who is the leader of the baptist denomination

Historians trace the earliest church labeled "Baptist" back to 1609 in Amsterdam, Dutch Republic with English Separatist John Smyth as its pastor.[3] In accordance with his reading of the New Testament, he rejected baptism of infants and instituted baptism only of believing adults.[4] Baptist practice spread to England, where the General Baptists considered Christ's atonement to extend to all people, while the Particular Baptists believed that it extended only to the elect.[5] Thomas Helwys formulated a distinctively Baptist request that the church and the state be kept separate in matters of law, so that individuals might have freedom of religion. Helwys died in prison as a consequence of the religious persecution of English dissenters under King James I. In 1638, Roger Williams established the first Baptist congregation in the North American colonies. In the mid-18th century, the First Great Awakening contributed to Baptist growth in both New England and the South.[6] The Second Great Awakening in the South in the early 19th century greatly increased church membership. Baptist missionaries have spread their faith to every continent.[4]

Baptists

Baptists are those Christians belonging to local churches mainly distinguished by baptising professing believers only. A Baptist church generally consists of a gathered group of believers that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers (believer's baptism, as opposed to infant baptism), and that it should be done by complete immersion (as opposed to affusion or sprinkling). Other tenets of Baptist churches include soul competency (liberty), salvation through faith alone, Scripture alone as the rule of faith and practice, and the autonomy of the local congregation. Baptists recognize two ministerial offices, pastors and deacons, and two ordinances, baptism and the Lord's supper (also called, communion). Baptist churches are widely considered to be Protestant churches, though some Baptists disavow this identity.[1]

Diverse from their beginning, those identifying as Baptists today differ widely from one another in what they believe, how they worship, their attitudes toward other Christians, and their understanding of what is important in Christian discipleship.[2]

The largest Baptist denomination is the Southern Baptist Convention, with the membership of associated churches totaling more than 15Â million.[6] Many other Baptists cooperate through the Baptist World Alliance.

Baptist historian Bruce Gourley outlines four main views of Baptist origins: (1) The modern scholarly consensus that the movement traces its origin to the 17th century via the English Separatists, (2) the view that it was an outgrowth of Anabaptist traditions, (3) the perpetuity view which assumes that the Baptist faith and practice has existed since the time of Christ, and (4) the successionist view, or "Baptist successionism", which argues that Baptist churches actually existed in an unbroken chain since the time of Christ.[3]

Modern Baptist churches trace their history to the English Separatist movement in the 1600s, the century after the rise of the original Protestant denominations.[7] This view of Baptist origins has the most historical support and is the most widely accepted.[8] Adherents to this position consider the influence of Anabaptists upon early Baptists to be minimal.[3] It was a time of considerable political and religious turmoil. Both individuals and churches were willing to give up their theological roots if they became convinced that a more biblical "truth" had been discovered.[9][pageÂ needed][10]

During the Protestant Reformation, the Church of England (Anglicans) separated from the Roman Catholic Church. There were some Christians who were not content with the achievements of the mainstream Protestant Reformation.[2][11] There also were Christians who were disappointed that the Church of England had not made corrections of what some considered to be errors and abuses. Of those most critical of the Church's direction, some chose to stay and try to make constructive changes from within the Anglican Church. They became known as "Puritans" and are described by Gourley as cousins of the English Separatists. Others decided they must leave the Church because of their dissatisfaction and became known as the Separatists.[3]

Historians trace the earliest Baptist church back to 1609 in Amsterdam, with John Smyth as its pastor.[3] Three years earlier, while a Fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge, he had broken his ties with the Church of England. Reared in the Church of England, he became "Puritan, English Separatist, and then a Baptist Separatist," and ended his days working with the Mennonites.[12] He began meeting in England with 60â€“70 English Separatists, in the face of "great danger."[13] The persecution of religious nonconformists in England led Smyth to go into exile in Amsterdam with fellow Separatists from the congregation he had gathered in Lincolnshire, separate from the established church (Anglican). Smyth and his lay supporter, Thomas Helwys, together with those they led, broke with the other English exiles because Smyth and Helwys were convinced they should be baptized as believers. In 1609 Smyth first baptized himself and then baptized the others.[11][14]

In 1609, while still there, Smyth wrote a tract titled "The Character of the Beast," or "The False Constitution of the Church." In it he expressed two propositions: first, infants are not to be baptized; and second, "Antichristians converted are to be admitted into the true Church by baptism."[15] Hence, his conviction was that a scriptural church should consist only of regenerate believers who have been baptized on a personal confession of faith. He rejected the Separatist movement's doctrine of infant baptism (paedobaptism).[16][17] Shortly thereafter, Smyth left the group, and layman Thomas Helwys took over the leadership, leading the church back to England in 1611.[3] Ultimately, Smyth became committed to believers' baptism as the only biblical baptism. He was convinced on the basis of his interpretation of Scripture that infants would not be damned should they die in infancy.[18]

Smyth, convinced that his self-baptism was invalid, applied with the Mennonites for membership. He died while waiting for membership, and some of his followers became Mennonites. Thomas Helwys and others kept their baptism and their Baptist commitments.[18] The modern Baptist denomination is an outgrowth of Smyth's movement.[11] Baptists rejected the name Anabaptist when they were called that by opponents in derision. McBeth writes that as late as the 18th century, many Baptists referred to themselves as "the Christians commonly—though falsely—called Anabaptists."[19]

Another milestone in the early development of Baptist doctrine was in 1638 with John Spilsbury, a Calvinistic minister who helped to promote the strict practice of believer's baptism by immersion.[8] According to Tom Nettles, professor of historical theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, "Spilsbury's cogent arguments for a gathered, disciplined congregation of believers baptized by immersion as constituting the New Testament church gave expression to and built on insights that had emerged within separatism, advanced in the life of John Smyth and the suffering congregation of Thomas Helwys, and matured in Particular Baptists."[8]

A minority view is that early 17th century Baptists were influenced by (but not directly connected to) continental Anabaptists.[20] According to this view, the General Baptists shared similarities with Dutch Waterlander Mennonites (one of many Anabaptist groups) including believer's baptism only, religious liberty, separation of church and state, and Arminian views of salvation, predestination and original sin. Representative writers including A.C. Underwood and William R. Estep. Gourley wrote that among some contemporary Baptist scholars who emphasize the faith of the community over soul liberty, the Anabaptist influence theory is making a comeback.[3]

However, the relations between Baptists and Anabaptists were early strained. In 1624, the then five existing Baptist churches of London issued a condemnation of the Anabaptists. Furthermore, the original group associated with Smyth and popularly believed to be the first Baptists broke with the Waterlander Mennonite Anabaptists after a brief period of association in the Netherlands.[21]

Prior to the 20th century, some Baptist historians wrote from the perspective that Baptists had existed since the time of Christ.[22] However, the Southern Baptist Convention passed resolutions rejecting this view in 1859. Proponents of the Baptist successionist or perpetuity view consider the Baptist movement to have existed independently from Roman Catholicism and prior to the Protestant Reformation.[23]

The perpetuity view is often identified with The Trail of Blood, a booklet of five lectures by J.M. Carrol published in 1931.[23] Other Baptist writers who advocate the successionist theory of Baptist origins are John T. Christian, Thomas Crosby, G. H. Orchard, J. M. Cramp, William Cathcart, Adam Taylor and D. B. Ray[23][24] This view was also held by English Baptist preacher, Charles Spurgeon[25] as well as Jesse Mercer, the namesake of Mercer University.[26][original research?]

In 1612, Thomas Helwys established a Baptist congregation in London, consisting of congregants from Smyth's church. A number of other Baptist churches sprang up, and they became known as the General Baptists. The Particular Baptists were established when a group of Calvinist Separatists adopted believers' Baptism.[27][pageÂ needed] The Particular Baptists consisted of seven churches by 1644 and had created a confession of faith called the First London Confession of Faith.[28]

Both Roger Williams and John Clarke, his compatriot and coworker for religious freedom, are variously credited as founding the earliest Baptist church in North America.[29] In 1639, Williams established a Baptist church in Providence, Rhode Island, and Clarke began a Baptist church in Newport, Rhode Island. According to a Baptist historian who has researched the matter extensively, "There is much debate over the centuries as to whether the Providence or Newport church deserved the place of 'first' Baptist congregation in America. Exact records for both congregations are lacking."[7][30]

The Great Awakening energized the Baptist movement, and the Baptist community experienced spectacular growth. Baptists became the largest Christian community in many southern states, including among the black population.[4]

Baptist missionary work in Canada began in the British colony of Nova Scotia (present day Nova Scotia and New Brunswick) in the 1760s.[31] The first official record of a Baptist church in Canada was that of the Horton Baptist Church (now Wolfville) in Wolfville, Nova Scotia on 29 October 1778.[32] The church was established with the assistance of the New Light evangelist Henry Alline. Many of Alline's followers, after his death, would convert and strengthen the Baptist presence in the Atlantic region.[33][pageÂ needed][34][35] Two major groups of Baptists formed the basis of the churches in the Maritimes. These were referred to as Regular Baptist (Calvinistic in their doctrine) and Free Will Baptists.[34]

In May 1845, the Baptist congregations in the United States split over slavery and missions. The Home Mission Society prevented slaveholders from being appointed as missionaries.[36] The split created the Southern Baptist Convention, while the northern congregations formed their own umbrella organization now called the American Baptist Churches USA (ABC-USA). The Methodist Episcopal Church, South had recently separated over the issue of slavery, and southern Presbyterians would do so shortly thereafter.[37]

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African-American Baptist

Many Baptist churches choose to affiliate with organizational groups that provide fellowship without control.[4] The largest such group is the Southern Baptist Convention. There also are a substantial number of smaller cooperative groups. Finally, there are Independent Baptist churches that choose to remain autonomous and independent of any denomination, organization, or association.[38] It has been suggested that a primary Baptist principle is that local Baptist Churches are independent and self-governing,[39] and if so the term 'Baptist denomination' may be considered somewhat incongruous.

