Goodbye StarSat, Hello IWant TFC

StarSat has been going through somewhat of a phase since the pandemic which cost them several premium international channels such as FOX, Discovery Family, DreamWorks Channel, Smile, The Smithsonian Channel, Love Nature and that list will keep going on.

Just like every other pay-tv operator, they're trying to adapt and survive on top of all these hurdles. While some other brand opts to local dramas and sports, StarSat on the other hand helps promote smaller brands but the one thing that keeps viewers going is telenovelas primarily Phillipine.

If there's one thing that the platform doesn't disappoint on then its definitely Phillipine dramas. Some of the titles viewers would have come across include Love Thy Woman, Sharpshooter (Asintado), Bridges Of Love, The Heiress (Kadenang Ginto) and the popular cop drama, Brothers.

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What the 6 mentioned series have in common is Alto Broadcasting System and Chronicle Broadcasting Network (ABS-CBN).

A Philippine network (composed of television through free-to-air terrestrial, cable or satellite, radio and new media through "streaming media, internet or online") and syndication, program distributor, and production company (operating primarily under the name ABS-CBN Entertainment) that serves as the flagship property of ABS-CBN Corporation, a company under the Lopez Group.

It's basically the home of all their Phillipine catalogue but what's interesting about is the streaming alternative (as seen in previous paragraph under "streaming...online").

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Pay-tv platforms have a tendency of sourcing out third party content some of which come with their very own streaming hub. There's several where you'd probably need VPN if you want but with IWantTFC that's where it all changes.

iWant TFC an over-the-top content platform and production company owned and operated by ABS-CBN Corporation. iWant TFC offers live video streamings from various sources including media made for the Kapamilya Channel, The Filipino Channel, ANC, and TeleRadyo and on-demand contents of ABS-CBN on various platform basically StarSat's entire Phillipine catalogue.

There's a lot to love about IWant TFC, firstly you can browse over 10000 hours of programming and you're not only getting dramas from this platform but getting to invest in their culture with a selection docu-series and reality shows and if that's not enough there's even sitcoms and movies.

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Hate monthly fees no worries you can get a free package where you can browse a selected amount of shows but if you're feeling bored there's always a premium package for as little as R135p/m where you can get full access to the latest content.

You can access the content on their website or download the app on iOS, Google Play Store, Roku or selected brands of Smart TVs. Just signup with your email address and mobile number and let IWant TFC keep you on the edge of your seat.

Conspiracy Theory: Could Zee Bollymovies Be The Second Movie Channel MultiChoice Was Hyping About? And Could RT Global Be Added As A Replacement To Russia Today (RT)?

StarSat recently launched Zee Bollymovies and RT Global to their platform during the week as the platform is still trying to source out more content to make up for the hundred channels removed from their platform.

MultiChoice was set to cut the cord on e.tv's four channels in March but was delayed for another two months as they entered a court session with eMedia Investments regarding the agreement for these channels.

As mentioned, MultiChoice promised to launch a second movie channel while as expanding the reach of KIX to DStv Access customers while the terminations had been delayed the additions on the other hand have reportedly been finalized.

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I mean the rumour is not shocking as these developments are also being made available to the rest of Africa and I have a reason to believe it could be Zee Bollymovies.

During the court session with eMedia Investments, MultiChoice boasted about how repetitive their offering is implying that this movie channel could have less to none of that, second is KIX is launching on Access and the channel has nothing in common with eMovies and last is the timing for Zee Bollymovies.

StarTimes was the first to unveil Real Time and before you knew it the channel surfaced on DStv so what are the chances Zee Bollymovies won't just do the same.

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In other developments

Russia Today is now available on StarSat or at least as RT Global. From what was stated during the channel's blackout on DStv, MultiChoice had no intention of scrapping the channel so what are the chances that RT Global won't just take up the space of Russia Today.

If MultiChoice still has Russia Today it may not be due to the hope that EU restore the channel but possibly a contractual complication. Every deal can have a loophole, Russia Today's agreement with MultiChoice was to provide content.

