Trapped in the Closet (South Park) Plot Were any famous people characters? Later that night, a large group of Scientologists, including John Travolta, gather outside the Marsh house to What did John's character do? Travolta, gather outside the Marsh house to celebrate Hubbard's "second coming". The president of
How does the episode begin?
How does the episode Trapped in the Closet of South Park begin?
Saving for a bicycle and not wanting to spend money on entertainment, Stan takes a free "personality test" being offered by Scientologists on the street. After answering a long questionnaire, Stan is informed that he is extremely depressed and therefore a perfect candidate for Scientology. They offer to help him out for $240. Back home, Stan asks his parents for the money. His father suggests that he use the money he had been saving. Stan pays and is taken into an auditing room where an attendant reads his "thetan levels" using an "E-meter". Stan has such a high reading that the Scientology headquarters in Los Angeles is notified. There, the president of Scientology determines that, because his reading is so high, Stan must be a reincarnation of L. Ron Hubbard, Scientology's founder and prophet.  Later that night, a large group of Scientologists, including John Travolta, gather outside the Marsh house to celebrate Hubbard's "second coming". The president of Scientology arrives in a helicopter and talks with Stan's parents. They are opposed to Stan's participation, but the president informs them that "we're not asking him to join us; we're asking him to lead us". Randy sends Stan to his room, where he finds Tom Cruise waiting. Cruise, believing that Stan is genuinely Hubbard's reincarnation, asks him whether he has enjoyed his acting. When "Hubbard" replies that his acting is okay but not as good as others' such as Leonardo DiCaprio or the Napoleon Dynamite guy, Tom hears that he is "a failure in the eyes of the prophet" and locks himself in Stan's closet. He refuses to come out, despite the entreaties of Randy, Nicole Kidman, the police, Travolta and R. Kelly to "come out of the closet". Travolta and Kelly eventually join Cruise in the closet.  Downstairs, the church president tries to convince Stan's parents to allow their son to participate. He tells to Stan the great secret behind the church -- a condensed version of the story of Xenu, based directly on the Scientology Operating Thetan III document, and accompanied by an onscreen caption reading "This is what Scientologists actually believe". He then begs Stan to continue writing where "L. Ron" left off. Stan, impressed by the story, does so. He shows his writings to the Scientology president, who initially approves of the work, but when Stan says "to really be a church, you can't charge money to help", the president reveals to Stan that the church is in reality a global money-making scam. He asks that Stan continue with that in mind. Stan appears to agree and keeps writing.  Outside the house, the president introduces Stan to his followers, to whom he will read parts of his new doctrine. However, instead of presenting it to them, Stan states that he is not the reincarnation of L. Ron Hubbard, and that "Scientology is just a big fat global scam". The Scientologists grow angry and threaten to sue him. The celebrities in the closet appear, threatening to sue Stan as well. The last shot is Stan daring them to do so. However, that shot is followed immediately by the closing credits naming only "John Smith" and "Jane Smith", a reference to Tom Cruise and the Church of Scientology's reputation for litigiousness. CANNOTANSWER
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"Trapped in the Closet" is the twelfth episode in the ninth season of the American animated television series South Park. The 137th episode of the series overall, it originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on November 16, 2005. In the episode, Stan joins Scientology in an attempt to find something "fun and free". After the discovery of his surprisingly high "thetan levels", he is recognized as the reincarnation of L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of the church. The episode was written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker. The title is a reference to the R. Kelly serialized song of the same name and a satirized version of R. Kelly appears in the episode.

"Trapped in the Closet" generated significant controversy. Tom Cruise, who is portrayed in the episode, reportedly threatened to back out of his promotional obligations for the Paramount Pictures film Mission: Impossible III if Viacom, the owner of both Comedy Central and Paramount, allowed a repeat airing of the episode. A publicist of Cruise denied this, saying "Tom had nothing to do with this matter. He's been promoting Mission: Impossible III for the last six months. We have no clue where this came from." Though the episode was originally scheduled for rebroadcast on March 15, 2006, the episode "Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls" was shown instead. Comedy Central representatives stated this change was made as a tribute to Isaac Hayes, but South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone thought otherwise; they issued a satirical statement saying they (Parker and Stone) were "servants of the dark lord Xenu". A statement credited to Hayes, the voice of staple character Chef, asked for him to be released from his contract shortly before the start of the tenth season. The reason for his departure, as reported by Stone, was due to his membership in Scientology and this episode, which Hayes—despite initially supporting the show's satirical take on several talk shows—claimed was very offensive. In 2016, Hayes's son Isaac Hayes III confirmed rumors that the statement was written by a Scientologist assistant without the knowledge of his father, who had not recovered from a stroke. The episode has since been rebroadcast on Comedy Central multiple times.

