LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES - GUY LOMBARDO

Happy New Year, Everybody!

I hope I'm here to celebrate with you..... (I'm posting this back on January 7!)

One last League of Themselves for today, to make this a true "Two For Tuesday"!

GUY LOMBARDO

AS SEEN IN:

'The Adventures Of Ellery Queen'

["The Adventure Of The Auld Lang Syne"]

TV STATUS:

Playing himself from thirty+ years earlier

TV DIMENSION:

Earth Prime-Time

From Wikipedia:

Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo (June 19, 1902 – November 5, 1977) was a Canadian-American bandleader and violinist.

Forming "The Royal Canadians" in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert, and Victor and other musicians from his hometown, Lombardo led the group to international success, billing themselves as creating "The Sweetest Music This Side of Heaven." The Lombardos are believed to have sold between 100 and 300 million phonograph records during their lifetimes.

Guy Lombardo is best known for almost a half-century of New Year's Eve broadcasts, first on radio, and then on television. Lombardo's orchestra played at the "Roosevelt Grill" in the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City from 1929 to 1959, and their New Year's Eve performances (which continued with Lombardo until 1976 at the Waldorf Astoria). Broadcasts (and later telecasts) of their performances were a major part of New Year's celebrations across North America; millions of people watched the show with friends at house parties.

The band's first New Year's Eve radio broadcast was in 1928; within a few years, they would be heard on the CBS Radio Network before 12 Midnight Eastern time, then on the NBC Radio Network after 12 Midnight EST.

On December 31, 1956, the Lombardo band did their first New Year's TV special on CBS; the program (and Lombardo's 20 subsequent New Year's Eve TV shows) would include a live segment from Times Square (long the focal point of America's New Year's Eve celebrations) showcasing the arrival of the New Year. During the early years, pioneer broadcast journalist Robert Trout reported from Times Square; in later years, another longtime newsman, Ben Grauer, reported from Times Square.

YAWN! (Up past his bedtime.....)

While CBS carried most of the Lombardo New Year's specials, there were a few years in the late 1960s and early 1970s when the special was syndicated live to individual TV stations instead of being broadcast on a network.

By the middle 1970's, the Lombardo TV show was facing competition, especially for younger viewers, from "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve", but Lombardo remained popular among viewers, especially older ones.

Even after Lombardo's death, the band's New Year's specials continued for two more years on CBS. The Royal Canadians were noted for playing the traditional song "Auld Lang Syne" as part of the celebrations. Their recording of the song still plays as the first song of the new year in Times Square.

O'BSERVATIONS:

As of the time I write this, the League of Themselves daily showcase has had only one other example in which someone played himself but younger - Jerry Colonna.  Back in the sixties he appeared as himself in an episode of 'McHale's Navy' which was set about twenty years earlier.  this was closer to thirty years earlier!

All the best in 2014!

BLIPVERTS - CAROL CHANNING

And now for something completely different for our penultimate League of Themselves showcase for the year, leading into the "Who's On First" marathon.....

CAROL CHANNING

AS SEEN IN:

General Foods commercial for Jell-O and Dream Whip

(with the cast of 'Hogan's Heroes')

TV DIMENSION:

I don't know where the bleep this should go!

But I'm going with:

"The Blended Time Dimension"

From Wikipedia:

Carol Elaine Channing (born January 31, 1921) is an American singer, actress, and comedienne. She is the recipient of three Tony Awards (including one for lifetime achievement), a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination. Channing is best remembered for originating, on Broadway, the musical-comedy roles of bombshell Lorelei Lee in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes", and matchmaking widow Dolly Gallagher Levi in "Hello, Dolly!"

I wrote about this quandary in the past:

Might have to do a McCarthy-style witch hunt and look through the League of Themselves rolls to see if anybody else playing themselves on TV could actually be an alien.

I'm looking at you, Carol Channing. How else can it be splained that she showed up in Stalag 13 with 'Hogan's Heroes' looking exactly the same age as she was back in the mid to late 1960's (as seen in a Jell-O commercial)?

Perhaps it might be a good idea to place this in the TV dimension that was created in 'Doctor Who' when River Song didn't shoot the Doctor in "The Wedding Of River Song". Because she altered a Fixed Point in Time, all of History blended into happening all at once.

So that's when a Carol Channing from the 1960's could have met some Prisoners of War in a 1940's German Stalag......

BCnU!

LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES - PAT BRADY

PAT BRADY

AS SEEN IN:

'The Roy Rogers Show'

O'BSERVATION:

Tomorrow marks the 99th anniversary of the birth of Roy Rogers' comical sidekick.

BCnU!

LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES - ADAM SANDLER

ADAM SANDLER

AS SEEN IN:
'Jessie'
"Punch Dumped Love"

O'BSERVATIONS:
Kevin James made the punch in his own bathtub (with his feet).

Sandler will be linking this series to 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' after the Super Bowl when he appears in a special episode of that freshman sitcom.

I'm dedicating this to my nephew, who - much to the chagrin of his parents - is a big fan of the show.  

BCnU!