Would it be shocking if these pair surface on DStv?

The Tragic Story Of Charles Manson Jr.

The name of infamous cult leader Charles Manson casts a long shadow on those close to him. No one knows this fact better than Manson's grandson Jason Freeman.  In an interview with CNN back in 2012, he spoke about what it was like growing up under a "family curse" that was started by his grandfather and the Manson Family. Manson had often claimed that he had no idea how many children he had fathered but it has been confirmed that he had at least three boys.

His eldest son, Charles Manson Jr., was born in 1956 when the criminal mastermind became a first-time father with his first wife Rosalie Jean Willis. He was, however, not the most present father and left the family home when his son was still very young.

As Manson Jr. got older, he struggled to come to terms with the heinous crimes his infamous father had committed. This made such an impact on him that he unofficially changed his name to Jay White so that other's would not associate him with his father.

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Freeman, who is a 6-foot-2 kickboxer and cage fighter, told CNN in the interview: "I'm coming out." He also said that he was doing it because he wanted the real Manson family members to stop hiding. Freeman also said that he wanted to understand his roots and himself better.

He knew when he was very young that Charles Manson was his grandfather but it did not mean anything to him until one day, in his 8th-grade history class. Freeman said: "Our teacher was talking about Charles Manson and I'm looking around like, are there people staring at me?"  

He was then banned from talking about his cult leader grandfather to his school friends to prevent them from teasing or taunting him. This made him always feel different from the other children and even inside his own home the talk of his grandfather was not allowed. Freeman was also not allowed to talk to his grandmother, Rosalie, about her husband, whom she married in 1955. It was definitely a skeleton in the closet through most of his life.

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More than anything in this world, Freeman wanted to connect with an absent father whom he only knew through a rare letter that was sent to him. He believes that Manson Jr. changed his name to Jay White just so that he could stay away from his father and to not blemish his son's childhood the same way his childhood had been. Freeman told CNN in 2012: "He just couldn't let it go. He couldn't live it down. He couldn't live down who his father was."

White, who was unlucky enough to get the name Charles Manson Jr., took his own life on June 29, 1993, on a lonely stretch of highway in Burlington, Colorado, which is a little to the west of the Kansas state line. The death certificate seems to give a few hints as to why he chose the particular spot and what it was that finally pushed him to commit suicide. The document has also indicated that the suicide happened at around 10:15 am from a "self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head" at "exit 438 on Interstate 70".

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Freeman, who is an avid wrestler, fighter, and tattoo lover, works on oil rigs in western Pennsylvania to provide for his family. He is generally a tough guy but always gets very emotional when it comes to the father he never met. This is the case especially when it comes to what he went through as a child. He reportedly fought back tears when asked what he would like his father to know and said: "I want him to know that he missed out on a lot."

Freeman specifically says that he wished his father was there to meet his grandchildren and see the life that his son has managed to build for himself. He concludes the interview by saying: "I see my kids, you know, and that's kinda where I get shook up. I would hate to see them grow up without a father. That's important. Very important."

SABC Movies: A Scrapped Dream Journal For The SABC

In 2012, The SABC announced plans to launch their long awaited DTT platform to the market which would consist of 18 channels and some of the channels that were fortunate enough to materialize were SABC News, SABC Sport and SABC Education.

Although, the public broadcaster plans for their decoder fell through several brands have since then resurfaced. Aside from SABC Education and SABC Sport, the public broadcaster registered two other brands SABC Parliament and SABC Children.

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SABC 4, SABC 5 and SABC Movies are the only brands that haven't been picked up.

SABC 4 & 5 are likely dead at this point the two were going to be SABC's version of Cape Town and Soweto TV and such channel has been deemed expensive just not for pay-tv platforms but SABC Movies on the other hand is different.

SABC Movies just like eMovies was set to be a catch-up channel for films broadcast on SABC 1-3 which is the norm for the most free-to-air channels overtime the lineup would shift to appease the audience.

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If successful, the brand would have gotten a second movie channel to help boost the load of repeats.

