12/2007 TVXOHOF PREAMBLE

In 1999, the year in which the TV Crossover Hall of Fame was established, Santa Claus was inducted as December's member.

Back then, "The Tubeworld Dynamic" considered Toobworld to be just the one dimension, and that all TV shows belonged in it - even the cartoons and the remakes. Since then, because of shows like 'The West Wing' and 'Lois And Clark', and thanks to the concept behind 'Sliders', the wealth of TV shows have been distributed to alternate dimensions.

And the same holds true for Old Saint Nick.

There have been many portrayals of the "real" Santa Claus on TV over the years and the fact that there is more than one TV dimension helps splain away why most of them look so different from each other.

This is how we figure it:

If the real Santa Claus appears in a stand-alone production, that version can be considered the official Santa in some alternate dimension. Santa Claus as seen in comedy sketches are all lumped together in Skitlandia, where everybody's physiognomy can be radically altered from sketch to sketch. And all cartoon portrayals of Santa would be the same Jolly Old Elf living in the Tooniverse. (As for the puppetish Santa from the Rankin-Bass productions, he'd live in that stop-motion dimension that's needed for claymation characters and those action figures of 'Robot Chicken'.)

As for Santa's appearance in established TV shows, like 'Bewitched' and 'I Love Lucy', for the most part they are all the same Kris Kringle. Because he is a magical spirit being, he can appear as whomever the person looking at him imagines him to be. And that's why even within one show like 'Bewitched', Santa Claus can look like two different men.

But it's the general concept of Santa Claus that was inducted back in 1999. And in 2003 it was determined that the Santa Claus played by Charles Durning in five different TV productions would be the official portrait of Santa Claus in the TV Crossover Hall of Fame.

Still, there is one Santa Claus in an alternate TV dimension who has fulfilled the Hall's requirements of appearing in three different TV productions. He also has the distinction of being different from the other Santas in that originally he was a human known by another name. And besides using that gimmick from "The Santa Claus", he had the movie "Fred Claus" beat by decades by having a brother as well.

And that's the Santa Claus who will be inducted into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame this month!

HoHoHo!
Toby OB

THE GAME OF THE NAME - NOM DE COMBOS

Something I noticed with two of the new series - two characters in the same show whose first names combine to create the name of an actor.

The first one was the most obvious - Sheldon and Leonard from 'The Big Bang Theory'. It makes me wonder if Chuck Lorre was tipping his hat in some way to the tough guy actor who became a big TV producer of classic - and classy - sitcoms in the 1960s as well as for the espionage actioner 'I Spy': Sheldon Leonard.

As for the other one, I may not have noticed it had I not written about 'Once A Hero' a few times in the last two weeks. Jeff Lester played Captain Justice on that show, and now 'Chuck' has two members of the Nerd Herd named Jeff and Lester.

In that case, I don't think there was any homage intended.

Just sayin', is all.....

BCnU!
Toby OB

NEW @ TOOBWORLD CENTRAL

Keeping the Post Office busy with trips to our headquarters, what with all the DVDs I've been ordering lately.

Here's the latest batch:

'The Adventures Of Superman' - the complete first season
(I always enjoyed the show, but once I saw the origin episode I was determined to get at least this first season.)

'The Dresden Files' - the complete series
(The packaging says "The Complete First Season", but we know better)

'The Wild Wild West' - the complete third season
(Couldn't understand how Ivan of TDOY got his before I did, but the mailman told me today that it was mis-delivered. Luckily for me the other recipient was honest!)

Also, two plays by Bella and Samuel Spewack - "Spring Song" and "Boy Meets Girl". I know there was a TV reason why, but I can't remember why now. Perhaps because "Boy Meets Girl" was produced on 'Studio One' or some such show and the description intrigued me.....

BCnU!
Toby OB

WORLD AIDS DAY

Click on the ribbon. It will lead you to a site that has a cursory timeline for the portrayal of HIV and AIDS in popular culture. For Toobworld, there are clips from 'Law & Order', 'ER', and the HBO TV movies of "And The Band Played On", "Gia", and "Angels In America".

There are also mentions of such facts as:

In its first season alone, 'ER' had eight HIV/AIDS subplots.

'St. Elsewhere' was the first series to have an AIDS related storyline, back in 1983.

Thanks to my TV Trivia buddy JHolst at TV Acres, here are a few TV characters who have passed away from AIDS over the years.....

