With the debut of 'Notes From The Underbelly', ABC sneaked in some synergy for its showcase series. When Lauren was trying to find someone with whom to commiserate while she was performing some stunt to ensure pregnancy, nobody would pick up the phone.
They were all too busy watching 'Lost'; even her husband had abandoned her to watch it!
As her friend Cooper told a one-night stand, "I don't answer the phone when 'Lost' is on."
At the first mention of the show, my brain started racing to disable the Zonk. (It's a good thing I was sitting down; that's a lot of energy expended!) Perhaps they were talking about one of the several movies that had the title 'Lost'....
But then they actually showed several scenes from the show featuring Dominic Monaghan and Matthew Fox!
There may be a way to fix this Zonk, but it hinges on how 'Lost' presents its final episode....
'Notes From The Underbelly' is set in the present - California, April of 2007. The most recent episode of 'Lost' took place in December of 2004.
If the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 make it off that island so that the outside world could learn of what happened to them, it could be that a TV series or a mini-series might be based on their harrowing adventures.
The producers would like 'Lost' to run about 100 episodes. (A better total of course would be 108!) At the rate Time passes on this show, it might only be March of 2005 by the time the series ends with their rescue.
So if the castaways do get rescued by early 2005, that's plenty of time to get a TV show off the ground to capitalize on the story.
And we saw the 'Underbelly' characters were not watching the same 'Lost' episode we did in the real world. The episode featured a scene from the 'Lost' episode of "White Rabbit", which aired on ABC in the real world back on October 20th, 2004. It was O'Bviously a first-run episode for them; nobody gives a repeat that kind of rapt attention!
So that time delay would jibe with my theory. This is a different production of 'Lost', looking similar to the real one, and unlike the show we know, theirs is based on actual events. (Which, come to think of it, IS the show we know!)
As for the two actors in the scene, they don't necessarily have to be Matthew Fox and Dominic Monaghan; they could be two fictional actors with an uncanny resemblance to Dr. Jack Shepherd and Charlie Pace, respectively.
Again, this will all depend on how 'Lost' plays out in its final episode......
BCnU!
Toby OB
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
LEAVE IT TO "CLEAVER"
Who could have guessed that 'The Sopranos' would have a spin-off? But there on Monday night, there was the televersion of one of those HBO 'First Look' specials, this time for the movie within the TV show, "Cleaver".
Filming of the movie, described as "'Saw' Meets 'The Godfather'", has been chronicled on 'The Sopranos' over the last few seasons. And there were scenes from the series sprinkled throughout the fifteen minute special. But most of it was concerned with the actual filming of one of the scenes which was shown on the series this past Sunday night.
Featured in the special were the executive producers of "Cleaver", Carmine Lupertazzi, Jr. and Christopher Moltisanti - not the actors playing them, but the actual characters, thus keeping the special within the boundaries of Toobworld. Also interviewed were the film's "director", Morgan Yam, and its two stars, Jonathan LaPaglia and Daniel Baldwin, both appearing as themselves.
Here it is, only April, and I think we have the front-runner for the 2007 Toobit award for Best Spin-Off!
BCnU!
Toby OB
Filming of the movie, described as "'Saw' Meets 'The Godfather'", has been chronicled on 'The Sopranos' over the last few seasons. And there were scenes from the series sprinkled throughout the fifteen minute special. But most of it was concerned with the actual filming of one of the scenes which was shown on the series this past Sunday night.
Featured in the special were the executive producers of "Cleaver", Carmine Lupertazzi, Jr. and Christopher Moltisanti - not the actors playing them, but the actual characters, thus keeping the special within the boundaries of Toobworld. Also interviewed were the film's "director", Morgan Yam, and its two stars, Jonathan LaPaglia and Daniel Baldwin, both appearing as themselves.
Here it is, only April, and I think we have the front-runner for the 2007 Toobit award for Best Spin-Off!
BCnU!
Toby OB
A CINEMATIC VENTURE?
I have to say that Entertainment Weekly called it right this week with their assessment about the 'Aqua Teen Hunger Force' movie. It's their opinion that Cartoon Network picked the wrong property of theirs to showcase in their first full-length theatrical release.
Instead, it should have been 'The Venture Brothers', a wacked spin on 'The Adventures Of Jonny Quest'. With Patrick Warburton in the cast as Brock (the Race Bannon-like family bodyguard), it has the potential for over-the-top action sequences to keep the audiences on the edge of their seats while they're laughing their asses off at the same time.
And I would have thrown in a cameo by 'Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law' to test audience reaction; see if he had potential for his own feature.
BCnU!
Toby OB
Instead, it should have been 'The Venture Brothers', a wacked spin on 'The Adventures Of Jonny Quest'. With Patrick Warburton in the cast as Brock (the Race Bannon-like family bodyguard), it has the potential for over-the-top action sequences to keep the audiences on the edge of their seats while they're laughing their asses off at the same time.
