TV THEME MALADIES

"Television seems to have great power over us."

Walter Cronkite

I don't remember where I found this story, but I would assume it was from the BBC Online........

"Patients are mimicking the illnesses they see in their favourite TV soaps, doctors have said. More than nine out of 10 GPs claimed to have seen patients reporting symptoms based on what they had seen on TV or read in newspapers and magazines.

Two-thirds of the 200 GPs surveyed by Norwich Union Healthcare said medical issues raised in this way were making their patients paranoid. Many said patients had already decided on their diagnosis before being seen."

Does this mean there are people out there who think they have Bendii Syndrome? Suffering from Mendakan pox? (Both from the 'Star Trek' franchise.) Or maybe they think they contracted Thripshaw's Disease. ('Monty Python's Flying Cicus')

God help them if they've got Gidget's Disease! ('Saturday Night Live')

The number one TV Land ailment is amnesia. So I guess those people who think they have that after seeing a show which featured it in a plotline wouldn't even know they had it!

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

O'BSERVATIONS: "THE LONG GAME"

"Well, Doctor.... Still pursuing burglary, I take it."

The Master

'Doctor Who' : "Colony In Space"

The episode "The Long Game" proves that the Master knew what he was talking about. The Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to basically steal unlimited credit for Adam Mitchell so that he could do a bit of "shopping".