THE LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES - SIR PATRICK MOORE

SIR PATRICK MOORE

AS SEEN IN:
'Doctor Who'
"The Eleventh Hour"

As we've said goodbye to Matt Smith as the Doctor on Christmas Day, and since we are getting close to the annual "Who's On First" blogAthon, I thought today's showcase would be a good time to remember Sir Patrick Moore, who appeared as himself in Matt Smith's first full episode.......

He got a Hat Squad tribute here in December of 2012.

BCnU!

LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES - CLAY AIKEN, ASHANTI, & TAYLOR HICKS

CLAY AIKEN, ASHANTI, & TAYLOR HICKS

AS SEEN IN:
'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'
"Dissonant Voices"

They appeared as judges on 'American Diva', a fictionalized version of 'Amercian Idol', 'The X-Factor', etc.....

BCnU!

2013 TVXOHOF - YEAR END REVIEW

Since it's Boxing Day, I've made up a tidy little box for all of you - all of this year's inductees into the Television Crossover Hall of Fame:

Here's a rundown of our new members with the required three TV shows that made them eligible.  (Some had plenty more!)

KBEX-TV

• 'Barnaby Jones'
• 'Brady Bunch'
• 'Columbo'

STU BAILEY

• '77 Sunset Strip'
• 'Conflict'
• 'Hawaiian Eye'

BILLY DEE WILLIAMS

• 'Lost'
• 'Modern Family'
• 'The Jeffersons'

BUDDY HACKETT

• 'Lateline'
• 'The Joey Bishop Show'
• 'Just Shoot Me'

BIG BIRD

• 'Sesame Street'
• 'Between The Lions'
• 'Mr. Rogers Neighborhood'

RHODA MORGANSTERN

• 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show'
• 'Rhoda'
• "Mary & Rhoda"

THEODORE "BEAVER"/"POP" CLEAVER

• 'Leave It To Beaver'
• 'Still The Beaver'
• 'Batman'

MAUDE FRICKERT
Commercials for:

• Hefty's
• Cheetos
• Wendy's

SHAWN SPENSER & BURTON "GUS" GUSTER
Promos combining 'Psych' &

• 'Monk'
• 'Royal Pains'
• 'The Dead Zone'

"BUZZ" ALDRIN

• 'The Simpsons'
• '30 Rock'
• 'The Fall Guy'

STAN LEE

• 'The Big Bang Theory'
• 'My Life As Liz'
• 'Entourage'

JOHN WAYNE

• 'Maude'
• 'I Love Lucy'
• 'The Beverly Hillbillies'

STEVE LAWRENCE & EYDIE GORME

• 'The Nanny'
• 'Here's Lucy'
• 'Sanford And Son'

ALEX TREBEK

• 'The Larry Sanders Show'
• 'How I Met Your Mother'
• 'Mad About You'

KANG

• 'Star Trek'
• 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'
• 'Star Trek: Voyager'

FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT

• 'The Winds Of War'
• 'Voyagers!'
• 'Sabrina The Teenage Witch'

ED KOCH

• 'C.P.W.'
• 'Picket Fences'
• 'Double Rush'

MR. FREEZE

• 'The Batman/Superman Hour'
• 'The New Batman Adventures'
• 'Batman Beyond'

Next year will be the fifteenth anniversary of the ol' TVXOHOF.  And we're going back to a format used once before - when I celebrated a milestone birthday.  That is, "What I say, goes!"  So it should be off-beat and hopefully entertaining.  So stay tuned to this blog!

BCnU!

LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES - PRESIDENT HARRY S. TRUMAN

PRESIDENT HARRY S. TRUMAN

From Wikipedia:Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884 – December 26, 1972) was the 33rd President of the United States (1945–1953). The final running mate of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944, Truman succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when Roosevelt died after months of declining health. Under Truman, the U.S. successfully concluded World War II; in the aftermath of the conflict, tensions with the Soviet Union increased, marking the start of theCold War.

Truman was born in Missouri, and spent most of his youth on his family's farm. During World War I, Truman served in combat in France as an artillery officer in his National Guard unit. After the war, he briefly owned a haberdashery and joined the Democratic Party political machine of Tom Pendergast in Kansas City, Missouri. He was first elected to public office as a county official, and in 1934 became U.S. senator. He gained national prominence as head of the wartime Truman Committee, which exposed waste, fraud, and corruption in wartime contracts.

While Germany surrendered a few weeks after Truman assumed the Presidency, the war with Japan was expected to last another year or more. Truman's decision to use atomic weapons against Japan led to a speedy end of the war but remains controversial. His presidency was a turning point in foreign affairs, as the nation supported an internationalist foreign policy in conjunction with European allies. 

Working closely with Congress, Truman assisted in the founding of the United Nations, issued the Truman Doctrine to contain communism, and passed the $13 billion Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe, including the Axis Powers of both World Wars, whereas the wartime Ally Soviet Union became the peacetime enemy, and the Cold War began. He oversaw the Berlin Airlift in 1948 and the creation of NATO in 1949. 

When communist North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950, he immediately sent in U.S. troops and gained UN approval for the Korean War. After initial success, the UN forces were thrown back by Chinese intervention and the conflict was stalemated through the final years of Truman's presidency.

