TVXOHOF, JANUARY 2024 - THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS

Welcome to the first induction ceremony for the Class of 2024!

As usual, we’re kicking off the year with the traditional inductee of a classic TV personality for January.  But sadly, this year we have reason to bring in a pair of classic TV stars....

From Wikipedia:
The Smothers Brothers, consisting of Thomas (February 2, 1937 – December 26, 2023) and Richard (born November 20, 1938), were American folk singers, musicians, and comedians. The brothers' trademark double act was performing folk songs (Tommy on acoustic guitar, Dick on double bass), which usually led to arguments between them. Tommy's signature line was "Mom always liked you best!" Tommy (the elder of the two) acted "slow" and Dick, the straight man, acted "superior".

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the brothers frequently appeared on television variety shows and issued several popular record albums of their stage performances. Their own television variety show, 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour', became one of the most controversial American TV programs of the Vietnam War era. Despite popular success, the brothers' penchant for material that was critical of the political mainstream and sympathetic to the emerging counterculture led to their firing by the CBS network in 1969. One episode was left unaired.

Oddly enough, the three of them
are now together in the TVXOHOF.

The brothers continued to work, both independently and as a team, on stage and television, and in films during subsequent decades.

The Smothers Brothers were multidimensional.  Most of their appearances were from Earth Prime-Time, but they also had televersions on an alternate Toobworld (where Tom died back in the 1960s).  They also had “tooniversions” in the Tooniverse.  (There is only one Tooniverse, despite the differences seen in artistic styles for the characters from one show to the other.

Here are their qualifications for membership.  Descriptions are from the IMDb.

EARTH PRIME-TIME (Main Toobworld)

THE DANNY THOMAS SHOW

RUSTY FOR PRESIDENT (1962)

Rusty enters the cold, brutal world of politics: he runs for junior class president.

The Smothers Brothers perform "Marching To Pretoria" at Rusty's fundraiser.

THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS COMEDY HOUR
71 episodes (1967 – 1969)

PLASTIC ONO BAND

GIVE PEACE A CHANCE (1969)

'Give Peace a Chance' is an anti-war song written by John Lennon and recorded with the participation of a small group of friends in a performance with Yoko Ono in a hotel room in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

On the 1969 John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band song "Give Peace a Chance", Tommy Smothers plays guitar and shares the bed with John and Yoko - and he also gets a mention in the lyrics - "Ev'rybody's talking about John and Yoko, Timmy Leary, Rose Marie, Tommy Smothers".

THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS SUMMER SHOW

9 episodes (1970)

THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS SHOW
13 episodes (1975)

BENSON

SOLID GOLD (1985)

The staff goes to the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas to attend a Lieutenant Governors' conference. Clayton loses a fortune gambling, while Benson, hypnotized by Kraus's friend Zelda Romashkova, performs with the Solid Gold dancers.  

O'Bservation - Benson finds the Smothers Brothers rehearsing in an elevator.

WHAT’S ALAN WATCHING? (1989)
TV SPECIAL/PILOT

Seventeen-year-old Alan is a couch potato who views life, and his family, as if they were on television. Libby and Leo are his parents, Gail is his sister (who's engaged to Lenny Kling the Carpet King), Jeff is his brother, Alyssa is his girlfriend and Lenny is his friend.

MAGGIE
THE BALLAD OF MAGGIE DAY (1998)

ALTERNATE TOOBWORLD

THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS SHOW (1965-66)

(MY BROTHER THE ANGEL)
32 episodes

Dick is a rising young business executive whose life is turned upside-down when his younger brother Tom re-enters his life. This wouldn't be too unusual, but Tom had died two years earlier in a boating accident and is now an apprentice angel always trying to help others, but frequently only makes things worse, which forces the young angel to call upon his earthly brother to set things right.

THE TOONIVERSE

DR. KATZ, PROFESSIONAL THERAPIST

BEN-CENTENNIAL (1997)

Ben turns 25. Meanwhile, Laura rescues a baby bird and nurtures it in the office, eventually enlisting Ben's help when Dr. Katz doesn't want it disrupting himself or the patients.

THE SIMPSONS

O BROTHER WHERE BART THOU? (2009)

The Smothers Brothers, with some help from Homer, do their infamous "Boil Them Cabbage Down/Take It, Tom" routine over the end credits.

Brothers Bart sees in his dream of "Bro-Town U.S.A.": the Marx Brothers (Groucho with cigar, Chico playing piano, Harpo playing harp); the Blues Brothers ("Joliet" Jake [John Belushi] and Elwood [Dan Aykroyd]); the Mario Brothers; the Smith Brothers (brand name of cough drops); Sideshow Bob and his brother Cecil; the Wright Brothers; Eli, Peyton, and Cooper Manning; and the Smothers Brothers (Tom Smothers and Dick Smothers, whose comedy-variety TV show was canceled by CBS in 1969).  

O’Bservation – Toon Tommy does his yo-yo routine, which causes the Wright Brothers’ plane to crash.

Here are Dick and Tommy with a few other members of the Television Crossover Hall of Fame:

Tommy with John Lennon
[also with Yoko Ono]

With George Harrison

With Mickey Rooney

With Jack Benny & George Burns

With Ringo Starr
(Plus Steve Martin, Lily Tomlin,
John Stewart, Pat Paulsen, Don Novello) 

Here's Tommy as 
TVXOHOF member Johnny Carson

Hall of Famer Walter Cronkite
reporting on the cancellation of 
'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour'.
And that's the way it was....

Welcome to the TV Crossover Hall of Fame, Gentlemen.  For the time being you are probably seen by your fellow members  in the TVXOHOF as your televersions from that alternate Toobworld. 

Your passing was a great loss for Toobworld, Tom.  But, Dick, please don't be in any hurry to put the act back together....

