AVENGERS, ASSEMBLE! (TAKE YOUR TIME....)

As a theoretical concept, the Toobworld Dynamic works. In practice, we've seen it in action many times - a Western crossed over with a cop show. A sitcom that gave birth to a drama series. And then there's the TV cop who appeared in about nine different series (including a cartoon), over four different networks at least.

The Toobworld Dynamic is a visual world, unlike some of the other shared universes which can look beyond such problems as recasting. But sometimes the possibilities of the crossover should be left to the mind only.

This version of the new "Avengers" movie - using the 1970's TV counterparts of the super-heroes - is a good example. On paper, it works......

Of course, once you get to Hawkeye, the Destroyer, and Loki, it does get a bit silly (although Paul Lynde does rock the horns......)

Over in some off-shoot of the Cineverse, this 1940's version of the Avengers works better:

I could see the Rocketeer fitting right in with these people....

BCnU!

SKED ALERT! "TREASURE ISLAND"

Here are some more videos about "Treasure Island". This four hour mini-series will be seen in its entirety tonight on Syfy, starting at 7:00 PM EST.

It stars Eddie Izzard, Elijah Wood, Philip Glenister, Rupert Penry-Jones, David Harewood, Daniel Mays, and Donald Sutherland.

I'm really looking forward to this!

BCnU!

"TREASURE ISLAND" - ECCE PROMO!

I know 'The Mentalist' and CBS didn't plan this, since Syfy is part of the Univeral TV platform, like NBC.  But they gave a nice shout-out to tonight's presentation of the four hour mini-series.....

"So now we go home; watch TV.

Rent 'Treasure Island' - if it's not too depressing."

Patrick Jane

'The Mentalist'

AS SEEN ON TV: LONG JOHN SILVER

"Treasure Island", a four hour miniseries, is presented in its entirety tonight on Syfy, beginning at 7 PM!

LONG JOHN SILVER

CREATED BY:

Robert Louis Stephenson

PORTRAYED BY:

Eddie Izzard

AS SEEN IN:

"Treasure Island"

From Wikipedia:

Long John Silver is a fictional character and the primary antagonist of the novel "Treasure Island", by Robert Louis Stevenson.

In "Treasure Island", Long John Silver is a pirate who was quartermaster under the notorious Captain Flint. Long John Silver had a pet parrot called Captain Flint, often seen sitting on his shoulder where she would nibble on seeds. A quartermaster on a pirate ship ranked higher than any officer except the captain himself, and could veto the captain's decisions whenever the ship was not in a battle. The quartermaster was elected by the crew and one of his tasks was to lead the boarding party from the quarterdeck during boarding attacks.

Silver claims to have served in the Royal Navy and lost his leg under "the immortal Hawke". His left leg was cut off close by the hip, and under the left shoulder he carried a crutch, which he managed with wonderful dexterity, hopping about upon it like a bird. He was very tall and strong, with a face as big as a ham - plain and pale, but intelligent and smiling." He claims to have been the only man whom Flint ever feared.

Like many of Stevenson's characters, there is more than a modicum of duality in the character; ostensibly Silver is a hardworking and likeable seaman, and it is only as the plot unfolds that his villainous nature is gradually revealed. His relationship with Jim Hawkins, the novel's protagonist, is interesting, as he serves as a mentor and eventually father-figure to Jim, creating much shock and emotion when it is discovered that he is in charge of the mutiny, and especially when Jim must confront and fight him later on.

Although willing to change sides at any time in the interests of his own survival, Silver has compensating virtues: he is wise enough to pay attention to money management, in contrast to the spendthrift ways of most pirates, and is physically courageous despite his disability; for instance, when Flint's cache is found to be empty, he coolly stands his ground against five grown men despite having only Hawkins to back him.

When Silver escapes at the end of the novel, he takes "three or four hundred guineas" of the treasure with him, thus becoming one of only two former members of Captain Flint's crew to get his hands on a portion of the recovered treasure; a separate cache of bar silver is apparently left on the island. (The repentant maroonee Ben Gunn is the other, but he spends all 1,000 pounds in nineteen days.)

Jim's own ambivalence towards Silver is reflected in the last chapter, when he speculates that the old pirate must have settled down in comfortable retirement: "It is to be hoped so, I suppose, for his chances of comfort in another world are very small."

