THE REBEL ALLIANCE

When I got home from work this morning, I checked out my DVR recording of the Sci-Fi broadcast of Catherine Tate's return to 'Doctor Who' - "Partners In Crime".

The real crime was in the cutting room!

Here's how my blogging buddy Joe B. describes it over at his site, "I Am A TV Junkie" (link to the left!):

Just know that it's a much better episode than you saw. It was ...... hacked to bits, more than likely by a twelve-year-old boy, and one that had never seen an episode of 'Doctor Who'.

Can we find out who's responsible and ... you know ... get all mad and stuff?

I guess we could not watch and wait for the DVDs or move or ...

... you know what I mean.

Not that I advocate that kind of thing, but what I'm watching here right now, it's criminal to cut the heart out of the story.

They cut out all the best Donna/Grandpa stuff. Now at the end when they do the Grandpa flyby it won't mean anything.

Does RTD get approval on this stuff? He should hold out for that next time he signs to do something, he has the clout. The show I'm watching now is considerably less desirable than the one that ran on BBC One.

That affects the US market's perception of the show and their perception of him in an increasingly global TV market which it can be argued affects his value in that market. It's not just a diva move, it's protecting yourself.

Sorry, it's just that they cut my favorite scene.

Well, I will advocate that sort of thing! Once again I feel compelled to speak up in support of bit torrent rebels. If you have access to the show via those means, then go see that episode again. That was a very touching scene between Donna Noble and Wilf Mott, her grandfather; probably the only good family scene RTD has been able to bring to the series.

And they shredded it to fit more commercials into the hour......

Of course, for Toobworld itself, it's the original broadcast that stands as the official "history", but it irks me that so many people in America couldn't get to see it.

BCnU!

Toby OB

GLAD IT WASN'T MY ANNIVERSARY!

I just noticed that I hit the 2700th post this past Sunday with the story about Mike Bloomberg appearing as himself on '30 Rock'.

And it reminds me I still have to write about that connection between '30 Rock' and 'Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles'......

BCnU!
Toby OB

TODAY'S TWD: DARFUR

Ricky Paull Goldin is joining the cast of 'All My Children' as a recastaway for Dr. Jake Martin, brother to long-time character Tad. When last seen, Jake was headed to Africa in 2003 to help out with the Doctors Without Borders group (and was played at that time by J. Eddie Peck).

But now Jake is being held captive by rebel fighters in Darfur, hoping for a big ransom payout by the Cambias Corporation.

I'm not sure if the Darfur Genocide has played a role in Toobworld yet; I wouldn't be surprised if it's at least been the topic of a court case on 'Boston Legal'. But this may be the first time that a series has thrown one of its characters into the thick of it.

Despite news stories about the conflicts which have connections to such high-wattage celebs as George Clooney and Steven Spielberg, Darfur still seems to bubble deep under the surface of most people's consciousness - at least that's the impression I get. So here's a little bit o' info on the situation from Wikipedia:

The War in Darfur (called the Darfur Genocide by the United States Government) is a military conflict in the Darfur region of western Sudan. Unlike the Second Sudanese Civil War, the current lines of conflict are seen to be ethnic and tribal, rather than religious. One side of the armed conflict is composed mainly of the Sudanese military and the Janjaweed, a militia group recruited mostly from the Arab Baggara tribes of the northern Rizeigat, camel-herding nomads. The other side comprises a variety of rebel groups, notably the Sudan Liberation Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement, recruited primarily from the land-tilling non-Arab Fur, Zaghawa, and Massaleit ethnic groups. The Sudanese government, while publicly denying that it supports the Janjaweed, has provided money and assistance to the militia and has participated in joint attacks targeting the tribes from which the rebels draw support. The conflict began in February of 2003.

You can read more here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_Darfur

And if you want to help the refugees, try these sites:

http://www.fund4darfur.org/

http://www.theirc.org/

http://www.charity.org

As for a splainin re: the recastaway of Jake from Peck to Goldin, maybe the rigors and hardships of the last five years in Darfur could be the reason......