"Trapped in the Closet" was nominated for an Emmy Award in July 2006, in the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour) category. The episode was featured among Comedy Central's list of "10 South Parks That Changed The World", spoofed by Conan O'Brien in the opening segment of the 58th Primetime Emmy Awards, and mentioned in the Scientology critique film The Bridge. TV Guide ranked the episode #17 on its list of "TV's Top 100 Episodes of All Time".

Plot 
Stan takes a free "personality test" offered by Scientologists on the street. After answering a long questionnaire, Stan is informed that he is extremely depressed and therefore a perfect candidate for Scientology. They offer to help him out for $240. Back home, Stan asks his parents for the money. His father suggests that he use the money he had been saving for a bicycle. Stan pays the Scientologists and is taken into an auditing room where an attendant reads his "thetan levels" using an "E-meter". Stan has such a high reading that the Scientology headquarters in Los Angeles is notified. There, the president of Scientology determines that Stan's high reading makes him a reincarnation of L. Ron Hubbard, Scientology's founder and prophet.

Later that night, a group of Scientologists, including John Travolta, gather outside the Marsh house to celebrate Hubbard's "second coming". The president of Scientology arrives in a helicopter and talks with Stan's parents. They are opposed to Stan's participation, but the president informs them that "we're not asking him to join us; we're asking him to lead us". Randy sends Stan to his room, where he finds Tom Cruise waiting. Cruise asks him whether Stan has enjoyed his acting. When "Hubbard" replies that his acting is okay but not as good as others' such as Leonardo DiCaprio or the Napoleon Dynamite guy, Tom hears that he is "a failure in the eyes of the prophet" and locks himself in Stan's closet. He refuses to come out, despite the protests of Randy, Nicole Kidman, the police, Travolta and R. Kelly to "come out of the closet". Travolta and Kelly eventually join Cruise in the closet.

Downstairs, the church president tries to convince Stan's parents to allow their son to participate. He tells to Stan the great secret behind the church—a condensed version of the story of Xenu, according to the Scientology Operating Thetan III document. During this, an onscreen caption reads "This is what Scientologists actually believe". He then begs Stan to continue writing where "L. Ron" left off. Stan is impressed by the story and shows his writings to the president who initially approves of the work. Stan suggests that "to really be a church, you can't charge money to help", to which the president admits to Stan that the church is in reality a global money-making scam. He asks that Stan continue with that in mind. Stan appears to agree and keeps writing.

Outside the house, the president introduces Stan to his followers, where he will read parts of his new doctrine. However, instead of presenting it to them, Stan states that he is not the reincarnation of L. Ron Hubbard, and that "Scientology is just a big fat global scam". The Scientologists and celebrities in the closet are angry and threaten to sue Stan. Stan dares them to sue, and the episode ends.

The closing credits name only "John Smith" and "Jane Smith", a reference to Tom Cruise and the Church of Scientology's reputation for litigiousness.

Production 
South Park had previously parodied Scientology in a spoof at the 2000 MTV Movie Awards. The MTV short was titled "The Gauntlet" and included "John Travolta and the Church of Scientology" arriving in a spaceship to defeat Russell Crowe (as a gladiator) and attempt to recruit the boys into Scientology. Travolta, along with his fellow Scientologists, was depicted as a Psychlo, as he appeared in the film Battlefield Earth. They had also made fun of Scientology in an earlier episode, titled "Super Best Friends", in which David Blaine formed his own cult, called "Blaintology". Parker and Stone have acknowledged that this is meant to be a reference to Scientology.

Parker stated that Isaac Hayes' membership had previously kept the show's creators from writing a full episode which parodies Scientology. However, the decision to ultimately produce a South Park episode satirizing Scientology was partially inspired by the friendship the show's creators have with Penn Jillette. Jillette was originally planning to do an episode of Bullshit! based on Scientology, but Showtime prohibited him from doing so to avoid the possibility of legal action from the Church of Scientology. Parker commented, "We're going, That's fucked up. And hearing other people say, 'You can't do that' – you can only say 'You can't do that' so many times to Matt and me before we're gonna do it. Finally, we just had to tell Isaac, 'Dude, we totally love working with you, and this is nothing personal, it's just we're South Park, and if we don't do this, we're belittling everything else we've ripped on.

