FRIDAY HALL 0F FAMERS, 09/26/19 - MOORE. ROGER MOORE.

For our last inductee in our salute to “the business”, we’re paying tribute again to the actor Roger Moore., who passed away over two years ago.

SIR ROGER MOORE

From Wikipedia:
Sir Roger George Moore KBE (14 October 1927 – 23 May 2017) was an English actor best known for playing British secret agent James Bond in seven feature films from 1973 to 1985, beginning with ‘Live and Let Die’.  

Prior to Bond, he played the main character, Simon Templar, in the British television series ‘The Saint’ from 1962 to 1969 and had significant roles in some American television shows and films in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including replacing James Garner and portraying Beau Maverick in the ‘Maverick’ series in 1960 to 61. Moore starred with Tony Curtis in “The Persuaders” television series in 1971 to 1972, and had roles in numerous theatrical films in the 1970s and 1980s.

Moore was appointed a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 1991 and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2003 for services to charity. In 2007, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in television and film. In 2008, the French government appointed him a Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

There are a lot of actors who play themselves in various TV shows, some of them even made a living from it, like George Burns and Milton Berle.  But I usually reserve them for inductions on special occasions, or during March when I’m trying to adhere to a regular theme of the League of Themselves.

But I thought Sir Roger worked for this theme since his presence as himself in Toobworld helps stave off any temptation on my part to bring the James Bond movies into the world of Toob.

There was one true Agent 007 in Toobworld and sorry, purists, he was an American who was addressed as “Jimmy Bond”.  (Barry Nelson in “Casino Royale”.)

As to all those incarnations on the Big Screen and how they could all still be the same man (as suggested in one of the later Daniel Craig movies?  Regeneration?  Multiverse?  Each of them just took on the name of “Bond.  James Bond” as an alias?  That’s some other dimensional devotee’s problem.

All I really had to do was concern myself with the appearances of those Bonds in various TV commercials.  (My take – Okay, each Bond seen in the movies are fictional and financed by the UNReel shadow ops.  This includes the commercials – and even Roger Moore’s appearance on a variety program nearly ten years before he assumed the role – which were all geared to duping the public into thinking that James Bond was fictional.  If James Bond is still active in Toobworld, he must be a new agent using the name as an alias and we have no clue what he must look like.

So Moore, Roger Moore, serves as the prime example that all the references to James Bond in other TV shows are to just the movies, not the man.

Here are the appearances which qualify Roger Moore to be inducted into the Television Crossover Hall Of Fame. 
:
77 Sunset Strip
- Tiger by the Tail (1961)

O’Bservation:   "On October 12, 1960, weeks before the election, Vice President Richard Nixon stopped by the studio to film some campaign spots. He popped in to the filming of '77 Sunset Strip', where he met with Byrnes, Zimbalist… and guest star Roger Moore (far right)."
[Thanks to ME-TV]

Mainly Millicent
- Episode dated 17 July 1964

O'Bservation: I could have included a lot of talk shows and variety shows, but those aren't strong enough to count for inclusion.  I have included three however because they do tie in to my reality for Toobworld.  The next two are O'Bvious but in this one (as mentioned elsewhere), Moore is seen playing James Bond in a sketch, almost a decade before he actually played the role.  With this sketch, he established himself for UNReel consideration to be their next choice to play 007 in the movies in order to maintain the false premise that Bond is fictional in Toobworld.

The Muppet Show
- Roger Moore (1980)

O'Bservation: Why this should be included is O'Bvious - In Toobworld, puppets are alive.

The Dame Edna Experience
- The Dame Edna Christmas Experience! (1987}

O'Bservation:  Like the Muppets, Dame Edna is a fictional character who doesn't really exist in the real world.  This verifies our inductee to be a "televersion", not the real Roger.

Tatort
- Schatten (2002)
... Celebrity actor

O’Bservation: Moore is only listed as “Celebrity Actor” in this episode, but who else could he be?

The Carer (2016)
Roger Moore

O’Bservation: I don’t see why this movie can’t be absorbed into the TV Universe since nothing about it really wouldn’t conflict with the overall reality of Toobworld.

Welcome to the Hall, Sir Roger!

FRIDAY HALL OF FAMERS, 09/20/19 - KATIE COURIC

In continuing our September theme of looking at those behind the scenes, both fictional and true, who expand the TV Universe in some way, this week we’re looking at the televersion of newswoman Katie Couric.