And I would have thrown in a cameo by 'Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law' to test audience reaction; see if he had potential for his own feature.
BCnU!
Toby OB
KEEPING UP WITH THE JONESES
'Brothers & Sisters' may have made a genealogical link to 'Star Trek' this week with the introduction of Nora Walker's arch-rival, Miranda Jones (played by the always fantastic Susan Sullivan).
Back in the 1960s, Diana Muldaur appeared in an episode of 'Star Trek' ("Is There In Truth No Beauty?") as Dr. Miranda Jones, a blind telepath linked to the Medusan ambassador.
The Miranda Jones of the 21st Century has 15 grand-children, some by her sons, I'm sure. So it could be that there was a tradition in that branch of the Jones family to have at least one Miranda Jones in each generation. It doesn't necessarily mean that Dr. Jones so many centuries in the future had to be named for this particular Miranda Jones. And I tend to doubt there would be a reason to do so.....
BCnU!
Toby OB
Back in the 1960s, Diana Muldaur appeared in an episode of 'Star Trek' ("Is There In Truth No Beauty?") as Dr. Miranda Jones, a blind telepath linked to the Medusan ambassador.
The Miranda Jones of the 21st Century has 15 grand-children, some by her sons, I'm sure. So it could be that there was a tradition in that branch of the Jones family to have at least one Miranda Jones in each generation. It doesn't necessarily mean that Dr. Jones so many centuries in the future had to be named for this particular Miranda Jones. And I tend to doubt there would be a reason to do so.....
BCnU!
Toby OB
BLOGGED OVER
Well, Google finally forced my hand and I had to switch over to the new version of Blogger. Being a dialupagus (one who still uses dial up for computer connections), I had to complete the process at the business center here at work.
Hopefully I won't have any problems tomorrow at home in Toobworld Central when I try to post.....
BCnU!
Toby OB
Hopefully I won't have any problems tomorrow at home in Toobworld Central when I try to post.....
BCnU!
Toby OB
Monday, April 16, 2007
SKIMBLE SKAMBLE STUFF: "DOCTOR WHO"
A few O'Bservations about "The Shakespeare Code", the second episode of 'Doctor Who' this season. There will be spoilers.....
This is one of those episodes where the American audience is at a disadvantage, since it will be months before we get to see it (officially and legally). In "The Shakespeare Code", the Doctor mentions the seventh book of the "Harry Potter" series, teasing Martha with how good it is, since from her perspective it hasn't been published yet. (It's the first few days of April, 2007, her time perspective, but the episode takes place in 1599.)
Being a time traveler, he's already read "The Deathly Hallows"; by the time this airs in the States, anybody who wants to read the book will have already done so.
Of course, it's a reference that will date the episode for all future audiences, in much the same way that Number Six's comment that he'd like to be the first man on the moon dates 'The Prisoner'.
It's also a reference that spoils my dream to one day see JK Rowling allow a TV series based on Hogwart's Academy. Luckily for me, this could still be the Doctor from an alternate Toobworld as was the case in the last two years.
However, should it ever come to pass, I'll find a way to splain it off....
Once again we see how the Doctor inserted himself into Earth's history; this time by supplying William Shakespeare with a few choice turns of phrase. (During which he almost robbed Dylan Thomas the opportunity to be the first to come up with one of his most famous quotes!)
The first Shakespearean quote used by the Doctor was "brave new world". But he said that within the TARDIS, out of earshot for Shakespeare. So four years later (or perhaps more), when Will was writing "The Tempest", it was wholly original for him.
What was interesting about the Doctor's use of the phrase is the full quotation from which it comes:
The sentiment it expresses captures the Doctor's enthusiasm for the potential in the human race. This was a running theme last season during the first batch of adventures for the Tenth Doctor.
One term in "The Tempest" which can be attributed to the Doctor was the name of "Sycorax". In "The Christmas Invasion", the Sycorax were an alien race bent on subjugating the Earth to be their current foodbasket. At the end of "The Shakespeare Code", the Doctor found a mask in the prop room similar to that worn by the Sycorax and pointed this out.
Shakespeare liked the sound of the word and promised to use it - which he did, as the name of the witch who was the mother of Caliban.
This helped clear up that little bugaboo. At least it was a problem for me - I thought it lazy to steal from Shakespeare to create the name of an alien race. But now, thanks to a time travel loop, we learn that Shakespeare stole the name from that alien race!
I should point out that all of the plays written by Shakespeare were based on "true" events in the TV Universe. Not just the histories, but the comedies and tragedies as well. For Toobworld, there really was a Prospero, a Shylock, a Malvolio and a Titania; Shakespeare was just creating his own version of what really happened to them. In a way, like screenwriters inventing dialogue for real-life characters in intimate situations where there is no public record. (See last year's movies "The Queen" and "The Last King Of Scotland", both by Peter Morgan, who also brought the televersion of Lord "Longford" to life in Toobworld.)
