THE HAT SQUAD: TENNESSEE WILLIAMS

Today marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of playwright Tennessee Williams, known for such works as "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof", "Sweet Bird Of Youth", "The Glass Menagerie", "The Rose Tattoo", and "A Streetcar Named Desire".

And while his works have been performed on television and spoofs of them have appeared on occasion on comedy shows, I was surprised to discover no one has ever portrayed him on TV. But there was a TV character whom I think comes close to being based on him - the playwright Harper Worthington Yeats, played by Strother Martin in the "Baby Fat" episode of 'The Dick Van Dyke Show'. Mr. Yeats had written his first comedy ("Baby Fat") and wanted TV star Alan Brady to play the lead in it. In Alan's opinion, the play was a bomb and he wanted Rob Petrie, the head writer of his TV show, to punch it up with jokes.
If you'd like to see the episode, go to Hulu.com; they have it there....

BCnU!

"An artist in the throes of inspiration must forever be alone."
Harper Worthington Yeats
'The Dick Van Dyke Show'

ECCE PROMO! [TAYLOR-MADE MONDAY]

Here's the promotional clip from CBS for "Taylor-Made Monday", in which Elizabeth Taylor and her black pearls were the link between the four sitcoms of that night:

She actually appeared on 'The Nanny' and 'Can't Hurry Love'; literally phoned it in for 'Murphy Brown', and then had a substitute stunt hand fill in for her on the final show "High Society" (an Americanized 'AbFab' rip-off.)

But it was still supposed to be her and so all four shows tie her with Jerry Van Dyke, who appeared as Luther Van Dam in four ABC sitcoms all in one night ('Coach', 'Ellen', 'Grace Under Fire', and 'The Drew Carey Show'). But at least he actually appeared in all four of them.....

BCnU!

ELIZABETH TAYLOR AND "HERE'S LUCY"

Of course, when talking about Elizabeth Taylor as a member of the League of Themselves in Toobworld, the prime example has to be her appearance with then-husband Richard Burton (and that giant rock she wore on her finger) in the season premiere episode of 'Here's Lucy' in 1970.

And thanks to my tele-blogging friends at "The Flaming Nose"* who tracked it down at YouTube, here's the full episode!


PART ONE




PART TWO



BCnU!

* You'll find "The Flaming Nose" listed in my links to the left. And what better place to find Lucy TV material like this? (But they're so much more!)

ELIZABETH TAYLOR & "THE NANNY"

I found the episode of 'The Nanny' which kicked off the "Taylor-Made Monday" ratings stunt (four sitcoms using Elizabeth Taylor and her black pearls as a bridge) at YouTube, but unfortunately embedding was disabled.

So you'll have to go to YouTube via these links in order to see the episode. (Elizabeth Taylor isn't the only special guest - Rosie O'Donnell makes a cameo appearance as well.)

'THE NANNY'
"WHERE'S THE PEARLS?"

PART ONE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmgaULJYrFo

PART TWO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVtti52hKlA

PART THREE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mG3O4wndFkI

BCnU!

ELIZABETH TAYLOR IN "CAN'T HURRY LOVE"

Elizabeth Taylor's entry into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame was mostly due to her four show stint on all of the Monday night CBS comedies back in 1996 in an inter-connected story.

Here is the second part of that quartet - a Nancy McKeon sitcom called "Can't Hurry Love"

BCnU!

ELIZABETH TAYLOR ON "WHAT'S MY LINE?"

ELIZABETH TAYLOR FOR "WHITE DIAMONDS"

ELIZABETH TAYLOR ON "GENERAL HOSPITAL"

Perhaps Elizabeth Taylor's most famous role in Toobworld - other than playing her fabulous self - was probably Helena Cassadine. Helena was the widow of the evil billionaire Mikkos Cassadine and she came to Port Charles, New York, in time for the wedding of Luke Spencer and Laura Webber Baldwin. Watching from the sidelines, she invoked a curse on the couple.

Here are a few videos in connection with her time on the soap opera:



HELENA CASSADINE'S ARRIVAL IN PORT CHARLES



HELENA AT THE WEDDING




HELENA LEAVES PORT CHARLES




THE BLOOPERS!



BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: ELIZABETH TAYLOR

ELIZABETH TAYLOR

AS SEEN IN:
'The Benny Hill Show'

AS PLAYED BY:
Benny Hill

TV DIMENSION:
Skitlandia

From Wikipedia:
In 1960, Taylor became the highest paid actress up to that time when she signed a one million dollar contract to play the title role in 20th Century Fox's lavish production of "Cleopatra", which would eventually be released in 1963. During the filming, she began a romance with her future husband Richard Burton, who played Mark Antony in the film. The romance received much attention from the tabloid press, as both were married to other spouses at the time. By working overtime, Taylor received more than $2 million for her role.

