OCEANIC CYLONS?

Maureen Ryan, the TV critic/columnist for the Chicago Tribune, is a closet Toobworldian.

Wait, that's not true. Maureen Ryan could very well be probably proud of her Toobworld leanings.

While visiting Alan Sepinwall's blog entry about "Eggtown", this week's episode of 'Lost', Mo Ryan wrote:

Lost Easter Eggs says Sawyer's book, The Invention of Morel, is about a man who is "creating a machine to reproduce reality." Then I found it interesting that there were two robots on the wall over Aaron's bed. These two tiny facts probably have nothing to do with anything, but they fit into my theory that the fifth Cylon is on the Lost island...
11:45 AM, February 22, 2008
In response, Devin McCullen posted:
I don't watch Galactica, but ever since Mira Furlan showed up my secret Lost theory is that it's all a gigantic experiment by the Vorlons.

11:42 PM, February 22, 2008

And Ms. Ryan added:
Devin McCullen, you are my hero. I was going to bring up Babylon 5 and Mira Furlan but was too chicken. I can definitely Go There, sci-fi TV-wise, but I wimped out. I must give it up for your timely and well-put Voorlon reference.

Can we start talking Deep Space 9 now? Talk about the Founders? Just kidding.

Why kid about it? Such a conversation would be perfectly at home here at Inner Toob!

After all, I'm just biding my time before I bring up my various connections between 'Lost' and 'Doctor Who'!!!!

BCnU!
Toby OB

MIDWAY TO THE TVXOHOF

It's a given in the Toobworld concept that even though a show may be cancelled, its characters continue leading their lives in the TV Universe. And it doesn't matter how many years pass since they were last seen - take the cast of 'The Dick Van Dyke Show Reunion', for example. With the exception of Alan Brady, who appeared in an episode of 'Mad About You' back in the 1990s, most of them had not been seen since 'The Dick Van Dyke Show' left the air.
(Rob and Laura Petrie, shown here from the reunion special, appeared together in a sketch for a 1969 TV special that reunited Van Dyke with Mary Tyler Moore. But those Petries would have been doppelgangers from Skitlandia.)

When 'Stargate SG-1' finished its run, Samantha Carter moved over to the sequel, 'Stargate: Atlantis'. And Teal'c has now made two appearances on the series - the latest being in the recent episode "Midway".

Because of their different line of succession for the Presidency of the United States, the 'Stargate' series on the whole have to be relegated to a different dimension. However, It could be that the series started out on Earth Prime-Time and they "jump-gated" back to a new dimension with nobody the wiser. And then the national elections caused the divergence.
At any rate, I think Teal'c does exist in Earth Prime-Time, and it would be great if we got the chance to see him show up on another sci-fi series someday......

BCnU!
Toby OB

LOST JERICHO

Even in the parallel dimensions of Toobworld, the Numbers of 'Lost' hold sway.....

In the first episode since the return of 'Jericho', Stanley was seen wearing a really old football jersey with the number "15" emblazoned on the chest.

4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42......

(I wonder if there's any reason why "7" and "9" aren't represented anywhere in that sequence? "1" and "4" show up twice and "1" and "8" show up in the final tally of "108". But no 7s and no 9s......)

BCnU!
Toby OB

TOBY-VISIONS

My "serendipiteevee" kicked in yesterday when I flipped over to the Fox Movie Channel, just in time for a hypnotized Sheree North to gaze into the camera and proclaim:

"I want Toby."

Woohoo! Sign me up!

The moment came from "How To Be Very Very Popular", which came out the year I was born (another cosmic coincidence).

Later in that same film, Alice Pearce (who would later gain her true fame as the first Gladys Kravitz on 'Bewitched') said:

"You know what a dear, sweet, accommodating boy Toby is."

Well, I know it, that's for certain!

BCnU!
Toby OB

PS:

Oh, by the way - the last bit of serendipiteevee attached to the experience - Toby was played by Orson Bean, a favorite since I was a kid! (And he was totally ripped off by whoever approved that poster!)

TIDDLYWINKYDINKS: JAPANESE DRAGGIN'

My Little Buddy Sean, father of my god-daughter, sent me this e-mail from Taiwan [where he's relocated with the family in order to teach English]:

"::sigh::

I don't know WHY I thought of you when I read this..., but,

---Actually, it sounds like a scene out of one of my brother's queen movies..."

