FRIDAY HALL OF FAMERS, 06/14/19 - LINK HOGTHROB

June inductees into the Television Crossover Hall of Fame have included Muppets and other puppets over the years.

Seems like a tradition that should be continued….

From the Muppet Wiki:
Link Hogthrob is the blonde, cleft-chinned pig with a high opinion of himself on ‘The Muppet Show’. He debuted in the second season as the not-so-fearless captain of the Swinetrek, where his unbridled machismo was often a source of conflict with his co-star, First Mate Piggy.

Unlike Dr. Julius Strangepork, whose role on ‘The Muppet Show’ would be primarily relegated to the “Pigs in Space” sketches, Link would feature regularly both in the show's on stage acts and backstage mayhem. When numbers were consisted of assorted pigs, Link was usually with them.

His singing talents were first featured in his second appearance, where he sang "I Talk to the Trees." Other musical numbers included solos ("Sonny Boy"), duets with Miss Piggy ("La Ci Darem La Mano"), and group numbers ("Sea Chantey," "The Rhyming Song").

Link's bravado was often challenged by various scenarios. For example, in episode 524 it is revealed that he wears a toupee and a girdle to bolster his vanity. Other times, he would drop his composure and call out to his mommy while sucking his thumb, such as in episode 103.

Starting in the show's third season, Link was also featured as the police chief in the recurring "Bear on Patrol" sketches, where his dim-wittedness was often the source of physical trauma to Patrol Bear.

Link was later one of the few classic ‘Muppet Show’ characters to be used in the Muppet Central control room on ‘The Jim Henson Hour’. His most notable appearance was in the episode "Fitness" where he believes that he has a disease called Canadian Snout Fever after reading a book of silly diseases and by coincidentally encountering a number of things related to the book's symptoms.

Other notable appearances include "First Show" (where he tested the Response-O-Matic, a device used to change television programs based on what the viewers want), and "Food" (in which he appeared in a sketch as a food critic at a restaurant).

If I'm not mistaken,
that's him in the back, center

For a time after Jim Henson's death, Link was largely retired, appearing in occasional silent cameos such as in “The Muppet Christmas Carol” and “Muppet Treasure Island”. His few speaking roles included the video games Muppet Race Mania and Muppets Party Cruise, as voiced by Steve Whitmire.

Whitmire continued to perform Link in his return to puppet form in ‘The Muppets’ (where he sang "Smells Like Teen Spirit" as a member of the Muppets Barbershop Quartet), and “Muppets Most Wanted” (singing a verse in "Something So Right," and conversing with Usher at the wedding).

Link also appeared during the Muppets' appearance on QVC. Link also appeared in The Muppets Take the Bowl concert, taking part in the live Pigs in Space sketch "The Suits Awaken," where he was performed by Peter Linz.

LINK HOGTHROB'S QUALIFICATIONS:

• The Muppet Show
• John Denver & the Muppets: A Christmas Together
• The Muppets Go to the Movies (as Gummo in The Three Musketeers)
• I Love Liberty
• The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years
• A Muppet Family Christmas
• The Jim Henson Hour
• The Muppets at Walt Disney World
• Muppets Tonight
• QVC appearance, March 16, 2014
• America's Got Talent
• Warburtons
• The Muppets (series)

That’ll do, Pig.  That'll do.....

Welcome to the Hall!

THURSDAY THEORY OF RELATEEVEETY - SPECIAL GUEST APPEARANCE

Back in December of last year, the Facebook group “Columbo TV” held a competition to write a 200 word ‘Columbo’ story.  I submitted a few – one in which the Lieutenant gathered all of the surviving Vito Scotti characters together (one of them had been murdered.)  It was my first attempt and had there been no word limit, I could have had a cool resolution – also at that meeting was the lawyer played by Don Ameche in “Suitable For Framing.”  It would have turned out that he wasn’t there to advise Columbo, but that he proved to be Columbo’s suspect.

But O’Bviously there was no way I could have fit all of that into 200 words. I should have dropped the character of Frank Simpson and made it a self-contained story in which one of the other Vito Scotti characters was the killer.  Probably Thomas Dolan since he had the best line to close out the story – “Perhaps I should consult my solicitor….”

Maybe I’ll give it another go one day.

I also wrote a few others – one in which we got to see the Lieutenant buy that umbrella in London atGrace Brothers; another with Columbo meeting up with Peter Falk at the soundstage for ‘The Larry Sanders Show’; and then of course for this unabashed Whovian, the Doctor got Columbo to go back in Time to check on the status of Amy and Rory, trapped in 1938.

But enough about me.  There were plenty of other stories that really impressed me and it’s a good thing I wasn’t a judge because I probably could never have been able to make a choice.

