Friday, June 7, 2019

FRIDAY HALL OF FAMERS - ANYTHING FOR A BUCK


With June being my birthday month, I like to go a bit off-beat with the inductees into the Television Crossover Hall of Fame.  I also like to find pairs to illustrate the tradition of Gemini as a theme.  (Sometimes puppets or cartoon characters.  

But today, I'm an over-achiever....

Please welcome 


From Wikipedia:
William Sanderson as Larry, Tony Papenfuss as his brother Darryl and John Voldstad as his other brother Darryl - backwoodsmen who live in the same town. The three take over the Minuteman Café following Kirk's departure. The two Darryls never speak until the final episode. (recurring 1982–84, main cast 1984–90)


From Mental Floss:
The trio of backwoodsmen known as Larry, Darryl, and Darryl actually made their first appearance in the series’ second episode. Dick hired their “company,” Anything for a Buck, to unearth the 300-year-old body of a woman buried in the Stratford Inn’s basement. The audience’s reaction to the brothers did not go unnoticed by Newhart and co-creator Kemp, and they were one of the first additions to the regular cast when Newhart underwent a makeover after season two.  








Had they only appeared in 'Newhart', then they would not really have been actual citizens of Toobworld.  But they made a few other one-shot appearances which qualify them for membership in the Hall as actual beings.

Just in case you don't remember who I'm talking about....



'Newhart'
93 episodes

The Bob Newhart Show 19th Anniversary Special
(1991) (TV Special)  



Coach 
- Leaving Orlando: Part 2
(1997) 
- Leaving Orlando: Part 3 (1997) 


George & Leo
- The Cameo Episode
(1997)


With those last two entries, Dr. Bob Hartley didn't see them, but that was established with the anniversary special anyway.  And actually it's better that he wasn't involved, as that confirms they actually existed and were not just a figment of Bob's mind..

Welcome to the Hall, Guys!

Thursday, June 6, 2019

TVXOHOF BIRTHDAY HONORS LIST - THE TRICKSTER


I’m a day late with the Birthday Honors List inductee for the Television Crossover Hall of Fame.  I’d apologize, but hey now!  It was my birthday!  (The post I did have published had been written last year!)

But no matter.  I'll just backdate it anyhoo.


At any rate, this post was already written as well, back in 2011.  As the birthday honorarium, I combined a lot of Mark Hamill’s roles on television to provide the backstory for his character of The Trickster from the original series of ‘The Flash’.

TRICK OR TREAT!
Since that original post was published, Hamill has appeared as the Trickster again in the alternate Toobworld in which there is a new Barry Allen aka ‘The Flash’.  I toyed with the idea that he as the same Trickster and somehow crossed over to this “Elseworld”.  


However, I decided Occam’s Razor was the best way to go – the simple splainin is that this incarnation of the Trickster grew up in that dimension. 
Whether or not he also went through all of that backstory over there....  You might very well think that, but I couldn’t possibly comment.
Welcome to the Hall, Tricky!

PATRICK HENRY - A CROSSING ZONE THEORY OF RELATEEVEETY



Usually on my birthday, I celebrate myself.  Then I thought – perhaps I should celebrate somebody who was born on the same day – so long as they had a Toobworld presence.  First who came to mind was Nathan Hale. (‘The Young Rebels’ was one incarnation of the Revolutionary War hero.)  But then, back in December, I discovered an historical personage with whom I could run one of my “Crossing Zone” posts.

Only thing was, he died on a June 6th……


From Wikipedia:
Patrick Henry (May 29, 1736 – June 6, 1799) was an American attorney, planter, and orator well known for his declaration to the Second Virginia Convention (1775): "Give me liberty, or give me death!" A Founding Father, he served as the first and sixth post-colonial Governor of Virginia, from 1776 to 1779 and from 1784 to 1786.


Henry was born in Hanover County, Virginia, and was for the most part educated at home. After an unsuccessful venture running a store, and assisting his father-in-law at Hanover Tavern, Henry became a lawyer through self-study. Beginning his practice in 1760, he soon became prominent though his victory in the Parson's Cause against the Anglican clergy. Henry was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses, where he quickly became notable for his inflammatory rhetoric against the Stamp Act of 1765.


