THURSDAY'S THEORY OF RELATEEVEETY - A COUPLE OF GRAYSONS

THURSDAY’S THEORY OF RELATEEVEETY

We’ll see how this goes, but I’m thinking of getting back into a more active role with the Inner Toob blog, beyond the monthly inductions into the Television Crossover Hall of Fame (and the unexpected memorial tributes.)

So I hope to add weekly theories of “relateeveety”, a way to connect TV characters in unofficial (for the most part) family trees.  You may disagree with some of them, which is why I’m presenting them only as theories.  I’m not going to go deeply into these theories; my focus these days is in building my fantasy world.  (One reason I stepped back from the Toobworld concept is that I don’t own it.)

To kick off the weekly theories of relateeveety, here is one which I shared in a Facebook comment recently.  As Stuart Best would say in ‘Murphy Brown’, for alls I know, I’m definitely not the first one to come up with this.  I would not be surprised if it is used in the concept of the Wold Newton Universe….

Mr. Spock’s mother was a human, Amanda Grayson.  She was (will be) supposedly born in 2210, according to one ‘Star Trek’ source.  Her lineage can be traced back to Richard Grayson, known by the nickname of “Dick”, who was the ward of millionaire Bruce Wayne in Gotham City.  What Toobworld at large did not know was that Dick Grayson was also Robin, the Boy Wonder; he was the sidekick to Batman, the Caped Crusader, who was Wayne’s alter-ego.

The 1960s TV series is – for Toobworld purposes – the official setting for the televersions of those DC comic characters (as well as the many other characters depicted in those episodes, everyone from Alfred the butler to King Tut (created for the TV show, but finally made his comic book debut in 2009.)  

‘Batman’ and ‘Star Trek’ share the same world – Earth Prime-Time.

O’Bservations:
1] This is for my purposes as the Toobworld Curator.  Your mileage may vary.

2] I would have used Zelda the Great for a true A to Z, but she has never appeared in the comic books.  So I went with one of my favorites.

In that incarnation, Dick was in high school.  In an interview, Alan Napier (who played Alfred) said that at the beginning of filming, Burt Ward – who played Dick Grayson – was already 21, but he sounded 15.  So, using that for as good a reason as any, I’m going to say that Dick was born in 1951.

And there you have it.  As to when Dick Grayson finally married, or at least fathered a child (no judgments) whose lineage would eventually lead to Amanda Grayson….  I’ll leave that to the fanficcers out there.  I just provide a few building blocks.

Hey now....  That was longer than I thought it would be.

BCnU! 

ON MY SOAPBOX

From Spencer Baculi
for
"Bounding Into Comics":

According to Doctor Who casting director Andy Pryor, the backlash to the series’ race-swapping of real-world historical figure Sir Isaac Newton has nothing to do with historical accuracy or a growing exhaustion with identity-politics, but is instead based solely [on] – you guessed it – viewers’ own racist attitudes.

Taking place in "Wild Blue Yonder", the second of three new Doctor Who holiday specials helmed by returning showrunner Russell T Davies’ and produced in honor of the series’ 60th anniversary, the historical revisionism in question saw the real-world English physicist brought to life by half-Indian "The Witcher: Blood Origin" actor Nathaniel Curtis, in doing so portraying him not as the white man he provably was, but rather as someone of an unspecified ethnic descent (despite his actor’s noted heritage, the episode never specifically addresses the background of its race-swapped Newton).

Following the special’s premiere, Pryor provided insight into his subversive casting decision during an interview with Digital Spy’s David Opie.

“That was Russell’s idea, actually,” Pryor added. “We had talked about trying to get Nathaniel in the show at some point and I think it’s a sort of rather cheeky, but fun interpretation of Isaac Newton. You know, it’s not a historical drama [Laughs]. Let’s just have some fun with it.”

From Wikipedia:
"Doctor Who" was originally intended to appeal to a family audience as an educational programme using time travel as a means to explore scientific ideas and famous moments in history."

That's not just in Wikipedia, which anybody can edit and slip in untruths.  And from what I understand, there was some pushback when alien monsters were introduced, because it would take away from the original thrust of the series.