As with modern screenwriters, Shakespeare took liberties with his source material: combining characters, creating fictional characters to better serve the narrative (like DeVito's character in "Hoffa"). And sometimes he changed the names or even added them when none could be found. It just may be that there was no record of the name for Caliban's mom; but since she was a witch, Shakespeare probably remembered the term "Sycorax" from when he dealt with "witches" while the Doctor was in town.
From online sources: "The Tempest" is dated by many conventional scholars circa 1610-11. However, Oxfordian researchers and some modern scholars dispute this dating, arguing for a date closer to 1603-04.
It could be that Shakespeare's interpretation of the "real" Prospero was inspired by his encounter with the Doctor.....
These are the plays Shakespeare wrote before meeting the Doctor and Martha:
(Dates in parentheses indicate the date of first publication only.)
(1562), "The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet", by Oxford, under the pseudonym Arthur Brooke.
(1567), Ovid’s Metamorphoses, collaboration with Oxford's uncle and tutor, Arthur Golding.
1574, Famous Victories of Henry Fifth, early version of Henry IV, Part 1 & 2, and Henry V.
1577, revised 1594 (1623) Comedy of Errors' earlier version called “A Historie of Error". If this is the same as the play entitled "The Night of Errors," it was also performed on 28 December 1594.
1577, revised 1593 (1594) Titus Andronicus .
1577, (1609) Pericles Prince of Tyre. Completed in 1607 by another hand, probably George Wilkins.
1578, (1623) Cymbeline; earlier version called "An History of the Cruelties of A StepMother"
1579, revised in 1602 (1623) All's Well That Ends Well; earlier version called “An History of the Second Helene"
1579, (1623) The Taming of the Shrew; earlier version called “A Morall of the Marriage of Mynde and Measure”
1579, revised in 1590 (1623) Love's Labour's Lost, earlier version called "A Maske of Amazons and a Maske of Knights”
1579, (1623) Merchant of Venice; earlier version called “The Jew”
1581, revised 1594 (1597) Romeo and Juliet
1581, revised 1592 (1602) Richard III
1581, revised 1590 (1595) Henry VI, Part III
1583, revised in 1599 (1600) Much Ado About Nothing
1584, revised 1590 (published 1598) Henry VI, Part I Stationers' Register on 25 February 1598.
1585, revised 1598 (published 1600) Henry VI, Part 2
1586, revised in 1599 (1600) Henry V
(The Doctor uses the line "Once more unto the breach", and Shakespeare exclaims that it's one of his lines, so that fits the chronology.)
1588, revised in 1599 (1623) As You Like It Stationers' Register in August 1600
1589, revised in 1599 (1623) Julius Caesar Mentioned by Thomas Platter in 1599.
1589, revised in 1601 (1603) Hamlet Stationers' Register in July 1602 describes it as “lately acted.”
1589 (published 1600) Henry VI, Part II Parodied by Robert Greene in 1592. In Francis Meres' 1598 list of Shakespeare plays.
1590, revised in 1596 (1622) King John In Francis Meres' 1598 list of Shakespeare plays.
1591, revised 1604 (1622) Othello Performed November 1604. Stationers' Register in November 1607.
1592, revised in 1602 (1623) Twelfth Night
1593 (1623) Taming of the Shrew
1593, (1623) Henry VIII (probably revised in 1612 by John Fletcher)
1594 (1623) The Two Gentlemen of Verona In Francis Meres' 1598 list of Shakespeare plays.
1594 (1598) Love's Labour's Lost In Francis Meres' 1598 list of Shakespeare plays.
1594, revised in 1603 (1623) Macbeth; revised again in 1615 by Thomas Middleton.
1594, revised 1603 (1608) King Lear, earlier version called "The True Chronicle History of King Leir"
1594, (1623) "The Winter's Tale; earlier version called "A Winter’s Night Pastime".
1595 (1597) Richard II In Francis Meres' 1598 list of Shakespeare plays.
1595 (1600) A Midsummer Night's Dream In Francis Meres' 1598 list of Shakespeare plays.
1596 (1600) The Merchant of Venice Recorded at Stationers' Register on 22 July 1598. In Francis Meres' 1598 list of Shakespeare plays.
1597 Henry IV, Part I In Francis Meres' 1598 list of Shakespeare plays.
1594-1597 (1603?) Love's Labour's Won In Francis Meres' 1598 list of Shakespeare plays. In Christopher Hunt's August 1603 booklist. A lost play.
1598 (1602) Merry Wives of Windsor,
[from Wikipedia]
So any quotes the Doctor delivers in this episode had better come from future options. If not, it'll just have to be yet another example of the differences between Toobworld and the Real World which extend beyond geographical locations and phone numbers - like the fact that in one of the TV dimensions, Jules Verne is at least twenty years younger than he was in the Real World. ('The Secret Adventures Of Jules Verne')
Marsha Jones is now woven into "History" as the "Dark Lady", inspiration for the sonnets. I don't think this ever happened for any of the Doctor's Companions before - except maybe Jamie McCrimmon. They've been involved in historical events before, mostly with the First Doctor, - like the Shootout at the OK Corral and the Burning of Rome - and they've met historical figures - like Queen Victoria, Charles Dickens, and Richard the Lion-Hearted - but I don't think any one specific historical event can be attributed to them.
