BONES OF A BLIPVERT

It's been a week since the Super Bowl, and I still have a few of those commercials to examine for their "Toobicity" ("Toobocity?"), so here's another one....

The Cars.com Ad
Hodgins!

TJ Thyne appeared in one of the two ads for Cars.com, dragging along a witch doctor to help finalize his purchase of a car at the dealership. He's done plenty of work in TV, but really became recognizable for his role as Dr. Jack Hodgins on 'Bones' - as a forensics scientist at the Jeffersonian Institute in Washington, DC. As FOX telecast the Super Bowl, I'm sure they don't have any qualms about making the claim that Thyne appeared in the Cars.com ad as his character from their show.

Not only does he work there, but Hodgins' ultra-rich family is the major benefactor for the Institute; something he doesn't want to be generally known. To keep up his public persona as the "bugs and dirt guy", Hodgins might just get himself a nice, ordinary, little car for getting about in the Capital. Now that he's living with Angela Montenegro, they probably needed another vehicle anyway.

As for bringing along that witch doctor.... Hodgins probably met the guy through his co-worker, Dr. Temperance Brennan, who has made many such contacts in her anthropological work around the world.

Undoing the damage done by the witch doctor.......? I guess the cure for Tiny Head comes down to "oooh eeh oooh ah ah, ting tang walla walla bing bang." (Consult your physician if Tiny Head lasts for more than four hours. Tiny Head should not be inflicted upon women who are pregnant, or thinking about getting pregnant, or thinking about doing the construction worker wearing the Scruffs work clothes.)

BCnU!
Toby OB

TIDDLYWINKYDINKS: EVENTS, DEAR BOY, EVENTS

In the third episode of 'The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard', Ros was flumm- flabbergast- gobsmacked by the way things had turned out during her first year as Prime Minister, she was answered with the well-known quote: "Events, dear boy, events."

Well-known over in the UK, perhaps. I could tell by the way it was delivered that it probably had an historical recognition about it, making it familiar to the primary audience. A simple matter of googling brought a quick relief to my ignorance:

Prime Minister Harold Macmillan was asked by a young journalist after a long dinner what could most easily steer a government off course. "Events, dear boy. Events", answered MacMillan.

Which translates to "politics is unpredictable".

George W. knows this only too well. Hurricane Katrina - and the response (or lack thereof) by FEMA and that douchebag Brownie - literally washed away the last semblance of faith in Bush's administration.

For Ros Pritchard, it looked as if things were settling down after the first year of her stormy tenure as Prime Minister when a Lithuanian plane blew up over London.

"Events, dear boy, events", indeed!

BCnU!
Toby OB

DATELINE: TAIWAN

My Little Buddy Sean and his wife Gosia are living in Taiwan with their three kids (one of whom is my god-daughter Rhiannon). According to their blog, they are labeling themselves as a Catholic Anarchist Clan.

The other night they stayed in for the Chinese New Year. They celebrated the incoming Year of the Rat by watching what Taiwanese TV had to offer.

Hoo boy!
These are a few pictures from what they saw, but to get the full, gaudy, colorful, crazy sense of just a small portion of their boob tubery, check out this entry at "The Cur Family Blog". (Apparently "Cur" is how their last name gets mangled over there.)


Warning! If you're addicted to TV but hate Karaoke, Taiwan is NOT the place for you!

BCnU!
Toby OB

ECHOES: FROGGIN' IT

Sir George Carrington:
Froggie thinks he knows who did it.
Hercule Poirot:
Froggie does know who did it!
'Poirot'
Announcer:
Flip the switch, Froggie!
'Late Show with David Letterman'

BCnU!
Toby OB

SKED ALERT! HBO'S "BERNARD AND DORIS"

In 1987, Irish butler Bernard Lafferty arrived on the doorstep of tobacco heiress Doris Duke. Fresh out of rehab and without a penny to his name, he faced an uphill battle in convincing his notoriously demanding boss to keep him on staff. A mere six years later, he had not only managed to remain employed but had been granted control over Duke’s billion dollar fortune.

