THE IDES OF MARCH - JULIUS CAESAR OF TOOBSTAGE

"How many ages hence
Shall this our lofty scene be acted o’er,
In states unborn and accents yet unknown!"
Cassius
"JULIUS CAESAR"

CHARLES GRAY

"JULIUS CAESAR"

Today is March 15th, known as the Ides of March, the date on which Roman Emperor Julius Caesar was assassinated. 

Julius Caesar has been portrayed many times on television, going all the way back to 1938!  And with so many recastaways of Caesar, there are enough to go around the many alternate dimensions of Toobworld.  (Enough to keep this theme going in March 15 posts for years to come!  That's if I live long enough to complete them!)

For this year, I thought I'd focus on an alternate TV dimension which doesn't get enough attention from Toobworld Central: "ToobStage".

("ToobStage" may be a clumsily coined word, but it sounds like "Tube Steak" and that makes me giggle.)

ToobStage is the TV dimension in which theatrical plays are dramatized - over and over again.  It is a static universe unlike the other Toobworlds in that the characters do not have lives beyond what is seen on the screen.  Instead, their lives are replayed over and over again with the only changes being in the appearance of the characters (due to recasting) and the "look of the land" (due to changes in scenery design).

With the characters being recastaways, ToobStage resembles Skitlandia in that respect.  (And speaking of today's featured character, Julius Caesar has gone through several facial changes in Skitlandia as well, from Tommy Cooper to Larry Storch.)  At one point, Julius Caesar was even a woman!

There are times when the life of Julius Caesar in ToobStage is influenced by neighboring Toobworld, those which have seen their Earths dominated by different nations like Germany or Italy.  There was even a production of Shakespeare's play which could be considered part of Black Toobworld as well since it took place in Africa.

Then there are times, especially in the case of Julius Caesar, where it appears that Sweet the Musical Demon has come a-calling.  This is due to the TV productions of Shakespeare's play which have been turned into operas.  (One of these productions has that "Julia Caesar" mentioned earlier.  And I use "Julia Caesar" as a joke.  Although played by a woman, the role was played as a male.)

These could be spun off into individual Borderlands, but I think it best to keep all the theatrical productions in ToobStage since it's expected that each rerun of any particular period in that dimension's history would  be totally remade for the next incarnation.

For Julius Caesar, there were three periods in ToobStage history which are replayed over and over again.  These are thanks to three different plays:

• "Androcles And The Lion" by Shaw
• "Caesar And Cleopatra" by George Bernard Shaw
• "Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare

I've put them in that order as I think that's how they would play out in Caesar's life.  (Some of them were heavily edited down to fit the anthology TV series time-slots.  Those series will be mentioned.)

Here are the made for TV productions of those plays:

"ANDROCLES AND THE LION"

NOEL COWARD

• Played by Michael Martin Harvey (from 1938!)
• Played by Ernest Thesiger
• Played by Raymond Lovell
• Played by Noel Coward (Musical)

"CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA"

SIR ALEC GUINNESS

• "Producers' Showcase" Played by Cedric Hardwicke
• "General Electric Theater" Played by Maurice Evans
• Played by Paul Verhoeven (German)
• Played by O.E. Hasse (German)
• Played by Alec Guinness 
• Played by Jeffrey Gall (Opera)
• Played by Flavio Oliver (Opera)
• Played by David Daniels (Opera)

"JULIUS CAESAR"

JEFFREY KISSOOM

THEODORE BIKEL

JANET BAKER

• Played by Ernest Milton (1938!)
• Played by George Bliss
• "BBC Sunday-Night Theatre" Played by Walter Hudd
• "Studio One in Hollywood" Played by William Post Jr. (twice in 1949) & Theodore Bikel (1955)
• Played by Budd Knapp
• "BBC Play of the Month" Played by Maurice Denham
• Played by Erich Schellow (German)
• Played by Charles Gray 
• Played by Janet Baker (Opera)
• Played by Andreas Scholl (Opera)
• Played by Jeffery Kissoon (Might also be found in Black Toobworld)

As I stated earlier, there are plenty of other Toobworlds in which Julius Caesar appears but I'll save each of them for future postings.....

