THE HAT SQUAD: REMEMBERING MARVIN HAMLISCH

Marvin Hamlisch passed away suddenly this week. He was 68.

The composer won several Emmy Awards. Two of them were for these songs:

Good night and may God bless.......

"CALL ME MAYBE" A LA "STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION"

I finally heard the original of this song, after watching several of the parodies.......

DOCTOR WHO IN THE TOWN OF MERCY

WESTVIEW: "RAWHIDE" - "INCIDENT AT PARADISE"

What better TV Western to feature on a day when we showcase an original member of the Skimmerhorn Trail drive than an episode from the best TV series about a cattle drive?

'Rawhide'

"Incident At Paradise"

Written by Charles Larson
Directed by Thomas Carr
Guest Cast:
Burgess Meredith .............. Matthew Higgins
Patty McCormack ............... Sarah Higgins
Beau Bridges .................. Billy Johanson
Arch Johnson .................. Harry Johanson
Neil Nephew ................... Jess
Peter Helm .................... Grover

Rowdy Yates assumes the role of protector of a stubborn old man who
refuses to be driven from his farm by a cattleman.

This could be the same Paradise as was featured in the 'Maverick' episode "Cats Of Paradise".....

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: "NACHO" GOMEZ

IGNACIO "NACHO" GOMEZ

CREATED BY:
James Michener

PORTRAYED BY:
Rafael Campos

AS SEEN IN:
'Centennial'

TV DIMENSION:
Earth Prime-Time

From Felice's Log

Upon his arrival in Texas, John [Skimmerhorn] meets a Latino cook by the name of Ignacio "Nacho" Gomez, who recommends that he hire an experienced trail boss named R.J. Poteet to lead the cattle drive to Colorado. "Nacho" Gomez is the only Latino and has to constantly deal with comments about his use of beans in his cooking.

From Patrick L. Cooney:

"THE LONGHORNS"
 R. J. Poteet runs across a Mexican cooking onions for his lunch. He gets off his horse and talks to the fellow. The fellow lets Poteet have a taste of some of his onions. He tastes them and says they are good. Poteet says he has some beef they can share, as long as the fellow cooks it up. The man is very happy to hear about getting a taste of some good beef. They talk and Poteet asks him if he would like a job as a cook on a cattle drive. He is driving the cattle north for a man named Skimmerhorn. The Mexican asks about the massacre of the Indians. Poteet explains that this man is the son of that Skimmerhorn. And he had no part in the massacre at all. This reassures the Mexican. He tells Poteet his name is Ignacio Gomez, but his friends call him Nacho.

"THE STORM"
 Cartwright’s International Circus has come to Centennial. One of the acts is Daring Dan and the Apaches.  John and Jim literally run into their old cook Nacho. Nacho tells the guys that now he works for Daring Dan. And Daring Dan in none other than Mule Canby, the fellow who lost his right arm in the fight with the Comanches. 

[After Mule Canby's funeral], Nacho says he’s going home to his small town in Mexico.

"THE CRIME"
 Jim Lloyd comes to see Hans. He says he heard from Nacho Gomez. Hans says to write Nacho and tell him he will have work for him and others if they come up from Mexico. 

Santa Ynez. Nacho is all excited about going back to Colorado and working for Hans Brumbaugh. He tries to get the husband of his niece, Tranquilino, to go with him to Colorado. But Tranquilino is not interested. Nacho virtually pleads with the young man to go with him. Tranquilino works in the mines. Nacho tells him that they have killed all the Indians up in the mines. He goes on to tell him: "Don't let them kill you like a fish in a barrel."

"THE WINDS OF FORTUNE"
 Chihuahua, Mexico. The priest, accompanied by the soldiers, comes to see Tranquilino. Nacho doesn’t like what he sees. He says civil war is coming to Mexico. The miner’s went on strike and the government strikes back at them. The priest doesn’t want to talk with Nacho. He wants to talk to Tranquilino. The priest is picking six brave men to do a very hard job. Nacho wants to know the job. To be executioners. To execute certain criminals. Nacho says, yeah, certain criminal that are rebels which means silver miners. He tells his nephew-in-law not to do it. Tranguilino tells the Father that he is a farmer. He feeds the miners. He can’t kill them. But it’s not that simple. If he doesn’t do it harm could befall his family and himself. Tranquilino tells Nacho that he’ll go with him to Colorado when he finishes the job.

Tranquilino becomes part of a firing squad. Captain Salcedo is in charge of the squad. The squad executes six men. The Captain finishes them off with a shot to the head of each man. Tranquilino gets through that alright, but then his next assignment is to execute women. He shouts that he will not kill women. The priest complains to the Captain, who says he will have Tranquilino executed for disobeying an order. The priest says that Tranquilino is a very good worker and they need workers. So the Captain commutes his sentence to life at hard labor in the mines. The firing squad, without Tranquilino, executes the women. Tranquilino runs home. The Captain tells his men not to shoot. They will pick him up at his house when they finish. 

