LESS THAN HERO

When I read this headline in AOL News:

"JFK Pilot Says He's No Hero; Why He's Right"

It reminded me of this exchange in 'The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy'.......

ZAPHOD:

You’ve just saved our lives.

ARTHUR:

It was nothing really…

ZAPHOD:

Oh, was it? Oh, well forget it. Ok computer, take us in to land…

ARTHUR:

Well, I say it was nothing...

I mean obviously it was something…

I was just trying to say it’s not worth making too much of a fuss about…

I mean just saving everybody’s life you know?

BCnU!

VIDEO SATURDAY HAT SQUAD - TONY CURTIS

There'll be plenty of other sites which will have video tributes to the film work of Tony Curtis, highlighting 'Some Like It Hot', 'The Defiant Ones', 'Spartacus', and my favorite, 'The Great Race'. But of course, that's the "Cineverse" and here we deal with the TV Universe of Toobworld....

As I mentioned in my Hat Squad tribute to the actor, his series from the early 70's, 'The Persuaders', was one of my favorites and still is today. Thanks to YouTube, here's a sampling of clips that give you a feel for the show (which was really nothing more than an excuse for Curtis and Roger Moore to romp across Europe with beautiful girls in an international TV production).

First up, how the fates of their two characters were manipulated into becoming entangled with each other. (And that great title sequence & music is featured as well):











Here's Curtis & Moore "camping" it up on the series. Like I said, the show was just an excuse for them to have fun.....





And now for something completely different - this video is being promoted as an example of video slash involving their characters of Danny Wilde and Lord Brett Sinclair. It's so very very wrong, but also very very funny. I'm sure Mr. Curtis would have found it hilarious!





Here's the big climactic scene for Fernand Mondego, one of the villains in the classic "Count of Monte Cristo". As Mondego, Curtis showed he still had that flair with a sword which he exhibited a decade earlier in the movie "The Great Race". (And he was still able to fill out the white tights as well.)





I wish I could have found some decent clips from 'Vega$' and 'McCoy' to also represent his TV work, but these should work nicely.

But no video tribute could be complete without Tony Curtis' venture into the Tooniverse, circa 1,000,050 B.C.......





Speaking of B.C........
BCnU!

SKED ALERT FOR BORED & BOARD

We're starting off Video Saturday with something that should be weekly until the seasons for 'Boardwalk Empire' and 'Bored To Death' end.

Here are the previews for the next episodes of these two HBO series:

'BORED TO DEATH'

First - George "saddles up"

And then.....

Don't knock it until you've tried it, Jonathan!

'BOARDWALK EMPIRE':

Both shows will air Sunday night on HBO.....

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: GROUCHO MARX

On this day in 1890, Julius Marx was born, better known to the world as the one, the only.....

GROUCHO

AS SEEN IN:
"Groucho: A Life In Revue"

AS PLAYED BY:
Frank Ferrante

From YouTube:
Frank Ferrante reprised his role as Groucho Marx in "Groucho: A Life in Revue" for this 1999 performance staged at the Westport Country Playhouse in Connecticut where it was taped for a PBS national broadcast. Original show premiered in New York and London starring Ferrante during the 1986-87 season. It ran 254 performances in New York where Ferrante won a Theatre World Award and was nominated for three Laurence Olivier Awards in London. The New York Times picked the tv version as a 'highlight' in 2002. Written by Groucho's son Arthur Marx and Robert Fisher.
Groucho would have been 120 years old today!

BCnU!

I'm sending this out to my brother Tim, who shares Groucho's birthday.......

THE HAT SQUAD: CANNELL BEING CANNELL

I hope 'Castle' acknowledges Mr. Cannell's passing in some upcoming episode this season. It would be wrong to ignore it.


BCnU.....

THE HAT SQUAD: STEPHEN J. CANNELL

Rest in peace, Mr. Cannell. Good night and may God bless.

BCnU.....

LANDINGHAM: BETWEEN TWO WORLDS

Just because certain TV characters must be banished to an alternate TV dimension, that doesn't mean they can't still have counterparts back in the main Toobworld, but in different TV shows. They might lead different lives in Earth Prime-Time and even might have ended up with different genetic structures.

We've got examples from each variance, thanks to 'The West Wing' which (as everybody should know by now) had to get its own TV dimension because of its different line of Presidential succession after Nixon.

The first one we've brought up in the past: Josiah Bartlet - President in the "West Wing Dimension", Boston Doctor in Earth Prime-Time. Instead of getting a doctorate in economics, Bartlet practiced medicine, as seen in 'St. Elsewhere'.