THE HAT SQUAD 2023 - ACTORS & PERSONALITIES

 

ACTORS & PERSONALITIES

ACTORS
Kelly Monteith ('Kelly Monteith', 'Kelly Monteith's BBC Memories', 'The Real Geezers of Beverly Hills-Adjacent', 'Brit Flix', 'The Hollywood Squares', 'Tonight Show' [35])
Jacques Sereys ('Au theatre ce soir', 'Palace', 'The Gravy Train', 
Massimo Turci (Italian voice actor)
J. Patrick McNamara ('Orleans', 'The Big Easy', 'It's Garry Shandling's Show')
Miiko Taka ('Shogun', 'TheWild, Wild West', 'I Spy', 'The F.B.I.', 'Hawaiian Eye')
Wyllie Longmore ('Coronation Street', 'Floodtide', 'Casualty', 'Blue Murder')
Thomas Hellberg ('Redereit')
Sam Schacht ('Law & Order', 'Edge Of Night', 'The Equalizer', 'Kojak', N.Y.P.D.')
Earl Boen ('L.A. Law', 'It's A Living', 'Santa Barbara', 'The Law and Harry McGraw', 'Who's The Boss?', 'Clifford The Big Red Dog', 'The Fantastic Voyages of Sinbad The Sailor', 'Zorro', 'Bruno the Kid', 'Bonkers')
Annette McCarthy ('Twin Peaks', 'Baywatch', 'Riptide', 'Ohara', 'Magnum P.I.')
Michael Levin ('Ryan's Hope', 'All My Children', 'N.Y.P.D.', 'The Equalizer')
Adam Rich ('Eight Is Enough', 'Code Red', 'Dungeons & Dragons')
Julian Sands ('Jackie Chan Adventures', '24', 'Crossbones', 'Lipstick Jungle', 'Will')
Eve Pearce ('Take The High Road', 'Lytton's Diary', 'Yes, Honestly', 'Coronation Street', 'Z Cars', 'Crown Court', 'Funland', 'Taggart', 'Brookside')
Les Brown Jr. ('The Young Marrieds', 'The Baileys of Balboa', 'Lassie') 
David S. Howard ('Law & Order', 'Guiding Light')
Dorothy Tristan ('Gunsmoke', 'Kojak', 'The Waltons', "Griffin & Phoenix')
Carole Cooke ('The Lucy Show', 'Here's Lucy', 'Cagney & Lacey', 'Kojak', 'Dynasty')
Al Brown ('The Wire', 'The Hustler', 'H:LOTS', 'L&O: SVU')
Ben Masters ('Passions', 'Heartbeat', 'Another World', 'Muggsy', 'Murder, She Wrote', 'Pensacola: Wings of Gold')
Robbie Knievel ('Kick Buttkowski: Suburban Daredevil', 'Hawaii Five-0', 'CHiPs')
Ralph Osorio ("Sharknado: The Second One")
Yoshio Yoda ('McHale's Navy' & its 2 movies, 'Love, American Style')
Gina Lollabrigida ('Falcon Crest', 'The Love Boat', 'La romana', 'Deceptions') 
David Crosby ('Chicago Hope', 'The Simpsons', 'Ellen', 'Flying Blind', 'Roseanne')
Wally Campo ('Bram and Alice', 'First Monday', 'Berrenger's', 'The Fall Guy') 
Tim Barlow ('Doctor Who', 'Inside Victor Lewis-Smith', 'Derek', 'Sherlock', 'The New
Pope', 'The Alienist', 'The Bill', 'Poldark', 'Dixon Of Dock Green', 'Grange Hill')
Jeff Savage ('landlord', 'The Cars That Made America')
Lee Whitlock ('Shine On, Harvey Moon', 'The Bill', 'Casualty', 'Grange Hill')
Lance Kerwin ('Salem's Lot', 'James At 16', 'The Family Holvak', 'Insight')
Everett Quinton ('The Louise Log', 'Miami Vice', 'Guiding Light', Nurse Jackie')
Annie Wersching ('24', 'Bosch', 'Timeless', 'Star Trek: Picard')
Shirley Dynevor ('Crown Court', 'Family Solicitor', "Rogue Male")
Sylvia Syms ('At Home With The Braithwaites', 'The Jury', 'Ruth Rendell Mysteries', 'My Good Woman', 'The Saint', 'Peak Practice', 'Collision', 'EastEnders')
Lisa Loring ('The Addams Family', 'As The World Turns', 'The Pruitts of Southampton')
Cindy Williams ('Laverne & Shirley', 'Happy Days', 'Getting By', 'Normal Life', 'Laverne & Shirley In The Army', 'Just Like Family', 'Strip Mall', "The Patty Duke Show: Still Rockin' Brooklyn Heights", '8 Simple Rules', 'Drive', 'Sami')
Melinda Dillon ('Space', 'Insight', 'Heartland', 'The Twilight Zone', 'Bonanza', 'The Jeffersons', 'The Defenders', 'Picket Fences', 'The Client', "A Christmas Story")
Charles Kimbrough ('Murphy Brown', 'Another World', 'Kojak', 'Ally McBeal', "Company", "Sunday In The Park With George", 'Dinosaurs!', 'Spenser: For Hire')
Patti Love ('Warrior Queen', 'Middlemarch', 'Grange Hill', 'The Bill')
Cody Longo ('Days Of Our Lives', 'Hollywood Heights')
Sandra Seacat ('Enlightened', 'Under The Banner Of Heaven', "Nobody's Child")
Raquel Welch ('Date My Dad', 'Welcome To The Captain', 'American Family', 'Spin City', 'C.P.W.', 'Mork & Mindy', 'The Hollywood Palace', 'Seinfeld', 'Bewitched', 'The Virginian', 'McHale's Navy', 'CSI: Miami', '8 Simple Rules', 'Lois & Clark')
Stella Stevens ('Santa Barbara', 'Flamingo Road', 'General Hospital', 'Strip Mall', 'Adventures Beyond Belief', 'The Love Boat', 'Fantasy Island', 'Newhart', 'Ben Casey', 'Bonanza', 'Johnny Ringo', 'Dream On', 'Hec Ramsey', 'Banacek')
Richard Belzer (TVXOHOF founding member as Detective John Munch, the Crossover King - 'Homicide: Life On The Streets', 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit', 'The Wire', 'The Beat', 'The X-Files', 'The Simpsons', 'Arrested Development')
Barbara Bosson ('Hill Street Blues', 'Murder One', 'Cop Rock', 'Hooperman')
Julian Christopher ('Upload', 'The Magician', 'Smallville', 'When Calls The Heart')
Tom Sizemore ('Robbery Homicide Division', 'Twin Peaks', 'Barbee Rehab', 'Shooter', 'Dr. Vegas', 'China Beach', 'The Red Road', 'Hawaii Five-0')
Gordon Pinsent ('The Red Green Show', 'Babar', 'Due South', 'The Forest Rangers', 'Power Play', 'Republic of Doyle')
Topol ('The Winds of War' & 'War And Remembrance', 'Queenie', 'SeaQuest 2032')
Lance Reddick ('The Wire', 'Bosch', 'Lost')
Stuart Hodes ("Cinderella", "Annie Get Your Gun", "Appalachian Spring")
Terry Norris ('Bellbird', 'Cop Shop', 'Homicide', 'Jack Irish', 'Bloom', 'Bobby Dazzler')
Paul Grant ("Return of the Jedi", "Willow" - both with Toobworld connections)
Peter Hardy ('McLeod's Daughters', 'Sweat', 'Stingers', 'Snowy', 'Neighbours')
