TUBULAR KNELLS: REMEMBERING THE PARTRIDGES AND THEIR PLACE IN TOOBWORLD

THE REAL PARTRIDGE FAMILY

Back in the early 1970s, TV crossovers were not yet a common event.  Even so, it’s odd that ABC never considered having the cast of ‘The Partridge Family’ appear in other shows on their schedule between 1970 and 1974.  It wouldn’t have needed a suspension of disbelief for most of those shows – the Partridge Family was always on tour and could conceivably show up anywhere in the United States during that time.  And that would have also been one of the only limitations to a potential crossover – time.  TV Westerns were dying off, but still there were a few during those years, as well as a couple of other series set in the past which O’Bviously can’t be considered for a crossover with ‘The Partridge Family’.

• ‘The Young Rebels’
• ‘Alias Smith and Jones’
• ‘Kung Fu’ 
• ‘The Cowboys’
• ‘The Strauss Family’
• ‘Happy Days’

There were no futuristic sci-fi shows on ABC at the time, but a couple set during the “present day’:

• ‘The Immortal’
• ‘The Sixth Sense’
• ‘The Six Million Dollar Man’

But I can’t picture a full out crossover.  What ABC could have done to capitalize on the publicity of that sitcom would be to have Colonel Austin tell a pretty young thing that he had tickets to see the musical group… maybe even Jamie Sommers!  Of course Oscar Goldman would dash Steve’s plans with a fresh new assignment.  As for the other two shows?  A trivial reference in dialogue or a simple poster for the group would be all that was needed

Here are the other drama series – cop shows, medical and courtroom dramas, action/adventure hours – that were on ABC prime-time during those four years:

• ‘The F.B.I.’ 
• ‘The Young Lawyers’
• ‘The Silent Force’
• ‘The Mod Squad’
• ‘Marcus Welby, M.D.’ 
• ‘Dan August’
• ‘The Young Lawyers’
• ‘Matt Lincoln’
• ‘The Man and the City’
• ‘The Persuaders!’
• ‘Longstreet’
• ‘Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law’
• ‘The Rookies’ 
• ‘The Men: Assignment Vienna’ 
• ‘The Delphi Bureau’
• ‘Jigsaw’
• ‘The Streets of San Francisco’
• ‘Doc Elliot’
• ‘Toma’
• ‘Chopper One’
• ‘Firehouse’
• ‘Griff’

The idea of linking a sitcom with a drama wouldn’t really kick in until the decade was almost over, with the most famous example being ‘Lou Grant’ as a spin-off from ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’.  Another was a crossover between ‘The Associates’ and ‘The Paper Chase’ with John Houseman as Professor Kingsfield making an appearance on the law firm sitcom.

The Partridge Family could have made cameo appearances on most of those dramas listed above, perhaps even worked into a plot or two – performing in concert and the starring detectives have to work the crowd to track down a murderer, a thief, a kidnapper, someone out to kill one of the Partridge Family etc.  Or again, it could have been something as simple as a poster hanging in the background of a scene.    Or a framed picture of Keith Partridge or the whole family in the bedroom of a young girl being questioned by investigators.

However, I think it’s probably best that ‘The Partridge Family’ crossed over only with other ABC sitcoms (looking at it from outside the box and not from the Toobworld perspective.)  And ABC had plenty of situation comedies on the air during those four years:

• ‘The Courtship of Eddie's Father’
• ‘Danny Thomas in Make Room for Granddaddy’
• ‘Room 222’
• ‘The Smith Family’
• ‘Love on a Rooftop’
• ‘Bewitched’
• ‘Barefoot in the Park’
• ‘The Odd Couple’
• ‘The Brady Bunch’
• ‘Nanny and the Professor’ 
• ‘That Girl’
• ‘Shirley's World’
• ‘Getting Together’
• ‘The Super’
• ‘The Corner Bar’
• ‘Temperatures Rising’
• ‘The Paul Lynde Show’
• ‘Thicker than Water’
• ‘Love Thy Neighbor’
• ‘Here We Go Again’
• ‘A Touch of Grace’
• ‘Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice’
• ‘Adam's Rib’

Many of those sitcoms really could have used a boost from a connection to ‘The Partridge Family’.  And as with the dramas, a simple reference, like a poster or a mention in dialogue, would be all that was needed.  But it certainly wouldn’t have hurt to see the band show up to exasperate Paul Simms in an episode of ‘The Paul Lynde Show’.

