ALTERNATEEVEE: THE COMIC PERSUADERS

Thanks to 'Doctor Who' blogger Combom, here's an image from Countdown For TV Action #53 (for the week ending February 19, 1972) which shows Lord Brett Sinclair and Danny Wilde - as they would appear in the comic strip/book universe.

This adventure didn't happen to 'The Persuaders' in the TV Universe, but it could have; we just never saw it in the Trueniverse.

And thanks to the music video from a-Ha for "Take On Me" (a Toobworld essential) as well as the TV series 'Once A Hero', we know that characters from the comic strip world can cross over to Earth Prime-Time. So there even exists the possibility that Danny and Brett might have met their pen-and-ink doppelgangers at some point.....

BCnU!

PS:
Check out "Life, The Universe, and Combom" for all the latest Who-news as well as interesting tidbits like this comic. Click on that link above......

THE HITCH-HIKER'S GUIDE TO THE DALEKS

Here's a nice fan-made crossover between 'Doctor Who' and 'The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy' (the TV edition). It works because 'Doctor Who' set the stage with several references to Douglas Adams' brilliant creation in both the old and the new series.

Enjoy.



BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: VIVIEN LEIGH

VIVIEN LEIGH

AS SEEN IN:
"Darlings Of The Gods"

AS PLAYED BY:
Mel Martin

BCnU!

A JUNE BIRTHDAY

Happy birthday to June Lockhart!

I'd like to think many of her TV characters are still alive, at least those who would have been born around the same time as she was. Of course, any characters she may have played in Westerns would be long gone, and perhaps some of her characters were killed off within the framework of their series.

But we know - as of 1989, but still! - that Ruth Martin, now with the surname of Chadwick, revisited her former adopted son Timmy in 'The New Lassie'.

And as of right now, probably still 'Lost In Space', Maureen Robinson is two years younger than I am now! And she was the ideal TV mom when I was growing up......

I sent this lovely lady birthday greetings via Facebook, and wish her all the best for a long time to come.

BCnU!

OVERHEARD IN NEW YORK

Sent to me by my bestest of friends, Ivy....

Overheard in New York:
That Jerk Never Returns My Calls
Girl #1: This whole Ben situation is really starting to piss me off.
Girl #2: I know! I just don’t know what his deal is.
Girl #1: He called me like twelve times yesterday.
Girl #2 (stopping in the middle of Penn Station): He called you? (pauses for a moment) Oh, you mean Ben your boyfriend, don’t you?
Girl #1: As opposed to?
Girl #2: Ben from 'Lost'.
Girl #1: Don’t talk to me for an hour, please.
–Penn Station

Overheard by: thought it was lost too
via Overheard in New York, Apr 16, 2009

MOVING PICTURES

Edith Shain claimed that she was the nurse seen in Alfred Eisenstaedt's photograph of a sailor dipping a nurse and kissing her in Times Square on August 14, 1945. The picture became an icon symbolizing the feelings of America when World War II was finally over on V-J Day. (Former NYC police detective Carl Muscarello claimed that he was the sailor.)

Mrs. Shain passed away last Sunday at the age of 91. She had been long retired from her job as an elementary school teacher in Los Angeles, but she was still making public appearances as an honorary grand marshal of Veterans Day and Memorial Day parades. Mrs. Shain hoped to use her "accidental celebrity" status to promote a permanent national day of remembrance on the second Sunday of every August to honor the men and women of the World War II generation.

That's the way it is, as the late Walter Cronkite would say, here in the real world. But in Toobworld, that all changed in 2002 when an under-rated science fiction show called 'The Chronicle' aired its last episode.

Here's the information from tv.com for "A Snitch In Time":

Grace is investigating a case of spontaneous combustion when her boyfriend Louis dumps her without warning and disappears from his job. Grace tracks him to a dentist, who is also spontaneously incinerated. She tracks Louis to a mausoleum where mysterious Swedish men with melting rays attack him. They escape, although Louis loses a key. Louis reveals that he is from 300 years in the future and is in the Witness Relocation Program. He testified against the Swedish Mob, was put into hiding in the past, and the mob tracked him down. The reporters manage to get the key back from where the Swedish Mob is hiding out at an Ikea store, and Louis leaves a message in the mausoleum just in time for the Feds to read it in the future and take the mobster into custody. Louis is relocated and asks Grace to go with him. She finally agrees, leaving only a note for Sal. She apparently has relocated with Louis back to 1945, as we see her in a photograph of the era at the end of the episode.

