THE LEGEND OF SANTA LARRY

This is Larry.

I believe that all his life, it has been Larry's dream to play Santa Claus. No, even better - it has been his dream to BE Santa Claus.

It is the contention of Toobworld Central that Larry grew up in the Seattle region, and began playing Santa Claus at his family's holiday gatherings in his late teens. He parlayed that into gigs for office parties, at day care centers and schools, and finally he became a department store Santa at several of the area malls. He may have also volunteered to be one of the bell-ringing Santa Clauses on the street corners of Seattle.

After years of dedication to his craft, Larry finally made it to the big time: he was chosen to be THE Santa Claus for the annual Christmas Parade in Seattle, which was covered by Channel 6.

The Christmas Parade had a long tradition on Channel 6, since the days when it was covered by Bob Vernon and Sgt. Michelle the Traffic Lady. But by the 1990's, it was hosted by Cal and Kelly Kirkland - until 2000, when Kelly discovered that Cal had been boinking her cue card girl. Because of their impending divorce, Dr. Frasier Crane got a chance to co-host with Kelly; but when she was sidelined by an accident, Frasier's co-host was his rival at the radio station, "Dr. Mary". Poor Larry had no clue what was in store for him during that year's parade. When Santa Claus reached the Channel 6 reviewing stand, Frasier was so bent out of shape that "Dr. Mary" was horning in on his interview with Santa that the radio psychiatrist accidentally broke Santa's nose with his microphone.

[You can see the full episode here.]

Even though he was the victim, it looks like Larry ended up paying the price. Perhaps because of his angry outburst over the bloody "attack", it could be that Larry lost the parade gig and was blacklisted from working as Santa in the general Seattle region. The reason we surmise this is because he finally resurfaced as Santa Claus seven years later... in Washington, D.C. Despite his setback in Seattle, it looks like Larry didn't lose his desire to be Santa Claus, nor did he lose his charitable spirit. But it was all severely tested when he and his fellow Santa volunteers were all suspects in the murder of another Santa Claus (who was legally named Kris Kringle).

Here's the promo for that episode:

After that, Larry decided to abandon the Nation's Capital and he headed to America's Heartland, deep in 'The Middle' of nowhere: Orson, Indiana. However, even there Larry wasn't safe from the travails of the job. Two years into his run, one visit to his lap by young Brick Heck, and Larry ended up questioning the meaning of his existence. Because of that, Larry couldn't even fulfill his commitment to play out the season as Santa Claus there in Orson. So he decided to find somewhere else where he could ply his trade as Saint Nick. And he chose Philadelphia.

I can picture his thought process: Philadelphia is the City of Brotherly Love. What could possibly go wrong?

Charlie Kelly for one...... The following clip is not safe for work. It's not safe for home viewing at home if you have impressionable children about. But here's what happened when Santa Larry met Charlie:

Charlie vs. Santa Claus

I'm hoping Santa Larry survived the attack. I'm pretty sure he did. But I also hope that it doesn't spoil his enthusiasm for playing that jolly old elf. Perhaps next year around this time of the season, in some part of the country, we'll see him again on some TV series in the role he was born to play - Santa Claus! BCnU!
This has been a post of pure speculation about the characters played by Donovan Scott (seen above as himself) in the following TV series:

"Frasier"
- Mary Christmas (2000)

"Bones"
- The Santa in the Slush (2007)
(This is the episode in which we learned that his real name is Larry.)

"The Middle"
- Christmas (2009)

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: It's a Very Sunny Christmas (2009)

You can bet Santa's workshop that someday Santa Larry will be inducted into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame!

AS SEEN ON TV: BRAD CUNNINGHAM

Tomorrow we begin a week of Christmas-related "As Seen On TV" posts. So let's take one last stroll down the dark path before we bathe in the glow of the holiday......