In 1925, Baptists worldwide formed the Baptist World Alliance (BWA). The BWA now counts 218 Baptist conventions and unions worldwide with over 41Â million members.[40] The BWA's goals include caring for the needy, leading in world evangelism and defending human rights and religious freedom. Though it played a role in the founding of the BWA, the Southern Baptist Convention severed its affiliation with BWA in 2004.[41]

Today, more than 100 million Christians identify themselves as Baptist or belong to Baptist-type churches. There are 36Â million Baptists who belong to churches cooperating with the Baptist World Alliance. Many Baptist groups, including the Southern Baptist Convention and the Baptist Bible Fellowship do not cooperate with the Alliance.[43]

Baptists are present in almost all continents in big denominations. The largest number by baptized memberships are in Nigeria (3.5 million) and Democratic Republic of the Congo (2 million) in Africa, India (2.5 million) and Myanmar (1 million) in Asia, United States (35 million) and Brazil (1.8 million) in the North and South America.[44]

According to the Barna Group researchers, Baptists are the largest denominational grouping of born again Christians in the USA.[45] A 2009 ABCNEWS/Beliefnet phone poll of 1,022 adults suggests that fifteen percent of Americans identify themselves as Baptists.[46]

A large percentage of Baptists in North America are found in five bodiesâ€”the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC); National Baptist Convention (NBC); National Baptist Convention of America, Inc.; (NBCA); American Baptist Churches USA (ABC); and Baptist Bible Fellowship International (BBFI).[47]

Membership policies vary due to the autonomy of churches, but the traditional method by which an individual becomes a member of a church is through believer's baptism, which is a public profession of faith in Jesus, followed by water baptism.[48]

Most baptists do not believe that baptism is a requirement for salvation, but rather a public expression of one's inner repentance and faith.[7] Therefore, some churches will admit into membership persons who make a profession without believer's baptism.[49]

In general, Baptist churches do not have a stated age restriction on membership, but believer's baptism requires that an individual be able to freely and earnestly profess their faith.[50] (See Age of Accountability)

Baptists, like other Christians, are defined by school of thought—some of it common to all orthodox and evangelical groups and a portion of it distinctive to Baptists.[51] Through the years, different Baptist groups have issued confessions of faith—without considering them to be creeds—to express their particular doctrinal distinctions in comparison to other Christians as well as in comparison to other Baptists.[52] Most Baptists are evangelical in doctrine, but Baptist beliefs can vary due to the congregational governance system that gives autonomy to individual local Baptist churches.[1] Historically, Baptists have played a key role in encouraging religious freedom and separation of church and state.[53]

Shared doctrines would include beliefs about one God; the virgin birth; miracles; atonement for sins through the death, burial, and bodily resurrection of Jesus; the Trinity; the need for salvation (through belief in Jesus Christ as the son of God, his death and resurrection, and confession of Christ as Lord); grace; the Kingdom of God; last things (eschatology) (Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth, the dead will be raised, and Christ will judge everyone in righteousness); and evangelism and missions. Some historically significant Baptist doctrinal documents include the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, 1742 Philadelphia Baptist Confession, the 1833 New Hampshire Baptist Confession of Faith, the Southern Baptist Convention's Baptist Faith and Message, and written church covenants which some individual Baptist churches adopt as a statement of their faith and beliefs.

Most Baptists hold that no church or ecclesiastical organization has inherent authority over a Baptist church. Churches can properly relate to each other under this polity only through voluntary cooperation, never by any sort of coercion. Furthermore, this Baptist polity calls for freedom from governmental control.[54]

Exceptions to this local form of local governance include a few churches that submit to the leadership of a body of elders, as well as the Episcopal Baptists that have an Episcopal system.

Baptists generally believe in the literal Second Coming of Christ. Beliefs among Baptists regarding the "end times" include amillennialism, dispensationalism, and historic premillennialism, with views such as postmillennialism and preterism receiving some support.

Some additional distinctive Baptist principles held by many Baptists:[55]:2

Since there is no hierarchical authority and each Baptist church is autonomous, there is no official set of Baptist theological beliefs.[56] These differences exist both among associations, and even among churches within the associations.

Some doctrinal issues on which there is widespread difference among Baptists are:

Baptists have faced many controversies in their 400-year history, controversies of the level of crises. Baptist historian Walter Shurden says the word "crisis" comes from the Greek word meaning "to decide." Shurden writes that contrary to the presumed negative view of crises, some controversies that reach a crisis level may actually be "positive and highly productive." He claims that even schism, though never ideal, has often produced positive results. In his opinion crises among Baptists each have become decision-moments that shaped their future.[60] Some controversies that have shaped Baptists include the "missions crisis", the "slavery crisis", the "landmark crisis", and the "modernist crisis".

Early in the 19th century, the rise of the modern missions movement, and the backlash against it, led to widespread and bitter controversy among the American Baptists.[61] During this era, the American Baptists were split between missionary and anti-missionary. A substantial secession of Baptists went into the movement led by Alexander Campbell, to return to a more fundamental church.[62]

Leading up to the American Civil War, Baptists became embroiled in the controversy over slavery in the United States. Whereas in the First Great Awakening, Methodist and Baptist preachers had opposed slavery and urged manumission, over the decades they made more of an accommodation with the institution. They worked with slaveholders in the South to urge a paternalistic institution. Both denominations made direct appeals to slaves and free blacks for conversion. The Baptists particularly allowed them active roles in congregations. By the mid-19th century, northern Baptists tended to oppose slavery. As tensions increased, in 1844 the Home Mission Society refused to appoint a slaveholder as a missionary who had been proposed by Georgia. It noted that missionaries could not take servants with them, and also that the board did not want to appear to condone slavery.Citation Needed

The Southern Baptist Convention was formed by nine state conventions in 1845. They believed that the Bible sanctions slavery and that it was acceptable for Christians to own slaves. They believed slavery was a human institution which Baptist teaching could make less harsh. By this time many planters were part of Baptist congregations, and some of the denomination's prominent preachers, such as the Rev. Basil Manly, Sr., president of the University of Alabama, were also planters who owned slaves.

As early as the late 18th century, black Baptists began to organize separate churches, associations and mission agencies. Blacks set up some independent Baptist congregations in the South before the American Civil War. White Baptist associations maintained some oversight of these and, after a slave rebellion, required a white man to be at church services.Citation Needed

In the postwar years, freedmen quickly left the white congregations and associations, setting up their own churches in order to be free of white supervision.[63] In 1866 the Consolidated American Baptist Convention, formed from black Baptists of the South and West, helped southern associations set up black state conventions, which they did in Alabama, Arkansas, Virginia, North Carolina, and Kentucky. In 1880 black state conventions united in the national Foreign Mission Convention, to support black Baptist missionary work. Two other national black conventions were formed, and in 1895 they united as the National Baptist Convention. This organization later went through its own changes, spinning off other conventions. It is the largest black religious organization and the second-largest Baptist organization in the world.[64] Baptists are numerically most dominant in the Southeast.[65] In 2007, the Pew Research Center's Religious Landscape Survey found that 45% of all African Americans identify with Baptist denominations, with the vast majority of those being within the historically black tradition.[66]

A healthy Church kills error, and tears evil in pieces! Not so very long ago our nation tolerated slavery in our colonies. Philanthropists endeavored to destroy slavery, but when was it utterly abolished? It was when Wilberforce roused the Church of God, and when the Church of God addressed herself to the conflictâ€”then she tore the evil thing to pieces! -- C.H. Spurgeon an outspoken British Baptist opponent of slavery in 'The Best War Cry' (1883)[67]

Elsewhere in the Americas, in the Caribbean in particular, Baptist missionaries and members took an active role in the anti-slavery movement. In Jamaica, for example, William Knibb, a prominent British Baptist missionary, worked toward the emancipation of slaves in the British West Indies (which took place in full in 1838). Knibb also supported the creation of "Free Villages" and sought funding from English Baptists to buy land for freedmen to cultivate; the Free Villages were envisioned as rural communities to be centred around a Baptist church where emancipated slaves could farm their own land. Thomas Burchell, missionary minister in Montego Bay, also was active in this movement, gaining funds from Baptists in England to buy land for what became known as Burchell Free Village.

Prior to emancipation, Baptist deacon Samuel Sharpe, who served with Burchell, organized a general strike of slaves seeking better conditions. It developed into a major rebellion of as many as 60,000 slaves, which became known as the Christmas Rebellion (when it took place) or the Baptist War. It was put down by government troops within two weeks. During and after the rebellion, an estimated 200 slaves were killed outright, with more than 300 judicially executed later by prosecution in the courts, sometimes for minor offenses.