Her second Academy Award, also for Best Actress in a Leading Role, was for her performance as Martha in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1966), playing opposite then husband Richard Burton. Taylor and Burton would appear together in six other films during the decade – "The V.I.P.s" (1963), "The Sandpiper" (1965), "The Taming of the Shrew" (1967), "Doctor Faustus" (1967), "The Comedians" {1967} and "Boom!" (1968).

Taylor appeared in John Huston's "Reflections in a Golden Eye" (1967) opposite Marlon Brando (replacing Montgomery Clift who died before production began) and "Secret Ceremony" (1968) opposite Mia Farrow. However, by the end of the decade her box-office drawing power had considerably diminished, as evidenced by the failure of "The Only Game in Town" (1970), with Warren Beatty.

BCnU!

THE "DOCTOR WHO" SEASON PREMIERE PREQUEL

In about 45 minutes, BBC America will unveil the prequel for the first episode of the new season of 'Doctor Who'!

But why should Team Toobworld have to wait that long?

So here it is, from the BBC's home site.....

BCnU!

BOOK 'EM, DAIN-O

For fans of the Wold Newton Family & Universe, "Silverlock", "The Incompleat Enchanter", the "Thieves' World" and "Wild Cards" anthologies, my own little bailiwick of Toobworld as well as the Westphallian Universe, and any other shared-world concepts, this website might be of interest:

Invocations Press

It's presented as a book publishing firm specializing in the occut and macabre works by authors found only in the fiction of such real authors as Michael Moorcock, Fritz Lieber, and Dashiell Hammett.

I stumbled across it when I was searching for more information on Owen FitzStephan, the author of "The Pale Egyptian", as seen in the TV mini-series based on Hammett's "The Dain Curse".

BCnU!

WHITE DIAMONDS TELEFFLUVIA

Mark Evanier wrote a piece about the cruel jokes that were made about Elizabeth Taylor during her lifetime and it did give me pause, mainly because I'm featuring one of those videos next weekend. And I have to admit that my favorite Joan Rivers joke was about Ms. Taylor's problems with her weight back in the 1980's, and the 'SNL' Weekend News Update interview with "Ms. Taylor" after her choking scare is a show highlight.

But at the same time, these sketches do serve as part of her television legacy, portraying the cultural perception of her at the time - in much the same way political cartoons should be included in an examination of a President's standing during his lifetime, before History has a chance to air-brush the details.
~
I always say television is a teaching tool and I learned something about Elizabeth Taylor on 'Good Morning, America' the day after she died: She did NOT like to be called "Liz". I've used that in the past here at Inner Toob, and also the nickname "La Liz" (which was used in her TVXOHOF post headline - see below). But from now on, it'll always be Elizabeth, no familiarity in addressing her story.
~
I'm glad Ms. Taylor was inducted into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame back in May of 2009, as one of the Queens of May for that year. (Being the tenth anniversary for the Hall, there was a special celebration by inducting four new members each month.)

Here's the blog post for the occasion.....
~
She also appeared in a previous "As Seen On TV" showcase as the Wild West gambling queen Poker Alice.
~
This week's episode of 'Castle' (cleverly titled "One Life To Lose") gave Toobworld two new additions to the retinue of TV shows on TV. One was an old telenovela called 'Chiquitas' and the other was the show where most of the suspects came from - 'Temptation Lane'.
~
While watching my copy of the first year of 'N.Y.P.D.' episodes, the numbers from 'Lost' popped up with the ID number for one of the squad cars - #234. It's a combination of 23 and 4, in much the same way the Oceanic Airways flight number was #815 - 8 and 15.
~
While watching those episodes of 'N.Y.P.D.', I kept an eye out for actors in small roles who would later hit it big, or at least become better known. Among them - Tony Musante, Roy Scheider, Vincent Gardenia, Charles Grodin.... But I never expected to see somebody I actually knew!
That's Frank Nastasi, whom some of you may remember as Soupy Sales' sidekick on his old show. I worked with him in two Off-Off-Broadway shows for the old Meat & Potatoes Theatre Company. We'd all sit around backstage and imitate his style of "speech" for White Fang and Black Tooth, but in iambic pentameter.....

Sadly, he passed away about six years ago....
~
While watching a couple of episodes of 'Vengeance Unlimited' for a future story about James Coburn, I saw another guy I used to know: That's Fred Sanders, who's shown up in a couple of series and whose brother is Jay O. Sanders. Fred was the director of the shows we put on at the Thomaston Opera House back in the summer of 1977 - "A Little Night Music", "Company", "Little Mary Sunshine", and "Two Gentlemen Of Verona" (the musical).
~
It was Nick Lowe's birthday on Thursday. You can see a performance of his on the TV show 'Countdown' here. (Embedding was disabled.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Md7lfg181HI

Apparently, the Doctor wasn't the only one who plundered the Riddler's wardrobe. (Thanks to Dan Aloi for pointing that out!)
~
FX has canceled 'Lights Out' after only one season. I'm not surprised. I think I'm in the majority of the viewing public who has no interest in anything connected to boxing, no matter how ancillary it was to the main storyline.
~
But here's what I consider great news! 'Fringe' has been renewed for a fourth season. It's O'Bvious that my whining about it the other day paid off! LOL

BCnU

AS SEEN ON TV: ELIZABETH TAYLOR

Because of her standing in the world of entertainment, the ASOTV showcase continues to feature Elizabeth Taylor, who passed away on Wednesday....

