TARRYING AT "JERICHO"

With the 'Jericho' episode "The Hollow Men" (NOT the 'Jericho' series about a nuke-isolated town in Kansas!), London police detective Michael Jericho gave proof to my premise that some TV shows mentioned in the TV Universe are based on characters we know from our TV shows, but who exist in the TV Universe. These are not the same shows that we watch here in the Trueniverse.

Confusing, I know. Here's a good example: when Kramer was seen in an episode of 'Murphy Brown' during an episode of 'Seinfeld', we were watching the Toobworld version of 'Murphy Brown' which is not the same show as the one we watch. The Toobworld version of 'Murphy Brown' is based on the life of the "real" Murphy Brown who is just a fictional character to us.

I don't think that helped make it less confusing......

At any rate, Michael Jericho was prodded by his superiors to audition for a new TV show which would dramatize cases from the files of Scotland Yard. Jericho would have been the host, appearing as himself.

But he proved to be too stiff and unnatural on camera, so an actor, previously seen on TV as Robin Hood, hosted the show as Michael Jericho. So there was a TV character named Jericho who was based on the "real" Jericho who was just a TV character to us, portrayed by Robert Lindsay.
I'm just making it worse, aren't I?

BCnU!
Toby OB

RUMFORD'S CROSSING

With the previous post, I demonstrated a theoretical link between 'Doctor Who' and 'Star Trek' via "The Stones of Blood" episode. (There's at least one more connection between those shows and it's a biggie, but that's not the topic today.)

But "The Stones Of Blood" also can forge a link with 'Columbo' thanks to a "Theory of Relateeveety" which I'm proposing.

Professor Amelia Rumford may have had an older brother. It never comes up in her conversations with the Doctor (which were usually drone-fests about the history of the Standing Stones). If so, it could be that during World War One, her older brother was wounded and fell in love with an American nurse. He would have then emigrated to America to be with her.

Once married, they could have had a son, one that they named Lyle. He might have followed his father into the military, making it his career. Later in life, Colonel Lyle C. Rumford became the administrative commander of the Haynes Military Academy in Los Angeles, running it for a senior officer named Haynes whom Rumford served and admired.

(What happened during his tenure can be found in the 'Columbo' episode "By Dawn's Early Light".)

Because their relationship to each other was never germane to the circumstances which involved them, neither Amelia nor Lyle mentioned it. In fact, because their lives had taken such divergent paths, the two branches of the Rumford family were probably estranged.

BCnU!
Toby OB

VAMPIRE STONES (NOT ABOUT KEITH RICHARDS)

Overnight Thursday, my friends Mark, Michael, Kelly, and I went to Blood Manor, a haunted house (haunted condo?) in Manhattan. Afterwards, we trooped back to Apartment Gallifrey, M+M's (but not M&M's) headquarters in the East Village to watch "Little Shop of Horrors". Of course, being Apartment Gallifrey, M+M decided to follow up with the Tom Baker 'Doctor Who' story "The Stones Of Blood".

The Standing Stones of the title are known as the Ogri, and they serve as a link to 'Star Trek'. In the original 'Trek' series, there was a race of stone creatures called the Excalbians, who were introduced in the episode "The Savage Curtain". And it's the contention of Toobworld that the Ogri are the vampiric form of the Excalbians.

They were called the Ogri because their race had been banished to the planet of Ogros, forbidden to ever return to Excalbia (at least in my imagination). I'm not sure if the vampire stones were originally Excalbian in "physiology" and then turned vampiric, or if they were an evolutionary off-shoot like the Excalbians from their common ancestors - the Horta of 'Star Trek' - "The Devil In The Dark". (All of them are silicone-based organisms.)
None of this was established in either 'Doctor Who' or 'Star Trek', nor is it likely to be; just the type of plot point that's perfect for this kind of theory.

If you've got the stones to propose it, that is.....

BCnU!
Toby OB

BITCHIN' ABOUT PITCHIN'

Here's what I just wrote to Richard Sandomir of the New York Times:

How come FOX isn't showing the ceremonial first pitch before the games? I suppose it's possible I wasn't paying attention and thus missed it; but when the first night had Yaz and about ten others from the 1967 Dream Team of Boston on the mound, and the second night had the heart-warming image of a very young Boston fan who just had a heart transplant a month ago, I would think that took far longer than a blink and you'll miss it moment.

