CROSSOVER OF THE WEEK - 5/3/06

Because this is such a chaotic week for me, what with working my overnight shift AND doing jury duty during the day, I have not been able to get caught up on the new season of 'Doctor Who'.

And I KNOW that all three of the episodes aired in the UK so far can be linked to other shows!

As for the TV shows that were accessible to me here in the States, I've now got three videotapes full of shows I need to catch up on since last week.

So I'm in a jam for the Crossover of the Week. And that's why I'm glad I decided to keep any possible TV commercial crossovers on standby for just this sort of emergency. Since blipverts air constantly for long periods of time, there was no rush to get them entered into contention.

So here's this week's:

'SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE'
&
'SIERRA MIST'
&
'SUBWAY'

For the most part, characters from 'Saturday Night Live' find new life in the Cineverse ("Wayne's World", "The Coneheads", "The Blues Brothers"). "The Coneheads" also found themselves animated in the Tooniverse with their own TV special/pilot.

But now they're gaining employment as pitchmen in TV commercials.

The Sierra Mist ad had its big showcase during this year's Super Bowl, but still airs throughout the nation. In it, Kathy Griffin and Jim Gaffigan play security officers at the airport who covet the Sierra Mist of Ian Michael Black. They even threaten him with a full body cavity search to get him to relinquish the refreshing liquid.

And how do they get away with such boorish behavior and yet not lose their jobs?
Easy. They work for Total Bastard Airlines.

It's right there on the logo embossed on their uniforms - "TBA".

Total Bastard Airlines was first seen in an episode of 'Saturday Night Live' hosted by Helen Hunt. David Spade continued his TBA employee in another sketch the following year.

For all I know, his character later left the airline to work for a credit card company that specialized in just saying "No", as seen in blipverts for Capital One Visa.

As for the Subway sandwich shop commercials, who else could Jon Lovitz be playing but "Master Thespian", the over-the-top actor who rivalled Tommy Flanagan the Pathological Liar for best character in the Lovitz ouvre.

Next week, come what may, the Crossover of the Week will deal with the "New Earth" episode of 'Doctor Who'.

It's the cat's meow!

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

Intercom: This concludes the safest part of our journey. Thank you for flying Total Bastard Airlines. As we indicated at the start of the flight, we at Total Bastard Airlines are bitter about the career paths we have taken, and we do then to take that out on our passengers. We at Total Bastard Airlines realize that in your travel plans you have a choice of many airlines, but we'd like to thank you for flying the blue skies of Total Bastard.

(from the first "Total Bastard Airlines" sketch on 'Saturday Night Live')