HAT SQUAD TVXOHOF: REMEMBERING CARRIE FISHER

“I quote fictional characters, 

because I'm a fictional character myself!”

Carrie Fisher

I had written an entirely different post this afternoon while at the doctor's office.  I so wish I could have used that one.....

From NPR:

Carrie Fisher, the actress who became a pop culture icon for her performance as Princess Leia in "Star Wars", has died at age 60.

Fisher had suffered a massive heart attack last week on a flight from London to Los Angeles. On Sunday, her family said she was in stable condition.

A representative of Fisher's daughter, Bille Lourd, confirmed that Fisher died on Tuesday morning.

Fisher shot to fame at the age of 19, when she took on her instantly iconic role in "Star Wars".

I was really hoping to post this as a celebration of her life with a renewed hope that she could pull out of this.  

Bleep you, 2016. 

So let's take a look at the tele-fictional life of Carrie Fisher.  I just really wish it could have been for a more uplifting reason.....

'Captain Kangaroo '
- Episode dated 1 December 1977

Just months after bursting into the public consciousness as Princess Leia, Miss Fisher visited the Treasure House.....

'Saturday Night Live'
- Carrie Fisher/The Blues Brothers (1978) ...Host
- The Rolling Stones (1978) ...(uncredited)

Like the 'Tonight' show and 'The Merv Griffin Show', 'SNL' has a Toobworld counterpart. So the televersion of Carrie Fisher hosted that show as well.

'Ellen'
- "The Movie Show" (1995)

Paige was ignoring Ellen after getting a new job.  

O'BSERVATION:

I'm assuming Paige was hired by Carrie Fisher, giving the real-life half-sisters the chance to work together.

'It's Like, You Know...'
- "Arthur 2: On the Rocks" (1999)

Arthur returns to L.A. but no one seems to notice. Robbie wants to advertise Pay-Per-Jew before the Anna Kournikova highlights. Shrug thinks his new girlfriend may be a succubus.

O'BSERVATION:

Here's another assumption: I think Ms. Fisher must have shown up as a friend of Jennifer Grey, who was a regular in this Seinfeldian sitcom and also playing herself.  But I could be wrong.

'Sex and the City'- "Sex and Another City" (2000)

Carrie meets hunky Keith Travers, who purports to be Matt Damon's agent with connections....

"The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch" (2004)

From Wikipedia:

Twenty three years after the original, documentarist Melvin Hall (Eric Idle) interviewed mainstream artists, actors, and musicians about the days of the popular band The Rutles, which mostly consisted of ending up in the wrong country. The film ends with Melvin and the interviewees laughing.

'The Big Bang Theory'- "The Convention Conundrum" (2014)

Sheldon Cooper:

I don't understand what we're doing.

James Earl Jones: 

Shhhh!

Sheldon Cooper: 

Whose house is this?

James Earl Jones: 

Carrie Fisher.  And she's a little crazy, so get ready to run.

Jones rings the doorbell, and they run for it.  Carrie Fisher storms out with a baseball bat. 

Carrie Fisher:

It's not funny anymore, James!

James Earl Jones: 

Then why am I laughing?

From the IMDb:

• Carrie Fisher and James Earl Jones, who played Princess Leia and Darth Vader in Star Wars respectively, had never met in real life before this episode, even though they play major characters in the original Star Wars movies. James Earl Jones would always be in a sound booth providing the voice of Darth Vader, and Carrie Fisher would be on set with David Prowse, who provided the physical acting of Darth Vader. This is paralleled in their scene together in this episode where we see Carrie Fisher on-screen , but only hear the voice of James Earl Jones, who is off-screen.

• James Earl Jones came up with the idea of the scene where he rings Carrie Fisher's doorbell and runs away.

Just one more thing......

This is just a bit of supposition; a "What-If?" scenario.  I'm not saying this is how it really was...

'FRASIER'
"SHE'S THE BOSS"

What if that was really Carrie Fisher AS Carrie Fisher, calling in with the name "Phyllis" as an alias in hopes of finding a cure for her insomnia without the paparazzi back in Los Angeles finding out about it?

It's pozz'ble, just pozz'ble.  But I don't need wish-craft to get an extra credit for her when she already had plenty on her own to join the Hall.

However, at least twice she was mentioned by TV characters in shows where she never actually showed up.  But the acknowledgement of her existence in Toobworld is all that matters.....

Oderus Urungus:
Remember the first time you saw STAR WARS?
We were still living at your Mom's house at the time
and you came running into my closet saying "Oderus! Oderus!
I know what I want to do with the rest of my life now!"

Adam:
Finger Carrie Fisher?

'Holliston'

Peter Dragon:
[desperate to keep Cole Riccardi from coming out of the closet]
Well, Cole, the truth of the matter is, and eh...
I'm trusting you with my life here... I too, eh, am a friend of Dorothy's.

Cole Riccardi:
Peter, what do you take me for?
What about that tape of you and Sandra Bullock?

Peter Dragon:
She's the one that drove me to men!
Don't make me relive it, Cole.

Cole Riccardi:
I know, cause I've been there.
For me it was Carrie Fisher.

'Action'

We've seen it in her writings mostly, but with her fictional televersion as well - she didn't deal in bullshit and was not afraid to admit she was not perfect, but at least she was real.

Carrie Fisher:
Yeah, I.. I felt a little awkward coming out in my Princess Leia costume, 

'cause it might seem like I'm exploiting "Star Wars".. 

But, you know, I went along with it, because, uh.. if I came out as myself, 

who would recognize me? 

So, uh.. yeah, I really didn't know what to do, I felt really.. weird. 
'Saturday Night Live'

And we loved that about you.  

For her portrait in the 2016 Hall of Fame gallery, I was tempted to go with her screencap from the second Rutles special.  With its caption listing her as a Rutles fan, I thought it brought a nice bookend to the memorial section, with David Bowie kicking it off by holding up a Rutles album...

But I realized that she should go in as she looked in that SNL monologue - as herself dressed as Princess Leia.  

Good night and may God bless, Carrie Fisher.  You truly were a wonderment - as an iconic princess and a wordsmith who took no prisoners.  Not only did we know who you were, we will never forget you.....