"WUTHERING HEIGHTS" - SERENDIPITEEVEE!

From "TV Worth Watching", one of the best TV blogs that you should be reading (link to the left, Team Toobworld!):

• BEST BET: Many movie and TV adaptations have been made of Emily Bronte's gothic romance novel, "Wuthering Heights," but none has surpassed the teaming, in this 1939 movie classic, of Merle Oberon and Laurence Olivier as passionate lovers Cathy and Heathcliff. Their screen romance here is a type of perfection as sheer as the cliffs on which they embrace. No moor, no less. See it tonight (May 19, 2012) at 8 p.m. ET on TCM.

When I posted today's "As Seen On TV" showcase of the 'Monty Python' semaphore version of "Wuthering Heights", I had no idea that this movie version was going to be on TV tonight.

Now THAT's what I call "serendipiteevee"!

BCnU!

"MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE"

Earlier this week we featured Auguste Dupin in the "As Seen On TV" showcase. Here now for the Video Weekend, Toobworld Central would like to present the promo for the TV movie which was adapted from the story by Edgar Allen Poe.

The TV movie itself is also available from YouTube, but you will have to pay for the privilege of watching it, so it's up to you to seek it out.....

BCnU!

THE HAT SQUAD: DOUG DILLARD

The music world and Toobworld lost another performer the other day with the death of Doug Dillard, another of the leading banjo greats. (We lost Earl Scruggs earlier this year.) With his brother and his cousins, Doug performed as part of the group The Dillards. He was 75.

On 'The Andy Griffith Show', the Dillards appeared as the backwoods boys known as the Darlings, sons of mountain man Brisco Darling. Whenever they made an appearance in Mayberry, good music would soon be filling the air.

Just about two weeks ago, we listed Doug Darling (also known as Frankie) as still alive in Mayberry when we noted the passing of Goober Pyle. But now this leaves only Rodney and Dean Darling, as well as their sister Charlene Wash. (Their other brother, Othor aka Mitch, passed away some years ago.)

Here are a few videos showing the Darlings doing what they do best while visiting Mayberry, plus a few others of the Dillards as themselves.....

Good night and may God bless.....

THE HAT SQUAD: DONNA SUMMER

Donna Summer didn't just belong to the world of music. As a member of the League of Themselves, the Disco Queen made numerous appearances on variety shows, concert specials, awards programs, and talk shows. She also hosted two music specials - "Donna Summer - One Hot Summer Night" and "The Donna Summer Special".

But she also made a contribution to the Tele-Folks Directory of Toobworld with her portrayal of Steven Urkel's Aunt Oona from Altoona in two episodes of 'Family Matters'.

Here are Donna Summer's highlights from one of those episodes:

Donna Summer died of cancer the other day. She was 63.

Good night and may God bless.....

AS SEEN ON TV: "WUTHERING HEIGHTS"

"WUTHERING HEIGHTS"

WRITTEN BY:

Emily Bronte

ADAPTED BY:

The Monty Python troupe

AS SEEN ON:

'Monty Python's Flying Circus'

TV STATUS:

Recastaways

TV LOCATION:

Skitlandia

FEATURING:

HEATHCLIFF

Found, and presumably orphaned, on the streets of Liverpool, he is taken to Wuthering Heights by Mr. Earnshaw and reluctantly cared for by the rest of the family. He and Catherine later grow close, and their love becomes the central theme of the first volume; his revenge and its consequences are the main theme of the second volume. Heathcliff is typically considered a Byronic hero, but critics have found his character, with a capacity for self-invention, to be profoundly difficult to assess. His position in society, without status (Heathcliff serves as both his given name and surname), is often the subject of Marxist criticism.

AS PLAYED BY:

Terry Jones

CATHERINE EARNSHAW

First introduced in Lockwood's discovery of her diary and etchings, Catherine's life is almost entirely detailed in the first volume. She seemingly suffers from a crisis of identity, unable to choose between nature and culture (and, by extension, Heathcliff and Edgar). Her decision to marry Edgar Linton over Heathcliff has been seen as a surrender to culture, and has implications for all the characters of Wuthering Heights. The character of Catherine has been analysed by many forms of literary criticism, including: psychoanalytic and feminist.

