Matt Lauer

# Matt Lauer

## Abstract

Matthew Todd Lauer (/ l aʊər /; born December 30, 1957) is an American former television news personality, best known for his work with WWOR on 9 Broadcast Plaza (the popular New York City/Brooklyn area hybrid entertainment/local news show that would become The Richard Bey Show) and Cinemax in the with Beyond the Screen, which promoted many big name movies coming out in the late 80s to early 90s, and NBC News. After serving as a local news personality in New York City on WNBC, his first national exposure was as the news anchor for The Today Show from 1994 to 1997. In 1997, Lauer was moved from the news desk to the host's chair, and served as the co-host of NBC 's Today show from 1997 to 2017. He was also a frequent contributor for the evening news magazine Dateline NBC. With NBC, Lauer hosted the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and co-hosted the opening ceremonies of several Olympic Games.

In November 2017, Lauer's contract was terminated by NBC after NBC reported receiving "a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace" and added that NBC had "reason to believe this may not have been an isolated incident."

## Early life

Lauer was born in New York City, the son of Marilyn Lauer, a boutique owner, and Jay Robert Lauer, a bicycle-company executive.

Lauer's father was of Romanian Jewish ancestry, as seen on the Today Show ' s Finding Our Roots. Lauer said, "My dad was Jewish. My mom is not. So I was not raised anything. I do feel a desire now to find something spiritual. Getting married and wanting to have kids has something to do with that."

## Education and early career

Lauer earned his undergraduate degree from Ohio University at age 39 in 1997; he had studied at the school's Scripps College of Communication, School of Media Arts and Studies. Lauer had dropped out of the same institution in the spring of 1979 to begin his television career, after he was hired as a producer of the noon newscast for WOWK-TV in Huntington, West Virginia. By 1980, Lauer had become an on-air reporter for the station's 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts.

Lauer then started to move around the East Coast, hosting a number of daily information and talk programs. He was a co-host of PM Magazine in several cities, beginning in Richmond (1980–1981), then Providence (1981–1984), and then New York City (1984–1986). After the New York edition of PM Magazine was canceled by WNYW in 1986, Lauer and co-host Jill Rappaport worked on a new show for the station, Made in New York, which ran for fifteen weeks. This was followed by Lauer gaining his first national television exposure, as he joined Robin Leach in co-hosting ABC 's short-lived daytime series Fame, Fortune and Romance, a spin-off of the syndicated Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. Lauer then returned to local television, hosting programs in Philadelphia and Boston for a two-year period between 1987 and 1989, during which time he reported for ESPN and anchored entertainment news segments for HBO.

In September 1989, Lauer returned to New York City, this time to WWOR, and built his career and fame, where he hosted 9 Broadcast Plaza, a three-hour live interview program. Lauer departed that series as it took a turn in booking "tabloid" guests and topics, and for what he relayed as a refusal to live-read ads on the show for Dial-a-Mattress. WWOR-TV replaced Lauer with various guest hosts Buzz Luttrell Robb Weller, Robin Leach, Steve Edwards (talk show host), Weird Al Yankovic, Howard Stern, Richard Bey, and 9 Broadcast Plaza eventually morphed into The Richard Bey Show.

At this time, Lauer was also the original primary host of a popular Cinemax interstitial show, called Beyond the Screen (1988 - 1997; it was interstitial because the show aired on interstitial breaks between programs), which was very popular on Cinemax, causing them to topple HBO in the ratings. In this show, Matt, and many other hosts, would interview many celebrities such as Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Nicole Kidman, Talia Shire, Selma Blair, Jerry Seinfeld, Annabella Sciorra, Kirsten Dunst, EPMD, Tupac, John Singleton, Samuel L. Jackson, Sean Nelson, and many others, for their upcoming movies. The Godfather Part III, GoodFellas, Juice, and Fresh, were among the movies that had their behind-the-scenes featurette premieres on Cinemax, via this show.

In 1990, Lauer was hired by the Kushner-Locke Company to host a pilot called Day in Court, executive-produced by veteran producer David Sams, who helped to launch The Oprah Winfrey Show into national syndication. The program was retitled Trial Watch when it went to series, and ran on the NBC network for two seasons. NBC hired Robb Weller as host over Lauer when the program was picked up as a daily series. That same year, Lauer filmed a pilot for the World Wrestling Federation 's bodybuilding spinoff, the World Bodybuilding Federation for USA Network known as WBF BodyStars, though WWF owner/chairman Vince McMahon later decided to host the program himself. In 1991, Lauer appeared as the co-host (along with Willow Bay) of Etc., Etc., a show on the Travel Channel.

## Career at NBC News

Lauer joined NBC in 1992, when he became co-anchor of the early weekday news show Today in New York on the network's New York flagship station WNBC. The following year, Lauer filled the role of Live at Five co-anchor with Sue Simmons, eventually taking the role permanently and giving up the morning shift by 1994; he was replaced on Today in New York by Maurice DuBois. Lauer remained on Live at Five until 1996.

Lauer's on-camera presence would soon provide him many opportunities with NBC News. Lauer filled in as the newsreader on The Today Show for Margaret Larson when needed from 1992 to 1993. This "audition" period allowed him to join The Today Show full-time in January 1994 as news anchor, while still co-anchoring Today in New York and Live at Five.

Lauer stepped in for Scott Simon, Mike Schneider, Jack Ford and David Bloom as the co-host of Weekend Today, and for Ann Curry as anchor of the former NBC News program NBC News at Sunrise from 1992 to 1997. He had also filled in for Tom Brokaw on NBC Nightly News. As the Today Show news anchor, Lauer also substituted for Bryant Gumbel on the Today Show before being named the official co-anchor on January 6, 1997, after Gumbel stepped down. On top of Lauer's duties on The Today Show, Lauer also hosted programming on Discovery Channel and MSNBC.

From 1998 until 2011, Lauer embarked on what was generally an annual five-day, globe-spanning adventure called Where in the World is Matt Lauer? on the Today Show during TV sweeps. The segment was named after the PBS game show Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? from which it borrowed the theme song. This segment sent Lauer to various locations around the world, from where he reported on the importance of each location. Lauer broadcast from locations including Bhutan, Easter Island, the Panama Canal, Iran, Hong Kong, Croatia, and the Great Wall of China. In 2011, NBC News postponed the segment in consideration of the stagnant, unstable U.S. economy.

On some occasions, Lauer conducted interviews that escalated into tense exchanges. During a June 2005 interview with Tom Cruise, Lauer argued with Cruise about psychiatry and postpartum depression, and Cruise called Lauer "glib." In December 2008, Cruise said he regretted the exchange.

On June 19, 2007, Lauer interviewed Prince William and Prince Harry on the tenth anniversary of the death of their mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.