As this is a Thursday Theory of Relateeveety, there was one story which really impressed me for making a connection I never would have come up with.  And I would like to share it with you here.

The author is Terry Waters and the story combines two ‘Columbo’ episodes:

• “Requiem For A Falling Star”
• “Ashes To Ashes”

I hope you like it as much as I did….

Columbo: Fallen Star

‘Chandler, you have a visitor.’

Nora looked up to see her sister standing outside her cell. They hadn’t spoken for years and now was the worst time she could pick to reconcile. Although, it was probably some kind of game; her sister was good at playing games, especially when it meant dishing up some dirt to sell a news story - true or not.

‘Well, well….’ said her sister, a smile as broad as her hat spread across her face. ‘You have been a bad girl. Would you care to put your side across so my readers can make an informed decision on what really happened between you and Al?’

‘We both know there would be no informed decisions here. Now I remember why we have spent so many years apart.’

‘Nora, didn’t Daddy always tell you to play nicely?’

‘Our father let you get away with murder.’

‘Well, you sure didn’t. I can see I’m not going to get anything here. I’ll have to try and find the truth on my own.’

‘You should be careful about the way you handle your version of the truth, Verity…one day it might just get you killed!’

By Terry Waters

An excellent theory of relateeveety, Terry!

BCnU!

CRAIG'S LIST - WEDNESDAY'S CHILD IS FULL OF... WHOA!

From Wikipedia:
Dobie Gillis is set in Central City, a fictitious city in the Midwestern United States (the original short stories are explicitly set in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area).

Central City, the same setting for the 1990s televersion of ‘The Flash’, seems like it was a gentle small town of the early 1960s.  So it doesn’t seem likely that it could be possible that at least five young ladies, perhaps even six, could be so identical in appearance. 

From the IMDb:

YVONNE CRAIG
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis
- Pilot (1959) ... Girl #1 (uncredited)
- The Flying Millicans (1960) ... Aphrodite Millican
- Dobie's Navy Blues (1960) ... Myrna Lomax
- Like Mother, Like Daughter, Like Wow (1961) ... Hazel Grimes
- The Sweet Success of Smell (1962) ... Elspeth Hummaker
- Flow Gently, Sweet Money (1962) ... Linda Sue Faversham

I’m thinking Craig’s first character, the unnamed girl in the pilot episode, could be either one of the other five girls or yet another girl in Central City.  And then there’s still another theory – because it was such a Zonk-filled introduction to the series that seemed to be populated with several tele-cognizants and more than just the expected serlinguist.  It could be that “Girl #1” was imaginary in one of Dobie’s dreams, only based on one of those other girls.

When I learned that she played those half dozen girls in Dobie’s life, I was eager to finally use a splainin I’ve been holding for a while – that they were all the same character, but that she had multiple personalities.  And being a small town, Central City citizens all knew about her condition and politely ignored it.

One day I’ll get to use that theory, but it is not today.  As it turns out, family members of each of those girls appeared in their episodes.  I was then tempted to suggest that perhaps they were all the daughters of Dobie’s father – after all, he had once been enamored of Hazel Grimes’ mother.  She may have been pregnant with his child when she and her husband left town.  But of course, that becomes creepy – if it turned out all those girls were his daughters, why didn’t he finally admit to his son why he shouldn’t be dating them.

However, I think a likely candidate for the father of all of those “identical cousins” could be Professor Millican.  That epitome of physical fitness and acrobatic prowess – good for climbing out of bedroom windows – might have been quite a Lothario among lonely wives of Central City. 

And carrying that idea further, it could be the Millicans visited other locations in Toobworld around the late 1930s, early 1940s and foisted more of these identical cousins on their citizenry.  (Especially with shows like ‘Sam Benedict’ and especially ’77 Sunset Strip’.)

And who knows?  Maybe even to Gotham City as well....

As always, this is just a theory. 

BCnU!

But... but... you're my sister!

TRIVIAL TUESDAY

Okay, I admit it.

The day got away from me.

MONDAY MINUTIAE - LEONARD'S LEGACY

From Wikipedia:
Sheldon Leonard Bershad (February 22, 1907 – January 11, 1997) was an American film and television actor, producer, director, and writer.

In "Monkees Marooned", the eighth episode of the second season of ‘The Monkees’, a character named "Leonard Sheldon", and speaking with Leonard's accent, approaches Peter Tork on the street, much like "The Tout" and persuades Tork to trade his guitar for a treasure map.

His name served as an eponym for the characters Sheldon Cooper and Leonard Hofstadter in the American sitcom ‘The Big Bang Theory’, because the writers are fans of his work.

There’s no anniversary to mark here.  I just wanted to acknowledge how much regard others in the business had for Mr. Leonard and his influence on TV programming, especially in the realm of sitcoms.

BCnU!