THEORY OF RELATEEVEETY - A COUPLE OF CRABBES

Inspector Reid of 'Ripper Street' was able to save a young woman from being lobotomized by Dr. Karl Crabbe.  He wanted to prevent her from revealing his involvement in an underhanded scheme.  Crabbe ended up in the prison wing of the asylum and eventually served as a Hannibal Lecter to Reid's Clarice Starling.  

By 1889, Dr. Crabbe was in the asylum, visited by Inspector Reid in April of 1890.  By that point in his life, Karl Crabbe may have had at least one son to carry on the family name, someone who would have been an adult by then.

If Dr. Crabbe had more than one son, one of them was the great grandfather of Middleton Chief Inspector Henry Crabbe.  With his wife Margaret, Crabbe was also the proprietor and head chef of the 'Pie In The Sky' restaurant (which he wanted to devote his time to instead of to his police work.)

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TELE-FOLKS DIRECTORY - ELISABET MATTSON, SWEDISH WRITER

'CRIME OF PASSION'

"NO MORE MURDERS"

Elsbet Matts was a romance novelist living in Skoga, Sweden, during the 1950s.  The only book of hers mentioned was "Their Last Summer" (That was the English translation.  In Sweden it was titled "Deras Forra Sommaren".)  Her books were usually dark romances about poor women falling in love with older men and they were not well-received by the critics.  

"Elsbet Matts" was just her nom de plume.  Her name was actually Elisabet Mattson and her brother was Yngve Mattson who sold components for conveyor belts.

Because of a brief affair with Colonel Holt, Elisabet became pregnant.  She put the child up for adoption and Colonel Holt and his wife adopted him, naming him Thomas Holt.

As to possibilities of fictional books in other TV shows being works by Elsbet Matts, most of those to be found in the list at Wikipedia were either not in the same category as romance novels or attributed to other writers.  But there was one possibility:

"The Long Journey Home" which Beans had overdue from the local library.  Perhaps when he checked it out, he had no clue that it was a romance novel.

However, after finding herself involved in a double murder investigation in which the son she gave up for adoption died, I think Elisabet Mattson adopted a new guise as "Dame Margot Woodhouse".  Under that name she wrote a series of murder mysteries which were then translated into English for her American publishers, Whitestone Publishing.  Forty years on, near the end of her career, it was apparent that her talents were fading, based just on the title of her last book: "Death Rinses Out A Few Things".

SHOWS CITED:

• 'Crime of Passion'
• 'Even Stephen'
• 'Dream On'

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HISTORY, CHANNELED: "COLUMBO" & LADY ASTOR

'Columbo'

"Dagger Of The Mind"

When visiting police official Lt. Columbo expressed an interest in the late Sir Roger Haversham's umbrella, his butler Tanner gave the briefest history of it - that it had been a gift from Lady Astor.  Looking over the umbrella, Tanner pointed out the engraving, which by that point was quite faded and worn down with age.  And of course, the material of the umbrella had been replaced many times over.

From Wikipedia:Nancy Witcher Langhorne Astor, CH (19 May 1879 — 2 May 1964) was an American-born socialite who made a second marriage to Waldorf Astor as a young woman in England. [Her first husband was an American, Robert Gould Shaw II, and they divorced.] 

After Waldorf Astor succeeded to the peerage and entered the House of Lords, she entered politics, in 1919 winning his former seat and becoming the first woman to sit as a Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons. She served in Parliament as a representative of the Tory Party from Plymouth district until 1945, when she was persuaded to step down.

Astor's friendship with George Bernard Shaw helped her through some of her personal problems, but his own nonconformity created problems. They held opposing political views and had very different temperaments. However, his own tendency to make controversial statements or put her into awkward situations proved to be a drawback for her political career.

  

Click here for more about Lady Astor.

(Personally, after reading about her in Wikipedia, I found her to be a hateful person.)

Sir Roger Haversham must have met Lady Astor through his own friendship with the playwright Shaw.  Sir Roger may not have owned his own theatre at the time, but was already making a name for himself as a producer of theatrical presentations.

Nancy Astor was portrayed in two mini-series: 'Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years" (played by Marcella Markham) and in "Nancy Astor" (portrayed by Lisa Harrow).  

Since so many historical figures are portrayed by different actors in both, I'm loath to consider either one for official inclusion into Earth Prime-Time.  However, when Sir Roger knew Lady Astor, she probably resembled Marcella Markham at that age.....

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O'BSERVATIONS - "MULANEY"

'Seinfeld' made its debut twenty-five years ago.  