In an essay a few months back, I also postulated that the Third Doctor might have used some of his time in exile on Earth in raiding the trophies to be found in the Batcave under stately Wayne Manor in Gotham City. Among the items he purloined would be shirts formerly owned by the Riddler, with question marks on their collar tabs. And he would have snatched a custom-made umbrella with a question mark for the handle; this was most likely a gift to the Penguin from the Riddler. (Or even vice versa.)
~~~~~~~~~~
I've long maintained that DNA in Toobworld is extremely strong and doesn't dilute very much despite new strains blended in over the generations. This is why one's grandfather could look like an older version of oneself. And this is why there were always two Simon brothers looking like their forebears down through the generations to at least the 1700s.

So even though nearly 200,000 years separate them, I'd like to imagine that the Editor on Satellite 5 is in fact a distant descendant of one Dave Nelson who served as the News Director at WNYX in New York City back in the 1990s. ('NewsRadio')

They are played by two different actors (Simon Pegg as the Editor, Dave Foley as Dave Nelson), but they are similar enough in appearance to make the idea plausible.

And though Toobworld tele-genetics may be strong....... Let's face it, by 200,000 AD, there should be SOME diffusion.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here's hoping we see Bruno Langley again as Adam Mitchell; I think he made for an interesting character. Perhaps he could even return as a villainous Adam in the year 2012, now that he has that Type 2 chip installed in his head.

And since 2012 was the prophesied year for the end of the world according to the Mayan calendar, maybe Adam could be at the root of that?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Clive was right in the first episode for the Ninth Doctor when he said that wherever the Doctor goes, Death and Destruction follow in his wake. ("The Horror At Fang Rock" is a great example from the Fourth Doctor years.)

So it's a shame we lost Suki Cantrell in this episode. Throughout the series there have been these interesting women who unfortunately lose their lives after encountering either the Doctor or Rose.

Raffalo in "The End Of The World", Gwyneth in "The Unquiet Dead", and now Suki in "The Long Game".

And there's this bright spark of personality, an overall - sorry! - cuteness about each of them that I found similar. Enough so that I'm inclined to invoke Minbarin beliefs about reincarnation to think that it just might be that each of these women were incarnations of the same soul.

Just an idea, and not one I'm really comfortable enough in backing up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chronologically speaking, the Face of Boe shows up for the first time in the series here (although we first saw him/her/it in the second episode "The End Of The World".

BadWolf TV is shown broadcasting a report that the Face of Boe is pregnant with a Boemina (or that might be a term for many Boe). There are rumors that the Face of Boe is immortal, which would explain how we see Boe again five billion years later. Or that Face of Boe could have been one of the Boemina, or even one of their descendants.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
There's no real indication that the Editor died at the end of this episode, unless he was smothered in Jagrafess blubber. So it would be possible for Simon Pegg to reappear in the role somewhere early in the chronology between "The Long Game" and "Bad Wolf".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The phrase "Bad Wolf"......

We're really getting a sense of looking for it by now. I think "Aliens Of London" really put it front and center.

"Rose": There are claims that it is roared by the Nestene Consciousness, but I've watched the scene several times and I don't hear it.
"The End Of The World": The Moxx of Balhoon mentions to the Face of Boe that their situation was similar to a "Bad Wolf" scenario.
"The Unquiet Dead": Gwyneth uses her Second Sight on Rose and foresees 'the big bad wolf'.
"Aliens Of London": A young boy paints the phrase as graffiti onto the TARDIS.
"World War Three": The Doctor makes the boy wipe it off before they leave, warning him that if he catches him doing that again, he'll 'ave him.
"Dalek": The code for Henry Van Statten's helicopter is 'Bad Wolf One'.

And now for "The Long Game", there is the BadWolf TV station. This is the genesis for the phrase in all other episodes, and the basis for my Crossover of the Week.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There are other allusions throughout the series to the Bad Wolf idea. Rose's red-hooded cloak, the pig transformed to look like an alien, etc.

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

CROSSOVER OF THE WEEK!

"Why do we hurtle ourselves through every inch of time and space?"
The Indigo Girls

'Doctor Who' is back on Earth!

Fifteen years after the last regular episode, six years after the one TV movie for the Eighth Doctor, we've had a full series of thirteen episodes featuring Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Incarnation.

The final episode for this year has aired, signaling the end of Eccleston's tenure and marking the debut of David Tennant in the role.

And so to celebrate, most of my essays and all of the Crossovers will be dedicated to the Doctor for the rest of the summer.

Be forewarned: In my essays during this summer salute to 'Doctor Who', there will be spoilers for each of the episodes, especially in regard to summaries.....

First off, here's a recap of the episode:

Location: Satellite 5
Date: 200,000 AD
Enemy: The Editor and The Jagrafess

The Doctor, Rose and Adam arrive in the year 200,000 on a broadcasting station that transmits programming to the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire on Earth.

They soon discover trouble is afoot when they learn that any worker promoted to a position on level 500 never returns.

As the three travelers attempt to find out what is happening they discover they may have trouble escaping from the
ever watchful eye of the Editor.

CROSSOVER OF THE WEEK
'DOCTOR WHO' - "THE LONG GAME"
&
'MURPHY BROWN'

Yeah. You read that right. This episode of 'Doctor Who' can be tied into the Candice Bergen sitcom 'Murphy Brown'.

For those of you with short-term memories, Murphy worked as an anchorwoman for the tele-version of CBS on their news magazine 'FYI'. But when the network began taking her for granted, Murph decided to seriously entertain the efforts by the WOLF network to woo her away.

This happened in the 63rd episode, "Contractions", which was broadcast back in 1991.

It's my contention that by the year 200,000 AD, the WOLF network still existed. Although by that time there were a lot of corporate mergers along the way, in much the same way Time-Life mutated to become AOL-Time-Warner at one point.

But where did the "Bad" in "BadWolf TV" come from?

It's more than likely that it's an acronym for the other entities in the corporate structure of BadWolf TV. Keeping it close to home, it could also be something "archaic", like "British-American Digital".

Or it could be named after individuals in the news and entertainment field.

"B" for Bracken for example. John Bracken was the movie studio owner of the old TV series 'Bracken's World'.

(Being on vacation, I'm far too lazy and logy to go looking for examples for "A" and "D". And I'd much rather see what some of my readers might suggest.)

Since the Fourth Great And Bountiful Human Empire has spread out to other planets, (and our own world will have another four moons by then), it could be that "BAD" might stand for something off-world. A conglomerate of Television interests from the Bajorans, Andorans, and Deltans, perhaps? (All alien races to be found in various parts of the 'Star Trek' franchise.)

At any rate, at its heart, BadWolf TV evolved from the WOLF Television network. That's my story and I'm sticking with it.

By the way, for those of you who are familiar with how this season of 'Doctor Who' is resolved might be ready to argue about the genesis of the term "Bad Wolf" itself. Let me just say in my defense that many stories revolving around Time being altered depend on the item being changed in the past to already exist in the present. This creates its own time loop.