At the moment, the public broadcaster is looking to source channels other platforms are willing to cover. SABC Movies has no room in the overcrowded field of movie channels or at least for DStv.

Not that they can't launch it but if the SABC wanted the brand on there it would have find its niche even with platforms like StarSat and Openview. It shouldn't duplicate what's already available or air content that is not suited for the modern demographic.

Want To Know More About eExtra's New Series Fenix Stream Netflix's Miniseries The Bonfire Of Destiny

Before reading my intention is not to lure viewers away from Fenix as the two do have unique concepts while the original which is the French version consists of 8 episodes that can take up a week this version goes on for a couple of months again except different concepts.

Le Bazar de la Charité (The Bonfire of Destiny) begins with the depiction of a true event, the fire at the Bazar de la Charité in Paris, 4 May 1897, in which 126 people died. Planning to visit the bazaar is Adrienne de Lenverpré (Audrey Fleurot), an upper-class woman who seeks to escape from her marriage to her tyrant husband, Marc-Antoine de Lenverpré (Gilbert Melki), a candidate for the President of the Senate.

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While Adrienne's niece, Alice de Jeansin, along with her close confidant and maidservant, Rose Rivière, attend the bazaar the fire breaks out. Adrienne, who had entered the event earlier but left to meet her paramour, realizes to her horror that she, too, could have been inside. From there the plot revolves around the aftermath of the conflagration and the lives of the three women.

It took a big cast to tell the story. There were corrupt politicians, investigators, cops, journalists, newsboys, anarchists, devious mothers-in-law, near bankrupt parents, philandering fake husbands, and pretend children. The costumes and opulent sets of the rich people in the story were fabulous.

False identities, faked deaths, and loving below your class were just a few of the plot lines that our three heroines became involved in as the story spun its magic. The guillotine situated in the middle of the frame in every episode was set to whisk off the head of one of those characters. Some characters plotted to put him on the chopping block, while others worked to prove his innocence.

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Exciting things like stabbings, shootings, bonking on the head with metal pipes, and men knocking women about figured into resolving some of the problems. The climactic scenes in the final episode had the three women’s stories in a good place. It felt like the series could end after those 8 episodes and be complete. But The Bonfire of Destiny (Le Bazar de la Charité) was specifically labeled Season 1, so there may be plans to carry on with the women’s lives with new drama in the future. They were strong, willful, interesting women.

For those without a Netflix subscription can easily tune into Fenix on eExtra from 24 May at 19:30.

Credit: Virginia DeBolt

The Alleged Real Life Story Of DreamWorks Shrek

Voiced by Mike Myers, Shrek is the reluctant hero of the 2001 fairy tale comedy of the same name, which was based on a children's book by William Steig about a brutish ogre with a distinctive look. Although Dreamworks, the production company behind Shrek, has neither confirmed nor denied the rumors, many believe that Shrek was inspired by a French wrestler from the 1930s and '40s named Maurice Tillet. You have to admit, it is kind of uncanny.

The French Angel

Maurice Tillet was born in 1903 in Russia to French parents who soon moved back to France to raise their son. By all accounts, he had a relatively normal childhood with no major health issues. In fact, he had such a cherubic face that he earned the nickname "The French Angel " in the course of his wrestling career, but wrestling wasn't always Tillet's dream. He initially hoped to become a lawyer. That all changed, however, shortly after his 20th birthday.

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Tillet And Acromegaly

As he entered his twenties, Tillet started to notice unusual swelling in his hands, feet, and head. When the issue persisted, Tillet sought medical attention, and after running a battery of tests, the doctor gave Tillet a chilling diagnosis: He had acromegaly.

What Is Acromegaly?

Acromegaly is a medical condition that causes a benign tumor to grow on the pituitary gland in the brain. The tumor causes the pituitary gland to release excess amounts of growth hormones, which means the tremendous growth spurts that a person experiences in childhood continue unabated into adulthood in patients with acromegaly. People who suffer from acromegaly are much larger than the average adult, with bones that thicken as they lengthen. The bones in their hands, feet, and face are affected the most. As you can imagine, this greatly alters the appearance of the patient.

