In continuing the tribute to Harvey Schmidt, here is one of the TV presentations of "The Fantasticks":
Saturday, March 10, 2018
VIDEO WEEKEND HAT SQUAD - "THE FANTASTICKS"
In continuing the tribute to Harvey Schmidt, here is one of the TV presentations of "The Fantasticks":
Labels:
Alternateevee,
ToobMusic,
Twipped from the Headlines
Friday, March 9, 2018
THEORIES OF RELATEEVEETY - THREE FACES OF GRAY-STANFORD
There be spoilers ahead.....
'MONK'
&
'THE X-FILES'
"FAMILIAR"
&
"THE JERSEY DEVIL"
"THE JERSEY DEVIL"
In San Francisco, Randall Disher was a lieutenant in the police department of the City by the Bay. Meanwhile, across the country, Officer Eggars served on the police force of Eastwood, Connecticut (where he was being cuckolded by his boss, Chief Strong.)
Despite the vast expanse of America separating them, both men looked exactly alike. And both of them had gone into the same line of work - to protect and serve. Disher and Eggars were not identical twins, but rather, identical cousins.
And the common factor was their grandfather, who was a state trooper in New Jersey back in 1947. Their grandfather was on the hunt for a murderer who had killed a family in the Pine Barrens which folklore had tied into the legend of the Jersey Devil.
Or was it just a legend....?
BCnU!
O'Bservation: All three characters were played by Jason Gray-Stanford.
O'Bservation: All three characters were played by Jason Gray-Stanford.
Thursday, March 8, 2018
"THE GOLDBERGS" & "HOGAN'S HEROES" - I KNOW NO ZONK, NO ZONK!
"HOGAN IS MY GRANDFATHER"
From IMDB:
Adam's school project about Pops backfires while Beverly teaches an important lesson to Erica and Barry.
Adam's school project about Pops backfires while Beverly teaches an important lesson to Erica and Barry.
In order to keep Adam as his rapt audience, his grandfather started spinning fictional WWII stories about himself. Rather than talking about how he was a clerk in charge of pants allocations, Pops cribbed the plotlines from the sitcom 'Hogan's Heroes' and made those stories about himself.
You might find this hard to believe, but this isn't a Zonk. 'Hogan's Heroes' is an historical fact in Toobworld - a top secret spy operation in a prisoner of war camp which was declassified after the war and a TV series was created from it.
The fact that it was done in jest is just an interpretation.
And the Toobworld TV show was similar to the Real World version in that they both hired the same actors to play the roles of the real historical figures, as seen in the screencaps displayed here.
BCnU!
You might find this hard to believe, but this isn't a Zonk. 'Hogan's Heroes' is an historical fact in Toobworld - a top secret spy operation in a prisoner of war camp which was declassified after the war and a TV series was created from it.
The fact that it was done in jest is just an interpretation.
And the Toobworld TV show was similar to the Real World version in that they both hired the same actors to play the roles of the real historical figures, as seen in the screencaps displayed here.
Wednesday, March 7, 2018
THE HAT SQUAD - REMEMBERING HARVEY SCHMIDT
Harvey Schmidt, the composer of "The Fantasticks," which debuted when Eisenhower was still president and became the longest-running musical in history, has died. He was 88.
His death was confirmed by Dan Demello, a publicist for the off-Broadway show.
Schmidt teamed up with lyricist, director and storywriter Tom Jones on "The Fantasticks" as well as the Broadway shows "110 in the Shade" and "I Do! I Do!" Both men were inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1998.
"Try to Remember," the best-known song of "The Fantasticks," has been recorded by hundreds of artists over the decades, including Ed Ames, Harry Belafonte, Barbra Streisand and Placido Domingo. "Soon It's Gonna Rain" and "They Were You" are also among the musical's most recognized songs.
(The Associated Press)
Most of the time when songs are used in TV shows, it is solely for the benefit of the audience watching at home in the Trueniverse. The characters in Toobworld can't hear it. Exceptions would be those shows in which characters would actually sing them, and of course their use in variety shows, talk shows, awards shows, etc.
"The Fantasticks" was presented twice on television and its score is a gold mine of songs that could be used in various shows to flavor a scene. "Try To Remember" is probably the song that is most associated with the musical and is best known to the general public.