Baptists were active after emancipation in promoting the education of former slaves; for example, Jamaica's Calabar High School, named after the port of Calabar in Nigeria, was founded by Baptist missionaries. At the same time, during and after slavery, slaves and free blacks formed their own Spiritual Baptist movements - breakaway spiritual movements which theology often expressed resistance to oppression.[68]

In the American South the interpretation of the American Civil War, abolition of slavery and postwar period has differed sharply by race since those years. Like other peoples, Americans have often interpreted great events in religious terms. Historian Wilson Fallin contrasts the interpretation of Civil War and Reconstruction in white versus black memory by analyzing Baptist sermons documented in Alabama. It should be noted that, soon after the Civil War, most black Baptists in the South left the Southern Baptist Convention, reducing its numbers by hundreds of thousands or more.Citation Needed They quickly organized their own congregations and developed their own regional and state associations and, by the end of the 19th century, a national convention.Citation Needed

White preachers in Alabama after Reconstruction expressed the view that:

God had chastised them and given them a special mission â€“ to maintain orthodoxy, strict biblicism, personal piety, and "traditional" race relations. Slavery, they insisted, had not been sinful. Rather, emancipation was a historical tragedy and the end of Reconstruction was a clear sign of God's favor.

Black preachers interpreted the Civil War, Emancipation and Reconstruction as: "God's gift of freedom." They had a gospel of liberation, having long identified with the Book of Exodus from slavery in the Old Testament. They took opportunities to exercise their independence, to worship in their own way, to affirm their worth and dignity, and to proclaim the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. Most of all, they quickly formed their own churches, associations, and conventions to operate freely without white supervision. These institutions offered self-help and racial uplift, a place to develop and use leadership, and places for proclamation of the gospel of liberation. As a result, black preachers said that God would protect and help him and God's people; God would be their rock in a stormy land.[69]

The Southern Baptist Convention supported white supremacy and its results: disenfranchising most blacks and many poor whites at the turn of the 20th century by raising barriers to voter registration, and passage of racial segregation laws that enforced the system of Jim Crow.Citation Needed Its members largely resisted the Civil Rights Movement in the South, which sought to enforce their constitutional rights for public access and voting; and enforcement of midcentury federal civil rights laws.Citation Needed

On 20 June 1995, the Southern Baptist Convention voted to adopt a resolution renouncing its racist roots and apologizing for its past defense of slavery. More than 20,000 Southern Baptists registered for the meeting in Atlanta. The resolution declared that messengers, as SBC delegates are called, "unwaveringly denounce racism, in all its forms, as deplorable sin" and "lament and repudiate historic acts of evil such as slavery from which we continue to reap a bitter harvest." It offered an apology to all African Americans for "condoning and/or perpetuating individual and systemic racism in our lifetime" and repentance for "racism of which we have been guilty, whether consciously or unconsciously." Although Southern Baptists have condemned racism in the past, this was the first time the convention, predominantly white since the Reconstruction era, had specifically addressed the issue of slavery.

The statement sought forgiveness "from our African-American brothers and sisters" and pledged to "eradicate racism in all its forms from Southern Baptist life and ministry." In 1995 about 500,000 members of the 15.6-million-member denomination were African Americans and another 300,000 were ethnic minorities. The resolution marked the denomination's first formal acknowledgment that racism played a role in its founding.[70]

Southern Baptist Landmarkism sought to reset the ecclesiastical separation which had characterized the old Baptist churches, in an era when inter-denominational union meetings were the order of the day.[71] James Robinson Graves was an influential Baptist of the 19th century and the primary leader of this movement.[72] While some Landmarkers eventually separated from the Southern Baptist Convention, the movement continued to influence the Convention into the 20th and 21st centuries.[73] For instance, in 2005, the Southern Baptist International Mission Board forbade its missionaries to receive alien immersions for baptism.[74]

The rise of theological modernism in the latter 19th and early 20th centuries also greatly affected Baptists.[75] The Landmark movement, already mentioned, has been described as a reaction among Southern Baptists in the United States against incipient modernism.[76] In England, Charles Haddon Spurgeon fought against modernistic views of the Scripture in the Downgrade Controversy and severed his church from the Baptist Union as a result.[77][78][79]

The Northern Baptist Convention in the United States had internal conflict over modernism in the early 20th century, ultimately embracing it.[80] Two new conservative associations of congregations that separated from the Convention were founded as a result: the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches in 1933 and the Conservative Baptist Association of America in 1947.[80]

Following similar conflicts over modernism, the Southern Baptist Convention adhered to conservative theology as its official position.[81][82] In the late 20th century, moderate Southern Baptists who disagreed with this direction founded two new groups: the Alliance of Baptists in 1987 and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship in 1991.[83][84][85][86] Members of both groups originally continued to identify as Southern Baptist, but over time the groups "became permanent new families of Baptists."[83]


when does dale find out about john redcorn

Although highly suspicious of the government and of other people, Dale is unaware (although everyone else knows) that his wife Nancy had an affair with John Redcorn for nearly 15 years, and that Redcorn is Joseph's biological father. Dale never learned of the affair throughout the run of the series. The closest he has ever come to learning about it is in the episode where Peggy wanted to tell him, but she decided not to after seeing Dale and Joseph's relationship. John Redcorn even told Dale in the episode "Hank Gets Dusted" that he cheated with Hank's best friend's wife for 13 years, and Dale just thought he was talking about Bill's wife, Lenore; he never questioned what Redcorn said. This is apparently due in part to his blinding love for Nancy, his incredible naiveté, and his belief for some time that John Redcorn might be gay (though this can be disputed because of the actions in the episode "Three Men and a Bastard" where Dale tries to get John Redcorn to seduce Charlene knowing that he is a womanizer, even congratulating him earlier in the episode where the guys see John at the hardware store having just having had sex with an employee). An example of Dale's naiveté of Redcorn and Nancy's relationship occurs in one episode where he catches Redcorn sneaking through his bedroom window while Nancy was "sleeping" in their bed. When Redcorn, believing Dale had found out about his relationship with Nancy, sees this, he tells Dale he regrets him finding out in this way. Dale simply replies, "Get off my mower (Redcorn had jumped through the window by climbing onto Dale's lawn mower) and start massaging my wife," still in belief that Redcorn was simply Nancy's masseur with the task of curing her false recurrent migraine headaches (forcing Redcorn to say in an exasperated tone that Dale was "taking some of the fun out of this"). Dale also discovers that Joseph shares a father with another child (a child fathered by John Redcorn, unbeknownst to Dale), but assumes this means both Joseph and the other child were the product of aliens inseminating earth women. A recurring gag early in the series was that whenever Dale would make a comment about being Joseph's father or being lucky enough to have a wife like Nancy, John Redcorn would show up.

Dale Gribble

Dale Alvin Gribble (born July 12, 1957) is a fictional character in the Fox animated series King of the Hill,[2] voiced by Johnny Hardwick (Stephen Root, who voices Bill, and actor Daniel Stern had both originally auditioned for the role). He is the creator of the revolutionary "Pocket Sand" defense mechanism, an exterminator, bounty hunter, smoker, gun fanatic, and paranoid believer of almost all conspiracy theories and urban legends.

Dale had been estranged from his father, Bug Gribble, since he witnessed Bug kissing Dale's wife, Nancy, on the lips on their wedding day. In truth, Bug only kissed Nancy to hide his homosexuality as he was nearing a kiss with a Filipino caterer. When Dale entered the room, Bug, afraid of his son possibly rejecting him because of his sexuality, panicked and reached for the nearest female, not realizing that it was Nancy until the damage was done. Dale did not learn the truth until 20 years afterwards, when he witnessed his father working as a cowboy at a gay rodeo. It was here that father and son reconciled their differences. Dale's mother is deceased, this fact being learned in episode "Bobby on Track".

In contrast to the usually shallow demeanor he has towards his friends and people in general, Dale is fiercely devoted to his wife and son, and frequently displays his love for them. He blames himself for all of the problems Nancy herself caused between them while she was cheating on him, has an explicit (and misplaced) trust in her, and pampers her constantly; lavishing compliments, favors and gifts upon her, often in the embarrassing presence of John Redcorn. However, he never really showed much interest in spending time with her, and sometimes, usually in social situations, he would momentarily forget that he was married. Dale is extremely proud of Joseph, towards whom he is highly generous and supportive, especially for his athletic prowess and strong build, which Dale never possessed any of. Unlike Hank's demeanor with Bobby, Dale is extremely attentive to Joseph's needs and feelings, and is never afraid to express his affection for him. Although Dale's attempts at good parenting occasionally go astray due to his odd ideas, he is portrayed as Joseph's primary parent (especially in the earlier seasons when Nancy was still having an affair), and is usually the first person Joseph turns to when in trouble. Joseph, unlike Bobby, has very little conflict with his father and rarely seems to feel the need to rebel against him, probably due to Dale's emotional availability and acceptance of his son's activities and tendencies â€“ an area in which he outshines Hank. While he is comfortable and unworried about his son's development, Dale is very protective of Joseph: despite his cowardly nature, he once rushed into what he believed was the tractor beam of an alien ship to save him, even though he was convinced that Joseph's real father was an alien.