KATIE COURIC

From Wikipedia:
Katherine Anne Couric (born January 7, 1957) is an American journalist and author. She recently served as Yahoo's Global News Anchor. Couric has been a television host on all Big Three television networks in the United States, and in her early career was an Assignment Editor for CNN. She worked for NBC News from 1989 to 2006, CBS News from 2006 to 2011, and ABC News from 2011 to 2014.

In addition to her television news roles, she hosted Katie, a syndicated daytime talk show produced by Disney–ABC Domestic Television from September 10, 2012, to June 9, 2014.

Some of her most important notable roles include co-host of Today, anchor of the CBS Evening News, and correspondent for 60 Minutes. She also reported for nearly every television news broadcast across ABC, CBS and NBC. Couric's 2011 book, The Best Advice I Ever Got: Lessons from Extraordinary Lives, was a New York Times best-seller. In 2004, Couric earned induction into the Television Hall of Fame.

For more on Katie Couric, click here.

Here are the roles which guaranteed her a place in the Television Crossover Universe:

Murphy Brown
- A Chance of Showers (1992)

Sesame Street

- Telly Builds a Tower with Two Monster Girls (1996)

- The Cave Monster Who Wanted a Pet (1998)

- Episode #31.1 (2000)

Will & Grace
- Marry Me a Little (2002)
- Marry Me a Little More (2002)

Glee
- The Sue Sylvester Shuffle (2011)

Nashville
- We Live in Two Different Worlds (2012)
- When You're Tired of Breaking Other Hearts (2013)

The Colbert Report

- Katie Couric (2007)

- Amy Farrell (2011)
- Alexis Ohanian (2013)
- Same to You, Pal (2014)

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
- Criminal Stories (2014)

Notorious
- Pilot (2016)

This Is Us
- Jack Pearson's Son (2017)

Murphy Brown
- A Lifetime of Achievement (2018) .

One Day at a Time
- What Happened (2018)

(O’Bservation: This was archival footage from 9/11/2001 when she was reporting on ‘Today’ about the attack on the Twin Towers.  We didn’t get to see her; we only heard her voice.  This will be one of the qualifiers to get the ‘Today’ show into the Hall.)

Welcome to the Hall, Ms. Couric!

THURSDAY THEORY OF RELATEEVEETY - COLUMBRO

Often with my Thursday Theories of Relateeveety, I often turn to ‘Columbo’ and seek out possible family relations for the various characters in the episodes – murderers, victims, and those on the sidelines.

I think it’s time I turned my attention to the main man himself.  And since he would have been 92 today….

First off, big thanks go out to Ted Kerin, who collected all the info about Lt. Columbo’s family for the best Columbo web site out there.

Q. Did Columbo come from a big family?
A. Yes. His mother was in the hospital having a baby "about once a year for a while there" ("Murder Under Glass"). Dinnertime at the Columbo household 
"was like, well, you know, Madison Square Garden." ("Lady In Waiting")

Q. How many brothers and sisters did Columbo have?
A. Five Brothers and one sister. "We were never lonely." 
("Make Me A Perfect Murder")

Q. How many of Columbo's siblings can you name?
A. He has a brother Sal, who taught him to smoke at age 12 ("Strange Bedfellows"). 

He also had an older brother, who was very popular with the girls: Columbo got "an education" by impersonating his older brother on the telephone when the girls called. ("Murder In Malibu") 

I think we can combine all of those references into being about just one of the Lieutenant’s brothers, excluding his younger brother “Baby”, and O’Bviously that would be Salvatore Columbo.  Sal should then be the brother who taught him to smoke cigars, and he was the one who was popular with the girls in school.  Sal Columbo also has a voice that Frank Columbo found easy to imitate and he might have fallen into sounding exactly the same as Sal out of habit... and because of the cigar habit. 

None of those brothers made it into the ‘Columbo’ series – hey, if we weren’t going to meet his wife, it was unlikely we were ever going to meet his brothers nor his sister Mary.

But of course, I’m not bound by the confines of TV series borders when it come to my theories of relateeveety.  Nothing says we have to find any of them (but especially Sal) within an episode of ‘Columbo’.  I looked elsewhere and finally found him right where I expected to – at least as far as location goes.  New York City.

But as far as the TV series…?

‘DOCTOR WHO’
“THE CHASE:
"FLIGHT THROUGH ETERNITY"

[1966: Atop the Empire State Building, a tour guide is showing the latest group around the Observation Deck.]