So I do take issue with Pryor tossing aside the show as historical drama.  I'm all for taking certain liberties with such a concept, but only if it can still end with the established timeline.  (For instance, hiding the deviations from public knowledge.)  Otherwise it violates the first major rule of the Whoniverse:

Isaac Newton meets the Doctor and Donna?  Not a problem.  He creates the word "Mavity"?  Okay, that's a bit of a glitch when dealing with a universe connecting plenty of TV shows in which all of the other shows have said "gravity" if it came up.  But hopefully that can be rectified.  As far as I know, only the Doctor and Donna have used "Mavity".

But to have Isaac Newton be of mixed heritage?  They are rewriting History.

And that's why I object to it. 

I also take issue with Pryor's other assessments:

• “It’s sad that we’re in a time where people villainise minorities.”
• “I don’t really have any time for bigotry at all.”

That's a generalized, blanket accusation which I refute.  I have no problem with minorities in period dramas.  Explanations can always be found if it's a problem with some cases.  But the exception must always be the historical characters.  It just causes Zonks - discrepancies - with other shows in the same universe which deal with the same figures from History.

When it does happen, I have no choice, as the Toobworld  Caretaker, but to move those shows to alternate Toobworlds.  

And since the TARDIS can cross over to other dimensions, that provides me with a way out of the situation.  The Doctor and Donna happened to end up in another dimension in which their Isaac Newton was of two heritages.  As such, that wouldn't have any effect on their return to Earth Prime-Time, the main Toobworld.  (Except for the fact that both of them were now saying "mavity".)

That way, there is no Zonk when we see the televersion of Isaac Newton in other shows, like in 'Star Trek: Voyager' when he was summoned to the Future by Quinn of the Q Continuum. 

And in the previous 'Star Trek' series ('The Next Generation'), there was a close approximation of how he really looked in the main TV Universe with a holographic image.

Trying to keep certain historical facts inviolate is not an act of bigotry villainizing minorities.

A 2025 TOOBITS AWARD WINNER (AND POSSIBLE FANFICCER'S FRIEND)

One of the Toobits Awards categories which I pass out every year is for Best New Child Character.  And this year, it goes to Lenny Rush, who played UNIT science advisor Morris Gibbons in several episodes of ‘Doctor Who’ in the first season of the 15th Incarnation’s tenure.  (Apparently, a passing asteroid somehow bathed him in cosmic rays which significantly amplified his intelligence.)

I expect we’ll see him again when the show returns later in 2025.

But....

Maybe he won't be coming back.  Or perhaps the show will not be delving too deeply into his background.  All we have is his word for that asteroid being the "splainin to do" as to why he is now hyper-intelligent.  Of course, he gave that splainin in front of several UNIT witnesses; they could have spoken up and called horse hockey-pucks on that story if he was lying.

But were they eye-witnesses to the transformation?  Was anybody there?

Keeping this Toobworld-centric, what if there is no such person as Morris Gibbons?  What if this small-fry scientist is someone who is descended from a combination of human genetics with those of humanoids from Sahndara and the Time Lords of Gallifrey.

I'm talking about Dr. Miguelito Loveless from 'The Wild, Wild West'.

In his double hands-full of episodes, Loveless always looked like he died at the end (if he didn't escape somehow.)  But because he had Time Lord DNA, he apparently regenerated.  However since he always came back looking the same, that was due to his blend of human and Sahndaran DNA.  (The main contribution of his Sahndaran genetics is that he looked like a refugee from that doomed planet named Alexander.)

As I said, this all depends on what more we learn about Morris.  But I like the idea that he was able to alter his appearance, perhaps with something mundane like plastic surgery.  Or maybe some magical elixir or glamour spell from some other TV series.

As for working on the side of "goodness and niceness", maybe he's just biding his time.  Maybe... he's playing a... Long Game.

MONDAY MEMORIAL TVXOHOF TREK TRIBUTE - ALYSSA OGAWA

From The New York Daily News:

Actress Patti Yasutake, known for roles in “Beef,” “Star Trek” and a host of other screen and stage roles, has died. She was 70.

