MOONING

Even though the new TV season has begun, I'd like to take the opportunity (since this is a new blog) to look back on one aspect of a series which came to its conclusion in May.

'Frasier' has ended its 11 year run, and Daphne Moon is now Mrs. Niles Crane. But at heart she'll always be a Moon. Most of the Moons still reside in England (although Uncle Jackie lives in San Francisco where he is a transvestite vicar.)

Over the course of the series, we met a lot of those Moons, most notably her parents and some of her brothers (especially Simon!) But there's one Moon cousin who is still appearing on TV even though 'Frasier' has left the building. He's never been to Seattle, (so far as I can tell), and more than likely he's been far from the East End of London.

His name is Spencer Moon, a barman at the Queen Vic Pub in Watford Square, and he'll be twenty next year.('Eastenders')

We know he can't be one of Daphne's brothers; Daphne told us all of their names - Billy, Simon, Nigel, David, Peter, Stephen, and Michael Moon. And we know Spencer only has a brother named Alfie.

I suppose we could always say Spencer and Alfie are Daphne's nephews. It's possible one of her brothers sired Spencer. (Well, maybe not Billy.... nudge nudge wink wink!)

After all, of her eight brothers we only met Simon, Nigel, Michael, and Stephen. And even one of them could be the father, maybe even outside the sanctity of marriage.

But I'd rather avoid making the family connection to Daphne that close - sooner or later 'Eastenders' might introduce Spencer's parents on the show, or at the very least mention their first names.

As far as I can tell, the only other relatives to be mentioned or seen for Spencer (besides his brother Alfie) are his second cousin Maxwell and his grandmother, whom he calls 'Nana'.

Daphne had plenty of aunts and uncles. So I'm going out on a wing of that Moon Family tree and say that one of those aunties is also Spencer's Nana. Perhaps one day we'll learn what her first name is, and it just might match up with the name for one of Daphne's aunts.

And if so, then we'll have a direct link between 'Frasier' and 'Eastenders'.

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

"Every family has a skeleton in the closet. It's just a matter of finding the proper key."

John Drake

'Secret Agent'

MY 2nd DATE WITH 'JOEY'

Relax. It's not what you think!

This was David Bianculli's assessment of 'Joey' in the New York Daily News, 9/16/04:

Tonight is a better test of this show's long-term legs than last week's premiere. That one had the curiosity factor, and "Friends" loyalty factor, built in. For tonight's second episode, anyone who's returning wants to do just that, so tonight's audience is a truer measure.

This viewpoint of course holds true for every show, but the stakes are even higher for 'Joey'. NBC is staking its hopes on the sitcom as its linchpin to secure their hold on Thursday nights as "Must See TV".

And judging by the second episode, I don't think it's going to work as well as they hoped; not when CBS debuts the latest 'Survivor' ('Vanuatu: Islands of Fire') with an installment entitled "They Came At Us With Spears"!

I found myself tuning away from 'Joey' far too many times in its oversized outing. That's not a good sign because I couldn't have been the only one. I ended up catching some naughty bits of a 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' sketch, and Sally Ride (portraying herself) and Charles Lindbergh (dramatized, of course) on an episode of 'Touched By An Angel'.

For this TV Universalist, that became more intriguing than Joey teaching his nephew the finer points of "How you doin'?"

In my opinion, the writers better land a steady acting gig for Joey real soon, or keep sending him on auditions - ones that we can actually watch. (Last night, Joey didn't even make it that far - he got lost on the way.)

Joey needs something to do, because if the show is just going to be about his interactions with his sister, nephew, and the next door neighbor, this show won't make it past season one. There's not much potential for the kind of inter-social dynamic that 'Friends' had; most of these characters are already boxed in by the restrictions of their relationships.

(Not that they don't try, but after his sister prompted Joey to touch her new boobs in the pilot and then last night she slept over in her son's room.... I had high hopes for Drea de Matteo in this sitcom, but her Gina is really creeping me out!)

With the next-door neighbor being married, I don't see how far they could push the boundaries between her and Joey. I'd salute them if they tried - I'm no prude! - but I'm not sure the general 8 pm audience would accept it.

I hope they're planning to bring back Jennifer Coolidge quickly as Joey's agent. Her wacked-out, over-the-top performance in the pilot was the highlight for me, and the only thing of true comedic value. They need to make her a regular!

