"Dennō Senshi Porygon The episode is infamous for certain repetitive visual effects that induced photosensitive epileptic seizures in a substantial number of Japanese viewers, an incident referred to as the by the Japanese press. As a result of the seizures 685 viewers were taken to hospitals; 2 people remained hospitalized for more than two weeks. Due to this, the episode has not been rebroadcast worldwide. After the incident, the ""Pokémon"" anime went into a four-month hiatus, and it returned on TV Tokyo on April 16, 1998, thus making the episode perhaps the most controversial episode of the entire ""Pokémon"" series."
"all, and give children seizures"". There follows a scene with flashing lights. In ""So Yesterday"", a novel by Scott Westerfeld, this episode is mentioned and shown to one of the characters. The flashing red light that caused the seizure is also used in the story telling elements. Dennō Senshi Porygon The episode is infamous for certain repetitive visual effects that induced photosensitive epileptic seizures in a substantial number of Japanese viewers, an incident referred to as the by the Japanese press. As a result of the seizures 685 viewers were taken to hospitals; 2 people remained hospitalized for more than"
"aimed at elementary school students. Just before 4Kids Entertainment revealed that they were planning on producing an English adaptation dub of the anime in the United States, the episode ""Dennō Senshi Porygon"" caused controversy when it aired in Japan on December 16, 1997. In the episode, there was a scene with a huge explosion that flashed red and blue lights. At this point, viewers started to complain of blurred vision, headaches, dizziness, seizures, blindness, and lost consciousness. A total of 685 viewers were taken to hospitals by ambulances. Alfred R. Kahn, chief executive of 4Kids Entertainment, announced on January 1,"
"a rate of about 12 Hz for approximately six seconds. At this point, viewers started to complain of blurred vision, headaches, dizziness and nausea. Some experienced seizures, blindness, convulsions and loss of consciousness. Japan's Fire Defense Agency reported that 685 viewers – 310 boys and 375 girls – were taken to hospitals by ambulances. Although many victims recovered during the ambulance trip, more than 150 were admitted to hospitals. Two were hospitalized for more than two weeks. Some had seizures when parts of the scene were rebroadcast during news reports on the seizures. Only a small fraction of the 685"
"screen. Before the seizure incident, the opening was originally one Pokémon image per screen. Before the resumption of broadcast, was shown. Broadcast in Japan on April 11, 1998, host Miyuki Yadama went over the circumstances of the program format and the on-screen advisories at the beginning of animated programs, as well as showing letters and fan drawings sent in by viewers, most of whom were concerned that the incident would lead to the anime being cancelled. The seizures were actually caused by animation errors. After that episode aired, prior episodes with seizure-like effects were edited for rebroadcasting (especially the non-Japanese"
"seen watching an anime entitled Battling Seizure Robots featuring robots with flashing eye lasers, and asks: ""Isn't this that cartoon that causes seizures?"", and the flashing eyes cause him to have a seizure. Marge and Lisa are also affected and Homer walks in seeing them all convulsing on the floor and joins in. The same scene is seen again in the episode's end credits, this time covering the entire screen. An episode of ""South Park"" that first aired in November 1999, ""Chinpokomon"", revolves around a ""Pokémon""-like phenomenon, called ""Chinpokomon"", with which the children of South Park become obsessed. ""Chinpokomon"" toys"
"can cause people to quickly become unconscious, and twilight sleep, which is a condition that can render people unconscious following great moments of pain. ""Unruhe"" premiered on the Fox network on October 27, 1996. This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 11.7, with an 18 share, meaning that roughly 11.7 percent of all television-equipped households, and 18 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. It was viewed by 19.10 million people. This episode was broadcast out of order in the series' production schedule as once the producers of the show knew that they would be moving"
"with the music of the Grateful Dead during his legendary Acid Tests. In early 1966 Andy Warhol's lights engineer Danny Williams pioneered the use of multiple stroboscopes, slides and film projections simultaneously onstage during the 1966 Exploding Plastic Inevitable shows, and at Bill Graham's request, Williams built an enhanced stroboscopic light show to be used at Fillmore West. Sometimes strobe lighting can trigger seizures in photosensitive epilepsy. An infamous event took place in 1997 in Japan when an episode of the Pokémon anime, ""Dennō Senshi Porygon"" (commonly translated as ""Electric Soldier Porygon""), featured a scene that depicted a huge explosion"
