FOR THE CHRISTMAS WISH-LIST?

I'm sending this out to my cousins Danielle Cullen and Kelly Trafton and "cousin-in-law" Emily Stanley - surely one of their daughters would want something like this for Christmas.......

LEGO BALLZ!

My nephew will probably kill me that I didn't get him a set like this for Christmas!

WHEN TV HOSTS ATTACK!

This has to be one of the worst examples of "Reali-TV" ever!

From ABC affiliate WPTV:

A magic trick on live TV went terribly wrong in the Dominican Republic, and video of the incident has gone viral.

'Breaking Magic' star Wayne Houchin is recovering after a TV show's host threw flaming Aqua de Florida cologne in his face and his entire head caught fire, according to lasvegasweekly.com .

According to the report, Houchin suffered burns on his head, face, neck, and hand, and he's calling the incident a "criminal attack."

Houchin wrote on his Facebook page: “This was not a stunt or part of an act...[T]his was a criminal attack.”

BCnU.......

LEGO TOLKIEN

SHHHH!

Don't tell him, but I'm getting my nephew two Lego sets for Christmas. One is of 'The Hobbit' and the other is from "The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Rings" ("The Mines Of Moria")

JOHN THUNSTONE IN ACTION!

AS SEEN ON TV: JOHN THUNSTONE

Here's another member of the Wold Newton Family.....

JOHN THUNSTONE

AS SEEN IN:

'Monsters'

("Rouse Him Not")

CREATED BY:

Manly Wade Wellman

PORTRAYED BY:

Alex Cord

TV DIMENSION:

Earth Prime-Time

From Wikipedia:

John Thunstone is a fictional character and the hero of a series of stories by author Manly Wade Wellman. Thunstone is a scholar and playboy who investigates mysterious supernatural events. He has the typical attributes of a heroic character being physically large and strong, intelligent, handsome, and wealthy. He is also well-read in occult matters and has access to several weapons that are especially potent against vampires, werewolves and other supernatural creatures.

The name Thunstone is meant to evoke that of Saint Dunstan, patron saint of silversmiths and a noted opponent of the Devil. Thunstone has a sword-cane with a silver blade said to have been forged by the saint. The blade is inscribed with a text from Judges chapter 5 in the Vulgate, "Sic pereant omnes inimici tui" — "thus perish all your enemies". The sword-cane had also been used by Wellman's earlier character, Judge Pursuivant, who passed it on to Thunstone when his advanced age made him too weak to effectively wield it.

In addition to the ghosts and other traditional supernatural beings, several of Thunstone's enemies are Wellman's unique creations. These include the shonokins, a race of human-like creatures who claim to have ruled North America before the coming of humans. Thunstone's most persistent foe is a sorcerer named Rowley Thorne, who appears in a number of the stories. Thorne was loosely based on the real occultist Aleister Crowley.

Thunstone originally appeared in short stories published in the pulp magazines. Wellman would later write two novels with Thunstone: "What Dreams May Come" (1983) and "The School of Darkness" (1985). All his Thunstone short stories have been recently collected in "The Third Cry to Legba and Other Invocations" (2000).

In 1988, John Thunstone appeared in an episode, entitled "Rouse Him Not", of the anthology TV series 'Monsters'. He was played by the actor Alex Cord.

O'BSERVATIONS:

Currently I'm reading a collection of stories featuring Judge Pursuivant. I'll have to look for this Thunstone collection.....

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: LONG JOHN SILVER

We covered the topic of the pirate Long John Silver back in May with one of the portrayals from an alternate TV dimension. But today is my nephew's 8th birthday and Thomas read the book earlier this year. So I want to tip my hat to him with this ASOTV showcase of the Long John Silver from the main Toobworld......

LONG JOHN SILVER

AS SEEN IN:

'Long John Silver'

CREATED BY:

Robert Louis Stevenson

PORTRAYED BY:

Robert Newton

TV STATUS:

Recastaway & Multiversal

(BookWorld, Cineverse, Toobworld)

TV DIMENSION:

Earth Prime-Time

From Wikipedia:

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

Robert Newton followed up his two Long John Silver movies with an Australian-produced TV series.

