SATURDAY COMICS - "I SPY"

From Wikipedia:

'I Spy' is an American television secret-agent buddy adventure series. It ran for three seasons on NBC from 1965 to 1968 and teamed US intelligence agents Kelly Robinson (Robert Culp) and Alexander "Scotty" Scott (Bill Cosby), traveling under cover as international "tennis bums". Robinson poses as an amateur with Scott as his trainer, playing against wealthy opponents in return for food and lodging. Their work involved chasing villains, spies, and beautiful women.

The creative forces behind the show were writers David Friedkin and Morton Fine and cinematographer Fouad Said. Together they formed Triple F Productions under the aegis of Desilu Productions where the show was produced. Fine and Friedkin (who previously wrote scripts for radio's Broadway Is My Beat and Crime Classics under producer/director Elliott Lewis) were co-producers and head writers, and wrote the scripts for 16 episodes, one of which Friedkin directed. Friedkin also dabbled in acting and appeared in two episodes in the first season.

Actor-producer Sheldon Leonard, known for playing gangster roles in the 1940s and 1950s, was the executive producer (receiving top billing before the title in the series' opening title sequence). He also played a gangster-villain role in two episodes and appeared in a third show as himself in a humorous cameo. In addition, he directed one episode and served as occasional second-unit director throughout the series.

I do my best to keep the characters separate from the actors who portray them.  So I'm not going to turn my back on what was a great action series just because one of its stars is allegedly a sexual abuser.

So here's a look at some of the covers for 'I Spy' as seen in the Comic Book Universe.....

BCnU!

RECASTAWAYS - CAGNEY & CAGNEY & CAGNEY & LACEY

Let's take a quick look at the casting discrepancies for 'Cagney & Lacey'.....

From Wikipedia:

'Cagney & Lacey' is an American television series that originally aired on the CBS television network for seven seasons from March 25, 1982 to May 16, 1988. A police procedural, the show stars Tyne Daly and Sharon Gless as New York City police detectives who lead very different lives: Christine Cagney (Gless) was a single, career-minded woman, while Mary Beth Lacey (Daly) was a married working mother. The series was set in a fictionalized version of Manhattan's 14th Precinct (known as "Midtown South"). For six consecutive years, one of the two lead actresses won the Emmy for Best Lead Actress in a Drama (four wins for Daly, two for Gless), a winning streak unmatched in any major category by a show.

And that's how the show will always be remembered.

But the role of Chris Cagney was not always played by Sharon Gless.

It all began with a pilot film starring Tyne Daly as Mary Beth Lacey, but it was Loretta Swit who played her partner.  Unfortunately for her, the Powers That Be behind 'M*A*S*H' would not let Swit out of her contract in order to take part in the series.  So the role was recast with Meg Foster.

But Ms. Foster only appeared in the first six episodes arc of the series as a mid-season replacement before the role was recast yet again with Ms. Gless.  And the rest, as they say, is History.

From several reports I've seen, CBS wanted Foster replaced because she was coming off as too aggressive and they were afraid she would be perceived as being a lesbian.  (I always wondered why they didn't make the same decision about Gless.  The way those suits thought - if they even bothered to - Gless' voice at times might have made them see her as being a bit too butch as well.)

Regarding the casting of Loretta Swit in the role, that's a softball splainin.  That pilot movie is shipped off to Toobworld-MOTW, where many of the TV movies which just don't fit into Earth Prime-Time can also be found.  And with this Recastaway conundrum, that's the best of all possible Toobworlds for it.

Now, as for those first six episodes which might as well be considered a mini-series.....

Normally I would have cited Occam's Razor on this recasting and gone for the simplest splainin: Those first six episodes took place in that Prequel Toobworld while the remaining bulk of the series claims residence in Earth Prime-Time, the main Toobworld.

But in this case, I wanted to take on the challenge of keeping it in the main Toobworld along with the Gless episodes.  I felt something more was needed to give the Toobworld Dynamic some of that TV pizazz.  It needed a flashier splainin for the Recastaway to keep those first six episodes in Toobworld Prime.  Something along the lines of a temporary alien replacement.  

And it's all because of those hypnotic eyes of Meg Foster.

Foster has always been stunning with the bluest eyes imaginable.  They are practically unearthly!  So it was not hard to then imagine that it was an alien who stole Chris Cagney's identity for a few weeks before finally abandoning the ruse and the real Chris Cagney was able to return.