That might not make much sense right now, but even though my 'Doctor Who' crossovers have been laden with spoilers, I don't want to jump the gun just yet on a full splainin.

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

IT'S A BIRD! IT'S A SPLAININ!

According to "Watch With Kristen" at E! Online, Tom Wellig has said that Aquaman will be making an appearance on 'Smallville' next season.

This season, on 'Entourage', Vince Chase has been trying to seal the deal on making a movie in which he would play the comic book hero Aquaman.

Discrepancy? Hardly.

'Entourage' takes place on Earth Prime-Time. 'Smallville' does not. Earth Prime-Time already had its Kal-El, its Clark Kent, its Superman, the strange visitor from another planet.

He protected the Earth from his home base in Metropolis back in the 1950s as seen on 'The Adventures Of Superman'. He died saving two Chicago hoods after they drove into an A-bomb test in the Nevada desert in the early 1960s.

(This can't be proven, of course. But two ordinary humans should never have survived that blast. Add to that the fact that we never saw George Reeves' portrayal of the Man of Steel after 1963 at best.

If Earth Prime-Time is in need of a super-hero now, they can call on just about anybody else... but they can forget about Supes - he's given up the space-ghost.

Should Aquaman ever make a live-action appearance in the main Toobworld, then we'll have to beg a few Vicodin off Dr. House and begin the contortions to splain away a discrepancy then!

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

L'AIRBUS A TORONTO

BY BILL HUTCHINSON
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

A transatlantic commercial jet touching down yesterday in Toronto during a violent lightning storm skidded off a runway and burst into flames - but miraculously, all 309 people aboard survived, officials said.

Air France Flight 358 punctuated its journey from Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport with a roller coaster-like ride, barreling into a wooded ravine just after 4 p.m.

Stunned passengers said the quick-thinking crew of the Airbus A340 jet flung open the doors and ordered people to jump down inflatable chutes just moments before the plane burst into a giant fireball.

For the rest of the story:

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/334001p-285373c.html

I'm no insider, but I'll bet anything there's a Suit in Hollywood scrambling to secure the rights to somebody's story connected to this crash. It has all the makings for a two-part TV movie.

And best of all, it happened in Toronto. For once, Canada won't have to disguise its filming locations to stand in for someplace else!

Technically, as soon as a news story is broadcast, it should be considered a part of Toobworld. But where's the sport in that? MUCH better to get a TV movie out of the situation and have famous actors personify the real people involved in the story.

And if a major network grabs the rights, you can pretty much count on the use of some of the established stars of their own shows to play the major roles.

I don't know if there was one, but let's say there was a red-headed member of the crew, or one of the passengers who helped the others evacuate safely in that two minutes after the crash.

If CBS snares the rights, then David Caruso of 'CSI: Miami' is offered the role.

If NBC nabs the project, then John C. McGinley from 'Scrubs' gets the chance.

If Comedy Central makes their own version on the cheap, I hear Carrot Top is available.....

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

"PRESIDENT FORD"

I'm still pondering the television career of the late character actor Ford Rainey.

Here's an interesting conundrum.....

"Lost in Space" playing "The President" in episode: "The Reluctant Stowaway" (episode # 1.1) 15 September 1965
"Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" playing "President" in episode: "Doomsday" (episode # 1.19) 18 January 1965
"Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" playing "President McNeil" in episode: "Hail to the Chief" (episode # 1.16) 28 December 1964
"Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" playing "U.S. President" in episode: "Hot Line" (episode # 1.9) 9 November 1964

Both series were productions by Irwin Allen, but there shouldn't be an implied connection between both shows. The Seaview sailed the seven seas in the "future" of the early '70s, while the Jupiter II blasted off in the "future" of 1997.

There's no way Ford Rainey's presidents could be the same man; not when term limits as delineated in the Real World hold for Toobworld as well.

And yet...... It's just possible - so far as Toobworld logic can twist it round, - that they were indeed the same man.

But first, the real problem is the fact that in his second appearance as the President in 'Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea', Ford Rainey was addressed as "President Henry Talbot McNeil".

Long-time Inner Tooblings know that it's my contention that the President of the United States in Earth Prime-Time must be the same man who holds the position on Earth Prime. In the early 70s then, the President during the voyages of the Seaview should be Nixon.

But I've also put forward the argument that an entire series doesn't have to be relegated to alternate dimensions to clear up "un-splainable" discrepancies. Individual episodes can be tossed over the side.

An example from the last season: "In A Mirror, Darkly" from 'Enterprise' which totally took place in the evil mirror universe of 'Star Trek'.

That was the official one. I also theorized that "Gov Luv", an episode of 'Law & Order' which put the whack into local Toobworld politics with a fictional Connecticut governor, had to be sent elsewhere. And not just because the fictional governor was a combination of Jim McGreevey of New Jersey and John Rowland of Connecticut - but also because I felt the Jack McCoy of this episode was not the man of Earth Prime Time.

And more recently, there were the episodes of the new 'Doctor Who' which dealt with the Slitheen Family of Raxicallicorafallapatorius* - "Aliens Of London", "World War Three", and "Boom Town". It's my belief that the TARDIS utilized its ability to travel to relative dimensions in space and it was an alternate Earth that was nearly destroyed by these baby doll-faced aliens.

So it just might be possible that "Hail To The Chief" could be the one episode of 'Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea' which is not part of the established canon for the series set in the main Toobworld. The Seaview sails the ocean blue in many TV dimensions, and so we might have been watching one of those versions of the submarine instead.

And it might have been a dimension where Nixon was not the President, but a man named McNeil.

We know Kennedy was the POTUS during the early sixties in Jed Bartlet's TV dimension of 'The West Wing'. It could then be assumed that Johnson succeeded him. But I've yet to see any evidence outside a clip of Nixon during the pseudo-documentary in the episode "Access". That doesn't necessarily mean it was of him as President.

But just to be on the safe side, I'm putting Henry Talbot McNeil into any other alternate dimension, but one with plenty of sci-fi gadgetry available. You know, the usual stockpile: Quantum Leap technology, a Stargate arch or two, maybe a doorway into another dimension via a Slider remote.

So here's my wild idea - after recovering from the brain surgery on board the Seaview to repair his subdural hemotoma, President McNeil served out his term in office and then retired to pursue his private interests.

During his time of recovery, and having been appraised of the top-secret technology available to the government while he was POTUS, McNeil may have become curious as to what legacy he left behind in other dimensions as well.

So by calling in a few favors in order to use a combination of a Slider remote and Quantum Leaping, Henry Talbot McNeil must have slid/leapt across the dimensions from his own version of Toobworld to Earth Prime-Time.

In his dimension, both of those technologies had been refined. There were no accidental slides, no random leaps by chance. McNeil hit his designated target - he slid over to the main Toobworld and leapt into the body of the President.

Only he wasn't in the body of a President McNeil. He was in the body of President Nixon. And even after trying again at a different point in time, he found himself still as Nixon. And both those times, in the episodes "Doomsday" and "Hot Line", we in the audience saw him as McNeil, played by Ford Rainey, not as Nixon. It was the same situation as if it had been a Leap by Dr. Sam Beckett.