The photo of the two of them in Times Square is a retouched real photo in the National Archives. The only additions are Grace and Louis, replacing a real sailor [and nurse] in the photo. Eisenstaedt always claimed that he only took pictures of that one sailor and nurse couple. (And he never actually knew who they were; he forgot to get their names.) But in Toobworld he must have photographed at least one more, that being Grace (played by Rena Sofer) and Louie......

'The Chronicle' was a fun show and should have been given more support by the Sci-Fi Channel. It would have worked now on Syfy in a schedule that also has 'Eureka' and 'Warehouse 13', both of which could have been a boon with crossovers.

I just wish somebody had a decent fan site dedicated to the show, which I've linked to 'Doctor Who' (thanks to a theory of relateeveety involving Sal the Pig Boy).

BCnU!

"ARMY WIVES", TOOBWORLD LIVES

'Army Wives', the Lifetime drama about military life, has a couple of news stories that will have an impact on Toobworld.

First up, Jill Biden, wife of the Vice President, will make an appearance as herself in an episode to air on August 15. She'll be visiting Fort Marshall to kick off their annual Fun Run (which I assume is a charity event). Mrs. Biden will meet with several Army wives with real military spouses playing themselves among the regular characters. (That means those women will have different lives than they do in the real world - wherever their husbands are stationed in the real world, they're connected to Fort Marshall in Toobworld.)

Also, the show is producing a spin-off series which will start off as a backdoor pilot episode to be seen on 'Army Wives'. A major plotline for the fourth season has been the divorce of Pamela Moran from her Delta Forces husband. Played by Brigid Brannagh, Pamela will then leave Fort Marshall and go back to her old job as a police officer in Atlanta, Georgia. (Maybe she'll meet attorney Ben Matlock - at least off screen....)

Gabrielle Union will be joining that new series as Pamela's new partner on the police force, Detective Gina Holt.

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: THOMAS JEFFERSON

Here's the second actor in the 'Marple' mystery "The Secret Of Chimneys" whom I didn't recognize. In this case, it was because he was sans heavy make-up....

THOMAS JEFFERSON

AS SEEN IN:
'John Adams'

AS PLAYED BY:
Stephen Dillane

(An HBO profile)

BCnU!

GREAT GRANDCHILD, WILD WEST

According to "The Wild Wild West Revisited", James West retired at some point in the 1870's and moved to Mexico, where he fathered several children by different mothers. West may have been following a family tradition - it could be that his own grandfather sowed a lot of seeds across the West. That is, if his grandfather can be definitively locked down as Pasquinel, a fur trapper who worked in the region now known as 'Centennial', Colorado.

Noted Wold Newton researcher Dennis E. Power posits that one of James West's sons was the father of famed 60's private eye 'Honey West'. (Personally, I'd tack on another generation between James and Honey.)

I think there were enough West children that many TV characters can trace their lineage back to James T. West. And not all of them need to be named "West". At some point one of his children must have moved to Hawaii and that's where we'd find grandson Tommy Lopaka (as seen in 'Hawaiian Eye'). Another grandson kept in the family business - Thomas Remington Sloane III, a spy for UNIT. As he needed to protect his identity and for the safety of his family, the surname of Sloane was an alias. The "III" was meant to disguise his family connections three generations back so other members of the West family couldn't be tracked down and used against him. (His adventures were chronicled in 'A Man Called Sloane'.)

Another who joined the spy biz - albeit reluctantly - was Jake Webster. Again, he was probably using an alias when he was running a nightclub in Vienna, where he was conscripted by the government into acting as their agent. The government probably stumbled on him as a candidate as there was another Jake Webster on their books, working the same kind of deal in Munich. (The Vienna Jake Webster was seen in the TV series 'Assignment: Vienna'. The other Jake Webster was introduced first in the TV movie/pilot "Assignment: Munich".)

Moving ahead yet another generation, we have someone who still bears the family name of West, but he and his immediate family have wound up on the wrong side of the Law. (Being the good guy isn't genetic. Just ask James West's grandson Milo Janus, as seen in 'Columbo'......)

Wolfgang West is the patriarch of a family of con men, thieves, and fences and he is now serving a five year sentence in prison. The story of his family has just begun in the new series 'Scoundrels' and like the characters in 'Ugly Betty' and 'The Office', many of their personal details can be found mirrored in a similar family elsewhere in the world - the Wests of New Zealand. (There's no Zonk to be found in this - such echoes are common in Toobworld.)

We meet Grandpa West in the 'Scountrels' series. Could it be that he was the brother of Jake Webster, who was working in Vienna back in the early 1970's? Could that have been an influence in the naming of Wolfgang West? It may have been the only way to acknowledge the family connection without giving away Jake's cover.