And there was a link to the following story:

A Japanese man was arrested for trespassing this week after turning up at a high school dressed in a girl's uniform and a long wig, local police said.

Thirty-nine-year-old Tetsunori Nanpei told police he had bought the uniform over the Internet and put it on to take a stroll near the school in Saitama, north of Tokyo, on Wednesday, the daily Asahi Shimbun said.

When students standing outside the gates started to scream at the sight of him, he dashed inside the school grounds, hoping to blend in with the crowds of teenagers, the paper said.

They also screamed, forcing the man to flee, losing his wig in the process. A school clerk pursued him and stopped him at a nearby riverbank, the paper said.

Police confirmed the arrest of the man in school uniform and wig but declined to give further details.
(Reuters - Reporting by Isabel Reynolds; Editing by Alex Richardson)

Well, I'll give him a good reason as to why he sent it: this would make a great story on 'Law & Order'. At least it would be a good jumping off point to get the main plot started.

What's great about 'Law & Order' and their ripped-from-the-headlines stories is that you may know the basics of the real news story, but you won't know where it's leading once given the 'L&O' treatment.

It could be one of Allan Shore's clients on 'Boston Legal' as well.....

BCnU!
Toby OB

TIDDLYWINKYDINKS: IN-JOKE CASTING (#2500)

This was from Time.com's TV blog, posted after last night's 'Lost' episode, "Eggtown":

But probably the best "wink" at the audience came in Kate's flash-forward, with her lawyer Duncan Forrester, played by Shawn Doyle. Did you recognize Mr. Doyle? In a 2000 Dennis Quaid-Jim Caviezel movie called "Frequency," which involved communication via short-wave radio across a 30-year time continuum, he played a character named... wait for it... Jack Shepard!

Actors are always cast on shows because of their previous connections to the project as an inside joke.

Examples:

Lee Majors, star of 'The Six Million Dollar Man', appearing in an episode of 'Jake 2.0'

William Shatner on 'Third Rock From The Sun', and both his character and that of John Lithgow had similar experiences seeing men on their airplanes' wings. (Just as they did in 'The Twilight Zone', TV show and movie respectively.

Marlo Thomas, formerly 'That Girl', in an episode of 'Ugly Betty', in which she went to see 'Wicked' on Broadway - during which Elphaba sings "I'm Not That Girl".

BCnU!
Toby OB

PS:
I'm going to make the claim that Duncan Forrester is related in some way to the Forrester family of the Los Angeles fashion industry......

And that's Post #2500!!!

SKED ALERT: "B&B"/"Y&R" CROSSOVER

Ashley Abbott and Eric Forrester of 'The Bold & The Beautiful' will cross over to 'The Young and the Restless' for a couple of episodes beginning Feb. 26th. For Ashley, it's a return home, as her family is based in Genoa City, Wisconsin.

BCnU!
Toby OB

NEWS VIEW: MARTIN DEPARTIN'

From Variety's V-TV:

After nine seasons, Jesse L. Martin is leaving “Law & Order” and is expected to be replaced by “K-Ville” star Anthony Anderson.

Martin’s departure has been buzzed about for months. He’s expected to lens one more episode of Dick Wolf’s NBC drama, with Anderson joining later this season.

With that one last episode to be filmed by Martin, I think they'll use it to wrap up his character's storyline. And with that being such an abrupt conclusion (within the context of the TV Universe), I've just got this feeling that Detective Ed Green will go the way of Detective Max Greevey.....

I don't know nuthin. This is Inner Toob; you think I have any inside contacts? Bwahahahahaha!

BTW - Detective Ed Green was the August 2006 inductee into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame as part of the year-long celebration of 'Law & Order'.

BCnU!
Toby OB

TIDDLYWINKYDINKS: THE CASE OF THE SHRINK'S DOOR

During the run of 'The Bob Newhart Show', the number on his office door changed from "715" to "751". His office was still in the same location, and had they moved to a different floor, it would have probably begun with a different number from "7".

I think it's a simple splainin. In order to facilitate faster mail distribution throughout the building, the numbers of each room on the floors were re-assigned. So it was the same office, different numerical designation.

