SKED ALERT: "THE DOCTOR'S WIFE"

Here's a not-so-sneak preview of tonight's episode of 'Doctor Who':

It's called "The Doctor's Wife" and it's eagerly awaited by not only the fans of the show, but of writer Neil Gaiman as well!

BBC-America at 9 PM EDT.

BCnU!

"DOCTOR WHO" - "TODAY"

The 'Today' show visited the set of 'Doctor Who' this past week as they sent their various hosts to TV shows made in other countries. Meredith Viera got this assignment and the best I can say is - maybe it's a good thing she's leaving the show....

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

BCnU!

COME WITH ME, BACK TO THE PROMOVERSE!

On Wednesday I wrote about the Promoverse, and gave a few video examples of its existence. My choices for that post were to illustrate why they can't be considered part of Earth Prime-Time - while some TV characters may exhibit talents like serlinguism outside of their home base TV series with the pozz'bility that they could do the same in their own shows, those three examples were just too flagrant to be believable for the regular depiction of the characters.

But these other interstitials combining USA Network shows could be pozz'ble, just pozz'ble, as scenes unseen.......

(Gus would just have to make a trip to the East Coast. Not insurmountable.... And while he was in the New York area, he may have had this encounter at a bar.)

(For alls we know, Hank might have been in that same establishment.)

(Unlike his friend Michael, Sam Axe is not tied down to the Miami area.)

(I guess this took place in Miami, since Michael is somewhat quarantined there. And he must have had to call in a major favor to get FBI agent Peter Burke off his back.)

(Both Shawn Spencer and Adrian Monk may have been waiting to get interviewed for the chance to consult on a murder investigation, somewhere outside of both San Francisco and Santa Barbara.)

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: JAMES BUCHANAN

PRESIDENT JAMES BUCHANAN

AS SEEN IN:
'Edward The King'

AS PLAYED BY:
Peter Carlisle

TV DIMENSION:
Earth Prime-Time

STATUS:
Recastaway

From Wikipedia:
James Buchanan, Jr. (April 23, 1791 – June 1, 1868) was the 15th President of the United States (1857–1861). He is the only president from Pennsylvania, the only president who remained a life-long bachelor, and the last one born in the 18th century.

After unsuccessfully seeking the Democratic presidential nomination in 1844, 1848, and 1852, "Old Buck" was nominated in the 1856 election. Throughout most of Franklin Pierce's term he was stationed in London as a Minister to the Court of St. James's and therefore was not caught up in the crossfire of sectional politics that dominated the country. Buchanan was viewed by many as a compromise between the two sides of the slavery question. His subsequent election victory took place in a three-man race with John C. Frémont and Millard Fillmore. As President, he was often called a "doughface", a Northerner with Southern sympathies, who battled with Stephen A. Douglas for the control of the Democratic Party. Buchanan's efforts to maintain peace between the North and the South alienated both sides, and the Southern states declared their secession in the prologue to the American Civil War. Buchanan's view of record was that secession was illegal, but that going to war to stop it was also illegal. Buchanan, first and foremost an attorney, was noted for his mantra, "I acknowledge no master but the law."

President Buchanan serves as a link between this British mini-series and the American sitcom 'My Favorite Martian'. But when Tim O'Hara and Exigius 12½ (aka "Uncle Martin") crossed his path on a riverboat, they had traveled back in Time to 1849. By 1860, the turmoil in the nation over the question of slavery had taken its toll and aged Buchanan.....

For more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Buchanan

http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/jamesbuchanan

http://toobworld.blogspot.com/2009/01/as-seen-on-tv-james-buchanan.html

This concludes our mini-marathon theme of "World Leaders Of The Victorian Age".....

BCnU!

WU WHO

From Pat Coleman, a member of Team Toobworld:

Ugly Betty's Suzuki St. Pierre ( ABC ) just crossed over to Rules of Engagement ( CBS ).

Suzuki didn't give his name. but the actor's clothing, hair and mannerisms were him.

So I caught the episode on cbs.com and sure enough - there he was as the manager of a restaurant who offered the young couple champagne and cake because he thought they were in a proposal.

