VIDEO SUNDAY - HAVE A YEN FOR SPIDERMAN?

Looks like we're going for a full Video Weekend here......

The saga of Spiderman in Toobworld is different from that as seen in Marvel Comics, although the basic premise remains the same.  In the comics, he is timeless, hardly aging, while in the TV Universe, Peter Parker and his alter-ego are locked into the mid-1970s.

However, there appears to be another Spiderman out there in Toobworld, more than one actually, and they are of international origins.

There's a Spiderman operating in TV-Japan, for instance.......

Here is an episode from the Japanese Spiderman TV show and you'll see why I'm tempted to move this to another TV dimension altogether.  (Although probably not to Comic Book Toobworld.)

 

 

 

If that floats your boat, I'm sure you'll find plenty more examples at YouTube.  I saw a link there for Episode 39!

BCnU!

LITTLE BIG SCREEN: NICK & NORA AND CHARLIE CHAN

'MURDER, SHE WROTE'

"NIGHT OF THE TARANTULA" 

In order to get into a locked room, in which a key was still in the lock, Jessica Fletcher put a paper doily under the door and then poked the key out of the lock so that she could slide it out from under the door.

Olivia Waverley: 

Where on earth did you learn that?

Jessica Fletcher: 

I think it was "The Thin Man Returns". 

Or was it "Charlie Chan in Hong Kong"?

Here is the list of "Thin Man" movies which starred William Powell and Myrna Loy:

• The Thin Man (1934)
• After the Thin Man (1936)
• Another Thin Man (1939)
• Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)
• The Thin Man Goes Home (1945)
• Song of the Thin Man (1947)

And these are the "Charlie Chan" movies during its classic period when Charlie was portrayed by Warner Oland, Sidney Toler, and then Roland Winters: 

• Charlie Chan Carries On (1931)
• The Black Camel (1931)
• Charlie Chan's Chance (1932)
• Charlie Chan's Greatest Case (1933)
• Charlie Chan's Courage (1934)
• Charlie Chan in London (1934)
• Charlie Chan in Paris (1935)
• Charlie Chan (1935)
• Charlie Chan in Shanghai (1935)
• Charlie Chan's Secret (1936)
• Charlie Chan at the Circus (1936)
• Charlie Chan at the Race Track (1936)
• Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936)
• Charlie Chan at the Olympics (1937)
• Charlie Chan on Broadway (1937)
• Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo (1937)
• Charlie Chan in Honolulu (1938)
• Charlie Chan in Reno (1939)
• Charlie Chan at Treasure Island (1939)
• City in Darkness (1939)
• Charlie Chan in Panama (1940)
• Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise (1940)
• Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum (1940)
• Murder Over New York (1940)
• Dead Men Tell (1941)
• Charlie Chan in Rio (1941)
• Castle in the Desert (1942)
• Charlie Chan in the Secret Service (1944)
• Charlie Chan in The Chinese Cat (1944)
• Black Magic (1944)
• The Jade Mask (1945)
• The Scarlet Clue (1945)
• The Shanghai Cobra (1945)
• The Red Dragon (1945)
• Dark Alibi (1946)
• Shadows Over Chinatown (1946)
• Dangerous Money (1946)
• The Trap (1946)
• The Chinese Ring (1947)
• Docks of New Orleans (1948)
• Shanghai Chest (1948)
• The Golden Eye (1948)
• The Feathered Serpent (1948)
• The Sky Dragon (1949)

But there's no "The Thin Man Returns".  There's no "Charlie Chan In Hong Kong".

Nick and Nora Charles and Charlie Chan, along with his Number One Son, exist in Earth Prime-Time ('The Thin Man' and 'The Adventures Of Charlie Chan'.)  Both movie franchises are Zonks in the Toobworld Dynamic, but not so much for Charlie Chan.  By the time we saw him in Toobworld, he was old enough to have built up a reputation as a crime-solver to bring him to the attention of Hollywood producers, even back when he was in his thirties.

With the Charleses(?), they were too young when seen in the 1950s to have been the subject of a movie in 1934.  Nick was only eleven years old!  And yet that movie definitely existed back then - we've seen its poster in the apartment of 'Remington Steele' and it was discussed by the "Bomb Girls' working in a WWII munitions factory.

