SPECIAL GUEST APPEARANCE - "THE JEREMY KREUZER SHOW"

I can't tell you how chuffed I am that other people get the Toobworld concept.  There's hope for the future!

I've got a special guest appearance lined up for today, thanks to Jeremy Kreuzer.  In fact, this post has inspired me to add Jerry Seinfeld to the Television Crossover Hall of Fame for 2022!

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did....

Hi Toby, 

I’m a longtime reader of the Toobworld blog. As a huge fan of interconnected universes, the connections and crossovers established within the Toobworld dynamic are always a delight to read. I’ve actually written to you once before years ago, asking for your thoughts on shows’ differing interpretations of the Kennedy assassination. This time, I had some theorizing of my own I was hoping to share. 

While reading some older posts on the blog, I came to realize that Jerry Seinfeld had made quite a few appearances on other television shows while ‘Seinfeld’ was on the air. Unfortunately, this usually was accompanied by zonks of all sorts. Jerry is referred to as an actor and having a show, complete strangers know who his friends are, and other characters even submit scripts for the series.

In most cases, Toobworld has a coverall explanation for such zonks: everyone has a television show based upon their lives, even if we don’t see it. However, ‘Seinfeld’ is unique in that we actually do see such a television adaptation integrated into its ongoing plot. And it’s a plot point that the pilot for ‘Jerry’ was never developed into a full show while ‘Seinfeld’ was on air. I wondered, then, how appearances contemporaneous to Seinfeld’s original run could be dezonked. After some digging, I think I may have a thorough “splainin”. 

It all begins in September of 1992, when Jerry is approached by NBC to develop a pilot for them.¹ He and George spend the next few months working on a pilot script for the network. Meanwhile, Paul Buchman has been subletting his apartment to Kramer, but is spurred by his wife to give up his old residence and turn over the apartment. While meeting with Kramer, he asks what happened to the Jerry living across the hall. When told about Jerry’s pilot, he is skeptical that it will succeed.² 

In February of 1993, Jerry goes to Los Angeles, possibly for an appearance on a late night talk show. While in a CBS back lot, he is nearly run over by the crew of the WKRP radio station in Cincinnati, who were themselves in L.A. to develop a sitcom about their own lives. Mr. Carlson recognizes Jerry (presumably from his standup) and has Frank film him. Jerry flirtatiously introduces himself to Mona, claiming he has ‘a show’ – a slight exaggeration when in truth he has but a work-in-progress pilot.³ 

Over the next few months the pilot is completed and filmed. ‘Jerry’ airs that spring, but never gets off the ground due to the incoming head of NBC passing on the project.⁴ 

Despite this, the pilot is a hit with viewers who appreciate the unique approach of ‘a show about nothing’. The news that the massively popular pilot would not be proceeding to a full series is upsetting to its loyal fan base. Some fans reach out to Jerry and push him to pitch the series elsewhere, many of them sending their own scripts for consideration as well. That summer, Jerry is convinced that there may be some future for the show. After the hectic writing partnership he experienced with George, however, he opts to look elsewhere for a co-writer. 

Enter Larry David, a fellow comedian with some television credits to his name already. Hoping that his bit of professional experience might help get the series off the ground, Jerry enlists Larry to help develop new scripts for a potential second pilot at a new network. 

Writer Andrew Barton is among those to have watched the ‘Jerry’ pilot, and an interest is sparked to write a spec script for the aborted show. In December of 1993 he spends time at the Blue Shamrock bar/restaurant working on the script, which features Kramer sleeping with Elaine. With only a pilot to work off of, the characters haven’t been too defined, and he’s not sure if the plot is plausible. Nonetheless, he finishes the script and sends it to Jerry and Larry. Initially unimpressed, upon further consideration they decide to give the spec another look.5 

Ultimately, the endeavor doesn’t go anywhere. Shortly thereafter, Jerry and Larry tired of rejections from television networks and the overwhelming barrage of scripts. They finally retire the ‘Jerry’ project and go their separate ways.

Regardless, Jerry and his pilot retain some level of notoriety. In May of 1997, his popularity is recognized by WNYX broadcaster Bill McNeal, who cajoles Jerry into an interview. Bill has ‘seen [Jerry] on TV’, and refers to him as an actor and ‘a big Hollywood star’, apparently unaware that the ‘Jerry’ pilot was filmed in New York.⁶

In May of 1998, yet another new NBC president expresses interest in reviving ‘Jerry’ (in part inspired by the cult following the pilot had amassed), but a chain of events winds up leaving Jerry sentenced to a year in prison.⁷ Fortunately, this conviction is overturned by his lawyer Jackie Chiles, who successfully argues for a mistrial due to the blatant improper character evidence presented by the prosecution. 