Ignacio Lopez Tarso ('Amores con Trampa', 'La Malquerida', 'The One Who Couldn't Love', 'Vivan Los Ninos!', 'Angela', 'Imperio de Cristal', 'Senda de Gloria', 'El Derecho de Nacer')
Robert Blake ('Baretta', 'Hell Town', 'The Richard Boone Show', 'Broken Arrow', 'Naked City')
Topol ('The Winds of War', 'War and Remembrance', 'Queenie', 'SeaQuest 2032')
Grant Bridger ('Radio Waves', 'Gather Your Dreams', 'Hercules', 'Xena')
Bob Goody ('Crime Traveller', 'Smith and Goody', 'The Bill', 'The Ghost Hunter', 'EastEnders')
Tom Sizemore ('Robbery Homicide Division', 'Dr. Vegas', 'China Beach', 'Crash', 'Twin Peaks', 'Hawaii Five-0', 'The Red Road', 'Shooter')
Ted Donalson ('Matinee Theatre', 'The Silent Service', 'Front Row Center') 
Len Birman ('Generations', 'Police Surgeon', 'Festival', 'Rocket Robin Hood', 'Quest')
Zia Mohyeddin ('The Hidden Truth', 'Secret Agent', 'Orlando', 'Jackanory', 'Jewel In The Crown', 'Shalom Salaam', 'Tickle on the Tum', 'King of the Ghetto', 'Gangsters') 
Javier Lopez ('La carabina de Ambrosio', La Güereja y algo más, 'A Christmas Carol')
Barbara Young ('Family Affairs', 'Coronation Street', 'Last of the Summer Wine')
Lee Whitlock ('The Bill', 'EastEnders', 'Casualty')
Ricou Browning ('Flipper', 'Sea Hunt', the legendary Gill Man)
Michael Lerner ('Clueless', 'Courthouse', 'Glee', 'Matumbo Goldberg', 'The Rockford Files', 'Starsky and Hutch', 'Hill Street Blues', 'Melba') 
Barry Humphries (Dame Edna Everage!, 'Ally McBeal', 'Not Only, But Also')
Murray Melvin ('Starhunter', 'Starhunter Redux', 'Oscar's Orchestra')
Eileen Saki ('M*A*S*H', 'CHiPs', 'Good Times', 'The Greatest American Hero')
Jung Chae-Yul ('Zombie Detective', 'Devil's Runway')
Jacklyn Zeman ('General Hospital', 'The Bay', 'One Life To Live', 'Misguided')
Bill Saluga ("You Can Call Me Ray", 'Playboy's Really Naked Truth', 'Curb Your Enthusiasm', 'Hollywood Squares', 'Mad About You', 'Designing Women', 'Seinfeld')
Jim Brown ('Soul Food', 'CHiPs', 'T.J. Hooker', 'I Spy', 'Between Brothers')
Helmut Berger ('Dynasty', 'Fantomas', "Victory at Etebbe", 'The Betrothed')
Hugh McGuire
Ray Stevenson ('Rome', 'Das Boot', 'Vikings', 'Reef Break', 'Black Sails', 'Dexter')
Ed Ames ('Daniel Boone', 'McCloud', 'Kodiak', 'The Starlost')
Paul Geoffrey 
George Logan (Dear Ladies', 'Hinge & Bracket')
George Maharis ('Route 66', 'The Most Deadly Game', 'Search for Tomorrow')
Peter Oliphant ('The Dick Van Dyke Show', 'The Donna Reed Show')
Peter Simonischek ('HeliCops', 'Lenz Oder Die Freiheit', 'Bella Block', 'Universum')
John Beasley ('Everwood', 'Soul Man', 'Shots Fired', 'Brewster Place')
Patricia Dainton ('Sixpenny Corner'
Pat Cooper ('Seinfeld', 'It's A Living', 'Vega$', 'Throb', 'Charlie's Angels', 'L.A. Law')
Michael Batayeh ('Breaking Bad', 'Sleeper Cell', 'JAG', 'Touch', 'Jessie')
Elizabeth Hubbard ('The Doctors', 'As The World Turns')
Treat Williams ('Everwood', 'Chesapeake Shores', 'Chicago Fire', 'Blue Bloods', 'Good Advice', 'Heartland', 'Brothers & Sisters', 'Against The Wall', 'White Collar', 'American Odyssey')
Glenda Jackson ('Elizabeth R', 'Z Cars', 'Carol & Company', 'Morecombe & Wise')
Paxton Whitehead ('Marblehead Manor', 'Simon', 'Liberty! The American Revolution', 'Mad About You', 'Ellen', 'Dinosaurs!', 'The Naked Mind', 'The West Wing', 'Knight Errant Limited')
Frederic Forrest ('Quo Vadis/', 'Die Kinder', '21 Jump Street', 'Lonesome Dove')
Angela Thorne ('Three Up, Two Down', 'To The Manor Born', 'Farrington of the F.O.', 'Noah's Ark', 'The Bagthorpe Saga', 'Emmerdale Farm', 'Ballet Shoes')
Frankie Hough ('Wire In The Blood', 'Merseybeat', 'Heartbeat', 'Where The Heart Is')
Dodie Heath ('The Twilight Zone', 'Alfred Hitchcock Hour', 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents', 'Lawman', 'Riverboat', 'Outlaws', 'The Untouchables', 'Colt .45')
Nicholas Coster ('Santa Barbara', 'Secret Storm', 'Another World', 'Our Private World',  'The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo', 'The Bay', 'As The World Turns', 'The Facts Of Life', 'One Life To Live', 'Ryan's Four')
Alan Arkin ('The Kominsky Method', '100 Centre Street', 'Harry', 'BoJack Horseman', 'St. Elsewhere', 'Sesame Street', 'Captain Kangaroo', 'Busting Loose')
Meg Johnson ('Emmerdale Farm', 'Coronation Street', 'Brookside')
Jeffrey Carlson ('All My Children')
Andrea Evans ('One Life To Live', 'Passions', 'The Bold & The Beautiful', 'The Young & The Restless', 'The Bay')
Jimmy Weldon (Host & voice of 'Webster Webfoot', voice of Yakky Doodle')
John Nettleton ('If It Moves, File It', 'Yes, Minister'/'Yes, Prime Minister', 'Her Majesty's Pleasure', 'The New Statesman', 'Z Cars', 'The Happy Apple')
George Armstrong ('Grange Hill', 'Tucker's Luck', 'The Bill', 'Just William')
Nick Benedict ('Days Of Our Lives', 'Tribes', 'Santa Barbara', 'All My Children')
Jane Birkin ('Armchair Theatre', 'Red Fox', 'Armchair Mystery Theatre')
Carlin Glynn ('Mr. President', 'A Woman Named Jackie', 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent')
Pamela Blair ('Ryan's Hope', 'Loving', 'All My Children', 'Another World')
Inga Swenson ('Benson', 'Soap', 'North & South: 1&2', 'Doctor, Doctor', 'Bonanza')
Paul Ruebens ('PeeWee's Playhouse', 'Murphy Brown', 'The Blacklist', 'DC's Legends of Tomorrow', 'Mosaic', 'Gotham', 'American Dad!', 'Pickle and Peanut')
Angus Cloud ('Euphoria', 'The Perfect Woman')
Mark Margolis ('Breaking Bad'/'Better Call Saul', 'The Equalizer',  'Oz', 'Waterfront', 'Santa Barbara')
Sharon Farrell ('The Young & The Restless', 'Hawaii Five-0', 'Saints & Sinners')
Shelley Smith ('The Associates', 'For Love and Honor', 'Simon and Simon')
