TOONED OUT: TANAKA, TAKANAWA, TAKE YOUR PICK

'Family Guy' and 'Lost' take place in two separate TV dimensions; everybody must know that by now - the Tooniverse and the main Toobworld.

But certain characters from live action shows always pop up in the Tooniverse as cartoon characters themselves - Batman and Robin on 'Scooby Doo', 'The Prisoner' on 'The Simpsons', and Christopher Moltisanti of 'The Sopranos' on 'Family Guy'.

So why can't it happen in reverse?

We've seen actual cartoon characters cross over into the live action TV Universe, no matter which dimension - the pen and ink Man of Steel visited the Metropolis of Earth Prime-Time with Jerry Seinfeld in an Amex blipvert, and Daffy Duck applied for a job at Winfield-Louder in Cleveland, Ohio on 'The Drew Carey Show'. But how many cartoon characters (besides Superman and the Dynamic Duo) have flesh and blood doppelgangers?

'Lost' could have provided one tonight, but they missed it by that much, as Maxwell Smart would have said. The episode was "Tricia Tanaka Is Dead", which referred to an Asian-American TV news reporter who was inside the Mr. Cluck's restaurant owned by Hurley when it was struck by a meteor.

'Family Guy' has an Asian-American TV news reporter in Quahog, Rhode Island, by the name of Tricia Takanawa, who always gets the worst possible assignments.

It would have been so cool if they used the name of Tricia Takanawa rather than Tricia Tanaka for the character. After all, it's okay that they killed her off since she was the non-animated counterpart.

Maybe the writers and producers thought that viewers might think they killed off the Tricia from 'Family Guy'. But to confuse the Tooniverse with Toobworld? That's just crazy talk.

Well, I have to go work on my five part splainin as to why lions can speak English in the Taco Bell commercial......

BCnU!
Tele-Toby