"THE BELLS OF ST. JOHN" PREQUEL

And now the prequel has been unleashed:

Yeah, it kind of telegraphs itself, especially after our first meeting with Amelia Pond.  But so what?

IT'S NEW WHO!!!!!!

"THE WATCHMEN" - AS A CARTOON SHOW?

Get a bowl of your favorite sugary cereal - it's time for Saturday morning cartoons!

On second thought, maybe not......

I'm sure Alan Moore just LOVED that!

BCnU!

TOOBMUSIC - "HAND IN MY POCKET"

Writing about Alanis Morissette today reminded me of how much I loved this song of hers:

And just for bleeps and giggles, here's the song in my poor translation into Latin:

Sum fregit sed sum felix

Huiusmodi pauper sum ego

Denique ego sum ​​sanus quidem

Ego sum excelsum sed sum fundati

Ego sum sanus verum sum obrutus

Pereo sed sum bonae spei, infantem

Quid hoc sit descendit ad

Est ut omnia suus 'agnus dei esse bysso bysso bysso

Eo quod habeam una manu in mea sinum demandavi

Et alto dat alia quinque

Sentio ebrii sed sum sobrius

Reddatur satis iuuenis sum ego

Fessus sum ego operor sed etiam,

Curo: sed sum inquietum

Hic sum, sed ego sum ​​vere abiit

Ego sum iniuriam et Paenitet me infantem

Quid hoc sit descendit ad

Licuit utique quod futurum est omnia

Eo quod habeam una manu in mea sinum demandavi

Et de alio, est percussoque fumus viriditas

Quaeque pertinent ad

Est, quod non habeo eam omnia figuratum est, iustus tamen

Eo quod habeam una manu in mea sinum demandavi

Et aliud signum pacis afferre,

Ego autem dico intentique sine

Ego sum ​​sapiens viret

Ego sum durus, sed ego sum amicus, parve

Ego sum tristis ego autem dico in ridentem

Fortis sum sed sum gallinaceo cacas

Admodum infirmus sum ego puer

Et quid eam omnia ulcera, descendit ad

Est quod nemo has vere figurabatur eam de iustus tamen

Eo quod habeam una manu in mea sinum demandavi

Et alius citharam canere est

Quaeque pertinent ad amici

Est quod unumquodque, est iustus teres bysso bysso

Eo quod habeam una manu in mea sinum demandavi

Et de alio, est venientes vehiculo

BCnU!

"THE PRISONER" - "ARRIVAL"

Got an hour? Here's the very first episode of 'The Prisoner' for your enjoyment......

BCnU!

THE HAT SQUAD: REMEMBERING PATRICK McGOOHAN

It was Patrick McGoohan's birthday earlier this week. Here's a video based on his crowning achievement, 'The Prisoner':

BCnU!

TOOBMUSIC: ALANIS IN "COUGAR TOWN"

Recently, 'Cougar Town' had their own League of Themselves appearance by Alanis Morissette in a way by making the claim that Grayson and Andy both were in her music videos. (Of course, in Reality - where we never want to live! - it was their portrayers, Josh Hopkins and Ian Gomez who acted in the videos.)

This hearkens back to when the show also made the claim that Jules Cobb was the young woman who was pulled up on stage in Bruce Springsteen's video "Dancing In The Dark", not Courtney Cox.

BCnU!

PREVIEWS: "THE BELLS OF ST. JOHN"

'Doctor Who' returns next Saturday night for the second half of this season (the seventh since the series returned.)

Here are three (now FOUR) preview scenes from "The Bells Of St. John":

I think they are in the order they will be seen. After the way she dismisses him in that first clip, it seems to me that Clara would not be so trusting of the Doctor as to ride a motorbike with him... unless she saw what he and the TARDIS were capable of.....

Can't wait!

LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES - ALANIS MORISSETTE

Larry David:

I've been urinating all day.

Alanis Morissette:

Really? That's the effect I often have on people.

ALANIS MORISSETTE

From Wikipedia:

Alanis Nadine Morissette (born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer and actress. She has won 16 Juno Awards and seven Grammy Awards, was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards. Morissette began her career in Canada, and as a teenager recorded two dance-pop albums, "Alanis" and "Now Is the Time", under MCA Records Canada.

Her first international album was the rock-influenced "Jagged Little Pill", released in 1995. "Jagged" has sold more than 33 million units globally. Her following album, "Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie", was released in 1998 and was a success as well. Morissette took up producing duties for her subsequent albums, which include "Under Rug Swept", "So-Called Chaos" and "Flavors of Entanglement". Her eighth studio album, "Havoc and Bright Lights", was released on August 28, 2012. Morissette has sold more than 60 million albums worldwide.