ELIZABETH TAYLOR

AS SEEN ON:
'Saturday Night Live'

AS PLAYED BY:
Top row, from left:
John Belushi
Joan Rivers
Molly Shannon

Bottom row, from left:
Rachel Dratch
Sally Field
Casey Wilson

TV DIMENSION:
Skitlandia

From Wikipedia:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer signed Taylor to $100 a week for up to three months to appear as "Priscilla" in the film "Lassie Come Home".

"Lassie Come Home" featured child star Roddy McDowall, with whom Taylor would share a lifelong friendship. Upon its release in 1943, the film received favourable attention for both McDowall and Taylor. On the basis of her performance in "Lassie Come Home" MGM signed Taylor to a conventional seven-year contract at $100 a week but increasing at regular intervals until it reached a hefty $750 during the seventh year. Her first assignment under her new contract at MGM was a loan-out to 20th Century Fox for the character of Helen Burns in a film version of the Charlotte Bronte novel "Jane Eyre" (1944).

During this period she also returned to England to appear in another Roddy McDowall picture for MGM, "The White Cliffs of Dover" (1944). But it was Taylor's persistence in campaigning for the role of Velvet Brown in MGM's "National Velvet" that skyrocketed Taylor to stardom at the tender age of 12. Taylor's character, Velvet Brown, is a young girl who trains her beloved horse to win the Grand National. "National Velvet", which also costarred beloved American favorite Mickey Rooney and English newcomer Angela Lansbury, became an overwhelming success upon its release in December 1944. Many years later Taylor called it "the most exciting film" she had ever made, and the film changed her life forever. Although it vastly increased her star power, many of her back problems were traced to when she hurt her body falling off a horse during its filming.

Her first box office success in an adult role came as Kay Banks in the romantic comedy "Father Of The Bride"(1950), alongside Spencer Tracy and Joan Bennett. The film spawned a sequel, "Father's Little Dividend" (1951), which Taylor's costar Spencer Tracy summarised with "boring… boring… boring". The film did well at the box office but it would be Taylor's next picture that would set the course for her career as a dramatic actress.

In late 1949, Taylor had begun filming George Stevens' "A Place In The Sun". Upon its release in 1951, Taylor was hailed for her performance as Angela Vickers, a spoiled socialite who comes between George Eastman (Clift) and his poor, pregnant factory-working girlfriend Alice Tripp (Shelley Winters). The film became the pivotal performance of Taylor's career as critics acclaimed it as a classic, a reputation it sustained throughout the next 50 years of cinema history. The New York Times' A.H. Weiler wrote, "Elizabeth's delineation of the rich and beauteous Angela is the top effort of her career", and the Boxoffice reviewer unequivocally stated "Miss Taylor deserves an Academy Award".

Following a more substantial role opposite Rock Hudson and James Dean in George Stevens' epic "Giant" (1956), Taylor was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress four years in a row for "Raintree County" (1957) opposite Montgomery Clift; "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" (1958) opposite Paul Newman; "Suddenly, Last Summer" (1959) with Montgomery Clift, Katharine Hepburn and Mercedes McCambridge; and finally winning for "BUtterfield 8" (1960), which co-starred then husband Eddie Fisher.

"I thought I would win for 'The Apartment',
but then Elizabeth Taylor had a tracheotomy."
Shirley MacLaine

One of the basic rules about the TV dimension of Skitlandia is that unlike other TV dimensions, the faces of its inhabitants can change with no splainin. Sometimes they may look like their counterparts in other TV Lands (Vinnie Barbarino and Lenny & Squiggy in the "Tarantino's Welcome Back, Kotter" sketch on 'SNL', for example), but it's rare and never lasts. If the TV character or celebrity is popular enough, they could go through more regenerations than a Time Lord!

So Elizabeth Taylor was a prime example of this happening. These are just six of the incarnations, and they're all from 'Saturday Night Live' alone! She was also lampooned on 'The Benny Hill Show' (Tune in tomorrow!) and on 'MadTV' (as seen to the left).

BCnU!

REMEMBERING LA LIZ: HELENA CASSADINE

Elizabeth Taylor appeared in several episodes of 'General Hospital' back in the early 1980's as Helena Cassadine, the widow of billionaire madman Mikkos Cassadine. She was there in Port Charles just long enough to attend the wedding of the two people she held responsible for the death of her husband - Luke Spencer and Laura Webber Baldwin. While there, she put a curse on them during the ceremony.