FOX was probably too busy touting the Tacos.

I've always loved the ceremonial first pitch in the Series, and it's something that the network should be covering. It's not going to take that much time away from their yada-yada and shilling (not Schilling).

Toby O'B

SUPER-COMPUTER!

This week's episode of '30 Rock' helped a lot with support for my premise that the Toobworld versions of TV shows are not the same shows seen by us in the Trueniverse.

According to Jenna, disparate NBC shows like 'Highway To Heaven', 'Miami Vice', 'The Cosby Show' and 'Cheers' were all spun off from a fictional NBC series named 'Super Computer'. It's doubtful any of them could have had the same plots as their real world counterparts and yet still share a common ancestry.

Well, maybe 'The Cosby Show'......

I just wish I could hear what the mid-70s theme song might be for 'Super Computer'!

"If it's crime you want to neuter
You must call Super-Computer!"

BCnU!
Toby OB

TROUGHTON FISHING IN AMERICA

Have you ever taken one of those online quizzes that determines what character you are from a certain TV show or movie or novel? I know there's a quiz out there that can tell you what Jane Austen novel you are!

Well, I stumbled across one that can figure out which of the incarnations of the Gallifreyan Time Lord known as The Doctor from 'Doctor Who' you are. And the questions were phrased in such a way so that I could maneuver the answer to be what I wanted:

I'm one of those people who can get lost for hours online by clicking from one link to another, until I've totally forgotten what I was searching for in the first place.

I was assuming as I wrote this up that you'd be able to click on the pic and be taken to the website so that you can find out which of The Doctors you are. But Blogger didn't allow it. I suppose it was a problem I could have fixed, had I known how. But as I'm more of a compudorq than a compugeek, you'd be better off finding that site by clicking here.

BCnU!
Toby OB

ACROSS THE VIEW-NIVERSES

Here is a frame grab from Frank Capra's last movie, "Pocketful of Miracles", in which Peter Falk and Thomas Mitchell share the screen.

Mitchell played Lt. Columbo in a Broadway-bound play by Levinson & Link called "Prescription Murder" (with Joseph Cotton as the killer). Sadly, the great character actor died while on tour with the show, before it ever could open on Broadway. "Columbo" was his last character.

"Prescription Murder" was later broadcast live as an episode of 'Suspense'. It ran only an hour, and there were changes made, especially to the ending. This time it was entitled "Enough Rope" and starred Richard Carlson as Dr. Flemming with Bert Freed as Columbo.

Of course, Peter Falk was the second person to play 'Columbo' on TV and he is the actor we will forever identify in the role. His first appearance was in "Prescription Murder" with Gene Barry playing the murderous psychiatrist.

In the last few days, I've found another picture that reminded me of that first picture with Falk and Mitchell. Here is Dick Powell and David Janssen in a publicity pose for 'Richard Diamond'. Powell played the role on radio, but declined to make the transfer to TV. As one of its producers, Powell had a hand in the selection of Janssen to take over the role for Toobworld.

If I ever get around to working out the plotline for a third Toobworld novel, several of my characters will meet their counterparts from other universes based on Mankind's creative imagination. (For example - Thom Cooper and his wife Maggie will come face to face with their doppelgangers from the Rock 'N' Roll Universe, Tommy and Maggie May.)

Anyway, wouldn't it have been cool to see more of an interaction between Peter Falk and Thomas Mitchell during an episode of 'Columbo'? Falk loved the chance to "play" in his scenes with certain actors, and I think Mitchell's over-the-top bravura could have kept him entertained as much as Vito Scotti did in his scenes with Falk.....

BCnU!
Toby OB

(My thanks to this fantastic Columbo site for the pictures of Mitchell and Freed as Columbo.)

YEAR OF THE BUNNY ZONK

Over at TV.com, this mistake was pointed out from last week's episode of 'Journeyman', "The Year Of The Rabbit":

Goof: When Dan leaps to 1994 it's announced as the year of the rabbit, but in the Chinese Zodiac 1994 is the year of the dog.

