TVXOHOF, 03/2009-A: HUGH HEFNER

We're celebrating the 10th anniversary of the TV Crossover Hall of Fame this year with an induction each week, with four themes each month. The first week is for the League of Themselves, in which celebrities appear as fictionalized versions of themselves in varous shows.

And so for March, our latest member is the founder and publisher of "Playboy" magazine, Hugh Hefner.

Here's the reasoning in terms of word association: March, March Hare, Bunnies!

There are a slew of shows - talk shows, variety programs, documentaries, news interviews, in which Hugh Hefner appeared as himself. A slew of Hugh. Three especially come to mind: 'Playboy After Dark', 'Saturday Night Live', and 'The Girls Next Door'.

But we don't need those programs, when there are so many dramas and sitcoms in which he appeared as his own televersion -


"Shark"
- One Hit Wonder (2008)

"Family Guy"
- Airport '07 (2007)

"Robot Chicken"
- Drippy Pony (2006)

"Curb Your Enthusiasm"
- The Smoking Jacket (2005)

"According to Jim"
- Charity Begins at Hef's (2005)

"Entourage"
- Aquamansion (2005)

"The Bernie Mac Show"
- The Talk (2004)

"Las Vegas"
- Year of the Tiger (2003)

"The Bronx Bunny Show"
- Episode #1.2 (2003)

"Just Shoot Me!")
- At Long Last Allie (2001)

"Sex and the City"
- Sex and Another City (2000)

"V.I.P." .... Himself
- Why 2 Kay (1999)

"Buddy Faro"
- Death by Airbrush (1998)

"Roseanne"
- What a Day for a Daydream (1996)

"The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air"
- Fresh Prince After Dark (1993)

"Blossom"
- True Romance (1993)

"The Larry Sanders Show"
- Broadcast Nudes (1993)

"The Simpsons"
- Krusty Gets Kancelled (1993)

"Laverne & Shirley"
- The Playboy Show (1982)

"The Odd Couple"
- One for the Bunny (1974)

"Burke's Law"
- Who Killed the Grand Piano? (1965) .... Bunny Club Manager
(But he might as well have been considered as Hugh Hefner. Perhaps the early beginnings for Hef's televersion differed from that in his real life.)

Hef's appearances on 'Family Guy' and 'The Simpsons' are for the Tooniverse. And 'Robot Chicken' takes place in that alternate TV dimension set aside for "Claymation", stop motion, and "Supermarionation" tv shows. His appearance on 'Roseanne' (and maybe 'Blossom') doesn't really count in connecting to other TV shows, as it was part of a fantasy daydream sequence. However, they had to know about Hefner in order to daydream about him.

Congratulations, Mr. Hefner. You and your smoking jacket are now members of the TV Crossover Hall of Fame.

BCnU!
Toby O'B