Having written about the first appearance of James Bond on television in an adaptation of "Casino Royale", I thought some of my readers might be interested in seeing that 1954 production. And what better day to do it than Video Saturday?
The show was thought to be lost until 1981, when a copy was found by a film collector. And now it's available on DVD.
But first, here's a fan-made trailer for the show, as if it was the original movie in the franchise:
And now, on with the show!
Many VHS copies ended there. But it's not complete; the story continues to a true Bondian finish showdown between 007 and Le Chiffre. Those other versions probably didn't want to deal with the poor video qualities of this last scene, but it should be seen:
BCnU!
Saturday, August 28, 2010
THE SUPER SIX: TV SHOWS THAT COULD USE SOME QUICKSAND
I figured my version of a Top Ten list should have a more TV-oriented name. So I'm changing it from "The Deep Six" to "The Super Six"........My thanks to Bill Crider for sharing this story:
For now, quicksand has all but evaporated from American entertainment—rejected even by the genre directors who once found it indispensable. There isn't any in this summer's fantasy
blockbuster "Prince of Persia: Sands of Time" or in last year's animated jungle romp "Up". You won't find quicksand in "The Last Airbender" or "Avatar", either. Giant scorpions emerge from the sand in "Clash of the Titans", but no one gets sucked under. And what about 'Lost'—a tropical-island adventure series replete with mud ponds and dangling vines? That show, whichended in May, spanned six seasons and roughly 85 hours of television airtime—all without a single step into quicksand. "We were a little bit concerned that it would just be cheesy," says the show's Emmy-winning writer and executive producer, Carlton Cuse. "It felt too clichéd. It felt old-fashioned."For more, click here.
I felt bad when I heard about this. The threat of quicksand has always sent a thrill up my spine - the scenes on the moors in "The Hound Of The Baskervilles"; I can still recall Stephen King's description from the victim's P.O.V. in the novel "The Dead Zone". The Fire Sands scene in "The Princess Bride".....
Here's some information on the quality of quicksand from Wikipedia:
Quicksand is a colloid hydrogel consisting of fine granular matter (such as sand or silt), clay, and salt water. Water circulation underground can focus in an area with the optimal mixture of fine sands and other materials such as clay. The water moves up and then down slowly in a convection-like manner throughout a column of sand, and the sand remains a generally solid mass. The water lubricates the sand particles and renders them unable to support significant weight. Since water does not usually go up to the surface of the sand, the sand on top appears solid and can support leaves and other small debris, making quicksand difficult to distinguish from the surrounding environment.
For more......
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quicksand
So here's my "Super Six" suggestion - Six shows that should have quicksand used and in some cases, often!
And it starts off with a cheat.......
1) 'Miami: CSI', 'Dexter', 'Burn Notice', 'The Glades'
I probably could have filled this list with all Florida shows, but where's the sport in that? These four shows are still on the air and they all have close proximity to the Everglades.
2) 'Spartacus: Blood And Sand'
You've already got the sand in the title; it'd be a shame not to put it to good use with the gladiators!
3) 'Glee'
Come on, you love them now, but I believe the time will come when you'd like to see Kurt or Rachel or somebody on this show sink without a trace.
4) 'Memphis Beat'
It's on the Mississippi River and it has the Memphis sand aquifer. Sounds to me like they should have at least one quicksand scene....
5) 'Mad Men'
Come on! They drove a John Deere tractor through the office! Surely they can work in some quicksand upstate. Be a mighty fine way to get rid of Betty Draper once and for all!
No! I said Betty, not Joan!6) 'Hot In Cleveland'
2010 is the Year of Betty White. I predict 2011 will be the Year of the Betty White Backlash.
I'm just sayin', is all......
BCnU!
BCnU!
AS SEEN ON TV: CHARLIE SIRINGO
CHARLIE SIRINGOAS SEEN IN:
"Mrs. Sundance"
AS PLAYED BY:
L.Q. Jones
From Wikipedia:Charles Angelo Siringo (February 7, 1855 — October 18, 1928), was an ItalianAmerican author, lawman, and famous detective and agent for the Pinkerton National Detective Agency during the late 19th century and early 20th century.
In the late 1890s, posing as "Charles L. Carter", an alleged gunman on the run from the law for a murder, he infiltrated outlaw Butch Cassidy's Train Robbers Syndicate. For over a year, using information he would gather, he severely hampered the operations of Cassidy's Wild Bunch gang, but without a large number of arrests. After they committed the now famous train robbery near Wilcox, Wyoming, in which they robbed a Union Pacific train, he again found himself assigned to capture the Wild Bunch.
On that case, Siringo often coordinated with Tom Horn, who was by that time working for large cattle companies as a stock detective ("hired gun"), but who also was retained by the Pinkerton Agency on contract to assist in the robbery investigation. Horn was able to obtain vital information from explosives expert Bill Speck that revealed to investigators who the suspects were who had killed Sheriff Josiah Hazen, who had been shot and killed during the pursuit of the robbers.
Several members of the gang were captured as a result of information Siringo gathered, including the capture of Kid Curry, who escaped but was again cornered and killed during a shootout with law enforcement in Colorado. It was Siringo's information that help track him down on both occasions. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid both fled to South America, feeling their luck was running out in United States. They were later allegedly killed by Bolivian police in a shootout there following a mine payroll robbery. 
Just feels good to get a legendary cowboy star like L.Q. Jones in the As Seen On TV showcase....