But which alien?  Surely it should be an alien whom Ms. Foster had already played in Toobworld.

And that's why I'm going to claim that for a few weeks, Detective Chris Cagney was impersonated by Hera, the Greek demi-goddess and errant wife of Zeus.

You may not ever have considered it, but Hera - as well as all of the demi-gods of mythology (not just the Greek pantheon) - were aliens not of Earth Prime-Time.  They were - are! - pan-dimensional beings who crossed over from their home dimension to establish dominion on Toobworld.  Some ruled from their seat of power at the locus for the multi-dimensional rift near Mount Olympus; others held sway in the "great white North" of Asgard accessible by the burning rainbow bridge of Bifrost.

I can't speak for all the fictional universes created from Mankind's collective imagination, but for Toobworld, those demi-gods still exist as do their half-breed human spawn like Hercules.  (In Toobworld today, Hercules hides in plain sight as the actor Kevin Sorbo.)  Some of those demi-gods, like Apollo, will still be around somewhere in the galaxy centuries from now.

All of that information... information... information has already been established in other TV shows.  So it's not inconceivable to consider Hera still existing in Toobworld in the 1980s.  In fact, she may have "hidden in plain sight" several times over the millennia.  Here are two pozz'bilities - the 1700s and the 1880s:
  

Perhaps her life was in danger from some other demi-god.  Let's face it, back in those days of Legend, Hera was "μια ενόχληση" - she had a tendency to really piss people off.  It might even have been her husband Zeus spoiling for a bit of a domestic dispute.  At least a rematch....

But I think it more likely that the demi-goddess felt the need to be an avenger for a period of time, to make right what once went wrong.  Perhaps she was atoning for some past transgression by this action.  

And so Hera chose to do her penance in the guise of a detective in the NYPD.  She used her magicks to abscond with the real Chris Cagney and hold her as a (hopefully!) pampered prisoner while she impersonated the policewoman.

And neither Chris' partner Mary Beth Lacey, nor Lt. Samuels or any of the other detectives in the squad - Isbecki, La Guardia, or Rob Petrie's third cousin Mark - ever noticed the change.  Like most of the demi-gods, Hera had the talent to alter her appearance and so to everybody else she looked just like Christine Cagney.  

But because we saw this all play out from our position in the Trueniverse, our perspective showed us Hera as she truly looked.  It would be much the same situation years later when we saw Dr. Sam Beckett leap into the lives of various people at different points in his own personal timeline.  No matter who they were, we only saw them as they truly looked whenever we saw their reflection.  Otherwise, we saw Sam Beckett.

Eventually the demi-goddess must have realized that she could no longer maintain the illusion of being Chris Cagney.  Perhaps Hera achieved the goal she was seeking.  At any rate, she returned the true Christine to her own life - with her memory of that period erased, of course, and false memories instilled into her mind - before departing through the vortex and back to a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity; the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition.......

Thanks to Hera's ability to shape-change, we could make the claim that any TV role assayed by Meg Foster could be the demi-goddess.  So with having 'Hercules: The Legendary Journeys' and 'Xena, Warrior Princess' already to her credits, we just might induct Hera into the TVXOHOF as a Birthday Honors member some day......

That's my splainin and I'm sticking with it.

BCnU!

My thanks to John Hadlow for the inspiration for this post.  Recently he posted a picture on Facebook of Meg Foster and Tyne Daly as 'Cagney & Lacey' (that last one of the dynamic duo) and I realized I had never addressed this discrepancy before.  Probably a good thing as I might not have thought of the Hera connection before now......

DON/PORTER - REMEMBERING COLIN DEXTER, AS SEEN ON TV

We lost a great Man of Letters the other day....

From the New York Times:
Colin Dexter, a British mystery writer whose irascible, poetry-loving detective, Chief Inspector Morse, pursued clues and cask-conditioned ale through 13 novels and a popular television series, died on Tuesday at his home in Oxford, England. He was 86.

Here was the ITV report on Mr. Dexter's death:

As far as the televersion of 'Inspector Morse', his younger self 'Endeavour', and his successor and former partner 'Inspector Lewis' are concerned, the quirks of the stories from the books (Morse's love of drink, Wagner, and crossword puzzles) were enhanced by a new addition - Hitchcock-like cameo appearances by Colin Dexter.