Suzuki St. Pierre was the alter-ego of Bryan Wu, a serious journalist. So.....

What if he finally got called on the carpet for trying to pass himself off as somebody he's not? With the profession in dire straits these days, journalists have to keep themselves on the straight and narrow.

If he did lose his job as Suzuki St. Pierre and then couldn't find employ under his own identity, perhaps Bryan Wu took the job as restaurant manager in order to keep the roof over his head.....

Yeah, it's a theoretical connection and wouldn't pass muster in strictly maintained TV Universe sites, but it works perfectly for the Toobworld concept.

Thanks, Pat!

AS SEEN ON TV: CHRISTIAN IX

CHRISTIAN IX

AS SEEN IN:
'Edward The King'

AS PLAYED BY:
Anthony Douse

TV DIMENSION:
Earth Prime-Time

From Wikipedia:
Christian IX (8 April 1818 – 29 January 1906) was King of Denmark from 16 November 1863 to 29 January 1906. He became known as "the father-in-law of Europe", as his six children married into other royal houses; most current European monarchs are descended from him.

Four of his children sat on the thrones (either as monarchs or as a consort) of Denmark, the United Kingdom, Russia and Greece. A fifth, daughter Thyra, would have become Queen of Hanover, had her husband's throne not been abolished before his reign began. The great dynastical success of the six children was to a great extent not the favor of Christian IX himself, but due to the dynastical ambitions of his wife Louise of Hesse-Kassel . Some have compared her dynastical capabilities with those of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.

Christian's grandsons included Nicholas II of Russia, Constantine I of Greece, George V of the United Kingdom, Christian X of Denmark and Haakon VII of Norway. He was, in the last years of his life, named Europe's "father-in-law". Today, most of Europe's reigning and ex-reigning royal families are direct descendants of Christian IX.

There is a story that, while on an outing with his children and their families, they happened across a lost man whom they helped to find his way. Upon reaching the road, the man inquired as to the identities of Christian and his family. Christian replied truthfully, stating the names and titles of all present. Not believing Christian but instead taking it in humour, he proclaimed himself to be Jesus Christ before thanking them and departing.

Christian died peacefully of old age at 87 at the Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen and was buried in Roskilde Cathedral.

That story is depicted in 'Edward The King', only it's Czar Alexander, Albert Edward the Prince of Wales, and King George I of the Hellenes (Christian IX's son) who encounter a passing farmer and hitch a lift on his wagon. Upon introducing themselves, the farmer lets them in on a little secret - he's Napoleon Bonaparte!

BCnU!

TVXOHOF, 05/2011: HONEY WEST

As usual, we're running late with the monthly induction into the TV Crossover Hall Of Fame, which I'd like to blame on the recent Blogger troubles. But the truth is - I'm just lazy.

By tradition, May usually has a "Queen Of The May" theme, mostly to ensure that at least one woman is inducted into the Hall each year. (No fear on that score - Aunt Bee Taylor and Joan Rivers were inducted in January and March, respectively.) But it also gives me a chance to showcase a smokin' TV babe, one worthy of the "Homina Thrice".

There was a sad reason why our choice for this May was selected - actress Anne Francis passed away earlier this year, always one of the sexiest women in television. And among the many TV characters she brought us (recurring roles in 'My Three Sons', 'Riptide', 'Dallas', 'The Drew Carey Show' and 'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.', plus memorable guest appearances in 'Columbo' and 'The Twilight Zone'.), was the sexy investigator Honey West.....

In Toobworld, Honey West first appeared in a second season episode of 'Burke's Law' ("Who Killed The Jackpot?") and by the next season had her own series (although it lasted only the one year). Decades later, when 'Burke's Law' was revived with Amos Burke now working with his grown son, Anne Francis returned to the role in "Who Killed Nick Hazard?"

However, her character's name was now Honey Best. (It's pozz'ble, just pozz'ble that this was an attempt to avoid paying royalties to the original creators of the role.) But for Toobworld, she was still Honey West - O'Bviously her last name changed because at some point in the years following the cancellation of her own series, Honey got married to someone named Best.