GUIDE:
Here on top of the Empire State Building, you're on the hundredth and second story above the ground level. At a height of one thousand four hundred and seventy three feet. This is the tallest building, the tallest structure in the entire world. Now you'll note, when you come up in the elevator, it took you seven minutes. Well, this way down, you wanna get down in a hurry, it would take you thirty seconds.
(laughter)

GUIDE:
Well, of course, we don't recommend that. Now as we gaze out across the panorama. As we gaze out across the imposing panorama of our proud city, you will notice many other notable buildings. Among them the Chrysler Tower, that's one thousand and forty six feet high, and the Chanin Tower, that's six hundred and eighty feet high and already it's threatened with obsolescence.  

Observe also the mighty Hudson river and now if you'll come with me to the north aspect of the building, I will point out many more items of interest.  

And that was that, the scene shifted its attention to one of the stragglers from the tour group named Morton Dill.

Nothing in his speech to the tour group would suggest that he was Columbo’s brother, let alone that he was Salvatore Columbo.  But listen to the way he talks – the raspy quality, the Noo Yawk inflections.  Add to that a similarity in appearance – I’m not saying they’re identical twins but there is a resemblance.

And the actor who played the tour guide, Arne Gordon, was definitely older than Peter Falk.

If you’d like to check out the tour guide “in action”, click on either of these two links below.  You can either watch the full episode or go to about 4:35 into the episode for the beginning of his quick scene.

DOCTOR WHO-FLIGHT THROUGH ETERNITY

Just one more thing….

Making this claim that the tour guide and Lt. Columbo are brothers doesn’t harm the integrity within their respective shows.  It’s all a bit of “wish-craft” on my part to curate this illusion that most TV series are connected in some way. 

And thanks to those skilled in photoshopping, we already know Lieutenant Columbo has dealt with the Time Lord known as the Doctor….

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV - GENERAL JESSE RENO

From Wikipedia:

Jesse Lee Reno (April 20, 1823 – September 14, 1862) was a career United States Army officer who served in the Mexican–American War, in the Utah War, on the western frontier, and as a Union General during the American Civil War. Known as a "soldier's soldier" who fought alongside his men, he was killed while commanding a corps at Fox's Gap during the Battle of South Mountain. Reno, Nevada; Reno County, Kansas; El Reno, Oklahoma; Reno, Pennsylvania; Fort Reno (Oklahoma); and Fort Reno Park in Washington, D.C. were named after him.

His ancestors changed the spelling of their surname "Renault" to the more Anglicized "Reno" when they arrived in the United States from France in 1700, landing west of the present city of Richmond, Virginia on the James River. The family roots are French and were among the first Huguenots on the North American soil.

Reno had a reputation as a "soldier's soldier" and often was right beside his troops without a sword or any sign of rank. On September 12, 1862, Reno's IX Corps spent the day in Frederick, Maryland, as the Army of the Potomac under Maj. Gen. George McClellan advanced westward in pursuit of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia under Gen. Robert E. Lee. Elements of Lee's army defended three low-lying "gaps" of South Mountain—Crampton's, Turner's, and Fox's—while concentrating at Sharpsburg, Maryland, to the west, the location of the subsequent Battle of Antietam (September 17, 1862). In the Battle of South Mountain on September 14, Reno stopped directly in front of his troops as he reconnoitered the enemy's forces advancing up the road at Fox's Gap. He was shot in the chest by a rookie Union Soldier from the 35th Massachusetts who mistook him for Rebel Cavalry at dusk.

He was brought by stretcher to Brig. Gen. Samuel D. Sturgis's command post and said in a clear voice, "Hallo, Sam, I'm dead!" Sturgis, a long-time acquaintance and fellow member of the West Point Class of 1846, thought that he sounded so natural that he must be joking and told Reno that he hoped it was not as bad as all that. Reno repeated, "Yes, yes, I'm dead—good-bye!", dying a few minutes later.  

In his official report, Confederate general D. H. Hill sarcastically remarked, "The Yankees on their side lost General Reno, a renegade Virginian, who was killed by a happy shot from the Twenty-third North Carolina."

'DEATH VALLEY DAYS'
"RENO"

From the IMDb:
Reno, Nevada's naming begins on the battlefields of Mexico where officer Reno serves with Steve and Red. While they head west Reno returns to West Point. He becomes a Civil War hero and his friends intend to honor him.  

The late great William Schallert, the hardest-working actor in television, portrayed General Reno.

BCnU....

