THE HAT SQUAD: REMEMBERING NEIL ARMSTRONG

Toobworld Central remembers one of the last true heroes, Neil Armstrong, who passed away at the age of 82 today. In Toobworld, the first man to walk on the Moon was portrayed by Tony Goldwyn in "From The Earth To The Moon".....

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

WESTVIEW: "KUNG FU: THE LEGEND CONTINUES" - "THE GUNFIGHTERS"

Since Clint Walker played the feature character in today's "ASOTV" showcase, here he is again as his most famous TV character - Hall of Famer Cheyenne Bodie.  Only this time, he's crossing over into the 'Kung Fu' spin-off......

THE HAT SQUAD: REMEMBERING WILLIAM WINDOM

The great character actor William Windom passed away earlier this week at the age of 88. I have something more substantial planned to celebrate his career in Toobworld, but it will have to wait until I get back from vacation.....

In the meantime, here are some highlights from his TV career:

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

THE HAT SQUAD: REMEMBERING PHYLLIS DILLER

The legendary and barrier-bustin' Phyllis Diller passed away this week at the age of 95. As a tip of the Toobworld cap, here are a hodge-podge of videos celebrating her work in television......

And for the Wild Wild West theme we're running this month:

Good night and may God bless.....

THE HAT SQUAD: REMEMBERING JERRY NELSON

Good night and may God bless.....

AS SEEN ON TV: JOE BEAN

JOE BEAN

CREATED BY:

James Michener

PORTRAYED BY:

Clint Walker

AS SEEN IN:

'Centennial'

TV DIMENSION:

Earth Prime-Time

Joe Bean was a frontiersman who knew Pasquinel.

Clint Walker barely had five minutes of screen time in 'Centennial', even though he was one of the biggest (literally!) TV Western stars in the past. I think he was brought in for the star power he lent to the production early in its schedule, when all the series had going for it at the time was Robert Conrad, Richard Chamberlain, and Raymond Burr.  None of them were slouches, but far from enough for an audience to invest the time in the story at that early stage.

BCnU!

WISH-CRAFT: JUST THE ARTIFACTS, MA'AM.....

'WAREHOUSE 13' - "NO PAIN, NO GAIN"

'WHITE COLLAR' - "IDENTITY CRISIS"

'CENTENNIAL' - "THE YELLOW APRON"

Mrs. Frederick, a mysterious protector of the Warehouse, told her protege Claudia that a power-infused artifact comes into being because of the convergence of the object, a person, and the impact from an event:

Claudia: I thought most artifacts came from bold-face names You know, people with Wikipedia pages.
Mrs. Frederic: The creation of an artifact is simply the meeting of an artifact, a person, and a moment.

The day after that episode, the 'White Collar' crew went on a "National Treasure" hunt for the flag borne by George Washington's troops when they crossed the Delaware on that fateful night of December 25, 1776. The reverence with which it was treated made me wonder if it too could have become an artifact.

And then I remembered Claudia's realization that not every artifact was going to be attached to a "bold-face name" in History. From there, I began to think that within the "reality" of Earth Prime-Time, maybe items associated with fictional characters could be artifacts as well.

How many artifacts stored in the Warehouse could actually be warlocks and witches transformed into objects like chairs and bedpans?

Since I've been focused on 'Centennial' all month, one particular object came to mind:

As to what power Alexander McKeag's yellow apron might hold, I think it would give its bearer the ability to force reconciliation with one's enemies. But there would be a side effect - it could turn a man into a woman. (The one who wore it at that fur-trappers' gathering had to act like the woman while dancing with the others.)

That doesn't sound too bad, no need to snag, bag, and tag the yellow apron..... Unless it also caused the man wearing it to have a period and/or get pregnant!

BCnU!

WESTVIEW: "THE HIGH CHAPPARAL" - "BUFFALO SOLDIERS"

In celebration of Nate Person, in the "ASOTV" spotlight today......

AS SEEN ON TV: NATE PERSON

This Friday, we're not paying tribute to an actor from 'Centennial' who passed away in July, as we had done for the last three weeks.  Instead, we're reviving our politically incorrect theme from Februarys past...

NATE PERSON

CREATED BY:

James Michener

PORTRAYED BY:

Glynn Turman

AS SEEN IN:

'Centennial'

TV DIMENSION:

Earth Prime-Time

Nate Person was a former slave from South Texas who was hired to be part of the first cattle drive to Centennial, Colorado. He carried the crew's money. Later he went to work herding sheep for Messmore Garrett. He was killed, along with fellow Skimmerhorn Trail cowboy Bufe Coker and Coker's woman, by the Pettis Boys during the range wars.  