However, there must have been a slight shift in the circumstances of his conception, so that a different sperm fertilized his mother's egg.

The other example never actually appeared on 'The West Wing' - Henry Landingham, husband of the President's secretary Dolores Landingham. (She may have already been a widow when we met her at the Oval Office on the show.)

Back in 1965 on the timeline for the main Toobworld, an FBI agent named Landingham was conducting a background check on advertising executive Don Draper for the Department of Defense (as seen in last week's 'Mad Men'.) There was no mention of his first name, so it could have been Henry; and his personal life was never an issue, so he could have had a wife named Dolores and twin sons named Andrew and Simon who died in Viet Nam... just as it was for his doppleganger back in the "West Wing Dimension".

Like Muskie the Muskrat would say, "It's pozz'ble, it's pozz'ble...."

It's tempting to toss 'Mad Men' over to 'The West Wing' world entirely because of all its Zonks (because they show scenes from actual TV series and identifying them). Those other TV shows should be sharing the same world as 'Mad Men'. But I've made peace with that type of discrepancy and have adapted Andy Warhol's credo for it: In Toobworld, just about anybody can have a TV show made about them. So despite all its faults the two Landinghams can't be one and the same.

BCnU!

FOR JIMMY CARTER, ON HIS BIRTHDAY

So what if she's singing to President Kennedy? She doesn't mention him by name.......

AS SEEN ON TV: PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER

It wasn't my intention to head over to the Tooniverse two days in a row......

PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER

AS SEEN IN:
'King Of The Hill'

AS VOICED BY:
David Herman

On this date in 1924, former President Jimmy Carter was born.

Synopsis for "The Father, The Son, And JC" episode of 'King Of The Hill':
Hank and his father have a falling out at Christmas, and Bobby stumbles upon Jimmy Carter, who uses his famous diplomacy skills to help resolve the dispute. The two best moments here are when Hank first sees Carter and says with an impressed look “You ran our country. America.” and at the end, where Bobby thinks Carter is Jesus Chris since he has J.C on his overalls, is a carpenter and performed a Christmas miracle by resolving the dispute of Hank and his father.

That was an excerpt from a post in Jack Marriott's Blog in which he lists the President Carter appearances in 'The Simpsons'.......

Happy birthday, Mr. President. I hope you're feeling better......

BCnU!

SUPER SIX: TV TOPICS THAT WENT THROUGH MY MIND DURING YESTERDAY'S "PROCEDURE"

These are the "Super Six"* TV topics that went through my mind during yesterday's "procedure".....

1] KATIE COURIC

2] THE TRAPPED CHILEAN MINERS NEWS STORY... AS REPORTED BY KATIE COURIC

3] THE BAJORAN WORMHOLE

4] "TO BOLDLY GO WHERE NO MAN HAS GONE BEFORE....." (THERE BUT FOR THE GRACE OF ME GOES "HI HONEY, I'M HOME!")

5] GLENN BECK

6] "THESE AREN'T THE ROIDS YOU'RE LOOKING FOR."

BCnU!

* This feature used to be called "Deep Six". That might have been more appropriate this time......

THE HAT SQUAD: TONY CURTIS

Hollywood screen legend Tony Curtis has passed away. He was 85.

In Toobworld, his three biggest roles would probably be as Danny Wilde of 'The Persauders', as Stony Curtis in 'The Flintstones' (which coincidentally celebrates its fiftieth anniversary today), and as Philip "Slick" Roth in 'Vega$' (pictured above, from right to left).

'The Persuaders' was a favorite of mine and that was mostly due to the camaraderie shared between Curtis and Roger Moore, who played Lord Brett Sinclair.

That has always been one of my favorite TV theme songs and title sequences. There was an elegiac, dirge-like quality to the music, which seems appropriate for today's news.....

As Red Skelton would say, Good night and may God bless, Mr. Schwartz.

BCnU......

TEASING EARL ON "RAISING HOPE"

'House' wasn't the only show to have a shout-out crossover with a past TV series during premiere week.

While the Chance family was having breakfast in the pilot episode of 'Raising Hope', they saw the news bulletin announcing that the one night stand whom son Jimmy had bedded in his van, and who was now in their bathroom, was a serial killer.

Afterwards, the Channel 3 anchorman turned to the lighter side of the news:

"A small time crook with a long list of wrongs he was making amends for has finally finished. And you'll never guess how it ended."

(singing): And I guess we never will.