AS PLAYED BY:

Carol Cleveland

From Wikipedia:

'Wuthering Heights' is the only published novel by Emily Brontë, written between October 1845 and June 1846 and published in July of the following year. It was not printed until December 1847, after the success of her sister Charlotte Brontë's novel 'Jane Eyre', under the pseudonym Ellis Bell. A posthumous second edition was edited by Charlotte.

The title of the novel comes from the Yorkshire manor on the moors of the story. The narrative centres on the all-encompassing, passionate, but ultimately doomed love between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, and how this unresolved passion eventually destroys them and the people around them.

Today considered a classic of English literature, 'Wuthering Heights' was met with mixed reviews when it first appeared, mainly because of the narrative's stark depiction of mental and physical cruelty. Although Charlotte Brontë's 'Jane Eyre' was generally considered the best of the Brontë sisters' works during most of the nineteenth century, many subsequent critics of 'Wuthering Heights' argued that it was a superior achievement. 

'Wuthering Heights' has also given rise to many adaptations and inspired works, including films, radio, television dramatisations, a musical by Bernard J. Taylor, a ballet, three operas (respectively by Bernard Herrmann, Carlisle Floyd, and Frédéric Chaslin), a role-playing game, and the 1979 chart topping song by Kate Bush.

BCnU!

FOZZIEBOOK

From the Wall Street Journal:

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--In a stock debut that some felt didn't impress, Facebook Inc. (FB) still found a way to make history.

More than 460 million shares in the social network traded Friday, the day of its public listing, setting a new record for a stock debut. In just the first few minutes after listing, 100 million shares changed hands.

Found on Facebook:

BCnU!

INQUISITVE MINDS WANT TO KNOW

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

"IT'S JUST SEX"

The National Inquisitor is well established in Toobworld. 

 So this publication?

It's pozz'ble, just pozz'ble, that the publishers decided to give a daily edition a try, perhaps on a local basis in New York City only......

BCnU!

FORENSIC BOTANY 101

'COMMUNITY'

"BASIC LUPINE UROLOGY"

Toobworld Central has always maintained that the 'Law & Order' series which was cited in other TV shows was not the same as that seen in the real world. At first it was claimed that it was a reality series; but since several of its characters and actors were mentioned in dialogue over the years, then it had to be a recreation of cases handled by the "real" cops of the 27th Precinct.

In that, it is little different from how 'Dragnet' was presented for the Trueniverse audience - the stories were true, but the names may have been changed to protect the innocent.

So it wasn't a Zonk to see Troy and Abed behave as though they were cops on that show while they investigated the "murder" of a yam.

CHA-CHUNG!

One of the "real" people from 'Law & Order' was medical examiner Dr. Elizabeth Rodgers (who by rights should have been inducted into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame by now.) She was played by Leslie Hendrix, who also made an appearance in this episode as a botanist. (Whether she was attached to Greendale Community College or some other institution is unknown.)

The botanist had no name listed in the credits but she looked, sounded, and acted like Dr. Rodgers when she reports her findings to the detectives. But in this case, the subject was a "murdered" yam.

This is easy to splain away - the botanist was Dr. Rodgers' twin sister. One of them had to have moved far from home since Dr. Rodgers was in New York City and the botanist was in Greendale, Colorado. Or perhaps they both moved from a third location. And should high-def technology reveal her name on her ID badge, that won't be an impediment to this theory of relateeveety. Either one of them - or even both - were using their married name.

Should it turn out that Dr. Rodgers revealed that she was an only child, or at least that she had no twin siblings, then the botanist was an illegitimate half-sister Rodgers knew nothing about or  the traditional "identical cousin".

BCnU!

JOKING AROUND II

When I wrote this post about the Joker as seen on TV, I didn't know that the Clown Prince Of Crime also made an appearance in one of six OnStar commercials featuring the Batman. But it doesn't negate what I previously claimed - the original Joker was gone from the scene, most likely dead, by 1994.

As this Bat-blipvert took place in 2001, there was plenty of time for a new criminal to be driven insane by whatever circumstances which led to his garish disfigurement, and then to decide upon "The Joker" as his alias.

