SURF'S UP ON "SESAME STREET"

Thanks to my crossover comrade Thom Holbrook, here's something worse for the kids to see on 'Sesame Street' than Katy Perry's skimpy outfit: a topless Mr. Hooper!

BCnU!

MUNCH SIGHTINGS

Got a crossover verification request from a member of Team Toobworld:

Hi Toby,

I recently went through a huge pile of pilots that I've been putting off for a rainy day and watched 'M.O.N.Y.', a 2007 NBC Barry Levinson/Tom Fontana unaired pilot. It is about a fill in guy for the Mayor of New York who suddenly by an car accident makes him Mayor. A supposed terrorist cell is in Brooklyn and the new Mayor played by Bobby Canavale has to order a raid. It turns out they were just Muslim and the suspected terrorist is wrongly killed by NYPD.

Anyway, at the very near end I spotted an uncredited sighting of our favorite Det. John Munch. It also featured NYPD cars from the 74th Pct. which was the home station for 'Brooklyn South'. Can anyone else verify this or has seen this pilot? Let me know.

Thanks,

Vincent

I've never seen it. But if you have, contact me and let me know if Vincent has the facts right.......

SESAME STREET WALKER

This actually was considered news: 'Sesame Street' has pulled this video from an episode that was to be shown a few months from now.

Apparently there were complaints, probably from Tea Party voters, that Katy Perry's skirt was too short.

They probably thought Elmo was copping a peek at her vajayjay......

Hey! It's a TV term!

BCnU!

VIDEO SATURDAY: NEW SHOW TRAILERS

Okay, for Video Saturday, here are a few trailers for some of the new shows in the 2010 Fall-TV season. Can you guess what they all have in common?


My Generation




Detroit 1-8-7



Mike & Molly



Lone Star



Chase


Hellcats



Outsourced



BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: BILLY CARTER

BILLY CARTER

AS SEEN ON:
'Saturday Night Live'

AS PLAYED BY:
Gary Busey

Billy Carter died on this date in 1988.....

BCnU!

NEW TOOB REVIEW: THE "FIVE-O" REBOOT

I wrote a lengthy comment for MediumRob's review of 'Hawaii Five-O' while apartment-sitting, using a really crappy keyboard. It was a chore. So I'm not inclined to rewrite it again for Inner Toob.

Here it is again, with the proviso that you should visit Rob's site "The Medium Is Not Enough". The link is to the left.

The Toobworld take on 'Hawaii Five-O':

For me, the Stupid was best exemplified by the coincidence of Chin Ho Kelly just happening to run a curio shop right where he could witness the meeting between McGarrett and the Governor - a guy who just happens to have a personal connection to McGarrett with a back-story that luckily makes him useful to the plot.....

It's not that I saw it all as sacrilege; I just didn't see the point in remaking the original. Why not instead honor the original and build off of it with a continuation? Show us the Five-0 department thirty years later with all new characters. It's a premise that certainly worked with 'Star Trek'. (At least the movie "Maverick" was able to have it both ways.)

Another argument for continuation rather than remake: As with 'Star Trek', there was a rich history of old plots, with some of those same guest stars still alive, which could have been resurrected for the new team to revisit.

I watched the pilot and found it to be mindless fun. I liked the characters a lot (and agreed with the early reports that Scott Caan was stealing every scene he had with O'Loughlin.) But I saw nothing that said O'Loughlin HAD to be McGarrett, or Caan the new Danno. Why couldn't Daniel Dae Kim have been Chin Ho Kelly Jr., which would have been an excellent way to keep the original series' memory alive in the cast rather than erasing the originals and starting over. (To me, using the characters' names again is just lazy.)

I liked the recasting of gender for Kono, but then Grace in a bikini would have sold me on just about anything to do with the character.

It's been reported that James MacArthur is coming on board in a guest spot. So I think it would have been more interesting to see him return as the original Dann-O rather than as this Danno's father, or whatever he's slated to play.

But like I said, I did enjoy it. I just don't see why it had to be this way. It's not even like today's audiences are invested in the original characters that these actors couldn't be anybody else but.

There's only reason I can see why they felt the need to re-use the original character names - just for the chance to say "Book 'em, Danno." And even that was played out badly, almost as a spoof. If anything, that only brought back memories of the original than feel like a fresh take.

