title: Equus (genus)

text: Feral horses vary in degree of protection and generate considerable controversy. For example, in Australia, they are considered a non-native invasive species, often viewed as pests, though are also considered to have some cultural and economic value. In the United States, feral horses and burros are generally considered an introduced species because they are descendants from domestic horses brought to the Americas from Europe. While they are viewed as pests by many livestock producers, conversely, a view also exists that "E. f. caballus" is a reintroduced once-native species returned to the Americas that should be granted endangered species protection. At present, certain free-roaming horses and burros have federal protection as "living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West" under the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, and in "Kleppe v. New Mexico", the United States Supreme Court ruled that the animals so designated were, as a matter of law, wildlife.


title: Legion of Super-Heroes

text: The Legion of Super-Heroes is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino, the Legion is a group of superpowered beings living in the 30th and 31st centuries of the , and first appears in "Adventure Comics" #247 (April 1958).


title: Legion of Super-Heroes

text: Initially, the team was closely associated with the original Superboy character (Superman when he was a teenager), and was portrayed as a group of time travelers. Later, the Legion's origin and back story were fleshed out, and the group was given its own monthly comic. Eventually, Superboy was removed from the team altogether and appeared only as an occasional guest star.


title: Legion of Super-Heroes

text: The team has undergone two major reboots during its run. The original version was replaced with a new rebooted version following the events of the "" storyline in 1994 and another rebooted team was introduced in 2004. A fourth version of the team, nearly identical to the original version, was introduced in 2007. In 2019, DC announced a new series written by Brian Michael Bendis and drawn by Ryan Sook.


title: Legion of Super-Heroes

text: Superboy was the featured series in "Adventure Comics" in the 1950s. In "Adventure Comics" #247 (April 1958) by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino, Superboy met three teenagers from the 30th century: Lightning Boy, Saturn Girl, and Cosmic Boy, who were members of a "super-hero club" called the Legion of Super-Heroes. Their club had been formed with Superboy as an inspiration, and they had time travelled to recruit Superboy as a member. After a series of tests, Superboy was awarded membership and returned to his own time.


title: Legion of Super-Heroes

text: Although intended as a one-off story focusing on Superboy, the Legion proved so popular that it returned for an encore in "Adventure Comics" #267 (December 1959). In this story, Lightning Boy had been renamed Lightning Lad, and their costumes were very close to those they wore throughout the Silver Age of Comic Books. The Legion's popularity grew, and they appeared in further stories in "Adventure Comics", "Action Comics", and other titles edited by Mort Weisinger over the next few years. The ranks of the Legion, only hinted at in those first two stories, was filled with new heroes such as Chameleon Boy, Invisible Kid, Colossal Boy, Star Boy, Brainiac 5, Triplicate Girl, Shrinking Violet, Sun Boy, Bouncing Boy, Phantom Girl, and Ultra Boy. Even the 20th-century cousin to Superman, Supergirl, was recruited as a member.


title: Legion of Super-Heroes

text: In "Adventure Comics" #300 (September 1962), the Legion received their own regular feature, cover-billed "Superboy in 'Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes'". While they would share space with Superboy solo stories for a couple of years, they eventually displaced Superboy from the title entirely as their popularity grew. Lightning Lad was killed in "Adventure Comics" #304 (January 1963) and revived in issue #312 (September 1963).


title: Legion of Super-Heroes

text: It was the "Adventure Comics" run which established the Legion's general workings and environment. A club of teenagers, they operated out of a clubhouse in the shape of an inverted yellow rocket ship which looked as if it had been driven into the ground. The position of Legion leader rotated among the membership. Each Legionnaire had to possess one natural superpower which no other member possessed; despite this, several members had overlapping powers, particularly Superboy, Supergirl, Mon-El, and Ultra Boy. Some issues included comical moments where candidates with bizarre, useless, or dangerous abilities would try out for membership and be rejected; five of these flawed candidates went on to form the Legion of Substitute Heroes. The Legion was based on Earth and protected an organization of humans and aliens called the United Planets alongside the regular police the Science Police. The setting for each story was 1000 years from the date of publication.


title: Legion of Super-Heroes

text: In "Adventure Comics" #346 (July 1966), Jim Shooter, 14 years old at the time, wrote his first Legion story. Soon thereafter, Shooter became the regular writer of the Legion stories, with Curt Swan, and later Win Mortimer, as artist. Shooter wrote the story in which Ferro Lad died—the first "real" death of a Legionnaire (although Lightning Lad had been believed dead for a while before)—and introduced many other enduring concepts, including the Fatal Five, Karate Kid, Princess Projectra, Shadow Lass, the Dark Circle, Mordru and the "Adult Legion", a conjecture regarding what the Legionnaires would be like when they grew up.


title: Legion of Super-Heroes

text: The Legion's last appearance in "Adventure Comics" was #380 (May 1969), and they were displaced by Supergirl in the next issue. The early 1970s saw the Legion relegated to the status of back-up feature. First, the team's stories were moved to "Action Comics" for issues #377–392 (June 1969 – September 1970). Following Mort Weisinger's retirement from DC, the Legion was passed to the oversight of editor Murray Boltinoff and began appearing occasionally as a backup in "Superboy", starting with #172 (March 1971), with writers E. Nelson Bridwell and Cary Bates and artist George Tuska. Dave Cockrum began drawing the series with "Superboy" #184 (April 1972), again increasing the team's popularity.


title: Legion of Super-Heroes

text: The first comic book published under the title "Legion of Super-Heroes" was a four-issue series published in 1973 that reprinted Legion tales from "Adventure Comics". In the same year, the Legion returned to cover billing on a book when "Superboy" became "Superboy starring the Legion of Super-Heroes" with #197 (August 1973). Crafted by Bates and Cockrum, the feature proved popular and saw such events as the wedding of Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel in "Superboy" #200 (Feb 1974). Issues #202 (June 1974) and #205 (Dec. 1974) of the series were in the 100 Page Super Spectacular format. Cockrum was replaced on art by Mike Grell as of issue #203 (August 1974) which featured the death of Invisible Kid. With #231 (September 1977), the book's title officially changed to "Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes" and also became a "giant-size" title. At this point, the book was written by longtime fan Paul Levitz and drawn by James Sherman, although Gerry Conway frequently wrote as well. Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad were married in "All-New Collectors' Edition" #C-55 (1978), a treasury-sized special written by Levitz and drawn by Grell. In #241–245 (July–December 1978) Levitz and Sherman (and then Joe Staton) produced what was at that time the most ambitious Legion storyline: "Earthwar", a galactic war between the United Planets and the Khunds, with several other villains lurking in the background. During this period, Karate Kid was spun off into his own 20th century-based self-titled series, which lasted 15 issues. Levitz left the book, to be replaced full-time by Gerry Conway.


title: Legion of Super-Heroes

text: Superboy departed from the Legion due to a villain's plot, and the book was renamed simply "The Legion of Super-Heroes" starting with issue #259 (January 1980). Editor Jack C. Harris hired Steve Ditko as guest artist on several issues, a decision which garnered a mixed reaction from the title's readership. Jimmy Janes became the regular artist in a lengthy tale by Conway (and later Roy Thomas) involving Ultra Boy's disappearance during a mission, and his long odyssey to rejoin the team. This story told the tale of the Legionnaire Reflecto (only glimpsed during the "Adult Legion" stories in "Adventure Comics"), featured villainy by the Time Trapper and Grimbor the Chainsman, and saw Superboy rejoin the team.


title: Legion of Super-Heroes

text: Paul Levitz returned to write the series with #284. Pat Broderick and Bruce Patterson illustrated the title for a short time before Keith Giffen began on pencils, with Patterson, and then Larry Mahlstedt, on inks. The creative team received increased popularity following "The Great Darkness Saga", which ran from #287; #290–294; and "Annual" #3, featuring a full assault on the United Planets by Darkseid. Comics historian Les Daniels observed that, "Working with artist Keith Giffen, Levitz completed the transformation of "Legion" into a science-fiction saga of considerable scope and depth."


title: Legion of Super-Heroes

text: The Legion celebrated issue #300 (June 1983) by revisiting the "Adult Legion" storyline through a series of parallel world short stories illustrated by a number of popular Legion artists from previous years. The story served to free up Legion continuity from following the "Adult Legion" edict of previous issues.


title: Legion of Super-Heroes

text: Giffen's style changed abruptly a few issues later, to a darker and sketchier style inspired by Argentinian artist José Muñoz. A new "Legion of Super-Heroes" comic (the third publication under the title) was launched in August 1984. It used a new "deluxe" printing format utilizing Baxter paper instead of the cheaper newsprint that classic comics had always been printed on. The existing Legion series, still on newsprint, and renamed "Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes" with issue #314, continued running new material for a year, then began reprinting stories from the new "Legion of Super-Heroes" with issue #326. "Tales" continued publishing reprints until its final issue, #354 (December 1987).


title: Legion of Super-Heroes

text: The new series was launched in August 1984, with a five-part story featuring the Legion of Super-Villains. Giffen left in the middle of the story and was replaced by Steve Lightle, who stayed on the book for a year. The debut story arc saw the death of Karate Kid in issue #4 (November 1984). Levitz and Lightle co-created two Legionnaires, Tellus and Quislet, whose unusual appearances contrasted with the humanoid appearances of the other Legionnaires. Greg LaRocque began a lengthy run in #16 (November 1985), including a crossover with John Byrne's recently rebooted Superman titles in #37 and #38. The crossover was the first of several attempts by DC editors to explain the origins and fate of Superboy and his history with the Legion, in light of the revisions to the DC Universe caused by "Crisis on Infinite Earths" that removed Superman's career as Superboy from his personal history. In the crossover, the Legion's Superboy was revealed to have come from a parallel "pocket universe" created by the Time Trapper. The crossover ended with Superboy's death. Levitz's run ended with the return of Giffen and a four-part story "The Magic Wars", concluding in #63 (August 1989).


title: Legion of Super-Heroes

text: Giffen took over plotting as well as penciling with the "Legion of Super-Heroes" volume 4 title which started in November 1989, with scripts by Tom and Mary Bierbaum and assists by Al Gordon. Five years after the Magic Wars, the United Planets is a darker place and the Legion a distant memory. However, a group of former Legionnaires worked to re-form the Legion in this harsh new universe, in which Earth was ruled by the alien Dominators.