Hail Caesar!

THE OSCARS IN THE TOONIVERSE

The Oscars were announced a couple of weeks ago and a picture tweeted by host Ellen DeGeneres during the ceremony crashed the Twitter network.

This was one of those events that was mirrored in the Tooniverse.  The only difference was that Homer & Bart Simpson were in the audience as well for that moment....

Jennifer Lawrence looks like Emma Thompson and Meryl Streep looks like Elizabeth Warren....

BCnU!

TOOBWORLD TARANTINO

'PIE IN THE SKY'

"DEVILS ON HORSEBACK, PART 1"

In September of 1996, Jerry Lawless had to supply an alibi for the night of a murder.  He told DI Henry Crabbe that he had been to the cinema to catch the latest Tarantino picture.

As a director, Quentin Tarantino didn't have any new movies released in 1996.  The nearest one to that time was "Four Rooms" in 1995 and he only directed one segment of that anthology film.  I doubt anyone would go calling it a Tarantino picture.

Before that it was "Pulp Fiction" in 1994 and "Jackie Brown", which was released in 1997, wouldn't reach the UK until 1998.

But if we're talking about Quentin Tarantino as an actor....?

"From Dusk Til Dawn" was released in the UK in May of 1996, so it could be the movie Lawless claimed to see.

Or perhaps in Toobworld, Tarantino did make one of the movies he often talked about.  Because the 'Pie In The Sky' episode takes place in 1996, the likeliest candidate would be "Double V Vega" which would have been a prequel featuring John Travolta as Vincent Vega from "Pulp Fiction" and Michael Madsen as his brother, Vic Vega (Mr. Blonde), from "Reservoir Dogs".

But for this bit of speculative trivia, we'll stick with "From Dusk Til Dawn".  After all, Detective Stabler mentioned it in an episode of 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit', so we know it exists in Earth Prime-Time.....

BCnU!

SPECIAL GUEST APPEARANCE: ROB BUCKLEY LOOKS AT "HANNAY"

The character of Richard Hannay is a multiversal - originally from BookWorld in several novels by John Buchan; a few Cineverse incarnations of the most famous book ("The Thirty-Nine Steps") beginning with Hitchcock's adaptation; a TV movie that had to be relocated to the Land o' Remakes; and even a very funny play that ran on Broadway a few years back.  (That incarnation would be found in The World's A Stage.)  

Richard Hannay is also a member of the Wold Newton Universe in which many of the pulp heroes and villains throughout literature (for the most part) can trace their beginnings back to the meteorite crash near Wold Newton in the 1790s.  

In the late 1970s there was another movie incarnation of "The Thirty-Nine Steps" starring Robert Powell, which is considered absorbed into Earth Prime-Time.  That's because Powell went on to star in a TV adaptation, 'Hannay', a decade later.

Rob Buckley, whose blog "The Medium Is Not Enough" is the fourth most popular TV blog in the UK, has take a look back at 'Hannay', including some clips from the movie as well as from the series.

Check it out:

Nostalgia Corner: Hannay (1988-1989)

BCnU!

ECCE PROMO! "THE TOMORROW PEOPLE"

Yet another incarnation of 'The Tomorrow People' has arrived in the overall TV Universe......

)

In this video, Astrid and Jedekiah show that their characters are part of the Promoverse, that pocket dimension in which characters from other TV dimensions promote their shows.  In this case, it's to let the Trueniverse audience know that there has been a scheduling change for 'The Tomorrow People' from Wednesdays to Mondays on the CW.

BCnU!

TELE-FOLKS DIRECTORY: "DOC" VILLAROCHE

'MAGNUM P.I.'

"LITTLE GAMES"

CHARACTER STUDY:

"DOC" VILLAROCHE 

(ORIGINAL LAST NAME - GERVAIS)

The legendary jewel thief "Doc" Villaroche - like his daughter Krista many decades later, was using an alias based on his mother's maiden name.  He did so at the request of his brother Victor, who still bore the family surname of Gervais.

Victor Gervais was a section head for THRUSH, but he was not demanding his brother change his name out of resentment for Doc's chosen profession.  Rather, he was thinking of his brother's safety should their familial relationship ever be discovered by the enemies of THRUSH.  More than a decade later, this concern would be even more necessary once Doc had a daughter, Krista.

