TVXOHOF, 03/2010: HOWDY DOODY & BUFFALO BOB

Toobworld Central is about the only place where puppets are not treated as second-class citizens, unlike the rest of the TV Universe. Sure, TV characters and other human beings interact with them - within boundaries - but not on a regular basis.

If they did, we would have seen them as regular characters in other TV shows that weren't puppet shows. Eva Longoria appeared on 'Sesame Street'; so why aren't there Muppets living on Wisteria Lane in 'Desperate Housewives'?

Toobworld Central wants to treat all TV characters as equals, whether they be human, extra-terrestrial, robot, talking animals, reincarnated automobiles, or puppets. And that's why we try to induct a TV puppet into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame once a year.

This year we redress a major oversight with the induction of the Grandmaster of all TV Puppetry, Mr. Howdy Doody!

And it doesn't seem right that we would do so without his buddy, Buffalo Bob Smith! Here's a list of the credits that serve as their qualifications for entry:

Andy's Funhouse (1979)

"The New Howdy Doody Show" (1976)

"Happy Days"
- The Howdy Doody Show (1975)

"Puppet Playhouse"

"Howdy Doody"

Howdy Doody and His Magic Hat (1954)

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (1987)

"The New Hollywood Squares"
- Episode dated 9 March 1987

It's Howdy Doody Time (1987)

NBC 60th Anniversary Celebration (1986)

The Solid Gold Show (1977)

"Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In"
- Episode #5.1 (1971)

"What's My Line?"
- Episode dated 15 August 1954

"Quantum Leap"
- Genesis: Part 1 - September 13, 1956 (1989)

I'm sorry this situation has finally been addressed and that Howdy Doody and Buffalo Bob are at last members of the TV Crossover Hall of Fame.

We never meant to string them along.....

Sorry about that, Chief.

BCnU!

NEW 2 VIEW @ TOOB HQ

Some new additions to the Toobworld Central Library stacks this week:

'POLDARK' (SERIES 1)
One of my first immersions into the world of British costume dramas (right after 'I, Claudius'). It'll be interesting to go back now and see it again, now that I'm more familiar with so many of the UK's great character actors in TV work.

Some of my more "out-there" theories of televisiology are the "Born To Rerun" essays, in which I speculate that a certain character is the reincarnation of another. 'Poldark' provided a two-fer in this regard: it's the contention of Toobworld Central that aristocratic Ross Poldark and his gypsy wife Demelza were reincarnated as well-to-do Greg Montgomery and his free-spirited wife Dharma Liberty Finkelstein ('Dharma & Greg').

'SOAP' (THE COMPLETE SERIES)
Always loved this show and I knew the videotapes from its first run on Comedy Central were not going to last forever. Someday I hope they can do a special reunion episode, if only to let us know how those final cliff-hangers were resolved from nearly thirty years ago. (Even if several of the cast members are no longer with us.)

'NEWSRADIO' (THE COMPLETE SERIES)
One of those great shows that was hated by its own network. Dave Foley made for the perfect male version of Mary Richards, and the character of Bill O'Neil was Phil Hartman's last hurrah.

Just ordered today:
The complete collection of 'Futurama' - and that includes the four movies that have come out since the series ended.

I got this through the Amazon Gold Box Deal of the Day and that was thanks to an alert from TVShowsOnDVD.com. As a minor thank you for the notice, I ordered my copy via their Amazon link so that they could get some coinage in return. It may not be much remuneration, but every little bit helps for the great service they provide.

If you order from Amazon, please consider doing so via TVShowsOnDVD.com. Thank you.

BCnU!

MATRICULATIN' WITH 'EM

ABC detective series 'Castle' seems to have this desire to link itself to the world of 'Law & Order'. The New York Ledger newspaper has cropped up several times and Beckett and Castle even visited the Ledger's offices on one occasion.

With this week's episode delving into the world of S&M and domination, they made a trip to Hudson University where the victim had been working on her thesis.

Hudson University is the go-to college in Dick Wolf's corner of the TV Universe. But it's also been mentioned in other shows like 'Without A Trace', 'Tru Calling', 'The Cosby Show', and even 'Degrassi: The Next Generation'. Even though that takes place in Canada, Degrassi student Jimmy Brooks was accepted there. And nothing says he couldn't go to a NYC college just because he's from Canada.....

According to a map once seen in an episode of 'Law & Order', Hudson University in the same general area as Yeshiva University is in the real world. Not too far from Toobworld Central, as a matter of fact.