BCnU!Friday, August 27, 2010
SKED ALERT: JAZZ AGE LAWN PARTY
There's going to be a Jazz Age Lawn Party on Governor's Island in New York Harbor this Saturday.
Click here for the details.
I don't know.... when I hear the term "Jazz Age Lawn Party" and I'll admit this was the first time, I think of this classic film made by the televersion of Sam Peckinpagh (in the Skitlandia dimension):
My thanks to Ray David Amell for pointing this out.....
BCnU!
Click here for the details.
I don't know.... when I hear the term "Jazz Age Lawn Party" and I'll admit this was the first time, I think of this classic film made by the televersion of Sam Peckinpagh (in the Skitlandia dimension):
My thanks to Ray David Amell for pointing this out.....
BCnU!
WNU-TOOB: U.N.C.L.E. WITH A DOUBLE-O (THE SECOND)
If you read the earlier post from today, "The Covert Affairs Of James Bond", you saw that clip of James Bond crossing paths with Napoleon Solo.
Two things jumped out at me from it:
One: I don't think that Aston Martin which Bond was driving was a European model. I think they just reversed the film so that it looked like George Lazenby as Bond was driving on the right nad side of the car. The clue is in that sign in the background:
UPDATE: I've just heard from Andy:
It's a British-spec DB5. The backwards sign is a reflection from across the street. The mole on Lazenby's left cheek is in the correct position. If the film was flipped, it would be on the right.
Thanks, Andy!
Two: The televersion of James Bond, at least in this incarnation of the character, was a serlinguist. A serlinguist is a TV character who talks directly to the audience viewing at home in the Trueniverse. As such, these characters also have tele-cognizance, the knowledge that they live in the TV Universe.
At this point in the car chase, after he's caused one of the bad guys' cars to flip over and explode, James Bond turns to the camera and says "Shaken... but not stirred."
It's a cheesy effect that ruins the moment, I think....
And third: I think Lazenby's cameo appearance in this TV movie sequel can legitimize Toobworld's claim to absorb "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" as part of the TV Universe.
I don't think anybody in the "Cineverse" is going to miss it, do you?
BCnU!
Two things jumped out at me from it:
One: I don't think that Aston Martin which Bond was driving was a European model. I think they just reversed the film so that it looked like George Lazenby as Bond was driving on the right nad side of the car. The clue is in that sign in the background:
UPDATE: I've just heard from Andy:It's a British-spec DB5. The backwards sign is a reflection from across the street. The mole on Lazenby's left cheek is in the correct position. If the film was flipped, it would be on the right.
Thanks, Andy!
Two: The televersion of James Bond, at least in this incarnation of the character, was a serlinguist. A serlinguist is a TV character who talks directly to the audience viewing at home in the Trueniverse. As such, these characters also have tele-cognizance, the knowledge that they live in the TV Universe.
At this point in the car chase, after he's caused one of the bad guys' cars to flip over and explode, James Bond turns to the camera and says "Shaken... but not stirred."It's a cheesy effect that ruins the moment, I think....
And third: I think Lazenby's cameo appearance in this TV movie sequel can legitimize Toobworld's claim to absorb "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" as part of the TV Universe.
I don't think anybody in the "Cineverse" is going to miss it, do you?
BCnU!
WNU-TOOB: BARRY'S BOND (THE FIRST)
As mentioned earlier, the first James Bond in the TV Universe was an American played by Barry Nelson in the 1953 adaptation of Ian Fleming's "Casino Royale". And it wasn't even a case where Nelson was playing a Brit and not bothering to do an accent - at one point, he tells Clarence Leiter the conversion rate of francs into "your British pounds". 
Clarence Leiter, by the way, is British in this telecast, whereas Felix Leiter is the American in the movie universe. (Also starring in this production: Peter Lorre as the villain Le Chiffre, and Linda Christian as French agent Valerie Mathis, the original Bond girl. Michael Pate is Leiter.)
In this version, Her Majesty's Secret Service came to Bond to ask him to work for them. So he wasn't one of their Double-O agents licensed to kill. In fact, he was identified as working for the Combined Intelligence Agency of the United States government.
Barry Nelson never played Bond again, although apparently this production was meant to serve as the pilot for a proposed series. The character of James Bond wouldn't appear on TV again until that 'Man From U.N.C.L.E.' reunion movie. (That clip can be seen in a post from earlier today.)
By that time, the character was once again a British spy, although probably retired.
As I said earlier, Toobworld is willing to accept the splainin about multiple Bonds from the first "Casino Royale" movie - that "James Bond, 007" is the alias for the current top spy in the British Secret Service. If the enemies of the Crown believed Bond was unstoppable, they might have second thoughts about facing off against him.
For Toobworld purposes, I think the British Secret Service began this operation as a tribute to the first James Bond - a man outside the agency who accepted a job for them and gave his life in that endeavor.
Yes, I think Jimmy Bond, as played by Barry Nelson, died after the cameras stopped broadcasting. The physical wounds from his extreme torture might have healed eventually, but the severity of that torture may have put too much of a strain on his heart.* (By the end, he looked too far gone and barely able to defeat Le Chiffre.)