Although some questions were raised prior to the episode's screening about whether it was wise to take swipes at Cruise and Scientology, Comedy Central declared that it supported Stone and Parker. A Comedy Central spokesman told Radar magazine in November 2005 that "they are free, and have been, to satirize anybody and anything they want to. They've made fun of MTV, they've made fun of Viacom, they've made fun of Comedy Central, and we've never interfered with them."

During production on the episode, investigative journalist Mark Ebner served as a consultant to Stone and Parker. Ebner had previously authored The New York Times best seller Hollywood, Interrupted, which includes an analysis of the Church of Scientology and its effects on the culture in Hollywood, and has a chapter on Cruise and Travolta's relationship to Scientology. On the official Comedy Central website for the South Park episode, it is asserted that the section of "Trapped in the Closet" that explains Scientology's portrayal and beliefs was not exaggerated: "Nothing about what you see here is exaggerated in the slightest. Seriously." The title is a reference to the R. Kelly song of the same name, and a depiction of R. Kelly appears in the episode to sing a parody of it.

Controversy

Isaac Hayes' departure 

On March 13, 2006, a statement credited to Hayes, a Scientologist himself, announced that he was quitting the show because of the series' treatment of religion, saying, "There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begins. Religious beliefs are sacred to people, and at all times should be respected and honored. As a civil rights activist of the past 40 years, I cannot support a show that disrespects those beliefs and practices." The Guardian observed that the show had mocked most other religions, but that he drew the line at Scientology. Later in an interview on CNN's Showbiz Tonight, Hayes added he did not see the episode itself, but was told about it. In a separate interview, he reportedly said regarding Parker and Stone, "Guys, you have it all wrong. We're not like that. I know that's your thing, but get your information correct, because somebody might believe that shit, you know? But I understand what they're doing. I told them to take a couple of Scientology courses, and understand what we do."

Responding to Hayes' departure, Stone asserted that "This is 100 percent having to do with his faith of Scientology... He has no problem—and he's cashed plenty of checks—with our show making fun of Christians." According to Stone, neither he nor Parker had "heard a peep out of Isaac in any way until we did Scientology. He wants a different standard for religions other than his own, and to me, that is where intolerance and bigotry begin." Stone commented that "In 10 years and over 150 episodes of South Park, Isaac never had a problem with the show making fun of Christians, Muslims, Mormons and Jews. He got a sudden case of religious sensitivity when it was his religion featured on the show. To bring the civil rights struggle into this is just a non sequitur. Of course we will release Isaac from his contract and we wish him well." According to a later commentary by Stone, prior to the episode's screening Hayes had asked the South Park creators to have Comedy Central pull the episode before it aired and not include it in the series DVD, which they refused.

There were many conflicting stories as to the exact nature of Hayes' departure. Additional reasons given by Hayes ten months after the departure include "They didn't pay me enough", and "They weren't that nice". In late 2007, reports emerged claiming that Hayes was in no condition to stay, because of a stroke he suffered in January. According to a Fox News article, Hayes' agent Christina Kimball, herself a practicing Scientologist, was the source of the statements that Hayes quit South Park. Stone lent support to this view in a 2007 interview with Rolling Stone, commenting that "There are reports that Isaac had a stroke and Scientology quit the show for him, and I believe it... It was a brutal, up-close, personal thing with Isaac. If you look at the timeline, something doesn't add up." In a 2016 interview with The Hollywood Reporter alongside Stone and Parker, Hayes's son Isaac Hayes III confirmed that his father was disabled at the time of his resignation and that the decision must have come from one of his assistants, all of whom were Scientologists. Due to the absence of Hayes, Chef was voiced in "The Return of Chef" using pre-recorded snippets of dialog from previous episodes. The character was written out of the series by being struck by lightning, burned, impaled, and mauled at the end of the episode.