"had no further seizures. Scientists believe the flashing lights triggered photosensitive seizures in which visual stimuli like flashing lights can cause altered consciousness. Although about 1 in 4,000 people are susceptible to these types of seizures, the number of people affected by this ""Pokémon"" episode was unprecedented. After the airing of ""Dennō Senshi Porygon"", the ""Pokémon"" anime took a four-month break until it returned on April 16, 1998. After the hiatus, the time slot changed from Tuesday to Thursday. The opening theme was also redone, and black screens showing various Pokémon in spotlights were broken up into four images per"
"bizarre phenomena, both human and supernatural. The show is notable for its wry humor, its muted sepia colour scheme, and the appearance of a chorus of dishwashers with Down syndrome who discuss in intimate detail the strange occurrences in the hospital. The first quartet of episodes ended with numerous questions unanswered, and in 1997, the cast reassembled to produce another group of four episodes, Riget II (The Kingdom II). This second series ended with even more questions unanswered than the first, and a third series was planned. However, due to the death in 1998 of Ernst-Hugo Järegård (who played Stig"
"(most commonly translated ""Electric Soldier Porygon"", season 1, episode 38); as a result, this episode has not been aired since. In this particular episode, there were bright explosions with rapidly alternating blue and red color patterns. It was determined in subsequent research that these strobing light effects cause some individuals to have epileptic seizures, even if the person had no previous history of epilepsy. This incident is a common focus of Pokémon-related parodies in other media, and was lampooned by ""The Simpsons"" episode ""Thirty Minutes over Tokyo"" and the ""South Park"" episode ""Chinpokomon"", among others. In March 2000, Morrison Entertainment"
"Although approximately 1 in 4,000 people are susceptible to these types of seizures, the number of people affected by the ""Pokémon"" episode was unprecedented. An article in ""USA Today"" reassured parents that American children were unlikely to suffer seizures provoked by cartoons as US networks did not air anime, with its ""fast-paced style of animation"", though anime has become more prevalent on American television since. The incident was included in the 2004 edition and the 2008 Gamer's Edition of the Guinness World Records book, holding the record for ""Most Photosensitive Epileptic Seizures Caused by a Television Show"". News of the"
"finds out that he was given Newman's blood, and screams in horror. The Blood (Seinfeld) ""The Blood"" is the 160th episode of the NBC sitcom ""Seinfeld"". This was the fourth episode for the ninth and final season. It aired on October 16, 1997. This was Lloyd Bridges' last television performance before his death. Jerry feels he is getting out of shape and starts a purification program to improve his diet. His parents buy him sessions with an elderly personal trainer, Izzy Mandelbaum (first seen in ""The English Patient)"". Elaine is offended when her friend Vivian (Kellie Waymire) implies that Elaine"
"blue lights. Although there were similar parts in the episode with red and blue flashes, an anime technique called ""paka paka"" made this scene extremely intense, for these flashes were extremely bright strobe lights, with blinks at a rate of about 12 Hz for about 5 seconds in almost , and then for 2 seconds outright fullscreen. At this point, viewers started to complain of blurred vision, headaches, dizziness and nausea. A few people even had seizures, blindness, convulsions, and lost consciousness. Japan's Fire Defense Agency reported a total of 685 viewers, 310 boys and 375 girls, were taken to"
"show was not real. The reaction to the programme led the BBC to place a decade-long ban on the programme being repeated after its initial broadcast. The British Film Institute released it on VHS and Region 2 DVD in November 2002. A number of psychological effects were reported in ""Ghostwatch""s wake: Eighteen-year-old factory worker Martin Denham, who suffered from learning difficulties and had a mental age of 13, committed suicide five days after the programme aired. The family home had suffered with a faulty central heating system which had caused the pipes to knock; Denham linked this to the activity"
"in that series' fifth season; while Wisden appeared in ""Pusher"". Wisden would also reappear in ""Millennium"" third season, acting in an unrelated role in ""TEOTWAWKI"". ""Monster"" was first broadcast on the Fox network in the United States on October 17, 1997. The episode earned a Nielsen rating of 6 during its original broadcast, meaning that of households in the United States viewed the episode. This represented approximately households, and left the episode the seventy-second most-viewed broadcast that week. Guest star Lauren Diewold received a nomination for Best Performance in a TV Drama Series – Guest Starring Young Actress at the"
