MISSING LINKS: "TRUE BLOOD" & "THE VAMPIRE DIARIES"?

As seen in Toobworld, Charles Bunn is the United States representative for the 5th District in Virginia. (We learned that in last Sunday's episode of 'True Blood'.)

Could it be pozz'ble, just pozz'ble, that Mystic Falls (from 'The Vampire Diaries') is located within the 5th District?

Just sayin', is all.....

AS SEEN ON TV: LORD MELBOURNE

LORD MELBOURNE

AS SEEN IN:
'Edward The King'

AS PLAYED BY:
Joseph O'Conor

From Wikipedia:
William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, PC, FRS (15 March 1779 – 24 November 1848) was a British Whig statesman who served as Home Secretary (1830–1834) and Prime Minister (1834 and 1835–1841), and was a mentor of Queen Victoria.

Melbourne was Prime Minister when Queen Victoria came to the throne (June 1837). Barely eighteen, she was only just breaking free from the domineering influence of her mother, the Duchess of Kent, and her mother's advisor, John Conroy. Over the next four years Melbourne trained her in the art of politics and the two became friends: Victoria was quoted as saying she considered him like a father (her own had died when she was only eight months old), and Melbourne's daughter had died at a young age. Melbourne was given a private apartment at Windsor Castle, and unfounded rumours circulated for a time that Victoria would marry Melbourne, forty years her senior.

In May 1839, Melbourne's resignation led to the Bedchamber Crisis. Prospective prime minister Robert Peel requested that Victoria dismiss some of the wives and daughters of Whig MPs who made up her personal entourage, arguing that the monarch should avoid any hint of favouritism to a party out of power. As the Queen refused to comply (a course supported by the Whigs) Peel refused to form a new government and Melbourne was eventually persuaded to stay on as Prime Minister.

Lord Melbourne was featured once before here at Inner Toob......

 BCnU!

'EDWARD THE KING": EPISODE 1, PART 1

'Edward The King' will be our theme these next two weeks. Why? Because I'll be on vacation!

If this mini-series from the early 1970's piques your interest, then you can find it on Netflix.  And the first few chapters (at least six I believe) are available in segments on YouTube.

Here's the first part of the first episode if you'd like the chance to sample it....

BCnU!

TVXOHOF, 07/2011 - AMOS BURKE

Here it is, the middle of July, I'm on the eve of my vacation, and I forgot to induct a new member into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame for the month. And I better do it now, because by the time I get back, it'll be time to induct our August Westerner!

And so, we're inducting the wealthiest police detective in all of Telemerica:

AMOS BURKE

This month's choice was spurred by a memorial induction back in May - Honey West. (She was chosen in tribute to Anne Francis, who died earlier in the year.)

Honey West is a multiversal who got her start in a series of novels, but her life in Toobworld began with an episode of 'Burke's Law'. From there she launched into her own series and finally returned to 'Burke's Law' decades later (but now with the married name of "Best".)

The main character of 'Burke's Law' was the type of detective you could probably only find in Toobworld - Amos Burke was a millionaire who didn't bother to lead a life of leisure. Intead he was a captain in the Homicide Division of the Los Angeles Police Department. Eventually he became the chief of the bureau.

(As such, certain LAPD detectives may have worked for him - Lt. Columbo, Pepper Anderson, Dennis Becker, Baretta, Hunter, Starsky & Hutch, and the Major Crimes squad - but before Assistant Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, known for her skills as 'The Closer', joined the team.)

In its third season, Amos Burke became a globe-trotting spy who answered to "The Man" - 'Burke's Law' became 'Amos Burke, Secret Agent'. At first it was the Toobworld Central ruling that this was an Amos Burke from an alternate TV dimension. Same man, different life.

But because I wanted to make Mr. Sin (a character played by Michael Dunn) into an alias for Dr. Loveless, I needed to keep the show's reboot in Earth Prime-Time.

So now Amos Burke took a sabbatical from the LAPD at the government's request and worked as an intelligence operative.

Again, only in Toobworld.

By the early 1990's, we learned that not only had Amos Burke resumed his duties with the LAPD years before, but he was now in charge of the Homicide Division but also that he was working with his son Peter.