Here's what actually happened: Dan walked into that Cafe Luna (where all the hip timesters meet) and saw his future wife, Katie Barron, doing a report on Channel 9 News. In her closing, she said that 1939 was the Year of the Rabbit, which was the year in which the topic of her report - some small company - first started. The owner of that company hoped that the next year of the rabbit wouldn't be its last.

That's when Dan looks at the paper and sees that it's November 8, 1994.

Even if Katie Barron was referring to the coming year, How could such a simple mistake not be noticed when it was still in the script development stage? It took less than a minute for me to find at least three pages that gave me the details I was looking for when it came to the Chinese Zodiac. (One thing's cool - I found out that my sister and her son - who share the same birthday - also share the Year of the Monkey.) They got the 1939 one right, so obviously he did the research. Why then did he screw up when it came to 1995?

Probably because "The Year Of The Pig" didn't have the same oomph as "Rabbit".

So now we have to go in and fix the temporal glitch.

I'm not about to suggest that in Toobworld, the Chinese Zodiac is different from the one used by us in the Trueniverse. Then I'd have to go through the whole thing and realign all of the years, and for what? Someday another show will come along and point out the correct Chinese Year and throw it all off again.

Instead, it's time to wield Occam's Razor.

Katie was just as screwed up as the author of the episode. She made a mistake. She should have said "Year Of The Pig" if she was referring to next year, "Year Of The Dog" if she was referring to that current year.

But maybe the store's owner was simply referring to the store having to close within the next couple of years, and therefore maybe it was a reference to 1999, the next Year of the Rabbit.

Simple.

But then, why the urgency in doing a TV news report - even if it's a puff piece - at that point in time? No, it has to be that Katie Barron has to take the fall for the script-writer's screw-up. She made a mistake on the air with her closing.

What happens within the Toobworld reality has no bearing on the episode title which is there for our benefit watching at home. If the author chose "Year Of The Rabbit" as the title because it does sound cooler than "Year Of The Dog" and wanted them to align, then he should have changed the show's "leap" to 1987.

BCnU!
Toby OB
(Born in a Year of the Sheep/Ram)

CHUCKING IRONSIDE

During the 'Chuck' episode "Chuck vs. The Sizzling Shrimp", agent John Casey got the drop on Ben Lo Pan in his inner sanctum, while the wheelchair-bound Chinese Mafia leader was reading.

"Put down the book, Ironside," Casey snarled.

For us at home, this was supposed to be just a reference to the TV series which starred Raymond Burr as Robert T. Ironside, the San Francisco Chief of Detectives who continued working on the Force - despite being paralyzed by a sniper's bullet.

But within the "reality" of Toobworld, it was a reference to the actual Chief Ironside. Forty years after its premiere, and the legend of Ironside in law enforcement would have been well-known throughout not only the police departments across the country, but also in the intelligence-gathering organizations like the FBI, the NSA, the CIA and SID. (In fact, if I'm remembering the show correctly, he did work for one of those organizations at one point or another during his eight year career seen on the Toob.)

Whether or not Ben Lo Pan understood the reference to Ironside, I don't think Casey gave a good God-bleep.

BCnU!
Toby OB

CRAVIN' THE CHUNK

'30 Rock' introduced us to a new perfume designed specifically for the plus-sized woman. It's called "Enormè" and Jenna Malone appeared in its TV commercial.

The way things are going, '30 Rock' might have to be shipped out of the main TV dimension, out of sheer desperation, for all of the Zonks it generates. (I haven't even worked up the energy/courage yet to deal with the examples of "Seinfeld-Vision" from this season's premiere!)

But for the time being, let's just say it is in the main Toobworld, Earth Prime-Time.

So....

Do you think Enormè could be a product that is produced by Reveal Cosmetics, one of the corporations from 'Big Shots'?
If the fortunes of that ABC series continue as they are, we probably won't ever have to worry about such a theory being debunked.....

BCnU!
Toby OB

CHUCKED McCANN

Good news, Everyone!

Last night's 'Boston Legal' was pre-empted for ABC coverage of the California wildfires.

Now, I might have mentioned here that I decided to part company with 'Boston Legal' after this season's premiere. And I don't mean to imply I'd rather watch people's properties and the surrounding realms of Nature burn.

