Another week, another shipment....
Here's what's new in the DVD library of Toobworld Central:
'The Adventures Of Sir Lancelot' - Volume 1
'The Buccaneers' - The Complete Series
Two collections that will help enhance the Toobworld timeline!
Also, after learning of the death of prolific mystery writer Edward D. Hoch, I ordered "The Velvet Touch" a collection of his Nick Velvet stories. The thief who only steals items of no value was a favorite of mine when I'd read Hoch's stories in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.
The book arrived yesterday and I began reading it on the way to work last night. And already I'm getting an idea for whom I'd cast in the role of Nick Velvet, should they ever do a TV series about him. (Apparently the character has been under option forever!)
Not that anybody would ever ask me......
BCnU!
Toby OB
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
TWIDDLYWINKYDINKS: CATHERINE DE MEDICI
In the 'Poirot' episode "The Double Clue", a priceless necklace was stolen from the safe of Marcus Hardman, which he claimed once belonged to Catherine de Medici.
According to Wikipedia, Catherine de' Medici (April 13, 1519 – January 5, 1589) was born in Florence, Italy, as Caterina Maria Romola di Lorenzo de' Medici. Her parents, Lorenzo II de' Medici, Duke of Urbino, and Madeleine de la Tour d'Auvergne, countess of Boulogne, both died shortly after she was born. Under the Gallicised version of her name, Catherine de Médicis, she was queen consort of King Henry II of France from 1547 to 1559.
Catherine de Medici was portrayed in Toobworld several times. For 'Elizabeth R', the role was played by Margaretta Scott in 1971; Pamela Brown assayed the part for an episode of 'Sir Francis Drake': "Mission To Paris", and in 'The Conquest Of America', it was played by Lisa Wolfinger.
The picture here is of Joan Young as Catherine de Medici in two episodes of 'Doctor Who' before his first regeneration.
BCnU!
Toby OB
According to Wikipedia, Catherine de' Medici (April 13, 1519 – January 5, 1589) was born in Florence, Italy, as Caterina Maria Romola di Lorenzo de' Medici. Her parents, Lorenzo II de' Medici, Duke of Urbino, and Madeleine de la Tour d'Auvergne, countess of Boulogne, both died shortly after she was born. Under the Gallicised version of her name, Catherine de Médicis, she was queen consort of King Henry II of France from 1547 to 1559.
Catherine de Medici was portrayed in Toobworld several times. For 'Elizabeth R', the role was played by Margaretta Scott in 1971; Pamela Brown assayed the part for an episode of 'Sir Francis Drake': "Mission To Paris", and in 'The Conquest Of America', it was played by Lisa Wolfinger.
The picture here is of Joan Young as Catherine de Medici in two episodes of 'Doctor Who' before his first regeneration.
BCnU!
Toby OB
Monday, January 28, 2008
"PSYCH"-ING QUEST 2
Just replayed the USA Network video of last Friday's episode of 'Psych' - "Lights, Cameras, Homicidio" - in order to grab a picture of that Viking-garbed actor.
Turns out that there were several "Vikings" walking about that studio lot, so maybe 'Viking Quest' really has begun production again in Toobworld!
But I do have to complain about that USA Network video player. Really crappy in how it worked; nothing like the player at NBC.com!
At any rate, Toobworld Central can now substantiate its leaky claim that the fictional TV show 'Viking Quest' is back in the fictional world of 'Psych'.
And here's a bit of Wish-Craft: 'Psych' would be the perfect showcase for an 'Entourage' crossover. Maybe Johnny Drama could be accused of murder after he found out that his character of Thorvald was recast with someone younger, hotter, and even worse, a better actor. I think Shawn and Gus would mesh well with the crew of Vincent Chase for an hour!
Just sayin', is all.....
BCnU!
Toby OB
Turns out that there were several "Vikings" walking about that studio lot, so maybe 'Viking Quest' really has begun production again in Toobworld!
But I do have to complain about that USA Network video player. Really crappy in how it worked; nothing like the player at NBC.com!At any rate, Toobworld Central can now substantiate its leaky claim that the fictional TV show 'Viking Quest' is back in the fictional world of 'Psych'.
And here's a bit of Wish-Craft: 'Psych' would be the perfect showcase for an 'Entourage' crossover. Maybe Johnny Drama could be accused of murder after he found out that his character of Thorvald was recast with someone younger, hotter, and even worse, a better actor. I think Shawn and Gus would mesh well with the crew of Vincent Chase for an hour!
Just sayin', is all.....
BCnU!
Toby OB
"EXTRAS"-DIMENSIONAL
CBS has announced that the Showtime hit 'Dexter' will be presented on the Eye Network as a strike contingency. O'Bviously there will be some tweaking to make the show palatable for broadcast standards and to placate the stupid FCC.
