ELEVEN IS MATT, BUT AFTER THAT?

Matt Smith assumed the mantle of the Doctor, the Eleventh Incarnation, at the end of the two-part holiday special "The End Of Time". And he won't have his first full adventure until Easter Sunday.

And yet here I am with a suggestion already for his replacement, or at the very least, for a future regeneration. (You know that sooner or later the BBC will come up with some sort of techno-babble to rid themselves of that 13 regenerations roadblock.)

It's been stated that the Doctor should be cast young, in his thirties at most, because of all the action scenes in the revamped series. And even though I think my favorite past candidate for the role, Julian Rhind-Tutt, could still qualify for the more exhaustive aspects of filming, I've decided to move on and throw my support to a new candidate.

Don't get me wrong! I'm hoping Matt Smith has a long run in the series, even to equal Tom Baker's length of service - it'll be up to him, I'm sure. (Unlike the case with Colin Baker as Number Six, I'm sure the quality of scripts will always be there to support Smith as Number Eleven.)

As such, I've set my sights on an actor who may be considered too young for the role right now, (Currently, he's 23 - one of "the Numbers" from 'Lost'!), but who'd be perfect ten years down the timestream.

James Buckley, perhaps best known as Jay Cartwright from 'The Inbetweeners'.

I've really been impressed with what I've seen so far of his work as Jay. He really displays the humor and the energy and the oversized enthusiasm that would be essential for the role of the Doctor. And there's just a little something... off... about him; I can't put my finger on the quality exactly, but I wouldn't have any trouble accepting that he's alien in origin.

(Blake Harrison as Neil Sutherland also has an "off" quality that could aid him in playing an alien, just not as the alien Time Lord.)

He already shows a propensity for scarves.....

Hopefully he'd at least be considered when the time comes for Doctor #12, or some other regeneration after that. As can be seen by the photo at right, even now as Jay, young Master Buckley displays a quirky fashion sense that would be in keeping with a new incarnation of the Doctor....

I'm just sayin', is all.....

Of course, sooner or later, they really do need to consider casting a black actor, or even an Asian or some other minority.

And for Bleep's sake, when are we going to get a ginger doctor???

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: VINCENT VAN GOGH

Since this is supposed to be Two For Tuesday with the "As Seen On TV" showcase, here are two representations of Vincent Van Gogh....

VINCENT VAN GOGH

AS SEEN ON:
'Saturday Night Live' AS PLAYED BY:
Tom Schiller

AS SEEN IN:
'Clone High'

AS VOICED BY:
Andy Dick

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV SNEAK PEEK: VAN GOGH

Consider today's installment of ASOTV to be one... big... SPOILER!

You've been warned....

Today's "As Seen On TV" showcase features some surreptitious video of 'Doctor Who' filming in Wales. In these shots we see Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor, Karen Gillan as his new Companion, Amy Pond, and guest star Tony Curran as Vincent Van Gogh.



From the snatches of dialogue, it appears the Doctor brings Van Gogh forward in Time so that he can see what the future holds; perhaps to show the artist how his reputation and his work has fared over the centuries.

And it might be that such a visit is what drove him to commit suicide.....

We shall see what we shall view whenever the episode finally airs.

BCnU!

"THE OFFICE" - ISRAELI BRANCH

France, Russia, Germany, and the United States all have remakes of 'The Office', and now Israel will have its own version as well......

So long as the characters' names are changed - and in this case, they have been - then there is no threat of a Zonk. (This is Dvir Benedek who will be playing Avi Meshulam, the counterpart to David Brent and Michael Scott.)

Who knows? Someday Earth Prime-Time may have a version of 'The Office' located in every country in the world!

BCnU!

A PINEAPPLE AND GINGER FLAVORED ZONK

“Throughout history, there were only two Gingers who weren’t prostitutes…

Ginger Rogers and Ginger from Gilligan’s Island.

And I still have my suspicions about the latter.

In fact, Gus, I’ve made my decision:

she was a filthy, pirate hooker.”

Shawn Spencer

'Psych'

Man, that sounds like he made a Zonk, doesn't it?

Wrong, Pineapple Breath!

Shawn was not referring to a TV character in an infamous TV series of the 1960's. He was referring to an actress in Toobworld named Ginger Grant. Her fame comes mostly from a seismic event in her life rather than from her movies - along with six other castaways, she was stranded on a desert isle with no phone, no lights, no motor car, not a single luxury.

It wasn't until the mid-1970's when she and the other passengers from the SS Minnow were finally rescued that the rest of Toobworld finally learned what had happened to them all. And since Shawn has such a love of pop culture references, and since 'Gilligan's Island' is such a Zonk-fount, I think a TV movie was eventually made, detailing their experiences while on that island.

(One of the topics covered may have been the splainin as to why Ginger Grant's physical features changed between the last episode of 'Gilligan's Island' and the first TV movie reunion. In the real world, we know it was from recasting. But within the "reality" of Toobworld? I'm leaning toward exposure to radiation from a meteor that crashed on the island....)

As for Shawn's conviction that Ginger was a dirty, dirty girl, it's probably based on assumption due to the types of clothes she was forced to wear in her movies and on publicity shoots. We saw in that first reunion movie that she had no interest in the more salacious style of film-making that was in vogue since she had gone. But that's how it is with Shawn - after all, this is a guy who didn't know the correct term for a Hazmat suit. He called it a "Cumbersome Stay Puft Protective Suit"......