There is a great site about Morse online which covers all three TV series.  The curator of "Morse, Lewis, and Endeavour" put together a couple of videos featuring the collection of those cameos by Mr. Dexter.

Here are those videos as found at YouTube, but you should also visit that site if you're a fan of Morse.

COLIN DEXTER IN 'INSPECTOR MORSE'

Here's a second version.  I think the addition of a running soundtrack warranted the new version?

COLIN DEXTER IN 'INSPECTOR LEWIS'

Here's a quick guide to the 'Morse' appearances you might want to keep handy while watching the reruns. The numbers given refer to the point in time at which Mr. Dexter makes his appearance in the episode.  

The Dead Of Jericho:
A college arcade (Magdalen), walking past Morse. 0:45:07

The Silent World Of Nicholas Quinn:
Al-Jamara reception. 0:01:34

Service Of All The Dead:
Outside a college archway, talking to female cyclist. 0:34:19

The Wolvercote Tongue:
The Chapters Bar (now the Morse Bar) of the Randolph Hotel. 0:32:22

Last Seen Wearing:
Exiting the Bodlein Library. 1:09:20

The Setting Of The Sun:
Doctor in the hospital. 1:41:59

The Last Bus To Woodstock:
Several times during the Rochester lecture. 0:56:40

Ghost In The Machine
No Appearance

The Last Enemy:
River bank, passer-by. 0:00:19

Deceived By Flight:
Walking behind Lewis and Rolly in college. 0:47:11

The Secret Of Bay 5:
No Appearance

The Infernal Serpent:
Several times during Dr. Dear’s lecture. 0:45:53

The Sins Of The Father:
No Appearance

Driven To Distraction:
Reading newspaper in launderette. 0:23:48

Masonic Mysteries:
Several times during rehearsals of the Magic Flute, in auditorium during police interviews. 0:04:19 and 0:10:22

Second Time Around:
The Trout public house, drinking. 1:00:14 and 1:01:19

Fat Chance:
As a don in a college quadrangle. 1:22:38

Who Killed Harry Field:
Among Eirl party, in a college quadrangle. 1:04:53

Greeks Bearing Gifts:
College porter. 0:25:43

Promised Land
No Appearance

Dead On Time:
Schubert reception, from behind. 0:23:28

Happy Families:
Tramp, fishing in a bin and outside the Mitre pub. 0:29:25 and 0:35:29

The Death Of The Self:
Opera scene, three to the left of Chief Inspector Morse. 1:38:09

Absolute Conviction:
Prisoner led from the chapel. Prisoner listening to sermon. 0:14:43 and 0:33:18

Cherubim And Seraphim:
Present at seraphic presentation. 0:32:57

Deadly Slumber:
A college porter. 1:06:54 and 1:07:20

The Day Of The Devil:
From behind, having tea on a hotel lawn. 1:19:30

Twilight Of The Gods:
The Sheldonian Theatre behind the Chancellor. 0:28:55 and 0:39:01

The Way Through The Woods:
A top wall of Brasenose College. 0:01:34

The Daughters Of Cain:
Clinic waiting room (with crutches). 0:56:46

Death Is Now My Neighbour:
As a bishop, saying grace. 1:12:54

The Wench Is Dead:
During the Victorian exhibition. 0:00:10

The Remorseful Day:
Under Magdalen Bridge, tourist in a wheelchair. 1:04:20

O'BSERVATION 
With this last appearance in 'Inspector Morse', Dexter could be playing himself.  However, he's part of a tour which suggests he came from a distance.  Living in the area, he had no problem puttering around the various colleges (both real and fictional) on his own as seen in earlier episodes.  It could be he was a separate character, but I'm going to cite Occam's Razor: he was Colin Dexter, still recovering from the leg injury which splains away the wheelchair.  And traveling with a tour group just made it easier on him that way.

Let's move on to his cameo appearances as seen in 'Inspector Lewis':

Reputation
College Porter

Whom The Gods Would Destroy 
Oxford Don

Life Born of Fire
Man at Merton College Entrance

The Great And The Good
Man talking to Superintendent Innocent at Party

Allegory of Love
Man leaving the Randolph

The Point of Vanishing
Man in wheelchair in gallery

O'BSERVATION 
Colin Dexter must have had a relapse with that leg injury he suffered in the earlier series.