I'll give you a minute to absorb that.

Recovered, have we?

When 'Seinfeld' started out, it took a little while for it to find its sea legs.  But I think once the show recast the role of Frank Costanza, swapping out John Randolph for Jerry Stiller, it was firing on all cylinders.  

'Mulaney' has the basic blueprint of 'Seinfeld' - a stand-up comedian basically playing "himself" and he hangs out with three friends.  Jane is the new version of Elaine (and even played by a former 'SNL' player), while the other two are variations on Kramer and George: Instead of living next door like Kramer, Motif is John Mulaney's room-mate.  And instead of being his childhood buddy like George, Andre the human Furby is his weed dealer.

 

Normally, I'd say that 'Mulaney' should be given the same opportunity to grow and find itself.  But it should be starting at the same level as 'Seinfeld' did when that series ended.  Didn't they learn anything from that series in the sixteen years since it went off the air?  They had nine seasons of comedy gold to study as their blueprint!

I have a Facebook friend named Joe Bua who had this to say about the pilot:

John Mulaney is going to have to become a much better actor if his show is going to work. I watched it twice. If these scenes with Martin Short are to work he's gotta bring his game up. Fingers crossed, I like his standup a lot and there are some great jokes in the pilot. Seaton Smith and Nasim Pedrad can carry him through their scenes but he's gotta hold more of your attention in those scenes with Short than he did in this episode.

And I have to agree.  

But at least 'Mulaney' contributed to the expansion of Toobworld with the TV show for which John Mulaney writes.  

'Celebrity You Guessed It' (I'm assuming there's a regular version of the show as well.) is hosted by Lou Cannon (played by Short), who is insanely popular with the ladies who watch daytime TV.  And we got to see a film clip of Dean Cain's televersion as part of that show.  Cain's participation in that quick bit added to his League of Themselves tally which also includes 'Living Single' and 'Don't Trust The Bitch In Apartment 23'.  This makes him eligible for eventual induction into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame.

Since Sundays are part of my "weekend", I'll probably continue to check this out.  But that's only while the CBS schedule is screwed up by football.  Right now I'm watching 'Madam Secretary' and 'The Good Wife' live because I can't trust recording it due to impossibility of the NFL games to end on time.  So I'm recording 'Masterpiece Mystery!' and 'Mulaney' to watch later.

It's not much of a recommendation but it's the best I can do at this time.  Hopefully the writing (and Mulaney's acting) will get sharper....

BCnU!

TUESDAY NEWS DAY: EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND OF ARABIA

The Middle East is getting ready for the third season of the Arabic version of 'Everybody Loves Raymond' which is called 'El Bab Fel Bab'.  Because the culture is so vastly different from the West, both shows can exist in the main Toobworld.  Although the basic storyline may be the same as the original, the names of the characters will be different and that goes a long way toward acceptance of a remake.  (See 'All In The Family', 'The Office', 'Sanford And Son'.)  Otherwise, the plot in which one brother in the family is favored over the other is universal.  

Check out this promo for the series:

The same holds true for the Russian and the Polish versions of 'Everybody Loves Raymond'.  Even the British version has changed the names of the characters, with Michael Smith replacing Ray Barone.

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THEORIES OF RELATEEVEETY: THE ITALIAN CONNECTION

Looking at Italian TV on Columbus Day......

In 1890, Marshal Paolo Giummaro of Vigata, Sicily, teamed up with police detective Inspector Ernesto Bellavia to investigate the disappearance of bank executive Antonio Patò, who vanished after playing Judas in the annual Passion Play.

Despite their cultural "differences"*, Giummaro and Bellavia came up with the solution which also satisfied any questions about several other mysteries in Vigata.  However, politically their solution was unacceptable (because of the involvement of the Mafia and possible scandal for the bank) so they faked a second solution to keep all involved parties happy.

One of Giummaro's children moved to the mainland of Italy and settled in Gubbio, a small town on the slope of Mt. Ingino in the province of Peruggio (which is also known as Umbria.)  Whether it was a daughter who married and moved away, or a son in search of his own destiny, eventually the family name changed so that for Toobworld research it would be the lineage of the Cecchini branch which would be followed.

Giummaro's great-grandson, Nino Cecchini, carried on the legacy of his great-grandfather by becoming a "Maresciallo" in that provincial town.  Despite his commanding officer's objections, Marshal Cecchini would often seek out the help of the local priest, Don Matteo, in solving murders in Gubbio.

O'BSERVATION:

Actor Nino Frassica played both roles.

