TOOBWORLD CENTRAL: DEALING WITH HISTORICAL RECASTAWAYS

There are certain events in the History of the Trueniverse that get plenty of attention in Toobworld:

• The American Civil War
• The Kennedy Assassination
• The Titanic
• Lincoln's Assassination
• The Whitechapel Murders
• The Life of Marilyn Monroe
• The Attacks on 9/11
• World War II

And for one thankfully brief lapse of reason, the Amy Fisher/Joey Buttafucco case.....

When such events are repeatedly hashed over in mini-series and TV movies, Toobworld Central just ships them off, each to their own alternate dimension of the TV Universe.  That way we don't have to wrestle with the thorny Zonks like Recastaways.

However, we have to find splainins when those events are woven into episodes of the TV series which are the foundation of Earth Prime-Time.  As I mentioned, Recastaways are a particular bugaboo for the Splainin Department, but we've come up with a reasonably good excuse - historical figures may look different from one series to the next because the Truniverse audience is seeing them from the perspective of one of the other TV characters in the storyline.

A recent example would be Edward the VIII, the British king who abdicated the throne for the love of Wallis Simpson.  My personal preference as to his portrayal would be that by Edward Fox in the mini-series 'Edward And Mrs. Simpson'.  But his appearance in TV series like 'Dancing On The Edge' and 'Tales Of The Gold Monkey' would take precedent.  

In the current season of 'Downton Abbey', he appears as the Prince of Wales alongside his father, King George V.  A different actor plays him than seen in those previously mentioned series, so it's splained away as being the point of view of Lady Rose MacClare who was being presented to the Royal Family.

BCnU!