SATURDAY COMICS - SPDIERMAN & THE NOT READY FOR PRIME-TIME PLAYERS

Stan Lee died last week at the age of 95.  He was the mastermind behind the Marvel Universe and with Jack Kirby he created the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, the X-Men, and with Steve Ditko he came up with Spiderman.  He dabbled as an actor in the movies and TV shows with cameos as himself and as others, including Willie Lumpkin, the Fantastic Four’s mailman.  He was even animated in a Spiderman cartoon and in an episode of ‘Phineas & Ferb’.

But there was a time when he appeared on television without appearing on television!

I’ve looked at a lot of comic books in the past that were adaptations of TV shows, but this was a case where the cast of the TV show were incorporated into an established comic book.

The premise of “Marvel Team-Up” is right there in the title – various super-heroes teamed up.  First of course, they fought over a misconception and then united to battle the true enemy.

In this case, the action took place in the NBC studios at 30 Rockefeller Plaza where ‘Saturday Night Live’ was broadcast and taped.  On that particular Saturday night, Stan “The Man” Lee was going to host the show.  (I’m not sure who was the musical guest.)  And in the audience were Peter Parker with his girlfriend Mary Jane Watson.  (Also there were two old men sitting behind them in the upper levels of the audience who were named Statler and Waldorf.  They were O’Bviously an in-joke tribute to those wiseacre hecklers from ‘The Muppet Show’ but otherwise should not be seen as having any connection to the Henson characters.  (Of course, this isn’t my bailiwick, so I can’t be the final arbiter on that decision. Just my two quatloos.)

It was easy enough to find a worthy adversary who would go after the Not Ready For Prime-Time Players.  John Belushi was already well-known for playing his samurai character, usually in sketches with Buck Henry when he hosted.  The set-up was a bit strained – a special ring coveted by the super villain Silver Samurai was delivered in error to Belushi instead of somebody named B. Lu Shi who apparently had an office in the same building.  The other members of the NR4PT Players (with Bill Murray, so this show had to take place in the second season after Chevy Chase had departed the cast.)

Just in case you young’uns don’t know who the members of the Not Ready For Prime-Time Players are:

• John Belushi
• Dan Aykroyd
• Gilda Radner
• Jane Curtin
• Garrett Morris
• Larraine Newman
• Bill Murray

So here are some of the pages and panels from “Marvel Team-Up #74” along with the cover.  (You can click on each of them to expand them.)

Good night and may God bless, Stan….

For more on this adventure, check these out, True Believers!

INFORMATION

INFORMATION

INFORMATION

EXCELSIOR!

FRIDAY HALL OF FAMER - HENRY KISSINGER

Today is the first Black Friday to occur since I initiated the Friday Hall of Famers.  And since I’m at my cousins for our traditional Dabsgiving, I thought I’d just dash off this quick induction ceremony to celebrate another November Newsmaker entrant into the Television Crossover Hall of Fame.

And who better for the Black Friday Hall of Famer than a war criminal?

HENRY KISSINGER

From Wikipedia:
Henry Alfred Kissinger (born Heinz Alfred Kissinger; May 27, 1923) is an American statesman, political scientist, diplomat and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Adviser under the presidential administrations of Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. A Jewish refugee who fled Nazi Germany with his family in 1938, he became National Security Advisor in 1969 and U.S. Secretary of State in 1973. For his actions negotiating a ceasefire in Vietnam, Kissinger received the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize under controversial circumstances, with two members of the committee resigning in protest. Kissinger later sought, unsuccessfully, to return the prize after the ceasefire failed.

A practitioner of Realpolitik, Kissinger played a prominent role in United States foreign policy between 1969 and 1977. During this period, he pioneered the policy of détente with the Soviet Union, orchestrated the opening of relations with the People's Republic of China, engaged in what became known as shuttle diplomacy in the Middle East to end the Yom Kippur War, and negotiated the Paris Peace Accords, ending American involvement in the Vietnam War. Kissinger has also been associated with such controversial policies as U.S. involvement in a military coup in Chile, a "green light" to Argentina's military junta for their dirty war, and U.S. support for Pakistan during the Bangladesh War despite a genocide.  After leaving government, he formed Kissinger Associates, an international geopolitical consulting firm. Kissinger has been a prolific author of books on diplomatic historyand international relations with over one dozen books authored.