Ron Cephas Jones ('This Is Us', 'Truth Be Told', 'Luke Cage', 'Mr. Robot')
Lea Garcia ('Selva de Padra', 'Xica da Silva', 'Mild Poison', 'Sunshine', 'Baile de Mascaras', 'Law and Crime', 'Desire', 'Bandidos de Falange', 'Rising Sun')
Gayle Hunnicutt ('Dallas', ''The Golden Bowl', 'Fall of Eagles', 'The Man Without A Face', 'A Woman of Substance', 'Fantomas')
Arleen Sorkin ('Days Of Our Lives', 'Duet'/'Open House', 'Gotham Girls'
Michael McGrath ("Monday Night Mayhem", 'Madam Secretary', 'Mathnet')
Dick Curtis ('Motormouse and Autocat', 'The Ray Stevens Show', 'The Jonathan Winters Show', 'The Dick Van Dyke Show', 'The Odd Couple', 'Captain Nice')
Jango Edwards ('Tohuwabohu', 'Galeria Oberta', 'Collaricocoshow', 'Suite 215')
David McCallum ('The Man From U.N.C.L.E.', 'N.C.I.S.', 'Sapphire & Steel')
Michael Gambon ('Maigret', 'The Borderers', 'The Other One',  'Fortitude', 'The Singing Detective', 'Fearless', 'The Challengers', 'Eyeless In Gaza', 'Luck', 'Emma') 
Cal Wilson ('Kitty Is Not A Cat', 'The Wedge', 'Street Legal', 'Flatmates')
Phyllis Coates ('The Adventures of Superman', 'This Is Alice', 'The Duke')
Mark Goddard ('Lost In Space', 'The Detectives', 'Johnny Ringo', 'Many Happy Returns', 'General Hospital', 'One Life To Live', 'The Doctors', 'Barnaby Jones')
Piper Laurie ('Twin Peaks', 'Skag', 'Traps', "Inherit The Wind", "Rainbow", 'Frasier')
Suzanne Somers ('Three's Company', 'Step By Step', 'She's The Sheriff', Thighmaster infomercials)
Lara Parker ('Dark Shadows' & movie spinoffs, 'Washington: Behind Closed Doors', 'One Life To Live', 'Jessica Novak', 'Galactica 1980', 'Quincy, M.E.', 'Switch', 'Kojak')
Evan Ellingson ('24', 'CSI: Miami', 'Titus', 'Complete Savages', 'General Hospital')
Janet Landgard ('The Donna Reed Show', 'My Three Sons'
Richard Roundtree ('Shaft', 'Outlaws', 'Generations', 'Being Mary Jane', 'Family Reunion', 'Diary of a Single Mom', 'Rescue 77', 'Soul Food', 'Cherish The Day', '413 Hope Street', 'Buddies', 'Heroes', 'A.D.', 'Star', 'Desperate Housewives', 'Roc')
Peter White ('Love Is A Many Splendored Thing', 'All My Children', 'The Colbys', 'Sisters', 'Dallas')
Tim Woodward ('Wings', 'Murder City', 'Holding On', 'Crossroads', 'Mr. Selfridge')
Johnny Ruffo ('Home And Away', 'The X Factor', 'Dancing With The Stars', 'Neighbors')
Conny Van Dyke ('Police Woman', 'Sunshine', 'Ironside', 'Nakia', 'Adam-12')
Richard Moll ('Night Court', 'Mighty Max', 'Batman: The Animated Series',  '100 Deeds For Eddie McDowd', 'The Legend of Calamity Jane')
Joanna Merlin ('Law & Order: Special Victims Unit', 'Law & Order', 'New York Undercover', 'Another World') 
Matthew Perry ('Friends', 'The Odd Couple', 'Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip', 'Boys Will Be Boys', 'Go On', 'Home Free', 'Sydney', 'Mr. Sunshine', 'The Good Wife'/'The Good Fight', 'Ally McBeal', and 'The West Wing')
Tyler Christopher ('General Hospital', 'Days Of Our Lives', 'The Lying Game', 'Into The West', TVXOHOF for 3 made for TV disaster movies)
Shirley Jo Finney ("Wilma", 'Hill Street Blues', 'Lou Grant', 'CBS Schoolbreak Special', "Uncle Tom's Cabin", 'Police Story', 'Mork & Mindy', 'Amen', 'Night Court')
Joss Ackland ('Jackanory', 'Crusoe', 'Above and Beyond', 'Sherlock Holmes')
Suzanne Shepherd ('The Sopranos', 'Blue Bloods', 'Ed')
Peter Spellos ('American Dreams', 'Planetes', 'Transformers: Robots In Disguise')
Annabel Giles ('Chuck Finn')
Lawrence Steven Meyers ('The Amazing Live Sea-Monkeys')
Frances Sternhagen ('The Doctors', 'Cheers', 'Sex And The City', 'The Closer')
Dean Sullivan ('Brookside', 'Doctors', 'Crime Stories')
Sheila Smith ('Charlie's Angels')
Benjamin Zephaniah ('Peaky Blinders', 'EastEnders', 'The Bill', 'Zen Motoring')
Brigit Forsyth ('The Practice', 'Still Open All Hours', 'Tom, Dick, and Harriet', 'Boon', 'Doctor Who') 
Andrea F. Friedman ('Life Goes On', 'The Division', 'Family Guy', 'Baywatch', 'ER')
Ryan O'Neal ('Peyton Place', 'Empire', 'Bones', 'Miss Match', 'Good Sports')
Shirley Anne Field ('Santa Barbara', 'Buccaneer', 'Where The Heart Is', 'Madson')
Ellen Holly ('One Life To Live', 'Guiding Light', 'In The Heat Of The Night')
Jack Hogan ('Combat!', 'Sierra', 'Jake and the Fatman', 'Adam 12', 'Hawaii Five-0')
Maurice Hines ('Cosby', 'The Equalizer', 'Love, Sidney')
Steve Halliwell ('Emmerdale', 'Coronation Street')
Camden Toy ('Buffy, The Vampire Slayer', 'The Bay', 'Goodnight, Burbank')
Andre Braugher ('Homicide: Life On The Street', 'Brooklyn 9-9', 'The Good Fight')
James McCaffrey ('Rescue Me', 'Viper', 'Beautiful People', 'Swift Justice', 'As The World Turns', 'She's Gotta Have It', 'Suits', 'Revenge', 'New York Undercover')
Lee Sun-kyun ('Coffee Prince', 'Payback', 'Golden Time', 'Miss Korea', 'Pasta')
Tommy Smothers ('The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour', 'My Brother The Angel')
Mike Nussbaum ('The Commish', 'Brooklyn Bridge', 'The X-Files')
Mbongeni Ngema ('Gold Diggers', 'Keeping Company with Sondheim', 'Everyman')
Tom Wilkinson ('First Among Equals', 'The Full Monty', 'The Kennedys', 'Belgravia', 'John Adams', 'Spyship', 'Watership Down', 'Martin Chuzzlewitt', 'Underbelly')
Shecky Greene ('Combat!', 'The Fall Guy', 'Mad About You', 'Roseanne')
Ana Ofelia Murguia ('El Amor De Mi Vida', 'Mozart In The Jungle', 'El Abuelo y Yo')
Vinie Burrows ('Producers' Showcase', 'Camera Three')
Cindy Morgan ('Falcon Crest', 'Bring 'Em Back Alive', 'CHiPs', 'Matlock', 'Hunter')
Sajid Khan ('Maya', 'The Big Valley', '1857 Kranti', 'It's Happening')

