ECHOES: OF TIME AND SPACE

It's been a while since I've done an "Echoes". It was while watching "George Carlin Again!", shown in tribute to the late comic on HBO2, that I got the idea for this one. In his stand-up act, Carlin talked about all the various phrases we have for the passage of Time - "In a sec", "sooner or later", "any time now", "just a minute", "when the cows come home", "in a while"......

"'Now' seems so soon."
Alix Garrett
'Joey'

"What's Time? Who can define it?"
Mona Roberts
'Burke's Law'

"Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow....
Who knows how much separates one from the other
Or if they can be separated...."
Gavin
'Logan's Run'

"Time! What is Time?
A corporeal measurement of Time and Space: a human boundary."
'Murphy Brown'

"It's been well-documented that Time is not a fixed construct."
Dr. Gregory House
'House'

"Some things are deeper than Time and Distance."
Kevin Arnold
'The Wonder Years'

"Time can take forever."
Olive Snooks
'Pushing Daisies'

"Forever's a long time. I know that first hand."
Mark Volchek
'Wiseguy'

"Eternity's an awful long time to go without a coon hunt."
Heider Simpson
'The Twilight Zone'

"Time is irrelevant in the Limbo state."
Dr. Dagle
'Shades of L.A.'

Jude:
"He's locked himself in his room with his teddy bear!"
Pip:
"He hasn't done that since he proved that Time was an illusion!"
'Supernova'

BCnU!
Toby OB

RELATEEVEETY SHOWCASE

I think this is the first time the components to one of my theories of "Relateeveety" were ever showcased on TV in the same week. In fact, parts one and two of the second half ended up serving as book-ends for the first half!

The American broadcasts of 'Doctor Who' on the Sci-Fi Channel just broadcast "Forest Of The Dead" last night; part one of that story, "Silence In The Library", aired last weekend. We were introduced to the members of Mr. Lux's expedition to the planet known as "The Library", among whom was an archaeologist nick-named "Other Dave" (since there was already "Proper Dave" in the team's roster).

It's my contention that about thirty centuries earlier, the beginnings of Other Dave's family tree began in Chicago, which we saw in "The Shirt Contest", this week's episode of 'My Boys'.

O.T. Fagbenle, who played "Other Dave" on 'Doctor Who', was Dez, the owner of a trendy bar where Brendan Dorff was applying for a job as a bartender. (He lost his gig as a radio deejay and couldn't find another.) As it turned out, Dez was now with Brendan's ex-girlfriend Wendy, and perhaps even now married to her. (Can't remember that particular detail - and I watched it twice!) If not married, Dez at least made a pretty good effort insuring he'd be with Wendy for awhile at any rate - she was about seven months pregnant with their child.

And it's the belief here at Toobworld Central that the child of Dez and Wendy will one day count "Other Dave" among his descendants.

I don't think any of us will be around to see if that turns out to be true.....

BCnU!
Toby OB

TODAY'S TWD: POIROT AND THE LIFE OF FDR

"Amazing, isn't it?
Millions unemployed, a lunatic about to take power in Germany,
And all we read about is how some spoiled brat stole her best friend's fiancé."
Ferguson
'Poirot' - "Death On The Nile"

During the voyage up the Nile, Ferguson was reading a copy of Life magazine which had President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on the cover. A quick internet search shows that this particular issue of Life had a news-stand date of January 4, 1937.
Let's figure that the mail service might have been somewhat slow back then, especially to third-world nations, and that magazine would probably be long out of date by the time Ferguson was looking through it.

Yet Hitler became the Chancellor of Germany on January 30th, 1933, about five years before Ferguson said he was about to.

Ferguson was an intelligent man. Not very conversant with how to deal with others, but he had his book smarts, being actually Lord Dagliesh traveling under an alias. So he must have known that "the lunatic" already had taken power in Germany.

I believe that he was thinking more along the lines that Hitler was expanding his control over the region. Perhaps Ferguson was referring to the revelation by Hitler of his war plans at the Hossbach Conference on November 5th, 1937.

This would give plenty of time for that issue of Life magazine to reach the S.S. Karnak, and could indicate that all of these Englishers visited Egypt during the colder winter months.