Jerry is back in New York by September of 1998, where he briefly runs into Paul Buchman, who is under the effects of Viagra at the time. Paul’s opinion of Jerry’s work has risen since his dismissal of Jerry’s pilot in 1993 (and seemingly untainted by Jerry’s recent conviction), and attempts to get Jerry’s autograph.⁸

A free man, Jerry is happy to learn that NBC still has interest in his show – Jerry and the gang’s high profile incident in Latham, Massachusetts, led to massive publicity and interest in ‘the New York four’. Hoping to distance himself from the group that helped land him in jail, Jerry once again exchanges George for Larry to help produce the show.  Significantly, the original cast of the pilot sans Jerry is replaced with Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Michael Richards. 

The rest is history. With the newly retitled ‘Seinfeld’ hitting the waves in 1999, it becomes a cultural touchstone that many other characters would reference. Despite its success, it enjoyed only a brief run. Shortly thereafter, Larry David was no longer working on ‘Seinfeld’.⁹ 

So that’s my theory. Admittedly a bit long, but I was determined to be thorough, ha-ha. If you find it useful, I would be honored if it became the official Toobworld ‘splainin. At any rate, it’s a plot bunny that needed to come out in some form, so thanks for the inspiration! Can’t wait to see what other fascinating ideas Toobworld might have in store. 

Best, 
Jeremy 

Shows Cited 

‘Seinfeld’ 

                ¹The Pitch (1992) 

                ⁴The Pilot (1993) 

                ⁷The Finale (1998) 

 ‘Mad About You’ 

                ²The Apartment (1992) 

                ⁸Season Opener (1998) 

 ‘The New WKRP in Cincinnati’ 

                ³Johnny Goes to Hollywood (1993)

 ‘Love & War’

                ⁵Let’s Not Call it Love (1993)

 ‘NewsRadio’

                ⁶The Real Deal (1997)

 ⁹’Curb Your Enthusiasm’

O'Bservation time....

I think Jeremy has done a great job in delineating what would be pertinent for Earth Prime-Time only.  I would add a post-script though, one in which Jerry doesn't take more of an active part than in making the series' finale....

'Dharma & Greg'
"Much Ado During Nothing"

From the IMDb:

Greg discovers why Dharma is so eager to 'do it' with him in weird, dangerous, public places: it's a contest with Jane, the winner is awarded the duck (actually a goose), just one of many silly rules. Still Greg decides to help her win the duck back when told doing it with a dull guy like him was worth a bonus. They get arrested, but are released without bail by cop Mel, an old friend of the Finkelsteins. Greg reasons the safest time is during the last episode of 'Seinfeld', when all San Francisco will be watching inside. However, enlisting Pete to give instructions by walkie-talkie is just the lead Jane needs, and she first tricks the Montgomerys to come to the steps of the courthouse....

Of course, it did not go well.  That's what keeps sitcoms going.....

Like I said, Jeremy did a great job remaining true to the main Toobworld.  So this is just an O'Bservation from another dimension:

'Saturday Night Live'
Season 25, Episode 1
[10/02/99]

Jerry hosted this episode of the comedy warhorse - which takes place in the main Toobworld as well as in the Trueniverse.  But there was a filmed sketch which parodied HBO's 'Oz,' showing what happened when Jerry served his year in jail.  That happened in Skitlandia.  (Here is the transcript.)

However, Tele-Jerry may have told the televersions of the show's writers about his experiences in prison and so they wrote the sketch based on that.  In which case, 'Oz' is a TV show from another dimension; or has a TV show based on the 'real life' situations there; and if so, Jerry actually spent time there.

Thanks for the special guest appearance, Jeremy!  Happy holidays and all the best for 2022!

SPAMMER SLAMMIN'

Just wanted to share a message meant for a particular spammer who's been afflicting my posts since February of this year.  I'm sure he'll be seeing it soon....

In keeping with the tenets of the TV Universe,

Bleep you, Gary.

FRIDAY HALL OF FAMERS' MEMORIAL TRIBUTE, 12/13-2019 - CONSTABLE ODO

From the AP:
René Auberjonois, a prolific actor best known for the TV shows “Benson” and “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” has died. He was 79.

His son Remy Auberjonois told The Associated Press he died Sunday at his home in Los Angeles of metastatic lung cancer.