PERSONALITIES

Country Boy Eddie (C&W variety show host)
Kajsa Thoor (Swedish TV presenter)
Lisa Marie Presley (Singer/actress, daughter of Elvis and Priscilla Presley)
Patrick Grimlund (Swedish TV presenter)
C.J. Harris ('American Idol')
Arthur Duncan ('The Betty White Show', 'The Lawrence Welk Show', 'Columbo')
Marisol Malaret (Miss Universe, television host)
Mark Russell (Musical Political Satirist)
Harry Lorayne (Master of Total Recall)
Keith Nale ('Survivor')
Len Goodman ('Strictly Come Dancing', 'Dancing With The Stars') 
Judith Miller ('Antiques Roadshow' - BBC original)
Tina Turner
Rolf Harris 
Anna Hays ('Bling Empire')
Astrud Gilberto (Many variety/talk shows, and "Girl From Ipanema" used in shows)
CoCo Lee (Infinity and Beyond 2022', 'The Running Man', 'Sheng Lin Zhi Wang', 
Michael Parkinson ('Parkinson', 'Parkinson: Masterclass', 'Give Us A Clue')
Carole Duvall (How-to crafter on TV)
Bob Barker ('The Price Is Right', 'Beat The Clock', 'Martial Law', 'How I Met Your Mother'
Ahmo Hight (Fitness Instructor)
Mike Yarwood (British impressionist)
Michael Chiarello (Chef, Food Network)
David Berglas (Magician:)
Robbin Bain (NBC's 'Today' Girl, 'To Tell The Truth')
Cilly Dartell ('Hart van Nederland')
Bobby Rivers ('Sunday Brunch with Bobby Rivers', 'Good Day New York', 'The Sopranos', 'News 4 New York')
Selma Archerd ('Kolchak, 'Tattletales', 'The Love Boat')

NEWS & SPORTS
Nate Thayer ('The Most Evil Men and Women in History' - Pol Pot)
Bernard Kalb (CBS Evening News, NBC News, 'Reliable Sources')
Julie Wilcox (WVEC, WNYT)
Billy Packer (CBS, NBC basketball analyst)
Tim McCarver (MLB catcher and sports commentator for Fox Sports)
Dick Davies (ITV's 'World of Sport')
John Motson (BBC FIFA football commentator)
Gloria Maria (Brazilian tele-journalist 'Love & Sex', 'Fantastic', 'Atlas Horas')
Leslie Swick Van Ness (WGEM anchor, talent acquisitions Quincy Media)
Gail Christian (NBC, KNBC, PBS correspondent)
Tony Valdez (KTTV anchor & reporter)
John Roland (WNEW-WNYW anchor)
Frank Field (WNBC weatherman)
Don Kennedy
Elise Finch (NYC meteorologist)
Max Gomez (Medical correspondent for WCBS, WNBS, WNEW, KYW)
Felicia Taylor (CNBC news reporter, Rod Taylor's daughter)
Mike Enriquez (Filipino newscaster - 'Saksi', '24 Oras', 'Imbestigador')
Ivor Robson (Voice of the British Open, 41 years straight)
Arnold Diaz ("Shame On You" segments for WCBS, WPIX, WNYW, & ABC News)
Betty Rollin (TV news correspondent for NBC & PBS, portrayed by Mary Tyler Moore in the TV movie adaptation of her book "First You Cry".)
Pablo Guzman (WCBS reporter)
Emily Matson ('Erie News Now' anchor)


PERSONAL
Tim O'Brien (My brother, Fox News 61 - he once appeared in a report extolling the joys of Hammonasset Beach  His name is in orange because he so loved the Broncos.)  

