SATURDAY MORNING SUPERHEROES - A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND BAM! POW! ZOOMS!

The Toobworld Dynamic is comprised of TV shows, online content, and certain movies.  Books, comics, and most movies just can't be incorporated into the TV Universe.  

But there are times when photographs can be used to illustrate events in any of the Toobworlds.

I don't use screen captures from other TV shows to represent anything but what actually happened in that particular scene.  For example, this picture is of Peter Falk as Lt. Columbo and Gene Barry as Dr. Ray Flemming in the first 'Columbo' pilot "Prescription Murder".  This is my classic example - this picture can only be used for what was actually happening between Columbo and Flemming.  I can't claim it to be a theoretical meeting between lawyer Daniel J. O'Brien of 'Trials Of O'Brien' and Captain Amos Burke of 'Burke's Law'.

If I ever found a picture of Falk and Barry from a movie or off-set as themselves from this production, then I could claim that as being of Burke and O'Brien.  

This picture came up recently on the Facebook page for the 1966 'Batman' series, showing Adam West in his Batman costume with a young woman dressed in Robin cosplay.  The person who shared it, James Guthrie, thinks it was from the 1970s.

I have no problem with the suggestion that this was a picture of Bruce Wayne in his Batman guise with a new sidekick who took the alias of Robin.  Based on the comic books and the Tooniverse, I can see her being Carrie Kelley.

In the years following the cancellation of 'Batman', it's my belief that the Bruce Wayne played by Adam West continued his crime-fighting in Gotham City... at least until the mid-1980s.  (As to why he retired and hung up the cowl, I have no theories.  I'd rather wait for something to suggest itself based on some other TV show.  That's what I did with Superman, using a season finale from 'Crime Story' to splain how the Man of Steel was removed from the main Toobworld - he eventually died from Kryptonite poisoning after saving two criminals from an atomic bomb explosion outside of Las Vegas.)

Apparently, Bruce Wayne's ward Dick Grayson had to walk away from the costumed crime-fighting lifestyle - at least as Robin.  Perhaps when he went off to college, Dick took on a new identity as the character he became in the Teen Titans comic book, Nightwing.  Once Wayne himself retired as the Batman for whatever reason in the 1980s, it could be that Dick Grayson took on the role to keep the legend alive.

Eventually he would have retired as well, perhaps due to a career-ending injury in the line of duty.  This would splain away the way Dick Grayson looks today; he can no longer maintain the physical fitness regimen necessary for the job's demands.

But it's nice to know that Bruce and Dick have remained friends since their glory days.

BCnU!

MY FRIENDS IN TOOBWORLD - MARK THOMPSON & MICHAEL FINKE

Every so often I like to showcase the televersions of my friends, using pictures of them that feature them in situations that look like they belong in Toobworld.

This time around we have Mark Thompson and Michael Finke as seen in TV-LA.....

And it's not just Los Angeles; they're seen here in front of the house used for the Fischer & Son Funeral Home in 'Six Feet Under'.

I don't know what differences there may be in the lives of Mark and Mike's televersions.  But taking some inspiration from their lives - Mark would be this rogue physicist whose non-sanctioned experiments nearly cracked open the Wall between Worlds.  And now he wanders the country, "making right what once went wrong" and helping strangers whose lives he affected in small meaningful ways.

As for Michael (WHOSE BIRTHDAY IS TODAY!!!!), since he is a theatrical composer, maybe he can be a walking musical who is under the spell of Sweet the demon from 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer'.  It was because of Mark's experiments that Mike got exposed to the demon's powers.  They hope to track Sweet down so that the curse could be lifted. 

Sadly, if they're at the Fischer & Son Funeral Home, it's probably because they were attending the calling hours for the viewing of a friend who died.  Hopefully we can assume that this friend is fictional and only exists in Toobworld.  He or she might even be a fictional member from either of their families.  It's happened before:

• Megan Russert & Tim Russert ('Homicide: Life On The Street')
• Vera Louise Gorman & Art Carney ('Alice')
• Sammy Jones & Bryant Gumbel ('The Nanny')

Or it could have been a character who had been affected by the damage caused by Mark's experiments... and the Dynamic Duo just wanted to make sure that they stayed dead!