But it wasn't until after it would have aired that I found out from Mark Evanier's blog (link to the left) that Chuck McCann was supposed to be on in the first half of a two-parter as a judge. (It's probably the same judge he played back in the season finale in May, presiding over the case about a priest who gave an illegal alien sanctuary in his church.)

I loves me some Chuck McCann!

So my serendipiteevee and the Powers That Be came through for me so that I won't miss both parts after all!

Um... and I am sorry about the wildfires.

BCnU!
Toby OB

MAYR NIGHT

On October 11th, Mary Tyler Moore appeared at the Paley Center for Media here in NYC. As a museum member, I passed on a chance to attend, and again turned down the chance to take the place of 'Jennie from Britain', one of my "Iddiette" friends, who would be attending with another "Iddiette", 'Terriather'.

The thing is, there are certain people I've come to believe will cause me to die should I ever get the chance to meet them or even just see them in public; as if my Life was now complete and Clotho, Lachesis, and that other bitch sister of theirs would snip my thread at that point.

Mary Tyler Moore is one. Patrick McGoohan is another. That's why I didn't go see "Who's Life Is It, Anyway?" when she was starring in it on Broadway, and why I didn't go see him in "Best Friends" on Broadway.

When I first moved to the City, I worked as a cashier in a fancy restaurant in the Waldorf-Astoria. She visited once and I wouldn't even look out the side door to catch a glimpse.

It's also why I have yet to watch the director's cut of "The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King", even though I've owned it since the day it came out.

Anyway.....

Terri was nice enough to send back a report from that Q&A seminar with Mayr:

Sorry I'm so late in replying.

The weather was dreadful and it was sold out, but there were several empty seats. Mary appeared wearing an orange knit pant suit; she was gorgeous and gracious. The event was hooked up via sattelite TV to several colleges [from which] the students called in questions to her.

They started the hour showing earlier clips of Mary's career when she played ingenue roles and the switchboard operator who only showed her legs in a TV series with David Janssen. (Toby's note: That would be her character of Sam on "Richard Diamond".)

They showed the last episode of MTM show with the group hug and I got teary eyed.
Her mike went out at some point and they gave her a hand-held. The interviewer requested a new mike and Mary said she was okay with the hand-held, but they did fix her mike during a video scene.

During the interview a tall man in a trench coat came in and sat in our row. He asked Mary who her favorite dance partner was and she replied Gene Kelly. [They] did an Irish jig together and he was her favorite. Later in the interview she asked her husband Robert to help her answer something and the tall gent sitting in our row was the husband.

HIGHLIGHTS
She brought up her work with the animals and juvenile diabetics.

She has a new movie coming up where she played the mother role.

She watches "My Name is Earl" and "Bionic Woman".

She complained about TV not being wholesome.

She said she didn't want to end MTM but the writers said it was time.

She said her group always got along and they didn't have the disputes that occur on the sets today.

She was asked if she had any input in the scripts, etc., but she deferred to Grant Tinker and she said she was very happy being an actress and had no other aspirations.

She pretty much came across as she did on TV, very sweet.

Smiles :),

Terri

HOT PROPERTIES

In a related story of Toobworld and Trueniverse relations, architecture-style this time, a Malibu landmark, Castle Kashan, is among the many properties destroyed by this intense rash of wildfires stretching down the Pacific coast all the way to the Mexican border.

I wouldn't be surprised if Castle Kashan was used in movies to establish that medieval location look, but it also was used in Television as well. In a two-part episode of 'The Rockford Files', Castle Kashan served as the home for musician Tim Ritchie (played by Kristoffer Tabori - Whatever happened to him, anyway?).

Tim Ritchie was plagued by palimony problems, bootlegging of his album by the Mob, and one of his friends was missing. Jimbo was called in to investigate and found the friend dead, and that the case was a lot more complicated than he first thought.

"Only Rock 'n' Roll Will Never Die" (Parts 1 & 2) - October 19 + 26th, 1979.

And now the palatial estate is gone.

This doesn't have to mean that Tim Ritchie's similar-looking mansion also burned down in Toobworld. But if it was located in Malibu as well, I think the castle is history.