His grandson would be named after him, and would run the barbershop in Centennial.  

BCnU!

WESTVIEW: "THE VIRGINIAN" - "THE PRICE OF LOVE"

TIDDLYWINKYDINKS: BELVA A. LOCKWOOD

In memory of the late Phyllis Diller, here is an historical Tiddlywinkydink......

From Wikipedia:

Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood (October 24, 1830 – May 19, 1917) was an American attorney, politician, educator, and author. She was active in working for women's rights. The press of her day referred to her as a "suffragist," someone who believed in women's suffrage or voting rights. Lockwood overcame many social and personal obstacles related to gender restrictions. After college, she became a teacher and principal, working to equalize pay for women in education. She supported the movement for world peace, and was a proponent of temperance.

Lockwood graduated from law school in Washington, D.C. and became one of the first female lawyers in the United States. In 1879, she successfully petitioned Congress to be allowed to practice before the United States Supreme Court, becoming the first woman attorney given this privilege. Lockwood ran for president in 1884 and 1888 on the ticket of the National Equal Rights Party and was the first woman to appear on official ballots.

Phyllis Diller played the Skitlandian version of Belva Lockwood in "Swing Out, Sweet Land". The variety special told the history of America and was hosted by John Wayne, with many top celebrities of the time playing historical figures.

BCnU.....

THEORIES OF RELATEEVEETY: THE MULCAHYS

'M*A*S*H'

'ALIAS SMITH & JONES' - "WRONG TRAIN TO BRIMSTONE"

During the Korean War, Father Francis J.P. Mulcahy was assigned as the chaplain for the 'M*A*S*H' unit #4077. In the 'AfterM*A*S*H' of the war, he counseled the patients at the General Pershing Veteran's Hospital in River Bend, Missouri.

Tele-genetics being what they are, I believe one of his ancestors was the telegraph operator in the town of Brimstone......

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: FINLAY PERKIN

FINLAY PERKIN

CREATED BY:

James Michener

PORTRAYED BY:

Clive Revill

AS SEEN IN:

'Centennial'

TV DIMENSION:

Earth Prime-Time

From Wikipedia:

[Oliver] Seccombe proves to be a poor businessman with questionable morals and the finances of the ranch are eventually called into question by the Venneford's British investors. They dispatch Finlay Perkin, a dour Scottish accountant, to audit Venneford's books. Seccombe has been secretly selling off ranch cattle to fund his activities. Perkin soon realizes that Seccombe is skimming money after seeing the combination of thousands of missing cattle and Seccombe's palatial new ranch house, evidence of his profligate spending. Seccombe's crimes are covered over however when a terrible blizzard hits the region, killing many of the ranch's cattle and thereby hiding the losses incurred by Seccombe's embezzlement. The blizzard saves him from formal legal charges; however he is still compelled to resign in disgrace and turn over ranch operations to John Skimmerhorn.

BCnU!

WESTVIEW: "WAGON TRAIN" - "THE ESTABAN ZAMORA STORY"

In connection to my earlier post for today about the link between 'Wagon Train' and 'The Bionic Woman' (Thanks again, Caeric!), here's the episode "The Estaban Zamora Story":

LA TRIVIATA: THE "BIONIC WOMAN" - "WAGON TRAIN" LINK

Caeric ArcLight

8/14/11

to me

Greetings,

Here's another bionic 'crossover' you may or may not be able to do anything with.

I'm still slowly going thru my 'Six Million Dollar Man' / 'Bionic Woman' DVD sets and landed on the final episode of 'The Bionic Woman''s first season, "The Ghost Hunter."

During this episode Jaime finds herself in a cemetery and as the camera pans along the marker for a "Raoul Zamora" stands out in the foreground. I thought something about the simple marker seemed out of place in that graveyard and at first wondered if that was the name of someone on the crew since it was shown so clearly and seemed kind-of an odd name to throw on a prop otherwise.

A little searching revealed it was the exact same grave marker used in a 'Wagon Train' episode, "The Estaban Zamora Story" (with Leonard Nimoy).

No idea how Raoul's grave marker traveled from wherever the wagon train was when he was killed to the cemetery in Essexville, Massachusetts but....

Here's a page giving a summary of the 'Wagon Train' episode with a small screen grab of the grave.

Ernest Borgnine (kneeling) as Estaban Zamora
Leonard Nimoy (right) as Bernabe Zamora

I can get a pic from the 'Bionic Woman' episode if you want.