Corruption in Truman's administration, which was linked to certain members in the cabinet and senior White House staff, was a central issue in the 1952 presidential campaign which Adlai Stevenson, Truman's successor as Democratic nominee, lost to Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower. Popular and scholarly assessments of his presidency were initially negative, but eventually became more positive after his retirement from politics. Truman's 1948 election upset for his full term as president is routinely invoked by underdog candidates.

AS SEEN IN:

'The Jack Benny Program'

"The Harry Truman Show"

SYNOPSIS:

In the main sketch, Benny does a benefit concert in Kansas City, and Truman invites him on a tour of the Harry S. Truman Library in Independence, Missouri. Harry asks Jack to tell his real age in front of a portrait of George Washington. Jack's thrilled that the presidential seal if made of solid gold. At the close, Truman's secretary cracks his office door to eavesdrop and hears a piano and squeaky violin playing. (TV.com)

O'BSERVATION:

Today marks the 41st anniversary of Truman's passing.

BCnU!

THE 2013 TOOBITS AWARDS 5 - MISCELLANIA

BEST NEW SERIES TITLE
'Dracula'
What more needed to be said?

WORST NEW SERIES TITLE
'The Bridge'
Yes, I know there is more to it than just the actual location of the original crime scene; and that the same could be said about 'Dracula'.  At least 'Dracula' has panache and delivers on its promise.

Also it is just the literal translation of the original Swedish series title.  But it just sits there.  At least last year's worst series title ('The River') flowed.

Sorry about that, Chief.

RUNNER-UP
'Marvel Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.'
Too busy.  Like the old Napoleon Solo show, too many periods to type.  And the use of Marvel just reminds everybody it's a comic book world.  Which would be fine, IF IT HAD MORE OF A COMIC BOOK FEEL!

'Agents of SHIELD'  would have sufficed.

BEST EPISODE TITLE
"On Her Majesty's Secret Cervix" ('The Daily Show')
The umbrella title for their coverage of the Royal Birth on July 22
 
BEST ADVANCEMENT FOR TOOBWORLD
The revamp of History with the real fate of Gallifrey in "The Day Of The Doctor"

BEST SERIES MARATHON ON DVD/ONLINE
'inspector Morse'
 
BEST CLASH BETWEEN TOOBWORLD & THE REAL WORLD
Just in time for Christmas!
The Klingon version of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol"
 
WORST CLASH BETWEEN TOOBWORLD & THE REAL WORLD
From Nora Lee Mandel:
The new HAWAII 5 - 0 is one of my guilty pleasures I half-watch while on the computer, despite its escalating violence this season -- but it got very confusing last night when the plot was about 2 missing girls who had been kidnapped and locked up for years (by Henry Rollins?) and the news kept interrupting with the same story, but real in Ohio, whew, with a less fatal outcome.
From David Hinckley
New York Daily News
05/07/13

In an eerie coincidence, Monday night's episode of the CBS cop drama "Hawaii Five-O" centered on the case of a young girl who had been kidnapped 10 years earlier.

The CBS story had a less happy ending, however. The 17-year-old girl was killed — shot in the back when she saw an opening and tried to run for it.

Hawaii Five-0’s story involved kidnappers who held a girl for a year.
The storyline had the police team trying to track down Amanda Morris's kidnapper, who had already taken his next young victim.

The kidnapper in the show did not primarily seek to sexually abuse his victim, but he had kept her in leg shackles.

Television dramas are filmed weeks ahead of their airdate. Still, the timing of this episode, through no design of anyone's, was startling. The "Hawaii Five-O" conclusion led right into the real-life Cleveland kidnapping story at the top of the 11 p.m. news.

WORST TV EXPERIENCE
The Boston Marathon
 
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT IN A SHOW
'Marvel Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.'
 
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT IN A NETWORK
TIE:
ABC - Not only banishing 'Happy Endings' to the Friday graveyard, but dumping it there two episodes at a time
NBC - Not giving the proper support to 'The New Normal'
 
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT IN THE GENERAL AUDIENCE
Those ESPN viewers who complained about the network covering the Boston Marathon bombing.......

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT IN MYSELF
As much as I like Jeremy Piven and the time period, I just couldn't get into 'Mr. Selfridge'.
And, as always, I have to ask - was it me?
 
WORST PRODUCT PLACEMENT
Prius in 'Warehouse 13' - "Runaway"
 
BEST CRITIQUE BY AN ONLINE COMMENTER
PROFESSIONAL
Charlie Jane Anders
i09.com
Once again, the presence of Jenny, Madame Vastra and Strax sort of makes it impossible for us to believe in the Victorian setting too fervently — they're hilarious and awesome and mostly lovely, but they're also living proof that the Victorian era was apparently tolerant and open-minded and easy-going and even sort of blase. I mean, maybe we're supposed to think the Victorians are so repressed that they don't even have the wherewithal to comment on the strange creatures in their midst — but people just seem to accept a Sontaran and a Silurian bonking around London and the North, making pretty much no attempt to conceal their features, and acting totally ridiculous. (Random thought: What does Torchwood think of Vastra and Strax being in London? Remember Torchwood? They were at their height of power and fervency in the late 19th century, weren't they?)

