THE LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES: TOONING IN

There were some interesting additions to the League of Themselves [Tooniverse division] over the weekend, courtesy of 'The Simpsons' and 'Family Guy' on FOX.

Most of them appeared on 'The Simpsons', with my favorite Broadway composer, Stephen Sondheim hired by Krusty the Clown to write songs for his "Appalachian Dumpling Gang" of hill-kiddies. Andy Dick also appeared as part of the Redneck Comedy tour (a theme visited by 'Family Guy' this week as well.) And mystery novelist James Patterson's appearance was a technicality, as he appeared in Marge Simpson's romantic dreamscape. But the fact that Marge knows of him as a mystery writer, who uses nursery rhymes for his book titles, means that he does exist as a cartoon figure in the Tooniverse. So for now, he'd have to sport an asterisk after his name like Roger Maris.

Over on 'Family Guy', 80 year old Playboy founder Hugh Hefner just kept racking up the number of shows in which he's appeared as himself. He showed up - for no apparent reason - in the lounge of the Quahog Airport with a babe on each arm and proceeded to give Glenn Quagmire some inspiring advice to regain control over his life.

Hugh Hefner will be inducted into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame just on his body of work in the main Toobworld alone, but it's nice to see he has a counterpart in the Tooniverse (as well as over in "Skitlandia", the sketch comedy dimension, thanks to 'Saturday Night Live').

Meg Ryan also appeared in 'The Simpsons' this week, but she was playing a character - a psychiatrist hired by the school system to treat Bart Simpson.

She had her own psychiatrist and he was voiced by Peter Bogdonovich. His character wasn't named, but I'm sticking to the claim that he was Tooniversion of his character on 'The Sopranos' who has Dr. Melfi as his patient. And this would be yet another character from 'The Sopranos' who has been found in The Tooniverse, the first being Christopher Moltisanti in an episode of 'Family Guy'. (He helped Stewie dig a hole to bury... a sapling.)

BCnU!
Tele-Toby