Sweet the Demon appeared in only one episode of 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer' ("Once More With Feeling"), in which he forced humans to confront their innermost feelings and desires through song and dance. (This often led to their spontaneous combustion.)
Yet he still was inducted into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame with an honorary membership back in October of 2005. That's because it's my belief that he's responsible for such song-and-dance adventures in Television as 'Hull High', 'Cop Rock', and a childhood fave, 'That's Life' from 1968.
Now it looks as though Sweet the Demon will strike again in Toobworld, this time on Wisteria Lane in Fairview, California.
Here's what Liz Smith said in Variety:
"MARC CHERRY, producer-creator of ABC's 'Desperate Housewives,' wants to keep things blooming, ratings-wise on Wisteria Lane. Cherry is considering a musical episode."
We don't have to see Sweet actually show up to know that he's at work behind the scenes.
My only question is whether or not his demonic influence extends beyond the grave. Do you think we'll be hearing a song from the undead narrator, Mary Alice Young?
BCnU!
Toby OB
Saturday, July 7, 2007
MIND OVER MADACORP
After TVSquad published their review of the latest episode of 'Kyle XY', I wrote in with this comment:
Maybe I read more into the episode than I should have, but I think MadaCorp was behind the buy-out of Stephen's company. The long-term plan? With money about to be tight in the Trager household, Nicole would be amenable to taking on a new client (Jessi XX).
And they never did I.D. the company that bought out Stephan's, so it's a possibility.
Posted at 1:40AM on Jul 7th 2007 by Tele-Toby
Isabelle Carreau, who wrote the review responded with this:
Or, while we are speculating, how about the company was bought by whatever other company but that Stephen lands a job with Madacorp not knowing its ties with Kyle?
Posted at 8:33AM on Jul 7th 2007 by Isabelle Carreau
We'll just have to wait and see how it plays out during the sophomore season for the show.....
BCnU!
Toby OB
Maybe I read more into the episode than I should have, but I think MadaCorp was behind the buy-out of Stephen's company. The long-term plan? With money about to be tight in the Trager household, Nicole would be amenable to taking on a new client (Jessi XX).
And they never did I.D. the company that bought out Stephan's, so it's a possibility.
Posted at 1:40AM on Jul 7th 2007 by Tele-Toby
Isabelle Carreau, who wrote the review responded with this:
Or, while we are speculating, how about the company was bought by whatever other company but that Stephen lands a job with Madacorp not knowing its ties with Kyle?
Posted at 8:33AM on Jul 7th 2007 by Isabelle Carreau
We'll just have to wait and see how it plays out during the sophomore season for the show.....
BCnU!
Toby OB
D'OH, THE HUMANITY!
Even though I knew it would be laden with commercials, I re-watched the second Christmas special for 'Doctor Who', "The Runaway Bride". I hadn't seen it since January (thanks pseudo-kid) and only the one time, so I wanted the chance to re-examine the performance of Catherine Tate. With the announcement of her return to the series as Donna Noble for the full run of the fourth season, I wanted to see if the fanboys in various wankboards had a legitimate reason to gripe about the casting.
I'll get this out of the way straight-off. I'm not a fan of her work in general. There's just something grating about the characters she's created for her show. And that certainly applies to Donna - for the first fifteen minutes or so of the introduction. It's such a powerful approach which she takes that I think that's what was seared into the minds of the viewers who had negative comments about her. By the end of the episode, she had begun to mature, and she promised the Doctor as they said their goodbyes that she would go out into the world and be magnificent.
It will be this new Donna who will be rejoining the Doctor, not the shrill Bridezilla termagant we first met.
Still, as I said earlier, I'm not that big a fan and I'm not looking forward too much to seeing her every episode. However, I'm willing to give RTD (mostly his other writers) the benefit of the doubt when it comes to writing the role. We'll see how it goes.
Anyhoo, that's not what I'm on about today. It was during her introduction scene that an exchange of dialogue came up which made me wonder if it was a harbinger of what would come later in the third season.....
THE DOCTOR: Are you human?
DONNA NOBLE: Is that even an option?
THE DOCTOR: It is for me, yeah.