Stevenson's portrayal of Silver has greatly influenced the modern iconography of the pirate. Silver has a parrot, named Captain Flint in mockery of his former captain, who generally perches on Silver's shoulder, and is known to chatter pirate phrases like "Pieces of Eight," and "Stand by to go about." Silver uses the parrot as another means of gaining Jim's trust, by telling the boy all manner of exciting stories (many of them likely fake) about the parrot's buccaneer history. "'Now that bird,' Silver would say, 'is, may be, two hundred years old, Hawkins- they live forever mostly, and if anybody's seen more wickedness it must be the devil himself. She's sailed with England- the great Cap'n England, the pirate. She's been at Madagascar, and at Malabar, and Surinam, and Providence, and Portobello ... She was at the boarding of the Viceroy of the Indies out of Goa, she was, and to look at her you would think she was a babby."

He is married to a woman of African descent, whom he trusts to manage his business affairs in his absence and to liquidate his Bristol assets when his actions make it impossible for him to go home. He confides in his fellow pirates, that he and his wife plan to rendezvous after the voyage to Skeleton Island is complete and Flint's treasure is recovered, at which point Silver will retire to a life of luxury.

According to Stevenson's letters, the idea for the character of Long John Silver was inspired by his real-life friend William Henley, a writer and editor. Stevenson's stepson, Lloyd Osbourne, described Henley as "...a great, glowing, massive-shouldered fellow with a big red beard and a crutch; jovial, astoundingly clever, and with a laugh that rolled like music; he had an unimaginable fire and vitality; he swept one off one's feet". In a letter to Henley after the publication of Treasure Island Stevenson wrote: "I will now make a confession. It was the sight of your maimed strength and masterfulness that begot Long John Silver...the idea of the maimed man, ruling and dreaded by the sound, was entirely taken from you".

Happy birthday, Thomas!

BCnU!

SUPER-SIX LIST: TEMPORARY GIGS

Sometimes an actor is sidelined from his role on a TV series due to an injury, or another acting commitment... sometimes even due to a contract dispute. If the producers don't want to permanently replace that character, nor do they want to recast (so as to preserve the show's inner believability), then a new character is created to fill the void as a short-term replacement.

Here are six examples:

1) JEREMY PIKE for ARTEMUS GORDON

'The Wild, Wild West'

My favorite example! Other actors, like William Schallert and Alan Hale, also came on board to help James West while Ross Martin was recuperating. But Charles Aidman served longer and created a very engaging character. I was glad for the return of Martin as Artemus, but I would have been happy to keep Jeremy Pike - ancestor of Christopher Pike in 'Star Trek'! - around on a permanent basis.

2) DR. KATHERINE PULASKI for DR. BEVERLY CRUSHER

'Star Trek: The Next Generation'

While Dr. Crusher was back at Starfleet Command in charge of the medical branch, Dr. Pulaski took the helm as the chief medical officer, transferring from the Repulse.  Based on one of the novels, which of course shouldn't have any bearing on the Toobworld Dynamic, she turned down Captain Picard's offer to rejoin the crew of the Enterprise.  (She had enough of starship postings.)

3) JOHN RAGLIN for VINNIE TERRANOVA

'Wiseguy'

While investigating mob corruption in the fashion business, Terranova was hit by a car and suffered broken bones and other injuries. To complete his mission, John Raglin was brought in by the OCB.

4) NILES FRENCH for GILES FRENCH

'Family Affair'

When Giles French was on a special assignment for the Queen of England (espionage?), his brother Niles stepped in to help out Bill Davis take care of his two nieces and a nephew - Cissy, Buffy, and Jody.

5) COY & VANCE DUKE for BO & LUKE DUKE

Cousins Coy and Vance came back to stay with Uncle Jesse after Bo and Luke left to travel the NASCAR circuit. But when the original Duke boys came home, Coy and Vance lit out, ostensibly to care for a sick relative.

6) "THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN" for PERRY MASON

'Perry Mason' - the TV series & the TV movies

You should know by now that I always have a joker in my hand for the Super Six List. These are the seven lawyers who filled in for Perry Mason over the years, including the last batch of TV movies after Raymond Burr passed away.....