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: JUDGE WARGRAVE

JUSTICE SIR LAWRENCE WARGRAVE

AS SEEN IN:

"Ten Little Indians"

CREATED BY:

Dame Agatha Christie

PORTRAYED BY:

Barry Jones

TV STATUS:

Recastaway

TV DIMENSION:

"Evil Mirror Universe"

(Due to alteration of the ending)

From a wiki*:

Lawrence John Wargrave is a judge, whom since he was a small child, was fascinated with death. He is known as a hanging judge; however, his sentences are portrayed throughout the story as accurate. He is accused of murder due to the judicial hanging of criminal Edward Seton, even though there were some doubts about his guilt at the time of the trial.

[Ten people were invited to Indian Island, by a mysterious host named] U.N. Owen. (a pun of the word "Unknown"). Sure enough, each person arrives on the boat to the island [where] each guest has the nursury rhyme [about the ten little Indians] hanging on the wall in their room. At a large dinner, they notice ten china Indian figures on the table. Later, during dinner, a gramophone record plays, accusing each guest there (including Wargrave) of murder.

From the IMDb.com:

Live television presentation of Agatha Christie's famous work "Ten Little Indians". A group of amoral people are invited to an isolated island mansion. Upon arriving, a recorded phonograph message accuses them of certain crimes in which they could not be touched by the law. After one dies from poison, another from an overdose of sleeping pills, a third from being struck/falling into a fire, and a fourth from stabbing, (all according to the ten little Indians nursery rhyme) the remaining number realize the killer is among those present. In the desperate game to survive, the remaining number try to figure out who the killer is, before they are murdered. Who will be next?

- John Tristan

The plotline for Justice Wargrave was altered from that established in the original story, making it feel more like an American crime story rather than a "veddy proper" British one. In my opinion it was a bad move because of what would happen after the story ended.

This production was the third to be broadcast, following the second one (from Great Britain) by five days in January of 1959. The first was in 1949. Both of those had the title "Ten Little Niggers", unfortunately.

Paul Bogart, who would go on to acclaim as a director of 'All In The Family' was one of two directors for this live broadcast. He passed away just about a month or so ago.

BCnU!

* Saying which wiki is something of a spoiler.  Saying that probably is as well....

THAT FINE-FEATHERED FINK & FAMILY

The Penguin doesn't show up very well in those OnStar commercials from over a decade ago - maybe two quick shots from a distance and some squawking heard.  But it would appear that his physical features favor Danny DeVito's interpretation in the Tim Burton movie more than they would the classical Penguin look borne by Burgess Meredith in the 1966 TV series 'Batman'.  (I think the classic Penguin prototype would have been the style Dudley Moore had in mind when he campaigned for the role.)

Toobworld Central has no problem in whichever Penguin look was used in this blipvert, because like the Batman, "The Penguin" is an alias.  (In the comic books, his true name was Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot - as a fan of name-coining, I always hated that name.)

Since these Bat-blipverts are a continuation of the TV series and have no connection to the movies (save in their style), this could play out along two different storylines.

1]  The Penguin could be the televersion of Danny DeVito's interpretation in "Batman Returns"
or
2]  He could be the son of the original Penguin.

There could be other options, of course, including one that even combines those two suggestions.  After all, nothing says that just because we adopted the look of DeVito's Penguin, then we have to also accept the character's origin story.  Abandoned by his parents and raised by penguins?  "Don't be ridiculous!" as Balki would say.  

When we first met the Penguin as played by Burgess Meredith (a member of the TV Crossover Hall of Fame, by the way) in the second two-part story of 'Batman', he was already in prison, awaiting release.  With the crime for which he was convicted, the Avaricious Avian may have been exposed to harmful radiation from whatever nefarious trap he had set for the Dynamic Duo.  This would have altered the genetic code stored in his loins which he would have then passed on to any descendents.

And considering he almost got actress Sophia Starr to marry him, perhaps they never waited for the honeymoon to consummate their union.......

It's a theory of relateeveety, anyway......

BCnU!