Jimmy's Mom, Virginia Chance, unplugged the TV at that point and clobbered Lucy Carlysle (aka Joan Doyle) over the head with it as she sat back down at the kitchen table.
That last news story was O'Bviously a reference to Earl Hickey, the main character from Greg Garcia's last TV show, 'My Name Is Earl'.

BCnU!

HOUSE HAVE MERCY!

Martin Ross runs "Just One More Paragraph" - the 'Columbo' fanfic site whose link you'll find to the left. He sent in the following Toobworld crossover:

In case you didn't spy it: reference to fellow New Jersey hospital Mercy General (NBC's defunct "Mercy") on the "House" season premiere Monday -- Princeton-Plainsboror ER had to shut down and Mercy couldn't absorb the overflow. Maybe the Cushing Left Anterior Descending Artery Award will pop up on Dr. Chase's credenza someday.

Thanks, Martin! I didn't spy that - I gave up on 'House' a long time ago. And that award just needs one more TV show to bag its own entry into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame, having originated on 'St. Elsewhere' and then be mentioned on 'Chicago Hope' as well. (Which I know Martin was well aware of!)

BCnU!

FIFTY YEARS AGO TODAY: A PLACE RIGHT OUT OF HISTORY

Today marks the fiftieth anniversary of 'The Flintstones', the first major animated series to air in prime time. It ran from September 30, 1960 to April 1, 1966 on ABC.

Here's how Google is marking the occasion via their logo design: Yabba dabba doo!

AS SEEN ON TV: SULTAN MEHMED V

MEHMED V

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

AS VOICED BY:
Paul Frees

From Wikipedia:
Mehmed V Reshad (2/3 November 1844 – 3/4 July 1918) was the 35th Ottoman Sultan. He was the son of Sultan Abdülmecid I.

His reign began on 27 April 1909 but he had no real political power. The actual decisions were made by various members of the Ottoman government and finally, during the First World War, by the Three Pashas: Enver Pasha, Talat Pasha, and Cemal Pasha.

Mehmed V's only significant political act was to formally declare Jihad against the Allies on 11 November 1914. This was the last genuine proclamation of Jihad in history by a Caliph, as the Caliphate lasted until 1924. The proclamation had no noticeable effect on the war, despite the fact that many Muslims lived in Ottoman territories. The Arabs eventually joined the British forces against the Ottomans with the Arab Revolt in 1916.

Mehmed V hosted Kaiser Wilhelm II, his World War I ally, in Constantinople on 15 October 1917. He was made Generalfeldmarschall of the Kingdom of Prussia on 27 January 1916 and of the Empire of Germany on 1 February 1916.

Mehmed V died at Yildiz Palace on 3 July 1918 at the age of 73, only four months before the end of World War I. Thus, he did not live to see the downfall of the Ottoman Empire. He spent most of his life at the Dolmabahçe Palace and Yildiz Palace in Constantinople.

BCnU!

TO CROSS OR NOT TO CROSS

Here are the two crossovers I want to see from the new shows:

'THE DEFENDERS' & 'CSI'
They both take place in Vegas, Baby! And Carol Mendolsohn is a producer on the new series and she's had a long history as an exec producer on the 'CSI' franchise.

But in order for them both to come out winners in their match-up, since 'CSI' is usually pro-prosecution and 'The Defenders' are O'Bviously playing for the defense, it would probably have to be a case involving a long-lost identical (evil) twin. That way the DNA would narrow down the search but to the wrong twin. Morelli and Kaczmarek would figure out there was a twin, and then the CSI team could figure out where he was located.

'UNDERCOVERS' & 'CHUCK'
The Chuckworld of espionage would be able to handle the laid-back, lovey-dovey spies Stephen and Samantha Bloom. And their relationship could be used as an example for Chuck and Sarah.
The one crossover for a new show that I DON'T want to see:

'BLUE BLOODS' & 'CSI: NY'
Since they're paired up on Friday nights, CBS might insist on a crossover since they're both set in the world of NYC law enforcement.

But it would ruin the integrity of the Toobworld dynamic. It only took 'Blue Bloods' ten minutes to knock itself out of Earth Prime-Time with the introduction of Bruce Altman as NYC Mayor Frank Russo. Toobworld could survive having Tom Selleck as Frank Reagan for the Police Commissioner - Raymond Kelly, the Commissioner in the real world, doesn't have a tele-presence established with appearances as himself in other shows. But NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg does, with three different appearances, and so he's the mayor of New York in Toobworld.