The actor won a Tony on Broadway in 1969’s “Coco” opposite Katharine Hepburn. His first major movie role was as Father Mulcahy in the 1970 film “M.A.S.H.”

In the 1980s, he played Clayton Runnymede Endicott III, a snooty staffer in a governor’s mansion on “Benson.” And in the 1990s, he played the shape-shifting alien Odo on “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.”

I’ve always liked Auberjonois.  He carved a unique place for himself in his roles without pigeon-holing himself into a stereotype.

Yet I didn’t think there would be a way to get one of his characters into the Television Crossover Hall of Fame.  Constable Odo of ‘Deep Space Nine’ seemed to be the best choice, but he never made it into the movies and there were no TV shows at the time in which he could have appeared.  (Or were there…?)

But I looked into his credits at the IMDb anyway and discovered Odo actually is eligible for membership as a multiversal, which makes him perfect for the December Friday Hall of Famers.

ODO

From Wikipedia:
Odo, played by René Auberjonois, is a fictional character in the science fiction television series 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'. He is a member of a shapeshifting species called Changelings and serves as the head of security for the space station Deep Space Nine on which the show is set. Intelligent, observant and taciturn, Odo uses his unique abilities throughout the show to maintain security on the DS9 station and, later, aids the Bajoran people and the Federation throughout the Dominion War against his own people, the Founders.  

The original Writer's Bible from 1992 for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine described Odo as follows:

Odo, an alien male, middle-aged curmudgeon, and a shape-shifter. In his natural state he is a gelatinous liquid. He was a Bajoran law enforcement officer on the space station under the Cardassians.

Starfleet decides to have him continue in that role, since he's extremely savvy about the Promenade and all who frequent it.

His backstory is:
50 years ago, with no memory of his past, he was found alone in a mysterious spacecraft that appeared in the Denarias asteroid belt. He was found by the Bajoran and lived amongst them. At first he was sort of an Elephant Man, a source of curiosity and humor as he turned himself into a chair or pencil. Finally he realized he would have to take the form of a humanoid to assimilate and function in their environment. He does it, but resents it. As a result, Odo performs a uniquely important role in the ensemble: he is a character who explores and comments on Human values.

Because he is forced to pass as one of us, his point of view usually comes with a cynical and critical edge. But he can't quite get it right, this humanoid shape, though he continues to try. So he looks a little unfinished in a way. He's been working on it a long time. Someone might ask him: Why don't you take the form of a younger man. His answer: I would if I could.

He has the adopted child syndrome, searching for his own personal identity. Although he doesn't know anything about his species, he is certain that justice is an integral part of their being, because the necessity for it runs through every fiber of his body – a racial memory. That's why he became a law man. He has a couple of Bajoran deputies; he doesn't allow weapons on the Promenade, and once every day he must return to his gelatinous form.

According to the backstory of the series, Odo was found adrift in his natural gelatinous state in the Denorios Belt in the Bajoran system. Doctor Mora Pol studied him for seven years, not initially recognising him as a sentient being. Doctor Mora was later forced to recognise Odo's sentience when he copied a beaker on a laboratory table.

Odo's name stemmed from the Cardassian language word "Odo'ital", meaning "nothing", which was the loose translation of the "unknown sample" label in Bajoran on his laboratory flask.

It's taken me years, but thanks to the advancement of the technology, video games are now considered part of the greater tele-mosaic as their own videoverse, akin to the Tooniverse.  As such, Odo has at least three incarnations in games, all voiced by Auberjonois, which serve as the foundation for his multiversal status.

Here are the items in Odo's tally:

1993-1999
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
173 episodes

1996
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Harbinger
(Video Game)

2000
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Fallen
(Video Game)

2005
Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story
(Video)
O'Bservation: This may be a fantasy of Stewie's.

2010
Star Trek Online
(Video Game)

I suggested earlier that Odo might have appeared in other shows set in the same time period.  We’re entering fanfic territory to suggest this.

But what if during the crossovers with ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ and ‘Voyager’, Odo visited their ships off-screen - for security checks - during their visits to DS9?

If you write Trekfic, you can carry that idea even further.  What if Odo was thrown into the past, like Spock was in the novel “Ishmael” and he interacted with the characters from the TV series ‘Here Come The Brides’?  It could be to Earth Prime-Time of the present day, giving so may options for his involvement without even the need of Mr. Auberjonois to participate.

And then there are the alternate dimensions he could visit, perhaps to that of ‘Babylon 5’ which takes place approximately in the same time period.  (Because B5 and Trek delved into their non-similar political structures of Earth, they can’t be in the same Toobworld.  So it goes.)

