THE HAT SQUAD: EARL SCRUGGS

Earl Scruggs has passed away at the age of 88. His prowess with the banjo was legendary and inspired several generations of pickers including Steve Martin and maybe even George Segal. 

With Lester Flatt, the theme song for 'The Beverly Hillbillies' brought new fans to the instrument and the original composition "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" became a world-wide hit when it was used in "Bonnie & Clyde".

Flatt and Scruggs appeared as themselves in several episodes of 'The Beverly Hillbillies' and he teamed up with Martin for an appearance on 'Late Show with David Letterman'.

Here are a few remembrances of his contributions to the soundtrack of Toobworld:

Good night and may God bless....

BCnU!

D.C. FONTANA TALKS ABOUT "BY ANY OTHER NAME"

That scene also made me confront truths about me that needed addressing.  I'd like to think I took something away from it that made me a better person later.  I always say TV is a teaching tool.

And Mom always says no playing ball in the house.......

BCnU!

WARREN STEVES IN "STAR TREK"

And here we have Warren Stevens in the other role for which he's best known in Toobworld.  (My opinion only.  But this is the one which put him on the map for me.....)

BCnU!

WARREN STEVENS IN "THE TWILIGHT ZONE"

Continuing our Hat Squad tribute to Warren Stevens, here is one of the two roles for which I think he's best known in Toobworld:

BCnU......

THE HAT SQUAD: WARREN STEVENS

Actor Warren Stevens has passed away. He was of a handful of actors I tended to group together as being cold, efficient, ruthless - Peter Mark Richman, H.M. Wynant being two of the others.

For the first year of 'Bracken's World', Stevens provided the voice of the studio owner, John Bracken. By the second year, he was replaced by Leslie Nielsen when the producers wanted to bring the character out into the open. But that doesn't negate his contribution to the series. 

Bracken must have had throat surgery which altered his voice. Since he was never seen, we have to accept that even though we were listening to Warren Stevens, it was Leslie Nielsen who was talking over those intercoms.

He also co-starred with Philip Carey in 'Tales Of The Bengal Lancers', but it was his many guest starring roles for which Warren Stevens should be remembered in Toobworld. (For the Cineverse? Definitely for "Forbidden Planet".)

Many of the characters he added to the Tele-Folks Directory could be found in the following shows:

"ER"

"The Twilight Zone"

"Falcon Crest"

"Mr. Wizard's World"

"Quincy M.E."

"The New Adventures of Wonder Woman"

"Police Story"

"Mobile One"

"M*A*S*H"

"Petrocelli"

"Marcus Welby, M.D."

"Get Christie Love!"

"Police Woman"

"Griff" (1 episode)

"O'Hara, U.S. Treasury"

"Cannon"

"Adam-12"

"Mod Squad"

"The Name of the Game"

"Bracken's World" (26 episodes )

"Mannix"

"Land of the Giants"

"Star Trek"

"Ironside"

"Mission: Impossible"

"The Time Tunnel"

"The Big Valley"

"The Man from U.N.C.L.E."

"I Spy"

"Honey West"

"Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea"

"Bonanza"

"The Outer Limits"

"Combat!"

This is just a sampling of the roles he contributed to Toobworld. For a complete list, click here.

Good night and may God bless, Warren Stevens.....

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: JOHN RIDD

JOHN RIDD

CREATED BY:

Richard Doddridge Blackmore

PORTRAYED BY:

Clive Owen

AS SEEN IN:

"Lorna Doone: A Romance Of Exmoor"

TV DIMENSION:

Alternate TV Dimension

(The 1963 televersion is the one for Earth Prime-Time.)

STATUS:

Multiversal Recastaway

From Wikipedia:

Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor is a novel by Richard Doddridge Blackmore. It is a romance based on a group of historical characters and set in the late 17th century in Devon and Somerset, particularly around the East Lyn Valley area of Exmoor.

The narrator, John Ridd, says he was born on 29 November 1661; in Chapter 24, he mentions Queen Anne as the current monarch, so the time of narration is 1702–1714 making him 40–52 years old. Although he celebrates New Year's Day on 1 January, at that time in England the year in terms of A.D. "begins" Annunciation Style on 25 March, so 14 February 1676 would still be 1675 according to the old reckoning.

John (in West Country dialect, pronounced "Jan") Ridd is the son of a respectable farmer who was murdered in cold blood by one of the notorious Doone clan, a once noble family, now outlaws, in the isolated Doone Valley. Battling his desire for revenge, John also grows into a respectable farmer and takes good care of his mother and two sisters. He falls hopelessly in love with Lorna, a girl he meets by accident, who turns out to be not only (apparently) the granddaughter of Sir Ensor Doone (lord of the Doones), but destined to marry (against her will) the impetuous, menacing, and now jealous heir of the Doone Valley, Carver Doone. Carver will let nothing get in the way of his marriage to Lorna, which he plans to force upon her once Sir Ensor dies and he comes into his inheritance.

From the Source:

"What is your name?" she said, as if she had every right to ask me; "and how did you come here, and what are these wet things in this great bag?" [58]

My name is John Ridd. What is your name?"

"Lorna Doone," she answered, in a low voice, as if afraid of it, and hanging her head so that I could see only her forehead and eyelashes; "if you please, my name is Lorna Doone; and I thought you must have known it."