Perhaps he was a descendant of Marshal Sam Best, a Western Legend known as 'Best Of The West'. And it could be that Honey Best gave birth to Jerry Best in 1970, a character later seen in 'The Bernie Mac Show'.

With those three appearances, Honey West qualifies for entry into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame. But there is another reason as well - she is a multiversal, at home in several fictional universes created by Mankind's imagination.

She began life in novels by a husband-and-wife team who went by the pen name "G.G. Fickling". And at the height of her fame on TV, she was seen in comic books as well. (If there is a fictional universe based on board games, then she has a home there as well!)

So here's our salute to Honey West, the latest inductee into the TV Crossover Hall Of Fame. Sadly, it's in memoriam, as I think Honey passed away around the same time as the woman who portrayed her. She could still be alive, but if anyone ever attempts to bring her back to television, it will have to be a show located in the Land of Remakes.

Because for Toobworld, there can be only one......

BCnU!

For More:
http://www.mysteryfile.com/Honey%20West/Honey_West.html

O'BSERVATIONS: "YOU THINK I KILLED HIM!"

Every so often a phrase pops up that I hear far too often in TV dialogue. One of the first that I noticed was "He is, of course, quite mad." You'd think that one should have been unique, rarely used.

Two guys fed a ton of movie and television scripts into a computer to find out which phrase was the most often used. They went into the project with the preconceived notion that it would be "I love you."

It turned out to be "Let's get out of here."

The one that bothers me most is "It's complicated." I see it as a lazy writing crutch.

The latest one to ping on my radar is "You think I killed him?" and its variations. In fact there has been an example each week for the last three weeks. And that's just from the shows I watch.

'THE KILLING'
Bennet Ahmed, one of Rosie Larsen's high school teachers, made the question more specific: "You think I killed Rosie?"

'THE MENTALIST'
Shelley was the victim's girl-friend and she was the first on the list of suspects. "You think I killed him?"

'BODY OF PROOF'
The latest example was another teacher, Professor Jack Elliott, and he also made it specific to the victim: "You think I killed Lizzie?"

The accent can be placed on "I" if the speaker can't believe the police suspect him or her. If it's placed on "killed", that usually means the body hasn't been found yet. And if the accent is on "You think", then it's more of a statement of fact than a question.

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: FREDERICK III

FREDERICK III

AS SEEN IN:
'Edward The King'

AS PLAYED BY:
Michael Byrne

From Wikipedia:
Frederick III (German: Friedrich III., Deutscher Kaiser und König von Preußen; 18 October 1831 – 15 June 1888) was German Emperor and King of Prussia for 99 days in 1888, the Year of the Three Emperors. Friedrich Wilhelm Nikolaus Karl known informally as Fritz, was the only son of Emperor William I and was raised in his family's tradition of military service. Although celebrated as a young man for his leadership and successes during the Second Schleswig, Austro-Prussian and Franco-Prussian wars, he nevertheless professed a hatred of warfare and was praised by friends and enemies alike for his humane conduct. Following the unification of Germany in 1871 his father, then King of Prussia, became the German Emperor. On William's death at the age of 90 on 9 March 1888, the throne passed to Frederick, who had by then been Crown Prince for 27 years. Frederick was suffering from cancer of the larynx when he died on 15 June 1888, aged 56, following unsuccessful medical treatments for his condition.

Frederick married Princess Victoria, eldest daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. The couple were well matched; their shared liberal ideology led them to seek greater representation for commoners in the government. Frederick, in spite of his conservative militaristic family background, had developed liberal tendencies as a result of his ties with Britain and his studies at the University of Bonn. As the Crown Prince, he often opposed the conservative Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, particularly in speaking out against Bismarck's policy to unite Germany through force and in urging for the power of the position of Chancellor to be curbed. Liberals in both Germany and Britain hoped that as emperor, Frederick III would move to liberalize the German Empire.

Frederick and Victoria were great admirers of the Prince Consort of the United Kingdom, Victoria's father. They planned to rule as consorts, like Albert and Queen Victoria, and to reform the fatal flaws in the executive branch that Bismarck had created for himself. The office of Chancellor, responsible to the Emperor, would be replaced with a British-style cabinet, with ministers responsible to the Reichstag. Government policy would be based on the consensus of the cabinet. Frederick "described the Imperial Constitution as ingeniously contrived chaos."

