For most of the quarter century plus during which I’ve been the Curator of Toobworld and Director of the Television Crossover Hall of Fame, most of the inductees into the TVXOHOF for the month of November (which has been the main showcase for political crossovers and those
newsmakers and newsmen who have met the requirements for membership) have been
Americans. Many of them have been the
multidimensional Presidents of the United States.
But because of the events of May 6th of this year, there was only
one real choice for the November “candidate”, a different world leader….
CHARLES III
From Wikipedia:
Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms.
Charles was born in Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and became heir apparent when his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, acceded to the throne in 1952. He was created Prince of Wales in 1958 and his investiture was held in 1969. He was educated at Cheam School and Gordonstoun, and later spent six months at the Timbertop campus of Geelong Grammar School in Victoria, Australia. After earning a history degree from the University of Cambridge, Charles served in the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy from 1971 to 1976.
In 1981, he married Lady Diana Spencer. They had two
sons, William and Harry. Charles and Diana divorced in 1996, after they had
each engaged in well-publicized extramarital affairs. Diana died as a result of
injuries sustained in a car crash the following year. In 2005, Charles married
his long-term partner, Camilla Parker Bowles.
As heir apparent, Charles undertook official duties and engagements on behalf of his mother. He founded the Prince's Trust in 1976, sponsored the Prince's Charities, and became patron or president of more than 800 other charities and organizations. He advocated for the conservation of historic buildings and the importance of architecture in society. In that vein, he generated the experimental new town of Poundbury.
An environmentalist, Charles supported organic farming and action to prevent climate change during his time as the manager of the Duchy of Cornwall estates, earning him awards and recognition as well as criticism; he is also a prominent critic of the adoption of genetically modified food, while his support for alternative medicine has been criticized. He has authored or co-authored 17 books.
Charles became king upon his mother's death on 8 September 2022. At the age of
73, he became the oldest person to accede to the British throne, after having
been the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales in British history.
His coronation took place at Westminster Abbey on 6 May 2023.
Since he was only crowned this year, all of his appearances as his own televersion listed here, as well as most of the references to him and his status, reflect the decades he spent as the Heir Apparent. It will be interesting to see if he will have enough time to exert any cultural influence in the scripts of future television programs as his mother had for seventy years. After all, her reign coincided with early years of the medium and just about all of the fictional TV series which were considered current to the timeline of the real world knew no other monarch but Elizabeth II. No matter what year a TV show represented in the latter half of the 20th Century, it always felt up-to-date with any mention of Her Royal Nibs (despite the presence of modern vehicles and appliances and the like.) With Charles now His Royal Majesty, all of those previous series are time-locked into a specific time period.
Well, that’s enough out of me maundering on….
Here are the three TV appearances by then-Prince Charles which establish the existence of his televersion:
JACKANORY
O’Bservation – The Prince was the Storyteller on the show once, to read the children's book he had written - "The Old Man Of Lochnagar". It could be that his televersion served in that function for the televersion of the program as well. We know it existed in Earth Prime-Time because it was referenced in such shows as ‘Bergerac’, ‘The Young Ones’, ‘Sykes’, and ‘Are You Being Served?’.
CORONATION STREET
This episode was recorded and transmitted live to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the live broadcast of the series' very first episode on 9 December 1960.
Audrey enjoys a royal encounter.
At the hospital, Vera is critical but stable, having had an allergic reaction to the antibiotics. Tyrone and Maria convince Jack to go home and rest, as he has been at Vera's bedside all night, but when Martin advises them that Jack shouldn't stay away very long, Tyrone panics and phones Curly to ask him to fetch Jack. While speaking on the phone to Tyrone in The Kabin, Curly is overheard by Norris, who assumes from Curly's half of the conversation that Vera has died.
Meanwhile, Audrey brags to Rita about her upcoming lunch date with Prince Charles, who is visiting Weatherfield to open a new planning office at the Town Hall. At the Rovers, Natalie tells Liz that she is spending the day with the brewery, who are going to show her around other pubs. Emily has been told that Vera has died and has come to offer her sympathies. Jack and Curly race to the hospital, where they are relieved to learn that there has been no change in Vera's condition.
At the Rovers, the "news" about Vera spreads,
putting a dampener on the spirits of the protesters. Curly later puts the
record straight in the Rovers. Just as everybody celebrates the fact that Vera
hasn't died, Audrey arrives from her lunch with Prince Charles.
O'Bservation - From what I've been led to believe, Prince Charles visited Vera Duckworth in the hospital.
EASTENDERS
As the residents of Albert Square celebrate the Platinum Jubilee, Mick's guests-of-honour leave everyone speechless. (This episode was dedicated to Her Majesty The Queen's Platinum Jubilee and featured the special appearances of Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.)
Thanks to archival footage, many famous people can have their presence confirmed in Toobworld, and Charles is no exception.
SHAMELESS
THREE BOYS (2011)Sheila Jackson watched The Royal Wedding TV Special on her living room TV.