The following is a list of the shows in which Mr. Schmidt's music was used in Toobworld:
TOOBSTAGE
The Fantasticks (TV Movie) 1964
(music: "Try to Remember", "Much More", "Metaphor", "Never Say No", "Soon It's Gonna Rain", "Abduction Ballet", "Happy Ending", "I Can See It", "Plant a Raddish", "Round and Round", "They Were You", "Try to Remember" (reprise) - uncredited)
The Fantasticks (TV Movie) 1964
(music: "Try to Remember", "Much More", "Metaphor", "Never Say No", "Soon It's Gonna Rain", "Abduction Ballet", "Happy Ending", "I Can See It", "Plant a Raddish", "Round and Round", "They Were You", "Try to Remember" (reprise) - uncredited)
The Fantasticks
1995
(music: "Overture", "Much More", "Never Say No", "Metaphor", "The Abduction Song", "Soon It's Gonna Rain", "The Rape Ballet" (Instrumental), "Happy Ending", "This Plum Is Too Ripe", "I Can See It", "'Round and 'Round", "They Were You", "Try to Remember")
(music: "Overture", "Much More", "Never Say No", "Metaphor", "The Abduction Song", "Soon It's Gonna Rain", "The Rape Ballet" (Instrumental), "Happy Ending", "This Plum Is Too Ripe", "I Can See It", "'Round and 'Round", "They Were You", "Try to Remember")
EARTH PRIME-TIME
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
(music: "Try To Remember" - uncredited)
- Tangled Web (1965)
(music: "Try To Remember" - uncredited)
- Rick's Assistant (1966) (music: "Try To Remember" - uncredited)
(music: "Try To Remember" - uncredited)
The Muppet Show
- Sandy Duncan (1976)
(music: "Try to Remember")
Performed by Sandy Duncan and the Muppets in the episode
- Sandy Duncan (1976)
(music: "Try to Remember")
Performed by Sandy Duncan and the Muppets in the episode
It's Garry Shandling's Show
- Sarah (1987)
(music: "My Cup Runneth Over")
Sung by Ed Ames as himself in the episode
Sung by Ed Ames as himself in the episode
The Wonder Years
- Little Debbie (1990)
(music: "Try to Remember" - uncredited)
Soundtrack - performed by Harry Belafonte
(music: "Try to Remember" - uncredited)
Soundtrack - performed by Harry Belafonte
- Smashed (2013)
(music: "I Can See It" - uncredited)
Sung by Tobias Funke & Argyle Austero in the episode
Good night and may God bless, Harvey Schmidt.....
Sung by Tobias Funke & Argyle Austero in the episode
TV MOVIES
(not always part of Toobworld)
(not always part of Toobworld)
Getting Married in Buffalo Jump (TV Movie)
(writer: "Try to Remember" - uncredited)
From the cast album
(writer: "Try to Remember" - uncredited)
From the cast album
TV IN TOOBWORLD
The Ed Sullivan Show
- Episode #19.1 (1965)
- Episode #19.1 (1965)
(music: "Try to Remember")
Dean Martin Presents the Golddiggers
- Episode #2.2 (1969)
- Episode #2.2 (1969)
(writer: "Try to Remember" - uncredited)
Performed by Darleen Carr in the episode
Performed by Darleen Carr in the episode
The Graham Kennedy Show
- Episode dated 3 May 1973
(writer: "My Cup Runneth Over")
- Episode dated 3 May 1973
(writer: "My Cup Runneth Over")
In Melbourne Tonight
- Episode dated 14 May 1970
(writer: "Soon It's Gonna Rain")
- Episode dated 14 May 1970
(writer: "Soon It's Gonna Rain")
AWARDS SHOWS
(and considered TV in Toobworld)
(and considered TV in Toobworld)
The 41st Annual Tony Awards
(music: "This House")
The 61st Annual Tony Awards
(music: "Raunchy")
VARIETY SPECIALS
(could be part of Toobworld)
(could be part of Toobworld)
Great Performances
- The Best of Broadway (1985)
(writer: "Try To Remember")
- The Best of Broadway (1985)
(writer: "Try To Remember")
American Soundtrack: This Land Is Your Land (TV Movie)
(writer: "Try To Remember")
(writer: "Try To Remember")
An Evening with Harry Belafonte & Friends (TV Movie)
(writer: "Try To Remember")
(writer: "Try To Remember")
In Performance at the White House: A Salute to Broadway - The Shows (TV Movie)
(writer: "Try to Remember")
(writer: "Try to Remember")
Play of the Week
- New York Scrapbook (1961)
- New York Scrapbook (1961)
(music: "Mister Off-Broadway", "Summer/Autumn/Winter/Spring")
SKITLANDIA
SKITLANDIA
The Benny Hill Show
- For Ever Love (1985)
(writer: "Try to Remember")
Benny Hill sings it in the episode
- The Underworld Water of Jacques Custard (1970)
(writer: "Try to Remember")
The group Two's Company sing it in the episode
- For Ever Love (1985)
(writer: "Try to Remember")
Benny Hill sings it in the episode
- The Underworld Water of Jacques Custard (1970)
(writer: "Try to Remember")
The group Two's Company sing it in the episode
Good night and may God bless, Harvey Schmidt.....