• Constant Doyle - Bette Davis
• Professor Edward Lindley - Michael Rennie
• Bruce Jason - Hugh O'Brian
• Sherman Hatfield - Walter Pidgeon
• Joe Kelly - Mike Connors
• Anthony Caruso - Paul Sorvino
• "Wild Bill" McKenzie - Hal Holbrook

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: PETER McDERMOTT

PETER McDERMOTT

AS SEEN IN:

'Hotel'

CREATED BY:

Arthur Hailey

PORTRAYED BY:

James Brolin

TV STATUS:

Multiversal

(BookWorld, Cineverse, Toobworld)

TV DIMENSION:

Earth Prime-Time

From Wikipedia:

"Hotel" is a 1965 novel by Arthur Hailey. It is the story of an independent New Orleans hotel, the St. Gregory, and its management's struggle to regain profitability and avoid being assimilated into the O'Keefe chain of hotels. The St. Gregory is supposedly based on the Roosevelt Hotel, although the old St. Charles Hotel is also cited as the basis for the novel.

The novel was adapted into a movie in 1967, and in 1983 Aaron Spelling turned into a television series, airing for five years on ABC. In the TV series the St. Gregory Hotel was moved from New Orleans to San Francisco.

'Hotel' is an American prime time drama series which aired on ABC from September 21, 1983 to May 5, 1988 in the timeslot following Dynasty.

Based on Arthur Hailey's 1965 novel of the same name (which had also inspired a 1967 feature film), the series was produced by Aaron Spelling and set in the elegant and fictitious St. Gregory Hotel in San Francisco (changed from the New Orleans setting of the novel and film). Establishing shots of the hotel were filmed in front of The Fairmont San Francisco atop the Nob Hill neighborhood. Episodes followed the activities of passing guests, as well as the personal and professional lives of the hotel staff.

The Novel:
The main character is Mr. Peter McDermott; the general manager with a past. He is a graduate from Cornell University in Hotel Management and subsequently got a job in a hotel. However, he had been involved with a lady at time when he was supposed to be on duty. This gave Peter’s wife and the lady’s husband a reason to ask for a divorce. McDermott's dalliance was not a big thing for hotel, but the newspaper coverage was such that he was dismissed from the job and blacklisted. But Warren Trent, the head of St. Gregory Hotel, ignoring the past and considering the skill, hired him. The novel captures McDermott attempts to deal with several crises in the hotel which involve a range of other characters.

The TV Series:
Rich aristocrat Victoria Cabot (Anne Baxter) ran the St. Gregory Hotel, assisted by general manager Peter McDermott (James Brolin) and his staff. McDermott and assistant general manager Christine Francis (Connie Sellecca) became romantically involved. Halfway through the series Cabot died, leaving McDermott her share of the St. Gregory Hotel. When McDermott inherited half of the St. Gregory, he ran the hotel and promoted Francis to general manager.

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: RICHARD HANNAY

When all else fails, turn to the Wold Newton Family for inspiration......

RICHARD HANNAY

AS SEEN IN:

'Hannay'

CREATED BY:

John Buchan

(in 'The 39 Steps')

PORTRAYED BY:
Robert Powell

TV STATUS:

Multiversal

(BookWorld, Cineverse, Toobworld)

TV DIMENSION:

Earth Prime-Time

From Wikipedia:

Major-General Sir Richard Hannay, KCB, OBE, DSO, Legion of Honour, is a fictional secret agent and army officer created by Scottish novelist John Buchan. In his autobiography, Memory Hold-the-Door, Buchan suggests that the character is based, in part, on Edmund Ironside, from Edinburgh, a spy during the Second Boer War.

'Hannay' was a 1988 spin-off from the 1978 film version of John Buchan's novel The Thirty-Nine Steps which had starred Robert Powell as Richard Hannay.

In the series, Powell reprised the role of Hannay, an Edwardian mining engineer from Rhodesia of Scottish origin. It features his adventures in pre-World War I Great Britain. These stories had little in common with John Buchan's novels about the character, although some character names are taken from his other novels.

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: PERRY MASON

I always knew that if I was facing a deadline crunch for the "ASOTV" showcase on a "Two for Tuesday", then Perry Mason would be able to get me out of a jam just as he so often did for his clients.

Today's that Tuesday.......

PERRY MASON

AS SEEN IN:

'Perry Mason'

CREATED BY:

Erle Stanley Gardner

PORTRAYED BY:

Raymond Burr

TV DIMENSION:

Earth Prime-Time

PERRY MASON

AS SEEN IN:

'The New Perry Mason'

PORTRAYED BY:

Monte Markham

TV DIMENSION:

Evil Toobworld

or

The Toobworld of Remakes

TV STATUS (FOR BOTH):

Multi-versal

From Wikipedia:

Perry Mason is a fictional character, a defense attorney who was the main character in works of detective fiction authored by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason was featured in more than 80 novels and short stories, most of which had a plot involving his client's murder trial. Typically, Mason was able to establish his client's innocence by implicating another character, who then confessed. 