This would clear the way for the British Secret Service to implement their program and give them enough time to have an agent in place making a name for himself. Eight years after the 
first James Bond's appearance, that same international agency (perhaps connected to UNIT and U.N.C.L.E.) who made the theatrical movies about a Time Lord named "The Doctor" also made movies about James Bond, in order to deflect attention from the exploits of the real man and to confuse their enemies. (If I'm not mistaken, this is a position also adopted by Win Scott Eckert in his studies into the Wold Newton Universe.)
Clarence Leiter, by the way, is British in this telecast, whereas Felix Leiter is the American in the movie universe. (Also starring in this production: Peter Lorre as the villain Le Chiffre, and Linda Christian as French agent Valerie Mathis, the original Bond girl. Michael Pate is Leiter.)In this version, Her Majesty's Secret Service came to Bond to ask him to work for them. So he wasn't one of their Double-O agents licensed to kill. In fact, he was identified as working for the Combined Intelligence Agency of the United States government.Barry Nelson never played Bond again, although apparently this production was meant to serve as the pilot for a proposed series. The character of James Bond wouldn't appear on TV again until that 'Man From U.N.C.L.E.' reunion movie. (That clip can be seen in a post from earlier today.)
By that time, the character was once again a British spy, although probably retired.As I said earlier, Toobworld is willing to accept the splainin about multiple Bonds from the first "Casino Royale" movie - that "James Bond, 007" is the alias for the current top spy in the British Secret Service. If the enemies of the Crown believed Bond was unstoppable, they might have second thoughts about facing off against him.
For Toobworld purposes, I think the British Secret Service began this operation as a tribute to the first James Bond - a man outside the agency who accepted a job for them and gave his life in that endeavor.Yes, I think Jimmy Bond, as played by Barry Nelson, died after the cameras stopped broadcasting. The physical wounds from his extreme torture might have healed eventually, but the severity of that torture may have put too much of a strain on his heart.* (By the end, he looked too far gone and barely able to defeat Le Chiffre.)
This would clear the way for the British Secret Service to implement their program and give them enough time to have an agent in place making a name for himself. Eight years after the 
first James Bond's appearance, that same international agency (perhaps connected to UNIT and U.N.C.L.E.) who made the theatrical movies about a Time Lord named "The Doctor" also made movies about James Bond, in order to deflect attention from the exploits of the real man and to confuse their enemies. (If I'm not mistaken, this is a position also adopted by Win Scott Eckert in his studies into the Wold Newton Universe.) Those movies must exist as movies in the TV Universe in order to justify so many references to the fictional James Bond over the years in various TV shows. (Although there are references to the real James Bond as well, as evidenced in that quote from 'Covert Affairs' mentioned earlier.)
BCnU!
BCnU!
* It's not that much of a stretch for believability. I had a friend who suffered massive injuries after his car was struck by a reckless driver. (He was just the passenger.) He was expected to fully recover. But then he had a massive heart attack and died......
THE "COVERT AFFAIRS" OF JAMES BOND
In "Communication Breakdown", the latest episode of USA Network's 'Covert Affairs', Annie Walker mentioned to her friend Augie Anderson that "James Bond was a lonely, sad, old man." Her point was that Augie wasn't like Bond; that he wasn't the kind of man who would exploit a woman for intel.James Bond does exist in Toobworld, and probably under the same situation as established in the first movie version of "Casino Royale" - that the British Secret Service keeps giving that cover name to their top agent so that he will always be a presence in the shadowy world of espionage. That way his legend becomes a weapon against their enemies.
In the TV Universe, James Bond was first seen in the television adaptation of "Casino Royale", but with Barry Nelson as an American spy. He was even called "Jimmy Bond" in the tele-play! But later, after he retired (or was eliminated), other - probably British - secret agents assumed the identity of Bond, James Bond. And we met one of them in his own later years when his path crossed that of U.N.C.L.E. agent Napoleon Solo in "The Return Of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. - The Fifteen Years Later Affair".
The world of James Bond as we know it in the movie universe does exist in Toobworld, but mostly in the form of commercials - blipverts advertising cars, watches, even soda.
As Annie Walker made no mention of the movies or the original novels by Ian Fleming, we can make the assumption that she was referring to Bond as a real person. His exploits probably were part of the curriculum at Quantico, but it's O'Bvious that Annie didn't approve of his methods. He may have even come to one of her classes to give a guest lecture. Afterwards, he probably tried to hit on her, which is how she came by her opinion of the man....
BCnU!
TELE-FOLKS DIRECTORY: THE BENNY BAKER COMBO
Every so often, we find an actor who plays similarly-themed characters in Toobworld and we can't resist the temptation to combine them and claim that they're all the same man (or woman, as was the recent blog post with the many roles played in TV Westerns by Adele Mara.)Today's challenge involves the characters played by Benny Baker; and since we're still in a TV Western frame of mind as the month of August winds down, we're focusing only on those to be found out West.
He was first seen in the "true" pilot for 'Maverick': "Point Blank", as the bartender/owner of the Golden Chance Saloon in Bent Forks. (The town only exists in Toobworld, it appears.) He was identified as Mike Brill, but I think his full name was Peter Michael Brill, as will be splained later.Mike Brill took a liking to Bret Maverick when they first met. So when the tall dark stranger was arrested after a scuffle with a guy named Moose, Mike put up the bail and offered Maverick a chance to pay it off by working as a spotter at the games played in his saloon.