He remains a controversial figure in American history. Some journalists, political activists and human rights lawyers have condemned Kissinger as a war criminal. Nevertheless, in a 2014 survey, many scholars and foreign policy experts ranked Henry Kissinger as the most effective U.S. Secretary of State since 1965.

Kissinger actually is a good choice this year as the showcase induction for the month was his former boss, Richard M. Nixon.  Like Tricky Dick, Kissinger is a multidimensional of the greater TV Universe, actually portraying himself in Earth Prime-Time.

EARTH PRIME-TIME

 

'DYNASTY'
(AS HIMSELF)

THE TOONIVERSE

 

'THE SIMPSONS'
(VOICED BY HARRY SHEARER)

'FUTURAMA'
(VOICED BY JOHN DIMAGGIO)


'FAMILY GUY'
(VOICED BY JOHN VIENER)

SKITLANDIA

'SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE'

(PLAYED BY JOHN BELUSHI)
WITH DAN AYKROYD AS NIXON
CHEVY CHASE AS GERALD FORD(?)






'SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE'
(PLAYED BY AL FRANKEN)
WITH TONY DANZA,
JOAN CUSACK AS QUEEN ELIZABETH II


(EUGENE LEVY PLAYED KISSINGER
AT LEAST ONCE ON 'SCTV')

DOCU-TOOBWORLD

I thought this might be the best alternate dimension in which to house this mini-series which used the Nixon tapes as its script.

'NIXON'S THE ONE'
(HENRY GOODMAN)
WITH HARRY SHEARER AS NIXON

 As there are plenty of alternate TV dimensions out there, it's best to spread the "love" around with his televersions in TV movies and mini-series.  (Plus it spares me having to come up with splainins as to the recastaway changes.)

MOTW TOOBWORLD I

 

"KISSINGER AND NIXON"
(RON SILVER)
WITH BEAU BRIDGES AS NIXON

So there's our Friday Hall of Famer for Black Friday.  And as Black Friday is the kick-off for Christmas, here's Henry Kissinger - played by the former senator from Minnesota - on 'Saturday Night Live' to usher in the holiday season (with his own shout-out for Hannukah.)

Welcome to the Hall, Dr. K.  At least this reunion with Nixon doesn't include eternal flames......

A NEW TOOBWORLD TRADITION FOR THANKSGIVING

I've decided this should become a Thanksgiving tradition....

Now if you want to learn more about this TV crossover classic which was a charity production for "Children In Need"....

From Wikipedia:"The Official BBC Children in Need Medley" is a single by Peter Kay's Animated All Star Band. It is the official Children in Need Single for 2009, and was released on 21 November 2009. The song was shown for the first time on Children in Need 2009. The cover art is a parody of the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles. The single has sold over 452,000 copies in the UK, earning it Gold status from the BPI.

According to a news interview, Kay conceptualized the single while working with the director. The director said that he would "love to do something like that" but he and Kay regarded it mostly as a joke.

After some time away from the subject, Kay brought it up again, this time with the actual intent to produce it. The director said that he and Kay "just sat down one lunchtime and wrote a list", with as many characters recorded on it as they could think of from their childhoods, as well as some modern favorites and non-British characters. The song was recorded at Hullabaloo Studios by the Voice and Music Company.

The project was carried out in top secret at the request of executive producer Kay. Celebrities and voice artists who voiced characters' original vocals were brought in without being told details of the project. When contacted by Cartoon Network Studios, Casey Kasem agreed to take part on the condition that Shaggy was shown to be a vegetarian and asked not to be given credit as he was officially retired.