BCnU!

Toby OB

MY FAVORITE MARSTON

Here's another example of Life imitating Art as reported by the New York Daily News - an actor from a soap opera turns his life into a soap opera.

What I especially liked was the combination of Marston's pictures: both him and his 'OLTL' character in hospital beds.
I get this feeling that Llanview will be missing one of its doctors very soon. Either that or there'll be a recastaway I'll have to splain away!

BCnU!
Toby OB

THE BEETS MOTEL

Toobworld is once again seeping into the Trueniverse.

In last week's episode of 'The Office', Pam and Jim found out that Dwight was running an agro-themed bed & breakfast at the Schrute farm in Honesdale. They had to bully him with veiled threats in order to get him to allow them the chance to spend the weekend there. (I really like the sense of fun and adventure these two share!)

Afterwards, even though it all seemed to go wrong, what with the creepy/crazy antics of cousin Mose, Jim and Pam were able to lift Dwight's spirits (He was also depressed about his breakup with Angela.) by pointing out that they left very positive reviews about the "Beets Motel" on tripadvisor.com.

This is a real website where you can check out what others have to say about a place you're interested in visiting. And now, there's an actual entry about Schrute Farms, even though it doesn't really exist here in the Real World!

If this keeps up, will 'TGS With Tracy Jordan' become a real TV show at NBC?

BCnU!
Toby OB

"ODYSSEY 5" + "STUDIO 60" = ?

I've now seen the second episode of 'Odyssey 5' being rebroadcast on the Sci-Fi Channel. Actually, it's the second half of the two hour pilot movie, which originally ran on Showtime back in 2001.

At any rate, I'm planning to watch all 20 episodes of the series. I want to see how this story about the five years leading up to the destruction of the Earth (Earth Prime-Time, that is) on August 7th, 2007 and how the crew of the Odyssey shuttle hoped to prevent it. Obviously it will have significant impact on Toobworld if it's resolved or not. (Please don't tell me how it ends if you've seen it. For once I'm trying to remain spoiler-free.)

But for now I'm thinking that I've been given an escape clause with the pilot movie.

Sarah Forbes works as a TV reporter for KNBS in Houston. (She also mentions to a doctor that she works for CNT. Cable News Television?) Here in the Trueniverse, we have flagship TV stations that bear the same call letters as the parent network - WCBS, WNBC, KABC, etc. So it's pozz'ble, just pozz'ble, that KNBS is an O+O station that was birthplace for the NBS network seen in 'Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip'.

And 'Studio 60' takes place in an alternate TV dimension. It had to be sent there due to all of the Zonks that couldn't be splained away (like Masi Oka hosting the show and references being made to 'Heroes').

As I mentioned, Sarah said she worked for CNT; that may be. CNT may be the news network arm of NBS n much the same way that MSNBC and CNBC serve a similar function for NBC. (Although why they would call it "CNT", opening itself up to ridicule with a name like that is beyond me.)

I get the feeling that there is no resolution nor even a sense that they may have a plan to change the future by the time the series ended after one season. So if that Toobworld did get destroyed on August 7th, 2007, that fits in well with the timeline for 'Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip'. Our window into the world of the late-night variety show ended long before. Well, several months earlier at any rate.

Should it be possible to reconcile 'Odyssey 5' withe main Toobworld, we can accept there being an NBS and KNBS on Earth Prime-Time. In fact, we know there is one; we've seen it on 'Brothers & Sisters'. (Kitty Walker used to work there.)

But with how disappointed I was in the direction taken by 'Studio 60', I kind of like knowing that its alternate universe blowed up real good.

BCnU!
Toby OB

BORN TO RERUN: FROM CAPED CRUSADER TO DOCTOR'S COMPANION

While watching "Turn Back The Clock", an early episode of 'Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea', I got the idea that guest star Yvonne Craig looked something similar to Wendy Padbury, whose most famous role is that of Zoe Heriot from 'Doctor Who'. (She was a companion to the Second Incarnation of the Doctor.)

Tele-genetics, as I've often stated here, are incredibly strong in Toobworld. Even though exact DNA duplicates do occur down the generations, near-as similarities are probably more common.

