"GAME OF THRONES" - IN MEMORIAM

 

Since the third season of 'Game Of Thrones' ended, we haven't really had any content from Westeros.

Comic-Con offered up an "In Memoriam" video tribute to all of the characters who perished since the series began....

 

 

TOOBMUSIC - "ALL I WANNA DO"

So here's a group called Rootdown. This song was used in the "Good Lovin'" episode of 'Franklin & Bash'...

BLIPVERTS - GNOME-MAN'S LAND

Tim Burton directed a blipvert in France for Hollywood chewing gum:

We're meant to assume that the bathing beauty was Snow White.  She's not the Snow White from 'Once Upon A Time', nor is she the one from 'The Charmings'.  And she's not played by the same actress from any of the episodes in TV series anthologies like 'Fairy Tale Theater'.

So she may be yet another incarnation of the BookWorld Snow White, sprung to life into the TV Universe of the Toobworld Dynamic from a specific edition of the tale.  This would separate her from all of her dwarf-gathering doppelgangers.

And we already know that garden gnomes can come alive in Earth Prime-Time......

BCnU!

LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES - TIM BURTON

With today's League of Themselves showcase, it's time to pay the bills.......

TIM BURTON

AS SEEN IN:
'Samsung' commercial

From Wikipedia:Timothy Walter "Tim" Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American film director, film producer, writer, artist and animator. He is famous for his dark, gothic, macabre and quirky take on horror and fantasy style movies such as "Beetlejuice", "Edward Scissorhands", "The Nightmare Before Christmas", "Ed Wood", "Sleepy Hollow", "Corpse Bride", "Big Fish", "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street", "Dark Shadows" and "Frankenweenie", and for blockbusters such as "Pee-wee's Big Adventure", "Batman", its first sequel "Batman Returns", "Planet of the Apes", "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "Alice in Wonderland".

Burton is known for using recurring collaborators on his works; among them are Johnny Depp, who has become a close friend of Burton since their first film together; musician Danny Elfman, who has composed scores for all but five of the films Burton has directed and/or produced; and actress — as well as his domestic partner —Helena Bonham Carter. He also wrote and illustrated the poetry book "The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories", published in 1997, and a compilation of his drawings, sketches and other artwork, entitled "The Art of Tim Burton", was released in 2009.

Burton has directed 16 films and produced 12 as of 2012. His latest films are an adaptation of the soap opera "Dark Shadows", released on May 10, 2012, and a remake of his 1984 short, "Frankenweenie", released on October 5, 2012.  He is currently working on "Big Eyes", a biographical drama film about Walter Keane and his wife Margaret.

BCnU!

WHATCHOO TALKIN' 'BOUT? WILLIS!

On April 14, 1975, eight-year old Truman Jackson tried to rob Liz Miller, the wife of police captain 'Barney Miller'.  She disarmed him of his stick and made a citizen's arrest.  At the 12th Precinct station, the detectives attempted to scare him straight by locking him up in their cell with a murderous pimp (who agreed to play along.)  By the end of the episode, they took him home to his grandparents.

But the thing is, in the Toobworld Dynamic, that kid didn't learn anything.  He lied his way right through to the end.

First off (according to our speculations), his name wasn't Truman, but he was a Jackson.

Played by Todd Bridges, I'm saying he was Willis Jackson, whom we would later "meet" in 'Diff'rent Strokes'.

And he lied about his mother being dead (or at least he said he had no mother.)  But three years later, Mrs. Jackson would be dead and Willis, along with his younger brother Arnold, would be adopted by their mother's boss Philip Drummond.

As for the grandparents?  During that three year period they also died, leaving the field clear for Drummond to adopt the boys.

So why did he choose the name Truman Jackson?  It may have been his father's name.  (And I don't think we ever learned if he was dead or just "missing in action".)

Going back to the mention of his grandparents, I'm wondering if Mr. Drummond and his housekeeper Mrs. Garrett passed themselves off as the white grandparents of "Truman" Jackson?

But that would just make it all a bit more complicated than it needs to be.

