TUESDAY TVXOHOF TRIBUTE, OCTOBER 2022 - LORETTA LYNN

From the Associated Press:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Loretta Lynn, the Kentucky coal miner’s daughter whose frank songs about life and love as a woman in Appalachia pulled her out of poverty and made her a pillar of country music, has died. She was 90.

In a statement provided to The Associated Press, Lynn’s family said she died Tuesday at her home in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee.

“Our precious mom, Loretta Lynn, passed away peacefully this morning, October 4th, in her sleep at home in her beloved ranch in Hurricane Mills,” the family said in a statement. They asked for privacy as they grieve and said a memorial will be announced later.

Lynn already had four children before launching her career in the early 1960s, and her songs reflected her pride in her rural Kentucky background.

From Wikipedia:

Loretta Lynn (née Webb; April 14, 1932 – October 4, 2022) was an American singer-songwriter. In a career which spanned six decades in country music, Lynn released multiple gold albums. She had hits such as "You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My Man)", "Don't Come Home A-Drinkin' (With Lovin' on Your Mind)", "One's on the Way", "Fist City", and "Coal Miner's Daughter". In 1980, the film Coal Miner's Daughter was made based on her life.

Lynn received many awards and other accolades for her groundbreaking role in country music, including awards from both the Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music as a duet partner and an individual artist. She was nominated 18 times for a Grammy Award, and won three times. As of 2022, Lynn was the most awarded female country recording artist, and the only female ACM Artist of the Decade (1970s). Lynn scored 24 No. 1 hit singles and 11 number one albums. She ended 57 years of touring on the road after she suffered a stroke in 2017 and then broke her hip in 2018.

If the Television Crossover Hall of Fame had looser standards (than it already has), she could make it into the Hall on just appearances on talk shows and variety programs alone.  And that wouldn’t even be on a national level; there would be so many from regional television centered around Nashville.

But Ms. Lynn’s “televersion”, the Loretta Lynn who existed in Earth Prime-Time rather than just Earth Prime, qualifies for membership thanks to appearances on a game show whose televersion is already a member of the TVXOHOF and for her association with the Muppets, as well as trips through Lanford, Ohio and Hazzard County….

LORETTA LYNN

Here are the credits which gained her access into the Hall of Fame:

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
17 episodes (1973-1989)
Self - Musical Guest

From Yahoo! Entertainment:
Speaking with Yahoo Entertainment in 2018, [Sissy] Spacek discussed how she nearly turned down the opportunity to play Lynn in Michael Apted's much-loved film, which also starred Tommy Lee Jones and Beverly D'Angelo. "Loretta would go on Johnny Carson all the time saying, 'Sissy Spacek is gonna play me!'" recalled the actress.

O’Bservations:
1] Johnny Carson’s televersion, as well as his televersion of ‘The Tonight Show’ are members of the TVXOHOF.

2] I don't know why, but I can't find any pictures of Ms. Lynn with Carson....

The Muppet Show

- Loretta Lynn (1978)
... Self - Special Guest Star

With the regular theater being fumigated, Kermit and the gang have to stage the show at an active train station.

The Hollywood Squares (Daytime)
1976, 1978
At least six episodes
Self – Panelist

George Burns In Nashville?

1980
Self

O’Bservation:
This variety special gets a mention because of the legendary headliner’s standing as one of the original inductees into the TVXOHOF.

The Dukes of Hazzard

- Find Loretta Lynn (1980)
... Self

While stopped at the Boar's Nest, Loretta Lynn is kidnapped by a trio who want her to offer tips about breaking into the music business.

Sesame Street

- Big Bird and the Stop Sign (1985)
... Self

For Sesame Street, she sang "Count on Me" with the Count, which was also separately recorded for the 1981 album Sesame Country. She also appeared on the show performing "Songs Are For Singing" with the kids.

The New Hollywood Squares

April 1988, May 1989
Self - Panelist

Roseanne

- Lanford Daze (1993)
... Self

The Conners prepare for the 'Founding Fathers Day' celebration in Lanford. Roseanne sets up a food booth, where she meets the one and only, Loretta Lynn.

O'Bservation:
All of the synopses shared above are from the IMDb, except for the Yahoo! Entertainment excerpt and the 'Sesame Street' information which is from the Muppet Fandom wiki.

Here are two other members of the Television Crossover Hall of Fame with Loretta Lynn....

with Dean Martin

with Frank Sinatra

Good night and may God bless Loretta Lynn.  I’m sorry it was under these circumstances, but welcome to the Hall….

