WARNING: UNBLEEPED VIDEO AHEAD!

And here now with the news......

SKED ALERT! TONIGHT'S "DOCTOR WHO"

A little taste of the episode premiering tonight.....

Dom of the Facebook page "Doctor Who And The TARDIS by Craig Hurle" has made this fantastic video about the TARDIS to serve as a "Previously On" introduction to tonight's episode:

This may be the first episode of 'Doctor Who' which lays out a cultural difference between the British and American audiences in print with that title......

BCnU!

SONDHEIM'S MAYBERRY?

THE HAT SQUAD/LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES: GEORGE JONES

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — George Jones, the peerless, hard-living country singer who recorded dozens of hits about good times and regrets and peaked with the heartbreaking classic "He Stopped Loving Her Today," has died. He was 81.

Jones died Friday at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, according to his publicist Kirt Webster. He had been hospitalized with fever and irregular blood pressure, forcing him to postpone two shows.

With one of the most golden voices of any genre, a clenched, precise, profoundly expressive baritone, Jones had No. 1 songs in five separate decades, 1950s to 1990s. He was idolized not just by fellow country artists, but by Frank Sinatra, Pete Townshend, Elvis Costello, James Taylor and countless others. "If we all could sound like we wanted to, we'd all sound like George Jones," Waylon Jennings once sang.

Here is a full episode of his TV show from the late 1990s, with guest stars Loretta Lynn and Billy Ray Cyrus.....

Good night and may God bless.....

FLEETWOOD WHO

Wondering about the name of this post?  I chose it because this is a "Who's On TV" post about 'Doctor Who'... and it's all about rumours........

The following is from the Morning Spoilers column at io9:

Here's an insane, thoroughly unsourced rumor floating around that the 50th Anniversary special's major guest star, legendary actor John Hurt, is going to be playing... the Doctor. And not just some future or alternate Doctor, but the real 9th Doctor, an incarnation that was somehow forgotten in the insanity of the Time War. And in case you're thinking this is all part of an absurdly elaborate "Screw you" to Christopher Eccleston, fear not — the rumor claims that, as Hurt emerges as the forgotten 9th Doctor, Eccleston becomes the 10th, David Tennant the 11th, and Matt Smith the 12th. While I can kind of imagine Steven Moffat doing something like that, if only to piss off insane fans like myself with retroactive renumbering, it's worth stressing that there's no clear source for this rumor at present, and even if there were, it would still be wise to take it with a grain of salt.

JOHN HURT ON THE SET

THE TRUE 9th DOCTOR?

Personally, I'll probably be happy with whatever story we get, in large part due to John Hurt and Joanne Page taking part, not to mention the returns of David Tennant and Billie Piper.

But I think that if this rumor has legs, then I can see why Moffat came up with it.....

It's been long established that Time Lords can only regenerate twelve times, leaving them with thirteen incarnations.  But in 'The Sarah Jane Adventures', the 11th incarnation of the Doctor told Clyde that he could regenerate 507 times.  I think this was just the Doctor's way of getting Clyde to shut up and stop asking questions.

But it must have been something the 9th incarnation of the Doctor has wondered about ever since he absorbed the time stream out of Rose, triggering his regeneration into the 10th incarnation.  Did all of that excess temporal energy "renew" him?  Could he regenerate now beyond the established limit of thirteen lives?

And now this is where showrunner Steven Moffat comes in.....

The Grand Moff must know that Matt Smith will want to leave the show for new projects, although Smith has stated he'll be with the program at least through 2014.  But when he does leave, it will most likely be on Moffat's watch as the caretaker for the series.

Moffat himself has said that the work has been overwhelming and that one day he too would hand over the reigns to a new showrunner.  But the chance to oversee the transition of the Doctor's role from one actor to another is probably too tempting to resist; he would probably stay with the show long enough to see that through.

And what if he wanted to stay longer, to get the new Doctor off to a rousing start?  First and foremost, I think he would want to have one hell of a storyline - not just for the fans, but mostly for himself, to keep his interest in the series vested.

Currently, he's running an arc on the series which provides a new facet to the "new Companion" trope - rather than the newbie exploring the mystery of the Doctor anew (for the sake of new viewers, keeping it fresh), the Companion herself is the mystery.  The Doctor is desperately trying to learn the truth behind the various incarnations of Clara whom he's met so far..., two of whom have died.

So if Moffat wants to recharge his enthusiasm batteries with a storyline about a new incarnation of the Doctor, it will have to be really off the wall.  And this is why I think the re-ordering of the sequence of incarnations for the Doctor will be needed.

Technically, there's nothing inherently interesting about the penultimate Doctor; just another in a long line, with only variations on wardrobe and personality quirks to change it up.  