Of course, in Earth Prime-Time, Helena Cassadine and Elizabeth Taylor are two separate people. But over in the TV dimension in which author Richard 'Castle' resides, he probably knew that La Liz played the role. Just this week, as he and Detective Kate Beckett were investigating a murder on the set of the soap opera 'Temptation Lane', Castle admitted that he knew all the details to the weather machine storyline on 'General Hospital' and he even mentioned Mikkos Cassadine by name. (Mikkos is pictured, right, in what could be one of the best death scenes in soap opera history - trapped in the freezing room of his own weather macine.)

This would be more of a Zonk if 'Castle' took place on the main Toobworld, but so long as they have a NYC mayor inconsistent with that of both Earth Prime (our world) and Earth Prime-Time, then it has to remain in some alternate TV dimension. (I'd like to think it would be the 'West Wing' dimension.) But once that's no longer an issue (once the show is canceled, but hopefully not too soon!), then we can push the 'Primeval' reset button and bring the series back into alignment with the main Toobworld.

So, that world has a soap opera called 'General Hospital' but may not have had the actual events from that show taking place there. Over in the main Toobworld, however, the stories seen on 'General Hospital' actually took place, but as with so many other soap operas, there is also a show by that same name. It could be a "reality" series or a fictionalized retelling of actual events, but I'd have to check the various references to it for a future blog post.

Meanwhile, back in Toobworld proper, Helena Cassadine eventually returned to Port Charles, NY, but was now played by Constance Towers (a fact Castle probably knew as well.) For whatever reason, she must have needed plastic surgery. It must have been a desperate measure - because after all, what woman would willingly alter their face when they look like Elizabeth Taylor?

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: ELIZABETH TAYLOR

Elizabeth Taylor, star of stage and screen who married multiple times, became a successful businesswoman and helped to pioneer the fight against aids, dies of congestive heart failure.

By Elaine Woo,
Los Angeles Times
March 24, 2011
Elizabeth Taylor, the glamorous queen of American movie stardom, whose achievements as an actress were often overshadowed by her rapturous looks and real-life dramas, has died. She was 79.

Hospitalized six weeks ago for congestive heart failure, Taylor died early Wednesday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles with her four children at her side, publicist Sally Morrison said.

ELIZABETH TAYLOR

AS SEEN IN:
"Liz: The Elizabeth Taylor Story"

AS PLAYED BY:
Sherilynn Fenn

TV DIMENSION:
Earth Prime-Time

From Wikipedia:
Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was an English-born American actress. Beginning as a child star, as an adult she came to be known for her acting talent and beauty, and had a much publicised private life, including eight marriages and several near-death experiences.
Taylor was considered one of the great actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age. The American Film Institute named Taylor seventh on its Female Legends list.

Taylor dealt with many serious health problems during her life, and many times newspaper headlines announced that she was close to death. In 2004 it was announced that she was suffering from congestive heart failure, and in 2009 she underwent cardiac surgery to replace a leaky valve. In February 2011, new symptoms related to congestive heart failure caused her to be admitted into Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for treatment.

Taylor died on March 23, 2011, surrounded by her four children at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 79.

BCnU!

PS:
From 1969 onwards, the only accepted televersion of Elizabeth Taylor is La Liz herself, as seen in shows from 'Here's Lucy' to 'The Nanny'. It's because of these appearances as a member of the League of Themselves that Ms. Taylor was inducted into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame in May of 2009.

But Toobworld does make allowances for recasting due to aging and so Ms. Fenn's performance in this movie does represent the official televersion of Elizabeth Taylor in her younger years......

Sked Alert:
Because she was such a mega-star, La Liz will be dominating Inner Toob for the next few days.

WELCOME TO BELLIVIA

BELLIVIA

(The body of Olivia Dunham hosting William Bell's consciousness)

I don't know why 'Fringe' isn't doing better in the ratings. (The show reached an all-time low this past Friday, but to be fair, it was competing against "March Madness".) It's one of the most creative programs on the air today and it's the best, pure sci-fi program* from the United States in a long time, perhaps since 'The X-Files' at the height of its excellence.

All I know is - 'Fringe' has been bountiful for Toobworld with all the new concepts as well as a new alternate dimension. And I'm going to enjoy the ride while it lasts.

These last two weeks, 'Fringe' has brought back the consciousness of the late William Bell (once played by Leonard Nimoy) who's temporarily stuck in the body of the main character, FBI Agent Olivia Dunham, until a suitable host body can be found. (Probably somebody brain dead?)

I thought they might have resolved this problem by the end of the latest episode, "Stowaway", but I should have realized it would be better for the show to keep "Bellivia" in peril a little while longer.....