All in all, 'Joey' will definitely be a 'give it six episodes' show for me. If it doesn't click by the end of October, Fagghedaboutit!

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

JOHNNY RAMONE, R.I.P.

Johnny Ramone, the lead guitarist with the influential U.S. punk rock band the Ramones, died on Wednesday after a five-year battle with prostate cancer, a long-time associate told Reuters.

Ramone, 55, who was born John Cummings, died in his sleep at his Los Angeles home on Wednesday afternoon, said Arturo Vega, the Ramones' creative director.

Back in the early 1990s, the Ramones performed at the birthday party for Montgomery Burns. Because of their professed loathing for Springfield and everyone in it, Burns demanded that the band be destroyed. Even though he misidentified the Ramones as the Rolling Stones, apparently Monty Burns will eventually be getting his wish.
('The Simpsons')

Their last public appearance together as a group in the TV Universe was at a street fair performance on Staten Island in January of 2001.
('Grounded For Life')

Sadly, lead singer Joey Ramone passed away from cancer less than two months after that. DeeDee passed away as well, leaving only Tommy now of the original quartet.

Gabba Gabba Amen!
Tele-Toby

"I just wonder if there really is a life after death. And if there is, do you think everyone is invited?"
- Jessica Tate
'Soap'

MAILING TUBE

I've been getting a lot of nice comments in emails from friends who've perused the Toob's World blog since I got it up and running. I thought I'd share a few with you....

Re: My return as a presence on the Internet with my Toobworld musings
Glad you are back and running. I love reading your work.
Love ya,Mayr
~~
Hey Toby, Congratulations! You finally got a blog. Way to go. Remember, when you become famous, I knew you when!
:)
- R
~~
I've been enjoying perusing your Blog. You definitely are king of that aspect of tubeworld (the mythical president search, where it's an alternate dimension within tubeworld).

It reminds me of the old DC Comics Multiverse (which is where my planned title, Crisis on Infinite Series, will come from if I ever get any of my thoughts on all this written down.)

I am enjoying your writing and grateful I get to read it again.
- Hugh
~~
Good piece, Toby.
- Ivy
(Gee, I hope she doesn't think I'm wearing a toup!)
[]
Re: My appearance in David Bianculli's TV column in the New York Daily News
Congrats on the flattering mention of you in the Daily News!
- Nora Lee
~~
Your Monk comment (you so famous!) made me think of a very badly timed commercial during the original airing of "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" on 'the X-Files' - It seems the killer of the piece was starring in a MD lottery ad that aired in the commercial break just as he was "discovered" in the episode. Truly boggling...
- Lee
~~
Meant to also salute Toby on his achievement of being celebrated as the #1 go-to Extra guy for the Daily News
- Herby from Derby
[]
Re: The 'One Life To Live'/'All My Children' baby-switch crossover
I ran into one of the cast of OLTL, and she told me stuff that is going to happen. It will be getting VERY complicated!
- Mayr
[]
Re: The TV Guide Fall Preview
I just had a chance to look at your BLOG and I read the entry FALL OUT with interest.

I, too, love the fall and the TV GUIDE Fall Preview. But I agree, that years ago the issues were better planned and had nicer and more creative layouts and pictures.

For [the] last 5 to 10 years, they seem to be using the same old lame format. It's tiring and it also doesn't offer a lot of information on the shows, at least the stuff I look for. Sometimes a show summary can leave out stuff like what city the show is based. That bugs me.
- JHolst
TV ACRES webmaster
[]
Re: the occasional requests for help
It was my belief that the lovable R. Belzer's Munch (from Homocide) is the most crossed-over character [and one of the longest running by this point] in TV history with something like 7 shows to his credit (many of them seemingly unrelated i.e. X-Files).
- Lee

As far as he is now the most crossed-over (as per number of different series), that's true. As per number of episodes, I think Frank Cady as Sam Drucker may still be the king, but Munch has to be catching up fast.
Somewhere around here I have the total for Mr. Drucker - so many for Petticoat Junction, so many for Green Acres, 11 for Beverly Hillbillies, and the reunion movie for Green Acres.
~~
I saw something about the Soup Nazi appearing on another series. Do you know if the actor truly played that character, or just one similar? I know Seinfeld was always resistant to the crossovers, even though he got co-opted in other ways by other shows.
- Hugh