BCnU!

HERCULES SORBO TRUSTS THE "B"

'DON'T TRUST THE B____ IN APT. 23'
"THE WEDDING"

This sitcom solidified its presence in the Toobworld Dynamic with a League of Themselves appearance by Kevin Sorbo. This comes just a few weeks after Jack Donaghy at '30 Rock' pointed out that he knew the actor.

Chloe brought Sorbo to a wedding reception (telling him that he was the keynote speaker at an MS fund-raiser) because her room-mate June had poached her "go-to" celebrity (James Van Der Beek) to be her plus one at the party.

During the explanation, Sorbo was referred to as "Hercules", which is the role Sorbo played not only in the Trueniverse but in Toobworld as well. However, the actor is also the actual Hercules, and "Kevin Sorbo" is an alias.

But within the context of this scene, I don't think any of the others actually knew this; it was just a reference to his TV role. Like calling Leonard Nimoy "Spock" to his face long after 'Star Trek' ended.....

As for Sorbo's references to his Aunt Bonnie, who died of MS and was pictured in his lapel button, she would be part of his adopted family which helped Hercules with the illusion of Sorbo's personal life. Whether the woman ever knew Sorbo made this claim that she was his aunt will most likely never be known.

Still, Sorbo now has another title to his credit for inclusion in the TV Crossover Hall Of Fame:

'Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'

'Xena, Warrior Princess'

The "Hercules" TV movies

'30 Rock'

'Don't Trust The B In Apartment 23'

'Santa Barbara'

(Maybe the delivery man he played in one episode of the soap opera was "Kevin Sorbo" as he was just starting out as an actor......)

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: BEN GUNN

BEN GUNN

CREATED BY:

Robert Louis Stevenson

PORTRAYED BY:

Elijah Wood

AS SEEN IN:

"Treasure Island"

From Wikipedia:

(SPOILERS!)

Benjamin "Ben" Gunn is a fictional character in the "Treasure Island" novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson.

Ben Gunn is an ex-crewman of Captain Flint's who has been marooned three years on the Treasure Island by his crew mates, after his failure to find the treasure without the map. He first appears in the novel when Jim Hawkins encounters him. Ben Gunn treats Jim kindly in return for a chance of getting back to civilization.

Jim leaves Ben Gunn behind, but escapes the Hispaniola on Ben Gunn's coracle. Ben Gunn appears later making ghostly sounds to dissuade Long John Silver's rivals from continuing their search for the treasure, but Silver forges ahead and locates the place where Flint's treasure was buried. The pirates discover that a cache has been rifled and all of the treasure is gone.

The enraged pirates turn on Silver and Jim, but Ben Gunn and several others attack the pirates by surprise, killing two and dispersing the rest. Silver surrenders to Dr. Livesey, promising to return to his duty. They go to Ben Gunn's cave home, where Gunn has had the treasure hidden for some months. The treasure is divided amongst Squire Trelawney and his loyal men, including Jim and Ben Gunn, and they return to England, leaving the surviving pirates marooned on the island. Silver escapes with the help of the fearful Ben Gunn and a small part of the treasure.

Once in England, Ben Gunn manages to spend all his part of the treasure in just a few days and becomes a porter for the rest of his life.

I don't know why Syfy was chosen to host this four-hour event, but "Treasure Island" will be seen on that channel tomorrow, May 5, beginning at 7 PM.

With a cast that also includes Donald Sutherland, Rupert Penry-Jones, Philip Glenister, Daniel Mays, David Harewood, and tomorrow's featured actor in the ASOTV Gallery, Eddie Izzard, I know I'll be recording it!!!

BCnU!

"PSYCH"-CITED SIPOWICZ

'PSYCH'
"SANTA BARBARATOWN"

When former Santa Barbara detective Henry Spencer threatened to deck a "skel" for what he insinuated about Henry's deceased partner, his son Shawn held him back with a soothing "Easy, Sipowicz."

Sure, for us in the Trueniverse, this was a reference to Andy Sipowicz, a NYC detective played by Dennis Franz in the classic crime drama 'NYPD Blue'. However, I'm going to suggest to avoid a Zonk, that Henry and Shawn actually knew this coarse cop.

Of course, there is a major O'Bstacle to this theory - How would a cop and his son from Santa Barbara know a detective in the Big Apple?