AS SEEN IN:

'Curb Your Enthusiasm'

"The Terrorist Attack"

SYNOPSIS:

From the 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' Wiki:

Larry David predictably angers an acquaintance, Mindy, and decides to make it up to her by warning her of a terrorist attack in Los Angeles, predicted by Wanda Sykes. Larry and Cheryl argue over whether or not they would want to die together in the case of the attack, which is scheduled to happen at the same time as their private concert with Alanis Morisette.

BCnU!

TOOBNOTES: "BATES MOTEL"

So 'Bates Motel' premiered Monday night on A&E. I recorded it, but I don't know when - or if - I might get around to watching it. But I can make a determination about its placement in the TV Universe without having seen it.....

'Bates Motel' has to take place in some other TV dimension than Earth Prime-Time. The main Toobworld already has its own televersion of the Norman Bates story with the TV movie "Psycho IV: The Beginning" which starred the one true Norman Bates, Anthony Perkins, with Henry Thomas as his younger self and Olivia Hussy as his mother, Norma Bates. Because of Perkins' involvement, the first three "Psycho" movies can be absorbed into the TV universe.

This doesn't mean that those movies can't also exist in Earth Prime-Time as simply movies. Any references to the "Psycho" movies as movies (like the murder that took place on the Universal set in an episode of 'Murder, She Wrote') only mean that the movies are based on the real life events depicted in those movies.

("Psycho IV: The Beginning" also exists in the Borderlands, that blend of fictional universes like TV & movies, TV & comic books, TV & literature. Just to confuse the issue.....)

Another version of the story, which had Bud Cort as Norman's "heir apparent", has to be set in another dimension because a different actor played Norman. And then there's Skitlandia which had the real Norman Bates, but in a sketch comedy setting as he did a TV commercial for the Norman Bates School of Hotel and Motel Management. (As seen on 'Saturday Night Live')

This new version of the story, a prequel, is set in the modern day, so there can be no connection to the original three movies.

I suppose it could share the same TV dimension as other remakes like 'The Fugitive', '87th Precinct', 'Battlestar Galactica', and 'The New Addams Family'.

So that's the pronouncement from this particular Caretaker. The Caretakers for other shared universes can make their own decisions.....

BCnU!

LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES - RON PALILLO

RON PALILLO

From Wikipedia:

Ronald Gabriel "Ron" Paolillo (April 2, 1949 – August 14, 2012) was an American television and film actor. He was best known as Arnold Horshack on the ABC sitcom 'Welcome Back, Kotter' (1975-79).

Ronald Gabriel Paolillo (he used the surname "Palillo" during his acting career) was born in New Haven, Connecticut to Gabriel and Carmel Paolillo, of Italian descent and raised in Cheshire. He graduated from the University of Connecticut at Storrs, where he taught during the late 1990s.

After 'Welcome Back, Kotter', Palillo appeared in leading and supporting roles in various television series and films. He voiced characters on such animated series as 'Laverne & Shirley in the Army', 'Darkwing Duck', and 'Rubik, the Amazing Cube', in which he played the lead character. In 1996, Palillo played himself in several episodes of the television sitcom 'Ellen', playing Audrey (Ellen's friend)'s love interest. Palillo also spent a year on the popular daytime show 'One Life to Live' and also acted in "Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives" (1986), and the lead in "The Curse of Micah Rood".

Palillo, in a newspaper interview in 1997, said he lamented his role as Horshack as he was permanently typecast, which he believed had damaged his career.

Palillo and his partner of 41 years, Joseph Gramm, lived in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. On August 14, 2012, Palillo suffered a heart attack at his home and was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Palillo's funeral service was held in Palm Beach Gardens on August 22, 2012.

AS SEEN IN:

'Ellen'

"Horschack's Law"

"When The Vow Breaks" Parts 1 & 2

O'BSERVATION:

I went to UConn several years after Palillo, at the height of 'Kotter' popularity, and one of our acting teachers kept throwing him at us as an example to emulate.  

If Palillo's relationship with Mr. Gramm existed in Toobworld as well, then he was bisexual and cheating on his partner in a cross-country affair with Audrey.

BCnU!

ELEMENTARY, COLUMBO

'ELEMENTARY'

"DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN"

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.

Whether she was about to tell him that 'Columbo' was a TV show character or that he had been an actual police lieutenant in Los Angeles doesn't really matter.