As for his leap into the body of President Bill Clinton during the 1997 launch of the Jupiter II, former President McNeil's curiousity got the better of him. He probably leapt forward in Time in a bid to see if somewhere down the line (within a reasonable period of time) he finally did become President of Toobworld.

However, having discovered there never was a President McNeil on Earth Prime-Time, he couldn't resist staying around long enough to officiate at the launch of the Jupiter II spaceship.

So there's my splainin as to how Ford Rainey could be three different Presidents in the same TV Universe.

And now, after all that convoluted reasoning, I think I'm limber enough to play a few rounds of Twister!

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

*I typed out that name by memory. If I got it wrong, I'll find out as soon as I get online......

Raxacoricofallapatorius.

Okay. So I was wrong...... As Blon Slitheen would say, "Sue me."

STATUS QUO FOR "CORRIE"

From the BBC Online:

Rock group Status Quo have filmed a cameo appearance on Coronation Street in which they will play themselves. Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt will appear in three episodes of the long-running ITV soap.

The first of the episodes will be screened in September when character Les Battersby comes face to face with his rock idols.

The storyline is being kept secret but producers revealed the band would later play at Les and Cilla's wedding.

Status Quo will be seen drinking in the Rovers Return before going to a gig, when they are spotted by young Chesney.

When Les discovers the band were there but sees a blacked-out people carrier driving away, he thinks he has lost his chance to meet the duo.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/4738901.stm

I'm not too familiar with 'Coronation Street', and I don't have a clue about the music for Status Quo. But I always welcome the chance to trumpet real-life celebs in Toobworld's League of Themselves.

For the most part, their appearance will only link 'Coronation Street' to a wide selection of pop music shows and talk shows. But there's also 'Live Aid', and as a Television event, surely that counts for something.

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

RAINEY MEN

With so many roles which he contributed to the roster of Toobworld, there was bound to be some interesting possibilities for links to be found in the work of Ford Rainey.

I pulled a few examples from his list of credits at the IMDb.com. Upon further investigation, there was at least one which turned out to be a near-miss. Nevertheless, I thought it would be worthy of mention.....

A] LINCOLN LOGS
"Captains and the Kings" (1976) (mini) TV Series .... Abraham Lincoln
"The Time Tunnel" playing "Lincoln" in episode: "The Death Trap" (episode # 1.12) 2 December 1966
Our American Heritage: Shadow of a Soldier (1960) (TV) .... Abraham Lincoln

In my recent essay about Wyatt Earp, I said that I usually toss off excess historical portrayals into alternate dimension. And the example I used was Abraham Lincoln.

I haven't given it much thought as to which portrayal of Honest Abe I'd prefer to be the official one for the main TV Universe. At least I do know that Dann Florek's tele-version from 'The Secret Files Of Desmond Pfeiffer' should be relegated as far away as possible, to the same alternate dimension where you'd find 'That's My Bush!'.

But based on the above trio of appearances by Mr. Rainey as our 16th President, I'd say he has a pretty good lock on being the official face for Lincoln in the TV Crossover Hall of Fame. (Although I do like using that faux Lincoln from an episode of 'Star Trek'.)

B] LINEAR LINEAGE
Tele-genetics are more powerful than the genetics of the Real World. Despite the dilution of DNA that should occur with each succeeding generation, many characters in different generations of the same family might still resemble each other.

Usually we're only talking about going back no farther than to one's grandfather (i.e. in the case of Felix Unger's grandpa on 'The Odd Couple'). But as we'll see with the 'Doctor Who' episode "The Long Game", it could stretch out thousands of generations.

Here are a few examples of possible family ties between characters played by Ford Rainey:
1]
"The Manhunter" (1974) TV Series .... James Barrett (1974-75)
"How the West Was Won" playing "Rancher Barrett" in episode: "The Rustler" (episode # 1.2) 22 January 1979
(Great-Grandfather to James?)
2]
"Cannon" playing "Mr. Taylor" in episode: "Hounds of Hell" (episode # 3.3) 26 September 1973
"Bonanza" playing "Judge Taylor" in episode: "A Home for Jamie" (episode # 13.13) 19 December 1971
(Probably four generations separate these two men.)
3]
"Little House on the Prairie" playing "Dr. Burke" in episodes:
"I'll Be Waving As You Drive Away: Part 1" (episode # 4.21) 6 March 1978
"Four Eyes" (episode # 2.2) 17 September 1975
"The F.B.I." playing "Burke" in episode: "The Swindler" (episode # 5.3) 28 September 1969
(I get this feeling that Dr. Burke would be disappointed in how his great-great grandson turned out...........)

C] UN-NAMED RESOURCES
Ford Rainey's career is full of nameless sheriffs, lawyers, doctors; characters that could easily be blended into one person.

Here are two examples:
1]
"Night Gallery" playing "Sheriff" in episode: "The Phantom Farmhouse" (episode # 2.16) 20 October 1971
"The Immortal" playing "Sheriff Billy" in episode: "The Return" (episode # 1.12) 17 December 1970
2]
"Storefront Lawyers" playing "Judge Carp" in episode: "Yesterday Is But a Dream" (episode # 1.21) 31 March 1971
"Storefront Lawyers" in episode: "Hostage" (episode # 1.17) 24 February 1971

There is such a short span between those two episodes that I have to figure Rainey played Judge Carp in the episode "Hostage" as well.

D] MIRROR, MIRROR MILFORD
"Amerika" (1987) (mini) TV Series .... Will Milford
"The Bold Ones: The Lawyers" playing "Milford" in episode: "The People Against Dr. Chapman" (episode # 2.4) 6 December 1970

Since "Amerika" took place in an alternate dimension, - and the classic evil mirror universe at that! - I don't see any reason why we can't consider both of the men named "Milford" to be the same individual, separated by the dimensional vortex.

E] THE SUPREMES
Here's that example that fell through:
J. Edgar Hoover (1987) (TV) .... Harlan Fisk Stone
Gideon's Trumpet (1980) (TV) .... 2nd Supreme Court Justice

Thanks to my brother Bill, I found out that Harlan Stone was a Supreme Court Justice. He was appointed by Calvin Coolidge in 1925 and served until his death in 1946.

But the case of Gideon v. Wainwright wasn't heard by the Court until the mid-60s. In fact, the original crime for which Clarence Earl Gideon was convicted took place in 1961.

Not even Toobworld chronology can be twisted that much, especially since both cases must adhere for the most part to the history of the Real World.

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

TIP O' THE HAT SQUAD: FORD RAINEY

For me, Ford Rainey was a character actor who best epitomizes that Joni Mitchell lyric: You don't know what you've got till it's gone.

He was a solid, dependable actor; one who could fit into both contemporary stories and tales of the wild West (and even a few tales set in possible futures.) His sharp, patrician features served him well on both sides of the law in the nearly 170 guest appearances he made.

Like John Fiedler, Ford Rainey had so many characters in the Toobworld registry that after a while certain patterns emerged that could forge those hypothetical links I'm so fond of. I've collected most of them for a separate essay celebrating his Toobworld contributions.

My personal favorite of his guest appearances was his reclusive billionaire Prescott Wilson. Rainey played Wilson in the political intrigue arc on 'Wiseguy' back in 1989, which also featured Norman Lloyd as the manipulative General Masters.

Prescott Wilson was the type of role perfect for Toobworld machinations. As I've often done in essays about Doctor Miguelito Loveless, Wilson is the type of character that can be cited as an influence behind the scenes in many different TV series.

Ford Rainey was 96 years old and was active in Toobworld right up to about a year and a half ago. And I'd like to tip my Toob top hat to his memory in thanks for the many great roles he created to fill out the surplus population of Toobworld.

