TVXOHOF FOR JUNE, 2025 (THE GEMINI INDUCTIONS) - OLIVER & LISA DOUGLAS

With the June entry for the Television Crossover Hall of Fame, we salute the Gemini concept – twins, loving couples, any kind of duos (dynamic or otherwise.) 

This year we’re celebrating a partnership in marriage in which both members appeared together in all the connecting qualifiers... for Earth Prime-Time.  There wasn’t a time when one appeared but not the other… at least in the main Toobworld.  

Theirs was an unconventional marriage but they were a true partnership in which they loved each other.

OLIVER WENDELL & LISA DOUGLAS

I couldn’t do better than the Wikipedia entry, so I’ll just use that:

‘Green Acres’ is about Oliver Wendell Douglas (Eddie Albert), a prominent and wealthy New York City attorney, fulfilling his dream to be a farmer, and Lisa Douglas (Eva Gabor), his glamorous Hungarian wife, uprooted unwillingly from an upscale Manhattan penthouse apartment to a dilapidated farm in Hooterville that Oliver purchases from the ever-hustling Mr. Haney, to the disbelief of the residents.

The debut episode is a mockumentary about their decision to move to a rural area, anchored by former ABC newscaster John Charles Daly. Daly was the host of the CBS game show ‘What's My Line’, and a few weeks after the show's debut Albert and Gabor returned the favor by appearing on ‘What's My Line’ as that episode's Mystery Guests, and publicly thanked Daly for helping to launch their series.

Oliver Wendell Douglas
(portrayed by Eddie Albert)

Named for Oliver Wendell Holmes, he is an attorney who makes the rash decision to leave his successful law practice and pursue his lifelong dream of being a farmer, despite having no real-world knowledge or experience, as evidenced by him doing farm chores while wearing a three-piece suit (in "The Hooterville Image," the denizens decide Oliver is ruining the town's image by doing his chores in a suit and demand that he wear overalls).

Much of the humor throughout the series derives from Oliver's striving toward success and happiness in an absurd situation, despite the rural citizenry, his high-maintenance wife, and his affluent mother (Eleanor Audley), who ridicules him for his agricultural pipedreams in the episode "The Wedding Anniversary."

Oliver is also subjected to ribbing by the Hootervillians when he launches into starry-eyed monologues about "the American farmer"—replete with a fife playing "Yankee Doodle" in the background (which every on-screen character except Oliver can hear). 

Oliver drives a Lincoln Continental convertible, a stark contrast to the often decrepit vintage vehicles generally shown. In later seasons, the Lincoln is replaced by a Mercury Marquis convertible.

Lisa Douglas
(portrayed by Eva Gabor)

Lisa and Oliver are both veterans of World War II. In "Wings Over Hooterville," she recalls how they met. According to Lisa, she was a sergeant in the Hungarian underground, and he was a United States Army Air Forces flier, forced to bail out of his plane.

However, she gives several other fanciful versions of how they met in subsequent episodes. In the episode, "A Royal Love Story," he is a tourist in Paris, and she is a waitress/tour guide, living with her father, the deposed King of Hungary.

Pampered by her wealthy family, her skewed world view and domestic ignorance provide fertile ground for recurring gags. Instead of washing dishes, Lisa sometimes tosses them out the kitchen window.

In the episode, "Alf and Ralph Break Up," Lisa admits she has no cooking abilities and that her only talent is Zsa Zsa Gabor impersonations (the real-life sisters were often mistaken for each other).

Oliver and Lisa are both depicted as fish out of water. While Oliver instigated the move from Manhattan to Hooterville over Lisa's objections, he is typically uncomprehending of and impatient with his new situation. Lisa, on the other hand, somehow understands the sometimes surreal world of their neighbors, and they in turn are accepting of her own bizarre notions.

Here are the appearances which qualified them for membership….

GREEN ACRES
170 Episodes (1965-1971)

PETTICOAT JUNCTION
12 Episodes (1965-1968)

THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES
1 Episode (1968)

RETURN TO GREEN ACRES (1990 TV Movie)

And now for the reason behind my elliptical hesitation earlier.