title: Legion of Super-Heroes

text: Shortly after this storyline began, the decision was made to retroactively remove Superboy completely from Legion history. Writer Mark Waid stated that "Because of inter-office politics and machinations ... it was decided that there was no Superboy, but we weren't even allowed to reference him at "all"." This left the question of where the Legion's inspiration came from without the influence of Superboy. The writers' solution was a massive retcon, in which Mon-El served in the role of paragon instead of Superboy, with several more retcons to follow. Issue #5 featured an alternate universe story in which the restructuring took place, and the Time Trapper was replaced in continuity by his onetime underling Glorith.


title: Legion of Super-Heroes

text: One major storyline during this period was the discovery of Batch SW6, a group of clones of the early Legion (from their "Adventure Comics" days), created by the Dominators. Giffen's original conclusion for the storyline was that the clones would eventually have been revealed to be the real Legion, and the ones whose adventures had been chronicled since the 1950s were actually the clones. The adult Legion's secret programming would kick in, forcing them to fight the younger Legion and leading to a fight to the death in which Legionnaires on both teams would die, with the victims’ names being picked at random. Afterwards, the older team would explore the Vega System as a 30th-century version of the Omega Men in a new series while the younger team would act as the main Legion on Earth. Giffen's other conclusion was for several of the younger and older Legionnaires to die while liberating Earth from the Dominion. The older Legion would defend Earth while the younger Legion would act as the last line of defense for the United Planets as the Omega Men.


title: Legion of Super-Heroes

text: Instead, a parallel title, "Legionnaires," was launched, starring the "SW6" Legion, whose origins were not resolved until the "" crossover by a different writing team. "Legionnaires" was lighter in tone than the main Legion book, and was written by the Bierbaums and drawn by Chris Sprouse. Giffen left the book after a storyline which involved the destruction of Earth, and the Bierbaums continued writing, overseeing the return of several classic characters. When the Bierbaums left, writer Tom McCraw took over and made a number of changes, such as forcing several Legion members underground, which required them to take on new identities and costumes, and bringing back long-absent Legionnaire Wildfire.


title: Legion of Super-Heroes

text: In 1994, DC rebooted the team's continuity. As part of the "Zero Hour" storyline, the Legion's original continuity came to an end in September 1994 with "Legion of Super-Heroes" (vol. 4) #61. The "Five Years Later" era of the Legion was not subsequently reprinted by DC Comics until the announcement of a hardcover omnibus collection scheduled for release in 2020, almost 26 years after the conclusion initial storyline.


title: Legion of Super-Heroes

text: Following "Zero Hour", a new Legion continuity was created, beginning with a retelling of the origin story starting in "Legion of Super-Heroes" (vol. 4) #0 and then continued in spin-off sister series "Legionnaires" #0 (both released in October 1994). Lightning Lad was renamed Live Wire, and after the group's founding, a large number of heroes were added to the roster very quickly. Several members from the previous continuity were given new codenames, and some new heroes were added, including XS (the granddaughter of Barry Allen, the second Flash), Kinetix, and Gates.


title: Legion of Super-Heroes

text: While in some ways following the pattern of the original continuity, the new continuity diverged from the old one in several ways: some characters died as they had previously, others did not, and some Legion members spent time in the 20th century where they recruited Ferro. The Legion also started out having to earn the respect of the United Planets, which they did through two well-earned victories: successfully defending Earth from the White Triangle Daxamites, a group of Nazi-style racial purists; and exposing United Planets President Chu as the mastermind behind the Braal-Titan War, the Sun Eater hoax, the formation of the Fatal Five and the brainwashing of future Legionnaire Jan Arrah.


title: Legion of Super-Heroes

text: New writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning came on board with penciller Olivier Coipel to produce a dark story leading to the near-collapse of the United Planets and the Legion. In the wake of the disaster, a group of Legionnaires disappeared through a spatial rift and the two existing Legion series came to an end. The miniseries "Legion Lost" (2000–2001) chronicled the difficult journey of these Legionnaires to return home, while the ensuing miniseries "Legion Worlds" (2001) showed what was happening back in the United Planets during their absence.


title: Legion of Super-Heroes

text: A new series, "The Legion", was launched in which the Legion was reunited and given a new base and purpose. Written for its first 33 issues by Abnett and Lanning, the series was cancelled with issue 38. The most notable addition to the team during the title's publication was the Post-"Crisis" Superboy, a 21st-century clone of Superman and Lex Luthor, who had previously been granted honorary membership.


title: Legion of Super-Heroes

text: Following a crossover with the Teen Titans in "Teen Titans" (vol. 3) #16 and the "Teen Titans/Legion Special", a new "Legion of Super-Heroes" series was launched (the so-called "Threeboot" incarnation), written by Mark Waid (who had previously rebooted the title following the events of "Zero Hour") and penciled by Barry Kitson. This new series recreated the team from the beginning and used the Boy/Lad/Girl/Lass/Kid codenames, which the previous continuities had moved away from using.


title: Legion of Super-Heroes

text: Initial issues of this series reintroduced the characters, and provided new and divergent origins for them. Most characters resemble their previous counterparts in costume and powers, with the most notable exceptions including Chameleon Boy, now called simply Chameleon and depicted as an androgynous creature; Star Boy, who in this version of the Legion is black; Colossal Boy, who is now a giant who shrinks to human size; and Phantom Girl, who exists in two universes at once and has conversations with people in her own dimension while talking to Legionnaires at the same time.


title: Legion of Super-Heroes

text: The future universe of this Legion is an emotionally and mentally repressive society which involves human sexuality and contact being kept at arms' length as well as Orwellian surveillance of minors. The Legion's main goal is social reform as well as protecting people and inspiring them with the legends of superheroes of old, even though the team isn't appreciated by government authorities.


title: Legion of Super-Heroes

text: The Legion is worshiped by thousands of young people on different worlds, collectively known as the "Legionnaires", who follow the group in a cult-like manner. The Legionnaires based on Earth keep a constant vigil outside Legion headquarters.


title: Legion of Super-Heroes

text: Beginning with issue #16, "The Legion of Super-Heroes" (vol. 5) was retitled "Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes" with Supergirl traveling to the future and joining the Legion. With issue #31, Tony Bedard replaced Waid as writer. The title reverted to "The Legion of Super-Heroes" with issue #37 and Jim Shooter became the writer. The series ended with issue #50, in which the script was credited to "Justin Thyme", a pseudonym previously used by uncredited comic book artists.


title: Legion of Super-Heroes

text: The "Lightning Saga" crossover in "Justice League of America" (vol. 2) #8–10 and "Justice Society of America" (vol. 3) #5–6 featured the return of the original versions of Star Boy (now called Starman), Dream Girl, Wildfire, Karate Kid, Timber Wolf, Sensor Girl, Dawnstar, and Brainiac 5. Though several differences between the original and "Lightning Saga" Legions exist, Geoff Johns stated that this incarnation of the Legion shares the same history as the original Legion up to the events of "Crisis on Infinite Earths", with Clark Kent having joined the team as the teenage Superboy prior to the start of his career as Superman.


title: Legion of Super-Heroes

text: This version of the Legion next appeared in the "Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes" storyline in "Action Comics" #858–863. In the year 3008, the Earth's sun has turned red and several failed Legion applicants who were born on Earth have banded together to form the Justice League of Earth under the leadership of Earth-Man after he claims that Superman was a human who gained his powers from "Mother Earth". Earth-Man uses the claim to have Earth secede from the United Planets and ban all aliens from Earth, resulting in several Legionnaires going underground. With the help of Superman, the Legion eventually restores the sun to its normal state, and defeats Earth-Man and the Justice League of Earth just as the United Planets is about to attack the Earth.


title: Legion of Super-Heroes

text: This version of the Legion next appeared in the 2008 "" limited series, written by Johns and drawn by George Pérez. The mini-series features the post-"Infinite Crisis" Legion and Superman teaming up with the "Reboot" and "Threeboot" incarnations of the Legion to fight Superboy-Prime, the Legion of Super-Villains, and the Time Trapper. It was revealed in the mini-series that the "Reboot" Legion came from Earth-247 (a metafictional homage to the Legion's first appearance in "Adventure Comics" #247), which was destroyed in "Infinite Crisis", and the "Threeboot" Legion came from the reconstructed Earth-Prime. Johns stated that the intent of the mini-series was to validate the existence of all three versions of the team while simultaneously restoring the pre-"Crisis" Legion's continuity. The incorporation of the three teams into mainstream DC continuity was shown in "Action Comics" #864 (June 2008). In the story, Batman recounts the Justice League of America and Justice Society of America's battle alongside the original Legion to defeat Mordru, the "Reboot" team's assistance in destroying a Sun-Eater in the 20th century, and his own recent encounter with the "Threeboot" team.


title: Legion of Super-Heroes

text: This version of the Legion was featured in the second "Adventure Comics" series from September 2009 to October 2011, with the feature focusing on the Legion Academy from April 2011 onwards. This Legion played a part in the "" storyline in 2010, where the ongoing continual events of "The Lightning Saga" concluded in its entirety. A new "Legion of Super-Heroes" ongoing series was published from May 2010 to August 2011, written by Paul Levitz and drawn by Yildiray Cinar, featuring the Retroboot version of the team.


title: Legion of Super-Heroes

text: "Legion of Super-Heroes" was relaunched in September 2011 with issue #1. Simultaneously, DC Comics cancelled "Adventure Comics" and replaced it with a new volume of "Legion Lost". While "Legion of Super-Heroes" continued the adventures of the team from that title's previous volume, "Legion Lost" featured Wildfire, Dawnstar, Timber Wolf, Tyroc, Tellus, Gates and Chameleon Girl. The Legion Lost characters are stranded on 21st century Earth during a mission to save the future, and they are forced to remain there after contracting a pathogen that could destroy the 31st century if they returned. The "Legion Lost" series ended with the time-lost Legionnaires still stranded in the 21st century.


title: Legion of Super-Heroes

text: This era of the Legion's publication concluded with issue #23 in August 2013, with the title's cancellation. In the final issue, the United Planets disbanded the Legion after a cataclysmic battle with the Fatal Five, and the individual Legionnaires retired to their homeworlds or the Science Police. The entire Legion was remobilized to battle Infinitus in the six-issue "Infinitus Saga" in "Justice League United," written by Jeff Lemire (December 2014 – May 2015). The "Infinitus Saga" featured Brainiac 5 as leader, the return of the "Legion Lost" team to active Legion status and the inclusion of a number of Legionnaires from other continuities in the Legion's active ranks.


title: Legion of Super-Heroes

text: A new "Legion of Super-Heroes" series from writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Ryan Sook was announced by DC Comics in June 2019. A prelude two-part series entitled "Legion of Super-Heroes: Millennium" was released in September and October, with the ongoing series debuting in November 2019. The series ended in January 2021 with 12 issues.