BCnU....
Toby OB

MY SO-CALLED LIFE - TAKIN' A LAKE BREAK

I should have posted a picture of a Campbell's soup can on Tuesday night from work......

I spent my days off up at the Lake with my brother Bill and it was beautiful weather for it! Not warm enough for swimming, O'Bviously, but still..... (Bill did go out in the kayak; I was content to sit on the porch.)

On Wednesday night, we had dinner with my sister Leah and her family and my other brother AJ, to remember our parents for their 54th anniversary, as well as to celebrate AJ finishing his electrician's schooling.

The cable's not on yet at the Lake, but that was fine - Leah owns the house up behind the place and all I really needed to see was 'Lost' on Thursday night. Got to see 'Scrubs', '30 Rock', and 'The Office' as well. (The 8 pm half hour in which I'd normally have seen 'My Name Is Earl' was given over to story-time with my nephew Tommy. But I did get to see a good chunk of it anyway while he was off finding new books for me to read.)

I went up to the Lake prepared - DVDs! We watched 'Hot Fuzz' - fourth time for me, first for Bill - as well as the remake of the magician's episode by Levinson & Link from the 90s version of 'Burke's Law', an episode of 'Riverboat' which guest-starred Vera Miles, Robert Vaughn, and Madlyn Rhue, "The Mysterious Affair At Styles", and a 1977 TV musical: "Once Upon The Brothers Grimm" which starred Dean Jones, Paul Sand, Arte Johnson, Teri Garr, Ruth Buzzi, Chita Rivera, Clive Revill, Todd Lookinland, Sorrell Brooke, Cleavon Little, and John McCook. [The liner notes on this home-made disk say that Madeline Kahn is in it, but they were mistaken. Music was by Mitch Leigh and lyrics from Sammy Cahn.]

I also brought along a six episode collection of a moldy oldie, 'Gang-Busters', but never got around to cracking it open.

Good thing I had all those to watch, because my brother forgot to bring up my laptop from his house. Even though it's dial-up and is fading fast in some respects, it still could have kept me up-to-date with Toobworld Central and with my e-mails in general - By the time I got back to New York yesterday, I had over forty e-mails to address!

So I apologize for the lack of at least the daily Tiddlywinkydinks for the last few days.

But the way those days off turned out, I wouldn't have missed it for anything!

BCnU!
Toby OB

TODAY'S TWD: SECRETARY @.....

Administrative Professionals' Day (Secretaries' Day) is an unofficial secular holiday observed on the last Wednesday of April, to recognize the work of clerical employees such as secretaries, receptionists, paralegals, etc. It is celebrated as part of a larger Administrative Professionals Week, which takes place during the last full week of April.

This year, "Secretaries' Day" (yes, I'm a chauvinistic troglo- er, traditionalist) is celebrated today, April 23rd.

So today we salute those "administrative professionals", secretaries, and the occasional Gal Friday - from Schultzie and Suzie McNamara to Toby Pedalbee and Pam Beesley, including the girls at Peggy Revere's secretarial school in Los Angeles and the young ladies of Type For You in London.

And even Mrs. H'Wiggins, despite any protests from Mr. Tudball.

BCnU!

Toby OB

SHOWS CITED:

'Love That Bob!'

'Private Secretary'

'Dream On'

'The Office' [pictured]

'Banyon'

'As Time Goes By'

'The Carol Burnett Show'

"THE NUMBERS", BUSSED IN

In the 'Poirot' mystery "Hickory Dickory Dock", Hercule Poirot learns that there is a bus that runs from Hickory Road to the Hospital.

That bus is the Number 42.

As expected, Poirot gets the answer to his murder mystery, if not to Life, the Universe, and Everything......

BCnU!
Toby OB

TODAY'S TWD: KIEFER GETS "GAS"

'Corner Gas' is a Canadian production that just aired its fifth season finale. It takes place in Dog River, Saskatchewan, and centers around the Corner Gas station. From the descriptions I've been reading, it sounds like visitors from Cicely, Alaska, Fernwood, Ohio, and maybe even from Hooterville might find themselves right at home there in Dog River.