Tom Cruise parody 
The creators used the ambiguity of "coming out of the closet", having Tom Cruise literally refusing to come out of Stan's closet, in a parody of rumors that Cruise was homosexual. Cruise has a documented history of litigation against others involving rumors as to his sexuality, and some speculated whether Cruise could sue South Park. Entertainment Weekly asked in December 2005 whether South Park was "cruisin' for a bruisin'" and wondered "how that sort of Cruise-bashing is going to go over with Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone's new bosses: Paramount Pictures just inked the dudes to a three-year deal. Other people with Paramount deals? Oh, just, you know, Tom Cruise. Should be one hell of a studio Christmas party".

Concerns over possible litigation were raised in other countries where South Park is syndicated. The episode's planned screening on the UK's Paramount Comedy 1 channel was canceled for fear that Cruise would sue. In Australia, SBS TV screened the episode in late February, a spokesman telling Australian The Daily Telegraph that "We haven't received any legal threats so we're going to publish and be damned."

Closetgate 

This episode was scheduled to rebroadcast on March 15, 2006, on Comedy Central, but the broadcast was canceled without prior notice, and was replaced with "Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls". Representatives of Comedy Central insist that the episode was changed as a tribute to Isaac Hayes following his departure from the show two days earlier. The following day, the Hollywoodinterrupted.com blog alleged that Comedy Central parent Viacom canceled the rebroadcast due to threats of Cruise to boycott the publicity tour of his upcoming film Mission: Impossible III. These assertions were soon also reported by E! News and American Morning. Fox News attributed threats from Tom Cruise, stating, "to back out of his Mission: Impossible III promotional duties if Viacom didn't pull a repeat of the episode", as evidence of "bad blood" between Cruise and Viacom (which also owns Paramount Pictures, the distributor of MI:III). CNN's The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer also cited "industry sources" who believed the episode was pulled "because the network and Tom Cruise's current movie studio are both owned by the same corporation." The New York Post noted that Cruise had "a history of playing hardball", alleging that he had been responsible for having a sex scene featuring his then-fiancée Katie Holmes removed from the film Thank You for Smoking prior to its release.

The Washington Post reported that South Park fans "struck back", in March 2006, and threatened to boycott Mission: Impossible III until Comedy Central put "Trapped in the Closet" back on its schedule. Melissa McNamara of CBS News later questioned whether this boycott hurt the Mission: Impossible III box office debut. The South Park creators did not comment directly on Comedy Central's decision to pull the episode, reportedly because they had been told not to discuss the matter to avoid embarrassing Cruise. Instead, they issued a statement through their lawyer on March 17, 2006, signing the statement, "Trey Parker and Matt Stone, servants of the dark lord Xenu".

The Los Angeles Times dubbed the controversy surrounding the episode's rebroadcast "Closetgate". The Independent later cited the Los Angeles Times, noting that the controversy generated positive publicity for the show's creators: "For Stone and Parker, Closetgate will be the gift that keeps on giving." "Closetgate" has since been used to refer to the "brouhaha" surrounding Isaac Hayes' departure and rebroadcasts of the episode, by other sources including Yahoo! Movies, BBC, Turner Classic Movies, the Herald-Sun, Thoralf Fagertun of the University of Tromsø, and the Chicago Sun-Times.

Cruise's representative responded to the controversy shortly after it broke, telling the Associated Press that the allegations of Cruise's involvement were "not true" and that "he never said that". According to The Washington Post, Cruise's publicist asserted that "Tom had nothing to do with this matter. He's been promoting 'Mission: Impossible III' for the last six months. We have no clue where this came from." Cruise himself addressed the allegations in an interview on ABC's Primetime in mid-April. When asked about whether he had been involved with stopping the rebroadcast on Comedy Central, Cruise stated, "First of all, could you ever imagine sitting down with anyone? I would never sit down with someone and question them on their beliefs. Here's the thing: I'm really not even going to dignify this. I honestly didn't really even know about it. I'm working, making my movie, I've got my family. I'm busy. I don't spend my days going, 'What are people saying about me?'"

In April 2006, TelevisionWeek reported that fans had posted the episode in multiple locations on the internet. At that time, the episode had been viewed over 700,000 times on YouTube, and an online petition to re-air the episode had garnered 5,000 signatures. TelevisionWeek noted that Comedy Central "looked the other way at the online proliferation" of "Trapped in the Closet". A spokesman for MTV Networks, owner of Comedy Central, confirmed they had not asked YouTube to pull the episode from their site. The Situation Room also noted that clips from the episode were still available on Comedy Central's web site. In May 2006, "Trapped in the Closet" was shown in London, at the National Film Theatre. The free screening was followed by a discussion with Parker and Stone, who said the screening was a "display of free speech". Free copies of the episode were given out to attendees after the screening.