That's easy. There must have been a police detective convention held near to Santa Barbara, which would be the only way Henry could justify bringing his little son along.

I'm thinking it had to have happened around 1990, give or take a year on either side. This would set the convention encounter within the parameters of the flashbacks in 'Psych', but a couple of years before 'NYPD Blue' debuted in 1993.

So as a boy of about ten years of age, Shawn may have been with his father at this cop convention - where he probably got to see this drunken, racist, belligerent detective from New York in action.

Afterwards, I wouldn't be surprised if Henry saw this as an opportunity to impart a life lesson to his son; telling Shawn: "You don't ever want to become that guy."

So when Henry was about to blow his stack twenty years later, Shawn calmed him down by whispering "Easy, Sipowicz."

It was their private code for "Don't become that guy."

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: STEPHEN WRAYSFORD

'Masterpiece Theater' recently broadcast the adaptation of this novel......

STEPHEN WRAYSFORD

CREATED BY:

Sebastian Faulks

PORTRAYED BY:

Eddie Redmayne

AS SEEN IN:

"Birdsong"

TV LOCATION:

England, France

From Wikipedia:

(SPOILERS!)

"Birdsong" is a 1993 war novel by English author Sebastian Faulks. Faulks' fourth novel, it tells of a man called Stephen Wraysford at different stages of his life both before and during World War I. "Birdsong" is part of a trilogy of novels by Sebastian Faulks which includes "The Girl at the Lion d'Or" and "Charlotte Gray" which are all linked through location, history and several minor characters.

The protagonist of the novel, Stephen goes to Amiens in France to learn more about the manufacturing process at René Azaire's factory. He becomes attracted to Azaire's wife, Isabelle. One night he hears Azaire beat Isabelle and is determined to make her see that true love exists elsewhere. Stephen and Isabelle embark upon a passionate affair which culminates in their leaving Azaire's house together. Stephen is abandoned by Isabelle once she learns that she is carrying his child.

Our next encounter with Stephen occurs when he is an officer in the British Army during the War. Stephen is not a popular officer, seemingly because he does not love his men enough. It is said of him that he "blows hot and cold."

As the war develops, so too do the intricacies of Stephen's personality. He develops a kind of love for the men under his command, refusing the offer of leave or a staff job, preferring instead to remain at the front with his men. At one point, he is badly wounded and is left for dead, thrown naked onto a pile of corpses behind the trenches, only to come stumbling, frenzied and delirious, into the arms of Jack Firebrace. He becomes known as a lucky charm, having survived where many others fell on numerous occasions. 

Stephen develops a close friendship with Jeanne, depending on her letters while he is at the front. She keeps him going, though he is reluctant to admit this to her.

When forced to take a staff job for six months, Stephen becomes increasingly despondent. He feels guilty that he has survived while so many others have died needlessly, and feels the war is likely to continue although it has seemed to serve no purpose thus far. He is continually amazed at the sheer determination and courage of his men, dumbstruck by how much they will endure. He confides in Jeanne who urges him to persevere.

On his return to the front, Stephen becomes trapped in an underground tunnel with Jack Firebrace. He helps to free Jack, whose legs and ribs are broken, from the earth, and for six days endures the horrendous conditions while he endeavours to free both himself and a delirious Jack. Close to death due to thirst and starvation, he manages to blow a hole in the earth and is rescued by three German soldiers, not before promising the dying Jack that he will have children for him.

Stephen marries Jeanne Fourmentier in 1919. He does not speak for two years after the war, however one day he announces that they will go to London later that day in order to go to the theatre. Stephen dies at the age of forty-eight, never having fully got over that which he experienced during the war.

BCnU!

"30 ROCK" - LIVING THE DREAM

'30 ROCK'

"LIVE FROM STUDIO 6H"

Last year, '30 Rock' did a live broadcast for one episode and I saw no problem in keeping it as part of the overall body of '30 Rock' episodes. Why should it be cast into an alternate TV dimension just because it went live? Should the later years of 'The Andy Griffith Show' be considered part of some other TV dimension just because those episodes were in color?

At least the show provided an inner splainin as to the look and feel of that first live episode, by saying it was all as seen by Jack Donaghy in his enforced sobriety.

