MONDO MAZZACANE II

Recently I posted about two characters played by my old college friend Roy Mazzacane - that his wedding guest on '30 Rock' was the Rhode Island state representative from an episode of 'Brotherhood'.

Now we know that same guy, Rep. Anthony Hanley, recently had hip replacement surgery in Connecticut.....

Rep. Hanley is now eligible for one day joining the TV Crossover Hall of Fame, probably on the Birthday Honors List......

BCnU!

PRESIDENT OBAMA LOVES YOU... MAYBE

Here's a video sent to me by my sister/godchild, Leah. Apparently the drunken college students renting the cabin farther down the cove were singing this last weekend at the Lake. Luckily I didn't hear them, so my birthday celebration wasn't ruined.

So this qualifies as the first time I ever heard the song at all:

BCnU!

"THE WIRE - THE MUSICAL"

Here's a video that's been making the rounds - the musical based on the HBO series 'The Wire':

The Wire: The Musical with Michael Kenneth Williams from Michael Kenneth Williams

In case you were wondering, that would be found in the TV dimension known as Skitlandia.....

Someone on YouTube also thought of 'The Wire' as a musical and used the Baltimore song from "Hairspray" as the bed for a collection of scenes from the show:

BCnU!

THE HAT SQUAD: RAY BRADBURY

Fantastic author of the Fantastic, Ray Bradbury, passed away on June 5th at the age of 91. Some say he left this world along with the Transit of Venus, which has a nice Twainish vibe to it. (Samuel Clemens was born in the year of Halley's Comet and died when it came around the next time.)

For a time, Mr. Bradbury's serlinguistic presence graced our TV screens with his introductions to the adaptations of his stories in the anthology series 'The Ray Bradbury Theater' (aka 'Strange Tales: Ray Bradbury Presents'). Each week we got to peek inside the magical toy box which was his office in Los Angeles.

Here's a typical example:

"You see that sign there?
That says 'Apple Sauce'......"

Good night and may God bless......

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: ERIC NORTHMAN

'True Blood' returns tomorrow night at 9 pm on HBO. That's why we featured Bill Compton and Sam Merlotte during the week in the "As Seen On TV" showcase. And that's why we're concluding with today's special guest star....

ERIC NORTHMAN

CREATED BY:

Charlaine Harris

PORTRAYED BY:

Alexander Skarsgard

AS SEEN IN:

'True Blood'

From Wikipedia:
Eric Northman is a fictional character in "The Southern Vampire Mysteries", a series of twelve books written by New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris. He is a vampire, slightly over one thousand years old, and is first introduced in the first novel, "Dead Until Dark" and appears in all subsequent novels. Since the book series is told from the first person perspective of Sookie Stackhouse, what readers perceive of his character is influenced by what Sookie comprehends. HBO's television series 'True Blood' is based on this book series and the character of Eric Northman is portrayed somewhat differently.

In the early books, little was revealed about his past. In the ninth book, "Dead and Gone", Eric revealed details about his human life as a Viking. He was deemed a man at the age of twelve. At sixteen he married Aude, his brother's widow. The couple had six children, but only three were living at the time of his turning, two boys and a girl. Aude and their sixth child died of a fever shortly after the birth when Eric was in his early twenties. It is revealed in the television series that the vampire king of Mississippi murdered his entire family before stealing his father's Viking crown. 

In the books, he was ambushed one night by a Roman vampire named Appius Livius Ocella and subsequently turned. In the television series, he was made a vampire by Godric. In the television show, it is also shown that Eric was a Viking prince, which is neither denied nor explicitly stated in the novel series.

BCnU!

"MAD MEN" MUSINGS

'MAD MEN'

"COMMISSIONS AND FEES"

I don't want to give away too much of what happened in the penultimate episode of 'Mad Men' for this season. Even though it aired this past Sunday, some people may not have even seen it yet. It's Thursday afternoon and I just watched it myself. Besides, if you really want to know, there are plenty of TV recap sites where you can find out.

But for the point of this post, I will tell you this - Don Draper had to deliver devastating news to one of the other partners in the firm, Lane Pryce. Lane was left with no other options than what was offered to him by Don, although eventually he found his own solution to the problem.

But at one point, Don told him that Cooper didn't know anything about what Don knew.