"The Crown Prince and Princess shared the outlook of the Progressive Party, and Bismarck was haunted by the fear that should the old Emperor die--and he was now in his seventies--they would call on one of the Progressive leaders to become Chancellor. He sought to guard against such a turn by keeping the Crown Prince from a position of any influence and by using foul means as well as fair to make him unpopular." However, his illness prevented him from effectively establishing policies and measures to achieve this, and such moves as he was able to make were later abandoned by his son and successor, William II.

The timing of Frederick's death and the length of his reign are important topics among historians. The reign of Frederick III is considered a potential turning point in German history; and whether or not he would have made the Empire more liberal if he had lived longer is still discussed.

BCnU!

WELCOME TO THE PROMOVERSE!

TINA FEY'S ALIEN FETUS
BENZOLATING ITS F'RVAAN

One of the tiniest of the major TV dimensions is that of the Promoverse. In this world, the TV characters we know from various shows appear in quick interstitials, sometimes in concert with characters from other shows.

This would be a dream for crossoverists, but too many problems - not exactly Zonks - crop up, which put them at odds with how they're portrayed in their home shows.

Such problems include serlinguism (talking directly to the Trueniverse audience), tele-cognizance (an awareness of being a TV character), and inter-action with characters from the lesser, parallel dimensions (those dimensions which are off-shoots of the major TV dimensions). The home dimension of Earth Prime-Time has all of these off-shoots, primarily the "Evil Mirror Universe" but also all of the parallel worlds from 'Sliders'.)

USA Network has had the most success in populating the Promoverse, with blipverts that combined 'Monk' with 'Psych', 'The 4400', and 'The Dead Zone' (a series that shifted its focus from the John Smith of Earth Prime-Time to that of John Smith who lived on a Toobworld that had a different President than the one for Earth Prime-Time and the Trueniverse.

Lately USA has also been mixing and matching between 'Psych', 'White Collar', 'Burn Notice' and 'Royal Pains'.

Here are a couple of examples of the residents of the Promoverse, displaying some of the qualities mentioned above:

The Promoverse also accommodates members of the League of Themselves, and as could happen in Skitlandia (mostly - but also in the main Toobworld), there could be major differences with their alternate TV counterparts.

For example, here's a serlinguistic Tina Fey revealing that she has been impregnated with alien seed during her sked alert about hosting 'Saturday Night Live'.

By the way, 'Saturday Night Live' as a whole is not part of Skitlandia; only the individual sketches are. 'SNL' is a TV show within the TV Universe as it is in the Trueniverse.

In real life, Tina Fey is married to Jeff Richmond. I don't see any reason why she shouldn't be married to him in the Promoverse as well. But he's an alien who has always been disguised as Jeff Richmond, or only recently replaced Jeff Richmond in Tina's life. Since she seems happy about carrying this alien hybrid spawn, I'm guessing the former - and she's okay with that.

Ecce Promo!

AS SEEN ON TV: LEOPOLD II

LEOPOLD II

AS SEEN IN:
'Edward The King'

AS PLAYED BY:
John Boswall

From Wikipedia:
Leopold II (French: Léopold Louis Philippe Marie Victor, Dutch: Leopold Lodewijk Filips Maria Victor) (9 April 1835 – 17 December 1909) was the second king of the Belgians. Born in Brussels the second (but eldest surviving) son of Leopold I and Louise-Marie of Orléans, he succeeded his father to the throne on 17 December 1865 and remained king until his death.

Leopold is chiefly remembered as the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State, a private project undertaken by the King. He used Henry Morton Stanley to help him lay claim to the Congo, an area now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Powers at the Berlin Conference agreed to set up the Free State in 1885, on the condition that the inhabitants were to be brought into the modern world and that all nations be allowed to trade freely.