THE REAL PARTRIDGE FAMILY

 The actors performing as their characters on ABC variety shows like ‘This Is Tom Jones’ and ‘The Julie Andrews Hour’ could have been a ratings grabber during Sweeps week.  And that would have given those variety shows some “street cred” in the fictional world of the Toob.

[There’s one other show I’m going to divorce from consideration as it takes place in Skitlandia”: ‘Love, American Style’.]
 
And yet, ABC never took advantage of crossovers to first promote the series and then to use it to help promote other, struggling sitcoms.  It would have made it easier to consider them all for induction into the Television Crossover Hall of Fame.

It would be many years before the references to ‘The Partridge Family’ began appearing in other shows and for the most part we can accept them as being Zonk-free since the Partridge Family would be well-known as celebrities in Toobworld who would make appearances on other TV shows, have their own reality series, could even have their music playing in the background of some of the sitcoms and dramas.

Here are some examples…….

'Family Matters'
"Jailhouse Blues" 
(1992)

CLARENCE:
(to the Winslow family)
Well if it ain't the Partridge family.
What's for dinner, milk and cookies?

Clarence was using the Partridges as a diss on the Winslows but he was probably more familiar with them in their TV shows, both a reality show and a sitcom based on their lives.  He didn’t seem the type to actually follow them as a stage groupie.

'You Can't Do That on Television'
"Families" 
(????)

ANNOUNCER:
"The Partridge Family Gets Shot" will not be seen at this time.
In its place we present the following 'Family Feud'.

This show was about fictional kids making their own sketch comedy show.  This was from one of the episodes which they produced.  The TV special was meant to be a fake; the kids had no clue that it would partially come true one day.

'Day by Day'
"A Very Brady Episode"
(1989)

ROSS HARPER:
I don't wanna be in this family anymore!
I wanna be in the Partridge family!

This was a dream sequence in which Ross found himself as part of the Brady family.  A television show was made about the actual family, but Ross was familiar enough with their true story to populate his dream with the real Bradys.  And it appears he was familiar with the musical group as well.
 'Married with Children'

"How Green Was My Apple" 

(1994)

PEGGY BUNDY:

Hey, are you sure you're not that little Partridge boy from 'The Partridge Family'?

SURVEYOR:
Yes, I'm sure. I've never been [more] sure of anything in my life.

RUEBEN KINKAID:

 Let's go! Come on, Danny!

 We have to be in Pittsburgh by midnight. Come on... get happy!

With this quick cameo appearance, we got an update on the life of Danny Partridge.  Apparently he had dropped out of the music business when the Partridge Family disbanded and became a property surveyor in the Chicago area.  But it looks as though he was making a comeback, with Rueben Kinkaid acting once again as his manager.

'Sex and the City'
"Three's a Crowd"
 (1998)

MIRANDA HOBBES:
So the four of us get in a cab, only they won't let me sit in the back with them. They make me ride up front with the driver who happens to be the original Chris from 'The Partridge Family'.

THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY
AS SEEN ON TV

This is more than confirmation that there was a TV show based on the life of the Partridge Family.  (The ‘Married With Children’ quote did that as well.)  This quote addresses the recastaway situation for Chris Partridge.  In the first season he was played by Jeremy Gelbwaks, but for the remainder of the series’ run, Brian Forster took over the role.

