SUPER BOWL BLIPVERTS 2013 - "MIRACLE STAIN"

You may have noticed that I have had nothing to say about this year's crop of Super Bowl blipverts. That's because I was underwhelmed by most of them.

However, it's safe to say that one of them has already locked in a 2013 Toobits Award for Best Commercial of the Year. (You should be able to figure out which one that is.)

Several of the others did elicit O'Bservations.......

Here's one of those:

This may be up for a Toobits Award as well - for the best blend of Toobworld and Real World events. At least as far as Earth Prime-Time is concerned, this serlinguistic hausfrau was responsible for the Ravens winning the Super Bowl. (Can't say the same for what happened in Earth Prime.)

As to what happened with that half-hour delay due to the blackout? I think we have to look to some electricity-eating monster from 'The X-Files', 'Fringe', or some other contemporary sci-fi show. Or maybe an energy-negating artifact from 'Warehouse 13'.......

BCnU!

GAME OF THE NAME - FROM SAMMY TO JESSE

Sammy Reni was a thug working for a gangster named Praisewater. But 'Mr. Lucky' made short work of him when Sammy and his brother stormed the Fortuna II in order to grab mob accountant Bugsy McKenna.

However, Sammy escaped from police custody and fled to Hockaloma, a Caribbean island that had no extradition treaty with the United States. There he changed his name to Jesse Skolnick and eventually became a tropical lush.

Years later, Jesse would be "immortalized" by photographer Felix Unger ("Portraits A Specialty") in a calypso song:

Jesse thought Felix was Harry Belafonte......

SHOWS CITED:

• 'Mr. Lucky' - "Bugsy"
• 'The Odd Couple' - "Felix The Calypso Singer"

Both roles were played by Jack Perkins.....

BCnU, Mon!

(This is dedicated to 'Odd Couple' enthusiast Patrick Scully....)

LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES - BILLY DEE WILLIAMS V

It's the weekend! And so it's time to check in again with our February member of the TV Crossover Hall of Fame.......

BILLY DEE WILLIAMS

AS SEEN IN:

'227'

["Washington Affair"]

From TV.com:

Marla Gibbs, Hal Williams and Billy Dee Williams worked together on an episode of The Jeffersons titled "Some Enchanted Evening" in 1984. Ironically, Marla and Billy Dee share another kiss where she goes wild.

O'BSERVATIONS:

According to this sitcom, Billy Dee has a lookalike. In the episode "Play It Again, Stan", Billy Dee Williams played a character named Billy Dee Hasbro......

BCnU!

THEORY OF RELATEEVEETY: INTERNATIONAL SACHS AFFAIR

The 'Fawlty Towers' hotel in Torquay had a Spaniard named Manuel working as a waiter. Toobworld Central is making the claim that Manuel had an identical cousin who grew up in Switzerland.

As was the case with Manuel, Jacques worked in a hotel, as a desk clerk at the Hotel de la Paix in Geneva. Jacques often went out of his way to help frequent guest (and generous tipper) Simon Templar, aka 'The Saint'.

SHOWS CITED:

'Fawlty Towers'

'The Saint' - "The Loaded Tourist"

Both characters were portrayed by Andrew Sachs.....

BCnU!

LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES - MIKE TYSON

MIKE TYSON

From Wikipedia:

Michael Gerard "Mike" Tyson (also known as Malik Abdul Aziz) (born June 30, 1966) is a retired American professional boxer. Tyson is a former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and holds the record as the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBF heavyweight titles at 20 years, 4 months, and 22 days old. Tyson won his first 19 professional bouts by knockout, 12 of them in the first round. He won the WBC title in 1986 after defeating Trevor Berbick by a TKO in the second round. In 1987, Tyson added the WBA and IBF titles after defeating James Smith and Tony Tucker. He was the first heavyweight boxer to simultaneously hold the WBA, WBC and IBF titles, and the only heavyweight to successively unify them.

|

AS SEEN IN:

'How I Met Your Mother'

["Bad Crazy"]

From Entertainment Weekly:

The B-plotline of this half hour had to do with Robin’s Marvin-phobia. Early in the episode, we learned that Robin had somehow managed to avoid holding Marvin all these months, and she was happy to continue doing so. That plan came crashing down, however, after Lily left Marvin in her care so that Lily could chase down a bus on which they’d left Marvin’s favorite pacifier. When Marvin started crying, Robin ended up relying heavily on the kindness of an old woman to help her care for Marvin. At least, that’s what she led Lily to believe. Almost two decades down the line, after revealing pieces of the story to Lily throughout the years, Robin finally confessed that it had not been a kind old lady who helped her care for Marvin that day. It was Mike Tyson. (Or, as Lily called him in the flashforward, “Sen. Mike Tyson.”) Only you, HIMYM. Only you.