Then I stood up and touched her hand, and tried to make her look at me; but she only turned away the more. Young and harmless as she was, her name alone made guilt of her. Nevertheless I could not help looking at her tenderly, and the more when her blushes turned into tears, and her tears to long, low sobs.

"Don't cry," I said, "whatever you do. I am sure you have never done any harm. I will give you all my fish Lorna, and catch some more for mother; only don't be angry with me."

She flung her little soft arms up in the passion of her tears, and looked at me so piteously, that what did I do but kiss her. It seemed to be a very odd thing, when I came to think of it, because I hated kissing so, as all honest boys must do. But she touched my heart with a sudden delight, like a cowslip-blossom (although there were none to be seen yet), and the sweetest flowers of spring.

She gave me no encouragement, as my mother in her place would have done; nay, she even wiped her lips (which methought was rather rude of her), and drew away.

BCnU!

MARY STEENBURGEN DOES A HULU

When Diana Jessup returned to '30 Rock' in order to protest Jack Donaghy's plan to make a TV movie about her daughter (his wife) being kidnapped by North Korea, it took all her will power to resist her attraction to her son-in-law. At one point she said:

"Of course there's no other reason it would be awkward, and I didn't dream that I was a sex-slave to a squid-like alien with your head."

The thing is, that probably was no dream. I think Diana did give herself to such an alien who looked like Jack with tentacles. In fact, we've already seen this extra-terrestrial in Toobworld - it's the brain-snacking alien impersonating Alec Baldwin in the original Hulu commercial:

Recently, we reported that this alien has gone through mitosis and created an exact copy of itself when it split. We've seen "Papa & Son" in several blipverts for the Capital One card. 

Here's one of them:

What triggered this mitosis? Probably an inter-species sexual encounter with Diana Jessup.

For some reason - and I don't know WHAT it could be! - the televersion of Alec Baldwin looks exactly like Jack Donaghy. So that alien impersonating the actor must have crossed paths with Diana Jessup during one of her trips to New York to see her daughter Avery. Thinking it to be Jack, Diana may have succumbed to the passion and the alien Alec took advantage of the opportunity to engage in its own version of Pon Farr.

But Diana doesn't remember it now, chalking it all up to being just a dream. That's probably because Alien Alec used a neuralizer on her. (It's probably not too hard to appropriate the technology.) 

 Now, the neuralizer comes from "Men In Black", which is a movie franchise with a version in the Tooniverse. But we know they must exist in the main Toobworld as well, because two Men in Black showed up in 'The X-Files' episode "Jose Chung's From Outer Space".

I searched the internet for awhile and I didn't find anybody else making the connection between '30 Rock' and the Hulu commercial because of that quote. And do you know what? It slipped right past me as well. Sure, I found it funny, but the image of Alec Baldwin's head sprouting tentacles didn't lead me to think of that blipvert.

That credit goes to my fellow crossoverist Robert Wronski of the Television Crossover Universe. (The link to the TVCU is to the left, my Toobers!)

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: JON SNOW

JON SNOW

CREATED BY:
George R.R. Martin

PORTRAYED BY:

Kit Harrington

AS SEEN IN:

'Game Of Thrones'

TV DIMENSION:

The Main TV Dimension, but not Earth Prime-Time.

Westeros was located on the planet Mondas.

From A Wiki Of Ice And Fire:
(About the books)
Jon Snow is the bastard son of Eddard Stark, by a mother whose identity is a source of speculation. He was raised by his father alongside his true-born half-siblings, but joins the Night's Watch when he nears adulthood. He is constantly accompanied by his albino direwolf Ghost. At the beginning of A Game of Thrones, Jon is fourteen years old. He is one of the major POV Character in the books.

Jon was raised as Stark and Northmen and in many ways took to their values of honour and later on even when forced with horrendous decisions he stays morally correct and upright. Jon always had issues with his bastardy and at time feels alienated, he eventually chose to join the Night's Watch, where the circumstances of his birth were of little importance, however it also means he would have to leave all bonds of the past behind. For a long time he struggled with this but eventfully he honors his new vows and become fully committed to the Watch.

Jon has strong Stark-like features. He has a lean build and a long face, with dark brown hair and grey eyes.

From the 'Game Of Thrones' wiki:
(About the TV show)
Jon Snow is a major character in Game of Thrones. He is played by starring cast member Kit Harington and débuts in the first episode of the first season. Jon Snow is the bastard son of the late Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell. Jon is a steward in the Night's Watch. Now serving on the Wall, Jon has found a place of acceptance where the circumstances of his birth are of little importance. Jon has a pet direwolf named Ghost. He wields the sword Longclaw, a gift from Jeor Mormont.

The identity of his mother is the source of much speculation. Eddard once told King Robert Baratheon that Jon's mother is a serving girl named Wylla, but refused to elaborate any further. Jon himself has no knowledge of his mother. Jon's presence at Winterfell is a source of friction between Eddard and his wife, Catelyn. Jon got on well with his half-siblings, particularly Robb and Arya.

Today is my brother Bill's birthday. Recently I loaned him my box set of the first season of 'Game Of Thrones' and he really took to it, proclaiming Jon Snow to be his favorite character.