Generation of Vipers
Man talking with Marcus Harding in courtyard

Fearful Symmetry
Visitor at Ashmolian 

What Lies Tangled: Part 2
Customer at Sidewalk Cafe

For many of those quick glimpses in both series, we can assume that we are seeing Colin Dexter as his own televersion.  After all, the real world Dexter lived in the Oxford area since 1966.  And having retired in the mid-1980s, he had plenty of free time to indulge in the various plays and operas, visiting museum exhibits, and even spraining or even breaking his leg so that he had to go to the clinic for a check-up.  

But then what are we to make of the times when he showed up in these guises?

'INSPECTOR MORSE'

• DOCTOR ("The Setting Of The Sun")
• PORTER ("Deadly Summer" & "Greeks Bearing Gifts")
• PRISONER ("Absolute Conviction")
• BISHOP ("Death Is Now My Neighbour")
• TRAMP ("Happy Families")
• COLLEGE DON ("Fat Chance")

The same question could be asked of these appearances in the sequel.

'INSPECTOR LEWIS'

• OXFORD DON ("Whom The Gods Would Destroy")
• COLLEGE PORTER ("Reputation")

To tidy it up, I would suggest that each appearance by Dexter as the college don would be the same man in both series, and the same could be said for all of his appearances as the porter.  But that still leaves the Bishop, the Doctor, the Prisoner, and the Tramp.

We can tighten it up a bit more.  Dexter was seen as the Tramp in "Happy Families" before he was seen as the Prisoner in "Absolute Conviction".  So let's assume the tramp was arrested for vagrancy and serving a prison term.  That brings down the number to three, the Bishop, the Doctor, and the Prisoner/Tramp.

For a pozz'ble solution to this riddle, I think we have to move on and look at his appearances in the prequel series 'Endeavour'.....

'ENDEAVOUR'

Pilot
Pub Customer

Girl
Don dining at hall

Fugue
Audience Member at Piano Recital

Rocket
Don on Bench at College

Home
Don at Booth Hill Debate

Trove
Don on Bench outside Beaufort College

Nocturne
Visitor at Museum

Sway
Gentleman on Bus

Neverland 
Gentleman on Bench at College

Ride
Gentleman in College Chapel

Game
Old Man In Choir Practice

Here's my theory: out of all those cameo appearances in episodes of 'Endeavour', Mr. Dexter was really only playing two men.  The college Don was one man, and I think we can add the museum visitor and the piano recital attendee as being the Don as well.  As for the "old man" and the other "gentlemen", I'm going to claim that they were one and the same man... and the twin brother to the college Don.  Not only that, I believe we can also claim that he had ties to Oxford as one of the team of porters working at one of the colleges.  (Best to keep him situated at one of the fictional colleges. More fun that way.)

Each of these men had sons of their own who grew up to resemble their fathers and thus each other.  Whereas their fathers were maternal twins, their sons fell into that accepted Toobworld category of identical cousins.  Young men in their thirties during the time period of 'Endeavour', they grew up to follow in their fathers' footsteps - one as a porter and the other as a Don, the two men seen in episodes of 'Inspector Morse' and 'Inspector Lewis'.

All four characters were of the same age as Colin Dexter, but obviously only the sons were born around the same time as the writer.  The fathers, being the age of Dexter later in life, would have to have a corresponding birth date.  Thus, the twins were born around 1883, making them each about 47 when their sons were born.

This still leaves us with the doppelgangers of the Bishop, Doctor, and the Tramp/Prisoner.

Ah.... now we get supernatural, Occam's Razor be damned!

But to make the splainin as simple as possible - Both of those Colin Dexter characters from 'Endeavour' have long since passed away, probably before 1970 to keep them in line with the fate of their progenitor.

And so either one of them (I'll leave that choice up to your own whims) could have become a ghost, a spirit, fated to haunt the Oxford environs for the decades to come.  Not only that, but he also was something of a quantum leaper - able to leap into the body of someone living.  Being members of the Trueniverse audience, we see these people now in the image of the ghost, but it would not be noticeable to others within the Toobworld reality.  