Obviously, Victorian Britain was a cute and cuddly place when monsters could be themselves and people fell comfortably into comedy archetypes like the jovial, slightly rough-tongued coroner. And people came out with "penny dreadful" phrases like "The Crimson Horror" with a certain amount of relish. There's absolutely nothing wrong with making the Victorian era campy — but then don't turn around and try to comment on Victorian values, because it probably won't work all that well.

 AMATEUR
Rich Shapiro, Facebook (05/0613)
If only they could get that damn Piers guy off the screen without putting that Wolf guy up.

WORST ANALYSIS BY AN ONLINE COMMENTER
Joshua Oborn:
 I remeber a lot of people saying (before DotD) that when a timelord kills another he gains the remaining regens of the fallen. That's why ( some fans said ) the Master was so determined to kill the Doctor for revenge. (for what I'm not sure) the theory continues to say that when the Doctor burned Gallifrey he gained the regens of every timelord there... (this has been disbanded by DotD obviously) it was a neat theory I think.

Confused with 'Highlander', aren't we?
 
BEST TELEVISIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS
CommericalThomas Holbrook
That "Toaster Strudel" kid in those ads fills me with fright, horror, rage... someone has to lock him up. He's dangerous. Some sort of escapee from Hitler's master race program out to somehow bring the rest of us down with prefabricated strudel. You have all been warned, yah?

Series
Steve Maher
It would be great if they did an episode about how Stan Lee's multiple cameos in the Marvel Cinematic Universe are actually the same character throughout and made him the MCU's equivalent of Uatu The Watcher!!!!!!

They could lead into the story about a man with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder who keeps witnessing these events but it is later revealed through the episode that he is in fact The Watcher. 

Cut to scene where he is in the interrogation room one minute the next scene he has mysteriously vanished.

HONORABLE MENTIONS
"You know nothing, Jon Snow." - Ygritte, 'Game of Thrones'
The Great Intelligence, 'Doctor Who'
"A Storm Of Swords" - Season 3 of 'Game Of Thrones'
(Which will also be the basis for Season 4 as well.)

TH-TH-TH-THAT'S ALL, FOLKS!
THANKS FOR TUNING IN!

THE 2013 TOOBITS AWARDS 4 - WORDS & MUSIC!

2013 TOOBITS AWARDS
 
It's that time of year again, when we all make lists and think back over the past year, in whatever field of interest concerns us, and chronicle the high points and the lows.  For the past few years I've been presenting this compilation as an awards show, the Toobits, which of course celebrates my two bits about Toobworld.
 
As it is with any such list you'll find in TV columns across the country these last few weeks, these are my opinions.  You're welcome to your own and I hope you'll share them, but I'm sticking to my weapons of choice.  (It could be you won't see something that was a favorite of yours because I just never got around to seeing it.  There's only so much time in the world - even for a do-nothing-else-anyway sort like me! - and I've only got the two eyes, even if they do operate independantly of each other at times.)
 
Unlike the Emmy Awards which will just keep handing out trophies to some shows forever, only shows, characters and what-not that debuted in 2013 can be considered.  (And by "debuted", I mean that which I first came in contact with in 2013.  It could be a few years old, but if it's my first time seeing it, it's new.)  
 
This one-time-only rule includes characters who have been recast; those are still the same characters who already exist in Toobworld.  (But there were a few notable appearances that deserved honorable mention, and they get it.)
 
So without further ado, let's have at it:
 
BEST LINE
"We're at Def-Con Fuck!" - Ben Caffrey, 'Veep'

"It makes perfect sense if you don't think about it." - Burns Family Dad , 'Pepcid Complete' commercial

BEST USE OF AN HISTORICAL QUOTE:
Marcus Aurelius — "Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one." ("the Day Of The Doctor ")
 
BEST EXCHANGE OF DIALOGUE

The Doctor: Mrs. Gillyflower, you have no idea what you’re dealing with.  In the wrong hands that venom could wipe out all life on this planet.
Mrs. Gillyflower (holding out her hands): Do you know what these are?  The wrong hands!
'Doctor Who' - "The Crimson Horror"

Lt. Mike Tao: He's a big time film director.
Lt. Provenza: Big time?  How come I never heard of him?
Buzz: He makes talkies, sir.
'Major Crimes'
[Even though it came out this year, that line is an oldie but a goodie]
 
BEST SPEECH/MONOLOGUE



"It's better to be fast than to be bitten by a werewolf and then you'll be turned into one and you'll have to stay in and then you'll have to be shaved because you'll be too hot and then you're like 'Ruh Ruh Ruh Ruhr Ruh Ruh Ruh', which means I wish I was back to a human." - Little Girl, Sprint Commercial
 
BEST ZONK-FILLED DIALOGUE
'Elementary'
When Sherlock Holmes gave Joan Watson her first solo assignment, she told him: "I’m gonna pop in tomorrow and do my best Columbo impression."
Getting no sign of recognition to the reference, she added: "He was a… Never mind." She realized that there was no way he'd know or even care about the explanation.  But at least it preserved the belief of Lt. Columbo as a real person.