This is the world of 'Mad Men'. If follows the path set for it as envisioned by show creator Matt Weiner. But take that scene out of context, (complete with the previous scene with Burt Cooper which set everything into motion), think of it as the opening scene in some other show, and it's not hard to imagine that the plotline would go off in a totally different direction.

Imagine these scenes set instead in the first twenty minutes of a 'Columbo' episode......

It certainly would fit in easily enough. The late Peter Falk never showed up as the Lieutenant for about twenty minutes on average in any given episode. So we wouldn't need to see him to make this a 'Columbo' episode.

Where the plot would have changed would be after Don told Lane that Burt Cooper didn't know anything about the truth behind the reason for the fateful meeting.

If this had been an episode of 'Columbo', it would be at this point where Lane Pryce would have realized he had yet another option open to him. And in desperation he would have seized on it - he would have killed Don Draper to mask the truth.

Of course, the scene took place in New York City, during the Christmas season of 1966. It's pozz'ble, just pozz'ble, that Columbo was still in NYC as a detective under the mentorship of Sgt. Gilhooley. But the timeline is tight - he was already a lieutenant in the Los Angeles Homicide Division by the time he was investigating the Flemming case in 1968.

I'm just saying that the set-up would have worked out totally differently than it did in 'Mad Men' had it been done on 'Columbo'.....

BCnU!

TWIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES - THE BODIES PILE UP FROM "BODY OF PROOF"

Going into the season finale of 'Body Of Proof', it wasn't clear if the medical/police procedural was going to get a third season. And yet they went ahead with a season-ending cliffhanger. But now that it has been confirmed the ABC drama will be back, it looks like we can assume what the outcome will be.

As the episode ended, Dr. Megan Hunt cradled her seriously injured colleague Pete Dunlop. Well, now we've learned that Nicholas Bishop, who played Peter, won't be returning to the series. So I would think the simplest way to handle this would be that his character died.

But his character isn't the only one to jump (get pushed off the) ship.....

It was first announced yesterday that John Carroll Lynch was dismissed from the show. He played one of the two detectives that worked often with the medical examiner's office in Philadelphia. And as much as I like him, at least I knew he had another Toobworld role lined up with an NBC medical drama. So I started thinking of this post as being just about him - what reason might they come up with for Bud Morris to leave the force; how his former partner Samantha Baker might deal with it; who might her new partner be.

Well, guess what? Sonja Sohn, who played Sam, won't be coming back to the show either!

At least with Bud, I thought he might decide to get reassigned now that he had a baby this late in his life. But why would Sam go?

I think I could see a good reason as to why the producers decided to let both Lynch and Sohn go (although it could just be a money issue). Bud and Sam had become too cozy with the forensics team, after working together for so long. The show needed some inner conflict again, and they could now get that if they bring in some new detectives to clash with Dr. Hunt over her findings connected to whatever case they were investigating.

We'll see how it plays out. 'Body Of Proof' is one of those shows I like to settle back and watch in the morning once I get home from work. A lot of easy-going murder mysteries are like that for me - 'The Glades', 'The Mentalist', 'Castle', 'White Collar', and 'Psych'. When it comes to viewing, those shows are my comfort food.

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: JOHNNY NOLAN

 

 JOHNNY NOLAN

CREATED BY:

Betty Smith

PORTRAYED BY:

Cliff Robertson

AS SEEN IN:

"A Tree Grows In Brooklyn"

From Wikipedia:

Johnny Nolan is Francie's father. He is a second generation immigrant from Ireland. He has a protective mother and had three brothers, all of whom died young. Johnny marries Katie Rommely at nineteen. He is charismatic, a loving husband and father, loved dearly by his family but especially by Francie. He is, however, an alcoholic. 

When he does hold a job, Johnny works as a singing waiter. He has a beautiful voice, a talent that is greatly admired but that is largely wasted because of his reputation as an alcoholic. After Katie tells him that she is pregnant with their third child, he stops drinking and immediately falls into a deep depression that ends with his death from alcoholism-induced pneumonia. 

He is a dreamer, in sharp contrast to Katie, whose view of the world is realistic.

BCnU!

SOUNDING OFF

I posted this to "The Medium Is Not Enough" (Link to the left, my audiophiles) today in response to Rob's observations about the importance of sound to TV........