I think the easiest, simplest splainin could be that the movies were based on the lives of Nick's parents.  (It's just a coincidence - Toobworld is rife with coincidences! - that Nick would grow up to marry a woman named Nora just like dear old Dad.  Not at all creepy.....)

I'd like to think that both "The Thin Man Returns" and "Charlie Chan In Hong Kong" were later entries in their franchises, perhaps from the late 1950s, early 1960s.  And on top of that, I think they were based on the lives of the televersions of Nick and Nora Charles and of Charlie Chan.

BCnU!

DOUBLE VISION - A COUPLE OF ISLAND MANSIONS.....

'MURDER, SHE WROTE'

"THE NIGHT OF THE TARANTULA"

At some point in the 18th Century, an architect, whose name is lost to History, built a mansion on a large estate in Jamaica. It was large and sprawling with beautifully detailed hardwoods inside and it came complete with a hidden passage that ran through the house.

While it was being built a Gallifreyan Time Lord visited the island and so loved the architect's work that he wanted the same thing built for himself on a small island he controlled in the Pacific Ocean. In every detail - at least with regards to its exterior - that second mansion was the twin to the original on the other side of the world in Jamaica.

But on the inside....? Oh, it was bigger. Much, much bigger.  As a Time Lord, that Gallifreyan used his mastery in dimensional space to create a pocket dimension which he could call home.

And that Time Lord would be known as "Roarke", which was an alias meaning famous ruler on Earth, the planet he favored, (but among a people with whom he otherwise had no real connection.)

So that is why we saw two such identical mansions, to be found on opposite sides of Earth Prime-Time. As you can see, the only real difference between the two locations is in the landscaping, each with a different style of fountain.....

BCnU!

'

TVXOHOF, IN MEMORIAM 2015 - YOGI BERRA



From the New York Daily News:

For the millions of friends and fans of Yogi Berra, beloved American icon, Hall-of-Fame Yankee catcher and unintentional world philosopher, these are the saddest of possible words: It’s over.

Berra, who played on a record 10 Yankee world championship teams and 14 All-Star teams, won three American League Most Valuable Player awards, had two terms as Yankee manager and one with the Mets and coined dozens of goofy-sounding but aptly true sayings termed “Yogi-isms” such as “When you come to the fork in the road, take it” and “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over”, died Wednesday. He was 90.

"We are deeply saddened by the loss of a Yankees legend and American hero, Yogi Berra," the Yankees tweetedearly Wednesday morning. Just four months earlier, Berra had celebrated his 90th birthday.
(By Bill Madden)

All that is needed for entry into the Television Crossover Hall of Fame is three appearances by a TV character (or a member of the League of Themselves) in different TV series (or commercials or TV movies, even cartoons). It's not as easy as one might expect; the vogue for crossovers waxes and wanes as trends change in TV production.

But Yogi Berra got it done. His televersion appears in these three shows:

 
Arli$$- The Immortal

The Phil Silvers Show

- Hillbilly Whiz

The Jackie Gleason Show

- Lucky Number

(The picture is from "Hillbilly Whiz".)

 

And so we're paying him tribute now in the TVXOHOF, rather than wait for next year, which is shaping up to be a League of Themselves theme for all of 2016.

As Yogi himself said in the 'Bilko' episode:

"Arriverderci, Y'all!"

NUMBERS RUNNING - "JONATHAN CREEK"

Today is the 23rd of the month, so I thought it would be a good time to share a new addition to my collection of "The Numbers" in Toobworld.....

This is from 'Jonathan Creek', which was my binge-worthy show back in May......

BCnU!

PS:
It's also MJ Palardy's birthday and I want to wish a very happy one, indeed!

AS SEEN ON TV: CLARA BRETT MARTIN, EDITED FOR TELEVISION?

'THE MURDOCH MYSTERIES'

"On the Waterfront Part 2"
"The Murdoch Appreciation Society"
"Election Day"

Those are the episodes in which Clara Brett Martin, the first woman lawyer in the British Empire, appeared.