title: Shirley (2020 film)

text: Shirley is a 2020 American biographical drama film, directed by Josephine Decker, from a screenplay by Sarah Gubbins, based upon the 2014 novel of the same name by Susan Scarf Merrell, which formed a "largely fictional story" around novelist Shirley Jackson's real life during the time period she was writing her 1951 novel "Hangsaman". The film stars Elisabeth Moss as Jackson with Michael Stuhlbarg, Odessa Young and Logan Lerman. Martin Scorsese serves as an executive producer.


title: Shirley (2020 film)

text: "Shirley" had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 25, 2020 where Decker won a U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Auteur Filmmaking and was released on June 5, 2020, by Neon. The film received positive reviews, with praise for Moss's performance.


title: Shirley (2020 film)

text: Fred and Rose Nemser are newlyweds relocating to Bennington College for Fred's job as a lecturer. Fred is about to work for Stanley Hyman while Rose, still a student, is already enthralled by the work of Stanley's wife, Shirley Jackson, writer of “The Lottery”, the dark short story which shocked readers of "The New Yorker" when it was published on June 26, 1948.


title: Shirley (2020 film)

text: Minutes after their first meeting, Shirley asks Rose about her (not yet announced) pregnancy, saying “I’m a witch, didn’t you know?” Soon after, Stanley asks Rose to help with menial jobs around the house because Shirley is struggling to write after suffering another bout of agoraphobia. Fred and Rose reluctantly assent and move into the house. Rose realizes that she has unwittingly agreed to serve as the family housekeeper. She also sees the pathology of Stanley and Shirley's marriage: in his worship of Shirley’s genius as a writer, Stanley enables her drinking and her lethargy; in turn, Shirley tolerates Stanley’s posturing and pomposity, and she winks at his serial affairs.


title: Shirley (2020 film)

text: The Nemsers move into the Jackson-Hyman house. Shirley is deliberately dismissive of and even cruel to Rose, who has apparently given up on her studies in order to manage the household. Shirley begins to write again, announcing a new work based on Paula Jean Welden, a young woman who recently disappeared from Bennington's campus. Stanley is obsessive and controlling about Shirley's writing process; he asserts that she is a genius, but he wheedles and cajoles her to stay on task. Despite her initial harsh treatment of Rose, Shirley begins to think of the younger woman as somewhat of a muse. Shirley opens up to Rose, having her do research for the new book, including stealing the medical files for Paula Jean Welden. As the two grow closer, Rose falls more and more under Shirley’s spell. She is enraptured by and protective of Shirley. A sexual flirtation builds between them, but is never acknowledged or consummated by the two.


title: Shirley (2020 film)

text: In the meantime, the relationship between Stanley and Fred deteriorates as Stanley seeks to tamp down Fred's ambitions and to torpedo his career as an academic.


title: Shirley (2020 film)

text: Rose's baby is born, yet Shirley remains wrapt in the cocoon of her writing; the arrival of a baby has little effect on life in the Jackson/Hyman household. Now feeling that the Nemsers have served their purpose, Stanley arranges for them to move out. Desperate to stay, Rosie writes the name of Paula Jean Welden in a Bennington College library book and gives it to Shirley, hoping she’ll infer that Paula had been Stanley’s student and had been having an affair with him. To Rose’s shock, Shirley is unaffected, saying that she’s well aware of Stanley’s affairs and that she knows Paula was not one of his lovers. She also reveals that Rose’s husband Fred is just the same as Stanley — that he, too, has been sleeping with his students.


title: Shirley (2020 film)

text: After confronting Fred about his infidelity, Rose runs off. With her baby daughter in her arms, she follows the trail where Paula disappeared. Shirley finds her at the edge of a cliff, where Rose is clearly weighing whether or not to jump. After a tense moment, having thrust her baby into Shirley’s arms, Rose gives in and turns away from the edge. Her safe return home isn’t a capitulation, though. When she and Fred finally drive away from the Jackson-Hyman house, Rose vows never to return to being a docile wife, devoted to a life of domesticity.


title: Shirley (2020 film)

text: Alone at last, Shirley allows Stanley to read her work on "Hangsaman". He declares it to be a work of genius. Shirley acknowledges his praise. It’s obviously a familiar pattern in their peculiar partnership. The two celebrate by drinking and dancing—together and yet alone in their cluttered house.


title: Shirley (2020 film)

text: On May 16, 2018, it was announced that Josephine Decker was set to direct an adaptation of Susan Scarf Merrell's novel "Shirley", based on a screenplay by Sarah Gubbins. Producers were set to include Jeffrey Soros, Simon Horsman, Christine Vachon, David Hinojosa, Elisabeth Moss, Sue Naegle, and Gubbins. Production companies involved with the film were slated to consist of Los Angeles Media Fund and Killer Films. Martin Scorsese serves as an executive producer.


title: Shirley (2020 film)

text: Alongside the initial production announcement, it was confirmed that Elisabeth Moss and Michael Stuhlbarg had been cast as Shirley Jackson and Stanley Hyman, respectively. On September 6, 2018, it was announced that Odessa Young and Logan Lerman had joined the cast of the film.


title: Shirley (2020 film)

text: Principal photography for the film began in late July 2018 in Jefferson Heights, New York. Scenes were also filmed at Vassar College, which stood in for Bennington College.


title: Shirley (2020 film)

text: It had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 25, 2020. Decker won a U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Auteur Filmmaking. Shortly after, Neon acquired distribution rights to the film. It was released on June 5, 2020.


title: Shirley (2020 film)

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The site's critical consensus reads, "Elevated by outstanding work from Elisabeth Moss, Shirley pays tribute to its subject's pioneering legacy with a biopic that ignores the commonly accepted boundaries of the form." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 76 out of 100, based on 43 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: Shirley (2020 film)

text: Laurence Jackson Hyman, Jackson's son, criticized the movie's portrayal of his parents, noting that “If someone comes to the movie not knowing anything about my parents, they will certainly leave thinking that my mother was a crazy alcoholic and my father was a mean critic.” He also expressed that, in his opinion, the movie failed to portray Jackson's sense of humor.


title: Shirley (2020 film)

text: "Harper's Bazaar" considered the film "a gripping, psychologically unsettling drama", noting it to be "loosely based on real life... far from a traditional biopic, instead playing on the horror tropes of Jackson's own work to lure viewers inside the author's brilliant but troubled mind."


title: Shirley (2020 film)

text: NBC News, stating that the film "captures the chills-down-your-spine feeling that Jackson’s writing so skillfully masters" observed that "while many of the characters are real, most of Merrel's (sic) book is fictional, which might confuse the casual film-watcher" and noted that "the quandary of fictionalizing a real life is not new, and it remains an ethically weird endeavor"; "After watching “Shirley” there may be people who think Shirley Jackson was vicious, childless and incapable of keeping herself bathed and fed. And that is unfortunate."


title: Shirley (2020 film)

text: The Nemsers are fictional characters; the New Yorker observed that at the time depicted in the film (the writing of "Hangsaman") Jackson and Hyman had four children, who do not appear in the film.


title: Ghazal

text: The ghazal (, , Hindi-Urdu: /, , , , , , ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. A ghazal may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss or separation and the beauty of love in spite of that pain.


title: Ghazal

text: The ghazal form is ancient, tracing its origins to 7th-century Arabic poetry. The ghazal spread into South Asia in the 12th century due to the influence of Sufi mystics and the courts of the new Islamic Sultanate, and is now most prominently a form of poetry of many languages of the Indian subcontinent and Turkey.


title: Ghazal

text: A ghazal commonly consists of five to fifteen couplets, which are independent, but are linked – abstractly, in their theme; and more strictly in their poetic form. The structural requirements of the ghazal are similar in stringency to those of the Petrarchan sonnet. In style and content, due to its highly allusive nature, the ghazal has proved capable of an extraordinary variety of expression around its central themes of love and separation.


title: Ghazal

text: Postmodern Ghazal refers to a literary movement that began in the 1990s in Iran, claiming to mix postmodern ideas and traditional Persian poetry arrangements.


title: Ghazal

text: The word "ghazal" originates from the Arabic word ("ġazal"). The root syllables Gh-Z-L have three possible meanings in Arabic:


title: Ghazal

text: The poetic form derives its name from the first and the second etymological roots, One particular translation posits a meaning of "ghazal" as "the wail of a wounded deer", which potentially provides context to the theme of unrequited love common to many ghazals.


title: Ghazal

text: The Arabic word "ġazal" is pronounced , roughly like the English word "guzzle", but with the "ġ" pronounced without a complete closure between the tongue and the soft palate. In English, the word is pronounced or .


title: Ghazal

text: The ghazal is a short poem consisting of rhyming couplets, called "bayt" or "sher". Most ghazals have between seven and twelve "bayts". For a poem to be considered a true ghazal, it must have no fewer than five couplets. Almost all ghazals confine themselves to less than fifteen couplets (poems that exceed this length are more accurately considered as "qasidas"). Ghazal couplets end with the same rhyming pattern and are expected to have the same meter. The ghazal's uniqueness arises from its rhyme and refrain rules, referred to as the "qaafiyaa" and "radif" respectively. A ghazal's rhyming pattern may be described as AA BA CA DA, and so on.


title: Ghazal

text: Unlike in a "nazm", a ghazal's couplets do not need a common theme or continuity. Each sher is self-contained and independent from the others, containing the complete expression of an idea. However, the "shers" all contain a thematic or tonal connection to each other, which may be highly allusive. A common conceit that traces its history to the origins of the ghazal form is that the poem is addressed to a beloved by the narrator.


title: Ghazal

text: The Ghazal tradition is marked by the poetry's ambiguity and simultaneity of meaning. Learning the common tropes is key to understanding the ghazal.


title: Ghazal

text: The ghazal originated in Arabia in the 7th century, evolving from the "qasida", a much older pre-Islamic Arabic poetic form. "Qaṣīdas" were typically much longer poems, with up to 100 couplets. Thematically, "qaṣīdas" did not include love, and were usually panegyrics for a tribe or ruler, lampoons, or moral maxims. However, the "qaṣīda's" opening prelude, called the "nasīb," was typically nostalgic and/or romantic in theme, and highly ornamented and stylized in form. In time, the "nasīb" began to be written as standalone, shorter poems, which became the ghazal.


title: Ghazal

text: The ghazal came into its own as a poetic genre during the Umayyad Era (661–750) and continued to flower and develop in the early Abbasid Era. The Arabic ghazal inherited the formal verse structure of the "qaṣīda", specifically, a strict adherence to meter and the use of the Qaafiyaa, a common end rhyme on each couplet (called a "bayt" in Arabic and a "sher" in Persian).


