ALTAR EGO TRIPS

'Hi Honey, I'm Home' was about a sitcom family that left the world of Television to live in the "real world", passing themselves off as real human beings. Occasionally they were visited by other sitcom characters who actually came from existing old sitcoms, like Gomer Pyle, Alice Kramden, and Grandpa Munster.

It was nightmare headache for the concept of Toobworld.

I finally figured it this way: the sitcom characters of 'Hi Honey, I'm Home' originally came from Toobworld, Earth Prime-Time. But the "real world" characters actually existed in an alternate TV dimension where all of the TV shows we watch in the Trueniverse only exist as TV shows. So that it's like our world, but is still a TV show itself.

The characters who visited this other dimension from Toobworld have no counterparts in that world; they really are just living TV characters. This is unlike Toobworld in which the TV characters can watch the same TV shows we do in the real world, while still co-existing with the characters from that show. (Each example has its own unique splainin, but for the most part there are plenty of TV characters who have had their lives adapted for Toobworld TV.)

This other dimension may be the same one where the "real world" of 'Once A Hero' was located. Possibly it could access some sort of gateway to the fictional universe of comic book heroes as well.

Confoozlin', I know.

At any rate, the idea that TV characters could come out of the TV set and exist in the real world could never actually work (aside from the fact that it would be nothing more than the ravings of a deranged lunatic). But if they could, they would face resistance and resentment from the general populace of actual living, breathing humans.

I think we saw an example of this happen last year when Sascha Baron Cohen was pummeled outside a nightclub by some guys who didn't take kindly to being heckled by the comedian while he was in "Borat" mode.

And I think what could happen to such characters was demonstrated at the TCA press tour a few days ago.
Roger Catlin (TV Eye) of the Hartford Courant wrote about what happened when Alexandra Wentworth tried to conduct her press conference in character from her new Starz show, 'Head Case':

But [Alexandra] Wentworth’s own attempt to extend the improvisation to a lunchtime press conference turned against her.

After attempting to answer questions in character, reporters shouted her down. “Could you stop doing that please, and talk to us,” said one. Another just shouted “You need to stop now.”

She went out of character quite quickly at that point.

“We were just trying to have fun,” she said, trying to explain. “We thought you guys would enjoy a little yuck.”

“Head Case” starts in April on Starz.

I don't think it's off to a very good start. It'll be interesting to see if that hostility translates into the reviews for the first episode....

BCnU!
Tele-Toby