At the time I first watched "The Runaway Bride", I think I considered that a reference to his supposed human genetic background. (I'm still of the belief that as part of his personality quirks, the Eighth Doctor was lying to Grace about his mother being human just so he could shag her.)
But now, having seen the two-parter "Human Nature"/"Family Of Blood", maybe it was a clue about the Chamelion Arch feature of the TARDIS and its function. If so, then it was a very subtle layout for the groundwork so that in hindsight the Chameleon Arch no longer looks like it was a plot device pulled out of the hat at the last moment.
Or I could just be reading more into it than intended. That's usually how I operate.....
BCnU!
Toby OB
That really out to be in my job description as a televisiologist!
I'll get this out of the way straight-off. I'm not a fan of her work in general. There's just something grating about the characters she's created for her show. And that certainly applies to Donna - for the first fifteen minutes or so of the introduction. It's such a powerful approach which she takes that I think that's what was seared into the minds of the viewers who had negative comments about her. By the end of the episode, she had begun to mature, and she promised the Doctor as they said their goodbyes that she would go out into the world and be magnificent.
It will be this new Donna who will be rejoining the Doctor, not the shrill Bridezilla termagant we first met.
Still, as I said earlier, I'm not that big a fan and I'm not looking forward too much to seeing her every episode. However, I'm willing to give RTD (mostly his other writers) the benefit of the doubt when it comes to writing the role. We'll see how it goes.
Anyhoo, that's not what I'm on about today. It was during her introduction scene that an exchange of dialogue came up which made me wonder if it was a harbinger of what would come later in the third season.....
THE DOCTOR: Are you human?
DONNA NOBLE: Is that even an option?
THE DOCTOR: It is for me, yeah.
At the time I first watched "The Runaway Bride", I think I considered that a reference to his supposed human genetic background. (I'm still of the belief that as part of his personality quirks, the Eighth Doctor was lying to Grace about his mother being human just so he could shag her.)
But now, having seen the two-parter "Human Nature"/"Family Of Blood", maybe it was a clue about the Chamelion Arch feature of the TARDIS and its function. If so, then it was a very subtle layout for the groundwork so that in hindsight the Chameleon Arch no longer looks like it was a plot device pulled out of the hat at the last moment.
Or I could just be reading more into it than intended. That's usually how I operate.....
BCnU!
Toby OB
"The never-ending fountain of fat, stupid trivia!"
Lance
'Doctor Who'
Lance
'Doctor Who'
That really out to be in my job description as a televisiologist!
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
PUTTING FOURTH
Ever since I started "Inner Toob", I've found less time, and quite frankly, less interest, in posting to the Idiot's Delight Digest (my first big reason to join the world of the Internet). Everything I want to say, I can just as easily say here.
But occasionally I do add comments to other TV sites, and even to the IDD. And being the lazy bastid that I am, there were a couple of salient points I made recently that I thought I could just as easily have shared here.
So I will.
So there.
Here's one about the cancellation of 'The Loop' from Alan Sepinwall's blog, "What's Alan Watching" (link to the left):
Toby said...
Perhaps it's just as well that 'The Loop' is now history; let it go out with its lack of dignity intact before the network suits (may they be nibbled to death by ducks!) diddled with it some more in order to please whosever butt Murdoch has to smooch to buy up more media outlets.
It was a funny show and will have its place in my DVD collection. (I already have season one).
Should there have been more? I'd say so, but 'Fawlty Towers' went out with 12 episodes and kept its reputation unsullied by going on too long. Maybe in the long run, that's what's best for 'The Loop' as well....
8:20 AM
And then I pestered the fine folks in Rob Buckley's "The Medium Is Not Enough" (also with a link to the left) with my take on the pilot of 'Burn Notice':
I enjoyed the pilot a lot and plan to come back for more.
Especially liked Campbell as that kind of rummy friend you'd find in 'To Have And Have Not' and 'Islands In The Stream', plus all those movies where that same rummy might just sell you out....
The pilot triggered the alarms for one of my viewing rules: if they give you ancillary info that doesn't seem to have much to do with the story at hand, it'll be important later.
A lot was made about Westen's relationships with his late father and his brother Nate. Of course, it was probably there to bring some shading to his background and fill in the family history, but I think there'll be more to it than that.
Not only do I think we're guaranteed to meet Nate down the road, but I think his father will turn out to be still alive as well.