The storyline for "Stowaway" certainly seemed to lend itself to being the resolution - a woman who couldn't die trying to get her soul to hitch a ride with suicides. (It reminded me somewhat of "Tithonus", an episode of 'The X-Files'.) Dana Grey would have been the perfect host for "Bellie" once her soul had fled. Except for one thing - Paula Malcolmson, the actress who played Dana, is blonde... and I don't think star Anna Torv would want the competition.

But the episode presented another option for a resolution, one which might still come to pass......

Since last season, Seth Gabel has had a recurring role on 'Fringe' as Fringe Division Agent Lincoln Lee "Over There" (the nickname give to their alternate dimension.) But finally we got to meet his counterpart from Earth Prime-Time. FBI Agent Lincoln Lee worked out of Hartford, Ct. And when "she" met him, "Bellivia" identified "herself" as an agent for Fringe Division (perhaps hoping to gauge Lee's reaction. After all, plenty of others have crossed over from "Over There" in the past.)

Soon enough Lincoln Lee was knee-deep in the wonders of Fringe science - like Peter said, his security clearance now was many layers deeper just by walking into the lab at Harvard.

I was wondering when we'd finally meet the other Lincoln Lee, as his "Over There" counterpart had had quite an engaging storyline so far. I've even been thinking that maybe they wanted to find a way to make Seth Gabel a part of the regular cast. Up until now, I thought that meant his character would cross over to this world. But now perhaps they have a unique way to do so if they so decide.....

Make Lincoln Lee the new host for William Bell.

Once I got that idea in my head, I thought for sure Agent Lee was in for it by the end of "Stowaway". But again, maybe they're saving it up for something special - May Sweeps? The Season Finale?

Although they parted ways at the end of the episode and Agent Lee headed back to Hartford, he could return before the end of the season to assist on another case. And this time he might be left seriously injured by some turn of events, badly enough to leave him an empty shell... one which William Bell could occupy.

And Seth Gabel wouldn't have to worry about affecting the Nimoy speech pattern ever after like Anna Torv is currently doing as "Bellivia". In order to avoid detection by those who knew him, like fellow agents and especially family and friends, William Bell would have to adapt his own persona to reflect that of the late Lincoln Lee. (In a way, it's much the same situation when Fiona Glenanne dropped that thick Irish accent from the pilot episode of 'Burn Notice' to better blend in.) So eventually, even though he was still William Bell on the inside, he'd be acting like Lincoln Lee on the outside.

It's just an idea. Let's see how it plays out.....

BCnU!

PS:
CliqueClack TV has presented another viable option - that at the end of "Stowaway", William Bell/Olivia slipped soul magnets into the tea offered to Peter Bishop. It could be that he plans to use Peter as his new host......

"SPACE" & "TIME" - NEW WHO!

I usually run a 'Doctor Who' video on Video Saturday, but I couldn't wait any longer to share this one!

Last Friday, it was "Red Nose Day" in Great Britain, raising money for the mega-charity Comic Relief. And a lot of special material was created for the telethon to help spur donations - a spoof of 'Downton Abbey', James Corden as Smithy from 'Gavin & Stacey' with a League of Themselves horde, novelty musical acts like the MasterChef Choir and Fake That (again with Corden), and mini-episodes of 'Alan Partridge', 'Outnumbered', 'EastEnders' (very out of place!), and....

'Doctor Who'


"Space"



"Time"




As far as Toobworld Central is concerned, this was "canon". Taking place at some point after "A Christmas Carol" but before "The Impossible Astronaut" (coming April 23 to BBC-A!). Nothing Zonks it, and so it should take its place with the other charity vignettes "Time Crash" and that bit right after the regeneration from the Ninth Incarnation to the Tenth.

BCnU!

ECHOES: TA DA!

"I said 'Ta-Da.'

Show's over."

Sheldon Cooper

'The Big Bang Theory'

"We need to talk about this 'Ta-Da'...."

Gloria Pritchett

'Modern Family'

BCnU!

(Remembering the Great Ballantine..... Why? Because he was funny. What other reason did I need?)

AS SEEN ON TV: JOAN CRAWFORD

Since HBO is about to premiere a new version of "Mildred Pierce" starring Kate Winslet, I thought we'd celebrate the birth of the woman who first played the role. She would have been 106 today.....

JOAN CRAWFORD

AS SEEN ON:
'Saturday Night Live'

AS PLAYED BY:
Jane Curtin

TV DIMENSION:
Skitlandia

From Wikipedia:
Joan Crawford (March 23, 1905 – May 10, 1977), born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre.

Starting as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway, Crawford was signed to a motion picture contract by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1925. Initially frustrated by the size and quality of her parts, Crawford began a campaign of self-publicity and became nationally known as a flapper by the end of the 1920s. In the 1930s, Crawford's fame rivaled MGM colleagues Norma Shearer and Greta Garbo.

Crawford often played hardworking young women who find romance and financial success. These "rags-to-riches" stories were well-received by Depression-era audiences and were popular with women. Crawford became one of Hollywood's most prominent movie stars and one of the highest paid women in the United States, but her films began losing money and by the end of the 1930s she was labeled "box office poison".