BCnU!

TVXOHOF, 07/2013 - STAN "THE MAN" LEE

The San Diego Comic-Con kicked off yesterday and I thought this weekend would be a good time to induct the July 2013 member of the TV Crossover Hall of Fame, a man who has made it possible for so many super heroes from the universe of comic books to become a part of the TV Universe known as the Toobworld Dynamic:

STAN LEE!

From Wikipedia:
Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber; born December 28, 1922) is an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, media producer, television host, actor, voice actor and former president and chairman of Marvel Comics.

In collaboration with several artists, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Thor, and many other fictional characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. In addition, he headed the first major successful challenge to the industry's censorship organization, the Comics Code Authority, and forced it to reform its policies. Lee subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.

He was inducted into the comic book industry's The Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1995.

And now he's joined the TV Crossover Hall of Fame as a member of the League of Themselves!  To top it off, he not only made a name for himself in Earth Prime-Time, but in several other TV dimensions as well, like the Tooniverse and the world of stop-motion!

Here's a list of reasons why, True Believers:

EARTH PRIME-TIME

'Chuck'

(In which we learned that Stan the Man was a spy!)

'The Big Bang Theory'

'Entourage'

'My Life As Liz'

(Only part of this interview made it into the episode.)
'Eureka'

There was also an appearance on 'Eureka' in which he either was playing himself with a secret life and agenda (as with his cameo in 'Chuck'), or he was a clone or evil twin....

Stan Lee's EUReKA by eyzmaster

I'm going to side with the idea that it's the same Stan Lee of Marvel Comics as seen in 'Entourage' and 'The Big Bang Theory', but as a spy he also wanted the chance to go into space based on his "scientific research".  

Either that or his mind was entering the early delusional stages of dementia.  Like Comic Book Guy observed, maybe his mind was no longer in mint condition......

DEUTSCHE TOOBWORLD

As a bonus, here's that same scene as seen in Deutsche Toobworld, the TV dimension in which Germany conquered Earth in World War II:

THE TOONIVERSE


'The Simpsons'

'The Spectacular Spiderman'
& 
'Spiderman'

As you can see, Stan Lee and Spidey confirmed that there are alternate TV dimensions springing forth from the Tooniverse.  Still another reason why he deserves this honor!

'Fantastic Four'

Stan Lee's toon avatar was a serlinguist!

THE BORDERLANDS


'Fantastic Four'
The live-action Stan Lee also showed off his serlinguistic skills in this series as he observed the action over in the Tooniverse:

'Muppet Babies'

THE STOP-MOTION WORLD
'Robot Chicken'

This tribute to the Generalissimo is long overdue.  I actually thought I would get around to it a couple of years later.  But better late than never, I say.

But an even better thing to say, in honor of our inductee, is:
EXCELSIOR!

Welcome to the TV Crossover Hall of Fame!

THE HAT SQUAD - DENNIS BURKLEY

I first saw Dennis Burkley on my TV screen in the mid-1970s, playing Mac on 'Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'.  Mac was a big good ol' boy who fell hard for Loretta Haggars while she had amnesia.  He proved to be popular enough to keep around Fernwood even after that storyline ran its course.

 

After that, he co-starred in a Bill Macy sitcom, in the last incarnation of 'Sanford And Son' ('Sanford'), and provided the voice of the school principal in 'King Of The Hill'.

 

Burkley died in his sleep over the weekend at the age of 67.  He had been suffering from health problems over the last few years, according to his son.

 

In a four episode arc during the 1980s, Burkley played a racist biker named Sonny Crocket in 'Hill Street Blues'.  The writer who created his character, Anthony Yerkovich, would use that name again a year later for Don Johnson's character in 'Miami Vice'.

 

The city in which 'Hill Street Blues' took place was never named, but was supposedly on the East Coast.  The opening credits were filmed in Chicago and principle location shots were done in the Los Angeles area.  So it's pozz'ble, just pozz'ble that palm trees may have invaded a few of the exterior scenes.