BCnU!
Toby OB

A THEORY OF RELATEEVEETY

As I mentioned last week, I've picked up the boxed set for the best of Season One of 'Checkmate' (as well as the one for Season Two). So last night I watched the debut episode, "Death Runs Wild" which guest-starred Anne Baxter (in full-on Nora Chandler histrionics).

Her character, Mrs. Kipp, wanted only the head of the agency, Don Corey, to come out to her ranch to help her with the death threats which she was receiving. But Corey was too busy with another case that demanded his attention and so he sent his two partners, Jed Sills and Professor Carl Hiatt.

All we know about that other case is that it was referred to as "the Burlingame case". (The spelling could also be "Burlingham".)

So why can't we assume that this never-seen character of "Burlingame" could be connected by family ties to Z.B. Burlingame, who appeared in "The Class of 1980" episode of 'Midnight Caller'? To bolster the argument, both shows take place in San Francisco. (In two different sites, her last name is spelled "Burlingame" in one, "Burlingham" in the other.)

The actress who played Z.B. was born in 1960, the same year 'Checkmate' debuted. If Z.B. is the same age as Amy Resnick (an automatic assumption at Toobworld Central), perhaps Checkmate Inc. was helping her father in some way? Perhaps by protecting his pregnant wife?

I'm the first to admit it's trivial. But that's what builds the TV Universe!

Toobworld: an epic undertaking of trivial proportions!

As it happens, I don't think Z.B. survived past her 30th birthday, if the plot summary for "The Class Of 1980" is any indication.....

A very pregnant Devon hosts a fundraiser with Jack as the object of the bachelor auction. Her college classmates attend; however, one by one, they fall victim to a murderer. Jack, Zymak and Deacon all work the angles of this case, with the evidence pointing firmly at Jack's new girlfriend.

Or it could be that it wasn't Jack's girlfriend after all, but somebody else - maybe even Z.B.! If so, there's a crime that Checkmate Inc. wasn't able to prevent thirty years earlier.......

BCnU!
Toby OB

TODAY'S TWD: LOOKS LIKE RAINES (BUT....)

It was announced yesterday that Chris Noth will be leaving 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent', where he has been easing the load on original star Vincent D'Onofrio by taking the lead in half of the episodes. Once again, our TV screens will be deprived of the presence of TV Crossover Hall of Famer Detective Mike Logan. He'll still be around in Toobworld, I'm sure - unless they're killing him off! - but we just won't be able to watch what he's up to.

In his place, Dick Wolf is bringing in Jeff Goldblum, who I'm sure will be bringing his own unique quirks to his share of the episodes to complement those of D'Onofrio's Detective Goren.

Once I heard that Goldblum had been cast, one thought only came to mind. And apparently I wasn't the only one who had the same idea.....

Here's a snippet from the news story at TVSquad, by Bob Sassone:

No word yet on what character Goldblum will play, but wouldn't it be all kinds of awesome if he reprised as role as Raines for the show (without the seeing of dead people bit)?

And this is by two of that post's commenters:

Nathaniel said...
So, Goldblum being Raines on L&O:CI is never going to happen, but DAMN that would be awesome! I totally agree. Both NBC shows, right? I would totally watch CI (and I never regularly watch any L&O at the moment) if they actually brought him in as Raines. Mention he cured himself or actually have him having his problem... that'd bring a new dimension to a L&O show!

Never gonna happen, of course, but would be awesome.

At least Goldblum's agreeing to be back on TV. Quite cool.

Number6ix said...
Maybe it isn't so "improbable" as you might think it is. After all, check out Richard Belzer as "Det. John Munch". First appearing in "Homicide: Life on the Street", when that show ended the character was transplanted from Baltimore ot New York and into "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit". Here is a character that not only crossed over from other shows, but has even crossed networks [FOX-TV, "The X- Files: "The Unusual Suspects"]. Heck, if you catch the "Took" episode of "The Wire", you can catch the detective, back visiting Baltimore, and having a drink at Kavanaugh's Bar.

