Thursday, December 18, 2014

"WHO LOVES YA, WONDER BABY?"



'WONDER WOMAN'
"THE FINE ART OF CRIME"

When the annoying IRAC computer used the term "an inside job", it confessed to having watched reruns of 'Kojak'.

This would not be the same show as we in the Trueniverse used to watch.  (Free plug - and you can still watch it every Sunday evening on ME-TV.)  What we saw was the actual Theo Kojak of Earth Prime-Time; what the citizens of that same world saw were recreations of his career in the NYPD (probably broadcast concurrent with his still active investigations.)

Based only on this reference, we could even suggest that Kojak was played by some other actor, real or fictional.  As far as I can tell, Zonks about 'Kojak' dealt with the show and the character, but Telly Savalas wasn't mentioned.  (Of course, my research is far from complete.)

Here are just a few of the shows that mentioned either Lt. Kojak or the show based on his life:
  • 'Good Times'
  • 'Rhoda'
  • 'Barney Miller'
  • 'All in the Family'
  • 'Sanford and Son'
  • 'The Sweeney'
  • 'Are You Being Served?'
  • 'Good Neighbors'
  • 'The Muppet Show: Bruce Forsyth'
  • 'The New Avengers'
  • 'Porridge'
  • 'The Bob Newhart Show'
  • 'The Love Boat'
As you can see, the lollipop-sucking, bald-headed fancy pants had quite an international following as well.  And I think we can assume that most of the references to Kojak by characters in the NYC-based TV shows were to the actual detective still working the beat in Midtown.

References to the show might not even be about the Toobworld TV series.  It could have been an extremely popular movie based on Kojak's life.

We have to go overseas to Germany for that suggestion:

'Kottan ermittelt': "Wien Mitte" (1978) (TV Episode)
Major Kottan sucks on a lolly. His colleague remarks: "You're in the wrong movie."

So when during an episode of 'The Bob Newhart Show', a TV announcer says that a political program will preempt "Kojak", it could be that he was referring to the movie.

And that would be what IRAC had illegally downloaded through his dial-up computer connections......

BCnU!

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