(This is not the same Peter Burke who now works for the FBI in New York, as seen in 'White Collar'. But he could be a nephew to Amos Burke.)

So Captain Burke's candidacy for membership in the Hall does have a bit of a grey area. There are two versions of 'Burke's Law' - the original and the sequel - and then there's the sequel of 'Amos Burke, Secret Agent'. (While it followed immediately after the original series, it had a radical change in premise as well as a new title. Claiming it as a different series is the same argument made regarding 'Archie Bunker's Place' during Archie's induction.)

Add to that Amos Burke as the introduction to Honey West, so his show had two sequels and a spin-off. If you search Inner Toob for 'Burke's Law', you'll see that I've made plenty of theoretical connections to other shows as well.

Besides all of that, Amos Burke was quite the colorful character, highly prized in Toobworld's Tele-folks Directory.

And that's why he's "Mr. July" for 2011 in the TV Crossover Hall of Fame.

BCnU!

SKED ALERT! "TRUE BLOOD" FOR SUNDAY, JULY 17

Regular features for Inner Toob will be whittled down to basically just the "As Seen On TV" showcase for the next two weeks.  You can probably figure out why.......

So here's the last preview clips I'll be able to supply for 'True Blood' until August:

'True Blood' airs on HBO Sundays at 9 pm EST and then throughout the week. Check your local listings.

BCnU!

VIDEO VIC

From Wikipedia:In the summers of 1962 and 1963 Damone hosted a television variety series on NBC called The Lively Ones, which showcased current jazz, pop and folk performers as well as comedians. His distinguished group of musical guests over two seasons included Count Basie, Louie Bellson, Dave Brubeck, Chris Connor, Matt Dennis, Frances Faye, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Buddy Greco, Woody Herman, Jack Jones, Stan Kenton, Gene Krupa, Peggy Lee, Nellie Lutcher, Shelly Manne, Anita O'Day, Ruth Olay, Oscar Peterson, Andre Previn, Della Reese, Shorty Rogers, Cal Tjader, and Joe Williams. In 1962 he made a guest appearance on The Dick Van Dyke Show playing a crooner named Rick Vallone in an episode entitled "Like A Sister".

Other notable television work during this time included Damone's three guest appearances on Judy Garland's CBS variety series 'The Judy Garland Show' (1963–64). In addition to his solo performances on these three episodes, Damone and Garland sang duet medleys of songs from "Porgy and Bess", "West Side Story", and "Kismet".

Originally, the ASOTV showcase for Vic Damone was going to run on July 23. That was the day when 'The Lively Ones' debuted in 1962. But Inner Toob is running a special theme for the next two weeks (Can you guess why?), and I didn't want to interrupt it.

Since Vic Damone is now part of this Video Weekend, we might as well delve into some of his TV work; some of which was mentioned above.....

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: VIC DAMONE

VIC DAMONE

AS SEEN IN:"James Dean: Race With Destiny"
AS PLAYED BY:Louis D'Alto

From Wikipedia:
Vic Damone (born June 12, 1928) is an American singer and entertainer.

Damone was born Vito Rocco Farinola in Brooklyn, New York to French-Italian immigrants based in Caserta, Italy—Rocco and Mary (Damone) Farinola. His father was an electrician and volunteer firefighter; his mother taught piano. Inspired by his favorite singer, Frank Sinatra, Damone began taking voice lessons. He sang in a choir at St. Finbar's Church in Bath Beach, Brooklyn for Sunday Mass under organist Anthony Amorello.

When his father was injured at work, Damone had to drop out of high school. He worked as an usher and elevator operator in the Paramount Theater, in Manhattan

He met Perry Como, who asked him into his dressing room to sing for him. Impressed, Como referred him to a local bandleader. Farinola decided to call himself Vic Damone, using his mother's maiden name.