Forcing 'CSI: NY' into that new TV dimension with 'Blue Bloods' would create a major rift in the mosaic of the TV Universe. 'CSI: NY' must remain in Earth Prime-Time and 'Blue Bloods' should relocate to... let's say, the TV dimension of 'Commander In Chief'.

BCnU!

GETTING INTO CHARACTERS

“I’m not really necessary.
Hmm … the last time I said that,

I was in a three-way with two of the Backstreet Boys.”
Jenna Maroney
'30 Rock'

O'Bviously to avoid a lawsuit, the exact two Backstreet Boys were never going to be named. But it could have been the tele-versions of Nick Carter and AJ MacLean. (Remember, we're talking about their fictionalized lives, as seen on TV.) Who knows what they may have allegedly done during the drug-fueled days of their acknowledged addictions?

But whoever it was from that boy band, Jenna Maroney is a member of that elite club of fictional TV characters who have had sex with "real" celebrities.

Others in the "club":

Larry Sanders - 'The Larry Sanders Show'
(Roseanne, Ellen DeGeneres)

Arthur - 'The Larry Sanders Show'
(Elizabeth Ashley)

Vincent Chase - 'Entourage'
(Sasha Grey, Mandy Moore, Scarlett Johanssen)

Aunt Lolly - 'Mad About You'
(Milton Berle)

It's not a Toobworld list I was keeping track of, so I know there must be plenty of others - Karen of 'Will & Grace' comes to mind, maybe Aunt Flo Meredith of 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show' - who have been star-bleepers, but I just can't think of the examples.....

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: GOVERNOR PATERSON

NY GOVERNOR DAVID PATERSON
(AS SEEN ON TV & THE REAL DEAL)

AS SEEN ON:
'Saturday Night Live'

AS PLAYED BY:
Fred Armisen

"Ladies and gentleman, I wanted to come here tonight before my time as governor of the great state of New York ends to tell you that working in Albany is just like watching 'Saturday Night Live'. There are a lot of characters. It's funny for 10 minutes, and then you just want it to be over."

BCnU!

REMEMBERING PETER FINCH

Today is Peter Finch's birthday. He would have been 94.

Finch won the Oscar for Best Actor (posthumously) for "Network".

Yes, it's a movie. But it was about television; probably the best movie about the subject ever.

Here's the scene that got him nominated.

(I'd say it also sealed the deal for the win, but his death could have done that......)

BCnU!

CSI: COUGAR TOWN - DEZONKED!

Bobby Cobb did a David Caruso impression in the season opener of 'Cougar Town'. But he didn't identify it as being of Caruso in 'CSI: Miami' (even though his impression consisted only of Caruso taking off his sunglasses).

For all we know, it was an impression of David Caruso in a movie that only exists in Toobworld.

BCnU!

PHIL AND CLAIRE ON THE TOOBWORLD TIMELINE

Phil and Claire Dunphy went to see the Tournament of Roses Parade when Angela Lansbury was the Grand Marshal. That would have been in 1993.

Phil concluded that reminiscence with "Good times, she wrote." Although we know that to be a reference to Ms. Lansbury's TV series 'Murder, She Wrote', within the "reality" of Toobworld, it could have meant anything else. (Phil's always saying clueless stuff.)

BCnU

AS SEEN ON TV: PETER FINCH

PETER FINCH

AS SEEN IN:
"Darlings Of The Gods"

AS PLAYED BY:
Jerome Ehlers (seen above)

&

'E! Mysteries & Scandals'
- "The Vivian Leigh Story"

AS PLAYED BY:
David Violi

From Wikipedia:
Peter Finch (28 September 1916 – 14 January 1977) was a British-born Australian actor. He is best remembered for his role as 'crazed' television anchorman Howard Beale in the film "Network", which earned him a posthumous Academy Award for Best Actor, his fifth Best Actor award from the BAFTA, and a Best Actor award from the Golden Globes. He was the first of two people to win a posthumous Academy Award in an acting category; the other was fellow Australian Heath Ledger.

BCnU!

ENTITLEMENT

Earlier this year, there was a lot of speculation about 'Cougar Town' - since the show had veered so much from its original premise of an older woman dating younger men, critics wondered if there would be a change in the title.

With the sophomore season opener, Bill Lawrence & Co. addressed the situation:

Another show that played with its title was 'The Defenders'. As a billboard advertising the law firm of Morelli & Kaczmarek made its debut, Pete Kaczmarek shouted "The Defenders!"

(I realize it's a generic title, but couldn't they have found one that didn't step on the memories of the earlier classic?)

BCnU!

