No, not the golfer, nor the California Republican candidate courting the tea-baggers..... The final chapter in our look at the people involved in "The Murder Of Mary Phagan":
TOM WATSON
AS SEEN IN: "The Murder Of Mary Phagan"
AS PLAYED BY: Robert Prosky
From Wikipedia: Thomas Edward Watson (September 5, 1856 – September 26, 1922), generally known as Tom Watson, was a United States politician from Georgia. In early years, Watson championed poor farmers and the working class; later he became a controversial publisher and a controversial Populist politician who supported the Ku Klux Klan. Two years prior to his death, he was elected to the United States Senate.
Through his publications Watson's Magazine and The Jeffersonian, Watson continued to have great influence on public opinion, especially in his native Georgia.
In 1913 he played a prominent role in inflaming public opinion in the case of Leo Frank, a Jewish American factory manager who was accused of the murder of Mary Phagan, a 13 year-old factory worker. Frank was convicted and sentenced to death by hanging.
On June 20, 1915, departing Governor of Georgia John M. Slaton commuted the sentence of Frank to life in prison. The decision followed a lengthy appeals process. Some viewed the action as a conflict of interest, as Slaton was a law partner of Frank's lead defense counsel, a fact which Watson made sure to emphasize.
On August 17, 1915, Frank was dragged from his prison cell by a group of men and lynched, an act which Watson had both called for and later celebrated on the pages of the Jeffersonian. Watson is honored with a twelve foot high bronze statue on the lawn of the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta over the legend "A champion of right who never faltered in the cause." He's probably roasting in Hell right now.....
In a salute to the Oscars tonight, "Life" magazine has a number of photo galleries dedicated to past decades of the awards night.
In the 1970's gallery, there was this picture of a pile of biographical information on various performers, directors, and writers: The picture was from 1972.
One name jumped out at me just as I was about to click onward to the next picture: (You'll find it near the center, four rows from the left, towards the lower center of the pile.)
McGoohan never got an Oscar nomination. If he had, maybe then they might have seen fit to include him in the memorial tribute last year after he died. (Ah, who am I kidding?) He should have been nominated - and he should have won! - for playing King Edward "Longshanks" in "Braveheart" back in 1995.
I think these biographies are for those people who might have been possible nominees for the movies released in 1971. And therefore, McGoohan was in the pile because of his turn as James Stuart in "Mary, Queen Of Scots", the next name in the billing after Vanessa Redgrave and Glenda Jackson. (The spine of his bio has a big "SA" on it. Probably for "supporting actor".)
Well, at least he was a pozz'bility. And he was paid his due for where he was truly appreciated: Toobworld!
My tele-blogging buddy, MediumRob, contacted me about a scene in this week's episode of 'Community':
Quite an easy one for Toobworld to cope with, I'm sure, but 'Community' did a shout out to 'Mad Men' this week, with Abed doing an impression of Don Draper to Annie - who is of course played by Alison Brie who also plays Trudy Campbell on 'Mad Men'.
Here's the scene that Rob was talking about:
Okayyyy......
Let's start off with the easiest Zonk and work up to the hardest.
CALVIN & HOBBES: This is not a Zonk. "Calvin & Hobbes" was a comic strip, one of the greatest ever created, and that's what it is in Toobworld as well. The only TV universe in which it does exist as actually happening would be that claymation/stop-motion world of 'Robot Chicken' and 'Moral Orel', etc.
THE BRADY BUNCH: This could have been a Zonk, but we're saved by the movie versions. The blended Brady family actually exists on Earth Prime-Time and somebody thought the story of the two families becoming one was worthy of a big screen treatment. When these characters are talking about Mike Brady, they could either be talking about the "real" Mike Brady (who only looked like Robert Reed), or about the movie version played by Gary Cole. Robert Reed as Mike Brady does not enter into that equation.
MAD MEN: Whenever somebody on TV has mentioned a TV character from a TV Western, the standard response from Toobworld Central is to disable any possible Zonk by saying that they're referring to a TV show based on an historical figure. There were TV shows about Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp, and Wild Bill Hickcock, so why not "historical" dramas about James West, Bret Maverick, and Victoria Barkley?