WORST ZONK-FILLED DIALOGUE
'Maron'
After the slightest attempt at pop-culture bonding, Marc’s stymied that a cool twentysomething doesn’t get a Radar O’Reilly reference. "Nothin'?  M*A*S*H? Television show. Alan Alda. Korean War. What're you, 5?"
 
BEST ZONK-FILLED SPEECH
Garth Blundin's eight minute filibuster from 'Parks & Recreation'




BEST NEW COINED WORD
"Procrasturbating"
Definition from 'The Daily Show':
Using masturbation to otherwise occupy yourself while pressing matters await.
Also used in:
'Veep'

BEST NEW FICTIONAL PRODUCT NAME
"T-DAZZLE" - rebranding flouride in the town's water supply
'Parks & Recreation'
 
BEST THEME SONG
'Death In Paradise'




BEST END THEME SONG
'Family Tree'




TV COMMERCIAL MUSIC:
iPhone 5 Photos blipvert



 
BEST MUSICAL MOMENT
"We Saw Your Boobs" - Seth MacFarlane, 'The Academy Awards'



 
BEST USE OF A PRE-EXISTING SONG
'My Baby Blue' by Badfinger
'Breaking Bad'
I never liked the show, but I can't argue with this choice for the final scene.  "Guess I got what I deserved....."  Brilliant.

BEST DREAM SEQUENCE
'Community' - "In Felt Surrogacy"
The Study Group relates their woodland trauma via puppets and song
 
BEST NEW TOOBWORLD LOCATION
World
The island of St. Marie, 'Death In Paradise'
USA
Chester's Mills, Maine, 'Under The Dome'

BEST NEW ALIEN LOCATION
Trenzalore, 'Doctor Who'

BEST NEW ALTERNATE TV DIMENSION
'Defiance'
 
BEST NEW FICTIONAL COUNTRY
United Hashemite Kingdoms, 'Endeavour' - "Rocket"

BEST FIGHT SCENE
The Battle of Arcadia, "The Day Of The Doctor"
 
BEST NEW FICTIONAL BOOK
"The Big Snag" by Anthony Bishop, 'Warehouse 13'
 
BEST NEW FICTIONAL TV SHOW
'To Have And To Hold', 'Mad Men'
'Sherlock Holmes: The New Frontier', 'Family Tree'
 
BEST NEW FICTIONAL PLAY
"The Black Plague" by Penny Hartz, 'Happy Endings'

BEST NEW FICTIONAL ONLINE TV SHOW
'Monster Roommate', 'Maron'
 
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER
DOMESTIC
'Mr. Lucky'
'The Virginian'
 
IMPORTED
'Inspector Morse'
'Scott & Bailey'
'Death In Paradise'
 
BEST ADAPTATION FROM ANOTHER UNIVERSE (aka MEDIUM)
Peugeot - from 'Wacky Races'




TV TO MOVIE
"Sharknado"
No adaptation needed.  It went straight to movie theater screens, as is, for one night only.  Which means it became a pure counterpart with no recastaways, plot changes, etc.  Let the Cineverse suffer as well!
 
BOOK to TV
"Spies Of Warsaw"
"King & Maxwell" series of books
 
COMIC BOOK to TV
'Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.'
 
TV TO BOOK
"The Columbo Collection" by William Linke
 
WORST ADAPTATION FROM ANOTHER UNIVERSE (MEDIUM)
TV TO MOVIE
"The Lone Ranger"
BOOK TO TV
'The Paradise'
SHORT STORY TO TV
'Sleepy Hollow'
 
BEST BOOK THAT SHOULD BE A TV SHOW
The collection of Manly Wade Wellman's Judge Pursuivant stories
 

STAY TUNED!
THERE'S MORE TO COME!

THE 2013 TOOBITS AWARDS 3 - THE CHARACTERS

2013 TOOBITS AWARDS
 
It's that time of year again, when we all make lists and think back over the past year, in whatever field of interest concerns us, and chronicle the high points and the lows.  For the past few years I've been presenting this compilation as an awards show, the Toobits, which of course celebrates my two bits about Toobworld.
 
As it is with any such list you'll find in TV columns across the country these last few weeks, these are my opinions.  You're welcome to your own and I hope you'll share them, but I'm sticking to my weapons of choice.  (It could be you won't see something that was a favorite of yours because I just never got around to seeing it.  There's only so much time in the world - even for a do-nothing-else-anyway sort like me! - and I've only got the two eyes, even if they do operate independantly of each other at times.)
 
Unlike the Emmy Awards which will just keep handing out trophies to some shows forever, only shows, characters and what-not that debuted in 2013 can be considered.  (And by "debuted", I mean that which I first came in contact with in 2013.  It could be a few years old, but if it's my first time seeing it, it's new.)  
 
This one-time-only rule includes characters who have been recast; those are still the same characters who already exist in Toobworld.  (But there were a few notable appearances that deserved honorable mention, and they get it.)
 