BRAD CUNNINGHAM

AS SEEN IN:
"Dead By Sunset"

AS PLAYED BY:
Ken Olin

From Mystery Crime Scene:
When attorney Cheryl Keeton's brutally bludgeoned body was found in her van in the fast lane of an Oregon freeway, her husband, Brad Cunningham, was the likely suspect. But there was no solid evidence linking him to the crime. He married again, for the fifth time, and his stunning new wife, a physician named Sara, adopted his three sons. They all settled down to family life on a luxurious estate. But gradually, their marriage became a nightmare....

From Wikipedia:
Dead By Sunset is a 1995 true crime novel by Ann Rule. It is based on the 1986 Oregon case of the murder of Cheryl Keeton, who was found beaten to death inside her van on the Sunset Highway and the later conviction of her estranged husband, Brad Cunningham.

Later in 1995, NBC aired a mini-series named Dead By Sunset. It was based on the book and starred Annette O'Toole as Keeton and Ken Olin as Cunningham. Mystery Crime Scene gives a full account of the Cunningham case.....

Certainly not the kind of Cunningham you'd expect to find in Toobworld....

BCnU!

PUDSEY'S BAND-AID

Back around the time we were celebrating Thanksgiving over here, the UK was in the midst of their big annual charity cause, "Children In Need". In the past there has always been a real attention-grabbing video to really stir people into digging deep into their pockets to help out Pudsey the Bear's cause. (For those who don't know Pudsey, he's the Teddy Bear who's playing the guitar solo.)

In the past there was the bridge between the last of Christopher Eccleston's run as the Doctor and David Tennant's ascension to the TARDIS, in which Rose tried to adjust to the Doctor's new form. And then there was the 10th Doctor's encounter with the Fifth Doctor in "Time Crash". There have also been music videos by casts from various shows like the one from 'EastEnders' which was all sixties pop.

But this year the big event was the music video produced by Peter Kay in which most of the beloved children's TV characters all joined in to sing a medley of songs including "Jai Ho", "Don't Stop", "Tubthumping", and "Hey Jude".

In my research into British TV, I've become familiar with a lot of the classic characters - Bagpuss, Andy Pandy, the Flowerpot Men, Muffin the Mule, Postman Pat, Bob the Builder, Thomas the Tank Engine and the various Gerry Anderson supermarionettes. And who could avoid recognizing the Tele-Tubbies? But there were so many more that I just had no clue about. For instance, those rat-like creatures known as the Wombles? I thought they were connected somehow to Roland the Rat. (O'Bviously I knew the American visitors like Ben Ten, Spongebob Squarepants, and Shaggy and Scooby-Doo.)

Luckily there's a Wikipedia page that gives a run-down of all the characters with links to their own entries. (I just wish those pages included pics of them all. For instance, who was the guy whose head was a tied off sack, and who had a carrot for a nose? And who was the young kid playing the drums? I liked them.)

So, for those of you who haven't seen it yet, here's the Children in Need music video:



For those who like to know some of the actors involved, I'm pretty sure that was Jane Horrocks (best known over here for Bubble in 'Absolutely Fabulous) singing the lead on the "Jai Ho" segment. Bernard Cribbins (who narrated the story of the Wombles), 'Doctor Who' voice man Roy Skelton, and some guy named Ringo Starr are also in the mix.

There were two characters I wish had been involved - Danger Mouse and Basil Brush......

I think since I first saw this on Wednesday, I must have watched it twenty times. And I've ordered a couple copies of the CD. I'm hoping a Region 1 version of the DVD might become available over here as well!

By the way, I think it safe to say that this is going to be a Toobits Awards winner....

My very big thanks go out to Andrew Brook, who gave me the head's-up not only to the video, but also to the Wiki key to the identities of everybody concerned.

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: GRACIE FIELDS

As I was doing research into the Children in Need music video, I found out that Jane Horrocks played Gracie Fields last month on the BBC......

GRACIE FIELDS

AS SEEN IN:
"Gracie!"