Not long after Bret Maverick finally left town, Mike Brill decided it was time to pull up stakes in Bent Forks and find his fortune elsewhere on the frontier. With the money he gained from selling the Golden Chance Saloon, Mr. Brill set himself up as a storekeeper in another town.It was there that he met Tom Brewster, a frontier lawyer known by the nickname of 'Sugarfoot'. I'm not familiar with the particulars of the situation, but he may have been involved in the illegal purchase of "Guns For Big Bear", a local Pawnee chief. According to most descriptions of the episode I've found, Tom thought he was driving a wagonload of supplies to the Pawnee village, without knowing it was really illegal contraband.
Benny Baker is listed as playing either a salesman or a storekeeper, and in either capacity he could have been involved with the shipment. Again, I'm not familiar with the details of that story yet, but as Bret Maverick would say, "I'm working on it....."If Peter M. Brill did survive that situation, he may have felt that it would be a good idea to hightail it out while he could. But he may have found the temptation for ill-gotten gains to irresistable, and as such he was eventually drawn to Fort Courage, Kansas. There he found it safer to work for Sgt. Morgan O'Rourke at the saloon in town as the bartender, rather than to be the boss himself. And this time, he figured it would be a good idea to hide in plain sight by going by his first name of "Pete"......
I'm not suggesting Peter Michael Brill for candidacy to be a member of the TV Crossover Hall of Fame just yet. First I have to watch that episode of 'Sugarfoot' to see if he qualifies. But at any rate, I thought this made a nice character profile from the "Tele-Folks Directory" to run during August....SHOWS CITED:
'Maverick'
'Sugarfoot'
'F Troop'
BCnU!
ESCAPE ARTISTS
In the latest episode of 'Warehouse 13' ("For The Team"), Claudia left Artie handcuffed to a pipe because he was under the spell of the artifact (a pair of Mata Hari's stockings that could bewitch men). After she left, Artie noted that he had been escaping from such situations since before MacGyver escaped from his first crib.This was a reference to 'MacGyver', the action adventure series of the 1980s starring Richard Dean Anderson as Angus MacGyver, who could use ordinary household objects to create weapons and/or to help him escape from his enemies.
As there was no mention of the TV series, but only of MacGyver as an actual person, I'm taking my cue from Win Scott Eckert in his "Crossover" books about the Wold Newton Universe and stating that 'MacGyver' and 'Warehouse 13' share the same universe.
BCnU!
AS SEEN ON TV: ETTA PLACE
From Wikipedia:
As for her life after Longabaugh's death, some indications are that she returned to New York City, while others indicate she moved back to Texas and started a new life there. A Pinkerton report indicates that a woman matching Place's description was killed in a shootout resulting from a domestic dispute with a man named Mateo Gebhart in Chubut, Argentina, in March 1922. Another report indicates she committed suicide in 1924 in Argentina, while yet another report indicates that she died of natural causes in 1966.
As for her life after Longabaugh's death, some indications are that she returned to New York City, while others indicate she moved back to Texas and started a new life there. A Pinkerton report indicates that a woman matching Place's description was killed in a shootout resulting from a domestic dispute with a man named Mateo Gebhart in Chubut, Argentina, in March 1922. Another report indicates she committed suicide in 1924 in Argentina, while yet another report indicates that she died of natural causes in 1966.
In 1907, she was still known to have been living in San Francisco, and may have been the person who, on July 31, 1909, asked Frank Aller, the US vice-consul in Antofagasta, Chile, to contact the American Legation in La Paz, Bolivia, to enquire into the matter of a death certificate for Longabaugh. This was done in order to settle his estate following the November 9, 1908, shootout at San Vicente, Bolivia where he and Parker were probably killed. The woman making the request was described as being very pretty. After that, nothing more was ever heard of her.
BCnU!
BCnU!Thursday, August 26, 2010
THE FUGITIVE FROM U.N.C.L.E.
And now, speaking of both 'The Fugitive' and 'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.', here's my wish-craft picture for the never-to-be-seen crossover between both series: 
It's actually from 'Centennial', and as such it doesn't actually qualify for the type of picture used in the "Fanficcer's Friend" feature of the blog. But I couldn't resist!
BCnU!
It's actually from 'Centennial', and as such it doesn't actually qualify for the type of picture used in the "Fanficcer's Friend" feature of the blog. But I couldn't resist!
BCnU!
THE DEL FLORIA'S AFFAIR
Speaking of 'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.' (Well, I was! Guido Panzini appeared in the episode "The Bow-Wow Affair". See?), TV Shows On DVD announced the release of the fourth season of 'The Fugitive' on their Facebook page:The Fugitive - CBS/Paramount Announces 'The 4th and Final Season, Volume 1' on DVD! http://tvshowsondvd.com/n/14309
So what does that have to do with 'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.'? Watch this clip from the closing moments of the episode "The Walls Of Night" from that fourth season:
Dr. Richard Kimble had been in the Portland/Seattle area during that episode, heading for Canada. So with that final scene, he was probably still in the vicinity. But definitely he didn't cross the country to be in New York City for that denouement.
So this wasn't the Del Floria's Tailors near the United Nations, which served as the secret entrance to U.N.C.L.E. headquarters. But that was the headquarters - U.N.C.L.E. had stations located all around the world. The Del Floria's front must have been a common theme so that U.N.C.L.E. agents would recognize the location as a safe house. I think Seattle would have been a logical choice for the location of an U.N.C.L.E. station - as the northernmost major city in the continental United States and as a seaport on the northern Pacific, it would served well during the Cold War for monitoring Soviet activity in that part of the world.