In 1774 and 1775, Henry served as a delegate to the First and Second Continental Congresses, but did not prove particularly influential. He gained further popularity among the people of Virginia, both through his oratory at the convention and by marching troops towards the colonial capital of Williamsburg after the Gunpowder Incident until the munitions seized by the royal government were paid for. Henry urged independence, and when the Fifth Virginia Convention endorsed this in 1776, served on the committee charged with drafting the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the original Virginia Constitution. Henry was promptly elected governor under the new charter, and served a total of five one-year terms.

After leaving the governorship in 1779, Henry served in the Virginia House of Delegates until he began his last two terms as governor in 1784. The actions of the national government under the Articles of Confederation made Henry fear a strong federal government and he declined appointment as a delegate to the 1787 Constitutional Convention. He actively opposed the ratification of the Constitution, a fight which has marred his historical image. He returned to the practice of law in his final years, declining several offices under the federal government. A slaveholder throughout his adult life, he hoped to see the institution end, but had no plan for that beyond ending the importation of slaves. Henry is remembered for his oratory, and as an enthusiastic promoter of the fight for independence.


‘DANIEL BOONE’
“LOVE AND EQUITY”


At the end of the episode, Patrick Henry showed up at the fort to hand out flyers which promoted his candidacy for Congress.  (In the real world, Henry was a citizen of the commonwealth of Virginia but maybe in Toobworld that included “Kaintucky” for a time.)

So how am I making this a connection to ‘The Twilight Zone’?

Here’s a little fact about Patrick Henry from one of his biographers:

As historian Richard Beeman put it, Henry was a man who "did not bother to write much of anything down", a handicap when being evaluated by history.[178] The lack of primary source materials regarding Henry—only a handful of papers and a few of his speeches survive—has frustrated Henry's biographers from Wirt (1817) to Beeman (1974): Wirt commented two years before publishing his book, "It is all speaking, speaking, speaking. 'Tis true he could talk—Gods! how he could talk! but ... to make the matter worse, from 1763 to 1789 ... not one of his speeches lives in print, writing or memory".
(Wikipedia)

Patrick Henry was portrayed by Liam Sullivan, who played another TV character known for his excessive talking…..

‘THE TWILIGHT ZONE’
“THE SILENCE”



From the IMDb:
Annoyed by a club member's constant chatter, a man bets him he cannot remain silent for a year, living in a glass enclosure in the club basement.

Jamie Tennyson is an overly talkative member of a private men's club. He is challenged by fellow member Col. Archie Taylor to keep his mouth shut for one year. Should he do so, he would win $500,000. Taylor dislikes Tennyson and if nothing else, finds this a way to get a bit of peace and quiet at the club. Tennyson will live in a room in the club, under observation and will communicate in writing only. As the months go by, Taylor begins to worry that Tennyson may just succeed. He can't believe Tennyson's will but neither party proves to be completely honorable.

Written by garykmcd



I’m thinking we have a case of two Toobworld conventions in play here: “Born To Rerun” (reincarnation) and a Theory of “Relateeveety” (family trees and the like).

We’ve seen fictional TV characters being related to real people, either League of Themselves celebrities or historical portrayals.  He may not have started out as a TV character, but Sherlock Holmes is a good example of a historical theory of relateeveety.  He claimed to be related to the painter Vernet.  So I’m going to add Jamie Tennyson to the mix, having him be descended from Patrick Henry.

But telegenetics wouldn’t be a reason for Tennyson to be as chatty as Patrick Henry.  I don’t think it’s in our DNA.  But then there is the “Born To Rerun” theory, in which the soul of one TV character could be reborn as another, years later.  And that would include historical figures.  My favorite of these theories would be the Emperor Claudius who was reborn as a Chicago psychologist named Dr. Robert Hartley.


So not only was Jamie Tennyson descended from Patrick Henry (in Toobworld, of course), but he was also the soul of the patriot reborn.