In the fictional universe of television, if Munch can move from Baltimore to New York, Raines could move from San Francisco to New York. We can only hope... and wait for the season's premire episode...

O'Bviously rights to the character would have to be negotiated, but wouldn't it be awesome if Detective Michael Raines moved East; not just to escape his personal demons, but to get out from the scrutiny of those around him who knew too much of his circumstances?

However, as lost as I can be in the fantasy of a TV Universe, I'm a practical man as well. I know that it's far more likely Goldblum will be playing a brand new character on the show.

But here's something interesting: the 'Raines' page still exists at NBC.com, nearly a year after the show was canceled......

At least we who enjoy the fantasy of Toobworld know that Michael Raines is still out there... somewhere. We just can't view him at present.

BCnU!
Toby OB

TODAY'S TWD: PIC-A-NIC BASKING AT ASGARD

'Doctor Who' - "Silence In The Library"
Before she realized that the Doctor was from a time before she met him, Dr. River Song looked through her diary to get an idea as to "when" he was in their relationship. As cue to trigger his memory, she brought up several highlights they shared together, and one of these was their picnic at Asgard.

This is a reference that could work two ways. One would be to the classical version of Asgard as the home of the Norse gods, the Aesir. It would have been in its own dimension yet still on earth (perhaps a shift in dimensional harmonics or some such technobabble) and could only be accessed by Bifrost, the rainbow bridge.

Although established in the Elder Eddas, Asgard could only be a part of Toobworld once it was seen in some TV show or TV movie. And it was during an episode of 'Hercules: The Legendary Journeys' that we got to see Asgard ('Norse By Norsevest').
As the TARDIS can travel through Time And Relative Dimensions In Space, it would have been easy enough for the Doctor and River Song to reach the home of the gods, perhaps at some pivotal point in their legends.

But there's another possibility......

The Asgard is the name of an alien race, ancient, wise, and mentors to the human race, who have allied themselves with Earth via the Stargate team. They resemble the classic "Roswell Grey" type of alien, with the oversized heads, large dark eyes, and thin bodies with almost stick-like limbs.

Originally their home planet was Othala in the Halla System of the Ida Galaxy. But the Asgard abandoned it during the wars with the Replicators and instead settled on Orilla in the same galaxy (perhaps a different star system, however). From there, they triggered the collapse of Halla's star so that they would all die in the resultant apocalypse. (Their race was doomed and they didn't want anything left behind which could prove an advantage to their enemies.)
So their planets were Othala, Orilla, maybe Halla as well. But it could be that their home planet became identified with the name of their race as well, so that it was also called Asgard. And it could be on one of those homeworlds where River Song had her picnic with her Doctor.......

Me, I'm a sucker for pseudo-deities so I'm rooting for my first splainin!

BCnU!
Toby OB

Hercules:
Do you know any legends about your Gods,
you know, where they're supposed to live?
Hilda:
Oh, sure. In Asgard.
Hercules:
How would I get there?

Hilda:
Die in battle, d'uh!
'Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'

THE 58th VARIETY

I forgot to add a link earlier to that banned Heinz Mayonnaise advert from the United Kingdom.

Here it is.

You can see for yourself how stupid this controversy is. It's a cute, harmless blipvert.

And like I said, yank it off the airwaves; it doesn't matter. It will live forever in Toobworld!

BCnU!
Toby OB

MINISODE STATE

'Rescue Me' has returned, but not as the hour-long series; instead it's back in five minute "minisodes" which began airing last night on FX at 10 pm. (This will be the plan for the next ten weeks.)

I'm still of a mind not to return to the series when it finally comes back for its next season. I wasn't pleased with the way the Jerry storyline played out and I'm sick of the way women always throw themselves at Tommy. I think it's just Denis Leary's way to exalt himself, a real ego boost. And does every season have to end with someone in his family kicking the bucket?

I accept that Tommy is not meant to be "loved" by the audience, but there's nothing about the character that makes me want to watch him. For me, he's the weakest part of the show and its fatal flaw.

[Michael Scott of 'The Office' is the same way for me. Even though it airs on my nights off, I record the show and then fast forward through his segments as well as the commercials. Have you ever seen the edited version of the episode "The Bat" that takes out the subplot of Michael talking to Ryan's business class? It's so much funnier running as just the plotline about the bat loose in the office.]