BCnU!
BCnU!
PLUGGED IN: "CROSSOVERS & SPIN-OFFS"
Here's another plug for one of my blog-mates......
Thom Holbrook was the first in the TV Crossover field to contact me when I was running the old Tubeworld Dynamic website. Back then, I didn't even know there was anybody else out there who was doing the same thing, let alone be interested in it! He politely pointed out that I was wrong in my claim to be the best site on the subject (Again - I thought I was the only one!), and when I visited his site, I knew he was right.
I still say his site is the best on this specific kind of crossover, which is why it leads off the blogroll at Inner Toob.
"Crossovers & Spin-Offs" lay fallow for a few years, as Thom was busy with other aspects of his life - not only with work, but with his companions Mei and Totoro. He's back now, with two new articles: one on the three-way 'C.S.I.' franchise crossover and a character study on Guido Panzini, a character created by Pat Harrington, Jr. I found this fascinating, not only for the shows he connected, but also for Guido's significance within the "reality" of Toobworld. I'll have to look for these episodes before I consider how Guido Panzini can exist as he does in the Toobworld timeline, but for now Thom's got a good handle on the situation.
Here's the link to his story on Guido Panzini. But check out the full site - it's basically an encyclopedia on TV Crossovers. And of course, you'll find the main link to the site there to the left, you guidos!
BCnU!
I still say his site is the best on this specific kind of crossover, which is why it leads off the blogroll at Inner Toob.
"Crossovers & Spin-Offs" lay fallow for a few years, as Thom was busy with other aspects of his life - not only with work, but with his companions Mei and Totoro. He's back now, with two new articles: one on the three-way 'C.S.I.' franchise crossover and a character study on Guido Panzini, a character created by Pat Harrington, Jr. I found this fascinating, not only for the shows he connected, but also for Guido's significance within the "reality" of Toobworld. I'll have to look for these episodes before I consider how Guido Panzini can exist as he does in the Toobworld timeline, but for now Thom's got a good handle on the situation.
Here's the link to his story on Guido Panzini. But check out the full site - it's basically an encyclopedia on TV Crossovers. And of course, you'll find the main link to the site there to the left, you guidos!
BCnU!
JULIUS SEIZED
Comic book writer and animation producer/director Mark Evanier brought to light a little-known TV crossover involving kids' shows on a local level. And in the general scheme of things, it's still part of the overall Toobworld Dynamic:
Dan Kravetz read my posting about Los Angeles kid show hosts and sent the following...
I was a devoted viewer of 'Cartoon Carousel' when Skipper Frank switched dummies in about 1960. The original was named Julius and also had a last name which I can't remember. I don't recall the Skipper mentioning on the show specifically that Julius had been stolen from his car, but he did create some sort of mystery about his pal being missing, and on one episode displayed a "letter" from Julius that read, "I have been kidnapped by Jimmy Weldon!"
Mark Evanier's response
I believe 'Cartoon Carnival' (Skipper Frank's show) went on in '56 but I do remember him showing the earliest "Looney Tunes". I don't remember that letter from Julius. I watched every day and would have laughed my head off at the mention of Jimmy Weldon, who was on Channel 13 opposite Skipper Frank.
I wonder what ever happened to Julius.....
By the way, you should check out Mr. Evanier's blog, "News From ME". You'll find the link to the left, my Peanut Gallery!
BCnU!
Dan Kravetz read my posting about Los Angeles kid show hosts and sent the following...
I was a devoted viewer of 'Cartoon Carousel' when Skipper Frank switched dummies in about 1960. The original was named Julius and also had a last name which I can't remember. I don't recall the Skipper mentioning on the show specifically that Julius had been stolen from his car, but he did create some sort of mystery about his pal being missing, and on one episode displayed a "letter" from Julius that read, "I have been kidnapped by Jimmy Weldon!"
Mark Evanier's responseI believe 'Cartoon Carnival' (Skipper Frank's show) went on in '56 but I do remember him showing the earliest "Looney Tunes". I don't remember that letter from Julius. I watched every day and would have laughed my head off at the mention of Jimmy Weldon, who was on Channel 13 opposite Skipper Frank.
I wonder what ever happened to Julius.....By the way, you should check out Mr. Evanier's blog, "News From ME". You'll find the link to the left, my Peanut Gallery!
BCnU!
HOSS + LOLA = JOSH
When NBC tried to revive the 'Bonanza' franchise with TV movies, there was hardly anybody left to return to their old roles. Lorne Greene had been willing, but he died before he could be involved. Michael Landon was busy with his own show, 'Highway To Heaven', and Pernell Roberts knocked the dust of 'Bonanza' from his boots many years before and never looked back.
They could have gone with the characters of Candy Canady, Griff King, and Jaimie Cartwright (who was adopted by Ben and thus should have been the rightful heir to the Ponderosa). But instead, the producers brought in Ben's sea-faring brother Captain Aaron Cartwright and several of Ben Cartwright's grandchildren. One of these was Josh Cartwright, the illegitimate son of Hoss Cartwright.
From TV.com:
Later that night a young man, who has gun in his hand, is caught by Mr. Mack. He says that his name is Josh and Hoss Cartwright is his father, and that he abandoned him and his mother, who died recently. Aaron gives him a bed for the night and the next day, he takes him to Hoss' grave and tells him that he died before he could back to get him and his mother and they didn't know where to find them.