With the fifth season finale, 'Corner Gas' offered up a League of Themselves appearance by Kiefer Sutherland as himself. Although he didn't identify himself, his mother called him by name at the end - and she was played by his actual mother, Shirley Douglas.

I don't think 'Corner Gas' has ever made it down into the States, at least not much farther beyond the "Borderlands", but it sounds like the kind of show that might work well on a PBS station. (Hey, Brent! Let me know if I'm mistaken in any of this.)

Since it's unlikely that most of my Toobworld audience will ever get the chance to see this show, Jam! Television, a Canadian site, has published that scene with Sutherland and which I'm reprinting here. (Check out Jam! - you'll find the link to the left.)

Wanda (Nancy Robertson) was planning a fireworks display for midnight, when Brent (series creator Brent Butt) was going to turn 40. But local policeman Davis (Lorne Cardinal) thought the display would be a fire hazard and wanted to stop it.

After being thwarted in his attempts to mobilize a field team (i.e., the local field hockey team and the local football team), a frustrated Davis blurted to the mayor, "Fine, if you won't help me, I'll find someone else who will."

Davis slammed down the phone, then picked it up and dialed another number.

Cut to Kiefer, who since 2001 has played Jack Bauer on the groundbreaking action series 24. In this instance, Kiefer was dressed in a bathrobe, seated in a dimly lit room, staring intently at a computer.

Kiefer: "Hello."
Davis: "We have a problem. We need to set up a perimeter."
Kiefer: "Who is this?"
Davis: "Isn't this the coach of the baseball team?"
Kiefer: "No, you have the wrong number. This is Shirley Douglas' residence."
Davis: "Really?"
Kiefer: (slightly impatient): "Yes, I should know, she's my mother."
Davis (mocking): "Your mother? You still live with your mother? How old are ya?"
Kiefer: "I'm hanging up now."

At which point, the light in Kiefer's room changed as a door opened.

Douglas' voice: "Kiefer, who was that?"
Kiefer (exploding in anger): "Dammit, Mom, I told you to knock before you come in!"

[Thanks to Bill Harris of Sun Media]

Kiefer Sutherland has also appeared as himself in fictional series "American Misfits", "Free Radio", and "Made In Canada". So he's upped the ante for his eventual inclusion into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame as a member of the League of Themselves.

And that exchange between him and his mother helps seal the deal. Bwahahahaha!

BCnU!

Toby OB

THICKE IN THE SAND

New week, new League of Themselves appearances! And 'How I Met Your Mother' struck with two!

The 80s pop princess Tiffany appeared as herself in Robin's video "Sandcastles In The Sand" (which Robin made in Canada when she was known as Robin Sparkles). Tiffany's appeared on a lot of variety programs and talk shows, but as Monty Python would say, Where's the sport in that, eh? (She also appeared in an episode of 'Out Of This World', but I'm not sure whom she was portraying.)

And then there was Alan Thicke who, like Tiffany, appeared in the video as Robin's disapproving Dad. (He sort of reminded me of a very Disneyfied version of Danny Aiello in Madonna's "Papa Don't Preach".)

This marks Thicke's fourth televersion of himself in a fictional storyline. He also showed up in 'Joey', 'Hangin' With Mr. Cooper', 'Just Shoot Me', and in 'Hope & Gloria' in which he was already appearing as talk show host Dennis Dupree!

So he's a lock someday for the TV Crossover Hall of Fame!

If you haven't seen the episode, it's called "Sandcastles In The Sand". There was a lot of pre-publicity about that Robin Sparkles video.

Well, that episode should have been titled "The MacGuffin".

Just sayin', is all......

