TVXOHOF - OLD BLUE EYES' 100th BIRTHDAY

Bette Midler isn't the only non-Brit who's getting the special invite into the Television Crossover Hall of Fame this month.  Thirty years before the Divine Ms. M was born, Ol' Blue Eyes came into the world.  And eventually Frank Sinatra was retro-fitted into the life during prime-time of Toobworld.  Enough so that he was eligible for membership in the TVXOHOF.  

And what better day to do this than on the milestone of his 100th birthday?

I wrote about all of Sinatra's League of Themselves appearances in a previous post that dealt with the celebrity trash collection belonging to Mr. Tanaka, a janitor at a Colorado TV station.

Here's what I wrote about the Sinatra entry:


The second item was a salami wrapper encased in a lucite block which belonged to Frank Sinatra. Ol' Blue Eyes has been mentioned in plenty of other TV shows, mostly when the regular characters have tickets to his shows. (Or, in the case of the 'Here's Lucy' episode "Lucy Gives Eddie Albert The Old Song And Dance", Lucy read about Sinatra coming out of retirement in a 1973 Joyce Haber column.)

But Sinatra did make appearances as himself on quite a few shows and one TV movie:

"Young at Heart"

'Daddy Dearest'
- You Bet Your Life

'Who's the Boss'
- Party Double

'The Name of the Game'
- I Love You, Billy Baker: Part 1
- I Love You, Billy Baker: Part 2

'Make Room for Granddaddy'
- A Hamburger for Frank

[Not from the episode, unfortunately]

'The Thin Man'
Neighbor
- Scene of the Crime

Sure, that last one isn't necessarily supposed to be Frank, but he's in that league with Sammy Davis Jr., Bob Hope, George Burns, and Milton Berle where they are more convincing as themselves rather than as fictional characters. So why couldn't Frank Sinatra have been that neighbor?

Here's another mention of Sinatra that shows he exists as his own televersion, from 'The Golden Girls':

Dorothy Petrillo-Zbornak:

Ma! How in the world did you get these?

Sophia Petrillo:

Easy. I called Frank. I told you I had connections.

Rose Nylund:

You know Frank Sinatra?

Sophia Petrillo:

No, Frank Caravicci! From the fish market.

He's always been good to me, never a bad piece of cod.

He knows Frank.

Blanche Devereaux:

Sinatra?

Sophia Petrillo:

No, Frank Tortoni, the dry cleaner.

Tina's third cousin once removed.

Dorothy Petrillo-Zbornak:

Tina Tortoni?

Sophia Petrillo:

Tina Sinatra!

This may be in honor of Frank Sinatra's birthday, but I'm posting it in memory of my Mom.  Her second favorite singer was Ol' Blue Eyes.  (Nat King Cole held the top spot.)

Once a League of Themselves candidate has enough credits from fictional shows, as Frank accomplished, then it's fine to add in appearances from talk shows, game shows, variety programs, and the like.  So because we're so close to Christmas and they were my Mom's favorite singers, here are Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole with "The Christmas Song"......

And so now the Television Crossover Hall Of Fame has the Chairman of the Board.....

BCnU!