'Elementary' does not take place in Earth Prime-Time, but in some alternate TV dimension where there was no consulting detective in Victorian England, either in the "reality" of that TV world or as a character in the stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Instead, Sherlock Holmes is a modern-day consulting detective now working with the New York Police Department. And therefore has no place in the main Toobworld.....

BCnU!

LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES - JULE STYNE

JULE STYNE

From Wikipedia:

Jule Styne (December 31, 1905 – September 20, 1994) was a British-born American songwriter especially famous for a series of Broadway musicals, which included several very well known and frequently revived shows.

Styne established his own dance band, which brought him to the notice of Hollywood, where he was championed by Frank Sinatra and where he began a collaboration with lyricist Sammy Cahn, with whom he wrote many songs for the movies, including "It's Been a Long, Long Time" (#1 for 3 weeks for Harry James and His Orchestra in 1945), "Five Minutes More," and the Oscar-winning "Three Coins in the Fountain". He collaborated on the score for the 1955 musical film "My Sister Eileen" with Leo Robin.

Ten of his songs were nominated for the Oscar, many written with Cahn, including "I've Heard That Song Before" (#1 for 13 weeks for Harry James and His Orchestra in 1943), "I'll Walk Alone", "It's Magic" (a #2 hit for Doris Day in 1948) and "I Fall in Love Too Easily".

In 1947, Styne wrote his first score for a Broadway musical, "High Button Shoes" with Cahn, and over the next several decades wrote the scores for many Broadway shows, most notably "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes", "Peter Pan" (additional music), "Bells Are Ringing", "Gypsy", "Do Re Mi", "Funny Girl", "Sugar" (with a story based on the movie "Some Like It Hot", but all new music), and the Tony-winning "Hallelujah, Baby!".

O'BSERVATION:

Styne also wrote the music for "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol".

AS SEEN IN:

'The Phil Silvers Show'

"Hollywood"

SYNOPSIS:
A Hollywood producer is planning to make a war film, but needs someone who served at the battle of Kabuchi to be a technical advisor. The only serving member of the Army they can find is Sgt Bilko. (IMDb.com)

Today's entry in the League of Themselves is dedicated to a composer of musicals I know, Michael Finke.......

BCnU!

"ARE YOU BEING SERVED, LIEUTENANT?"

"Whatever you do, don't open the door

unless it's a young policeman carrying a rolled umbrella."

Mr. Humphries

'Are You Being Served?'

So much of the Toobworld Dynamic is theoretical; unseen links occurring before a show premieres or after it's canceled, perhaps even during the commercial break, but always just off-screen.

I thought of this upon hearing Monday of the death of Frank Thornton, forever to be remembered as Captain Stephen Peacock in 'Are You Being Served?' He was 92 years old.

Captain Peacock was the floor-walker at the Grace Brothers Department Store in London, and he ran the department as if it was a military command. (It's not certain if his own military service record actually exists.)

As a character, Captain Peacock appeared in 'Are You Being Served?', a TV movie set in the fictional location of Costa Plonka, the 'Grace And Favour' sequel, and the show's pilot which was broadcast during the eleventh season of 'Comedy Playhouse'. So he's more than qualified to be in the TV Crossover Hall of Fame.

As such, he wouldn't need to pad out his resume with this theoretical connection, but nevertheless I think it could work.....

In November of 1972, Lt. Columbo of the Los Angeles Police Department was sent by his superiors (among them, Captain Amos Burke) to London to observe police techniques at New Scotland Yard. While being shepherded by Detective Chief Superintendent Durk, Columbo corrected the official findings of accident death for theatrical producer Sir Roger Haversham as being a case of murder.

Just before he helped the Yard in closing the case, Columbo told a rambling story - as he often did to rattle his suspects - about wanting to buy the ultimate souvenir of his trip to Great Britain.

And he decided on an umbrella.....

It was an umbrella, the one belonging to Sir Roger, that was the key to the murder's solution. But it was Columbo's new bumbershoot that caught my attention, O'Bsessed as I am with the trivial details of Toobworld.

Just where in London did Lt. Columbo buy that umbrella?

Why couldn't it have been at Grace Brothers?

'Columbo' had many instances in which the Lieutenant had comedic encounters with store personnel and stuffy functionaries in other fields. So I could see him easily balancing an encounter with Captain Peacock during his investigation. First off, I would imagine his raincoat would make Captain Peacock think Lt. Columbo was a member of the custodial staff in the store, like Mr. Beverley Harman of the packing department. And should Columbo be assigned to Mr. Humphries for service (if he was free), it would surely have yielded a gem of a filler scene as Peter Falk often got with Vito Scotti in his many roles on 'Columbo'.