HI HONEY, I’M HOME
1 Episode (1992)

O'Bservation:
Lisa Douglas appeared in an episode of this sitcom in which the premise was that characters from TV shows knew they were fictional and were now living on Earth Prime-Time in some kind of witness protection program until their shows could be brought back.  As weird as it could get within the reality of ‘Green Acres’, the majority of the residents of Hooterville, like most of the Toobworld citizenry, were never fully tele-cognizant.  

So there were two Lisa Douglases, making her multidimensional.

And there you have it, the TVXOHOF team for June, 2025!

Welcome, "Oleevar" and that Hotscake herself, Lisa Douglas!

(This has not been a Filmways presentation, Dahlingks....)

TV ON TV - A 'DOCTOR WHO' SPIN-OFF/COMPETITOR

THE SISTER BONIFACE MYSTERIES
PROFESSOR Y

From the IMDb:
Sister Boniface investigates when the creator of a "Professor Y" convention goes missing in her village, unraveling a mysterious disappearance.

The inaugural convention of the canceled BBC science fiction show Professor Y comes to Great Slaughter, hoping to have the show recommissioned. Organized by obsessed fan club president Roger Crabtree, Barbara Pierce who has invested her inheritance and fan Sister Peter, it stars lead actor Kirk Fabricant, actress Celeste Carmichael and even more blase script writer Douglas Wiseman, who is particularly loathsome to the fans and is more interested in promoting his new show starring Celeste Carmichael.

When a pool of blood and a mysterious green liquid is found in Wiseman's hotel room, Sam and Felix interview everyone while Sister Boniface looks for forensic clues that lead to a number of suspects and their troubled lives. Newspaper reporter Norman Whalley, still smitten with Peggy, desperately hopes for the scoop to save his job. Professor Y's performer and his major enemy the metallic Zybok go missing adding to the mystery.

There are too many references to 'Doctor Who' as a TV series in other TV shows to deny the existence of its televersion. 

Just a few examples:

• 'The Big Bang Theory'
• 'Criminal Minds'
• 'Supernova'
• 'Kingdom'

The actors who played the Doctor in the TV Universe included the televersions of Peter Cushing, Jon Pertwee, and David Tennant.  (And a few who are not connected to the show in the Trueniverse.)

And of course, being a popular series, of course it would be lampooned.  Hence, 'Professor Y' within an episode of 'The Sister Boniface Mysteries'.

However, it was supposedly presented by the televersion of the BBC.  The televersion of 'Doctor Who' would have been presented by Toobworld's Auntie Beeb as well. 

So why would they put on an obvious rip-off to their cash cow?

Maybe they weren't ripping off 'Doctor Who'.  Maybe within the TV Universe, the BBC presented 'Professor Y' as a spin-off?

Meh.  It's possible.....

SPEAKING OF THE KNUCKLE-DRAGGERS....

AUGUST 2024'S TVXOHOF WESTERN - GERONIMO!

When I first began to work out the Zonks in various productions as a Curator of Toobworld, any recastaway was automatically shipped off to other TV dimensions.  But now, I try to chalk up the changes in appearance to differences in perspective by some other character.

For our TV Western entry in August, the Television Crossover Hall of Fame has chosen an historical figure with just enough TV appearances to qualify….

GERONIMO

[The Real Deal]

From Wikipedia:
Gerónimo (lit. 'the one who yawns'; June 16, 1829 – February 17, 1909) was a military leader and medicine man from the Bedonkohe band of the Ndendahe Apache people. From 1850 to 1886, Geronimo joined with members of three other Central Apache bands – the Tchihende, the Tsokanende (called Chiricahua by Americans) and the Nednhi – to carry out numerous raids, as well as fight against Mexican and U.S. military campaigns in the northern Mexico states of Chihuahua and Sonora and in the southwestern American territories of New Mexico and Arizona.

Here are the credits for Geronimo’s qualification into the TVXOHOF:

STORIES OF THE CENTURY

GERONIMO (1954)

In the TV series 'Stories of the Century' the episode "Geronimo" was aired on February 14, 1954.

Railroad detectives Matt Clark (Jim Davis) and Frankie Adams (Mary Castle), go after Apache chief Geronimo (Chief Yowlachie), who has been identified by Joe Burns (Emile Meyer), the night watchman of the railroad yards, as the leader of a band of freight-car robbers.