MONDAY MEMORIAL TVXOHOF TRIBUTE (OCTOBER 2022) - COOLIO

 

CNN — Coolio, the ’90s rapper who lit up the music charts with hits like “Gangsta’s Paradise” and “Fantastic Voyage,” has died, his friend and manager Jarez Posey, told CNN. He was 59.

Posey said Coolio died Wednesday afternoon.

Details on the circumstances were not immediately available.

When contacted by CNN, Capt. Erik Scott of the Los Angeles Fire Department confirmed that firefighters and paramedics responded to a call on the 2900 block of South Chesapeake Ave. at 4 p.m. local time for reports of a medical emergency. When they arrived, they found an unresponsive male and performed “resuscitation efforts for approximately 45 minutes.”

The patient “was determined dead just before 5:00 p.m.,” Scott said.

As a member of the League of Themselves, Coolio qualified for membership in the Television Crossover Hall of Fame....

COOLIO

From Wikipedia:
Artis Leon Ivey Jr. (August 1, 1963 – September 28, 2022), known professionally as Coolio, was an American rapper. First rising to fame as a member of the gangsta rap group WC and the Maad Circle, Coolio achieved mainstream success as a solo artist in the mid-to-late 1990s with his albums It Takes a Thief (1994), Gangsta's Paradise (1995), and My Soul (1997).

He is best known for his 1995 Grammy Award-winning hit single "Gangsta's Paradise", as well as other singles "Fantastic Voyage" (1994), "1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin' New)" (1996), and "C U When U Get There" (1997).

From 1996 on, Coolio released albums independently, and provided the opening track "Aw, Here It Goes!" for the 1996 Nickelodeon television series Kenan & Kel. He created the web series Cookin' with Coolio and released a cookbook.

While at a friend's house in Los Angeles on September 28, 2022, Coolio was discovered unresponsive on a bathroom floor. He was pronounced dead by first responders. He was 59 years old at the time of his death. Police have opened an investigation into his death, though foul play is not suspected, and Coolio's manager stated he appeared to have suffered cardiac arrest.

Coolio was cremated in a private ceremony with no funeral service. His ashes were then encased in jewelry for his family, with the rest of his ashes going into an urn.

There are the appearances which qualified Coolio for membership in the TVXOHOF as themselves:

Martin

- All the Players Came (1995)

Martin hosts a '70s contest. ANTONIO FARGAS, ISAAC HAYES, RUDY RAY MOORE, OUTKAST, COOLIO, PAM GRIER and others guests star as themselves.

Sabrina the Teenage Witch

- A Girl and Her Cat (1996)

After Salem stows away in her backpack and gets her thrown out of the local pizzeria, Sabrina washes her hands of the cat, feigning unconcern when the feline fails to return for Christmas dinner with visiting cousin Monty. When she discovers that Salem has in fact been catnapped by a stubborn little boy named Rex, Sabrina launches a desperate plan to rescue him by imp.

Hotel Babylon
- Episode #1.2 (1996)

Something strange occurs to guests as soon as they check in. Even if in real life they are perfectly well-mannered, decent people with proper balanced relationships, as soon as they spin through the revolving hotel doors the normal rules of behavior no longer seem to apply.

Hitz

- Pilot (1997)

As the "A&R guys" at HiTower Records, Robert and Busby are compelled to deal with their obnoxious boss, unruly artists, and confused romantic lives, all while the threat of losing their jobs always hangs ominously over their heads. Can they hit upon a good balance?

Muppets Tonight

- Coolio & Don Rickles (1997)

V.I.P.

- Vallery of the Dolls (1998)

Rapper Coolio hires VIP, being threatened by a stalker with a bomb on her chest.

The Nanny

- Making Whoopi (1998)

Fran is depressed over her inability to conceive. She finds out that she is ovulating just as they are making an appearance on Hollywood Squares.

Maxwell learns that he's been approached to be a celebrity panelist on 'Hollywood Squares' (1998) (they couldn't get Andrew Lloyd Webber), so he, Fran, Sylvia, Yetta and Val traipse off to California. Regardless of Maxwell having a good time on the show or not (he isn't), Fran drags him off the set during the middle of the show for more important matters: she's ovulating.

Hollywood Squares

40 episodes as a panelist

O'Bservation:
Technically, in the world of the Toob, Coolio appeared in 41 episodes as a "Square".  This includes the televersion, that fictional episode seen in the aforementioned episode of 'The Nanny'.

Der Clown
- Stirb langsam (2001)

A truck speeds through the streets of Cologne and drives into the sold-out Kölnarena. Shortly after the crash, an anonymous caller contacts the police chief and demands the release of imprisoned war criminal Mirco Drusic.