Dale runs his own extermination business, Dale's Dead-Bug, although he generally does not pay taxes on his income and has filled out an income tax form only once. It is hinted that he is not professionally trained in extermination and that his business is not a legally operating firm in the United States, as his company checks read "Dales Dead Bug - A Liberian Registered Company". He drives a white Dodge Caravan nicknamed "the Bug-ebago" (a portmanteau of "bug" and Winnebago) with a large plastic queen ant sculpture perched on the roof. The ant, which can be rotated to appear dead (legs up) or alive (legs down), was a group project of Dale and friends/neighbors Hank Hill, Bill Dauterive and Boomhauer to help them over the emotional turmoil they shared over the death of actor Hervé Villechaize. Later on, Dale ends up buying a Hyundai claimed to be owned by Deion Sanders former Dallas cowboy from another former cowboy and super bowl champion, "Big Willie Lane".

Dale is also seen to be a musician, with the electronic keyboard as his principal instrument. His résumé includes a stint with the Propaniacs, Big Mountain Fudgecake, and the Dale Gribble Bluegrass Experience.

During the episode "The Texas Skillsaw Massacre", it is revealed Dale also cares for and raises show turtles, where Dale was seen polishing a turtle using Turtle Wax and a handheld electronic buffer.

When the chemicals he used to kill rats forced Dale to briefly give up his job, he took a position as a corporate hatchet-man and was spectacularly good at firing people, but his action to deal with a roach infestation (which he caused inadvertently) at this job led him to return to extermination where he successfully killed every roach without the use of poisons. Dale's favorite TV shows are Sanford and Son and What's Happening!!. He enjoys drinking Alamo Beer with Hank, Bill and Boomhauer. Dale is an avid smoker (since third grade) of Manitoba brand cigarettes, most likely a parody of Marlboro cigarettes, and also drinks Mountain Dew (which he once asked Nancy to boil). In the episode "Dale Be Not Proud", Dale tells a boy receiving his kidney that the kidney likes Mountain Dew, and to give it a can once a week. He also stockpiled two CO2 pressurized drums of Mountain Dew in preparation for Y2K in the episode "Hillennium". In the same episode, he attempted to breed "gerbster", a combination of hamster and gerbil for fresh meat during Y2K (he had thought that the breeding-pair were gerbils, but Nancy had pointed out that one was a hamster).

Dale's paranoid nature extends to his home and family. He has coded scenarios should he ever come under threat (no matter how absurd or unlikely), albeit Nancy is oblivious to the exact nature of the scenario. His own home is rigged with various security and surveillance features; as to how he can afford them is uncertain as Nancy is the superior earner. He once rigged Hank's and his own mailbox to explode via the television remote. His rear sliding door features a backup grille style door (the kind found in shopping mall stores) to keep out intruders; his front door features a full metal roll-down door, while the porch lights serve as klaxons, which were put in use when the real Rusty Shackleford paid a visit (see below). His bathroom is accessible via keypad lock as is access to the basement. Dale's basement is his principal "headquarters". One episode indicates he has perimeter encompassing security cameras and motion detectors that respond in his own voice. His living room TV is rigged like a videophone. He records all his phone conversations but does not allow callers to record their calls to him themselves. He owns surplus Soviet night vision goggles and eavesdropping listeners.

Perhaps owing to the research he has conducted as a conspiracy theorist, Dale has a thorough knowledge of the workings of the American government, legal system, the BEAST (computer conspiracy), and bureaucracy. He has used this knowledge to assist his friends, both to help Hank with problems related to renewing his driver's license when a clerical error changes his gender, and to help John Redcorn with his land claim and lawsuit against the American government. Ironically, Dale's help for Hank in that instance came about after he realized the Warren Commission report was accurate and became obnoxiously patriotic, to the point of painting a huge American flag on Hank's house (without enough stars on it) and trying to turn Hank in to the Department of Homeland Security after he tried to remove it. However, he has a habit of horribly misconstruing information, having misunderstood placebo (a fake drug, usually sugar or colored water) for a top secret government research project and Hank for cleaning off the paint he put on Hank's roof as "defacing an American flag" in the aforementioned case. A running gag throughout the series is Dale's attempt (denied 6 times according to Hank) to construct his own guard tower on his front yard. In the episode "Flush with Power" he appealed the zoning board for such permission only to be denied. He was later granted permission by a corrupt politician; to do so if he helped blackmail Hank (who also served on the board) which Hank promptly tore up when Dale confessed. In the episode "Life: A Loser's Manual" Dale ordered aluminum rails to finally build his tower. To avoid county laws, using his knowledge of loopholes, he constructed the tower with reduced dimensions the County had no authority to condemn (Regulations come into effect if the structure exceeds 100 square feet and exceeds 40 feet in height) at 39 feet high. However the lack of a foundation caused it to collapse.

Dale stands 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m), and can bench press 35 pounds (16 kg). He shares a birthday with Van Cliburn (July 12). He is almost never seen without his signature Mack cap and prescription eyeglasses with sunglass lenses on a hinge, except on rare occasions where he is forced to remove them, as seen in the episode where he worked at a sticky notes business and had to adhere to a corporate dress code. He wears his cap and glasses indoors at all times, even at funerals. He always wears his hat because he is very sensitive about his hair loss.

He often gets caught up in his (usually far-fetched and extreme) conspiracy theories, which can sometimes cause him to be very selfish or double-cross his friends (particularly Hank), although in the end he usually sees sense and comes to the aid of his friends. His schemes also tend to run out of steam or collapse; he bought a low-power radio transmitter, and launched his own talk station "serving the entire tri-house area" Art Bell-style, but soon ran out of things to talk about on the air. (He later indicated that "Dale's Dead Bug", of which he is owner and sole employee, was offended by things he said on air. He sold the transmitter to "Mexican interests" â€“ namely, his friend, Octavio.) He also puts out an irregular newsletter titled "The Gribble Report", and was once asked by Hank not to send it to his father Cotton.

His trademark line is "Shi-shi-shi-shaa-haa", usually heard too fast to phonetically understand, and he says it whenever he is impressed with himself carrying out a plan or when springing a sudden move. He also exclaims "Wingo!" when excited and "That's a Gribble of an idea!" when someone thinks of a solution to his problems. He's also known for exclaiming "S'go, s'go!" (a contraction of "Let's go") when rushed or excited and "G'h!" when he is startled or learns something that feeds into his paranoid nature.

In the episode "Tankin' It to the Streets", Dale claims to have completed a Russian correspondence course and can speak the language, in this episode he is heard reciting perfect Russian as is done in one other episode "Nancy does Dallas" though his application of this in handling an Abrams M1A2 tank isn't exactly flawless (having flattened Kahn's new SUV, or, as Hank put it, "hit a curb"). In "Night and Deity", moreover, Dale is further shown to have some competency in Tagalog.

While Dale is boastful and often outgoing in his schemes, he invariably turns into a coward at the slightest sight of trouble, such as when he and Bobby attempt to steal the rival school's mascot (and subsequently retreats back to Tom Landry Middle School when they realize that their mascot costume isn't protected), Dale takes off the second Bobby tells him of the incoming students from the rival school, leaving Bobby behind (Dale ironically heads off to tell Hank so that the latter may go and save Bobby). However, he openly admits that he completely trusts his friends (particularly Hank), even more than himself, and in cases where he does realize the full impact of his actions, he can be surprisingly self-sacrificing. When he and his friends became volunteer firemen, he secretly switched his full oxygen tank with Hank's low-running one just before putting out a fire. On another occasion, in order to save Bobby from a swarm of fire ants, he intentionally transferred them to his own body and allowed them to all bite him at the same time, an action that nearly killed him. He also saved the guys from a crazed member of the gun club claiming to be a member of the CIA.

He is also a keen baker, as referenced in numerous episodes.

Dale heavily smokes (admitting to have been smoking for 30 years) Manitoba brand cigarettes. Manitoba cigarettes are the official (fictional) brand of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. According to a high ranking Manitoba president, Dale should have died by now, having smoked over 991,863 cigarettes (essentially 90 cigarettes per day), enough to earn every item in the Manitoba catalog. Dale uses Zippo lighters, visible whenever he lights up. He has been smoking since third grade.

Dale reveals that he doesn't know what to do with his hands and is consequently a heavy smoker ("Of Mice and Little Green Men"). This is also proven when he runs back for his cigarettes, despite the fact that a bomb that he created is armed. He once attempted to quit smoking and switched to chewing tobacco, but when his wife prohibited spitting in their house, he started packing the tobacco into a rolled newspaper and inhaling the fumes, which proved fruitless. Boomhauer lit the newspaper and Dale crowned him a genius. Dale also once reacted to a cigarette being taken out of his mouth by screeching "My oral fixation!" ("Torch Song Hillogy"). Dale has been smoking since the 3rd grade (with the same brand). This could be traced back to the fact that in elementary school Dale had social acceptance issues. When heavy rain caused flooding, Dale, fearing a Noah's ark type of flood, tapes a cigarette to one of his turtles and tells him to find dry land and plant it. When preparing for Y2K, he stockpiled numerous cartons of cigarettes, and during a trip to Mexico he is shown to have taped several packs of cigarettes to his chest in order to carry them back across the US border. He also keeps a single cigarette and match in a plastic bag under his hat as his last "smoke" for when he thinks he will soon die, which he has used once before when he thought he would die out at sea.