Michael "Stone" Cates
'General Hospital'

Gill
'EastEnders'

Jesse McKenna
'Life Goes On'

Dr. Robert Caldwell
'St. Elsewhere'

(I believe there may have been at least one other from the series 'OZ'......)

On the more upbeat side, Jeannie Boulet, a physician's assistant who had the HIV virus, will be coming back to 'ER' for at least one episode. According to a report at TV Guide, Jeannie "returns to the ER on Jan. 10, when her character needs treatment for her HIV-infected son. She initially clashes with the staff over her child's care, but eventually allows Dr. Greg Pratt to help her through the difficult time."

So when a character with HIV leaves a TV show, the return of Jeannie shows that it doesn't have to be seen as a death sentence.....

This is hardly enough to mark this day. It never could be.

BCnU...
Toby OB

UP NORTH, WAAAAAY UP NORTH

Somehow I knew I'd hear from Brent, my blogging buddy to the North, regarding the story about 'The Friendly Giant' and that sketch from the Gemini Awards. He may yet blog about it as well, but I wanted to share his thoughts and memories in a post here. (I figured most of you don't bother to check out comments - if any! - so I didn't want to risk having it languish unseen.....

Here's Brent:

If you can stand a long post I might be able to give you some background to the Friendly Giant as it is one of the treasured memories of my childhood. The quick and dirty answer is that there is nothing to indicate that Friendly belongs anywhere but Main Toobworld. This is because the show was a largely self-contained entity in which the only time one ventured outside of the castle was in the opening sequence.The location set in the introductory sequence was pretty clearly Ontario farm country in modern times. The farm had a relatively modern tractor (probably a Massey-Ferguson though most of the time I was watching the show on a Black & White TV) and there was a car that drove down the road - all done with off the shelf models of course.

Once the drawbridge was lowered and we were in the three chairs (including a rocker for someone who likes to rock and a big chair for two) around a normal sized fireplace at the base of the wall we were in the Giant's domain. Mostly this was the main room, where Friendly read picture books which came oout of Rusty the Rooster's seemingly bottomless book bag home, and play his recorder, and talk with Rusty and Jerome the Giraffe. On occasion (and more often in the later years) we'd go to the Music Room, with Friendly carrying Rusty to the Music Room Bookbag. There Friendly would be joined by Jerome (who of course didn't come inside) and two or three non-speaking puppets like the kittens Angie and Fiddle and I seem to recall a raccoon as well showed up to play music.

Sadly the CBC has steadfastly refused to release The Friendly Giant on home video in any format. They claim in part that the show is too old fashioned for kids brought up on fast moving material like Sesame Street. There are probably other reasons as well though. The books Friendly reads are obviously still in copyright which means negotiating payments. The CBC's contracts with performers may also be a problem - residuals are apparently paid for any repeat airings and not just to the performers but to their estates.

~ Brent

Hee hee! He typed "oout". Let's go to the mall, Scherbatsky!

Thanks, Brent! I'm glad I have my Hap Richards in Joyville memories from kids TV in Connecticut, but I wish I could have visited the Giant's Castle as well.

BCnU!
Toby OB

A "JOURNEYMAN" PLEA

One of the Executive Producers for 'Journeyman' posted an open letter to the fans of the show at Alan Sepinwall's blog (Link to the Left, my dainties). It's such a good show that I didn't want it just to languish there, but instead I wanted to spread the word from here. Hopefully other blogs will cut and paste the message in their own blogs so that it reaches more of an audience.....

Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Kevin Falls:

Some good news

http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/node/34919

Journeyman Fans

--NBC has decided to air the 12th episode ("Perfidia") on Wednesday, December 19th at ten o'clock. That means our 10th episode will air on Monday the 10th ("Home by Another Way"), the 11th will air on 17th ("The Hanged Man").

The decision to air the 12th episode had a lot to do with the passion of our fans through SaveJourneyman.net, the online petition and letters and emails to NBC executives.

And is it true you can vote once a day for the People's Choice Awards?

There's still no news on our long term future, but we can promise you this: three terrific episodes inside of ten days. Oh, yeah, and you'll get some answers, too.

Your comments and pro-active attempts to save the show are very much appreciated by me and my fellow Executive Producer Alex Graves, Kevin McKidd and the cast, writers and crew. But more importantly, it's working.

But don't rest. We need you. We want a back nine--and beyond.