On July 19, 2006, Comedy Central did air a rebroadcast of the episode at 10:00 Pacific Time and did so again on July 23 at 11:00pm Eastern Time and on September 24 at 10:00 PM Eastern time. Stone stated "If they hadn't put this episode back on the air, we'd have had serious issues, and we wouldn't be doing anything else with them." After the episode was scheduled to be rebroadcast, Parker and Stone were interviewed on CNN's Showbiz Tonight, where they stated that all of the controversy increased publicity for the episode. Parker was quoted: "But it's really like a publicist couldn't have orchestrated this any better for us. You know what I mean? It's like it's been phenomenal. Tom Cruise has done more for South Park than anyone I think in the world."

The episode was released in several DVDs, including South Park the Hits: Volume 1 and South Park: The Complete Ninth Season, in contradiction with an alleged request by either the Church of Scientology or Cruise to never put the episode on DVD format. The full episode is also available for viewing on the web site of South Park Digital Studios, along with Parker and Stone's "mini-commentary" on it.

A few references have been made by the show and Comedy Central to Scientology as an aftermath of the controversy. On August 1, 2006, Comedy Central placed an advertisement in Variety showing the South Park stars against a background of L. Ron Hubbard's Scientology Celebrity Center, with the headline, "C'mon Jews, show them who really runs Hollywood." Although often misunderstood by the public to parody the Mel Gibson DUI incident, the advertisement actually congratulates South Park on gaining an Emmy nomination for "Trapped in the Closet" and satirizes the cancellation of the episode's rebroadcast in March.

The Rolling Stone cover article "Still Sick, Still Wrong", celebrating the show's anniversary, also referred to the controversy. The article depicted Stone and Parker spray painting graffiti on the church's Los Angeles organization sign, adding "Is dum" to the Scientology logo and a "Hi Tom" message with an accompanying depiction of Cartman's head.

Reception 
In a review of South Park: The Complete Ninth Season, The Denver Post stated the jokes about Tom Cruise "work splendidly and reveal their depth on repeated viewings, much like the show in general." IGN stated that "Perhaps the largest weakness of this season is that the most notorious episodes Best Friends Forever and Trapped in the Closet just don't carry the eye-popping impact that they did when they were ripped from the headlines", giving the DVD a rating of 7.0. The San Francisco Chronicle wrote that Stone and Parker "probably hit their zenith when they made fun of Tom Cruise and Scientology". An article in The Times wrote that South Park "infamously satirized" texts by L. Ron Hubbard "available only to Operating Thetans". TV Guide ranked the episode #17 on its 2009 list of "TV's Top 100 Episodes of All Time".

Analysis 
An article in the Journal of the American Academy of Religion referred to the episode as a "scathing cartoon parody" of the Church of Scientology. University of Delaware philosophy professor Richard Hanley analyzed the mythology of Scientology, as it relates to the episode "Trapped in the Closet", in his 2007 book South Park and Philosophy: Bigger, Longer, and More Penetrating. Hanley called the Xenu story as presented in the episode, "utterly ridiculous". Hanley went on to delve into a philosophical analysis of the "evidential weight" of popularity and tradition in determining the "robustness" of beliefs.

Southwest Minnesota State University philosophy professor Robert Arp also analyzed the philosophical and cultural aspects of the episode in his book South Park and Philosophy: You Know, I Learned Something Today. Arp analyzed Comedy Central's reaction to the episode itself, in a section of his book entitled "2005–2006: Comedy Central Caves". Arp mentions South Park's usage of the onscreen caption—"This is what Scientologists actually believe"—in the episode, noting that the same device was used in the episode "All About the Mormons?" In referencing this similar use of the onscreen caption device, Arp seemed to point to an inconsistency in the behavior of Comedy Central relative to the episode. He explained, "By a long shot, this show was more kind to Scientology than was 'All About the Mormons' to Mormonism." He noted Comedy Central had suggested it would not rebroadcast the episode for the second time, though it later announced on July 12, 2006, that it would.

Awards 
The organization Fight Against Coercive Tactics Network, founded by Lawrence Wollersheim, named the South Park staff their "FACTNet Person(s) of the Year for 2005" for this episode. Robert Arp cited the series winning a Peabody Award due to its willingness to criticize intolerance in April 2006 as a "special concern for criticizing and countering intolerance", and the notion that "the Church of Scientology suffers from the widely held perceptions that it seeks to silence former members and others who criticize its beliefs and practices", as the motivation behind the episode.