No Longer An Angel Face

As his acromegaly progressed, Maurice Tillet's once angelic face drastically changed. His jaw took on a square shape as it grew, protruding slightly, and his entire face broadened. His skull elongated until his ears appeared out of place. His hands and feet were gigantic, and he had to relearn how to navigate the world with giant mitts and clumsy feet.

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The Wrestler

As he grew disillusioned by his diagnosis—a career in the legal profession was right out—Tillet made the acquaintance of a professional wrestler from Lithuania named Karl Pojello in 1937. Pojello was impressed by Tillet's powerful build and persuaded him to become a wrestler, even moving to Paris to train him. Tillet found moderate success as a professional wrestler in France and England until the outbreak of World War II, when he immigrated to America.

The Champ

In the early 1940s in Boston, Tillet connected with wrestling promoter Paul Bowser, and it was here where he truly flourished as a wrestler. He maintained an undefeated winning streak for more than a year and a half, holding the title of AWA World Heavyweight Champion from 1940–1942. He even inspired a slew of imitators: The Irish Angel, Russian Angel, Czech Angel, Canadian Angel, etc. Only one of them—Paul Olaffsen, the Swedish Angel—also suffered from acromegaly.

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An Early Demise

Unfortunately, as with nearly all acromegaly patients, Tillet's condition cut his life short. At the age of 51, his heart and vascular system could no longer keep up with the demands of his oversize frame, and he died of cardiovascular disease on September 4, 1954 in Chicago. A few years before his death, however, Tillet allowed a Chicago-area sculptor named Louis Linck to craft several plaster busts of his face to both commemorate his wrestling career and document the effects of acromegaly. One of Linck's busts of Tillet is currently housed at the International Museum of Surgical Science in Chicago.

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Does Shrek Resemble Tillet?

From these busts and photos taken of Tillet during his life, it's clear that he bears more than a passing resemblance to the lovable ogre, from the protruding jaw to the lopsided grin to the minuscule and misplaced ears. Still, there is no concrete proof that Shrek's appearance was based on Tillet. It could simply be a coincidence.

Other Acromegaly Sufferers

After all, it's not like Tillet was the only high-profile figure who suffered from acromegaly. Although the disorder is rare, its effects result in such striking features that those who suffer from it often use their appearance to make money (and often have no other choice). Andre the Giant, a fellow professional wrestler and actor best remembered for his role as the cuddly brute Fezzick in The Princess Bride, also suffered from acromegaly. Other performers afflicted with the disorder include the 6'9" Ted Cassidy, who played Lurch in The Addams Family , and Richard Keil, who played the villain Jaws in the James Bond movies The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker. Shrek's appearance could have been influenced by any or none of these men, and although it might be a dubious honor to inspire a literal ogre, he does have a way with the ladies (not unlike Andre the Giant himself ).

Credit: Karen Harris

The Four Faces Of The Good Doctor

A while back, I did a story on Can Love Become Money's Turkish counterpart As Die Skoen Pas and the point I made in all of this it's not about hating a duplicate but more on awareness to one's surroundings and as mentioned not everyone will like the same things or at least in a certain structure.

On today's agenda we have Mucize Doctor (Miracle Doctor known to South Africans as Dokter Ali) is a 2019 medical drama that follows the antics of a doctor who suffers from autism. As a child, he was discovered to have a genius-level memory and keen spatial skills which gave him the title of Miracle Doctor.

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But the story was inspired by none other than KBS's The Good Doctor (Gut Dakteo) which won many accolades during its run in 2013 for Best Actor, Best Couple, Best Drama and even got plaque of recognition for creating awareness about autism and how socially challenged individuals can contribute to society.

The success lead to several regional adaptations including America's The Good Doctor from ABC which is one of the longest adaptations currently in its fifth season with a sixth scheduled for release in future. This version was produced by David Shore who went on to create the medical drama, House.