Joey

- Joey and the Poker (2005)

Alex teaches Joey fake poker rules to keep him away from a girl. Joey then plays along those rules at "Celebrity Poker Showdown", and gets into trouble.

Coolio's Rules
6 episodes as host

Star-ving
5 episodes

O'Bservation:
This was the closest interaction Coolio had with star David Faustino in this episode.  (A picture from the opening of this particular episode is featured above as his intro picture.)

Black Jesus

- Gangsta's Paradise (2014)

With the garden in danger, our heroes decide to have an online benefit concert with Coolio to raise the money.

THE TOONIVERSE
The televersion of Coolio was a multidimensional, existing not only on Earth Prime-Time, but also in the animated world of The Tooniverse.

Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man

- Coolio Runnings (1997)

When Duckman makes an expensive bet hinging on Ajax performing well during an athletic competition, he finds that he has no athletic skills, and ends up adopting a fellow student in better physical shape -- popular rapper Coolio.

Gravity Falls

- Headhunters (2012)
[as Wax Coolio]

The kids discover Stan's collection of wax sculptures, and Mabel decides to create her own. But when someone sabotages it, it's up to her and Dipper to solve the case.

Squidbillies

- The Guzzle Bumpkin (2017)

Follows the adventures of the Cuylers, an impoverished and dysfunctional family of anthropomorphic, air-breathing, redneck squids who live in a rural Appalachian community in the state of Georgia.

O'Bservation:
I did NOT write this entry from the show's wiki:

Coolio is a real-life person who only appeared in "The Guzzle Bumpkin", he & Jason "Wee Man" Acuña, woke up Russell "Rusty" Cuyler on New Years Eve, who was involved in The Guzzles, Rusty told who are they ghosts, Coolio say's "Listen to this lil' punk, frontin' like he don't know who we are, Coolio! "Gangsta's Paradise", in the flesh, cuz!"

All synopses were from either the IMDb or the wikis for the respective series.

I'm sorry it was under these circumstances, but welcome to the Television Crossover Hall of Fame, Coolio....

"OBSESSION" - A "COLUMBO" SUBSTITUTE

While Lt. Columbo was supposedly inspired by a literary character (Porfiry Petrovich in CRIME AND PUNISHMENT), that doesn’t mean he could fit into any literary setting.  I think many of us wish Peter Falk never bought the rights to the Ed McBain novels which became the basis for NO TIME TO DIE and UNDERCOVER.  But there were stories out there which could have been easily adapted as COLUMBO vehicles and there would have been no discernible change in tone, as was the case with the McBain episodes.

"Oh, just one more thing...."

I’ve written in the past of a movie from the 1940s entitled THE VELVET TOUCH starring Rosalind Russell and Leon Ames as the two most necessary components to any COLUMBO case – the murderer and victim, respectively.  And as the substitute for Lt. Columbo, there is Captain Danbury (no first name given) of the New York Police Department, played by Sidney Greenstreet.  (Also in the cast are Leo Genn and Claire Trevor and for a COLUMBO kick, Mike Lally as a Sardi’s waiter!)  I’ll just add that there are several touchstones which should remind you of the TV series – Captain Danbury’s deference to the murderer, his hesitancy in using a folding chair (i.e., Abigail Mitchell’s antique), the use of “Just one more thing” (albeit by the murderer.)  The only thing missing was a dog!

That’s not the case with my latest addition to the COLUMBO Substitutes, OBSESSION, which was marketed in the United States as THE HIDDEN ROOM (which I think is a better title.)

Here are the basics which would mark it worthy to be a COLUMBO adaptation – a wealthy, haughty, and imperious psychiatrist is fed up with his wife’s string of affairs, so he devises an elaborate plot for getting rid of the next one.  He plans to kidnap the fellow, an American, and keep him prisoner in a secret location to mentally torture him until he tires of the game and is ready to dispatch his victim (in a most gruesome manner.)  

But about forty minutes into the film, the police inspector shows up, regarding a different case altogether, that of the aforementioned dog.  (The story was originally a novel entitled A MAN ABOUT A DOG.)  

Inspector Finsbury would have made for a wonderful guide for the Rumpled One on his trip to London; they would have had so much in common with each other as they discussed their methods.

In a rare leading role, Robert Newton played the psychiatrist with a reserved demeanor, which was not what he was known for in his most famous role as Long John Silver, but it’s in keeping with the kind of murderer who made the mistake of dismissing the Lieutenant as an inferior.  