Again, yours to do with what you will. If nothing else it's a great example how much Universal Studios liked to reuse/recycle props. The idea that they still had that one little marker laying around fifteen years later....

From me:

My thinking right now is that this BW appearance was connected to another member of the family, perhaps a grandson of Estaban Zamora. What nationality were the Zamoras? Spanish? Basque? Portuguese? That last one would work nicely, as there is a large Portuguese population in the fishing towns on the Massachusetts coast.

Jaime Sommars: Where is Essexville, anyway?
Oscar Goldman: Along the coast of Massachusetts, between Boston and Salem.

Perhaps a son of Manuel* was sent back East to live among relatives while he pursued an education. (Since Bernabe joined a religious order, he wouldn't have fathered any children, and Serita would have had a different last name once she reached the child-bearing stage.)

This son would have been named in honor of Raoul, even though he had become the black sheep of the family. ("Black sheep." The family were shepherds..... Sorry about that, Chief.)

Apparently, this Raoul Zamora decided to stay behind in Essexville and eventually died there. And this type of grave marking was traditional for the Zamora Family.

And so we have a TV Western crossover between 'The Bionic Woman' and 'Wagon Train'!

My thanks to Caeric for this incredible find!  (And for doing all of the heavy lifting when it came to the research!)

BCnU!

*Although the synopsis at that link has the name as "Miguel", I hear Borgnine calling his son "Manuel"......

AS SEEN ON TV: MESSMORE GARRETT

MESSMORE GARRETT

CREATED BY:

James Michener

PORTRAYED BY:

Clint Ritchie

AS SEEN IN:

'Centennial'

TV DIMENSION:

Earth Prime-Time

From Felice's Log:

The ranchers' focus upon the farmers transfer to a new enemy, with the arrival of one Messmore Garrett. The latter decides to settle near Centennial in order to raise sheep - something that cattle ranchers find abhorrent. Three men from the previous cattle drive end up working for Garrett - Nate Pearson, Bufe Coker (who was a former Venneford ranch hand) and Amos Calendar. The feud between Garrett and the ranchers spill into an ugly shootout that leaves Pearson, Coker and the latter's lady love, a former Cheyenne prostitute named Fat Laura, dead.

Messmore Garrett's son Beeley will marry into the family of Charlotte Lloyd and his son Paul will be in charge of the Venneford Ranch one day.

BCnU!

I haven't done a dedication in a while....  This particular post is going out in honor of my friend Mary Brooks, who is a big fan of 'One Life To Live'.  Clint Ritchie played Clint Buchanan on that show for a long time....

PROGRAMMING NOTE

Today's "ASOTV" Showcase featuring Mervin and Maude Wendell will be the last of the more detailed spotlights for the next few weeks. I'm leaving on vacation (again) this coming Sunday and I need to get a lot of stuff done. So the 'Centennial' focus will peter out like a dried up Platte River with a lot of minor characters.

That leaves quite a few major characters - Levi Zendt, Clay Basket, Potato Brumbaugh - still to be featured. And even though it won't happen during the TV Western month, I'll still get around to them. 'Centennial' will probably always be my favorite adaptation of book to television and I want to make sure it gets its full due in this year of the literary edition of the As Seen On TV showcase.

BCnU!

WESTVIEW/HAT SQUAD: "ALIAS SMITH AND JONES" - "WRONG TRAIN TO BRIMSTONE"

On Sunday morning, William Windom passed away; he was 88. He did so much work in television, creating so many characters to populate Toobworld, that I didn't even remember he was in a memorable episode of 'Star Trek' until I saw it mentioned in the obituary.

Hopefully I'll have more to write about him in the next few days. Well, I do, it's more a matter of hoping I have the time. I have a deadline to finish what I can by Saturday before I'm off again on vacation.

But for now, because it's TV Western month, here's the episode he did of 'Alias Smith And Jones', "Wrong Train To Brimstone".....

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

BORN TO RUN: MERVIN & MAUDE > NICKY AND LILLIAN

'Centennial' provided Toobworld with an interesting "Born To Run" theory for Two For Tuesday......

After the Wendells killed Soren Sorenson in 1889 and got away with it, their fortunes increased and they became the biggest private land owners in all of the Centennial region. In the mini-series, if not in the book, it appears that Mervin Wendell died at the age of 74 a few years after the end of the great World War. For the purposes of this Toobworld theory, I think he may have been dead by the year 1921. (Jim Lloyd read his obituary to Hans Brumbaugh and it mentioned the war as having already ended.)