From the beginning, however, Leopold essentially ignored these conditions and ran the Congo brutally, by proxy through a mercenary force, for his own personal gain. He extracted a personal fortune from the Congo, initially by the collection of ivory, and after a rise in the price of rubber in the 1890s by forcing the native population to collect sap from rubber plants. His harsh regime was directly or indirectly responsible for the death of millions of people. The Congo became one of the most infamous international scandals of the early 20th century, and Leopold was ultimately forced to relinquish control of it to the government of Belgium.


BCnU!

THE PETERSON-DELAWARE FEUD

There have been a lot of inspirations for the Toobworld concept: "The Incompleat Enchanter" by Fletcher Pratt and L. Sprague deCamp, "The Magic Umbrella" by Marvin Kaye, and the "Cineverse" trilogy by Craig Shaw Gardner. And there was also the research done by the Mythopoeic Society and the Baker Street Irregulars into the minutiae of Tolkien's and Conan Doyle's work, respectively.

As an example, the birthday for Sherlock Holmes was never stated by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but Christopher Morley was able to extrapolate that it was January 6.

Here's how the City Room blog of the New York Times described the process in 2009:

Another argument for Jan. 6 was made by William S. Baring-Gould, who produced the first annotated Sherlock Holmes collection. He and others have argued that “The Valley of Fear,” the final Sherlock Holmes novel, starts on Jan. 7.

Mr. Holmes seems to be a little cranky at the beginning of the story and snaps at Dr. John H. Watson. But why would he be in a bad mood? Because of a hangover. Why would he have a hangover? He must have been celebrating the night before. What could he have been celebrating? Certainly it was his birthday.

So I try to do the same thing with the trivial nuggets I pick up along my own path of Toobworld research.

My latest theory concerns the reason for the antagonism between Secret Service agent Peterson and former FBI agent Canton Everett Delaware III in the season premiere of 'Doctor Who'. (That's right! Despite that mini-marathon of blog posts last week, I'm still not done with the two-parter of "The Impossible Astronaut" and "Day Of The Moon".)

To me, it looked as though there was bad blood between "Three-Part Canton" and Peterson even before the security breach caused by the Doctor's arrival in the Oval Office. And since the Time Lord was able to slip the police box right past Peterson, that only put him deeper into the defensive.

But I think their antagonism, based on their remarks (especially Canton's), showed that there already was no love lost between them.

And I also think "love" is the operative word.

First, based on what has been shown during the first season of 'Covert Affairs', there are certain bars favored by members of the intelligence community in the nation's capital. Some would be frequented by the CIA only, others by the FBI. There may be others which cater to both the Secret Service as well as the FBI.

And it's not like agents go to these bars only to hobnob with each other; if you're working with someone for a full 8 hour plus shift, do you really want to extend that relationship into your downtime?

So it's pozz'ble, just pozz'ble, that some agents might meet in these common bars with friends of theirs from outside of work, perhaps even with family members.

What if Secret Service agent Peterson had a brother, who came into town to visit his older sibling? Wouldn't it be likely Peterson would take that brother out once he was off-duty, perhaps start off at the bar he liked to frequent as a way of showing the brother what he did in his off-hours?

Now, let's go back to one of the last scenes in "Day Of The Moon", after the Doctor and his Companions departed the Oval Office, leaving former agent Canton Everett Delaware III alone with President Richard Nixon.

As he left, the Doctor urged the President to allow Canton the chance to get married, which was the reason why he had left the FBI. At the time, his desire to marry was at odds with the Agency's policy and with the Law.

Nixon assumed the most likely obstacle - "This person you want to marry... black?"

Canton replied, "Yes."

Nixon: "I know what people think of me, but perhaps I'm a little more liberal than—"

But Canton cut him off: "He is."

That revelation was something Nixon wasn't ready to deal with.......

So that got me thinking - who was it that Canton wanted to marry?

What if Canton was in that same bar on the night when Peterson brought his brother in for a drink? Having a professional acquaintance, perhaps Peterson saw Canton barside and brought over his brother to introduce him to the FBI agent. Maybe he thought it might impress his brother.

Imagine his shock when it became obvious that his brother was more than impressed!