This morning I sat down to watch my recording of the season premiere of 'The Glades' and found that only the ambient noises - footsteps, jukebox music in the background, rustling papers, gators sliding into the water - could be heard. But everybody was moving their lips and you couldn't even hear a faint version of their dialogue. When the commercials came on, no problem, you heard everything. Unless it was an A&E interstitial promo. Very bizarre.

Luckily I just switched over to On Demand to watch it....

I'm expecting that when I finally get around to seeing the series premiere of 'Longmire' which followed, the same thing will happen......

Did anybody else have that happen to them? I also found my recordings of 'Veep' and 'Game Of Thrones' were in Spanish as well.

I think my latest DVR, Dmitri*, is plotting against me.....

BCnU!

* In order to keep track how many DVRs I go through, I've started naming them in alphabetical order.  So it's Anatole, Bolivar, Clem, and Dmitri.....

THEORY OF RELATEEVEETY: FROM JIM TO JANE

I'm leaning toward Robert Newton's portrayal of Long John Silver as being the official one for Toobworld, even though it was not the first. His peg-legged pirate is however the most famous one and really captures the public's vision of the character. In this way, his Long John Silver is much like Jeremy Brett's Sherlock Holmes - far from the first, but the definitive version for Earth Prime-Time.

As such, that means Kit Taylor's portrayal of young Jim Hawkins would be the official resident of the main TV dimension. Here's a studio portrait of Jim Hawkins......

Am I the only one who see it? I'm thinking that Jim Hawkins' family tree can be traced forward into the present day and ultimately lead us to one of the leading "detectives" of the day.....

Patrick Jane.

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: FRANCIE NOLAN

FRANCIE NOLAN

CREATED BY:

Betty Smith

PORTRAYED BY:

Pamelyn Ferdin

AS SEEN IN:

"A Tree Grows In Brooklyn"

From Wikipedia:

"A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" is a 1943 novel written by Betty Smith. The story focuses on an Irish-American family in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City. The novel is set in the first and second decades of the 20th century. The book was an immense success.

The main metaphor of the book is the hardy Tree of Heaven, native to China and Taiwan, now considered invasive, and common in the vacant lots of New York City.

Mary Frances "Francie" Nolan is the protagonist. The novel begins when Francie is 11 years old. The rest of the novel tells of Francie's life until she goes to college at 17. Francie grows up in Brooklyn in the early twentieth century; her family is in constant poverty throughout most of the novel. Francie shares a great admiration for her father, Johnny Nolan, and wishes for an improved relationship with her mother, hardworking Katie Nolan, recognizing similar traits in her mother and herself that she believes are a barrier to true understanding.

The story of Francie traces her individual desires, affections, and hostilities while growing up in an aggressive, individualistic, romantic, and ethnic family and neighborhood; more universally it represents the hopes of immigrants in the early twentieth century to rise above poverty through their children, whom they hope will receive "education" and take their place among true Americans. Francie is symbolized by the "Tree of Heaven" that flourishes under the most unlikely urban circumstances.

BCnU!

JAQEN AROUND II

I don't know if we will ever find out who previously owned that face conjured up by Jaqen H'ghar at the end of the 'Game Of Thrones' second season finale, but I think a likely candidate would be one of the many sons of Walder Frey.......

BCnU!

JAQEN AROUND

SPOILERS AHEAD!

For a new TV character to be considered a candidate for the annual Toobits Awards, that character has to have more than just an interesting personality and appearance, and be played by a really good actor. That TV character should bring something special to the Toobworld concept.

And a leading candidate this year for the Toobits Awards who fits that description is Jaqen H'ghar, from Season Two of 'Game Of Thrones'.

It's more than German actor Tom Wlaschiha bringing a coldly charismatic intensity to the role of Arya's personal assassin/guardian angel. And even though Jaqen has a unique style of speech, ("The man needs the girl to give him a name."), it goes beyond that as well.

It's because of the "Faceless Men" concept from the "Song Of Ice And Fire" books by George R.R. Martin. The Faceless Men are a guild of assassins who can "magically" change their appearance to become someone else. In the books, it's because of skin masks (Shades of Hannibal Lecter!) - apparently of previous victims - which the Faceless Men can wear and absorb traits of the previous "owner". (I have not read the books, and am getting this information from a "Game of Thrones" wiki. So I may not have that description exactly right.)