But since this is the way they're going, why not take it a step further? Bring back Wo Fat. Get the guy who played Dogen in the last season of 'Lost' to play the role.

Yeah, I am looking at it all from a Toobworld point of view, but I think it's still a valid argument.....

BCnU!

"BOOTY" CALLS

Lee Goldberg and William Rabkin wrote the episode of 'The Glades' which aired this past Sunday. It was entitled "Booty" and the heart of the mystery focused on pirate treasure.

This past Sunday was also "Talk Like A Pirate Day".

Coincidence? I'm not sure. I've put the question to Mr. Goldberg via a Facebook comment about the episode, but haven't heard back from him.

*****

The episode also made a contribution to the Toobworld Timeline: on August 7, 1753, Black Jack Bellamy attacked the Spanish galleon "Magdelena".

******

There really was a pirate named Black Jack Bellamy, but he went down with his ship, the Whydah Galley, off the coast of Cape Cod in 1717. You can read more about him at the National Geographic site.

*****

By the way, I thought there was a casting error in the episode. Jonathan Scarfe played Mark Ellison, the former business partner of the murder victim; and Scott Holroyd played Hal Hasker, the victim's cousin and son of Big Jack Hasker (played by William Atherton).

It's just my opinion, but I think the roles played by Scarfe and Holroyd should have been reversed. With his coloring, Scarfe looked more like he was related to Atherton's Big Jack.

But then again, the role of Ellison was more interesting to play, so Jonathan Scarfe was probably happy with the way things turned out......

*****
(From left: Hal Hasker, Big Jack Hasker, Mark Ellison)

Of course, we could always toss out a theory of "relateeveety".....

Maybe Big Jack Hasker was particularly chummy with Mark Ellison's mom back in the day...... That way, he would be the father of both men.

BCnU!

AS SEEN (AND READ ABOUT) ON TV: BLACK JACK BELLAMY

A little something different for "As Seen On TV"........

BLACK JACK BELLAMY

AS SEEN IN:
'The Glades'

From the episode "Booty":

LONGWORTH
So, how exciting would it be if Johnny Hasker actually found the treasure from the Magdalena?

CALLIE
Johnny Hasker found the Magdalena?

LONGWORTH
Are you saying that would excite you enough to help me?

CALLIE
No, seriously. he actually found it?

LONGWORTH
Yeah, I'm thinking he did.

CALLIE
Why?

LONGWORTH
Well, because that's what everyone's fighting about. His business partner and his family thought the only way to turn Johnny's business around and the Haskers' fortune around was to find the Magdalena.

CALLIE
And Johnny was the only one with the smarts to actually do it.

LONGWORTH
Not that you needed that to get excited about.

CALLIE
Yeah, okay, whatever. Do you want to know about the Magdalena or not?

LONGWORTH
I'm all ears.

CALLIE
Okay. (reading)
"Benito Francisco, a rich colonial official, and his young bride were heading back to spain with his fortune on the ship he'd named after her, when they were attacked on August 7, 1753, "

LONGWORTH
Black Jack Bellamy? Really?

CALLIE
"The pirate took off with the Magdalena, the bride, and all the riches, leaving Francisco and his crew adrift at -#"

LONGWORTH
That's the romance you're talking about? Okay. I'm listening.

CALLIE
"Francisco survived and went after the Magdalena. There was a battle, and both ships sank, dragging Black Jack Bellamy, Francisco and his bride, and all the treasure to the bottom of the [ocean]"

From the Frommer's Guide To Cape Cod:

From a 1999 National Geographic article:
The Whydah's story begins in London in 1715 when the hundred-foot [31-meter] three-master was launched as a slave ship under the command of Lawrence Prince. Named for the West African port of Ouidah (pronounced WIH-dah) in what is today Benin, the 300-ton [272-metric-ton] vessel was destined for the infamous "triangular trade" connecting England, Africa, and the West Indies. Carrying cloth, liquor, hand tools, and small arms from England, the Whydah's crew would buy and barter for up to 700 slaves in West Africa, then set out with them on three to four weeks of hellish transport to the Caribbean. Once there, the slaves were traded for gold, silver, sugar, indigo, and cinchona, the last being a source of quinine, all of which went back to England.