BCnU!

LOST AT REICHENBACH FALLS

In the 2007 TV movie "Reichenbach Falls", an Edinburgh detective is helping a friend research a century old murder case for a novel to be written.

At the end of the movie, Clara is reading from the book and quotes: "42 feet per second per second" with regards to the speed of gravity.

However, gravity is closer to 32 feet per second to the second.

In our world, that's a script-writer's error. But within the "reality" of Toobworld, was it a mis-print? Did Clara mis-speak?

Could the substitution of "42" be yet another manifestation of "the Numbers" from 'Lost' in Earth Prime-Time?

Don't think it's possible? Check out this clip from "Reichenbach Falls" which name checks David Hume, a Scottish rationalist:



One of the characters in 'Lost' is Desmond David Hume.

Do you think I'm still off my bleepin' nut?

Yeah.... me too.

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: CONAN DOYLE'S GHOST

SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE

AS SEEN IN:
"Reichenbach Falls"

AS PLAYED BY:
Richard Wilson

In this TV movie, there's something different about Mr. Wilson's portrayal of the Scottish author who served as the literary agent for the "Sherlock Holmes" stories - he's a ghost whom only Edinburgh detective Jim Buchan can see.

For more about Richard Wilson's experiences in filming his scenes as Conan Doyle, check out the BBC press pack for "Reichenbach Falls"....

BCnU!

PLOP PLOP FIZZ FIZZ!

Something I learned from 'CBS Sunday Morning'....

On this date in 1931, Alka-Seltzer was introduced to the world.

And Alka-Seltzer eventually introduced their enduring mascot Speedy to Toobworld.

A puppety figure like those to be found on 'Robot Chicken', Speedy belongs in the main Toobworld, unlike figures like 'Davy and Goliath'. That's because he interacts with real human beings, as seen below. (That's the legendary Buster Keaton as the mailman.)
Like the Pillsbury Doughboy, he must have crossed over from his original TV dimension.

Suddenly I'm hungry for marshmallow meatloaf....

BCnU!

TELE-FOLKS DIRECTORY: THE WONDER TWINS

There are some Toobworld characters who have doppelgangers in the Tooniverse - Fonzie, Mork, Punky Brewster, the Bradys, for example - but it's not often when an original Tooniverse character of pen and ink gets a counterpart of flesh and blood: 'The Tick', for one. (And yes, I know it began as a comic book first. But as I stated earlier, comic books have their own universe and are not connected to Earth Prime-Time. Toobworld and the Tooniverse may be different dimensions, but they share the same universe.) I'm trying to catch up on 'Smallville' episodes this season, now that I've seen the two-hour "movie" about the Justice Society of America from a few weeks ago. Even though 'Smallville' takes place in an alternate TV dimension (And I'm staking it in the 'West Wing' dimension!), and so shouldn't be required viewing for me, I've found that at least this season is calling out to the inner Comic Book Guy in me.

So this week, they repeated an episode from November, one which introduced the Wonder Twins, Zan & Jayna, into the TV Universe.

Here's an edited recap of the episode "Idot" from Wikipedia:

Zan and Jayna appeared in the 'Smallville' season nine episode, "Idol", which aired on November 13 2009. Zan was played by David Gallagher and Jayna by Allison Scagliotti. Though not explicitly labeled as aliens, the two are implied to be from another world and claim to be of Swedish descent in order to explain their odd sounding names. The Twins are portrayed as being obsessed with "The Blur" (the name given to Clark Kent before he officially adopts the Superman identity), and attempt to impersonate him in order to build up his positive reputation. After this, the Twins are encouraged by Clark to continue their super heroics outside of Metropolis, albeit on their reputations rather than attempting to emulate him.

It's nice to see that their reputations - savaged by viewers of 'Super-Friends' - is partially salvaged with this appearance.
When they finally debuted in the DC Universe comics, they were from the planet Exxor, but that doesn't necessarily have to hold true for their televersions.

As I said, Zan and Jayna exist in an alternate TV dimension and so won't cause any Zonks for Earth Prime-Time. But it is amusing to know that they're out there... "in the flesh".
BCnU!

PLUM CITY BLUES

CLEVELAND, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- Sighs heard in Cleveland aren't reserved for lousy weather or lousy scoreboard stats -- Clevelanders live in the most miserable U.S. city, Forbes.com said.

Based on a city's unemployment rate, taxes, weather, commute times, violent crimes, corruption, polluted lands and professional sports teams' success, Forbes.com ranked the most miserable cities in America.

At least as far as Toobworld goes, there is a very good reason for this. As viewers of 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer' learned its final episode, there is a "Hell-mouth" located in Cleveland - a portal through which demons can cross over into our world to cause havoc.

Joss Whedon has continued the adventures of Buffy Somers in the comic books, but that's a whole different universe born of Mankind's creative spark. (Whenever I use that phrase I feel so, I don't know, Tim the Enchanterish!) Just as it is with novels and audio-plays, comic books don't play a role in Toobworld. Look at all of the differences between the DC Universe and 'Smallville' - and that's set in an alternate TV dimension.

So if Buffy and her Scoobies have already dealt with the Cleveland Hell-mouth in the comic books, it has no bearing on its status in Toobworld. It could still be active and thus causing such misery in the Rock 'n' Roll capital.

BCnU!