Then I heard that the episode was performed a second time for the West Coast time zone. And for that version, certain jokes were reworked into new gags - like different hand transplants for John Hamm's character. The Toobworld timeline usually only has such "hiccups" when there's a reboot to the timeline. So that's what I'd use for the splainin in that case.

But with this year's second experiment into live broadcasting for '30 Rock', a new possibility came to mind.

The two versions of "Live From Studio 6H" - each with different jokes and different guest stars - could be seen as variations on one of Liz Lemon's recurring nightmares.

The episode's main plot certainly supported that premise - with Liz upset that Jack was threatening to get rid of the live aspect of 'TGS with Tracy Jordan'. And no dream plays exactly the same way each new time it plays out. We have Toobworld precedent for that - "Shadow Play" on 'The Twilight Zone'.

When Liz dreamed of the NBC news bulletin the second time, perhaps she had seen Brian Williams doing the evening news earlier that night, which is why she saw him as Chet Huntley. (Or was he David Brinkley?) Likewise, for some reason she dreamed about Danny Baker singing a song (the 'TGS' theme song? We can't say it's the '30 Rock' theme song, after all!) rather than Jenna Maroney as she did the first time around. And perhaps she just listened to some McCartney music on a Diskman (left over from her relationship with Dennis Duffy) before the first dream, and then watched that Kardashian reali-turd before going to bed the next night. This would splain Sir Paul in the first version and Kim Kardashian in the second.*

We're never going to see that dream of Liz Lemon's play out in its entirety ever again with new variations, but off-screen she'll still have it so long as 'TGS' remains on the air. And each version would be different from the last.

Over in Toobworld, Liz is probably having that dream right now, only now 'TGS' director Pete Hornberger is singing the theme song. After all, unless that was him playing the co-host in the 'Gruber Brother & Nipsey' clip, he had nothing to do in the first two incarnations of the dream; so it'd be nice if he got to do something eventually......

Plenty of shows have used the "It's only a dream" trope in the past, but at least they said so by the end of the episode. This time Toobworld Central had to speak up.....

BCnU!

Among the changes between the two episodes:

EAST COAST

Jenna Maroney sang the theme song. 

WEST COAST

Danny Baker sang it.

Jenna already had a major plot point while Cheyenne Jackson had so little to do otherwise.

Point goes to West Coast.

EAST COAST

John Hamm played David Brinkley. 

WEST COAST

Brian Williams played Brinkley.

Having an actual NBC anchorman play the legend added to the meta quality of the joke.

Point goes to West Coast.

EAST COAST

Dr. Spaceman was a former Nazi doctor in ad. 

WEST COAST

Dr. Spaceman revealed that he was gay.

Both were funny.

A tie.

EAST COAST

Paul McCartney used the bathroom in Jack's office. 

Sir Paul suffered amnesia & Liz took advantage. 

WEST COAST

Kim Kardashian used it.

"Kimye" tweeted the show to raise its ratings.

Kim Kardashian is a human void.  And Sir Paul is Sir Paul.

No contest - East Coast gets the point.

FINAL VERDICT:

Kim Kardashian is worth negative points in the millions. East Coast wins!!!!

AS SEEN ON TV: FORD PREFECT

PRAXIBETEL IX
aka
FORD PREFECT

CREATED BY:

Douglas Adams

PORTRAYED BY:

David Dixon

AS SEEN IN:

'The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy'

TV STATUS:

Multiversal

(Radio, books, TV, movie)

TV LOCATION:

Originally from Betelgeuse

(And not from Guildford, after all)

From 'The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy' Wiki:

Ford Prefect (a.k.a, Praxibetel Ix) is a friend of Arthur Dent's. [They meet five or six years before the start of the story.] He shares three mothers with The President of the Galaxy, Zaphod Beeblebrox, making them semi-cousins.

Ford Prefect was born on Betelgeuse 5. His father (and uncle) was from Betelgeuse 7, which was decimated during the Great Collapsing Hrung Disaster of Gal./Sid./Year 03758. After this, he moved to Betelgeuse 5, where he died of shame because his son/nephew was not able to pronounce his name, which wasn't really a surprise because he was named in an obscure Betelgeusian dialect that died out with the planet. Unable to pronounce his name, his friends called him "Ix" which, in English is "boy who is not able satisfactorily to explain what a hrung is or why it should choose to collapse on Betelguese 7".