The Whydah was fast—she was capable of 13 knots—but in February of 1717, on only her second voyage, she was chased down by two pirate vessels, the Sultana and Mary Anne, near the Bahamas. Led by Samuel "Black Sam" Bellamy, a raven-haired former English sailor thought to be in his late 20s, the pirates quickly overpowered the Whydah's crew. Bellamy claimed her as his flagship, seized a dozen men from Prince, then let the vanquished captain and his remaining crew take the Sultana.

By early April the pirates were headed north along the east coast, robbing vessels as they went. Their destination was Richmond Island, off the coast of Maine, but they diverted to Cape Cod, where legend says Bellamy wanted to visit his mistress, Maria Hallett, in the town of Eastham near the cape's tip. Others blame the course change on several casks of Madeira wine seized off Nantucket. Whatever the reason, on April 26, 1717, the freebooter navy sailed square into a howling nor'easter.

According to eyewitness accounts, gusts topped 70 miles [113 kilometers] an hour and the seas rose to 30 feet [9 meters]. Bellamy signaled his fleet to deeper water, but it was too late for the treasure-laden Whydah. Trapped in the surf zone within sight of the beach, the boat slammed stern first into a sandbar and began to break apart. When a giant wave rolled her, her cannon fell from their mounts, smashing through overturned decks along with cannonballs and barrels of iron and nails. Finally, as the ship's back broke, she split into bow and stern, and her contents spilled across the ocean floor.

In his 1724 book, "A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates", the novelist and journalist Daniel Defoe quotes Bellamy through a secondary source, a Captain Beer who did battle with the Whydah from his sloop. "I am a free Prince," Bellamy is said to have speechified, "and I have as much Authority to make War on the whole World as he who has a hundred Sail of Ships at Sea and an Army of 100,000 Men in the Field; and this my Conscience tells me."

BCnU!

REMEMBERING EDWIN NEWMAN II

Here's another sketch from 'Saturday Night Live' (once again courtesy of the Saturday Night Live Transcripts) which features the late Edwin Newman.....

Hard News Cafe
Female Reporter.....Valerie Bertinelli
Male Reporter.....Phil Hartman
Waitress.....Nora Dunn
Sam Donaldson.....Kevin Nealon
Cashier.....Victoria Jackson
Ted Koppel.....Dana Carvey
Fan.....Jon Lovitz
.....Edwin Newman
[ open on exterior, Hard News Cafe ]

[ dissolve to interior, couple sitting at a table in the middle of the cafe ]

Female Reporter: [ staring at memorabilia on the wall ] Whose bow tie is that?

Male Reporter: Oh, that's Irving R. Levine's.

Female Reporter: Wow..

Male Reporter: [ pointing ] And that's Eric Severeid's first microphone.

Female Reporter: Wow! What a great concept this is! How many Hard News Cafes are there?

Male Reporter: [ thinking ] Well, there's this one in Washington.. one in New York. Uh.. a new one going up in Cambridge. And they have plans to open one up in every major American city except Los Angeles.

Female Reporter: Oh, yeah. It seems like there's a lot of tourists, though. I don't see any newsmen, do you?

Male Reporter: [ looking ] No, I don't see any.. [ suddenly spots one behind him ] Oh. There's Sam Donaldson.

Female Reporter: [ stunned ]

[ Waitress enters the scene, as diners' hand suddenly shoot into the air like newsthirsty reporters ]

Diners: Waitress! Waitress! Waitress! Waitress!

Waitress: [ points across the room ] Sam! Sam! [ walks over to him ]

Sam Donaldson: Can I get the Pierre Salinger club without the tongue?

Waitress: That would simply be the.. Charles Kuralt.

Sam Donaldson: Hmm.. I see. Alright, I'll tell you what - maybe I'll eat light. Give me the Lesley Stahl fruit cup.

Waitress: Alright. I'll get that right away.

[ Waitress walks away, as the diners go nuts ]

Diners: Waitress! Waitress! Waitress! Waitress!

[ back to the first table ]

Female Reporter: Oh! My friend at the Dish came through!

Male Reporter: Great!

Female Reporter: [ pulls videotape out of her purse ] "Trade Representative Brought Testifying to Governor's Conference on the Trade Deficit".