Not so with the Thirteenth Doctor.  The Doctor wouldn't know whether or not this was his last opportunity at Life, the Universe, and Everything.  He's always labored under the assumption that it was thirteen chances and then you're out of the Living Time Lords club.  

So now here he would be in his thirteenth incarnation, and I would imagine it would affect him deeply - perhaps it would leave him skittish about getting involved in death-defying challenges to save the Universe if it meant he could permanently die this time.  

There's a major theme right there - how would the Doctor fight this fear?  Would he fight it?  Or would we see him mostly trying to avoid any such confrontation?

(A good role model for this version of the Doctor would be Bret Maverick, who would do whatever it took to get out of a difficult situation, usually by talking or conning his way free.)

So by bumping up the numerical sequence of the Doctors by adding in John Hurt as the new Number 9, that would make Matt Smith the penultimate Doctor and thus give Moffat something new and interesting to play with in shaping the newest and perhaps last incarnation.

Here's another possibility - if it turns out that the residue energy from absorbing the time stream has given the Doctor unlimited regenerations, it would serve as a good reason for bringing back the Master on a recurring basis.  Up until now, it's always been about the Master trying to kill the Doctor just for the sake of doing so.  There have been hints that there could be a familial bond between them, some aggrieved slight from back in their school days, but mostly it was just a matter of the Master wanting the bragging rights that he killed the Doctor.

But if he got wind of the Doctor's unlimited power source when it comes to regeneration, then he would definitely want that for himself.  He's side-stepped the ultimate fate too many times now and has probably run out of options to keep himself going.  He would want to take that power away from the Doctor, so there's the new rationale for hunting down the Doctor to kill him.

But again, this is all speculation.  We'll just have to wait and view to see what the 50th anniversary special has in store for us.....

I just hope the inclusion of John Hurt would mean we would at least get a flashback to how he regnerated from Paul McGann's too brief tenure as the Eighth incarnation.  McGann deserves at least that......

BCnU!

LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES - BILL RUSSELL

BILL RUSSELL

From Wikipedia:

William Felton "Bill" Russell (born February 12, 1934) is a retired American professional basketballplayer who played center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A five-timeNBA Most Valuable Player and a twelve-time All-Star, Russell was the centerpiece of the Celtics dynasty,winning eleven NBA championships during his thirteen-year career. Along with Henri Richard of theNational Hockey League's Montreal Canadiens, Russell holds the record for the most championships won by an athlete in a North American sports league. Before his professional career, Russell led the University of San Francisco to two consecutive NCAA championships (1955, 1956). He also won a gold medal at the1956 Summer Olympics as captain of the U.S. national basketball team.

Russell is widely considered one of the best players in NBA history. Listed as between 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) and 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m), Russell's shot-blocking and man-to-man defense were major reasons for the Celtics' success. He also inspired his teammates to elevate their own defensive play. Russell was equally notable for his rebounding abilities. He led the NBA in rebounds four times, and remains second all-time in both total rebounds and rebounds per game. He is one of just two NBA players (the other being prominent rival Wilt Chamberlain) to have grabbed more than fifty rebounds in a game. Though never the focal point of the Celtics' offense, Russell also scored 14,522 career points and provided effective passing.

AS SEEN IN:

'The White Shadow'

"B.M.O.C."

SYNOPSIS:

Coolidge starts having problems stemming from his abnormal height and size, such as normal clothes not fitting and "how's the weather up there" jokes. He gets self-conscious and defensive until Coach Reeves, who has dealt with the same problems, takes him under his wing and tries to let him know he's not alone, with help from NBA Hall-of-Famer Bill Russell.

- TV.com

BCnU!

WISH-CRAFT - CURRAN AFFAIRS

Here's what I'd like to see happen in 'Defiance'......

Catithian power-broker Datak Tarr is looking at a print of a self-portrait by Vincent Van Gogh.  (Or maybe it's an original that was in a local museum which survived the terra-forming over Old St. Louis.)

It's just a quick moment, but before the scene gets down to the real business at hand, Tarr shakes his head and mutters, "I'm told there's a resemblance, but I just don't see it....."

Why, you ask?  I was rather hoping you already knew.  I'm sure most of Team Toobworld knows....

Tony Curran is playing Datak Tarr in 'Defiance'.  He also played Van Gogh in an episode of 'Doctor Who'......

I just think it would make for an excellent in-joke.

BCnU!

THE HAT SQUAD: ALLAN ARBUS AS DR. SIDNEY FREEDMAN

 

ALLAN ARBUS

as

DR. MILTON SIDNEY FREEDMAN

From Wikipedia:

"Radar’s Report" was the 27th episode of 'M*A*S*H', and third of season two. The episode aired on September 29, 1973. This was the first episode to feature Allan Arbus as Army psychiatrist Dr. Freedman. In this episode, he is called "Milton Freedman"; in later episodes, the character is renamed "Sidney Freedman".