AS PLAYED BY:
Jane Horrocks

From Wikipedia:
Dame Gracie Fields, DBE (9 January, 1898 – 27 September, 1979), born Grace Stansfield, was an English-born, later Italian-based actress, singer and comedienne widely hailed as one of the greatest stars of both cinema and music hall.

In 1939, she became seriously ill with cervical cancer. The public sent over 250,000 goodwill messages and she retired to her villa on Capri. After she recovered, she recorded a very special 78 record simply called Gracie's Thanks, in which she thanks the public for the many cards and letters she received while in hospital. During World War II, she paid for all Servicemen/women to travel free on public transport within the boundaries of Rochdale.

World War II was declared while she was recovering and Fields travelled to France to entertain the troops. In 1940, she married Italian-born film director Monty Banks, following her divorce from Archie Pitt.

However, because Banks remained an Italian citizen and would have been interned in the United Kingdom, she was forced to leave Britain for North America during the war. Although she continued to spend much of her time entertaining troops and otherwise supporting the war effort outside Britain, this led to a fall-off in her popularity at home. She performed many times for Allied troops, travelling as far as New Guinea, where she received an enthusiastic response from Australian personnel. BCnU!

ECHOES: SPLAININ' TO DO

RICKY RICARDO:
"Lucy...? You got some splainin' to do!"
'I Love Lucy'

JULIO FUENTES:
"Let me splain."
FRED SANFORD:
"Splain?
Listen, Lamont, he's gonna splain.
Go ahead, splain, Julio!"
'Sanford And Son'

BCnU!

YES, VIRGINIA, THERE IS A MICHAEL BUSCEMI

Somebody in the production company for the CBS special "Yes, Virginia" really bleeped up when it came to the credits for the actors. The role of "Scraggly Santa" was attributed to Steve Buscemi in the end credit sequence; but the role was played by his brother Michael.

In the past, Toobworld Central has taken the position that credits have no effect on a TV show; it's what is stated in the actual program that matters most. And in this case, there's even less concern since there is no connection between the characters of Toobworld (or in this case, the Tooniverse) and the actors who play them in the real world.

Still and all, that must have put Michael Buscemi on the phone to his agent as soon as he saw it!

BCnU!

WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE: HOARDERS

I have this friend, Michael. Love him dearly, but he's got this fascination for reality TV which I, as a Caretaker for the fictional reality of Toobworld, can not comprehend.

Last night, he showed me an episode of a new one, 'Hoarders'. And of course, I didn't like it. But I think that may have been more because I could see myself - only a little - in the two subjects of that episode. Yeah, I do have a lot more stuff in this apartment than I really need, and there are boxes of videotapes down the long hallway which will probably never see the light of day again. But at least they're boxed up and out of the way, not like some of those people. At least for now; I hope forever!

Anyhoo, TV blogger and former NY Post TV columnist Adam Buckman (who's got an incredibly inflated ego - just check out that heading on his blog!) has written an article about these 'Hoarders' and reminds us of who might be Toobworld's original hoarder: Fred Sanford!

So, at least in this, common ground has been found for me and Michael, between my little fantasy concept of Toobworld and the reality blight that once could have threatened to destroy it. BCnU!

By the way... I'm cleaning my apartment tomorrow!

AS SEEN ON TV: JANE AUSTEN

JANE AUSTEN

AS SEEN IN:
"The Real Jane Austen"

AS PLAYED BY:
Gillian Kearney

HAPPY 234TH BIRTHDAY!
[One day late....]

BCnU!

WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE: FROSTY

"Frosty the Snowman" is cute and all, but if it happened in real life......?

BCnU!

TVXOHOF, 12/2009-C: FROSTY THE SNOWMAN

As has been the case all year with the third week of the month, we're crossing over into the Tooniverse for this week's induction into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame. And since it's December, we're going with a holiday cartoon classic: "Frosty the Snowman" has been aired on CBS since my sister's first birthday. He was voiced by the late, dour comic Jackie Vernon who also provided the voice for the sequel, "Frosty's Winter Wonderland". In the early 1990's, CBS produced their own sequel with Bill Melendez rather than Rankin-Bass; and this is what always follows the original "Frosty" special. Sadly, it looks like "Frosty's Winter Wonderland" is lost to future generations (unless it's on DVD?).....

