CROSSING AMERICA: SEATTLE

It's the beginning of Fourth of July week and many people across America are thinking the same thing: Vacation Road Trip! And with that in mind, I'm celebrating by looking at a particular destination and its place in Toobworld's geography.

So let's bug out for....

SEATTLE!

With the summer TV schedule underway, two shows have returned which both take place in Seattle, Washington,: 'The 4400' and 'Kyle XY'. And during the regular season, there's also 'Grey's Anatomy', also in the "Emerald City".

These shows couldn't be more different from each other. Although 'The 4400' and 'Kyle XY' are both sci-fi, the focus for 'Kyle XY' is more on being a family drama. And of course, 'Grey's' is a medical soap opera.

To actually have them cross over with each other would probably ruin the host show's believability for its core audeince. But crossovers don't have to be overt, with characters and plotlines overwhelming the usual storylines; it could all be done with just some tossed-off dialogue which utilizes the trivial touchstones from each series:

'Grey's Anatomy' - Seattle Grace Hospital
'The 4400' - the 4400 Center, NTAC, promycin
'Kyle XY' - MadaCorp., Kyle's high school, a kid with no belly button, for bleep's sake!

On 'Grey's Anatomy', someone might mention that the emergency room reported another promycin related death. Another could remark that a particular case wasn't as strange as that one about the kid with no belly button....

Both 'The 4400' and 'Kyle XY' could mention Seattle Grace as an option for hospital treatment.

I'm not sure Tom Foss and his lawyer buddy would ever risk the use of promycin on Kyle's already-enhanced physiology. But they might discuss it should Kyle ever express an interest in visiting the 4400 Center.

NTAC might investigate Kyle (or even Jessi XX) as a possible recipient of a promycin shot; NTAC could also initiate a lockdown crisis at Seattle Grace.

And perhaps Kyle's friends Josh and Declan might entertain the notion of trying the promycin themselves; to bring them up to par with Kyle.

Plenty of other shows have been set in Seattle over the years. References could be made to them, and so subtly that not even the producers of the original series would realize their shows had been involved.

For example, every week on 'The 4400' we meet new citizens of Seattle, not all of them part of the original 4400, or even with new powers. But some of them could have the same last names as the family surnames from those older Seattle-based shows. Then it's just a bit o' wish-craft if we make the connection.

(I ran a check on some of the names and came up with the character of Josh Sandler from the episode "Blink". He had been a grad student engaged to Diana, but she called off the wedding over a week before the big day because she found out he had been cheating on her. He's now an astronomy professor, and there's no over-riding reason why he couldn't be related to the Sandlers of 'Good & Evil'.)

Here are two of the best surnames that could come into play on these three other TV shows:

Bolt - 'Here Come The Brides'
Crane - 'Frasier'/'Domestic Life'
(More on these two titles coming soon!)

Ya gotta have those two family names pop up! And to top it off, why not mentions of KCAL radio ('Frasier') and Bridal Veil Mountain ('Here Comes The Brides')? We could hear a KCAL deejay give an update on some NTAC investigation, or on a critical emergency at Seattle Grace Hospital. As for Bridal Veil Mountain, perhaps that's where Kyle woke up naked in the woods? Perhaps that's where Jessi XX strangled that camper.

(Another place that might get mentioned, especially on 'Grey's Anatomy', would be 'University Hospital'......)

Here are a few more surnames to use:

Guevera - 'Dark Angel'
Semple - 'Here Comes The Brides'
Trapchek - 'Traps'
Henderson - 'Harry And The Hendersons'
Gardner - 'A Year In The Life'
Torkelsons - 'Almost Home'
Sandler - 'Good & Evil'
Langston - 'Under One Roof'
Hatton - 'One Big Family'

The following names might be too generic to get anyone to think they were connected to other shows, unless you got the original actors to appear and reprise their roles:

Taylor - 'Haunted'
Miller - 'Romeo!'
Black - 'Millennium'

Of course, there could always be some mention of the mysterious Millennium Group, and how their plans for 2000 never came to pass....

And then there's 'Dark Angel', which purports to take place in the post-apocalyptic Seattle of 2019. It's only a dozen years away and the way the world is today, who knows? Maybe it will come to pass. (Otherwise, I think it has to be relegated to some unknown future in an alternate TV dimension.)

The secret organization that was breeding those genetically superior children might be related to, or grown out of, MadaCorp. from 'Kyle XY'. And whether that future comes to pass or not could depend on what happens in the future episodes of the ABC Family show.

So there you have it, our summer road trip to the televersion of Seattle in Toobworld. If you plan on visiting this summer, I hope it doesn't rain!

My thanks to TV Acres for much of the Seattle information... information... information...

BCnU!
Toby OB

The bluest sky you've ever seen,
In Seattle.
And the hills the greenest green,
In Seattle.
Like a beautiful child
Growing up, free and wild.
Full of hopes and full of fears,
Full of laughter, full of tears,
Full of dreams to last a year
In Seattle.
'Here Come the Brides'