TV SERIES
"Days of Our Lives" (1965) TV Series .... Frank Evans #2 (1977-1978)
"The Bionic Woman" (1976) TV Series .... Jim Elgin (1976-1977)
"The Manhunter" (1974) TV Series .... James Barrett (1974-75)
"Search" (1972) TV Series .... Dr. Barnett #1 (1972)
"The Richard Boone Show" (1963) TV Series .... Regular
"Window on Main Street" (1961) TV Series .... Lloyd Ramsey

TV MINI-SERIES
"Amerika" (1987) (mini) TV Series .... Will Milford
"Backstairs at the White House" (1979) (mini) TV Series .... Navy Secretary
"Captains and the Kings" (1976) (mini) TV Series .... Abraham Lincoln

TV RECURRING ROLES
"The King of Queens" playing "Mickey" in episodes:
"American Idle" (episode # 6.10) 3 December 2003
"Bed Spread" (episode # 5.25) 19 May 2003
"Connect Four" (episode # 5.9) 18 November 2002
"Arthur, Spooner" (episode # 5.1) 23 September 2002
"Do Rico" (episode # 3.1) 2 October 2000
"Soft Touch" (episode # 2.22) 1 May 2000
"Art House" (episode # 1.24) 10 May 1999

"Ned and Stacey" playing "Nate" in episodes:
"Where My Third Nepal Is Sheriff" (episode # 2.11) 27 January 1997
"Fifteen A-Minutes" (episode # 2.8) 6 January 1997
"It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Eric" (episode # 2.7) 5 January 1997
"Scenes From a Muffin Shop" (episode # 2.13) 1997
"Loganberry's Run" (episode # 2.6) 29 December 1996
"Computer Dating" (episode # 2.4) 15 December 1996
"The Muffins Take Manhattan" (episode # 2.3) 1 December 1996
"Best of Luck on Future Projects" (episode # 2.22)
"The Skyward's the Limit" (episode # 2.14)
"Sex, Lies, and Commercials" (episode # 2.12)

"Wiseguy" playing "Prescott Wilson" in episodes:
"Day Nine" (episode # 3.12) 20 December 1989
"Day Seven" (episode # 3.11) 13 December 1989

"Matlock" playing "Judge Donald Powell" in episodes:
"The Mayor: Part 2" (episode # 3.9) 7 February 1989
"The Mayor: Part 1" (episode # 3.8) 31 January 1989

"Falcon Crest" playing "Paolo Bellini" in episodes:
"Unholy Alliance" (episode # 5.24) 4 April 1986
"Law and Ardor" (episode # 5.21) 28 February 1986

"Little House on the Prairie" playing "Dr. Burke" in episodes:
"I'll Be Waving As You Drive Away: Part 1" (episode # 4.21) 6 March 1978
"Four Eyes" (episode # 2.2) 17 September 1975

"Alias Smith and Jones" playing "Collins" in episodes:
"The Biggest Game in the West" (episode # 2.19) 3 February 1972
"The Man Who Broke the Bank at Red Gap" (episode # 2.17) 20 January 1972

"The Long, Hot Summer" in episodes: "The Twisted Image: Parts 1 & 2" (episode # 1.4 & 1.5) 7 October & 14 October 1965

"Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" playing "President" in episodes:
"Doomsday" (episode # 1.19) 18 January 1965
"Hail to the Chief" (episode # 1.16) 28 December 1964
"Hot Line" (episode # 1.9) 9 November 1964

TV GUEST APPEARANCES
"ER" playing "Army Armstrong" in episode: "Power" (episode # 5.20) 6 May 1999
"Picket Fences" in episode: "Heart of Saturday Night" (episode # 4.6) 27 October 1995
"China Beach" playing "Owen" in episode: "Through and Through" (episode # 4.15) 16 July 1991
"Moonlighting" playing "Judge" in episode: "In 'N Outlaws" (episode # 5.11) 23 April 1989
"Newhart" playing "Mr. Hinton" in episode: "Tell a Lie, Get a Check" (episode # 3.1) 15 October 1984
"Remington Steele" playing "Adam" in episode: "Small Town Steele" (episode # 2.17) 28 February 1984
"St. Elsewhere" playing "Doc Bogert" in episode: "In Sickness and in Health" (episode # 2.13) 8 February 1984
"M*A*S*H" playing "Coogan" in episode: "Dreams" (episode # 8.22) 18 February 1980
"Charlie's Angels" playing "Mr. Harkins" in episode: "Angels on the Street" (episode # 4.8) 7 November 1979
"How the West Was Won" playing "Rancher Barrett" in episode: "The Rustler" (episode # 1.2) 22 January 1979
"The Waltons" playing "Judge" in episode: "The Moonshiner" (episode # 7.3) 12 October 1978
"Barnaby Jones" playing "Carmine Sandell" in episode: "Deadly Homecoming" (episode # 6.13) 22 December 1977
"Baa Baa Black Sheep" playing "General Muncie" in episode: "The War Biz Warrior" (episode # 1.12) 4 January 1977
"Sara" (episode # 1.9) 9 April 1976
"The Streets of San Francisco" playing "Haggard Mellon" in episode: "Trail of Terror" (episode # 4.8) 30 October 1975
"Petrocelli" in episode: "Shadow of Fear" (episode # 2.1) 10 September 1975
"The Rockford Files" playing "Manny Tolan" in episode: "Counter Gambit" (episode # 1.17) 24 January 1975
"Gunsmoke" playing "Storekeeper" in episode: "Thirty a Month and Found" (episode # 20.5) 7 October 1974
"Cannon" playing "Raymond Wheelock" in episode: "Voice From the Grave" (episode # 4.3) 25 September 1974
"Doc Elliot" in episode: "The Touch of God" (episode # 1.3) 23 January 1974
"Mannix" playing "Reverend Walker" in episode: "Desert Run" (episode # 7.6) 21 October 1973
"Barnaby Jones" playing "Andrew Mills" in episode: "The Day of the Viper" (episode # 2.4) 7 October 1973
"Cannon" playing "Mr. Taylor" in episode: "Hounds of Hell" (episode # 3.3) 26 September 1973
"The Rookies" playing "Warden Mason" in episode: "Deadly Cage" (episode # 2.3) 24 September 1973
"Kung Fu" playing "Jacob Sterne" in episode: "Superstition" (episode # 1.12) 5 April 1973
"The Rookies" playing "Ellis" in episode: "Point of Impact" (episode # 1.18) 5 February 1973
"Mannix" playing "Lachlan" in episode: "To Kill a Memory" (episode # 6.7) 29 October 1972
"Alias Smith and Jones" playing "Teshmacker" in episode: "Bushwack!" (episode # 3.5) 21 October 1972
"Bonanza" playing "Judge Taylor" in episode: "A Home for Jamie" (episode # 13.13) 19 December 1971
"Night Gallery" playing "Sheriff" in episode: "The Phantom Farmhouse" (episode # 2.16) 20 October 1971
"Cannon" playing "Farmer" in episode: "Country Blues" (episode # 1.4) 5 October 1971
"Bonanza" playing "Judge Simms" in episode: "Fallen Woman" (episode # 13.2) 26 September 1971
"Alias Smith and Jones" playing "Father" in episode: "Never Trust an Honest Man" (episode # 1.14) 15 April 1971
"Storefront Lawyers" playing "Judge Carp" in episode: "Yesterday Is But a Dream" (episode # 1.21) 31 March 1971
"Storefront Lawyers" in episode: "Hostage" (episode # 1.17) 24 February 1971
"Alias Smith and Jones" playing "Warren Epps" in episode: "Exit from Wickenburg" (episode # 1.3) 28 January 1971
"The Young Lawyers" playing "Judge Salke" in episode: "Legal Maneuver" (episode # 1.16) 20 January 1971
"The Immortal" playing "Sheriff Billy" in episode: "The Return" (episode # 1.12) 17 December 1970
"The Bold Ones: The Lawyers" playing "Milford" in episode: "The People Against Dr. Chapman" (episode # 2.4) 6 December 1970
"Mannix" playing "Dr. Linkram" in episode: "The World Between" (episode # 4.8) 7 November 1970
"The Young Lawyers" playing "Wycoff" in episode: "The Alienation Kick" (episode # 1.4) 12 October 1970
"The Bold Ones: The Lawyers" playing "District Attorney Douglass" in episode: "The Shattered Image" (episode # 1.8) 15 February 1970
"The Mod Squad" in episode: "A Town Called Sincere" (episode # 2.17) 27 January 1970
"Mary Tyler Moore" playing "Doctor" in episode: "Mary Midwife" (episode # 7.1) 1970
"Daniel Boone" playing "Jonas" in episode: "Hannah Comes Home" (episode # 6.12) 25 December 1969
"The F.B.I." playing "Burke" in episode: "The Swindler" (episode # 5.3) 28 September 1969
"Bonanza" playing "Capt. Arnholt" in episode: "The Deserter (II)" (episode # 10.24) 16 March 1969
"The Virginian" playing "Amos Wardlow" in episode: "The Land Dreamer" (episode # 7.20) 26 February 1969
"Judd for the Defense" playing "Ed Samuelen" in episode: "Between the Dark and the Daylight" (episode # 2.18) 7 February 1969
"The Guns of Will Sonnett" playing "Sheriff Chafee" in episode: "Meeting in a Small Town" (episode # 2.10) 6 December 1968
"Daniel Boone" playing "John Gist" in episode: "The Patriot" (episode # 5.10) 5 December 1968
"Mannix" playing "Roscoe Bell" in episode: "Edge of the Knife" (episode # 2.7) 9 November 1968
"The Wild Wild West" playing "Admiral Charles Hammond" in episode: "The Night of the Kraken" (episode # 4.6) 1 November 1968
"The Virginian" playing "Marcus Van Owen" in episode: "The Hell Wind" (episode # 6.21) 14 February 1968
"The F.B.I." playing "Greer" in episode: "The Legend of John Rim" (episode # 3.12) 31 December 1967
"Dundee and the Culhane" in episode: "The Catch a Thief Brief" (episode # 1.13) 13 December 1967
"The Wild Wild West" playing "Pa Garrison" in episode: "The Night of the Iron Fist" (episode # 3.14) 8 December 1967
"Bonanza" playing "Gabriel Bingham" in episode: "Check Rein" (episode # 9.12) 3 December 1967