Kyle Fritz, her manager and friend of 30 years, said the cause of death was cancer.

“Patti was not only a client but a ‘chosen family member’,” Fritz said in a statement to People. “She was the very first actress I ever signed, and a friendship of over 30 years ensued. It was an honor to know her, work with her, and love her."

From Wikipedia:
Patti Yasutake (September 6, 1953 – August 5, 2024) was an American stage, film and television actress. She is best known for her portrayal of Nurse Alyssa Ogawa in the ‘Star Trek’ franchise.

From the IMDb:
Best known for her portrayal as "Nurse Alyssa Ogawa" on ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ (1987). She first appeared in the season 4 episode, “Future Imperfect” (1990) and was a recurring guest star until the end of the series, getting larger roles in the seventh season, most notably on the episode, “Lower Decks” (1994). She can also be seen in the motion pictures, “Star Trek: Generations” (1994) and “Star Trek: First Contact” (1996).

From Rob's Star Trek Episode Guide:

PLACE OF BIRTH: Earth [2343]
Cheerful and competent, Alyssa Ogawa quickly became an indispensable member of the U.S.S. Enterprise-D Sickbay's medical staff. In 2370 Ogawa married Lt. Andrew Powell and later became pregnant. Unfortunately, Alyssa later lost the unborn baby as a result of the temporal anomaly in the Devron system.

And so, in memory of Patti Yasutake, the Television Crossover Hall of Fame is inducting….

ALYSSA OGAWA

QUOTES:
[about her character, "Nurse Alyssa Ogawa", on Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)]
I told George Takei that Ogawa was his great-granddaughter, and he said, 'Not too great, please; I'm not that old!'

[on how often she worked on Star Trek]
I never knew when they'd want me. When I came back the second time I worked with Jonathan again, so I thought he was a good luck charm. After that there would be a month or two in between shows, and you never knew what they were going to write down the road. So there was no expectation on my part, which was probably a healthy thing; it wasn't until I got some thread of a storyline that I really allowed myself to feel a real part of the show; to be honest with you.

[on how she got involved with Star Trek]
I had been reading for the show for a number of other episodes and characters and they actually hired me at one point to be on the bridge, but I was doing a commercial and I couldn't get out of the contract; it was a multiple-day shoot and I had already gone on camera one of the days, so they weren't able to release me. I was heartbroken, because I really wanted to be on the show!

[on how she got the part of "Nurse Alyssa Ogawa" on Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)]
There was a role in sickbay, so I read for it and got the part. I thought I would probably never come back because, on the show, everybody had aged and so I'd be a little girl when they went back to real time, but on the set, that day, Jonathan Frakes said, 'Oh, you'll be back!' Then, sure enough, a few episodes, later, they called me. I guess I got a little bit of help from above or something because, had they put me on the bridge, I probably wouldn't have been with the show long!

Here are the credits which make her a worthy member of the TVXOHOF….

STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION

16 Episodes (1990-1994)

These include:

FUTURE IMPERFECT

CLUES
IDENTITY CRISIS
THE HOST
Nurse Alyssa Ogawa was a Starfleet officer aboard the USS Enterprise-D, and later, the USS Enterprise-E. She was one of the head nurses in the ship's sickbay, assigned there in 2367 as an ensign.

GENESIS

Ogawa became a senior sickbay staff member and would make reports to the senior staff in Crusher's absence.

IDENTITY CRISIS
Nurse Ogawa helped Dr. Crusher develop a way to stop the metamorphosis of the Tarchannen III aliens in 2367.

THE HOST

She was also present during several surgeries involving the Trill ambassador Odan, which were the first Federation observations of the Trill symbiont.

THE GAME

Alyssa was one of the many crewmembers to fall victim to the psychotropically addictive effects of the Ktarian game when it was introduced to the Enterprise.

ETHICS

She was the nurse on hand for the first use of the genetronic replicator, during the risky surgery on Lieutenant Worf's spinal column.

THE INNER LIGHT

Ogawa brought several pieces of medical equipment to the Enterprise bridge in order to monitor Captain Jean-Luc Picard's condition while he was knocked unconscious by a Kataan probe in late 2368.