Male Reporter: Excellent!

Female Reporter: "After the first ten minutes, it cooked."

Male Reporter: Great!

Female Reporter: Oh, oh.. [ pulls out another videotape ] "Round Table Discussion on Reinterpretating the ABM Treatment: Richard Pearl, Robert MacNamera, San Nunn."

Male Reporter: No!

Female Reporter: Yes!

Male Reporter: Great!

[ a scuffle can be heard off-screen ]

Off-screen Voice: Hey, let go of me, I've got a right to be here as much as anybody else! Ow!

Female Reporter: What's going on? What is it?

Male Reporter: Oh, it's Geraldo Rivera. He tried to sneak in again, and they bounced him.

Female Reporter: Oh, thank God.

[ Ted Koppel steps up to the Cashier ]

Cashier: Sir, can I help you?

Ted Koppel: Hello, I'm Ted Koppel, and I have a reservation.

Cashier: [ looks at reservation log ] I'm sorry, Mr. Koppel. I don't have your name written down here, but uh.. I can seat you right away if you don't mind sitting with, uh.. Sam Donaldson.

Ted Koppel: [ looks over ] I'll wait.

Sam Donaldson: [ notices Ted Koppel is in the cafe ] Hey, Ted! Ted! Come on over! Ted! Ted! Over here! [ Ted gives in and sits with Sam ] Hey, you're looking good, hair looks nice! Can I get you a waitress? Let me get you a waitress! [ raises his hand ] Waitress!

Diners: Waitress! Waitress! Waitress! Waitress!

Waitress: [ points across the room ] Sam! [ walks over ]

Sam Donaldson: Waitress, my friend would like to order.

Ted Kooppel: I'm Ted Koppel, and thi-i-is.. is my lunch. Turning our attention to the menu, Sam, you've eaten here before, you've attended many such lunches. Perhaps you wouldn't mind sharing with us, your insights.

Sam Donaldson: Well, now, Ted, I could sit here and recommend specials until the cows come home. But, ultimately, you're the one who's gonna have to eat what's on the plate.

Waitress: I'll come back..

[ Waitress walks away, as the diners go nuts ]

Diners: Waitress! Waitress! Waitress! Waitress!

[ Fan approaches Sam and Ted's table ]

Fan: Hey, hey! Ted Koppel, Sam Donaldson! Sorry for interrupting your lunch, man! You two are my favorite newsmen, you know? I can't believe you're sitting here!

Ted Koppel: Thank you very much, young man. Keep watching.

Sam Donaldson: Thank you. Yes.

Fan: So, who do you like for the Democrats in '88? Do you like Joe Biden?

Ted Koppel: Yes, he's a fine candidate, yes.

Sam Donaldson: Yes, nice meeting you.

Fan: Wh-what's that supposed to mean, "nice meeting you"? What, because I'm not in the news fraternity, or something, I'm not worth talking to?!

Sam Donaldson: Yeah.. yeah.. Look, if you'll just excuse us, please.

Fan: [ peeved ] Great, that's just terrific..

Sam Donaldson: You know, everyone, you know, including electronic journalists, have the right to -

Ted Koppel: Sam, excuse me for a moment, if you will. But I don't think any purpose will be served by engaging this individual any further.

Fan: [ angry ] Well, you guys suck, you know that! You know what?! Without the audience, you guys would be nothing! You would be talking to yourselves! [ Edwin Newman walks up and grabs his shoulder ] What?

Edwin Newman: Pardon me, sir, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave. I am going to have to ask you to leave.

Fan: Oh, yeah, well.. Edwin Newman - oh, I'm shaking! I'm not going nowhere, man!

Edwin Newman: Uh, in a way, you're absolutely right. But, by using the double negative "not going nowhere", you implied that you are going somewhere. As, indeed, you are. ie - out!

Fan: What? I don't think so..

Edwin Newman: Out! [ grabs the Fan ]

Fan: Hey! Hey! [ as he's dragged away ] Who do you think I am - Geraldo Rivera!

[ cut back to the first table ]

Female Reporter: This place really lives us to its reputation!

Male Reporter: Yeah, let's buy a couple of t-shirts on the way out!

Female Reporter: Yeah! Yeah!