From what I gather, not having seen this particular episode, Larry Thomas played himself/Soup Nazi in an episode of 'Scrubs'. Knowing the format for that sitcom, I'm thinking he appeared in a daydream sequence for JD......
~~
Even if it's not through my blog, I still engage in some interesting online conversations, - deep, thought-provoking discussions - about the TV Universe

Tim: Betty Rubble is hot and, in real life, would’ve never settled for [a] doofus like Barney.
Toby: Ah, but you fail to take into account the fact that Barney carried a humongous club and Betty wasn't going to let that end up in some other woman's cave.
Nudge nudge wink wink yabba dabba doo!
The fact that this "club" fired blanks was ameliorated by the near-magical arrival of the alien child they would raise by the name of Bamm Bamm.
Bamm Bamm's arrival was seen as being due to a wish upon a fallen star. My take is that it may have been a space vessel similar to the Kryptonian ship that brought Kal-El to our world ages later.
I have to go lie down now.....
Tim: Yeah...but Barney still looked like someone had wrapped a fur rug around a fireplug and stuck a blonde toupee on top.
And did you know that Flintstones vitamins have never had a Betty character? They've got Dino, they've got the freakin' CAR, but they left out the most succulent character...
uh-oh, now I have to lie down.
[]
And then there's my sister/godchild, who's just too lazy to use a TV Guide.......
hey tobe
are there any football games scheduled for sunday?
- Leah

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

MAILING TUBE

I've been getting a lot of nice comments in emails from friends who've perused the Toob's World blog since I got it up and running. I thought I'd share a few with you....

Re: My return as a presence on the Internet with my Toobworld musings
Glad you are back and running. I love reading your work.
Love ya,Mayr
~~
Hey Toby, Congratulations! You finally got a blog. Way to go. Remember, when you become famous, I knew you when!
:)
- R
~~
I've been enjoying perusing your Blog. You definitely are king of that aspect of tubeworld (the mythical president search, where it's an alternate dimension within tubeworld).

It reminds me of the old DC Comics Multiverse (which is where my planned title, Crisis on Infinite Series, will come from if I ever get any of my thoughts on all this written down.)

I am enjoying your writing and grateful I get to read it again.
- Hugh
~~
Good piece, Toby.
- Ivy
(Gee, I hope she doesn't think I'm wearing a toup!)
[]
Re: My appearance in David Bianculli's TV column in the New York Daily News
Congrats on the flattering mention of you in the Daily News!
- Nora Lee
~~
Your Monk comment (you so famous!) made me think of a very badly timed commercial during the original airing of "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" on 'the X-Files' - It seems the killer of the piece was starring in a MD lottery ad that aired in the commercial break just as he was "discovered" in the episode. Truly boggling...
- Lee
~~
Meant to also salute Toby on his achievement of being celebrated as the #1 go-to Extra guy for the Daily News
- Herby from Derby
[]
Re: The 'One Life To Live'/'All My Children' baby-switch crossover
I ran into one of the cast of OLTL, and she told me stuff that is going to happen. It will be getting VERY complicated!
- Mayr
[]
Re: The TV Guide Fall Preview
I just had a chance to look at your BLOG and I read the entry FALL OUT with interest.

I, too, love the fall and the TV GUIDE Fall Preview. But I agree, that years ago the issues were better planned and had nicer and more creative layouts and pictures.

For [the] last 5 to 10 years, they seem to be using the same old lame format. It's tiring and it also doesn't offer a lot of information on the shows, at least the stuff I look for. Sometimes a show summary can leave out stuff like what city the show is based. That bugs me.
- JHolst
TV ACRES webmaster
[]
Re: the occasional requests for help
It was my belief that the lovable R. Belzer's Munch (from Homocide) is the most crossed-over character [and one of the longest running by this point] in TV history with something like 7 shows to his credit (many of them seemingly unrelated i.e. X-Files).
- Lee

As far as he is now the most crossed-over (as per number of different series), that's true. As per number of episodes, I think Frank Cady as Sam Drucker may still be the king, but Munch has to be catching up fast.
Somewhere around here I have the total for Mr. Drucker - so many for Petticoat Junction, so many for Green Acres, 11 for Beverly Hillbillies, and the reunion movie for Green Acres.
~~
I saw something about the Soup Nazi appearing on another series. Do you know if the actor truly played that character, or just one similar? I know Seinfeld was always resistant to the crossovers, even though he got co-opted in other ways by other shows.
- Hugh