THE HAT SQUAD 2023 - BEHIND THE SCENES

 

BEHIND THE SCENES

DIRECTORS
Ruggero Deodato ('Thinking About Africa', I ragazzi del muretto', 'Ocean')
Bruce Gowers ('American Idol', 'Whose Line Is It Anyway?', 'Kidsongs', 'Celebrity Duets', 'Solid Gold', 'The Sweepstakes Game', 'Larry Grayson', 'Hi! Summer')
Adrian Hall ("The House of Mirth", "Brother To Dragons", "Feasting With Panthers") 
Michael Blackwood (Documentarian, mostly about musicians)
Michael Houldey (Documentarian)
Ellen Hovde (Documentarian, won Emmy for miniseries about Ben Franklin)
William Friedkin ("12 Angry Men", 'CSI', 'Tales From The Crypt', 'The Alfred Hitchcock Hour')
Nancy Buirski (Documentarian, Emmy winner for "The Lovings")
Alan J.W. Bell ('Last Of The Summer Wine', 'Call My Bluff', 'Crackerjack!', 'The Hitch-hiker's Guide To The Galaxy', 'Emmerdale Farm', 'Children's Ward', 'The Bill') 
David Elliott (Supermarionation puppet shows)


WRITERS
Ted Whitehead ('The Life and Loves Of A She-Devil', 'Cracker', 'The Cloning of Joanna May', 'World's End', 'The Detective', 'Sweet Nothings', 'Free Frenchman')
John Jakes ('The Bastard', 'The Rebels', 'The Seekers', 'North & South, Books 1-3')
Blair Tindall ("Mozart In The Jungle" author, which was turned into an Amazon TV series)
Jerome Coopersmith ('Hawaii Five-0', 'The Andros Targets', 'Johnny Jupiter')
Tom Jones ("The Fantasticks", "I Do! I Do!", "New York Scrapbook")
Tina Howe ("The Portrait", "Painting Churches", 'The Legacy')
Peter S. Fischer ('Murder, She Wrote', 'Columbo', 'Ellery Queen Mysteries', 'Eddie Capra Mysteries', 'Once An Eagle', 'Blacke's Magic', 'The Law & Harry McGraw')
Michael Bishop ('Monsters', 'Tales From The Darkside')

PRODUCERS
Sergi Schaff ('Saber y ganar', 'La luna', 'El enemigo en casa', '3X4', 'La lluna')
Walter Sequeira ('El acomodadoe')
Andy Rothman (CBS News, CNBC)
Joseph Pedott (Commercial creator - like Chia Pet)
Bill Geddie (Creator of 'The View')
Katie Spikes ('CBS Sunday Morning')
David Jacobs ('Dallas' - 2X, 'Knots Landing', 'Paradise'/'Guns of Paradise', 'Four Corners')
Marty Krofft ('H.R. Pufnstuf', 'Sigmund and the Sea Monsters', 'Donny and Marie', 'Liddsville')
Robert Precht ('The Ed Sullivan Show')

MUSIC
Ginny Redington Dawes (commercial jingles)
Gerald Fried ('Gilligan's Island', 'Star Trek', 'Roots')
Robbie Robertson ('The Whoopi Goldberg Show', 'American Masters', 'Native America', 'Saturday Night Live',)
Jimmy Buffett 

PUPPETRY

TECHNICAL
Eugene Lee (Set Designer, 'Saturday Night Live')
Bob Pook (Graphics Desisgner, 'Saturday Night Live', 'Late Night with David Letterman', 'CBS Sunday Morning')
Franne Lee (Costume Designer, 'Saturday Night Lee')

THE HAT SQUAD 2023 - HYPHENATES & OTHERS

 THE HAT SQUAD 2022 - HYPHENATES & OTHERS

NORMAN LLOYD - The man stands alone
Producer - 'All In The Family'/'Archie Bunker's Place', 'Sanford & Son', 'Maude', 'Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'/'Forever Fernwood', 'Good Times', 'The Jeffersons', 'One Day At A Time' (two versions), '227', 'Gloria', 'All That Glitters', 'Checking In', 'The Powers That Be', 'Sunday Dinner', 'Diff'rent Strokes', 'The Facts of Life', '704 Hauser', 
Director - 
Writer - 
Other -
Member of the Television Crossover Hall of Fame since September, 2001

HYPHENATES
Frank Galati (ACTOR - "Come Along With Me", WRITER - "The Grapes of Wrath", "The American Clock", DIRECTOR - "The Grapes of Wrath")
Jean Bertho (DIRECTOR - 'En votre ame et conscience', 'Lecture pour tous', ACTOR - 'Si cetait vous?', 'L'inspecteur Leclerc enquete')
Burt Bacharach (COMPOSER - 'The Kraft Music Hall', 'ABC Stage 67', 'The Creative Person' ACTOR - 'The Nanny')
Maurizio Costanza (WRITER - 'Jazz Band', 'Cinema!!!',  HOST -'The Maurizio Costanzo Show', 'Bonta Loro', 'Bonta Sua'  ACTOR - 'Orazio')
Tom Jolls (NEWS - WKBW weatherman, ACTOR - 'Commander Tom Show')
Carol Higgins Clark (ACTRESS - "A Cry In The Night", "The Cradle Will Fall", "Stillwatch" AUTHOR - "Deck The Halls", "Mystery Cruise") 
Sue Johanson (ACTRESS - 'DeGrassi High', 'DeGrassi: The Next Generation' SEX EXPERT 'Late Show with David Letterman', 'Late Night with Conan O'Brien', 'Late Night with Jay Leno', 'The View', 'Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson', 'Last Call with Carson Daly')
Nathan Louis Jackson (WRITER - 'Luke Cage', 'Shameless', 'Resurrection', CO-PRODUCER - 'S.W.A.T.', '13 Reasons Why', 'Genius', 'Luke Cage')
Robert Klane (WRITER - 'Tracey Takes On', "The Odd Couple: Together Again", 'M*A*S*H' DIRECTOR - "The Odd Couple: Together Again", 'Baby Boom')
Alan Eisenberg (Executive Director of Actors' Equity, PRODUCER - 
Sandra Elkin (Producer & Host - 'Woman')
Michael Blakemore (DIRECTOR - Tonys for Play & Musical in same year, 'Great Performances', "Hofeber"; ACTOR - 'The Last Bastion', 'ITV Play of the Week')