Jackie Vernon
. . . Frosty the Snowman (1969)
. . . Frosty's Winter Wonderland (1976)

John Goodman
. . . Frosty Returns (1992)

Here's a rundown of the plots for the three specials, provided by Wikipedia:

"Frosty The Snowman"
Jimmy Durante provided the narration, with Billy DeWolfe as Professor Hinkle, a frustrated magician who throws away his magic hat after performing in a school Christmas show. The children build a snowman, and Professor Hinkle's hat brings the snowman to life, voiced by Jackie Vernon. With the help of his friend Karen, [Frosty] tries to get to the North Pole before he melts.

"Frosty's Winter Wonderland"
In this sequel to Frosty the Snowman, narrated by Andy Griffith, Frosty gets a wife named Crystal. Other voices include Jackie Vernon, Shelley Winters, Dennis Day, and Paul Frees.

"Frosty Returns"'
Frosty Returns' is a "sequel", or more of a follow up to the original Rankin/Bass Christmas Special, "Frosty the Snowman". This story includes no other characters from either "Frosty the Snowman" or "Frosty's Winter Wonderland". In "Frosty Returns", the plot is a girl and boy with no friends meet frosty and become friends with him. mean while, a crazy old man is selling his new invention of snow melting spray called Summer Wheeze like hotcakes around town because none of the adults seem to enjoy the winter weather. The kids and Frosty must stop Summer Wheeze before it melts everything including Frosty.
In "Frosty Returns", the snowman's voice is now provided by John Goodman. (Jackie Vernon had since passed away.) But there's an easy splainin for this without opting for the alternate dimension route: this time when Frosty was created, it was with a different mix of snow from another region of the country, sort of like a DNA recombinant but with snow. And this caused the variation in his vocal timbre.

This would also be the splainin for the vocal changes of Frosty the Innapropriate Snowman. These two CBS promos have to be considered part of the Tooniverse now that they've been broadcast, even though it was only on the Internet. (I'm sure FOX News repeated them on the air when they went off on their tirades about it.)

And even though they were first broadcast this year, one of them can be considered as having happened last Christmas season so that the two different voices of Frosty don't have to overlap. And as for the repeat of events in each one from the original cartoon, Toobworld has often seen events repeat themselves - take the "dead magician in the closed coffin at the bottom of a pool" murder case from both the original 'Burke's Law' and in its 1990's sequel.

(Since 'Two And A Half Men' and 'How I Met Your Mother' occur in the main Toobworld, they have no true connection in the grand scheme of things.) Frosty also appeared in a Rankin-Bass theatrical release, once again voiced by Jackie Vernon entitled "Rudolph And Frosty's Christmas In July". But this belongs more in the world of their stop-motion "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer".

So welcome to the TV Crossover Hall Of Fame, Frosty! BCnU!

SEASONS GREETINGS!

As much as I love the various Christmas idents from the BBC this year, featuring David Tennant as the Doctor, this is my all-time favorite greetings of the Season from a network.....



BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: TWO SENATORS, A GOV, AND A PODIUM

AS SEEN ON:
'Saturday Night Live'

AS PLAYED BY:
Former Senator John Edwards - Will Forte
Governor Mark Sanford - Jason Sudeikis
Senator John Ensign - Bill Hader

BCnU!

FIGMENT: NEWTON

Dr. Bell wasn't the only one using an alias in "Grey Matters", last week's episode of 'Fringe'. The severed head that was brought back to life and reattached to a body was identified as Thomas Jerome Newton, but I'm told this was the name of David Bowie's character in "The Man Who Fell To Earth".

Supposedly "Newton" was from the parallel dimension which is planning to invade Earth Prime-Time. (I have to keep reminding myself not to say "our world".) So why would he need an alias on Toobworld, if he wasn't already known by his own name there?