title: Ghazal

text: The nature of the ghazals also changed to meet the demands of musical presentation, becoming briefer in length. Lighter poetic meters, such as "khafîf", "ramal", and "muqtarab" were preferred, instead of longer, more ponderous meters favored for "qaṣīdas" (such as "kâmil", "basît", and "rajaz"). Topically, the ghazal focus also changed, from nostalgic reminiscences of the homeland and loved ones, towards romantic or erotic themes. These included sub-genres with themes of courtly love ("udharî"), eroticism ("hissî"), homoeroticism ("mudhakkar"), and as a highly stylized introduction to a larger poem ("tamhîdî").


title: Ghazal

text: With the spread of Islam, the Arabian ghazal spread both westwards, into Africa and Spain, as well as eastwards, into Persia. The popularity of ghazals in a particular region was usually preceded by a spread of the Arabic language in that country. In medieval Spain, ghazals written in Hebrew as well as Arabic have been found as far back as the 11th century. It is possible that ghazals were also written in the Mozarabic language. Ghazals in the Arabic form have also been written in a number of major West African literary languages like Hausa and Fulfulde.


title: Ghazal

text: However, the most significant changes to the ghazal occurred in its introduction into Iran in the 10th century. The early Persian ghazals largely imitated the themes and form of the Arabian ghazal. These "Arabo-Persian" ghazals introduced two differences compared to their Arabian poetic roots. Firstly, the Persian ghazals did not employ radical enjambment between the two halves of the couplet, and secondly, the Persian ghazals formalized the use of the common rhyme in both lines of the opening couplet (""matla""). The imitation of Arabian forms in Persia extended to the "qaṣīda", which was also popular in Persia.


title: Ghazal

text: Because of its comparative brevity, thematic variety and suggestive richness, the ghazal soon eclipsed the "qaṣīda", and became the most popular poetry form in Persia. Much like Arabian ghazals, early Persian ghazals typically employed more musical meters compared to other Persian poetry forms. Rudaki (858–941 CE) is considered the most important Persian ghazal poet of this period, and the founder of classical Persian literature.


title: Ghazal

text: The Persian ghazal evolved into its own distinctive form between the 12th and 13th centuries. Many of those innovations created what we now recognize as the archetypical ghazal form. These changes occurred in two periods, separated by the Mongol Invasion of Persia from 1219 to 1221 AD.


title: Ghazal

text: The 'Early Persian poetry' period spanned approximately one century, from the Ghaznavid era (which lasted until 1187) till a little after the Mongol Invasion. Apart from the movement towards brevity, this period also saw two significant and lasting changes to the ghazal form.


title: Ghazal

text: The first change was the adoption of the "Takhallus", the practice of mentioning the poet's pen-name in the final couplet (called the maqta). The adoption of the "takhallus" became a gradually accepted part of the ghazal form, and by the time of Saadi Shirazi (1210–1291 AD), the most important ghazal poet of this period, it had become "de rigueur." The second marked change from Arabian ghazal form in Persian ghazals was a movement towards far greater autonomy between the couplets.


title: Ghazal

text: The ghazal later spread throughout the Middle East and South Asia. It was famous all around the Indian subcontinent in the 18th and 19th centuries


title: Ghazal

text: The ghazal was spread from Persia into South Asia in the 12th century by the influence of Sufi mystics and the courts of the new Islamic sultanates. This period coincided with the early Islamic Sultanates in India, through the wave of Islamic invasions into the region in that period. The 13th century poet and musician Ameer Khusrow is not only credited as the first Urdu poet but also created Hindustani as we know today by merging braj, khadhi boli, Hindi, Urdu, Persian and other local dialects.


title: Ghazal

text: During the reign of the Sultan of Bengal Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah, the city of Sonargaon became an important centre of Persian literature, with many publications of prose and poetry. The period is described as the "golden age of Persian literature in Bengal". Its stature is illustrated by the Sultan's own correspondence with the Persian poet Hafez. When the Sultan invited Hafez to complete an incomplete ghazal by the ruler, the renowned poet responded by acknowledging the grandeur of the king's court and the literary quality of Bengali-Persian poetry.


title: Ghazal

text: It is said that Atul Prasad Sen pioneered the introduction of Bengali ghazals. Residing in Lucknow, he was inspired by Persian ghazals and experimented with a stream of Bengali music which was later enriched profusely by the contribution of Kazi Nazrul Islam and Moniruddin Yusuf.


title: Ghazal

text: "The ghazal was initially composed to a purely religious theme". Now in this era ghazals are more likely to have romantic themes.


title: Ghazal

text: Can usually be interpreted for a higher being or for a mortal beloved. Love is always viewed as something that will complete a human being, and if attained will lift him or her into the ranks of the wise, or will bring satisfaction to the soul of the poet. Traditional ghazal law may or may not have an explicit element of sexual desire in it, and the love may be spiritual. The love may be directed to either a man or a woman.


title: Ghazal

text: The ghazal is always written from the point of view of the unrequited lover whose beloved is portrayed as unattainable. Most often, either the beloved has not returned the poet's love or returns it without sincerity or else the societal circumstances do not allow it. The lover is aware and resigned to this fate but continues loving nonetheless; the lyrical impetus of the poem derives from this tension. Representations of the lover's powerlessness to resist his feelings often include lyrically exaggerated violence. The beloved's power to captivate the speaker may be represented in extended metaphors about the "arrows of his eyes", or by referring to the beloved as an assassin or a killer. Take, for example, the following couplets from Amir Khusro's Persian ghazal "Nemidanam che manzel būd shab":


title: Ghazal

text: Many of the major historical ghazal poets were either avowed Sufis themselves (like Rumi or Hafiz), or were sympathizers with Sufi ideas. Somewhat like American soul music, but with melancholy instead of funk, most ghazals can be viewed in a spiritual context, with the Beloved being a metaphor for God or the poet's spiritual master. It is the intense Divine Love of Sufism that serves as a model for all the forms of love found in ghazal poetry.


title: Ghazal

text: Most ghazal scholars today recognize that some ghazal couplets are exclusively about Divine Love (). Others are about earthly love (), but many can be interpreted in either context.


title: Ghazal

text: Traditionally invoking melancholy, love, longing, and metaphysical questions, ghazals are often sung by Afghan, Pakistani, and Indian musicians. The form has roots in seventh-century Arabia, and gained prominence in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, thanks to such Persian poets as Rumi and Hafiz, and later to Indian poets such as Mirza Ghalib. In the eighteenth-century, the ghazal was used by poets writing in Urdu. Among these poets, Ghalib is the recognized master.


title: Ghazal

text: Ghazals were written by Rumi, Hafiz and Saadi Shirazi of Persia; the Azerbaijani Turkish poet Fuzûlî in the Ottoman Empire; Mirza Ghalib and Muhammad Iqbal of North India; and Kazi Nazrul Islam of Bengal. Through the influence of Goethe (1749–1832), the ghazal became very popular in Germany during the 19th century; the form was used extensively by Friedrich Rückert (1788–1866) and August von Platen (1796–1835). The Kashmiri poet Agha Shahid Ali was a proponent of the form, both in English and in other languages; he edited a volume of "real Ghazals in English". Ghazals were also written by Moti Ram Bhatta (1866–1896), the pioneer of Nepali ghazal writing in Nepali. Ghazals were also written by Hamza Shinwari, He is known as the father of Pashto Ghazals.


title: Ghazal

text: Enormous collections of ghazal have been created by hundreds of well-known poets over the past thousand years in Persian, Turkish, and Urdu as well as in the Central Asian Turkic languages. Ghazal poems are performed in Uzbek-Tajik Shashmakom, Turkish Makam, Persian Dastgah and Uyghur Muqam. There are many published translations from Persian and Turkish by Annemarie Schimmel, Arthur John Arberry and many others.


title: Ghazal

text: Ghazal "Gayaki", the art of singing or performing the ghazal in the Indian classical tradition, is very old. Singers like Ustad Barkat Ali and many other singers in the past used to practice it, but the lack of historical records make many names anonymous. It was with Begum Akhtar and later on Ustad Mehdi Hassan that classical rendering of ghazals became popular in the masses. The categorization of ghazal singing as a form of "light classical" music is a misconception.


title: Ghazal

text: Classical ghazals are difficult to render because of the varying moods of the "shers" or couplets in the ghazal. Amanat Ali Khan, Begum Akhtar, Talat Mahmood, Mehdi Hassan, Abida Parveen, Jagjit Singh, Farida Khanum and Ustad Ghulam Ali, Moinuddin Ahamed, are popular classical ghazal singers.


title: Ghazal

text: The ghazal has historically been one of the most popular poetic forms across the Middle East and South Asia. Even into the modern era the ghazal has retained its extreme popularity among South Asian royalty and nobility, among whom its education and patronisation has traditionally found shelter, especially with several Indian rulers including several Indian Emperors being profound composers of ghazals. In the 19th century ghazals gained popularity in Germany with Goethe's translations, as well as with Spanish ghazal writers such as Federico García Lorca. Despite often being written in strong Urdu and rendered with classical Indian Ragas along with complex terminology most usually accessible to the upper classes, in South Asia ghazals are nonetheless popular among all ages. They are most popular in Turkey and South Asia, and readings or musical renditions of ghazals — such as at "mehfils" and "mushairas" — are well attended in these countries, even by the laity. Ghazals are popular in South Asian film music. The ragas to which ghazals are sung are usually chosen to be in consonance with their lyrical content.


title: Ghazal

text: Understanding the complex lyrics of traditional ghazals required education typically available only to the upper classes. The traditional classical "rāgas" in which the lyrics were rendered were also difficult to understand. The ghazal has undergone some simplification in recent years, in terms of words and phrasings, which helps it to reach a larger audience around the world. Modern shayars (poets) are also moving towards a less strict adherence to form and rules, using simpler language and words (sometimes even incorporating words from other languages, such as English - see Parveen Shakir), and moving away from a strictly male narrator.


title: Ghazal

text: Most of the ghazals are now sung in styles that are not limited to "khayāl, thumri, rāga, tāla" and other classical and light classical genres. However, those forms of the ghazal are looked down on by purists of the Indian classical tradition.


title: Ghazal

text: In Pakistan, Noor Jehan, Iqbal Bano, Abida Parveen, Farida Khanum, Ghulam Ali, Ahmed Rushdi, Ustad Amanat Ali Khan, Parvez Mehdi and Mehdi Hassan are known for ghazal renditions. Indian Singers like Jagjit Singh (who first used a guitar in ghazals), Ahmed and Mohammed Hussain, Hariharan, Adithya Srinivasan, Pankaj Udhas, Umbayee and many others have been able to give a new shape to the ghazal by incorporating elements of Western music.