The anger that he felt toward Canton because of the relationship that developed between him and Peterson's brother may have been rerouted from how he felt towards his own flesh and blood. Instead of accepting the fact that his brother was a homosexual, he instead blamed Canton for leading the brother down a path he must have seen as aberrant - as if his brother had a choice in his sexual orientation, and despite the fact that the brother was just as much into Canton.

And Canton was not the type of man to be lenient towards Peterson because his thinking was fast becoming outdated. (The Stonewall riots had just happened that previous month.)  I'm sure he would have reveled in the opportunity to show Peterson up.

And that would be why Canton and Peterson were already at odds with each other, before the Doctor even showed up.

This is all predicated on the suggestion that Agent Peterson had a brother, of course.....

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: KAISER WILHELM

From Wikipedia:
Wilhelm II (German: Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albrecht von Preußen; English: Frederick William Victor Albert of Prussia) (27 January 1859 – 3 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia, ruling the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia from 15 June 1888 to 9 November 1918. He was a grandson of the British Queen Victoria, and related to many kings and princes around Europe. Crowned in 1888 he dismissed the Chancellor, Prince Otto von Bismarck, in 1890 and launched Germany on a bellicose "New Course" in foreign affairs, culminating in his support for Austria in the crisis of the summer of 1914 that caused World War I. Bombastic and impetuous, he blundered often, making major diplomatic decisions on his own, and allowing his generals to dictate policy during World War I, ignoring the civilian government. An ineffective war leader, he lost the support of the army, abdicated in November 1918, and fled to exile in the Netherlands.

KAISER WILHELM

AS SEEN IN:
'Edward The King'

AS PLAYED BY:
Christopher Neame

TV DIMENSION:
Earth Prime-Time

From Wikipedia:
His father's status as a hero of the wars of unification was largely responsible for the young Wilhelm's attitude, as in the circumstances in which he was raised; close emotional contact between father and son was not encouraged. Later, as he came into contact with the Crown Prince's political opponents, Wilhelm came to adopt more ambivalent feelings toward his father, given the perceived influence of Wilhelm's mother over a figure who should have been possessed of masculine independence and strength. Wilhelm also idolised his grandfather, Wilhelm I, and he was instrumental in later attempts to foster a cult of the first German Emperor as "Wilhelm the Great".

In many ways, Wilhelm was a victim of his inheritance and of Otto von Bismarck's machinations. Both sides of his family had suffered from mental illness, and this may explain his emotional instability. The Emperor's parents, Frederick and Victoria, were great admirers of the Prince Consort of the United Kingdom, Victoria's father. They planned to rule as consorts, like Albert and Queen Victoria, and they planned to reform the fatal flaws in the executive branch that Bismarck had created for himself. The office of Chancellor responsible to the Emperor would be replaced with a British-style cabinet, with ministers responsible to the Reichstag. Government policy would be based on the consensus of the cabinet. Frederick described the Imperial Constitution as "ingeniously contrived chaos."

The Crown Prince and Princess shared the outlook of the Progressive Party, and Bismarck was haunted by the fear that should the old Emperor die—and he was now in his seventies—they would call on one of the Progressive leaders to become Chancellor. He sought to guard against such a turn by keeping the Crown Prince from a position of any influence and by using foul means as well as fair to make him unpopular.

When Wilhelm was in his early twenties, Bismarck tried to separate him from his liberal parents with some success. Bismarck planned to use the young prince as a weapon against his parents in order to retain his own political dominance. Wilhelm thus developed a dysfunctional relationship with his parents, but especially with his English mother. In an outburst in April 1889, which the Empress Victoria conveyed in a letter to her mother, Queen Victoria, Wilhelm angrily implied that “an English doctor killed my father, and an English doctor crippled my arm – which is the fault of my mother” who allowed no German physicians to attend to herself or her immediate family.

KAISER WILHELM

AS SEEN IN:
'The Simpsons' - "Treehouse Of Horror XIII"

AS VOICED BY:
Karl Weidergott(?)

TV DIMENSION:
The Tooniverse

From Wikisimpsons:
He supported Billy the Kid, when he terrorized Springfield. His grave is in Springfield Cemetery.

BCnU!