Gardner, who was one of the best-selling authors of all time, had "135 million copies of his books in print in America alone in the year of his death" in 1969. The character of Perry Mason was portrayed each weekday on a long-running radio series, followed by well-known depictions on film and television, including "television's most successful and longest-running lawyer series" from 1957 to 1966 starring Raymond Burr; another series in 1973–1974, starring Monte Markham, [Harry Guardino, Dane Clark], and Brett Somers; and 30 made-for-TV movies filmed from 1985 to 1993.

O'BSERVATIONS:

Perry Mason originated in BookWorld, but could also be found in the Cineverse (played by Warren William as well as by Ricardo Cortez and originally by Donald Wood). And he was played by Bartlett Robinson, Santos Ortega, and Donald Briggs in the first three years of the radio drama before John Larkin took over the role.

In my Toobworld novel, the Monte Markham version of Perry Mason shows up, although not named (of course).  He's revealed to be an impostor, one of those bent-pinkie aliens as seen in 'The Invaders'......

Any other suggestions for the radio universe besides "Radioverse"?

BCnU!

GENDER BLUNDER - I GOT SOME SPLAININ TO DO.....

The "Gender Variations In The Arts" blog pointed out this difference between the real world and the events that took place in 'Tales Of The City':

"Anna could not go to Denmark in 1964, because after the Jorgensen affair, Denmark had passed a law limiting gender surgery to Danish citizens."

Earth Prime-Time must reflect life in Earth Prime as much as possible. Allowances can be made for androids, talking animals, slightly different birthdates, but if the exception is abused, the "offending" TV show gets shoved off to a different dimension. 

Toobworld has no problem with Poochinsky (except that the pilot was horrible, of course), but a town full of talking bovines? Moo Mesa gets relocated to the Tooniverse. 

 

If Jules Verne is said to have been born a decade later than in real life, we can live with that discrepancy. Sherlock Holmes in the 21st Century - no matter if he's in London or New York City - has to find his 221 B Baker Street lodgings in some alternate Toobworld.

In this case concerning Danish law, I don't see how holding off on that ruling on gender surgery for at least a decade to accommodate Andy Ramsay (better known now as Mrs. Anna Madrigal) would have affected any other TV shows.

Of course, I haven't seen any Danish TV dramas or sitcoms that might have addressed the topic, but even so, I think this can be granted a pass......

BCnU!

RECASTAWAY WISH-CRAFT - "A MAN AND A GIRL*"

In today's "ASOTV" showcase, I mentioned that Anna Madrigal (as played by Olympia Dukakis in 'Tales Of The City' and its sequels) should be considered a recastaway. Even though we never saw her past life up until the late 1960's in flashback (as far as I can tell), she had been a man named Andy Ramsay. When he was 44, Ramsay went to Denmark to get a sex change (what's called a "gender reassignment" surgery today) and changed her name to Anna Madrigal.

Since the series took place in the early 1980's and the operation was performed twelve years before, I'd say Andy Ramsay existed until the late 1960's before becoming Mrs. Madrigal.

If for Toobworld purposes only, Inner Toob wanted to see Andy Ramsay in a flashback, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for it to happen. This is something that would have to be theorized as part of the Dynamic. But to actually visualize it, I think it could be accomplished by using film clips of some actor who bore a passing resemblance to what Olympia Dukakis might have looked like as a man, and in clothing and locations that suggested the time period. (And I prefer using clips from movies, a different fictional universe, rather than from TV shows that have already played out in the same TV dimension.)

Because I recently featured him in the November induction into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame, the first actor who came to mind was Fredd Wayne.

This picture is from 'Perry Mason',
so it doesn't count as a flashback candidate

We've seen scenes culled from other sources integrated into TV shows before:

• Bruce Springsteen's video for "Dancing In The Dark" became part of Jules Cobb's high school life on 'Cougar Town'.
• Scenes of William Shatner and Ralph Bellamy from the 'Studio One' pilot of "The Defender" illustrated the stormy relationship Denny Crane had with his father in an episode of 'Boston Legal'.
• 'Diagnosis Murder' resolved some plotline loopholes in an old episode of 'Mannix', bringing back many of the original actors.
• And 'Murder, She Wrote' created a sequel to a movie called "Strange Bargain", which absorbed that film noir out of the Cineverse and into the Toobworld Dynamic.