So this is my birthday tip of the hat to him.

Happy birthday, Bill!

BCnU!

ALEXANDER THE GREAT: WHO'S YOUR DADDY?

According to Plutarch, the mother of Alexander the Great, Olympias by name, was impregnated by the god Zeus, who came to her in the form of a snake.

In Toobworld, while Zeus did exist, he was actually a pan-dimensional being who, like all the so-called "gods", passed himself off as a divine being because of his telekinetic powers and other abilities unknown to the men of Earth Prime-Time.

And while he was a randy scouse git, I don't think Zeus can claim Olympias as another notch on the belt of his tunic.

This being Toobworld, Olympias was probably impregnated by a Lausenschlange, a man-snake hybrid.

This would make the televersion of Alexander the Great one of the wesen spawn of legend.

SHOWS CITED
"Alexander The Great" - pilot

'Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'

'Grimm'

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: MRS. DANVERS

MRS. DANVERS

CREATED BY:

Daphne Du Maurier

PORTRAYED BY:

Anna Massey

AS SEEN IN:

"Rebecca"

TV DIMENSION:

Alternate Toobworld

STATUS:

Multiversal

(Literary Universe, Cineverse, TV Universe or "Televerse")

From Wikipedia:

Mrs. Danvers is the main antagonist of Daphne du Maurier's 1938 novel Rebecca. She is the housekeeper of Manderley, a stately manor belonging to wealthy Maximillian "Maxim" de Winter, where he once lived with his openly unfaithful wife Rebecca. Rebecca died in a boating accident the previous year and Mr. de Winter, who has been traveling, has brought home a new bride. Mrs. Danvers (whose first name is never given) remains rigidly faithful to Rebecca's memory, insisting that the house be kept just as it was when Rebecca lived there. She continually brow beats the new Mrs. De Winter whenever the young woman attempts to make any sort of change to the house.

Danvers wants desperately to get rid of the new Mrs. de Winter and tries to break up the marriage. Late in the story she suggests that Mrs. de Winter wear a particular dress to a costume ball. She knows full well that it is a dress that Rebecca wore to the costume ball the year before. It angers Mr. de Winter and when she confronts Mrs. Danvers about her deception (she finds her in Rebecca’s room), Mrs. Danvers attempts to manipulate her into jumping out of the second floor window. The spell is broken when a signal flare is sent up signaling that a ship has run aground.

In the end, having failed to break up the marriage, Mrs. Danvers sets fire to Manderley. She tells the new Mrs. de Winter that she would rather burn the place down than see them happy there. Mrs. de Winter escapes but Mrs. Danvers dies in the fire.

Mrs. Danvers would later be played by several actresses for television adaptations, notably: Dorothy Black in 1947, Nina Foch in 1962, Anna Massey in 1979, Diana Rigg in 1997, and by Mariangela Melato in an Italian language adaptation.

Dorothy Black appears to be The Mrs. Danvers of Earth Prime-Time. And the Mrs. Danvers played by Mariangela Melato would be found in the TV dimension which was a world conquered by Italy, and so Italian would be the dominant language.

BCnU!

"STEEL MAGNOLIAS" TO BLOOM IN TOOBWORLD

It's been announced that Queen Latifah is going to produce a TV version of "Steel Magnolias" for Lifetime, in which she'll also take one of the roles. The TV movie will also star Phylicia Rashad, Alfre Woodard, Jill Scott, Condola Rashad, and Adepero Oduye.

Just because all of those actresses are black, that doesn't mean this production has to be relegated to Black Toobworld, which also houses the black versions of 'The Odd Couple', 'Kojak', 'Barefoot In The Park', and the movie version of "The Honeymooners".

I think it does belong there, however, because every TV dimension should have counterparts to the characters from the main Toobworld.

But this will also be the televersion of "Steel Magnolias" of Earth Prime-Time. And it will hold that position even if twenty years down the line a new version is filmed with an all-white cast like the original movie. (I'm assuming the original play - which makes this a true multiversal property - was expected to be an all-white cast as well.)

Although it's a rule that's been broken often in the past, it's "First Telecast, First Admitted" when it comes to Toobworld for this new TV movie.

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: SAM DONLEAVY

SAM DONLEAVY

CREATED BY:

Cornell Woolrich

PORTRAYED BY:

George Matthews

AS SEEN IN:

'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' - "The Big Switch"

From the Alfred Hitchcock Wiki:

"The Big Switch" was originally broadcast on 08/Jan/1956 as part of the first season of Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

Sam Donleavy wants to kill his girlfriend and get away with it. He contacts a man who provides alibis for a price. Matters become much more complicated, however, when he meets with a friend from boyhood who is now a detective and who suspects that something is up.

From Hal Erickson:

Outraged over the infidelity of his girlfriend Goldie (Beverly Michaels), thuggish Sam Donleavy (George Mathews) decides to bump the dame off. Unfortunately, there is a more than somewhat stiff penalty for murder, thus Sam intends to provide himself with an airtight alibi -- and pays a huge price to a guy named Barney (George E. Stone), who specializes in such matters. The fly in the ointment on this occasion is Sam's old pal Al (Joe Downing), who happens to be a police lieutenant. "The Big Switch" is the first of several Alfred Hitchcock Presents episodes to be based on a story by suspense specialist Cornell Woolrich.