There are distinct differences in the looks between Gelbwaks and Forster.  Jeremy Gelbwaks didn’t really look as though he was a genetic part of the family, unlike Brian Forster.  I didn’t want to look for some splainin for the drastic change in appearance as I would usually do in more outlandish scenarios – like alien impersonation, quantum leaping, etc.  But there is a splainin that will work, one which I first used with ‘The Lone Ranger’.  What we have with ‘The Partridge Family’ is two different shows. 

With ‘The Lone Ranger’, all of the episodes which featured Clayton Moore as the Masked Man were the actual historical figure.  But in the middle of the series’ run, Moore was replaced by John Hart; the producers were hoping to save a couple bucks, figuring the kids would never notice the difference behind the mask.  But they did and the ratings fell, so Clayton was brought back to the role.  For Toobworld, the episodes featuring Hart are the actual TV show within Toobworld.  So John Hart was John Hart playing the Lone Ranger.  Hart went on to be inducted into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame as he played himself in the Lone Ranger garb in two other shows – ‘Happy Days’ and ‘The Fall Guy’.  (The actual Lone Ranger and his faithful Indian companion Tonto were inducted together a few years earlier.)

So that’s the position I’m taking here.  In this case, the first season of ‘The Partridge Family’ is a TV show seen in Toobworld.  All of the people we are seeing in those episodes are actors who bear an incredible resemblance to the actual Partridge family – except for the actor playing Chris Partridge.  By the second season of the show, it was now a reality documentary series which followed the real family.  And so now we saw the real Chris Partridge along with the real Shirley, Keith, Laurie, Danny, and Tracy.  This covers all Zonks that could come up with any other reference to the show which has not been already mentioned here.

I suppose you may have surmised by now that what spurred all of these O’Bservations about the Partridge Family had been triggered by the death of David Cassidy earlier this week at the far too young age of 67.  But I had been thinking about the ramifications of the Partridge Family on Toobworld in general for the last two years, since the death of Suzanne Clough at the age of 52. 

Even without the availability of crossovers for the Partridge Family, I think those references above prove that they do in fact link all those shows together even if they’re not actually seen.  And as back-up, I can claim they should be inducted as Multi-dimensionals as they also existed in Toobworld2, Skitlandia, Toobworld-Toobworld, the Tooniverse, and a few other nameless TV dimensions as well.

 So we know a little about Danny Partridge, decades after the band broke up.  I have to cite the standard rule of Toobworld Central that a character so identified with a particular actor would die around the same time as that actor.  I have no theories as to how Keith Partridge died, but I’m afraid we could assume that he died from complications of long-time abuse, just as David Cassidy did.

THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY
IN RECENT YEARS

 I never thought about how Tracy Partridge died, but in putting this together today, I gave it some consideration.  Unlike with Keith, there was no need to doom her immediately upon the death of Ms. Clough.  But I have come up with a condensed telemythography for her.  After the Partridge Family broke up as a band so that they could lead their own personal lives, Tracy may have married, had kids, and eventually considered returning to the music business.  She explored an interest in country music and was somewhat successful as a country songwriter.

As with Keith, she also died this year, and tied in with one of the most tragic events of 2017.  As regular television is wont to do, eventually somehow various TV shows will find a way to tie in to the Las Vegas massacre, just as shows have done with the collapse of the World Trade Center, the Titanic, and the 1989 San Francisco Earthquake.  Well, this will be the first.  Sadly, Tracy Partridge was in attendance at the open air concert in Las Vegas when that crazed gunman opened fire on the crowds below. 

That’s the way of the Toobworld……

But to honor the memory of the two ‘Partridge Family’ actors we have lost and before we lose any more, I want to induct them all into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame.  (Just the family – Rueben Kinkaid has enough credits on his own to make it into the Hall and will make an appropriate entry someday for April.)

Good night and may God bless David Cassidy and Suzanne Clough.  And welcome to all the Partridges into the Hall.