And either one of them in complicit in his burn notice.
I guess we'll see....
Posted by Toby OB July 2, 2007 9:14 PM
And finally, back in my old stomping grounds of the Idiot's Delight Digest, I tried to drum up some dialogue among the Iddiots with this assessment of 'Rescue Me':
Here's another TV-related question like last week's re: 'John From Cincinnatti':
Anybody else watching 'Rescue Me'? What did you think about last week's episode?
I didn't think that was in the Chief's nature at all, and it means the loss of a great character on that show - one of the few worth watching.
Gonna miss Jack McGee.
And I'm sick of ALL the Denis Leary plotlines. It's beyond belief that so many women are throwing themselves at him; I can't see that at all. (He looks like my cousin, so that's probably why.) He's upped the ante on the Job factor with Tommy so much that he makes it look like Andy Sipowicz was Mr. Sunshine!
Maybe he should follow through on his threat to kill off more on the show by offing Tommy and then he can just produce the series.
I wish they did kill off Sheila on the show. I liked Callie Thorne a lot on 'Homicide: Life On The Street', but Sheila is too much now. She could have stuck around as a ghost, that's fine. But she's killing the energy by eating up so much of the plotline.
Not sure how much longer I'll stick with it with most of the storylines either ridiculous, non-existent, or unbearable to think about. (Janet with the baby is creeping me out as to what may happen...)
Still like Probie, and Uncle Teddy is fun to watch, even if it seems like he is in his own show.
Okay, just wanted to see some movement in here.....
And I just wanted to spare myself actually writing up something original on the holiday. Bad enough I have to work it when it's also my day off, but to do actual research for a new post seems downright un-American!
Buy Bonds!
BCnU!
Toby OB
But occasionally I do add comments to other TV sites, and even to the IDD. And being the lazy bastid that I am, there were a couple of salient points I made recently that I thought I could just as easily have shared here.
So I will.
So there.
Here's one about the cancellation of 'The Loop' from Alan Sepinwall's blog, "What's Alan Watching" (link to the left):
Toby said...
Perhaps it's just as well that 'The Loop' is now history; let it go out with its lack of dignity intact before the network suits (may they be nibbled to death by ducks!) diddled with it some more in order to please whosever butt Murdoch has to smooch to buy up more media outlets.
It was a funny show and will have its place in my DVD collection. (I already have season one).
Should there have been more? I'd say so, but 'Fawlty Towers' went out with 12 episodes and kept its reputation unsullied by going on too long. Maybe in the long run, that's what's best for 'The Loop' as well....
8:20 AM
And then I pestered the fine folks in Rob Buckley's "The Medium Is Not Enough" (also with a link to the left) with my take on the pilot of 'Burn Notice':
I enjoyed the pilot a lot and plan to come back for more.
Especially liked Campbell as that kind of rummy friend you'd find in 'To Have And Have Not' and 'Islands In The Stream', plus all those movies where that same rummy might just sell you out....
The pilot triggered the alarms for one of my viewing rules: if they give you ancillary info that doesn't seem to have much to do with the story at hand, it'll be important later.
A lot was made about Westen's relationships with his late father and his brother Nate. Of course, it was probably there to bring some shading to his background and fill in the family history, but I think there'll be more to it than that.
Not only do I think we're guaranteed to meet Nate down the road, but I think his father will turn out to be still alive as well.
And either one of them in complicit in his burn notice.
I guess we'll see....
Posted by Toby OB July 2, 2007 9:14 PM
And finally, back in my old stomping grounds of the Idiot's Delight Digest, I tried to drum up some dialogue among the Iddiots with this assessment of 'Rescue Me':
Here's another TV-related question like last week's re: 'John From Cincinnatti':
Anybody else watching 'Rescue Me'? What did you think about last week's episode?
I didn't think that was in the Chief's nature at all, and it means the loss of a great character on that show - one of the few worth watching.
Gonna miss Jack McGee.
And I'm sick of ALL the Denis Leary plotlines. It's beyond belief that so many women are throwing themselves at him; I can't see that at all. (He looks like my cousin, so that's probably why.) He's upped the ante on the Job factor with Tommy so much that he makes it look like Andy Sipowicz was Mr. Sunshine!
