And now we come to say "Adios, Companeros!" to the month of August, with one last entry into the TV Crossover Hall Of Fame.......
We've already had two new entries into the TV Crossover Hall Of Fame this month - the TV super channel KBEX, and the memorial tribute to Eydie Gorme (inducted with her husband Steve Lawrence).
But August is the month in which we traditionally induct a TV character from one of the Westerns. And I wouldn't want to break with Tradition.
If you followed the League of Themselves showcase over the month, you've seen there was one cowpoke who showed up every Tuesday. And to make it a "Two for Tuesday", we also included the episode in which he appeared as himself.
It was all a lead-up to his induction into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame, one of those few times when it's an actual person and not a TV character.
One reason for this is that he was better known for the Westerns he starred in for the movies.
That's right, I'm talking about the Duke, Marion Morrison.
Better known as.....
JOHN WAYNE
SHOWS FOR QUALIFICATION:
- 'I Love Lucy' - "Lucy And John Wayne"
- 'The Beverly Hillbillies' - "The Indians Are Coming"
- 'The Lucy Show' - "Lucy And John Wayne"
- 'Maude' - "Maude Meets The Duke"
- 'Gunsmoke' - "Matt Gets It"
The televersion of John Wayne was also a serlinguist, which he proved in that first episode of 'Gunsmoke':
If you have to be told who John Wayne is, then pardner, I feel sorry for you.
If any of John Wayne's Western movies could have fit into Toobworld, I'd say it was his last one, "The Shootist". It had the feel of a TV movie of the week, with the stars to match (once you got past Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, and Lauren Bacall, that is.)
But I won't push that inclusion. Perhaps just leave it in the Borderlands at best.....
John Wayne only appeared in these five episodes as himself, but that's more than enough to qualify for membership in the TV Crossover Hall Of Fame. After all, his televersion unifies those first four in the tele-mosaic of Toobworld.
So here's to you, John Wayne. I never agreed with your politics, but there was no denying the power of your personality, whether as one of your characters like Ethan Edwards and Rooster Cogburn, or just as yourself.
Happy trails to you!
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