Decorative arts

The decorative arts are arts or crafts concerned with the design and manufacture of beautiful objects that are also functional. It includes interior design, but not usually architecture. The decorative arts are often categorized in opposition to the "fine arts", namely, painting, drawing, photography, and large-scale sculpture, which generally have no function other than to be seen.

"Decorative" and "Fine" arts

The distinction between the decorative and the fine arts has essentially arisen from the post-Renaissance art of the West, where the distinction is for the most part meaningful. This distinction is much less meaningful when considering the art of other cultures and periods, where the most highly regarded works – or even all works – include those in decorative media. For example, Islamic art in many periods and places consists entirely of the decorative arts, as does the art of many traditional cultures. The distinction between decorative and fine arts is not very useful for appreciating Chinese art, and neither is it for understanding Early Medieval art in Europe. In that period in Europe, fine arts such as manuscript illumination and monumental sculpture existed, but the most prestigious works tended to be in goldsmith work, in cast metals such as bronze, or in other techniques such as ivory carving. Large-scale wall-paintings were much less regarded, crudely executed, and rarely mentioned in contemporary sources. They were probably seen as an inferior substitute for mosaic, which for this period must be viewed as a fine art, though in recent centuries mosaics have tended to be seen as decorative. The term "ars sacra" ("sacred arts") is sometimes used for medieval Christian art done in metal, ivory, textiles, and other high-value materials but not for rarer secular works from that period.

Pilot (About a Boy)

"Pilot" is the pilot and first episode of the American television comedy series About a Boy, which premiered on February 22, 2014 on NBC in the United States. The series is based on the 1998 novel of the same name by British writer Nick Hornby and the 2002 film starring Hugh Grant. The episode is written by series developer Jason Katims and is directed by Jon Favreau. In the episode, a young boy named Marcus (Benjamin Stockham) and his single mother Fiona (Minnie Driver) move in next door to Will (David Walton), an unemployed bachelor living in San Francisco. Will woos a woman by pretending Marcus is his son.

Plot

Will is on a San Francisco trolley with his friend Andy (Al Madrigal) and Andy's two kids. Will gets off to flirt with a woman named Dakota (Leslie Bibb) who is going to a single parents' support group meeting. He lies to her, saying he is a single parent of a son named Jonah who has leukemia. She becomes attracted to him and asks to set up a play date between her daughters and his son.

8 Simple Rules (season 1)

The first season of 8 Simple Rules aired on ABC between September 17, 2002 and May 20, 2003, it consists of 28 episodes. On August 7, 2007 Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released the complete first season on DVD for the first time ever, on a 3-disc set.

Guest stars throughout season one include: Cybill Shepherd, Jason Priestley, Terry Bradshaw, Nick Carter, Shelley Long, Patrick Warburton, Thad Luckinbill, Billy Aaron Brown and Larry Miller.

Cast and characters

Main cast

  • John Ritter as Paul Hennessey
  • Katey Sagal as Cate Hennessey
  • Kaley Cuoco as Bridget Hennessey
  • Amy Davidson as Kerry Hennessey
  • Martin Spanjers as Rory Hennessey
  • Guest cast

  • Billy Aaron Brown as Kyle
  • Larry Miller as Tommy
  • Patrick Warburton as Nick Sharpe
  • Nikki Danielle Moore as Jenna Sharpe
  • Nicole Mansour as Rachel Sharpe
  • Cole Williams as Anthony
  • Brian Sites as Jason
  • Shelley Long as Mary Ellen Doyle
  • John Ratzenberger as Fred Doyle
  • Thad Luckinbill as Donny Doyle
  • Terry Bradshaw as Steve "Canned Heat" Smith
  • Alcatraz (TV series)

    Alcatraz is an American television series created by Elizabeth Sarnoff, Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt, and produced by J. J. Abrams and Bad Robot Productions. The series premiered on Fox on January 16, 2012, as a mid-season replacement. Switching between eras, the series focuses on the Alcatraz prison, which was shut down in 1963 due to unsafe conditions for its prisoners and guards. The show's premise is that both the prisoners and the guards disappeared in 1963 and have abruptly reappeared in modern-day San Francisco, where they are being tracked down by a government agency. The series starred Sarah Jones, Jorge Garcia, Sam Neill, and Parminder Nagra.

    The show was canceled by Fox on May 9, 2012.

    Plot summary

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