Maybe he should follow through on his threat to kill off more on the show by offing Tommy and then he can just produce the series.
I wish they did kill off Sheila on the show. I liked Callie Thorne a lot on 'Homicide: Life On The Street', but Sheila is too much now. She could have stuck around as a ghost, that's fine. But she's killing the energy by eating up so much of the plotline.
Not sure how much longer I'll stick with it with most of the storylines either ridiculous, non-existent, or unbearable to think about. (Janet with the baby is creeping me out as to what may happen...)
Still like Probie, and Uncle Teddy is fun to watch, even if it seems like he is in his own show.
Okay, just wanted to see some movement in here.....
And I just wanted to spare myself actually writing up something original on the holiday. Bad enough I have to work it when it's also my day off, but to do actual research for a new post seems downright un-American!
Buy Bonds!
BCnU!
Toby OB
Monday, July 2, 2007
7/2/07: NEW @ TOOBWORLD CENTRAL
While working on that last piece about Seattle, I received a package from my pusher of choice, Amazon.com!
Here are the latest additions to the libraries of Toobworld Central:
BOOKS:
"Doctor Who: The Completely Unofficial Encyclopedia"
I realize publications like this are outdated as soon as they're printed, but it's always nice to have one around as a starting point for research. And there is mention of Martha Jones, so it's as up-to-date as possible...
DVDs:
1-2] 'Dead Like Me' - Seasons One & Two
My buddy Michael turned me on to this show. (I don't get Showtime, and wasn't enthusiastic about seeing them censored on Sci-Fi.) When he made his first attempt with the pilot, I felt very lukewarm about the whole thing. But a couple of weeks ago he showed me a few more episodes and every time he asked if he should play another, I nodded - I guess I was just in a better frame of mind by then to hang out with Rube and the gang at the Waffle House!
Poor Michael - It's one more hold he doesn't have over me. Oh well, at least he and Mark still control my access to the new Whos, Torchwoods, and the upcoming Sarah Janes ::sigh...::
3] "The Lord Of The Rings" animation trilogy
Collected in one "set" (just the three disks in the same shrink wrap, really - no fancy box), these are the two Rankin-Bass TV movie specials, "The Hobbit" and "The Return Of The King", and the feature film by Ralph Bakshi, "The Lord Of The Rings".
I'm hoping to introduce my 2½ year old nephew to "The Hobbit" this summer (last Thanksgiving it was "The Wizard Of Oz"), but I think he's a bit too young for the Bakshi movie.....
BCnU!
Toby OB
Here are the latest additions to the libraries of Toobworld Central:
BOOKS:
"Doctor Who: The Completely Unofficial Encyclopedia"
I realize publications like this are outdated as soon as they're printed, but it's always nice to have one around as a starting point for research. And there is mention of Martha Jones, so it's as up-to-date as possible...
DVDs:
1-2] 'Dead Like Me' - Seasons One & Two
My buddy Michael turned me on to this show. (I don't get Showtime, and wasn't enthusiastic about seeing them censored on Sci-Fi.) When he made his first attempt with the pilot, I felt very lukewarm about the whole thing. But a couple of weeks ago he showed me a few more episodes and every time he asked if he should play another, I nodded - I guess I was just in a better frame of mind by then to hang out with Rube and the gang at the Waffle House!
Poor Michael - It's one more hold he doesn't have over me. Oh well, at least he and Mark still control my access to the new Whos, Torchwoods, and the upcoming Sarah Janes ::sigh...::
3] "The Lord Of The Rings" animation trilogy
Collected in one "set" (just the three disks in the same shrink wrap, really - no fancy box), these are the two Rankin-Bass TV movie specials, "The Hobbit" and "The Return Of The King", and the feature film by Ralph Bakshi, "The Lord Of The Rings".
I'm hoping to introduce my 2½ year old nephew to "The Hobbit" this summer (last Thanksgiving it was "The Wizard Of Oz"), but I think he's a bit too young for the Bakshi movie.....
BCnU!
Toby OB
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....
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
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'
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'
Sunday, July 1, 2007
THE TVXOHOF MID-YEAR REPORT
For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, the TV Crossover Hall of Fame was established in 1999 to honor those TV characters (as well as locations and objects) which unify the TV Universe. This includes real-life people who have fictionalized tele-versions of themselves, as well as the Creators who make the crossovers possible.