BCnU!

O’BSERVATION:
My apologies for being late with this.  I was still writing it by 9:15 tonight.  But two days of Thanksgiving took a big bite out of the week for me. 

DATELINE TOOBWORLD - THE DEVIL IN CONNECTICUT

DETECTIVE ARTHUR DIETRICH

Bili... 

alias Abbadon, Beelzebub, Lucifer, Mephistopheles, Satan, Old Nick.

CAPTAIN BARNEY MILLER

Dietrich!
No judge is going to buy demonic possession as a line of defense. 

DIETRICH

Well, it was just used in a Connecticut murder case.

'BARNEY MILLER'

From Wikipedia:
The Trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson, also known as the Devil Made Me Do It Case, is the first known court case in the United States in which the defense sought to prove innocence based upon the defendant's claim of demonic possession and denial of personal responsibility for the crime. 

On November 24, 1981, in Brookfield, Connecticut, Arne Cheyenne Johnson was convicted of first-degree manslaughter for the killing of his landlord, Alan Bono. According to testimony by the Glatzel family, 11-year-old David Glatzel had allegedly played host to the demon that forced Johnson to kill Bono. After witnessing a number of increasingly ominous occurrences involving David, the family, exhausted and terrified, decided to enlist the aid of self-described demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren (noted for their investigation into the famed Amityville Haunting) in a last-ditch effort to "cure" David. 

The Glatzel family, along with the Warrens, then proceeded to have David exorcised by a number of Catholic priests. The process continued for several days, concluding when, according to those present, a demon fled the child's body and took up residence within Johnson. 

Several months later, Johnson killed his landlord during a heated conversation. 

His defense lawyer argued in court that he was possessed, but the judge ruled that such a defense could never be proven and was therefore infeasible in a court of law. Johnson was subsequently convicted, though he only served five years of a 10- to 20-year sentence. The trial attracted media attention from around the world and has obtained a level of notoriety due to numerous depictions of the events in literature and television.
For more, click here.

The episode aired on November 19, 1981 and the verdict was delivered five days later.  So this is one time when we can practically pinpoint when an episode of a TV show took place on the Toobworld timeline.

BCnU!

A TVXOHOF BIRTHDAY SALUTE - KARLOFF @ 130!

Rosemary Clooney: 

Oh, you startled me!

Boris Karloff: 

Oh, I'm so sorry.

Rosemary Clooney: 

Oh, it's just that I...

Boris Karloff: 

You don't have to explain to me, Rosemary. 

In the mornings when I look in the shaving mirror, 

I frighten myself.

Rosemary Clooney: 

You do?

Boris Karloff: 

Well, how would you react to the sight of a razor held to your throat by... 

Boris Karloff?

'THE ROSEMARY CLOONEY SHOW'

From Wikipedia:
William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor who was primarily known for his roles in horror films.[2] He portrayed Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein (1931), Bride of Frankenstein (1935), and Son of Frankenstein (1939), which resulted in his immense popularity. He also appeared as Imhotep in The Mummy (1932).

His best-known non-horror role is as the Grinch, as well as the narrator, in the animated television special of Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966). For his contribution to film and television, Boris Karloff was awarded two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

And for his 130^th birthday, we’re giving him another honor – membership in the Television Crossover Hall Of Fame!