The Cartwrights should have sued the stone-mason over that gravestone. Hoss was born in 1836 and he died in 1872. His death was even mentioned on the series at the beginning of that last season, and it was accepted that each episode aired 100 years after the story supposedly took place.
Besides, his first name of "Eric" should have been included.....
In 1871, Hoss Cartwright came to the aid of an actress who could be called "The Iron Butterfly", Lola Fairmont. While hiding out with her in the cabin of an old hermit named Grady, Hoss became attracted to Lola and eventually she returned his affections as well. How could he resist her? Not only was Lola Fairmont beautiful, but as Grady put it, "she's got a shine with the yarbs."
She proved to be an excellent cook and Grady especially liked her dry apple pie. With his enthusiastic intake of the meal (and perhaps abetted by some whiskey), Grady was soon unconscious to the world. And I think Lola took that opportunity to act upon her feelings for Hoss, who probably couldn't put up too much resistance as he had been earlier incapacitated by an iron poker to the head in an attack.
No matter how badly he was injured however, apparently Hoss rose to the occasion. (Sorry about that, Chief.)
And so that's the long way around to my way of saying that I think Josh Cartwright is the son of Hoss Cartwright and Lola Fairmont.
BCnU!
They could have gone with the characters of Candy Canady, Griff King, and Jaimie Cartwright (who was adopted by Ben and thus should have been the rightful heir to the Ponderosa). But instead, the producers brought in Ben's sea-faring brother Captain Aaron Cartwright and several of Ben Cartwright's grandchildren. One of these was Josh Cartwright, the illegitimate son of Hoss Cartwright.
From TV.com:
Later that night a young man, who has gun in his hand, is caught by Mr. Mack. He says that his name is Josh and Hoss Cartwright is his father, and that he abandoned him and his mother, who died recently. Aaron gives him a bed for the night and the next day, he takes him to Hoss' grave and tells him that he died before he could back to get him and his mother and they didn't know where to find them.
The Cartwrights should have sued the stone-mason over that gravestone. Hoss was born in 1836 and he died in 1872. His death was even mentioned on the series at the beginning of that last season, and it was accepted that each episode aired 100 years after the story supposedly took place.
Besides, his first name of "Eric" should have been included.....
In 1871, Hoss Cartwright came to the aid of an actress who could be called "The Iron Butterfly", Lola Fairmont. While hiding out with her in the cabin of an old hermit named Grady, Hoss became attracted to Lola and eventually she returned his affections as well. How could he resist her? Not only was Lola Fairmont beautiful, but as Grady put it, "she's got a shine with the yarbs."She proved to be an excellent cook and Grady especially liked her dry apple pie. With his enthusiastic intake of the meal (and perhaps abetted by some whiskey), Grady was soon unconscious to the world. And I think Lola took that opportunity to act upon her feelings for Hoss, who probably couldn't put up too much resistance as he had been earlier incapacitated by an iron poker to the head in an attack.
No matter how badly he was injured however, apparently Hoss rose to the occasion. (Sorry about that, Chief.)And so that's the long way around to my way of saying that I think Josh Cartwright is the son of Hoss Cartwright and Lola Fairmont.
BCnU!
AS SEEN ON TV: BLACK BART
BLACK BART'Maverick'
AS PLAYED BY:
Unknown
From Wikipedia:
Charles Earl Boles (died 1888?), alias Black Bart, was an American Old West outlaw noted for his poetic messages left after two of his robberies (the fourth and fifth). He was also known as Charles E. Boles, C.E. Bolton, Charles E. Bowles, and "Black Bart."
A gentleman bandit, Black Bart was one of the most notorious stagecoach robbers to operate in and around Northern California and southern Oregon during the 1870s and 1880s. The fame he received for his numerous daring thefts is rivaled only by his reputation for style and sophistication.
I'd say the only reason we should eliminate this outlaw from consideration as the real Black Bart is that the venue for Foxy Smith's master plan was too far outside of Bart's established purview and most likely outside his comfort zone for the type of crime committed. (Black Bart would have rightly figured that his specialty of robbing stagecoaches would never need so many top professional gunslingers and bank robbers.)
Otherwise, Black Bart really hasn't been portrayed enough in Toobworld to establish any performance to be the definitive one. Ted De Corsia in "The Slowest Gun In The West" was more likely to be located in that alternate TV dimension that houses 'That's My Bush!' and 'The Secret Files Of Desmond Pfeiffer' - a world in which everybody is an idiot.
Black Bart's guest appearance on 'The Real Ghostbusters' is O'Bviously a candidate for the Tooniverse. And I don't know what to make of the special "The Wild & The West" which documented the differences between the real West and the "reel" West......
So we'll just say this appearance by Black Bart in the "Full House" episode of 'Maverick' is yet another escapee from the assumed asylum just outside of Bubbly Springs, Colorado....
BCnU!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
"TV WORTH WATCHING" REBORN
I just wanted to point out that my favorite TV critic and columnist, whose departure from the New York Daily News brought an end to my enjoyment of that newspaper's TV section, has refurbished his website. David Bianculli unveiled the "2.0" edition of "TV Worth Watching" this past weekend, with a more streamlined reading experience and with many more guest contributors - many of them notable TV critics from around the country.And of course, my favorite section of the site - the contributions by readers (like me) of those inside jokes which Bianculli calls "Extras". This was a recurring feature in his Daily News columns (which I still have collected) and which just recently topped 100 contributions from the website alone.