Stone and Parker submitted the episode for an Emmy Award, though Stone admitted that "We did it to be jerks. A 'fuck you' to Comedy Central." To their surprise the episode was nominated on July 6, 2006, in the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour) category, the show's sixth nomination (one of which they won, for 2005's "Best Friends Forever"). The Simpsons episode "The Seemingly Never-Ending Story" was the eventual recipient of the award. It was also among Comedy Central's list of "10 South Parks That Changed The World", which started airing at September 24, 2006, in anticipation of the premiere of the second half of South Park's tenth season.

Legacy 
The scene where Cruise enters the closet is referenced in the South Park segment of the opening of the 58th Primetime Emmy Awards on August 27, 2006, in which Conan O'Brien is trying to get to the show, but suddenly appears in Stan's room in an animated form. Stan begins yelling at him as he runs into the nearby closet. Immediately following the entrance, he exits the closet and says, "There's someone else in there", referring to Cruise, and leaves the door open. Cruise then pops out and closes the door.

There is a scene in the film The Bridge by Brett Hanover, where two young women looking for a laugh tell a Scientology volunteer they learned about the organization from South Park. The volunteer answers that she has not seen the episode in question, and the two women later leave during the middle of an orientation video.

On February 8, 2013, while appearing on the Opie & Anthony Show, Jenna Miscavige Hill, the niece of the Chairman of Scientology, David Miscavige, admitted that she first learned about the story of Xenu from watching this episode.

See also 
 Scientology in popular culture
 South Park controversies

References

External links 

"Trapped in the Closet" Full episode at South Park Studios
 "Trapped in the Closet" Episode guide at South Park Studios
 
 "Trapped in the Closet" TV.com episode guide
 Reviews, archived articles, IGN
 Off-screen antics cost Cruise, Herald Sun, gallery of controversy involving Tom Cruise, picture 2 discusses "Closetgate"
 Trapped in the Closet South Park Archives (Wikia)

Animation controversies in television
Cultural depictions of John Travolta
Cultural depictions of Tom Cruise
Mass media-related controversies in the United States
Television controversies in the United States
Television episodes set in Los Angeles
Scientology in popular culture
2005 controversies
2005 controversies in the United States
2006 controversies
2006 controversies in the United States
Scientology-related controversies
South Park (season 9) episodes
Trapped in the Closet
Television episodes about reincarnation
Works critical of Scientology
Xenu
Economics U$A is a telecourse series covering the subjects of microeconomics and macroeconomics.  The original series debuted in 1985 and has been updated several times since then (most recently in 2011). The series was produced by the Educational Film Center in Annandale, Virginia, with funding from the Annenberg-CPB Project (now Annenberg Media) and broadcast on PBS and educational stations.

The series was hosted by David Schoumacher, with the help of economic analysts Richard T. Gill and Nariman Behravesh (Chief Economist and Executive Vice President, Global Insight).  The series consist largely of interviews of government officials, economic analysts, and people who have experienced important events for the economy of the United States.  Herbert Stein, an economic advisor for the Nixon administration, is one of the many guests interviewed in the series.