Basically the same thing happened with 'The Sopranos' when it moved to A&E, 'The Wire' when it was picked up by BET, and with 'Dream On' when it aired on FOX. If it's just a question of editing (say, bleeping objectionable words or excising scenes of nudity), then there's no need for action to be taken by Toobworld Central. Shows have been whittled down for decades to fit in more blipverts, but that doesn't negate the original action. Whatever was broadcast first, that's locked into Toobworld's history, good and proper.
But sometimes optional scenes are filmed to be shown in broadcast syndication - if a key scene contains nudity but is too important to edit out, then it's reshot with the nudity covered up. (For 'The Sopranos', this often happened with those scenes set at the Bada Bing club.) When that happens, it becomes an alternate Toobworld. (Not every alternate dimension has to be radically different from Earth Prime-Time; a cover-up with a bra and panties will suffice.)
Ah tol' yuh that cuz Ah wanted to tell yuh this.....
Leading up to the holidays at the end of 2007, HBO aired a Christmas special finale for the short-run series 'Extras' which was created by and starred Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. They showed it on December 16th, about a week or so before it was broadcast by the BBC. And because the cultural differences between the USA and the UK are about as pronounced as those found in our common language, Gervais and Merchant filmed several alternate scenes for each market.
Here are a few examples:
For the American market, mention of Ryan Seacrest was substituted for Ruby Wax, and Katie Couric was name-dropped in the Big Brother house instead of British newsreader Kate Adie (which made more sense and should have been left alone). Mentions of talk show hosts Richard & Judy, comic actress Catherine Tate and several characters from 'EastEnders' were just surgically sliced right out without any fiddling about.
The differences started right from the very beginning. Fans in the audience of 'When The Whistle Blows' (Andy's hit sitcom) were wearing T-shirts bearing slogans from the show. All except the last Tee, which was shown to be of Sigourney Weaver touting DirecTV.
Basically the same thing happened with 'The Sopranos' when it moved to A&E, 'The Wire' when it was picked up by BET, and with 'Dream On' when it aired on FOX. If it's just a question of editing (say, bleeping objectionable words or excising scenes of nudity), then there's no need for action to be taken by Toobworld Central. Shows have been whittled down for decades to fit in more blipverts, but that doesn't negate the original action. Whatever was broadcast first, that's locked into Toobworld's history, good and proper.
But sometimes optional scenes are filmed to be shown in broadcast syndication - if a key scene contains nudity but is too important to edit out, then it's reshot with the nudity covered up. (For 'The Sopranos', this often happened with those scenes set at the Bada Bing club.) When that happens, it becomes an alternate Toobworld. (Not every alternate dimension has to be radically different from Earth Prime-Time; a cover-up with a bra and panties will suffice.)
Ah tol' yuh that cuz Ah wanted to tell yuh this.....
Leading up to the holidays at the end of 2007, HBO aired a Christmas special finale for the short-run series 'Extras' which was created by and starred Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. They showed it on December 16th, about a week or so before it was broadcast by the BBC. And because the cultural differences between the USA and the UK are about as pronounced as those found in our common language, Gervais and Merchant filmed several alternate scenes for each market.Here are a few examples:
For the American market, mention of Ryan Seacrest was substituted for Ruby Wax, and Katie Couric was name-dropped in the Big Brother house instead of British newsreader Kate Adie (which made more sense and should have been left alone). Mentions of talk show hosts Richard & Judy, comic actress Catherine Tate and several characters from 'EastEnders' were just surgically sliced right out without any fiddling about.
The differences started right from the very beginning. Fans in the audience of 'When The Whistle Blows' (Andy's hit sitcom) were wearing T-shirts bearing slogans from the show. All except the last Tee, which was shown to be of Sigourney Weaver touting DirecTV.
In the British version, it's of Victoria Wood for ASDA (whatever that is. See? I'm proving the point!)Then, in the department store while doing a bit of Christmas shopping, Andy and Maggie learn that the Kramer doll from 'Seinfeld' is selling better than his talking doll - even though it spouts racial epithets. However, for the UK market, they got to see the Jade Goody doll, who did the same thing - while appearing on camera in 'Big Brother'. (The Jade doll can still be seen in the display along with Kramer and Andy's doll.)
Next year, the manager of the department store was going to be stocking Sanjaya dolls - at least in the American version. The British version's manager was going to stock Same Difference dolls.
Now, the thing of it is, because the American version aired first, then that's the official version for Earth Prime-Time. And the British version has to be relegated to some alternate Toobworld, even though it's more in keeping with the original two seasons of 'Extras'. Sorry, Brits.
