AS SEEN ON TV: MARILYN CHAMBERS

Marilyn Chambers has died at the age of 56. Back in the mid-70's, she gained national attention for starring in the x-rated movie "Behind The Green Door" while at the same time her image was displayed on Ivory Soap boxes as the portrait of a wholesome young mother.

In 2000, Showtime presented "Rated X", the story of the Mitchell brothers who created a porn empire, only to see it collapse - culminating with one brother killing the other. It starred Charlie Sheen and his brother Emilio Estevez (who also directed) as Artie and Jim Mitchell, with Tracy Hutson as Marilyn Chambers.

BCnU!
Toby O'B

TOBY'S NEW TRICK

By now, everybody should know that in Toobworld reincarnation actually happens. And for most people, they reincarnate as dogs.

Apparently, I'll be no exception......



BCnU!
TOBY O'B

PS:
This is my first attempt at embedding a video.....

OBSERVER REPORT

Here's a little something for my Toobworld wish-list.......

At some point before the incredible journey of 'Lost' concludes, I'd love to see Michael Cerveris show up in the background of a flashback or a flash-forward in one of the episodes.
As the Observer from 'Fringe', of course......

BCnU!
Toby O'B

BIG MAC ATTACK

I caught an old episode of 'McMillan & Wife' last week, that has a very tenuous link to 'Highlander' and 'Doctor Who'.

In "Death Of A Monster, Birth Of A Legend", Commissioner Stuart McMillan and his wife Sally (along with their maid Mildred and Mac's assistant, Sgt. Charlie Enright) returned to the ancestral homeland of the McMillans near Kinross, Scotland. There they got caught up in solving the murder of Mac's uncle Michael, "The McMillan", which had been arranged to look like a suicide.
During the course of the investigation, they learned of the family history: on the eve of the Battle of Kinross, four McMillan generals discovered that one of their compatriots, a member of Clan MacCready, had remained behind, hidden in the castle. As punishment for his cowardice, the others walled Ian MacCready up behind the wall of the tower, and it is said that his ghost still walks the halls of the castle.

Only afterwards did the McMillans find out that MacCready was also a thief - he had hidden away the McMillan treasure which was eventually discovered during the investigation.

I Googled "The Battle of Kinross", but all that comes up are references to a music festival featuring Rage Against The Machine. So I'm not sure it actually occurred, but acting on it being fictional, I'm going to say that the Battle of Kinross probably took place in 1746. There were a series of battles between the Jacobites and the Hanoverians, culminating with the Battle of Culloden which decisively ended the Scottish uprising against British rule.

The Battle of Culloden is important for Toobworld because two of its best sci-fi characters fought during it: Jamie McCrimmon, a Companion of 'Doctor Who', and Duncan MacLeod of 'Highlander' fame (the successor to his cousin Connor from the movie franchise).

There's nothing to say that any of the McMillans ever knew the MacLeods or Jamie McCrimmon, but then again... who's to say they didn't? Who knows? Maybe Jamie eventually married into Clan McMillan. (I'm sure there must be some record of whom he married in other sources like the various tie-in novels, but I don't count them in the TV canon.)
BCnU!
Toby O'B

THE BISHOP OF PRIME-TIME

We got an interesting addition to the League of Themselves on Sunday night, one that probably won't ever happen again. Or, at the very least, won't happen on any other show (seen on American TV, at any rate).
At the end of the third episode of 'The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency' ("Poison"), the Bishop of Botswana made an appearance at the local school to announce the generous donations of talent and money to help the children. And it was the Right Reverend Musonda Trevor Selwyn Mwamba, the African Anglican Primate of the Botswana Diocese himself, who assayed the role.

BCnU!
Toby O'B

AS SEEN ON TV: MARY WHITEHOUSE

pieced together from Wikipedia:

Mary Whitehouse CBE (13 June 1910 – 23 November 2001) was a British campaigner for what she perceived to be values of morality and decency derived from her Christian beliefs. She began by focusing her efforts on the broadcast media, which she regarded as highly influential, and where she felt these values were particularly lacking. Later, she made notable interventions over publications and theatrical productions of which she disapproved, becoming involved in several cases of litigation. She was the founder and first president of the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association, now known as mediawatch-uk.