At the end of Arya's storyline on the season finale, Jaqen left her and he was now sporting a new face. It looked as though he just turned away and became somebody totally different. Whether the splainin as far as the TV show goes will coincide with that from the books or will just be chalked up to "magic", remains to be seen. (Personally? I'd prefer the Toobworld splainin of muscle manipulation, as seen in 'The Twilight Zone' episode "The Four Of Us Are Dying" and in "Small Potatoes", an episode of 'The X-Files'.)

So here's why this is an important development for Toobworld......

For the purposes of the Toobworld Dynamic only, the events of 'Game Of Thrones' takes place on another planet, not in the Age of Legends on Earth Prime-Time. Instead I've placed the continent of Westeros and its neighbor to the East across the Narrow Sea (where the Free Cities, Dothrak, Qarth, and the Red Waste can be found) on Earth's "twin", Mondas - the planet of origin for the original Cybermen in 'Doctor Who'.

"Mondas" supposedly means "Earth" in the old language, according to the Doctor (And by "old language", I'm assuming he meant Old High Gallifreyan.), and it was the Earth created by God. On the other hand, Earth Prime-Time is an artificial construct built by the Magratheans to be a super computer on order from pan-dimensional beings and based on a design by the previous super computer, Deep Thought.

I wrote about Mondas and its place in the history of the Toobworld timeline here. I am sure that one day I will have to amend that and add to it.

At any rate, when the population of Mondas was transformed into Cybermen, I'm sure they didn't all volunteer for the conversion. And I think many of those chose instead to not only rebel, but flee the planet altogether. Because their timeline was farther along than that of Earth Prime-Time (having been around a lot longer), they knew of their sister in synchronous orbit and probably decided to go there in order to escape.

We met one of those surviving rebels from Mondas in "Probe 7 - Over And Out", an episode of 'The Twilight Zone'. Her name was Eve Norta and she encountered Captain Adam Cooke, who had just recently crash-landed on the planet with no hope for rescue from his home planet (which was about to destroy itself in internecine conflift.) Eve and Adam - yes, it was a "shaggy dog" story, but it was not the Biblical version of the Garden of Eden, as that took place on Mondas.

Eve Norta drew a crude map in the dirt to show Captain Cooke where she came from. But since they still had a language barrier between them, he totally misread her diagram. He thought it meant that she was from another galaxy and that her planet moved away from its sun. As it turned out, Mondas did break free of its orbit around Sol, but that would have happened after Eve's fellow rebels escaped the Cybermen conversion.

When Adam asked her if there were others, Eve said no, that she was the only one. Again, this could either have been his misinterpretation of what she was trying to say, or we might have to assume that the dictum of Dr. House existed even back in those prehistoric days - "Everybody lies." It's pozz'ble, just pozz'ble, that for whatever reason, Eve Norta was driven away from the refugees camp. And now she didn't want to lose this one chance to have "human" contact again if Adam should find out why she was now on her own.

So it's going to be the Toobworld contention that Eve was not the only one to escape from the planet Mondas. And with those other refugees came remnants of their culture from life in the lands of Westeros (whatever their names may have been by that point.) This would have included their own names which would go on to survive down the ages - like Stark, Tully, Jaime, Robert/Robb, Jon & Snow, Sam, Brandon, Ned, and the variants from Paetyr, Joffrey, Eddard, Podrick..... 

 The legendary cruelty of Queen Cersei may have been the inspiration for the witch Circe. And someone must have brought along the chronicles of the "medieval" life on Mondas, which somehow was found by the televersion of George R.R. Martin (seen in a restaurant during an episode of 'Beauty And The Beast') and which he used to create his epic saga... once he decoded it.

But those refugees may have brought along something else with them - magic. It would have been in remission on Mondas by the time of rise of the Cybermen; science held sway by that point. (Another 'Twilight Zone' episode is also considered part of Mondasian history - "Number Twelve Looks Just Like You". Not only is the timeline wrong for Earth Prime-Time, but replacing bodies seems like the logical, previous step before Cyber-conversion.)

And one part of that magic that made the journey to Earth Prime-Time could have been the Faceless Men's power to alter one's appearance. For alls we know, it might have been Eve who used such a power, and if the others found out it would be a good reason as to why they banished her.

This is why I was so psyched about this plot development in the story of Jaqen H'ghar - we can now use this Faceless Men technique as another splainin for recastaways. And if more than one Faceless Man can use the same mask, then we have a splainin for multiple appearances by certain actors without falling on the old "identical cousin" gambit.