Unfortunately, we don't get the full 'Lost' sequence with that first number - "415", "815", these would have been better for a cosmic link to "the Numbers".

BCnU!
Toby OB

TIDDLYWINKYDINKS: STANFORD SECOND SEMESTER

One last point about the new 'Knight Rider' and its place in Toobworld......
Yet again Stanford University plays a role in the lives of TV characters this season. Sarah Graiman was a teacher there, and had gone there earlier as a student herself. The new version of KITT was sent there to get her and it raced through the campus to elude their pursuit.

The other shows this year which featured or at least mentioned Stanford during the fall semester were:

'Chuck'
'Reaper'
'Journeyman'
'Boston Legal'
'Moonlight'

In the past, Stanford played a role in:

'Grey's Anatomy'
'One Tree Hill'
'One Man's Family'
'Party of Five'
'Too Close For Comfort'

And there may be more I'm not aware of yet!

BCnU!
Toby OB
UConn '77
(We get 'Cheers', maybe 'Judging Amy'....)

THE RETURN OF KITT: TO HAL AND BACK

Against my better judgement, I watched the new version of 'Knight Rider' - despite the reviews I read online from "The Medium Is Not Enough" and "TVSquad" (links to the left). After all, I have to fulfill my duties as a televisiologist!

One thing that I gained out of the experience, I got to try out NBC's "hulu" and its online content. Not a bad system.

Okay, so if this TV movie of 'Knight Rider' wins any Toobit Awards at the end of the year (Sequel, Movie, Comeback Character), it will probably be by default. Still and all, there were several items of note for Toobworld:

THE LINK TO 'LAS VEGAS'

When Sarah and KITT met up with Mike Traceur in Las Vegas, he was at the Montecito casino hoping to gamble his way to a big payday in order to save his friend. Not only does this link those two shows together, but also to 'Crossing Jordan', 'Heroes', 'Medium', 'The Office', 'Passions', and 'Bewitched'. While they still have those huge casino sets at their disposal, the network might as well use them to get the most synergistic value out of them.

THE RETURN OF MICHAEL KNIGHT
Hard to watch the Hoff without thinking of him writhing on the floor with a hamburger or sobbing his eyes out at some reality show competition, but there had to be some little thrill in the hearts of those geeks who loved the original to see him come back at the very end of the movie.

Too bad the original KITT couldn't be with him, but it looks like the Two Thousand got cannibalized for parts. (It would have been nice to hear the voice of William Daniels one last time as KITT, but the producers probably were afraid Val Kilmer would suffer in comparison.

VAL KILMER SUFFERS IN COMPARISON
Is there a word for automotive lobotomies? I've seen comparisons to the HAL 9000 of "2001: A Space Odyssey", but not in a good way. I half expected to hear KITT break out in a Quaalude-induced rendtion of "Daisy" at any moment.

I wasn't looking forward to Will Arnett in the role of KITT either, but he had to have been better than Kilmer.

You know who I'd cast? Maybe I've got DCI Gene Hunt on the brain, but Philip Glenister's bluster would have been an interesting choice for the vocal chops! Less snarky and more forthright with the insults, a real tiger in the tank when it came to attitude under the hood.

MIKE TRACEUR
What a horrible last name for the main character. It looks ugly, the supposed allusion doesn't make much sense. It's pronounced "Tracer" so it may as well be spelled that way.

It would have been obvious, - not that subtlety was on the mind of the creators - but I think they should have followed the same theme as they did with Michael Knight. Now that Mike is working for the Foundation, they should have provided him with a new alias; and one that had its roots in Michael Knight's last name.

Mike Ronin. Or Mike Paladin. Mike Armour. Something like that.

BRUCE DAVISON
I could be wrong, (It wouldn't be the first time!), but I don't think Charles Graiman ever was mentioned before in the 'Knight Rider' "history". However, it was fine with me so long as they had Bruce Davison to play the role. I've been a fan of his work ever since he first scared me as a kid with "Willard". (My favorite of his roles? In the adaptation of Ursula K. LeGuin's "The Lathe Of Heaven".)

EVEN WITH A GPS, KITT WAS "LOST"
KITT: "An outside source is hacking my system with surprising efficiency. They will have full control in 23 seconds....."