Usually when I want you to check out one of the entries in my blogroll, I just instruct you, Dear Reader, to go visit "the Links to the Left". But as this is a special occasion, let me help guide the way this time:
I'm trusting you'll find it a worthwile visit and that you'll mark it as a "fave place" so that you'll be back for repeat visits.
Just make sure you've been inoculated against bad puns......
From the home office of Toobworld Central....
BCnU!
Toby O'B
SORBO: THE NEW "LEGENDARY" JOURNEYS
Here's another press release for a new series:
On "Legendary," Sorbo will play Kevin Sorbo, a former syndicated TV star. The half-hour single-camera series, from David Eick and scribes Adam Karp and Royal McGraw, follows Sorbo as he's recruited by a fan to help defeat actual creatures that threaten to destroy Los Angeles.
Hopefully they won't mention 'Hercules: The Legendary Journeys' as that syndicated TV show which made Sorbo a star, but more than likely they will. Even so, it's okay: in one episode of that series, we saw the behind the scenes work on the show, fictionalized. So there was a Toobworld version of 'Hercules: The Legendary Series', based on the real demi-god whose adventures were actually seen during the rest of the series.
And as it turned out, the televersion of Kevin Sorbo really was Hercules, so both shows can now be considered linked - thanks to the League of Themselves. (If you wanted, you could toss in any TV appearance he made on game shows, talk shows, reality shows as himself, because "Kevin Sorbo" was merely an alias for Hercules.)
BCnU!
On "Legendary," Sorbo will play Kevin Sorbo, a former syndicated TV star. The half-hour single-camera series, from David Eick and scribes Adam Karp and Royal McGraw, follows Sorbo as he's recruited by a fan to help defeat actual creatures that threaten to destroy Los Angeles.
Hopefully they won't mention 'Hercules: The Legendary Journeys' as that syndicated TV show which made Sorbo a star, but more than likely they will. Even so, it's okay: in one episode of that series, we saw the behind the scenes work on the show, fictionalized. So there was a Toobworld version of 'Hercules: The Legendary Series', based on the real demi-god whose adventures were actually seen during the rest of the series.
And as it turned out, the televersion of Kevin Sorbo really was Hercules, so both shows can now be considered linked - thanks to the League of Themselves. (If you wanted, you could toss in any TV appearance he made on game shows, talk shows, reality shows as himself, because "Kevin Sorbo" was merely an alias for Hercules.)
BCnU!
MORE TELE-ZOMBIES!
Yesterday I stated that there couldn't be any shows that might link to the upcoming AMC series 'The Walking Dead'. Turns out that I may be wrong. (Horrors! When has THAT ever happened here?)
Here's a press release for 'Zeroes':
"Zeroes" follows the "Zombie Extermination and Removal Operations," which must figure out how to keep the peace after zombies overcome the barrier preventing them from entering the city.
Their paths may never cross, but I would think that both shows operate in the same TV dimension.
And there's a third pozz'bility - if you want to include unsold pilots. Back in 2007, Amber Tamblyn and Kathy Baker were slated to star in 'Bablyon Fields', a small-town crime drama that just happened to also be about zombies. (And apparently, living humans were going to be able to have sex with the undead. Ewwwww.) CBS didn't pick up the option on that show.
If you want to include 'Babylon Fields' in the timeline for that TV dimension, then it was probably early in the stages of the rampant zombie-ism that seems to have taken hold in 'The Walking Dead'.
BCnU!
Here's a press release for 'Zeroes':
"Zeroes" follows the "Zombie Extermination and Removal Operations," which must figure out how to keep the peace after zombies overcome the barrier preventing them from entering the city.
Their paths may never cross, but I would think that both shows operate in the same TV dimension.
And there's a third pozz'bility - if you want to include unsold pilots. Back in 2007, Amber Tamblyn and Kathy Baker were slated to star in 'Bablyon Fields', a small-town crime drama that just happened to also be about zombies. (And apparently, living humans were going to be able to have sex with the undead. Ewwwww.) CBS didn't pick up the option on that show.
If you want to include 'Babylon Fields' in the timeline for that TV dimension, then it was probably early in the stages of the rampant zombie-ism that seems to have taken hold in 'The Walking Dead'.
BCnU!
THE BUBBLY SPRINGS ASYLUM GANG WANNABE
Running down the list of "outlaws" in the "Bubbly Springs Asylum Gang", it's time to turn our attention to "Jim Dalton"......I'm not even setting this one up as one of the "As Seen On TV" showcases, because from what I can tell there wasn't even a Jim Dalton in real life. At least not as a member of the Dalton Gang family.
Here's some background from Wikipedia:
The Dalton Gang was an outlaw group in the American Old West during 1890-1892. They specialized in bank and train robberies. They were related to the Younger brothers, who rode with Jesse James, though they acted later and independently of the James-Younger Gang. The three Dalton brothers involved in the gang were Gratton "Great" Dalton (b. 1861), Bob Dalton (b. 1869), and Emmett Dalton (b. 1871). One fourth brother, William M. "Bill" Dalton (1866–1894), also had a career as an outlaw, but operated as a member of the Wild Bunch.
The Dalton family came from Jackson County, Missouri. Lewis Dalton was a saloon keeper in Kansas City, Kansas, when he married Adeline Younger, the aunt of Cole and Jim Younger. By 1882, the family lived in northeast Oklahoma, then known as the Indian Territory, and by 1886 they had moved to Coffeyville in southeast Kansas. Thirteen of the couple's 15 children survived to maturity.
