THE CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN

MERRY CHRISTMAS

from

ALL OF ME

@

TOOBWORLD CENTRAL!

TODAY'S TWD: THE CHRISTMAS EVE BROADCAST OF APOLLO 8

December 24, 1968:
The crew of Apollo 8 enters into orbit around the Moon, becoming the first humans to do so. They performed 10 lunar orbits and broadcast live TV pictures that became the famous Christmas Eve Broadcast, one of the most watched programs in history.

William Anders
"We are now approaching lunar sunrise and, for all the people back on Earth, the crew of Apollo 8 has a message that we would like to send to you.....

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.

And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness."

Jim Lovell
"And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day."

Frank Borman
"And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas – and God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth."

BCnU....
Toby O'B

THE CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN

THE LINDELOF-CUSE PARADOX

There's a new DHARMA special access video floating out there with Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse and with their future selves as well. It's fun, no real info imparted... until the very end.

And then we see two quick pictures of new characters.

BCnU!

Toby O'B

TODAY'S TWD/DEEP SIX CROSSOVER: THOSE WHO LEFT US

I've mentioned here in the past how depressing it is to work on my Hat Squad tributes to those actors, writers, directors, etc. who played a role in expanding the TV Universe after they pass away. There's just something about tallying up their TV credits from the IMDb.com, and remembering moments from many of them, and knowing we'll never see them create another Toobworld citizen for us that just makes it all such a downer.

In the last few weeks, we lost six actors who each made their mark in Television (some known more for their roles in the movie universe, but still....) and deserved the full Hat Squad treatment. But I just couldn't bring myself to delve into it, and as the year draws to a close, I'm finding I just don't have the time. (I'm toiling away on the annual Toobits Awards.)

And yet, I didn't want 2008 to end without giving them some sort of acknowledgement, so I'm presenting today as the Tiddlywinkydink a group Hat Squad, showcasing the character (in some cases, characters) for whom these actors were best known in Toobworld.

BEVERLY GARLAND

Barbara Harper Douglas
'My Three Sons'

[seen here with Fred MacMurray]

NINA FOCH

Carol Flemming
'Columbo' - "Prescription Murder"
[seen here with Gene Barry]

ROBERT PROSKY

Sgt. Stan Jablonski
'Hill Street Blues'

PAUL BENEDICT

Harry Bentley
'The Jeffersons'

The Painter
'Sesame Street'

VAN JOHNSON

The Minstrel
'Batman'

as Himself
'I Love Lucy'

[seen here with Lucille Ball]

as Himself
several game shows

MAJEL BARRETT RODDENBERRY

Christine Chapel
'Star Trek'

Lwaxana Troi
'Star Trek: The Next Generation'

As Red Skelton would sign off, "May God Bless......."

BCnU......
Toby O'B

PS
In the new year, with many TV shows still on hiatus from the holidays, I'll have the time to present their TV credits for proper Hat Squad tributes.

THE CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN

CASE OF THE STORCH ZONK

As 'Boston Legal' said goodbye earlier this month, it just wouldn't have been a proper send-off without at least one more Zonk from the show that not only broke the fourth wall but knocked it down and danced a jig on it. And boy, did they deliver!

As the litigation department took the elevator to meet their new bosses from China and hopefully to persuade them to keep them on, they discussed whether or not Larry Storch played Agarn on 'F Troop'.

At least with this one, it's far easier to splain it away than some of the doozies they Zonked us with in the past. Since Toobworld has its own 'F Troop' (which was probably established in an episode of 'Married... With Chidlren), we can make the assumption that they were talking about an historical representation of what really happened with Fort Courage back in the wild wild west days. And as they didn't go into any details as to what type of show 'F Trioop' was, we don't have to assume that it was a sitcom; it could have been an hour-long drama like 'Bonanza' or 'Gunsmoke'.

As for Larry Storch's participation in the project, we know from that episode of 'Married... With Children' - in which he gave his name to an acting school franchise - he has a televersion in Toobworld. And being an actor, he probably was cast as Agarn because of his incredible genetic resemblance to the historical figure of Randolph Agarn. (Toobworld Central uses Agarn as the basic example of how strong a genetic echo can be in Toobworld; not only because of the many relatives who resembled him on the show, but also because of the many other characters Larry Storch played on TV.)