After an absence of nearly two years from the screen, Crawford staged a comeback by starring in Mildred Pierce (1945), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress.

Joan Crawford
Spokeswoman for the Face Bank

The new version of "Mildred Pierce" will join Earth Prime-Time as a five-part mini-series beginning on HBO March 27th at 9 PM Eastern Daylight Time......

BCnU!

GRAVE GARDENS

On the British version of 'Being Human', Richard and Emma were an ancient vampiric couple* living on the island of Barry in Wales. (I used the past tense because Richard was definitely killed by the werewolf McNair; I'm not sure - yet - if Emma survived the slaughter or not.)

They had a large estate, due to Richard being a carpet magnate. And on that estate, tucked away in the garden, are the graves of six humans who were drained dry by the vampires.

There's probably seven graves now, as Richard and Emma feasted on a gimp weirdo who gave up his career as well as his past life as a family man for the fleeting excitement of his carnal desires, even if it did mean he was doomed to a shortened life.

And all the other six, for whatever reason, willingly sacrificed their lives as well to take part in Emma and Richard's depravities.

The role of Number Seven appears to be Morgan James' first role in Toobworld, so we don't have any other one-shot characters of his to make the claim that one of them could have been the latest victim of Richard and Emma. But with the other six, any one of them could be TV characters from other shows who were just forgotten by the show runners as time went by. Victims of the "Chuck Cunningham Syndrome".

I'm not sure of their timelines - some of them may have lasted with Richard and Emma for a few years; at least one of them could have been with them for a decade.

Most of the "Chuck Cunningham Syndrome" victims were American TV characters. I would imagine there must be several characters from 'EastEnders' and 'Coronation Street' - or, closer to home for Emma and Richard - 'Pobol y Cwm' and 'Caerydydd' - who fell off the map. (We just have to remember that Number Four was the only woman. And she may have been suffering from Epstein-Barre. Anybody know of a British or Welsh TV woman who fits the bill?)

To tie up loose ends in that corner of Toobworld, we could always claim that these lost characters ended up as fertilizer in Richard and Emma's garden. But I'm not the one who's going to be doing the research.......

BCnU!

* Yes, I've changed my mind about Emma's place in the family tree of Gwen from 'Gavin & Stacey' - she's probably a long-lost ancestor from over 100 years earlier. And I'd like to think she had been a member of the Hellfire Club ('The Avengers') back then.......

DOUBLE VISION: "PEGGY" & JUREK

Despite the grim surroundings at his job for USA Prime Credit, "Peggy" (winner of a 2010 Toobits Award!) seems to be a rather cheerful sort. That's why I don't think he knows his twin brother Jurek was murdered in Europe. He may never know, because Jurek was probably using an alias at the time. (The man who killed him, however, knew his true identity.) "Peggy" may also have known that his brother was involved in illegal activities (working for Alexei Volkoff) and cut off ties with him long before. So when "Peggy" does eventually find out - and you know it'll happen off-screen - it may not have any effect on his cheery disposition while "answering" the phones for USA Prime Credit.

SHOWS CITED:
Discover commercial series
'Chuck'

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: MOTHER NATURE

Spring has sprung, so for something a little different with today's "As Seen On TV" showcase, I thought - "Why not feature someone associated with the seasons?

As it's "Two For Tuesday" as well, I thought Mother Nature would be a good choice.....

MOTHER NATURE

AS SEEN IN:
'Shelley Duvall's Tall Tales & Legends'

AS PLAYED BY:
Anne Jackson

MOTHER NATURE

AS SEEN IN:
Chiffon Margarine commercial series

AS PLAYED BY:
Dena Dietrich

TV DIMENSION:
Earth Prime-Time (both)

Being an ethereal spirit by... um, nature, Mother Nature doesn't have a true physical form. So she can assume any appearance she'd like. Therefore, both of these portrayals are of the same "woman" and so they both belong in Earth Prime-Time.

More than a century lies between these two forms for Mother Nature..... It could be that something happened since she appeared to Johnny Appleseed which really soured her temperament:

Two for Tuesday!

BCnU!

TIME LINES

Nothing I enjoy more than stumbling across some televisiological discourse......

This one comes courtesy of "The High Council Of Time Lords" group on Facebook:

Bob:
Speculation: In the unaired Doctor Who pilot, Susan Foreman says, “I was born in the 49th century”. The line was changed to “born in another time” in the broadcast pilot “An Unearthly Child”. Arguably, for anyone who's ever wondered what the original Doctor's “present” time was, this would suggest it was somewhere in the neighborhood ...of the AD 4800s. Three possible objections to this reasoning come to mind.