The same would then hold true for Don Draper. He's a part of history now in Toobworld, just not as far back as the Cartwrights. So there must have been some network suit who thought the story of the Sterling-Cooper advertising firm would make for riveting toob. It could be that at some point in our past, but in the future of 'Mad Men', Don Draper - or the company as a whole - could be doing something that would merit the TV treatment.
On Toobworld, it's very easy for TV characters to get TV shows about themselves.
Which brings us to -
THE FACTS OF LIFE: That show is long gone and there doesn't appear to be any reason why someone in Toobworld would make a TV series about Mrs. Garrett and the girls. And yet we know there was a show called 'The Facts Of Life' and that there was a character on it named Jo who may have been a bit butch (if I'm reading Britta's subtext correctly).
But all that was mentioned was the show's title and a character's name. But how do we know, based only on those references, that they are the same as our world's Jo on 'The Facts Of Life'. It could have been a whole nuthah plotline. And who knows? Maybe Jo was really Joe in that version.
Then again, it's been referenced in plenty of TV shows - 'Psych', 'Supernatural', 'Married... With Children', 'The Nanny', 'Newhart', 'Step By Step', 'Gilmore Girls', and 'Fresh Prince Of Bel Aire'. So I think it has to be about the same subject matter. Something those girls did at the Eastland school, perhaps not found out for years, made them famous enough to warrant their own TV show.
I'm getting this "Scream"-like vibe from the pozz'bilities.....
After all of that, it's no wonder I try to ignore the Zonks in 'Community', especially with a character like Abed around as a pop cultural geyser.
But it is a damn funny show!
And when it comes to Annie looking like Trudy, there's no connection - or at least there doesn't have to be one. So many people in Toobworld have similar features to each other. And besides, they were from different time periods and lived in different parts of the country. By the time their paths may have crossed, there would have been too much about them that kept them from looking like each other.
So you take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have:
the Zonks of Life...
By the way, you can check out MediumRob's blog using the link to the left for "The Medium Is Not Enough".....
Okay, for those of you who wanted to know why I thought of 'The Prisoner' (my all-time favorite TV series!) during the season finale of 'Burn Notice', check out the image from the final minute of "The Devil You Know".......
And here's the opening from 'The Prisoner' to illustrate why I thought of it.....
Alonzo Mann, who broke a 69- year silence to say the wrong man was convicted of a notorious killing and hanged by a lynch mob that led to a resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan, died Monday from pneumonia at the age of 87. Three years ago Mr. Mann, a resident of Bristol, Va., after keeping silent since 1913, said in a sworn statement that Leo Frank, a Jewish pencil merchant, was innocent of the murder of 14-year-old Mary Phagan at an Atlanta pencil factory. He said the real killer was Jim Conley, a janitor at the factory. In 1983, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles disregarded Mr. Mann's sworn affidavit and pleas by three Jewish organizations and declined to pardon Mr. Frank, saying it was impossible to determine the truth after 70 years.
Around 3 a.m. on April 27, 1913, Newt Lee, the night watchman for the National Pencil Factory, carried a lantern with him to the factory basement to help him light his way to the "Negro toilet." When his light fell upon a prone human form, Lee called Atlanta police, who arrived ten minutes later. The body was that of a thirteen-year-old girl. Her skull was dented and caked with blood. A piece of jute rope was wrapped around her neck. A worker at the factory called to the scene identified the body: "Oh my God! That's Mary Phagan."
The murder of Mary Phagan shocked a city already reeling from crime, violence, and desperate working conditions. Within the previous decade, Atlanta had experienced a serious race riot and recorded the highest arrest rate of any major city in the country. Child labor laws were widely ignored and children worked for as little as 22 cents a week. The Mary Phagan murder unleashed a pent up frustration with the pathological conditions of the city.
Unfortunately, it now seems, events and the South's anti-Semitism conspired to lead to the conviction of the wrong man, the factory's Jewish superintendent, Leo Frank. The case ultimately drew the attention of the United States Supreme Court and the Governor of Georgia, but neither the Constitution nor a Governor's commutation could spare Frank a violent death at the end of rope strung from a Georgia oak tree.... - Douglas O. Linder (2008)
Did the final minute of the season finale put anybody else in mind of 'The Prisoner'?