And that’s my tip of the hat to a man who died 220 years ago today.

Happy birthday to me!




Wednesday, June 5, 2019

WIKI TIKI WINESDAY - BEAUJOLAIS COLUMBO?


I’ve come to depend on my Facebook friends on the Columbo-TV page for providing me tidbits of information that have relevance to the TV series ‘Columbo’, as well as inspiring some of my theories of relateeveety for various characters from the show.


We run the theories of relateeveety on Thursdays, and the previous weekly entry is usually Wiki Tiki Wednesday.  That’s when we’re probably going to bore you with more than you needed to know about some arcane TV topic.


For today’s Wiki Tiki Wednesday, Your Toobmeister tips his top to Yves for getting me started with today’s entry:


'COLUMBO'
"ANY OLD PORT IN A STORM"


From Yves:

A little correction in wine history, related to what Columbo's referring at, in that picture. Carsini is throwing inferior wines (as he knows it is false) to the sea, and Columbo to reply: "You called a Chateau Dassault 1938 inferior"?The problem is, Marcel Dassault bought the vinyard in St-Émilion in 1955 only. Actually his name was Marcel Bloch until he changed it in 1949. So a Chateau Dassault in 1938 did not exist. That was just a fun fact to research....

Thank you for getting the ball rolling on this topic, Yves!  (And thanks for getting this screencap!)




Here’s the dialogue:

Lt. Columbo:

They were all ruined, weren't they
?

Adrian Carsini:

Well, these are just some inferior wines I was trying to
-#

Columbo:

Chateau d'lssan, 1938? Inferior

Carsini:

Well, a great label doesn't always denote a great wine.


I got that from the Springfield! Springfield! site for episode scripts.


So, my Columbo-TV friend Yves may have misheard the name.  But with loyalty to the FB group, at first I thought perhaps the transcriber was in error – however, there is a Chateau d’Issan and at least with their Margaux there was a 1938 vintage.


Citing Occam’s Razor, I’m going to side with the simple splainin that Columbo actually had said “Chateau d’Issan ‘38”.  Much easier than trying to come up with a TV splainin for a bottle of wine that traveled back in Time.


From Wikipedia:

Château d'Issan is a castle and winery in the Margaux appellation of the Bordeaux region of France. The wine produced here was classified as one of fourteen Troisièmes Crus (Third Growths) in the historic Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855. The winery is under the proprietorship of Emmanuel Cruse, of the Cruse family. In February 2013, 50% of the estate was purchased by Jacky Lorenzetti, who also owns Château Pédesclaux in Pauillac & Chateau Lilian Ladouys in Saint-Estèphe.



From Chateau d’Issan’s website:

Château d'Issan is a 3rd Grand Cru Classé in the imperial classification of 1855 . The wine comes from the old vineyards of the Château d'Issan enclosure, located in the heart of the Margaux Appellation. The terroir is mainly composed of gravel on the surface and deep clay offering optimal ripeness and freshness of our two grape varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Expressing the exquisite bouquet typical of the Margaux region, it is distinguished by its flexibility, finesse, elegance and longevity specific to its unique terroir. Château d'Issan is aged in barrels for 16 to 18 months, 50% of which is new wood. Its annual production is around 100,000 bottles. 
The vintages listed above are available.
Chateau d'Issan 1938 was last available in June 2017, with an average price of $563 USD 




From  iDealWine

There are records of wine being produced at Château d'Issan since the 12th century: it was served at the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry Plantagenet in 1152. From this event, the château has its motto written in Latin on the label: Regum mensis aris que deorum (For the table of kings and the gods’ altar). In the 16th century, the Chevalier d'Essenault, a member of the Bordeaux parliament, knocked down the old building and built the current château. The château's name, Issan, is a contraction of Essenault. The property was classified as a Margaux third growth in 1855.
The Cruse family became the owners in 1945. The property has been managed by Emmanuel Cruse since 1998. In 2008 he was made the Grand Master of the Commanderie du Bontemps of Médoc, Graves, Sauternes and Barsac. Château d'Issan has a single block of vines, planted on excellent gravelly soil beside the Gironde. Typically for the appellation, the vines consist of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon and 35% Merlot, in biodynamics (without certification).