From Wikipedia:

Cornell George Hopley-Woolrich was an American novelist and short story writer. His first novel was Cover Charge, a Jazz Age work published in 1926. He also wrote under the pseudonyms George Hopley and William Irish. He wrote the story "It Had to be Murder" in 1942 under the Irish name. It was retitled "Rear Window" in 1944 and made into a film by Alfred Hitchcock. His "The Bride Wore Black" (La Mariée était en noir) was made into a film by François Truffaut.

Francis Nevins Jr., in his Woolrich biography "First You Dream, Then You Die", rated Woolrich the fourth best crime writer of the era, behind only Dashiell Hammett, Erle Stanley Gardner and Raymond Chandler.

He left one million dollars to Columbia University for a scholarship for potential writers, in his mother's name.

From the TV source:

Alfred Hitchcock:

This is a mousetrap, as any fool can plainly see…that is, if he isn't a mouse. It's amazingly effective, too. I've been fiddling with it only a few minutes, and I've already caught three! (holds up three bandaged fingers) Cornell Woolrich, the author of tonight's story, does not make mousetraps. Mr. Woolrich goes in for bigger game. He makes people traps – very good ones, too. This story concerns the perfect alibi. Actually one never knows when he will need an alibi. Recently, I read of an innocent man who found himself in serious difficulty, because although he claimed he had been watching a movie while the crime in question was being committed, his vagueness about details of the movie caused the police to become suspicious. Please do not allow this to happen to you. Watch and listen closely to the following commercial, which is furnished for your benefit. It will provide you with an airtight alibi as to your whereabouts during the next sixty seconds.

BCnU!

A PAIN IN THE ASNER, PART TWO

When the news broke late last year that Ed Asner would not only be guest-starring on the remake (NOT a continuation!) of 'Hawaii Five-O', but also appearing as the character he played in the original series, "we" at Toobworld Central jumped on the story.

But despite our best efforts at jumping on it, it refused to die.

Last Monday, that episode finally aired on CBS. (Why they didn't use it in February Sweeps or save it for the Sweeps in May was a surprise to me.) And as I expected, Asner's character of August March was not the same man as the one seen in "Wooden Model Of A Rat" from the earlier series.

AUGUST MARCH WITH TWO DANN-OS

First off, none of the original stars of 'Hawaii Five-O' were seen in the flashbacks, so that removes any need to splain how so many people in the department had the same names. (The only other person seen in those flashbacks was a Japanese professor and neitsuke expert. Like Asner's August March, he would just be the doppelganger to the one seen in Earth Prime-Time.)

But there came a moment near the end where I thought we'd have to scramble and find someway to make the inclusion of this new 'Hawaii Five-O' into the main Toobworld work.

August March turned to Steve McGarrett and said that he knew a McGarrett on the Force in the old days. "Here it comes," I said to myself as I watched. But then he described that McGarrett as being a young cop who transferred him to prison. (That turned out to be Steve's late father, played by William Sadler in the pilot episode.)

That definitely confirmed this version of August March to be in an alternate TV dimension. The McGarrett who met Asner's character 36 years ago was the "real" deal - the wooden model of a middle-aged man who looked like the actor Jack Lord.

So with this new 'Hawaii Five-O' definitely in an alternate TV dimension, that means the upcoming crossover with 'NCIS: LA' (which they MUST be saving for May Sweeps!) has to have both episodes firmly planted in that same dimension and not in the main Toobworld.

If that crossover is ever mentioned again on 'NCIS: LA', we'll deal with it then.
I will say this for the episode, however.  There was a fear I had that August March would be rendered this cuddly old codger after thirty years in the stir.  But the coda to "Kalele" took care of that doubt for me, and in no uncertain terms........

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: NATE BURNS & MEG GALLIGAN

MEG GALLIGAN & NATE BURNS

CREATED BY:

Nora Roberts

PORTRAYED BY:

Eddie Cibrian as Nate Burns

LeAnn Rimes as Meg Galligan

AS SEEN IN:

"Northern Lights"

TV DIMENSION:

Earth Prime-Time

From Wikipedia:

"Northern Lights", also known as "Nora Roberts' Northern Lights", is a 2009 made-for-tv movie directed by Mike Robe, which stars Eddie Cibrian, LeAnn Rimes, and Rosanna Arquette. The film is based on the Nora Roberts novel of the same name and is part of the Nora Roberts 2009 movie collection, which also includes "Midnight Bayou", "High Noon", and "Tribute". The movie debuted March 21, 2009 on Lifetime.

Nate Burns accepts a job as chief of police in Lunacy, Alaska, hoping to get away from the traumatic death of his partner back in Baltimore. He meets Meg, an independent bush pilot, whose father is found dead in a mountain cave.

The job comes with a free room in the 'lodge', the town's multi-purpose inn, pub etcetera run by 'loose' flirter Charlene Galligan. Sole deputy Otto Gruber is among the failed local applicants. 

Shortly after Nate gets on sensual-bickering terms with Charlene's fickle, estranged daughter, pilot Meg, lost mountaineers find the frozen corpse of Meg's dad Pat, missing for 15 years. 

