Monday, September 4, 2006

DURNING POINT REVISED

Back at the end of June, I wrote the following in an essay called "Durning Point" (about the four "brothers" played by Charles Durning in various TV series):

John Gavin, Sr. wasn't known for remaining true to his marriage vows, a trait which his son also picked up. Tommy Gavin hasn't crossed paths with him yet in NYC, but he has an identical half-brother named Mike McNeil, who - like his biological father - is a detective in the NYPD. ('The Job')

I made a couple of errors - Durning's character's name is Mike Gavin. It could be that if Mrs. McNeil had an affair with Gavin and gave birth to his child, she might have insisted on naming the baby boy after him with her husband never the wiser.

Secondly, I should have pointed out my theory as to who Mike McNeil's (legally acknowledged) father was - Frank McNeil of the NYPD, a detective who worked with Lt. Theo 'Kojak' as a partner before eventually becoming his superior as the Captain at the 13th Precinct.

This is the way I should have written that paragraph (and for the Toobworld collection, it has been revised):

Mike Gavin wasn't known for remaining true to his marriage vows, a trait which his son also picked up. Tommy Gavin hasn't crossed paths with him yet in NYC, but he has an identical half-brother named Mike McNeil, who - like his half-brothers Johnny and Timo and Frank McNeil, the father who raised him - is a detective in the NYPD. ('The Job', 'Kojak')

So Mike McNeil would have felt like it was a case of "like father, like son" when it came to his choice of profession. But when it came to his personal life, blood tells.....

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

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