The single raised at least £170,000 for Children in Need after more than 265,000 CD, DVD and download sales by mid-December 2009.[6] 

The single is a medley of multiple songs played out in the following order:

• "Can You Feel It" – originally performed by The Jacksons (1980) (0:00–1:08)
• "Don't Stop" – originally performed by Fleetwood Mac (1976) (1:08–2:27)
• "Jai Ho!" from the film Slumdog Millionaire – originally performed by A.R. Rahman and The Pussycat Dolls (2009) (2:12–2:41)
• "Tubthumping" – originally performed by Chumbawamba (1997) (2:41–3:00)
• "Never Forget" – originally performed by Take That (1995) (3:00–3:18)
• "Hey Jude" – originally performed by The Beatles (1968) (3:18–3:37)
• "One Day Like This" – originally performed by Elbow (2008) (3:37–4:30)

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM TOOBWORLD

On Thanksgivings past, Toobworld Central has always depended on the old standbys - the live remote from the shopping mall as seen in 'WKRP In Cincinnati' or Paul Simon's opening for 'Saturday Night Live' dressed as a turkey.

But this year, I just want to offer a simple Thanksgiving greeting from the Old One-Two....

I hope you get to spend the day with the people who mean the most to you....

Happy Thanksgiving from all of Me at Toobworld Central!

A THEORY OF RELATEEVEETY - AN ADAMS FAMILY VOLUME

Usually I post my theories of “relateeveety” on Thursdays, but tomorrow is Thanksgiving.  So since there’s a bit of wikia activity in this post, here yuh go!

"I don't wanna marry Ag-a-ness, Barney. 
It ain't the marrying part; 
it's the Ag-a-ness part!"  
Inspector Frank Luger
‘Barney Miller’

And there’s a reason for that, at least one that makes sense to me.  But you might not like it….

FRANK LUGER

(with Barney Miller)

JONATHAN ADAMS
(with Donald Hollinger)

Franklin D. Luger had a maternal cousin named Jonathan Adams, their mothers being sisters.  And they were that Toobworld standard, identical cousins.  (It makes me wonder what their mothers looked like!)

James Gregory played both roles.

Let’s meet both men.

INSPECTOR FRANK LUGER
From Wikipedia:
A regular character throughout the series, usually seen in about a third to a half of any given season's episodes.  Deputy Inspector Frank Luger (James Gregory) is Miller's rambling, out-of-touch, and unapologetically old-school superior who frequently drops by the precinct to "chat with" Barney.

Luger figured in 66 episodes of ‘Barney Miller’.  For a full listing of them, consult the IMDb page for James Gregory.

JONATHAN ADAMS
As for the publisher of NewsView magazine, not much can be found about the character online.  He was only in four episodes of ‘That Girl’ during its final season, including the penultimate episode.  He thought he was very witty and could come up with funny one-liners, but his employees always saw them as veiled threats.  He as a member of the Adventurers' Club.  Despite his wealth and breeding, Adams is just as gruff as his cousin Frank.

That Girl - Stop the Presses, I Want to Get Off (1970) 
- Super Reporter (1970)   
- An Uncle Herbert for All Seasons (1970) 
- Soot Yourself (1971) 

Besides the money, he had one thing that Frank didn’t have – and that was a beautiful wife, Agnes Adams.

AGNES ADAMS

Agnes Adams was played by Phyllis Hill in the final episode for Jonathan Adams, the penultimate episode of the series entitled “Soot Yourself”.  Because of other conjectures in this theory “relateeveety”, I’m making the assertion that Jonathan and Agnes Adams had children, at the very least a son.

At some point between 1970 and 1975, Jonathan Adams died. 

Toobworld is a visual fictional universe for the most part and the visuals should always be exciting enough to keep the eyeballs glued to the screen.  If I’m going to incorporate real life events into Earth Prime-Time then I’d prefer that it has relevance in the TV world besides news reports. 

As a sad example, the collapse of the Twin Towers in 2001 has been incorporated into many TV shows, from dramas like ‘CSI: NY’ and ‘Without A Trace’ to sitcoms like ‘Becker’ (in the process adding to the death toll in Toobworld with TV characters.)

So I found a real world event in which Jonathan Adams could have been killed off in a way that would have been visually impressive for television.