Karloff made plenty of appearances as himself on television, but most of those were on many of the variey shows of the times.  And it could be argued that his Narrator of “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” could be considered to be Karloff himself.  As for interacting with the fictional citizenry of Toobworld, Boris Karloff only had two credits:

The Gale Storm Show: Oh! Susanna
- It's Murder My Dear
(1959) 

Route 66
- Lizard's Leg and Owlet's Wing 
(1962)

From the IMDb:
Tod and Buz are working as Guest Liaisons at a motel just outside of Chicago. Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Jr. and Peter Lorre meet there to discuss whether the old monster costumes they used in films will still scare a TV audience today. A group of Executive Secretaries meeting at the motel provide a handy "test group".
—dubchi

Tod and Buz have jobs as junior executives of convention liaison at the O'Hare Inn, adjacent to the airport of the same name. Buz believes he has the plum first assignment: head liaison to the Executive Secretaries of the Midwest convention, at which forty of the most beautiful young women of the region will be attending. However, Buz has eyes only for one, who he learns is young and not too bright Molly Cross. She recently quit her job and is sad about the situation. But it's not the job in and of itself about which she is sad... Meanwhile, Tod is stuck as liaison to the Society for the Preservation of the Gerenuks, their head, Mr. Retep, who looks a lot like Peter Lorre. When Messrs. Nol and Sirob, two of Retep's three colleagues arrive, Tod knows that they are indeed Lorre, Lon Chaney Jr. and Boris Karloff incognito, who he learns have come to discuss - more like debate - the different approaches for a new horror television show they are developing. Tod believes he can kill two birds with one stone - help the horror masters with testing out their concepts, while getting back at Buz for not letting him muscle in on half of the secretaries: test the horror masters' concepts on forty unsuspecting women.
—Huggo

I would have thought an appearance on ‘I Love Lucy’ would have been a natural.

But there are several references to Mr. Karloff which acknowledge his existence in Toobworld.

The Dick Van Dyke Show
- It May Look Like A Walnut
(1963)
When Laura declares there's a little bit of a monster in Rob, Rob feigns a Boris Karloff accent.

Barney Miller
- Discovery

(1975)

The A-Team
- Cowboy George 
(1986)
 

B.A. Baracus: 

Hannibal, you ain't no actor; 

you don't find actors dressing up like lizards.

Hannibal: 

That's a very narrow interpretation, B.A. 

Boris Karloff wouldn't like it.

      

The Father Dowling Mysteries
The Mummy’s Curse Mystery

(1991)

At the beginning of the episode, the Karloff movie “The Mummy” is seen.

Bones
- A Night at the Bones Museum
(2009)

Dr. Temperance 'Bones' Brennan: 

Oh, The Mummy. 1932.

Dr. Camille Saroyan: 

You don't know who Brittney Spears is, 

but you know this movie?

Dr. Temperance 'Bones' Brennan: 

It's the film that made me want to be an anthropologist. 

Although I prefer Chaney's mummy to Karloff's.

And if you want to, we can count all of the mentions of the original three “Frankenstein” movies with Karloff as the Creature.  After all, it has to be a given that Karloff was under that make-up.

We could also add in his serlinguistic appearances as a host for ‘Thriller’ and ‘The Veil’.

But at any rate, the televersion of Boris Karloff is well established in Toobworld.

So here’s to William Henry Pratt on his 130^th birthday! 

Welcome to the Hall!

THE BEST THANKSGIVING TV CLASSIC!

Here ya go, kind of a Thanksgiving tradition.....

Let's look again at the highlights.....

And here's the look behind the scenes for this comedy classic:

Finally, here's the traditional Toobworld Thanksgiving from Yours Truly....

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

HAT SQUAD - UNFORTUNATELY REMEMBERING MANSON

STEVE RAILSBACK
as

CHARLES MANSON

Charles Manson was an unlikely figure to evolve into the personification of evil. A few inches over five feet, he was a petty criminal and small-time hustler. And his followers bore little resemblance to the stereotypical image of hardened killers. Most were in their early twenties, middle-class white kids, hippies and runaways who fell under his charismatic sway.

But in the summer of 1969, Manson masterminded a string of bizarre murders in Los Angeles that both horrified and fascinated the nation and signified to many the symbolic end of the 1960s and the idealism and naiveté the decade represented.

Considered one of the most infamous criminals of the 20th century, Manson died of natural causes at a Kern County Hospital at 8:13 p.m Sunday, according to Vicky Waters, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. He was 83.