Just an idea......

BCnU!

HOLY OAK!

In the series debut of 'The Sarah Jane Adventures' (which I watched while on vacation - Syfy was having a marathon.), Mrs. Wormwood of the Bane used her mental powers to read Kelsey's mind. Not that there was much to peruse: Mrs. Wormwood thought she worshipped the "Holy Oak". And then she realized the young girl was thinking of 'Hollyoaks'.

This doesn't have to be a Zonk. There was no mention of the TV soap opera, so Hollyoaks could be anything in Toobworld.

Luckily, there are relatively few mentions of it as being a pop culture reference in other shows:

'The Thick of It'
- Malcolm tells Hugh that Simon Hewitt will be photoshopping the show's extras by the end of the month.

So it is a TV show then, but not the one we know in the real world.

'Gavin And Stacey'
- Pam says the tension between Gavin and Stacey "is like living in Hollyoaks."

I'm thinking this could mean it was a show like 'Big Brother' - each week, the people in Hollyoaks (perhaps an estate?) would go at each other's throats before somebody is finally voted out.

But at least the actual soap opera can be considered a real part of the TV Universe!

BCnU!

NATEFLIX

Parker:
Hey. Nate just gave his passwords.
Hardison:
No, but I got all his passwords.
You want to see his Netflix queue?
He's got like every season of 'Rockford Files'...
every season of 'Sex and the City', that show, 'Psych'.
'Leverage'

Thanks to my crossover buddy Doctor Wronski, I was reminded that Toobworld Central has already de-Zonked any mentions of 'Sex And The City' - it's a reality show about four women in New York City. That should cover any mentions of Cassie, Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte. Everything they did on the show was documented as "real life". The possibility of the two movies being mentioned in Toobworld conversations is covered by that as well - the reality was just that popular; so popular, it spawned a movie.

We're basically covered unless somebody has to go and mention Sarah, Kim, Cynthia or Kristin. Then we're screwed.

We can't use that same excuse for 'The Rockford Files', though. Big Pussy compared himself to Rockford in the second episode. Although he never mentioned the name of the show, nor Jim Garner, nor even Rockford's first name, his activity of investigating a minor theft for Tony reminded Big Pussy of the detective. And remember, this was in the second episode; in the series debut, the theme to 'The Rockford Files' could be heard. (Jimmie James uses the theme for his own answering machine on 'NewsRadio'.)

'Veronica Mars', 'Supernatural', 'Freaks And Geeks', the mini-series 'Taken', and even 'Mystery Science Theater 3000' all mention Jim Rockford, but in such a way as to make it seem like they knew of his exploits as a private eye. I suppose the cases solved by Jim Rockford would be catnip to a TV producer in Toobworld. Like Andy Warhol, televersion, might have said: In the future, everybody will have their own TV show.

It's only a true Zonk in 'Psych', and 'Leverage seems to have brought it full circle with a mention of that show. I'm not sure if this was the first time 'Psych' has ever been the basis for a Zonk, but ol' not-so-reliable IMDb doesn't have any other mentions of it listed in their movie connections. (Although I know 'The Mentalist' has at least made allusions to its pineapple "hitchcocks". That's good news for Toobworld Central: until such time when it's well and truly Zonked, we can always claim 'Psych' is another reality series, one about psychic phenomena, perhaps.

Hopefully we'll never learn anything more of Nate's Netflix queue!

BCnU!

DOUBLE VISION: DEMON EYES!

As seen on 'Reaper', Nina was a demon who assumed human form when she was dating Benjy. The ability to take on that form was magical in origin, but where did she get the idea to assume that particular look?

I think it could be that she saw somebody else who looked exactly like that and decided she liked it enough to assume it for herself. As to who that person was, one candidate might have been an assistant district attorney in Dallas named Liz Traynor (currently seen on 'The Good Guys').
Nothing says that Nina had to be locked into staying in the Seattle area. There could be a thousand reasons as to why she had to go down to Texas. Probably thousands more, considering it's Texas - but don't go tellin' Bill Crider I said so.......
Just look into those eyes! You don't want to mess with her, whether she's Liz or Nina!

[Jenny Wade plays both characters.]

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: SIR LARRY

I watched the latest installment of the 'Marple Mysteries' which was shown on PBS this past weekend - "The Mystery Of Chimneys" - and didn't recognize two of the actors in it - Anthony Higgins and Stephen Dillane. (It was probably because the former was burdened with a lot of make-up and the latter didn't have the make-up and costume for which I knew him best.)

Not that they'll ever know of the slight, but I thought I'd make it up to them with appearances in the "As Seen On TV" showcase in historical roles for which they're known.