THE OTHERS
Art McNally (Head of NFL Officiating who brought instant replay to the game of football)
Lloyd Morrisett (Co-Creator of 'Sesame Street')
Representative Patricia Schroeder (Democratic Congresswoman, ran for President, played by Nora Dunn on 'Saturday Night Live')
Newton Minow (FCC chief who called TV a "vast wasteland")
Robert Hanssen (FBI agent who spied for Russia.  Played by Chris Cooper)
Pat Robertson ('Christian' televangelist, portrayed by Al Franken)
Ted Kaczynski (The Unabomber, portrayed on TV by Tobin Bell and Paul Bettany)
Marvin Kitman (TV critic for Long Island Newsday.  I wrote to him once and he sent a reply.  He had written a column asking who shot JR and wanted people to send in their suggestions.  I told him it was probably my Grammy O'Brien who was in Texas at the time.  He wrote back that JR would have loved that I turned in my own grandmother.)
Sinead O'Connor (Tore up a picture of the Pope on SNL and was banned for Life from the show.  She was later played by Jan Hooks in two sketches.)
William H. Dilday, Jr. (First Black TV station manager in United States)
Don Browne (Media executive Telemundo )
Edward Bleier (Powerhouse behind Time Warner Cable)
Rosalynn Carter (Former First Lady, portrayed by Laraine Newman & Ann Risley)
Lionel Dahmer (Father of Jeffrey Dahmer, portrayed by Richard Jenkins in 'Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story')
Neil Drossman (Adman who came up with copy for Meow Mix, etc)
Donald Wildmon (Founder of American Family which campaigned against television and pop culture)
David Thacker (Recordist & Boom Operator - 'Beyond Paradise', 'Father Brown', 'Doctors', 'Broadchurch', '24: Live Another Day')

A LITTLE BIRTHDAY GREETING FOR MR. HOLMES

 

I saw this meme back on Holy Thursday and I knew where it belonged - posted here on January 6, the generally acknowledged but not officially recognized birthday for the great detective.

Of the three movies listed here for Sherlock Holmes, only one is located in one of the alternate Toobworlds - "Enola Holmes".

As for the two movies set in the MCU, they do have links to alternate Toobworlds, mostly thanks to the 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'  As for Henry Cavill as Supes, DC Comics was first of the two mega corporations to embrace the multiverse, especially with the crossover event "Crisis on Multiple Earths".  (I'm not going to get into who has handled the multiverse better, however.)

One day I'll have to finally make a decision on which Toobworld Cumberbatch's Sherlock Holmes belongs.  We know it can't be Earth Prime-Time - Jeremy Brett holds that honor!  (I'm leaning towards Cumberbatch appearing as the spirit of Brett's Holmes, trapped in Limbo where he welcomes new Dr. Watsons who share common traits with his original companion by that name.)

STORIES IN THE END ("SO LONG, FARE WELL")

 

I hope you enjoyed this look at one of my favorite TV series.

We’ll see you again next year!

WHOBITUARIES 2024

 

EVE PEARCE - Estelle, ‘Torchwood’ - “Small Worlds”
TIM BARLOW - Tyssan, “Destiny of the Daleks” Parts 1-4
PAUL O’GRADY - Himself, “The Stolen Earth”
JIM McMANUS - Ophthalmologist, “The Invisible Enemy”
MURRAY MELVIN - Bilis Manger, ‘Torchwood’ - “Captain Jack Harkness”
TERENCE HARDIMAN - Hawthorne, “The Beast Below”
JOHN NETTLETON - Reverend Matthews, “Ghost Ship” Parts 1&2
PETER DAY (Special Effects) - ‘The Evil of the Daleks’, ‘Fury From the Deep’, ‘Tomb of the Cybermen’, ‘The Ambassadors of Death’, ‘The Daemons’, ‘The Sea Devils’, ‘The Monster of Peladon’, ‘Genesis of the Daleks’, ‘The Deadly Assassin’, ‘The Sun Makers’
MICHAEL GAMBON - “A Christmas Carol”
BRIGIT FORSYTH - Ruth Maxtible, “The Evil of the Daleks” Parts 1-4 O'Bservation - I'm fairly certain this is far from complete. I'll keep checking the sources....

THE TARDIS JUKEBOX - "PRISENCOLINENSINAINCIUSOL"?

There are now two TARDISes out there in the TV Universe of Earth Prime-Time – one belonging to the 15th Incarnation and the other, newer, incarnation which the 14th Incarnation of the Doctor has at his disposal.  That is, if I’m figuring aright, the being used by Tennant’s third version of the Doctor is the new model.  (And hopefully Gatwa’s Doctor did not create a split personality by dividing up the soul of the TARDIS between the two blue boxes.  Then again, I’m sure there’s a future scriptwriter for the show out there who is already preparing his pitch that each TARDIS has a mind of its own.)

Both of them have the same screensaver running to project the holographic interior (at least for the control room.)  And – looking at the show from an outsider’s point of view as a producer keeping an eye on the purse strings – they will probably stay the same in order to cut down costs.  (Should Tennant ever return to the role of Fourteen, all they have to do is wheel that jukebox off the set and bob’s your uncle.)

Within days of the reveal of the jukebox inside the TARDIS, fans were speculating as to what music should be heard emanating from its speakers.  (Not that I had anything against some of the songs heard elsewhere in the series, but I hope they’re not all going to be in the same vein as the Britney Spears/Spice Girls/Boney M./Rogue Trader selections which we heard in the past.)

To that end, I have a song to recommend for inclusion in the Doctor’s playlist….

"PRISENCOLINENSINAINCIUSOL"

From Wikipedia:
"Prisencolinensinainciusol" is a song composed by the Italian singer Adriano Celentano, and performed by Celentano and his wife Claudia Mori. It was released as a single in 1972. Both the name of the song and its lyrics are gibberish but are intended to sound like English in an American accent.