Between 1998 and 2017, Lauer co-hosted NBC's live coverage of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Lauer co-hosted the opening ceremonies of several Olympic Games, carrying on what his former co-host Katie Couric had done since the 2000 Summer Olympics. Lauer co-hosted the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics, the 2010 Winter Olympics, the 2012 Summer Olympics, the 2014 Winter Olympics, and the 2016 Summer Olympics. His commentary on the 2012 opening ceremonies, along with that of co-hosts Meredith Vieira and Bob Costas, came under fierce criticism, being described as "ignorant" and "banal".

On April 5, 2012, Lauer announced that he had signed a new contract with NBC News through 2017. Forbes estimated that the contract paid Lauer $25 million a year.

It has been widely reported that Lauer had influenced co-anchor Ann Curry 's departure from The Today Show, executed by its executive producer Jim Bell under the name called "Operation Bambi."

During the 2014 Winter Olympics, Lauer replaced prime-time host Bob Costas from February 11–14, after Costas suffered a major eye infection.

In November 2015, Lauer hosted an interview with Charlie Sheen, during which Sheen revealed that he was HIV-positive.

On September 8, 2016, Lauer conducted separate 30-minute interviews with presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, both of which were met with much criticism. Lauer devoted much of the Clinton interview to questions about her e-mail server, and according to critics, appeared to rush through audience-led topics such as domestic terror attacks and veterans' affairs, implying that there was not enough time to cover these in detail. Many also felt that Lauer failed to challenge Trump on alleged inaccuracies, such as his statement that he was "totally against the war in Iraq," which other sources called "lies." CNN reported that the short amount of time for the interviews, the short notice with which they were conducted, and the small amount of audience questions were a major reason for the poor reviews.

On November 30, 2016, it was revealed that Lauer had signed a new contract up to 2018. Variety reported that his salary was $20 million per year. On January 6, 2017, Lauer celebrated his 20th anniversary on The Today Show with a look back at some of his most memorable moments on the show.

## Sexual misconduct allegations

On November 29, 2017, NBC News announced that Lauer's employment had been terminated after an unidentified female NBC employee reported that Lauer had sexually harassed her during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, and that the harassment continued after they returned to New York. Andrew Lack, chairman of NBC News, sent a memorandum to his staff that said, in part, "On Monday night, we received a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by Matt Lauer.... While it is the first complaint about his behavior in the over 20 years he's been at NBC News, we were also presented with reason to believe this may not have been an isolated incident." A network executive said Lauer would not receive any form of monetary settlement because he was fired " for cause ". Lauer's last day on air was November 28, 2017. His contract had been scheduled to run through the end of 2018.

NBC News management said it had been aware that The New York Times and Variety had been conducting independent investigations of Lauer's behavior, but that management had been unaware of previous allegations against Lauer. Later reporting disputed this; Linda Vester, a former NBC News correspondent, said that management had to have known and that "everybody knew" that Lauer was dangerous. In the 2019 book Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators, Ronan Farrow cited multiple sources who stated that NBC News was not only aware of Lauer's misconduct beforehand, but that Harvey Weinstein used this knowledge to pressure the program into killing a story that would have outed his own sexual assaults. Variety reported allegations by at least ten of Lauer's current and former colleagues. Additional accusations went public in the ensuing days. NBC acknowledged three additional cases from 2000 to 2007.

In Catch and Kill, Farrow reveals one of the alleged victims as Brooke Nevils, who says Lauer anally raped her in his hotel room while the two were in Sochi covering the 2014 Winter Olympics for NBC. Farrow also writes in his book that Nevils had additional sexual encounters with Lauer after the initial incident, but she characterized those encounters as "transactional", and consented only out of fear that Lauer had control over her career.

In a statement made after his firing, Lauer apologized for his actions, saying, "Some of what is being said about me is untrue or mischaracterized, but there is enough truth in these stories to make me feel embarrassed and ashamed." Following Nevils' allegation of sexual assault that was published in Farrow's book, Lauer issued an open letter confirming that he had a consensual sexual relationship with Nevils and that the relationship started in 2014 in Sochi, but denying that the initial encounter was non-consensual.

Two weeks after Lauer's firing, Addie Zinone, a former Today production assistant, made an additional accusation, saying that she had a consensual sexual relationship with Lauer in June 2000. Zinone claimed that the relationship was an "abuse of power" on Lauer's part because Zinone said that she felt that turning down Lauer's advances would have hurt her career.

According to Farrow, Today show booker Melissa Lonner claims that Lauer exposed himself to her in 2010 at an NBC cocktail party. He denies this claim and through his lawyer said, "he will not take part in the marketing circus of this book."

In 2008, Lauer was the subject of a roast by the New York Friars Club where several of his colleagues made jokes about his reputation for having relationships with his staff.

## Other work

Lauer made a guest appearance as himself on a live episode of Will & Grace in early 2006.

In November 2006, Lauer and his daughter, Romy, hosted the Sesame Street direct-to-DVD show Sesame Beginnings: Exploring Together. Lauer hosted The Greatest American on the Discovery Channel, which used internet and telephone voting by viewers to select the winner. Lauer was critical of his own program, since it tended to favor well-known figures over others who had less influence in pop culture.

Lauer served as the 2009 Class Day speaker at Harvard University 's undergraduate commencement ceremonies on June 3, 2009.

Lauer has appeared as himself in the 2009 film Land of the Lost, the 2011 film The Beaver and voiced reporter Hark Hanson in the direct–to–DVD animated sequel Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey! Lauer also made appearances in the 2011 films Drew Peterson: Untouchable and Tower Heist; archival footage of Lauer is shown in the 2015 film Straight Outta Compton and the 2017 films Lady Bird and I, Tonya. He also appeared as himself in the TV movies Sharknado 2: The Second One and Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!

## Career timeline

- 1979–1980: News producer and reporter, WOWK-TV, Huntington, West Virginia

- 1980–1981: Co-host, PM Magazine, WXEX-TV, Richmond, Virginia

- 1981–1984: Co-host, PM Magazine, WJAR -TV, Providence, Rhode Island

- 1984–1986: Co-host, PM Magazine, WNEW-TV, New York City

- 1986: Co-host, Made in New York, WNYW, New York City

- 1986–1987: Co-host, Fame, Fortune and Romance, ABC

- 1987–1988: Host, Live on City Line, WCAU -TV, Philadelphia

- 1988–1989: Host, Talk of the Town, WNEV-TV, Boston

- 1989–1991: Co-host, 9 Broadcast Plaza, WWOR-TV, Secaucus, New Jersey

- 1992–1996: Various positions at WNBC-TV, New York City September 1992 – September 1994: Today in New York co-anchor August 1993 – September 1996: early evening newscast Live at Five co-anchor

- September 1992 – September 1994: Today in New York co-anchor

- August 1993 – September 1996: early evening newscast Live at Five co-anchor

- 1992–2017: Various positions at NBC News, New York City 1992–1997: fill-in anchor on Weekend Today and NBC News at Sunrise 1993–1994: Today fill-in news anchor June 13, 1994 – January 3, 1997: Today news anchor January 6, 1997 – November 28, 2017: Today co-anchor 1997–2017: Dateline NBC contributing anchor 1998–2016: Christmas in Rockefeller Center host 1998–2017: Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade host 2011–2013: Rock Center with Brian Williams correspondent

- 1992–1997: fill-in anchor on Weekend Today and NBC News at Sunrise

- 1993–1994: Today fill-in news anchor

- June 13, 1994 – January 3, 1997: Today news anchor

- January 6, 1997 – November 28, 2017: Today co-anchor

- 1997–2017: Dateline NBC contributing anchor

- 1998–2016: Christmas in Rockefeller Center host

- 1998–2017: Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade host

- 2011–2013: Rock Center with Brian Williams correspondent

## Personal life

Lauer is a grandson of singer Art Gentry. Lauer was married to television producer Nancy Alspaugh from 1982 to 1989. They had no children. He later married Dutch model Annette Roque, whom he met on a blind date in July 1997. Lauer proposed to Roque after five months of dating, and the two wed in Bridgehampton, New York on October 3, 1998. They have three children together.