About the cuvée
 

These wines can be drunk young in some vintages, but with a few years in the cellar their aromas gain a wonderful complexity and the texture a superb velvetiness as the tannins soften with age. Very elegant and concentrated, Château d'Issan's wines are an excellent representative of the Margaux appellation and deserve a place in any wine enthusiast's cellar. 

Sorry, Yves.  But like you, I’m always looking for fun facts to research.  And I might not have searched this out had it not been for your post.


Just one more thing....


Mr. Carsini may have been right in describing the ’38 vintage as being an inferior wine, however.  iDealWine also had this to say:


The best vintages for Château d'Issan:

2008, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1996, 1995, 1985, 1983, 1978, 1961, 1959, 1953, 1949 


1938 isn’t listed among them....


BCnU!




Tuesday, June 4, 2019

TRIVIA TUESDAY - LOVING LUCY IN TOOBWORLD



Next year the Television Crossover Hall of Fame will be dedicating one Friday Hall of Famer each month to the TV series from Earth Prime-Time which have a solid presence in Earth Prime-Time with their own televersions.  One of those shows has to be ‘I Love Lucy’.  Here are some of the other TV series which have mentioned this landmark:

‘Our Miss Brooks’, ‘The George Burns And Gracie Allen Show’, ‘The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis’, ‘The Andy Griffith Show’, ‘Green Acres’, ‘The Bob Newhart Show’, ‘Rhoda’, ‘Sanford And Son’, ‘M*A*S*H’, ‘Lou Grant’, ‘Just Friends’, ‘Mork & Mindy’, ‘Knots Landing’, ‘St. Elsewhere’, ‘Miami Vice’, ‘E/R’, ‘Charles In Charge’, ‘Webster’, ‘Moonlighting’, ‘Amazing Stories’, ‘Punky Brewster’, ‘Cheers’, ‘The Golden Girls’, ‘Designing Women’, ‘It’s Garry Shandling’s Show’, ‘The Charmings’, ‘Valerie’, ‘Full House’, ‘China Beach’, ‘Have Faith’, ‘Quantum Leap’, ‘Columbo’, ‘Newhart’, ‘Wings’, ‘Who’s The Boss?’, ‘Seinfeld’, ‘Roseanne’, ‘Perfect Strangers’, ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’, ‘Days Of Our Lives’, ‘Saved By The Bell’, ‘Married… With Children’, ‘The Nanny’, ‘ER’, ‘Sister, Sister’, ‘Homicide: Life On The Street’, ‘Caroline in the City’, ‘3rd Rock From The Sun’, ‘NewsRadio’, ‘Babylon 5’, ‘Ellen’, ‘Friends’, ‘Stargate SG-1’, ‘Boy Meets World’, ‘The Outer Limits’, ‘The Sopranos’, ‘Will & Grace’, ‘Sliders’, ‘Angel’, ‘Sabrina, The Teenage Witch’, ‘Gilmore Girls’, ‘Dawson’s Creek’, ‘Queer As Folk’, ‘Law & Order’, ‘Dark Angel’, ‘Emeril’, ‘Star Trek: Enterprise’, ‘Oz’, ‘7th Heaven’, ‘Scrubs’, ‘The Comeback’, ‘Veronica Mars’, ‘NCIS’, ‘Big Love’, ‘Supernatural’, ‘Til Death’, ‘The Suite Life On Deck’, ’30 Rock’, ‘Samantha Who?’, ‘Everybody Hates Chris’, ‘Warehouse 13’, ‘The Middle’, ‘Desperate Housewives’, ‘General Hospital’, ‘Parks and Recreation’, ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, ‘The Office’, ‘Mad Men’, ‘The Newsroom’, ‘Californication’, ‘The Neighbors’, ‘American Horror Story’, ‘Justified’, ‘Nurse Jackie’, ‘Perception’, ‘Marry Me’, ‘Person Of Interest’, ‘Revenge’, ‘Bones’, ‘Ascension’, ‘Shameless’, ‘Orange Is The New Black’, ‘Empire’, ‘From Dusk Til Dawn: The Series’, ‘Z Nation’, ‘The Good Wife’, ‘Scream Queens’, ‘2 Broke Girls’, ‘Killjoys’, ‘Aquarius’, ‘Mom’, ‘Fuller House’, ‘Friends From College’, ‘This Is Us’, ‘Dynasty’, ‘Hannah Montana’, ‘Hope Island’, ‘Burning Love’, ‘Cedar Cove’, ‘What About Joan’