Ford is approximately two hundred years old, as supported by the books. When, in the first novel, Zaphod steals the Heart of Gold, it is on his (Zaphod's) two hundredth birthday. It is later mentioned that Ford and Zaphod attended school together, even having some of the same classes, which would indicate that they are roughly the same age.

Ford is a researcher for that wholly remarkable book, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and is responsible for the entry on Earth. He visited the Earth by way of a Teaser and was stranded for fifteen years. He was also later upset to learn that his masterpiece had been compressed to the two words: "Mostly Harmless."

Ford was famous for his article in the Guide about Earth, for which he spent fifteen years researching. He had originally written a competent article, but the editors cut his verbose article down to "Mostly Harmless," then later to the single word:"Harmless." When another Earth popped up in their universe from the improbability axis, the Guide reverted to Fords complete article about Earth.

Ford skimped a bit on his preparatory research, leading him to think that Ford Prefect was a nicely inconcspicous name.

(Adams later clarified in an interview that Ford "had simply mistaken the dominant life form." The Ford Prefect was, in fact, a British car manufactured from 1938 to 1961. The graphics in the TV series provide a similar explanation by listing director John Ford, psychic Arthur Ford, news reader Anna Ford, car-maker Henry Ford, the Ford Anglia, the Ford Consul and finally Ford Prefect.

Adams later observed that this joke was lost on U.S. audiences who assumed it was a typing error for "perfect." In some versions, such as the French (Le Guide Galactique) and the Greek, Ford's name was changed to "Ford Escort."

Nowadays, the joke is largely lost on younger audiences in Britain as well, since the Ford Prefect is now a rare sight on British roads.)

While on Earth, [Ford] posed as an out-of-work actor. He only revealed he was from a small planet somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse, and not from Guildford, as he had usually claimed, to Arthur just before the Vogons arrived.

It should also be noted that one of Ford's major goals in life is to to get drunk and dance with girls.

BCnU!

MAY DAY! MAY DAY!

Today is May Day and the NYPD is bracing for some kind of protests from the Occupy Wall Street crowd.....

From the New York Daily News:

Using websites and pamphlets, OWS organizers are urging people to help block traffic at bridge and tunnel ports to slow people going to work on May Day.

Protesters — who also plan action in front of several financial buildings — are using the date to strengthen their numbers since the labor movement traditionally holds rallies that day.

The "Occupy" movement has been established in Toobworld, thanks to an episode of 'The Mentalist' which had three suspects in a murder get cleared because they were arrested at the Occupy Oakland rally.

But over in the alternate TV dimension in which 'Castle' resides, the movement goes by a different name - "Take Over Wall Street".

Once the world of 'Castle' is blended back in with Earth Prime-Time (after its cancellation), the small differences - like the umbrella name for the protests or the identity of the NYC mayor - will be rebooted to fit in with the main Toobworld.

BCnU!

STUFF ABOUT "ALF", STUFFED

I try to use the Toobworld Dynamic as a means to splain away the many discrepancies that occur when trying to see every TV show as being part of the same universe. What I'm not trying to promote is fanfic (although I personally don't have any problem with people writing stories about their favorite characters.) However, certain aspects of the Dynamic could be looked upon as fanfic, like the theories of relateeveety.

I suppose my suggestion of an organization, which I called "UNreel", that would make certain people and events to be considered fictional by the general populace of Earth Prime-Time has to be considered fanfic. But "UNreel" splains away why a character like Dr. Walter Bishop would consider Sherlock Holmes as fictional, when we know that he exists in so many TV dimensions.

In fact, it was Dr. Watson's published accounts of Holmes' cases, which many people regarded as fictional, that proved to be the inspiration for the work of "UNreel".

Usually, "UNreel" produces a TV show to mask the reality of an individual in Earth Prime-Time, like 'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.' Sometimes they use a movie franchise, like the one that masked the fact that James Bond is real. Or it could be a combination of both as used in the case of the Gallifreyan Time Lord known as the Doctor.

But sometimes "UNreel" (possibly a division of UNIT) would eschew a visual medium to find an alternate way to debunk an individual's existence.

Stuffed animals, for instance.

"UNreel" was probably aware of the arrival of an alien from Melmac on Earth from the very beginning, thanks to the Doctor. But as long as he remained hidden away at the Tanner House, they thought monitoring Alf would be sufficient.