The numeral "23" is part of the sequence that adds up to "108" and which will save the world, according to the beliefs of the DHARMA Initiative on 'Lost'. And as demonstrated many times before, those numbers are universal in Toobworld, no matter what the show or network.

CROSSIN' WITH THE BLIPVERTS
Of course, with the new KITT being based on a Ford, the car company was a major advertiser for the movie's premiere. (Surprisingly, my online experience had only one sponsor - Gillette. Over and over and over again. It made me want to grow a beard.)

Just about all of the commercials were for the new Ford Focus. And most of those featured Justin Bruening as his character of Mike Traceur out on the town - making KITT very jealous.
Val Kilmer's monotone got its best presentation with the delivery of a line in the blipverts instead of in the movie. At one point during "The Date", it phoned in to Mike in order to ask the blonde hottie, "Would you like to ride in me? I have keyless entry."

I'm changing my earlier opinion. This series of ads may in fact end up winning the Toobit for Best Commercial Crossover!

Within the movie, there was a nice throwback to probably the greatest PSA in the history of Television. KITT displayed Iron Eyes Cody and that single tear drop on his cheek when it was lecturing Mike about littering.

TOUCHSTONES & DEVON MILES
The late Wilton Knight was name-checked, as was the Foundation, which Charles Graiman was going to revive. That would be the Foundation for Law and Government (FLaG), which in theory was also responsible for the Flag Formula used to transform Steve Rogers into Captain America.

It's a popular theory among televisiologists that Wilton Knight was related to Mrs. Emma Knight Peel, who inherited Knight Industries. I believe he was her uncle.

But where was mention of Devon Miles? We last saw him in Toobworld in 2000, when he was involved with 'Knight Rider 2000'. However, that was set in an alternate timeline for Toobworld in which guns have been outlawed and criminals have been cryogenically frozen.

What happened to the Devon Miles of the main Toobworld?

I'm afraid he's now dead as well, mirroring the fate of Edward Mulhare, the actor who played him. Mulhare passed away a decade ago, and the Devon Miles of Earth Prime-Time could have died at any point after 1986.

I'd hate for the role to be recast with some other actor and thus defile the memory of Mulhare as Devon. Again, I'm still O'Bsessed with the series finale of 'Life On Mars', but Philip Glenister as the Foundation's go-between could go from zero to sixty in the decorum department if the situation required it. Polite one moment, punching some guy's lights out the next.

SUMMING UP....
All in all, I got my money's worth watching it online, at least as far as Toobworld goes. If 'Knight Rider' goes to series, I won't be tagging along for the ride; only popping in now and again if there's some kind of crossover with other NBC shows.

Which makes me wonder..... if there was a crossover with 'Heroes', what would NBC do with regards to Ford vs. Nissan?

BCnU!
Toby OB

TIDDLYWINKYDINKS: QUE SERA, SARAH

Much was made earlier in the season of the number of "Chuck"s there were out there:

Charlotte "Chuck" Charles - 'Pushing Daisies'
Chuck Darling - 'Back To You'
Chuck Bass - 'Gossip Girl'
and of course,
Chuck Bartowski - 'Chuck'

And I watched 'Odyssey 5' back in December as part of my strike contingency. The main character is Chuck Taggart.

But I've noticed that there are a lot of "Sarah"s flitting about Toobworld lately.....

Sarah Walker - 'Chuck'
Sarah Whedon - 'Brothers & Sisters'
(who was Sarah Walker before she got married)
plus two variations
Sara Sidle - 'CSI'
Dr. Sara Tancredi - 'Prison Break'
and of course,
Sarah Connor - 'Terminator - The Sarah Connor Chronicles'

If 'Knight Rider' goes to series, we'll have yet another Sarah in Toobworld. Deanna Russo played Sarah Graiman, a Stanford instructor and the daughter of KITT's inventor.

BCnU!
Toby OB

VIEW NEWS: SEND IN THE CLONES!

George Lucas is trotting out the latest chapter of the "Star Wars" saga for Toobworld - 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars' (as opposed to 'Star Wars: Clone Wars', which already aired) will be coming to the Cartoon Network this fall. Preceding it will be a theatrical release prequel on August 15th.