However.... There is one downside to this development going into the third season of 'Game Of Thrones' (for which we'll have to wait a year!) - It probably means we have seen the last of

Tom Wlaschiha in the series.

If so, this man is going to miss that man.....

BCnU!

CROSSOVER WISHCRAFT

Here's a Facebook thread which I recently participated in:

Antenna TV - Tribune Broadcasting Company:
Dennis the Menace's Dad (Herbert Anderson) shows up on 'Dragnet' at 6:30p ET. What Antenna TV crossover would you love to see? Maybe Officer Reed arrests Jack Benny for being so cheap :)

Mercedes:
'Hazel' on 'Good Times'

Michelle:
How about a conversation between Joe Friday and Gracie Allen?

John :
Fred Sanford and 'Maude'

Toby:
I'm a fan of all sorts of crossovers, but I don't think I'd want to see any of the characters from the other shows crossing over to 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' - for their own safety!

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: GANDALF THE GREY

Today is my birthday. I am as old as Heinz has varieties. As old as Springsteen has channels with nothing on. I am fifteen years beyond the last numeral in the Valenzetti Sequence.

And so to mark the occasion for myself, I've chosen a character for the year-long literary edition of the "As Seen On TV" showcase from my all-time favorite novels.

So here's my mathom to you.....

GANDALF THE GREY

AS SEEN IN:

"The Hobbit"

CREATED BY:

J.R.R. Tolkien

VOICED BY:

John Huston

TV LOCATION:

The Tooniverse

From Wikipedia:

Gandalf is a character in J. R. R. Tolkien's novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. In these stories, Gandalf appears as a wizard, member and later the head (after Saruman's betrayal and fall) of the order known as the Istari, as well as leader of the Fellowship of the Ring and the army of the West. In The Lord of the Rings, he is initially known as Gandalf the Grey, but returns from death as Gandalf the White.

In Valinor, Gandalf was known as Olórin. As recounted in the "Valaquenta" in The Silmarillion, he was one of the Maiar of Valinor, specifically, of the people of the Vala Manwë; and was said to be the wisest of the Maiar. He lived in the gardens of Irmo under the tutelage of Nienna, the patron of mercy. When the Valar decided to send the order of the Wizards to Middle-earth in order to counsel and assist all those who opposed Sauron, Olórin was proposed by Manwë. Olórin initially begged to be excused as he feared Sauron and lacked the strength to face him, but Manwe replied that that was all the more reason for him to go.

Gandalf the Grey was the last of the Istari landing in Mithlond. He seemed the oldest and least in stature of them, but Círdan the Shipwright felt that he had the highest inner greatness on their first meeting in the Havens, and gave him Narya, the Ring of Fire. Saruman learned of the gift and resented it. Gandalf hid the ring well, and it was not widely known until he left with the other ring-bearers at the end of the Third Age that he, and not Círdan, was the holder of the third of the Elven-rings.

Gandalf's relationship with Saruman, the head of the Order, was strained. The Wizards were commanded to aid Men, Elves, and Dwarves, but only through counsel; it was forbidden to use force to dominate them — an injunction Saruman disregarded.

In T.A. 2941, Gandalf arranged (and frequently accompanied) a band of thirteen dwarves and the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins to reclaim from the dragon Smaug the Dwarves' lost treasure in Erebor. To the quest, Gandalf contributed a map and key to Erebor. It was on this Quest of Erebor that Gandalf found his sword, Glamdring, in a troll's treasure hoard, and that Bilbo found the One Ring, in a chance meeting with the creature Gollum (though at the time it was thought to be a lesser ring).

Tolkien discusses the characteristics of Gandalf in his essay on the Istari, which appears in the work Unfinished Tales. He describes Gandalf as the last of the wizards to appear in Middle-earth, one who: "seemed the least, less tall than the others, and in looks more aged, grey-haired and grey-clad, and leaning on a staff". Yet the Elf Círdan who met him on arrival nevertheless considered him "the greatest spirit and the wisest" and gave him the elven Ring of power called Narya, the Ring of Fire, containing a "red" stone for his aid and comfort.