- Sandra Gonzalez

O'BSERVATION:

By 2030 in Toobworld, Mike Tyson will be Senator Mike Tyson.

BCnU!

THEORIES OF RELATEEVEETY: MORE ON MACE

We're not sure here at Toobworld Central, but master spy Oliver Mace could have fathered several children. Although they weren't seen in the Kate Bush video for "This Woman's Work", they could have been staying with a relative while their parents had a quiet romantic dinner at home. (Which sadly ended in tragedy.)

If he did have children, it could be that Oliver Mace (aka "Stephen Fischer") founded the family tree which led to Mr. Klineman Halpen.

From the TARDIS Wiki:

Klineman Halpen was the Chief Executive of Ood Operations, a job that had been passed down from his grandfather, to his father, and eventually, himself.

Because he kept drinking what he thought was a hair restoration liquid supplied by his supposedly loyal Ood servant Sigma, Halpen eventually turned into an Ood himself.

BCnU!

PS:

The family tree of Halpen could have another branch in the distant past, one which eventually links to yet another TV series set in the late 1950's.  But I'll reserve mention of that for when I get a decent frame grab for it......

LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES - BARRY WHITE

I couldn't think of anyone more fitting for Valentine's Day (which is known at Toobworld Central as Thursday.....)

BARRY WHITE

From Wikipedia:

Barry White, born Barry Eugene Carter ((1944-09-12)September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003(2003-07-04)), was an American composer and singer-songwriter.
A two-time Grammy Award-winner known for his distinctive bass voice and romantic image, White's greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with the Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring soul, funk, and disco songs such as his two biggest hits, "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" and "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe." Along with Isaac Hayes, White is considered by Allmusic.com as a pioneer of disco music in the early 1970s.

He made two guest appearances on the comedy-drama TV series 'Ally McBeal', as his music was often featured on the show in dream sequences.

AS SEEN IN:

'Ally McBeal'

["Those Lips, That Hand"

"Car Wash"

"Bygones"]

FROM FANTASY:

TO REALITY:

BCnU!

GAME OF THE NAME - FISCHER/MACE

D.A.C. Strickland:

So what was the point of all this? 

Stephen Fisher:

This is the intelligence community, Robert.

You start worrying about the point of it all,

you'll end up tying yourself in all sorts of knots.

'New Tricks'

In Great Britain's "Intelligence Community", Oliver Mace stands as one of the higher-ups, still wielding great power even though he was removed as the Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee. (This was due to his illegal extradition of several prisoners from Great Britain so that they could be tortured for information in Egypt.) Nearly ten years ago, the Trueniverse audiences saw him interact on several occasions with Harry Pearce and other members of the top echelon at MI-5.

Oliver Mace is his real name. There's no way he could have reached his level of success while using an alias, not in that line of work. But he had at least one alias which he employed in dealing with outsiders away from his inner circle. (And he probably has several passports, all with different identities and with detailed backgrounds to match.)

Early on in his career, he created the identity of "Stephen Fischer" for himself. It probably amused him to take on the same name as the traitorous WWII conspirator played by Herbert Marshall in Hitchcock's "Foreign Correspondent". (That's my favorite Hitchcock movie. Personally, I would have wanted the name "Scott ffolliot" as an alias.)

In that guise Stephen Fischer, Oliver Mace planned to recruit a rising young detective in the Metropolitan police force, hoping to groom him as his contact. What he was looking for would be a detective with ambition; one who wanted to rise to the top of his profession; and one who had the skills necessary to make that happen. Such a liaison would be beneficial in not only collecting information, but in disseminating it as well.

He found his man in Robert Strickland. And his choice paid off since Strickland has risen to the rank of DAC (Deputy Assistant Commissioner), with one of the departments he oversees being UCOS - The Unsolved Crimes and Open Cases Squad.

Strickland knew "Fischer" was in the spy game, but he was led to believe that he worked at Whitehall and was part of MI-5 rather than MI-6. Fischer also fabricated a story about having a wife named Audrey, but if that really was her name, she died of a brain aneurysm in 1989:

I've only just seen this week the first appearance of Stephen Fischer in 'New Tricks' and he's expected to show up for three more episodes, so I'm reserving judgement on anything more to do with his "Stephen Fischer" alias. As for his true identity of Oliver Mace, he has not been seen on 'MI-5' since he was removed as the Chairman six years ago. But his appearances since then on 'New Tricks' prove that he's still in the game.