Tonight, HBO Films is presenting "Bernard And Doris", a fictionalized look at the life they led together for six years - ending in her death in 1993. The televersion of Doris Duke is being portrayed by Susan Sarandon and Ralph Fiennes embodies the televersion of Bernard.

Here's the official synopsis from the HBO website:
Highlighted by award-caliber performances by two of Hollywood's most acclaimed actors, this intimate HBO Films drama tells the hypothetical, behind-the-scenes story of tobacco heiress Doris Duke and her Irish butler Bernard Lafferty, showing how their relationship could have morphed from a strict employee-employer contract into something much deeper. As the film speculates, after arriving at the doorstep of Duke's mansion in 1987, Bernard slowly earned his way into the heiress' confidence, becoming her confidante and flamboyant companion at home and on trips, all while handling the affairs of her household. Their bond became so strong that it even survived Bernard's relapse into alcohol abuse, during which he was forced to take a sabbatical to go into rehab. By the time Duke died in 1993, Bernard was back at her side, remaining her most trusted advisor and dearest friend, despite skepticism about his financial motives from businessmen, lawyers and doctors in her inner circle.

A fictional drama that explores a relationship which took place primarily behind closed doors, Bernard and Doris offers an intriguing scenario that might explain how Doris Duke - the world-famous heiress and socialite who controlled a billion-dollar empire - might have decided to give posthumous control of her fortune to Bernard Lafferty, a homosexual and alcoholic who had been her personal butler for only six years.

Money, class and sexuality are among the issues explored in the movie, but at its core, Bernard and Doris is the imagined story of an extraordinary and intimate relationship between two real-life individuals who don't appear to fit into each other's worlds. While Duke's decision to name Lafferty her estate executor may have been the subject of multiple lawsuits and headlines, Bernard and Doris reaches beyond this sensationalism to render a witty, endearing tale about the unconventional, private bond between a society "princess" and her flawed-but-devoted "pauper" of a butler.

So two more famous - or in this case, infamous - people from the Trueniverse are freely adapted for Toobworld. Not to the point where fictional characters from other TV shows meet them, but this opens the door.

Who knows? Maybe someday the Doctor intrudes upon a chapter in their lives. Perhaps it could be an episode of 'Doctor Who' in which we find that fleshy trampoline of a bitch Cassandra trying to lay her hands on Duke's fortune.....

Who wouldn't like to see Susan Sarandon and Zoe Wanamaker going "face to face", as it were?
Just sayin', is all.....

BCnU!
Toby OB

TIDDLYWINKYDINKS: ONE FROGGY MEANING

Often during the course of the 'Poirot' series, people often mistook the Belgian detective for a Frenchman; and as such, they would derogatorily refer to him (usually within his hearing) as "Froggie" or as a "frog".

Here's the description from the "Stupid Questions" site:

The use of “frog” against French people is generally dated to a quote in Fanny Burney’s 1778 novel “Evelina”: “Hark you, Mrs. Frog…you may lie in the mud till some of your Monsieurs come to help you out of it.”

Some sources attribute this to the Parisian coat of arms, which depicts three toads. But it’s now accepted that it comes from the French habit of eating frogs, which the British consider strange. This theory finds support in the related slur “frog-eater,” dating to the early 1800s.

“Frog” entered US slang during World War I.

And Poirot entered the United Kingdom just after that war....

BCnU!
Toby OB

JAPP TO JERICHO

Usually with the theories of relateeveety for Toobworld, I focus on familial relationships. But today I've got something different in mind - that of a mentor and his student, a classic right out of the "hero's journey" mold.

Unless otherwise stated, I've always believed that a character's age should be the same as that of the actor playing the role. Robert Lindsay was 56 when he started work on the 'Jericho' mysteries, which were set in 1958. Therefore, Michael Jericho was most likely born in 1902.

Jericho was about 12 years old when he saw his father gunned down in his own home - that would then be circa 1914 or so. I believe he did some time in military service before he joined the police department in London, with an eye on becoming a detective working out of Scotland Yard.