Nacho tells Tranquilino that he saw it all from the hill. He tells Tranquilino to get on one of the two horses he has prepared and ride to Ciudad Juarez across from El Paso. They will meet in a bar called Kate’s in El Paso. Tranquilino leaves. Nacho stays to misdirect the soldiers. The Captain and two other soldiers come riding up. Nacho shoots one of the soldiers. There is a fire fight. The Captain goes around the building to get behind Nacho. He wounds Nacho, but Nacho also wounds the Captain. Nacho gets on his horse and rides out.

Skimmerhorn Trail. Nacho falls off his horse. Tranquilino calls the land a waste land, but Nacho says: "It’s beautiful to me." Nacho thinks about his favorite time, working on the cattle drive. He tells Tranquilino to go to Colorado to Skimmerhorn and Jim Lloyd. He then says to let him rest here where he was happy. 

John goes to the railway station looking for him and finds him. He asks him where is Nacho. He’s dead is the answer. John says: "I’m sorry. How?" Bad times in Chihuahua, says Tranquilino, shootings.

BCnU!

WESTVIEW: "THE WILD, WILD WEST" - "THE NIGHT DR. LOVELESS DIED"

And here is that very episode which illustrates my theory......

PART ONE

PART TWO

PART THREE

PART FOUR

PART FIVE

PART SIX

Sadly, embedding was disabled per the request of one Grobbo1961.......

"GO WEST, YOUNG MARTIENNE"

With Curiosity landing on Mars this past Sunday, I thought I might take a look at a Martian who landed on Earth Prime-Time and then tying it into our TV Western theme for August.

No, I'm not talking about Exigius 12½ (aka "Martin O'Hara"), even though he did have several adventures back in the wild, wild West via time travel. (Given Martian longevity, he may have visited that era during the natural progression of his timeline.)

But I believe another inhabitant of the "Red Planet" visited the wild, wild West when she was a young Martian woman (a "Martienne", if you will  Or not.). We met her several centuries later when astronaut Sam Conrad crash-landed on Mars and discovered that "People Are Alike All Over".

Her name is Teenya and we may have seen her on "The Night Dr. Loveless Died".......

(Even though a couple of centuries separate these episodes of 'The Twilight Zone' and 'The Wild, Wild West' respectively, Teenya also enjoyed that Martian longevity, just as all Martians do. The nephew of Exigius 12½ looked to be only a pre-teen when he visited Earth Prime-Time, but he was already 400 years old.)

In studying Earth Prime-Time before her visit, Teenya sought the most intelligent man on the planet. Unfortunately, that proved to be Dr. Miguelito Quixote Loveless.....

Rather than go by her Martian name of Teenya, she chose a name she thought would be "nicely inconspicuous" among other Terran names. However, like the alien Praxibetel Ix would do many decades later, she "skimped a bit on her research" and chose the name "Triste"... which is a French word for "sad". (By the way, Praxibetel Ix chose as his name "Ford Prefect" when he was researching 'The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy'.)

Although she thrilled to the adventure, Teenya/Triste realized her error in allying herself with Dr. Loveless. After her capture by government agents James West and Artemus Gordon, she made good her escape and journeyed back to Mars.

(How did she escape? Perhaps she seduced the deputy assigned to escort her to prison and then used her levitation talents to lift his gun from its holster.)

Back on Mars, Teenya would not encounter another human being for over a century and a half when Sam Conrad arrived on his secret manned mission to the planet.

Or did she return to Toobworld before then? Using other aliases, could Teenya have revisited Earth Prime-Time, especially during the 1960s, only to confirm her disenchantment with the human species? It will take some more research on my part to learn the fates and backgrounds of Susan Oliver's other roles on episodic TV, but it could be Teenya racked up some serious frequent flyer miles.

Believing that all humans were alike after too many disappointments in her contacts with them, Teenya went along with her people's plans for the ill-fated Earthling, although she wasn't happy about it.....

I wrote about Teenya earlier this year, as an entry in the literary edition of the "As Seen On TV" showcase.

SHOWS CITED:

• 'The Wild, Wild West' - "The Night Dr. Loveless Died"
• 'The Twilight Zone' - "People Are Alike All Over"
• 'My Favorite Martian' - "The Time Machine Is Waking Up That Old Gang Of Mine"
• 'My Favorite Martian' - "Go West, Young Martian"
• 'The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy'
• 'I Spy' - "One Thousand Fine"
• 'The Andy Griffith Show' - "Prisoner Of Love"
• 'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.' - "The Bow Wow Affair"
• 'Burke's Law' - "Who Killed The Kind Doctor"
• "Your Cheatin' Heart" - from the Cineverse

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: MAJOR MAXWELL MERCY

During the month of July, we lost three actors who played roles in James Michener's 'Centennial'. So each Friday during August we will salute their characters in the "ASOTV" showcase. Last Friday we had the first one - Philip Wendell as played by Morgan Paull.