FRIDAY HALL OF FAMERS - WNKW

Continuing with the September “theme” of looking behind the scenes of the TV and movie business within Toobworld, we have another fictional TV station to induct into the Television Crossover Hall of Fame with this Friday Hall of Famer.  (For those who are curious, KBEX is already a member, as is the network UBS.)

This time….

WNKW

I’ve written about WNKW in the past - at least three times! 

That breaking news story (during a flash-back, so technically it took place eight years ago) happened in the 'White Collar' episode "Forging Bonds". It's not the first time WNKW has appeared in 'White Collar', but it's always good to have more evidence that the superstation belongs in New York City - as if it being the central location in the TV series 'Jack & Jill' wasn't enough!

It's also appeared in 'Fringe', 'Invasion', and 'Pushing Daisies', but in those cases the station was broadcasting from locations outside of New York City.
~~~~~

“Super-Station" WNKW made another appearance in Toobworld this week, and on a key series to help bring in the other TV shows in which it appeared - 'White Collar'.

As we wrote about the TV station in the past, WNKW has been seen before in such shows as 'Fringe', 'Invasion', 'Pushing Daisies', and as a major location in 'Jack & Jill'.

It also crossed over into the alternate TV dimension that houses 'Spin City'. As a "super-station", WNKW shows up on different TV channels and reporting from different locations (from Florida in 'Invasion' and Boston in 'Fringe').

But it's based in New York City and it was brought home to the Big Apple with its report on the investigations into NY State Senator Gary Jennings.

What helps all those other shows is that 'White Collar' has also used another Toobworld staple in the past - the NY Ledger newspaper. It's deeply entrenched into the 'Law & Order' franchise and was even the central location for an ancillary series, 'Deadline'.
~~~~~

WNKW made a return appearance on 'Fringe' this past week. As I mentioned in an earlier post, WNKW should be a NYC TV station, as it was the place of employ for the main characters in 'Jack & Jill'.

Before, my splainin was that its reporters were filing news reports that were then picked up by other news outlets from outside their broadcast area. This would splain why WNKW showed up onscreen from the Homestead, Florida, region in 'Invasion', and why it appears now on 'Fringe' which is generally taking place in the Boston area.

However, this doesn't splain why the call letters were for Channel 42 in the first episode, and for Channel 5 in the second.

There could be three ways to go with this.

1) Two different TV channels in the Boston area picked up the news reports from WNKW, probably small independent stations without the facilities to produce their own news broadcasts.

2) Channel 42, being a UHF station, could be a satellite for Channel 5, which would have the stronger signal, but which might not reach the area covered by 42. (I don't know if this still happens, but I know it used to be widespread just in the smaller state of Connecticut back when I was growing up there.)

3) The station that has the contract for use of WNKW news reports applied for and received permission from the FCC to upgrade their signal from UHF 42 to VHF 5.
Perhaps most of these crunchy bits of pretzel logic (Sorry, been in a Steely Dan mood all week) might not make sense or are not feasible in the real world. But then again, the rules can be different in Toobworld.  

Based on those other examples, it’s obviously a “super-station” like TBS and WGN in the Real World.  (This was a suggestion from Team Toobworld member Vincent back in 2009 and it holds up a decade later.  He also added two more examples for its inclusion in the TVXOHOF: 'The Vampire Diaries' and 'The Good Wife'.  Thanks again, Vincent!)

I also found it mentioned in a fictional stations wiki:

WNKW
Chicago, Illinois, station seen in ‘How I Met Your Mother’

Gotham City station seen In some Batman stories; WNKW is the NBC affiliate for Gotham City.

However, I’m not sure if that’s from any of the television incarnations or the comic books or even just wishful thinking fanfic on the part of the contributor.  At the very least, it shows WNKW is a multiversal, as does this scene from the movie "The Need For Speed":

But either way, WNKW is qualified to join with all of those other series appearances.  And they may not be alone in showcasing the TV station.  I can’t see everything.  I’m not Argos; I’ve only got two eyes and even then, they don’t work together!

That last picture is fanfic and is not eligible to be included as part of WNKW's membership in the Hall.  I'm only sharing it here to help establish that WNKW was part of the world for 'I How I Met Your Mother'. 

(If anybody out there from Team Toobworld has an HIMYM screencap - and also from 'The Good Wife' and 'The Vampire Diaries,' for that matter - showing the call letters for WNKW, copies would be much appreciated!)

Welcome to the Hall, WNKW!

NEVER FORGET

The televersion of the World Trade Center 

As seen in a flashback episode of 'American Gods'....