State police sergeant Coben dubiously claims jurisdiction and flies out the body. Nate soon discovers nothing is as it seems after "Lunatic" newspaper editor Max Hawbacker is found shot, with a fake suicide PC note 'I killed Pat'. Uncovering more past secret proves dangerous for dogs, Nate and his job.

From the source:

Strapped into the quivering soup can laughingly called a plane, bouncing his way on the pummeling air through the stingy window of light that was winter, through the gaps and breaks in snow-sheathed mountains toward a town called Lunacy, Ignatious Burke had an epiphany.

He wasn't nearly as prepared to die as he'd believed.

It was a hell of a thing to realize when his fate hung precariously in the hands of a stranger who was buried in a canary yellow parka and whose face was nearly concealed by a battered leather bush hat perched on top of a purple watch cap.

The stranger had seemed competent enough in Anchorage, and had given Nate's hand a hearty slap before wagging a thumb at the soup can with propellers.

Then he'd told Nate to "just call me Jerk." That's when the initial unease had set in. What kind of an idiot got into a flying tin can piloted by a guy named Jerk?

But flying was the only sure way to reach Lunacy this late in the year. Or so Mayor Hopp had informed him when he'd conferred with her over his travel arrangements.

The plane dipped hard to the right, and as Nate's stomach followed, he wondered just how Mayor Hopp defined sure.

He'd thought he hadn't given a good damn one way or the other. Live or die, what did it matter in the big scheme? When he'd boarded the big jet at Baltimore-Washington, he'd resigned himself that he was heading to the end of his life in any case.

The department shrink had warned him about making major decisions when he was suffering from depression, but he'd applied for the position as chief of police in Lunacy for no reason other than that the name seemed apt. And he'd accepted the position with a who-gives-a-shit shrug.

Even now, reeling with nausea, shivering with his epiphany, Nate realized it wasn't so much death that worried him, but the method. He just didn't want to end the whole deal by smashing into a mountain in the fucking gloom.

At least if he'd stayed in Baltimore, had danced more affably with the shrink and his captain, he could've gone down in the line of duty. That wouldn't have been so bad.

But no, he'd tossed in his badge, hadn't just burned his bridges but had incinerated them. And now he was going to end up a bloody smear somewhere in the Alaska Range.

"Gonna get a little rough through here," Jerk said with a drawn-out Texas drawl.

Nate swallowed bile. "And it's been so smooth up to now."

Jerk grinned, winked. "This ain't nothing. Ought to try it fighting a headwind."

"No, thanks. How much longer?"

"Not much."

The plane bucked and shuddered. Nate gave up and closed his eyes. He prayed he wouldn't add to the indignity of his death by puking on his boots first.

He was never going up in a plane again. If he lived, he'd drive out of Alaska. Or walk. Or crawl. But he was never going into the air again.

The plane gave a kind of jerking leap that had Nate's eyes popping open. And he saw through the windscreen the triumphant victory of the sun, a wondrous sort of lessening of gloom that turned the sky pearly so that the world below was defined in long ripples of white and blue, sudden rises, shimmering swarms of icy lakes and what had to be miles of snow-draped trees.

Excerpted from “Northern Lights” by Nora Roberts. Copyright © 2004.

The real story here of course is what happened off the set during the filming of this TV movie: Rimes and Cibrian, both married to others, and Cibrian with two kids, had a torrid affair... which he denied.  Yet here we are, a couple of years later, and they're now married to each other.

Here's the story on that......

Today's "As Seen On TV" showcase is dedicated to one of my co-workers, Sonia Vee. I don't think she was too happy I didn't bother seeing any of the Nora Roberts TV movie collection, but the Monitaur can only view so much.  I'm just happy to add Lunacy, Alaska, to the map of Telemerica.....

BCnU!

A BIRTHDAY SALUTE

Recognize the fellow in the picture?

This was taken in 2009, but imagine it was 1935 in the Toobworld timeline. Because that's the year in which this actor's most famous character would be the same age as the actor is this very day - 66.

Happy birthday and all the best from Toobworld Central to John Ernest Crawford, who was known simply as "Johnny Crawford" when he played Mark McCain on 'The Rifleman'.

So this 2002 inductee into the TV Crossover Hall Of Fame would have turned 66 in 1935; and I see no reason why he wouldn't have made it to that point in time. It's usually a given in Toobworld that a character will live at least as long as the actor who portrayed him or her, if not longer. (Unless of course there are stipulations in the scripts.)

When last seen on our TV screens, Mark was working on a movie set in California in April of 1906. By the end of the day, he was on his way to silent movie stardom recreating the life of the real Lone Ranger on screen.

So in 1935? Still in Hollywood, perhaps still making movies, Mark McCain may have also branched out like the actor who portrayed him. Perhaps he also began a music career, performing with big bands in the glamorous nightclubs of L.A. and even on the radio.

It would have been a radio show for which the whole family on Walton's Mountain could have gathered around the RCA Victor console!

As an actor, maybe he worked with Daisy Adair at some point. Although she never became a star, Daisy certainly made her presence known on a movie set - as was revealed when she died in 1938 on the set of 'Gone With The Wind'...... (Look it up, Bubbie.)