One: Since the original pilot was replaced by a revised pilot, the dialog in the original may not be “canon”. Two: The in-continuity mutability of time may mean the original Doctor's “present” is not a fixed point. Three: The effect on the ...Doctor's personal history from the universe's reboot in “The Big Bang” and his subsequent “recovery” from the other side of the Time Field remains uncertain.

Edward 'Oh':
Annnnnnnnnnnnnd they may have meant Gallifrey's 49th century :)

Colin P:
And, they may only have been visiting the 49th century.

Gazz:
Four: at the time of the original pilot, the had absolutely no idea 'Doctor Who' would still be going strong in 2011 :P

Edward 'Oh':
Or if they did, they were wondering how they were going to keep Billy reanimated!

Gazz(?):
Absolutely

Bob:
Possible, Mr. E. Although given that Susan was speaking to her human teachers on 20th century Earth, I would assume her "49th century" reference would have been the corresponding era based on the Gregorian calendar.

Edward 'Oh':
I know, hence the daft smiley thing. Mind you, it would be just as worth a go as telling them she was from THEIR 49th century. My teachers never believed ME!

Simon Th:
[I] Have had the 'Is it canon?' argument so many times and can catagorically state that the 49th century line is NOT canon. In order for it to be canonical, it has to be included in a broadcast episode. Deleted scenes, novelisations, etc don't count.

Original novels, comics, audio dramas, etc each have their own separate continuity but, while each of them is bound by what happens in the TV series, the TV series does not have to pay any attention to what has happened in any other media.

Trish:
Heck Simon, sometimes they don't pay attention to what has happened in the series just preceding it! haha

Edward 'Oh':
Very true there, Trish... the series often veers from its own cannon. At best it can claim to be a small handgun ;)

Colin P:
It's the effects of time travel rather than canonical inconsistencies. Apparently.

Ana R:
When I saw it on You Tube Susan said "49th century." Too bad all the awesome "1" episodes got taken down! :(

Bob:
Debates about "canon" are kind of surreal anyway: "THIS fiction is the REAL fiction. That OTHER fiction is fake fiction."

Simon Th:
It's a case of semantics. Canon is defined as a body of work. With 'Doctor Who', the original work is the TV series, anything else is an incorrect use of the word. (Can you tell I was brought up by an English teacher?).

The TV series, as it has on a number of occasions, is perfectly able to contradict itself. I try not to think about these instances as it frequently brings on headaches. But if a throw-away line in the Christmas special contradicts every single New Adventure, then, for the purposes of 'Doctor Who' continuity, the television episode takes precedence.

Don't get me wrong, there can be some fantastic stories in the, for want of a better expression, expanded universe. I grew up on the New Adventures and actually prefer some of them to a number of stories in the original run. But, unless they are directly referenced in the TV series, they are not canonical.

David W. R:
My understanding has always been that Gallifrey stood 'outside' of time. Which can be a fairly mind-boggling concept. For instance: the Great Time War apparently occurred in a linear fashion, and yet throughout different points in time somehow. I can't grasp it, but I'm not sure anyone's really meant to!

Gazz:
Post-Time War events can contradict pre-Time War events, and still be right. As RTD said, the Time War was like a big reset button.

Ana R:
IT'S ALL WIBBLY WOBBLY TIMEY WIMEY! OH LOVE RTD! :)

David W. R:
And we all love big red reset buttons! It's such a rare concept in modern sci-fi!! ; ). But of course, once reset, someone's bound to come along eventually and reset the previous reset...

Gazz:
And that's already happened, with the Cracks in Time. And the next head writer will hit it again, then the next and so on......

Simon Th:
But can you have an anti-reset button, something that resets things to how they were before the reset button was pressed the previous time? ;)

David W. R:
Hmm. Well there's a thought, and an obvious one you'd think. But I've yet to see anyone use that anti-reset in anything. Problem is: there's a few good ideas that always have come since, and no one wants to lose those new ideas.

Gazz:
Anything is possible in the world of scfi, some one may just hit the anti-reset button...... one day

And finally I chimed in.....

Toby O'B:
I'm with the "Only TV Is Canon" crowd, but then my particular line of interest is the overall TV Universe. Some movies and online content has been absorbed into the "Toobworld" concept, but it can only be the fictional realms of visual media. As Simon pointed out, each of those other sources have their own fictional universes. It's a lot like the realms to be found in the "Incompleat Enchanter" stories by Pratt and deCamp.....

I'm sure the dialogue will continue!

{Trish and Gazz, and I think Bob as well, are administrators for the Facebook site.}

BCnU!

WALKER, WISCONSIN DANGER

I hope 'Saturday Night Live' gets around to a sketch about Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin, because I have a great quote about him from Bill Maher that I want to use in an "ASOTV" spotlight.

Just based on this picture, I think they should bring back Chris Parnell for a cameo guest spot to play the role......

BCnU!

POT PIES ARE RUNNING OUT!