My thanks to Rob Buckley for first pointing out this dimensional discrepancy, and to Mark Wilkinson for pointing me towards a great little video on YouTube which lined up the differences for comparison.
However, that video by Venusice010 is no longer up, because of copyright violations. (A good lesson for me to get these posts written in a more timely manner!) Instead you can hear Ricky Gervais talk about the changes in a video from his website.
And so it goes in Toobworld, no matter what side of the dimensional veil you're watching......
BCnU!
Toby OB
Now, the thing of it is, because the American version aired first, then that's the official version for Earth Prime-Time. And the British version has to be relegated to some alternate Toobworld, even though it's more in keeping with the original two seasons of 'Extras'. Sorry, Brits.
My thanks to Rob Buckley for first pointing out this dimensional discrepancy, and to Mark Wilkinson for pointing me towards a great little video on YouTube which lined up the differences for comparison.
However, that video by Venusice010 is no longer up, because of copyright violations. (A good lesson for me to get these posts written in a more timely manner!) Instead you can hear Ricky Gervais talk about the changes in a video from his website.
And so it goes in Toobworld, no matter what side of the dimensional veil you're watching......
BCnU!
Toby OB
TIDDLYWINKYDINKS: DATELINE NAIROBI
When Captain Black returned from Kenya to visit Jack and Susan Maltravers at their home Marsdon Manor, he brought them an African tribal mask wrapped in a Nairobi newspaper.
The date on that paper was July 27, 1935. But that doesn't necessarily mean that the events of "The Tragedy At Marsdon Manor" (a 'Poirot' mystery) took place soon after that. First off, some time had to be involved in Captain Black's travels to reach England from Kenya: a land trip, an ocean voyage, perhaps several connecting plane flights.
And then there's the fact that the newspaper may have been laying about Captain Black's Kenyan residence for some time before he decided to use it as wrapping paper.
There's no way the chronology for the 'Poirot' mysteries can be based on broadcast order - not with "The Million Dollar Bond Robbery", connected as it is with an historical event from May of 1936, being televised before "The Plymouth Express", which occurred just after Sir Malcolm Campbell setting the land speed record in September of 1935.
But I think that even so, "The Tragedy Of Marsdon Manor" does happen soon after the episode of "Wasp's Nest", which took place in early August, 1935 and which precedes this episode in the broadcast order.
Therefore, I'm going to say "The Tragedy Of Marsdon Manor" takes place the second week of August, 1935.
And as Dennis Miller says, "Of course, I could be wrong......"
BCnU!
Toby OB
The date on that paper was July 27, 1935. But that doesn't necessarily mean that the events of "The Tragedy At Marsdon Manor" (a 'Poirot' mystery) took place soon after that. First off, some time had to be involved in Captain Black's travels to reach England from Kenya: a land trip, an ocean voyage, perhaps several connecting plane flights.And then there's the fact that the newspaper may have been laying about Captain Black's Kenyan residence for some time before he decided to use it as wrapping paper.
There's no way the chronology for the 'Poirot' mysteries can be based on broadcast order - not with "The Million Dollar Bond Robbery", connected as it is with an historical event from May of 1936, being televised before "The Plymouth Express", which occurred just after Sir Malcolm Campbell setting the land speed record in September of 1935.
But I think that even so, "The Tragedy Of Marsdon Manor" does happen soon after the episode of "Wasp's Nest", which took place in early August, 1935 and which precedes this episode in the broadcast order.
Therefore, I'm going to say "The Tragedy Of Marsdon Manor" takes place the second week of August, 1935.
And as Dennis Miller says, "Of course, I could be wrong......"
BCnU!
Toby OB
Sunday, January 27, 2008
LINKS TO THE LEFT UPDATE
Just wanted to let y'all know that I've updated my blogroll there to the left to add in "A Shroud Of Thoughts", a blog by "Mercurie" who's become a frequent commenter here and who's always got something interesting to say about pop culture.
I've also done a bit of shuffling with some of the links, as well as pruning of links that no longer worked. I may have to actually visit all of my links to see if they still work and/or whether or not I should keep them on the list to the left. (It is getting awfully long!)
I may even have to sever ties with my brother's blog. It looks like he's abandoned it.....
Can't play favorites at Toobworld Central! (At least, not too often.....)
BCnU!
Toby OB
I've also done a bit of shuffling with some of the links, as well as pruning of links that no longer worked. I may have to actually visit all of my links to see if they still work and/or whether or not I should keep them on the list to the left. (It is getting awfully long!)
I may even have to sever ties with my brother's blog. It looks like he's abandoned it.....
Can't play favorites at Toobworld Central! (At least, not too often.....)
BCnU!