O'Bviously because his counterpart from Earth Prime-Time already existed on Earth Prime-Time. Based on his massive intellect, I think "Thomas Jerome Newton" is the dimensional doppelganger for Dr. Kurt Mandel, last seen in 'Odyssey 5'.

So if this other Kurt Mandel was posing as Thomas Jerome Newton so that he wouldn't trigger any alarms for the other Mandel, it bodes well that the original recipe is alive in the 2009 TV Universe.....

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: BILL COSBY

Two For Tuesday.....
AS SEEN ON:
'Saturday Night Live'

AS PLAYED BY:
Kenan Thompson

From the News-Journal:
Cosby has taken a lot of criticism from many black Americans since his tough-love book, "Come on, People: On the Path from Victims to Victors," was published in 2007.

He said his critics either don't understand, or don't want to admit, that all he's doing is not stating the obvious: Systemic racism against blacks in America still exists.

In an interview before his presentation, he made the point that it doesn't do anyone any good to wait for racism to end -- since it probably never will -- and that black Americans have to move forward in spite of discriminatory obstacles they face every day.

"Some people seem to use the fact that racism exists to create an inertia of entropy," he said. "Some 'poverty pimps' want us to not move to become unstuck."

Since his book came out, Cosby has been criticized by hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons and author and professor Michael Eric Dyson.

Cosby said Simmons dismisses him as being out of touch with nothing to say to today's youth. But, Cosby says, it's Simmons who is hurting today's black youth by glamorizing street violence in rap songs that have made him millions of dollars but have wreaked havoc in cities across America.
AS SEEN ON:
'MadTV'

AS PLAYED BY:
Aries Spears

BCnU!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS FROM THE DOCTOR

Our time with the current Time Lord is drawing to a close, so any time we can spend with him on the Toob is precious, including these two Christmas idents from the BBC - in which he practices his serlinguistic skills:





BBCnU!

BREUER'S SCOOP

This is actually old news, but I couldn't resist the play on "Brewer's Droop".....

Jim Breuer, who was a cast member of 'Saturday Night Live' from 1995-1998, is working with NBC again. This time he's developing a sitcom to be loosely based on his own life. Breuer would star as a man who is a stay-at-home dad raising three daughters while taking care of his parents at the same time.

Here's what he had to say about this chapter in his life (which he also covered in the comedy special "Let's Clear The Air" and in the documentary "More Than This"):

"About seven or eight years ago I decided to walk away from everything and stay home to watch my kids grow. I also began looking after my parents, who were deep into their 80s. That led to a lot of humor. Yes, I'm the guy from 'Half Baked' and 'Goat Boy' from 'Saturday Night Live.' But I'm grown up just like you guys."

The documentary project has been celebrated by several groups which deal with elder care. Jim Breuer is also writing a memoir of his membership in the "sandwich generation", in which he's the fulcrum taking care of both sides of the family tree.

BCnU!

APRES PARIS

Throughout the latest episode of 'Fringe' ("Grey Matters"), the team was in search of a Dr. Paris, who had been connected to the cases of several patients whose brains were used to store the brain tissue of Dr. Walter Bishop. And the use of the phrase "in search of" is apt, because by the end of the episode we learned that Dr. Paris was an alias; that in fact he was Walter's old partner, Dr. William Bell.

Of course, this is a TV in-joke - Leonard Nimoy is playing "Bellie" and back in the late 1960s, he also played the magician turned IMF agent Paris on 'Mission: Impossible'. I've written about possible family connections for the Great Paris in the past:

NOVEMBER 'N' PARIS

COMBATANTS OF NIMOY

But I don't claim that either one is the correct answer. That would lock me into being a fanficcer, I think, rather than the Caretaker of Toobworld. (It's a gray area which I'm sure I've abused in the past.....)

So here's another theory to throw in the mix.....