title: Ghazal

text: In addition to Urdu, ghazals have been very popular in the Gujarati language. For around a century, starting with Balashankar Kantharia, there have been many notable Gujarati ghazal writers including Kalapi, Barkat Virani 'Befaam', Asim Randeri, Shunya Palanpuri, Amrut Ghayal, Khalil Dhantejvi and many more. Some notable ghazals of those prominent writers have been sung by Bollywood playback singer Manhar Udhas.


title: Ghazal

text: Renowned ghazal singer, and pioneer of Telugu ghazals, Ghazal Srinivas popularized the ghazal in Telugu. Ghazals in the Kannada language were pioneered in the 1960's by poet Shantarasam, though recordings of their poetry only began to be made in the early 2000's. Legendary musician Umbayee composed ghazals in Malayalam and popularized this form of music across Kerala.


title: Ghazal

text: Suresh Bhat popularized ghazals in the Marathi language. Some of his amazing ghazals were sung by famous artists like Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosale. He was known as "Ghazal Samrat" (the Emperor of ghazals) for his exposition of the ghazal form of poetry and its adaptation to the Marathi language. His disciple Ilahi Jamadar continued the tradition, blending Urdu and Marathi verses in his work.


title: Ghazal

text: Kazi Nazrul Islam brought ghazals to the Bengali language, composing numerous poems which are still famous in both Bangladesh and India.


title: Ghazal

text: After nearly a century of "false starts," the early experiments of James Clarence Mangan, James Elroy Flecker, Adrienne Rich, Phyllis Webb, etc., many of whom did not adhere wholly or in part to the traditional principles of the form, experiments dubbed as "the bastard Ghazal," the ghazal finally began to be recognized as a viable closed form in poetry of the English language some time in the early to mid-1990s. It came about largely as a result of serious, true-to-form examples being published by noted American poets John Hollander, W. S. Merwin and Elise Paschen as well as by Kashmiri-American poet Agha Shahid Ali, who had been teaching and spreading word of the Ghazal at American universities over the previous two decades. Jim Harrison created his own free-form Ghazal true to his poetic vision in "Outlyer and Ghazals" (1971).


title: Ghazal

text: In 1996, Ali compiled and edited the world's first anthology of English-language ghazals, published by Wesleyan University Press in 2000, as "Ravishing DisUnities: Real Ghazals in English". (Fewer than one in ten of the ghazals collected in "Real Ghazals in English" observe the constraints of the form.)


title: Ghazal

text: A ghazal is composed of couplets, five or more. The couplets may have nothing to do with one another except for the formal unity derived from a strict rhyme and rhythm pattern.


title: The Cheesecake Factory

text: The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated is an American restaurant company and distributor of cheesecakes based in the United States. The company operates 219 full-service restaurants: 206 under The Cheesecake Factory brand and 13 under the Grand Lux Cafe brand, not including the number of restaurants operated under the North Italia nor any of Fox Restaurant Brands' names. The Cheesecake Factory also operates two bakery production facilities—in Calabasas, California, and Rocky Mount, North Carolina—and licenses two bakery-based menus for other food service operators under The Cheesecake Factory Bakery Cafe marque. Its cheesecakes and other baked goods can also be found in the cafes of many Barnes & Noble stores.


title: The Cheesecake Factory

text: David M. Overton, the company's founder, opened the first Cheesecake Factory restaurant in Beverly Hills, California, in 1978. The restaurant established the future chain's pattern of featuring an eclectic menu, large portions, and signature cheesecakes. In 2020, "Fortune" magazine ranked The Cheesecake Factory at number 12 on their Fortune List of the Top 100 Companies to Work For in 2020 based on an employee survey of satisfaction.


title: The Cheesecake Factory

text: Evelyn Overton opened a business after making a cheesecake for her husband's employer in 1949. She opened a small cheesecake bakery in Detroit, Michigan, in the late 1950s, but eventually gave it up in order to raise her two children. She continued to supply cakes to several local restaurants through a kitchen in her basement. In 1967, Evelyn's son David M. Overton left Detroit to attend Hastings College of Law in San Francisco, but in 1968, decided to be a drummer, performing with the "Billy Roberts Blues Band". In 1971, David convinced his parents to relocate to Los Angeles to open a commercial bakery. In 1972, they moved to the Woodland Hills area of Los Angeles where they opened "The Cheesecake Factory Bakery", in which they produced cheesecakes and other desserts for local restaurants.


title: The Cheesecake Factory

text: In 1978, Evelyn's son David opened The Cheesecake Factory, a small salad-and-sandwich restaurant in Beverly Hills that sold 10 varieties of cheesecakes on a one-page menu. In 1983, he opened a second restaurant in Marina del Rey. By 1987, the Beverly Hills location had expanded into a 78-seat restaurant and was experiencing great financial success. This led to the opening of a third, larger location in Redondo Beach, which was eventually renovated into a 300-seat, location. By the end of the 1980s, The Cheesecake Factory's one-page menu had expanded and the restaurant offered additional fast-food and short-order items.


title: The Cheesecake Factory

text: The 1990s saw the opening of the first Cheesecake Factory restaurant outside of Southern California. The new restaurant was located in Washington, D.C. The Cheesecake Factory was incorporated in 1992 and went public in September 1993. David Overton planned to open 3–4 units a year in the hopes of generating 25% a year increase in sales.


title: The Cheesecake Factory

text: The company began changing its menu twice a year and added items including steaks, seafood, and vegetarian dishes. The company continued to open new restaurants and by 1995 was ranked 11th in the United States. As of April 2013, The Cheesecake Factory operated 162 restaurants under The Cheesecake Factory name in 36 states. Plaza Las Américas in San Juan, Puerto Rico, opened its first Cheesecake Factory on August 28, 2013.


title: The Cheesecake Factory

text: The company used to operate one self-service, limited-menu express food service operation under The Cheesecake Factory marque inside DisneyQuest at Disney Springs in Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. was opened in 1998 and it was closed in 2017.


title: The Cheesecake Factory

text: The Cheesecake Factory has expanded into international markets by both licensing agreements for other companies to operate franchises, and by corporate ownership. The first store outside the United States was opened at The Dubai Mall in August 2012 as a franchise via a licensing agreement.


title: The Cheesecake Factory

text: On January 25, 2011, the company expanded into the Middle East in a partnership with Kuwaiti retail franchising company M.H. Alshaya Co. The 300-seat restaurant opened on August 16, 2012, at The Dubai Mall. This is The Cheesecake Factory's first location outside the United States.


title: The Cheesecake Factory

text: In May 2014, The Cheesecake Factory announced that they would open the first Cheesecake Factory in East Asia. The first East Asian Cheesecake Factory opened in Disneytown in Pudong, Shanghai, China on June 16, 2016.


title: The Cheesecake Factory

text: As of May 2018, The Cheesecake Factory has eleven restaurants in the Middle East: four in Dubai (Dubai Mall, Mall of Emirates, Jumeirah Beach Residence and Dubai Festival City Mall), three in Kuwait (Arabella, Sidra, and Avenues Mall—which was the 160th Cheesecake Factory opening), two in Saudi Arabia (Riyadh and Jeddah), and lastly one in the Yas Mall and one in The Galleria in Abu Dhabi. On December 1, 2015, The Cheesecake Factory opened its eighth Middle East branch at the Verdun Shopping Center in Beirut, Lebanon. The opening was attended by many of The Cheesecake Factory management including managers from the US and Dubai. The Cheesecake Factory also made its first appearance in Doha, Qatar, by opening in the Mall of Qatar and further opened two more branches in Villaggio and Doha Festival City.


title: The Cheesecake Factory

text: On April 12, 2017, the company announced that it would be expanding into Canada. In November 2017, the first Canadian location opened at Yorkdale Shopping Centre in Toronto, Ontario.


title: The Cheesecake Factory

text: On December 4, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission resolved charges brought against The Cheesecake Factory for misleading investors during the COVID-19 pandemic; the company paid a $125,000 fine without admitting the findings in the order.


title: The Cheesecake Factory

text: The Cheesecake Factory Bakery Cafe operates two bakery production facilities in Calabasas Hills, California and Rocky Mount, North Carolina, and licenses two bakery-based menus to other food service operators. This division operates in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The Cheesecake Factory Bakery has appointed Schengen Desserts B.V. as their master distributor for UK and Europe.


title: The Cheesecake Factory

text: David Overton designed the Grand Lux Cafe, an upscale restaurant for The Venetian hotel and casino in Las Vegas. The restaurant is modeled after Italian, French, and Austrian styles. The Cafe offers, in addition to American and European-style food, Thai, Malaysian, Caribbean cuisine, and others. The Cheesecake Factory operates fourteen Grand Lux Cafe restaurants located in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas.


title: The Cheesecake Factory

text: Each Grand Lux Cafe features an on-site bakery which produces a selection of signature bake-to-order desserts (which take up to 30 minutes), and a full-service craft bar.


title: The Cheesecake Factory

text: RockSugar Southeast Asian Kitchen was a contemporary Asian-fusion restaurant which opened on June 19, 2008, at Century City in Los Angeles. David Overton excluded Chinese and Japanese cuisines from the menu, as these are served at the Grand Lux and Cheesecake Factory restaurants. It closed on December 31, 2020, at least in part to the COVID-19 pandemic. A second location opened in Oakbrook, IL in November 2017, but closed in December 2019.


title: The Cheesecake Factory

text: On July 31, 2019, the Cheesecake Factory announced it had reached an agreement to buy Phoenix-based Fox Restaurant Concepts (FRC) for $308 million in cash at closing and another $45 million due over the course of the next four years. FRC started off in 1998 when 21 year old founder Sam Fox launched his first restaurant concept Wildflower (unrelated to another Arizona restaurant Wildflower Bread Company) and has since launched additional restaurants in differing categories including North Italia, a specialty restaurant known for pasta, pizza, and other Italian foods. North Italia alone currently has locations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Kansas, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Other concepts from the FRC portfolio include: Flower Child, Culinary Dropout, Blanco, The Henry, Zinburger, The Arrogant Butcher, Doughbird, The Green House, Olive & Ivy and The Rocket.