TOMBSTONE TERRITORY

GERONIMO (1958)

"Geronimo" was the title of episode 21 of the ABC western series 'Tombstone Territory'. The episode was first broadcast on March 5, 1958, with John Doucette playing the part of Geronimo.

May 26, 1889 - Apache chief Geronimo is looking to resupply his raiding party's ammunition stocks and attacks an army supply train just north of Tombstone killing the small army guard detail. While Sheriff Hollister and his men search the county looking for Geronimo, he makes his way to town and hides out in a pool hall. Waiting for an illegal arms dealer to deliver his ammo, Geronimo is detected and Hollister is only steps away from an encounter with the chief.

MR. HORN (1979 Mini-series)

The story of frontiersman Tom Horn, and his career as a cavalry scout, a tracker, a range detective, and the final events in his life that led to his tragic death.

From Wikipedia:
Geronimo, played by Enrique Lucero, features prominently in the 1979 miniseries 'Mr. Horn', starring David Carradine as Tom Horn.  [The character of Geronimo appeared in the 1979 film ‘Mr. Horn’, despite the fact that Geronimo never met Tom Horn.]

From the IMDb:
Tom Horn was a civilian scout in the Apache Wars (between 1849 and 1886), in Arizona. He saw heavy action in numerous fights with Apache warriors. He eventually rose to the position of Chief of Scouts. Tom Horn was also present at Geronimo's final surrender at Skeleton Canyon, Arizona, on September 4, 1886, acting as an interpreter. Geronimo was said to have been so impressed by his knowledge of the Apache language that he gave Tom Horn an Apache medicine bag with rocks, small bones and other sacred objects. Tom Horn had the contents up until his hanging and he never let people touch them.

O'Bservation:
Wikipedia vs. the IMDb - I'm presenting both opinions as to whether or not Geronimo and Tom Horn ever met.  I don't plan to do any further research, as Earth Prime-Time is not the same as our Earth Prime.  (If it was, Mark Twain never would have gone to outer space; Lillie Langtry never would have been embraced into vampirism; and John F. Kennedy would not be still alive centuries from now.)

I will say this....  I can't picture Mr. Goldman letting the facts stand in the way of a good story..

PART ONE

From the day Tom Horn is recruited by Al Sieber to become a Cavalry scout, until the deadly persecution of Geronimo.

Contrary to the statement at the beginning of the film, Geronimo never was captured. Geronimo surrendered and met with United States Military officers, surrendering to General Miles on September 4, 1886 at Skeleton Canyon, Arizona. A pile of stones still marks the site of Geronimo's surrender. Tom Horn personally escorted Geronimo to the train station at Bowie Arizona that transported the Apache captives into exile in Florida. Tom Horn had much admiration for the old Apache war leader and never tarnished or defamed Geronimo's exploits.

PART TWO

From the surrender of Geronimo in 1886, the story jumps to 1901, in which Tom Horn becomes a hired gun for cattlemen in Cheyenne, Wyoming, until his trial for a murder he possibly didn't commit, and his execution.

Geronimo, still a prisoner of war in 1903, later heard about Tom Horn's unfair hanging and commented that Tom Horn had been a great warrior, and he also believed him innocent.

GUNSMOKE: THE LAST APACHE (1990)

Geronimo also appeared in “Gunsmoke: The Last Apache” (the 1990 reunion movie of television series ‘Gunsmoke’).

James Arness rides again as Matt Dillon, the U.S. Marshal he made popular in the 1955-75 television series. In this movie he goes after a renegade Apache named Wolf (Joe Lara) who has taken his daughter captive. As a bargaining chip, Dillon helps two sons of Apache chief Geronimo out of the fort stockade and offers them in trade. Dillon is aided by an Army scout, Chalk Brighton (Richard Kiley).

Matt Dillon gets a letter from Mike Yardner, a woman whom he "knew" many years ago. When he arrives, he learns that her daughter, Beth has been abducted by one of Geronimo's War Chiefs known as Wolf. She also tells him that he is her father. So with an Army Scout named Chalk they try to find her. Dillon decides to take two Indian boys who are related to Geronimo, who are presently being held by the Army, with him to trade for his daughter. But General Myles wants to execute them, so with Mike and Chalk's help Matt gets them and goes out into the desert to find Geronimo's camp.