ON "THE VAST WASTELAND"

Check out Stephen Bowie's very interesting perspective on the state of Television, fifty years to the day when Newton Minow's famous quote entered the lexicon. 

The Classic TV History Blog is a member of the blog-roll, to found to the right.  While you're there, check out the other articles he has up currently.....

BCnU!

BONNEVILLE BOUNTY

I don't know when the Crawley family line began, nor when they became titled nobility with the Earldom of Grantham, nor when 'Downton Abbey' was built. But it could be that the family fortune was buttressed by ill-gotten pirate booty at some point.

The title of Earl of Grantham and the inheritance of all the lands associated with the title was handed down to the next male heir in the Crawley family. That meant even going outside the established bloodline should there be only girls in the current Earl's family as we have seen during the reign of George V. Suitable marriages would have to be arranged for the daughters of the Earls and so the family tree would branch out in all directions.

One of those daughters, back in the middle of the 17th Century, may have been married off to an Englishman of noble birth named Avery. (The name itself means "nobility".) If they had children, only the oldest son would inherit the Avery estate; the others would have to find other employ.

They may have had a younger son named Henry, probably born around 1651. In order to make a name for himself and provide for his future, he joined the Royal Navy. Eventually he married, or at the very least, he fathered a son named Toby (Hey now!) by a woman who later died when the lad was about twelve years of age.

Something went wrong with his career choice and Henry Avery became a privateer, commander of the good ship "Fancy". And in April of 1699, his path crossed that of the Doctor and his Companions when their ship was becalmed and being attacked by an alien siren.

Whether any of his pirated hoard (from travels before this last ill-fated one) found its way back to England and the Crawley family is uncertain, but doubtful. What did the Averys owe to them? In fact, why should Henry Avery share any of the treasures with his older brother and any other members of the family?

But it seems to me, by the strength of tele-genetics, that Captain Henry Avery was related to the Crawley family, with an echo of his DNA resurfacing in Robert Crawley, the Earl of Grantham during the Edwardian Age and onwards.

(There's also something about Hugh Bonneville in a beard that kept reminding me of Dabney Coleman, so who knows?  Perhaps former Fernwood, Ohio, mayor Merle Jeeter can trace his lineage back to the sea captain.....)

SHOWS CITED:
'Downton Abbey'
'Doctor Who' - "The Curse Of The Black Spot"
'Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman' 
 
BCnU!

"BY THE HAMMER OF THOR!"

Unfortunately for Marvel Comics, the character of Thor the God of Thunder in the Norse mythology is in the public domain. So the night after their big blockbuster to kick off the Summer line-up of super-hero movies opened in theatres, "Almighty Thor" debuted on the Syfy Channel. Another selection from Syfy's Saturday sleaze-fest......

I meant to record it, just for the Toobworld info it could provide - I need to know if it can be counted as part of the main Toobworld or punted to a different TV Universe (probably Earth Prime-Time/MOTW).

If it had to be banished, it would only be due to plot discrepancies, certainly not for recasting. The so-called gods of mythology are pan-dimensional beings with incredible powers who crossed over into Earth Prime-Time's dimension and were treated as gods by the local yokels. As such, they have the power to alter their appearances - Zeus did it at least twice, as seen during the run of 'Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'.

Thor appeared in episodes of 'Hercules: The Legendary Journeys' and a 1988 TV movie about 'The Incredible Hulk'. (Now that version was the official Marvel depiction of the Hairy Thunderer.) In both, they were played by different actors but aht was just a case of shape-shifting over the centuries.


THOR WITH AN AUTOMATIC WEAPON!
CLASSIC CHEESE!

"Almighty Thor", had it stayed in modern times, could use the same splainin and be done with it. But from the promo blipverts, there looks to be an origin story that might clash with what has already been established, especially with regards to Odin. Again, I'll have to see it to make sure.....

Myirt!

AS SEEN ON TV: JANE DEACY

JANE DEACY

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

AS PLAYED BY:
Connie Stevens

MGM wanted James Dean to come to Hollywood for a screen test in 1953, but he turned down the offer on the advice of his manager/agent, Jane Deacy. Ms. Deacy didn't think Dean was ready for the big screen, and with his TV career doing pretty well, he was in a position to hold out for a better time - as well as for a better offer. Being his mother figure, Jane Deacy kept tight control over James Dean's finances since he had no knack for such things. The rebel icon had to live off an allowance doled out by Ms. Deacy.