At any rate, here's hoping Mark McCain - like John Ernest Crawford - has many more years ahead of him!

BCnU!

"THE PEOPLE" OF PLAVONIA

Toobworld Central would like to take this opportunity to welcome Plavonia into the Toobworld League of Nations. This is not a recent addition to Earth Prime-Time, just that I'm only now learning of its existence.

Plavonia was introduced in a 1964 episode of 'The Rogues', a charming con-man series starring David Niven, Charles Boyer, Gig Young, Robert Coote, and Gladys Cooper. (t's a precursor to 'Hustle' and 'Leverage'.)

I've been adding new TV countries to my file of nations for years now, but I don't always feel the need to write about them. I think the last time was for San Lorenzo (speaking of 'Leverage'.....) 

But Plavonia may prove to be a special case.

As I previously posted in the past, Earth Prime-Time was initially established as a super-computer on which highly evolved dinosaurs would have been the dominant species - had it not been for an inconvenient asteroid and the infestation of alien humanoids.

And there have been plenty of alien humanoids arriving on Earth Prime-Time since the "Dawn Of Man". Here's a partial list of those aliens who have interbred with the native primitives. (That's right - on this version of Earth, Dan Bern was right. The aliens bleeped the monkeys.)

• The Golgafrinchams ('The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy')
• Adam Cooke & Eve Norta's children ('Twilight Zone' - "Probe 7 - Over And Out")
• Egghead's father ('Batman' by way of 'Saturday Night Live')
• Mork from Ork ('Mork & Mindy')
• The Sahndarans ('Star Trek' - "Plato's Stepchildren")

And I think those who arrived in 1980 with the ragtag fleet which followed the 'Battlestar Galactica' have surely had children by the mixed species humans by now. And it will continue happening into the 23rd Century with the birth of Spock in 2230.

As you can see just from those few examples, these cross-breedings spanned the Toobworld timeline.

We learned from "The People" that their mothership began to burn upon entry into Toobworld's atmosphere and so they all had to escape in "life-ships". Many of them crashed in the American Southwest, but not all clustered together. Still others - according to Valancy Carmody, there were thousands on that one vessel - may have crashed elsewhere in the world and have yet to be discovered by the outside world.

This apparently happened around 1900, perhaps a bit earlier. What if that sort of mass emigration on a cosmic scale occurred before, many centuries earlier?

And that brings me back to Plavonia......

On the off-chance that the name of the country had been used before in a TV series, I Googled "Plavonia" - only to find that it was the name of a star system in the Kriz Sector..... At least according to Wookiepedia and other "Star Wars" sources.

Unfortunately the source for this information is attributed to role-playing games. The "Star Wars" franchise of movies has been absorbed into the universe of Toobworld because of all the crossover appearances by some of the characters in commercials as well as for the Ewoks TV movies. (And although George Lucas would hate this, because of the 1977 TV holiday special.)

As for the other sources of material? Not being live-action movies or TV shows, they would be relegated to their respective fictional universes - comic books, literature, etc. In this case, Plavonia would be a crossover between the world of literature, the online world, and the Cineverse. But Toobworld wouldn't be involved. So they can't be relied upon for providing the connection between Plavonia the star system and Plavonia the European country.

For now, we'll keep it under consideration that the nation was founded by humanoid aliens who crashed on Earth Prime-Time back in the Middle Ages and who carved out a small kingdom for themselves in much the same way as "The People" formed their own community (on a much smaller scale) in Bendo, Arizona.

BCnU!

O'BSERVATIONS ON "THE PEOPLE"

"The People" have not been seen in Toobworld since 1972. To comprehend where the lives of "the People" might be today in Toobworld, we have to extrapolate from the material and clues to be found in the TV movie, with no regard to anything that might have been revealed in the writings of Zenna Henderson.

But for the moment, let's consider what Ms. Henderson suggested in her short stories.

Not all of the People landed in the American Southwest. Some of the life-ships could have landed in other areas of the planet. And we'll be considering such an enclave of survivors in the next post........

From Wikipedia:
Elsewhere, a number of People were rounded up and burned alive by religious devotees who mistook them for witches; a colony formed by survivors seeks not only to conceal but to wipe out their powers, punishing children severely for any paranormal activity, in general replicating the lifestyle of the ironclad fundamentalists who murdered their ancestors.

By the end of the TV movie, the People had (for the most part) accepted that they were ready to enter the human world around them. And it's likely that some of those children grew up to inter-marry with the native Terrans, like the Galacticans would do after they arrived on Earth in 1980. (Although they probably continued to live among the People in Bendo, Arizona, I think Dr. Curtis and Melodye Amerson married each other. And one day their reincarnated souls would find each other again, but not to be reunited for those lifetimes.) 

So if a "human" exhibits supernatural powers - and if not supernatural, then at least scientifically unexplainable - in episodes of 'Supernatural', 'Fringe', and even in old episodes of 'The X-Files', then perhaps they are descended from the People. (My candidate of choice? Kenneth Parcells of '30 Rock'!)

Let's take one of the ideas suggested by Ms. Henderson in an unfilmed story:

Eventually, People from a colony world discover the People on Earth, and enable them to leave this planet and go to the "New Home," if they so choose.