Perhaps the ghost, whether it's the Don or the Porter, remembered Endeavour Morse back in the 1960s and was interested in keeping tabs on his later investigations.  After the passing of Morse, the ghost then crossed over to the Other Side, for he is not seen in 'Inspector Lewis'.  (Remember, most of those characters were of Colin Dexter with the other two being the Don and the Porter, next generation.

So there you have it, my Toobworld-styled tribute to the memory of Colin Dexter and the incredible characters he either gave us or inspired.  

Good night and may God bless, Sir......

BIG SCREEN TV - "PILLOW TALK"

Toobworld has always been great in providing fictional movies only found in the TV Universe.  But the movies we would see at the local cinema are also available In Earth Prime-Time.  However, sometimes there could be differences between the movies we see and the versions over there.  

For instance, the vampire Mitchell supposedly "acted" in "Casablanca", but - being a vampire - couldn't be seen on the film.  (I did examine the movie again, one I've seen probably 20 times, looking for possibilities and here is my report on that.)

But it's not often we get to see clips from those movies within the framework of a TV series; at best we get to hear the dialogue - like "It's A Wonderful Life" as heard in the 'Father Dowling Mystery' episode "The Ghost Of A Chance Mystery".  Certain movies though one would expect to see in Toobworld, either on a character's home TV or in the cinemas. A good example of that would be "Titanic" as seen in 'Movie Stars'.  Remember that moment when a body bounced off the ship's propeller?  That was supposedly hapless actor Todd Hardin.

The latest example is "Pillow Talk" which starred Rock Hudson and Doris Day.  This split-screen shot was seen on Daisy's TV in the "Labor Of Love" episode of 'Madam Secretary' when the FBI arrived to search her apartment.  

Here are some other references to "Pillow Talk":

The Lucy Show: 

Lucy Goes to a Hollywood Premiere (1966)

The Ropers: 

The Doris Letters (1979)

Mad Men: 

Long Weekend (2007) 

Joan says she feels like she is stuck somewhere between Doris Day in "Pillow Talk" and "Midnight Lace".

The Doctor Blake Mysteries:
Still Waters (2013)
Title seen on front of theatre

The Doctor Blake Mysteries:
Crossing the Line (2014)
A poster is seen

Sense8:
I Am Also A We (2015)
Poster seen

All that information comes from the IMDb.

So we know that "Pillow Talk" not only exists in the main Toobworld, but also in the alternate TV dimension of 'Madam Secretary'.  (It has to be located in a different Toobworld because they have a different President of the United States in Conrad Dalton.)

We know that Rock Hudson and Doris Day are in the movie, thanks to that screen grab, but there could always be differences between the real movie and its "televersion".  Maybe there was an alteration in the script, although we know from 'Columbo' that Rock Hudson's character would survive - you don't kill off Rock Hudson.

But some of the other actors might have been recast, perhaps even with some fictional actors like Sam Garrett ('The Hero' of 'Jed Clayton, US Marshal').

I suppose if the show continued with scenes from the movie, we might have seen some of those differences.  But I guess the surprise intrusion of the Feds was a bit more interesting....

BCnU!

TRIVIAL TUESDAY - BOOKING ANDRE SIMON

An actual book from the Trueniverse shows up in 'The Doctor Blake Mysteries', used to illustrate the character of Jean played by Nadine Gardner:

From Wikipedia:

André Simon (28 February 1877 – 5 September 1970) was a French-born wine merchant, gourmet, and prolific writer about wine. Hugh Johnson describes him as "the charismatic leader of the English wine trade for almost all of the first half of the 20th century, and the grand old man of literate connoisseurship for a further 20 years".

He wrote 104 books during his 66-year writing career.  As a Frenchman, his English prose was heavily influenced by the man who gave him his first break in writing – A. S. Gardiner of the Wine Trade Review.  Simon once described a wine as "a girl of fifteen, who is already a great artist, coming on tip-toe and curtsying herself out with childish grace and laughing blue eyes." Hugh Johnson has called Simon's "figures of speech and choice of phrases deliciously oblique"; Michael Broadbent admires the "pure poetry" of his writing, calling Simon his favorite writer.

André Simon died in 1970. He believed that "a man dies too young if he leaves any wine in his cellar"; there were only two magnums of claret left in his personal cellar at his death. On what would have been his 100th birthday in 1977, 400 guests gathered at the Savoy to drink to his memory with Château Latour 1945 that he had left for the occasion.  Despite living in England most of his life, he remained a French citizen and was an Officier de la Légion d'Honneur as well as a CBE.