First off, I don't think there's any way that Dr. William Bell could also be Paris. Bell's scientific accomplishments, with or without the use of Walter's research, would indicate that he's spent his whole life working in the various fields of "fringe" science. There would have been no time to play at being a stage magician, let alone serve the government as an IMF agent.

I think it's more likely that William Bell and Paris - aka Baum, or Kennedy, or whatever his real last name was - were "identical cousins", a well-established Toobworld occurrence. And in creating the alias by which he performed these brain surgeries, Dr. Bell called on his cousin's stage name for his own "stage name" to be used in operating theaters.....

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: PRESIDENT OBAMA & THE SALAHIS

PRESIDENT OBAMA & THE SALAHIS

AS SEEN ON:
'Saturday Night Live'

AS PLAYED BY:
President Obama: Fred Armisen
Tareq Salahi: Bobby Moynihan
Michaele Salahi: Kristen Wiig

I think the less said about those idiot salamis known as the Salahis the better - unless it's a news story about them being arrested......

BCnU!

HAPPY WOLD NEWTON DAY!

From Wikipedia:
On 13 December 1795 a meteorite crashed on the outskirts of the village. As a monument to this event there is a brick column bearing the inscription:

Here on this spot, December 13, 1795 fell from the atmosphere an extraordinary stone. In breadth twenty-eight inches, in length thirty-six inches and whose weight was fifty-six pounds. This column in memory of it was erected by Edward Topham, 1799.

The American science fiction author Philip José Farmer posited that this event caused genetic mutation in some people who were passing by at the time. Their enhanced genes led to the extraordinary abilities of their descendants, who include: Tarzan, Sherlock Holmes, Doc Savage, Nero Wolfe, James Bond, Lord Peter Wimsey, Professor Moriarty, Philip Marlowe, Sam Spade, Kinsey Millhone, Richard Hannay, Charlie Chan, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, and John Shaft.

Farmer's extended family of superheros and villains are now known as the Wold Newton family, and the concept has been elaborated upon by many other writers.

Here's a good splainin for the Wold Newton Family concept, but I'd be remiss not to point you in the direction of Win Scott Eckert's excellent Wold Newton website, which you'll find listed to the left, dear readers.

Many of the characters connected to the Wold Newton Family can be found in Toobworld. Here's just a VERY partial list:

Dr. Miguelito Loveless (my all-time favorite TV character)
Charlie Chan
Fu Manchu
Sherlock Holmes
Tarzan
Professor Moriarty
James Bond
Nero Wolfe
Philip Marlow
John Shaft
Secret Agent X-9
Lord Peter Wimsey
Phileas Fogg
The Scarlet Pimpernel
Alan Quatermain
Nayland Smith
Bulldog Drummond
Richard Hannay
Lew Archer
Travis McGee
Sally Lockhart
(Not exactly sure on her inclusion, but her enemy Ah Ling may have been related to Fu Manchu....)


And that's just for starters.

Someone who should be considered for entry, if the family bloodline could be mapped out, would be Detective William Murdoch of 'The Murdoch Mysteries'. But that's just my opinion......

Not all of their televersions adhere to the original depictions, which means that Toobworld can not be considered part of the actual Wold Newton Universe. Let's just say that they are dimensional counterparts sharing similar themes.

And ye olde Caretaker of Toobworld considers Win Scott Eckert and his comrades who toil in the Wold Newton fields to be allies.

So, Happy Wold Newton Day!

TOOBWORLD SALUTES "AS THE WORLD TURNS"

CBS has announced that the 54 year old soap opera 'As The World Turns' will be leaving the airwaves next September. This follows on the heels of the cancellation of 'Guiding Light' just three months ago. The show followed the trials and tribulations of the people who lived in Oakdale, Illinois, and boasted a cast list that included Martin Sheen, Meg Ryan, Marisa Tomei, and James Earl Jones. So popular in its heyday, it served as the inspiration for the soap opera spoof seen on 'The Carol Burnett Show', 'As The Stomach Turns'.