Tolkien explicitly links Gandalf to the element Fire later in the same essay:

Warm and eager was his spirit (and it was enhanced by the ring Narya), for he was the Enemy of Sauron, opposing the fire that devours and wastes with the fire that kindles, and succours in wanhope and distress; but his joy, and his swift wrath, were veiled in garments grey as ash, so that only those that knew him well glimpsed the flame that was within. Merry he could be, and kindly to the young and simple, yet quick at times to sharp speech and the rebuking of folly; but he was not proud, and sought neither power nor praise... Mostly he journeyed unwearingly on foot, leaning on a staff, and so he was called among Men of the North Gandalf 'the Elf of the Wand'. For they deemed him (though in error) to be of Elven-kind, since he would at times work wonders among them, loving especially the beauty of fire; and yet such marvels he wrought mostly for mirth and delight, and desired not that any should hold him in awe or take his counsels out of fear. ... Yet it is said that in the ending of the task for which he came he suffered greatly, and was slain, and being sent back from death for a brief while was clothed then in white, and became a radiant flame (yet veiled still save in great need).

I realize the Rankin-Bass version pales in comparison to the Peter Jackson movies. However, this is Toobworld, and burglars can't be choosers.  We takes what we can gets, my Precious.....

BCnU!

TELE-QUICKIES: BEHIND THE EIGHT DOOR

'MIDSOMER MURDERS'

"GARDEN OF DEATH"

In 1996, Cynthia Bennett inveigled Charles King and Rodney Widger to a hotel for a bit of "afternoon delight". The number of her hotel room? "8".......

See you in another life, Brotha......

AS SEEN ON TV: THE TWEEDLES

TWEEDLE DEE & TWEEDLE DUM

AS SEEN IN:

"Alice In Wonderland" (1999)

CREATED BY:

Lewis Carroll

ORIGINALLY FOUND IN:

"Through The Looking Glass And What Alice Found There"

PORTRAYED BY:

George Wendt & Robbie Coltrane

TV STATUS:

Recastaways

TV DIMENSION:

Dreamscape

From Wikipedia:

Tweedledum and Tweedledee are fictional characters in an English language nursery rhyme and in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There. Their names may have originally come from an epigram written by poet John Byrom. The nursery rhyme has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19800. The names have since become synonymous in western popular culture slang for any two people who look and act in identical ways, generally in a derogatory context.

In the film "Alice in Wonderland" (1999), Tweedledum & Tweedledee appeared despite the fact that the movie was mostly based on the first book. They appear right after Alice's encounter with the talking flowers, which also were originally only in Through the Looking-Glass.

Tweedledum and Tweedledee

Agreed to have a battle;

For Tweedledum said Tweedledee

Had spoiled his nice new rattle.

Just then flew down a monstrous crow,

As black as a tar-barrel;

Which frightened both the heroes so,

They quite forgot their quarrel.

Two for Tuesday!

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: SAM MERLOTTE

SAM MERLOTTE

AS SEEN IN:

'True Blood'

CREATED BY:

Charlaine Harris

PORTRAYED BY:

Sam Trammell

TV DIMENSION:

Earth Prime-Time

From Wikipedia:

Sam Merlotte is a fictional character from the The Southern Vampire Mysteries/Sookie Stackhouse Series by author Charlaine Harris.

Sam lives in the fictional town of Bon Temps, Louisiana, and is the owner of a bar named Merlotte's. Sam has strawberry blond hair with blue eyes. He is both a close friend of and the employer of mind-reading barmaid Sookie Stackhouse. 

Sam is a shape shifter. His biological mother was a shifter as well as his brother. He is a true shape-shifter in that he can take the form of any animal; although his preferred shape is that of a collie, he can change into any animal he has seen. On nights when the moon is full, Sam - like all shapeshifters - feels a strong urge to change; the rest of the time he can do it at will. 

In the eighth book during the were war, instead of turning into a collie as usual, Sam unexpectedly changes to a lion to protect Sookie. It is said that the enemy werewolves were even frightened to challenge him due to his now great strength, though he is eventually challenged by the enemy pack leader, who initially jumps on his back but proves to be no real challenge as he defeats her with little effort and then goes on to kill more werewolves brutally, as Sookie watches now under Claudine's protection.