In 2006, while pregnant, Roque filed for divorce due to "mental abuse, extreme mental and emotional distress, humiliation, torment, and anxiety" by Lauer. They reconciled weeks later. On September 7, 2019, Lauer and Roque officially divorced, following nearly two years of separation in the wake of his 2017 sexual harassment allegations.

Since his firing, Lauer has been living on his farm in New Zealand.


Ghosts (American TV series)

# Ghosts (American TV series)

## Abstract

Ghosts is an American television sitcom adapted for CBS from the original British series of the same name by Joe Port and Joe Wiseman, who were also its showrunners. It premiered on October 7, 2021 and was picked up for a full season that month. It was renewed for a second season in January 2022, which premiered on September 29, 2022. It was renewed for a third season in January 2023, which began filming in Montreal on December 2, 2023. The third season, of ten episodes, premiered on February 15, 2024. In March 2024, it was renewed for a fourth season which is slated to premiere on October 17, 2024.

## Premise

Married New Yorkers Samantha and Jay Arondekar believe their dreams have come true when they inherit a beautiful country house from Sophie Woodstone, Sam's great aunt, only to find that it is falling apart and inhabited by ghosts from different eras of American history who died on the property and are now bound to the area, appearing as they did at the times of their deaths, until they can reach the afterlife. Jay cannot see or hear the ghosts, but Sam can after a near-death experience.

## Cast

### Main

#### Living

- Rose McIver as Samantha "Sam" Arondekar, a freelance journalist who, after an accident that leaves her clinically dead for three minutes, revives with the ability to see, hear, and interact with ghosts. She is based on Alison Cooper from the original British series.

- Utkarsh Ambudkar as Jay Arondekar, Samantha's husband and a chef with many typically "nerdy" interests such as comic books, sci-fi films, video games, and Dungeons & Dragons. He often attempts to communicate with the ghosts despite being unable to see or hear them. He is loosely based on Mike Cooper from the original British series.

#### Ghosts

- Devan Chandler Long as Thorfinn "Thor", an aggressive, often melodramatic Viking from Norway and the oldest of the ghosts, who set out to explore North America over 1,000 years ago but was abandoned by his shipmates and died from a lightning strike conducted by the helmet he wore. He has the ability to manipulate electricity and enjoys watching TV as well as regaling his friends with stories of combat, especially against Danes, and his favorite foods, particularly cod. He has a son named Bjorn, now a ghost on an adjacent property, who married a Danish woman. His previous ghost girlfriends include Luella and "Flat Maria", both of whom have since moved on to the afterlife. He is loosely based on Robin the caveman in the original British series.

- Román Zaragoza as Sasappis "Sass", a cynical Lenape man, who often serves as the voice of reason for the other ghosts. He can influence living people's thoughts by interacting with them as characters in their dreams, making him the only ghost who can directly speak to Jay. He enjoys storytelling, stirring up drama, watching TV, and smelling food, especially pizza, prepared by the living.

- Brandon Scott Jones as Captain Isaac Higgintoot, an initially closeted gay Continental Army officer who died of dysentery two weeks after the siege of Fort Ticonderoga and has been largely forgotten by history, making him immensely jealous of the more famous Alexander Hamilton. The living can smell a foul odor if he passes through them. At the end of the first season, he begins a relationship with Nigel Chessum, a British officer haunting a shed on the property, whom he accidentally killed with an invention that would become the sniper rifle. They become engaged at the end of the second season. He is based mainly on the Captain in the original British series, while his ghost power is similar to that of Mary the witch trial victim.

- Rebecca Wisocky as Henrietta "Hetty" Woodstone, the uptight lady of the manor, Sam's great-great-great-great-aunt, and the daughter of the original owner of the mansion. She takes pride in being wealthy, looks down her nose on the working class and anyone Irish, and experimented with now-illicit drugs throughout her life, including cocaine and morphine. Her husband cheated on her in life with many different women, while her son Thomas was responsible for Alberta's murder. She strangled herself to death in 1895 using a telephone cord to avoid being arrested for her husband's crimes, thus allowing Thomas to receive his inheritance. She is based on Lady Fanny Button in the original British series. Alice Manning as Young Hetty, who could see and hear Thorfinn as a small child.

- Alice Manning as Young Hetty, who could see and hear Thorfinn as a small child.

- Danielle Pinnock as Alberta Haynes, a flamboyant Prohibition-era lounge singer who was murdered by drinking strychnine -laced moonshine; solving her murder is a key plot arc of the second season. Her humming can be heard by the living. She can also be heard by Alexa devices.

- Sheila Carrasco as Susan "Flower" Montero, a cheerful and sweet but naive and forgetful hippie who lived in both a commune and a cult in the 1960s. She was mauled to death by a bear she tried to hug while under the influence of drugs. She can put a living person into a hallucinogenic high if she passes through them, and likes being in polyamorous relationships. She shares a closeness and gentle flirtation with Thorfinn, and they start dating later in the second season. Due to Carrasco taking time off work to raise her newborn daughter, Flower goes missing in the third season, causing her friends to believe she has moved on to the afterlife, but she has actually fallen down a well, leading Hetty to rescue her with the telephone cord she used to strangle herself.

- Richie Moriarty as Peter "Pete" Martino, a friendly and polite but socially awkward travel agent and Pinecone Trooper leader of Italian descent who died in 1985 when one of his scouts accidentally shot him through the neck with an arrow. He has an unrequited romantic interest in Alberta, and Jay considers him one of his best friends, despite being unable to perceive his presence, due to many shared interests between them. Among his varied interests are improv, basketball, Dungeons & Dragons, and Star Wars films. He is the only ghost in the main group who can leave the Woodstone property and go anywhere he wants, but if he stays away from the property for too long, he will start to vanish piece-by-piece into oblivion. He is based on Pat Butcher in the original British series.