Most recently, a famous scene from the show, which became inexorably linked to American history, was seen in an episode of 'Mad Men'. (While two of the characters were having a conversation, CBS suddenly cut in with the news bulletin that President John F. Kennedy had been shot in Dallas.)
You can watch that episode of 'As The World Turns' here, which leads to the next segment containing the new bulletin interruption:



At that pivotal moment, the actress in the scene is Helen Wagner, appearing as Nancy Hughes. She holds the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest run as one character in television. As Nancy, she even spoke the first line back in 1956: "Good morning, dear."

'As The World Turns' also introduced the first gay male character in soaps back in 1988 with Hank Elliot. In a similar vein, the characters Luke Snyder and Noah Mayer made history when they consummated their love in an episode at the beginning of this year. (Amazingly that it took so long, but their first kiss in 2007 was also a first as well.)

'As The World Turns' did its part for Toobworld by forging links with another CBS soap opera, 'The Young And The Restless', over the last few years (perhaps in the hope of riding its coat-tails?). In 2005, attorney Michael Baldwin left Genoa City to serve as the attorney for Jack Snyder in a custody hearing over his late wife's son JJ.

There were a couple in 2007, which I seem to remember writing about here, involving Amber Moore. First she tried to trick Cane Ashby into marriage with the help of her friend Alison Stewart (who disguised herself as Cane for the service!) And then Emily Stewart left Oakdale to go to Wisconsin in hopes of getting information about her missing sister Alison. Amber professed not to know anything, but after Emily left, Amber called Alison to warn her.

Unlike others who document the connections in the TV Universe, Toobworld Central accepts the televersions of real people to be legitimate characters and thus possible crossover candidates. After more than 13,000 episodes, I have no clue how many people appeared as themselves on the show, finding one reason or another to be in Oakdale. However, I found four of them who deserved mention:

First up is the host of 'Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee'. Lee's appearance on the show brings that Food Network series into Toobworld as a TV show within a TV show, in much the same way 'Jeopardy!' and 'Wheel Of Fortune' have such a double life.

Then there's Scott Reeves, who used to play Ryan McNeil on 'The Young And The Restless'. With his band Blue Country, they also showed up not only on 'As The World Turns', but also on a rival network's soap, NBC's 'Days Of Our Lives'.

Another singer, Will Dailey, performed in Oakdale and also in Manhattan - in an episode of 'CSI: NY'. This is a major link, since that brings 'ATWT' together with the other two series in the franchise, 'CSI: Miami' and the original 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation' (which also crossed over with 'Without A Trace').

And then there's the delightful Cyndi Lauper, who may yet be as important in the League of Themselves as George Burns, Milton Berle, and Jack Benny in their day. She was in Oakdale long enough to give her encouragement to Luke and Noah and their budding relationship, but it was just long enough to connect 'ATWT' to '30 Rock', 'Gossip Girl', 'Queer As Folk', 'The Chris Isaak Show', and over in the Tooniverse, 'The Simpsons'!

So when 'As The World Turns' finally fades from view on TV screens next September, it will stand in the history books of television as a pioneer and a venerable classic. And for Toobworld, it will play a strong role in the Great Link.

If any hardcore fans of the show should ever find this post, remember this: in Toobworld, it's only gone from our TV screens. Unseen by us, the lives of those characters in Oakdale, Illinois, will go on.....

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: BRITTANY MURPHY

AS SEEN ON:
'Saturday Night Live'

AS PLAYED BY:
Libby Elliott

According to Perez Hilton, Brittany Murphy was fired from the movie "The Caller", which was filming down in Puerto Rico. The cause was her diva-like difficultness on the set and the producers weren't buying it. So she was handed her walking papers and the producers had her replaced within minutes (according to Hilton) with Rachelle Lefevre, who is in the first two "Twilight" movies.

Which is why "Brittany Murphy" appeared on Weekend News Update to plead her case.....

BCnU!