"Mannix" playing "Sam Nash" in episode: "Huntdown" (episode # 1.9) 18 November 1967
"The Invaders" playing "General Jonathan Blaine/Invader" in episode: "Summit Meeting: Part 1" (episode # 2.9) 31 October 1967
"Run for Your Life" playing "General Andrew Douglas" in episode: "The Company of Scoundrels" (episode # 3.6) 18 October 1967
"The Guns of Will Sonnett" playing "Doc Sales" in episode: "A Bell for Jeff Sonnett" (episode # 1.2) 15 September 1967
"Cimarron Strip" playing "Marshall Tillman" in episode: "The Legend of Jud Starr" (episode # 1.2) 14 September 1967
"The Invaders" playing "George Grundy" in episode: "Panic" (episode # 1.13) 11 April 1967
"The Virginian" playing "Sheriff" in episode: "Requiem for a Country Doctor" (episode # 5.18) 25 January 1967
"Bonanza" playing "Judge Wyllitt" in episode: "Black Friday" (episode # 8.19) 22 January 1967
"The F.B.I." playing "Harry Fortier" in episode: "Passage into Fear" (episode # 2.16) 8 January 1967
"The Iron Horse" playing "Ross" in episode: "A Dozen Ways to Kill a Man" (episode # 1.15) 19 December 1966
"Insight" playing "Father Reisch" in episode: "Thunder Over Munich" 18 December 1966
"The Time Tunnel" playing "Lincoln" in episode: "The Death Trap" (episode # 1.12) 2 December 1966
"The Wild Wild West" playing "Hellfire Simon" in episode: "The Night of the Flying Pie Plate" (episode # 2.6) 21 October 1966
"The Fugitive" playing "Oliver Corman" in episode: "Ten Thousand Pieces of Silver" (episode # 4.5) 11 October 1966
"The Fugitive" playing "Lieutenant Wynn" in episode: "Echo of a Nightmare" (episode # 3.19) 25 January 1966
"Get Smart" playing "Professor Sontag" in episode: "Weekend Vampire" (episode # 1.14) 18 December 1965
"Slattery's People" playing "Anson Holbrook" in episode: "The Hero" (episode # 2.7) 5 November 1965
"The Big Valley" playing "Murdoch" in episode: "Heritage" (episode # 1.6) 20 October 1965
"The Virginian" playing "Claypool" in episode: "The Awakening" (episode # 4.5) 13 October 1965
"The Wackiest Ship in the Army" in episode: "The Day the Crew Paced the Deck" (episode # 1.4) 10 October 1965
"Perry Mason" playing "Dr. Fisher" in episode: "The Case of the Fatal Fortune" (episode # 9.2) 19 September 1965
"Lost in Space" playing "The President" in episode: "The Reluctant Stowaway" (episode # 1.1) 15 September 1965
"Bonanza" playing "Sam Cane" in episode: "The Debt" (episode # 7.1) 12 September 1965
"Slattery's People" playing "Daniel Ralston" in episode: "Question: What Time Is the Next Bandwagon?" (episode # 1.25) 9 April 1965
"Rawhide" playing "Colonel Hart" in episode: "The Retreat" (episode # 7.23) 26 March 1965
"The Virginian" playing "Marshal Floyd Buckman" in episode: "Legend for a Lawman" (episode # 3.24) 3 March 1965
"Dr. Kildare" playing "Walter Untermeyer MD" in episode: "A Miracle for Margaret" (episode # 4.22) 25 February 1965
"Lassie" playing "Boone Sawyer" in episode: "The Old Man in the Forest" (episode # 11.22) 14 February 1965
"Gunsmoke" playing "Hode Embry" in episode: "Song for Dying" (episode # 10.21) 13 February 1965
"The Virginian" playing "County Prosecutor" in episode: "Two Men Named Laredo" (episode # 3.17) 6 January 1965
"Profiles in Courage" in episode: "Richard T. Ely" (episode # 1.4) 6 December 1964
"Mr. Novak" in episode: "Born of Kings and Angels" (episode # 2.9) 1 December 1964
"The Outer Limits" playing "D.A. Thomas Coyle" in episode: "I, Robot" (episode # 2.9) 14 November 1964
"Daniel Boone" playing "Matawa" in episode: "My Brother's Keeper" (episode # 1.3) 8 October 1964
"Perry Mason" playing "Randolph Cartwell" in episode: "The Case of the Paper Bullets" (episode # 8.2) 1 October 1964
"Perry Mason" playing "Harry Trilling" in episode: "The Case of the Ugly Duckling" (episode # 7.30) 21 May 1964
"The Nurses" playing "Walter Cooper" in episode: "Show Just Cause Why You Should Weep" (episode # 2.2) 3 October 1963
"The Untouchables" playing "Captain Roy Gunther" in episode: "Line of Fire" (episode # 4.29) 14 May 1963
"Bonanza" playing "Luke" in episode: "Mirror of a Man" (episode # 4.27) 31 March 1963
"The Virginian" playing "Sheriff Sam Roebuck" in episode: "The Small Parade" (episode # 1.21) 20 February 1963
"The Wide Country" playing "Mike Callahan" in episode: "The Bravest Man in the World" (episode # 1.11) 6 December 1962
"Empire" playing "Josh" in episode: "Pressure Lock" (episode # 1.10) 4 December 1962
"The Untouchables" playing "Julius Chavis" in episode: "Come and Kill Me" (episode # 4.9) 27 November 1962
"Rawhide" playing "Chief Broken Bow" in episode: "Incident of the Dogfaces" (episode # 5.7) 9 November 1962
"Perry Mason" playing "Russell Durham" in episode: "The Case of the Unsuitable Uncle" (episode # 6.7) 8 November 1962
"Stoney Burke" playing "Frank Hughes" in episode: "The Mob Riders" (episode # 1.5) 29 October 1962
"Gunsmoke" playing "Tate Gifford" in episode: "The Search" (episode # 8.1) 15 September 1962
"Bonanza" playing "John Clarke" in episode: "Blessed Are They" (episode # 3.30) 22 April 1962
"Checkmate" playing "Paul O'Neill" in episode: "A Brooding Fixation" (episode # 2.22) 14 March 1962
"The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor" playing "John Lester" in episode: "Pandora's Box" (episode # 3.16) 2 February 1962
"Dr. Kildare" playing "Andy Meadows MD" in episode: "The Lonely Ones" (episode # 1.7) 9 November 1961
"The Brothers Brannagan" playing "Raymond McKeever" in episode: "The Hunter and the Hunted" (episode # 1.39) 15 July 1961
"Rawhide" playing "Sheriff" in episode: "Incident of the Wager on Payday" (episode # 3.30) 16 June 1961
"Bonanza" playing "Colonel Tyson" in episode: "Sam Hill" (episode # 2.34) 3 June 1961
"The Tall Man" playing "Sheriff Brady" in episodes:
"The Lonely Star" (episode # 1.5) 8 October 1960
"Forty-Dollar Boots" (episode # 1.2) 17 September 1960
"Frontiers of Faith" in episode: "Acres of Diamonds" 20 April 1958
"Goodyear Television Playhouse" playing "Walt" in episode: "The House" (episode # 6.17) 8 September 1957
"Robert Montgomery Presents" in episode: "Crisis at Sand Cave" (episode # 8.20) 21 January 1957
"Kraft Television Theatre" in episode: "Drop on the Devel" (episode # 8.39) 22 June 1955
"Danger" in episode: "The Piano" (episode # 5.34) 26 April 1955
"Studio One" playing "Sam Forrest" in episode: "The Broken Spur" (episode # 7.22) 14 February 1955
"Ramar of the Jungle" playing "Mailpouch" in episode: "Mark of the Bola" (episode # 1.14) 18 July 1953
"Cowboy G-Men" playing "Matt Sloan, Moss' Partner" in episode: "Bounty Jumpers" (episode # 1.10) 22 November 1952

TV MOVIES
Marshal Law (1996) (TV) .... Old Timer
There Was a Little Boy (1993) (TV) (uncredited) .... Father Ramirez
J. Edgar Hoover (1987) (TV) .... Harlan Fisk Stone
Who Is Julia? (1986) (TV) .... The Commentator
Life of the Party: The Story of Beatrice (1982) (TV) .... Beatrice's Father
Gideon's Trumpet (1980) (TV) .... 2nd Supreme Court Justice
Strangers: The Story of a Mother and Daughter (1979) (TV) .... Mr. Meecham
Friendly Fire (1979) (TV) .... Hamilton
A Family Upside Down (1978) (TV) .... Mr. Case
The Last of Mrs. Lincoln (1976) (TV) .... Ninnian
The New Daughters of Joshua Cabe (1976) (TV) .... The Judge
Babe (1975) (TV) .... Dr. Tatum
Medical Story (1975) (TV) .... Dr. Patterson
Strange New World (1975) (TV) .... Sirus
The Story of Pretty Boy Floyd (1974) (TV) .... Mr. Suggs
The Stranger Who Looks Like Me (1974) (TV) .... Mr. Gilbert
Key West (1973) (TV) .... Prescott Webb
Linda (1973) (TV) .... Police Chief Vernon
A Howling in the Woods (1971) (TV) .... Bud Henshaw
The Andersonville Trial (1970) (TV) .... Court-martial board member
My Sweet Charlie (1970) (TV) .... Treadwell
D.A.: Murder One (1969) (TV) .... Dr. Ellis Anders
Our American Heritage: Shadow of a Soldier (1960) (TV) .... Abraham Lincoln

TV CLASSICS
Our Town (1977) (TV) .... Joe Stoddard
"Hallmark Hall of Fame" playing "Menteith" in episode: "Macbeth" 28 November 1954

BCnU.....
Tele-Toby

SUNDRY O'BSERVATIONS

Calloo Callay!

Elisabeth Sladen will return to 'Doctor Who' next season as her character of Sarah Jane Smith, intrepid companion to both the Third and Fourth Doctor.

Even if you don't count the charity special 'Dimensions In Time', she did appear as Sarah Jane in 'K-9 And Company', so she is eligible for entry in the TV Crossover Hall of Fame.

I think K-9 and Brigadier General Lethbridge-Stewart are also qualified for eventual entry into the Hall.
~~~~~~
Even when I go to the movies, I can't turn off the Toobworld-obsessed portion of (what's left of) my mind.