Dale's physical frailty and lack of athletic abilities is a running gag. While his friends were athletes in high school, he was the towel manager. Hank states that Dale can only bench press 35 pounds (16 kg) and that he has proven he can "kick Dale's ass" while standing on a ladder. He also is incapable of performing a single pull up. Dale himself admits that a prepubescent girl would probably beat him in a fight and that he doesn't know where his son got his athletic abilities (being unaware that John Redcorn is Joseph's biological father). During an altercation with Bill, Kahn describes him as an "anorexic chain smoker." Dale confirms the possibility that he may suffer from an eating disorder, when, in season three episode "Dog Dale Afternoon," Dale mentions "the binging, the purging," indicating that he suffers from bulimia, not anorexia (although this was while Dale was becoming more paranoid than normal). Dale also has very little stamina; Bobby is shown to easily power walk faster than Dale can run over a very short distance. He seems to have an advanced immunity to poisons and toxins; having been smoking for 30 years. When the police mistook him for an armed gunman they fired tear gas to which he suffered no ill effect claiming "I use stronger than this to kill squirrels". He stands at 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m) tall. Despite his physical shortcomings Dale claims to have "catlike reflexes," which he credits as the cause of any and all physical feats. Dale has excellent flexibility (which Nancy is said to enjoy) and also claims to be an expert in the fictitious martial art "Monkey Style." Oddly enough, Dale is a phenom competitive eater. In season 7, he spontaneously enters a hot dog eating contest, claiming: "Any idiot can eat hot dogs; it's not a talent." Moments later, Dale is repeatedly eating three hot dogs at a time - "tri-dogging." Dale totaled 34 & 1/8 hot dogs eaten and temporarily became a "gurgitator" or competitive eater. He is surprisingly agile to the point he managed to hop a fence to retain evidence until the police arrived to arrest the perpetrator.

Being physically weak, even describing himself as a "coward", Dale relies on trying to outsmart his adversaries. Dale routinely spends hours in his basement studying his friends and enemies via the surveillance equipment he has installed around his property. He usually comes up with elaborate revenge plots that typically fail. However, on occasion Dale does succeed in his scheming, such as when he was able to overthrow the president of the Gun Club to become the new president of the club by bluffing that he was a CIA officer. Dale also typically comes to wrong conclusions about actual events, a running gag in the show is Dale being unaware of Nancy cheating on him despite walking in on her and John Redcorn. Moreover, he typically thinks most events that occur to him are motivated malicious acts against him and not accidents, such as when Hank cuts off Dale's finger by accident using his band saw and Dale becomes convinced that Hank meant to injure him.

Dale owns a countless number of guns. He was at one point the president of the Arlen Gun Club (simply because he had the most guns, according to Hank). In one episode when Peggy opened a bookstore, Dale stated that he "literally has oodles of guns" and started selling them in the back of the store, complete with a firing range. Ironically, Dale (like the rest of the gun club) is a bad shot.

Dale is highly suspicious of all levels of government and ardently defends his Second Amendment rights, once remarking, "Guns don't kill people; the government does". Dale also refuses to pay taxes, does not vote ("The Perils of Polling"), and occasionally prints his own currency (Hank Hill typically appearing on the "Hundred-Gribble bill", according to Hank in "Mega-Lo Dale"). He runs away and sweats a lot when the IRS comes knocking on his door. In the episode "Movin' On Up", he refused to give Hank his social security number so the quartet of friends could rent a house on the block to use as a clubhouse. In another episode, he believed the government had tested "deadly placebo drugs" on Bill, supposedly made by "Puh-fizer" in order to create a group of super soldiers that could survive Arctic conditions to repel the Soviets in case of invasion via the North Pole. Despite his passionate dislike of Government, he has received welfare from unemployment offices under his alias "Rusty Shackleford". In one story arc, Dale went on a tour of the sites involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy to confirm his conspiracy theories, but when he finally read the entire part of a key FBI report on it he realized that the government had been telling the truth and that his entire worldview was ruptured; Dale then became even more annoying a patriot than he'd been a dissident (he tried to turn Hank in to the FBI and Homeland Security after Hank got sick of Dale's pro-government bragging) but used his newfound respect for the Federal government to get an obnoxious DMV employee to immediately correct Hank Hill's personal information after it had listed Hank as "female" and gave bureaucratic excuses for not changing it.

Dale is a self-employed exterminator. He likes lollipops. Different episodes portray his abilities in the field as anywhere from very poor to quite good, although he is always dedicated to his job. He seems to have great passion, but all this is merely to overcompensate for his lack of talent at this. He has mentioned that his own lack of skill results in several repeat customers. He idolizes other, more professional exterminators whom he gets to work with such as Shelia in the episode "Night and Deity" and Tommy and Rollo in "SerPUNT."

On different occasions he has attempted to kill a groundhog by throwing grenades down its various holes, and has nearly killed himself while trying to kill a single cornered rat. He does, however, uncover that teenagers were pestering the local Mega-lo Mart rather than the rats everyone else believed, in the process also discovering Chuck Mangione was living in the store. He also saves his office workplace at Stik-Tek from an accidental, self caused roach infestation.

Dale, whether described as good or bad at his job, actually makes very little money from the business. He states that he doesn't "make a living wage," on one occasion offering to spray Hank's lawn for $2. He doesn't pay any taxes or bills, with the exception of the cable bill. Instead, Nancy financially supports the family, giving Dale an allowance like a child for doing chores. He sometimes fights for a raise, to no avail. Also, in the episode "De-Kahnstructing Henry," he receives an unemployment check under his alias, Rusty Shackleford (who was a kid from his childhood who he thought had died, but who had merely moved away) which may or may not be a recurring tactic. From these two or three sources of income, Dale always seems to be able to pay for what he needs and to fund his various projects.

While Dale is generally suspicious of, and rude to, most people, he seems to have a particular dislike of Hank's wife, Peggy. He regularly makes insults behind her back (usually about her appearance) to Hank's face, and makes no real attempt to hide it from anyone. When recalling Peggy's ruined birthdays (flash floods, food poisoning, etc.), Hank states that Dale is the only person who enjoys her birthday (due to the misery it causes her). Dale even gleefully ruins her birthday murder mystery entertainment and makes every attempt to further worsen the situation just to make her feel worse. He states that he finds Kahn's insults toward Peggy "amusing". Dale states that he has simply "run out of things to say to that woman (Peggy)". He finds her unattractive, arrogant, incompetent and quite dull. And "nuts" in the episode "To Spank With Love." Dale also seems to be well aware of, and annoyed by, Peggy's highly inflated ego and simply wishes to knock her down a peg. Despite all of this, he and Peggy tend to work very well together in a business like fashion. In the episode "Peggy's Gone to Pots", they work together to fake their own deaths. After failing to drive Bill's car off a cliff with Dale and Peggy mannequins inside, Dale pulls a pistol and puts a bullet in the head of Peggy's doll, perhaps symbolic of how much he dislikes her. Despite this, Dale and Peggy collaborate amiably in "Hank's Bully," when they enter a taxidermy contest together, as well as the episode "Full Metal Dustjacket," where Peggy owns a bookstore that Dale sells guns out of. In the episode "The Exterminator", Dale, waking up in the hospital and disappointed with Hank notifying Nancy, designates Peggy as his emergency contact. In "Nancy Boys", after going on many couple dates that is reconciling Dale and Nancy's strained marriage, Peggy tells Hank that if he and Dale were to ever switch wives with each other, the clear winner would be Dale, indicating that she considers herself more attractive than Nancy.

Due to his beliefs, he uses the alias Rusty Shackleford whenever he doesn't want his real name known, mostly when ordering pizza. However, Dale inevitably reveals his identity anyway after a few minutes through one act of stupidity or another, such as using the two names interchangeably with the same person.

Dale has claimed to have the birth certificate of a child who died in 1953 with the name Rusty Shackleford. It is not known whether this document is real or fake. The only two documents he has ever signed with his real name were the neighborhood block charter and a Mega-lo-Mart club card application on accident; he refuses to sign any document authorized by a government official. Along with the alias, he often wears a false mustache to "tighten" his security.

In the episode "Peggy's Gone to Pots", Rusty Shackleford is revealed to be a real person after showing up on Dale's doorstep. He had come to see Dale because of some medical documents that were filled out and never paid in his name. He tries to tell Dale that he had never actually died and had simply moved, but Dale immediately flees out of fear that Rusty had come to hurt him and his family. This forced Rusty Shackleford to remain in the neighborhood for the course of a few days searching for Dale and in the end all he had wanted was a signature. Dale used the alias central american singing sensation Lamateo when he was in Mexico for the elections. [3]


what was jackie gleason's wife's name on the jackie gleason show

By far the most memorable and popular of Gleason's characters was blowhard Brooklyn bus driver Ralph Kramden, featured originally in a series of Cavalcade skits known as "The Honeymooners", with Pert Kelton as his wife Alice, and Art Carney as his upstairs neighbor Ed Norton. These were so popular that in 1955 Gleason suspended the variety format and filmed The Honeymooners as a regular half-hour sitcom (television's first spin-off), co-starring Carney, Audrey Meadows (who had replaced the blacklisted Kelton after the earlier move to CBS), and Joyce Randolph. Finishing 19th in the ratings, these 39 episodes were subsequently rerun constantly in syndication, often five nights a week, with the cycle repeating every two months for decades. They are probably the most familiar body of work from 1950s television with the exception of I Love Lucy starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.