 

But even if they didn't, it was still on the East Coast just as Miami is.....

 

With 'Hill Street Blues' sharing the same coast as 'Miami Vice', why can't we make the claim that both Sonny Crocketts were related?  Perhaps they were both named after a forebear - a Sonny Crockett who fought in the Civil War, maybe?

 

They may not have been closely related, or it could have been they weren't raised in a tight-knit family, so there was no influence on each other's character.

 

Works for me.

 

Good night and may God bless, Dennis Burkley.....

LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES - MATT HARVEY

Continuing with this mini-theme of the All-Star Game, here's the National League's starting pitcher Matt Harvey doing his part for Skitlandia......

LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES NEWS

NBC will premiere 'The Michael J. Fox Show' on September 26 and one of its first guest stars will be New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, playing himself.  So that will be fresh fodder for the League of Themselves showcase here at Inner Toob!

Here's the Skitlandia televersion of the Governor

As seen on 'Weekend News Update' during 'Saturday Night Live'

BCnU!

LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES - TOM SEAVER

Yesterday the 80th MLB All-Star Game was held at Citifield in Queens, NY.  And to celebrate the history of the home stadium's team, "Tom Terrific" Seaver threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

I don't know why more TV shows didn't take advantage of his presence as a member of The League of Themselves once he retired.  His only fictional televersion showed up in the Skitlandia dimension......

TOM SEAVER

AS SEEN IN:

'Saturday Night Live'

Season 9, Episode 7December 3, 1983

The Smothers Brothers (Hosts)

Big Country (Musical Guests)

From SNL Transcripts:

Tom Seaver: 

Well, we're here at 'Saturday Night Live', and, as you can, seem it's coming down pretty hard here. You know, it's been raining all day, it's really a mess out there. There's umpire Ron Luciano, he's checking the stage. He doesn't look very happy - of course not. He's the guy who's gonna have the final decision on whether or not to cancel the show tonight. Boy, this is really a shame.

I'm Tom Seaver. You know, 'Saturday Night Live' has been on the air for nine years now, and, to the best of my knowledge, this would be the very first time they've been cancelled because of rain. And what a shame that would be. We have a capacity crowd here tonight, and they would really be disappointed. Many of them have been waiting all day long - some of them sleeping outside in sleeping bags so they could get tickets.

And, wait a minute, we've got a biggie now. Just in case the show is cancelled, NBC does have "Abbot & Costello Meet Frankenstein". We've got that standing by. I think Bela Lugosi's in that one, too.

You can see a few of the members of the cast here on the stage. Timmy up there, and Mary Gross. The Belush-man, Jim Belushi, up at the top. I know these kids would love to get this game in the show, and they're really gamers. They're troopers, the show must go on, and that's what they really believe.

Click here for the rest of the sketch.......

BCnU!

NUMBERS RUNNING - "DCI BANKS"

When DCI Banks investigated the rape and murder of a student named Hayley Daniels, one of his squad cars at the crime scene was designated with one of the numbers from the infamous 'Lost' sequence.....

BCnU!

TELE-QUOTES - BATTLE LINES

Hot enough for ya?

Here's a report from my old buddy, Patrick Scully:

Saturday, 07/13/13

approximately 8:45 am - 

Pat Battle from Channel 4 News was just discussing with her co-anchor how hot it's going to be later today and finished with... "I was loving that 69".

Nothing better than TV quotes taken out of context!

BCnU!

LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES - KEITH HERNANDEZ & NOLAN RYAN

Tonight the 80th annual All-Star Game of Major League Baseball will be held at Citifield, home of the Mets.  

And even though the Mets beat my favorite team for the World Series in 1986, and even worse, they're a National League team, I'm going to showcase two legendary Mets players in their League of Themselves appearance.

Two for Tuesday!