Thanks again,

Kevin Falls
10:11 PM, November 28, 2007

KLINGON Hol lut

On the most recent episode of 'Chuck', he was being held hostage by a member of Fulcrum and Agents John Casey and Sarah Walker were at a loss as to how to proceed. However, Chuck's old friend and nemesis (yeah, his frienemy) Bryce Larkin knew exactly what to do.

Using the Klingon language, he asked Chuck if he was wearing a vest. When Chuck said yes, he also used Klingon.

And then Bryce shot him in the chest.

This wasn't the first time a language that shouldn't be spoken on Earth for another two hundred years at least has been heard in Toobworld in the 21st Century:

A 2004 episode of 'My Wife And Kids'.

In the bowling alley, Junior uses the Klingon language to ward off a rude man dressed in a Star Trek outfit who had just pushed in the line.

In the 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer' episode "Seeing Red", which first aired May 7, 2002, Xander unwittingly reveals his knowledge of Klingon when he instantly determines the language used in some of The Nerds' papers.

The sixth episode of the tenth season of 'Frasier', "Star-Mitzvah", which first aired November 5, 2002, had Frasier reading a short blessing in Klingon at his son's Bar Mitzvah having been tricked into believing it was Hebrew.

In "Witch Hunt", an 'NCIS' episode, agents raid a fancy dress party where a person is dressed as a Klingon. He insults Special Agent Gibbs by saying Hab SoSlI' Quch!.

McGee translates this to "Your mother has a smooth forehead" and reveals he speaks Klingon, but not fluently.

In 2004 'ER' Episode 220 (10.19), "Just a Touch", which first aired April 22, 2004, Abby must deal with half a dozen psychiatric patients, and one of them speaks only Klingon.

In 2002 'Farscape' Episode 10401 (4.1), "Crichton Kicks", John Crichton shouts a Klingon offense at a group of invaders before stating to Sikozu, "You didn't get that? Yeah, 'cause it's Klingon!"

In 'The Big Bang Theory', the character Howard Wolowitz can speak six languages, including Klingon.

It has also been spoken in the Tooniverse:

In the 'Aqua Teen Hunger Force' episode "Super Computer," Frylock names the computer he invented the "OoGhiJ MIQtxxXA" which he claims is Klingon for "Superior Galactic Intelligence." While the second word has no meaning in Okrand's Klingon, the first word is similar orthographically to the Klingon word QoghIj "brain".

The character The Comic Book Guy from 'The Simpsons' claims to have translated The Lord of the Rings into Klingon as part of his thesis.

In "Passion of the Jew", an episode of 'South Park' which first aired March 31, 2004, when Mel Gibson goes on his rampage, he also shouts Qapla'!

In the 2004 'The Simpsons' episode 330 (15.17), "My Big Fat Geek Wedding", an altar can be seen on a SciFi convention, bearing the engraved letters love from the Klingon pIqaD alphabet. However, this is not an actual word in Klingon.

[All according to Wikipedia]

'Star Trek' (including all of its spin-offs) is the most Zonked TV series in tele-history. I think the only one that might come close could be 'The Twilight Zone'. Just last week on 'Numb3rs', a cardboard cut-out of William Shatner as Captain Kirk - and a conventioneer dressed as Captain Picard - were seen at a comic book convention in the episode "Graphic".

And yet the events of 'Star Trek', beginning with 'Enterprise', shouldn't be occurring until the 23rd Century at the very least. What would be historical events to the world of 'Trek' are happening all the time, but characters within other TV shows shouldn't know about 'Star Trek' as a TV show because it's supposed to be their actual future.

So how can this Zonk be beamed out of here?

There's only one possible solution:

Somebody from the Future traveled back in Time to the early 1960s and gave Gene Roddenberry the information he needed to create the series, basing it on events that will actually take place in the Future. Perhaps the Time Traveler did this in an attempt to destroy that very Future; we'll never know. But that's how the people of Toobworld can watch TV shows about real events that haven't even happened yet.

So not only is there a Captain Kirk, there's also William Shatner playing Captain Kirk. And based on the knowledge he had been given about the future, Roddenberry obviously cast him because of his resemblance to the real James T. Kirk.

By the way, Bryce asked Chuck in Klingon if he was wearing a vest. Apparently, there is no official Klingon word yet for "vest". (Oddly enough, there is a word for "pajamas" - "nlvnav".)