And for this week.......

MAJOR MAXWELL MERCY

CREATED BY:

James Michener

PORTRAYED BY:

Chad Everett

AS SEEN IN:

'Centennial'

TV DIMENSION:

Earth Prime-Time

From Wikipedia:

Mercy is an army negotiator sent to forge treaties with the tribes of the west. He is well-meaning but underestimates the demand Americans have for western lands and the animosity the plains tribes have for all whites. Mercy is married to Lisette, Pasquinel's daughter in St. Louis, and unsuccessfully tries to use this relationship to try to gain the Pasquinel brothers' favor.

Maxwell Mercy invites the Plains tribes to a peace conference at Fort Laramie. There he forges a treaty guaranteeing safe passage to settlers on the Oregon Trail in exchange for legal recognition of tribal land claims. Wiser heads on both sides however know that the treaty will merely delay the inevitable war between the two sides.

Maxwell Mercy, outraged at his brothers-in law's murders, challenges Skimmerhorn to a duel and nearly kills him only to be stopped by Levi Zendt.

Because the mini-series skipped a generation (at least one!), we don't learn that Paul Garrett can count family ties to Pasquinel through Lucinda McKeag Zendt as well as through Lisette Mercy.

Good night and may God bless Chad Everett......

BCnU!

WESTVIEW: "BAT MASTERSON" - "NO AMNESTY FOR DEATH"

For today's episode from a TV Western, I've chosen one from the Gene Barry classic revision of an historical legend, 'Bat Masterson'.

"No Amnesty For Death" was uploaded because one of the guest stars is DeForest Kelley who would years later achieve cathode immortality as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy in the 'Star Trek' franchise. Back in the fifties, however, he was better known as a heavy and appeared as such in quite a few Westerns.

But I selected this episode over any other 'Bat Masterson' episode online because "No Amnesty For Death" also has R.G. Armstrong as the main guest star. This durable, dependable character actor just passed away last month, so this makes for a nice tribute to him as well as to De Kelley.....

TVXOHOF, 08/2012-A: J.R. EWING

When it came to the 2012 class of the TV Crossover Hall of Fame inductees, all I knew going in to the year was that certain months had traditions. Usually I map the whole year out in advance.

February for people of color, April for the Fools, May for the ladies, October for horror. And August is the month when we salute TV Westerns.

In the past, honorees have included the Maverick brothers, Cheyenne Bodie, Brady Hawkes, Matt Dillon, Cochise, Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson, James West and Artemus Gordon, and the Lone Ranger and Tonto.

But for this year? Up until last week, I was still undecided even with the month under way. I had in mind one option that was a bit too esoteric but quite Toobworldly. (I will definitely use it next year, Jack Lord willing.....)

But the mail held while I was on vacation was finally delivered and therein I found the sign from above - there on the cover of Entertainment Weekly was the perfect choice to be the Western character for the TV Crossover Hall of Fame in August.

Considering it's J.R. Ewing of 'Dallas', maybe that sign came from another direction.....

(If you want to read a thumbnail biography of J.R. Ewing, click here.)

Bobby Ewing or Sue Ellen could have been eligible for the honor, but Larry Hagman as J.R. Ewing was the face of 'Dallas', as that cover proved. He is so iconic a figure in Toobworld that he dominated that issue, even with a large feature on this year's Comic-Con.

If we only dealt with the 350 or so episodes of the original series, J.R. Ewing would still stride across Toobworld like a modern Texan Colossus. In 1980, there was only one question on the minds of TV viewers from the Trueniverse that summer - "Who Shot J.R.?" That season-ender for 'Dallas' ushered in the big, outrageous tradition of cliff-hangers which would hopefully guarantee that a show's faithful followers would return in the Fall.

This year, 'Dallas' returned to high ratings and a guaranteed second season with the accent on the next generation of the Ewing clan. But from what I've read, the show only really comes alive whenever the 80 year old patriarch appears on screen, sharing co-starring status with his eyebrows. (I know, everybody is mentioning them. Ho hum. I just want to belong.....)

Between the two series were several reunion movies plus a handful of appearances by Hagman as J.R. on the show's spin-off, 'Knots Landing'.

• "Dallas: War of the Ewings" (1998)
• "Dallas: J.R. Returns" (1996)

And we also have to include J.R. as played by Kevin Wixted in the prequel, "Dallas: The Early Years" from 1986. (Recastaways due to the aging process are given a pass by Toobworld Central.)

When it comes to the theoretical links from Toobworld Central, we recently made the claim that J.R.'s biological father was Colonel Ed Pace from 'The Rhinemann Exchange'.

So here's a tip o' the Stetson to you, J.R. Ewing! (I wear a Stetson now; Stetsons are cool.)

Welcome to the TV Crossover Hall of Fame......

BCnU!