Mary Whitehouse began her campaign in 1963. Among her first targets was Sir Hugh Greene, then director-general of the BBC, who she claimed was "more than anybody else [...] responsible for the moral collapse in this country". Greene ignored her concerns and blocked her from participation in BBC programming. Over 2,000 people attended the 'Clean Up TV Campaign's first public meeting in April 1964, which was held in Birmingham's Town Hall. The National Viewers' and Listeners' Association was formed in 1965; she obtained a total of 500,000 signatures on her 'Clean Up TV' petition to be sent to the Queen, then a record for the UK.

Some of Whitehouse's opponents claimed that she had an ability to be offended by almost anything, pointing to her complaints about the use of the word "bloody", her concerns about the TV character Alf Garnett, Doctor Who, and the violence in Tom and Jerry cartoons.

The disagreements between Mrs Whitehouse and the BBC were the basis of a drama in 2008 entitled Filth: The Mary Whitehouse Story, written by Amanda Coe. Julie Walters played the part of Mary Whitehouse, Alun Armstrong her husband Ernest, and Hugh Bonneville played Sir Hugh Greene. The Wall to Wall production was screened on 28 May 2008 on BBC2 and aired in the United States on 16 November 2008 as part of the Masterpiece series on PBS.

The show drew heavily on the Max Caulfield book Mary Whitehouse and featured a degree of dramatic licence. For example, Whitehouse and others supposedly called their nascent group "Clean Up National TV" until her husband pointed out the unfortunate acronym - they then changed it to "Clean Up TV."

Overall, this drama contrasted with the vilification typical in media references to Whitehouse and painted a fairly sympathetic portrait of her.

BCnU!
Toby O'B

A SECOND SHOT AT LOVE

Ten years ago, Rob Thomas, the creator of 'Veronica Mars', added his version of 'Cupid' to the Greek mythology of Toobworld. Under the name of Trevor Hale, the godling of Love was banished to Earth and stripped of his powers - with the punishment to be lifted once he united 100 couples. Stuck in Chicago, Trevor was watched over (and reluctantly assisted by) his psychiatrist, Dr. Claire Allen.

I don't think the show made it to a full dozen episodes, although it was met favorably by the critics; it just couldn't find its audience.

Ten years after, and Trevor Hale is back. Rob Thomas has once again been given the green light to give his concept another go. This time Cupid is in New York City and his psychiatrist/guardian is now Dr. Claire McCrae. For most other remakes of earlier TV shows, this version would have normally been tossed over into another dimension. But the Greek gods have the power to change their appearance, as we saw with Zeus in 'Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'. So recasting of the part isn't a problem.

And neither is the premise. We might assume that in the intervening decade, Cupd-Trevor wasn't succeeding at his mission in the Windy City, so he probably decided to cut his losses and begin again in the Big Apple.

Even though both of his psychiatrists are named "Claire", they are different women, so that recastaway is moot. In Chicago, Cupid were often assisted by a guy nicknamed "Champ". This time around, the demi-god has two others to give him a hand now and again - Felix and Lita.

I'd almost think that Rob Thomas wanted to hew close to his original concept, and yet make sure that both could be accepted as being about the same guy.

I wonder if he knows about the concept of Toobworld? Because we're comfortable with the idea that both shows exist in the same universe.

And in between gigs as Trevor Hale, Cupid hung out for awhile with his Mom, Aprhodite, at her company, 'Love, Inc.'......

BCnU!
Toby O'B

TOM WAITS FOR NO "MARS"

TV Guide talked to the producers of 'Life On Mars' (the American version) about the music used on the show; wanted to know if they couldn't get the rights to use any particular song......

Appelbaum: We write every song into the script, not after the fact, because the music is so important. And only one person denied us.

Rosenberg: Because he thought the show sucked. [Laughs]

Appelbaum: It was Episode 6, and Sam describes when he met Maya (played by Lisa Bonet) for the first time. He flashes back to the scene and “Tom Traubert’s Blues” is playing. It was so good. Tom Waits approves all of his licensing, and he sent an email saying he thought the show was [bad]. It was pretty funny.

I love that song; always gets me choked up when I try to sing along - even though in the overall picture, it doesn't make much sense. But I'm kind of glad that it didn't get used on the series. Sam found himself back in 1973 and "Tom Traubert's Blues" is from 1976.

Sure, he's describing something that wouldn't take place for decades anyway, and so the song would then be considered a classic. But I'd rather that the soundtrack stuck to songs from 1973 or before.

