WEEKLY ROUND-UP

THE YADA-YADA

We are human and given a chance,

We still might create an art form of television.

Gilbert Seldes.

CROSSOVER OF THE WEEK
'Crossing Jordan' & 'Las Vegas'
[See separate essay.]


THE GREAT LINK
'Law & Order' - Connecticut Governor's wife is murdered in Central Park and evidence of the governor's sexual orientation comes to light.
[See separate essay.]

MISSING LINK
When Detective Frank Arcaro was shot and wounded by an Arkansas hillbilly named Ansel Boulke, he was treated at Manhattan General Hospital. Twenty years later, this was the same hospital were "Kayo" O'Brien would be working as a surgeon.
('Naked City' & 'Kay O'Brien')

ZONK ADDENDUM
Just before he had his dream zonk involving 'The Munsters', 'Leave It To Beaver', and 'The Jetsons', George Lopez quoted catch-phrases from the following shows:
'Sanford & Son'
'Flo'
'Chico And The Man'
'The Honeymooners'
'Welcome Back, Kotter'
('The George Lopez Show')

BLIPVERT CROSSOVERS
Lee Jeans spokesdoll Buddy Lee plays the role of guidance counselor in a new series of branded entertainment films tied to the MTV2 program 'Control Freak'.

The series takes advantage of the show's format -- which lets viewers pick what video comes on next -- by letting viewers decide which career path Lee's young charge should choose. The initial episode aired on Oct. 31. The next two episodes, which will show the student pursuing the career selected for him, will air on Nov. 14 and Nov. 28.

In the first episode, we see Buddy reflect on his own past careers before viewers are asked to decide whether our young student should become a trapeze artist, a soap opera actor or a ventriloquist.
('Lee Jeans' & 'Control Freak')

plus....

'The Jetsons' & 'Electrosol'
I've been seeing this commercial for months, but it never clicked that it serves as a link. And that George Jetson deserves a chance at the TV Crossover Hall of Fame now.

I must be getting old........

THE LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES
Snoop Dogg filmed at the Montecito.
('Las Vegas')

BY ANY OTHER NAME
This week, BBC-America showed 'The Gold Napoleon', the second episode of 'The Persuaders', which starred Roger Moore and Tony Curtis.

Near the beginning of the episode, Bret Lord Sinclair conned a helicopter pilot out of his chopper and took it up himself in order to track down a scuba-diving assassin.

The helicopter pilot was barely seen, but according to the episode guide at TV Tome, he was played by a young Jan-Michael Vincent. The IMDb.com backs up this claim.

The credits only list him as "Helicopter Pilot". So what's to stop us from claming that he was Stringfellow Hawke, pilot extraordinaire and a bit of a rebel when it comes to protecting his chopper, Airwolf.

He must have learned that lesson well back in Nice Cote d'Azur!
('The Persuaders' & 'Airwolf')

LA TRIVIATA
The porn movie "Bootie And The Beast" was among the selections which Maya's son charged to their cable bill. If Fox Mulder owned a copy of this "classic", it would have been filed in his collection just before "Buffay The Vampire Layer".
('Girlfriends' & 'The X-Files' & 'Friends')

A giant tsunami struck Miami in November of 2004.
('CSI: Miami')

The Empires baseball team was founded in 1904.
('Clubhouse')

'American Goddess' is a reality show using plastic surgery, similar to 'Extreme Makeover' & 'The Swan'.
('Without A Trace')

The Huns are a professional football league, but its home city is unknown.
('Capital One Prime Lock')

Adrenalitis is a condition in which the patient suffers from a severe lack of adrenalin. So far, one cure seems to be owning and driving a Tacoma.
('Toyota Tacoma')

OBITUARIES
Charlie Metcalf was an alcoholic ex-con with nothing more to show for his life than a battered old suitcase containing an address book, a painting of a house, and a few tattered photos.

His cirrhosis was so advanced, that by the time he was admitted to the Cook County General ER in Chicago, he only had 44 minutes to live. But during that short time, Charlie was able to prove the maxim of Judge Henry Bone ('Picket Fences'): "People can come into your life for a moment and last a lifetime."
('ER')

Phillip Spaulding was found shot to death in Springfield. As is the case with so many murders in soap operas, there is a plethora of suspects. [See the following entry.]
('Guiding Light')

In a big dramatic addition to the year's best crossover, Paul Cramer was murdered in Llanview. His death will reverberate for months not only in that Pennsylvania town, but also in the town of Corinth.
('One Life To Live' & 'All My Children')

In Remembrance: Alcibiades Munoz was an international financier living splendidly on an island in the Aegean. He died of a massive coronary aboard his yacht in the Hudson River boatyards of New York City.
('Naked City')

HISTORY, CHANNELLED
Henry the VIII
[See separate essays.]

UNSTUCK IN PRIME TIME
I've been watching classic episodes of 'Naked City' on DVD and got a nice history lesson in ancient art.....

Pre-465 BC - The Minerva of Cycledes was stolen by Xerxes.
1887 AD - Lord Casseltine bought the Minerva for three pounds and a case of Scotch whiskey.
July 10th - October 31st, 1940 AD - The Minerva lost her hand during the Battle of Britain.
1950s - Miss Arlington tracks down the Minerva of Cycledes and arranges for her museum in New York City to display it.
November 29th, 1961 - The Minerva is stolen by self-proclaimed pirates, but recovered by detectives from the 65th Precinct.
('Naked City')

REALI-TV
CBS news has fired the producer who cut into "CSI: NY" to report the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
[See separate blog entry.]

CROSSOVER HALL OF FAME
Those who qualified this week for entry:
Snoop Dogg

In case anyone was interested in who the other 'Trek' inductees have been up to this point, here's the rundown of the year so far:

January - Captain James T. Kirk
February - Lt. Uhura
March - Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy
April - Commander Montgomery Scott
May - Yeoman Janice Rand
June - Zephraim Cochrane
Birthday Honors - The Cast Of The Original 'Star Trek':
William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, George Takei, Nichelle Nichole, Walter Koenig, Majel Barrett, Grace Lee Whitney
July - Ensign Pavel Chekov
August - Helmsman Hikaru Sulu
September - Gene Roddenberry
October - The Tribbles
November - Ambassador Sarek

Well, that's it for another week. Please stay tuned!

BCnU!
Tele-Toby