So it's pozz'ble, just pozz'ble, that one of those other 11 children was named James or had the diminutive nickname of Jim. (There was an older brother named Frank who became a lawman.) But there doesn't seem to be any record of a Jim Dalton.For alls I know, as Stuart Best would say, this guy's name really was Jim Dalton and he just succumbed to the fantasy that he was related to the Dalton Gang.
BCnU!
AS SEEN ON TV: THE DALTOONS
THE DALTON BOYS(Bob, Emmett, and Gratton)
AS SEEN IN:
'The World of Commander McBragg'
AS PLAYED BY:
Not applicable
(characters never spoke)
From Wikipedia:
Perhaps hoping to avenge their brother's death (lawman Frank Dalton), the three younger Dalton boys—Great, Bob, and Emmett, —became lawmen. But in 1890, the boys moved to the other side of the law, after not being paid for their duties as lawmen.
Bob was always the wildest one. He killed a man for the first time when he was just 19. He was a Deputy U.S. Marshal at the time and claimed the killing was in the line of duty. Some suspected, however, that the victim had tried to take away Bob's girlfriend. In March 1890, Bob was charged with introducing liquor into the Indian Territory, but he jumped bail and did not appear for his trial. In September 1890, Great was arrested for stealing horses— a capital offense—but either the charges were dropped or he was released. Discredited as lawmen, the Daltons soon formed their first gang.
The gang could have kept themselves busy with train robberies, but Bob Dalton wanted to make sure his name would long be remembered. He would, he claimed, "beat anything Jesse James ever did—rob two banks at once, in broad daylight." On October 5, 1892, the Dalton gang attempted this feat when they set out to rob the C.M. Condon & Company's Bank and the First National Bank in Coffeyville, Kansas. Since the locals were aware of what they looked like, they wore fake beards. But they were still identified by one of the townspeople.
While the gang was busy trying to hold up the banks, the people armed themselves and prepared for a gun battle. When the gang exited the banks, a shootout began. There were three townspeople shot, and Town Marshal Charles Connelly was killed when he ran into the street after hearing gunfire, returning fire before he died killing one member of the gang. Great Dalton, Bob Dalton, Dick Broadwell and Bill Power were killed. Emmett Dalton received 23 gunshot wounds and survived. He was given a life sentence in the Kansas penitentiary in Lansing, Kansas, of which he served 14 years before being pardoned. He moved to California and became a real estate agent, author and actor, and died in 1937 at age 66.
Eventually, the same fate would befall their Tooniverse counterparts....
BCnU!
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
MEET MR. MAYHEM
I think we've found our winner already for the 2010 Toobits Award in the Best New Commercial Character category.....
BCnU!
BCnU!
ZOMBIE TV
The new TV season hasn't even started yet and already I know there's one series that can't be part of Earth Prime-Time, the main Toobworld - 'The Walking Dead'.
This will have to be a TV dimension with no real future nor any hope to ever link to other TV shows. It's more of an Earth Prime-Time/Romero, if you will.
What would be fun, just to lighten what looks to be unceasing horror and doom, would be to see zombie versions of TV characters from the main Toobworld. And it might be nice to get the original actors to take on the roles as cameos along the lines of Bill Murray's appearance in the movie "Zombieland".
Here are a few examples, depending on where 'The Walking Dead' takes place:
Vic Mackey, 'The Shield' (Michael Chiklis)
Alex Rieger, 'Taxi' (Judd Hirsch)
James Trivette 'Walker, Texas Ranger' (Clarence Gilyard, Jr.)
Rose Nylund, 'The Golden Girls' (Betty White)
I'd LOVE to see the curvaceous Christina Hendricks of 'Mad Men' as a zombie, but Joan Harris would be about 80 years old today.......
Anyhoo, I'll check out the first episode of the series at least, but I'm not sure it's a show I want to keep coming back for. No matter how good it is, the topic isn't one I'm that fond of; and as a Toobworld caretaker, there doesn't seem to be anything in it for me.
But for your perusal, here are a few of the promo pictures for the show:
BCnU!
This will have to be a TV dimension with no real future nor any hope to ever link to other TV shows. It's more of an Earth Prime-Time/Romero, if you will.
What would be fun, just to lighten what looks to be unceasing horror and doom, would be to see zombie versions of TV characters from the main Toobworld. And it might be nice to get the original actors to take on the roles as cameos along the lines of Bill Murray's appearance in the movie "Zombieland".
Here are a few examples, depending on where 'The Walking Dead' takes place:
Vic Mackey, 'The Shield' (Michael Chiklis)
Alex Rieger, 'Taxi' (Judd Hirsch)
James Trivette 'Walker, Texas Ranger' (Clarence Gilyard, Jr.)
Rose Nylund, 'The Golden Girls' (Betty White)
I'd LOVE to see the curvaceous Christina Hendricks of 'Mad Men' as a zombie, but Joan Harris would be about 80 years old today.......
Anyhoo, I'll check out the first episode of the series at least, but I'm not sure it's a show I want to keep coming back for. No matter how good it is, the topic isn't one I'm that fond of; and as a Toobworld caretaker, there doesn't seem to be anything in it for me.
But for your perusal, here are a few of the promo pictures for the show:
BCnU!