Sentenced to death for the crime, Manson escaped execution when the state Supreme Court declared the death penalty unconstitutional at the time. He spent decades behind bars, an unrepentant and incorrigible inmate who’d been cited for behavioral issues more than 100 times.
- Miles Corvin

Los Angeles Times

So the piece of slime is finally dead, but I don't think the fascination with his hypnotic evil will ever abate in the Television Universe.  You can expect even more depictions of his crimes than those posted here in two years when the fiftieth anniversary comes round.

One day, Manson will be inducted into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame as a Multidimensional.  And I'm thinking it should happen during the month of October when it does.  But I'm in no hurry to have him soiling the carpeting in my little corner of Toobworld.  I have friends online who have called for his name never to be mentioned again.  I understand that; at the same time, my maintenance of the TV Crossover Hall of Fame is a form of History, silly as you may see it, and you should never bury History.  

Remember the old adage: Those who forget History are doomed to get an F on the final.

As it stands now, here is the IMDb list of actors who have played Charlie Manson on television.  One which is missing is Bob Odenkirk on 'The Ben Stiller Show'.  You can find it on YouTube, in which he plays Manson as a Lassie stand-in. 

I grabbed the list for this post even though I'm not ready to induct him because the IMDb is going to rid themselves of the character pages which have been a boon to me and my fellow televisiologists.

At any rate, here are the portrayals of Charles Manson, spread across the greater TV universe.  Steve Railsback was the first and perhaps the most memorable depiction.  But I'm not sure who should be the Charles Manson of Earth Prime-Time.  No established fictional characters in the main Toobworld ever interacted with Manson - thankfully.  As to who would be the "face" of Manson in the Hall, I think Gethin Anthony, due to the amount of appearances he has logged in as this psycho.....

GETHIN ANTHONY
as
CHARLES MANSON

"Deadly Possessions" 
    - Bela Lugosi's Mirror and Charles Manson's TV (2016) 
Played by Darrell Chumley

"American Horror Story" 
    - Great Again (2017) 
    - Charles (Manson) in Charge (2017) 

Played by Evan Peters

"National Enquirer Investigates"
    - Charles Manson (2017) 

Played by Chris Ploetz

"Autopsy: The Last Hours Of"
    - Dennis Wilson (2017) 

Played by Lewis Poll

"Mysteries of the Outdoors"
    - Death Valley (2016)

Played by Terral Altom

"Aquarius"
26 episodes    

Played by Gethin Anthony

"The Special Without Brett Davis"
    - Mike Love & Mercy (2016)

Played by Alyssa Stonoha

"Murder Made Me Famous"
    - Charles Manson (2016) 

Played by David Burkhart

Manson's Lost Girls (2016) 

Played by Jeff Ward

"Aquarius: The Summer of Love" 

4 episodes

Played by Gethin Anthony 

"Saturday Night Live"
    - Cameron Diaz/Mark Ronson & Bruno Mars (2014) 

Played by Taran Killam
    - Courteney Cox/Dave Matthews Band (1995) 

Played by Adam Sandler

"Mysteries at the Museum"
    - Squeaky Fromme, Hodag, Typhoid Mary (2013) 

Played by Peter Endrigian

Manson (2009)
Played by Adam Kenneth Wilson

Will You Kill for Me? Charles Manson and His Followers (2008)

Played by Charlie Davidson / Nic Weinfeld (as Young Charles Manson)

Helter Skelter (2004)

Played by Jeremy Davies

"The Beach Boys: An American Family"
    - Episode #1.2 (2000) 

Played by Erik Passoja

"The Tonight Show with Jay Leno"
    - Episode #7.106 (1999) 

Played by James DeAngelo
    - Troy Aikman/Natalie Portman/Green Day (1996) 

Played by James DeAngelo

"South Park"
    - Merry Christmas Charlie Manson! (1998) 

Played by Trey Parker

Summer Dreams: The Story of the Beach Boys (1990) 

Played by Michael Reid MacKay

Helter Skelter (1976) 

Played by Steve Railsback

BCnU!

