MRS. PEEL, WE'RE NOTED

Sophie Deveraux and Alec Hardison needed cover aliases in order to get inside the locked-down Wakefield Corporation. So they assumed the guises of auditing consultants Emily Peel and Jonathan Steed.

This leads to the supposition that they knew of top professional John Steed and Emma Peel, talented amateur, who are known to us via the classic British spy series 'The Avengers'.

And within the reality of Toobworld, this could happen. Mrs. Peel has been out of the "Circus" life for over over forty years; Steed more than likely still keeps his hand in the game on a limited basis. But their exploits probably became known to the general public and eventually a movie was made about their spy careers. This would be the same badly-reviewed movie to be found in the real world, starring Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman.

A bad movie it may be, but it serves to nullify any Zonks when 'The Avengers' get cited on other TV shows.

BCnU!

AFRICAN ECHOES: WADATA DATA

Toobworld has gained a new African nation which won't be found on any Rand-McNally map of the real world.

Wadata is a West African nation currently led by President Simeon Moto and it is rich in oil and diamonds. It was the backdrop for one of the latest Boston-based schemes pulled off by the 'Leverage' team.

Wadata has never been invoked in any other TV series - so far as I know - so we can't make a link... as is. However, President Moto's evil brother seemed to infer it was a relatively new nation, which means it either was carved out of some pre-existing country as it broke free in a bid for independence, or it was originally known by some other name.

There are a few candidates for either of those options:

African East Victoria ("Mission: Impossible")

Bocamo ("Mission: Impossible")

Kembu ("Jake 2.0")

Ghalea ("Mission: Impossible")

Limbawe ("Airwolf")

N'Shoba ("Capitol")

The Nyamba Protectorate ("Danger Man")

Topango ("The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.")

Western Natumba/Natsumba ("The Man From U.N.C.L.E.")

Two countries that probably shouldn't be considered would be the Sahalese Republic and Equatorial Kundhu, both from 'The West Wing' which takes place in an alternate TV dimension.

Because the reporter who was in danger from Moto's brother worked for the West African News service, Western Natumba is a strong pozz'bility. However, I'm leaning towards one of the satellite states in the Nyamba Protectorate breaking free to be on its own. Mainly because I'm such a McGoohanite.

BCnU!

IT TOOK A CROOK

There's an episode of 'Hustle' which is entitled either "Whittaker Our Way Out" or "Ties That Bind Us". Either way it's about the team of grifters agreeing to help a fellow con man take down the bank that double-crossed his grandfather - one of the most famous con men of the 19th Century. Even as Mickey, Ash, Danny, Stacie, and Albert go along with the scheme, they already know that their "partner" will try to pull a con on them as well. He won't be able to stop himself, since the greatest con a con man can pull off is on another con man.

And who was their con man "partner"?

"There are a lot of different stories about what happened
to James Whittaker Wright after his adventures in the city.
I don’t really know that the truth is,
but I’d like to think that somewhere along the way,
he found his own little piece of grifting heaven."

Albert Stroller
'Hustle'

And in a way, JW3 did find his piece of grifter heaven along the way, as he mentored Parker to be the best she could be as a thief. Only she knew him as Archie Leach; being the "innocent" that she is, Parker didn't know that the name of "Archie Leach" was an alias. Nor did she know its origin - as Cary Grant's real name. (All of this we learned in the 'Leverage' episode "The Inside Job".) Archie had to call in the 'Leverage' team to help him get Parker out of an ultra-secure building where she fell into the trap that was meant for him. At the end of the adventure as they hugged goodbye, Parker lifted his wallet - probably in an attempt to find out who he really was. But Archie Leach got it back before she could learn his true identity of James Whittaker Wright III.

And even that might have been an alias......

We just may yet get an unofficial third name for this one Toobworlder, and then a Richard Chamberlain character can get into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame on the Honors List....

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: ADOLPH HITLER

Today's "As Seen On TV" showcase is for Uncle Brian-El, who made these screencaps possible......

ADOLPH HITLER
aka
DEATH

AS SEEN IN:
"Prometheus 5 or Between Time And Timbuktu"

AS PLAYED BY:
Page Johnson

"I am Death. And I am final.
Oh, God, am I final!"
Hitler

BCnU!