REALM OF FEAR

In 2369, Ogawa assisted Dr. Crusher in performing an autopsy on Joshua Kelly, an engineer from the USS Yosemite.

MAN OF THE PEOPLE

She helped treat Deanna Troi after she became a receptacle for Ambassador Ves Alkar's psychic "waste."

TRUE Q

Ogawa took part in the relief effort to Tagra IV in 2369. She helped Amanda Rogers pack a shipment of tricorders for transport to the planet.

SUSPICIONS

Ogawa helped investigate the mysterious deaths of Doctors Jo'Bril and Reyga in 2369.

LOWER DECKS

Ogawa was one of the few junior officers who knew of the Cardassian defector Joret Dal's presence aboard the Enterprise, as she helped Dr. Crusher treat his serious injuries. She was ordered not to discuss what she knew of Joret with anyone.   Upon recommendation of Dr. Beverly Crusher, she was promoted to lieutenant junior grade in 2370.

[All of that information comes from Memory Alpha.  Not all of the pictures are from the episodes they're shown with]

HALLMARK CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT COMMERCIAL

During the last season on ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ (1987), she was in a Hallmark commercial for an Enterprise Christmas ornament. She did the commercial as "Alyssa Ogawa", her character on ‘Star Trek’. In the commercial, she is in her quarters asking the computer questions about the ornament.

Until Spock flew his ship into the black hole in the 2009 version of “Star Trek”, all of the ‘Star Trek’ movies were absorbed into the universe of Earth Prime-Time.  Spock died, crushed in that black hole and everything from that point forward in the JJ Abrams movies was merely conjecture.

STAR TREK: GENERATIONS (1994)

She also helped evacuate sickbay and care for injured crewmembers following the crash of the Enterprise-D saucer section on Veridian III in 2371.

STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT (1996)

Ogawa was promoted to full lieutenant by 2373 and was posted to the new USS Enterprise-E. During the ship's trip to 2063, she helped evacuate sickbay after the Borg began to overrun the ship.

So she’s covered to be legitimately inducted on her own merits.  But here’s one more possible appearance in the main Toobworld….

PICKET FENCES
MR. DREEB COMES TO TOWN (1992)
Jill and Kimberly are in an uncomfortable position when a gifted teacher in Kimberly's high school loses his job and faces losing his life to a brain tumor.

O’Bservation:
Ms. Yasutake had an uncredited role as a nurse near the end of the episode, part of the team hoping to save that teacher’s life.

So why couldn’t she have been “undercover” as Nurse Alyssa Ogawa?  The fact that she was in 1992 when she should have been in the 24th Century is not a Zonk.  Along with everybody else on board the Enterprise, she had experience with time travel.  Until she could be rescued, Ogawa hid in plain sight.

So that's what I'm proposing.  Maybe somebody out there in Team Toobworld will see this as an opportunity to write some TrekFic.

One final quote from Ms. Yasutake….

“Well, it's going to keep me young forever!

When I'm long gone, people will still be watching old episodes.

There's a part of my vanity that thinks,

‘Hey, that's pretty cool’."

Patti Yasutake

Welcome to the Television Crossover Hall of Fame, Nurse Ogawa.

May your spirit soar, straight on ‘til morning….

WHO GOTTA BE KITTEN ME!*

 

Or....

* Regarding the title of this post....

MEME MUSINGS - WEEPING ANGELS IN OUTER SPACE

Gowron was a master of the glare, but the Weeping Angels were patient.  Eventually, he would need to blink and not even his bat’leth would be able to stave off the touch of one of the Angels in that zeptosecond in which he blinked.

To me, the more interesting question would be where Gowron would have ended up.  It seems that each angel had a different period of time and location to which their victims would be transported.  The Angel who fed off the unrealized life potential of Amy and Rory sent them both to Manhattan, 1938.  Luckily they eluded that building which served as a feeding pen for the Angels.

Could the Angels only send their victims back to a particular span of Time, and only to a specified radius of regions in proximity to their current location?  The Angel who claimed Kathy Nightingale as a victim sent her to Hull, England, in 1920.  But of that quartet of Angels, the one who attacked DS Billy Shipton must have been a young one who could only send him back to 1969 and no farther than the immediate environs of London.  