Here is some quick information regarding it:

BCnU!

WE'LL MEET AGAIN - CELEBRATING VERA LYNN AT 100

So singer Vera Lynn hit the century mark.  God bless her.

From Wikipedia:

Dame Vera Margaret Lynn CH DBE OStJ (née Welch; born 20 March 1917), widely known as "the Forces' Sweetheart", is an English singer, songwriter and actress. Her musical recordings and performances were enormously popular during the Second World War.

During the war she toured Egypt, India, and Burma as part of ENSA, giving outdoor concerts for the troops. The songs most associated with her are "We'll Meet Again", "The White Cliffs of Dover", "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" and "There'll Always Be an England".

She remained popular after the war, appearing on radio and television in the UK and the US and recording such hits as "Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart" and her UK Number one single "My Son, My Son". Her last single, "I Love This Land", was released to mark the end of the Falklands War. In 2009, at age 92, she became the oldest living artist to top the UK Albums Chart, with "We'll Meet Again: The Very Best of Vera Lynn".

She has devoted much time and energy to charity work connected with ex-servicemen, disabled children, and breast cancer. She is held in great affection by veterans of the Second World War to this day and in 2000 was named the Briton who best exemplified the spirit of the 20th century.  Lynn celebrated her 100th birthday on 20 March 2017.

I think it could be its use at the end of "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" in 1964 which propelled "We'll Meet Again" to the front of the line when it comes to her best-remembered songs.

Here are just some of the TV shows and documentaries that have made use of "We'll Meet Again" at some point in their series:

EARTH PRIME-TIME

1971 

Dad's Army  

1984 

The Jewel in the Crown
- Crossing the River (1984) 

1986 

The Singing Detective 
- Who Done It (1986)

1989 

And a Nightingale Sang 

1998 

Hetty Wainthropp Investigates 
- Helping Hansi (1998)

THE TOONIVERSE

1999 

Futurama 
- A Big Piece of Garbage (1999)

2016 

The Simpsons 

- The Last Traction Hero (2016)

COMIX TOOBWORLD
2016 

Legends of Tomorrow
- Fail-Safe (2016)

AN ALTERNATE TOOBWORLD

2013 

Castle
- Disciple (2013) 

CINEVERSE BORDERLANDS

2004 

Hellboy

OTHER TV SHOWS & SPECIALS

1971 

De Fred Haché Show 
- Episode #1.1 (1971) 

1995 

The Beatles Anthology 

2001 

The 1940s House 
- The Beginning of the End (2001) 

2011 

War on Terror  

2011 

Zaum - Andare a parare

2015 

Todd's Pop Song Reviews
- "See You Again" by Wiz Khalifa Ft. Charlie Puth (2015)

2015 

Glastonbury 2015
- Jungle & the Vaccines (2015)

2016 

The Coming War on China 

In most of them, Vera Lynn went uncredited.

So here's to you, Ms.Lynn.  Congratulations on reaching your centenary, and also for your latest recording!  

All the best from Toobworld Central....

THE HAT SQUAD: ROBERT JAMES WALLER

From the Associated Press:

Robert James Waller, whose bestselling, bittersweet 1992 novel "The Bridges of Madison County" was turned into a movie starring Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood and a Broadway musical, has died in Texas, according to a longtime friend. He was 77.

Waller died early Friday at his home in Fredericksburg, Texas, said his friend Scott Cawelti of Cedar Falls, Iowa. He had been fighting multiple myeloma, a form of cancer.

In "Bridges," which Waller famously wrote in 11 days, the roving National Geographic photographer Robert Kincaid spends four days romancing Francesca Johnson, a war bride from Italy married to a no-nonsense Iowa farmer.

Waller's novel reached No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list and stayed on it for over three years; the Eastwood-directed 1995 movie grossed $182 million worldwide.

I never expected Waller to play his own televersion in some TV show.  Writers like Mailer, Vidal, Anne Rice, sure.  But I was surprised that the IMDb doesn't even list any talk show appearances by him.

But still we have to accept that his televersion definitely exists in Toobworld and several of its alternate dimensions.  And that's because there have been so many mentions of the book and/or the movie.