One of my Facebook friends, J.r. Klink, has been a great source for inspiration when it comes to Video Weekend lately. But now he's shared a link to a collection of great police blotter reports from around the country.

This particular one caught my eye: You see, in Toobworld, food is alive. Chicken carcasses dance; sandwiches urge you to drink orange juice rather than eating them; and plump juicy raisins sing their hearts out in bowls of raisin bran.

So a chicken pot pie running down the street wouldn't seem that unlikely... if it wasn't for the fact that this happened in the Trueniverse! O'Bviously the TV Universe is bleeding into our own world!

Remember - as Sgt. Esterhaus would have told you, let's be careful out there.

The next chicken pot pie might have your name on it......

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: ELIA KAZAN

The 71st Annual Oscars were held on March 21, 1999 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, L.A. County Music Center. Elia Kazan was given an honorary Academy Award "in recognition of his indelible contributions to the art of motion picture direction."

ELIA KAZAN

AS SEEN IN:
"James Dean: Race With Destiny"

AS PLAYED BY:
Carmen Romano

From Wikipedia:
After the success of "On the Waterfront" [Elia Kazan] went on to direct the screen adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel, "East of Eden" in 1955. As director, Kazan again used another unknown actor, James Dean.

Kazan had seen Dean on stage in New York and after an audition gave him the starring role along with an exclusive contract with Warner Bros. Dean flew back to Los Angeles with Kazan in 1954, the first time he had ever flown in a plane, bringing his clothes in a brown paper bag.

The film's success introduced James Dean to the world and established him as a popular actor. He went on to star in "Rebel Without a Cause" (1955), directed by Kazan's friend, Nicholas Ray, and then "Giant", (dir. George Stevens, 1956)

Author Douglas Rathgeb describes the difficulties Kazan had in turning Dean into a new star, noting how Dean was a controversial figure at Warner Bros. from the time he arrived. There were rumors that he "kept a loaded gun in his studio trailer; that he drove his motorcycle dangerously down studio streets or sound stages; that he had bizarre and unsavory friends."

As a result, Kazan was forced to "baby-sit the young actor in side-by-side trailers," so he wouldn't run away during production. Costar Julie Harris worked overtime to quell Dean's panic attacks. In general, Dean was oblivious to Hollywood's methods, and Rathgeb notes that "his radical style did not mesh with Hollywood's corporate gears."

Dean himself was amazed at his own performance on screen when he later viewed a rough cut of the film. Kazan had invited director Nicholas Ray to a private showing, with Dean, as Ray was looking for someone to play the lead in "Rebel Without a Cause". Ray watched Dean's powerful acting on the screen, but it didn't seem possible that it was the same person in the room, who Ray felt was shy and totally withdrawn as he sat there hunched over. "Dean himself did not seem to believe it," notes Rathgeb. "He watched himself with an odd, almost adolescent fascination, as if he were admiring someone else."

The film also made good use of on-location and outdoor scenes, along with an effective use of early widescreen format, making the film one of Kazan's most accomplished works. James Dean died the following year, at the age of 24, while in an accident with his sports car outside of Los Angeles. He had only made three films, and the only completed film he ever saw was "East of Eden". BCnU!

KARL PILKINGTON'S WILD KINGDOM

If you haven't checked out 'The Ricky Gervais Show' on HBO yet, seek it out! Karl Pilkington was the 2010 Toobits Award winner for Best League of Themselves Appearance in the Tooniverse.....

For once, I think Karl may be on to something here, but then I was a big believer in "Day Of The Dolphin" when I was a lot younger.....

BCnU!

MILEYS, PEOPLE!

Miley Cyrus proved she was a good sport by appearing in this skit....

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV EXTRA: "DUH, WINNING!"

Can't get enough Charlie Sheen and this video from 'Saturday Night Live' brings along a few new televersions in an "As Seen On TV" extra.....

BCnU!

"STEAM TREK"

It's missing an old-fashioned country doctor to stand in for McCoy, but otherwise this steam-punk version of 'Star Trek' is a fun spoof of not only the show but the cliches of silent movies....

Live long and prosper!

(Thanks, Sean, for pointing this out!)

REMEMBERING "RECOUNT"

To mark the passing of former Secretary of State Warren Christopher, here's one of the trailers for the HBO movie "Recount", which dealt with the 2000 election. It's chock-a-block with the televersions of many famous political figures from a decade ago.....

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: WARREN CHRISTOPHER

WARREN CHRISTOPHER

AS SEEN IN:
"Recount"

AS PLAYED BY:
John Hurt

By Bart Barnes and Special to The Washington Post,
Saturday, March 19, 11:09 AM
Warren M. Christopher, who helped negotiate a settlement to the Iran hostage crisis in 1980 and who confronted the ethnic violence in the Balkans and Rwanda while serving as secretary of state during President Bill Clinton’s first term, died March 18 at his home in Los Angeles of complications from kidney and bladder cancer. He was 85. BCnU.....