Sorry for your loss, guys........

BCnU!

I'm posting this on Michael's birthday (which saves me from being investigated again by Homeland Security - again! - if I had posted something May Day related.)  

Happy birthday, Finkester!

THEORIES OF RELATEEVEETY - HEEEEEERE'S JOHNNY!

'GET SMART'

"ABOARD THE ORIENT EXPRESS"

"THE KING LIVES?"

'Get Smart' was known for the celebrity cameos - from Bob Hope, Milton Berle, Buddy Hackett, Robert Culp, Don Rickles and James Caan, among many others.

The King of NBC and of late-night TV, Johnny Carson, appeared twice on the show as two separate characters.  His role as the Herald in the court of King Charles of Caronia provided a blooper reel that was often shown not only on the 'Tonight' show but on several blooper specials.

 

He was first seen as the Conductor on board the Orient Express as the train passed through Lichtenstein (so quickly!)  And it will be our claim that despite having an American accent, the Conductor was a Caronian.  It is his twin brother who served as the Herald in the royal court.

BCnU!

OCEANIC AIRWAYS - THE ONLY WAY TO FLY!

'CASTLE'

"IN PLANE SIGHT"

How many Lostaways gasped when they saw that opening shot in this 'Castle' episode?

Oceanic Airways is already a member of the Television Crossover Hall Of Fame thanks to its many appearances on TV even before 'Lost' first aired.  But the airline is earning its keep still, it seems.  

 

However this is just another example of Oceanic's existence, but not an actual connection to 'Lost' or most of those other appearances.  'Lost' took place in Earth Prime-Time while the dimension for 'Castle' (currently dubbed "Castleworld") is different because it has a different Mayor in New York City than Toobworld or the real world.  (Bill DeBlasio is acknowledged as the Mayor in at least two TV series set in Toobworld so far.)

BCnU!

TUESDAY NEWS DAY - HOUDINI & DOYLE

According to Deadline, a 10 part series about the friendship between Harry Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (and the supernatural crimes they apparently investigated) has been sold to markets in the UK, Canada, and the USA.

The friendship was real, but the crime-solving is strictly Toobworld.

Several of the creatives behind 'The Librarians' and 'House' are bringing the story of 'Houdini And Doyle' in which the escape artist and the literary agent for Dr. Watson team up to solve those superatural crimes.  There should be plenty of friction because Houdini didn't believe in the paranormal and made it his mission to debunk the charlatans, whereas Conan Doyle was a steadfast believer in the world of Faerie.

So far there has been no word on casting.  From what I've seen in the past, Conan Doyle will be the harder role to fill if they go for similarities in appearance.

Houdini and Conan Doyle have met before in the general TV Universe, as seen in such productions as: 

• 2014's 'Houdini'
• 1998's "Houdini"
• 1976's "The Great Houdini"
• The "Detroit" episode of 'Drunk History'

And in 'The Murdoch Mysteries', although in separate episodes.

Personally, I always hoped there would be a story in which Conan Doyle actually could team up with the fairies; we'll have to see if they do make an appearance in this series.  It could go either way - either every thing is debunked as Houdini would have wanted, or it's all true just as Conan Doyle believed.

BCnU!

BLIPVERT CONNECTION: "SEINFELD: THE NEXT GENERATION"

'Seinfeld' went off the air in 1998, with the characters locked away in a Massachusetts jail for one year because they broke the state's "Good Samaritan" law.  As you should know if you understand the Toobworld Dynamic, their lives continued after the show ended.  So by the year 2000, all four of them should have been out of jail.  And who knows what happened after that?

So....  Approximately fifteen years have passed and that would be plenty of time for any one of them to have married and had children.  If anybody was actually willing to risk marrying them, that is.

Yes, even George Costanza.

And if you can accept that as being pozz'ble, just pozz'ble, then this could be Estelle Costanza with her granddaughter by George......

BCnU!

SUNDAY VIDEO - "THE PRISONER"

Two absolute winners for parodies of 'The Prisoner'.  The first in the professional class, and the second one is tops in my book for the amateur standigs.