[ Waitress passes through ]

Diners: Waitress! Waitress! Waitress! Waitress!

[ fade out ]

AS SEEN ON TV: ARNOLD ROTHSTEIN

ARNOLD ROTHSTEIN

AS SEEN IN:
'Boardwalk Empire'

AS PLAYED BY:
Michael Stuhlberg

From Wikipedia:
Arnold "The Brain" Rothstein (January 17, 1882–November 4, 1928) was a New York businessman and gambler who became a famous kingpin of organized crime, the Jewish mafia. Rothstein was also widely reputed to have been behind baseball's Black Sox Scandal, in which the 1919 World Series was fixed. His notoriety inspired several fictional characters based on his life, including "Meyer Wolfsheim" in F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby ; the character who shared his name in the Broadway Musical "Legs Diamond"; and "Nathan Detroit" in the Damon Runyon story The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown, which was made into the renowned musical Guys and Dolls.

According to crime writer Leo Katcher, Rothstein "transformed organized crime from a thuggish activity by hoodlums into a big business, run like a corporation, with himself at the top." According to Rich Cohen, Rothstein was the person who first saw in Prohibition a business opportunity, a means to enormous wealth, who "understood the truths of early century capitalism (hypocrisy, exclusion, greed) and came to dominate them". Rothstein was the Moses of the Jewish gangsters, according to Cohen, the progenitor, a rich man's son who showed the young hoodlums of the Bowery how to have style; indeed, the man who, the Sicilian-American gangster Lucky Luciano would later say, "taught me how to dress."

BCnU!

REMEMBERING EDWIN NEWMAN

On February 25, 1984, Edwin Newman hosted 'Saturday Night Live' after he retired from NBC News. The musical guest was Kool & The Gang, and Harry Anderson made a special appearance (probably doing magic tricks). The highlight of the program had to be the "News Bar" sketch......

Here's the transcript, courtesy of the Saturday Night Live Transcripts site:

News Bar Bartender.....Brad Hall
Joe Piscopo.....Tom Snyder
Julia Louis-Dreyfus.....Linda Ellerbee
.....Edwin Newman

Bartender: Here's some nuts.

Tom Snyder: Hey, hey, Elerbee! Pass those beer nuts. Don't be greedy! Ha ha ha ha ha!

Linda Ellerbee: Ladies and gentlemen, some call it retirement. Some call it a permanent vacation. I call it unemployment. And so, I toast to tonight's top story: Edwin Newman.

Tom Snyder: Okay, I'll go for that. First I got canned, then Ellerbee got canned, now you got canned, Ed! Ha ha ha ha ha! It's a small world! Ha! Actually, it's a small network! Ha ha ha ha ha!

Edwin Newman: Actually, Tom, I retired voluntarily.

Tom Snyder: Yeah, you retired voluntarily, just like Nixon! Ha ha ha ha ha!

Linda Ellerbee: Well Ed, I must run. But first, this. To Edwin Newman, great newsman, and so it goes, and so do I.

Edwin Newman: Goodnight, Linda.

Linda Ellerbee: Goodnight. And goodnight, for NBC News.

Tom Snyder: You know, Ed, that broad talks funny. Ha ha ha ha ha! Guess it's time for me to buy you a drink. Hey, I wanna hear more about this "retirement" thing of yours. Right after this brief message. Now tell me about this firing - I mean retiring. Ha ha ha ha ha!

Edwin Newman: Well, I'll tell you the truth, Tom. The news business is a new business these days.

Tom Snyder: Alright, alright, alright, I'll go with that, Ed. I mean, in your day, an anchorman could also be a critic, a reporter, a commentator, I mean, nowadays, an anchorman can only do one thing; it's a highly specialized skill.

Edwin Newman: Well, maybe if you call smiling a skill. Nowadays, how a man's mouth looks is more important than what comes out of it. Networks..
[ singing ]
"Why can't the networks teach the anchors how to speak?
'Stead of telling them how to style their hair, pick a suit that's chic?
They dress like fashion models, they all look like Mark Spitz,
And they sound as if they'd learned their English from Burlitz.

They read the news with foot in mouth, instead of tongue in cheek,
Why can't the anchors learn to speak?"