But just in case, "UNreel" initiated a program to prevent any pozz'ble panic - they flooded the market with stuffed animals, key chains, T-shirts, and even cartoons, to suggest that ALF was nothing more than a toy. They provided a background for the doll's "life" that hewed close to the truth - including mention of Melmac and the fondness for feasting on felines - so that anybody who claimed to have the inside scoop on such an ET sighting would be seen as a kook who thought the doll was real.

Blossom Russo had such a doll in her early teen years. And it so had a hold on her affections that it once even influenced her dreams. It was the kind of result which "UNreel" would have been striving for.

It's likely that "UNreel" didn't share its intel with the United States military, which probably added fuel to the fire once they finally learned of ALF's existence......

The 'Blossom' episode featuring ALF in the dream sequence has its embedding disabled. So you'd have to follow these links to watch the episode:

PART ONE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECLWAAG9-9c

PART TWO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iPip_uEwqY

PART THREE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5Uer802gg4

But if you only want to see the ALF sequence, skip ahead in Part One to the 8 minute mark. (The scene does bleed over into the beginning of Part Two.)

Two posts about 'ALF' today. Two for Tuesay!

BCnU!

ALF LANDIN' - BACK ON TOOBWORLD?

'30 ROCK'

"Murphy Brown Lied To Us"

“I'll spend the rest of my career behind this desk,

trying to lure ALF back to television.”

Jack Donaghy

"ALF" is an acronym for "Alien Life Form". It served as the alias for Gordon Shumway, who hailed from the planet Melmac.

From the line's phrasing, it could be that Jack was speaking of Alf as a real "person", which he is in the Toobworld Dynamic. Jack wasn't talking about the sitcom that introduced the furry cat-muncher, but rather the talk show which Alf once hosted.

The Melmackian became a world-wide sensation after the military made an unsuccessful attempt to capture him. (So much for "covert ops"!) Because of this fiasco, Alf became known throughout all of Earth Prime-Time, which is why he was offered the talk show.

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: THE DIRE WOLVES

Because the April 1st edition of the "As Seen On TV" gallery was given over to a double April Fool's Day joke, we're running the 'Game Of Thrones' theme for one more day.......

THE DIRE WOLVES

OF HOUSE STARK

CREATED BY:

George R.R. Martin

PORTRAYED BY:

Dogs through the juvenile stage, now CGI

THE INDIVIDUAL DIRE WOLVES:

• Grey Wind, adopted by Robb Stark. Currently with the main Stark army in the South, used by King Robb as a ferocious war dog. 
• Lady, adopted by Sansa Stark. Lady is killed at the order of Robert Baratheon, at the urging of Joffrey Baratheon and Cersei Lannister. 
• Nymeria, adopted by Arya Stark. Fearing for Nymeria's life, Arya chased her away. She is now loose somewhere in the Riverlands, the first direwolf seen that far south (other than Grey Wind) in many centuries. 
• Summer, adopted by Bran Stark. Currently with Bran at Winterfell. At the start of season two Bran sees through the eyes of Summer in a vision. 
• Shaggydog, adopted by Rickon Stark. Currently with Rickon at Winterfell. 
• Ghost, adopted by Jon Snow, (with red eyes as a pup) was taken to the Wall with Jon.

AS SEEN IN:

'Game Of Thrones'

TV LOCATION:

In general, dire wolves have not been seen below the Wall for at least 200 years. Since then, each of the Stark dire wolves are with their human companions.

From the "Game Of Thrones Wiki":

A direwolf is an unusually large and intelligent species of wolf. A grey direwolf on a white field is the family symbol and crest of House Stark.

Direwolves are held to be near-mythical in most of the south of Westeros, although there are rumors of them living in the Wolfswood near Winterfell. There have been confirmed sightings north of the Wall by the Night's Watch who guard it. The wildlings who live beyond the Wall claim that direwolves can be found in greater numbers in the Haunted Forest to the north of the Wall. When the series begins (during the reign of King Robert Baratheon) no direwolf has been sighted south of the Wall, even in the Stark lands of the North, in over 200 years.

The children of House Stark find six direwolf cubs at the very beginning of the series and adopt them.

BCnU!

THE HUDSON TOUCH

'TOUCH'

"Entanglements"

'Touch' made its official connection to the Toobworld Dynamic with this episode.