Oliver Mace and Stephen Fischer must be the same person, and not just because both were played by Tim McInnerney. Sometimes when trying to make the claim that two TV characters are one and the same, certain character traits in one are betrayed by the actions of the other. But in this case, both Mace and Fischer acted the same.

Here's how Oliver Mace is described in the "Spooks" Wiki:

"Mace is generally portrayed as being a classic upper class snob, enjoying fine wine, exclusive clubs and other leisure pursuits of the wealthy."

And didn't he act just like that in "The Gentleman Vanishes" episode of 'New Tricks', with his passion for Beef Wellington and zeal for Baked Alaska... all the while plotting to use DAC Strickland in doing his dirty work for him?

SHOWS CITED:

'MI-5'

Episodes #3.01, #3.03, #3.08, #5.05

'New Tricks'

"The Gentleman Vanishes"

"A Death In The Family"

"Part Of A Whole"

Kate Bush Video

"This Woman's Work"

BCnU!

LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES - OPRAH WINFREY

OPRAH WINFREY

From Wikipedia:

Oprah Winfrey (born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954) is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' which was the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011. She has been ranked the richest African-American of the 20th century, the greatest black philanthropist in American history, and was for a time the world's only black billionaire. She is also, according to some assessments, the most influential woman in the world.

AS SEEN IN:

'Bette'

"Two Days At A Time"

From TV.com:

Bette is asked to participate in Oprah's book club but, because of her hectic schedule, never has time to actually read the book she is to discuss on television.

O'BSERVATION:

For those who like to keep track of the fictional books in the Toobworld library (I'm not the only one, am I? Uh-oh....), the novel contributed in this episode is "Tropical Rain" by Amy Inalie.

BCnU!

TELE-QUICKIES: OUT-REACH PROGRAM

I watched the first episode of 'Zero Hour' online Sunday night. I think it will play a major role in the expansion of Toobworld - for the length of time it remains on the air. We'll see.

But at one point early on, the assistant to Anthony Edwards' character mentioned an "intellectual reach-around."

I can't be certain, but I'm thinking that had to be the first time on broadcast TV (not cable, not premium) that the word "reach-around" was used......

I went looking for an appropriate picture to use for this post, one that was not only Toob-worthy, but safe!

 Here's what I found:

BCnU!

TELEVISIOLOGY 101 - TWO GUEST SPEAKERS

Two of my brethren in the Brotherhood of Crossoverists came up with some interesting Missing Links which I found to be good enough to steal - er, to showcase here at the Inner Toob blog.

First up is a Facebook post by Caeric ArcLight:

So...I probably missed something and this isn't really a nod towards anything, but on the last episode of THE FOLLOWING, Shawn Ashmore's character said he was the second youngest agent in the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit. Ashmore is only six months older than Matthew Gray Gubler, who plays Spencer Reid (who was said to be the youngest member of the BAU) on CRIMINAL MINDS.

The name of Shawn Ashmore's character is Mike Weston, by the way, for those of you who want to add this theory to your own versions of Toobworld. And I believe Caeric's hypothesis is not only valid, but that Caeric could be credited in the 2013 Toobits Awards as this is now in the running for Best Theoretical Crossover.

Okay, here's the other one, from the Grand Poobah of the TVCU (Link to the Left!)

Robert Wronski writes:

On last night's Daily Show, during his interview with the New York Police Commissioner, Jon Stewart references Batman and Spider-Man as real people that fight crime in their city, and states that the commissioner can summon Batman from the roof. The commissioner doesn't disagree. Because it's a "fake news" show, I consider the Daily Show to count when it comes to crossovers. I know not all agree, so I'm posting here for those who may interested.

I never gave that possibility much thought, but in general this works for me. These are two members of the League of Themselves, in a Toobworld setting, discussing two of the costumed crime-fighters who once patrolled the streets of Gotham City and New York.

Thanks, Guys!

(Two for Tuesday!)

LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES - ROSEY GRIER

ROSEY GRIER

AS SEEN IN:

'Captain Kangaroo'

["September 20, 1974 episode"]

TV DIMENSION:

Earth Prime-Time

AS SEEN IN: 

'The Simpsons'

["Sunday, Cruddy Sunday"]

TV DIMENSION:

The Tooniverse

From Wikipedia:

Roosevelt "Rosey" Grier (born July 14, 1932) is an American actor, singer, Christian minister, and former profesional American football player. He was a notable college football player for The Pennsylvania State University who earned a retrospective place in the National Collegiate Athletic Association 100th anniversary list of 100 most influential student athletes. As a professional player, Grier was a member of the New York Giants, and the original Fearsome Foursome of the Los Angeles Rams and played in the Pro Bowl twice.