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Other adaptations include the one currently seen on eExtra, the Japanese adaptation Guddo Dokuta and most recent Hong Kong series, The People I Have Loved for the character Dr. Koo Hei-sun.

In the end, The Good Doctor's legacy lives on with these regional versions and it doesn't seem like the journey for this autistic doctor will be stopping anytime soon.

Until Further Notice

DStv customers have until the end of May to tune into Dokter Ali on eExtra thereafter they'll either have to get Openview or wait to view them on e.tv. As far as replacements go HONEY and Via duplicate channel could be added on Family and Access packages.

As mentioned earlier, eExtra's offering is regarded as local at this point if MultiChoice were to redirect audiences to kykNET and Mzansi Wethu for something "similar".

The History Of A Former DStv Channel, Carlton's SelecTV

Carlton Select was UK's leading entertainment channel owned by Carlton Television. It originally launched in June 1995 as SelecTV, by the independent production company of the same name, before being purchased by Carlton in 1997 who relaunched it as Carlton Select.

During 1985-1991, the channel was part of a bid for an ITV franchise after the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) prevented them from purchasing Thames Television and were only fortunate to provide a news service to the channel.

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Other aspects that occurred in that timeframe was the purchase of Ladbrokes (Central), the sports betting company owning up to 30% which finally gave them its first stake in a terrestrial broadcasting company.

During 1992-1994, Carlton launched a news station London News Network as part of a joint venture with London Weekend Television broadcasting news and other regional content and acquired full ownership of Ladbrokes.

They also faced some heavy backlash from the Independent Television Communication (ITC) for providing a wide range of "unimpressive and very disappointing" programmes for the ITV network which were "neither distinctive nor noticeable high quality".

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Between 1995 and 1996, Carlton launched its first channel Carlton Food Network and SelectTV was introduced broadcasting various content from their Food Network alongside other content like Airline, Birds Of A Feather, The Golden Girls and Yesterday's Dreams.

It also formed part of DStv's initial offering when it was introduced in 1995 and was eventually purchased by Pearson a year later.

SelecTV programming traced back to the 80s and Carlton Select was introduced in 1997 as part of an attempt to change the image of the channel of course there was not much difference from either one as the timelines were kind of close to each other.

Things were only moving up for Carlton as they were able to launch DTT platform British Digital Broadcasting as part of a joint venture with British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) before having full control as ITC forced BSkyB to retract and purchased a Racks Film Distributor which had  740 films in their collection.

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In 1998, The Guardian publishes a series of articles alleging the wholesale fabrication of a 1996 Carlton documentary, The Connection which had purported to film the route by which heroin was smuggled into the United Kingdom from Colombia. An internal inquiry at Carlton found that The Guardian's allegations were in large part correct and the ITC, fines Carlton £2million for multiple breaches of the UK's broadcasting codes.

Around that period, BSkyB launched their DTT service carrying their set of channels alongside Carlton Select, Carlton Food Network (another DStv channel) and new entries Carlton Kids, Carlton Cinema and Carlton World.

A year after the launch, Carlton began phasing out the company name from all their products and it wasn't until the 2000s that Carlton Select, Carlton World, Carlton Kids were eventually discontinued.

Carlton World followed shortly after and Carlton Food Network became a joint venture with Sainsbury to form Taste CFN which lasted a year leaving Carlton with a movie channel, Carlton Cinema.

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Carlton partnered up with BSkyB (now Granada PLC or Sky UK) to launch ITV Digital from existing brands and that lasted a few months as well. Granada PLC had various brands which were scrapped for ITV1.

Carlton Cinema ceased transmission and in 2003 the Carlton brand was no more as it merged with Granada PLC to form ITV PLC. All the products from Carlton were credited to ITV.

ITV PLC went on to form an international channel ITV Choice (formerly Granada UKTV, Granada TV and ITV Granada) which some may see as a reincarnation to SelecTV and various other entertainment channels from the two former brands.