I think an Angel would be bound by some kind of planetary energies to keep their victims trapped in the Past of whatever planet where they were located.  But if out in space, on the move in a spaceship, I would think being touched by an Angel would be an automatic death sentence.

Not that Chancellor Gowron had to worry about “living to death” because of an Angel.  He was killed in a duel with Lt. Commander Worf because of Gowron’s dishonorable activities against Klingon General Martok.*  But it would be interesting to see what would happen if an Angel did send a victim back in Time while on board a spacecraft. 

* O'Bservation, it could be that he met a Weeping Angel in a future timeline and sent back to the time of his appearances in Star Trek': The Next Generation'.  There, he tried to alter his future, only to be killed in the past, perhaps even before he was actually was born....

THE DOCTOR ON VULCAN.... INDEED. (A CONTINUING O'BSERVATION)

'DOCTOR WHO'
"POWER OF THE DALEKS"

I.
The TARDIS arrives on the Earth colony of Vulcan where the newly-regenerated Doctor assumes the identity of an Earth Examiner.
II.
While the Doctor worries about the inert Daleks in the capsules, Lesterson makes plan to reactivate one of them.
III.
The Doctor fails to convince the colonists of the danger posed by the Daleks and soon the other two are also reactivated.
IV.
With Polly being held prisoner by the rebels, the Doctor and Ben decide to investigate them, while Lesterson discovers the Daleks are reproducing.
V.
The Doctor and Quinn attempt to escape in order to stop Bragen using the Daleks to take over the colony.
VI.
With Bragen having taken over, the Daleks trick the rebels into turning them loose and only the Doctor can stop them wiping out the entire colony.

I've written about this story before and how - in their infinite wisdom - the BBC wiped the tapes clean in order to use them again.  So far none of the episodes have been recovered, only clips still exist.  But the soundtrack survived and an animated version was created, which was seen on BBC-America last year.

In the story (set in 2220), there was a human colony on Vulcan.  This doesn't have to create a Zonk with the mythos of 'Star Trek'.  It could be an abandoned and untamed desolate area uninhabited by the Vulcans and leased to the human settlers by the Vulcan High Council.  I imagine they did so in order to promote the relationship with the Terrans.

Once the Doctor was able to disarm the threat of the Daleks on Vulcan, he left the swamp area with Polly and Ben in tow - but he did not leave the planet, merely landed elsewhere on one of the continents dominated by the native Vulcans. 

While there, the Doctor easily picked up the Vulcan mind-meld procedure (in scenes not seen by the audience viewing at home.) And he soon had his fill of their narrow-minded sense of logic, which to him stifled the creativity needed to advance in all fields.  Only then did the Doctor and his Companions beat a hasty retreat in the TARDIS from Vulcan; to the battle fields of Culloden.  ("The Highlanders")

And that's why he dismissed the concept of Logic so flippantly to Zoe Heriot.  (The quote comes from "The Wheel In Space".)

At the same time, it could be that it was the Time Lords who taught Surak everything he needed to know in order to mold the mental disciplines of his fellow Vulcans in their fourth century.  Now that I've finally seen "The Sensorites", it appears the Doctor knew about such mental powers before his first full regeneration.  (More on that elsewhere today.)

'DOCTOR WHO'

"THE SENSORITES"

DOCTOR: 
What's the matter, my child? 
SUSAN: 
I had a talk with the senior Scientist just before we left. It seems that the Sensphere has an extraordinary number of ultra high frequencies, so I won't be able to go on using thought transference. 
DOCTOR: 
Oh, I don't know. It's rather a relief, I think. After all, no one likes an eavesdropper about, do they? No, I think you obviously have a gift in that direction. When we get home to our own place, I think we should try and perfect it. 

So it may be a discipline for the Gallifreyans as well, not an inborn trait which came naturally to them.

As we know however, Susan never did make it home to Gallifrey with her Grandfather - at least not as seen on TV.  By the time we met her again in "The Five Doctors", she may have finally had the chance to go back.  If I had the opportunity to bring her back to Toobworld, not just in fanfic, I would cover that pozz'bility.