So for once, 'Boston Legal' gave us an easy Zonk to prosecute; a parting gift to go along with the entire series as a whole.

BCnU!
Toby O'B

19 DOWN

As an addendum to yesterday's salute to the crossword puzzle in Toobworld, the last new episode of 'CSI' for this year was entitled "19 Down" and showed a crossword puzzle that Gil Grissom had not finished before he tossed it in the trash can. (Only the answer for 19 Down had not been filled in.)

Anyone want to take a stab at what the answer could be?

BCnU!
Toby O'B

TODAY'S TWD: BARBARA BILLINGSLEY

Too often "Inner Toob" is marking the passing of somebody who enriched the TV Universe, either behind the scenes or in creating characters to populate Toobworld. (I've got about five waiting to be honored, as a matter of fact, but it's just so depressing.)

So when presented with the opportunity to celebrate someone's life while they're still alive, I'm going to take it!

And so it is that Today's Tiddlywinkydink is a salute to Barbara Billingsley, who is most famous in Toobworld for playing June Bronson Cleaver, the mother of Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver, on 'Leave It To Beaver'. Today is her birthday.

She's guaranteed membership in the TV Crossover Hall of Fame one day, thanks to the "Beaver" franchise. Besides the original series, there was the TV reunion movie "Still The Beaver" and the sequel series, also called 'Still The Beaver'.

Earlier this year, I saw her in an episode of 1955's 'The Lone Wolf'; and although I figured she was indelibly stamped in my mind as June Cleaver, she quickly established this new character (who just might have been June's evil twin!)

Ms. Billingsley had a movie career as well, which included a cameo in the theatrical remake of 'Leave It To Beaver' in which she portrayed the legendary Aunt Martha. That's the type of casting that brings good karma to cinematic remakes of TV shows.

And I'm going to hazard a guess that her cameo in 1980's "Airplane!" has to be her most famous movie role.

Attendant: Can I get you something?
Jiveman #2: S'mo fo butter layin' to the bone. Jackin' me up. Tightly.
Attendant: I'm sorry I don't understand.
Jiveman #1: Cutty say he cant hang.
Woman (Barbara Billingsley) : Oh stewardess, I speak jive.
Attendant: Ohhhh, good.
Woman : He said that he's in great pain and he wants to know if you can help him.
Attendant: Would you tell him to just relax and I'll be back as soon as I can with some medicine.
Woman : Jus' hang loose, blooood. She gonna catch up on the`rebound wi de medcide.
Jiveman #2: What it is big mamma, my mamma didn't raise no dummy, I dug her rap.
Woman : Cut me som' slac' jak! Chump don wan no help, chump don git no help. Jive ass dude don got no brains anyhow.

Here's the link to a six-part interview with Barbara Billingsley from the Archive of American Television Interviews. The woman is just a delight!

Happy birthday, Barbara Billingsley, from all of us at Toobworld Central!

BCnU!
Toby O'B

TWA: TOOB WORLD AIRLINES

In this week's 'Cold Case' episode ("Wings"), the case centered around a stewardess murdered late in the year of 1960. She worked for Global World Airlines, which according to Lt. Stillman, hasn't been around since the early 1960s.

That's probably because it was bought up and combined with another smaller airline to become Trans-Global Airway.

I went googling for TV shows that used Trans-Global, and what to my wondering eye should appear but a post that I wrote; 2006 was the year!

The Trans-Global links are all solid, but having GWA become Trans-Global requires a leap of faith. But as that airline has not been around since the early 1960's, who gets hurt?

In a related story, one of the suspects in the case, Captain Rowland Hughes, left GWA just before he was guaranteed tenure and instead went to work for South Ocean Air. It's going to be the contention of Toobworld Central that South Ocean Air, if it still exists in the Toobworld timeline, is a subsidiary of Oceanic Airlines, most famously represented on 'Lost'.....

BCnU!
Toby O'B