title: The Cheesecake Factory

text: The Cheesecake Factory dining menu includes steaks, chops, burgers, chicken, seafood, sandwiches, pasta, soups and salads in various cuisines. In addition to their regular dining menu, the company offers a lower-calorie menu that includes salads, burgers, sandwiches and small plates. The brunch menu is offered on Saturdays and Sundays and includes pancakes, waffles, French toast, and eggs.


title: The Cheesecake Factory

text: The dessert menu offers 35 cheesecake flavors in addition to cakes, milkshakes and specialty and ice cream desserts.


title: The Cheesecake Factory

text: The Cheesecake Factory has been criticized for featuring large servings of high-calorie and high-fat foods, and a corresponding lack of healthy menu options. For these reasons, the chain was dubbed the "worst family restaurant in America" for 2010 by "Men's Health" magazine. The average sandwich at the restaurant contains 1,400 calories. In 2013, the Center for Science in the Public Interest gave a better understanding toward some of the food found at The Cheesecake Factory, including the "Crispy Chicken Costoletta" that has more calories (2,610) than a 12-piece bucket of fried chicken from KFC and The Cheesecake Factory's "Bistro Shrimp Pasta" dish, which had more calories than any other entrée from a national chain restaurant at 3,120 calories, with 89 grams of saturated fat. The United States Department of Agriculture's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion states in its dietary guidelines that a typical female adult should consume about 2,000 calories (males 2,500) and no more than 10% of saturated fat per day. In an attempt to offer healthier, lower-calorie meal options, The Cheesecake Factory created a "Skinnylicious" menu that features a variety of cocktails, salads, appetizers, and specialty dishes such as lemon-garlic shrimp and grilled salmon.


title: The Cheesecake Factory

text: On March 18, 2020, Overton informed his landlords that his restaurants will be unable to pay rent for the month of April due to significant financial losses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, but will resume paying rents as soon as possible and the restaurants reopened after the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.


title: The Cheesecake Factory

text: On "The Big Bang Theory", Penny and Bernadette worked at The Cheesecake Factory before meeting their respective husbands Leonard and Howard. The eatery served as the gang's hangout when not in the lunchroom at Caltech.


title: The Cheesecake Factory

text: In "The Spy Who Dumped Me", Audrey tells Morgan that she and Drew went to The Cheesecake Factory, to which Morgan replies: "God, that menu. Too many options."


title: The Cheesecake Factory

text: In the 2016 Drake song "Child's Play", the lyrics say, "Why you gotta fight with me at Cheesecake? You know I love to go there," making reference to Drake's love for The Cheesecake Factory.


title: The Cheesecake Factory

text: In "The Simpsons" episode "Bart Sells His Soul", one of the dining options in Springfield was "The Texas Cheesecake Depository".


title: The Cheesecake Factory

text: During the 2022 holiday season, The Cheesecake Factory aired radio commercials where the song “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” could clearly be heard in the background, a practice also done by Omaha Steaks.


title: Not Without My Daughter (film)

text: Not Without My Daughter is a 1991 American drama film based on the book of the same name, depicting the escape of American citizen Betty Mahmoody and her daughter from her abusive husband in Iran. In 1990, the film was shot in the United States, Turkey and Israel, and the main characters Betty Mahmoody and Sayyed Bozorg "Moody" Mahmoody are played by Sally Field and Alfred Molina, respectively. Sheila Rosenthal and Roshan Seth star as Mahtob Mahmoody and Houssein the smuggler, respectively.


title: Not Without My Daughter (film)

text: In 1984, an Iranian physician, Sayyed Bozorg "Moody" Mahmoody lives in the United States with his American wife Betty and their daughter Mahtob. Due to his background, he is often mocked and ridiculed by American physicians at the hospital where he works. Moody claims that his Iranian family wants to meet Betty and Mahtab and asks them to come with him for a two-week visit.


title: Not Without My Daughter (film)

text: Despite her deep fears about visiting Iran, particularly due to the Iranian Hostage Crisis of several years earlier, Betty reluctantly agrees after her husband promises they will safely return to America. Upon their arrival, Mahtab is embraced, while Betty's unfamiliarity with the family's Islamic lifestyle inadvertently offends some members of Moody's family. The night before their flight back to the United States, Moody's brother Mammal tells Moody and Betty that in order for them to go back home, their passports would have to have been taken to the airport for approval three days prior. Betty questions this, but Moody brushes this off, suggesting that they will take a later flight.


title: Not Without My Daughter (film)

text: After Betty insists that they go to the airport anyway, Moody reveals that he never intended for them to return, and that they will remain in Iran permanently. When Betty protests, Moody becomes enraged and strikes her. Betty tries to earn sympathy from Moody's family, but is scorned by them. Iran's war with Iraq continues, with the family having to shelter in place during an Iraqi missile attack; Moody blames these difficulties on American support for Iraq.


title: Not Without My Daughter (film)

text: Moody becomes more hostile and abusive to his wife and daughter, preventing Betty from leaving the house or even using the telephone. One day Betty answers a phone call from her mother and reveals she is trapped in Iran. Her mother tells her to seek help from the American Interests Section of the Swiss Embassy. Betty sneaks out of the house and visits the embassy, but is told that under Iran's nationality law, she acquired Iranian citizenship upon her marriage to Moody and thus is not entitled to consular protection. Because Iran is an Islamic republic governed by sharia law, Betty cannot leave the country or make decisions concerning her daughter without her husband's permission. Moody, alarmed by Betty's absence from the house, threatens to kill her if she tries anything again.


title: Not Without My Daughter (film)

text: For 18 months Betty conforms to her husband's wishes in order to gain Moody's trust. Watched by Moody's sister, Betty convinces him that they should move out of her home and into Mammal's home. By chance, during a trip to the marketplace, she meets a sympathetic storekeeper who allows her to use his telephone and overhears her conversations with the Swiss Embassy. He puts her in contact with a pair of humanitarian Iranians, Hossein and his sister, who offer to help Betty and Mahtab return to the United States. Betty accepts Hossein's assistance, especially after he warns her that Mahtab, when she reaches nine years old, could be at risk of being forced into marriage and or be drafted as a child soldier. Mahtob does not adjust to her new Iranian school and has to be accompanied to school by Betty. The women at the school tell Betty that they sympathize with her, and though they will not allow her to use the telephone, they allow her to bring Mahtob to school hours after she would normally arrive. Betty uses this time to meet with Hossein, and they discuss an escape route. When she and Mahtab arrive at school, Moody is there waiting for them and attacks Betty. She leaves with Moody, but flees when he is distracted. She finds a telephone booth and calls a woman from the Swiss embassy whom she had spoken with previously. They return to the school, but the women from the school forbid her from taking Mahtab. With no other options, Betty and Mahtob return home with Moody.


title: Not Without My Daughter (film)

text: Betty learns that her father is seriously ill. Moody tells Betty he will allow her to return to see her dying father, but will not let Mahtab go with her. He tells Betty while she is in the United States, she is to liquidate their assets and return to Iran. Hossein warns Betty that if she visits her father, she may never see Mahtab again. Betty decides to wait to return to the United States with Mahtab. Moody unknowingly foils her plans by having her booked on a flight several days early, thanks to his relatives' contacts in the airport.


title: Not Without My Daughter (film)

text: Moody is called to the clinic for an emergency. On the pretense of going to buy presents for her father, Betty takes Mahtab and they contact Hossein, who supplies Betty and Mahtab with fake identity documents, and they make their way past checkpoint with Iranian smugglers.


title: Not Without My Daughter (film)

text: Betty and Mahtab are dropped off in a street in Ankara, where they see the flag of the American Embassy in the distance. Betty and Mahtob make it back home to the United States. Betty becomes a successful author and dedicates herself to helping those in need.


title: Not Without My Daughter (film)

text: The movie was based on a book with the same title, written by Betty Mahmoody and William Hoffer and based on Betty's version of events. The screenplay was written by David W. Rintels. The film was directed by Brian Gilbert and filmed in Israel, at GG Studios in Neve Ilan and Atlanta during the summer of 1990.


title: Not Without My Daughter (film)

text: A further book was released in 2015, "My Name is Mahtob" written by Mahtob Mahmoody with the tagline "Not without my Daughter continues".


title: Not Without My Daughter (film)

text: The movie debuted poorly and grossed less than $15 million in ticket sales in the United States and Canada. The movie plummeted in its second week. Internationally, it grossed $28 million for a worldwide total of $43 million.


title: Not Without My Daughter (film)

text: As of December 2022, the film holds an approval rating of 53% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 17 reviews. Roger Ebert wrote "Here is a perplexing and frustrating film, which works with great skill to involve our emotions, while at the same time making moral and racial assertions that are deeply troubling." He stated that it "does not play fair with its Muslim characters. If a movie of such a vitriolic and spiteful nature were to be made in America about any other ethnic group, it would be denounced as racist and prejudiced. Yet I recommend that the film be seen, for two reasons. One reason is because of the undeniable dramatic strength of its structure and performances; it is impossible not to identify with this mother and her daughter, and Field is very effective as a brave, resourceful woman who is determined to free herself and her daughter from involuntary captivity. The second reason is harder to explain. I think the movie should be seen because it is an invitation to thought."


title: Not Without My Daughter (film)

text: While Iranians are not shown in a completely negative light, as the film depicts generous and brave Iranians who contact Betty Mahmoody and arrange for the escape of her and her daughter, these "good" Iranians are high-born opponents of the Islamic Republic regime, shown listening to European classical music. In 2016, Gazelle Emami of "Vulture", reflecting on the 25 years since the film's release, concluded that "Not Without My Daughter" had become known for making American women more apprehensive towards dating or marrying Iranian men.


title: Not Without My Daughter (film)

text: The score by Jerry Goldsmith was also not well received. Jay Boyar of the "Orlando Sentinel" called it "TV-movie manipulative", while Jason Ankeny of AllMusic wrote, "Jerry Goldsmith's score does little to refute its opponents' charges of racism."


title: Not Without My Daughter (film)

text: Sally Field was nominated for the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress of 1991, where she lost to Sean Young for "A Kiss Before Dying".


title: Not Without My Daughter (film)

text: Alfred Molina confirmed in an interview with "Time Out" that he was punched by a man who apparently hated his brutal portrayal of Dr. Mahmoody in the film.


title: Not Without My Daughter (film)

text: The 2002 documentary "Without My Daughter" attempts to contradict Betty Mahmoody’s book and the film.


title: Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles

text: Laurel Canyon is a mountainous neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills region of the Santa Monica Mountains, within the Hollywood Hills West district of Los Angeles, California. The main thoroughfare of Laurel Canyon Boulevard connects the neighborhood with the more urbanized parts of Los Angeles to the north and south, between Ventura Boulevard and Hollywood Boulevard.


