Friday, October 31, 2014

TVXOHOF, HALLOWEEN EDITION - THE WEEPING ANGEL OF THE WILD WILD WEST



With this being the month which ends in Halloween, October has traditionally been the month in which the Television Crossover Hall Of Fame has inducted the "monsters" of Toobworld. (Some of whom have been quite human.) And in this anniversary year in which what I say goes, it's no different.

For October 2014, we're inducting the Weeping Angels as a species into the Hall of Fame. But specifically, we're putting the Weeping Angel that has sent TV characters into the past of the wild, wild West.

And to make it adhere at least somewhat to the basic tenets of qualification - that there should be three different TV shows involved, here are FOUR examples of TV characters who are no longer seen in present day Toobworld but could be considered living in the old frontier:

AMBASSADOR STRASSER, "BATMAN"
BENSON PARKHURST, 'BATMAN'
GERMAN AMBASSADOR, 'THE WILD WILD WEST'

I wrote about this man back in January when I was making all those connections to 'Casablanca' in Toobworld. So to save time, click here.

DUBREK, 'THE NAME OF THE GAME'
PAUL VAN DILLEN, 'THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW'
ERIK HUNTER, 'LAREDO'

The same situation applies here. I wrote about this Texas Ranger/ski instructor/revolutionary (in reverse order) back in August when I inducted him into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame as one of my Western entries.

AGGIE THOMPSON, 'THE DORIS DAY SHOW'
MISS HANNAH, 'GUNSMOKE'
 
Aggie was the housekeeper for Buck Webb on his ranch, and I wouldn't have been surprised if she provided a bit more than home cookin' for Doris Martin's father, if you know what I mean. Nudge nudge wink wink.

Until the Weeping Angels were revealed in the "Blink" episode of 'Doctor Who', I always figured ol' Buck had dispatched Aggie in a drunken rage one night and then buried her somewhere on the ranch. After all, she just suddenly disappeared from the show without any reason given, to be replaced by a new housekeeper named Juanita. And it wouldn't have been like they'd ever find Aggie's body, not with LeRoy Simpson as the do-nothing ranch hand.



 

But I think we can now claim that what happened was that Aggie came into contact with this particular "lonely assassin" and was transported back to Dodge City of the 1870s. Needing something to do with her life in order to survive, Aggie saw an opportunity when Miss Kitty put the Long Branch Saloon up for sale. Changing her name to "Miss Hannah", Aggie took over the enterprise and ran it until she finally passed away.

'T.J. HOOKER'
JEFF CABLE, 'BARBARY COAST'



This is one case where the order of broadcast for the shows involved has been reversed. William Shatner played Jeff Cable in the one season Western before reclaiming much of his former glory as the uniformed cop T.J. Hooker. But as it's unlikely we'll ever see Hooker return in a TV reunion movie, I have no problem making the claim that he was ambushed by that Weeping Angel and sent back in Time to the wild wild West.

Using his knowledge of police procedures from the Future, Hooker quickly established himself as an agent for the federal government to rival his new contemporary James T. West of the Secret Service. Although unseen by the Trueniverse audience, I'm sure "Jeff Cable" had at least one adventure teamed up with West and Artemus Gordon, and perhaps with lawyer turned bounty hunter Brisco County Junior.

And so even though we never saw this particular Weeping Angel in action (or at all!), I think these four examples make a compelling argument that it exists in Toobworld.

Who might be its next victim.....?

Not sure I should say "Welcome to the TVXOHOF, Weeping Angel!", but I'm sure we can find a place for it in the Hall's atrium. Just don't take your eyes off it should you ever visit......



BCnU!

A big thanks to Caeric ArcLight for making two of the Weeping Angels pictures - the one with T.J. Hooker and the one with the cowboy hat. 
 

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