So without further ado, let's have at it:

BEST RECASTAWAY
OVERALL

John Hurt as The War Doctor from 'Doctor Who' - "The Name Of The Doctor" & 'The Day Of The Doctor' & 'The Night Of The Doctor'
FEMALE

The Moment as The Bad Wolf Rose,  'The Day Of The Doctor' 
It was the same actress - Billie Piper - but she was the spirit of a sentient doomsday device that had taken the form of a future Companion of the Doctor.
MALE

Alex Sadler from 'Continuum'
In the present day, he's a techie wunderkind portrayed by Erik Knudsen.  But in the future, he'll become more jaded and world-weary - who better to play the part than William B. Davis?

BEST NEW MALE CHARACTER
DOMESTIC

Raymond Reddington, 'The Blacklist'
The writers for this show must love crafting pithy remarks for James Spader to ladle out......
IMPORT

DI Richard Poole, 'Death In Paradise'
A true fish out of water!
SPECIAL AWARD
The Curator, "The Day Of The Doctor"
Let us slay the fatted calf!  Tom Baker has returned to the fold!
 
BEST NEW FEMALE CHARACTER
IMPORT

Ellie Miller, 'Broadchurch'
It takes some doing to outshine David Tennant.  She did it in spades.  
DOMESTIC

Sonya Cross, 'The Bridge'
An Asperger's-afflicted police detective could easily have fallen into caricature.  She straddled the line better than the way she straddled the guy she picked up in the bar.

BEST NEW MALE SUPPORTING CHARACTER
Drama

Frye, 'The Bridge'
I never would have guessed from his past roles that Matthew Lillard could be so intense.
Comedy

Kyle the Intern, 'Maron'
I loved his off-beat line readings!

BEST NEW SUPPORTING FEMALE CHARACTER
Drama

Sgt. Camille Borday, 'Death In Paradise'
Technically it's more of a dramady, but people do die.....  And she was beautiful and incisive as she sparred with DCI Poole.
Comedy

Bea Chadwick (and Monkey), 'Family Tree'
You have to see them together to understand why this was a lock.
 
BEST NEW RECURRING MALE CHARACTER

Ben, 'Veep'
Kevin Dunn in a backroom political comedy?  Made in heaven.  (He also had the best line of dialogue this year.)
 
BEST NEW RECURRING FEMALE CHARACTER

Lady Olenna, Queen of Thorns, 'Game Of Thrones'
The first of two Diana Rigg appearances in the awards this year.  Here she was the Dowager Countess from the planet Mondas......

BEST NEW CHARACTER ADAPTED FROM ANOTHER MEDIUM

Ichabod Crane, 'Sleepy Hollow'
Sooner or later, this show will collapse under the weight of its mythology, but until then Tom Mison is very charismatic.  (Even if his interpretation of Crane throws the series into another dimension.)

BEST CROSSOVER CHARACTER FROM ANOTHER MEDIUM

Nick Fury, 'Marvel Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.' 
Only five minutes but Samuel L. Jackson knows how to explode across the screen in a short amoutn of time.  And it was a welcome sight for viewers gasping for a heftier connection to the comic books and the Marvel movie franchise.
 
BEST NEW CAST ENSEMBLE
Drama
'Under The Dome'
Comedy
'Family Tree'
Online & League of Themselves
"The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot"
The actors mainly make cameo roles as themselves. The summary below lists their original connection with the Doctor Who series. In order of appearance:

• Sean Pertwee – son of actor Jon Pertwee who played the Third Doctor
• Olivia Colman – who played "Mother" in the episode "The Eleventh Hour"
• Peter Davison – who played the Fifth Doctor
• Louis and Joel Davison – Peter Davison's sons
• Matt Smith – who plays the Eleventh Doctor
• Jenna Coleman – who plays Clara Oswald, companion to the Eleventh Doctor
• Steven Moffat – executive producer and lead writer of Doctor Who – fifth series onwards
• Heddi-Joy Taylor-Welch – Doctor Who runner and 3rd assistant director
• Louisa Cavell – Doctor Who assistant director
• Lauren Kilcar
• James DeHaviland – Doctor Who 2nd assistant director
• Janet Fielding – who played Tegan Jovanka, a companion of the Fourth and Fifth Doctors.
• Sylvester McCoy – who played the Seventh Doctor
• Colin Baker – who played the Sixth Doctor
• Rhys Thomas - comedian, actor and writer and Doctor Who fan.
• Georgia Moffett – Played Jenny, the Doctor's daughter. The real life daughter of Peter Davison (Fifth Doctor), and wife of David Tennant (Tenth Doctor). She also was the programme's producer, using her married name Georgia Tennant.
• Olivia Darnley
• Niky Wardley – Tamsin Drew, companion to the Eighth Doctor in audio dramas
• Marion Baker – Colin Baker's wife
• Katy Manning – Jo Grant, companion to the Third Doctor
• Louise Jameson – Leela, companion to the Fourth Doctor
• Carole Ann Ford – Susan Foreman, granddaughter of the First Doctor
• Deborah Watling – Victoria Waterfield, companion to the Second Doctor
• Sophie Aldred – Ace, companion to the Seventh Doctor
• Sarah Sutton – Nyssa, companion to the Fourth Doctor and Fifth Doctor
• Lalla Ward – Romana (II), companion to the Fourth Doctor
• John Leeson – Voice of K-9 the robotic dog and companion of the Fourth and Tenth Doctors
• Anneke Wills – Polly, companion to the First and Second Doctors
• Lisa Bowerman – Karra and Bernice Summerfield, companions to the Seventh Doctor
• Matthew Waterhouse – Adric, companion to the Fourth and Fifth Doctors
• Paul McGann – who played the Eighth Doctor
• Jon Culshaw – who impersonates Tom Baker, the Fourth Doctor, paired with scenes on a punt from the unaired 1979 serial Shada
• Jemma Churchill – who voiced Lady Forleon in the Doctor Who audio drama, Creatures of Beauty
• Lucy Baker, Bindy Baker, Lally Baker, Rosie Baker – Colin Baker's daughters
• Bruno du Bois – assistant director of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
• Peter Jackson – director of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. McCoy plays Radagast the Brown in this movie.
• Ian McKellen – who voiced the Great Intelligence in the episode "The Snowmen".
• John Barrowman – who played Captain Jack Harkness with the Ninth and Tenth Doctors, and in the spin-off Torchwood.
• Sarah Churm - plays part of John Barrowman's secret family. She also played Sarah Braithwaite alongside Peter Davison in At Home with the Braithwaites.
• Alice Knight, Nick Jordan also play part of John Barrowman's secret family.
• Brad Kelly – commercial manager of the Doctor Who Experience exhibition
• David Tennant – who played the Tenth Doctor, and who is married in real life to Georgia Moffett, the real life daughter of Peter Davison
• Richard Cookson – script editor for the 50th anniversary special, "The Day of the Doctor"
• Elizabeth Morton – wife of Peter Davison
• Marcus Elliott - plays a security guard
• Ty Tennant – son of Georgia Moffett and adopted son of David Tennant
• Barnaby Edwards – principal Dalek operator, and director of several Doctor Who audio plays at Big Finish Productions
• Nicholas Pegg – principal Dalek operator, and writer and director of several Doctor Who audio plays at Big Finish Productions
• David Troughton – son of Patrick Troughton, the Second Doctor. Appeared in The Enemy of the World (1967-8), The War Games (1969), The Curse of Peladon (1972) and "Midnight" (2008)
• Nicholas Briggs – voice artist of several Doctor Who monsters, and director of several Doctor Who audio plays at Big Finish Productions
• Frank Skinner – comedian and self-proclaimed Doctor Who fan.[6]
• Adam Paul Harvey – former partner of Georgia Moffett
• Derek Ritchie – Doctor Who script editor
• Michael Houghton – plays a security guard
• Dan Starkey – originally played Sontaran Commander Skorr in "The Sontaran Stratagem", currently playing the character Strax since 2011
• Russell T Davies – Doctor Who writer and executive producer responsible for the relaunch of the Ninth Doctor and the Revived series in 2005
• Des Hughes – Doctor Who producer since 2012
• Gabriella Ricci – Doctor Who assistant production coordinator 2012–2013
• Sandra Cosfeld – production secretary for the episode "Asylum of the Daleks"
• Christian Brassington – voice actor who played Alfred Stahlbaum in the Doctor Who audio drama The Silver Turk

BEST INTRODUCTION OF A CHARACTER

FEMALE:
The Mother, 'How I Met Your Mother'
After so many years of build-up, it might have been so easy to get this wrong.  But they nailed it.
MALE:
The War Doctor, 'Doctor Who' - "The Night Of The Doctor"
What a coup in casting to get Sir John Hurt to embody this missing chapter in the Whovian mythos.  But then again, who was left among the stellar lights of the acting world in the UK with the age and gravitas to play the part?  It seems like everybody else has already been on 'Doctor Who' - Derek Jacobi, Brian Blessed, even Ian McKellan did a vocal role.....
 
BEST ADDITION TO AN EXISTING CAST
MALE

Steve MacAndrew, 'New Tricks'
FEMALE

Rachel King, 'Franklin & Bash'
 
BEST NEW GUEST APPEARANCE
COMEDY

Arthur Jeffries aka Professor Proton, 'The Big Bang Theory'
A well-deserved Emmy win for the legendary Bob Newhart.  The only injustice in his win is that he never received one before for either of his first two sitcoms!

DRAMA

Porridge, 'Doctor Who'
I'm a big fan of Warwick Davis and this made a nice callback to the Fourth and Bountiful Human Empire.

BEST HISTORICAL CHARACTER REVISION
Harry Selfridge, 'Mr. Selfridge'
If anything, he was rescued from the dusty halls of History.....

BEST HISTORICAL CHARACTER
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 'Mr. Selfridge'
All I asked was that he not ruin the established vision of Dr. Watson's editor in the main Toobworld.  And it worked.
 
WORST HISTORICAL CHARACTER

Queen Bess, "The Day Of The Doctor"
I love Joanna Page, but I'm not blind to the faults of her acting nor of the script in this case.  I just didn't buy her as the Virgin Queen.

BEST CHARACTER ADAPTATION
"TIE":
Irene Adler & Moriarty in 'Elementary'
A brilliant reworking of the legends for this new TV dimension.
 