Just in case you were interested, here are the lyrics:

Tom Traubert's Blues 1976

Wasted and wounded, it ain't what the moon did
Got what I paid for now
See ya tomorrow, hey Frank can I borrow
A couple of bucks from you?
To go waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda
You'll go a waltzing Matilda with me

I'm an innocent victim of a blinded alley
And tired of all these soldiers here
No one speaks English and everything's broken
And my Stacys are soaking wet
To go waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda
You'll go a waltzing Matilda with me

Now the dogs are barking and the taxi cab's parking
A lot they can do for me
I begged you to stab me, you tore my shirt open
And I'm down on my knees tonight
Old Bushmill's I staggered, you buried the dagger
Your silhouette window light
To go waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda
You'll go a waltzing Matilda with me

Now I lost my Saint Christopher now that I've kissed her
And the one-armed bandit knows
And the maverick Chinaman and the cold-blooded signs
And the girls down by the strip-tease shows
Go, waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda
You'll go a waltzing Matilda with me

No, I don't want your sympathy
The fugitives say that the streets aren't for dreaming now
Manslaughter dragnets and the ghosts that sell memories
They want a piece of the action anyhow
Go, waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda
You'll go a waltzing Matilda with me

And you can ask any sailor and the keys from the jailor
And the old men in wheelchairs know
That Matilda's the defendant, she killed about a hundred
And she follows wherever you may go
Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda
You'll go a waltzing Matilda with me

And it's a battered old suitcase to a hotel someplace
And a wound that will never heal
No prima donna, the perfume is on
An old shirt that is stained with blood and whiskey
And goodnight to the street sweepers
The night watchman flame keepers and goodnight to Matilda too

There is the mention of the St. Christopher's Medal, which did play a small role in the landscape of Sam's story, so that might have been a factor in Applebaum and Rosenberg's desire to use it.

Oh. And in case you haven't guessed, I wanted to comment on this story just so I could use that subject heading on the post.....

BCnU!
Toby O'B

GHOST IN THE MACHINE?

Here's something that's had me puzzling lately as I've been watching 'Dollhouse' - Where are they getting the personalities and memories that they upload into their computers? Do certain types of people volunteer or get paid to donate the essence of their minds?

When Topher mentioned that Echo's "spy-hunter" persona was an expert in reading body language, I wondered if somebody from "Lie To Me" had their personality uploaded.

And that's when I came up with this idea - what if the mole (who's been feeding information to Agent Ballard) is in the computer itself? Maybe a whole mind is intact in there, and seeking revenge! It would certainly explain why nobody gets caught around the equipment and tampering with the downloads into the Actives - it IS the equipment.

Just sayin', is all.....

BCnU!
Toby O'B

AS SEEN ON TV: LORD SCARMAN

As I was running the 'Jesus Of Nazareth' theme for Holy Week, I couldn't showcase Lord Scarman on April 11, the anniversary of the Brixton Riot. So we're tipping our Toob top hat today...... Cobbled together from Wikipedia:
Leslie George Scarman, Baron Scarman, OBE, PC (29 July 1911 – 8 December 2004) was an English judge and barrister, who served as a Law Lord until his retirement in 1986.

Lord Scarman led a public inquiry into a string of race riots which began in Brixton on April 11, 1981, when racial tensions rose after a police crackdown on street robbery.

During the following three days of disturbances that spread to the Midlands, Merseyside, Bristol and Leeds, nearly 400 people were injured and buildings and vehicles were set alight.

The inquiry famously settled on the so-called "rotten apples" theory, which argued that only a few police officers were racist, saying most were not.

It spawned new law enforcement practices and led to the creation of the Police Complaints Authority.

The Government had to be seen to be doing something, and the Home Secretary, William Whitelaw, commissioned a public inquiry into the riot headed by Lord Scarman. The Scarman report was published by Susana De Freitas 25 November 25 1981. Scarman found unquestionable evidence of the disproportionate and indiscriminate use of 'stop and search' powers by the police against black people. As a consequence, a new code for police behavior was put forward in the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984; and the act also created an independent Police Complaints Authority, established in 1985, to attempt to restore public confidence in the police. Scarman concluded that "complex political, social and economic factors" created a "disposition towards violent protest".

He appeared in the 1981 world of DI Alex Drake in the first season finale of 'Ashes To Ashes'.

Lord Scarman:

"I've talked to several young homosexual men and heard their despair.

Dreadful tales of police harassment-#"

Gene Hunt:

"Put it all in your report, your Lordship, yeah?"

Lord Scarman:

"The police harassment of sexual and racial minorities

is an endemic, ineradicable disease

Threatening the very survival of our society."

Gene Hunt:

"Catchy title there. 'Best-seller' written all over it."

BCnU!
Toby O'B