- Asher Grodman as Trevor Lefkowitz, the most recently deceased of the ghosts, a wealthy, womanizing, hard-partying stockbroker and Wharton School alumnus of Jewish ancestry who died in 2000 from a heart attack, caused by an accidental drug overdose, while not wearing pants. Though he claims he lost his pants because he died during a sexual encounter, he simply lent his pants to a friend as a good deed. He can physically interact with the corporeal world to a limited degree, usually with only one index finger, if he concentrates hard enough. He is loosely based on Julian Fawcett MP in the original British series, and his initial attraction to Sam is similar to the poet Thomas Thorne's infatuation with Sam's counterpart Alison. Sam Ashe Arnold as Young Trevor.

- Sam Ashe Arnold as Young Trevor.

### Recurring

#### Ghosts

- Hudson Thames (Season 1) and Alex Boniello (Seasons 2-present) as the head of Crash, a smooth-talking 1950s-era greaser ghost who was decapitated. He is loosely based on Sir Humphrey Bone in the British version; however, unlike Humphrey, whose head is always present in each appearance, Crash's head goes missing in the pilot episode when Thorfinn accidentally knocks it off his neck. Only his body (played by Matt Keyes) appears until his head is recovered in "Ghost Father of the Bride."

- The cholera victim ghosts (also called basement ghosts): an indeterminate number of ghosts who died in a pest house that used to be on the property during a 19th-century cholera outbreak and whose bodies were buried together in a pit. Although they can go upstairs if they wish, their sickly appearances disturb the upstairs ghosts, so they spend all their time in the basement and are experts on the house's heating system. They are based on the plague ghosts in the British version, and most share first names with their actors. Betsy Sodaro as Cholera Victim Nancy, a brash, obnoxious Albany native who spends most of her time berating her fellow victims and thinking of ways to permanently move upstairs. Stuart Fink as Cholera Victim Stuart Arthur Holden as Cholera Victim Creepy Dirk. When the ghosts decide to elect a representative to petition Sam rather than make requests individually, Creepy Dirk wins after Isaac's attempt to garner their support for his candidacy. He briefly holds the position until Sam rejects the arrangement. Cody Crain as Cholera Victim Cody Nigel Downer as Cholera Victim Nigel Cat Lemieux as Cholera Victim Catherine Tyler Alvarez as Cholera Victim Ralph, a teen who starts a relationship with Stephanie the prom ghost, only to move on to the afterlife.

- Betsy Sodaro as Cholera Victim Nancy, a brash, obnoxious Albany native who spends most of her time berating her fellow victims and thinking of ways to permanently move upstairs.

- Stuart Fink as Cholera Victim Stuart

- Arthur Holden as Cholera Victim Creepy Dirk. When the ghosts decide to elect a representative to petition Sam rather than make requests individually, Creepy Dirk wins after Isaac's attempt to garner their support for his candidacy. He briefly holds the position until Sam rejects the arrangement.

- Cody Crain as Cholera Victim Cody

- Nigel Downer as Cholera Victim Nigel

- Cat Lemieux as Cholera Victim Catherine

- Tyler Alvarez as Cholera Victim Ralph, a teen who starts a relationship with Stephanie the prom ghost, only to move on to the afterlife.

- The British Revolutionary ghosts: three ghosts who died in the Revolutionary War and occupy the shed on the property that used to be a barracks, as was agreed upon with Isaac after the war ended. They keep mostly to themselves and come up to the main house to redraw the borderlines every few years. John Hartman as Nigel Chessum, the leader of the trio, whom Isaac accidentally shot. They have had secret romantic feelings for one another since they were alive, and they begin a relationship at the end of the first season. Chad Andrews (Season 1) and Steven Yaffee (Seasons 3-present) as Baxter, Nigel's subordinate who plays a fife. Christian Daoust as Jenkins, Nigel's subordinate who possesses a musket. He and Nigel had a physical relationship before Nigel and Isaac started dating, and they "liaison" once more when Isaac and Nigel go "on a respite".

- John Hartman as Nigel Chessum, the leader of the trio, whom Isaac accidentally shot. They have had secret romantic feelings for one another since they were alive, and they begin a relationship at the end of the first season.

- Chad Andrews (Season 1) and Steven Yaffee (Seasons 3-present) as Baxter, Nigel's subordinate who plays a fife.

- Christian Daoust as Jenkins, Nigel's subordinate who possesses a musket. He and Nigel had a physical relationship before Nigel and Isaac started dating, and they "liaison" once more when Isaac and Nigel go "on a respite".

- Odessa A'zion as Stephanie, a senior high school student who was murdered on her prom night by a chainsaw killer in 1987. She sleeps in the attic for months at a time, as extended sleep periods are common for ghosts who die in their teen years, and wakes up around the day of her prom night each year.

- Crystle Lightning as Shiki, a Lenape woman on whom Sasappis had a crush in life. As a ghost, she is bound to the land occupied by the publishing office of the Ulster County Review magazine, so Sam and Jay help her establish a long-distance relationship with Sass.

- Lindsey Broad as Judy, Henry Farnsby's deceased mother, who now haunts their home.

- Christian Jadah as Bjorn, Thorfinn's son, who married a Danish woman and had three children, travelled to find his father, and now haunts the Farnsbys' property, having died at about the same age as Thor. Sam helps him reconnect with his father by having them shout to each other through the windows. Louis Labonville as Young Bjorn.

- Louis Labonville as Young Bjorn.

- Nichole Sakura as Jessica (season 2), a permanently drunk ghost who died in a car crash while driving under the influence of alcohol and is now bound to a small perimeter around her former car, enabling her to travel more freely than other ghosts can. She has a brief relationship with Sass when Freddy, who bought Jessica's car, begins working as an assistant at the manor.

- Caroline Aaron as Carol (guest Seasons 1–2, recurring Season 3), Pete's widow, who cheated on him with his best friend Jerry when he was alive. She becomes a new ghost on the Woodstone property in the third season after fatally choking on a doughnut hole. She becomes engaged to Baxter in the third-season finale. Tara Spencer-Nairn as Young Carol

- Tara Spencer-Nairn as Young Carol

- Mary Holland as Patience, a Puritan ghost (season 4).

#### Living

- Tristan D. Lalla as Mark, a construction worker involved in renovating Woodstone Manor for Sam and Jay.

- Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll as Todd Pearlman, an obsessive fan of Alberta's who operates a "museum" dedicated to her out of his mother's garage.

- Punam Patel as Bela, Jay's sister who was lured on social media by Trevor. Sam tells her the truth about her talking to ghosts, and while Bela is at first skeptical, Sam is able to convince her with the help of the ghosts. In the second season, she begins dating her coworker Eric.

- Mark Linn-Baker and Kathryn Greenwood as Henry and Margaret Farnsby, Sam and Jay's swinger neighbors and owners of a rival B&B, who promise to support their permit applications for their renovations. Their house is also haunted by a collection of ghosts from across history, including Henry's mother. They are based on Barclay Beg-Chetwynde and his wife Bunny in the British version.

- Punkie Johnson and Carolyn Taylor as June and Ally, Sam and Jay's neighbors who run an organic farm called "Cover Crop Farms".