From what I gather, not having seen this particular episode, Larry Thomas played himself/Soup Nazi in an episode of 'Scrubs'. Knowing the format for that sitcom, I'm thinking he appeared in a daydream sequence for JD......
~~
Even if it's not through my blog, I still engage in some interesting online conversations, - deep, thought-provoking discussions - about the TV Universe

Tim: Betty Rubble is hot and, in real life, would’ve never settled for [a] doofus like Barney.
Toby: Ah, but you fail to take into account the fact that Barney carried a humongous club and Betty wasn't going to let that end up in some other woman's cave.
Nudge nudge wink wink yabba dabba doo!
The fact that this "club" fired blanks was ameliorated by the near-magical arrival of the alien child they would raise by the name of Bamm Bamm.
Bamm Bamm's arrival was seen as being due to a wish upon a fallen star. My take is that it may have been a space vessel similar to the Kryptonian ship that brought Kal-El to our world ages later.
I have to go lie down now.....
Tim: Yeah...but Barney still looked like someone had wrapped a fur rug around a fireplug and stuck a blonde toupee on top.
And did you know that Flintstones vitamins have never had a Betty character? They've got Dino, they've got the freakin' CAR, but they left out the most succulent character...
uh-oh, now I have to lie down.
[]
And then there's my sister/godchild, who's just too lazy to use a TV Guide.......
hey tobe
are there any football games scheduled for sunday?
- Leah

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

NEWS BLURTS

'Greg the Bunny' will next year return to cable channel IFC -- where he was first discovered hosting a movie showcase in 2001 -- for a half-hour special that also is under series consideration. Also appearing in the program are former 'Greg' co-stars Seth Green (news) and Sarah Silverman.

'Greg The Bunny' ran for seven episodes on Fox in 2002 before being canceled. That history is actually incorporated into the special, which finds a humiliated Greg reluctantly reuniting with fellow "fabricated Americans" Warren the Ape and Count Blah in Las Vegas. Also appearing in the special are Adam Goldberg, Lou Ferrigno and Jon Favreau, host of IFC's 'Dinner for Five.'

'Greg' co-creators Sean Baker, Spencer Chinoy and Dan Milano introduced the character on a New York public access show in 1999. Public access, IFC, FOX - that means Greg the Bunny is qualified to be an entrant into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame someday. (It may take a while - there are SOOO many eligible applicants, especially in the puppet division. But he'll definitely get in before Elmo; you can count on that!)
[]
Lucasfilm confirmed officially that a 'Star Wars' television show will be coming in the future. They didn't comment on setting, or release schedule. But as the 'Star Wars' universe already exists in the TV prime world, ('Ewoks', 'Droids', 3P0 and R2D2 at the Muppet show), there's no big rush for the new show. I'd rather that George Lucas take his time and do it up right... instead of scrambling like he did back in 1977 with that godawful holiday special!
[]
For two weeks straight, Olympics viewers were bombarded with obnoxious promos for NBC's 'Joey,' the 'Friends' spin-off. The commercials, most of them not featuring any footage from the show itself, had Joey wandering around his new home city of Los Angeles doing idiotic things like driving on the wrong side of the road or believing that the Hollywood Walk of Fame is a sidewalk cemetery. (Seeing Jack Nicholson's star, he moaned, "I didn't even know he was sick!')

Dumb, true. But as promos containing fresh material, they count when tallying up Joey's chances for getting into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame. With his own series, these promos, the original series, and a crossover encounter with 'Caroline In The City', Joey Tribbiani will be the first of the 'Friends' to make it into the Hall.

It'll be years in the future, however, but I'm sure he'll feel right at home with the other Fools of April.
[]
The Emmy for Outstanding Commercial was awarded by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences to the Citibank commercial "Outfit" -- directed by Kevin Thomas of Thomas Thomas Films -- in which we see an average joe whose identity has been swiped by a shopping fanatic with a valley girl accent.