The Jackie Gleason Show

DuMont:June 4, 1949 (1949-06-04) – September 26, 1952 (1952-09-26)

The Jackie Gleason Show is the name of a series of American network television shows that starred Jackie Gleason, which ran from 1952 to 1970, in various forms.

Gleason's first variety series, which aired on the DuMont Television Network under the title Cavalcade of Stars, first aired June 4, 1949. The show's first host was comedian Jack Carter, who was followed by Jerry Lester. After Lester quit in June 1950 (soon to become the star of NBC's first late-night series, Broadway Open House), Gleason—who had made his mark on the first television incarnation of The Life of Riley sitcom—stepped into Cavalcade on July 15, 1950 and became an immediate sensation.

The show was broadcast live in front of a theater audience, and offered the same kind of vaudevillian entertainment common to early television revues. Gleason's guests included New York-based performers of stage and screen, including Bert Wheeler, Smith and Dale, Patricia Morison, and Vivian Blaine. Production values were modest, owing to DuMont's humble facilities and a thrifty sponsor (Quality Drugs, representing most of the nation's drug stores).

In 1952, CBS president William S. Paley offered Gleason a considerably higher salary. The series was retitled The Jackie Gleason Show and premiered on CBS Television on September 20, 1952. Paley used the show's position on CBS to showcase artists like Frankie Laine, Frankie Avalon, Doris Day, and the teenage guitar prodigy Zane Ashton.[1] In 1953, CBS' own orchestral accordionist John Serry Sr. made a cameo appearance.

While much of DuMont's programming archive was destroyed after they ceased broadcasting,[2] a surprising number of Cavalcade of Stars episodes survive, including several episodes at the UCLA Film and Television Archive. Additionally, at least 14 Gleason episodes survive at the Paley Center for Media.

In his book The Forgotten Network, author David Weinstein mentions an unusual aspect of the DuMont network. He notes that while Drug Store Productions was technically the sponsor, they in turn sold the commercial air time to various companies and products. Weinstein notes this as an early example of U.S. network television moving away from the single-sponsor system typical of the early 1950s. He quotes former DuMont executive Ted Bergmann describing the DuMont version as featuring six commercial breaks during the hour, with each break comprising a single one-minute commercial.[3]

The show typically opened with a monologue from Gleason, followed by sketch comedy involving Gleason and a number of regular performers (including Art Carney) and a musical interlude featuring the June Taylor Dancers. (Taylor later became Gleason's sister-in-law; he married her sister Marilyn in 1975.)

Gleason portrayed a number of recurring characters, including:

The series was a big hit for CBS, finishing at #8 in the Nielsen ratings for the 1953–1954 season and #2 in 1954–1955.[5] The Jackie Gleason Show also earned Emmy nominations for best variety series in 1953, 1954 and 1955, for Gleason as best star in 1954 and 1955, for Audrey Meadows as best supporting actress in 1954 and 1957, Art Carney for best supporting actor in 1957, June Taylor for best choreography in 1956, and best writing and best engineering effects in 1955. The series won Emmys for Meadows as best supporting actress in 1955, Carney as best supporting actor in 1954 and 1955, and Taylor for choreography in 1955. Gleason never received an Emmy.[6]

The show's original variety format and title returned in September 1956 and continued until June 1957. Then, in October 1958, Gleason debuted a half-hour version of The Jackie Gleason Show, with Buddy Hackett as a sidekick, but it was short-lived, cancelled in January 1959.

In 1961, Gleason began an ill-fated stint as host of a game show called You're in the Picture, which lasted only one episode, and was so bad that it led to Gleason offering an on-air apology to his viewers the following week. Committed to filling a quota of episodes, Gleason renamed the series The Jackie Gleason Show and turned it into a short-lived talk show, featuring one-on-one informal interviews with Art Carney, Jayne Mansfield, Bobby Darin, and other friends and celebrities.  It ran for eight episodes.

In 1962, Gleason returned to the tried-and-true variety format with his American Scene Magazine. The official title of the show was, again, The Jackie Gleason Show. In its first year, Gleason's ratings killed the competition: a revived comedy-western-variety program, The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show, on ABC and the legal drama Sam Benedict with Edmond O'Brien on NBC. American Scene was initially taped in New York City; after two seasons, production moved to Miami Beach (1964), on Jackie's insistence. (This caused difficulties for announcer Johnny Olson, who had several other announcing jobs; Olson commuted frequently between New York City and Miami to accommodate Gleason.)

Gleason would begin his monologue each week and be surprised by the flamboyant jackets worn by bandleader Sammy Spear. (Beholding Spear's animal-print blazer, Gleason quipped, "I've heard of Tiger Rag, but this is ridiculous!") Ralph Kramden, Reggie Van Gleason, the Poor Soul, and the rest of Gleason's comic characters were regular attractions. Frank Fontaine, as bug-eyed, grinning "Crazy" Guggenheim, starred in the Joe the Bartender skits, delighting fans with his nutty speaking voice and goofy laugh, and charmed by his surprisingly mellow singing voice. June Taylor's chorus girl routines revived for the television generation the aerial pattern kaleidoscope formations made famous on film by Busby Berkeley. During this time, Gleason's show finished #17 for the 1962–1963 season, #15 for 1963–1964, #21 in 1964–1965 and #24 in 1965–1966.[5]

In fall 1966, the show titled reverted to simply The Jackie Gleason Show (dropping the American Scene format), and would remain so until its cancellation in 1970. By this point episodes included guest stars and skits. A component during this period was the musical Honeymooners episodes, which had first been tried on Gleason's variety show during the 1956â€“1957 season. These were later collected as The Color Honeymooners, with Sheila MacRae and Jane Kean as Alice and Trixie, respectively. The regular cast included Art Carney; Milton Berle was a frequent guest star. The show was shot in color on videotape at the Miami Beach Auditorium (today called the Jackie Gleason Theatre of the Performing Arts), and Gleason never tired of promoting the "sun and fun capital of the world" on camera.[7] Hordes of vacationers took Gleason's advice, boosting Florida's economy. Later specials were taped at the Olympia Theatre's Gusman Center across Biscayne Bay in downtown Miami. The shows began with the television camera in front of a boat speeding toward the shore of Miami Beach, and ended with Gleason bellowing, "Miami Beach audiences are the greatest audiences in the world!"

During this period, The Jackie Gleason Show earned three more Emmy nominations, for Carney for special classification in 1966 and for variety series and writing in 1967. Carney won two Emmys for his work in 1967 and 1968.[6] The series also ranked at No. 5 in 1966-1967 and No. 9 in 1967-1968.[5]

At the end of the 1968-69 season, The Jackie Gleason Show still garnered decent ratings, ranking at No. 25 in the Nielsens and CBS renewed it for an eighth season. The following year would bring a radical change to the series. Gleason went on a stringent diet in 1969 and lost approximately 60 pounds. When the show returned in September 1969, there was much publicity about Gleason's new slimmer look. To gracefully incorporate his weight loss into the show, it was explained that Ralph Kramden also had gone on a diet and lost weight. This proved to be somewhat of a detriment (especially since Carney had gained weight). Jokes about Kramden's weight had been a strong component of humor for the Honeymooners sketches.[7] A skinnier Ralph did not seem as funny to viewers and the overall ratings for the program began to slip. Coupled with the fact that CBS was concerned with demographics and wanted to change its image with more urban-oriented shows (to attract younger audiences), the network not only cancelled Gleason's series in the spring of 1970, but also The Red Skelton Hour and Petticoat Junction as well. Beginning in late December, 1970, CBS began airing selected reruns of The Jackie Gleason Show (featuring only the color Honeymooners episodes) in prime time on Sunday nights at 10 p.m. (EST), thereby replacing the short-lived Tim Conway Comedy Hour.[8]


did morgan corinthos come back to general hospital

The character was created under head writers, Robert Guza, Jr. and Charles Pratt, Jr. and introduced by executive producer Jill Farren Phelps, as a newborn on October 24, 2003. In 2009, the character is SORASed (rapidly aged) and the role was recast with actor Aaron Refvem in 2009, and later Aaron Sanders in 2010. The character is written out of the series in the summer of 2011 by head writer, Garin Wolf, and sent off to military school. Craig's Morgan is introduced in 2013 under head writer Ron Carlivati and executive producer, Frank Valentini, SORASed again. Craig left the soap in October 2016 and made a one-off appearance in January 2018.

Morgan Corinthos

Morgan Corinthos was a fictional character from the original ABC Daytime soap opera, General Hospital, last portrayed by Bryan Craig. Morgan is the only biological child of Sonny and Carly Corinthos.

Craig's performance has been met with critical acclaim, winning him the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series in 2016 and 2017.