So I'm going to posit the theory that Zoe Heriot can trace her lineage back to Yvonne Craig's most famous character, Barbara Gordon, who had the secret identity of "Batgirl" in Gotham City back in the 1960s. That spirit of adventure shared by both women could be handed down through the genes, since Toobworld incorporates the "Wold-Newton" concept first suggested by author Philip Jose Farmer. (Check out Win Eckert's excellent Wold Newton site, whose link can be found to the left.)

As for karmic transference, I don't think Zoe is Batgirl reborn. However, she could be the reincarnation of the character Yvonne Craig played in that 'Voyage' episode. Carole Denning was an accomplished oceanic photographer, perhaps the best in her field when it came to working underwater. It was a claim she wanted Admiral Nelson to acknowledge, perhaps in the hope that he might relent and let her sign on for duty aboard the Seaview.

(Personally, I think that would have been a great idea, and certainly one that could have brought in a new audience of viewers. That testosterone-soaked tub could have used a bit of estrogen - after all, who wants to look at Henry Kulky all the time?)

Both Carole and Zoe shared a common science background; one was used to working in diving bells and submarines, and the other in a "Wheel In Space" and eventually the TARDIS.

None of this can be established as fact, of course, which makes it all the more tempting to accept it here at Toobworld Central!

And you know what, looking at that picture of Ms. Padbury? I'm thinking there just might be a Sally Field character in her family tree as well!

(Of course, when it comes to Sister Bertrille, we shouldn't claim a direct line of descent. If I did that, Sister Theresa Gertrude would come back from the dead to haunt me!)

SHOWS CITED:
'Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea'
'Batgirl'
'Doctor Who'
'The Flying Nun'

KOOTHRAPALLIMONY

Just a few days ago, I made a theoretical claim that the cabbies played by Iqbal Theba in 'The George Carlin Show' (Inzamamulhaq Siddiqui) and in 'Caroline In The City' (Koothrappally) were one and the same despite the name difference. I just threw out a guess that maybe the name "Koothrappally" was just a nickname.

But where did he get that nickname? Here's my theory - Siddiqui was a foster child raised by the Koothrappali family, and he used a different spelling of that name in tribute to their kindness for taking him in.

Based on that blog post, we "know" that Siddiqui has a cousin who's a doctor in New York City with the last name of Sundram. I'm thinking that not only did the two of them emigrate to America, but so did the Koothrapali siblings who grew up with the two identical cousins. And now the next generation of Clan Koothrapali has made his debut in Toobworld.

Rajesh Koothrapali is one of the "brain trust" of four socially inept geniuses at the center of the new CBS sitcom 'The Big Bang Theory'. I have yet to see this show - no fault of the show, just that I'm divvering 'Heroes' and 'Aliens In America' at the same time it airs. But I may have to explore some epguides to find out if his family background has been revealed.

Even if it has been, that won't create a problem for a connection to "Koothrapally Siddiqui". I've made the family tie loose enough so that it wouldn't be out of place for it to never come up on the show.

I'm willing to hear any suggestions as to another splainin that might make the connection more believable and/or stronger.

BCnU!
Toby OB

DEJA VIEW: HEIDI, MOUNTAINS, SPORTS & TV

Oh, Heidi.

Heidi, Heidi, Heidi......

And here I thought you could do no wrong. And so cute to boot!

You're the only newscaster I've ever seen hold their own against Lewis Black. [They made a great team during the Q&A for his book tour.]

How could you be supporting the Colorado Rockies for the World Series?

She is - During her Monday morning report on the Red Sox clinching the ALCS on Sunday night (broadcast about 9:55 am), Heidi Collins slipped a Nealonishly subliminal "Go Rockies" into her report.

As a Red Sox fan who doesn't want to resign membership in her fan club, I'll give her the benefit of the doubt.

I'll just brush it off as the Celiac's influence.....

BCnU!
Toby OB

A JIM-DANDY ZONK

FINALLY catching up on the last four episodes of 'Rescue Me'. As soon as I got upgraded to DVR, a couple of shows ended up saved with no timetable as to when I'd finally watch them. ('Damages' is a another one.) And I gotta say, I don't see myself coming back if there's another season. I really don't like these guys.