This year's winner topped a list of nominees that included the Budweiser Super Bowl spot "Born a Donkey" from Goodby, Silvertein & Partners, directed by Jeff Goodby via Biscuit Filmworks; the Saturn commercial "Door Music," also from Goodby, directed by Anonymous Content's Mark Romanek; United Airlines' animated spot "Interview" from Fallon and ACME Filmworks directors Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis; the Office Max commercial "Rubberband Man" from DDB/Chicago and Anonymous Content's David Kellog; and the Miller spot "Dominoes" from Y&R/Chicago and MJZ director Fredrik Bond.

Of course, these identity-stealing serlinguists in the Citibank commercials are probably alien in origin and are gloating about their evil success to their unseen audience in the real world!
[]
An updated version of BBC series 'The Antiques Roadshow' is being made, featuring collectable items from the 20th Century.

Alan Titchmarsh will present 'The 20th Century Roadshow', which will examine modern treasures such as lava lamps and art deco jewellery across the UK.

Filming of the BBC One series will begin in October. The program will be broadcast in 2005 to complement 'The Antiques Roadshow', which began in 1983.

The show's executive producer, Simon Shaw, said: "The fascination of the 20th Century is that this is very much a living archive, a period we can all get nostalgic about.

"We're all about to learn what we shouldn't have thrown away!"

Both of these series are linked to the main TV Universe by their American cousin, which was featured and integrated into an episode of 'Frasier'.
[]
The Top TeleWords of the 2003-04 Television Season
(according to Global Language Monitor @ www.LanguageMonitor.com)

1. You're Fired!
Show: The Apprentice
Comment: Donald Trump's signature phrase
2. Mess O' Potamia
Show: The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Comment: More 18-49s get their news from Daily Show than mainstream media
3. Girlie Men
Show: Gov. Schwarzenegger of California
Comment: Transcends politics moving into pop culture
4. God
Show: Joan of Arcadia and Angels in America
Comment: Supreme Being made quite a comeback on the small screen
5. Wardrobe Malfunction
Show: Miss Universe Pageant; Super Bowl XXXVIII
Comment: Recent Miss Universe incident reinforces the phrase
6. Infectious Disease
Show: CSI Franchise
Comment: Evidently nothing can contain the CSI franchise
7. OCD
Show: Monk
Comment: Tony Shaloub's trademark Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
8. The O.C. as a geographic entity
Show: The O.C.
Comment: TV literally is a 'geography of the mind'
9. Extreme Makeover
Show: From any of the reality-show genre
Comment: Both 'extreme' and 'makeover,' in any combination
10. Grim Reaper
Show: Dead Like Me
Comment: Hasn't made such an impact in popular culture since Ingmar Bergman's "Seventh Seal"

Words No Longer Hip
Word: Fahgeddaboutit!
Show: The Sopranos
Comment: Forget about Fahgeddaboutit!
Word: Voted Off the Island
Show: Survivor Series
Comment: Voted off the TeleWord List
Word: " so" as an intensive
Show: Friends
Comment: As in "...so yesterday" or "...so not fair"

Oooops.... I used that one in this post!

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

TCM & the TwD

In celebration return of the Toobworld philosophy to the Internet, Turner Classic Movies dedicated their 9/13/04 lineup to other television scalawags similar to Yours Truly.

Here is the rundown for TCM's salute:

Thousand Clowns, A (1965)
A free-living New Yorker fights to maintain custody of his nephew. Jason Robards Jr., Martin Balsam, Barry Gordon. Director: Fred Coe. BW-118m

Clown, The (1953)
In this remake of The Champ, a drunken clown tries to make a comeback so he can keep his son. Red Skelton, Jane Greer, Tim Considine. Director: Robert Z. Leonard. BW-91m

It's Always Fair Weather (1955)
World War II buddies get mixed up with gangsters and an egotistical TV star when they hold a 10-year reunion. Gene Kelly, Dan Dailey, Cyd Charisse. Director: Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen. C-101m

Slander (1957)
A TV star almost loses his career and his marriage over a tabloid story. Van Johnson, Ann Blyth, Marjorie Rambeau. Director: Roy Rowland. BW-81m

Face In The Crowd, A (1957)
A female television executive turns a folk-singing drifter into a powerful media star. Andy Griffith, Patricia Neal, Walter Matthau. Director: Elia Kazan. BW-126m

Top Banana (1954)
An egotistical television comic falls for a pretty salesgirl and tries to make her a star. Phil Silvers, Rose Marie, Jack Albertson. Director: Alfred E. Green. C-84m

My Favorite Year (1982)
A flamboyant star throws a TV comedy show into chaos. Peter O'Toole, Mark Linn-Baker, Jessica Harper. Director: Richard Benjamin. C-92m

And all of those movies were to help welcome Toobworld back.