Because of the state of the world today, I don't think there will be another TV character in the style of Captain Peacock who could be believable as such an officious figure. And it's probably just as well, since the blend of character and actor was so perfect - Frank Thornton was Captain Peacock, and like Peter Falk and Columbo, there will never be another.

Good night, Mr. Thornton, and may God bless......

BCnU!

LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES - DAVE THOMAS

I guess for this week, Wednesday is now Wendy's Day.....

DAVE THOMAS

From Wikipedia:

David Rex "Dave" Thomas (July 2, 1932 – January 8, 2002) was an American businessman and philanthropist. Thomas was the founder and chief executive officer of Wendy's, a fast-food restaurant chain specializing in hamburgers. He is also known for appearing in more than 800 commercial advertisements for the chain from 1989 to 2002, more than any other company founder in television history.

AS SEEN IN:

"Bionic Ever After?"

SYNOPSIS:
There is a sequence after Steve gets thrown into the wine cellar with the rest of the hostages where we see Dave Thomas, former owner and pitchman for the Wendy's hamburger chain, in an uncredited cameo. (Bionic Wiki)

O'BSERVATION:

This would serve as a major departure from his life in the Trueniverse.

A big thanks to Caeric ArcLight for securing the pictures......

BCnU!

A BIRTHDAY REMEMBRANCE FOR PATRICK McGOOHAN & NUMBER SIX

"He has gloriously vindicated the right of the individual to be individual.

And this assembly rises to you - Sir!"
President
'The Prisoner'

Today would have been Patrick McGoohan's 85th birthday. He is my all-time favorite actor and the star of my all-time favorite TV series, 'The Prisoner'.

And the same date is shared by his character of Number Six from that show.

If you follow Inner Toob regularly, then you might know that in the Toobworld Dynamic Number Six was actually John Drake of 'Danger Man' and 'Secret Agent'.

That combined character was inducted into the TV Crossover Hall Of Fame in March of 2005.

On his last birthday on this Earth, McGoohan was saluted by Keith Olbermann on 'Countdown'.

Here's the transcript from March 19, 2008:

OLBERMANN: On this date 80 years ago, the actor Patrick McGoohan was born. Inscrutable tough guy, star of 'Secret Agent Man', twice an Emmy winner for guest shots on 'Columbo'. He was also the creator and star of what is, 40 years after its last episode, one of the most challenging TV series ever created, 'The Prisoner'.

OLBERMANN imitates the famous line (voice-over): "You, arrrrre number six."

If you‘ve never been sure if that accent of his means he was born in Ireland or Scotland or South Africa or England,....wrong on all counts. 

He was born in Astoria, in Queens, near Laguardia Airport, NY.

There are a lot of TV shows out there now which make you think; they don't just wash over you, but instead engage you. Much of that can be attributed to the work McGoohan put into 'The Prisoner' because he didn't want the audience to turn into "rotten cabbages".

As I always say about the show: it was first broadcast more than forty years ago and is still twenty years ahead of its time.

Good night, Sir, and may God bless.......

DOUBLE VISION THEORY OF RELATEEVEETY - JOHNSON & JOHNSON

Aileen Shepherd and Senator Janet Getzloff were sisters. Aileen is the mother of the late Gary Shepherd and Senator Getzloff investigated charges of malfeasance in the Organized Crfme Bureau.

The difference in their names has an easy splainin - at least Aileen Shepherd used her married name.  It's unknown if Senator Getzloff was married, and the use of "Ms." as her abbreviated honorific leaves the question up in the air.  So it could be the Senator is using her maiden name, which would mean Aileen was Aileen Getzloff before she married Gary's father.

Both women were played by Georgeann Johnson.

Two for Tuesday!

SHOWS CITED:

• 'thirtySOMETHING'
• 'Wiseguy'

BCnU!

LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES - GEPHARDT & REICH

DICK GEPHARDT & ROBERT REICH

From Wikipedia:

RICHARD GEPHARDT

Richard Andrew "Dick" Gephardt (born January 31, 1941) is a lobbyist and former prominent American politician of the Democratic Party. Gephardt served as a U.S. Representative from Missouri from January 3, 1977, until January 3, 2005, serving as House Majority Leader from 1989 to 1995, and as Minority Leader from 1995 to 2003. He also ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in 1988 and 2004. Gephardt was mentioned as a possible vice presidential nominee in 1988, 1992, 2000, 2004, and 2008.