This is the same premise I have in mind for the Tenctonese of 'Alien Nation'. It would certainly splain away why we haven't seen any Tenctonese in TV shows set in the general Los Angeles area since 'Alien Nation' and its TV movies sequels left the air. (I'm not a xenophobe, so I won't call them "Slags" or "Sponge-Heads".)

Here's another factoid to consider:
The People have significant control over their own metabolism, and even have the ability to alter themselves to adapt over time to new environments, which could also alter their appearance. Thus, the People who lived on Earth are not exactly the same as the People who lived on Home.

From the TARDIS Wiki:
The Krillitanes were able to take the abilities from other species, giving them new appearances and qualities. ('Doctor Who' - "School Reunion")

This makes me think that the People were once similar in body design to the original forms of the Krillitane. If not, their species may have shared a common ancestry out among the stars.

Also, based on the history of the People as told by Valancy and illustrated by the drawings of the children, the story of their arrival on Earth is similar to that told about the "elves" in "Elfquest". Too bad there's no televersion of that graphic novel masterpiece by Wendy and Richard Pini to make such a connection.....

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: THE PEOPLE OF BENDO, AZ.

THE PEOPLE

CREATED BY:

Zenna Henderson

PORTRAYED BY:

Dan O'Herlihy (Sol Diemus)

Diane Varsi (Valancy Carmody)

Laurie Walters (Karen Diemus)

Chris Valentine (Clement Francher)

Anne Walters (Obla)

Among many others......

TV DIMENSION:

Earth Prime-Time

STATUS:

Based in Bendo, Arizona

From Wikipedia:

"The People" is a 1972 television film, broadcast as an ABC Movie of the Week on January 22, 1972. It is mostly based on a novella by Zenna Henderson, "Pottage", but also contains elements from her stories "Ararat", "Gilead", and "Captivity".

This science fiction film tells the story of Melodye Amerson (Kim Darby), a young teacher who goes to a remote area to work with a group of individuals who have isolated themselves from civilization and maintained an independent community, vaguely similar to the Amish or a religious commune. Melodye is unnerved by the secretive behavior of her students, and the fact that all fun, games and activities she proposes are forbidden to them. Valancy (Diane Varsi), an elder in the community, advises Melodye to stay, because she senses that things are about to change in the valley, and Melodye herself is a part of that change.

Melodye soon discovers that the secluded and "backwards" residents are actually aliens with mild paranormal powers. A natural disaster destroyed their planet, and they are hoping to establish a life on Earth. Landing in the late 1800s, initially they shared their secret with local residents, but found themselves condemned as witches. Many were killed, and the survivors forbade their children ever to use their abilities, even with extreme discretion. Young adults like Valancy (and even some of the older people) have been pushing for an end to these restrictions.

"The People", a fictional creation of science-fiction writer Zenna Henderson, are a group of humanoid extraterrestrials who fled their planet's destruction, with many of them marooned on Earth in the American southwest since the late 19th century. They differ from humans mostly in their pacifism and paranormal abilities. They appear in a number of stories which are usually referred to as "the People stories of Zenna Henderson".

The People, as portrayed by author Zenna Henderson, lived a happy pastoral life on their homeworld, Home, in harmony with the seasons. They have little apparent technology, and do not much need it. Their history includes an unpleasant period called the 'Days of Difference", presumably including nuclear war, ending with "The Peace." Their faith is their reality; all are telepathic and telekinetic, within limits, and can generate a personal shield which can defend them from the elements even as they fly. Yet they live much as did the people of Earth, residing in houses, sleeping in beds. In essence, they are human beings. They make and use tools, but have no machines, having renounced those following the Peace. In several stories, Henderson makes clear that the People do not know how to accomplish even the simplest household or farming tasks by hand, without telekinesis.

Their planet, the Home, shows evidence of being on a clear path to destruction. The elders delve deep into their collective and ancestral memories and regain the skills of their ancestors, who had been extremely advanced in technology before the spiritual awakening which is associated with their paranormal abilities. The People race to build starships and to select destinations which they recall from ancestral memory as being sufficiently Homelike.

As the planet convulses in its final spasms, the ships depart, but not all to the same destinations. One boy, gifted as a prophet, resets the guidance system of one of the ships even as it leaves the Home. He has sent this ship of the People to our homeworld, Earth.

The guidance is not perfect. The ships burn up on re-entry, but a large number of the People bail out and reach the surface in small personal craft or "life slips", scattered mostly across the American southwest. Some survive unscathed and others survive with terrible wounds. Some are able to find others of their kind, while others go to their graves alone among humans, or even intermarried with them.

A fairly large community forms somewhere in a remote canyonlands region, apparently in Arizona. (This would be the village of Bendo.)

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: SAM DODSWORTH

SAM DODSWORTH

CREATED BY:
Sinclair Lewis

PORTRAYED BY:

Fredric March

AS SEEN IN:

'Producer's Showcase' - "Dodsworth"

TV DIMENSION:

Alternate TV Dimension

("Land Of Remakes"?)