TVXOHOF, 05/2012-B: ABBY SCIUTO

The May slot in the TV Crossover Hall of Fame is, by tradition, given over to a "Queen Of The May" - mostly to insure that we'd get at least one female into the club each year. This year is no different, but our regularly scheduled induction ceremony was postponed this time so that we could give proper honors to Goober Pyle, the character played by the late George Lindsey who died earlier this month.

So now it's time to place our princess on her pedestal - the fair maiden of forensics, the endearing ingenue of 'NCIS'......

ABBY SCIUTO

Since I am an inherently lazy person, I've decided to let Wikipedia tell you about her:

Abigail "Abby" Sciuto is a fictional character from the 'NCIS' television series by CBS Television, and is portrayed by Pauley Perrette. Like Jethro Gibbs, Anthony DiNozzo and Donald Mallard, Abby was first introduced in the episodes "Ice Queen" and "Meltdown" (which together served as the backdoor pilot for 'NCIS') in the television show 'JAG', and has appeared in every episode of 'NCIS' in addition to being featured on the show's spin-off, 'NCIS: Los Angeles'. The role has made Perrette the most popular actress on U.S. primetime television, according to Q Score.

Abby Sciuto is a forensic specialist at the Naval Criminal Investigative Service headquarters at the Washington Naval Yard, with expertise in ballistics, digital forensics, and DNA analysis. In the first episode for season 7, "Truth or Consequences", Special Agent Tony DiNozzo, while under the influence of a truth serum, describes her as "a paradox wrapped in an oxymoron smothered in contradictions in terms. Sleeps in a coffin. Really, the happiest goth you'll ever meet." Her gothic style of dress and her interest in death and the supernatural enigmatically contrast with her generally hyperactive demeanor and enthusiasm about her work.

So three TV shows, all in the 'NCIS' family and over two hundred episodes with just one of them.

Now, should she ever cross over to 'Hawaii Five-O', as some of her buddies from 'NCIS: LA' have, that will be the Abby Sciuto of the alternate Earth Prime-Time.

She's certainly a bright spot in each episode - admittedly in small doses sometimes - and would certainly add a bit of zing in a guest spot in some of CBS' other procedurals. It's too late for 'CSI: Miami', which could have been a natural, but how about a turf war between the 'NCIS' crew and the 'CSI: NY' team over an investigation at the Brooklyn Navy Yards?

So there are possibilities for Abby Sciuto to expand her TVXOHOF resume, but in the meantime, let's raise our Slurpie cups full of your caffeine of choice to her inclusion........

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: HESTER PRYNNE

HESTER PRYNNE

AS SEEN IN:

"The Scarlet Letter"

CREATED BY:

Nathaniel Hawthorne

AS PLAYED BY:

Meg Foster

TV STATUS:

Recastaway

TV DIMENSION:

Alternate TV World

From Wikipedia:

Hester Prynne is the protagonist of Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter. She is portrayed as a woman condemned by her Puritan neighbors. The character has been called "among the first and most important female protagonists in American literature."

A resident of colonial America, Hester is sent ahead to the "New World" by her husband, who later assumes the name of Roger Chillingworth, as he has some business to finish before he can join her. After he is shipwrecked and captured by Native Americans and presumed dead, 

Hester continues to live her life as a seamstress in the town. She looks to the local pastor Arthur Dimmesdale for comfort; somewhere along the way passion emerges, culminating in the conception and subsequent birth of their child, Pearl. Because Hester has no husband with her, she is imprisoned, convicted of the crime of adultery, and sentenced to be forced to wear a prominent scarlet letter 'A' for the rest of her life.

Though scorned by her fellow citizens, Hester continues to lead a relatively uneventful life. Shortly after the birth of the child and her punishment, Hester's husband reappears and compels her to tell him the name of the child's father. Hester refuses, but swears not to reveal the fact that Chillingworth is her husband to the town folk. Hester continues living her life as a seamstress, providing for herself and her child.

Mary Sinclair would be the Hester Prynne of Earth Prime-Time, having played the role in an episode of the anthology series 'Studio One In Hollywood' back in 1950.........

BCnU!