Just like every other carnation, ITV Choice was eventually discontinued by 2020 in its last region Africa. There hasn't been a reason for the sudden dismal in various other markets but the local provider in Africa being MultiChoice opted to supply their content to various other channels.

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ITV Choice brought shows like Emmerdale, Coronation Street, Tipping Point, The Jonathon Ross Show, The Chase and Doc Martin. Modern and original programming that past counterparts had the misfortune of excluding.

In the end, ITV hasn't been successful in the linear space with the likes of BBC and regional providers. Of course, ITV provides various channels in the UK with Ginx TV also being British being the only linear channel available internationally.

But if you look at it the content can be viewed on multiple stations globally so that has to count for something.

Nickelodeon Had A Sports Channel

Nickelodeon is a channel known for many things they've usually been able to balance live-action with cartoons while making sure there's something for everyone. Things may have changed when they put all their eggs in a basket with SpongeBob SquarePants and The Loud House but you can't really blame them with how famous they are.

Nickelodeon likes to play it safe, what they're currently offering isn't the same from what was seen a decade or two. Let's dive into one of the topics from the previous decade, NickGas.

Nickelodeon's Games And Sports For Kids (NickGas), originally debuting on the main channel it served as a programming block airing what the name implies game shows. By 1999, they decided to turn this block into an official channel of the same name.

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One of the most memorable shows there at the time was Nickelodeon's GUTS where players compete against each other in extreme sports. It was well received lasting a few years on air and getting a decent audience.

This was some of the other content you'd find different from Nickelodeon. Other programs available on the channel included Legends Of The Hidden Temple which centred on a lost treasure protected by guards where players would have to walk into a temple answering questions about history.

Legend Of The Hidden Temples was conceived in the 90s and not all the content was necessarily new if you wanted such the bumpers would help. The channel also featured a bunch of segments recommending people to sports or games. It was one of the few brands where you wouldn't mind watching a commercial.

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Although being another Nicktoons, NickGas had shorts which kept audiences glued to the screen. Of course, all good things must come to an end.

There was no official reason for its discontinuation on December 2007. However the end only became the beginning as it transformed into TeenNick which is just Nicktoons but for live-action shows or content for older kids.

Although the channel is dead, NickGas has been referenced on several occasions take for instance The Loud House had an episode on one of their programs Double Dare. Some of the content found under the brand were often revived for the modem era.

The Count Of Monte Cristo: The Story That Inspired eMedia's Is'phindiselo, Telemundo's The Boss And ABC's Revenge

Edmond Dantès, a handsome, promising young sailor, skillfully docks the three-masted French ship, the Pharaon, in Marseilles after its captain died en route home. As a reward, Dantès is promised a captainship, but before he can claim his new post and be married to his fiancée, Mercédès', a conspiracy of four jealous and unsavory men arrange for him to be seized and secretly imprisoned in solitary confinement in the infamous Chateau d'If, a prison from which no one has ever escaped. The four men responsible are:

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1. Fernand Mondego, who is jealous of Mercédès' love for Dantès;

2. Danglars, the purser of the Pharaon, who covets Dantès' promised captainship;

3. Caderousse, an unprincipled neighbor; and

4. Villefort, a prosecutor who knows that Dantès is carrying a letter addressed to Villefort's father; the old man is a Bonapartist who would probably be imprisoned by the present royalist regime were it not for his son's, Villefort's, influence. Villefort fears, however, that this letter might damage his own position, and so he makes sure, he thinks, that no one ever hears about either Dantès or the letter again.

For many years, Dantès barely exists in his tiny, isolated cell; he almost loses his mind and his will to live until one day he hears a fellow prisoner burrowing nearby. He too begins digging, and soon he meets an old Abbé who knows the whereabouts of an immense fortune, one that used to belong to an immensely wealthy Italian family.

Dantès and the Abbé continue digging for several years, and from the Abbé, Dantès learns history, literature, science, and languages, but when at last they are almost free, the Abbé dies. Dantès hides his body, then sews himself in the Abbé's burial sack. The guards arrive, carry the sack outside, and heave the body far out to sea.