But if I'm wrong, I'm sure there'll be somebody out there who will correct me......
The Carrionites had been around since the dawn of Creation according to the Doctor. They could have been one of those races of sentient beings who escaped the destruction of one universe via the Big Bang which then created the TV Universe. (Relax, Creationists! I'm not saying that's how the "Trueniverse" was created; not my bailiwick.)
According to 'Babylon 5', that's how the TV Universe began, as well as in the tales of Lovecraft, I believe (which have been absorbed into the TV Universe).
If not, at least the Old Ones of Lovecraft can be counted among the Eternals, the name given by the Doctor to those were old when the Universe was born. These would include the Vorlons and the Shadows, again from 'Babylon 5'.
In the TV Universe, this may have been the first time Shakespeare came into contact with time travellers, but it would not be the last. Using their own specially designed equipment (probably adapted from that used by 'Captain Z-Ro'), CBS News sent reporters back to the Globe Theatre to interview members of the acting troupe, including Richard Burbage. ('You Are There')
And Shakespeare was actually pulled forward in Time by way of a magical spell to help out a struggling screenwriter. ('The Twilight Zone')
At the end of the episode, we learned that Queen Elizabeth has met the Tenth Doctor before, but it hasn't happened yet for him.
If it ever should happen onscreen, it will have to be during David Tennant's tenure in the role since she recognized him in that bodily form.
Personally, I hope it's always left for us to wonder what might have/will happen between the two to cause such enmity on her part. Leave it to the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers to flesh out that chapter of Toobworld life between the episodes.
But should they ever film it, I hope they cast Glenda Jackson as the aging Queen Elizabeth. For Toobworld, she is the reigning version of the Virgin Queen. (The actress seen in the role at the end of "The Shakespeare Code" was on so fleetingly and covered in so much make-up, that we can fudge the "Darrin Discrepancy" of recasting.)
The adventure of "The Shakespeare Code" takes place in 1599. The Doctor - in his first incarnation - used his Visualizer to witness a meeting between Queen Elizabeth and Shakespeare and Francis Bacon as they discussed "Hamlet" and the Queen mentions the character of Falstaff. (From The Doctor Who Chronology:
"The Chase: The Executioners": Shakespeare meets with Queen Elizabeth I regarding his plays.Queen Elizabeth refers to having seen a play with Falstaff. This is probably a reference to his first appearance in Henry IV, finished in this year.)
That discussion supposedly took place in 1598. Yet during "The Shakespeare Code", Shakespeare hits upon the phrase "to be or not to be" and likes the sound of it.
"Hamlet" was written in 1589, but it was revised in 1601. So it may have been then when he added the phrase. A Shakespearean scholar would know better than a branded sciolist such as m'self.
Finally....
I may be remembering the scene wrong, but I believe the Doctor was dismissive of the notion that magic actually exists in the world.
Of course, his world is Toobworld, no matter which dimension he's in. (I'm still not sure if the show has shifted focus to the Doctor of the Main Toobworld yet, which I've heard rumors that it would.) And in Toobworld magic plays a major role: 'Charmed', 'Buffy', 'Angel', 'Nanny and the Professor', 'The Dresden Files', and of course, 'Bewitched'.
At best, (again, if I'm remembering correctly), the Doctor dismissed magic as a scientific process, using words and numbers. not understood by the unlearned.
It's not exactly a Zonk, more of a personal opinion held by a Toobworld character that's definitely wrong; kind of like every belief held by Archie Bunker.
And he could have just been lying to Martha about magic. It's my belief that the Doctor is an old hand at lying to his Companions - about his age; about traveling between dimensions; and about having a human mother....
So that's a lot of analysis for one 50 minute TV show, but Gareth Roberts packed a lot to work with into his script. I've still got at least one more aspect I want to cover, but it deserves to stand on its own......
It looks to be a very good season of 'Doctor Who' for such analyses.....
BCnU!
Sir Toby [not Belch]....
This is one of those episodes where the American audience is at a disadvantage, since it will be months before we get to see it (officially and legally). In "The Shakespeare Code", the Doctor mentions the seventh book of the "Harry Potter" series, teasing Martha with how good it is, since from her perspective it hasn't been published yet. (It's the first few days of April, 2007, her time perspective, but the episode takes place in 1599.)
Being a time traveler, he's already read "The Deathly Hallows"; by the time this airs in the States, anybody who wants to read the book will have already done so.
Of course, it's a reference that will date the episode for all future audiences, in much the same way that Number Six's comment that he'd like to be the first man on the moon dates 'The Prisoner'.