My brother and I went to see "The Fantastic Four" Saturday night here in Winsted, and as soon as Stan Lee showed up as Willy Lumpkin the mailman, I began to wonder if his appearances in other Marvel-based films were as Willy as well.

The guy dodging debris in both "Spiderman" movies was unnamed, so it may as well be Willie. And as far as the hot dog salesman goes in "X-Men'? Maybe Willy needed to make a little extra money on the side.

And that same argument could be applied to Stan Lee's appearance as a security guard (with Lou Ferrigno!) in 'The Hulk'. My Dad was a mailman and he took on a few extra jobs now and then.

But the movies aren't my bailiwick. And there's no reason even to think much about 'The Fantastic Four' in the TV Universe, as all of its incarnations have been located in the Tooniverse.
~~~~~~~~
And the crossovers are happening over in the world of comic strips too. Since 'Blondie' had been adapted into a TV series, I figured I'd pass this info along as well......

From the New York Daily News:
Dean Young, "Blondie's" writer (and son of Chic Young, the strip's creator, who died in 1973) has arranged for the strip's All-American stars to celebrate a 75th-anniversary party on Sept. 4 in the pages of its 2,300 client newspapers.

Leading up to that moment will be an unprecedented three-month story line; there'll also be a month-long post-party cruise to Hawaii.

In the comic-strip world, this is the party against which all others will one day be measured. At various points, the Bumsteads will join and be visited by dozens of characters from other strips, including "For Better or for Worse," "Gasoline Alley," "Beetle Bailey," "Hagar the Horrible" and "Curtis."

They'll also get a congratulatory phone call from President Bush and the First Lady, and while Dagwood naturally manages to fumble it, Young says he got a warm letter of thanks from the real-life White House.
~~~~~~~~~~~
The new comedy on Showtime, 'Weeds', has added a new location to the geography of Toobworld: Agrestic, California. Maybe it's just up the highway from Fairview which can be found in 'Desperate Housewives'.
~~~~~~~~~~
I love when TV shows make predictions that come true. In a way, Toobworld influences the Real World rather than the other way around. The one example that comes to mind is DC Fontana's claim in an episode of 'Star Trek' that the first moon landing flight would take place on a Wednesday.

Writer/producer Bryce Zabel trumpets one of his own from 'Dark Skies' in which there was a tenth planet newly discovered. And now Cal Tech is backing that up.

Here's the story:http://bztv.typepad.com/newsviews/2005/07/dark_skies_ahea.html
~~~~~~~~~~
I re-watched the Slitheen Family two-parter on 'Doctor Who'. And I think my new buddy Words Say Nothing was right - it's probably June of 2006 when the episode takes place. Nobody was walking around with the heavy winter clothing you'd expect if it was set in March.