Toby OB
FCC'ED UP
I alluded earlier to the fact that the FCC has levied a fine of over a million bucks on ABC for airing a scene in which the character of Connie (played by the lovely Charlotte Ross) was caught naked in the bathroom after taking a shower by Andy Sipowicz's son Theo.
Timely as always, the scene was from an 'NYPD Blue' episode called "Nude Awakening" from 2003. Stupid, bureaucratic FCC, acting with partisan politics in mind!
ABC isn't going to let this issue slide by even thinking about paying the fine. They plan to fight and a good thing too!
Here was their statement in response to the action:
"NYPD Blue, which aired on ABC from 1993-2005, was an Emmy Award-winning drama, broadcast with appropriate parental warnings, as well as V-chip-enabled program ratings from the time such ratings were implemented. When the brief scene in question was telecast almost five years ago, this critically acclaimed drama had been on the air for a decade and the realistic nature of its story lines was well known to the viewing public."
My one hope is that from all of this brouhaha, Charlotte Ross might find herself more in demand as an actress. Toobworld can't help but benefit from seeing more of her on the small screen.
Not that we didn't see more of her in that episode. Homina thrice!
BCnU!
Toby OB
Timely as always, the scene was from an 'NYPD Blue' episode called "Nude Awakening" from 2003. Stupid, bureaucratic FCC, acting with partisan politics in mind!
ABC isn't going to let this issue slide by even thinking about paying the fine. They plan to fight and a good thing too!
Here was their statement in response to the action:
"NYPD Blue, which aired on ABC from 1993-2005, was an Emmy Award-winning drama, broadcast with appropriate parental warnings, as well as V-chip-enabled program ratings from the time such ratings were implemented. When the brief scene in question was telecast almost five years ago, this critically acclaimed drama had been on the air for a decade and the realistic nature of its story lines was well known to the viewing public."
My one hope is that from all of this brouhaha, Charlotte Ross might find herself more in demand as an actress. Toobworld can't help but benefit from seeing more of her on the small screen.
Not that we didn't see more of her in that episode. Homina thrice!BCnU!
Toby OB
TIDDLYWINKYDINKS: IN VOGUE
When fashion model Molly Deane drove out to see her boyfriend, the author John Harrison, she brought along a copy of Vogue which featured her on the cover.The date on the magazine was September 10th, 1935.
As magazines are published well in advance of their cover date so that they have a longer life at the news stands, this issue of Vogue probably came out in mid-August. Molly must have had an advance copy before its release, as it was treated as if it was a big surprise.
Therefore, I think the 'Poirot' episode "Wasp's Nest", in which this all occurs, takes place in the first week of August, 1935.
BCnU!
Toby OB
SKED ALERT! "JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH"
Tonight at 9 pm EST, ION will present a new version of Jules Verne's classic novel, "Journey To The Center Of The Earth". It will star Rick Schroder, Victoria Pratt, and Peter Fonda.As it's not the first tele-version of this story, it must be relegated to one of the alternate dimensions.
BCnU!
Toby OB
CASABLANCA IN TOOBWORLD
"Chuck vs. The Undercover Lover" was one of two new episodes of 'Chuck' which aired on Thursday night. In it, Agent John Casey found himself in a scenario straight out of "Casablanca", complete with a woman out of his past whom he once loved and the new man in her life, named Viktor.In fact, in one scene that should have ended with the line "We'll always have Grozny", the movie was actually playing in the background.
"Casablanca" is a movie in Toobworld, just as it is in the Trueniverse. However, their version was based on real life.
The character of Rick Blaine was based on an American club owner in Morocco named Rick Jason - but it could be that Rick had changed his name from Blaine since the 1955 TV series picked up where the movie left off. Or it could be that the movie changed his name to protect his identity, since the war was still going on when it came out. (Rick was played by movie tough guy Charles McGraw.)Since Captain Renault had also thrown in with Rick against the Nazis, he also had a slight name change to Renaud. He appeared to be still antagonistic to Rick, but I think it was all part of the ruse the two of them had established in their new guises. (Again, his name change could be due to the movie rather than in his "real life" in Toobworld.)
But all of the old familiar faces still were around in 'Casablanca' - Ferrari, Sam, Sacha, Carl..... Even Ilsa returned in at least one episode (played by Anita Ekberg), although she was never named in the episode.
Two years earlier, an adaptation of the movie aired, but Warner Brothers forbid any kinescope recordings to be preserved of it. So for now, we at Toobworld Central are looking at that lost production as the prequel to the series.
In 1983, a new version of the series was produced, with David Soul, Hector Elizondo, and Scatman Crothers in the cast. This series will represent the story of Rick's Cafe Americain in the TV dimension of remakes.
And as everyone knows, it was still the same old story.....
BCnU!
Toby OB
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