The 1973 episode, "Matt's Love Story" (1973), forms the basis of this story. In that episode, Matt loses his memory after he is shot and is taken care of by Michael Learned character. They fall in love and have a relationship until Matt gets his memory back. Clips from that episode were woven into this one to present the plot element that Matt had a daughter he never knew about from that affair. Michael Learned again played Mike Yardner in both episodes.  (James Arness and Michael Learned reprised their roles from the original series.)

GERONIMO (TV Movie 1993)

This story of epic courage and grace is a remarkable window on Native American life and the early years of the last and most feared Apache War Chief.

The story of the greatest Native American warrior who, together with the rest of his Apache tribesmen, defied American and Mexican Armies in 1867. Finally caught and sent to a reservation camp, he eluded a military force of 5000 for 18 months before finally surrendering to the government.

In 1858, a company of Mexican soldiers seeking to expand their country's borders attacks an Apache camp, killing many men, women and children. Among the dead are the mother, wife and three children of Geronimo (Joseph Runningfox), a young Apache warrior. Angered by the slaughter of his family and his people, Geronimo joins chief Cochise (August Schellenberg) in his quest for revenge, eventually rising through the ranks to become a leader in the Apache Wars against the United States.

VIDEO - 10 AWKWARD AFTERMATHS

 
I don't know why I put myself through this.  I'm adding this YouTube video back in April; I can only hope that it will still be available for the "Who's On First?" blogAthon.

Hopefully I remember to check the line-up the day before.

Yeah....  What else do I have to do on New Year's Eve?

ROSE TYLER AND BILLIE PIPER - IDENTICAL COUSINS IN TOOBWORLD?

In Earth Prime-Time, it is not uncommon for TV characters to look exactly like the televersions of the actors who portrayed them in the real world of Earth Prime.  That splainin has helped disable a lot of Zonks (discrepancies) over the years, especially when those actor televersions talk about the characters they played in shows which should have both the character and the actor’s televersion sharing the same dimension.

Was that too confusing?  Well, let me give you two examples….

• ‘King Of Queens’ – In the episode “Shear Torture”, Lou Ferrigno and Adam West are openly acknowledged for the roles which made them famous, the Hulk and Batman respectively.
• ‘Fresh Prince of Bel Air’ – While in a dentist’s office, Will, Carlton, and William Shatner get goofy on escaping laughing gas in the episode “Eye, Tooth”.  They begin doing ‘Star Trek’ routines.

There are times when the televersions of actors meet the characters whom they play in the real world.  Usually there is no indication that the character actually has a TV show about them… yet.  That will be established once the show is mentioned in some other series when they both should be sharing the same world.

Here are some actor televersions who met the characters they play:

• Brandy Norwood – Moesha
• Redd Foxx – Fred Sanford
• Robin Williams – Mork
• Lucille Ball – Lucy Carter

So what does this have to do with 'Doctor Who'?

So in this post, Cooper Hillier noticed that Billie Piper’s CD was in the Coopers’ apartment.  Gwen and Rhys were from the ‘Torchwood’ series, which was a spin-off from ‘Doctor Who’.  So that CD of “Honey To The B” serves as the proof that there was a televersion of Billie Piper in Toobworld.

Currently, Rose is living in a parallel dimension with the human version of the Tenth Incarnation (one heart, no regenerations) and it’s possible, just possible, that in that world there is no Billie Piper!

DECEMBER 2023 TVXOHOF - IT'S A WONDERFUL CROSSOVER PART ONE

A few years ago, the Television Crossover Hall of Fame inducted at least 12 televersions of the TV shows we watch here in the Trueniverse, but which definitely existed in Toobworld.  (As is the case with the huma-# er, the living members of the TVXOHOF, all they needed were three other TV series verifying their existence in Earth Prime-Time.)

But we’ve never inducted a movie into the Hall before… and that ends this month.  And considering it’s December, with its holiday season, there was only one movie which was the perfect choice to be the first film to be granted the “honor”….

“IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE”

From Wikipedia:
"It's a Wonderful Life" is a 1946 American Christmas supernatural drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra. It is based on the short story and booklet "The Greatest Gift" self-published by Philip Van Doren Stern in 1943, which itself is loosely based on the 1843 Charles Dickens novella "A Christmas Carol". The film stars James Stewart as George Bailey, a man who has given up his personal dreams in order to help others in his community and whose thoughts of suicide on Christmas Eve bring about the intervention of his guardian angel, Clarence Oddbody (Henry Travers). Clarence shows George all the lives he touched and what the world would be like if he did not exist.

Theatrically, the film's break-even point was $6.3 million, about twice the production cost, a figure it did not come close to achieving on its initial release. Because of the film's disappointing sales, Capra was seen by some studios as having lost his ability to produce popular, financially successful films. Although "It's a Wonderful Life" initially received mixed reviews and was unsuccessful at the box office, it became a Christmas classic after its copyright expired in 1974 following a lack of renewal and it entered the public domain, which allowed it to be broadcast without licensing or royalty fees.

Today, "It's a Wonderful Life" is considered to be one of the greatest films of all time and among the best Christmas films. It was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and has been recognized by the American Film Institute as one of the 100 best American films ever made. It was No. 11 on the American Film Institute's 1998 greatest movie list, No. 20 on its 2007 greatest movie list, and No. 1 on its list of the most inspirational American films of all time.

Capra revealed that it was his favorite among the films he directed and that he screened it for his family every Christmas season. It was one of Stewart's favorite films.

In 1990, "It's a Wonderful Life" was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being deemed as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

An interesting bit of trivia regarding those TV series which were inducted into the Hall – Due to script references, usually delivered as punchlines, they could be radically different from the shows which we saw here on Earth Prime.  Perhaps the most famous of these would be the casting of Joey Tribbiani as Dr. Drake Ramoray in ‘Days Of Our Lives’ for an extended story arc on ‘Friends’.  It’s a shrug-worthy splainin that the televersion of those shows had episodes which were just not available to us on the other side of the Fourth Wall.

But I don’t think that can be applicable to the televersions of movies, as their finished prints should be locked in without alterations… unless George Lucas gets his mitts on them and changes them for the worse.  The only place to find such alterations to movies in the mutliverse of the TV Universe would be in the alternate dimension of Skitlandia, the sketch comedy Toobworld.  (Probably the best example of that ties into our December inductee – the lost ending to “It’s A Wonderful Life” as seen in the December 20, 1986 edition of ‘Saturday Night Live’ hosted by William Shatner.)

I can’t confirm this, but I think “It’s A Wonderful Life” could be the most cited movie in all of Toobworld; not too shabby for something which usually only gets trotted out for seasonal references.  Maybe one of the few flicks which could rival that claim might be the original “Star Wars” or at least the entire franchise.

Here are the most important qualifications for “It’s A Wonderful Life” to be eligible for inclusion – scenes of the movie actually being watched by fictional (to us) TV characters.  (I have included inserts of the scenes being watched when the image is not too clear.)

"The Twilight Zone" Button, Button (TV Episode 1986)

The film is playing on television but Norma Lewis turns it off.

O'Bservation - This was my favorite story in the first TV reboot of 'The Twilight Zone'.

"Cheers" Christmas Cheers (TV Episode 1987)

Everyone watches the final scene on the bar's TV.

O’Bservation – They all claim it’s sappy hokum.  Of course, moments later they’re all reaching for the tissues.

"Hard Time on Planet Earth" Stranger in a Strange Land (TV Episode 1989)

Jesse watches the movie on TV. The scene where Jimmy returns to his family is shown.

O’Bservation – This time, Jesse and his robotic Jiminy Cricket - known as Control - are the insert.

"Parker Lewis Can't Lose" Lewis and Son (TV Episode 1992)

It plays on a TV in the video store.

O’Bservation – This was the most inventive use of the movie I’ve found so far, which had nothing to do with the Christmas season.  As his customers are preparing to flee Mondo Video for the competition, Mr. Lewis mirrors the action in that scene as it plays out on the store TV.

"Roseanne" It's No Place Like Home for the Holidays (TV Episode 1992)

Darlene and David watch the movie on TV.