Upon the character's onscreen birth, the role of Morgan was portrayed by twins, Isador Talamo and Adonios Talamo.[1] Jordan and Dylan Cline then appeared in the role from 2004 to 2005. George Juarez stepped into the role in late 2005. Juarez last appeared as Morgan in April 2009.[1] On May 12, 2009, Aaron Refvem made his first appearance as Morgan, on a recurring basis.[2] In the spring of 2010, Refvem reported that he had landed a role in a prime time series, but said that he didn't expect it to interfere in his work schedule for GH. A day later, ABC released a statement which confirmed that Refvem had been replaced due to a scheduling conflict.[3] Refvem departed from the series on May 4, 2010[1] leaving for a role in the pilot of This Little Piggy.[2]

Aaron Sanders took over and first appeared on April 14, 2010.[4] Sanders made his last appearance on July 21, 2011.[5] In July 2012, Refvem revealed confirmed on Twitter the possibility of his return to the role of Morgan. Though the series never commented on Refvem's statement, head writer, Ron Carlivati hinted at the possibility.[6] In December 2012, the series released a casting call for a white male, between the ages of 14 and 17. There was speculation that the character was a recast for the role of Morgan.[7] In March 2013, it was reported that Drew Osborne had filmed scenes with Maurice Benard; Osborne's striking resemblance to Chad Duell led to speculation that he could be Morgan or a recast of Duell's character, Michael. Later, message board posters began reporting that Craig had been cast in the role of Morgan despite no official confirmation from ABC.[8] On April 17, 2013, after months of speculation from fans, a rep from the show confirmed the news that Bryan Craig had been cast in the role of Morgan. Craig began filming his first scenes on April 15.[9] Though no official airdate was announced, Craig's first appearance was slated for May 2013 on a contractual basis.[10] Craig later revealed to Soap Opera Digest that he was hesitant to do a soap. However, the role of Morgan changed his mind about daytime. However, it was his parents who convinced him to sign a three-year contract.[11] On the set of General Hospital, Craig met his real-life girlfriend, Kelly Thiebaud, who portrays Britt Westbourne.

In September 2016, it was revealed that Craig would be departing from the show, last appearing on October 31, 2016.[12][13][14]

In January 2018, Craig made a guest appearance on the January 17 episode focused on Ava's surgery.[15]

The December 2012 casting call described the character as being "[s]oulful [and] complex" with "intensity beyond his years."[7] Angela Durrell of TV Source described the character of Morgan as "[s]ensitive and emotionally wounded." Morgan craves "strong ties" and stability.[16] Mara Levinsky described Craig's Morgan as "impulsive" and "imperfect."[11] Michael Logan described Craig's Morgan as a "marvelous muddle of puppy awkwardness and testy testosterone."[17] When asked about his character's "casual and low-key," wardrobe, despite his family being filthy rich, Craig said Morgan is all about quick cash, but "far from snooty." He is the kind of guy that sleeps all day, and eats pizza for breakfast. His sense of style reflects his laid back personality.[18] Susan Hornik described Craig's Morgan as a "Prince Harry-esque, bad boy."[19]

After overcoming the threat of Sonny's longtime love, Brenda Barrett (Vanessa Marcil), Sonny and Carly (Tamara Braun) reunite and plan to make Michael (Dylan Cash) a big brother. On February 4, 2003, Sonny and Carly make love for the first time since their reunion. GH writer, Elizabeth Korte wouldn't confirm or deny the pregnancy, but said that several events that had recently played out could make viewers think a baby is coming. ABC Soaps In Depth hinted that if Carly were pregnant, the child's birth would coincide with November Sweeps. This would be Sonny's first opportunity to witness the birth of one of his children.[20] The series had recently introduced Sonny's vengeful brother, Ric Lansing (Rick Hearst) who takes an interest in the Corinthos clan, and Carly specifically. Ric drugs Carly on February 17/18 and leads her to believe they have slept together. Carly is unaware of her baby's paternity. Ric's wife Elizabeth (Rebecca Herbst) miscarries in May 2003 and he blames Sonny. Meanwhile, Sonny and Carly happily prepare for the birth of their child, as Ric obsesses over the miscarriage. He formulates a plan and buys a house with a secret panic room.[21] Ric kidnaps Carly before her best friends' wedding and locks her in the panic room.[22] Carly escapes only to be kidnapped by rival crime lord, Lorenzo Alcazar (Ted King). Carly goes into false labor, and is eventually rescued by Sonny, Jason and Ric himself. Meanwhile, the constant danger begins to remind Sonny of how he lost his first wife, Lily (Lilly Melgar) and their unborn child in a car explosion; Lily even appears to Sonny accusing him of putting the child in danger. Then head writer, Robert Guza revealed that Lily's prophecy would come true as Carly faces major complications while giving birth. In actuality the woman who appeared before Sonny was a prostitute named Marcella Montoya who was hired by Lorenzo to get plastic surgery look like Lily. All alone, Carly falls down a flight of stairs and goes into labor and she is discovered by Alcazar. Sonny mistakenly believes Alcazar is hurting Carly, and shoots him. The bullet is lodged in Carly's head, and she falls into a coma shortly after giving birth on October 24, 2003.[23] Maurice Benard and Tamara Braun revealed to Soaps In Depth that the filming of the birth scenes felt extremely real. The eight-week-old infant was covered in a jelly like substance to make it look like a newborn. After the birth, Carly passes out from the gunshot wound, forcing Braun to play the rest of the scenes with her eyes closed. According to Braun, her connection with Benard was on a different level, and she felt the need to actually comfort him. Benard admitted that he became extremely emotional after the taping and couldn't stop crying. Those watching were also in tears.[24] During a fan gathering in 2003, Tamara Braun had fans submit suggestions for the child's name. Braun and her co-star Maurice Benard looked through the names and presented some of the suggestions to the writers.[25] The character is named for his godfather Jason Morgan (Steve Burton), and the late Stone Cates (Michael Sutton); who died from AIDS as a teenager.[16]

With Refvem's casting, the character was aged from 8 to 12 years of age.[26] Upon the return of Robin Christopher's Skye Chandler in 2010, some hoped that the series would age her daughter, Lila Rae Alcazar, and make her a love interest for Morgan. The potential romance would definitely cause trouble considering Lila Rae's father, the late Lorenzo Alcazar (Ted King) was once Sonny's most formidable opponent.[27] Instead of taking the young character in a romantic direction, Morgan develops a relationship with mob soldier Dominic Pirelli (Dominic Zamprogna) when he saves him from being hit by a car at the General Hospital carnival. The two then bond over baseball only for Dominic to be shot by Sonny who discovers he is an undercover cop. It is then revealed that Dominic is actually Sonny's son, Dante Falconeri, which complicates his relationship with Morgan a bit more. Morgan is later forced to testify against his father during a murder trial and he is put in the position of having to choose between saving his father, or revealing the truth about his brother Michael's part in their stepmother Claudia (Sarah Brown)'s murder.[28] Though Dante manages to protect Morgan, he then controversially tricks Morgan into revealing Michael's whereabouts.[29] The character is written off-canvas in the summer of 2011.[7]

With Craig's casting, the character of Morgan was rapidly aged to 19 years old.[30] Morgan "will be bring trouble in his wake!" said Soap Opera Digest.[31] The character's "reintegration" would be anything but smooth.[8] Michael Fairman of On-Air On-Soaps questioned "Just what will Morganâ€™s disposition be [l]ike when he returns to Port Charles?" due to Sonny and Carly being his parents.[32] Regan Cellura of Daytime Confidential reported that Morgan runs into trouble in the mob. The departing Brandon Barash, who played Johnny Zacchara alerts Connie Falconeri (Kelly Sullivan) of Morgan's predicament.[33] According to head writer, Ron Carlivati, the canvas was ripe for Morgan's return.[34] While attending Vanderbilt University, Morgan wracks up some gambling debts putting his loved ones in danger; while Morgan hides out, his roommate, Travis (Drew Osborne) is left to fend for himself.[35][36] Though he barely escapes with his life, Morgan appears to have developed a gambling addiction, much like his grandfather, Mike Corbin (Ron Hale). In June 2013, Craig is injured with a broken arm and the writers decide to write the injury in. Initial rumors had Morgan being attacked by debt collectors; however, the injury is instead scripted as a wrestling move gone wrong with Alice Gunderson (Bergen Williams). It appears that Morgan had overcome his gambling addiction.[37]

On May 14, 2013, it is revealed that Morgan and Kiki have been dating.[38] Kiki and Morgan's relationship is immediately met with opposition due to her involvement in his gambling.[39] A Soapnet promo indicated that Alderson's Kiki could potentially drive a wedge between Michael and Morgan.[40] Morgan is usually being protected by Michael, but now that he's older and he wants to prove to Kiki that he's a good catch, "a 'perfect' big brother is not what Morgan needs." Carlivati explained that Morgan is the Prince Harry to Michael's Prince William. Morgan is all about having fun which and the responsible Michael sees Morgan as acting like a "screw-up".[41] Craig told Soap Opera Digest that Morgan notices the tension between Kiki and Michael but he had yet to understand how far their relationship had progressed.[42] Though Morgan rushes Kiki into marriage, and he is truly in love with her, Morgan needs to keep her away from Michael.[43] In August 2013, Craig said that he did not know who Kiki would end up with but knew for sure that any future romance between Michael and Kiki would drive a wedge between the brothers.[19] When Michael's biological father, A. J. Quartermaine (Sean Kanan) becomes the prime suspect in the murder of Sonny's girlfriend, it causes even more tension; Morgan immediately wants to come forward about finding A. J.'s gun, while Kiki wants to spare Michael's feelings. Morgan's need for "justice" is fueled by his jealousy.[44] Craig admitted that the storyline made things a bit awkward due to the fact that Duell and Alderson were dating in real life. However, Morgan and Kiki's relationship is doomed from the start. An unstable Sonny, decides to expose that Morgan knew the truth of about Kiki's paternity before he married her. Morgan is humiliated[45] The stage is set to put Morgan at odds with his entire family, including his father played by Emmy winner Maurice Benard. The fall out also culminates in Morgan falling into bed with his mother-in-law, Ava Jerome (Maura West).[11]