There will be 30 half-hour episodes, with more to come. They take place between movies II and III in the life of Anakin Skywalker and will include many of the characters we're familiar with - like Yoda and Obi-Wan and Count Dooku - but also new characters like Asohka. (She's a teenage Jedi-in-training.)

The animated series will be using CGI rather than standard 2-D animation as was the case with 'Star Wars: Clone Wars' (which is available in a 2 DVD set).

'Star Wars' exists in Toobworld, both on Earth Prime-Time (thanks to 'The Muppet Show', many commercials and PSAs, and infamously, to the 1977 holiday special) and in the Tooniverse (the aforementioned 'Clone Wars', 'Droids', 'Ewoks', and also to that same holiday special). This new addition to the lore will be in the Tooniverse as well, although one might assume it will portray events played out in Toobworld in a galaxy far, far away......

BCnU!
Toby OB

TIDDLYWINKYDINKS: MUSTACHE FLYER

"Confirmed Dead" - the second episode of this season's 'Lost'......

When Frank Lapidus recognized that the body shown on TV (which was supposedly of the pilot of Oceanic Flight 815) was NOT Seth Norris, it was because the body wasn't wearing a wedding ring. It was not because he had no mustache, as shown in his identification photo.

Simple splainin on that - between the time the picture was taken and his final flight, Seth Norris shaved off his mustache.

Behind the scenes reason a mustache was added? I think it's because in the years since he played the ill-fated pilot in the show's pilot episode, Greg Grunberg had become widely known as Matt Parkman, telepathic cop on 'Heroes'. And even though he's best buds with JJ Abrams, the producer of 'Lost', I'm sure the Powers That Be at Bad Robot didn't want the audience at home making that connection.

That's my story and I'm sticking with it.

BCnU!
Toby OB

(Thanks to the "Lost Easter Eggs" blog for the picture)

MASTER-SKED SHOWCASE CHAOS

It's gotta be February Sweeps - it's a VERY crowded Sunday night when it comes to TV shows of Toobworld interest.

NBC is showing the new 'Knight Rider' movie.

CBS has the first episode of the edited 'Dexter'.

ABC has a new episode of 'Brothers & Sisters'.

AMC has the latest episode of 'Breaking Bad'.

HBO has the seventh episode of 'The Wire' - with a Very Important Person in Toobworld's pantheon making an appearance.

And all of those shows clash at some point in the 10 o'clock hour.

'The Wire' did start at 9 pm, but I forgot to check my DVR beforehand. And its 10:30 showing clashed with my taping of 'Brothers & Sisters' and 'Dexter'. So I'll be grabbing it on Monday night.

I'm recording 'Breaking Bad' at 11:00 pm to avoid that clash. And I had to sacrifice 'Knight Rider' altogether because of all the other shows. I'll know by tomorrow if I'm truly missing out on that.....

BCnU!
Toby OB

TIDDLYWINKYDINKS: "DEXTER" ON CBS TONIGHT

Tonight, 'Dexter' joins the CBS line-up, with trims of some of the show's more gorier aspects (as well as for language) which were acceptable when the series was first revealed on Showtime.

This doesn't alter the place 'Dexter' has in the TV Universe; the original version of the series is still the official Toobworld entry. In the long run, this is similar to the editing done on many classic TV series so that more commercial time can be squeezed into each half-hour.

The same thing has happened in recent years to 'The Wire' on BET, 'Torchwood' on BBC-America, and 'Doctor Who' on BBC-A and the Sci-Fi Channel. It's when new footage is added to replace key scenes which contained nudity - as happened with 'The Sopranos' on A&E or 'Dream On' when it was on FOX or Comedy Central - that you have to consider these versions to be in some alternate TV dimension.

If this altered version of 'Dexter' proves to be a big hit for CBS, might they try to find some way to capitalize on it? Say, by doing a crossover with 'CSI: Miami'? If the concept of the TV Universe is to be valid, Dexter should be crossing paths with Horatio Cane and his team on cases. Right now, we have to say that they do, but on cases that we just don't get to see on our screens at home.

(The same holds true for other characters like Michael Weston of 'Burn Notice', Sonny Crocket & Ricardo Tubbs of 'Miami Vice', and even 'The Golden Girls' and Dr. Weston of 'Empty Nest'.)

BCnU!
Toby OB