"Beverly Hills, 90210" It's a Totally Happening Life (TV Episode 1992)

The Walsh family is watching the film on TV.

O’Bservation – The following two episodes of ‘Beverly Hills 90210’ are not available in their streaming options, probably because the music rights could not be secured.  This was not an issue with the 1992 episode, which had a distinct IAWL resonance with two angels reviewing the lives of the characters and eventually taking action to alter the course of their futures a la Clarence.

"Beverly Hills, 90210" Somewhere in the World It's Christmas (TV Episode 1993)

Erica watches the film on television.

"Beverly Hills, 90210" Nine Yolks Whipped Lightly (TV Episode 1999)

Dylan watches the ending at the After Dark.

"Men Behaving Badly" Gift of Jami (TV Episode 1997)

Brenda and the guys are watching It's a Wonderful Life on TV.

O’Bservation – Too cheap probably to use an actual clip; the music we hear was most likely generic and had no relation to the movie.  Of course, I could be wrong.  It's not unheard of.

"The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" The Alma Matter (TV Episode 1993)

A fragment of this film is shown in this episode

"Melrose Place" Oy! to the World (TV Episode 1995)

Allison is watching the movie on TV….

“Allison, you are in no condition to watch ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’!” 

O'Bservation - I don't know who that is in the picture.  She said that line.

Sesame Street: Elmo Saves Christmas (Video 1996)

1] Elmo is watching the movie as he tries to stay awake to see Santa.
2] Ernie and Bert are surprised to hear their names are used by characters in the movie when they see it on a tiny TV at the electronics shop.

"JAG" Answered Prayers (TV Episode 2001)

Featured on the TV while Bud and Mikey are talking.

"One Tree Hill" Songs to Love and Die By (TV Episode 2006)

“It's a Wonderful Life” is playing on the TV set in Haley's hospital room.

O'Bservation - Not that she was in any condition to watch it....

"MacGyver" Bullet + Pen (TV Episode 2017)

This movie is playing in the police station.

"Happy!" When Christmas Was Christmas (TV Episode 2017)

Clips are shown.

"EastEnders" Episode dated 23 December 2019 (TV Episode 2019)

Mo, Kat, Kush, and Tommy watch the film while they're barricaded in the house.

O’Bservation - At a critical moment in the film, the power gets cut to drive them out of the house.

"Ted Lasso" Carol of the Bells (TV Episode 2021)

Ted watches it on TV Christmas morning as he drinks because he misses his son Henry back in the States.

"Hawkeye" Partners, Am I Right? (TV Episode 2021)

It’s playing on the TV at a safe house, after "the Blip".

"Designing Women" The First Day of the Last Decade of the Entire Twentieth Century: Part 1 (TV Episode 1990)

Charlene watches it on TV.

O’Bservation – Yet another TV series episode missing from the roster at Amazon!  I don’t know whether it’s because of music rights or they just don’t want to lock in to a holiday….

"The King of Queens" Food Fight (TV Episode 2002)

Arthur is watching this classic and says he wishes George Bailey would have never been born.

O'Bservation - We never see the movie, but at least in this case, we hear the soundtrack.  Everybody is gathered at the Bailey house to help George and they all start singing a Christmas carol.

"EastEnders" - Episode #1.2944 (TV Episode 2005)

The Slaters watch the film. Little Mo mentions the film to Alfie.

O'Bservation - I was lucky I found that other 'EastEnders' clip.  But that was part of a major plot development.  Couldn't expect lightning to strike twice.

"My So-Called Life" Pilot (TV Episode 1994)

A clip from the film is shown.

"The Sopranos" To Save Us All from Satan's Power (TV Episode 2001)

It comes on when Tony turns the TV on after coming home from dinner.

As I find screen grabs for those missing examples, I will add them in.

This won’t be the only blog post today celebrating the gift of having “It’s A Wonderful Life” in the Television Crossover Hall of Fame.  What kind of a Christmas would it be with just one present?

Merry Christmas, you old movie featuring a Building & Loan!

And welcome to the Hall!

PS
These posts are dedicated to my sister, Leah.  It’s her favorite movie.  It’s taken her years, but she’s won me over into enjoying it as well.

“Miracle On 34th Street” is still my favorite Christmas movie though….