THE TWO MRS. LANDINGHAMS

We've seen how the TV characters of the main Toobworld are altered in the other TV dimensions, thanks to such shows as 'Star Trek' (and especially in one of its sequels, 'Deep Space Nine'), 'Sliders', 'Hercules: The Legendary Journeys', and 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer'. But we've also met characters in those alternate dimensions first - do they have counterparts in the original Earth Prime-Time? And are their lives different there?

We may have found an answer for at least one character, Mrs. Landingham of 'The West Wing'.

In that Aaron Sorkin production, Mrs. Landingham worked as the Executive Secretary for the President of the United States. But at the end of the second season - ooh! Spoiler alert! - she died in a car accident.

But in that alternate dimension, the President was Josiah Bartlet. In the main Toobworld, as in the real world, the President during that same span of time covered by the series was first Bill Clinton and then George W. Bush. So Mrs. Landingham wasn't working in that White House, and so she would not have found herself in the same set of circumstances that would have led to her death.

As to what she may have been doing, we can look to 'Gossip Girl', of all shows, for what she was up to.....

In a recent episode of 'Gossip Girl', Lily Bass talked to Mrs. Landingham on the phone. It turns out that in the main Toobworld, she's also a secretary. But she works for Bart Bass, not Jed Bartlet. So at the very least, she's outlived her doppelganger in that other TV Land where we first met her.

BCnU!
Toby O'B