Tuesday, March 6, 2018
TWO FOR TUESDAY - NEW ZEALAND TO ZEELAND
For the first "Two for Tuesday" post of the month, we take a look at one of my new favorites (although it's been around since 2016) and how its remake can remain in the same dimension.
For Wikipedia:
Both shows can exist in the same TV dimension because unlike the remake of 'Shameless', the names of the characters were all changed, and just as importantly, so were the locations. It doesn't matter that the story lines remained the same because Toobworld has seen plot lines repeated - sometimes even in the same show!
BCnU!
Monday, March 5, 2018
MONDAY MINUTIAE - MAYFIELD
Team Toobworld knows how much I love coming up with theoretical connections between TV series, usually in the form of theories of relateeveety. But every so often I find links within one series.
Most of those times, it was deliberate. For example, the callbacks to past episodes. As this will eventually be about 'Columbo', the big example would be the Lieutenant's many references to the Nelson Haywood case in which the Senatorial candidate killed his manager in "Candidate For Crime".
Here are the two episodes involved:
NBC's "A STITCH IN CRIME"
ABC's "AGENDA FOR MURDER"
In the first one, the murderer was Dr. Barry Mayfield, played by Leonard Nimoy. Mayfield was a brilliant surgeon and research scientist who was planning to cause his senior partner's death through corrective surgery for his arterial disease. But his intended victim survived, although two other people were murdered by Mayfield in his attempt to cover up his premeditated murder attempt.
The connection to "Agenda For Murder" may be a trivial one, but for me it's a fun link and making me happy is ultimately what is important.
In that later episode had political strategist Oscar Finch murdering the one man who could derail Governor Montgomery's bid to be President. (Whether or not that was the reason, Owen Marshall's identical cousin ended up not even getting the nomination from his party.)
In plotting out the murder, Finch used aluminum foil to hold the used gun powder which he was going to put on the hand of the man whom he was going to kill, making it look like a suicide.
As you can see from this screen grab, the brand name for the aluminum foil he used was "Mayfield".
I floated this idea in the Columbo TV Facebook page yesterday and decided to flesh it out.
Barry Mayfield's college career and medical school were all paid with money from the family fortune which had been amassed to their holdings in the aluminum industry. Mayfield Aluminum was probably founded by his great-grandfather in the late 1800s, but it was under his grandfather's stewardship in the 1920s when they went into full production using new techniques.
But the family's wealth and power didn't help him in avoiding punishment for his crimes, however. For murdering Sharon Martin and Harry Alexander, I believe Dr. Mayfield was sentenced to two consecutive life terms and died in prison. He may have been a model prisoner, serving in the medical wing, but he was never going to see a pardon.
I may be alone in that judgement. The Ultimate Columbo Site thinks the case was dismissed due to insufficient evidence.
So there you are - an inner link connecting two episodes of 'Columbo'.
ABC's "AGENDA FOR MURDER"
The connection to "Agenda For Murder" may be a trivial one, but for me it's a fun link and making me happy is ultimately what is important.