Ouch.  I’ve got writer’s cramp!


From that list we know the series will be remembered and seen far in the future and we know the transmission signals were picked up by aliens from another galaxy who then went on to create their own version.


The show was never mentioned on ‘Taxi’ – as far as I know – but I’d like to think that if the Toobworld version of the show was seen in other countries, than why not in the homeland of Latka Gravas?

Using the list of “Latkaisms” in a book about ‘Taxi’, I think we know what the translation of the title would be – “I Nik-Nik Lucy”.

Just sayin’…..


Monday, June 3, 2019

MONDAY MEMORIAL THEORY OF RELATEEVEETY - THE PANTUSSOS



From the Los Angeles Times:
Carmine Caridi, the actor best-known for portraying Carmine Rosato in “The Godfather: Part II,” has died. He was 85.

Caridi died on Tuesday after being in a coma at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, his reps confirmed to Variety. TMZ first reported the news.


“From broadway, to film and television, Carmine spent over six decades entertaining audiences, and nothing made him happier,” his reps said in a statement. “His talent, wit, warmth, and charm will be missed. Carmine passed peacefully, surrounded by friends and family, yesterday afternoon at Cedars Sinai Hospital.”

His character in “The Godfather: Part II,” Carmine Rosato, played a key role in the territorial feud with Frank Pentangeli, played by Michael V. Gazzo. Studio executive Robert Evans said in his 1994 memoir “The Kid Stays in the Picture” that Caridi was director Francis Ford Coppola’s first choice for the role of Sonny Corleone in “The Godfather.” However, Evans he said in the book that he over-ruled Coppola because he thought Caridi was too tall for the role, which instead went to James Caan.


I didn't know Mr. Caridi; I got to meet him a couple of times though while I was working at "That Place" in Times Square.  Like a lot of savvy actors in New York City, he knew to come to eat at the cafe which was part of our building, and he would schmooze with us in the lobby who knew him well from his roles.  For just about everybody else among my co-workers, it was his two roles in the second and third "Godfather" movies which they knew best.  For me, being the tele-fanatic, it was his role as Dan in 'Phyllis'.


None of his TV roles are eligible for membership in the Television Crossover Hall of Fame, but I still wanted to find some way to pay tribute to his TV career in some small way.

And looking over his various roles, I found what I was looking for with a theory of "relateeveety".

But first, we have to look at a different actor and his most famous character....


From Wikipedia:

Ernie Pantusso, commonly known as "Coach", is a fictional character on the American television show 'Cheers', portrayed by Nicholas Colasanto between 1982 and 1985. Coach was originally Sam Malone's baseball coach before the show's pilot episode. He later became a bartender of Cheers, while Sam became its owner and another bartender. He is not "worldly wise" but has some shred of wit. He also has a daughter [with his late wife Angela] named Lisa, who appeared in "Coach's Daughter" (1982).


As a young man, Ernie attended Catholic School, but dropped out of high school and joined the Navy. He has a sister and two brothers; the younger brother has a daughter Joyce (Cady McClain), who appears in only "The Godfather, Part III" (episode 117, 1987). 


Occupation
Baseball coach (retired)
Assistant bartender (1982–1985) (until death)
Family
Two unnamed brothers
Unnamed sister
Spouse
Angela (deceased)
Children
Lisa (daughter)
Relatives
Joyce Pantusso (niece)
Phyllis Pantusso (sister-in-law)

Here's my theory of relateeveety - even though he wasn't seen in 'Cheers', Carmine Caridi was that youngest brother of Coach.  He was the father of Joyce Pantusso with his wife Phyllis Pantusso.