The trick to pull this off if – in a perfect world – some show wanted to acknowledge his presence on the set would be to have Odo be there in his transformed state, disguised as whatever prop stands out in a scene.

Come to think of it....

Perhaps Odo not only traveled to the distant Past, but to Earth's twin planet Mondas, where Toobworld Central has placed 'Game of Thrones'.

And where did he show up?

As that time-displaced coffee cup and then as the water bottle!

Just an idea....

Welcome to the Hall, Constable Odo.

I’m sorry it had to be under these circumstances....

Thanks to my "Sister Iddiot", Amy Chen, for spurring me to take a second look at a tribute for Mr. Auberjonois....

BORN TO RERUN - DE-ZONKING "COLUMBO"

‘NCIS: LA’
“TIL DEATH DO US PART”

Roberta Deeks:

“Columbo solved hundreds of murders;

never even carried a gun.”

When Debbie Greenfield, one of the Columbo-TV admins on Facebook posted this information, this is the comment I left:

No mention of the show; she talked of Columbo as though he was real. And she spoke of him solving hundreds of cases whereas we only saw 69 of them. And maybe at most twenty others mentioned/referenced. I think all of that helps support a claim that both shows exist in the same TV dimension. Thanks, Debbie!  You made this Crossoverist very happy....

Inner Toob is a blog.  Unlike a sedentary website where it might be easier to track down the information… information… information, the info is constantly flowing through the system.  So for those who are members of Team Toobworld and are already familiar with my thoughts about Lt. Columbo and his status in the TV Universe, forgive me.  I’m going through it again for the sake of any newcomers.

Here in the Real World there have been many celebrated detectives whose fame has grown from the work they have done.  And the same would hold true in Toobworld.  And Lt. Frank Columbo would be one such detective.  After all, look at the types of murderers he has arrested over the years – world-famous actors, politicians, authors, publishers, composers, conductors, and military men.  Even a magician.  Those are the type of killers who are going to make the newspaper headlines and even the evening news.

So that alone would have made it possible for Roberta to know of him.  But there’s more – it’s possible that Columbo finally acted on his idea of writing a book (mentioned in “Publish Or Perish”.)  And in covering the cases he solved with so many infamous murderers, it more than likely became a best-seller.

That book eventually led to a TV series starring Peter Falk who bore an incredible likeness to the Lieutenant.  (The TV show and its star were mentioned in an episode of ‘Remington Steele’.)  This served to spread the fame of Columbo throughout the country (and probably England as well at least, since it is so popular over there.)

I don’t see any reason as to why the shadow ops group known as UNReel would have cared, but the depiction of Lt. Columbo on TV probably convinced many people that he never existed in the first place.  And that has been the goal for UNReel when dealing with other citizens of Toobworld whose adventures need to be covered up (KITT, the agents of UNCLE, the Time Lord known as the Doctor.)

To sum up, ‘NCIS: LA’ and ‘Columbo’ should exist in the same TV dimension and therefore no Zonk was involved.

Just one more thing….

Thanks for the quote, Debbie!

BCnU!

REFRESHER COURSE - TOOBWORLD TERMINOLOGY

I've covered today's topic in the past, but there are always new members in Team Toobworld, new readers of the blog, so I thought it would be convenient for them to rerun some of the terminology I use.
So here''s my splainin to do...

There are two Toobworld terms I’ve coined which denote certain people in Earth Prime-Time who are somewhat aware that they live in the television universe.

SERLINGUIST, SERLINGUISM

This is the most common of the two terms.  A serlinguist is someone who knows there’s another universe out there and who then addresses the people of that universe directly.  Within the reality of Toobworld, perhaps the earliest known serlinguist might be the televersion of George Burns. 

However, because of the “lingua” root word, the term gets its name from another famous multiversal conversationalist – Rod Serling, who hosted the greatest anthology series of all time, ‘The Twilight Zone’.  The televersion of Serling is not the same man from the Trueniverse.  Not only could he speak directly to the audience at home, but he had cosmic powers – he could expand his size to match that of a mountain woman on the alien planet of Brobdingnagia (the name derived from Swift’s Brobdingnag); he could materialize anywhere in the world, even foreign countries which don’t exist in the Real World; and he could not be seen by others in the vicinity when he began addressing the Trueniverse audience.  In Toobworld, he also hosted the televersion of the TV show ‘The Twilight Zone’ and was friends with Los Angeles lawyer Perry Mason.  Playwright Gregory West knew the real Rod Serling and may even have “created” him, thanks to his powerful imagination and his tape recorder.  At one point West destroyed the snippet of tape which cemented Serling’s existence, but he O’Bviously made a new one since we continued to see Serling talking to us with each episode of the show.  (Serling was inducted into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame in October of 2009.)

