Wednesday, July 24, 2013

MISSING LINKS - HIDDEN VALET



I'm always indebted to my fellow Crossoverists in the Facebook forums who find hidden treasures that would otherwise escape my notice.

For instance, James Bojaciuk came up with this in-joke reference:

Disney Sitcom Crossover Time. I'm sorry.

In the Jessie episode "The Princess and the Pea Brain," Bertram--the Ross family butler--will be speaking at his club's roast of Alfred Pennyworth.

It's not a crossover, but it's easy to imagine Bertram and Alfred are members of the American branch of the Junior Ganymede Club, the primer club for gentlemens' gentlemen.

I'm especially interested to see how Toby deals with this.


For those who may not realize it, Alfred Pennyworth is the gentleman's gentleman who attends to the needs of Bruce Wayne at stately Wayne Manor.  In the 1966 TV series - which is the official source of information... information... information about Batman in the main TV Universe - Alfred was portrayed by Alan Napier.  Although his last name was never used in the series, I see no reason why "Pennyworth" can't be appropriated from the world of comic books and supplied to his televersion.



Others in the Crossover Forums joined in with suggestions that could be utilized, like Gordon Long.  When I mentioned that the reason why Alfred was being feted could have been due to his longevity - If he was the same age as Alan Napier, then he was born in 1903 and would be 110 years old this year! - Gordon offered this splainin for Alfred's long life:

I don't know why Alfred couldn't be treated with the same stuff as Dr. Watson or Doc Savage's assistants...oh wait, wrong universe....

It's true, Doc Savage has yet to be found in the TV Universe, but Alfred and Doctor Watson (played by David Burke and Edward Hardwicke, of course, of course) do share the same TV dimension.  

However, there are other options, like a live-action version of the Immortality Stone, seen in the Tooniverse adventure "Mummies".  Or Feminum, found only on Paradise Island in 'Wonder Woman'.  Both references sound like they could have linked back to Batman foe King Tut, who might have used his purloined immortality source on Alfred as an experiment to make sure it was okay for him to use.

Christofer Nigro had another idea regarding Alfred Pennyworth's identity:

 Could this possibly have been a ref to an early 21st century member of the Pennyworth family of the TVCU, who also has the given name of Alfred?

And I could live with that as well.  We only saw Alfred in the 1960s, when he was already in his later years.  Could it be that before he devoted himself fully to taking care of the needs of Bruce Wayne, Mr. Pennyworth had a family?  Could the Alfred Pennyworth who was going to be honored at the club be Alfred's grandson?

I'm good with that suggestion as well.

But however it plays out, I definitely want to see this mention of Alfred Pennyworth in that episode of 'Jessie' to be a confirmed connection to the original TV 'Batman'!

By the way, James also mentioned the Junior Ganymede Club, so we could consider a connection to the works of P.G. Wodehouse, which have been adapted for television as well....

BCnU!

PS:
This is the second post today connected to the Batman.  Two for Tuesday!

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