- Mike Lane as Freddy (Season 2), a deliveryman hired as an assistant at the Arondekars' B&B.

### Guests

- Rachael Harris as Sheryl, Sam's mother, who she sees as a ghost at the restaurant where she died. After she and Sam make peace with each other, she moves on to the afterlife. Her belches, which smell of shrimp, can be smelled by the living.

- Matt Walsh as Elias Woodstone, Hetty's husband, who died from suffocation in a vault that no ghosts can enter or exit. He has the power to make people sexually aroused when he walks through them. After he rants about becoming a permanent nuisance and refusing to change himself, he becomes bound to Hell.

- Gregory Zaragoza as Naxasi, Sass's father, who tried to convince him not to be a storyteller.

- Mercedes Morris as Clara Brown, a lounge singer and bootlegger whose illegal activities Alberta reported so she could steal a gig from her.

- Drew Tarver as Micah, a charismatic cult leader who attempts to manipulate Jay into joining his group so they can move into the mansion.

- Hannah Rose May as Molly, an Irish maid with whom Elias had an affair when they were alive. She is brought back from the afterlife briefly through a seance.

- Dallas Goldtooth as Bob, a Lenape man from the Hudson Valley Lenape Culture Center. He corrects the information Sass has given the group about the ancient tree on their land and teaches them about land acknowledgements, and Sass admires his work.

- Kelly Craig as Olga, Thorfinn's wife and Bjorn's mother.

- Mathew Baynton as an actor starring in a reconstruction of Pete's death.

- Rose Abdoo as Paula, the producer of "Dumb Deaths".

- Dana Gourrier as Jennifer, a woman who was one of Pete's scout troops that witnessed his death.

- Kaliko Kauahi as a liquor license inspector.

- Neil Crone as Benjamin Franklin, an American Founding Father and Freemason, with whom Isaac tried to build a good reputation so he could join the society.

- Andrew Leeds as Eric, Bela's friend, whom she starts dating in the second season.

- Hillary Anne Matthews as Beatrice, Isaac's wife, who knew about his sexuality but cared deeply for him regardless.

- Chip Zien as Lenny Lefkowitz, Trevor's father attending Trevor's memorial at Woodstone Manor.

- Laraine Newman as Esther Lefkowitz, Trevor's mother attending Trevor's memorial at Woodstone Manor.

- Tara Reid as herself attending Trevor's memorial at Woodstone Manor.

- Chris Eckert as George, a Puritan ghost in the Farnsby estate who is now open about his homosexuality due to failing to reach the afterlife.

- Ashley D. Kelley as Alicia, a lawyer and a descendant of Alberta, who is inspired by her ancestor's work to pursue singing.

- David Baby as Jerry, Carol's current husband and Pete's former best friend.

- Asia Martin as Theresa, Alberta's sister.

- Brooks Brantly as Earl, Alberta's bootlegger boyfriend.

- Daniel Rindress-Kay as Thomas Woodstone, Hetty's son and Earl's secret boyfriend, who planted a poisoned whiskey bottle for Alberta to drink when Earl left him for her.

- Jeremy Luke as Al Capone, a famous Chicago crime boss, who almost committed suicide with the poisoned whiskey Alberta ultimately drank.

- Jessie Ennis as a woman claiming to be Sam's cousin and David Woodstone's daughter.

- Brian Cook as David Woodstone, Sam's uncle and Trevor's former coworker, who dumped Trevor's body into a lake before dying of an aneurysm in the depressing strip club that he now haunts with one other ghost who died from eating contaminated sushi.

- Holly Gauthier-Frankel as Laura, Pete's daughter. She has a son named after her father. Emily Mitchell as Young Laura.

- Emily Mitchell as Young Laura.

- Douglas Sills as Samuel, Hetty's father, who discouraged her from marrying an artist due to his painting her with her ankle exposed.

- Jon Glaser as Jeremy Lefkowitz, Trevor's brother, who refused to take over their father's business. David Kohlsmith as Young Jeremy.

- David Kohlsmith as Young Jeremy.

- Lamorne Morris as Saul, a poltergeist and former Negro league baseball player who visits the manor using a guest as his host and starts a brief relationship with Alberta. As a non-traditional ghost, he can travel anywhere by binding himself to different human hosts in near range if he concentrates hard enough. He speculates that his power is a result of his tendency to become overly attached to people in life.

- Geoffrey Owens as Gene, a new guest at Woodstone that Saul is tethered to.

- Deniz Akdeniz as Chris, an Australian male stripper and part-time DJ hired to perform a lap dance, unknowingly for Isaac, causing Isaac to become attracted to him.

- Irene White and Adrian Martinez as Gloria and Mike, a ghost couple Pete meets in a DealMart superstore. They were trampled to death in a 2005 Black Friday sale, and Gloria is now stuck carrying a box containing the TV she tried to buy.

- Marc-André Boulanger as the Butcher Ghost, the leader of a violent ghost gang that becomes active in the Hudson Valley DealMart after business hours, who was killed by a meat cleaver in his head.

- Allegra Edwards as Donna, a ghost Pete has an affair with in St. Lucia, who died in 1982 when an early cell phone struck her on the head.

- Dean Norris as Frank, Sam's dad (season 4).

## Episodes

### Series overview

## Production

### Development

On November 29, 2019, CBS announced that they were developing an adaptation of the BBC One series Ghosts. The original British series upon which the series is based was created by Mathew Baynton, Simon Farnaby, Martha Howe-Douglas, Jim Howick, Laurence Rickard, and Ben Willbond for BBC. On February 4, 2020, it was announced that the pilot had been picked up by CBS Studios and was co-produced with BBC Studios and Lionsgate Television. On March 31, 2021, it was announced that the adaptation has been picked up for a full series. In July 2021, it was announced that the series would premiere as a Thursday-night entry on October 7, 2021. On September 23, 2021, CBS changed the premiere to back-to-back episodes. On October 21, 2021, CBS picked up the series for a full season. On December 17, 2021, it was reported that production has been temporarily halted due to a positive case of COVID-19 on the set of the series. On January 24, 2022, CBS renewed the series for a second season which premiered on September 29, 2022. On November 8, 2022, it was announced that the BBC would be airing Ghosts in the United Kingdom under the name of 'Ghosts US' on BBC Three & BBC iPlayer on November 20, 2022. On January 12, 2023, CBS renewed the series for a third season, which premiered on February 15, 2024. On March 12, 2024, the series was renewed for a fourth season which is scheduled to premiere on October 17, 2024.

### Casting

On March 4, 2020, Rose McIver was cast in a leading role for the pilot. On July 1, 2020, Utkarsh Ambudkar was cast in a main role for the pilot. On December 9, 2020, Brandon Scott Jones, Richie Moriarty, Asher Grodman, Rebecca Wisocky, Sheila Carrasco, Danielle Pinnock and Roman Zaragoza were cast in main roles for the pilot. On May 12, 2021, Devan Chandler Long joined the cast as a series regular.