From Wikipedia:
On September 8, 1974, a Boeing 707-331B (registered N8734) operating as TWA Flight 841 from Tel Aviv to New York City via Athens and Rome crashed into the Ionian Sea, killing all aboard. After stopping for 68 minutes in Athens, it departed for Rome. About 30 minutes after takeoff, the plane crashed into the Ionian Sea.

The out-of-control aircraft was observed by crew on the flight deck of Pan Am Flight 110. They watched the aircraft execute a steep climb, followed by the separation of an engine from the wing and a death spiral. All 79 passengers and nine crew members were killed. The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the plane had been destroyed by a bomb hidden in the cargo hold. The detonation of the bomb destroyed the systems responsible for operating the plane's control surfaces, causing the plane to pitch up until it stalled and dove into the ocean.  

And here is the reason why I chose this event, again from Wikipedia:
The UK TV series Utopia refers to the bombing of TWA Flight 841 and several other real-life incidents around the same time as deliberate and coordinated acts by a fictional organization known as The Network.

This falls into fanfic territory, but there could be a television reason why The Network chose that particular flight.  A diplomatic representative for the King of Suari was believed to have been aboard that flight, traveling surreptitiously on a mission for the King.  His assassination, which caused the deaths of all those other people on board TWA Flight 841 (including Jonathan Adams), was the spark that fomented the political struggles against King Ahmed Khamil that would not be foiled until the following year by a police lieutenant in Los Angeles.

Jonathan Adams had joined the flight in Rome where he had been attending meetings of the Club of Rome as a member of the society.  It was because of his dedication to the environment and the fight against pollution, inspired by an actress named Ann Marie, that Adams was offered the chance to join the society and contribute to their work, “Mankind At The Turning Point”.  In it, the report gave a more optimistic prognosis for the future of the environment.  Pleased with its optimism, Adams headed home on that ill-fated flight to share the news with his wife and to get his top reporter, Don Hollinger, to begin work on an entire issue of NewsView dedicated to the environment.

But it was not to be.

Although he was far from adroit when it came to empathy, Frank Luger did his best in offering solace to his cousin’s widow.  At first, Agnes shied away from him at the funeral and at the wake because he so resembled his identical cousin.  And then there was the curious way in which he pronounced her name – “Ag-uh-ness” – it was so like the way Jonathan used to say it.

(O'Bservation - Agnes never appeared in 'Barney Miller', but was mentioned often.  That helps with this conjectural connection.)

However, over the following year, Agnes requested Luger’s company and as time passed, they grew closer.  Frank Luger never realized that Agnes was seeking a way to replace Jonathan in her heart and Frank came the closest to gaining that completely.  But as their relationship developed, Luger did become ill at ease at the prospect of stepping into his cousin’s footsteps.  He often had a chat with one of the NYPD captains under his command, Barney Miller at the 12th Precinct about his relationship with Agnes (or “Ag-uh-ness” as he called her), but he never let on about the previous relationship which they had with each other.

Eventually Inspector Luger could not live any longer with the relationship as it stood and so he broke it off with her.  Agnes was fine with that, I think; she would have eventually come to the realization that it was not the life path she should be following.

As for Frank, he finally found happiness with Perlita Avilar, a “mail order bride” from the Philippines.

The story of this family did not end with Frank and Jonathan.  The family tree continued with the son of Jonathan and Agnes.  Hundreds of years later, Tristan Adams gained notoriety.

From Memory Alpha:
Dr. Tristan Adams was a male Human civilian in the 23rd century. He was a psychologist and director of the Tantalus Penal Colony in 2266.

Starting around 2246, Adams began work that revolutionized prisons and the treatment of prisoners. His theories transformed prisons from cages into clean, decent hospitals for sick minds. Captain James T. Kirk believed Adams' work had done more than the rest of Humanity had done in the previous forty centuries. This auspicious beginning made Adams' tenure at the Tantalus Penal Colony and subsequent death baffling to those who knew him.