First up, Anthony Higgins, whom I should have recognized as Rathe, the evil fencing instructor who took the name "Moriarty" in "Young Sherlock Holmes".....

SIR LAURENCE OLIVIER

AS SEEN IN:
"Darlings Of The Gods"

AS PLAYED BY:
Anthony Higgins

BCnU!

SOFTLY SOFTLY CATCHEE ZONKY

Whenever a British TV show, usually a crime series, refers to the phrase "Softly, Softly", it's not a reference to the venerable crime drama. Instead, within the reality of Toobworld, it's a reference to a style of police interrogation in which the suspect is treated with kid gloves, or just in treading carefully during an investigation.

The full phrase is "Softly, softly, Catchee Monkey." And that was heard in the TV shows 'Kingdom' and 'Ashes To Ashes'.

Just so you know.....

BCnU!

(EAST) END CREDITS SNAFU

Toobworld has had problems with the onscreen credits for its characters in the past, where they're given names different from the way they're addressed within the show:

BURKE'S LAW
Ann Maxwell in credits
Ann Martin in show

CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM
Dr. Salvin in credits
Dr. Slavin in show

WAREHOUSE 13
Joshua Wheeler in credits
Joshua Donovan in show

MERLIN
Both Bradley James and Richard Wilson were listed as Arthur Pendragon in one episode. Richard Wilson played Gaius.

While on vacation, I found another in an episode of 'Foyle's War'. In "A Lesson In Murder", Joe Pierson - the 11 year old murder victim - and his father Eric Pierson (left) were listed as Coopers in the end credits, despite being clearly addressed and referred to as Pierson throughout the case.

As usual, what happens in the episode trumps anything listed in the credits.

And it's better for Toobworld to keep them as Piersons. They were from London's East End, and Joe had been sent packing to Hastings to avoid the bombings that had not yet begun. So it could be that Mr. Pierson and his wife either had another son sent elsewhere, or they had another child after the death of young Joe. And this Pierson offspring could probably be the father of the East End cardiologist who treated Roy Evans when he suffered a heart attack that led to his death on 'EastEnders'.

Sure, there are a couple of Coopers listed for 'EastEnders' as well, (especially Julie Cooper in 1989-90), but the chances for avoiding Zonks in making a connection are better with characters with fewer appearances.

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: TONY HAWK

Today is my nephew Neil's 22nd birthday, and to mark the occasion for the skateboardin' recent graduate of Keene University, here's the Tooniversion of skateboard champion Tony Hawk for the "As Seen On TV" showcase:

TONY HAWK

AS SEEN IN:
'The Simpsons'

AS PLAYED BY:
Himself
Happy birthday, Neil! And congrats on your graduation!

BODICE TWIPPING!

The one night I watched 'Jeopardy!' while on vacation, host Alex Trebek had this exchange with one of the contestants during the introductions:

Alex: Laura White is from Nebraska. Along with two of our producers on the program. It's always fun to dress up and go to special events. And you get to do that in a period gown that I want to hear about.

Laura: Yes. I'm a Jane Austen scholar so I go often to the Jane Austen Annual General Meeting. And we all dress up in low bodices and with our reticules and our--it's all very lovely.

Alex: And you have a regency gown that you wear?

Laura: I got it from [an] auction from the BBC production of "War and Peace".

Alex: Okay. Sounds like fun, doesn't it?

Laura: Mm-hmm.

Alex: All right.

I'll bet it's fun! Actually, posting that just gave me an excuse to share this picture from the BBC production of "War And Peace":
Homina thrice!

AS SEEN ON TV: SHAKESPEARE & BACON

Just a quickie today for the "As Seen On TV" gallery, 'Two for Tuesday' edition:

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE & FRANCIS BACON

AS SEEN IN:
'Doctor Who'

AS PLAYED BY:
William Shakespeare: Hugh Walters
Francis Bacon: Roger Hammond

AS SEEN IN:
'Mr. Peabody's Improbable Adventures'

AS VOICED BY:
Paul Frees as both men

BCnU!

MUNCHING LUTHER

While I was on vacation, MediumRob of "The Medium Is Not Enough" (link to the left, folks!) let me in on an email he got:

In the penultimate episode, there was a line which ties the show into Homicide: Life on the Street and Law & Order...

They said something like "Get New York on the phone. Ask for Detective Munch of the Special Victims Unit. Bizarre!

I checked it out on tv.com which had some more details:

Luther says to his young officer, "Contact Detective Munch in New York; he works in the Special Victims Unit." Detective John Munch is a character in the U.S crime drama.
So another show is added to Munch's extensive resume, probably insuring that he would never be overthrown as the Crossover King.