### Filming

Filming for the third season began in Montreal on December 2, 2023.

## Reception

### Critical response

For the first season, the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 93% approval rating with an average rating of 7.3/10, based on 27 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, " Ghosts could stand to ask more of its characters, but an excellent ensemble and a genial wit make for easy, softly spooky viewing." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 69 out of 100 based on 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season has received an approval rating of 100% with an average rating of 7/10, based on seven critic reviews.

### Ratings

### Accolades

The first season was recognized with The ReFrame Stamp for hiring people of underrepresented gender identities and of color.

## Home media

Lionsgate Home Entertainment released the complete first season on Blu-ray and DVD on November 29, 2022.


The Sand Band

# The Sand Band

## Abstract

The Sand Band are a British alternative folk band from Liverpool consisting of guitarist / songwriter David McDonnell and bass guitarist Ben Curtis.

After working in a music shop together in 2002 and playing together for a number of years, David McDonnell and Scott Marmion formed The Sand Band in 2009. Previously McDonnell played live guitar on Richard Ashcroft ’s 2002 Human Conditions tour and The Coral ’s 2005 The Invisible Invasion tour while Marmion played in Liverpool band Ella Guru. McDonnell played guitar on and helped record The Coral’s The Curse of Love album in 2005 and helped record their 2007 album Roots & Echoes. McDonnell and Marmion got together in 2009 to record All Through the Night at McDonnell’s Sefton Park flat in Liverpool. The band performed at Heavenly Records The Heavenly Social in London and signed to Martin Kelly ’s Heavenly Songs publishing. They played Liverpool Sound City festival in 2010. Their first album All Through The Night was released in January 2011 by Alan Wills on Deltasonic records to a positive critical reaction, being described by Mojo Magazine in January 2012 as "one of the best albums of the year". McDonnell was originally part of Noel Gallagher 's High Flying Birds band but left for personal reasons. Ben Curtis also plays bass for The Moons. Former drummer Jay Sharrock played in Miles Kane 's band.

Digital single ‘Set Me Free’ was released in March 2011 on Deltasonic and featured two B-sides ‘Way Back When’ and ‘All Is Forgiven’. On 2 November 2012 ‘When We Kiss’ and ‘Mistress’ were released on 7” white vinyl to mark the launch of Dave Hewitson's new Eighties Vinyl Records label. All Through The Night also featured John Head of Shack and Ian Skelly of The Coral.

2021 brought a remote collaboration on ‘The Sound of Love Returning’ with ex Minus The Bear guitarist Dave Knudson ’s and Sam Bell for Knudson’s solo album ‘The Only Thing You Have to Change is Everything’.

The 10th Anniversary Edition of All Through The Night on 180gm Vinyl was originally released for #loverecordstores day on 4 September 2021 on Heavenly Records and digitally via PIAS Group. Mojo Magazine ’s September issue featured the re release in their Buried Treasure section. Hello Global vinyl delays pushed the release to June 2022. It is now available via Heavenly Records Bandcamp page.

## Discography

### Albums

- All Through the Night (2011), Deltasonic

- All Through the Night 10th Anniversary Edition 180gm Vinyl (2021), Heavenly Records

- All Through the Night 10th Anniversary Edition Digital + 11 Bonus Tracks (2021), PIAS Group

### Singles

- ’ Set Me Free ’ - Digital single (2011) Deltasonic

- ’ When We Kiss ’ - 7” White Vinyl EVR001 (2012) Eighties Vinyl Records

### Compilations

- What The Folk - Butterfly Acoustic Recordings Vol 1 - The Sand Band - Spinnin’ Wheel (2007), Butterfly Recordings

- Reason To Believe - The Songs Of Tim Hardin - The Sand Band - Reason To Believe - FTH100LP (2012), Full Time Hobby

- Pet Sounds Revisited (A Tribute To The Beach Boys 1966 Album) - Mojo Magazine Cover CD - The Sand Band - That’s Not Me (2012), Mojo Magazine


Shane van Gisbergen

# Shane van Gisbergen

## Abstract

Shane Robert van Gisbergen (born 9 May 1989), also known by his initials SVG, is a New Zealand professional racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 97 Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing in partnership with Trackhouse Racing, part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Kaulig Racing, and part-time in the ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 28 Chevrolet SS for Pinnacle Racing Group. He is known for his time racing in the Supercars Championship, last driving the No. 97 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 car for Triple Eight Race Engineering. He is a three-time Supercars Champion, winning driver's titles in 2016, 2021, and 2022. With a total of 80 wins and 46 pole positions, van Gisbergen is 4th on the all-time wins list in the Supercars Championship. He has won the Bathurst 1000 three times, in 2020, 2022, and 2023.

Van Gisbergen also races in GT Racing, winning the 2016 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour alongside Alvaro Parente and Jonathon Webb in the McLaren 650S GT3, winning the 2016 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup, finishing 3rd overall in the 2016 Intercontinental GT Challenge and finishing in second place in the 2015 24 Hours of Daytona in the GTD class.

He won in his NASCAR Cup Series debut at the 2023 Grant Park 220 in Chicago driving the No. 91 for Trackhouse Racing, becoming the first driver to win in their NASCAR Cup Series debut since Indy car driver Johnny Rutherford in 1963, becoming only the seventh to do so in series history and the first driver to do it in the modern era of the sport. He also became the first New Zealander to win a race in the Cup Series.

He and Paul Morris are the only drivers to have won all three major car racing events at Mount Panorama: the Bathurst 1000, Bathurst 6 Hour and Bathurst 12 Hour.

## New Zealand racing history

After competing in Motocross, Quarter Midgets and karts from 1998 to 2004, van Gisbergen placed third in the 2004/2005 New Zealand Formula First Championship and won the associated Rookie of the Year award. Van Gisbergen had previously obtained a Speedsport Star of Tomorrow Scholarship. A win in 2005/06 New Zealand Formula Ford Championship was accompanied by another Rookie of the Year title and was followed by a second-place finish in 2006/07 Toyota Racing Series.

In 2014, van Gisbergen co-drove to the BNT NZ Supertourers Hankook Super Series championship with primary driver Simon Evans. Shane won 7 of the 9 races in a total of the Endurance rounds including sweeping the entire Fuchs 500 weekend at Pukekohe Park Raceway with winning race #3 in spectacular fashion driving from 1 lap down. In 2021, van Gisbergen won the New Zealand Grand Prix held as part of the Toyota Racing Series. The event is normally held for a global field however was restricted to a New Zealand-only field due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with van Gisbergen entering as a wildcard. Van Gisbergen ran a Brabham BT62 in the South Island Endurance Series at Euromarque Motorsport Park in 2023, with co-driver and car owner Dwayne Carter. However, a right rear wheel came off on lap 2 and the car was sidelined for 87 laps in total at the end of the event, after Carter ran over 30 laps with no problems before retiring it from the race later on. Van Gisbergen turned no laps in the 3 hour race.