I've written in the past that not only does reincarnation exist in Toobworld, but that certain souls are destined to be reunited in their next lives. The example I usually cite is that of Ross Poldark, of the landed gentry in Cornwall back in the 18th Century, and his gypsy bride Demelza Carne. In the 1990's, their souls were reunited, but now he was a well-to-do lawyer in San Francisco named Greg Montgomery and she was Dharma Liberty Finkelstein, the daughter of hippies.

The souls of Mervin and Maude Wendell were reincarnated as well, not too long after their deaths; reborn into new bodies by the mid-1920's. Had they been allowed to remain in the afterlife for a while longer, perhaps the karma they brought upon themselves would have been lessened. Instead, they came back too soon and so their destinies played out much like a TV rerun. ["Born To Rerun" is the term I use to describe reincarnation in the TV Universe.]

Nicholas Frame and Lillian Stanhope were Shakespearean actors of the London stage whose automatic claim to fame was fast falling behind them by the 1970's. Things were so bad that they had to resort to trickery in order to get their latest production of the Scottish play on the boards - Lillian began an affair with their producer, Sir Roger Haversham, so that he would continue to finance the production.

But eventually Sir Roger found out......

You can see the parallels - sex as the ploy in the con; the deceived learning too late that he had been duped; and the woman causing the death of the victim. Maude used the handle of the fake gun to club Sorenson to stop him from attacking her husband, and Lillian threw a container of cold cream at Sir Roger's head as he attacked Nicholas.  We even saw both couples performing the Scottish play!

Usually I claim that the character is the same age as the actor who plays him, and that if the plotline is set in the present, then they share the same birth year. This wouldn't work with Nicholas Frame, however, since Richard Basehart was born in 1914 and Mervin Wendell was very much alive at the start of the war, selling war bonds. (Although he is slowly dying.) But Basehart looked as though a few years could be shaved off his age with no harm to the credibility of the character done.

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: MERVIN & MAUDE WENDELL

MAUDE & MERVIN WENDELL

CREATED BY:

James Michener

PORTRAYED BY:

Mervin Wendell - Anthony Zerbe

Maude Wendell - Lois Nettleton

AS SEEN IN:

'Centennial'

TV STATUS:

"Born To Rerun"

(Splainin to follow)

TV DIMENSION:

Earth Prime-Time

From Wikipedia:

Mervin Wendell (Anthony Zerbe), his wife Maude (Lois Nettleton), and young son Philip (Doug McKeon) come to town. The Wendells are ostensibly itinerate actors but in reality they are charlatans and con-artists working their way across the new railroad towns one step ahead of the law. Their favorite con is called the "badger game". 

The con works on the local pastor and the Wendells reap large blackmail proceeds. Their plan turns sour when they try it on a worldwise businessman, Soren Sorenson (Sandy McPeak). He recognizes their trick, too late, and threatens to expose them. Wendell attacks him. They struggle and Sorenson is killed by Maude Wendell. While looking through his belongings, they find a large fortune in cash that Sorenson was going to use to finance a real estate purchase. Philip hides the body in a subterranean cave along the riverbank. They keep the money but realize that they cannot spend it as it will expose their guilt.

With the sheriff now out of the picture, Mervin and Maude Wendell are now free from legal suspicion. He charms a railroad land agent and begins planting the seeds of a future real estate empire.

By the turn of the 20th century, Mervin Wendell has grown rich selling marginal land to naive immigrants and easterners for dryland farming, lending on the land at extortion rates then foreclosing and reselling the land at a profit. Though the secret of his family's success still haunts Philip, he continues the family real estate business often mercilessly foreclosing on unsuccessful farmers. Among those are young Iowans Earl and Alice Grebe. Despite warnings from Hans Brumbaugh and Jim Lloyd, the Grebes settle on the drylands of the prairie and take out a mortgage with Mervin Wendell. 

Two for Tuesday!

BCnU!

THE HAT SQUAD: REMEMBERING PHYLLIS DILLER

WESTVIEW: "MAVERICK" - "SHADY DEAL AT SUNNY ACRES"

Since our "ASOTV" Showcase star today just makes me feel so good, I figured it was time to bring out one of my favorite TV shows for today's "Westview".

And it was my second favorite episode of that series.....

THEORY OF RELATEEVEETY: FROM LUCINDA TO "THE CREOLE"

Today's "ASOTV" showcase features Lucinda McKeag Zendt of 'Centennial', as played by Cristina Raines. Earlier this month, the spotlight was on her daughter, Clemma Zendt, as played by Adrienne La Russa.