In that later episode had political strategist Oscar Finch murdering the one man who could derail Governor Montgomery's bid to be President. (Whether or not that was the reason, Owen Marshall's identical cousin ended up not even getting the nomination from his party.)
As you can see from this screen grab, the brand name for the aluminum foil he used was "Mayfield".
I floated this idea in the Columbo TV Facebook page yesterday and decided to flesh it out.

I may be alone in that judgement. The Ultimate Columbo Site thinks the case was dismissed due to insufficient evidence.
So there you are - an inner link connecting two episodes of 'Columbo'.
BCnU!
Sunday, March 4, 2018
Saturday, March 3, 2018
SATURDAY SUPERHEROES
A few days ago, this was posted in the Batman '66 Facebook page......
Ok so we all know Batman 66 was designed to be campy. That being said name (Just ONE person) from the time period that would have made a very memorable villain. I have a list but at the top of that list stands the one and only Jackie Gleason.
There were a lot of great answers and this is the one I came up with:
I've been thinking about the idea since then and I want to flesh it out some more.
I still think that - evil as she is - Endora would not be a villainess towards Batman and Robin, even though Agnes Moorehead would have nailed it. But as I stated, ABC and the 'Bewitched' producers would never have allowed it. So we'd have to take a different bat-path.
Marsha's Aunt Hilda looked just like Aunt Enchantra from 'Bewitched', but only in one episode - "Witches And Warlocks Are My Favorite Things." (Diana Chesney would later play Enchantra in the episode "Adam - Warlock or Washout." The splainin? Enchantra used her magic to alter her appearance, just as Samantha Stephens used a similar spell to change her husband Darrin's visage. Sam also used the spell on Louise Tate and Gladys Kravitz as a practice test to make sure that it worked.)
I think there was a specific reason why Endora and her friends were so spiteful toward Darrin Stephens being a mortal married to a witch. It was because they already had personal experience in what a mistake that could be.
Marsha's Aunt Hilda looked just like Aunt Enchantra from 'Bewitched', but only in one episode - "Witches And Warlocks Are My Favorite Things." (Diana Chesney would later play Enchantra in the episode "Adam - Warlock or Washout." The splainin? Enchantra used her magic to alter her appearance, just as Samantha Stephens used a similar spell to change her husband Darrin's visage. Sam also used the spell on Louise Tate and Gladys Kravitz as a practice test to make sure that it worked.)
I think there was a specific reason why Endora and her friends were so spiteful toward Darrin Stephens being a mortal married to a witch. It was because they already had personal experience in what a mistake that could be.
It's my theory that Enchantra was the mother of Hilda, and that Hilda's father was a mortal. Her powers were not as strong as those of her mother and she made a lot of mistakes. She was the aunt of Marsha, Queen of Diamonds, and I think that the family connection doesn't have Enchantra involved. Her mortal lover left her and married a human woman instead. Their son would have been Hilda's mortal half-brother and was the father of Marsha.
So that's the way the plot would evolve - trying yet again to bring down the Dynamic Duo, Marsha and Aunt Hilda drew the ire of the Witches' Council. Hilda's bumbling attempts at witchcraft had become a problem, especially since she looked just like her mother. It would have caused problems for Enchantra the next time she materialized at some public event.
Acting as the ambassdor for the Witches' Council, Endora would have acted to remove them both as a threat against the lives of the Caped Crusader and the Boy Wonder. It would have been just a cameo, with Agnes Moorehead stepping in as the deus ex machina to wrap up the crime spree of Marsha and Hilda.
Well.... Maybe it doesn't seem like much in that form, but I imagine a clever fanficcer might be able to flesh it out. Any batficcers out there who might want to give it a try?
BCnU!
Friday, March 2, 2018
JULIANNE & THE TVXOHOF - ONE DOWN, TWO MOORE TO GO
Let's take a look at a member of the League of Themselves taking her first step toward eventual induction into the Television Crossover Hall of Fame.