And in the case of one particular TV dimension, the events of the book actually took place......

I'm thinking that for the most part, whenever a character mentions "The Bridges of Madison County", they're talking about the movie.  (Having been broadcast just after the release of the movie, it could be that the 'Northern Exposure' episode was more about the book.  But then again, with a film fanatic like Ed Chigliak living in Cicely, it could be about the movie.)

The following information... information... information comes from the IMDb.  I'll start off with those shows which only mention that the movie/book was mentioned, and then move on to more specific references.

Here are just the simple mentions about Waller's best-seller (per the IMDb):

• Northern Exposure: Tranquility Base (1995)
• Hang Time: Trouble in Paradise (1995)
• Friends: The One with the Two Parties (1996)
• Flash Forward: Flossed in the Woods (1997)
• Tatort: Hexentanz (2003)
• The Office: The Fire (2005)
• Eureka: Pilot (2006) 
• Grey's Anatomy: New History (2009)
• Californication: The Apartment (2009) 
• House: Unplanned Parenthood (2010)
• Workaholics: TAC in the Day (2015)
• Modern Family: Crying Out Loud (2015)

THE TOONIVERSE

The Simpsons: Bart on the Road (1996)

Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist: Undercover (1997)
Mark Pitta admits to crying during this movie.

OTHER ALTERNATE TOOBWORLDS

Spin City: All the Wrong Moves (2000) 

[It's part of Robert's breakup plan.]

And here is a list of more detailed references to the movie version (and a couple dealing with the book as well):

The Red Green Show: 

Men's Night on the Mountain (1995)
Edgar mentions that he waited for one of the bridges in this movie to blow up, but to his disappointment, they don't

Caroline in the City: 

Caroline and the Gay Art Show (1995)
Del tells Annie that they didn't have "The Bridges of Madison County" at the video store, so he got "Dumb & Dumber" instead.

Married with Children: 

The Weaker Sex (1995)
Kelly: "Look, Dad, why don't you take Mom to go see 'The Bridges of Madison County'? I heard, there's a new director's cut with 11 extra minutes of Clint Eastwood sponge-bathing Meryl Streep."

NewsRadio: 

Led Zeppelin (1996)
Joe says Dave's letter is like ...

Rederiet: 

Seger och sorg (1996)
Swedish movie poster visible in Felix's cabin (seen in several episodes)

Caroline in the City: 

Caroline and the Getaway (1997)
Annie asks Hayward about it, he says he hated it.

Caroline in the City: 

Caroline and the Free Cable (1997)
When Caroline doesn't want to wax Del's shoulder, he says he sat through "The Bridges Of Madison County" for her.

Sabrina, the Teenage Witch: 

Good Will Haunting (1998)
Harvey says he rented the film.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: 

Wanderlust (1999)
Cassidy mentions this movie and the book it was based on is mentioned by Jefferies.

Sex and the City: 

All or Nothing (2000)
Carrie says the film/book is like her affair with Big

Gilmore Girls: 

Friday Night's Alright for Fighting (2006)
Lorelai equates Rory to Meryl Streep and her grandparents to "The Bridges of Madison County".

Two and a Half Men: 

My Son's Enormous Head (2009)
Charlie and Alan watch it.

Doctor Mateo: 

De cómo los hombres tienen lo que tienen y valen para lo que valen y punto (2010)
Referenced in dialogue and the DVD is shown

Being Erica: Born This Way (2011)
Brent mentions that he saw the movie.

Last Man Standing: 

Eve's Band (2016)
Mike says he likes all the Eastwood movies except the one with the bridges

The Ranch: 

There Goes My Life (2016)
Beau Bennett first mentions the novel and later on claims he has seen the film.
~~~~

There is a TV dimension in which the same events are played out over and over again and where the DNA of the residents of that dimension changes with each replay.  It is called "ToobStage" and is a world of artifice, usually played out on stages.  

In that world the events of the book played out:

Sur la route de Madison (2007)

The leads were played by Alain Delon and Mireille Darc.

And I would not be surprised if they taped the Broadway musical adaptation (which starred Kelli O'Hara and Steven Pasquale).  It could already have been shown on TV for alls I know....

So good night and may God bless, Mr. Waller.  No matter what you might think of the book and movie, he will at least be immortal in Toobworld.

BCnU......