THE VIEW OF SAN CORDOVA

Two weeks ago on 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent', we were introduced to Marta Caldera, the wife of New York State Senator Victor Caldera. Marta was also the daughter of former dictator General Omar Castillo. The name of his South American country is not given in the episode "True Legacy" and that's all for the good where Toobworld is concerned.

Toobworld Central can then make the claim that some other South American dictatorship seen on TV was the same country where General Castillo ruled. And I think a good choice would be San Cordova from the 'Mission: Impossible' episode "The Elixir". Reva Santel, the widow of the former leader, wanted to take over with her own dictatorship. And she would have succeeded if it hadn't been for those meddling IMF agents. Deputy Premier Tomas Avilla tried to hold free and open elections, and his plan may have worked - once the IMF made sure that Riva Santel's ambitions were thwarted. However, freedom and democracy were probably foreign concepts to the people of San Cordova, and so a man like General Castillo could easily have wrested control of the country for his own gains.
BCnU!

SODDIN' NANCY

Celeste Holm played Abigail Townsend in the sitcom 'Nancy', about the President's daughter falling in love and marrying a small-town veterinarian in Iowa. Ms. Townsend served as sort of a chief of staff for Nancy Smith and her ideas of what was best for the girl often clashed with Nancy's desires.

It's pozz'ble, just pozz'ble (as Mushrat would say), that Abigail Townsend could be related to rich private investigator Charlie Townsend - if he has a counterpart in the parallel world in which we'd find 'Nancy'. See, that show can't be in Earth Prime-Time because there was no President Smith in Toobworld. Toobworld has to follow the real world with the line of succession.

'Nancy' can't be placed in the 'West Wing' dimension either. Their POTUS collection diverges from ours probably right after Nixon (the last real President to be mentioned) although Ford, Carter, and Reagan might still have served. After that, they had Presidents D. Wire Newman, Owen Lassiter, and Jed Bartlet (with Glenallen Walker serving for a few days under the 25th Amendment.)

However, President Smith could easily fit into the same TV dimension in which we'd find the sitcoms 'Hail To The Chief', with President Julia Mansfield (played by Patty Duke), and 'Mr. President', with George C. Scott as President Samuel Arthur Tresch. Apparently that world wouldn't have had any of the same Presidents as the real world in the late 20th Century. And because 'Nancy' is also a sitcom, I think it would make for a good fit.

Two other shows might also fit into this TV dimension: 'Spin City', with its alternateevee Mayor of New York City, and 'Yes, Prime Minister' with a different leader of the British government than to be found in the real world. And its prequel of 'Yes, Minister' would also be included.

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: VINCENT VAN GOGH

This has been a big year for Van Gogh over in the United Kingdom - there is a major exhibition of his work at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, and then there were these two portrayals of the man.....

VINCENT VAN GOGH

AS SEEN IN:
"Van Gogh: Painted With Words"

AS PLAYED BY:
Benedict Cumberbatch

AS SEEN IN:
'Doctor Who'

AS PLAYED BY:
Tony Curran

Two for Tuesday!

BCnU!

TOOBWORLD REMEMBERS SENATOR BYRD

Senator Robert Byrd has passed away. He was the longest-serving senator in U.S. history.

Back in February, the "As Seen On TV" gallery featured Senator Byrd's likeness in Skitlandia as seen on 'Saturday Night Live".

BCnU......

SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS ARE TELEVISED

A guy I know from work has marched his way into Toobworld.

At around the 1:47 mark in this WABC news video, David Tracy can be seen marching in Sunday's Gay Pride Parade. He's the one wearing the green pants. ("And a fan. Gay as possible... that's me!" he wrote on Facebook.)

KANNER CAMERA*

Hello, again!

In the past, I've provided TV-based identities for various characters to be found in 'The Prisoner' (the original version) which linked to other TV series, either from before 'The Prisoner' or after, and in one case, during.

Number Two - as played by Leo McKern in "Chimes Of Big Ben" and the two part finale - was the identical twin brother of Horace Rumpole. While the wife of 'Rumpole Of The Bailey' was She Who Must Be Obeyed, his brother was He Who Must Not Be Named.