Tom Snyder: Ha ha ha ha ha! Hey, alright! Ha ha ha ha ha! Did you ever think of going on "Star Search?" Hey, Ed Newman and Ed MacMahon: News and Booze! Ha ha ha ha ha! Well, Ed, don't you think you're exaggerating a little bit?

Edwin Newman: Well, maybe a little, but I tell you what....

Tom Snyder: What?

Edwin Newman: If you give me a man with a nice voice, sufficiently nice voice, and good hair, I'll turn him into a anchorperson.

Tom Snyder: Well, alright, sir. How about Blondy over there?

Edwin Newman: Well, I have seen more promising material.. but what the hell. It's done, we've shaken.

Tom Snyder: Okay, let's get this thing going here. Hey, bartender, get the over here.

Bartender: Yeah, got your beers here.

Tom Snyder: Well, me and my buddy here made a wager that he could turn anyone into a news anchorman. Ha ha ha ha ha!

Bartender: Well, that shouldn't be too hard. I used to read the news on "Saturday Night Live". Hi, I'm Brad Hall.

Edwin Newman: Bet's off.

Tom Snyder: Now, Ed, we shook on it.

Edwin Newman: Well, okay. Young man, do you want to be a news anchorperson?

Bartender/Brad Hall: More than anything in the whole world!
[ singing ]
"All I want is a desk somewhere,
Thirty minutes of network air.
Somebody to come and spray my hair.
Oh, wouldn't I be newsworthy?"

Edwin Newman: Wouldn't "it" be newsworthy.

Brad Hall: Wouldn't what be newsworthy?

Edwin Newman: Bet's off.

Tom Snyder: C'mon. Now strictly speaking, strictly speaking.

Edwin Newman: Let's try something, shall we? Now, Brad, who's the leader of Iran?

Brad Hall: Iran. Let's see...the Iacoca!

Edwin Newman: Ayatollah.

Brad Hall: Ayatollah. Right, Kadaffi.

Edwin Newman: Khomeni.

Brad Hall: Khomeni.

Edwin Newman: Now what does that mean to the people of Iran?

Brad Hall: Free dance lessons?

Edwin Newman: No, not quite. It means pain. Now repeat after me:
[ singing ]

"Iranians' pains come mainly from Khomeini."

Brad Hall: "Iranians' pains come mainly from Khomeini."

Edwin Newman: Try it again.

Brad Hall: "Iranians' pains come mainly from Khomeini."

Edwin Newman: I think he's got it!

Tom Snyder: Alright, I'll buy that.

Brad Hall: "Homeini's reign is mainly based on pain."

Edwin Newman: Let's try something a bit more difficult. Environmental pollution in the Northeast.

Brad Hall: Northeast.. um.. uh..

"Terrain in Maine is stained with acid rain."

Edwin Newman: By George, he's got it.

Tom Snyder: If you say so, sir.

Brad Hall: "Terrain in Maine is stained with acid rain."

Edwin Newman: And where's the acid rain?

Brad Hall: "In Maine! In Maine!"

Edwin Newman: And what can they do in Maine?

Brad Hall: "Complain! Complain!"

All: "Irainans' pains come from mainly from Khomeini!"

Tom Snyder: Ha ha ha ha ha ha!

All: "Terrain in Maine is stained with acid rain!"

Thanks to Michael Cauley of SNL Song Transcripts for this transcript.

AS SEEN ON TV: AL CAPONE

AL CAPONE

AS SEEN IN:
'Boardwalk Empire'

AS PLAYED BY:
Stephen Graham

BCnU!

STEELE BIRTH

Back in the 1870's Bret Maverick was set up to be the fall guy in a bank robbery by Molly Gleason and her boyfriend Ralph Jordan (who worked at the bank and was the bank owner's nephew). In protecting the bank (if only to save his own skin), Maverick killed Ralph in a shoot-out. Molly was taken into custody by the sheriff (who was once infatuated with her), and may have spent a good part of her life in prison. I have no clue as to when she eventually died.

In Toobworld, reincarnation is an established fact - it's right there in the lyrics to the 'My Mother The Car' theme song:

About 100 years later, the souls of Ralph Jordan and Molly Gleason were briefly re-united in Los Angeles. But Ralph's spirit may have been reborn at least once before its present incarnation as private eye Joe Mannix, giving it time for its karma to cleanse itself and move on in spiritual growth. Unfortunately, the soul of Molly Gleason, now reborn as an Australian two-timer named Sheila Sprague, did not achieve that cleansing growth. She was still as corrupt as she had been back in the 1870's.