THAT GIRL IN GOTHAM - VICKY VALE

Vicky Vale was not a character in the 1966 'Batman' TV series, only in the comic books, the Tooniverse, and the 1989 movie... as well as the 1949 movie serial. That means she could have been introduced at any time into the Toobworld timeline.  She made her appearance finally in 2001 - in one of six OnStar commercials featuring the Batman. (She was played by Brooke Burns.)  

Vicky Vale can be considered a true multiversal......

Should Vicky Vale ever show up again in a new TV incarnation, then she would be just a woman with the same name. (However, if enough time passes before the debut of such a 'Batman' series, we could claim that she is this Vicky Vale's illegitimate daughter.)

As for the Vicky Vale from the blipvert, it helps that no background information was supplied about her. That way there won't be a sense of deja view all over again with a future Vicky Vale.....

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: MAXIM DE WINTER

MAXIM DE WINTER

AS SEEN IN:

"Rebecca"

CREATED BY:

Daphne du Maurier

PORTRAYED BY:

Jeremy Brett

TV STATUS:

Recastaway

TV DIMENSION:

The world of TV remakes

From Wikipedia:

While working as the companion to a rich American woman vacationing on the French Riviera, the narrator becomes acquainted with a wealthy Englishman, Maximilian (Maxim) de Winter, a 40-something widower. After a fortnight of courtship, she agrees to marry him and, after the wedding and honeymoon, accompanies him to his mansion, the beautiful West Country estate Manderley.

[The] storm that had been building over the estate leads to a shipwreck. A diver investigating the condition of the wrecked ship's hull discovers the remains of Rebecca's boat.

The revelations from the shipwreck lead Maxim to confess the truth to our heroine; how his marriage to Rebecca was nothing but a sham; how from the very first days husband and wife loathed each other. Rebecca, Maxim reveals, was a cruel and selfish woman who manipulated everyone around her into believing her to be the perfect wife and a paragon of virtue. She repeatedly taunted Maxim with sordid tales of her numerous love affairs and suggested that she was pregnant with another man's child, which she would raise under the pretence that it was Maxim's and he would be powerless to stop her. Rebecca tries to convince Maxim to kill her, taunting him continuously. He, truly hating her, does in fact fatally shoot her. Worried that he might have to spend the rest of his life in jail, Maxim has disposed of her body on her boat, which he then has sunk at sea. Our heroine is relieved to hear he had never loved Rebecca, but really loves her.

Here's an interesting tidbit about the two British adaptations, outside the box:

"Rebecca" has been adapted for television both by the BBC and by Carlton Television. The 1980 BBC version starred Joanna David as the second Mrs. de Winter; it was broadcast in the United States on PBS as part of its 'Mystery!' series. The 1997 Carlton production starred Emilia Fox (Joanna David's daughter) in the same role, and was broadcast in the United States by PBS as part of its 'Masterpiece Theatre' series.

BCnU!

OUT OF THE SMOG

'MAD MEN'

"DARK SHADOWS"

It's a common refrain in my argument in defense of television that it's a teaching tool. And I especially enjoy when TV shows set in Toobworld incorporate actual historical events into their fictional storylines. I'm not just talking about the major moments in History like the sinking of the Titanic, the Civil War, and the assassinations of Presidents Kennedy and Lincoln. There are smaller events in History that are just as important and their use in TV shows can help keep them in people's memory.

A good show for this has been 'Mad Men' over the last few years, and a great example came up at the end of Sunday night's episode. As Megan Draper prepared for Thanksgiving dinner, she warned her husband Don to keep the patio door closed because of the high smog alert.

I'm the same age as Sally Draper; I was also eleven in 1966. But I grew up in Connecticut and I think the problem was limited to New York City. At the very least I don't remember anything about it. Which is why it's a good thing that there are web sites and blogs out there who do.

BCnU!

LIKE BILL CRIDER SAYS: WBAGNFARB

I think I've found the name for my band....

Jim Mueller:
The Skeeeeeeeviest Phrase of the Night award goes to 'Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations' for the use of the term... condiment udders. Never heard it before, now I can never forget it.

Thanks, Jim (and Mr. Crider)!