It's also a reference that spoils my dream to one day see JK Rowling allow a TV series based on Hogwart's Academy. Luckily for me, this could still be the Doctor from an alternate Toobworld as was the case in the last two years.
However, should it ever come to pass, I'll find a way to splain it off....
Once again we see how the Doctor inserted himself into Earth's history; this time by supplying William Shakespeare with a few choice turns of phrase. (During which he almost robbed Dylan Thomas the opportunity to be the first to come up with one of his most famous quotes!)
The first Shakespearean quote used by the Doctor was "brave new world". But he said that within the TARDIS, out of earshot for Shakespeare. So four years later (or perhaps more), when Will was writing "The Tempest", it was wholly original for him.
What was interesting about the Doctor's use of the phrase is the full quotation from which it comes:
"O wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beautious mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in't!"
Miranda
The Tempest, Act V, Scene I
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beautious mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in't!"
Miranda
The Tempest, Act V, Scene I
The sentiment it expresses captures the Doctor's enthusiasm for the potential in the human race. This was a running theme last season during the first batch of adventures for the Tenth Doctor.
One term in "The Tempest" which can be attributed to the Doctor was the name of "Sycorax". In "The Christmas Invasion", the Sycorax were an alien race bent on subjugating the Earth to be their current foodbasket. At the end of "The Shakespeare Code", the Doctor found a mask in the prop room similar to that worn by the Sycorax and pointed this out.
Shakespeare liked the sound of the word and promised to use it - which he did, as the name of the witch who was the mother of Caliban.
This helped clear up that little bugaboo. At least it was a problem for me - I thought it lazy to steal from Shakespeare to create the name of an alien race. But now, thanks to a time travel loop, we learn that Shakespeare stole the name from that alien race!
I should point out that all of the plays written by Shakespeare were based on "true" events in the TV Universe. Not just the histories, but the comedies and tragedies as well. For Toobworld, there really was a Prospero, a Shylock, a Malvolio and a Titania; Shakespeare was just creating his own version of what really happened to them. In a way, like screenwriters inventing dialogue for real-life characters in intimate situations where there is no public record. (See last year's movies "The Queen" and "The Last King Of Scotland", both by Peter Morgan, who also brought the televersion of Lord "Longford" to life in Toobworld.)
As with modern screenwriters, Shakespeare took liberties with his source material: combining characters, creating fictional characters to better serve the narrative (like DeVito's character in "Hoffa"). And sometimes he changed the names or even added them when none could be found. It just may be that there was no record of the name for Caliban's mom; but since she was a witch, Shakespeare probably remembered the term "Sycorax" from when he dealt with "witches" while the Doctor was in town.
From online sources: "The Tempest" is dated by many conventional scholars circa 1610-11. However, Oxfordian researchers and some modern scholars dispute this dating, arguing for a date closer to 1603-04.
It could be that Shakespeare's interpretation of the "real" Prospero was inspired by his encounter with the Doctor.....
These are the plays Shakespeare wrote before meeting the Doctor and Martha:
(Dates in parentheses indicate the date of first publication only.)
(1562), "The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet", by Oxford, under the pseudonym Arthur Brooke.
(1567), Ovid’s Metamorphoses, collaboration with Oxford's uncle and tutor, Arthur Golding.
1574, Famous Victories of Henry Fifth, early version of Henry IV, Part 1 & 2, and Henry V.
1577, revised 1594 (1623) Comedy of Errors' earlier version called “A Historie of Error". If this is the same as the play entitled "The Night of Errors," it was also performed on 28 December 1594.
1577, revised 1593 (1594) Titus Andronicus .
1577, (1609) Pericles Prince of Tyre. Completed in 1607 by another hand, probably George Wilkins.
1578, (1623) Cymbeline; earlier version called "An History of the Cruelties of A StepMother"
1579, revised in 1602 (1623) All's Well That Ends Well; earlier version called “An History of the Second Helene"
1579, (1623) The Taming of the Shrew; earlier version called “A Morall of the Marriage of Mynde and Measure”
1579, revised in 1590 (1623) Love's Labour's Lost, earlier version called "A Maske of Amazons and a Maske of Knights”
1579, (1623) Merchant of Venice; earlier version called “The Jew”
1581, revised 1594 (1597) Romeo and Juliet
1581, revised 1592 (1602) Richard III
1581, revised 1590 (1595) Henry VI, Part III
1583, revised in 1599 (1600) Much Ado About Nothing
1584, revised 1590 (published 1598) Henry VI, Part I Stationers' Register on 25 February 1598.
1585, revised 1598 (published 1600) Henry VI, Part 2
1586, revised in 1599 (1600) Henry V
(The Doctor uses the line "Once more unto the breach", and Shakespeare exclaims that it's one of his lines, so that fits the chronology.)
1588, revised in 1599 (1623) As You Like It Stationers' Register in August 1600
1589, revised in 1599 (1623) Julius Caesar Mentioned by Thomas Platter in 1599.