Martin Bohm was held at gunpoint on a New York City bus by a young woman who had a Hudson University shoulder bag.

Hudson University has been the go-to school of higher learning for the settings of murder, rape, and other crimes which kept the 'Law & Order' franchise chugging along for so long.

It's also been mentioned in other shows. A student in 'DeGrassi: The Next Generation' was accepted to enroll there. Dr. Cliff Huxtable of 'Cosby' went to the university's medical school. 'Without A Trace' and 'Tru Calling' also mentioned or featured Hudson U.

It has also been seen on 'Castle' and 'Blue Bloods', but those take place in an alternate TV dimension (and just maybe, the same one.)

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: TYRION LANNISTER

TYRION LANNISTER

CREATED BY:

George R.R. Martin

PORTRAYED BY:

Peter Dinklage

AS SEEN IN:

'Game Of Thrones'

TV LOCATIONS:

Winterfell, The Wall, Vale of Arryn, King's Landing

Westeros on Mondas

From the "Game Of Thrones Wiki":

Tyrion Lannister is a major character in the first and second season. He is played by starring cast member Peter Dinklage and debuts in the series premiere. Tyrion Lannister is the youngest son of Lord Tywin Lannister, and uses his wit and intellect to overcome the prejudice he faces as a dwarf. He is falsely accused of the attempted assassination of Bran Stark and taken captive. His imprisonment triggers the War of the Five Kings despite his release after winning his freedom in a trial by combat. Tyrion rejoins his family and is made acting Hand of the King to his newly crowned nephew Joffrey Baratheon.

Tyrion Lannister is the youngest son of Joanna Lannister and Lord Tywin Lannister. Tywin is the head of House Lannister, the richest man in the Seven Kingdoms and Lord Paramount of the Westerlands. The Westerlands are one of the constituent regions of the Seven Kingdoms and House Lannister is one of the Great Houses of the realm. He is the younger brother of Jaime and Cersei Lannister. His mother Joanna Lannister died giving birth to him. His father and sister blame him for the death.

He is a dwarf, causing him problems and persecution. This is mitigated by his intellect and his family's wealth and power. He is committed to the good of both his house and the realm.

When Tyrion was very young, he met a wheelwright's daughter named Tysha on the road, apparently the victim of an attempted rape. Whilst his brother Jaime ran off the attackers, Tyrion helped Tysha recover from the ordeal, and they became lovers. They found a wandering septon wiling to marry them and briefly, they lived as husband and wife. That is, until Lord Tywin learned what had happened. Jaime confessed that he organized the incident to make his brother happy, and Tysha was actually a prostitute. As a lesson, Tywin had his guards have sex with Tysha while forcing Tyrion to watch, paying her for each man with a silver coin. By the end, there were so many silver coins that they were running out of her hand onto the ground. Tyrion has reciprocated Tywin's hatred since.

My favorite character in the series - not hard to gain that position when you start off with Peter Dinklage playing the role....

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: ARYA STARK

ARYA "ARRYN" STARK

CREATED BY:

George R.R. Martin

PORTRAYED BY:

Maisie Williams

AS SEEN IN:

'Game Of Thrones'

TV LOCATION:

Winterfell, King's Landing, the North Road, 'Harrenhal

Westeros, Mondas

From the "Game Of Thrones Wiki":

Arya Stark is a major character in the first and second seasons. She is played by starring cast member Maisie Williams and debuts in the series premiere. Arya is a daughter of House Stark who has been separated from her family. She is fiercely independent and is often mistaken for a boy. She wields a sword named Needle, a gift from her half-brother Jon Snow, and has been trained in the Braavosi style of swordfighting. She adopted the direwolf Nymeria but they have since been separated.

Arya Stark is the youngest daughter of Eddard and Catelyn. She is the sister of Robb, Sansa, Bran and Rickon and half-sister of Jon Snow. Her father Eddard is the Head of House Stark, Warden of the North, Lord of Winterfell and Lord paramount of the North. She lives with her family in Winterfell.

Arya rejects the notion that she must become a lady and marry for influence and power, feeling she can forge her own destiny. She is fascinated by warfare and bored by the pursuits of ladies. She has a quarrelsome relationship with her sister Sansa. She is close to her half brother Jon who is also something of an outcast.

My second favorite character (so far.....)

BCnU!