Synopsis:
After Frank mistakes Klinger for Margaret, the two majors decide to get rid of Klinger. They convince Col. Blake to have Klinger undergo a psychiatric evaluation. Dr. Milton Freedman (Allan Arbus), an Army psychiatrist, interviews Klinger, and tells him that although he believes Klinger to be sane, he is willing to grant him a Section 8 discharge if he will sign a report confirming that he is a transvestite and a homosexual (a report which Freedman notes will follow him into civilian life). Insisting that he is neither ("I'm just crazy!"), Klinger refuses to sign, and Freedman files a report saying that Klinger is sane.

I never understand why TV series will have continuity guides if they don't end up following them. Those guides are called bibles, and you're not supposed to break faith with your bible, right?

No matter. We can splain our way out of this.....

The good doctor's full name was Milton Sidney Freedman. Since this was his first visit to the 4077, they addressed him by the name listed in his "jacket". Only later, as he got to know them better, did he let them know that he preferred to be known by his middle name. And from that point on, they called him "Sidney".

Could there have been a reason? There are probably dozens, if not more. Maybe he thought "Sidney" sounded stronger than "Milton"... or that it lent itself better as a connection to his chosen field of study. Perhaps there was another Dr. Freedman whose first name was Milton. Maybe even his own father, which opens up issues Sidney might need to address with his own psychiatrist.

At any rate, it wasn't an insurmountable Zonk so we didn't need to get Colonel Potter to yell "Bug out!"

Allan Arbus, who portrayed Sidney Freedman, just passed away at the age of 95. A very respectable age.

As for Dr. Freedman?

If he was the same age during the Korean Conflict as Arbus was during the show's production, then he was 65 when the war ended (looking remarkably fit for his age!) Another thirty years of life after that and the televersion of Dr. Freedman died in 1983, the same year Arbus filmed the final 'M*A*S*H' episode in the Trueniverse.

In closing, I'd like to leave you with the 'M*A*S*H' quote most often associated with Dr. Freedman:

"Ladies and gentlemen, take my advice -
pull down your pants and slide on the ice."

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

(This is dedicated to Robin Douglas, who gave me the idea.....)

LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES - KATE UPTON

KATE UPTON

From Wikipedia:

Katherine "Kate" Upton (born June 10, 1992) is an American model and actress, known for her appearances in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue first in 2011, when she was named Rookie of the Year, and again in 2012 and 2013, when she was announced as the cover model.

AS SEEN IN:

"Soul"

(Mercedes Benz Super Bowl commercial)

BCnU!

ECCE PROMO - "PSYCH" MEETS "DEFIANCE"

The little TV dimension that could, the Promoverse, has added a new entry to its ranks, featuring promo vets Shawn and Gus from 'Psych' meeting the newest member of the club:

What's interesting about the crossover is that their respective TV series are on different networks - 'Psych' is on USA while 'Defiance' is on Syfy.  Of course, both networks are part of the big NBC family at "Kabletown", so it's all good.

(I think NBC should toss in shows from the mothership of the franchise - wouldn't you like to see Gus and Shawn meeting Monroe from 'Grimm'?)

This match-up also gives the promoverse its own storyline, since 'Psych' and 'Defiance' take place in two different time periods.  'Psych' is set in the present day, while Irisa Nyira and her big blue buddy are from the near future of 2046.

So wha' hoppint?  (As Ricky Ricardo would say.)  I would guess that the two Votans fell through a rogue wormhole and ended up in the past.  It was a wormhole of both Time and Space, as Irisa should be in the town of Defiance (which used to be St. Louis, Missouri), while Shawn and Gus are comfortably entrenched in Santa Barbara, California.

Because 'Defiance' so changed the playing field of its own dimension, I'm tempted to cliam that the Promoverse is the only Toobworld in which it takes place.  Hey, I'm not going to be around by the 2040s, so what do I care?

But for now, I'll just say that this is only the Promoversion of 'Defiance'.  And the same goes for 'Psych' - the show about a pseudo-psychic psleuth may share the same Toobworld as 'Grimm', 'Doctor Who', and 'The Vampire Diaries', that doesn't mean it would be believable for wesens, vampires, and Cybermen to show up in Santa Barbara... except in the Promoverse.

Speaking of the Doctor, it would be the Gallifreyan Time Lord of the Promoverse who would come to the rescue of the Irathient and the Bio-Man.  He would bring them back to their own timeline in the future via the TARDIS so as not to disrupt the present.

And we know the Doctor exists in the Promoverse - we saw him a few Christmas seasons ago.....

BCnU!