1589, revised in 1601 (1603) Hamlet Stationers' Register in July 1602 describes it as “lately acted.”
1589 (published 1600) Henry VI, Part II Parodied by Robert Greene in 1592. In Francis Meres' 1598 list of Shakespeare plays.
1590, revised in 1596 (1622) King John In Francis Meres' 1598 list of Shakespeare plays.
1591, revised 1604 (1622) Othello Performed November 1604. Stationers' Register in November 1607.
1592, revised in 1602 (1623) Twelfth Night
1593 (1623) Taming of the Shrew
1593, (1623) Henry VIII (probably revised in 1612 by John Fletcher)
1594 (1623) The Two Gentlemen of Verona In Francis Meres' 1598 list of Shakespeare plays.
1594 (1598) Love's Labour's Lost In Francis Meres' 1598 list of Shakespeare plays.
1594, revised in 1603 (1623) Macbeth; revised again in 1615 by Thomas Middleton.
1594, revised 1603 (1608) King Lear, earlier version called "The True Chronicle History of King Leir"
1594, (1623) "The Winter's Tale; earlier version called "A Winter’s Night Pastime".
1595 (1597) Richard II In Francis Meres' 1598 list of Shakespeare plays.
1595 (1600) A Midsummer Night's Dream In Francis Meres' 1598 list of Shakespeare plays.
1596 (1600) The Merchant of Venice Recorded at Stationers' Register on 22 July 1598. In Francis Meres' 1598 list of Shakespeare plays.
1597 Henry IV, Part I In Francis Meres' 1598 list of Shakespeare plays.
1594-1597 (1603?) Love's Labour's Won In Francis Meres' 1598 list of Shakespeare plays. In Christopher Hunt's August 1603 booklist. A lost play.
1598 (1602) Merry Wives of Windsor,
[from Wikipedia]
So any quotes the Doctor delivers in this episode had better come from future options. If not, it'll just have to be yet another example of the differences between Toobworld and the Real World which extend beyond geographical locations and phone numbers - like the fact that in one of the TV dimensions, Jules Verne is at least twenty years younger than he was in the Real World. ('The Secret Adventures Of Jules Verne')
Marsha Jones is now woven into "History" as the "Dark Lady", inspiration for the sonnets. I don't think this ever happened for any of the Doctor's Companions before - except maybe Jamie McCrimmon. They've been involved in historical events before, mostly with the First Doctor, - like the Shootout at the OK Corral and the Burning of Rome - and they've met historical figures - like Queen Victoria, Charles Dickens, and Richard the Lion-Hearted - but I don't think any one specific historical event can be attributed to them.
But if I'm wrong, I'm sure there'll be somebody out there who will correct me......
The Carrionites had been around since the dawn of Creation according to the Doctor. They could have been one of those races of sentient beings who escaped the destruction of one universe via the Big Bang which then created the TV Universe. (Relax, Creationists! I'm not saying that's how the "Trueniverse" was created; not my bailiwick.)
According to 'Babylon 5', that's how the TV Universe began, as well as in the tales of Lovecraft, I believe (which have been absorbed into the TV Universe).
If not, at least the Old Ones of Lovecraft can be counted among the Eternals, the name given by the Doctor to those were old when the Universe was born. These would include the Vorlons and the Shadows, again from 'Babylon 5'.
In the TV Universe, this may have been the first time Shakespeare came into contact with time travellers, but it would not be the last. Using their own specially designed equipment (probably adapted from that used by 'Captain Z-Ro'), CBS News sent reporters back to the Globe Theatre to interview members of the acting troupe, including Richard Burbage. ('You Are There')
And Shakespeare was actually pulled forward in Time by way of a magical spell to help out a struggling screenwriter. ('The Twilight Zone')
At the end of the episode, we learned that Queen Elizabeth has met the Tenth Doctor before, but it hasn't happened yet for him.
If it ever should happen onscreen, it will have to be during David Tennant's tenure in the role since she recognized him in that bodily form.
Personally, I hope it's always left for us to wonder what might have/will happen between the two to cause such enmity on her part. Leave it to the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers to flesh out that chapter of Toobworld life between the episodes.
But should they ever film it, I hope they cast Glenda Jackson as the aging Queen Elizabeth. For Toobworld, she is the reigning version of the Virgin Queen. (The actress seen in the role at the end of "The Shakespeare Code" was on so fleetingly and covered in so much make-up, that we can fudge the "Darrin Discrepancy" of recasting.)
The adventure of "The Shakespeare Code" takes place in 1599. The Doctor - in his first incarnation - used his Visualizer to witness a meeting between Queen Elizabeth and Shakespeare and Francis Bacon as they discussed "Hamlet" and the Queen mentions the character of Falstaff. (From The Doctor Who Chronology:
"The Chase: The Executioners": Shakespeare meets with Queen Elizabeth I regarding his plays.Queen Elizabeth refers to having seen a play with Falstaff. This is probably a reference to his first appearance in Henry IV, finished in this year.)