Morgan is christened on December 2003, with Jason and Sonny's sister Courtney Matthews (Alicia Leigh Willis) as his godparents. He later attends a private Catholic school, Queen of Angels. In March 2005, Morgan and his siblings, Kristina and Michael are temporarily kidnapped by A. J. Quartermaine (then Billy Warlock), but are rescued by Jason and his then girlfriend, Sam McCall (Kelly Monaco). Carly marries Jasper Jacks (Ingo Rademacher) in April 2007 after the Metro Court Hotel hostage crisis occurred by Jax's brother Jerry Jacks (Sebastian Roché). He and Morgan form a close bond and Jax considers Morgan his own. In August 2010 Morgan goes to see Sonny, despite his mother's wishes. Sonny talks with him, until Carly arrives. Carly sends Morgan home, and explains to Sonny that she is making up for past mistakes with Michael; she does not want Morgan to be around Sonny, due to his violent life. Carly asks her husband, Jax to adopt Morgan, and he agrees; however, they are unable to complete the process before Jax disappears. In late December 2010 and early January 2011 Morgan, Molly (Haley Pullos), Kristina (Lexi Ainsworth), Michael (Chad Duell) and other Port Charles residents are on their way to a ski resort when the bus crashes. Morgan is thrown from the bus and separated from the others with a broken leg. He later attends Sonny and Brenda's wedding and Carly allows Morgan to begin having contact with Sonny again. In July, Morgan and Molly kidnap his sister Josslyn in an attempt to stop Jax from taking Josslyn away from Carly upon their divorce; however the plan fails when Kristina discovers them. In the summer 2011, after Jax is presumed dead in a plane crash, Carly enrolls Morgan in military school to protect him from Sonny's influence, using her maiden name, "Benson". According to Carly, Morgan is relieved that he no longer has to live with the stigma of being a mobster's son, and he is adjusting well at school.

In 2013, Morgan (Craig) is found to be living with his girlfriend Kiki Jerome (then Kristen Alderson) and his girlfriend's mother Ava Jerome (Maura West) in New York City, where Michael tracks him down after he is attacked and left for dead. Sonny steps in to protect Morgan from another beating and Morgan moves in with Michael after Kristina (Lindsey Morgan) started enrolling in Wesleyan University. Kiki also moves in the brothers and Morgan notices the sexual tension between them. He is relieved when the two are revealed to be cousins, and Morgan and Kiki move into the Quartermaine boat house. Morgan eventually learns that Kiki and Michael aren't related, but withholds the information. Morgan confesses the truth to Sonny and convinces him to keep the secret while he marries Kiki. Though Kiki's paternity is exposed, the couple has already married. Even when at odds, Morgan and Michael come together to rescue Sonny when his girlfriend Connie is murdered. At Kiki and Morgan's wedding party, Sonny breaks down and reveals that Morgan knew about Kiki's paternity before they married. Following the revelation, Morgan begins sleeping with Ava. Morgan later moves in with Ava, against his family's wishes. Morgan accidentally discovers that Ava, and her brother, Julian Jerome (William deVry) are going after his Sonny's crime organization and is forced to turn against Sonny in exchange for his life. However, Morgan uses the situation as a way to get revenge on his father and brother. Eventually, Sonny figures out the truth, but Morgan refuses to back down from working with the Jeromes. In a shootout, though, Morgan ends up accidentally shooting Max Giambetti (Derk Cheetwood), Sonny's bodyguard who helped raise Morgan. Seeing the danger of his actions, Morgan tries to get out of the business, but Julian threatens to kill Carly and Michael if Morgan doesn't spy on him. Sonny, though, figures out Julian's scheme and gets Morgan out. Ava is reluctant to give Morgan up, and provides Sonny info on Julian to prove her loyalty.

Jen Snyder of TV Source was relieved that the "much anticipated" aging had finally come upon the announcement of Refvem's casting.[26] Refvem was an immediately hit with fans and critics alike. In October 2009, Soapnet listed the young actor as the "Performer of the Week" for the week of September 28, 2009 for Morgan's toast at the wedding of supercouple Damian Spinelli and Maxie Jones. The article categorized Refvem as one of the best child actors in daytime and described his performance as "the very definition of adorable."[46] Refvem was applauded for his performance in February 2010 in which his character Morgan attempted to play peacemaker between his new brother, Dante and his uncle Jason despite the fact that Dante was trying to send their father to prison. His work was considered "Emmy" worthy.[47] In 2010, Refvem was nominated by The Young Artist Foundation for the "Best Performance in a TV Series by a Recurring Younger Actor, 13 years old and younger."[48] Upon Refvem's departure, Sara Bibel of Deep Soap said she hoped his replacement would be just as talented but commented how weird it would be considering the role of Morgan's brother had also been recast.[49] An article on Soapnet.com described Refvem's tenure as "adorably excellent" and referred to the news of his departure as "bittersweet." The piece also applauded Refvem for being able to hold his own opposite veterans such as Maurice Benard as Sonny, Laura Wright as Carly, and Dominic Zamprogna as Dante.[50] Soaps In Depth urged the already angry fans not to blame ABC for Refvem's ousting because it was beyond their control.[51]

Soap Central's Tamilu had a tough time accepting Sanders in the role and explained that Drew Garrett's ousting as Michael was already enough for viewers to deal with, and losing a beloved actor like Refvem was a bit shocking. She said the climactic scenes in which Morgan discovered Michael's prison sentence kind of fell flat due to the sudden recast. However, the user praised Refvem for being able to "cry at the drop of a hat" and said that he oozed sincerity.[52] With the installation of new head-writer Garin Wolf, some advised the scribe to bring Refvem back as Morgan.[53] Despite some mixed reviews early on, other critics began to accept Sanders as the "NuMorgan." Michael Fairman applauded Sanders for his performance during a scene in February 2011 in which Morgan learned of Carly and Jax's separation. Fairman said Sanders "delivered a very real and emotional moment."[54] Sanders was also nominated for a Young Artist Award for his portrayal of Morgan in February 2011.[55]

According to head writer, Ron Carlivati, fans had been asking for Morgan's return since early 2012.[34] "Morgan finally returns!" said Michael Fairman of Craig's casting referring to the character's 2-year absence.[32] TV Source Magazine described Craig's May 8 debut as Morgan as the episode's "big surprise" considering it coincided with the much anticipated debut of Emmy winner Maura West as Ava Jerome.[56] Michael Fairman said, "lo and behold" of Craig's surprising debut.[57] Bryan Craig was a hit with his cast mates and fans.[58] Though his portrayal of Morgan initially received mixed reviews, a lot of viewers eventually came to enjoy Craig in the role, despite Morgan's actions.[59] The confrontation scenes at Morgan and Kiki's wedding party were praised in Soap Opera Digest. A viewer from Minnesota said Craig had finally grown into the role and also praised the writers for addressing Sonny's favoritism of Michael.[60] Craig ranked at #1 on Daytime Confidential's list of the "10 Best Soap Opera Newbies" in the year 2013. The praised Craig for his portrayal of Morgan and said the actor "engaged in a delicate dance of pathos and mania" when Morgan begs Sonny to keep the secret about Kiki's paternity. The website said Craig would have a future as an Emmy winner.[61]

Craig received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination in the Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series category for his portrayal of Morgan in 2014 and 2015, before winning the award in 2016.[62][63][64]

When Craig and West shared their first scenes, Daytime Confidential encouraged a potential romance due to the chemistry between the two actors. 76% of voters hoped the two would eventually hook up.[65] Morgan's shocking romance with his mother-in-law Ava was a hit with many fans and critics alike and garnered the portmanteau "AMor". The pairing also made TV Guide's "HOT LIST" for the year 2013. The magazine said, "…nothing prepped us for such illicit cougar love… or how much we'd dig it!" Of the pairing, Michael Logan said, "It's so wrong, it's right."[17] Mara Levinsky praised Craig for his portrayal of Morgan following his first tryst with Ava. The plot twist also resulted in the character's name trending for several consecutive days on Twitter.[11] A poll on Daytime Confidential saw 73% of voters wanted to see more of Morgan and Ava's relationship.[66] The couple ranked at #4 on Daytime Confidential's list of the "10 Best Soap Opera Couples" for the year. "If General Hospital bottled the chemistry shared by mob legacies Ava Jerome (Maura West) and Morgan Corinthos (Bryan Craig), the soap would be able to sustain a $100 million annual operating budget."[67]