Perhaps Marc Okrand came up with one for the producers' use. But the closest they could have come using already established terms might have been "Hlp begh" - "uniform deflectors".

Yes. I'm a geek. Well, at the very least I know where to go to look this stuff up.

For many of the TV show references to 'Star Trek' in other shows, visit this Memory Alpha page.

And so it goes.

jaH lel!
Toby OB

RIPPLE EFFECT

The writers' strike is going to affect more than just the uninterrupted production of new TV shows. Its effect will be felt in the release of DVDs already scheduled as well.

Here's an example from TVShowsOnDVD.com:

"Rumors had reached our ears that Sony was planning on a late February release of the upcoming CBS mini-series Comanche Moon: The Road to Lonesome Dove (starring Val Kilmer, Steve Zahn, Rachel Griffiths, Linda Cardellini, and Karl Urban), and that this would possibly be the only TV-DVD release from the studio during that month. However, plans to air this mini-series on CBS around the end of December and beginning of January were recently delayed, and now the six-hour mini-series won't be aired until at least a couple of weeks later than originally planned. That could, of course, delay the release of the DVDs for Comanche Moon.

Will it actually move the DVD release? We don't know, because that title's announce date hasn't arrived yet. So we'll hold off saying one way or the other; it's just an example of all the different sort of issues that could come up when a studio tries to figure out when product will get released."

My guess is that CBS pushed back the broadcast of the mini-series so that they'll have content for February Sweeps since the writers' strike may still be going on by then. Even if a deal is reached sooner, there may not be enough time to get all their projects underway.

So the Eye's way of thinking is that it's better to hold off on showing 'Comanche Moon' now and have it in reserve for Sweeps.

And they'll need all the help they can get.... The union's not going to roll over and play nice this time around. They got burned back in 1988 with the deal made; this time they have the "new media" working in their favor!

Just sayin', is all......

BCnU!
Toby OB

ONE GIANT MESS-UP

There are times in Skitlandia (the TV dimension based on comedy sketches) when repercussions occur in the real world.

Recently, a televised awards show in Canada made fun of the puppets that inhabited the world of 'The Friendly Giant'. It was suggested that now that they are no longer on TV, the puppets are free to engage in rude, crude, lewd behavior at a retirement home. However, the family of the late creator of the show, Bob Homme, took offense at the suggestion. Since they own the original puppets and the rights to the show, they demanded the puppets back from the CBC and that the tribute display in the network's lobby to be dismantled.

I first read about the story in Roger Catlin's blog. But the Torontoist gives more details and provides a link to the YouTube clip from the Gemini Awards.

And here's just the YouTube link alone.

The only good thing that came out of the brouhaha is that it's now established that Jerome the Giraffe and Rusty the Rooster also exist in Skitlandia. And I have to admit, the Felt With Feelings Retirement Home for Puppets and the F.L.O.P. organization are funny ideas. But permission should have been sought and if not received, they should have been axed from the bit. There are a couple of fake puppets used, (like Basil of 'Sesame Park' and Curtains from 'Dr. Giggles Place'), so why not have all of them be original to the sketch?

What they should have done was go the route taken with Casey and Finnegan, the puppets from 'Mr. Dressup': refer to them, but don't show them.

I'm only familiar with 'The Friendly Giant' from what I've read online in such places as TVParty. So I can't say for certain whether the Giant lived in the main Toobworld or was to be found in some alternate dimension. I'd like to think that he lived in some remote Brobdignangian region of the world, and that perhaps he was related to the giants you see in the Colorado Rockies during those old Coors commercials.

THE REAL DEAL

Hopefully, the Homme family will not let their anger over the situation keep them from setting up some other kind of home for the show's puppets, so that future generations can enjoy seeing them again.....

BCnU!
Toby OB

WORLD SUPPORT FOR THE WRITERS

I've already reported on the rally in London in support of America's WGA in their fight to get their fair share of profits from "new media". Here's an excerpt from the AP report about other rallies held in Europe on Wednesday:

"In Paris, a few dozen screenwriters and others joined a march from the Opera Garnier to the Trocadero Plaza across from the Eiffel Tower in support of their American counterparts.

In Berlin, about 30 scriptwriters and actors gathered in front of the Brandenburg Gate.

"Wir stützen das WGA!"

Demonstrations also were scheduled in several other European cities, as well as in Canada, Australia and New Zealand."