JUST WONDERIN'......

In the series debut of 'Boardwalk Empire', when the Federal agents were being sworn in, the FBI chief led the recitation of the oath with: "I - state your name....."

Did anybody else get that "Blazing Saddles" vibe? BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: MEAT LOAF

MEAT LOAF

AS SEEN ON:
'Saturday Night Live'

AS PLAYED BY:
Chris Farley

From Wikipedia:
Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday on September 27, 1947), better known by his stage name Meat Loaf is an American rock musician and actor. He is noted for the Bat Out of Hell album trilogy consisting of Bat Out of Hell, Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell and Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose. Bat Out of Hell has sold more than 43 million copies. After more than 30 years, it still sells an estimated 200,000 copies annually, and stayed on the charts for over nine years.

Although he enjoyed success with Bat Out of Hell and Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell, and earned a Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Solo for a track on the latter album, Meat Loaf experienced some initial difficulty establishing a steady career within his native United States. However, he has retained iconic status and popularity in Europe, especially the UK, where he ranks 23rd for number of weeks overall spent on the charts. He ranked 96th on VH1's '100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock'.

Meat Loaf has also appeared in over 50 movies or television shows sometimes as himself, or as characters resembling his stage persona. His most notable roles include Eddie and Dr. Scott in the American premiere of The Rocky Horror Show, Eddie in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Robert "Bob" Paulson in Fight Club, Dennis the Spice Bus Driver in Spice World, and Jack Black's father in Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny (a character who, ironically, hates rock music and believes it to be evil).

Meat Loaf was born on this day in 1947......

BCnU!

MATERNAL MIX-UP

From the 'Have Gun Will Travel' disk for the episode "Les Girls":

Isabel Randolph played Clara Petrie, except for one episode in which Carol Veazie was the recastaway.

Mabel Albertson played Dick Preston's mother in 'The New Dick Van Dyke Show'......

BCnU!

HOWEVER, I WIKI'D THE INFORMATION.....

Google was founded on this date in 1998.

Inner Toob would have been nearly impossible to do so quickly each day if it weren't for the access to the site....

Happy B'day, Google!

VIDEO SUNDAY: MIXED BAG

It's a "mixed bag" for Video Sunday.....

First up, because Petula Clark was referenced in a 'Mad Men' scene last Sunday, followed by this song playing in the background of the very next scene.....








'Hawaii Five-O' - the new version - proved to be more interesting than I thought it would be. In fact, I think it was the only new show that I really enjoyed seeing during premiere week. Despite my Toobworld O'Bsessions, it will be most likely added to my DVR queue. As a show taking place outside of Earth Prime-Time, it looks to be this season's 'The West Wing' for me. (And only for that reason - that comparison has NOTHING to do with quality!)

Here's the new version of that classic theme song:





And now here's the classic opening for you to compare:





And here's how the credits for "Star Wars" would look with that theme song:





I'm adding the next clip to the "As Seen On TV" showcase for Arnold Rothstein from earlier last week. But since it won't get as much traffic there, I'll share it here today - a 'Boardwalk Empire' coming attraction:





Here are two variations on the opening credits for 'That Girl':








And, just to be goofy, are two riffs on that classic:


THAT GAY



THAT GAL



Finally, because the visuals for 'That Girl' served as a great advertisement for New York City, here are two variations on the theme for another sitcom set in the Big Apple:







Aloha!

THE RETURN OF "BORED TO DEATH"

HBO brings back 'Bored To Death' for its sophomore season tonight. It's the story of a writer trying to find some meaning/fulfillment in his life by becoming an private eye. It's pretty off-beat, with a great cast, and it serves as a picture postcard advertisement for the borough of Brooklyn.....

Ep. 9: Clip - Ray & Leah do yoga

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: JOHNNY TORRIO

'Boardwalk Empire' got off to a great start last week, with the biggest debut for HBO in six years. Based on just that one episode, the show has already been renewed for a second season.

Here's another member of the rogues' gallery in 'Boardwalk Empire':

JOHNNY TORRIO

AS SEEN IN:
'Boardwalk Empire'

AS PLAYED BY:
Gene Antonacci

From Wikipedia:
John "Papa Johnny" Torrio, also known as "The Fox" (February 1882 – April 16, 1957) was an Italian-American mobster who helped build the criminal empire known as the Chicago Outfit in the 1920s that would later be inherited by his protege, Al Capone. He also put forth the idea of the National Crime Syndicate in the 1930s and later became an unofficial advisor to the Genovese crime family.

BCnU!