STATUS:

Multiversal

(Universes of Literature, Cinema,

Several Dimensions in the Theatrical Universe - one a musical!,

and Two Dimensions of the TV Universe)

From Wikipedia:

Samuel 'Sam' Dodsworth is an ambitious and innovative automobile designer, who builds his fortunes in Zenith, Winnemac. In addition to his success in the business world, he had also succeeded as a young man in winning the hand of Frances 'Fran' Voelker, a beautiful young socialite. While the book provides the courtship as a backstory, the real novel begins upon his retirement. 

At the age of fifty and facing retirement due to his selling of his successful automobile company (The Revelation Motor Company) to a far larger competitor, he sets out to do what he had always wanted to experience: a leisurely trip to Europe with his wife. His forty-one year old wife, however, motivated by her own vanity and fear of lost youth, is dissatisfied with married life and small town Zenith, wants to live in Europe permanently as an expatriate, not just visit for a few months to allow Dodsworth to visit some manufacturing plants looking for his next challenge. Passing up advancement in his recently sold company, Dodsworth leaves for Europe with Fran but her motivations to get to Europe become quickly known.

On their extensive travels across Europe they are soon caught up in vastly different lifestyles. Fran falls in with a crowd of frivolous socialites, while Sam plays more of an independent tourist. 'With his red Baedeker guide book in hand, he visits such well-known tourist attractions as Westminister Abbey, Notre Dame Cathedral, Sanssouci Palace, and the Piazza San Marco. But the historic sites that he sees prove to be far less significant than the American expatriates that he meets on his extensive journeys across Great Britain and continental Europe'.  

He eventually meets Edith Cortright, an expatriate American widow in Venice, who is everything his wife is not: self-assured, self-confident, and able to take care of herself. As they follow their own pursuits, their marriage is strained to the breaking point. Both Sam and Fran are forced to choose between marriage and the new lifestyles they have pursued.

Fran is clearly Lewis' target here while Sam ambles along as a stranger in a strange land until the epiphany of getting on with his life hits him in the last act. Sam Dodsworth is a rare Lewis character: a man of true conviction and purpose. Purpose and conviction can be relied on significantly as the book (and film) concludes with the two main characters going in quite different directions.

From John Crosby of the Herald-Tribune:

This "As Seen On TV" showcase is my own poor contribution to the blog-A-thon celebrating the life and works of actor Fredric March which is being hosted by the blog "Sittin' On A Backyard Fence". The many participants in the "March-In-March Blog-A-Thon" can be found listed here.

But the participants in this weekend's free-for-all (including Yours Viewly, once I send the link over!) can be found at this link.

Because the British adaptation from 1950 was broadcast first, that tele-version of "Dodsworth" has the "standing" for Earth Prime-Time. Not that it matters in the long run, because I have a feeling both productions are either lost in the aether or tucked away in some private collection. (I checked the Paley Center, but there was no listing for it, and sadly the only thing I found for Mr. March there concerning his television activity was a documentary on the Academy Awards.)

Fredric March didn't do much television, but what he did do was "cherce". "Dodsworth" wasn't the only Literary TV character he brought to the small screen, and as we get closer to Christmas, "Inner Toob" will feature the complete production of "A Christmas Carol" in which Mr. March played Ebenezer Scrooge and Basil Rathbone was Jacob Marley. (If it's still up on YouTube by that point.....)

He also brought several characters from the Theatrical Universe to life for the TV dimension of "ToobStage" - Oscar Jaffe from "The Twentieth Century" ('The Ford Theatre Hour'), Arthur Winslow in Rattigan's "The Winslow Boy" ('The DuPont Show Of The Month'), and Don Juan in Rostand's dramatic poem "The Last Night Of Don Juan" ('Omnibus').

His one tele-theatrical role which I'd most like to see was a truly multiversal role for him, that of Tony Cavendish, the John Barrymore-like actor in "The Royal Family" ('The Best Of Broadway'). If Wikipedia is to be believed (and when are they ever wrong?), the 1954 TV production was broadcast live. But at least there's the 1930 movie version in which he captured that hammy, roguish, but likeable cad of the Cavendishes. (To make it truly multiversal, he also played Tony on stage in Los Angeles - Otto Kruger played it on Broadway - and he was congratulated by Barrymore himself on his performance.)

Mr. March also gave voice to Christopher Columbus and Leonardo da Vinci for two episodes of 'The Saga Of Western Man' (as well as narrating a third episode), and he appears to have created several Toobworld citizens in the Tele-Folks Directory: Sam and Captain Matt (both in episodes of 'Lux Video Theatre') and perhaps the title role in "The Boor" (for 'Nash Airflyte Theatre').

I'd love to find out more regarding "The Flattering World", which was an episode in 'Shower Of Stars'. In that Mr. March played Eugene Tesch, joined by a cast that included Jack Benny, Elsa Lanchester, Peggy Lee, and perhaps even Red Skelton.

Finally, Mr. March served as the host for an anthology series in which the thirteen episodes were dramatizations of sub-plots from the works of Charles Dickens, so he contributed - in a way - to even more Literary TV characters joining the ever-expanding TV Universe.

For the "complete" list of his TV credits - including a few appearances a member of the "League Of Themselves" on shows like 'The Ed Sullivan Show' - click on this link.

So here's to Fredric March - legend of stage and screen who also enriched the fictional domain of Toobworld.......

BCnU!