From Wikipedia:
Julianne Moore (born Julie Anne Smith; December 3, 1960) is an American actress, prolific in films since the early 1990s. She is particularly known for her portrayals of emotionally troubled women in both independent and Hollywood films, and has received many accolades, including the Academy Award for Best Actress.After studying theatre at Boston University, Moore began her career with a series of television roles. From 1985 to 1988, she was a regular in the soap opera 'As the World Turns', earning a Daytime Emmy for her performance. Her film debut was in "Tales from the Darkside: The Movie" (1990), and she continued to play small roles for the next four years – including in the thriller "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" (1992). Moore first received critical attention with Robert Altman's "Short Cuts" (1993), and successive performances in "Vanya" on 42nd Street (1994) and "Safe" (1995) continued this acclaim. Starring roles in the blockbusters "Nine Months" (1995) and "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" (1997) established her as a leading actress in Hollywood.
Moore received considerable recognition in the late 1990s and early 2000s, earning Oscar nominations for "Boogie Nights" (1997), "The End of the Affair" (1999), "Far from Heaven" (2002) and "The Hours" (2002). In the first of these she played a 1970s pornographic actress, while the other three featured her as an unhappy, mid-20th century housewife. She also had success with the films "The Big Lebowski" (1998), "Magnolia" (1999), "Hannibal" (2001), "Children of Men" (2006), "A Single Man" (2009), "The Kids Are All Right" (2010), and "Crazy, Stupid, Love" (2011), and won several awards for her portrayal of Sarah Palin in the television film "Game Change" (2012). The year 2014 was key for Moore, as she gave an Oscar-winning performance as an Alzheimer's patient in "Still Alice", was named Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival for "Maps to the Stars", and joined the lucrative "Hunger Games" series.
In addition to acting, Moore has written a series of children's books about a character named "Freckleface Strawberry". She is married to director Bart Freundlich, with whom she has two children.
Along with 'As The World Turns' and 'Game Change', she also had a recurring role on '30 Rock'. But surprisingly for someone who is so recognizable with that red hair, I'm surprised Ms. Moore has not shown up in more TV shows as herself. And as her star was ascending, there were plenty of shows in which her League of Themselves televersion would have fit right in - 'Entourage', 'Night Stand', 'Episodes', 'The Comeback', 'Extras', 'Muppets Tonight', and best of all, 'The Larry Sanders Show'. Even after playing her character on '30 Rock', they could have brought her in as herself for an episode about mistaken identities. I wonder if she was just too busy. Or maybe no one thought to ask her.
But maybe that's all changing.
'NIGHTCAP'
"SINGLE WHITE STACI"
But maybe that's all changing.
"SINGLE WHITE STACI"
From IMDb:
Julianne Moore is shadowing Staci to prepare for a role in an indie film. Acting anything but natural, Staci goes on an awkward lunch date with Donny Deutsch. Todd consults Barbara Corcoran and Dr. Oz about donating his body fat to Jimmy for a cosmetic procedure.
Julianne Moore is shadowing Staci to prepare for a role in an indie film. Acting anything but natural, Staci goes on an awkward lunch date with Donny Deutsch. Todd consults Barbara Corcoran and Dr. Oz about donating his body fat to Jimmy for a cosmetic procedure.
This June 2017 episode serves as a great example for my vision of a TV Universe in considering celebrities playing themselves to be valid crossover potential as any fictional character. These people "caught in the act of being themselves" are just as fictional as the characters with whom they interact. They not only meet those fictional characters, but they travel to places which don't really exist (Fernwood, Ohio, for example), have sex with fictional characters (Mandy Moore, Ellen DeGeneres, Roseanne, Lou Diamond Phillips), and some aren't even human in Toobworld! (Dennis Rodman is an alien and Willie Mays is a warlock.)
In this case, Julianne Moore was shot in the gut by a crossbow arrow, "thanks" to the studio's security guard!
Not exactly something that happened in the real world.
In this case, Julianne Moore was shot in the gut by a crossbow arrow, "thanks" to the studio's security guard!
There aren't many options for real people to show up in TV shows nowadays - all those previously mentioned shows are gone now. Maybe Ms. Moore could appear in a cameo as a spokesman for something similar to a MeToo campaign in a "ripped from the headlines" episode of 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'.
But if she is offered such a venue, I hope she goes for it. She will only need two more appearances as herself in different shows to qualify for membership in the Television Crossover Hall of Fame.