COMMISSIONER GORDON - RECOMMISSIONED

Commissioner Gordon doesn't appear in the OnStar commercials featuring Batman, but his voice can be heard when the Caped Crusader makes a call to his office from the Batmobile. We can tell it's not the Commissioner Gordon from the 1966 'Batman' series, and since it's not taking place in the Cineverse, it's probably not Gary Oldman providing the voice either.

It's not a recastaway, and I don't think it should be a theory of relateeveety with this new Commissioner Gordon being the son (or even grandson) of the original. Instead, I'm going with it being a totally different man as the Gotham City Police Commissioner. "Gordon" is a fairly common name and after forty plus years, it was pozz'ble, just pozz'ble, for the latest man to helm the department to be named Gordon.

BCnU!

ICEPICK OF THE LITTER

'THE FINDER'

"VOODOO UNDO"

In the penultimate episode of 'The Finder' (and I'm going to miss the series), Walter Sherman was faced with a contract killer who was only known by the name of "Icepick".

Thomas 'Magnum, P.I.' knew a retired gangster who was also known as "Icepick".

I'm resisting the urge to make the claim that they were father and son, with Junior picking up the family trade, because it doesn't seem likely that Elisha Cook, Jr. (as Francis Hofstetter) could have been the father of a character played by Michael Des Barres.

But I'll leave the door open for that possibility. Icepick Senior may have sent the lad off to boarding schools and then to Eton (which would splain the accent) to make sure he had everything in Life which he himself lacked.

"I thought that, that when it was your time, 

that you would be the one to hold the string.

Senator Corleone; Governor Corleone....."

Don Vito Corleone

"The Godfather"

That sort of thing......

However, if they were related, then Icepick Sr.'s plans, like Don Corleone's, fell apart.

The new Icepick may have picked up the alias after the original Icepick died (which would have been around 1995.) And if he was his son, maybe he chose to be known only as "Icepick" because he wasn't too crazy about the last name of "Hofstetter".

Who knows? Perhaps the new "Icepick" eased the original into that permanent retirement just so that he could have sole claim to the name......

Here's another thought - instead of being the son of the original Icepick, maybe the new Icepick was the front man for a rock band called Scum of the Earth.  Sir Charles "Dog" Weatherby and his band-mates took great pleasure in violence (as seen when the radio station 'WKRP In Cincinnatti' hosted one of their concerts.)  And "hoodlum rock" may have led to him branching out to more hardcore mayhem as a contract killer......

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: HAWKEYE & CHINGACHGOOK

NATTY "HAWKEYE" BUMPPO & CHINGACHGOOK

AS SEEN IN:

AS CREATED BY:

James Fenimore Cooper

AS PLAYED BY:

TV STATUS:

Originals (1957)

TV DIMENSION:

Earth Prime-Time

From Wikipedia:

HAWKEYE

Nathaniel "Natty" Bumppo is the protagonist of James Fenimore Cooper's pentalogy of novels known as the Leatherstocking Tales.

Natty Bumppo, although the child of white parents, grew up with Native Americans, becoming a near-fearless warrior skilled in many weapons, one of which is the long rifle. Hawkeye (one of his many nicknames) respects his forest home and all its inhabitants, hunting only what he needs to survive. And when it comes time to fire his trusty flintlock, he lives by the rule, "One shot, one kill." He and his Mohican "brother" Chingachgook champion goodness by trying to stop the incessant conflict between the Mohicans and the Hurons.

Before his appearance in "The Deerslayer", Bumppo went by the aliases of "Straight-Tongue", "The Pigeon", and the "Lap-Ear". After buying his first rifle, he gained the name of "Deerslayer". He is subsequently known as "Hawkeye" and "La Longue Carabine" in "The Last of the Mohicans", "Pathfinder" in "The Pathfinder", "Leatherstocking" in "The Pioneers", and "the trapper" in "The Prairie".

CHINGACHGOOK

Chingachgook was a fictional character in four of James Fenimore Cooper's five Leatherstocking Tales, including "The Last of the Mohicans". Chingachook was a lone Mohican chief and companion of the series' hero, Natty Bumppo. Chingachgook married Wah-ta-Wah, who bore him a son named Uncas but died while she was still young. Uncas, who was at his birth "last of the Mohicans", grew to manhood but was killed in a battle with the Huron warrior Magua. Chingachgook died as an old man in the novel "The Pioneers", which makes him the actual "last of the Mohicans," having outlived his son.

