SKED ALERT: "THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW" BLOG-A-THON!

You may have noticed a paucity of prose here at Toobworld Central the last few weeks. It's because I've committed myself to an Inner Toob project that will be part of the greater good. ("The greater good......")

On October 3rd, my blogging buddy Ivan of "Thrilling Days Of Yesteryear" (link to the left, swabbies!) is hosting a blogathon dedicated to the classic and classy 'Dick Van Dyke Show', which will be celebrating its fiftieth anniversary on that date.

I pledged myself to do a timeline for the series, not only of the events within the show, but also of people and events that were mentioned during the course of the show.

It's amazing how many there are! I was thinking okay, Abe Lincoln, Fletcher Christian, Danny Thomas, the Gettysburg Address, maybe a few more.....

Most of the pop culture references are to historical facts and figures, plus a few movies. In the three seasons I've finished re-watching so far (two to go), there have been only a few references to TV shows - the staple/crutch of pop culture references in today's TV shows. 'The Defenders', 'The Untouchables', 'What's My Line?', 'Gunsmoke', a few more.....

(I'm convinced that the current practice for TV shows to mention the "hip" shows of today as punchlines will cost them in the long run. Syndication sales may be affected because those references will fade from memory.)

So I'll probably have to put aside my dream of doing a 24 hour marathon of posts about 'The Dick Van Dyke Show', one every hour, (like I've been doing the past few years with 'Doctor Who' on New Year's Day - "Who's On First", get it?) and just focus on the timeline.

As it is, the timeline is getting so huge that I may have to split it up into several posts.

(After all is said and done that day, if there's any site interested in taking the whole thing and giving it a nice home in a permanent website, you'll have my blessing.)

There'll be plenty of other blogs joining in on the merriment and you'll be able to find all the links on October 3rd at "Thrilling Days Of Yesteryear". But here are most of the goodies promised so far:

Anthony Balducci's Journal – “My Blonde-Haired Brunette”

Caftan Woman – “The Return of Happy Spangler”/”The Return of Edwin Carp”

Cinematic Opinions You Didn't Know You Had – “What’s in a Middle Name”

ClassicBecky’s Brain Food (“Brains!”) – “Coast to Coast Big Mouth”

Classic Film and TV Café – “My Blonde-Haired Brunette”

Fedoras and High Heels – "Bupkis"/"The Case of the Pillow"

The Flaming Nose - “I’d Rather Be Bald Than Have No Head at All”

The Forty Year-Old Fan Boy – “Uhny Uftz”

The Girl with the White Parasol – Bye Bye Birdie

Gonna Put Me in the Movies – “The Redcoats are Coming”

The Horn Section – Don't Worry, We'll Think of a Title

I Am a Child of Television – TBD

Inner Toob – Several Toobworld posts, including "Buddy Can You Spare a Job" and "Sam Pomerantz Scandals" (But right now I can only promise the timeline.)

in so many words… - “A Day in the Life of Alan Brady”/”Long Night’s Journey Into Day”

In the Balcony – Never a Dull Moment

Java's Journey – TBD

The Lady Eve’s Reel Life – TBD

The Land of Whatever – Overall view of series

Micro-Brewed Reviews (W.B. Kelso) – "That's My Boy"/"The Ghost of A. Chantz"

My Reader’s Block – TBD

A Mythical Monkey Writes About the Movies – “My Part-Time Wife”

The Nervous Purvis – TBD

Pretty Sinister Books - "The Sound of the Trumpets of Conscience Falls Deafly on a Brain That Holds Its Ears...Or Something Like That"

Resilient Little Muscle - "Buddy Sorrell, Man and Boy"

She Blogged by Night – “The Masterpiece”/"The Man from My Uncle"

A Shroud of Thoughts – TBD

The Stupendously Amazingly Cool World of Old TV - Overall view of the series

Thrilling Days of Yesteryear – “Never Bathe on Saturday”

True Classics: The ABCs of Classic Film – “It May Look Like a Walnut”

Wide Screen World - Cold Turkey

So to sum up, I'll be toiling away on the Petrie Timeline for the foreseeable future.  But fear not, I do have plenty of other stuff that's been waiting to be shared here in the IN box!

Eventually.....

BCnU!