In early 2266, Dr. Simon Van Gelder joined Dr. Adams as an associate. Six months later, Van Gelder was severely ill, barely able to remember his own name. When the USS Enterpris evisited the colony for routine resupply, Van Gelder managed to escape. Dr. Adams provided an explanation for Van Gelder's illness, but Dr. McCoy doubted Adams' account. Regulations required Kirk to investigate; he visited the colony, along with Dr. Helen Noel, to meet with Adams and learn what had happened to Van Gelder.

DR. TRISTAN ADAMS
(with Captain James Kirk)

Spock and McCoy eventually learned that Van Gelder had been injured by Adams himself, who was conducting unauthorized and unethical experiments on all the patients and staff, turning them – with the exception of Van Gelder – into mindless zombies. By the time they learned this, Adams had imprisoned Kirk and Noel, and was subjecting Kirk to the neural neutralizer, with the declared goal of learning more about this form of therapy.

Noel, acting on Kirk's instructions, managed to briefly shut off the power to the facility as part of an escape attempt. During a scuffle that followed, Adams was left stunned on the floor of the neural neutralizer treatment room, and Kirk escaped. When Spock restored power a few moments later, he also unwittingly restored power to the neural neutralizer. Adams was still in the room and was subjected to unsupervised exposure to the beam for an extended period. This exposure emptied his mind, killing him. (TOS: "Dagger of the Mind")

And that’s all you need to know about him, an ignoble end to that branch of the Adams Family. 

And in case you didn’t notice, the DNA strand shared by Frank Luger and Jonathon Adams replicated itself with Dr. Tristan Adams.

BCnU!

 

TWO FOR TUESDAY - TOYSDAY DREAMS

In case you didn't know this about me, I'll even watch the commercials to see how they can be incorporated into Toobworld.  (O'Bviously, I skip over the basic message blipverts, but if they've got an interesting narrative.....)

So I saw this Happy Honda Days commercial last week.  It felt like somebody from the stop motion TV dimension had invaded the main Toobworld.  Perhaps it was linked to Jim Henson’s “The Christmas Story” about the toys that came to life. 

(O’Bservation – that was broadcast in 1986, years before “Toy Story”.  As it was done with “live-action” puppets and “Toy Story” was done with CGI, it’s the Henson version of that myth which takes precedence in Earth Prime-Time.)

But how to splain away why the action figure was practicing serlinguism (talking to the audience viewing at home)?

I settled on a different splainin to keep it grounded believably in the main Toobworld.  What we as the Trueniverse audience were watching in that commercial was a dreamscape….

That’s right – I think we were seeing another dream experienced by Sheldon Cooper of ‘The Big Bang Theory’, one which involved another one of his action figures – Colonel Steve Austin from ‘The Six Million Dollar Man’.

Here’s how I think it plays out; consider this a Fanficcers’ Friend suggestion if you’re interested in writing it up:

We’re seeing the dream from Sheldon’s perspective and Colonel Austin is speaking directly to him.  In the waking world, Sheldon and Amy are quibbling over getting a new car and Sheldon is being too insistent on what he wants even though he doesn’t drive.  (It could be a replica of some car he loves from a TV show even though it’s expensive, a gas guzzler, and cramped – it would only fit Amy and Sheldon with no room for groceries or luggage.  And if it was from a TV show from the Real World, I can handle the Zonk.)  Amy is more practical, going for a sensible Honda with more mileage, plenty of trunk space, and room for other passengers.

The argument escalates and they break a cardinal rule of marriage (or so I’m told) – they go to bed angry.  And that’s why Steve Austin appears in his dream to act as the devil’s advocate to show him why he’s wrong and should choose the Honda.  Maybe one of Sheldon's other action figures then comments.... 

You could probably even add in a footnote scene with Sheldon dreaming about the Six Million Dollar action figure hanging out with him before the Chuck Lorre vanity card pops up.  (How I’d end it – Sheldon points out to the Cyborg toy that he’s sitting in his spot.)

BCnU!

And to make this a "Two for Tuesday" O'Bservation:

I've added the two pertinent videos from YouTube, but eventually the supplier of those videos might yank them from the site.  And then I'm stuck with those ugly grey pseudo-video images telling you that the video is no longer available.

So here you go - frame grabs from both videos to give you an idea of what they looked like.  Copy the images if you like.