(I can't put up a picture from it because Hulu doesn't show clips from 'Burn Notice' until 8 days later. Which is just as well, because it was a spoiler, and I have no clue how to hide things behind a link......)
Every year I grouse here at Inner Toob after the Oscar and Emmy telecasts about the "In Memoriam" segments of those award shows. This year should be no different.
But at least now I better understand the process...... I'll probably still bitch about how they're presented at least at some point on Monday......
Not someone who deserved to be profiled back in February.....
JIM CONLEY
AS SEEN IN: "The Murder of Mary Phagan"
AS PLAYED BY: Charles Dutton
From Wikipedia: On May 1, Jim Conley, the pencil factory's janitor, was caught by the plant's day watchman, E.F. Holloway, washing a dirty shirt. Conley tried to hide the shirt, then claimed the stains on the shirt were from "rust". Conley denied under oath that he was literate, had a grade-school education and could read and write. This would later become crucial with regard to the murder notes.
The factory foreman, Holloway, told the Georgian that he believed Conley "strangled Mary Phagan while about half drunk", resulting in a May 28 headline reading, "SUSPICION TURNED TO CONLEY; ACCUSED BY FACTORY FOREMAN." Seeing the headline, Conley conjured up a new story: an agitated Frank, in a dramatic meeting in the dark, ordered him to hide in a wardrobe to avoid being seen by two women, later dictated the murder notes to him, gave him cigarettes, and told him to leave the factory. Afterward, Conley went out drinking and saw a movie. Phagan's $1.20 in pay had also disappeared, leading the police to wonder whether Conley might have killed her for the money. The police asked Frank to confront Conley. Frank refused because his lawyer was out of town, though even when Rosser returned, no meeting took place.
Under further pressure from the police regarding the discrepancies in his story, Conley gave another version, in this account he gave his final statement. During the trial Conley admitted the reason he lied in the beginning of the investigation and did not immediately tell the truth was that he was trying to cover for Leo Frank. Conley stated Frank originally offered him $200 on the day of the murder to destroy the body and evidence. Frank asked Conley to move and dispose Phagan's body by burning it in the basement furnace. When the police asked where was the alleged $200 Frank had given Conley, Conley then responded to this question by saying when he wouldn't immediately burn Phagan's body for Frank in the basement furnace, Frank had asked to see the money, taken it back, folded it and put it in his pocket, Frank told Conley if he came back later and disposed of the body in the furnace he would get the $200 back. Conley also said Frank, in foreshadowing words, told him on the day of the murder, "Why should I hang? I have wealthy people in Brooklyn."
Two unsworn witnesses came forward to incriminate Conley. Will Green, a carnival worker, said that he had been playing craps at the factory with Conley and had run away from him when Conley had declared his intention to rob a girl who walked by. William Mincey, an insurance salesman, had met an intoxicated Conley on the street. He said that Conley, trying to brush Mincey off, said, "I have killed one today and do not wish to kill another." Mincey had thought it was a joke. Neither man signed an affidavit or testified in court.
As the Trickster once said, "Reality is boring, that's why I change it whenever I can."
I'm just "The Man Who Viewed Too Much", and "Inner Toob" is a blog exploring and celebrating the 'reality' of an alternate universe in which everything that ever happened on TV actually takes place.
Most of my theories about the TV Universe come from thinking inside the box and thus can't be proven. But I've never been one to shy away from a tall tale.....
Remember: "The more you watch, the more you've seen!"
TOM WATSON
26, 1922), generally known as Tom Watson, was a United States politician from Georgia. In early years, Watson championed poor farmers and the working class; later he became a controversial publisher and a controversial Populist politician who supported the Ku Klux Klan. Two years prior to his death, he was elected to the United States Senate.
Watson is honored with a twelve foot high bronze statue on the lawn of the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta over the legend "A champion of right who never faltered in the cause."
The picture was from 1972.
(You'll find it near the center, four rows from the left, towards the lower center of the pile.)
MARY PHAGAN
JIM CONLEY