BEST NEW ALIEN CHARACTER

Irisa Nyira, 'Defiance'
 
BEST NEW CHILD CHARACTER

The Raisins Into Grapes Girl, 'Sprint'
 
CHARACTER MOST DESERVING TO BECOME A REGULAR

Jojen Reed, 'Game Of Thrones'
And having said that, I know I've doomed him to die.  (I have NOT yet read the books!)
 
BEST NEW COMMERCIAL CHARACTER
SINGULAR

Sprint Zombie
COLLECTIVE

The Burns Family for Pepcid Complete

WORST NEW COMMERCIAL CHARACTER

Look at the smug look on that bastard's face after he's caused all that damage to other people's cars.  He couldn't give a damn!  That "Greed Is Good" mantra from the eighties lives on, and the disparity in our country's economics is embraced by the assholes who run Cadillac.  I would wish ill fortune on this guy and his car, but I'm afraid he'd get in a terrible accident that would kill or maim somebody with no insurance and he'd walk away without a scratch.....  (As you can tell, this commercial really bleeps me off!)
 
BEST LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES APPEARANCE
DRAMA

Val Kilmer, 'Life's Too Short' Finale Special
A note of splainin: While I enjoyed the series, I found it too cringe-worthy to consider it comedy.
 
COMEDY

Marc Maron, 'Maron'
 
BEST LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES APPEARANCE IN A COMMERCIAL

George Hamilton, CVS
"Two for one bronzer, Baby!"  I love when celebs can poke fun at their reputations.
 
BEST LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES APPEARANCE IN SKITLANDIA

Amy Poehler's return to 'Saturday Night Live' (05/18/13) - "Really?"
 
BEST LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES APPEARANCE IN THE TOONIVERSE

George Takei, 'Futurama'
 
BEST CHARACTER RETURN SPECIAL AWARD

The 8th Incarnation of the Doctor, 'Doctor Who' - "Night of the Doctor"

BEST CHARACTER RETURN
Drama: 

Connor Temple, 'Primeval: New World'
Sitcom:

'Yes, Dear' couple Jimmy and Christine Hughes in 'Raising Hope'

BEST LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES RETURN:

Bob Barker, 'The Price Is Right'
Happy 90th birthday!

BEST NEW ALIENS
The Seven Votan Species, 'Defiance':

• Castithan
• Gulanee
• Indogene
• Irathient
• Liberata
• Sensoth
• Volge (by association)

BEST ALIEN RETURN
The Zygons, "The Day Of The Doctor"
 
BEST NEW ALIEN VILLAIN

Datak Tarr, 'Defiance'
 
BEST NEW MALE VILLAIN

Big Jim Rennie, 'Under The Dome'
 
BEST NEW FEMALE VILLAIN

Mrs. Winifred Gillyflower, 'Doctor Who'
 
BEST EXIT FOR A CHARACTER
TOOBWORLD
Dr. Walter Bishop, 'Fringe'
SKITLANDIA

Stefon, 'Saturday Night Live'
 
BEST EXIT FOR A LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES MEMBER
Warwick Davis, 'Life's Too Short' Finale Special
 
BEST DEATH SCENE

Matthew Crawley, 'Downton Abbey'
Because unless you were following news stories or had an understanding of actor contracts in the UK, it was probably unexpected.  And best of all, it happened at the last moment in the Christmas special, so they didn't drag out the sturm und drang.
 
SADDEST DEATH SCENE

Lady Sybil Crawley, 'Downton Abbey'
Det. Joss Carter, 'Person Of Interest'
Brian Griffin,  'Family Guy'
 
WORST (GRISLIEST) DEATH SCENE

Ros, 'Game Of Thrones'
You can tell how it happened: First, King Joffrey teased her by shooting the area over her head. Then he tortured her by shooting the second arrow into her vagina.   And finally he finished her off with the third arrow into her breast.

MOST DESERVING OF DEATH
Walter White, 'Breaking Bad'
 
BEST NEW CHARACTER NAME
Missendei, 'Game Of Thrones'
I'm very partial to this.  The actress was cute, so it was a factor in the name's favor.  I might even name a cat "Missendei" in the future.  (I already have two - Nucky and Leela - so I hope that future is far off....)
 
WORST NEW CHARACTER NAME
George Stroumboulopoulos, 'Stroumboulopoulos'
It's his real name, not a character.  But family pride is one thing, trying to make a "name" for yourself in the business is another.  The least he could have done was make it phonetical.....

BEST NEW ALIAS

The Curator, "The Day Of The Doctor"
"The name I chose was the Doctor. It’s like a promise you make.” - The Doctor
"Doctor" as a name should mean somebody who takes care of people or things (although some cultures saw it as meaning warrior.)  And that's what he does throughout the universe - takes care.  In fact, one time he even was known as the Caretaker.

So at the very end of "The Day Of The Doctor", there was the Curator - another who takes care of things.  And he was played by Tom Baker, the Fourth incarnation of the Doctor, promising that he would live beyond his twelve regenerations and even one day revisit a few old, familiar faces.

But it was still the Doctor!

STAY TUNED!  MORE TO COME!