Number Six had an identical twin in the Village - Number 12, also played by Patrick McGoohan. This "Schizoid Man" was addressed as Curtis, but his real name was Nelson Brenner. And he was a double agent in the CIA, as exposed by Lt. 'Columbo' in the "Identity Crisis" murder case.

Number Two - as played by Clifford Evans in "Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darling" - created a cryogenic process to freeze himself until his damaged heart could be repaired in a completely safe operation. Keith Longman was his true name and he tried to test the process on Simon Templar, aka 'The Saint'.

The Butler - played by Angelo Muscat - was the son of Dr. Miguelito Loveless (from 'The Wild, Wild West') and an unknown Italian woman. His father gave him the job in the Village, a place Loveless created, never knowing his son might one day betray his dreams of world domination.

And of course, Number Six himself was NATO/MI-6 agent John Drake of 'Danger Man' & 'Secret Agent'.

And now Toobworld Central has turned the Eye towards another Village resident......
In the final episode of 'The Prisoner', we met Number 48, a prisoner who was on trial as a representative of rebellious youth against the state - that is, the Village. He joined the former Number Two, the Butler, and Sir (the former Number Six) in a coup that brought down that particular Village. (There have always been others, confirmed by last year's "revision" of the series.) It's the only episode in which Number 48 appears, even though there was another in the Village who looked exactly like him. One of Number Two's assistants in the Village, Number 8, entered into a virtual reality simulation of the Old West, calling himself "The Kid," in order to play mind games with Number Six. However, the programming affected his own troubled mind, leading to his murder of a woman involved in the plan and to his own possible suicide. (It's unclear if he died from the fall of the balcony in the bar, but it does look like he broke his neck.) I suppose the argument could be made that The Kid and Number 48 were the same man, based on their similar features. (As you probably figured out, they were played by the same actor, Alexis Kanner.) But that would have required at least one additional episode to show the reformation of The Kid, that he was under the influence of Village brain-washing or whatever. Toobworld Central can accept that a lot of things happen unsaid and offscreen - the first meeting between Ensign Chekov and Khan Noonian Singh, for instance - but this would have been too much to allow without seeing some sort of reform.

There's no problem in accepting that the President of the Assembly in that last episode of 'The Prisoner' is the same man who served as Number Two earlier in "The Girl Who Was Death"; there's a logical progression there. But Number 48 and Number 8 can't be the same man.

As for them looking alike, the Village was known for its skill in plastic surgery. Number 12, who looked just like Number Six, is a good example of that.

So who was Number 48? Of his television roles, I'm going to suggest it was Police Constable Matt Stone, whom Kanner played in nine episodes of 'Softly, Softly'. His character just disappeared, with no good explanation. (The behind the scenes reasons given for Kanner's departure from the show - especially as his character was proving popular - do not influence what happened within the reality of Toobworld.)

It's possible that while he was with that police squad in the Wyvern region, Constable Stone stumbled across sensitive, even top-secret information that he wasn't meant to see. (Or hear - it could be someone, from MI-5 perhaps, whispered their dying secrets to him when Stone found the dying agent.) Because of that, Stone was abducted by those in control of the Village and brought to the Village in order to learn what he knew. Matt Stone would have been there for over a year before Number Six, the former John Drake, found himself in similar straits.
(Could it be that those bar patrons listening in on Matt Stone's conversation would turn out to be the ones to abduct him?)

As to what happened to Matt Stone after their escape from the Village, apparently he went underground so completely he was never seen again in Toobworld - not even under assumed names in one-shot TV roles. Alexis Kanner apparently only appeared on TV one last time, in an episode of 'UFO' in 1970 - although the show took place in 1980. It's unlikely that Matt Stone would risk detection by those who kidnapped him by training to be a SHADO pilot with the alias of Jim Regan. Stone would have stayed as far away as possible from any government agency.

Alexis Kanner died in 2003, but there's no reason to assume that "dem bones" of former constable Matt Stone were interred as well. He may still be out there, living under an assumed name, leading a life that is so unremarkable that there's not even a tangential chance it might be observed in the background of some other TV series.
Anyway, it's more fun to remember him as he was as Number 48 - one of the most colorful characters to come out of Toobworld in the late 1960's........

Hear the word of the Lord.
BCnU!

* I was tempted to use "KANNER-Y ROLES" as the subject heading, but that pun is even worse than the one I used.....