After Grier's professional sports career he worked as a bodyguard for Robert Kennedy during the 1968 presidential campaign and was guarding the senator's wife, Ethel Kennedy, during the Robert F. Kennedy assassination. Although unable to prevent that killing, Grier took control of the gun and subdued the shooter, Sirhan Sirhan.

Grier's other activities have been colorful and varied. He hosted his own Los Angeles television show and made approximately 70 guest appearances on various shows during the 1960s and 1970s.  [Toobworld note: Rosey made League of Themselves appearances as himself on other shows like 'The Larry Sanders Show' and 'Chico And The Man' and in the wonderful TV special "Free To Be You And Me".]

As a singer, Grier first released singles on the A label in 1960, and over the following twenty-five years he continued to record on various labels including Liberty, Ric, MGM and A&M. His recording of a tribute to Robert Kennedy, "People Make The World" (written by Bobby Womack) was his only chart single, peaking at #128 in 1968.

Grier is known for his serious pursuit of hobbies not traditionally associated with men such as macrame and needlepoint. He has authored several books, including Rosey Grier's Needlepoint for Men in 1973. Grier became an ordained Christian minister in 1983 and travels as an inspirational speaker. He founded American Neighborhood Enterprises, a nonprofit organization that serves inner city youth.

BCnU!

PAPAL BULL - TOOBWORLD & THE POPE'S RESIGNATION

From Sky HD News:

Pope Benedict XVI is to resign on February 28 due to worsening health.
He will be the first head of the Catholic Church to resign in almost 600 years. The Vatican said his departure would leave the post temporarily vacant.

He will step down after almost eight years in the post, having been elected in April 2005.

The final post on his Twitter page, sent on Sunday, said: "We must trust in the mighty power of God's mercy. We are all sinners, but His grace transforms us and makes us new."

O'BSERVATIONS:
I think it was his recent attempts to "tweet" in Latin that led to this decision.

I just posted this to Facebook: "First Pope to resign in nearly 600 years? Hrmmm..... A retired Pope...... I see sitcom potential in this!"

Actually, if there was ever a TV show about a retired Pope, they'd have to make him a fictional character in another TV dimension. Popes in the main Toobworld are like U.S. Presidents and English monarchs in Earth Prime-Time - they MUST reflect the reality of Earth Prime.

So such a Pope could be found in the TV dimension of the 'Human Target' reboot, which had a fictional Queen of England.

I don't think my usual knee-jerk choice of 'The West Wing' would work - they used the real Queen of England despite having a different American President. So I'm assuming their Pope would have been John Paul II as it was in the Trueniverse.

The perfect choice for an already established fictional Pontiff to be featured in a show about Life after the Papacy would be Pope Sylvester V from 'Seven Days'. With each seven day trip back in Time, Lt. Frank Parker changed the timeline he was in. The series started out in Earth Prime-Time, but was removed from it to a new TV dimension along the way.

But that dimension may have already existed long before Parker started futzing around with Time. For there to be a Pope Sylvester V, there had to be a Sylvester IV, and he was an Anti-Pope during the Middle Ages. Could it be that the Holy Roman Catholic Church of Toobworld acknowledged his Papacy?

Another comment I posted to Facebook: "I wonder if there's a way to weave 'Doctor Who' into the behind the scenes explanation into the Pope's resignation?"

Perhaps a benevolent alien intelligence, related to the Great Intelligence, now shares the mind of Benedict XVI - released from some ancient Vatican artifact, perhaps, and then accidentally absorbed by the Pontiff. Both of them decide that it would be best to resign rather than have it ever learned the Church was led by a Shepherd Not Of This Earth. And to keep the alien from being discovered by its enemies from another world. Eventually when the real Benedict XVI dies, in Toobworld reality the Doctor takes them both to a new world to live since the alien infusion has basically made the ex-Pope immortal.

Works for me!

BCnU!

HUDSON INVEREST, TELE-POLITICO

'THE SAINT'
"The Latin Touch"

While Simon Templar was in Rome back in 1962, he got caught up in the kidnapping of a United States governor's daughter.  And in rescuing her, the adventure, as seen by the Trueniverse audience, altered the state of American politics from what was happening back in the real world.

The governor was Hudson Inverest and although his state was never mentioned, I'm fairly certain he was the governor of Vermont.  His daughter was kidnapped by an American gangster living in exile, who wanted the governor to use his position to get his brother off Death Row and get the sentence commuted to life in prison.  (From there the gangster was convinced he could then get his brother out of jail altogether... one way or the other.)