So Doc chose the maiden name of their mother, Christianna Villaroche, and he had to admit... "Doc" Villaroche had a certain panache that could not have been matched had he remained "Doc" Gervais.  In later decades a name like that would have better fit into the jazz club scene.

(Victor Gervais would not always remain by his birth name, however.  He went into business for himself as a double agent, known as Kinsey Krispin.  Krispin used a factory for creating mass-produced statuary as a cover; but an on-site accident caused him to fall into one of the vats.  This left him with his skin permanently disfigured as chalky white in coloring and his hair tinted a minty green.  That unbalanced his mind and he would forever after be more famous - or rather infamous! - as the Clown Prince of Crime, the Joker......)

BCnU!

PS:

Why the name of "Christianna" for the mother of Victor and Doc?  Because I liked the idea that Doc would name his daughter with a variation of his own sainted mother's name.  Krista from Christianna.  And its Mediterranean flavor flowed well with "Villaroche Gervais"......

As for Doc's real first name? I'm sure there are any number of one-shot characters played by Cesar Romero in his later years without so much back-story.  We could claim one of them was an alias Doc adopted when the world thought him dead.  (And with an alias, it's always advisable to use your real first name so that it's easy to remember.)

Romero's starring role as Peter Stavros of 'Falcon Crest' and the one-shot appearance on 'Murder, She Wrote' as the painter Diego Santana would have to be excluded as they have too much back-story.  The same for any other murderers or murder victims he may have portrayed on TV over the years.

THEORIES OF RELATEEVEETY: THE ALLENBYS

Several fictional characters are supposedly related to people from the real world.  In Toobworld, examples include Vera from 'Alice' & Art Carney and Megan Russert ('Homicide: Life On The Street') & Tim Russert (NBC News). 

And there are those who are related to real historical figures. Although it was mentioned in BookWorld, Sherlock Holmes claimed to be related to the painter Vernet.  So the same should apply to his televersion.  (Portrayed by Jeremy Brett, NOT Cumberbatch or Miller!)

Toobworld Central has another one to add:

Ensign Tess Allenby of the starship Enterprise.

She was in three episodes of 'ST: TNG' and our claim is that she could trace her lineage back to General Sir Edmund Allenby, now best known for his interaction with the famous "Lawrence of Arabia".

In the main Toobworld, Allenby was seen in the "Daredevils Of The Desert" episode of 'The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles'. 

BCnU!

TUESDAY NEWS DAY: OVER IN COMIC BOOK TOOBWORLD, SIF'S UP!

According to Zap2it, 'Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' Is making another crossover with the Marvel Superhero movies. And hopefully it will be meatier than the last one. 

The Asgardian warrior woman Sif from the "Thor" movies will be in episode 15. That should work out to be broadcast on February 18th.  

UPDATE: It's going to be on the Toob March 11th.  (That's tonight, Tele-Folks!)

ABC Entertainment Group president Paul Lee said:
"We're shooting it now.  Jaimie Alexander [who plays Sif] is there.  That's going to be absolutely integral to that hour of television."   

And this is from the Marvel website:
"Sif has come to Earth with a very specific mission.  Unfortunately, we can’t tell you just what brings her to our neck of the woods just yet."

Sif in "Agents Of SHIELD"

BCnU!

TUESDAY NEWS DAY - A COUPLE OF RAKES

There are two versions of 'Rake' in Toobworld; my American readers probably know about the show on Fox, even if they're not watching it.  (Apparently, not many people are.)  But it was originally a series in Australia starring Richard Roxburgh as dissolute defense attorney Cleaver Greene.  Keegan Deane is the Los Angeles-based lawyer played by Greg Kinnear.  

Both attorneys have the same messed-up lives.  In fact, we can go stronger - they both have bleeped-up lives.  Both of them are gambling addicts; they have problems with booze; divorced, they both coached their sons about sleeping with their teachers.....  Basically, their lives are pretty much rock-bottom.  The only thing keeping them from being bumped off by their bookies is that the bookies' enforcers find them both just so likeable.