Episode guide
 Episode 1 - Resources and Scarcity: What Is Economics All About?
 Wilderness preservation and WWII productivity show how society allocates and transforms resources.
 Episode 2 - Markets and Prices: Do They Meet Our Needs?
 Developer William J. Levitt's low-cost housing and Reggie Jackson's contract help explain the powerful forces of supply and demand.
 Episode 3 - U.S. Economic Growth: What Is the Gross National Product?
 This episode documents the GNP's greatest achievements and failures since its introduction in the 1930s.
Guests: Robert R. Nathan, War Production Broad, World War II; Alfred E. Kahn, Economist; John Kendrick, Economist; George Washington University; Gaylord Nelson, Counselor, The Wilderness Society
 Episode 4 - Booms and Busts: What Causes the Business Cycle?
 America's roller-coaster economy is examined in light of the economic theories of Marx, Schumpeter, Keynes, and Say.
 Episode 5 - John Maynard Keynes: What Did We learn from the Great Depression?
 Episode 6 - Fiscal Policy: Can We Control the Economy?
 Episode 7 - Inflation: How Did the Spiral Begin?
Inflation in the 1960s - What caused that spiral and how did inflation get out of control?
Guests: Walter Heller, Former Chairman, Council of Economic Advisors; James Duesenberry, Former Member, Council of Economic Advisors
 Episode 8 - The Banking System: Why Must It Be Protected?
 The S&L crisis is reviewed with a discussion of deposit insurance and the accountability of financial institutions. This program was revised in 1992.
 Episode 9 - The Federal Reserve: Does Money Matter?
 Episode 10 - Stagflation: Why Couldn't We Beat It?
 Episode 11 - Productivity: Can We Get More For Less?
Guests: Arthur Laffer, Economist
 Episode 12 - Federal Deficits: Can We Live With Them?
 Episode 13 - Monetary Policy: How Well Does It Work?
 Episode 14 - Stabilization Policy: Are We Still In Control?
 Episode 15 - The Firm: How Can We Keep Costs Down?
 This program looks at the economic factors behind Coke's secret formula change, Studebaker's demise, and The Asbury Park Press.
 Episode 16 - Supply and Demand: What Sets the Price?
 Episode 17 - Perfect Competition & Inelastic Demand: Can the Farmer Make a Profit?
 This program presents the inside story of American farming's crises from the 1920s to the present.
 Episode 18 - Economics Efficiency: What Price Controls?
 Rent control in New York City explains the effect of wage and price controls in a free market economy.
 Episode 19 - Monopoly: Who's In Control?
 Episode 20 - Oligopoly: Whatever Happened to Price Competition?
 Episode 21 - Pollution: How Much Is a Clean Environment Worth?
 The private and social costs of pollution and the international response to global warming are explored.
 Episode 22 - Labor & Management: How do They Come to Terms?
 Episode 23 - Profits and Interest: Where Is the Best Return?
 Episode 24 - Reducing Poverty: What Have We Done?
 Episode 25 - Economic Growth: Can We Keep Up the Pace?
 Episode 26 - Public Goods and Responsibilities: How Far Should We Go?
 Episode 27 - International Trade: For Whose Benefit?
Guests: Robert Crandell, economist, Brookings Institution; Rep. John Dingell, D-Michigan; Sen. William Brock, R-Tennessee; Special Trade Representative, Kay Jennings, Toyota dealer; Anthony Solomon, Deputy Treasury Secretary, Carter administration; Patricia Fernandez Kelly; Steve Knaebel, President, Cummins Engine-Mexico
 Episode 28 - Exchange Rates: What in the World Is a Dollar Worth?
Guests: Dr. Edward Bernstein, former Principal Economist, U.S. Treasury Department; Dr. Joan Spero, Senior Vice-President, Corporate Affairs, American Express; Dr. Marina von Neumann Whitman, former economic advisor to President Richard M. Nixon; Martin Feldstein; George F. Baker Professor of Economics, Harvard University; Michael Mussa

References
 https://web.archive.org/web/20070929180413/http://www.efcvideo.com/EconomicsUSA/
 http://www.learner.org/resources/series79.html

1986 American television series debuts
PBS original programming
Television series by the Annenberg Foundation Begin Again () is a South Korean television program which airs on JTBC.

Season 1 aired on Sundays at 22:30 (KST) beginning June 25 till September 10, 2017. Season 2 aired on Fridays at 21:20 (KST) beginning March 30 till June 29, 2018. Season 3 aired on Fridays at 21:00 (KST) beginning July 19 till November 8, 2019. Season 4 aired on Saturdays at 23:00 (KST), beginning June 6 till July 4, 2020 and on Sundays at 23:00 (KST) from July 12 to August 9.

Season 1 starred musicians Lee So-ra, You Hee-yeol, Yoon Do-hyun and entertainer Noh Hong-chul; the quartet's project group being named Begin Us ().

Season 2 starred Kim Yoon-ah (Jaurim),  (Jaurim),  (formerly of Brown Eyes) and Roy Kim in one team, with Jeong Se-woon joining the team later in the show. The second team consisted of Lena Park, , Henry and Lee Su-hyun (Akdong Musician).

Season 3 starred Lena Park, , Henry and Lee Su-hyun (Akdong Musician), who appeared in Season 2 and being known as Family Band that has been requested by many to reunite again, alongside new members  and Kim Feel to form the first team for the season. The second team for the season consisted of Lee Juck, Taeyeon (Girls' Generation), Paul Kim, Jukjae and Kim Hyun-woo (DickPunks).