The inmate got himself on Death Row by killing a man in Burlington.  There may be other Burlingtons in America, but to have it stated without attribution to the state would mean - to me, at any rate - Burlington, Vermont.  And that's why I believe that Hudson Inverest was the governor of Vermont in 1962 - as far as Toobworld is concerned.

In the real world, Ray F. Keyser was the governor of Vermont, the youngest to ever hold that position up to that time.  (He was 34.)  And like almost all of the Vermont governors before him, Keyser was a Republican.  But after his one year term, Keyser was replaced by a Democrat.

So the only thing that might have remained constant between Toobworld and the Trueniverse would have been that Inverest was probably a Republican as well.  (As played by Alexander Knox, the former college professor - Dartmouth*? - certainly had that aura.)

I'd like to think that after the death of Governor Hudson Inverest, a mountain peak in either the Green Mountains or the Taconic Mountains was named after him in Toobworld. 

Mt. Inverest has a nice ring to it, don't you think?

BCnU!

* Yes, I know Dartmouth is in New Hampshire, but I think I heard it stated that he had been a Dartmouth professor.  The word was garbled and so it could have been a reference to the subject he taught.

LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES - BRANDY NORWOOD

BRANDY NORWOOD

AS SEEN IN:

'Moesha'

["Moesha Meets Brandy"]

From TV.com:

After Kim forgets to purchase tickets to a sold-out concert featuring R&B singer Brandy, Moesha decides to spend her weekend alone with her new beau, Aaron, a college student whom she met over the summer. But when Moesha starts to push the relationship further (mainly due to her strange suggestions), the two break up. Later, Moesha, Kim, Niecy and Hakeem attempt to get into the concert. Backstage, Moesha meets Brandy who gives her some advice.

O'BSERVATIONS:

This head trip in which a TV character meets the person who played them is a time-honored tradition in Toobworld. Here are a few other examples:

• Lucy Carter met Lucille Ball - 'Here's Lucy'
• Mork met Robin Williams - 'Mork & Mindy'
• Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton met Jackie Gleason and Art Carney during an episode of 'The Honeymooners'.
• Dean Martin played his own stand-in, Ed Feldman. This was in Lucille Ball's favorite episode ever, "Lucy Dates Dean Martin", on 'The Lucy Show'.
• During 'The Sammy Davis Jr. Kidnap Caper' on 'Charlie's Angels', an obnoxious guy named Herbert Brubaker III was kidnapped instead of the star. Sammy played both roles.
• Fred Sanford met Redd Foxx in an episode of 'Sanford And Son', which we'll be featuring later this month.
• And over in the Tooniverse, Homer Simpson met Dan Castellenata (the actor who provides his voice) on an episode of 'The Simpsons'.

BCnU!

WORLD TOOB - RUSSIAN POE (& DICKENS)

"Russian Toobworld" is that alternate TV dimension in which the Russian Empire achieved global domination and the whole world spoke Russian. This is the world in which Russian adaptations of classic English literature and redubbed American TV programs are situated.

I received an email from a Russian visitor to this blog named Alexander Sedov, who had seen my post about the various TV versions of Edgar Allen Poe's detective C. August Dupin, with the focus on George C. Scott's portrayal. Alexander brought to my attention one whom I overlooked, from Russian TV in 1982.

The following video actually contains the adaptations of two short stories. The second one, based on the frequent use of the names "Slinkton" and "Sampson", would be of "Hunted Down" by Charles Dickens. I've read that it was his treatise on famous poisoners of his time, but as there is very little action in that story - all ushanka, no рогатый скот - I'm not sure what was going on.

But that's the great thing about TV - I always say it's a teaching tool. So now I'm going to track down an online copy of "Hunted Down" and read it.

At any rate, here are the Russian adaptations of "The Purloined Letter" and "Hunted Down" which are firmly lodged in "Российская телевизионная Всемирной":

In case you're interested in who played who, Alexander was nice enough to send a basic cast breakdown for "The Purloined Letter".

Auguste Dupin – actor Sergei Yurskiy;
his friend (has no name) – actor Yuri Bogatyryov;
Prefect of Paris Police – actor Vsevolod Larionov.

Yurskiy returned to play Slinkton in the second story, and Bogatyryov played Sampson. He was also the serlinguist who introduced both stories.

Thanks, Alexander!  You've helped keep the "world" in Toobworld!

Быть тем, что вы!

LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES - BILLY DEE FOUR

BILLY DEE WILLIAMS

AS SEEN IN:

'Martin'

["The Break-Up Part III"]

BCnU!

PS:

Maybe it's the glasses, maybe it's the hand on the chin, but Billy Dee reminds me of Roger Moore in this pose.....