NYPD BLURRED

Last week's 'Blind Justice' exemplified why Toobworld is basically the Real World, but with TV flourishes like talking horses, reincarnated automobiles, and food that can sing and dance.

The murder suspect threatened to go to Commissioner Kelly and have him come down hard on the cops doing the interrogation. This means that the police commissioner for NYC in Toobworld is the same as it is here in our world, Raymond W. Kelly.

[That is, unless some other show with better tele-credentials - like 'Law & Order' perhaps? - comes along and proclaims some fictional character to be the NYPD commissioner.]

Whenever possible, Toobworld should hew closely to the real events and personalities of our world. If George W. Bush is the President of the United States in the Real World, then he's the POTUS for shows like 'Whoopi!', TV movies like 'DC 9/11: Time of Crisis', and even for his own sitcom ('That's My Bush!'). This means that shows like 'The West Wing' and '24' must be relegated to alternate TV dimensions.

'NYPD Blue', the predecessor for the 'Blind Justice' timeslot, followed the same line of thinking when it came to the police commissioner. In fact, Howard Safir, who was commissioner at one time, even made an appearance on the show, playing himself.

[Raymond W. Kelly appeared as himself in a special about 'NYPD Blue' and its tenth anniversary on the air. Since that's basically a Zonk!, we'd rather disregard it.]

Darryl F. Gates, the former police commissioner, portrayed himself on several episodes of 'Hunter'. But in Toobworld, at least one of his predecessors in the job was fictional, and a murderer to boot - Mark Halperin on an episode of 'Columbo'.

I'm not sure if the NYC police commissioner has ever been mentioned, let alone portrayed, on 'Law & Order' or any of its franchise spinoffs. But as a matter of necessity, they do have to use a fictional District Attorney rather than the Real World's Robert Morgenthau. At least with the first DA, Adam Schiff, the show acknowledged the fact that Morgenthau is older than dirt by having Schiff be the same.

And now for something completely different, during the last few years the latest DA is a conservative red-stater from the South, Arthur Branch. But the show may also have anticipated the outcome of this year's election by having a woman as the interim DA, Nora Lewin. [It's possible Judge Leslie Crocker Snyder may beat Robert Morgenthau for the job come November. And then he can go on TV as well - either playing himself on some show, or as Pruneface in a revival of 'Dick Tracy'......]

The last two Real World mayors of New York City have made appearances on 'Law & Order' as themselves: Rudy Giuliani and Mike Bloomberg. And yet the producers fictionalized the governor of Connecticut to blend the troubles of former Ct. governor John Rowland with those of former New Jersey governor Jim McGreevey for a storyline.*

They did so at a time when both Real World governors had plenty of face time on the TV and should have been accepted as part of Toobworld [if only for their "Come to our state!" promos when they were in office].

The producers had to bring in a governor from another state for the storyline set in New York City. God forbid they instead fictionalized NY's governor! Don't want to insult Borin' George Pataki and rile him up enough to make it.... uncomfortable to film in the City......

They should have made the state Delaware. When was the last time any political figure from that state gained national awareness?

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

*Long time readers of this blog might remember how much I hated that 'Law & Order' episode, "Gov Luv". It bothered me so much that I finally decided that it should be banished from Toobworld entirely and stand alone as an example of what the show must be like in the evil mirror universe. Because that sure as hell wasn't the Jack McCoy I'd want in Earth Prime-Time.....