Whaaaaaa? You don't believe me?

Well, it's my world and welcome to it, so keep the Trickster's quote (seen there on the left) in mind.

Because I lie all the time. And that's the truth!

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

OUT OF THE MAIL TUBE

I'm starting to get comments on my blog.....

I'm a big fan of all the characters from "Friends" and I found your blog while searching for articles about the new show "Joey". I think "Joey" is going to do a lot better than you give it credit for. You'll see! Those crossovers you seem to get hard for will come about because other shows will want to get linked to "Joey"!

And besides, technically, you got yourself a crossover from "Joey" already and I don't mean just that its a spinoff from "Friends". When Joey finally met up with his sister, it was at the airport. So that counts as a link to "LAX", don't it? Right?
Gail

There was a review in New York Newsday which stated that 'Joey' was the best of the new sitcoms... but that wasn't saying much. It's an opinion I agree with.

But I will agree with Gail that NBC will now try to swing any sitcoms from the coattails of 'Joey'. In fact, I'll go out on a limb and say that as far as NBC goes, 'Joey' will wrest the locus of their sitcoms from New York back to LA where they all seemed to be situated just prior to 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show'.

Since the early '90s, just about every NBC sitcom was set in Manhattan ('Frasier' and 'The Golden Girls' being the most obvious aberrations) so that they could take advantage of crossovers with 'Friends' or 'Mad About You'. ('Seinfeld' resisted the crossover gimmick, but the 'Mad About You' producers found a way around that. And for some reason, 'Cosby' seems to have been a victim of sitcom apartheid.)

'Madman Of The People', 'Caroline In The City', 'The Single Guy', 'Union Diner' - all connected to 'Friends' or to each other. And those that weren't set in NYC were dragged into the Big Apple somehow for a crossover. ('Hope & Gloria' with 'Friends'; 'Frasier' with 'Caroline In The City')

So maybe now, the sitcoms outside of Los Angeles will find some way to send a few of their characters out to the Left Coast so that they can cross paths with Joey Tribbiani.

And yes, Gail, you were right that technically 'Joey' did cross over already with 'LAX' as soon as he landed at the airport. Now normally, crossovers based on locations rank just above crossovers of celebrities appearing as themselves with their appearances on talk shows and variety programs. I'm just not that desperate.

However, the whole thrust for 'LAX', its reason for existence, is the airport; NBC could have showcased the lovely Heather Locklear in any kind of a program but they chose 'LAX'. Therefore, the airport has to be a considered a major component of the series and thus it's a factor wherever it now appears in a series, new and old.

But we won't push it.

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

THE BLIPVERT CHALLENGE

In a new commercial for the Bowflex workout system, muscle-bound Ches Gessner takes aim at Jared Fogle, who lost 245 pounds after a switch in his eating habits to Subway hero sandwiches.

"I know other guys who ate sandwiches and lost a lot of weight," says Gessner. "But I don't see them on TV with their shirts off."

"Of course you realize, this means war."

Bugs Bunny

Like those "answer songs" of early rock 'n' roll, Subway should now come out with a blipvert in response. Maybe show Jared eating a Subway sandwich while some Gessner look-alike struggles in a bizarre workout contraption (like the one "advertised" on 'Saturday Night Live'.)

Jared's simple response? "Eat this."

And a commercial crossover conflict commences.

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

THE RETURN OF MAYOR MIKE

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg will appear as himself on the season premiere of 'Law & Order' (NBC, 9/22/04, 10 pm EST). His scene is at a press conference about the murder of an American soldier.

Like many episodes of the series, this appears to be "ripped from the headlines": the soldier had been a prison guard in Iraq.

This marks Mayor Mike's second appearance on 'Law & Order'. He has yet to grace the set of ABC's 'NYPD Blue', and there's no word as to whether he might show up someday on the newest installment of the CBS franchise, 'CSI: NY'.

But if Bloomberg is showing favoritism, he probably has good reason. Unlike the other two shows, all of the filming for the three 'Law & Order' series takes place in New York City.

BCnU!
Tele-Toby