Sam has expressed his interest in Sookie and has kissed her on more than one occasion, but the two have never actually dated. He remains her good friend and supporter. He is protective of Sookie and is both jealous and concerned when Sookie involves herself first with the vampire Bill Compton and then Bill's employer Eric Northman. Under the guise of platonic friendship, he often advises Sookie to get away from the vampires while she still can. Despite this, Sam is dragged into the drama that surrounds Sookie and other supernatural creatures on an irregular basis.

Sam also engages in a sexual relationship with Callisto, a maenad, who briefly drifts through Sookie's hometown (and later attacks Sookie). Callisto leaves Bon Temps shortly after the attack.

When Sookie unexpectedly discovers that Sam is a shape-shifter, she is hurt that he did not see fit to confide in her because she has always been open with him about her own condition. With time, their friendship recovers.

In the HBO series 'True Blood', based on The Southern Vampire Mysteries, Sam is portrayed by actor Sam Trammell. In the first season, Sam engages in a brief sexual relationship with Tara Thornton. Sam is also revealed, in the second season, to have had a sexual encounter with the maenad Maryann while he was still an adolescent.

Maryann comes to Bon Temps looking for the now adult Sam, convinced that he is the sacrificial victim she needs to bring forth her god. In the season's conclusion, Sam and Bill concoct a scheme to trick Maryann into making herself vulnerable, and succeeds in killing her by shifting into a white bull, which is the symbol for Maryann's god, with her defences down, Sam in bull form uses his horn to impale her and then transforms back to his human self to rip out her heart.

I think that if the situation arises, we could claim that some animal who makes a one-shot appearance in another TV show, one who displays human intelligence and reasoning, could be Sam Merlotte.  It would be preferable if that animal was also located down South, but it would be easy enough to splain away why Sam had been traveling.  And this could take place before or after the events of 'True Blood'.  We might even build up Sam's resume enough so that he could be considered for the honorary Birthday List induction into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame.

(And TV commercials could be considered for this as well!)

BCnU!

THE WILDFIRE BATTLE

Tonight is the season finale for 'Game of Thrones'. So let's take a look back at the best scene from last week's episode, "Blackwater".

They shot the wad on the budget for this one, folks!

BCnU!

A CRAZY CROSSOVER

WHAT IF......?

What if 'Once Upon A Time' crossed over with 'The Walking Dead'?

On Comedy Central?

NUMBERS RUNNING: "O'HARA, US TREASURY"

I'm working on a "Theories Of Relateeveety" post and needed to just check out some video for 'O'Hara, US Treasury'. And as you can see, I found two of "The Numbers" from the Valenzetti Sequence as seen in 'Lost':

BCnU!

"ALICE IN WONDERLAND" - 1966

My thanks to Rob Buckley for pointing out this 1966 televersion of "Alice In Wonderland". Not only will I be able to use a lot of the characters during the year for my daily "As Seen On TV" showcase, but I'm working out the kinks for a blog post about a connection I can make to my all-time favorite TV show.....

Look for an uncredited Eric Idle as a top-hatted member of the Caucus Race near the beginning......

SKED ALERT - "THE MINDY PROJECT"

As the summer progresses, I'll be sharing some of the preview trailers for the new shows coming to the networks this Fall.

To begin with, here's Mindy Kaling in her new series....

AS SEEN ON TV: SENATOR ENFIELD BASSETT

SENATOR ENFIELD BASSETT

AS SEEN IN:

'Captains And The Kings'

CREATED BY:

Taylor Caldwell

PORTRAYED BY:

Henry Fonda

TV LOCATION:

Earth Prime-Time

From Wikipedia:

"Captains and the Kings" is a 1972 historical novel by Taylor Caldwell chronicling the rise to wealth and power of an Irish immigrant, Joseph Francis Xavier Armagh, who arrives penniless as a teenager in the United States of America. An inter-generational saga focusing on the themes of the American dream, discrimination and bigotry in American life, and of history as made by a cabal of the rich and powerful, it was one of the top 10 best-sellers of 1972, as ranked by The New York Times Best Seller list. Caldwell drew heavily on aspects of the Kennedy family, John D. Rockefeller and Howard Hughes.

Senator Bassett's personal history is spelled out in Fonda's one big scene in the mini-series, as seen below:

As reincarnation exists in the Toobworld Dynamic, there is a possibility that the soul of Senator Bassett was reborn as Judge Monte Stanton as seen in "All The King's Men" (which was made for television in the 1950's.)

BCnU!