But anyway, that's not what I wanted to talk about.

In this latest episode, "High", Tommy was taking a phone call while hiding in the priest's box in the confessional. And a lady thought he was the priest so she entered and started to relate her sins in the last three days (since her last confession).

One of these sins was her impure thoughts while watching 'According To Jim'.
As reviled as the show has been, 'According To Jim' is still a part of Toobworld, and thus shares the same universe as 'Rescue Me'.

It's an easy enough Zonk to fix. The 'According To Jim' is not the same TV show that we watch. It doesn't even have to be a sitcom. A cop show, a legal drama, even a religious program on cable - 'According To Jim' could be anything.

Since 'Rescue Me' is set in New York City, perhaps 'According To Jim' is just a cable access show hosted by somebody sharing their world views. And I can't think of somebody more off the wall for that type of programming than Reverend Jim Ignatowski, whom we know better from 'Taxi'. Or maybe it's a mini-documentary culled from the hours of footage being compiled about a paper company in Scranton, Pennsylvania (as seen in 'The Office') featuring an office drone named Jim Halpert.

Maybe it's too crazy an idea. But the point is, 'According To Jim' doesn't have to be a ridiculed sitcom starring Jim Belushi.

When somebody actually refers to Belushi in connection with 'According To Jim', then we can talk about Zonks.....

BCnU!
Toby OB

TELE-FOLKS DIRECTORY: CARMINE CARIDI

After hearing so often that I just missed seeing him at work, I finally got the chance to meet character actor Carmine Caridi this morning. I mentioned that I had been looking forward to the opportunity, because of his work in 'Phyllis' and "The Godfather III" - at which point he held up a finger to stop me.

"AND 'Godfather II'!" he pointed out.

"Well, I remember the role in the third movie because of that infamous scene -#"

He nodded. "The 'Lucky Coat'," he sighed.

It was probably a stupid move on my part to mention that, but I was thrown for the moment.

Mr. Caridi appeared in a number of other big movies, including "Prince Of The City" and "The Cheap Detective". But of course - since it's all about me, anyway, - I remember him best as Phyllis Lindstrom's boss, Dan Valenti, in the second season of Cloris Leachman's spin-off from 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show'. In his own way, he was the San Francisco version of a "Lou Grant boss", but thankfully their relationship was never softened up as much as it had been between Mayr and Lou.

Eventually, her daughter Bess fell in love and married his nephew Mark (played by Craig Wasson).

Mr. Caridi has contributed several other major roles to the "Tele-folks Directory" of Toobword:

Detective Vince Gotelli - 'NYPD Blue' (15 episodes)
Angelo Martelli - 'Fame' (14 episodes)

And he has appeared in several shows with interesting Toobworld connections, including 'Tabitha', 'Rhoda', 'Starsky And Hutch', and 'The Rockford Files' (the Lauren Bacall two-parter). He also played Mel Sharples brother Al in an episode of 'Alice' in which he almost married 'Flo' the waitress - which would have been the fourth trip down the aisle for both of them.

There's one theoretical link to Toobworld I'd like to suggest - Mr. Caridi played a cop in the "Giving Thanks" episode of 'Night Court'. It's always pozz'ble, just pozz'ble, that this cop was in fact Detective Gotelli from 'NYPD Blue'.

As I work "just around the corner from the center of the universe", there's always an opportunity to meet up with people who've contributed to my Joy of (TV) Sets. And I'm glad I was able to add this encounter to the list......

BCnU!
Toby OB

X-OVER ALERT! ("CSI" & "WITHOUT A TRACE"

On November 1st, 'CSI' and 'Without A Trace' will go back to back with a two-part crossover. The story is about a kidnapping victim from NYC who went missing six years before, and who may be the same boy who's now a victim in Las Vegas. The teams from both shows join forces to solve the mystery.

The episode title for the 'CSI' half is "Who & What", while the second part on 'Without A Trace' will be entitled "Where & Why". (Or was that "Why & Where"?)

Here's a promo shot from the crossover to give you a little taste....

BCnU!
Toby OB

My thanks to fellow "Iddiot" Dr. Bobt for giving me a heads-up on the info and picture.....