Clemma fled back to Chicago after Charlotte Seccombe threatened to reveal her past to Jim Lloyd - alcoholism, fraud, prostitution, and a lengthy prison term.

Once back in the Windy City, Clemma may have turned back to her old tricks - literally. And when it looked like she might be in trouble again, she could have left town, one step ahead of the Law, and headed South - first to St. Louis, where her grandfather Pasquinel cashed in his pelts, and then on to New Orleans, which may have been more receptive to a woman of her nature.....

And she may have become pregnant.

If so, I think I may have found a TV character who could have been her grand-daughter. She worked in Argentina during World War II as an undercover agent in the Rhinemann household, and she was only known by her code name of "The Creole".

The Creole was played by Linda Racimo in 'The Rhinemann Exchange'. Maybe it's just me, but she looks as though she could have been of the same family tree as Cristina Raines and Adrienne La Russa.......

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: LUCINDA McKEAG ZENDT

LUCINDA McKEAG ZENDT

CREATED BY:

James Michener

PORTRAYED BY:

Cristina Raines

AS SEEN IN:

'Centennial'

TV DIMENSION:

Earth Prime-Time

From Wikipedia:

Lucinda McKeag-Zendt [was] a woman who lived in the 1840s through the 1880s and married a Pennsylvania farmer who left for the West.

[After the death of her father Pasquinel], Alexander McKeag vows to care for Clay Basket and Lucinda. Clay Basket then reaffirms her love for McKeag, as he does for her. McKeag adopts Lucinda as his own, and leads his new family out of the mountainous regions.

[After the devestating death of Levi Zendt's wife Elly] Lucinda McKeag, now a grown woman, takes pity on Zendt and goes to his cabin to nurse him back to health. The couple begins a romantic relationship and return to McKeag's trading post. Zendt marries Lucinda and takes over the trading post when McKeag dies.

Levi and Lucinda have two children - Clemma and Martin.

BCnU!

FROM THE CINEVERSE: DOUG McKEON & HENRY FONDA

I mentioned earlier that Doug McKeon had been in "On Golden Pond". Here are two dramatic scenes between him and Henry Fonda, which are connected......

(That second video clip on YouTube is part of a running theme, apparently. And it kind of creeps me out - you may be able to figure out why if you see the others in the collection......)

BCnU!

PUSSY RIOT

Somebody posted this on Facebook in response to the news about the band Pussy Riot being jailed for mocking Vladimir Putin.......

BLIPVERTS: BUDWEISER OUT WEST

Time to pay the bills......

THE BALLAD OF "DOCTOR WHO"

Here's another Western-themed moment from 'Doctor Who'. (Can't have a Video Weekend without some 'Doctor Who'......)

WESTVIEW: "F TROOP" - "V IS FOR VAMPIRE"

To lighten the mood, here's an episode from 'F Troop', the funniest of the comedy TV Westerns. As has happened a lot this month, I chose this episode for its guest star......

O'BSERVATION: THE BEST SCENE IN "CENTENNIAL"

For me, this was the most compelling moment in all of James Michener's 'Centennial', both in the book and the mini-series. Doug McKeon really held his own against an old acting pro like Brian Keith, as he would show a few years later when he acted with Henry Fonda, Katherine Hepburn, Jane Fonda, and Dabney Coleman in "On Golden Pond".......

BCnU.....

AS SEEN ON TV: PHILIP WENDELL (AS A CHILD)

This is not a rerun, more like a prequel.....

We covered the character of Philip Wendell earlier, but that was his adult version played by the late Morgan Paull. Now it's time to take a look at his younger self, when the character played a very important role in the history of 'Centennial'......

PHILIP WENDELL

CREATED BY:

James Michener

PORTRAYED BY:

Doug McKeon

AS SEEN IN:

'Centennial'

TV STATUS:

Recastaway (Original)

TV SPLAININ:

Due to the aging process

TV DIMENSION:

Earth Prime-Time

From Wikipedia:

Soren Sorenson recognizes the Wendells' badger game trick, too late, and threatens to expose them. Mervin Wendell attacks him. They struggle and Sorenson is killed by Maude Wendell. Philip hides the body in a subterranean cave along the riverbank.

The Wendells' young son Philip admires the sheriff and has no respect for his father. He wants to tell him the truth but cannot bring himself to betray his own flesh and blood.

O'BSERVATION:

Doug McKeon deserved to be listed among the main stars of the mini-series, just as much as Michael Ansara, Dennis Weaver, and Richard Crenna......

BCnU!