Anyway, I figured last season's finale, with Charles Durning as the Gavin patriarch slipping into his eternal sleep at the ball game was a nice way to end my involvement with the series in general. It had that feel of a series finale as well.

In the meantime, I'll continue to watch these minisodes - hell, it's only five minutes out of my very limited viewing time once a week - at least until I get the feeling they're about to go off the rails as well. And that may happen, as Leary has said that they will get very dark before they're done.

The first one was quite funny though and provided a great showcase for Sean with Lou as his comic enabler. And very little of Tommy, which is a good thing for me.


If you missed the first minisode, or want to see it again, check out the Crackle website.

BCnU!
Toby OB

MORE ON CARLIN

Please don't read that heading too fast....!

NBC will jump on the George Carlin Tribute Express this coming weekend when the 11:30 pm timeslot on Saturday night will be given over to the very first episode of 'Saturday Night Live' shown in its entirety. As I mentioned two days ago, Carlin was the first host for the show which probably bears very little likeness to what it's like today. (Or, for that matter, what it would eventually be like a few months down the line from its premiere.)

Let's not kid ourselves. NBC hopes to make some bucks off of this move. The show is in repeats now, so the curiosity factor should be high. Which could mean more dollar revenue from the advertisers. (Not exactly sure if that can still be negotiated at this late stage in the game.)

But even so, it gives us even more Carlin on TV to enjoy this week. It all begins tonight with some of his HBO specials being rerun on HBO2, beginning with "George Carlin At USC" at 8 pm ET. (Is it EDT now? If so, don't spray it on your crops!)

This will be followed by:

"George Carlin Again" at 9:30 p.m. ET
"Carlin at Carnegie" 11 p.m. ET
"Carlin on Campus" midnight ET
"Playin’ with Your Head" 1 a.m. ET

BCnU!
Toby OB

TODAY'S TWD: THE MAYO CRITIC

As of Monday, Britain's Advertising Standards Authority had received nearly 200 complaints about a Heinz mayonnaise commercial which showed two men kissing.

The blipvert has a family of four - two parents, two kids - only the parents are both men. The kids call one of them "Mum" even though he looks like Robert DeNiro in a deli uniform and he speaks with a New York accent. "Mum" makes sandwiches for the kids to take to school, saddles them with some advice, and then gives his partner his sandwich to take to work.

As the dad rushes off, "Mum" says, "Hey! You forgettin' sumpthin'?" Contrite Dad returns and they kiss. And then off he goes with an admonishment from "Mum" to hurry back home... "Sweetcheeks".

The cowardly suits at Heinz have already pulled the ad, even though it was supposed to run for another month. Figures.

But in Toobworld, it doesn't matter. Once broadcast, it's forever a part of the TV Universe.

And with so many news organizations with copies of it, and the fact that it's on YouTube and other video outlets, this ad will be like the Apple 1984 blipvert for MacIntosh. "It was shown only once," we're always told, and yet that ad shows up all the time in retrospectives! This mayo plug (sounds kinky!) will live forever!

If they wanted to avoid controversy in the first place, what they should have done was have a woman playing the mother and show her in scenes of "domestic bliss" as she heads down to the kitchen while her husband and kids get ready for work and school respectively. But then, just as she opens the mayonnaise jar, suddenly she's transformed into this New Yawk deli man. The message would be that Heinz mayo will help even an ordinary housewife in the United Kingdom make sandwiches as good as the professionals. Then the commercial could have continued as it was. We'd still see the two men kiss, but we'd know he was really kissing his wife.

It's too late to take this corrective measure now, of course; the damage is done. Gay groups are already pissed that it was pulled off the air; this would look like appeasement to their groups for the original slight.

But like I said, it doesn't matter in the TV Universe. Based on the way the ad aired, this is a British home in which two gay men are raising two lovely young children who seem perfectly adjusted to the fact that their "mother" is a burly New Yorker.

And more power to that family! Just in time for the Gay Pride celebrations!

BCnU!

Toby OB