SERIES AND MOVIE CITED:

"La scomparsa di Patò"

'Don Matteo'

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* Giummaro was from the south of Sicily and Bellavia was from the north.  As Bellavia kept pointing out, everything remained the same.  (There were no differences in their speech, for example.)

THE SHAME OF TOOBWORLD: FOX NEWS ON "POPEYE" & "WONDER WOMAN"

MISSED MANORS - "COLUMBO" & "REMINGTON STEELE"

'Columbo'

"Dagger Of The Mind"

In the Autumn of 1972, Lt. Columbo traveled to Great Britain as part of an exchange tour between the Los Angeles Police Department and New Scotland Yard.  While there under the supervision of Detective Chief Superintendent William Durk, Columbo uncovered the truth about the death of Sir Roger Haversham: the honored theatrical producer did not die in a fall at his mansion in the countryside but instead had been murdered elsewhere.  (Backstage at his theatre by the leading players in his production of "MacBeth".)

'Remington Steele'

"Blue Blooded Steele"

Over a decade later, Remington Steele, posing as heir to the title of Duke of Rutherford, uncovered a murder plot to gain the late Duke's estate.  Steele and his partner were staying at the ancestral Rutherford estate for that weekend and one thing should have been noticeable to the discerning eye of the Trueniverse audience.

Both the Haversham and Rutherford estates looked exactly the same, inside and out of the mansion.

 

 

 

Here's the easy splainin for such a Zonk:

One of the Duke of Rutherford's relatives mentioned that the estate had been the ancestral home of the Rutherfords.  Therefore, there was no way it could have been the home of Sir Roger Haversham a decade earlier.  And based on what Sir Roger's butler Tanner said, Sir Roger had been living in his mansion for many many years.

Therefore, I believe Sir Roger had his mansion built to the specifications of the Rutherford mansion's design.  Perhaps he had been the Duke's guest on several occasions, accompanying the Lady Astor to some lawn fete or costume ball.  Having seen the splendor of the Rutherford mansion, Sir Roger may have decided to have a copy made for himself.

And in that way we would avoid a Zonk.

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STATUS UPDATE - "FLASH" BACK?

'ARROW'

"TIME OF DEATH"

A little while ago, I banished 'Arrow' to a second life in an alternate dimension after thirty episodes.  This was due to the introduction of a new Barry Allen, who will soon become the new Flash and be spun off into his own series.  The main Toobworld already has its own Flash/Barry Allen from the 1990 series "The Flash", as played by John Wesley Shipp.  But I decided those preceding 'Arrow' episodes could remain in the main Toobworld and after that the focus just shifted to the new world.

It's the sort of thing that's happened before with 'The Dead Zone' (suddenly a new President and Vice President of the United States) and 'Alias Smith And Jones' (due to the death of Pete Duel, Hannibal Heyes was then played by Roger Davis.)

The great thing about the Toobworld Dynamic is that it's malleable.  If the scriptwriters can go back and change their show's own history, I can do the same with the TwD.   And after some consideration, I think I can modify that decree somewhat.

From now on, as long as the Flash or Barry Allen is not mentioned or seen in the show, then we can assume we're watching an episode of 'Arrow' which is set in Earth Prime-Time.  After all, just because it got shunted off to an alternate TV dimension, that doesn't mean it ceased to exist in the main Toobworld.  Should Barry Allen or the Flash show up again, then our P.O.V. has switched over to the other world.  (I'm thinking the International House of Remakes. Nah, that's not a very good name for the Land of Remakes.  Gotta keep looking....)

And when it comes to him being mentioned, I might be able to loosen the rules a little more and claim that they're talking about the original Flash.  But I'm kind of committed to the theory that the speed powers exhibited by Shipp's Flash have dissipated, if they didn't outright kill him!

The reason for my change of heart is Black Canary, mostly.  I'd hate the idea of losing her to another world (but not 'Another World'.)  Plus there have been so many other great characters translated from the comics who have shown up and who have never been seen before in Earth Prime-Time - like Deathstroke, Count Vertigo, China White, Solomon Grundy, KGBeast, the Dollmaker and the Huntress.  (Her previous appearance was in 'Birds Of Prey' and that had to go to a different TV dimension, probably Evil Toobworld.  Solomon Grundy also appeared before in "Legend Of The Superheroes", but that's in Doofus Toobworld.  Most of the others may have appeared in animated series but of course those all go to the Tooniverse.) 

Ra's Al Ghul has been mentioned on the series, and his daughter Nyssa and his League of Assassins have shown up, but we have yet to meet him.