title: Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles

text: Originally inhabited by the Tongva people, by the early 20th century real estate developers situated a vacation site along the slope of neighboring Lookout Mountain; this formed the nucleus of what would become the Laurel Canyon neighborhood. It later developed into a celebrity enclave: the remote, rugged nature of the land and its proximity to many of the movie studios in nearby Hollywood made it an ideal location for many movie stars to site their homes, especially during the Golden Age of Hollywood. Raymond Chandler's private detective Philip Marlowe in The Long Good-bye lives in Laurel Canyon, Yucca Avenue in the early 1950's.


title: Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles

text: By the 1960s, the neighborhood had become a local center for counterculture, and many prominent folk and rock musicians moved into the area, making it a nexus for musical collaboration. By the late 1970s, criminal activity in the neighborhood, including distribution of drugs, was controlled by the Wonderland Gang (named for a Laurel Canyon thoroughfare), and the neighborhood became associated with the Wonderland murders, a grisly quadruple homicide in 1981.


title: Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles

text: Laurel Canyon is focused on its central thoroughfare, Laurel Canyon Boulevard. However, unlike other nearby canyon neighborhoods, Laurel Canyon has houses lining one side of the main street most of the way up to Mulholland Drive. There are many side roads that branch off the main canyon, but most are not through streets, reinforcing the self-contained nature of the neighborhood. Some of the main side streets are Mount Olympus, Kirkwood, Wonderland Avenue, Willow Glen, and Lookout Mountain Avenue. The zip code for a portion of the neighborhood is 90046.


title: Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles

text: Laurel Canyon Boulevard is an important North–South route between: West Hollywood, Hollywood, and Central Los Angeles; and Studio City and the eastern San Fernando Valley. The canyon's division between the two regions is defined by Mulholland Drive.


title: Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles

text: The Laurel Canyon neighborhood is generally bounded by West Hollywood to the west and south, Hollywood to the east, and Studio City to the north.


title: Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles

text: The Laurel Canyon area was inhabited by the Tongva people, a regional tribe of the indigenous peoples of California, for thousands of years. A spring-fed stream flowed year-round providing water.


title: Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles

text: The reliable water supply attracted colonial Spanish ranchers who started grazing sheep on the hillsides in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. After the Mexican–American War and the advent of U.S. statehood for California in 1850, the area was settled by Americans interested in water rights.


title: Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles

text: Until the twentieth century, passage up the canyon was made on foot or by mule. In 1907, an 82-mile dirt road, later named Laurel Canyon Boulevard, was built. It ran up the canyon, dividing at what is now Lookout Mountain Road; the left road went up to the summit of Lookout Mountain, and the right branch of the road went to the top of the Santa Monica Mountains and then down to the San Fernando Valley.


title: Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles

text: In 1908, the Lookout Mountain Park and Water Co. was formed to purchase 280 acres on Lookout Mountain, just west of Laurel Canyon, subdivided and marketed as mountain vacation properties. On August 14, 1908, the "Los Angeles Times" announced that the company would build Lookout Mountain Inn at the summit of Lookout Mountain and Sunset Plaza roads, and Lookout Mountain Park, Bungalow Land at Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Lookout Mountain Avenue and Wonderland Park. Two years later, the company widened the winding dirt road to the top of Lookout Mountain where they built the Lookout Mountain Inn.


title: Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles

text: In 1910, Charles Mann, a real estate developer and Richard Shoemaker, an electrical engineer, built a "trackless trolley" (trolley bus) line which ran between the Laurel Canyon Pacific Electric Shuttle stop at the foot of Laurel Canyon at Sunset Boulevard. Passenger service began on September 11, 1915, on what was the first commercial trolley bus operation in the United States. The Laurel Canyon Pacific Electric Shuttle ran from the foot of Laurel Canyon at Sunset Boulevard to Gardner Junction at Gardner Street and Sunset Boulevard, Beverly Hills line of the Pacific Electric Railway station (1451 N Gardner St, West Hollywood, CA 90046), up Laurel Canyon Road from Sunset Boulevard to the Tavern at the base of Lookout Mountain Road, a road house serving visitors.


title: Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles

text: Each of the two 16-passenger cars had two trolley poles, one to a positive overhead wire and one to a ground overhead wire, and were able to sway to either side of the street, only using power uphill. Each trolley was actually an Oldsmobile bus whose gasoline engine was replaced with a 15-horsepower electric motor. Their original bodies were rebuilt in 1912, their open sides being enclosed. The service ended sometime in 1915 and was replaced by Stanley steam buses, the overhead wires taken down. Until 1918, the shuttle service traveled up and down Laurel Canyon to meet the half hour schedule to Los Angeles. It was insufficiently patronized and discontinued when Pacific Electric stopped running streetcars between Gardner Junction and Laurel Canyon Boulevard, and demand failed to support it.


title: Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles

text: On October 26, 1918, a fire, fanned by strong Santa Ana winds, burned about 200 acres and totally destroyed Lookout Mountain Inn at the summit of Lookout Mountain Avenue and Sunset Plaza Drive. Another major fire occurred in July 1959, destroying some 38 homes.


title: Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles

text: As of 2007 a vacant lot, the corner of Lookout Mountain Avenue and Laurel Canyon Blvd (2401 Laurel Canyon Blvd) is where the "Tavern", a famous 1915 "Log Cabin" mansion stood, with its 80-foot living room, floor to ceiling fireplace, bowling alley and indoor sunken swimming pool. It was once occupied by silent film star Tom Mix but spent years on the rental market. In 1968 it was rented by Frank Zappa who turned it into a recording studio and celebrity hangout. However, Zappa moved out after six months. The house burned to the ground on Halloween 1981.


title: Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles

text: Directly across the street, at 2400 Laurel Canyon Blvd., is site of the home, long-gone, that magician Harry Houdini may have rented around 1919. It was originally the Walker estate.


title: Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles

text: Laurel Canyon is known for its natural wildlife and is home to at least one adult male mountain lion.


title: Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles

text: Laurel Canyon became a nexus of counterculture activity and attitudes in the mid-late 1960s and early 1970s, becoming famous as home to many of L.A.'s rock musicians, such as Cass Elliot of the Mamas & the Papas; Joni Mitchell; Frank Zappa; Jim Morrison of The Doors; Carole King; The Byrds; Buffalo Springfield; Canned Heat; John Mayall; members of the band The Eagles; the band Love; Neil Young; Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys as well as James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Ned Doheny, Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt, Harry Nilsson; and Micky Dolenz & Peter Tork of The Monkees. Cass Elliot's home was considered one of Laurel Canyon's biggest party houses with all-night, drug-fueled sleepovers, well attended by the hippest musicians and movie stars of the era.


title: Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles

text: John Phillips, also of the Mamas & the Papas, took inspiration from their home in Laurel Canyon for the song "Twelve Thirty (Young Girls Are Coming to the Canyon)", released in 1967. The following year, blues artist John Mayall recorded and released the album "Blues from Laurel Canyon" based on his experiences during a vacation that he spent in the Canyon.


title: Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles

text: The area and its denizens served as inspiration for Joni Mitchell's third album, "Ladies of the Canyon", released in 1970. The house she lived in was immortalized in the Crosby, Stills, and Nash song, "Our House" (1970), written by her then-lover Graham Nash. The group is reputed to have met and first sung together in Mitchell's living room.


title: Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles

text: Legendary rock photographer Henry Diltz was also a resident and used the scenic Canyon backdrop for many of his historic photos of rock musicians casually socializing. Several of his photos became iconic representations of the 1960s and 1970s' West Coast music scene; others became famous album sleeve covers, such as CSN's debut album, "Crosby, Stills & Nash" (photographed in nearby West Hollywood).


title: Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles

text: Musician Josh Tillman has said that his output under the moniker Father John Misty was partly inspired by a relocation to and personal reinvention in Laurel Canyon. The song "I Went to the Store One Day", from his 2015 album "I Love You, Honeybear", recounts the story of how Tillman met his wife, Emma, in the parking lot of the Laurel Canyon Country Store.


title: Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles

text: On July 1, 1981, three members and one associate of the Wonderland Gang, so-called because they were based at 8763 Wonderland Avenue, died in the Wonderland murders (also known as the "Four on the Floor murders" or the "Laurel Canyon murders"). "Salon" reports: "The massacre took place just down the street from what was then the home of Jerry Brown, who was California’s governor at the time. The 8763 Wonderland Avenue address itself is said to have been inhabited at one time by Paul Revere and the Raiders."


title: Acura TL

text: The Acura TL is an executive car that was manufactured by Acura, the luxury division of Honda. It was introduced in 1995 to replace the Acura Vigor and was badged for the Japanese-market from 1996 to 2000 as the Honda Inspire and from 1996 to 2004 as the Honda Saber. The TL was Acura's best-selling model until it was outsold by the MDX in 2007. In 2005, it ranked as the second best-selling luxury sedan in the United States behind the BMW 3 Series, but sales decreased after the 2008 model year. Four generations of the Acura TL were produced, with the final fourth generation TL premiering in 2008 as a 2009 model and ending production in 2014, when it was replaced together with the TSX by the TLX.


title: Acura TL

text: The TL "Touring Luxury" debuted as 1996 model, first with the 1996 2.5 TL available with the 2.5 L 176 hp (131 kW) SOHC 20-valve 5-cylinder engine from the Vigor. The 3.2 TL used the 3.2 L 200 hp (149 kW) SOHC 24v V6 from the second generation Acura Legend. The debut of the TL signaled Acura's shift from traditional vehicle names to alphanumeric designations. By replacing recognizable names such as Vigor and Legend with a two-letter designation, the luxury maker hoped to focus consumer attention on the Acura name. The TL was the first Acura model to adopt the new naming scheme.


title: Acura TL

text: The 2.5 TL was positioned as the sporty model and the 3.2 focused more upon a luxurious ride. There were minimal styling differences between the two, but the 3.2 TL had larger tires despite the 2.5 TL's more sporty marketing. Moreover, the added power in the 3.2 TL gave it better acceleration. Both engines were mounted in a front-rear, or longitudinal position. This contrasted with the more typical transverse engine mount style, and was intended to provide better weight distribution and reduce nose dive. The engine mount design resulted in an elongated hood for the first generation TL, a shorter front overhang and longer wheelbase, fitting for a near-luxury car. The inline-5 engine in the 2.5 TL competed with similar 5-cylinder engines offered in Audi and Volvo models.