They also have the same type of pond-scum clients - cannibals, serial killers, and bigamists.  I may be wrong in this, but apart from their names, about the only thing that separates Greene from Deane is that the defense attorney from Down Under has slept with his best friend's wife.  Keegan, as far as I know, has not sunk that far.  

A lot of similarities between the two, perhaps even enough so that the American remake should have been shipped off to its appropriate TV dimension.  (Land O' Remakes)

But I'm leaving them both in Earth Prime-Time.  The name changes certainly help (a reason why the American 'Shameless' had to go), and lawyers on the skids probably find themselves with clients who like to eat human flesh quite often.

You can judge for yourself though, and then get back to me if you think the shows are much too similar to co-exist.  On March 1st, Netflix began streaming the first two seasons of the Australian 'Rake'.  As for its third season, that will show up on DirecTV's Audience Network in April.  

As for the American version of 'Rake'?

It'll be lucky to reach the finish line on its first season, I'm afraid.....

BCnU!

TELE-FOLKS DIRECTORY - ALICE DOUBLED

Sheila MacRae recently passed away at the age of 93.  She was known for many achievements in entertainment, even for playing herself in an episode of 'I Love Lucy'.  But most of the obituaries were focused on the fact that she played Alice Kramden in the 1967 version of 'The Honeymooners' which Jackie Gleason taped in front of Miami audiences.  (According the Great One, Miami audiences were the best audiences in the world.)

Ralph Kramden and Art Carney were multi-versals, appearing the same no matter what TV dimension they were in.  (Well, except for Black Toobworld.)  But Alice and Trixie changed from Toobworld to Toobworld.

Pre-Toobworld is the dimension in which you would find the first incarnations of those TV characters who would go on to greater fame played by some other actor.  Pert Kelton, who made a career out of playing abrasive broads, was the first Alice Kramden.  But when the Classic 39 were being made, she had been replaced by Audrey Meadows.

My FB buddy Geoffrey Mark picks up the tale:

"Pert got blacklisted in the early 50s. Jackie tried to cover for her and said she had heart trouble. Audrey replaced her. In the 1960s version, Pert (now cleared from blacklist) played Alice's mother."

Skitlandia is the TV dimension of comedy sketches.  And this is where we would find the fourth incarnation of Alice Kramden*.  

And since she was now freed from the hated onus of the Blacklist, Pert Kelton was invited back to 'The Honeymooners'.  But now she was playing Alice's mother.

 

Luckily the two of them together did not trigger the Lazarus A&B Syndrome.....

BCnU!

* Between Audrey Meadows and Sheila MacRae, Sue Ane Langdon played Alice in some Skitlandian off-shoot dimension.

VIDEO WEEKEND: "TRUE DETECTIVE" - THIS SIDE OF PARODIES*

The first season finale of 'True Detective is tonight on HBO.  And while it may be flying under the radar for many in the audience, those who have seen it know that it's some good bleep.

I'm excited to see if it will confirm the Toobworld existence of a multi-versal character of the dark legends.  I'm not a big fan of this thing I will not name, but that's because it scares the willies out of me!

'True Detective' has proven popular enough to spawn a couple of parodies already.....

BCnU!

* Stolen from the National Lampoon....

LITTLE BIG SCREEN - "AIRPLANE!" AND SIMPLE

"Toobworld Goes To The Movies" with another invasion from the Cineverse into Toobworld via blipverts:

I've looked through Lee Goldberg's wonderful compendium of "Unsold TV Pilots" and there's no listing for any attempt to translate "Airplane!" into a TV series.  (I would think the poorly conceived "Airplane! 2" scotched that idea.)

So this commercial may be the first attempt to absorb one of the funniest movies ever made into the Toobworld Dynamic.  

Whether it brings the entire movie along with it, or if these are just the televersions of Ted Stryker and Roger "Kareem" Murdock, is hard to say.  The movie just might belong in the alternate TV dimension of Doofus Toobworld.

For now I'll go with Ted and Kareem - and Otto Pilot! - being the televersions of their Cineverse characters.

AS THEY LOOKED THIRTY-FOUR YEARS AGO

BCnU!