## Supercars championship

Driving for Team Kiwi Racing, van Gisbergen became the 200th driver to start a race in a V8 Supercar at the Jim Beam 400 at Oran Park Raceway in Round 8 of 2007. Having impressed in his 2007 races, van Gisbergen was picked up by Stone Brothers Racing in 2008. He continued with the team for five seasons until 2012, securing a best of fourth in the championship in 2011. In late 2012, he announced he would be leaving V8 Supercars but in January it emerged that he was moving to Tekno Autosports at the start of the 2013 season. Van Gisbergen faced legal action for breaking his contract with Stone Brothers Racing. The move to Tekno proved fruitful, with van Gisbergen finishing runner-up in the championship in 2014.

Van Gisbergen has also shown a strong pace at the series' most famous race, the Bathurst 1000. He was in the lead in the 2009 Bathurst 1000 until pitting on lap 108 when his car would not start, resulting in a 1:14 pit stop and losing him a number of positions in the race. A near-identical issue repeated itself in the 2014 edition, where with 10 laps to go – he stalled and the starter motor failed, costing him almost a certain victory and he finished 16th. Van Gisbergen had started the 2014 race from pole position, his first at the event.

In 2016, van Gisbergen moved to the Triple Eight Race Engineering team, alongside two of the most successful drivers in series history; Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes. Van Gisbergen won his first race for the team at the Tasmania SuperSprint in 2016. Alexandre Prémat joined van Gisbergen as co-driver in the Enduro Cup. The pair won the 2016 Enduro Cup, including three second-place finishes and Prémat's first race victory in the championship at the 2016 Castrol Gold Coast 600, and became the first non-Australian drivers combination to win. At Pukekohe, van Gisbergen became the first New Zealander to lift the trophy, named in honour of Jason Richards, who died of cancer in 2011. He went on to win eight races that season and won the championship.

In 2017, Whincup and van Gisbergen paired up again under the Red Bull Holden Racing Team banner. At Adelaide, he started his title defence with a double-victory, but finished 4th in the championship.

In 2018, van Gisbergen won both Race 1 and Race 2 at Adelaide, driving a Holden Commodore ZB. At Townsville, van Gisbergen won at race 18 after Whincup marked the 10th running at race 17. On 4 August, van Gisbergen won the Sydney SuperNight 300 after a Safety Car was called in. At Tailem Bend, van Gisbergen dominated the inaugural race at The Bend Motorsport Park, taking a near lights-to-flag win in Race 22. On 16 September, at Sandown, van Gisbergen finished 2nd alongside Earl Bamber. Van Gisbergen controversially escaped a penalty for spinning his wheels during a pit stop at the Auckland SuperSprint at Pukekohe.

At Newcastle in 2018, van Gisbergen was handed a 25-second post-race penalty following an investigation into a refueling breach at his third pitstop. Scott McLaughlin was declared the winner of the race. Van Gisbergen finished second at race 31 and in the points standings.

In 2022, he won the Bathurst 1000 with Garth Tander in what would be the final race for Holden after the manufacturer was closed by GM. He won his third Bathurst 1000 with Richie Stanaway a year later, driving for Triple Eight Race Engineering.

## GT racing

Through his connections with Tekno Autosports sponsor Tony Quinn, van Gisbergen's first foray into GT racing was a guest co-drive in Quinn's team in the 2013 Australian GT Championship. In 2014, he entered both the 24 Hours of Daytona and the Bathurst 12 Hour for the first time, the latter again in partnership with Quinn, this time in a McLaren. His Daytona entry was with Alex Job Racing, where he finished 26th overall and sixth in the GTD class. He returned to Daytona in 2015 and 2016 with the team.

In 2015 he entered the Blancpain Endurance Series in a McLaren 650S GT3 run by Von Ryan Racing. Racing in conjunction with his V8 Supercars commitments, he was forced to miss one round due to a date clash, however achieved two victories in the four races he entered. The team was dissolved after the 2015 season, and for the 2016 season, van Gisbergen moved to McLaren's new Garage 59 team. He will once again miss the final round of the championship at the Nürburgring in Germany due to the Sandown 500 V8 Supercar race being held on the same weekend. Van Gisbergen won the 2016 season with Côme Ledogar and Rob Bell having won the 3 Hours of Monza and the 1000 km Paul Ricard despite skipping the last round at the Nürburgring due to a clash with his Supercars Championship commitments.

Through his McLaren and Tekno Autosports connections, he drove one of Tekno's factory-supported McLaren 650S GT3s at the 2016 Bathurst 12 Hour. In qualifying on Saturday, van Gisbergen set the fastest ever officially recorded lap of the Mount Panorama Circuit to achieve pole position. He went on to set the fastest ever race lap on the way to securing victory alongside Álvaro Parente and Jonathon Webb.

## NASCAR

On 18 May 2023, it was announced that van Gisbergen would make his debut in the NASCAR Cup Series driving the No. 91 Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing and its Project 91 programme at the inaugural event at the Chicago Street Course. During qualifying for the race, he earned the 3rd spot in the starting grid. Van Gisbergen was shuffled back to midpack after a pileup the lap before the completion of the second stage. Van Gisbergen took the lead on lap 71 from Justin Haley, and maintained it until Bubba Wallace collided with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on Lap 73 and sent the race into NASCAR Overtime. Van Gisbergen won the race, becoming the seventh driver and the first driver in the modern era of NASCAR, and the first driver since Indy car driver Johnny Rutherford 60 years prior in 1963, to win in his Cup Series debut race, and also becoming the first New Zealander to win in the Cup Series, and only the sixth driver born outside the US to win a Cup Series race. He also was the first " road course ringer " to win a Cup Series race since Indy car driver Mark Donohue in 1973. Until his second career start, van Gisbergen was also one of only two drivers to have a perfect winning record in NASCAR, briefly joining Marvin Burke in that accomplishment. On 19 July 2023, Trackhouse Racing announced van Gisbergen would make his second start of the 2023 season at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Van Gisbergen scored his 2nd Top 10 finish in the one-caution race, the first to start a NASCAR Cup career with two Top 10s in their first two starts since Terry Labonte in 1978.

On 2 August 2023, it was announced that van Gisbergen would make both his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and NASCAR oval debut, racing in the 2023 TSport 200 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park on 11 August, driving the No. 41 for Niece Motorsports. He qualified 28th and finished 19th.

On 14 September 2023, Trackhouse announced that van Gisbergen would drive part-time all three of NASCAR's national series in 2024 as part of a development deal with the team.

On 13 December 2023, Kaulig Racing announced that van Gisbergen would compete full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series driving the No. 97 car. Van Gisbergen also had to run the ARCA race at Daytona in order to receive approval to compete at superspeedway events in NASCAR. On 2 January 2024, it was announced that van Gisbergen would be competing for Pinnacle Racing Group in the race. On 31 January, he signed with KHI Management. Van Gisbergen started the season with a 12th place finish at Daytona. He scored his first two Xfinity Series wins on back-to-back weeks at Portland and Sonoma. After retiring at Iowa and scoring two top-20 finishes, the New Zealander took his third victory of the season on his return to Chicago.