Phil Brown was the intended victim, the American lover of the wife who was played by Sally Gray.  (Audiences today will know Brown better as Luke Skywalker’s Uncle Owen in STAR WARS IV: A NEW HOPE.)  And as Inspector Finsbury, there’s Naunton Wayne, perhaps best known as half of the Charters & Caldicott team first introduced in THE LADY VANISHES (a variation of which can be seen in his other famous movie, DEAD OF NIGHT.)

Finally there’s Monty, the counterpart to Dog.  While much of my summary is a spoiler non-spoiler due to the COLUMBO framework, I don’t want to give anything away about Monty….

As I was watching the film, I fantasized about the casting, had it been adapted for COLUMBO.  And as I usually do, I thought in terms of the show’s original NBC run in the 1970s.  James Mason would have been perfect as Dr. Riordan, and maybe James Farentino as the lover.  For Mrs. Riordan, I’d like to play within the established set-up for the series – bring back an actress who had already been in a COLUMBO episode.  In this case, I think Susan Howard would have been perfect.  

Obviously Peter Falk as the Lieutenant would replace Inspector Finsbury entirely.  And no matter who they got for the dog Monty (Higgins AKA Benji passed away in 1975 so he was too old for what would be an active role), it would be that canine who could be the catalyst for Dog to save the day!

Okay, just over 700 words, too late to make a long story short.  But if you’re a COLUMBO fan and you’re looking for something in the same vein, I would recommend those two movies – THE VELVET TOUCH & OBSESSION (AKA THE HIDDEN ROOM.)

And if you know of any movies which could be considered Falkless versions of COLUMBO, bring them to my attention!

TVXOHOF, SEPTEMBER 2022 - JAROSLAV GEBR & MAX BARSINI

With the month of September, the Television Crossover Hall of Fame salutes those behind the scenes who contribute to the viability of the TV Universe’s cohesiveness.  This year we’re celebrating Jaroslav Gebr, whose paintings appear in so many TV shows – most notably in ‘Night Gallery’, and ‘Columbo’.  But in addition, we’re inducting a TV character who can take the credit for those paintings in universe – Max Barsini.  We see him in his episode of ‘Columbo,’ painting in the style recognized in the portraits of Grace Wheeler and General Martin Hollister as seen in their episodes, plus paintings of characters in other shows, including ‘Night Gallery’ (at least for the stories which starred Joan Crawford and Columni Richard Kiley and Sam Jaffe.)

First up, we salute the actual artist….

JAROSLAV GEBR

From AskArt.com:
Jaroslav “Jerry” Gebr, longtime head of the Scenic Arts Department at Universal Studios and is perhaps best known as the artist who created the paintings featured in the pilot episode of Rod Serling’s ‘Night Gallery’. Gebr worked for some of the biggest names in directing including Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood, Alfred Hitchcock and George Roy Hill during his career, and also sidelined in painting portraits and copies of artworks for stars’ collections. “They’d put the originals in safe storage and hang Jerry’s versions on the wall. Nobody could tell the difference.”

From the Jaroslav Gebr website:

Jaroslav Gebr
1926 - 2013
Acclaimed motion picture artist

Over the last 60 years, Jaroslav 'Jerry' Gebr enjoyed one of the longest exhibitions any one artist could have ever wished for.

His works might not have crossed the auction blocks of Sotheby's, Christie's or Bonham's yet, but throughout your life-long romance of Motion Pictures and Television, you have subliminally admired his work over the last six decades.

With an endless wave of amazing portraits, murals and visual effects for motion pictures and television, Jaroslav enticed our emotions and our hearts with an array of exquisite creations.

We have not witnessed an artist before or since Jaroslav Gebr that has so brilliantly accomplished such a wide range of styles, periods, mediums and materials at the highest standard of artistry over the last seventy-five years.  

Jaroslav was a prodigy from a small village, Pisek, just south of Prague Czechoslovakia, who in spite of the horrors of World War II was able to refine his creative skills at the Academy of Arts in Prague then post-war Munich and Vienna.

Born to a generation of close colleagues such as both Emil Kosa Sr. and Jr., (students of Alphonse Mucha) and Gerhard Richter, Jaroslav was well on his way to becoming another one of the great Czechoslovakian artists of his day.  But the brutal war in Europe changed the trajectory of his career.  But with this tragic event, came Hollywood’s profound gain.

Jaroslav married his wife in Munich. Adela Gebrova: a coloratura soprano-opera singer who would become an exceptional creative force in her own right.

They saved their money for their impending migration overseas through portraits and sketches of local officials, Army brass and foot soldiers within the occupying sector from Munich to Vienna as Adela sang for Armed Forces Radio and Radio Free Europe, military dances and government balls.