BCnU!
Toby OB

AN EDITING EDITORIAL

I don't think I'll ever understand the thinking that goes in to editing British TV shows to fit American schedules. For me, it's especially noticeable with 'Doctor Who'. I see the unedited BBC versions before I also watch the BBC-A/Sci-Fi versions that have been snipped to fit in a flood of commercials.
This came to mind with the broadcast of "The Voyage Of The Damned" this past week on Sci-Fi. The American audience never got to hear Mr. Copper admit that he didn't really have a degree in Earthanomics as he earlier claimed. Instead, he was a travelling salesman with a degree from Mrs. Golightly's Travelling University and Dry Cleaners who conned his way into the job on board the Titanic. So later, when he sadly ruminated on the inevitability of being arrested and spending ten years in prison, we really didn't know why.

As my Little Buddy Sean pointed out, that "Bridge of Khazad-Dum" sequence could have been snipped by several minutes and nobody would have noticed; nothing really would have been lost. And that way, they could have retained Mr. Copper's admission.
So that's the main reason why I'll never speak out against those who watch these shows in bit torrent - until the DVDs are released, it's the only way to properly see the episode in its entirety over here.

BCnU!
Toby OB

TODAY'S TWD: AN ALIEN CENSUS

Now I find myself dreaming about Toobworld blogging.

It came to me in a dream the other day that I'd make a list of the aliens living on Earth - on Toobworld, of course! - and post it to Inner Toob. I think it's probably because I watched the 'Doctor Who' Christmas special again, this time on Sci-Fi, and then went off to nap before work. And at the end of "Voyage of the Damned", Mr. Copper of Sto took his leave of the Doctor with plans to spend the rest of his days living among the humans in a little cottage - thanks to his credit card worth over a million pounds.

So I've started this list of those aliens who lived among the human population:

INDIVIDUALS
Bayldon Copper - 'Doctor Who'

Meego - 'Meego'

Mestral - 'Enterprise'

Bennu - 'The Phoenix'

Mork - 'Mork & Mindy'

"Paul Forrester" - 'Starman'

Teal'c - 'Stargate: SG-1'

Max Evans
Isabel Evans - all four from 'Roswell'
Michael Guerin
Tess Harding

Dick Solomon
Harry Solomon - all four from '3rd Rock From The Sun'
Sally Solomon
Tommy Solomon

ALIEN RACES
The Galacticans - 'Battlestar Galactica' (original) & 'Galactica 1980'

Martians (bird-like race) - 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents'

"The People"

The Gua - 'First Wave'

"The Puppets" - 'Lost On Earth'

"The Black Leather Jackets" bike gang - 'The Twilight Zone'
[Many of the alien visitors in the various episodes of 'The Twilight Zone' may have been solitary visitors. Those who were part of scouting parties probably found reason not to invade this planet.)

ALIEN-HUMAN HYBRIDS
Mearth (Orkan/Human) - 'Mork & Mindy'

Evie Garland (Anterian/Human) - 'Out Of This World'

Scott Hayden - 'Starman'

PROBABLY DEPARTED FROM EARTH (POSSIBLY DECEASED)
Exigius 12½ (aka "Uncle Martin O'Hara") - 'My Favorite Martian'

Ford Prefect - 'The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy'

Professor Chronotis - 'Doctor Who'

Matthew Star
Walt Shepherd - both from 'The Powers Of Mathew Star'

The Visitors - 'V' & 'V: The Series'
The Tenctonese - 'Alien Nation'
[Some of the Tenctonese may have opted to remain on Earth. But because we don't "see" them around anymore, as a whole they may have finally found a way to leave Earth and either go back to Tencton or to a new planet of their own.]

Mankind has never been free of aliens living in their midst in Toobworld. In fact, the human race wasn't developed purely on Earth without genetic intervention from other species.

In 2,000,000 BC, a Golgafrinchan spaceship crash-landed on Earth ('The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy'). It is assumed that the survivors eventually mated with the native inhabitants to produce the next evolutionary step in human development. (The results of which could probably be seen in the TV series 'It's About Time'.)