'Homicide: Life On The Street'

"Homicide: The Movie"

'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'

'Law & Order'

'Law & Order: Trial By Jury'

'The X-Files'
'The Wire'

'The Beat'

'Arrested Development'

And now he's mentioned on 'Luther'.

I'm surprised by the omission of 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent' from this list. (Granted, I got this list from the IMDb - hardly the most reliable of sources - but I'm sure I would have heard about him being on the show.) We've lost the opportunity to see him interact with Detective Bobby Goren, but wouldn't it be neat to see him meet Zack Nichols?

Detective John Munch exists as a puppet, thanks to 'Sesame Street', but that's not a legitimate appearance. Puppets are spirit beings who inhabit shells to give them visible form and they adopt the persona of that shell. So this puppet was a Munch wannabe:
Munch can also be found in the sketch comedy TV dimension of Skitlandia. Back in October of 2009, Richard Belzer played the role for a quick bit on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live':

Now, Kimmel mentions the French version of 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent' - "Paris enquêtes criminelles" - as being one of the shows in which Munch has appeared. And Belzer confirms it by telling the audience "It's all true." Yet I haven't found any mention yet that he ever appeared in any episode from that show's three seasons. And he lives part time in France, so it's not like it would have been a hassle to be him over there.

I'm also uncertain if Munch ever appeared in animated form on a show like 'The Simpsons' or 'Family Guy'.

But it's an impressive list so far, and he may yet have another show to add when 'Law & Order: Los Angeles' airs in the fall.

A quick note to CBS and ABC - you'd be helping yourself if you could get Detective Munch to appear on one of your shows. (CBS especially has the right showcase - 'CSI: NY'!) It's too late now, but he should have shown up in an episode of 'The Unusuals'.......

BCnU!

NUMBERS RUNNING

'Lost' may have ended, but "The Numbers" keep adding up......

Target gave us an appropriate price for computer keyboards in one of the blipverts which ran during the series finale:
In last Saturday's episode of 'Doctor Who' ("The Lodger"), most people may have picked up that the Eleventh Incarnation of the Doctor sported the number "11" on his jersey, but as can be seen in this picture, both teams also had a number "23". (The one from the opposing team is to the left.)
And finally, on the personal front, the Inner Toob blog got in on the action as well: BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: JORAN VAN DER SLOOT

The story about Joran Van Der Sloot - who has been under suspicion for years in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway - and his murder of a young Peruvian woman broke just as I was going on vacation. But I stuck to my pre-arranged theme of Phil Hartman characters from 'Saturday Night Live'.

Now that I'm back, however, we can shine the spotlight on this scumbag......

JORAN VAN DER SLOOT

AS SEEN IN:
"Natalee Holloway"

AS PLAYED BY:
Jacques Strydom
blerg

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY FROM TOOBWORLD!

[Thanks to Mark Evanier....]

OBI ONE (AND TWO)

A Father's Day theory of Relateeveety......
Gabe Kelly was a black American soldier stationed in England after World War II ended. He fell in love with an English girl named Mandy Dean and she gave birth to Gabe's daughter. This resulted in her being shunned by her own family.

After Mandy was found murdered, Private Kelly was under suspicion for a short time as her killer, but it turned out to be another soldier who was responsible. Gabe was redeployed but planned to come back for his daughter once he was cashiered out of the armed forces.

His original plan with Mandy was for them to move to Harlem in New York City, but it's the belief of Toobworld Central that upon becoming a civilian, Gabe Kelly instead chose to relocate to England. That way, his daughter could grow up in the country where she at least had a possible chance to become acquainted with her grandparents. (That wasn't very likely based on what happened in the episode, however.)

Once she did grow up, Gabe and Mandy's daughter married and may have moved to the Norfolk town of Market Shipborough*. One of her children, most likely her youngest, was named Anthony. He grew up to join an elite horse guard in the British army. Unfortunately he lost part of his leg in Iraq, but with help from his lawyer Peter Kingdom, Tony was able to rebuild his life in Market Shipborough.

This theory of relateeveety connecting 'Foyle's War' to 'Kingdom' is speculation and not to be considered an official part of either TV series. Both characters were played by Obi Abili.

'Foyle's War' - "Killing Time"
'Kingdom' - [Series 3, Episode 1]

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: THE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD

Since my vacation is over and I'm back in my adopted city, who better to close out this two week tribute to the talented Phil Hartman?

FRANK SINATRA

AS SEEN ON:
'Saturday Night Live'

AS PLAYED BY:
Phil Hartman
BCnU!