THE GOLDBERGS
Beverly Goldberg also watched the Royal Wedding on TV, which then inspired her to renew her vows with her husband Murray.
O’Bservation – If I get one more example of TV characters watching the Royal Wedding in 1981, I can induct that broadcast into TVXOHOF wing for the televersions of TV shows, as is the case with shows like ‘Star Trek’, ‘Hollywood Squares’, ‘Kaw & Order’, and ‘Saturday Night Live’. Who knows? Maybe ‘Doctor Who’ might even have the Time Lord attend it or at least watch it himself. (Hell, I might be tempted to accept a photoshopped picture of one of the Incarnations in attendance!)
There are plenty of other TV shows which have made references to Prince Charles, thus verifying his existence in Toobworld. Here are a few examples:
DYNASTY
THE HONEYMOON (1981)
Cecil Colby:
You can't not like Jeff. He's bright enough, he's good looking, caring.
Quite a catch, some would say. Sort of a Denver version Prince of Wales.
THE POWERS OF MATTHEW STARR
WINNING (1982)
Matthew Star:
Look, I just want to belong. I'm tired of being an outsider.
And you know what they say about teamwork and competition and all that stuff.
That's good for future leaders!
Walt Shepherd:
Ah, ah, ah, just one moment! I decide what is best for this future leader.
Matthew Star:
Alright, would you agree what's good for one is good for another?
Well, Prince Charles of England, when he was my age, he played soccer and rugby!
He learned how to fly planes, played polo, chased girls with reckless abandon!
And I'll give all that up... for football.
AIRWOLF
ECHOES FROM THE PAST (1984)
In an example of life imitating television, this episode has a fake news report talking about the divorce of Prince Charles and Lady Diana in July of 1984. In reality, they did get divorced in August, 1996. (Shades of the movie "36 Hours.")
ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS
HUNTIN’, SHOOTIN’, & FISHIN’ (2003)
Following a promotion for Prince Charles' biscuits Eddy becomes obsessed with the high life and pays thirty thousand pounds for a weekend at a country house for herself and Patsy, though they soon get bored as there is nothing glamorous to do.
SUITS
WAR (2013)
Louis jokingly calls Nigel "Prince Charles" when they are at the bar.
Here are other episodes which mentioned Prince Charles in some way, but I have yet to find out the details….
7TH HEAVEN
ANYTHING YOU WANT (1996)
THE A-TEAM
WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE (1983)
BIRDS OF A FEATHER
1] WE’LL ALWAYS HAVE MAJORCA (1991)
2] PUPPY LOVE (1994)
3] STAND BY YOUR MAN (1997)
THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW
BOBBIE GENTRY & SCOEY MITCHELL (1969)
KAVANAGH QC
BLOOD MONEY (1997)
MY HERO
GUESS WHO’S COMING TO LUNCH (2000)
SHELLEY
FULLY FURNISHED (1980)
TAXI
MR. PERSONALITIES (1981)
TWO PINTS OF LAGER AND A PACKET OF CRISPS
ON THE BLOB (2002)
THE VICAR OF DIBLEY
COMMUNITY SPIRIT (1994)
GAVIN & STACEY
EPISODE 1.3 (2007)
EPISODE 1.6 (2007)
WAKING THE DEAD
ANGER MANAGEMENT: PART 2 (2004)
THE INBETWEENERS
THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH AWARDS (2009)
10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU
LIGHT MY FIRE (2009)
BENIDORM
EPISODE 3.6 (2009)
PSYCH
SHAWN RESCUES DARTH VADER (2011)
THE CARRIE DIARIES
FRIGHT NIGHT (2013)
THE NEW NORMAL
THE GOLDIE RUSH (2013)
HART OF DIXIE
A GOOD RUN OF BAD LUCK (2014)
BLAUMACHER
BLASEHASE (2017)
FRESH OFF THE BOAT
LIAR LIAR (2018)
O’Bservation – I know there are episodes of ‘Veep’ and ‘DC’s Legends of Tomorrow’ which mentioned the Prince, but as they take place in alternate Toobworlds, I’m just going to ignore them.
And speaking of alt-Toobworlds, there are at least eight of those TV planets
who have their own distinctive Charles III, including Toobstage (with Tim
Pigott-Smith as “King Charles III”) and Skitlandia – with Charles’ face
changing from Dana Carvey to Seth Meyers to Beck Bennett on ‘Saturday Night
Live’ and Craig Ferguson when he was hosting ‘The Late Late Show’.
Here are the TV movies which are responsible for bringing those other Toobworlds to life.
- “The Royal Romance of Charles and Diana”
- “Charles & Diana: A Royal Love Story”
- “Charles & Diana: Unhappily Ever After”
- “Diana: Her True Story”
- “Princess in Love”
I’m sure His Majesty will find better ways to ring out the year, but a membership in the Television Crossover Hall of Fame isn’t too shabby….
Welcome, King Chuck!
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