TWO FOR TUESDAY - THEMYSCIRA: LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

'LEGENDS OF TOMORROW'

"HELEN HUNT"

Do you know where this is?

The CW had a feeling you might not know, so....

At the end of this episode, Zari ("She Who Must Not Be Named Isis") was supposed to return Helen to Troy so that the timeline for Comix Toobworld-DC1 could get another fix-it patch.  But after hearing how sad Helen was to be a plaything and a bargaining chip for men, the Legend decided to reset the coordinates for the Waverider's shuttle and bring Helen back in time to this idyllic island, home of the Amazons, where she could pursue whatever interests she favored without interference from the opposite sex.  As Helen faded from History/Legend without any more reference as to what happened to her, Zari thought her decision would be a safe one.

As any fan* of Wonder Woman knows,Themyscira is the birthplace of Diana.  But Themyscira is multiversal and exists in many fictional universes, O'Bviously found most often in the world of comic books.  Even though this might be the same CGI(?) location as used in this summer's blockbuster movie about the Amazonian princess, Helen shouldn't disembark expecting to find Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman.  Her incarnation of Diana exists in the Cineverse, and only one dimension of that as the current run of DC movies are in a different world from those in which so many other Supermen and Batmen can be found.  

The Cineverse of DC has no connection to the current spate of TV shows on the CW, either, which was made evident with the release of the "Justice League" - they have a different actor playing the Flash.  And this island paradise is somewhat different from that found in the main Toobworld where Wonder Woman first spun into action.  There Themyscira was known as Paradise Island.  

Maybe one day Wonder Woman will show up in the CW; maybe Gal Gadot will even play the role.  But until then, this world of Themyscira must not be mistaken for any other incarnation of the location.

BCnU!

*Hi Rob Buckley, Mark Thompson, and Cousin Coco!!

TWO FOR TUESDAY - "HELEN OF TROY" THE MOVIE

'LEGENDS OF TOMORROW'

"HELEN HUNT"

'Legends of Tomorrow' does not take place in Earth Prime-Time, the main Toobworld.  It originated on Comix Toobworld-DC1 with 'Arrow' and 'The Flash'.  But they have disrupted the timeline so much, they may be in some alternate Comix Toobworld now.  (However, when they crossover with Flash and Arrow, I'm sure the Waverider will always find its way back to their original dimension.)

So when there are any Zonks in their episodes which would be a violation of what happened in the main Toobworld, let alone the Trueniverse, I let it slide.  It has no bearing on Earth Prime-Time.  But they're always fun to investigate.

Take for instance, the basic plot of this episode, "Helen Hunt" (a great title which is in the running for a Toobits Award): Helen of Troy arrives in 1937 Hollywood and bumps Hedy Lamarr from consideration for the lead role in a movie about Helen of Troy.  Because her American movie career didn't take off, she was unable to pursue her scientific interests which led to her inventions in wireless communication.  As a consequence, the Waverider was no longer able to function and they were stuck in 1937.  The Legends had to "put right what once went wrong" and restore Miss Lamarr to her former glory.

In the timeline of the real world, Hedy Lamarr didn't make a movie about Helen of Troy until 1953, which was then released a year later.  And it was made in Italy, not Hollywood.

From Wikipedia:

"Loves of Three Queens" (Italian: L'amante di Paride), also known as The Face That Launched a Thousand Ships, is a 1954 Italian anthology film. It was directed by Marc Allégret and Edgar G. Ulmer and stars Hedy Lamarr.

Hedy Lamarr's first Hollywood role was as Gaby in 1938's "Algiers".