That discussion supposedly took place in 1598. Yet during "The Shakespeare Code", Shakespeare hits upon the phrase "to be or not to be" and likes the sound of it.
"Hamlet" was written in 1589, but it was revised in 1601. So it may have been then when he added the phrase. A Shakespearean scholar would know better than a branded sciolist such as m'self.
Finally....
I may be remembering the scene wrong, but I believe the Doctor was dismissive of the notion that magic actually exists in the world.
Of course, his world is Toobworld, no matter which dimension he's in. (I'm still not sure if the show has shifted focus to the Doctor of the Main Toobworld yet, which I've heard rumors that it would.) And in Toobworld magic plays a major role: 'Charmed', 'Buffy', 'Angel', 'Nanny and the Professor', 'The Dresden Files', and of course, 'Bewitched'.
At best, (again, if I'm remembering correctly), the Doctor dismissed magic as a scientific process, using words and numbers. not understood by the unlearned.
It's not exactly a Zonk, more of a personal opinion held by a Toobworld character that's definitely wrong; kind of like every belief held by Archie Bunker.
And he could have just been lying to Martha about magic. It's my belief that the Doctor is an old hand at lying to his Companions - about his age; about traveling between dimensions; and about having a human mother....
So that's a lot of analysis for one 50 minute TV show, but Gareth Roberts packed a lot to work with into his script. I've still got at least one more aspect I want to cover, but it deserves to stand on its own......
It looks to be a very good season of 'Doctor Who' for such analyses.....
BCnU!
Sir Toby [not Belch]....
Thanks to Mark for his help on this!
Sunday, April 15, 2007
HISTORY, CHANNELED: JACKIE ROBINSON
April 15th, 1947
Opening Day
Sixty years ago this day, Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers as the first black player in the major leagues, taking the field in a game against the Boston Braves.
Jackie Robinson appeared as himself on various talk shows and game shows ('I've Got A Secret' and 'What's My Line?') in his lifetime, and even on an episode of 'Sesame Street'.
But he's also been portrayed in various TV shows and TV movies by actors:
TV SERIES:
Antonio Lewis Todd (Jackie Robinson)
. . . "Cold Case" (2003) {Colors (#3.4)} TV Series
Tico Wamai (Jackie Robinson)
. . . "Everybody Hates Chris" (2005) {Everybody Hates Promises (#2.7)} TV Series
TV MOVIES:
Andre Braugher (Jackie Robinson)
. . . Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson, The (1990) (TV)
Blair Underwood (Jackie Robinson)
. . . Soul of the Game (1996) (TV)
TV SPECIALS:
John Lafayette (Jackie Robinson)
. . . "ABC Afterschool Specials" (1972) {A Home Run for Love (#7.2)} TV Series
Jesse Simms (Jackie Robinson (Memorable Moments Re-Enactment))
. . . 2002 MLB All-Star Game (2002) (TV)
And even over in the sketch comedy dimension, Cedric the Entertainer portrayed Robinson in several episodes of 'The Steve Harvey Show'.
Jackie Robinson once said that he just wanted to be respected as a human being. Hopefully, his many televersions have portrayed him as that, and more....
BCnU....
Toby OB
Opening Day
Sixty years ago this day, Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers as the first black player in the major leagues, taking the field in a game against the Boston Braves.
Jackie Robinson appeared as himself on various talk shows and game shows ('I've Got A Secret' and 'What's My Line?') in his lifetime, and even on an episode of 'Sesame Street'.
But he's also been portrayed in various TV shows and TV movies by actors:
TV SERIES:
Antonio Lewis Todd (Jackie Robinson)
. . . "Cold Case" (2003) {Colors (#3.4)} TV Series
Tico Wamai (Jackie Robinson)
. . . "Everybody Hates Chris" (2005) {Everybody Hates Promises (#2.7)} TV Series
TV MOVIES:
Andre Braugher (Jackie Robinson)
. . . Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson, The (1990) (TV)
Blair Underwood (Jackie Robinson)
. . . Soul of the Game (1996) (TV)
TV SPECIALS:
John Lafayette (Jackie Robinson)
. . . "ABC Afterschool Specials" (1972) {A Home Run for Love (#7.2)} TV Series
Jesse Simms (Jackie Robinson (Memorable Moments Re-Enactment))
. . . 2002 MLB All-Star Game (2002) (TV)
And even over in the sketch comedy dimension, Cedric the Entertainer portrayed Robinson in several episodes of 'The Steve Harvey Show'.
Jackie Robinson once said that he just wanted to be respected as a human being. Hopefully, his many televersions have portrayed him as that, and more....
BCnU....
Toby OB
DE-ZONKING "ANDY BARKER, P.I."
NBC burned off the last two episodes of 'Andy Barker, P.I.' Saturday night, and the quirky little comedy starring Andy Richter went out with its head held high. That last episode looking at film noir characters fifty years on, with Ed Asner as the guest star, was fantastic.