BCnU!

MONDAY MEMORIAL TVXOHOF TRIBUTE - LURSA, HOUSE OF DURAS

We interrupt our regularly scheduled showcase for the TV Western to conduct another Monday Memorial TVXOHOF Tribute.  Sadly, actress Barbara March has passed away, so we’re going to honor her by inducting her most famous character into the Television Crossover Hall of Fame.

LURSA DURAS

From Star Trek. Com
The fierce Klingon, Lursa, sister of B'Etor (Gwynyth Walsh), in the ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ episodes "Redemption," "Redemption, Part II," and "Firstborn," the ‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’ entry “Past Prologue,” and the TNG feature “Star Trek Generations”. March also provided Lursa's voice for the video game “Star Trek: The Next Generation — Klingon Honor Guard”, and, frequently alongside Walsh, was a fan favorite at Trek conventions worldwide. March's husband, Alan Scarfe — himself a three-time Trek guest star — confirmed on Facebook that she passed away on August 11 at the age of 65.

March was best known for her Trek work, and she relished both the Lursa role and the fan base's enduring embrace of her character. "It's amazing," she told Ian Spelling in 1994, during an interview for the official “Star Trek Generations” magazine. "We were really surprised by how popular Lursa and B'Etor are. I think it's because, in one sense, these women have a great deal of power. They're very emotional, almost a bad Laurel and Hardy team. They're rebellious, strong, and can kick butt, and there just aren't that many female characters on television who control things like the Duras sisters try to do. I think all of these aspects, and the chemistry between Gwynyth and I, have helped the characters really catch on. It was wonderful to create a character on ‘Star Trek’ because she wasn't a stereotypical cardboard cutout."
From Treknews. Net
Another 'Star Trek' celebrity has ascended to Sto-vo-kor.

We have learned that Barbara Scarfe (credited as Barbara March), the actress who played the magnificently evil Lursa, one of the Duras sisters, passed away after a battle with cancer.
Together with her Klingon sister B’Etor, she wreaked havoc in episodes of ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ (“Redemption” – part I and II, “Firstborn”) and ‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’ (“Past Prologue”). She also starred in the feature film “Star Trek: Generations”.
From Memory Alpha;
Lursa was a female Klingon officer of the 24th century Klingon Empire and member of the House of Duras. She was the elder of the two Duras sisters, herself and B'Etor, sister of Duras and daughter of Ja'rod. Through Duras, she had a nephew, Toral. She was the mastermind behind her family's fight to head the Klingon Empire.
Together with Be'tor, she was responsible for the beginning of the Klingon Civil War in 2367. With the assistance of the Romulans, Lursa and B'Etor plotted to install Toral, the illegitimate son of Duras, on the throne of the Klingon High Council. She attempted to persuade Jean-Luc Picard, who was the Arbiter of Succession, to rule in favor of Toral. When Picard supported Gowron, she and her sister took up arms against Gowron. Their attempt was defeated when the Federation blockaded delivery of supplies from the Romulans. When the Romulan involvement was exposed, Lursa's support evaporated. (TNG: "Redemption", "Redemption II")

The Duras sisters were also responsible for selling bilitrium to Bajoran Kohn-Ma terrorists in 2369. This plot was revealed through investigation by Elim Garak and Julian Bashir. They did this in order to obtain capital to rebuild their forces. (DS9: "Past Prologue") Another capital-raising scheme had them seizing a Pakled magnesite mine on Kalla III, overseen by the Dopterian Gorta, and selling its explosive ore to a Yridian, Yog. In 2370, they were also falsely accused of plotting to kill Worf and his son. During that same year, she was pregnant with her first child. (TNG: "Firstborn")
In 2371, the sisters worked with El-Aurian scientist Tolian Soran and raided a Romulan outpost to acquire trilithium in exchange for Soran's trilithium weapon. Lursa died above Veridian III when her Bird-of-Prey was destroyed by the USS Enterprise-D. (“Star Trek Generations”)
It may not be Sto-Vo-Kor, but you are welcome in the TVXOHOF, Lursa of the House Duras.