By the 1960s, Celentano was already one of the most popular rock musicians in Italy, in large part due to his appearance at the Sanremo Music Festival in 1960 and the subsequent success of his song "24.000 baci". "Prisencolinensinainciusol" was released in 1972 and remained popular throughout the 1970s.

"Prisencolinensinainciusol" has been described as varying music genres including Europop, house music, disco, hip hop and funk. Celentano, however, did not have these styles in mind when writing the song. He composed "Prisencolinensinainciusol" by creating a loop of four drumbeats and improvising lyrics over the top of the loop in his recording studio. The song is characterised by an E flat groove in the drum and bass guitar and riff in the horn section. Between the drum loop and the looped horns, not to mention the conversational improvisational "freestyle" flow of the lyrics and the chanting chorus, the song has many elements that predate hip hop, elements later found in hip hop in the mid 1980s and 1990s, respectively.

The song is intended to sound to its Italian audience as if it is sung in English spoken with an American accent, however the lyrics are deliberately unintelligible gibberish with the exception of the words "all right". Andrew Khan, writing in The Guardian, later described the sound as reminiscent of Bob Dylan's output from the 1980s.

Celentano's intention with the song was not to create a humorous novelty song but to explore communication barriers. The intent was to demonstrate how English sounds to people who do not understand the language proficiently. "Ever since I started singing, I was very influenced by American music and everything Americans did. So at a certain point, because I like American slang—which, for a singer, is much easier to sing than Italian—I thought that I would write a song which would only have as its theme the inability to communicate. And to do this, I had to write a song where the lyrics didn't mean anything."

"Prisencolinensinainciusol" wouldn’t just have to add flavor to a scene, an opportunity for the Master to let loose with his funky self.  It could even be integrated into a plot-line for the show.  How?  What if some alien race visited Italy at some point in 1970 or ’71 and implanted that song – its tune and its lyrics – into the mind of Celentano, with the long-range goal of it triggering something dire for the world once the recorded song began to be heard throughout the world?

In recent years, "Prisencolinensinainciusol" has had a resurgence, thanks to YouTube, streaming services, and being used in the soundtracks for episodes of ‘Fargo’ and ‘Ted Lasso’.  So why not in an episode of another show ending with the letter “O”?

One thing I like about this idea is that the backdrop for the story would be Italy.  It gives me the opportunity to do a bit of research as to why aliens would have been in Italy circa 1970-71.

From Wikipedia:
The Reggio revolt occurred in Reggio Calabria, Italy, from July 1970 to February 1971. The cause of the protests was a government decision to make Catanzaro, not Reggio, regional capital of Calabria. The nomination of a regional capital was the result of a decentralization programme of the Italian government, under which 15 governmental regions were concretized and given their own administrative councils and a measure of local autonomy.

Protest in Reggio Calabria exploded in July 1970 when the much smaller town of Catanzaro (with a population of 82,000 against 160,000 in Reggio) was chosen as the regional capital of Calabria. The people of Reggio blamed their rivals' success to "the Red Barons" in Rome, a group of influential centre-left Calabrian politicians from Cosenza and Catanzaro.

Doesn’t sound like something worthy of a sci-fi show, but the genre can adapt to any event in history.

At any rate, here’s the song I want to be included on the TARDIS jukebox….

GRAVITY? SCHMAVITY!

DOCTOR WHO
WILD BLUE YONDER

When the Doctor and Donna met Isaac Newton in 1666, Donna made a joke about “the gravity of the situation”.  After they left, however, Newton couldn’t quite remember what that strange word was that they used.  He eventually settled on using “mavity”.  

As the episode continued, the Doctor and Donna both used that new word, probably not realizing that they had changed History.  (Remember, they were not in his presence when he came up with it.)  In that new timeline, they, like everybody else in the world since Newton published his findings in 1687, had been using “mavity” instead of “gravity”.

EXAMPLE 01

The Doctor:
We could take a look.
Donna Noble:
Or we could stay here, wait for the TARDIS to mend itself so I can get back home. My family is waiting for me!
The Doctor:
Yeah, all right. Yeah!
Donna:
Still, wherever we are, could be worse. We've got air; we've got light; we've got mavity.
Doctor:
Yeah.

EXAMPLE 02
Donna:
But... if we're in space... There's no stars. Where are the stars?
The Doctor:
We could be inside a dust cloud or a... mavity well, or....

EXAMPLE 03
The Doctor:
What is making that noise?
(An alien body comes into view)
There.
(CLANG!)
The captain of the ship. Circling round and round forever. Caught in the gravity field.
DONNA:
Caught in the what?
THE DOCTOR:
Mavity field.

As seen/heard in that instance, the Doctor’s mind can straddle realities and remember the original timeline, as well as the various alternate pathways.  Probably.  (I’m not sure, but I think that has been established in the Past.)

What disturbed me at first was that I assumed the word “gravity” existed long before 1666.

I, as usual, was wrong.

As he was English, I think Newton coined the term based on the Latin roots, not the Old French.  So that would buttress the late 17th Century claim.

Stanford University looked at the etymology and the cultural history of gravity.  Click here if you’re interested in reading it.

Will RTD eventually address the situation to correct the word’s history?  Time travel is O’Bviously well-established in the series’ corner of the TV Universe, so this could be handled in a small patch, a scene even shorter than the one which caused the timeline shift to “mavity”.

But then again, as expansive as his vision has been in the past (and this episode “Wild Blue Yonder” fits that bill!), RTD can get sloppy with details that jar with real science.  So he might just leave it as is and forget about it.

(Remember how a mass shower in the topical application of all medicines blended together was able to cure everybody in that New Earth hospital?)

But until then, wouldn't it be great if other TV shows which should be sharing the same TV Universe as 'Doctor Who' started using the word "mavity" instead of "gravity"?

All the uses of "gravity" in past TV episodes would be locked into the old timeline before the "mavity" revision.

We shall see what we shall view….

UPDATE:
With both "The Giggle" and "The Church On Ruby Road," the word "mavity" was used.  RTD has been known to sprinkle the episodes in a season with a phrase which pays off by the season finale.  First it was "Bad Wolf" and a couple years later it was "Mister Saxon".

So it could be that the use of "mavity" will pay off with a big climactic reveal to cap off Davies' return to the series....