Season 4, also known as Begin Again Korea (비긴어게인 코리아) as there is no overseas travelling involved due to the COVID-19 pandemic, starred Lee So-ra (who appeared in Season 1), Henry, Lee Su-hyun (Akdong Musician),  (who appeared in Seasons 2 and 3), Jukjae (who appeared in Season 3), Crush and Jung Seung-hwan. Crush temporarily left the show after episode 3 and returned from episode 8, Lee Hi joined from episode 4 to 6 (plus episode 10), Lee So-ra left after episode 5, and Sohyang joined from episode 6.

A year-end special titled Begin Again Reunion (비긴어게인 Reunion) aired on December 22, 2020, with the lineup featuring Yoon Do-hyun, , Paul Kim, Henry, Lee Hi and Lee Su-hyun.

Subsequently, an online version of the show Begin Again Open Mic (비긴어게인 오픈마이크) has been launched, and videos are uploaded on the show's Youtube channel on Mondays and Wednesdays at 18:00 (KST).

Airtime

Overview
Reputable musicians from South Korea travel overseas, to places where no one knows anything about them, and hold busking events. They would introduce themselves to the people in other countries through their performances.

For Season 4 (Begin Again Korea), different from the previous 3 seasons, the cast members travel around South Korea to conduct Social Distancing Busking. The main purpose is to present music as a gift, to console the Korean citizens who have gone through difficult times due to the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Cast
Season 1 (Begin Us)
 Lee So-ra
 You Hee-yeol (Toy)
 Yoon Do-hyun (YB)
 Noh Hong-chul

Season 2 (Team Kim Yoon-ah)
 Kim Yoon-ah (Jaurim)
  (Jaurim)
 
 Roy Kim
 Jeong Se-woon (Episode 5-7)

Season 2 (Team Lena Park/Family Band)
 Lena Park
 
 Henry
 Lee Su-hyun (AKMU)

Season 3 (Family Band)
 Lena Park
 Hareem
 Henry
 Lee Su-hyun (AKMU)
 
 Kim Feel

Season 3 (Dick2JukPaulTaeng)
 Lee Juck
 Taeyeon (Girls' Generation)
 Paul Kim
 Jukjae
 Kim Hyun-woo (DickPunks)

Season 4 (Begin Again Korea)
 Lee So-ra (Episode 1-5)
 Hareem
 Henry
 Lee Su-hyun (AKMU)
 Jukjae
 Crush (Episode 1-3, 8-10)
 Jung Seung-hwan
 Lee Hi (Episode 4-6, 10)
 Sohyang (Episode 6-10)

Special (Begin Again Reunion)
 Yoon Do-hyun
 
 Paul Kim
 Henry
 Lee Hi
 Lee Su-hyun (AKMU)

Episodes
Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4 (Begin Again Korea)

Discography
Recordings of some of the busking songs were released digitally on various music sites.

Season 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

Episode 4

Episode 5

Episode 6

Episode 7

Episode 8

Episode 9

Episode 10

Episode 11

Episode 12

Season 2

Jaurim Begin Again: Porto Live

Jaurim Begin Again: Lisbon Live

Jaurim Begin Again: Portugal Live 2CD

Roy Kim Live in Begin Again 2

Begin Again 2 Yoon Gun Special Edition

Season 3

Episode 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

Episode 4

Episode 5

Episode 7

Episode 8

Episode 9

Episode 10

Episode 11

Episode 12

Episode 13

Episode 14

Season 4 (Begin Again Korea)

Episode 1

Episode 3

Episode 5

Episode 6

Episode 7

Episode 8

Episode 9

Episode 10

Ratings 
In the ratings below, the highest rating for the show will be in red, and the lowest rating for the show will be in blue each year.
 Note that the show airs on a cable channel (pay TV), which plays part in its slower uptake and relatively small audience share when compared to programs broadcast (FTA) on public networks such as KBS, SBS, MBC or EBS.
NR rating means "not reported".
 TNmS have stopped publishing their rating reports from June 2018.

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4 (Begin Again Korea)

References

Notes

External links

 Begin Again YouTube Channel

South Korean travel television series
Korean-language television shows
JTBC original programming
2017 South Korean television series debuts
South Korean variety television shows
South Korean reality television series
2020s South Korean television series