Why do I think that unnamed brother would look like Carmine Caridi?  Because Caridi played him in another TV series....


'Taxi'
"Out of Commission"
(1981) 
... Lou-Lou Pantusso


From the IMDb:
After Tony's third knockout in five fights, a concerned doctor goes to the boxing commission and convinces them to revoke Tony's license.
 



The character of Lou-Lou was based on Tony Danza's real life boxing manager.

A few months later, Lou-Lou Pantusso made another appearance in 'Taxi':


On the Job: Part 1 (1981) 
... Lou-Lou

From the IMDb:
After the Sunshine Cab Company goes bankrupt, the gang decides to meet at Mario's a month later to tell stories about their new jobs.


It turned out that Lou-Lou wasn't just Tony's manager, but he was a bookie as well.  And when Tony needed a job while the cab company was shut down, Lou-Lou hired him to be his "enforcer" in order to get deadbeat gamblers to pay up on their bad bets.  (Tony proved to be too soft for the job, while Lou-Lou proved to be so as well.)


Apparently Lou-Lou realized that he just wasn't cut out for such a life.  Or it could be that soon after trying to shake down the priest, Lou-Lou got in trouble with either the Law or with the Mob and decided it was too hot for him to stay on the East Coast with his wife Phyllis and his daughter Joyce.

They moved to Reedsport, Oregon, and six years later Lou-Lou's daughter Joyce showed up in Boston where she was going to go to college.  And she grew close to her uncle's former "padiwan", Woody Boyd.

According to Toobworld Central rule of thumb, characters are the same age as the actors who played them unless otherwise stated in the script.  So Ernie Pantusso was born in 1924, while his brother Louis "Lou-Lou" Pantusso was born ten years later.  Therefore, he's the younger brother.


Lou-Lou Pantusso was created by Sam Simon who would later go on to write five episodes of 'Cheers' where Ernie Pantusso already existed.  I have to wonder if maybe Simon also had in mind that Lou-Lou was a brother to Coach.

Good night and may God bless, Carmine Caridi....



Sunday, June 2, 2019

SUNDAY MARKET - AND NOW A WORD FROM MY SISTER



I was always a TV Guide collector from way back as a kid.  I wasn't maniacal about it, though; back then it was only the Fall Preview issues, maybe the Christmas issues with those endearing covers which celebrated the union of the holiday with the medium without promoting any single TV series.  The Annenberg publication knew it was a time when the network rivals should call a truce to celebrate the meaning of the day.

When TV Guide was gobbled up by the Murdoch empire, that went out the window, but they also pumped out a lot of theme issues - celebrating milestones in television and in pop culture in general.  And those proved to be worthy of joining my collection.

But what had once been a once-a-year diversion grew to fill up about a dozen boxes.  (I was able to break the habit when the corporation in their infinite wisdom changed the format from the traditional digest size to being a regular magazine.  To me, the magic of reading the TV Guide and having it easy to use and close at hand was lost.

As for all of those issues I already had in my collection?  They never saw the light of day until a few months ago when I went through the boxes and culled what I truly wanted to keep.  That brought it down to 3 boxes of the previews and historical best-of issues.  

As for the rest - the sci-fi celebrations, salutes to icons like Sinatra and Lucy, I put them aside and gave my blessing to my sister Leah to sell them on eBay.

At present, she's testing the waters, with only a few listed on her eBay pages.  But if there's a special theme issue you might be interested in from the 1980s onwards, let me know.  If it's here, I'll have my sister put it up on her pages.  (I'm keeping myself out of this; 'work' is a four letter word.)

Just fair warning - there are no special issues in my collection for the Muppets and Seinfeld available.  I've already promised those to friends on Facebook.

In the meantime, why not check out what my sister already has on her eBay pages?  And take a look around at what else she's offering; something might catch your interest!


LEAH'S LENS-NWCT

I hope you get the chance to wander through them....

BCnU!