There was no spark in which these two souls suddenly recognized each other - Ralph Jordan had moved on and Joe Mannix had no spiritual memory of that past life. When he saw Sheila Sprague, known to her new lover as "Angel", Joe Mannix only saw her as a double-crossing tramp who put the life of her former lover in danger.

Joe Mannix is still with us in Toobworld and a sure candidate for inclusion in the TV Crossover Hall Of Fame. ('Mannix', 'Here's Lucy', 'Diagnosis Murder') The soul of Joe Mannix will probably move on and have no further need to return to life in Toobworld after the private eye passes away. But Sheila Sprague, like the actress who played her (Karen Steele) has died. Perhaps her soul has been reborn already; perhaps she is on her way to cleansing her karma.

In all likelihood, however, it will take several centuries for her to finally rid herself of those past inclinations. But as we will one day see, somewhere around 2266 in the Toobworld timeline, Molly Gleason/Sheila Sprague, known in the future as Eve McHuron, was finally beginning to break free of her larcenous ways.

(Eve McHuron on the left, with the other two "Mudd's Women")

Baby, we were born to re-run!

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: MAYOR HAGUE & SENATOR EDGE

MAYOR FRANK HAGUE
&
SENATOR WALTER EDGE

AS SEEN IN:
'Boardwalk Empire'

AS PLAYED BY:
Senator Edge: Geoff Pierson
Mayor Hague: Chris Mulkey

From Wikipedia:
FRANK HAGUE
Frank Hague (January 17, 1876 – January 1, 1956) was an American Democratic Party politician who served as the mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey from 1917 to 1947, Democratic National Committeeman from New Jersey from 1922 until 1949, and Vice-Chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1924 until 1949.

Hague has a widely-known reputation for corruption and bossism and has been called "the grandaddy of Jersey bosses." By the time he left office in 1947, he enjoyed palatial homes, European vacations, and a private suite at the Plaza Hotel. His wealth has been estimated to have been over $10 million at the time of his death, although his City salary never exceeded $8,500 per year and he had no other legitimate source of income. His desk, which is still located in City Hall, has a specially designed lap drawer which could be pushed outward towards the person with whom he was meeting. This allowed his "guests" to discreetly deliver bribes in the form of envelopes containing large amounts of cash.

During the height of his power Hague's political machine, known as "the organization," was one of the most powerful in the United States controlling politics on local, county, and state levels. Hague's personal influence extended to the national level, influencing federal patronage and Presidential campaigns.

WALTER EDGE
Walter Evans Edge (November 20, 1873 – October 29, 1956) was an American politician. A Republican, he was twice the Governor of New Jersey, from 1917 to 1919 and again from 1944 to 1947, serving as governor during both World War I and World War II. Edge also served as United States Senator representing New Jersey from 1919 to 1929 and as United States Ambassador to France from 1929 to 1933.


Two for Tuesday!


BCnU!

THE HAT SQUAD: EDWIN NEWMAN

EDWIN NEWMAN

(November 22, 1963)

Edwin Newman has passed away at the age of 91. The venerable NBC newsman, both reporter and anchor, and stickler for the English language was living in Oxford to be closer to his daughter.

Putting aside all of the air time he had as a newsman, and even his appearances on talk shows and game shows, Mr. Newman tallied up an impressive number of appearances as himself in several TV movies and sitcoms:

"Elvis Meets Nixon"
"Earthlings"
'Murphy Brown'
'Wings'
'The Golden Girls'
'Mr. Belvedere'
'Newhart'
'Not Necessarily The News'

These programs would serve for him as well as representing his televersion in Skitlandia:

"Lily For President?"
"Tom Arnold: The Naked Truth 3"
'Mr. Miller Goes To Washington"
'Saturday Night Live'

I think it likely we'll see Edwin Newman joining the ranks of the TV Crossover Hall of Fame next year.

But we won't see his like again in Toobworld, in the reality of TV news programming. Not just because of his expertise, but also because TV news is cluttered with store window mannequins......