Dantès manages to escape and is picked up by a shipful of smugglers, whom he joins until he can locate the island where the treasure is hidden. When he finally discovers it, he is staggered by the immensity of its wealth. And when he emerges into society again, he is the very rich and very handsome Count of Monte Cristo.

Monte Cristo has two goals — to reward those who were kind to him and his aging father, and to punish those responsible for his imprisonment. For the latter, he plans slow and painful punishment. To have spent fourteen years barely subsisting in a dungeon demands cruel and prolonged punishment.

As Monte Cristo, Dantès ingeniously manages to be introduced to the cream of Parisian society, among whom he goes unrecognized. But Monte Cristo, in contrast, recognizes all of his enemies — all now wealthy and influential men.

Fernand has married Mercédès and is now known as Count de Morcerf. Monte Cristo releases information to the press that proves that Morcerf is a traitor, and Morcerf is ruined socially. Then Monte Cristo destroys Morcerf's relationship with his family, whom he adores. When they leave him, he is so distraught that he shoots himself.

To revenge himself on Danglars, who loves money more than anything else, Monte Cristo ruins him financially.

To revenge himself on Caderousse, Monte Cristo easily traps Caderousse because of his insatiable greed, then watches as one of Caderousse's cohorts murders him.

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To revenge himself on Villefort, Monte Cristo slowly reveals to Villefort that he knows about a love affair that Villefort had long ago with the present Madame Danglars. He also reveals to him, by hints, that he knows about an illegitimate child whom he fathered, a child whom Villefort believed that he buried alive. The child lived, however, and is now engaged to Danglars' daughter, who is the illegitimate young man's half-sister.

Ironically, Villefort's wife proves to be even more villainous than her husband, for she poisons the parents of Villefort's first wife; then she believes that she has successfully poisoned her husband's daughter by his first marriage. With those people dead, her own son is in line for an enormous inheritance. Villefort, however, discovers his wife's plottings and threatens her, and so she poisons herself and their son. At this point, Dantès is half-fearful that his revenge has been too thorough, but because he is able to unite two young people who are very much in love and unite them on the Isle of Monte Cristo, he sails away, happy and satisfied, never to be seen again.

Countdown To The Wildest Stories From Dark Side Of The Ring

10. Ric Flair's actions

Plane Ride From Hell was one of the worst instances of nothing going to plan. On that fateful day during WWE's tour of the UK. The plane was delayed for 7 hours and they were on a charter plane WWE stars consumed alcohol and waited for the plane to get going unfortunately the plane stayed long enough for the stars to consume multiple carts of alcohol. While some fooled around with Dustin Rhodes or his wife, Brock Lesnar and Perfect Brawley even cutting of Michael Ace's ponytail.

Things went wrong in a different direction, Ric Flair wore a robe with nothing underneath. According to a flight attendant and several other people, the wrestler cornered her in a plane forcing her to touch him. No one who knew bothered to help except Dustin Rhodes.

Tommy Dreamer revealed the flight attendant a bribe and compared the situation to his haircut which led him to get suspended from Impact Wrestling while Ric Flair possible losing any chance of getting into AEW.

9. Owen Hart's death

One of the saddest episodes of Dark Side Of The Ring, WWE had planned his entrance at the last minute which led to tragedy where he would fall and pass from the impact.

It was revealed in the show that the original plan was to have him lowered from the ceiling but they instead used a new rigging system from one they had initially.

It turned out that the rig that was holding Owen had been built for a sailboat which was designed to hold 6 pounds of pressure. On top of that his wife and son blamed WWE for his death and chose not to let him into the Hall Of Fame. According to people at the scene, Owen Hart's last words before plummeting to his death was "LOOKOUT".

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8. Life of Dino Bravo

Bravo was a heel of a wrestler who enjoyed a rich lifestyle. In Montreal, he was famous and respected and was suppose to face Hulk Hogan. WWE couldn't handle having their Babyface being booed at so they swapped the matches and event.