Damone has married five times and divorced four:

1) The Italian actress Anna Maria Pierangeli (Pier Angeli) (1954–1958) (one son - Perry Damone)

2) Judith Rawlins (1963–1971) (three daughters - Victoria Damone-Cooper, Andrea Damone-Kellogg, Daniella Damone-Woodard)

3) Becky Ann Jones (1974–1982), the American entertainer

4) Diahann Carroll (1987–1996) (This relationship is referenced in the 1997 film "Money Talks", in which Chris Tucker's character claims to be Vic Damone Jr., the son of Damone and Carroll)

5) Rena Rowan (1998 to date), the fashion designer and co-creator of Jones New York (Jones Apparel Group).

Damone has 6 grandchildren from his daughters.

In the summers of 1962 and 1963 Damone hosted a television variety series on NBC called 'The Lively Ones', which showcased current jazz, pop and folk performers as well as comedians. His distinguished group of musical guests over two seasons included Count Basie, Louie Bellson, Dave Brubeck, Chris Connor, Matt Dennis, Frances Faye, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Buddy Greco, Woody Herman, Jack Jones, Stan Kenton, Gene Krupa, Peggy Lee, Nellie Lutcher, Shelly Manne, Anita O'Day, Ruth Olay, Oscar Peterson, Andre Previn, Della Reese, Shorty Rogers, Cal Tjader, and Joe Williams.

Other notable television work during this time included Damone's three guest appearances on Judy Garland's CBS variety series 'The Judy Garland Show' (1963–64). In addition to his solo performances on these three episodes, Damone and Garland sang duet medleys of songs from "Porgy and Bess", "West Side Story", and "Kismet".

BCnU!

JOAN RIVERS & LOUIS CK

With Joan Rivers' appearance on tonight's episode of 'Louis', the sitcom starring Louis CK as a televersion of himself can be considered an official member of Toobworld. Joan Rivers is a 2011 member of the TV Crossover Hall Of Fame, League of Themselves division.

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: BILLY BOB THORNTON

BILLY BOB THORNTON

AS SEEN IN:
'Star Stories'

AS PLAYED BY:
Trevor Lock

From Wikipedia:
Billy Bob Thornton (born August 4, 1955) is an American actor, screenwriter, director and musician. Thornton gained early recognition as a cast member on the CBS sitcom Hearts Afire and in several early 1990s films including On Deadly Ground and Tombstone. In the mid-1990s, after writing, directing, and starring in the independent film Sling Blade, he won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He appeared in several major film roles following Sling Blade 's success, including 1998's Armageddon and A Simple Plan. During the late 1990s, Thornton began a career as a singer-songwriter. He has released three albums and was the singer of a blues rock band.

Once again, a televersion from that "doofus" TV dimension which also houses 'That's My Bush!' and 'The Secret Files Of Desmond Pfeiffer'.  Billy Bob's televersion in this world has a secret fear of furniture, but that's now limited to chairs of the Bauhaus period.

BCnU!

"ALPHAS" BITS

The pilot for 'Alphas' provided several bits of trivia which could theoretically link the series about mutants (for lack of a more capsulated term) who work together in a secret government project.

1) 'CSI: NY'

This is the most blatant connection. At least one member of the NYC CSI team can be seen outside the Thompson Hotel after a man jumped to his death. It doesn't have to be any particular character from the CBS show; a lot more people would be working in that department besides the six or seven we'd see on a weekly basis.

2) The 'Law & Order' franchise

The New York Sentinel is a paper modeled on the New York Times style, a rival to the NY Ledger which is more of a tabloid paper. If I remember correctly, it shows up in the later years for the opening credits of 'Murder, She Wrote' once Jessica Fletcher moved to Manhattan, but I can't be sure on that.  However, it did appear in an episode of the series where it sported a tabloid style of its own.  (It must have been a temporary experiment to increase sales.)



3) Honda Civic commercial, "The Prize"

As far as I can tell, Crunchy-O's is a fictional cereal. (The more healthy-oriented Early Harvest may be a fiction cereal as well.) But it was used in a blipvert for the Honda Civic and the giant version of the cereal box doesn't give any indication of a manufacturer's name (Arnold's Acres?), which I think would have been verboten if there was a product placement crossover.




4) 'Lost'

And finally, one of "The Numbers" from the sequence featured in 'Lost' was displayed in the interrogation room where a Federal witness was assassinated.......

BCnU!