BCnU!
Thursday, March 1, 2018
TVXOHOF, MARCH 2018 - MANNIX!
But Joe Mannix is Toobworld's own.
From Wikipedia:
'Mannix' is an American television detective series that ran from 1967 to 1975 on CBS. Created by Richard Levinson and William Link and developed by executive producer Bruce Geller, the title character, Joe Mannix, is a private investigator. He is played by Mike Connors.
Joseph R. "Joe" Mannix is a regular guy, without pretense, who has a store of proverbs on which to rely in conversation. What demons he has mostly come from having fought in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, where he was initially listed as MIA while he was a prisoner of war in a brutal POW camp until he escaped.
Over the length of the series, a sizable percentage of his old Army comrades turn out to have homicidal impulses against him,as does his fellow running back from his college football days. During the series, Mannix is also revealed to have worked as a mercenary in Latin America. Like the actor who plays him, Mannix is of Armenian descent. He speaks fluent Armenian from time to time during the series, as well as conversational Spanish.
Mannix is notable for the high level of physical punishment he withstands. During the course of the series, he is shot and wounded over a dozen separate times, and knocked unconscious around 55 times. He frequently takes brutal beatings to the abdomen; some of these went on quite a long time, particularly by the television standards of the era. Whenever he gets into one of his convertibles, he can expect to be shot at or run off the road by another car or find his vehicle sabotaged.
Mannix is notable for the high level of physical punishment he withstands. During the course of the series, he is shot and wounded over a dozen separate times, and knocked unconscious around 55 times. He frequently takes brutal beatings to the abdomen; some of these went on quite a long time, particularly by the television standards of the era. Whenever he gets into one of his convertibles, he can expect to be shot at or run off the road by another car or find his vehicle sabotaged.
Nevertheless, he keeps his cool and perseveres until his antagonists are brought down. While making the television pilot "The Name is Mannix", Connors dislocated his shoulder running away from a "From Russia with Love"-type pursuit from a helicopter, and broke his left wrist punching a stuntman who happened to be wearing a steel plate on his back.
Connors later expressed his concerns over what he saw as the show's dismissive attitude toward violence and its consequences, citing the example of Mannix being thrown down a flight of stairs and appearing without a scratch almost immediately after.
Starting in season two, Mannix lives at 17 Paseo Verde, West Los Angeles. Mannix grew up in a town called Summer Grove, where he was a star football and basketball player. Summer Grove had a thriving Armenian immigrant community. As of 1969, Mannix's mother had died 10 years earlier, and Mannix had not been back to the town since the funeral. Mannix's estranged father, Stefan, was still living in Summer Grove, and Mannix and his father would start a reconciliation. When Mannix returns to Summer Grove for a case three years later, his father and he are on good terms.
Following military service in the Korean War, Mannix attended Western Pacific University on the GI Bill, graduated in 1955, and obtained his private investigator's license in 1956. He is a black belt in karate. Throughout the series, he appears proficient in a variety of athletic pursuits, including sailing, horseback riding, and skiing. He is an accomplished pool player, golfs regularly, and is also a skilled airplane pilot. In the first season, he carries a Walther PP semiautomatic pistol. From the second season on, Mannix carries a Colt Detective Special snubnosed revolver in .38 Special caliber.
During the first season of the series, Joe Mannix works for a large Los Angeles detective agency called Intertect, which was the planned original title of the show. His superior is Lew Wickersham, played by Joseph Campanella, with the agency featuring the use of computers to help solve crimes. As opposed to the other employees who must wear dark suits and sit in rows of desks with only one piece of paper allowed to be on their desks at one time, Mannix belongs to the classic American detective archetype, thus he usually ignores the computers' solutions, disobeys his boss's orders, and sets out to do things his own way. He wears plaid sport coats and has his own office that he keeps sloppy between his assignments. Lew has cameras in all the rooms of Intertect monitoring the performance of his employees and providing instant feedback through intercoms in the room. Unlike the other Intertect operatives, Mannix attempts to block the camera with a coat rack and insults Lew, comparing him to Big Brother.