From there they began their journey from Europe to England to South America and finally the United States.

Armed with one suitcase a winter coat each and their talents, they set upon a journey that would be a gift to so many art lovers around the world.

Little did Jaroslav know, the next sixty years of his life, would be a cascade of the most stunning body of work that has not since been matched by any one artist in the Film Industry to this day.

Since his escape from communist occupied Czechoslovakia in 1949, Jaroslav Gebr's journey through numerous mediums and styles have evolved - from portraits and frescoes in Bogotá Columbia - to portraits, murals and visual effects in such Hollywood productions as "The Sound Of Music," "Camelot," “Towering Inferno,” "Dune," "The Sting," "Scarface," television's "Night Gallery," "24" and countless others.

Gebr had an incredible gift to immerse himself within an unlimited range of artistic styles. Such as in the replication of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel for MGM's "Shoes Of The Fisherman" and then transforming his artistic technique and aesthetic nuances within the same work-year to perform within the abstract / impressionistic fantasies via the mind of Rod Serling in his mesmerizing and haunting paintings for 'Night Gallery'.

No historical period or medium posed an obstacle for Gebr.  From the western scene on the semi-truck-trailer in "Smokey and The Bandit" to a Baroque style portrait on a set for Alfred Hitchcock and all works delivered within a film production window of one to two weeks.

Jaroslav worked hard to satisfy the insatiable thirst of the Film Studio's drive for commercial short cuts. But while doing so, he always stood his artistic ground displaying his classic 'Prague Academy’ craftsmanship in even the most rudimentary of works for a network 'sit-com' or for a farcical feature film comedy as in Mel Brooks' "Robin Hood, Men In Tights."  No job was too small or too big for Gebr.  The love and attention to his work was constant.

This commitment to his artistic excellence ensured his role as chief artist for such legendary filmmakers as Alfred Hitchcock, Rod Serling, George Roy Hill, Vincent Minnelli, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and David Lynch and more.

It was the Hollywood portrait commissions that have given him much of his notoriety since retiring from studio work: To name a few, Roddy McDowell, Joan Crawford, Kim Novak, Robert Culp, Rachel Welch, Barbara Streisand, Jack Lemmon and John Candy, all enjoy[ed] their privately purchased works by Jaroslav.

Not only did his artwork find a continuous showcase via Motion Pictures and Television over his sixty-year career, his works on set have become part of the aforementioned Directors and Producers private collections for such Hollywood greats as Orson Wells, Lucille Ball, Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood, Lou Wasserman, Jules Stein, and countless others.

His years of retirement were spent mostly traveling and enjoying the rest he so rightly deserved.

And now we offer a quick salute to the artist from the late 20th Century – in the TV Universe – who theoretically is the vessel for those paintings….

MAX BARSINI

From the ‘Columbo’ Wiki:
Patrick Bachau [plays] Max Barsini, a renowned but "temperamental" artist who killed his unscrupulous agent years ago. Worried his ex-wife could expose his secret, he murders her too.

From the 'Columbo' blog:

Celebrated artist Max Barsini appears to live a charmed life, residing in a stunning beach-front home where he is waited on hand and foot by three women: current wife Vanessa, first wife Louise, and live-in lover/model/muse Julie.

While Barsini revels in the four-way relationship, things are a lot more fraught for the women in his life. Mature Louise (who lives next door) is outwardly happy enough with her lot in life, while Vanessa is fiendishly (and understandably) jealous and young Julie just wants to be loved by them all.

The tension this situation creates seems to help Barsini thrive. He lives to control them and takes pleasure in watching them fight for the scraps of his affections. It is Louise, however, who shatters his perfect existence when she reveals her intentions to MOVE OUT of her home (and Barsini’s life) and MOVE IN with her psychologist/lover, Dr Sydney Hammer.

Barsini can’t let this happen – because Louise is the only person who knows about his shadowy past. Although we don’t initially know what happened, we find out that Louise has been repressing memories from her early life with Barsini that suggest a terrifying, traumatic event. These manifest as a series of nightmares, which she is working to decipher with Dr Hammer. 

Here are some of the paintings from other TV series which could have been painted by Max Barsini.  Not all of them use his noteworthy "Barsini Red".

Here's to the memory of Jaroslav Gebr.  Welcome to the Hall, Mr. Gebr.  And thank you for the Toobworld legacy you left behind.

And welcome to the TVXOHOF as well, Barsini.  Not that you'll have a chance to enjoy your membership; unlike many of your paintings, you weren't framed....