Hudson University also shows up in DC Comics; but as we know from 'Smallville', there's no real connection between the TV Universe and the Comic Book Universe save for its inspiration.....

'Castle' takes place at the 12th Precinct; 'Law & Order' at the 27th. Maybe someday they'll have to confer with a detective from Lennie Briscoe's old stomping grounds.....

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: MARY SHELLEY

MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT SHELLEY

AS SEEN IN:
'Highlander' - "Modern Prometheus"

AS PLAYED BY:
Tracy Keating

In this televersion of her life, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was inspired to write the story of Frankenstein's Monster after a visit from Duncan MacLeod. Perhaps it was more from knowing that he could rise from the dead, because it couldn't be due to the loneliness brought about by immortality. While "Frankenstein" didn't concern that issue, it was addressed in her story "The Mortal Immortal"......

Back in 2008, I wrote a more detailed look at the life of Mary Shelley in Toobworld, which can be found here.

BCnU!

ZONKS IN SHADES OF "GREY'S"

Speaking of 'Grey's Anatomy' as a source of Zonks, here's a list of the shows which have referred to it. (Removing all talk shows (Oprah, Letterman), game shows ('Jeopardy'), cartoons ('Simpsons', 'Family Guy', 'Tripping The Rift') and variety shows ('Jay Leno Show', 'Saturday Night Live').

CROSSOVER
'The O.C.' actually links to the show with Dr. Roberts transferring to Seattle Grace Hospital.

MENTIONS OF THE TITLE:
'Scrubs'
'The Office'
'Ugly Betty'
'Entourage'
'Notes From The Underbelly'
'Nip/Tuck'
'Greek'
'10 Things I Hate About You'
"True Confessions Of A Hollywood Starlet"

MENTION OF ACTORS ON THE SHOW
'Psych' - Shawn mentions Patrick Dempsey. In Toobworld, he could be the host of a medical reality show by the name of 'Grey's Anatomy'.

'Nip/Tuck' - Christian referred to the Isaiah Washington situation that led to his departure from the show.

SPOOF
When the Winchester brothers found themselves in a TV universe of their own, they were stuck on the set of 'Dr. Sexy, M.D.'. It was like 'Grey's Anatomy', but no other connection was made.

REFERENCES TO 'GREY'S ANATOMY' NICKNAMES
(Mostly "McDreamy" & "McSteamy")
'ER'
'The Sarah Silverman Program'
'Degrassi: The Next Generation'
'Nip/Tuck'
'Greek'
'Two And A Half Men'

AN ACTUAL ZONK?
In the "Operation: Oswald Montecristo" episode of 'The Knights Of Prosperity', a poster for the show is seen on the set for 'Live with Regis And Kelly'. I don't know how closely it resembles 'Grey's Anatomy' the series as we know it in the real world.

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY

PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY

AS SEEN IN:
'The Highlander'

AS PLAYED BY:
Christopher Staines

From Wikipedia:
Percy Bysshe Shelley (4 August 1792 – 8 July 1822) was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded among the finest lyric poets in the English language. He is most famous for such classic anthology verse works as "Ozymandias", "Ode to the West Wind", "To a Skylark", and "The Masque of Anarchy", which are among the most popular and critically acclaimed poems in the English language. His major works, however, are long visionary poems which included "Prometheus Unbound", "Alastor", "Adonaïs", "The Revolt of Islam", and the unfinished work "The Triumph of Life". "The Cenci" (1819) and "Prometheus Unbound" (1820) were dramatic plays in five and four acts respectively. He wrote the Gothic novels "Zastrozzi" (1810) and "St. Irvyne" (1811) and the short works "The Assassins" (1814) and "The Coliseum" (1817).

Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron. The novelist Mary Shelley was his second wife.

In Duncan MacLeod's faulty memory, Shelley was married to Mary Wollstonecraft when he met them at the Villa Diodati in 1816. But they weren't married yet.

Being immortal doesn't guarantee a perfect memory.

BCnU!

THE HAT SQUAD: JOHN TIFFIN

This obituary was posted at TVNewser:

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.





Good night and may God bless, Sir.

BCnU......

LOST IN THE FULL HOUSE

In the beginning, fans of 'Lost' used to wonder if it was all taking place in the afterlife.

For this TV dimension, 'Lost' is Hell......




BCnU!

ANATOMY OF A ZONK

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!

That Zonk is a flatliner........

BCnU!

A LEVERAGED PSYCH-OUT

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!