But that discrepancy probably works out.  Because of the temporal disruption, the studio probably scrapped their Helen of Troy biopic and chose the "Algiers" script to be Miss Lamarr's first Hollywood film.  So it would have all worked out in the end.

Not that it mattered.

BCnU!

THE HAT SQUAD - "REMEMBERING" KEITH BARRON

From the Euro Weekly News:
British TV star Keith Barron has died, aged 83, after a short illness. [November 15, 2017]

Barron’s agent confirmed the news in a statement which read, “He had a long and varied career." 

“He is survived by his wife Mary to whom he was married for 58 years and his son, Jamie, also an actor.”

Barron made regular appearances on British TV since the 1960s with roles in 'Coronation Street', 'Duty Free', 'Doctor Who', 'Z Cars',  'Casualty' and 'Where the Heart Is'.

He also guest-starred in the hit ITV comedy series 'Benidorm' in 2009.

His most memorable role came as a leading man in the 1980s sitcom 'Duty Free', where he starred as Yorkshireman David Pearce.
(Kari Smallman)

Barron also played Dennis Potter's altar-ego Nigel Barton in two of his TV plays and almost made it into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame for his character of Detective Sgt. John Swift.  Swift came on board 'The Odd Man' in the last couple of seasons and then was spun off to 'It's Dark Outside'.  But unfortunately he never got the chance to play Sgt. Swift in any other series to get that third requirement for TVXOHOF induction.  (As much as I like John Fraser and was happy to see him all too briefly in the London-based 'Columbo' episode "Dagger of the Mind", I would have traded him in for a chance to see Barron bring Sgt. Swift into the investigation.  As long as Swift was a copper in London, of course.)

Far too few of the TV shows produced over in the UK ever made it here to the United States unless they could fit into the sometimes snobbish showcases like 'Masterpiece Theatre' and even in 'Mystery!'.  So I don't think there was ever a chance I was going to see any of these other long-running roles of Mr. Barron:

• 'Duty Free'
• 'Coronation Street'
• 'The Good Guys'
• 'Haggard'
• 'DCI Banks'
• 'Holby City'
• 'Doctors'
• 'Dead Man Weds'
• 'The Chase'
• 'Where The Heart Is'
• 'NCS Manhunt'
• 'Take Me'
• 'All Night Long'
• 'Leaving'
• 'Room At The Bottom'
• 'The Adventures of Lucky Jim'

But here's the sad thing (for me): I have seen him in plenty of one-shot roles, mostly in crime dramas imported from the UK:

• 
  'The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes' (The one true Holmes for the main Toobworld!)
• 'Pie In The Sky'
• 'New Tricks'
• 'Hustle'
• 'Law & Order: UK'
• 'Foyle's War'
• 'Hetty Wainthrop Investigates'
• 'Dalziel and Pascoe'
•  'The New Avengers'

And yet, of those, the only one I remember him in is the episode he did of 'Midsomer Murders'.  But there are two reasons for that: I did see it recently again, and - let's face it - the murders on that show have become memorable.

I'm surprised I can't remember Mr. Barron in the Sherlock Holmes story, "The Last Vampyre"!  I remember the story well enough; I'm a big fan of the Holmes canon.  But as to its dramatization.....  Yeah, I have to watch the box set again.

Along with those light mysteries, I can't remember seeing him in his one-shot roles in 'Upstairs, Downstairs' and 'My Family', either.

The one role that does stand out in my memory was that of Captain Striker the Eternal in the 'Doctor Who' episode "Enlightenment".  One day I have to delve further into the Eternals in the grand mosaic of Toobworld.  Could there be a connection to the Prophets of the wormholes or the Q Coninuum?

For more on his career, click here.

I will have to go back and revisit those episodes of 'New Tricks', 'Pie In The Sky', 'Hustle' and especially the 'Sherlock Holmes' adventure.  I'm thinking I need to familiarize myself with more of Mr. Barron's contributions to Toobworld.

BCnU!