KEITH HERNANDEZ

AS SEEN IN: 

'Seinfeld'

"The Boyfriend: Part 1"
"The Boyfriend: Part 2" 

"The Finale"

From Wikipedia:

Keith Barlow Hernandez (born October 20, 1953) is a former Major League Baseball (MLB) player who was the starting first baseman on World Series championship teams with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1982 and the New York Mets in 1986. He began his career in the majors with the Cardinals in 1974, winning the National League (NL) batting title and sharing the circuit's Most Valuable Player (MVP) honors with Willie Stargell in 1979. After a mid-season trade sent him to the Mets in 1983, he became the undisputed leader amongst the players of the brash ball club that also fell a victory short of capturing the 1988 NL Championship Series.

Hernandez appeared in five MLB All-Star Games and hit better than .300 six times between 1979 and 1987. Generally considered one of the best defensive players at his position, he was awarded the Gold Glove in eleven consecutive seasons from 1978 to 1988, the most by any first baseman in baseball history. He retired as an active player after spending one year with the Cleveland Indians in 1990.

Currently a baseball analyst working on Mets telecasts for SportsNet New York and WPIX since 2006, he has gained a cult following from his broadcasting career.

NOLAN RYAN

AS SEEN IN:

'Ryan's Hope'

Episode #1.44
Episode #1.45
Episode #1.46

From Wikipedia:

Lynn Nolan Ryan, Jr. (born on January 31, 1947), nicknamed "The Ryan Express", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He is currently principal owner and CEO of the Texas Rangers.

During a major league record 27-year baseball career, he pitched in 1966 and from 1968 to 1993 for four different teams: the New York Mets, California Angels, Houston Astros, and Texas Rangers. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999.

Ryan, a hard-throwing, right-handed pitcher, threw pitches that were regularly recorded above 100 miles per hour (161 km/h). The high velocity remained throughout his career, even into his 40s. Ryan was also known to throw a devastating 12–6 curve-ball at exceptional velocity for a breaking ball.

While his lifetime winning percentage was .526, Ryan was an eight-time MLB All-Star, and his 5,714 career strikeouts rank first in baseball history by a significant margin. He leads the runner-up, Randy Johnson, by 839 strikeouts. Similarly, Ryan's 2,795 bases on balls lead second-place Steve Carlton by 962 — walking over 50% more hitters than any other pitcher in Major League history. Ryan and Sandy Koufax are the only two pitchers inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame who had more strikeouts than innings pitched. Other than Jackie Robinson (whose number was retired by the entire MLB), Ryan is currently the only major league baseball player to have his number retired by at least 3 different teams: the Angels, Astros, and Rangers.

Ryan is the all-time leader in no-hitters with seven, three more than any other pitcher. He is tied with Bob Feller for most one-hitters, with 12. Ryan also pitched 18 two-hitters. Despite the seven no-hitters, he never threw a perfect game, nor did he ever win a Cy Young Award. Ryan is one of only 29 players in baseball history to have appeared in Major League baseball games in four decades and the only pitcher to have struck out seven pairs of fathers and sons.

BCnU!

A HOLMES IN THE VILLAGE

I belong to a lot of pages in Facebook whose members enjoy the crossover concept, not just the usual gang of my fellow O'Bsessives in the Television Crossover Universe and the Crossovers Forum.

 

Here's a recent example which I think came from a page dedicated to 'The Prisoner':

 

Michael Barber

CRAZY scenario coming up.... Sherlock Holmes (Cumberbatch) finds out too much of Britain's secrets and is sent to the Village. Obviously he's not called Sherlock Holmes in the new Prisoner series. Only Number 6. It could work, I tell you!

 

Okay, Team Toobworld might know why I'd O'Bject to that - the Sherlock Holmes played by Benedict Cumberbatch is not in Toobworld, Earth Prime-Time, but either in an alternate TV dimension or in Toobworld's Limbo.

 

But let's entertain the notion that the powers behind the Village have been around for a long time, long before the Cold War. 

 

What if the Village - wherever it was located - had been around during the Victorian era?

 

So now let's picture Sherlock Holmes - as played by Jeremy Brett, of course, of course - in the scenario described by Michael Barber......

 

This unseen adventure from Toobworld would have probably happened during the Great Hiatus, after Holmes supposedly perished at the Reichenbach Falls with Professor Moriarty. 

