In the 1990s the big three networks were being challenged by upstarts FOX and the WB for viewer loyalty. Alongside must-see stalwarts like Frasier, Friends, and Seinfeld, the new networks introduced pop culture touchstones like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The X-Files. Such shows not only made household names of their stars, but also thrived in syndication and some even graduated to the big screen. In that decade, shows such as ER, Everybody Loves Raymond, and Northern Exposure were vying for awards while programs like Beverly Hills, 90210 and Home Improvement drew in millions of viewers each week. Even after these shows departed the airwaves, they live on in syndication and on DVDs, entertaining many generations of viewers. In Television Series of the 1990s: Essential Facts and Quirky Details, Vincent Terrace presents readers with a cornucopia of information about sixty programs from the decade. For example, did you know that Ally McBeal’s favorite brand of ice cream is Ben and Jerry’s? Or that Hank Hill’s shoe size is 12? Or that Carrie Bradshaw’s favorite cookie is Double-Stuff Oreos? These are just a handful of hundreds of fun and intriguing specifics found inside this volume. Programs from all of the major networks—as well as select syndicated programs and HBO—are represented here. This is not a book of opinions or essays about specific television programs but a treasure trove of facts associated with each show. FromNiles Crane’s I.Q score to George Constanza’s high score on Frogger, readers will discover a wealth of fascinating information that, for the most part, cannot be found elsewhere. In some cases, the factual data detailed herein is the only such documentation that currently exists on bygone shows of the era. Television Series of the 1990s is the ideal reference for fans of this decade and anyone looking to stump even the most knowledgeable trivia expert.

I Will Survive is the story of Gloria Gaynor, America's "Queen of Disco." It is the story of riches and fame, despair, and finally salvation. Her meteoric rise to stardom in the mid-1970s was nothing short of phenomenal, and hits poured forth that pushed her to the top of the charts, including "Honey Bee," "I Got You Under My Skin," "Never Can Say Goodbye," and the song that has immortalized her, "I Will Survive," which became a #1 international gold seller. With that song, Gloria heralded the international rise of disco that became synonymous with a way of life in the fast lane - the sweaty bodies at Studio 54, the lines of cocaine, the indescribable feeling that you could always be at the top of your game and never come down. But down she came after her early stardom, and problems followed in the wake, including the death of her mother, whose love had anchored the young singer, as well as constant battles with weight, drugs, and alcohol. While her fans always imagined her to be rich, her personal finances collapsed due to poor management; and while many envied her, she felt completely empty inside. In the early 1980s, sustained by her marriage to music publisher Linwood Simon, Gloria took three years off and reflected upon her life. She visited churches and revisited her mother's old Bible. Discovering the world of gospel, she made a commitment to Christ that sustains her to this day.

Today's moviegoers and critics generally consider some Hollywood products--even some blockbusters--to be legitimate works of art. But during the first half century of motion pictures very few Americans would have thought to call an American movie "art." Up through the 1950s, American movies were regarded as a form of popular, even lower-class, entertainment. By the 1960s and 1970s, however, viewers were regularly judging Hollywood films by artistic criteria previously applied only to high art forms. In Hollywood Highbrow, Shyon Baumann for the first time tells how social and cultural forces radically changed the public's perceptions of American movies just as those forces were radically changing the movies themselves. The development in the United States of an appreciation of film as an art was, Baumann shows, the product of large changes in Hollywood and American society as a whole. With the postwar rise of television, American movie audiences shrank dramatically and Hollywood responded by appealing to richer and more educated viewers. Around the same time, European ideas about the director as artist, an easing of censorship, and the development of art-house cinemas, film festivals, and the academic field of film studies encouraged the idea that some American movies--and not just European ones--deserved to be considered art.

Dear Black Girls is a letter to all Black girls. Every day poet and educator Shanice Nicole is reminded of how special Black girls are and of how lucky she is to be one. Illustrations by Kezna Dalz support the book's message that no two Black girls are the same but they are all special--that to be a Black girl is a true gift. In this celebratory poem, Kezna and Shanice remind young readers that despite differences, they all deserve to be loved just the way they are.