On 24 August 2024, it was announced that van Gisbergen will drive full-time in the Cup Series for Trackhouse Racing, driving the No. 88 Chevrolet in 2025.

## Motorsports career results

### Touring Cars

#### Supercars Championship results

(Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

### Sports/GT Cars

#### Complete Intercontinental GT Challenge Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

#### Complete Asian Le Mans Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

### Rally

### NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

#### Craftsman Truck Series

Season still in progress Ineligible for series points

### ARCA Menards Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)


Aleksandar Miličić

# Aleksandar Miličić

## Abstract

Aleksandar Miličić (Serbian Cyrillic: Александар Миличић; 1946 – 12 March 2021) was a Serbian professional footballer and coach.

## Career

Miličić, born in Šabac, played for local club Mačva Šabac from 1963 to 1966 before moving to Voždovački, where he played until 1969. He then transferred to Sloboda Tuzla where he played in over 475 matches.

He was a member of the Sloboda generation that was third in 1976–77 and played in the 1977–78 UEFA Cup where they were eliminated by Las Palmas in the first round. After retiring, he worked as a coach.

## Death

Miličić, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease, disappeared on 5 March 2021 after midnight. His frozen body was found next to the Mačva Šabac stadium a week later on 12 March 2021.


# 2024–25 Women's EHF Champions League group stage

## Abstract

The 2024–25 Women's EHF Champions League group stage is played between 7 September 2024 and 23 February 2025 to determine the twelve teams advancing to the knockout stage of the 2024–25 Women's EHF Champions League.

## Draw

The draw was held on 27 June 2024 in Vienna, Austria.

### Seeding

The composition of the seeding pots for the group stage draw was announced on 25 June 2024.

## Format

In each group, teams will play against each other in a double round-robin format, with home and away matches.

## Tiebreakers

In the group stage, teams are ranked according to points (2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). After completion of the group stage, if two or more teams have the same number of points, the ranking will be determined as follows:

- Highest number of points in matches between the teams directly involved;

- Superior goal difference in matches between the teams directly involved;

- Highest number of goals scored in matches between the teams directly involved;

- Superior goal difference in all matches of the group;

- Highest number of plus goals in all matches of the group;

If the ranking of one of these teams is determined, the above criteria are consecutively followed until the ranking of all teams is determined. If no ranking can be determined, a decision shall be obtained by EHF through drawing of lots.

## Groups

The matchdays are 7–8 September, 14–15 September, 21–22 September, 5–6 October, 12–13 October, 19–20 October, 9–10 November, 16–17 November 2024, 11–12 January, 18–19 January, 25–26 January, 8–9 February, 15–16 February and 22–23 February 2025.

### Group A

### Group B


Old Indiana Fun Park

# Old Indiana Fun Park

## Abstract

Old Indiana Fun Park was an amusement park located near Thorntown, Indiana off I-65 at 7230N 350W. The site is now used for a privately owned hops farm and processing facility.

## Early years (1983–1987)

The park opened under the name "Middle Country Renaissance Festival" during August 1983. It ran for six weekends until the end of the first weekend of October 1983. Construction of a ride park started in 1984, and it opened on June 9, 1985 as “Middle Country USA”. They gradually added rides until 1986, but remained mostly a picnic area and campground with a few attractions. In spring 1987, the park filed Chapter 11 because attendance was not sufficient to meet expenses and further development costs. It opened for that season under bankruptcy court supervision.

## Later years and closure (1988–1997)

On Sunday, August 11, 1996, 4-year-old Emily Hunt was paralyzed from the chest down and her 57-year-old grandmother, Nancy Jones, was killed after a miniature train ride at the Old Indiana Fun Park derailed and overturned as it approached a curve. The two victims were crushed under the weight of the cars. Upon investigation, the train was traveling much faster than its design speed of 12 miles per hour (19 km/h).

The ride attendant claimed to have applied the brakes as the train neared the curve, but it was discovered that many of them were either broken, missing, or not connected, and that most of the anti-derailment devices were missing. The speedometer was broken, along with the governor, which limits the speed of the train. The track was littered with broken ride parts.

The ride passed two state inspections in the 3-month period prior to the accident, before the safety inspector admitted that he was not qualified to inspect amusement rides. A state review of the park's own records showed that the train had derailed 79 times in the 2 months prior to the accident, and as many as 15 times in a single day. The owners of the park admitted negligence, but denied knowing anything about the condition of the ride prior to the accident. They later declared bankruptcy, and most of the rides were auctioned off on February 22, 1997.

## Six Flags years (1997–2002)

Premier Parks was planning to redevelop the park and open it in 1999, but after acquiring Six Flags in 1998, the refocused Premier Parks (which had by then adopted the Six Flags name) eventually cancelled the project.

Prior to the project cancellation, the company purchased four roller coasters from the closed Opryland USA in Nashville, Tennessee (Chaos, Rock n' Roller Coaster, Screamin' Delta Demon and Wabash Cannonball), and transported them to the park, planning to reconstruct them there.

During 2000, two more roller coasters from the former Riverside Amusement Park (Black Widow and Little Rickie's Little Twister) in Agawam, Massachusetts (renamed to Six Flags New England in 2000) arrived at the park and were placed in the old parking lot along with the other four and, again, the park sat with no activity.

In July 2002, Six Flags sold the 330-acre (1.3 km) property to Trevor Gray, former owner of Sunshine Holdings (containing a tanning bed company, ETS, and a lotion company, Australian Gold) and now of Sunshine Properties, which planned to turn it into a nature preserve.

## Sunshine Properties years (2002–2006)

Six roller coasters were still on site when Six Flags sold the property. One roller coaster, however, the Rock n' Roller Coaster, would be taken to Six Flags Great Escape in Queensbury, New York and would reopen on June 27, 2003 as Canyon Blaster.

When Six Flags sold the property, it included provisions for them to keep the rides there for a period of four years. This ended on April 1, 2006 and some were still on the site as of that time. By June 11, 2006, all of them were gone.


# Bojan Mihajlović (footballer, born 1973)

## Abstract

Bojan Mihajlović (Serbian: Бојан Михајловић) (born 16 December 1973) is a Serbian former footballer who played as a midfielder.

His previous clubs include FK Dubočica, OFK Beograd, FK Radnički Niš, FK Belasica, FK Rabotnički Kometal and FK Metalurg Skopje.

## Achievements

- Rabotnicki Skopje Macedonian League: 3 Winner: 2004–05, 2005-06, 2007-08 Macedonian Cup: 1 Winner: 2007-08

- Macedonian League: 3 Winner: 2004–05, 2005-06, 2007-08

- Winner: 2004–05, 2005-06, 2007-08

- Macedonian Cup: 1 Winner: 2007-08

- Winner: 2007-08

- Metalurg Skopje Macedonian Cup: 1 Winner: 2010-11

- Macedonian Cup: 1 Winner: 2010-11

- Winner: 2010-11