The original requirements have become easier to achieve in recent years (appearances in three different TV shows, TV movies, cartoons or commercials). But that's mostly due to the fact that those who make the TV shows nowadays grew up watching TV and love the self-referential nature of the medium. But it has reached the point where some might argue that just about anybody can get into the Hall of Fame.
And in 2005, that was just about true....
Every year on my birthday, I celebrate in my blog (or the old Tubeworld Dynamic website before this) by announcing a Birthday Honors List; inducting someone special into the ranks of the Hall of Fame who might have just missed the requirements but who is nonetheless deserving of recognition for their contributions to the TV Universe.
My mantra for the choices made on my birthday is: "What I say, goes."
The first such honoree was Suzy MacNamara, Ann Sothern's character in 'Private Secretary'. She was honored because she was involved in the first TV crossover, on the premiere episode of 'The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour'.
Let's run down those who have been inducted so far this year:
JANUARY - Johnny Carson
FEBRUARY - Florence Johnston
MARCH - Lou Grant
APRIL - The Doctor
MAY - Sarah Jane Smith
JUNE - Charlie Pace/Oceanic Airways
HONORS - Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart
JULY - Bret Maverick
I've been running the TV Crossover Hall of Fame since 1999, and one day I will devote the time necessary to create a permanent home for it on the web.
If you're interested in seeing the full list (There are nearly 200 members so far!), then drop me a note at:
Tubeworld@aol.com
BCnU!
Toby OB
The original requirements have become easier to achieve in recent years (appearances in three different TV shows, TV movies, cartoons or commercials). But that's mostly due to the fact that those who make the TV shows nowadays grew up watching TV and love the self-referential nature of the medium. But it has reached the point where some might argue that just about anybody can get into the Hall of Fame.
And in 2005, that was just about true....
Every year on my birthday, I celebrate in my blog (or the old Tubeworld Dynamic website before this) by announcing a Birthday Honors List; inducting someone special into the ranks of the Hall of Fame who might have just missed the requirements but who is nonetheless deserving of recognition for their contributions to the TV Universe.
My mantra for the choices made on my birthday is: "What I say, goes."
The first such honoree was Suzy MacNamara, Ann Sothern's character in 'Private Secretary'. She was honored because she was involved in the first TV crossover, on the premiere episode of 'The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour'.
Let's run down those who have been inducted so far this year:
JANUARY - Johnny Carson
FEBRUARY - Florence Johnston
MARCH - Lou Grant
APRIL - The Doctor
MAY - Sarah Jane Smith
JUNE - Charlie Pace/Oceanic Airways
HONORS - Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart
JULY - Bret Maverick
I've been running the TV Crossover Hall of Fame since 1999, and one day I will devote the time necessary to create a permanent home for it on the web.
If you're interested in seeing the full list (There are nearly 200 members so far!), then drop me a note at:
Tubeworld@aol.com
BCnU!
Toby OB
JULY 2007 TVXOHOF: ACE HIGH
For the July ceremonies of the TV Crossover Hall of Fame, we're going to veer off from the mini-theme of celebrating 'Doctor Who' in order to mark a long-standing tradition of the old Toobworld Dynamic - honoring the TV Western in July.
I could have kept the 'Who' theme running anyway by inducting an historical figure of the Wild, Wild West - the televersion of Doc Holliday. (Wyatt Earp - in the guise of Hugh O'Brian - entered the Hall back in 2002.) But that would have been a cheat, because in the Toobworld design of the TV Universe, the Doctor didn't actually visit the OK Corral on that fateful day of the Shootout.
I'll splain further later in the month....
Instead, it's my pleasure to announce that my favorite TV "cowboy", one of my Top Ten favorite TV characters no matter the genre, is finally being allowed to join the pantheon of crossover legends.
The strange thing is that even though he turned the Western genre on its head, and the character was the jump-start to James Garner's career in movies and TV, Bret was not the first character from 'Maverick' to be inducted into the Crossover Hall of Fame. His brother Bart made it in first, and even recurring character Samantha Crawford found her way into the Hall as one of the year-long Honors List from 2005, when I was celebrating my fiftieth birthday.