The latest to join those ranks, and who was also instrumental in changing my mind about the status of 'Arrow' was the Clock King, an alias used by William Tockman.  

Unlike the Huntress and Solomon Grundy, the Clock King has appeared in Earth Prime-Time before.  And yet I think the main Toobworld can support them both.  That's because "Clock King" is an alias which could be assumed by anybody.  And during his two-episode stint in 'Batman' during the 1960s, his name was never mentioned as being William Tockman.

And so what if it was?  There has been enough time elapsed for the Tockman family tree to feature both grandfather and the grandson named after him.  

The Clock King had no special powers, just a keen sense of timing and an obsession with Time.  (It's a trait shared with the late Clockwise.)  So there's no problem with two such similarly named characters with similar modus operandi existing in the same TV dimension.  This is unlike the case with Barry Allen becoming the Flash.  It's such a random occurrence - working in the Central City police forensics lab, getting doused with chemicals which give him super-speed, that red costume with the lightning bolt - that it would stretch the willing suspension of disbelief.

Although I have to admit....  I am tempted to try and get away with it if the reports of John Wesley Shipp being a recurring character on the new 'Flash' means he's playing Barry Allen Senior!  (However, I suspect he'll be Jay Garrick, the Flash from an earlier period in a parallel dimension.)

So them's the New Rules: if an 'Arrow' episode features Barry Allen or the Flash, or probably even mentions him, then that's an episode which belongs in the Land of Remakes.  (Toobworld Remake?  Simple and definitive......)  But if it's Flash-free, then we're back in Earth Prime-Time.

By the way, this episode did have mention of Central City - Mrs. Lance, the mother of Laurel and Sarah, is now living and teaching there... and has a new man in her life, much to the chagrin of her ex-husband.  There is no problem in this because Central City does exist in the "Telemerica" of Toobworld.  No mention was made of the Flash so it's all good.

BCnU!

MISSING LINK ZONK - "HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER" & "BODY OF PROOF"

Not that I was planning on developing this idea for posting, but I had it in mind that the new ABC series 'How To Get Away With Murder' would fit in nicely with a previous ABC show set in Philadelphia - 'Body Of Proof'.  In fact, I had this secret wish that perhaps Dana Delany might return to her role of Dr. Megan Hunt in a special guest appearance on the Viola Davis starrer.  (I think ABC made a big mistake in canceling 'Body Of Proof'.)

But with the second episode of 'How To Get Away With Murder', executive producer Shonda Rhimes and her production team may have thrown a monkey wrench into that idea.

As part of her defense for a millionaire playboy and huntsman, Annalise Keating called a medical examiner to the stand.  This woman, who went unnamed, had been the chief medical examiner in Philadelphia for the last 13 years until she left two months before the trial to become the head of the pathology department at UPenn.

According to 'Body Of Proof', the chief medical examiner in Philadelphia was Kate Murphy:

Now, we could claim that Lynn Ann Leveridge was playing Kate Murphy; that in the time since 'Body Of Proof', Kate had let herself go.  (My apologies to Ms. Leveridge for that appraisal.  It's geared towards the character, not the actor.)  The Recastaway rules of Toobworld would allow for that, but 'How To Get Away With Murder' is not sci-fi.

At this point in the game, depending on whether or not this new law drama survives, it looks like the crossover suggestion between both shows could work as long as we play with the Toobworld timeline.  

Since 'Body Of Proof' is the show that's already cancelled, we're going to reposition it on the timeline.  As it was on the air in the middle of the Obama presidency, pretty much any topical references can stay on point if we move it to within the timeframe being established for 'How To Get Away With Murder'.  (Damn, that title is cumbersome if you have to keep typing it!)

The new series already has a flexible timeline, with the present day represented by the students of Ms. Keating covering up a murder.  The meat of the show begins three months prior to that event and will eventually lead up to the cover-up (hopefully by the end of the season.)

So as 'Body Of Proof' was broadcast from 2011 to 2013, I have no problem pushing it forward in Time so that it is now concurrent with 'H2GAWM'.  (Not liking that acronym.....)  That way, Kate Murphy was given the job as Chief Medical Examiner for Philadelphia after Leveridge's unnamed character left the job.  We could also push 'H2GAWM' backwards in Time by a year as well.  Perhaps even by two years.......

It's something that will have a slim chance of ever being a factor in what we see on the screen, but for the purposes of the Toobworld Dynamic the motion should be sustained.

But should my ruling be overturned, I will fall back on Lynn Ann Leveridge playing Jeri Ryan's Kate Murphy......

BCnU!