So pulling clips of Fredd Wayne out of some other movie to instead be considered as the pre-op life of Anna Madrigal would not be outside the realm of believability.

If they're in black and white, so much the better - it would enhance the flashback mood.

It would be nice if the dialogue from these scenes might tie in somehow with Mrs. Madrigal's past. But something generic - like Fredd Wayne's character coming home to greet his wife - would be acceptable. However, if there's nothing that could be recycled in the dialogue, the flashback scenes of Fredd Wayne as Andy Ramsay could be seen without the original dialogue but with a voice-over by Olympia Dukakis as she reminisced about her life as a man.

The picture I used of Mr. Wayne is from an episode of 'Perry Mason' and so I wouldn't want to use anything from that nor from any other TV show. But here are a few movie titles that might yield four results (if I stretch the parameters of the search for a decade):

• "Seven Days In May"
• "Sex And The Single Girl"
• "Chamber Of Horrors"
• "Hang-Up"

I only have those four examples because Mr. Wayne worked more often in television......

BCnU!

*"A Man And A Girl" is an anagram for "Anna Madrigal"........

AS SEEN ON TV: MRS. MADRIGAL

ANNA MADRIGAL

AS SEEN IN:

'Tales Of The City'

CREATED BY:

Armistead Maupin

PORTRAYED BY:

Olympia Dukakis

TV STATUS:

Recastaway, on a technicality

(For 44 years, she lived life as Andrew Ramsey, before going to Denmark and getting a sex change. "Anna Madrigal" is an anagram for "A Man And A Girl".  I don't think we ever saw Andy in a flashback, but he has to exist out there in the Past of Toobworld.  Which makes me wonder - who would play him?)

TV DIMENSION:

Earth Prime-Time

Mrs. Madrigal was the pot-growing landlady of 28 Barbary Lane.

From Everything2.com:

Character from Armistead Maupin's "Tales of the City" series. Anna, formerly Andy Ramsey, owns the house at 28 Barbary Lane. She's a marijuana-growing, perspicacious, witty and elegant 'old lady who used to be a man', ie, a transsexual. (Her name is an anagram of 'a girl and a man'). She calls her tenants her 'children', and mothers them, especially Mona Ramsey, her natural daughter. She meets Edgar Halcyon, Mary Ann Singleton's boss and DeDe Halcyon Day's father, on a bench, and they have an affair, which ends when Edgar dies. She doesn't get up to much after that until the last book - when she goes on holiday with Mona to Lesbos and has a nice affair with a Greek - but is kind of ever-present, and a constant link between the other characters.

(Written by "girlotron")

For more details, click here:

Mrs. Madrigal: 

Welcome to 28 Barbary Lane. 

Mary Ann Singleton: 

Thank you. 

Mrs. Madrigal: 

Yes, you should. 

Mary Ann Singleton: 

Do you have any objection to pets? 

Mrs. Madrigal: 

Dear, I have no objection to anything.

BCnU!

CALL ME MAYBE, DOCTOR?

And here is your "Doctor Who" Video Weekend content.....

I SECOND THAT STOP-MOTION!

It's time to pay the bills......

Since we're being inundated with the holiday specials, here's a classic blipvert that probably took place somewhere just south of the North Pole... in the same TV dimension where you would find "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer".

FANTASMAS NO ELEVADOR

This has been making the rounds on Facebook. It's from a Brazilian prank show a la 'Candid Camera'.

I first learned of it from Chuck McCann, who posted it but didn't like it because somebody could have had a heart attack and maybe even died.

Me? I'm one of those dark-hearted folks who believes that as long as it's not happening to me, it's funny.....

JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE TOONIVERSE (1967)

JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE TOONIVERSE (1977)

AS SEEN ON TV: PROFESSOR LIDENBROOK

PROFESSOR OTTO LIDENBROOK

AS SEEN IN:

'Journey To The Center Of The Earth'

CREATED BY:

Jules Verne

VOICED BY:

Ron Haddrick

TV DIMENSION:

The Tooniverse

From Wikipedia:

"A Journey to the Centre of the Earth" (French: "Voyage au centre de la Terre", also translated under the titles "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" and "A Journey to the Interior of the Earth") is a classic 1864 science fiction novel by Jules Verne. The story involves a German professor (Otto Lidenbrock in the original French, Professor Von Hardwigg in the most common English translation) who believes there are volcanic tubes going toward the centre of the Earth. He, his nephew Axel (Harry), and their guide Hans descend into an extinct Icelandic volcano, encountering many adventures, including prehistoric animals and natural hazards, before eventually coming to the surface again in southern Italy.