"from December 17, 1997 until April 16, 1998 after the airing of an episode which caused 685 viewers to have seizures. A show may also be put on hiatus due to personal issues with a cast member, or an illness or death: examples are the death of ""8 Simple Rules"" actor John Ritter; ""The Royal Family"" being retooled after the death of Redd Foxx; and ""Sonny with a Chance"" actress Demi Lovato departing Disney Channel to deal with personal issues, leading to that show's retooling around the show within a show ""So Random!"". Hiatus (television) In American English, the term"
"was one of TLC's most controversial shows from the beginning, because it did not sugar-coat or downplay the violent nature of the cases that usually ended up in a big-city trauma center. The show carries a disclaimer at the beginning and on the opening frames of every return-from-commercial bumper: ""Due to the graphic nature of this program, viewer discretion is advised"". The warning is needed because the show does not shy away from letting the viewer see blood, guts, or even the death of patients. When the show debuted in 1997, such graphic presentations on television were quite rare. ""Trauma"""
"permanently paralysed in 1998, and a bomb detonated in the Millennium Club killed off both Jason (Vincent Price) and Greg Shadwick in 1999. Separate fires at number 6 (in 2002) and number 8 (in 1996) almost killed several characters. Susannah (Karen Drury) and Max Farnham's (Steven Pinder) children both perished in a car crash in 1997. ""Radio Times"" TV listings Editor, Alison Graham, remarked in May 1998 when Ron Dixon blew up ""Brookside Parade"" by incorrectly installing a gas cooker: ""Brookside loves a good disaster. Someone in the production team must take a perverse pleasure in watching blue flashing lights"
"by what they perceive as an inferior intellect. This is one of the first episodes of ""The Simpsons"" that were animated with digital ink and paint, and marked the series' permanent switch to that technique. Previously, episodes had been animated using the traditional ink-and-paint process. Digital ink and paint had previously been used by the animators of ""The Simpsons"" for season 7's ""Radioactive Man"" and season 12's ""Tennis the Menace"", primarily to test the technique. The episode originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on December 15, 2002. It was viewed in approximately 8.75 million households that"
"head is a reference to Act 4 in ""Merry Christmas Mr. Bean"" from ""Mr. Bean"". Ross and Chandler's costumes in 1988 were inspired by ""Miami Vice"", which was popular at the time. The music used in Chandler's accident was ""The Murder"" from Alfred Hitchcock's ""Psycho"". In its original airing, the show finished second in ratings for the week of November 16–22, 1998, with a Nielsen rating of 16.0, equivalent to approximately 15.5 million households. It was the network's second highest-rated show that week, after ""ER"", which aired on the same night. The episode premiered in the United Kingdom on Sky1"
"These included him being cremated, stabbed and crushed. This one-hour special aired over the Christmas holiday period in December 2005. In this show Jones and MacLeod drew inspiration from the accounts of Jesus' miracles in the New Testament to present illusions which included apparently walking on the surface of water in a glass tank, turning water into wine, causing a blind person to temporarily 'see', appearing to raise a deceased person, causing a virgin to apparently become 'pregnant' and feeding 5000 people. The show caused controversy among newspapers and other press, with John Beyer of Mediawatch describing it as ""a"
"with a distinct change to the opening titles. For the first time, the focus was on the characters, who were presented posing to the camera against a blurred dark background. The only 'medical' references were the glimpses of an ambulance and a heart rate graphic in the opening seconds of the titles. The same logo introduced in 1997 remains at the end. Series 17, starting in September 2002, saw a return to a generic medical-themed title. The focus was on the international symbol of medical aid, the red cross, shown at different sizes moving around the screen, often filled with"
"The Strike (Seinfeld) ""The Strike"" is the 166th episode of the NBC sitcom ""Seinfeld"". This was the tenth episode of the ninth and final season. It aired on December 18, 1997. This episode featured and popularized the holiday of Festivus. This episode also popularized the concept of a ""two-face"": someone who looks attractive sometimes and looks bad at other times, depending on exterior conditions, such as lighting . It also explained why Kramer never held a job throughout the show. The episode is also notable for featuring an appearance by actor/playwright Tracy Letts, who would win the 2008 Pulitzer Prize"
"The Blood (Seinfeld) ""The Blood"" is the 160th episode of the NBC sitcom ""Seinfeld"". This was the fourth episode for the ninth and final season. It aired on October 16, 1997. This was Lloyd Bridges' last television performance before his death. Jerry feels he is getting out of shape and starts a purification program to improve his diet. His parents buy him sessions with an elderly personal trainer, Izzy Mandelbaum (first seen in ""The English Patient)"". Elaine is offended when her friend Vivian (Kellie Waymire) implies that Elaine is not responsible enough to babysit her son Jimmy. Meanwhile, George decides"