Bravo signed a new deal with WWE which would see him with new look but was repackaged as a heel. When it came time for him to retire, he didn't know what to do as he didn't save money and to try and keep his lifestyle going worked with his uncle in a crime family and a year later he would be found dead with drugs worth $400000 being confiscated.

7. Jimmy Snuka

The controversial wrestler sparked attention for allegations made on the death of his wife. Even before Snuka had killed Nancy. The family had doubts about him with her mother being supportive of their relationship.

There was a time where Snuka would struggle her throat and slapped her and she fled the scene seeking comfort with her sister who encouraged her to exit the relationship but continued on until her death.

Snuka was under investigation as he told different versions of his wife's murder saying she would fall and hit her head and that she was sleeping while he had a match.

There were allegations that WWE founder Vince McMahon offered Nancy's mother hush money of which hasn't been confirmed as there was no evidence of course the case was reopened and Snuka was unable to stand trial due to his dementia and cancer.

6. Godfather Hates Pimps

Despite his character being a pimp, it turned out in his personal life he had a history with pimps before WWE he worked as a bouncer. It was revealed he would hit any pimp that entered the strip club.

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5. Brawl For All

JBL wanted to find out who was the toughest man in the locker room though Vince Russo was the one who conceived it. Russo didn't like JBL for the way he was bullying everyone so he figured someone would embarass him.

All those involved suffered immensely while JBL was forced to eat dirt.

4. New Jack's storyline

Jack passed away around the time he was trying a minor who had hoped to face him. Hunter Ray punched him in the face and Jack angry stabbed him multiple times only for Jack to get arrested. Red came to visit him in prison hoping to turn it into a storyline and he agreed and the two never contacted each other again.

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3. The killing of Bruiser Brody

One of the most disturbing stories, Brody was one of the most respected wrestlers with his style being influencal. Invader and Brody didn't like each other.

When Invader came to WWE, Brody beat him badly which resulted in Invader holding a grudge. Brody went to WWC and told that he was owed money there. They were also talks of him becoming minority owner there.

Tony Atlas said the locker room there was tense and Brody wasn't looking good asked Tony to sketch a sign. Atlas came with a towel to speak with Brody and heard a punch only to see Invader holding a knife trying to stab Brody again and Tony protected him and laid him on the floor.

The ambulance arrived 45 minutes later, he needed surgeries for the cuts and bruises and Brody was alive when he left the hospital and died later in the morning. No one was arrested, Invader (Jose Gonzalez) got off saying it was self defence while police thought it had something to do with their jobs.

Brody was portrayed as a loving husband and father in Dark Side Of The Ring.

2. North Korea

In 1995, WCW teamed up with North Korea to hold a wrestling event. Ric Flair, Scott and Rick Steiner and several others made the journey. Muhammad Ali managed to make the event thanks to the organizer of the event, Antonio Anoki.

According to Eric Bishop, there was an attendance of 300000 with the audience being forced to attend. A group of wrestlers were confronted by security after trying to play pool. Scott getting his call interrupted as he had to fight with the country.

According to Too Cold Scorpio, he had considered playing the role of Warrior Hog with him taking a hit with a chopstick. Chris Benoit urged him not as he would regret it and Scorpio listened.

1. Grizzly Smith

He wrestled between the 50s and 70s and was father to including Jake "The Snake" Roberts, Rockin' Robin, and Sam Houston. Despite Jake being the most famous no one knew he was part of a wrestling family.

His siblings were estranged to each other as they lived separately for part of their childhood where Jake had to live with his grandfather then abusive husband.

Jake was sexually assaulted by his stepmother when he told his father she abused him. He found out Grizzly had been doing the same to his sister Robin from the time she was 8.

Robin revealed her mom left with her when she told her of the situation. Grizzly's fifth child was married and had a child by the time she was 18 then she was kidnapped and her husband was convinced although no body was found.

Robin believed that her father may have some involvement in the death of her sister. One time, he showed up at her house with a 9 year old girl and discovered Grizzly had been treating her the same way as her.

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