Since his retirement from politics, he founded a Washington-based public affairs firm, Gephardt Government Affairs, and an Atlanta-based labor consultancy, the Gephardt Group.

ROBERT REICH

Robert Bernard Reich (born June 24, 1946) is an American political economist, professor, author, and political commentator. He served in the administrations of Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter and was Secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1997.

Reich is currently Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. He was formerly a professor at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and professor of social and economic policy at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management of Brandeis University.

Reich is a political commentator on programs including 'Hardball with Chris Matthews', 'This Week with George Stephanopoulos', CNBC's 'Kudlow & Company', and APM's 'Marketplace'. In 2008, Time Magazine named him one of the Ten Best Cabinet Members of the century, and The Wall Street Journal in 2008 placed him sixth on its list of the "Most Influential Business Thinkers". He was appointed a member of President-elect Barack Obama's economic transition advisory board.

AS SEEN IN:

'LateLine'

"Buddy Hackett"

SYNOPSIS:

Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich and Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.) are among those paying tribute to Buddy Hackett, who, it's reported, has passed away. (TVGuide.com)

Two for Tuesday!  (And in keeping with the Crossover Character of the Month.....)

BCnU!

SUPERMAN & THE SAINT

'THE SAINT'

"The Man Who Was Lucky"

In December of 1962, Simon Templar walked into the office of a gangster named Lucky Joe Luckner and found Lucky slapping around Jane, a hostess in his nightclub. The Saint gave Lucky a few quick jabs and sent him flying over his desk.

Her eyes wide with amazement (and probably desire), Jane exclaimed "Ooh! Just like Superman!"

The Man of Steel was still active in Toobworld, even though 'The Adventures of Superman' had been off the air since 1958 and the actor who played the role had been dead for almost three years.

It's been established by Toobworld Central that Superman died sometime after mid-1964 when he was exposed to Kryptonian radiation during an atomic bomb test in Nevada. Superman was there rescuing two low-level gangsters named Ray Luca and Pauli Taglia from the blast. (It's the only "logical" splainin as to how they survived to show up in the next season.)

But as we can see from Jane's reaction, Superman was considered to be still alive and active by the people of the world near the end of 1962, so there's no Zonk to the timeline.

BCnU!

LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES - JUST AN AIMEE MANN-IC MONDAY

AIMEE MANN

From Wikipedia:

Aimee Mann (born September 8, 1960) is an American rock singer-songwriter, guitarist and bassist. In 2011 she appeared (as a cleaning woman version of herself) on the Independent Film Channel series 'Portlandia'.

AS SEEN IN:

'Portlandia'

"Aimee"

SYNOPSIS:
Fred and Carrie discover that their maid is none other than their favorite singer-songwriter, Aimee Mann.

O'BSERVATION:

I own the record album she did when she was part of Til Tuesday, "Voices Carry". And yes, it's a record album......

BCnU!

(This is going out to Shap.....)

"GAME OF THRONES" - FROM 1995?

With all my excitement over the return of 'Doctor Who', I keep forgetting that the return of this series is fast approaching!

Here's the best reason why the good things come to those who wait....

GOT TWELVE MINUTES?

One of my top five favorite musical numbers......

"'DOCTOR WHO" RETURNS MARCH 30!

Between these two trailers (one from the BBC, one from BBC-America), there's plenty of "Series 7B" goodness to keep me pondering until 'Doctor Who' returns on March 30th!!!!

Did you see Dame Diana Rigg in there?  I caught David Warner as well.  Also Warwick Davis!  This second half of the season should be - as the Ninth Incarnation of the Doctor would say - fantastic!

BCnU!

LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES - LIAM NEESON

HAPPY SAINT PATRICK'S DAY!

LIAM NEESON

From Wikipedia:

Liam John Neeson, OBE (born 7 June 1952) is an Irish film actor with both Irish and American citizenship. Neeson is known best for his roles in "Schindler's List", "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace", "Michael Collins", "Taken", "Kinsey", "Batman Begins" and "Darkman". He has been nominated for an Oscar, a BAFTA and three Golden Globe Awards.

Educated at St Patrick's College (now St Patrick's, Dundonald), Ballymena Technical College and Queen's University Belfast, he moved to Dublin after university, joining the Abbey Theatre. After a time in London, he moved to the US, where the wide acclaim for his performance in "Schindler's List" led to more high-profile work.

He is widowed and lives in New York with his two sons.

AS SEEN IN:

'Life's Too Short'

"Episode 1"

BCnU!