Chingachgook is said to have been modeled after a real-life wandering Mohican basket maker and hunter named Captain John. The fictional character, occasionally called John Mohegan in the series, was an idealized embodiment of the traditional noble savage. The French often refer to Chingachgook as “Le Grand Serpent”, the Great Snake, because he understands the winding ways of men's nature and he can strike a sudden, deadly blow.

BCnU!

BATMAN IN THE MODERN TOOBWORLD III

Once again, I am indebted to Robert Wronski, Jr. After I published the article about Batman in the modern world, he reminded me of the OnStar TV commercials featuring Batman.

As it turns out, there were six commercials in that series, but I only saw the one that featured Michael Gough as Alfred. YouTube has all six of them available for viewing, which I posted over the weekend. But someone has edited them all together into a movie trailer.

The studio gave OnStar access to the revamped Batmobile, sets from the movies, and even clips from the films. However, I think this could still be considered the Gotham City of the main Toobworld. We're just seeing a section of town that never showed up in the 1966 series.

The look from the movie was also used in the series 'Birds Of Prey', but that's in a different TV dimension because of the recasting of Barbara Gordon and the inclusion of Helena Kyle, the daughter of Batman and Catwoman. (That clashes with the Toobworld Dynamic vision of the Catwomen - not a typo.) In the pilot of that series, Bruce Thomas also played Batman as he does in the Onstar blipverts. However, the Dark Knight had since apparently abandoned the city (which is now known as New Gotham.)

I'm thinking the "evil mirror universe" would be a good place to put that spin-off from the Batman mythos.

In the main Toobworld, perhaps in that alt-dimension as well, Bruce Thomas would be portraying the third Caped Crusader, after Bruce Wayne, the original Batman, and Dick Grayson, who used to be Wayne's ward and sidekick known as Robin, the Boy Wonder. 

Eventually, as happened in that other TV dimension, this Batman may abandon the cause and leave Gotham City. Or he could be killed by one of his opponents. This will occur once Batman is recast for a new TV series that could be set in Earth Prime-Time. (Because of Bruce Thomas' age, I doubt he would be considered for the role again.)

With that new Batman, he'd probably be known as Bruce Wayne as well. And if they go into his origin story, his father should be Dr. Thomas Wayne. So I think we can assume the new Batman would be named after his grandfather, Bruce Wayne the original Batman.

As for the Batman portrayed by Bruce Thomas, he could be just about anybody from the actor's resume of TV credits, someone who could have had a career as a costumed crime-fighter in their past or in their future. Except maybe Stephan Trager, the father of two teen-agers in Seattle, Washington, who took in 'Kyle XY' as a fosterling.

So that takes care of how the OnStar Batman can remain in the main Toobworld along with the 1966 'Batman'. Now we just have to work up the splainins for the Joker, the Riddler, the Penguin, Alfred, Commisioner Gordon, and Vicky Vale.....

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: AUGUSTE DUPIN

AUGUSTE DUPIN

CREATED BY:

Edgar Allen Poe

PORTRAYED BY:

George C. Scott

AS SEEN IN:

"Murders In The Rue Morgue"

TV STATUS:

Recastaway

TV LOCATION:

TBD - possibly Earth Prime-Time (or alternate)

From Wikipedia:

Le Chevalier C. Auguste Dupin is a fictional detective created by Edgar Allan Poe. Dupin made his first appearance in Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" (1841), widely considered the first detective fiction story. He reappears in "The Mystery of Marie Rogêt" (1842) and "The Purloined Letter" (1844).

Dupin is not a professional detective and his motivations for solving the mysteries throughout the three stories change. Using what Poe termed "ratiocination", Dupin combines his considerable intellect with creative imagination, even putting himself in the mind of the criminal. His talents are strong enough that he appears able to read the mind of his companion, the unnamed narrator of all three stories.

Poe created the Dupin character before the word detective had been coined. The character laid the groundwork for fictitious detectives to come, including Sherlock Holmes, and established most of the common elements of the detective fiction genre.