"were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."" The cups in the 33 cent store read ""That '70s Show"", a reference which Danny Masterson, one of the lead actors in ""That '70s Show"", was entertained by, according to Scully. ""Battling Seizure Robots"", the seizure-inducing television show that the Simpsons watch in their hotel room, is based on an episode of ""Pokémon"", called ""Dennō Senshi Porygon"", which caused 685 children to develop epileptic seizures. According to Scully, the staff received ""several angry letters"" from people for"
"doctors advanced theories including photosensitive epilepsy, Radford proffered evidence that the incident was rooted in mass hysteria. The resulting article, co-authored by Robert Bartholomew, was published in the February 2001 ""Southern Medical Journal"". ""We studied a reported illness outbreak occurring on December 16, 1997, involving more than 12,000 Japanese children who had various signs and symptoms of illness after watching an episode of a popular animated cartoon, Pokémon. While photosensitive epilepsy was diagnosed in a minuscule fraction of those affected, this explanation cannot account for the breadth and pattern of the events. The characteristic features of the episode are consistent"
"people of North America. Shortly thereafter, Max begins experiencing disturbing hallucinations in which his torso transforms into a gaping hole that functions as a VCR. Bianca tells him these are side-effects from having viewed ""Videodrome"", which carries a broadcast signal that causes the viewer to develop a malignant but non-lethal brain tumour. O'Blivion helped to create it as part of his vision for the future, but when he found out it was to be used for malevolent purposes, he attempted to stop his partners; they used his own invention to kill him. In the year before his death, O'Blivion recorded"
"clips from the past five series and specials. It also included extra footage that was deemed unsuitable for transmission in the original show. In 1997, Clive James returned as host for two series, produced by Watchmaker Productions for Carlton Television, in 1997 and 1998. The series was axed due to poor ratings. The show continued to show bizarre clips from all over the world. But they now often included nudity, strong language, and crude or dark humour. Examples include a Japanese crying contest, a Japanese contraception advert, a profane North Korean propaganda film, and an advert showing eggs being fired"
"anime series called ""YAT Anshin! Uchū Ryokō"" caused a similar incident, when a reported four children were taken to hospitals by ambulances after viewing a scene with red and white flashing colours. In March 2008, the Anonymous group of hackers was claimed to be behind an attack on a forum for epilepsy sufferers. The Anonymous hackers in turn blamed the Church of Scientology for the attacks, saying they were falsified to hurt Anonymous' image. The attacks first consisted of GIF images flashing at high speeds that were hidden in discussion threads with innocuous-sounding titles. Later attacks redirected web browsers to"
"Porygon"" aired in Japan on December 16, 1997 at 6:30 PM Japan Standard Time (09:30 UTC). It was broadcast over 37 TV stations that Tuesday night. It held the highest ratings for its time slot and was watched by approximately 4.6 million households. Twenty minutes into the episode, Pikachu stops ""vaccine"" missiles with his Thunderbolt attack, resulting in an explosion that flashes red and blue lights. Although there were similar parts in the episode with red and blue flashes, two anime techniques, ""paka paka"" and ""flash"" made the scene particularly intense. These flashes were bright strobe lights, with blinks at"
"19 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. It was viewed by 20.21 million viewers. Veronica Cartwright was nominated in the category ""Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series"" in the 1998 Emmy Awards for her performance in this episode and its follow-up, ""The Red and the Black"". The episode was later included on ""The X-Files Mythology, Volume 3 – Colonization"", a DVD collection that contains episodes involved with the alien Colonist's plans to take over the earth. Critical reception to the episode was largely positive. Television Without Pity ranked ""Patient X"" the eighth most nightmare-inducing"
"were ""a level of detail and sophistication never before seen on series television."" The makeup staff worked quickly; according to Robert Patrick, the team ""literally did a 36-hour day to pull off some of"" the effects. The faux skin was created to look ""moist"" and was composed of over 200 prosthetic pieces. Fake veins were then overlaid on top of the skin. Makeup department head Cheri Montesanto-Medcalf later claimed that ""seven makeup artists work[ed] seven hours on each person [for] ten days. ""Hellbound"" originally aired in the United States on the Fox network on January 27, 2002, and was first"