Bart entered first because at the time, 2001, he had a wider variety of actual Television crossovers to his credit:
'Maverick'
"Young Maverick"
'Bret Maverick'
"Gambler 4: Luck Of The Draw"
Add to that, one of his episodes from the original series, "Hadley's Hunters", featured appearances by characters, locations, or props from 'Cheyenne', 'Sugarfoot', 'The Lawman', 'Bronco', 'Colt .45', and 'Wanted: Dead Or Alive'. (Plus an earlier incarnation of the soul of Kookie Kookson from '77 Sunset Strip'.)
Bret only had those first three appearances, even if he did make the franchise possible.
SPOILER ALERT!
But he also had a theatrical release which gets the kind of consideration reserved for the Honors List, in that it could be seen as theoretical. James Garner played the role of Zane Cooper in the movie version of "Maverick", which also starred Mel Gibson as Bret, Jodie Foster, and James Coburn. (This was the third movie Garner and Coburn appeared in together, and they worked together in an episode of 'Maverick'.)
He may have been Zane Cooper through most of the movie, but it turns out in the end that he's Bret's father.
Well then! Zane Cooper was just an alias. O'Bviously he must have been Bret Maverick, Sr. and thus, the Maverick we knew from the TV show.
Whether you want to consider that addition to be legit or not, Bret still has enough credits, three of a kind you might say, to guarantee him entry.
So, riverboat, ring your bell and welcome the gentleman gambler as our July 2007 representative from the Wild, Wild West in the TV Crossover Hall of Fame!
'Maverick'
'Bret Maverick'
"Young Maverick"
"Maverick"
BCnU!
Toby OB
I could have kept the 'Who' theme running anyway by inducting an historical figure of the Wild, Wild West - the televersion of Doc Holliday. (Wyatt Earp - in the guise of Hugh O'Brian - entered the Hall back in 2002.) But that would have been a cheat, because in the Toobworld design of the TV Universe, the Doctor didn't actually visit the OK Corral on that fateful day of the Shootout.
I'll splain further later in the month....
Instead, it's my pleasure to announce that my favorite TV "cowboy", one of my Top Ten favorite TV characters no matter the genre, is finally being allowed to join the pantheon of crossover legends.
BRET MAVERICK
The strange thing is that even though he turned the Western genre on its head, and the character was the jump-start to James Garner's career in movies and TV, Bret was not the first character from 'Maverick' to be inducted into the Crossover Hall of Fame. His brother Bart made it in first, and even recurring character Samantha Crawford found her way into the Hall as one of the year-long Honors List from 2005, when I was celebrating my fiftieth birthday.
Bart entered first because at the time, 2001, he had a wider variety of actual Television crossovers to his credit:
'Maverick'
"Young Maverick"
'Bret Maverick'
"Gambler 4: Luck Of The Draw"
Add to that, one of his episodes from the original series, "Hadley's Hunters", featured appearances by characters, locations, or props from 'Cheyenne', 'Sugarfoot', 'The Lawman', 'Bronco', 'Colt .45', and 'Wanted: Dead Or Alive'. (Plus an earlier incarnation of the soul of Kookie Kookson from '77 Sunset Strip'.)
Bret only had those first three appearances, even if he did make the franchise possible.
SPOILER ALERT!
But he also had a theatrical release which gets the kind of consideration reserved for the Honors List, in that it could be seen as theoretical. James Garner played the role of Zane Cooper in the movie version of "Maverick", which also starred Mel Gibson as Bret, Jodie Foster, and James Coburn. (This was the third movie Garner and Coburn appeared in together, and they worked together in an episode of 'Maverick'.)
He may have been Zane Cooper through most of the movie, but it turns out in the end that he's Bret's father.
Well then! Zane Cooper was just an alias. O'Bviously he must have been Bret Maverick, Sr. and thus, the Maverick we knew from the TV show.
Whether you want to consider that addition to be legit or not, Bret still has enough credits, three of a kind you might say, to guarantee him entry.
So, riverboat, ring your bell and welcome the gentleman gambler as our July 2007 representative from the Wild, Wild West in the TV Crossover Hall of Fame!
'Maverick'
'Bret Maverick'
"Young Maverick"
"Maverick"
BCnU!
Toby OB
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