Perhaps there was a senior detective there at the Yard who recognized Jericho's abilities and talent as a detective, who took the young policeman under his wing and tutored him in the finer points of detection. This friendship and tutelage probably began around 1930, after Michael Jericho spent enough time as a bobby and then began working his way up through the ranks.

And if we're to keep this in the Toobworld family, then there should be a senior detective in the Toobworld timeline around the middle 1930s who might have kept an eye on the lad.

I've got the perfect candidate - Chief Inspector James Japp of the 'Poirot' series, based on the works of Agatha Christie. Japp could have taken an avuncular interest in Jericho, which would give him the excuse to take pride in his own skills. Japp could demonstrate them to the younger officer by relating his exploits. (Of course, these would be exploits that were only successful due to the little gray cells of Hercule Poirot, but there's no reason Jericho had to know that!)

By the time of the 'Jericho' series, Chief Inspector James Japp most likely was retired. So there's no reason why we should have seen him during the too-short run of the show. But who knows? Maybe we saw Michael Jericho in one or more of those episodes of 'Poirot' - so long as they were situated in London. Anyone of those police officers seen at the scenes of the crimes - especially those not closely seen by the camera! - could have been Michael Jericho.

Like I always say, can't be proven; can't be disproved.

BCnU!
Toby OB

TIDDLYWINKYDINKS: LAST CALL

Following soon after the departure of Doug Elfman from the Chicago Sun-Times as their TV critic (not to be replaced) came word that Melanie McFarland was leaving the Seattle Post-Intelligencer as their TV critic to take a job at IMDb.com as their TV editor. As for her replacement? Stuff lifted from blogs, reader submissions, items culled from TVGuide.com.

Liz Lemon had it right on '30 Rock': "Blurg."

But what Ms. McFarland had to say in her final column caught my eye and I'd like to share it with you here:

"Television happens to be going places we're only beginning to get a glimpse of. On screens that transform our sets into vivid windows into other existences, or on our phones, iPods and computers. The industry is changing rapidly, and it's imperative that the people who love television are ready to change with it."

Makes me feel better about including online content into the morass that is Toobworld.....

BCnU!
Toby OB

"SNL" AT THE SUPER BOWL

Let's say there's an awards show for the Super Bowl commercials. One of the categories should be Best Cameo by an SNL Player.
Andy Samberg would definitely win. It was a funny and unexpected cameo in the Pepsi commercial starring Justin Timberlake (who collaborated with Samberg on the "Dick In The Box" music video for 'Saturday Night Live'). And he got a nice close-up for his troubles.

As for Chris Kattan in the Diet Pepsi Max blipvert (O'Bviously both ads were the brainchild of some 'SNL' fan)..... I'm a big fan of Kattan from his days on the show, but honestly, I had to be told in some blog that he was in the ad! I never made the connection that it had to be him and that he was fed up with the over-use of the song that underscored his best-known character on the show. I just figured that it was some guy who, like me, is sick of the song's extended shelf life.
What he needed was a good close-up to establish his identity.

BCnU!
Toby OB

A NEW "FARADAY & COMPANY"?

As we all know, the Island in 'Lost' is the place where Daddy Issues wash up on shore. With last night's episode, "Confirmed Dead", four new cast members were introduced and each got their own flashback. So far, none of them seem to be encumbered with such baggage.

But there's something funky about Daniel Faraday's reaction to the news that the wreckage of Oceanic Flight 815 was found in the Sunda Trench near Indonesia. He didn't even know why he was crying as he watched the TV coverage.

Perhaps it all ties in with his father.....

Every so often I like to toss off a suggestion to the Powers That Be, no matter what the show, in regards to casting characters. So I'd like to suggest who could be cast to play Pere Faraday in Daniel's next flashback:
Tom Skerritt.

There is enough of a similarity there to suggest that they could be father and son, with enough DNA contributed from good old Mom so that the resemblance can be blurred.

The next big mystery is: who was playing Daniel's wife in his flashback? We couldn't see her - so is that because we've seen her before? Cassidy Philips is the first possibility that springs to mind, but I'm sure there are more viable candidates.

What do you think?

BCnU!
Toby OB