It also added some flavor to the televersion lives of certain real world celebrities with a look back at the fiftieth birthday party of Gene Kelly at the Brown Derby on August 23, 1962. According to the photographer who covered the event, Buddy Hackett took off his pants and sat in the birthday cake. Like the photographer said, that was comedy back then. It wasn't funny, but they committed.
But it's the first episode that needed some de-Zonking. Andy had not been getting enough sleep because his baby kept crying and so he started having weird dreams. At one point, a scene from 'Law & Order' was playing in the background and suddenly Jesse L. Martin, who plays Detective Ed Green, broke the fourth wall and began talking to Andy.
At least, that's how we were supposed to view it as the audience.
But as a televisiologist, one who wants as many shows as possible to exist under the Big Tent of Toobworld, I can't accept that it was a scene from 'Law & Order'.
Luckily, we never heard Martin be identified as Detective Green, and there was nothing about that short clip to positively brand the show within the show as 'Law & Order'. For all we know, it was some movie in which Martin was playing a cop, maybe even a private eye. Or it was some fictional TV show in which Martin was the star, or perhaps just the guest star.
So this way, 'Law & Order' and 'Andy Barker, P.I.' can co-exist in the same universe.
Zonk averted!
BCnU!
Toby OB
It also added some flavor to the televersion lives of certain real world celebrities with a look back at the fiftieth birthday party of Gene Kelly at the Brown Derby on August 23, 1962. According to the photographer who covered the event, Buddy Hackett took off his pants and sat in the birthday cake. Like the photographer said, that was comedy back then. It wasn't funny, but they committed.
But it's the first episode that needed some de-Zonking. Andy had not been getting enough sleep because his baby kept crying and so he started having weird dreams. At one point, a scene from 'Law & Order' was playing in the background and suddenly Jesse L. Martin, who plays Detective Ed Green, broke the fourth wall and began talking to Andy.
At least, that's how we were supposed to view it as the audience.
But as a televisiologist, one who wants as many shows as possible to exist under the Big Tent of Toobworld, I can't accept that it was a scene from 'Law & Order'.
Luckily, we never heard Martin be identified as Detective Green, and there was nothing about that short clip to positively brand the show within the show as 'Law & Order'. For all we know, it was some movie in which Martin was playing a cop, maybe even a private eye. Or it was some fictional TV show in which Martin was the star, or perhaps just the guest star.
So this way, 'Law & Order' and 'Andy Barker, P.I.' can co-exist in the same universe.
Zonk averted!
BCnU!
Toby OB
SUCKS TO BE VIEWED
I thought that at some point in the history of Television, surely there must have been some TV series that had space vampires in an episode. Vampires from outer space who sucked/drank blood.
But apparently, the first episode of 'Doctor Who' this season, "Smith And Jones", was the first to feature such a creature.
I could be wrong; I often am. If so, let me know!
There have been vampires in outer space before, but not the kind that subsisted on blood. In "The Man-Trap", an episode of 'Star Trek', the crew of the Enterprise had to contend with the last known Salt Vampire. And in an episode of 'Buck Rogers In The 25th Century', which was simply called "Space Vampire", a monstrous being known as a Vorvon was a vampire who robbed his victims of their souls.
So the Plasmavore who called herself "Florence Finnegan" may have been the first blood-sucking vampire seen outside the human race of Earth. And it could be that it was a Plasmavore who began the tradition back in Earth's pre-history. This would lead to a connection with such shows as 'The Kindred: The Embraced', 'Dracula: The Series', 'The Curse of Dracula', 'Mrs. and Mrs. Dracula', 'Young Dracula', 'Little Dracula', and even 'The Munsters'!
BCnU!
Toby OB
But apparently, the first episode of 'Doctor Who' this season, "Smith And Jones", was the first to feature such a creature.
I could be wrong; I often am. If so, let me know!
There have been vampires in outer space before, but not the kind that subsisted on blood. In "The Man-Trap", an episode of 'Star Trek', the crew of the Enterprise had to contend with the last known Salt Vampire. And in an episode of 'Buck Rogers In The 25th Century', which was simply called "Space Vampire", a monstrous being known as a Vorvon was a vampire who robbed his victims of their souls.
So the Plasmavore who called herself "Florence Finnegan" may have been the first blood-sucking vampire seen outside the human race of Earth. And it could be that it was a Plasmavore who began the tradition back in Earth's pre-history. This would lead to a connection with such shows as 'The Kindred: The Embraced', 'Dracula: The Series', 'The Curse of Dracula', 'Mrs. and Mrs. Dracula', 'Young Dracula', 'Little Dracula', and even 'The Munsters'!
BCnU!
Toby OB
THE IDES OF APRIL....
"I'm proud to be paying taxes in the United States.
The only thing is...
The only thing is...
I could be just as proud for half the money."
Arthur Godfrey
Arthur Godfrey
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