Around 400 BC, survivors of the Sahndaran system landed on Earth and became heavily influenced by the teachings of Plato ('Star Trek'). Before departings, some of them may have sired children on the human population. It's the Toobworld contention that one definitely did so, the dwarf Alexander. One of his descendants would be Dr. Miguelito Loveless ('The Wild, Wild West').

This is a work in progress. If you have any suggestions for additions to the list, PLEASE send them along!

BCnU!
Toby OB

THE REAL BLOOMBERG TELEVISION!

A great League of Themselves appearance this past week - Mayor Mike Bloomberg of NYC showed up in a fake MSNBC news report as he honored Dennis Duffy as the subway hero.

The capper to his appearance was the news crawl along the bottom of the screen. Probably the best of the bunch was the news that a baby bottle had been found on Mars. There was one about a zombie ambassador as well. However, for Toobworld, you couldn't beat the breaking news that NORAD had put cyborgs in charge of Skynet.

I'll have more on that soon......

In the meantime, this marked Bloomberg's third appearance as himself in Toobworld, and they were all in NBC shows. (He appeared twice on 'Law & Order' before this.) And later this year he'll be showing up as himself in the Toobworld-related movie of 'Sex And The City'.
One more fictional series under his belt and Mayor Mike could be inducted into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame!

BCnU!
Toby OB

THE 11th, PLUS - ADDENDUM

FBI Agent Will Preecher:
"Do you know who caught the case over at the 11th squad?"

FBI Special Agent Jimmy Flynn:
"My nightmare scenario."
'Big Apple'

If you don't read the comments on my posts, you'd never find out that my crossover compadre RAF - who makes a compelling case for linking over 330 shows together! - added more TV series to the NYPD's 11th Precinct.

I pointed out that it was home to Detective John Amsterdam of 'New Amsterdam' and Detective Sara Pezzini of 'Witchblade'. And RAF clued me in that it also was the setting for 'Big Apple', where Detectives Mike Mooney and Vincent Trout stumbled into an FBI operation during an investigation which led to the two groups working uneasily with each other.

RAF also pointed me towards "Slayer", an episode of 'Brimstone' in which a deceased cop whose soul had gone to Hell goes to work for the Devil to retrieve escaped souls. Ezekiel Stone's quarry this time out was Hasdrabul Skaras, an ancient Carthaginian who targeted the widows of police officers from the 11th.

But wait! There's more!

RAF also showed me how that final episode of 'New Amsterdam' gets locked into the larger picture - one of Amsterdam's suspects had a pack of Morley's Cigarettes! This is a quintessential prop in so many TV series:

Beverly Hills, 90210
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Cold Case
Criminal Minds
ER
Jake 2.0
Killer Instinct
The L Word
Malcolm in the Middle
Medium
Millennium
Mission: Impossible
Nash Bridges
Prison Break
The Outer Limits
Space: Above and Beyond
Special Unit 2
Spy Game
That '70s Show
The Twilight Zone
The X-Files

[Check the Wikipedia entry for Morley's Cigarettes to find out more about each appearance.]

So as far as Toobworld is concerned, 'New Amsterdam' went out with a bang. Combined with his possible family links to other TV characters throughout the years, John Amsterdam may well be considered an integral member of the TV Universe.

Thanks, RAF!

BCnU!
Toby OB

TODAY'S TWD: THE SATURDAY NIGHT SAVIOUR

The Sunday Telegraph in Great Britain ran an "arts power list" in the paper a couple of weeks ago. Russell T. Davies, the writer of 'Queer As Folk' and "Casanova", was named number 42 on the list because he brought 'Doctor Who' back from the dead in 2005. (Well, he brought it back at least from Limbo. How could you actually kill such a fantastic concept for a show?)

In the article, the newspaper proclaimed Davies as "the saviour of Saturday night entertainment".

With this listing, RTD, who's in our Behind The Scenes wing at the TV Crossover Hall Of Fame as of last year, shows that "The Numbers" of 'Lost' can play a part in the real world - at least when it's in relation to Toobworld....

BCnU!

Toby OB