And UNIT does show up in the episode, although fleetingly and on a video monitor. The Doctor does recognize the people in the scene, but none of the quartet look like any of the UNIT officers with whom we're familiar.
~~~~~~~
I haven't added them yet to that list of recommended links off to the left, but here's a few blogs that I think might be of interest to others interested in the Toobworld philosophy.

SIFTIN'
http://siftin.blogspot.com/

NEWS! - VIEWS! - SCHMOOZE!
http://bztv.typepad.com/newsviews/

POP CULTURE JUNK MAIL
http://pcjm.blogspot.com/

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

O'BSERVATIONS: "THE OWNER OF THE INTERNET"

"Dalek" takes place underneath the Utah desert in 2012. The subterranean facility is a private museum of alien artifacts owned by Henry Van Statten.

Van Statten boasted that he owned the Internet, and when Rose scoffed at the idea, because "nobody owns the Internet", he was secure enough in the claim that he preferred everbody to keep on thinking that way.

Apparently he's so rich and powerful that he can even control the outcome of presidential elections. It looks as though he chose the last President (whoever is elected in 2008), but now doesn't like what his money bought him. As to who the nexT President should be, Van Statten leaves the choice up to the whims of his staff - should the next one be Republican or Democrat?

So who was Henry Van Statten, and how was he able to make a claim to a title that even Bill Gates has yet to secure (despite all his attempts)?

Who was the "Owner Of The Internet"?

I have an idea where he might have been working behind the scenes in the TV Universe before, but as usual, it's all hypothetical. (It's my favorite word for the week.) I can't prove this, and yet at the same time it can't be disproved.

That's the fun of Toobworld.

Let's start with Henry Van Statten's age. If we assume that he's the same age as the actor who portrays him, (Corey Johnson), then Van Statten is 39 in 2012.

So he was born in 1973, (Corey Johnson was born in 1966), and he would have been about 25 in 1998, more than old enough to have established himself as a computer genius. Hell, never mind what we see in the Real World, Toobworld has several times established the premise of teenaged hackers screwing up the system.

And as one would expect in Toobworld, there would be forces out there who would take notice of such geniuses and ensnare them into their organizations.

Such an organization would have been a shadowy group known as the Praetorians who were going to take over the world through control of computer systems.

One of the stumbling blocks in their way was a woman named Angela Bennett, who discovered one of their plots. They erased her existence (as far as computers go) in order to easier erase her totally. But she stayed one step ahead of them, thanks to an email contact known only as The Sorceror.

Eventually we met Sorceror... and found he was no more than just a skateboarding kid named Jacob Resch. (As for that voice of Sorceror, I think Jacob took audio recordings of an actor named Simon Ferguson and fed them into the computer to reconstitute into a computerized voice for the system.)

But Jacob had to get his inside info from somewhere, and that's where Henry Van Statten comes in.

As we saw in "Dalek", Van Statten was ambitious and ruthless in getting what he wanted. And he would never have stood in the background and let Mr. Trelawney grab all the glory as the leader of the Praetorians. By working from the inside using treachery, and by helping Angela Bennett through Jacob Resch, it's my belief Van Statten was able to rise to the leadership of the Praetorians and then used his power to take control of the Internet.

And that's how things stood when we officially met him in Utah in 2012.

Shows cited for this essay:
'Doctor Who'
'The Net'
'Over The Top'

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

WYATT IN DEADWOOD

Producer David Milch reportedly is thinking about adding the character of Wyatt Earp to the cast of 'Deadwood', his HBO series that takes a semi-historical look at life in the Black Hills of Dakota back in the 1870s..

Mary Kopco, director of the Adams Museum and House, said Earp spent a winter in Deadwood in 1875 or 1876.

"Milch will take a real historical figure and make some dramatic changes and really explore different personality types of them as a larger-than-life person," Kopco said.

For Toobworld, Hugh O'Brian IS Wyatt Earp. He played the role in the TV series 'The Life And Legend Of Wyatt Earp', as a guest in the series 'Guns Of Paradise'/'Paradise', in 'Gambler 4: The Luck Of The Draw', and in a TV movie that blended scenes from his old TV show with new footage.

When it comes to historical figures, our criteria has a lot of leeway. Sometimes when there's an overflow of portrayals of a particular historical character, say Abe Lincoln or JFK, it's easier just to ship 'em out to an alternate TV dimension.

But in this case, I don't want to lose either the Hugh O'Brian Earps or the 'Deadwood' series. So I'm willing to find some loopy splainin to reconcile the two visions of Earp into one person.

So far, Milch is just thinking about adding the character. This might be a moot point in the end.

But if I was to cast the role, and try to keep it all in alignment with Hugh O'Brian's work, I'd get George Eads away from 'CSI' long enough to play the role. I've always thought Eads would be perfect as a descendant of O'Brian's Earp (Toobworld has plenty of them!) and there's just enough similarity in their square-jawed features to pull it off.

Just sayin', is all.

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

WHITHER "OVER THERE"?

In several of the reviews for 'Over There', mention was made of the fact that this drama about the War in Iraq is probably the first to be actually made and broadcast during the war it depicts.

As an example, here is what Alessandra Stanley, Queen of the Obscure References had to say in her New York Times article:

"Until now, television shows also dramatized fighting from a safe remove: series about World War II like "The Rat Patrol" and "Hogan's Heroes" were made in the 1960's. (The true horrors of war were veiled even in dramas, like "Combat!," also made in the 60's and now on DVD and in reruns on cable.) The antiwar comedy "M*A*S*H" began in 1972 before the Vietnam War was over, but it was set in Korea. "China Beach," a dark-edged series about nurses in Vietnam, went on the air in 1988."

There are built-in hazards to making 'Over There' a contemporary look at the war. And one of those problems is something I hope we're all rooting for.....

"The top military commander in Iraq set a tentative timetable for 'fairly substantial' U.S. troop reductions by next spring - if Iraqi forces are able to pick up the slack.

Gen. George Casey said drawing down the 135,000 U.S. troops in Iraq will also depend on establishing an Iraqi constitution by October and successful elections in December.

'If the political process continues to go positively, if the developments with [Iraqi] security forces continue to go as [they are] going, I do believe we will still be able to make fairly substantial reductions after these elections - in the spring and summer of next year,' he said in Baghdad.

At a joint news conference with visiting Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari welcomed Casey's words, saying, 'We desire speed in that regard.' "
- from several news sources

So if the troops do start coming home sooner than Bochco might hope - for a long-running series, that is, I suppose the series could then focus on the post-traumatic stress the returning soldiers might experience.

Or they could be spun-off into other series......

I've only seen the pilot episode so far, same as most folks. And most of the characters so far seem to be kind of cliched.

But Erik Palladino is a cool actor, (I thought it was a mistake to lose him from 'Joan Of Arcadia'), and I like what he has to offer as Sgt. Scream in this show.

I could see him become a tough cop with lingering emotional problems; sort of an upgrade to the idea from 'Blind Justice'.

But Bochco blew it with that show, and 'NYPD Blue' was 86'd last season. So perhaps Sgt. Scream could be farmed out to one of the procedurals. 'CSI: NY', 'Law & Order', 'The Closer', 'Cold Case', or 'Wanted'.

The sergeant doesn't seem the type to have been an FBI agent before being called into service, so I don't think he'd be part of 'Without A Trace' or 'The Inside' - oops, sorry. As much as I liked that show, it's already been cancelled.

I suppose Bochco could go all out and create a gimmick show like 'The A-Team' and 'Broken Badges'. He could
keep the entire squad together back in the States and they fight crime under their war nicknames of "Angel", "Double-Wide", "Mrs. B", "Dim", and "Beau" - and all led by Sgt. Scream.

I can see it now: "The Scream Team".

BCnU!
Tele-Toby