BCnU!

SKED ALERT- "GAME OF THRONES" 4 TONIGHT!

I hope you've been watching 'Game Of Thrones'? For me, this is the best new series of 2011; it really feeds into my love of epic fantasy.

In a way, it's all come full circle for me with this show. I started out as a fan of epic fantasy, then moved on to "urban fantasy"; once I discovered "The Incompleat Enchanter" deCamp and Pratt, I sought to build my own fantasy world based on another medium. I dabbled with the idea of a theatre-based universe, but the only idea I came up with was a riff on an old Marx Brothers routine - the mirror sequence. But in mine, it would be two guys dressed as the Elephant Man.

So I figured if I was going to steal ideas, why not choose television as the medium upon which to base a universe? After all, as Fred Allen once said, "Imitation is the sincerest form of television."

Anyhoo......

And now I've found a way to insure that this epic fantasy based on the books of George R.R. Martin has a home in Toobworld.

Tonight on HBO, the fourth episode of 'Game Of Thrones' premieres at 9 PM. And thanks to the good folks marketing the series, I've got a couple of clips from tonight's show.

First up, Tyrion Lannister (my favorite character) arrives in Winterfell and confronts Theon.....

And then, Sansa Stark considers the future ramifications if she becomes queen....

So check it out - 'Game Of Thrones', episode four.... Tonight on HBO at 9 PM EDT.

 
ECCE PROMO!

"STORYTIME" BY TERRY GILLIAM

And here's a little bit o' Gilliam animation just to lighten the mood on Mother's Day. (Not that it has anything to do with Mother's Day - in fact, it celebrates a different holiday altogether - but isn't it time for something completely different?)

BCnU!
 
Big thanks to my Little Buddy for finding this for me.  Thanks, Sean!

OSAMA... OBAMA.... LET'S CALL THE WHOLE THING FOX!

At first, I found it very hard to believe that these slips of the tongue were accidental.....

But as the week wore on, I found myself substituting the "B" for the "S" in the name as well.

I guess it should be expected from FOX, though. Plenty of "B-S" in their news department.

However, I can find no excuse for this:

A slip of the tongue is one thing; there's no controlling that once it's uttered. But this picture? Don't they even have editors at FOX News to check the facts?

Oh, what am I thinking? FOX News isn't concerned with the facts......

BCnU!


Thanks to failblog.org for the image......

"BATTLESTAR GALACTICA" - THE THEME

Because of a piece I wrote earlier in the week for the 'Doctor Who' episode "Day Of The Moon", I've had the theme to the original version of 'Battlestar Galactica' jostling for position in mind against a variety of Steely Dan songs.

Here's how the opening credits played out back in 1978:

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: MORECAMBE'S MUM

Happy Mother's Day!

SADIE BARTHOLOMEW

AS SEEN IN:
"Eric & Ernie"

AS PLAYED BY:
Victoria Wood

From What'sOnTV.co.uk/:
So how’s Eric’s mum shown in this drama?
“Sadie’s really the person who encouraged Eric to go into show buisness. She didn’t exactly push him into it, but she knew it would suit him because he was naturally funny. Also she knew that he wouldn’t have been happy living in Morecambe doing an ordinary job. His father was a labourer for the gas board. Times have proved Sadie right that Eric was destined for greater things. She definitely understood her own child.”

What’s Sadie’s relationship like with her son?
“She had a very good relationship with him. Not pushy, but she was quite bossy and like many women of that generation, not really very huggy and kissy like we’d be with our children now. But she totally had his best interests at heart always. I don’t think she had a showbiz background, though I have seen a very weird photo of her with Eric and his dad playing ukeleles.”

She’s instrumental in getting them together, isn’t she?

“Indeed she even does their deals for them. She called herself their manager. But a certain point is reached where they say they’re going to do it on their own now. And they gave her a first class ticket back to Morecambe – she was upset but understood."

BCnU!