John Tiffin (1930-2010), the award-winning "60 Minutes" producer who worked out of the program's London office from 1970-2002, passed away last Thursday. Tiffin was best known for his off-beat work with Morley Safer and was the recipient of three Emmy awards. He joined CBS News in 1954 as a cameraman.
He was the producer for the 1977 segment in which Morley Safer rode the Orient Express, ("Last Train To Istanbul"), for which Mr. Tiffin has my undying admiration.
On 'Cougar Town', Bobby riffed on Grayson's name by calling him "Grey's Anatomy". Which in itself is fine. It's the title of the most famous medical book in history. But the two of them just HAD to go further and plug a small shout-out into the conversation by saying how much they enjoy the ABC medical drama.
Some people don't know when to leave well enough alone.
Okay.
Even though it's enough info to tip the reference into Zonk territory, we should still be able to splain it away. 'Grey's Anatomy' may be a TV show on ABC in the TV Universe, but based just on this reference, it doesn't necessarily have to be a show about Seattle Grace Hospital. It could be some kind of medical reality programming that has become popular over there.
And when Patrick Dempsey is mentioned (as 'Psych' once did), perhaps it's because he hosts the reality show. TV characters in other shows who are called McDreamy or McSteamy (like Dr. Christian Troy was on 'nip/tuck', or in the case of Alan Harper of 'Two And A Half Men', wasn't), could be getting tagged with a popular slang term.
But in the great expanse of Earth Prime-Time, it should be anything but the actual show on ABC since they should all share the same TV dimension. Bleeps! A character on 'The O.C.', from a different network, even, went to work at Seattle Grace!
When Shawn and Gus of the 'Psych' detective agency were about to go out shark-hunting with their own version of Captain Quint, Shawn asked if the boat was equipped with TiVo, because Gus didn't want to miss the season finale of 'Leverage'.
For the purposes of the TV show, this is probably an in-joke - Jeri Ryan was the guest star in the episode, and she was a cast member for this year on 'Leverage'. But within the "reality" of Toobworld, 'Leverage' has to be some other program since it shares the same TV universe as 'Psych'.
Shawn never said anything else about 'Leverage'. So it could be that in the realm of Toobworld, 'Leverage' is a show to be found on CNBC or FNC, or some other financial channel. It does seem like the more staid Gus might watch such a show...
So if we can splain our way out of it, there is no Zonk. BCnU!
From Wikipedia: George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, later George Gordon Noel, 6th Baron Byron, FRS (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), commonly known simply as Lord Byron, was a British poet and a leading figure in Romanticism. Amongst Byron's best-known works are the brief poems "She Walks in Beauty", "When We Two Parted", and "So, we'll go no more a roving", in addition to the narrative poems "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" and "Don Juan". He is regarded as one of the greatest British poets and remains widely read and influential, both in the English-speaking world and beyond.
Byron's notability rests not only on his writings but also on his life, which featured aristocratic excesses, huge debts, numerous love affairs, and self-imposed exile. He was famously described by Lady Caroline Lamb as "mad, bad and dangerous to know." (It is odd, however, that generations of scholars have taken her at her word. As Francis Henry Gribble makes clear in his "The Love Affairs of Lord Byron", chapter 11, she was herself not far from insane, morally highly equivocal, and capable of creating more than enough danger to convince any prudent man to stay well clear of her.)
Byron served as a regional leader of Italy's revolutionary organization, the Carbonari, in its struggle against Austria. He later traveled to fight against the Ottoman Empire in the Greek War of Independence, for which Greeks revere him as a national hero.
He died from a fever contracted while in Missolonghi in Greece.
At least... that is what he wanted the world to think.
LORD BYRON
AS SEEN IN: 'The Highlander' - "Modern Prometheus"
AS PLAYED BY: Jonathan Firth
Upon his death, he was reborn as an Immortal and continued for centuries in his wanton ways. By the 1990's, Byron had refashioned himself as a modern day rocker.
Here's the epguides.com description of his final days in that life.....
Lord Byron, the brilliant Romantic poet, is alive and well and living the decadent life of a rock star. He lives life way over the edge and has taken some promising young musicians over the edge with him. When following in Byron's footsteps tragically ends the life of Dawson's protege, MacLeod is faced with a decision -- is the beauty and genius that is Byron worth the cost?
Usually when it comes to the portrayal of an historical figure, we can afford to send off most of them to other TV dimensions; share the wealth as it were. This is especially true with the historical bio-films, like with Kennedy or Lincoln; instead we keep their appearances within TV series episodes and just assume the true history as a given to fill in the blanks. But in this case, we can keep an extra portrayal of Lord Byron in Earth Prime-Time and not have to worry about the discrepancy in appearance due to there being a recastaway. So - as there were many TV portrayals of Lord Byron - Toobworld Central decided to keep his appearance in the TV movie about Beau Brummell. That way we get to keep James Purefoy's performance as Brummell. (It would have been nice to also claim a "Born To Rerun" theory, that Lord Byron was reincarnated as Kevin Walker on 'Brothers & Sisters' since they were both played by Matthew Rhys. Unfortunately, Kevin's timeline overlaps Byron's in that 'Highlander' episode.)
How can we claim this? Because Lord Byron as seen in the past flashbacks during "Modern Prometheus" are the memories of Duncan MacLeod, influenced by how he sees Lord Byron today. And those memories can be tampered with - not only does he see Byron as he looks in the present of that episode, but he doesn't always remember that Byron had a limp due to a club foot. (This can splain away the Zonk that Firth didn't always remember to play his scenes with the handicap.)
As for Byron's change in appearance in the 1990's from how he looked back in the early 19th Century, there was plenty of time after his rebirth as an Immortal for the poet to get a facelift. A lemon-squeezy splainin. You know, easy-peasey. (Like Byron, I'm a poet and I don't even realize it!)
LORD BYRON
AS SEEN IN: 'Star Trek: Voyager' - "The Darkling"
AS PLAYED BY: Christopher Clarke
As it turns out, we can even keep a third portrayal of Lord Byron without fear of recurring the wrath of a Zonk. When the holographic program of The Doctor on board the starship Voyager decided to expand his personality subroutines, the simulation of Lord Byron was among those that he studied. (Thank you, Memory Alpha!) As this was a simulation programmed into the ship's computer, the image was interpreted by the program's designer.
Byronmania: it's not the real thing, but an incredible simulation!
"The Numbers" from 'Lost' showed up twice during the "Jaws"-influenced episode of 'Psych' this past week. (I'd type out the episode title, but those are usually so bleepin' long and I'm too lazy to look it up today).
Both times, they were used for TV channels in the Santa Barbara area:
For those of you who were looking for the pineapple in this episode, I'm told it's on the bottle of suntan lotion near the end of the episode. But I have my doubts:
Some of you may have noticed Kevin Spacey in the background of the picture of Jim Conley during this week's "As Seen On TV" theme. And maybe you then noticed that he never had his own ASOTV showcase during that run.
(More likely, I'm just talking to myself....)
Spacey played a reporter named Wes Brent in the 1988 production of "The Murder Of Mary Phagan". But Brent was fictional, meant to represent all of the reporters who inflamed the public against Leo Frank and twisted the facts so that he would be seen as guilty before the trial was even held.
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".....
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!"
This obituary was posted at TVNewser:
LORD BYRON
LORD BYRON
TOM WATSON
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.)