Good night and may God bless.

BCnU......

AS SEEN ON TV: LUCKY LUCIANO... AGAIN

LUCKY LUCIANO

AS SEEN IN:
'Boardwalk Empire'

AS PLAYED BY:
Vincent Piazza

I already featured Luciano in an "ASOTV" showcase earlier this year, a Two for Tuesday spotlight as a matter of fact. But with 'Boardwalk Empire' debuting last night, I thought I should give it another push with his latest recastaway.

And I also wanted to point out that the actor, Vincent Piazza, should also be considered if there's ever a reason to portray a young Abe Vigoda.....

BCnU!

THE 19TH OF SEPTEMBARRRRRRRGH!

I always come to the party late.....

Today is "Talk Like A Pirate Day", so to celebrate, here's the 'I Dream Of Jeannie' episode entitled "My Master The Pirate"......

BCnU, Mateys!

HAPPY MTM DAY!

Thanks to the good folks at the TV Series Finale website, I just found out that today marks the 40th anniversary for the beginning of 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show'.

I had such a crush on Mary Richards back in high school and college; I kept notebooks about all the trivia gleaned from the show. And I would often say that the series was my Guide to Life (mainly for her words of wisdom in the episode featuring Betty Bowerchuck.)

It's nice to be able to doff my cap to someone in Toobworld without it being connected to the Hat Squad......

Hail Mary! Or as Murray would say: Hail Mayr!

BCnU!

EURO-VIEWING

My friends Mark & Michael are on a two-week trip through Europe - Malmo, Frankfurt, and Copenhagen. And even with all the sights they've seen so far, they still found time to indulge in one of their favorite past-times.

No, not that one - well, they've been doing a lot of that too. But they've been catching some overseas cooking shows.......
From Michael:
"This is a screen cap from some German cooking show, we died laughing how they were dressed and the beer in the backround."

To me it looks like a bad German adaptation of Benny Hill!

BCnU!

SKED ALERT! "BOARDWALK EMPIRE"

HBO has provided some video clips to promote tonight's debut of 'Boardwalk Empire' a new crime drama for the network written by Terence Winter and produced by Martin Scorcese. (Scorcese also directed the series premiere.) Set in Atlantic City as Prohibition takes effect, it tells the fictionalized story of an Atlantic City politician, a Republican party leader named Nucky Thompson who had a hand in everything illicit that took place in the city. (His real name was Enoch "Nucky" Johnson, but for some reason the producers felt it necessary to change it.)

So here's a couple of videos to get you ready for the show's debut tonight:

BCnU!

AS (ALMOST) SEEN ON TV: NUCKY JOHNSON AKA NUCKY THOMPSON

Today's the day that the eagerly awaited new HBO series 'Boardwalk Empire' debuts. A collaboration between Terence Winter and Martin Scorcese, the series about life in Atlantic City during Prohibition stars Steve Buscemi as a fictionalized version of Nucky Johnson. (Buscemi's character is named Nucky Thompson.)

NUCKY THOMPSON
(based on Nucky Johnson)

AS SEEN IN:
'Boardwalk Empire'

AS PLAYED BY:
Steve Buscemi

From Wikipedia:
Enoch Lewis "Nucky" Johnson (January 20, 1883 – December 9, 1968) was an Atlantic City, New Jersey political boss and racketeer. From 1911 until his imprisonment in 1941, he was the undisputed “boss” of the Republican political machine that controlled Atlantic City and the Atlantic County government. His rule encompassed the Roaring Twenties, when Atlantic City was at the height of its popularity. The organization he led was also involved in bootlegging during Prohibition, gambling and prostitution, and he derived substantial income from those activities.

Premiering September 19, 2010, a new HBO series entitled, "Boardwalk Empire" will fictionalize the life and times of "Nucky" Johnson, along with other players, at the start of the Prohibition era in Atlantic City, NJ. The series is being produced by Martin Scorsese and stars Steve Buscemi as "Nucky Thompson". Johnson's surname is fictionalized as "Thompson" by the series.

I don't know why they felt it necessary to change his name - objections from surviving family members, perhaps? They certainly had no problem in portraying real-life figures Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, Arnold Rothstein, and Meyer Lansky, as well as a couple of Jersey politicos of the time.....

BCnU!