Other serlinguists include characters in TV commercials in which they suddenly pull out of the situation to address us in the Trueniverse.  (Actual commercial spokesmen, anchormen, and talk show hosts may not be applicable.)
But here's a question I put to you, Dear Readers: Do you consider the family members in 'Modern Family' to be serlinguists, or just people talking into the cameras of a documentary camera crew as was the case with the staff in 'The Office'?  My brother and I were arguing this point while I was writing it.  (I say camera crew.)  Let me know what you think!

As for the other Toobworld term….

TELE-COGNIZANCE, TELE-COGNIZANTS

Tele-cognizants are those people in Toobworld who know they are living in TV Universe.  But they’re not necessarily serlinguists.  There’s a couple of them on TV now in a Dunkin’ Donuts commercial in which they are aware of the captions appearing in front of their midsections.

Perhaps the most famous of TV characters who was tele-cognizant was David Addison from ‘Moonlighting’….

Maddie Hayes:
You are eye crust!
David Addison:
The better to see you with, my dear.
Maddie Hayes:
You are navel lint!
David Addison:
Expensive navel lint.
Maddie Hayes:
You are...
David Addison:
Don't go much lower, they'll take us off the air.

Man:
You can't just burst in here like that.
David Addison:
Oh yeah? Tell that to the writers.

David:
Get serious? Maddie, I just touched your rear end, if I get any more serious they're gonna move us to cable!  

And apparently they weren’t the only ones on that show with the power of tele-cognizance…..

Clara DiPesto:
Where's Dave and Maddie?
Agnes DiPesto:
They're not in this episode.

Here endeth the lesson.

BCnU!

TWO FOR TUESDAY - 2/3s OF THE WAY TO THE TVXOHOF

Today for “Two for Tuesday”, we’re taking a look at two potential candidates for membership in the Television Crossover Hall of Fame.  To qualify for membership, the candidate should have at least three separate appearances in Toobworld – from 3 different TV shows, TV movies, even commercials.

These two possible contenders are two-thirds of the way there, with two appearances each.

First up, NewsView magazine….

NewsView is best known for being the employer of Donald Hollinger, Ann Marie’s boyfriend in ‘That Girl’.

‘THAT GIRL’
“SUPER REPORTER”

In this episode, Don was up for a humanitarian award from New York City because of an article that he wrote.

‘THAT GIRL’
“SOOT YOURSELF”

As a member of an ecology-minded group, Ann is assigned to picket in front of the Newsview Magazine building where Donald works. Donald tries to make amends by inviting his boss to Ann's house for dinner.  

(O’Bservation – That description is from the IMDb.  It didn’t play out exactly like that.)

If you didn’t know that Don worked for NewsView magazine before seeing this episode, it will be burned into your memory banks by the time that it’s over.  I’ve only got so many screengrabs but the show had to mention the magazine’s name at least twenty times.

‘MISSION IMPOSSIBLE’
“THE FIGHTER”

In order to get incriminating evidence against “the Syndicate”, IMF agent Lisa Casey approached their boxer Pete Novick with a great cover story….

Now all I need is a third reference to NewsView from a different TV show and that magazine can join other publications in the Hall like Playpen.

ADDENDUM:

My FB friend and fellow crossoverist Matt Hickman pointed out to me that NewsView appeared in a TV movie that was based on the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.  I have to see it first before I can make a judgement on where this TV movie belongs – in the main Toobworld, or in one of the MOTW TV dimensions?

As for our other potential inductee…..

This season, ‘Murphy Brown’ returned to the CBS schedule, part of the revived series wave like ‘Will & Grace’ and ‘Roseanne’.  But there were a lot of updates – the gang is now working for a cable news network, putting on a morning news show called ‘Murphy In The Morning’.  And that network is CNC, which has appeared in Toobworld decades ago.

‘COLUMBO’
“MAKE ME A PERFECT MURDER”

Lt. Frank Columbo investigated the murder of a CNC executive by his lover.  She was being tossed aside to take over his job as he was going to be promoted to a position at the New York headquarters for CNC.      

So, Team Toobworld, I’m on the lookout for other appearances or references to the magazine NewsView and the TV network CNC.  (I think it’ll be easier to find another NewsView than it will be a CNC.)

If you know of another instance of either of them in Toobworld, let me know!

BCnU!