From Wikipedia:

Clara Brett Martin (25 January 1874 – 30 October 1923), born to Abram and Elizabeth Martin, a well-to-do Anglican-Irish family, opened the way for women to become lawyers in Canada by being the first in the British Empire in 1897.

In 1888, Martin was accepted to Trinity College in Toronto. And in 1890, Martin graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics at the age of sixteen, which was almost unheard of because of the masculinity associated with that field.

In 1891, Martin submitted a petition to the Law Society of Upper Canada to permit her to become a student member, a prerequisite to articling as a clerk, attending lectures and sitting the exams required to receive a certificate of fitness to practice as a solicitor.

Her petition was rejected by the Law Society after contentious debate, with the Special Committee reviewing the petition interpreting the statute which incorporated the Law Society as permitting only men to be admitted to the practice of law. W.D. Balfour sponsored a bill that provided that the word "person" in the Law Society's statute should be interpreted to include females as well as males. Martin’s cause was also supported by prominent women of the day including Emily Stowe and Lady Aberdeen. With the support of the Premier, Oliver Mowat, legislation was passed on April 13, 1892, and permitted the admission of women as solicitors. As Canada prepared to enter the 20th century, women were barred from participation in, let alone any influence on or control over, the legal system at its fullest -- women could not be voters, legislators, coroners, magistrates, judges or jurors. They were visible in the courts as litigants, witnesses & accused persons.

In later life, Martin ran for Toronto City Council in Ward 2 but was defeated in the 1920 municipal election.

In the episode "On the Waterfront (Part 2)" of the crime drama 'Murdoch Mysteries', she is introduced and helps the female characters in their endeavors.

In 1989, the provincial government announced that Martin was to be honoured by having the building housing the Ministry of the Attorney General named after her. The government revoked the honour after an anti-Semitic letter written by her in 1915 came to light.

There's no way 'Murdoch Mysteries' will be around long enough to be plotting stories that take place in 1915.  Getting this coming ninth season, which arrives on the air in Canada October 5th and is probably taking place in 1903-4, seemed dicey for a while.  So I doubt we might ever find out why Ms. Martin held those anti-Semitic views in that letter.

But doesn't it seem likely that she held those views years earlier in her life?  Or perhaps they grew over time, or were based on one specific moment in her life to change her beliefs forever?  For the time being, in the episodes in which we have seen her portrayed by Patricia Hagan, Miss Martin has carried herself well as a champion of women's causes and in what is just and fair in general.  Granted, such a belief as she held in that letter is only a small part of her character and it's not up to me to judge her entirely based on that.  But do you think it possible the show might touch on it at least at some point?  That is... if the show continues beyond a ninth season.

What do you think?  Let me know.....

BCnU!

DATELINE TOOBWORLD - METS WIN A DOUBLE-HEADER

While visiting Rome in 1963, Danny Williams noticed a news story in the paper about the Mets winning a double-header.  

The episode was broadcast in February of that year, perhaps to take advantage of Sweeps Month.  O'Bviously the Mets weren't playing at that time so we can't say the episode was taking place exactly when it was broadcast.  I think it was a projection of what would be happening later in the summer.  And we found that it really did happen:

The Mets apparently won another double-header in 1965, but it must have only happened in Toobworld.  1965 wasn't a very good year for the Mets - Casey Stengel broke his hip and the team went on to lose 112 games that season.  (As a Red Sox fan, I say: "Good".)

In the Real World, the Mets didn't win a double-header, but if they did in Toobworld it had to be this one:

This is not a deviation that drastically alters Earth Prime-Time from Earth Prime.  Since Toobworld has been inundated with alien invasions, changing the outcome of a double-header isn't a big woop.

BCnU!

VIDEO WEEKEND - SPLAININ ESPANOL

Even alternate TV dimensions can have parallel worlds....

This may just be a dubbed version of 'The West Wing' episode "The Stackhouse Filibuster", but it comes from a world where Jed Bartlet still became President of the United States, but which had Spanish as its global first language.  (This was due to Spain winning the Battle of the Spanish Armada, most likely......)

BCnU!