The story begins in May 1863, the Lidenbrock house in Hamburg, with Professor Lidenbrock rushing home to peruse his latest purchase, an original runic manuscript of an Icelandic saga written by Snorri Sturluson ("Heimskringla"; the chronicle of the Norwegian kings who ruled over Iceland). While looking through the book, Lidenbrock and his nephew Axel find a coded note written in runic script. (This is a first indication of Verne's love for cryptology. Coded, cryptic or incomplete messages as a plot device will continue to appear in many of his works and in each case Verne goes a long way to explain not only the code used but also the mechanisms used to retrieve the original text.) Lidenbrock and Axel translate the runic characters into Latin letters, revealing a message written in a seemingly bizarre code. Lidenbrock attempts a decipherment, deducing the message to be a kind of transposition cipher; but his results are as meaningless as the original.

Professor Lidenbrock decides to lock everyone in the house and force himself and the others (Axel, and the maid, Martha) to go without food until he cracks the code. Axel discovers the answer when fanning himself with the deciphered text: Lidenbrock's decipherment was correct, and only needs to be read backwards to reveal sentences written in rough Latin. Axel decides to keep the secret hidden from Professor Lidenbrock, afraid of what the Professor might do with the knowledge, but after two days without food he cannot stand the hunger and reveals the secret to his uncle. Lidenbrock translates the note, which is revealed to be a medieval note written by the (fictional) Icelandic alchemist Arne Saknussemm, who claims to have discovered a passage to the centre of the Earth via Snæfell in Iceland. In what Axel calls bad Latin, the deciphered message reads:

"Descend, bold traveler, into the crater of the jökull of Snæfell, which the shadow of Scartaris touches (lit: tastes) before the Kalends of July, and you will attain the centre of the earth. I did it. Arne Saknussemm ”

Professor Lidenbrock is a man of astonishing impatience, and departs for Iceland immediately, taking his reluctant nephew with him. Axel, who, in comparison, is cowardly and anti-adventurous, repeatedly tries to reason with him, explaining his fears of descending into a volcano and putting forward various scientific theories as to why the journey is impossible, but Professor Lidenbrock repeatedly keeps himself blinded against Axel's point of view. After a rapid journey via Lübeck and Copenhagen, they arrive in Reykjavík, where the two procure the services of Hans Bjelke (a Danish-speaking Icelander eiderdown hunter) as their guide, and travel overland to the base of the volcano. In late June they reach the volcano, which has three craters.

According to Saknussemm's message, the passage to the centre of the Earth is through the one crater that is touched by the shadow of a nearby mountain peak at noon. However, the text also states that this is only true during the last days of June. During the next few days, with July rapidly approaching, the weather is too cloudy for any shadows. Axel silently rejoices, hoping this will force his uncle – who has repeatedly tried to impart courage to him only to succeed in making him even more cowardly still – to give up the project and return home. Alas for Axel, however, on the last day, the sun comes out and the mountain peak shows the correct crater to take. After descending into this crater, the three travelers set off into the bowels of the Earth, encountering many strange phenomena and great dangers.

O'BSERVATIONS:

There was an animated series in 1967 which would be the Tooniverse sequel to the 1977 version, even though it aired first by a decade.

Professor Oliver Lindenbrook (as voiced by Ted Knight) is a "modern-day" (1970s) descendent of Otto Lidenbrook, whose family changed their name when they came to America.

From the 1967 show's opening narration:

"Long ago, a lone explorer, named Arnie Saknussen, made a fantastic descent to the fabled lost kingdom of Atlantis at the Earth's core. After many centuries, his trail was discovered...first by me, Professor Oliver Lindenbrook, my niece, Cindy, student Alec McEwen, our guide, Lars, and his duck, Gertrude. But we were not alone. The evil Count Saknussen, last descendant of the once noble Saknussen family, had followed us...to claim the center of the Earth for his power-mad schemes. He ordered his brute-like servant, Torg, to destroy our party. But the plan backfired, sealing the entrance forever. And so, for us, began a desperate race to the Earth's core...to learn the secret of the way back. This is the story of our new journey to the center of the Earth."

BCnU!