 

And to expand this crossover wish-craft, who could have been one of the Number Two's that he faced?

 

Dr. Miguelito Loveless!

 

BCnU!

My thanks to Michael Barber for suggesting this Missing Link, and to Jim Mueller for creating the images of Sherlock Holmes in Portmeirion.....

MARK TWAIN AND "WAREHOUSE 13"

Here's a quote from Mark Twain that made me think of 'Warehouse 13':

"...a family brought love, and distributed it among many objects, and intensified it, and this engendered wearing cares and anxieties, and when the objects suffered or died the miseries and anxieties multiplied and broke the heart and shortened life..."- No. 44, The Mysterious Stranger

Mark Twain and one of the Tesla artifacts?

It has also been suggested that Samuel Clemens' encounter with Data in the San Francisco of the 1890s was an inspiration for one of the characters in that story.

So there yuh go, Fanficcers! How about a story in which Mark Twain had dealings with Warehouse 12?   Why not?  With 'Warehouse 13' sadly come to a close, it's not like we're ever going to see new episodes from Toobworld!

Maybe Mark Twain met the Warehouse agent who claimed to be H.G. Wells, despite her overwhelming feminine pulchritude......

BCnU!

LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES - LUC ROBITAILLE

It's supposed to hit 97 degrees here in New York City today, and continue like that for the rest of the week!  So I thought we could do with a little time on the ice....

LUC ROBITAILLE

AS SEEN IN:

'Bones'

"Fire In The Ice"

TV STATUS:

Dream Figure (Hallucination)

SYNOPSIS:

During a hockey game, FBI agent Seeley Booth suffers a concussion.  While he is unconscious, he is visited by hockey player Robitaille who offers him key clues in his current investigation.

From Wikipedia:

Luc Jean-Marie Robitaille (born February 17, 1966) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player, and currently serves as President of business operations for the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League.

During his 19-season National Hockey League (NHL) career, Robitaille won the Stanley Cup in 2001–02 with the Detroit Red Wings, and played for the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers, but is most known for his fourteen seasons, over three different stints, with the Kings. He served as Kings team captain during the1992–93 (while Wayne Gretzky was injured) and for the final two games of the 2005–06 season. Robitaille retired after the 2005–06 season as the highest-scoring left winger in NHL history and the holder of several Kings franchise records, along with numerous Kings playoff records.

BCnU!

  

CLASSIC TV THEATER - WILLIAM BENDIX IS "THE PRIME SUSPECT"

THE MONKEY BUSINESS ILLUSION

My thanks to Rob Buckley of the Medium Is Not Enough blog (link to the left!) for pointing out this video in connection to the latest episode of 'Perception'...

TOOBMUSIC - "SEASON 1 FINALE" BY ALEX WURMAN

Found a web site that should be a good source for Toobmusic - information... information... information on the songs played in episodes of various TV shows.

Since 'The Newsroom' is returning tonight, here's the music that closed out the final scene from Season One (in the episode "The Greater Fool".)  

There is nothing wrong with your monitor, likke the Control Voice reassured us back in the day on 'The Outer Limits'.  This isn't the series finale to 'The Sopranos'!

"Season 1 Finale" was uploaded without the distraction of the actual scene.  Just a pure haunting melody.....

BCnU!

BLIPVERTS - TOOBWORLD REUNIONS UNDER THE GOLDEN ARCHES

It's time to pay the bills......

LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES - ANDY MURRAY

Andy Murray won his first Wimbledon title and ended Britain's 77-year wait for a men's champion with a hard-fought victory over world number one Novak Djokovic.

The Scot, 26, converted his fourth championship point in a dramatic final game to win 6-4 7-5 6-4 and claim his second major title.

- Piers Newbery

BBC Sport

ANDY MURRAY

AS SEEN IN:

'Red Nose Day 2011'

"Outnumbered"

TV DIMENSION:

Earth Prime-Time

(But it could be Skitlandia as well.)

BCnU!