The NES Encyclopedia is the first ever complete reference guide to every game released on the Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo’s first industry-defining video game system. As well as covering all 714 officially licensed NES games, the book also includes more than 160 unlicensed games released during its lifespan, giving for the first time a definitive history of this important console's full library. Written by a retro gaming expert with 30 years of gaming experience and a penchant for bad jokes, TheNES Encyclopedia promises to be both informative and entertaining. The NES continues to enjoy a strong cult following among Nintendo fans and gamers in general with wide varieties of officially licensed merchandise proving ever popular. Nintendo’s most recent console, the Switch, is the fastest selling video game console of all time in the United States and Japan. Nintendo launched a variety of classic NES games for download on the system, meaning a new audience of gamers is due to discover the NES for the first time if they have not already. Praise for The NES Encyclopedia “As a catalog of all 876 NES games, this work is unique in its breadth of coverage and will be of great interest to old-school video gamers and collectors.” —Booklist “A definitive resource that is more than worthy of the title ‘Encyclopedia.’ ” —Nintendo World Report

Featuring rumpled PIs, shyster lawyers, corrupt politicians, double-crossers, femmes fatales, and, of course, losers who find themselves down on their luck yet again, film noir is a perennially popular cinematic genre. This extensive encyclopedia describes movies from noir's earliest days – and even before, looking at some of noir's ancestors in US and European cinema – as well as noir's more recent offshoots, from neonoirs to erotic thrillers. Entries are arranged alphabetically, covering movies from all over the world – from every continent save Antarctica – with briefer details provided for several hundred additional movies within those entries. A copious appendix contains filmographies of prominent directors, actors, and writers. With coverage of blockbusters and program fillers from Going Straight (US 1916) to Broken City (US 2013) via Nora Inu (Japan 1949), O Anthropos tou Trainou (Greece 1958), El Less Wal Kilab (Egypt 1962), Reportaje a la Muerte (Peru 1993), Zift (Bulgaria 2008), and thousands more, A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Film Noir is an engrossing and essential reference work that should be on the shelves of every cinephile.

As a meeting point for world cultures, the USA is characterized by its breadth and diversity. Acknowledging that diversity is the fundamental feature of American culture, this volume is organized around a keen awareness of race, gender, class and space and with over 1,200 alphabetically-arranged entries - spanning 'the American century' from the end of World War II to the present day - the Encyclopedia provides a one-stop source for insightful and stimulating coverage of all aspects of that culture. Entries range from short definitions to longer overview essays and with full cross-referencing, extensive indexing, and a thematic contents list, this volume provides an essential cultural context for both teachers and students of American studies, as well as providing fascinating insights into American culture for the general reader. The suggestions for further reading, which follows most entries, are also invaluable guides to more specialized sources.

Presents a reference on African American literature providing profiles of notable and little-known writers and their works, literary forms and genres, critics and scholars, themes and terminology and more.