title: Acura TL

text: The first 1996 Acura TL was manufactured at Sayama, Japan on March 28, 1995. Sales of the 2.5 TL began in spring 1995, but the 3.2 TL was delayed until fall because of a U.S.-Japan trade dispute. The U.S. government had threatened to impose 100% tariffs on higher-priced Japanese cars in response a growing U.S.-Japan trade deficit. Ultimately a deal was reached which avoided the tariffs.


title: Acura TL

text: The first generation Acura TL had standard features including dual airbags, antilock brakes, automatic climate control, a cassette/CD player sound system, and power windows and locks. Leather was standard on the more upscale 3.2 TL, while the 2.5 TL featured a firmer suspension setup. Like its predecessor, the Vigor, this generation TL was a 4-door pillared hardtop, with frameless windows.


title: Acura TL

text: In 1997, Acura added a standard power moonroof to all TL models. Additionally, all Acura TLs received a variable-speed intermittent wiper setting. The 3.2 TL had 205/65/15 tires and a V6 motor. The sport-targeted, 5-cylinder 2.5 TL was further fitted with new alloy wheels.


title: Acura TL

text: For 1998, Acura made several previously optional features standard on the 2.5 TL. 1998 was the last year of TL production in Japan, as the model was being redesigned for production in the United States.


title: Acura TL

text: In 1998, Honda revealed the TL-X concept car, showing a preview of the second-generation TL which would debut in fall that year. The second-generation TL (now called 3.2 TL) was released in 1998 and was now derived off the US-market Honda Accord platform. It was available with a newly designed 3.2 L 225 hp (168 kW) SOHC VTEC "J32" V6 mated to a four-speed electronic automatic transmission with SportShift.


title: Acura TL

text: The second-generation 3.2 TL (the 2.5 was dropped) was built in Marysville, Ohio, alongside the Honda Accord, at Marysville Auto Plant. These cars were imported into Japan and sold as Honda Inspire in the "Honda Clio" dealer network, and as Honda Saber in the "Honda Verno" dealer network. The main difference between the two cars were the front grille; the Inspire and Saber were also available with a 2.5 L Honda J-series V6 exclusive to the Japanese market.


title: Acura TL

text: The very first 1999 Acura TL (2G) was assembled on August 4, 1998. The only option on the sedan was a CD-based navigation system. The 1999 TL's navigation system stored the maps in zones; there were 5 different zones for the U.S. Starting with this generation, cabin air filters (also known as pollen filters) were installed as standard equipment and are located behind the glove compartment.


title: Acura TL

text: In the second year of production, the Acura TL was given a few more features, including a 5-speed automatic transmission with SportShift. The added gear allowed for slightly better fuel economy and acceleration when compared to the previous 4-speed automatic transmission with SportShift. With this model, if the driver forgets the 1-2 shift the computer will take over when in sport mode and do the 1-2 up and down shifts, unlike the 4-speed 1999 model. In many vehicles, the 5-speed automatic transmission was very unreliable: as the third clutch pack wore, particles blocked off oil passages and prevented the transmission from shifting or holding gears normally. The transmission would slip, fail to shift, or suddenly downshift and make the car come to a screeching halt, even at freeway speeds. This problem was highlighted in the "Los Angeles Times" in September 2002. "Consumer Reports" took note and gave the TL and CL the black spot, the worst rating for transmission reliability. In response to the recurring problem, the manufacturer extended the warranty covering the transmission to 7 years or on U.S.A. models. A class-action lawsuit was settled to extend the transmission warranty for U.S.A. owners or entities to 7.75 years for all models made from 1998 to 2002 and some 2003 models by VIN; however, Canadian owners warranties were not extended. Transmissions replaced prior to March 2005 usually fail again. Transmissions replaced from March 2005 and later include a redesigned third gear clutch pack reported to fix the problem.


title: Acura TL

text: Other notable changes include the addition of side impact airbags for the front passengers and a change of format for the navigation system. The 2000 TL switched from a CD database to a DVD-based navigation system. The entire continental United States became accessible with the navigation system; it was possible to drive from one coast to the other with the new navigation system.


title: Acura TL

text: For the 2001 model year, a redesigned coupe version of the TL was introduced, the 3.2CL. While it was mechanically identical to the TL, its sales never came close to that of its sibling model, and as a result, it was discontinued in May 2003. The 2001 model received a redesigned cupholder insert. The automatic transmissions in these cars were also defective. In response to the recurring problem, the manufacturer extended the warranty covering the transmission to or 7.75 years for all 1999 - 2002 and 2003 partial per VIN. Acura dealers replace the transmissions under warranty. Transmissions replaced prior to March 2005 usually fail again. Transmissions replaced in March 2005 and later include a redesigned third gear clutch pack reported to fix the problem.


title: Acura TL

text: Several models in the 2002–2003 years were the subject of a safety recall in July 2009 for injuries reported by faulty driver's side airbag inflators. In February 2010, another recall was issued for the same problem.


title: Acura TL

text: In March 2001 for the 2002 model year, the TL got a minor makeover, with a refreshed front fascia, redesigned taillights, a 6 CD in-dash changer as well as a few other features. A Type-S model was also added, adding 35 hp (26 kW) for a total of at 6100 rpm and of torque at 3500-5500 rpm. It also featured wheels, firmer seats and suspension. A large percentage of these vehicles exhibited problems with the automatic transmission necessitating replacement. In response to the recurring problem, the manufacturer extended the warranty covering the transmission to or 7.75 years for all 1999 - 2002 models and 2003 partial per VIN. Acura dealers replace the transmissions under warranty. Transmissions replaced prior to March 2005 usually fail again. Transmissions replaced March 2005 and later include a redesigned third gear clutch pack reported to fix the problem.


title: Acura TL

text: But one odd and notable addition to only the 2003 model year was the addition of General Motors OnStar subscription cellular telephone and navigation assistance service to the DVD GPS navigation system option. These were separate independent systems, each with their own GPS receivers. The OnStar system was based on a dated Motorola analog cellular technology operating over 1G AMPS. Because of this and the failure of Acura to offer a digital upgrade, the TL OnStar system became defunct in 2009 when US carriers were allowed to turn off analog AMPS cell tower equipment.


title: Acura TL

text: In October 2003, the third generation Acura TL (the 3.2 moniker was dropped) was released for sale in North America. Developed mainly in the United States by a team led by Erik Berkman, with bodywork by American Honda designer Jon Ikeda, the new TL was built in Marysville, Ohio, and was derived from the seventh generation US-market Honda Accord. The car itself is praised for its sharp design, and is said to have aged well.


title: Acura TL

text: Starting with this generation, this model was not sold in Japan, with the Honda Inspire holding the position of entry level luxury sedan below the Honda Legend in Japan. The Inspire of this era was instead sold as the seventh generation North American spec Honda Accord.


title: Acura TL

text: It is powered by a 270 hp (201 kW); later revised to , based on the new SAE measurement standard for horsepower and of torque, 3.2 L 24 valve SOHC VTEC V6 engine mated to either a "SportShift" manually controllable 5-speed automatic with or 6-speed manual. Manual transmission models featured Brembo 4-Piston front brake calipers, a Torsen-type limited slip differential, stiffer anti-roll bars front and rear and performance tires at no additional cost.


title: Acura TL

text: As of March 2004, Honda offers to the public a factory-sanctioned "tuner package" version of the TL called the TL A-SPEC. This version features a suspension tuned by Makoto Tamamura, an indication of the TL A-SPEC's aggressive engineering. In addition, an underbody kit, spoiler, limited edition A-SPEC steering wheel, "A-SPEC" badge on the back, and wheels are standard issue on the A-SPEC package. When installed at purchase, the car's 4 year/ warranty applies to the package as well.


title: Acura TL

text: The third generation TL was also the first car in the American market to include a 6-disc DVD-Audio system, output through an 8-speaker 225-watt system, engineered by Panasonic and tuned by Grammy Award-winning sound engineer Elliot Scheiner. The system also plays back regular audio CDs as well as DTS audio discs, CD-Audio, CD-Rs and CD-RWs but not MP3s. In the United States, all models were also equipped with a Bluetooth HandsFree Link (HFL) system, integrated with the audio system, to allow for hands-free usage of one's cell phone (provided the phone also supports Bluetooth and is compatible with the HFL's hands-free profile). In Canada, the HFL feature was not available on the base model (standard with A-Spec, Technology, and Navigation packages), though the 2005 model year saw HFL becoming standard in all Canadian models. With the built-in XM Radio tuner, owners can elect to pay a monthly subscription after the complimentary 3 months subscription expires from Acura for XM radio, which provides over 100 digital channels via satellite.


title: Acura TL

text: With the optional Alpine-designed navigation system, the third generation TL can also accept voice commands like "find nearest police station" or "go home." The DVD navigation system features an touchscreen LCD, which allows for easy viewing of the road ahead. DVDs with new road information for the navigation system were made annually until 2014.


title: Acura TL

text: The JDM Honda Inspire debuted around four and a half months earlier (on June 11, 2003) and marked the branching out of the TL line from the Inspire. The Inspire is basically a seventh-generation US-market Honda Accord V6 with minor trim changes, and the addition of Variable Cylinder Management, which shuts off half of the engine when not needed to boost fuel economy. The Saber was discontinued and the new Inspire is being sold at Clio, Primo, and Verno dealerships.


title: Acura TL

text: The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) found the Acura TL had the second lowest fatality rates among midsize luxury cars.


title: Acura TL

text: The 2005 TL received a passenger airbag cut-off switch and indicator and extra stitching on the front seats. There were several minor changes made (such as changes in seat belt anchor mounts) which are not published.


title: Acura TL

text: The 2006 TL received the Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) and a new engine management system to help reduce torque steer. The new horsepower rating of is due to a change in testing procedures, with the engine remaining the same technically since 2004.


title: Acura TL

text: The 2007 Acura TL features a slightly revised exterior as well as a revised interior with a new steering wheel, redesigned gauges, and footwell lighting, in addition to new interior and exterior colors. The 2007 TL (non Type-S) received suspension changes to improve ride comfort. Also new for the 2007 model year were LED turn signal repeaters on the side mirrors and fog lamps in the bumper. Prior to 2007, the fog lamps were integrated into the headlight housing; Daytime Running Lights now occupy that space (Canadian models have had DRLs there rather than fog lamps since 2004).


title: Acura TL

text: TL with navigation models sport a new rear view camera with image displayed on the navigation screen as well as XM NavTraffic. In addition to the new standard auxiliary audio jack, the sound system is now MP3/WMA compatible and offers Dolby Pro Logic II decoding and speed-sensitive volume compensation. The manual transmission option had been dropped from the base TL due largely to extremely low sales (roughly 1 out of 40 TLs sold across America were equipped with a manual gearbox).