Dupin is from what was once a wealthy family, but "by a variety of untoward events" has been reduced to more humble circumstances, and contents himself only with the basic necessities of life. He now lives in Paris with his close friend, the anonymous narrator of the stories. The two met by accident while both were searching for "the same rare and very remarkable volume" in an obscure library. This scene, the two characters searching for a hidden text, serves as a metaphor for detection. They promptly move to an old manor located in Faubourg Saint Germain. 

For hobbies, Dupin is "fond" of enigmas, conundrums, and hieroglyphics. He bears the title Chevalier, meaning that he is a knight in the Légion d'honneur. Dupin shares some features with the later gentleman detective, a character type that became common in the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. He is acquainted with police prefect "G", who appears in all three stories seeking his counsel.

Dupin is portrayed as a dehumanized thinking machine, a man whose sole interest is in pure logic. This view of Dupin serves as a counterpoint to Poe's concept of perversity, introduced in "The Imp of the Perverse". This impulse embodies no reasoning and, in fact, urges people to act upon things in the opposite manner to what logic would suggest.

In "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", Dupin investigates the murder of a mother and daughter in Paris. He investigates another murder in "The Mystery of Marie Rogêt". This story was based on the true story of Mary Rogers, a saleswoman at a cigar store in Manhattan whose body was found floating in the Hudson River in 1841. Dupin's final appearance, in "The Purloined Letter", features an investigation of a letter stolen from the French queen. Poe called this story "perhaps, the best of my tales of ratiocination". Throughout the three stories, Dupin travels through three distinct settings. In "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", he travels through city streets; in "The Mystery of Marie Rogêt", he is in the wide outdoors; in "The Purloined Letter", he is in an enclosed private space.

Dupin is not actually a professional detective, and his motivations change through his appearances. In "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", he investigates the murders for his personal amusement, and to prove the innocence of a falsely accused man. He refuses a financial reward. However, in "The Purloined Letter", Dupin purposefully pursues a financial reward.

This is another example of a character who is also shared by the Wold Newton Universe, but the Toobworld Dynamic does not have the connections between Dupin and members of the Wold Newton Family.

Scott's portrayal was not the first English-language version; that honor goes to Edward Woodward for an episode of 'Detective' eighteen years earlier. However, this is more accessible and more expansive on the characterization, so I lean towards this trumping that earlier production and being the official televersion for Poe's detective in Earth Prime-Time.

As for the other portrayals, Daniel Gelin, Laurent Terzieff, and Pierre Vaneck - they can all be found in alternate TV dimensions in which the French held sway in world domination. (Surely, out of the thousands of alternate dimensions mentioned in 'Sliders', there had to be more than one in which the whole world spoke French.)

Gelin, being the first of the French actors to play the role, would be given supremacy in the main French TV dimension in which I place other TV shows from France. Terzieff and Vaneck, like Woodward, played the role in episodes of anthology series, whereas Scott and Gelin played Dupin in longer, more detailed productions. In fact, the argument could be made that since the story takes place in France, then Gelin's portrayal should be considered the true Dupin of Toobwoorld.  (I'd like to know your opinion on the subject.....)

The very first TV portrayal of Dupin was in 1954, in a German production with Walter Andreas Schwarz as the Chevalier. So that can be placed in the TV dimension in which the Germans conquered the world back in the 18th Century. And again, that was in only one episode of an anthology series.....

The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1986) (TV) Played by George C. Scott

"Histoires extraordinaires"
- La lettre volée (1981) TV episode, Played by Pierre Vaneck (as Dupin)

"Les grands détectives"
- Le Chevalier Dupin: La lettre volée (1974) TV episode, Played by Laurent Terzieff

Le double assassinat de la rue Morgue (1973) (TV) Played by Daniel Gélin (as Dupin)

"Detective"
- The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1968) TV episode, Played by Edward Woodward

"Die Galerie der großen Detektive"
- Auguste Dupin findet den entwendeten Brief (1954) TV episode, Played by Walter Andreas Schwarz

BCnU!

LEGGO MY EDDARD!

This being Sunday, I have to have some 'Game Of Thrones' content, only not what you might expect.....

BCnU!