From the second season on, Mannix works on his own with the assistance of his loyal secretary Peggy Fair, a police officer's widow played by Gail Fisher – one of the first African American actresses to have a regular series role. He also receives help from the Los Angeles police department, the two most prominent officers being Lieutenant Art Malcolm (portrayed by Ward Wood) and Lieutenant Adam Tobias (portrayed by Robert Reed). Other police contacts are Lieutenant George Kramer (Larry Linville), who had been the partner of Peggy's late husband,[3] and Lieutenant Dan Ives (Jack Ging).
In 1971, Connors guest-starred on an episode of 'Here's Lucy' entitled "Lucy and Mannix are Held Hostage".
In 1997, Connors reprised the role of Mannix on an episode of 'Diagnosis: Murder' entitled "Hard-Boiled Murder", which serves as a sequel to the Mannix episode "Little Girl Lost".
In 1997, Connors reprised the role of Mannix on an episode of 'Diagnosis: Murder' entitled "Hard-Boiled Murder", which serves as a sequel to the Mannix episode "Little Girl Lost".
It's just a shame that CBS didn't capitalize on the popularity of 'Mannix' by crossing the character over to other TV series in their line-up, especially with other private eyes, 'Barnaby Jones' and Frank 'Cannon'. But as seen by his guest shot in an episode of 'Here's Lucy' (working with the boss, basically), Mannix was the type of character who could be featured in a sitcom and not be spoofed like those other two (Barnaby being old and Cannon fat).
But there were other missed opportunities.....
1] Let's begin with the creators of the show, Richard Levinson and William Link. They're probably best known today as the creators of 'Columbo' and they would go on from there to create Jessica Fletcher of 'Murder, She Wrote'. But imagine if they wanted to get a back-door pilot for ''Columbo' by presenting the rumpled detective in an episode of 'Mannix'. It would certainly be a different show than what we're familiar with today. First off, if sold, it would have been a CBS show and have that patina that marked their dramas. The actor playing the Lieutenant would have been different as well. Early in the talent search, they were looking for someone more along the lines of Thomas Mitchell or Pat O'Brien. They might have landed Bing Crosby, their original TV target, if he thought it was just going to be that one episode of 'Mannix'. So it's a good thing it never happened.
But that doesn't mean Mannix never got the chance to work with the Lieutenant. He worked with a lot of LAPD Lieutenants; we just never got to see him with Columbo. Or, as this publicity picture would suggest, maybe they were friends outside of the trade.
2] Remember those private eye awards ceremonies where Jim Rockford would meet up with Lance White, Vern St Cloud, Beamer, and Marcus "Gabby" Hayes? Mannix could have been at one of those. Even better? Mannix and Rockford could have met each other during the Korean War.
3] As you can see from the two examples above, publicity pictures are a good starting point to launch fanfic, and here's another: The Impossible Mission Force often brought in outside help on particular cases. It could be that Joe Mannix crossed Jim Phelps' radar, especially while he was working with Intertect. And that could be the basis for whatever happened while Mannix was working as a mercenary in Latin America.
4] One of Mannix's contacts on the LAPD was Lt. Adam Tobias and it seems apparent that Tobias was an "Identical Cousin" to an architect named Mike Brady. This theoretical crossover is more for building the case for Mike Brady's membership than just to add more possibilities to Mannix's tally. There were several cases in which Mannix was inside a house designed by Mike Brady, based on the same plans he used for the building of his own home.
The episodes were:
As I said, I'm not saying Mannix ever dealt with Mike Brady himself; just that he was in houses designed by that architect.
5]
But those are just suppositions, good for fanfic but not really admissable for membership in the Hall of Fame unless this was going to be a Birthday Honors entry. But since Joe Mannix already has those other requirements fulfilled, he can walk into the Hall with his heavily bruised head held high.
- "One For The Lady"
- "The Danford File"
- "The Ragged Edge"
As I said, I'm not saying Mannix ever dealt with Mike Brady himself; just that he was in houses designed by that architect.
5]
And if he met Cannon, it's pozz'ble, just pozz'ble, that Mannix also met 'Barnaby Jones'.....
Welcome to the TVXOHOF, Joe. And good night and may God bless Mike Connors.....
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