AS SEEN ON TV: HOT LIPS!

MAJOR MARGARET HOULIHAN

AS SEEN IN:

'M*A*S*H'

AS PLAYED BY:

Loretta Swit

CREATED BY:

Richard Hooker

TV DIMENSION:

Earth Prime-Time

STATUS:

Multiversal

From Wikipedia:

Major Margaret J. "Hot Lips" Houlihan is a fictional character first created in the book "MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors" by Richard Hooker. Actress Sally Kellerman portrayed the character in the Robert Altman film adaptation (where she is sometimes referred to as O'Houlihan). Houlihan was later portrayed by Loretta Swit in the long-running television series.

The character of "Hotlips Houlihan" was inspired by real-life Korean War MASH head nurse Hotlips Hammerly, also a very attractive blonde, of the same disposition.

Over the run of the show, Margaret mellowed from a completely "by-the-book" head nurse (who was also not above using her romantic contacts with superior officers in attempts to get her way, nor going against regulations for her personal benefit), to a more relaxed member of the cast who tempered her authority with humanity. Key episodes in this development were "The Nurses", in which Margaret gave an emotional tirade to her nurses about how their disdain of her hurt her and thus stuns them, and "Comrades In Arms", where Hawkeye and Margaret make peace once and for all while lost in the wilderness.

Despite her being a patriotic American, Houlihan was accused by a conniving Congressional aide of being a communist sympathizer, due to a long-ago relationship. Thanks to the help of her friends, the plan to accuse her was foiled.

When the show ended, Margaret was on her way back to the US to take up a position in an Army hospital. Not coincidentally, the change for her character came when Linda Bloodworth-Thomason joined the show's writing team. The last time she took a hardline stance with one of her nurses was in Episode 8.7, "Nurse Doctor", where she tells nurse Gail Harris, "If you think I was tough on you before you're in for seven weeks of 'You ain't seen nothing yet'. If you even think of stepping out of line your butt will be tattooed with my boots." Unlike other incidences, this chewing out was deserved and immediately after it Margaret offered to help Gail with her medical studies.

IN THE LITERARY UNIVERSE:
In the series of novels co-written with (or ghost-written by) William E. Butterworth, Houlihan reappears as the twice-widowed Margaret Houlihan Wachauf Wilson, both husbands having expired untimely on the nuptial couch through over-strain caused by excessive indulgence in her still-outstanding physical charms. Her career has taken a new direction as the Reverend head of the "God Is Love In All Forms Christian Church, Incorporated", a cult or sect with the unusual distinction that its entire congregation consists of homosexual men. Most of these are extremely flamboyant and the Reverend Mother herself is conspicuously glitzy and glittery. However, it appears that Margaret genuinely cares for her flock and is not merely shaking them down in pursuit of material gain.

IN THE MOVIE UNIVERSE:
The name "Hot Lips" originates from an infamous scene in M*A*S*H, the movie, in which Margaret Houlihan is played by Sally Kellerman. During sex with Frank Burns, Margaret is initially unaware that the public address microphone has been planted beneath their cot, broadcasting graphic details of their rendezvous throughout the camp on its public address system. Other members of the camp overhear her saying to Frank "Kiss my hot lips."

BCnU!

"NCIS" & "NYPD BLUE"

In the "Forced Entry" episode of 'NCIS', Agent Tony DiNozza made a rather personal admission......

Tony DiNozzo:

"I dated a woman who used to wear my police uniform

and make me call her Detective Sipowicz."

Within the reality of the Toobworld Dynamic, this isn't a Zonk reference to 'NYPD Blue', only to one of its characters. But Andy Sipowicz shares that same reality with Tony DiNozzo, so there had to be a reason why some woman would have Tony call her that.

We don't know who this woman was, but there have been plenty of women in Tony's life.

 We know this because he can't shut up about them.

From Wikipedia:

During the entire run of NCIS Tony consistently speaks at great length about women. He pursues girls on a regular basis, typically

indiscriminately, though he has shown an aversion to women who don't shave. Most of these relationships fail to progress past a certain point, and he has admitted to having commitment issues.

In season nine episode Secrets introduces his ex fiancee.

One of the women he was attracted to turned out to be a terrorist working with Ari Haswari; another to whom he was attracted, and kissed, turned out to be a pre-operative transsexual who had murdered one of Tony's co-workers. He once dated a social worker named Michelle who, after he ended their relationship, broke into his apartment and filled his closet with dog feces. He also had a short relationship with NCIS Special Agent Paula Cassidy. He also broke up with a Navy lieutenant (who had left her then-fiance for him), and shortly after Tony broke up with her, she posted his name, identity and information on a herpes alert website.

In a flashback in the episode "Baltimore" Tony mentions proposing to his long term girlfriend Wendy, also his high school music teacher, but he never got married.

That last one is key because it shows that Tony was not adverse to dating older women. And so I'm going to make the claim that Tony DiNozzo once dated Katie Sipowicz, the ex-wife of Detective Andy Sipowicz of the NYPD.

When Andy was deepest in his alcoholism, he became estranged not only from Katie but from his son Andy, Jr. They were out of his life for a long time once Katie and Andy divorced, and may have been out of the New York City area as well. It could be that they spent time in Philadelphia or later in Baltimore when Tony was working for those police departments back in the 1990's (spending about two years at each of them.)

Although about 19 years his senior, Katie could have taken Tony as her lover. (I don't think Tony was always chasing the runway model types. After all, that Wikipedia entry - always the bastion for Truth! - said that Tony pursued women indiscriminately, so on occasion he might have enjoyed the pleasure to be found with a full-figured older woman.)

Once she felt comfortable with him, Katie may have revealed her kinky side when it came to making love - by wearing Tony's police uniform. And that's why she had Tony call her "Detective Sipowicz" - she wasn't making a pop culture reference to some TV character. She was using her own last name, which she retained even after divorcing Andy Sipowicz.

They probably broke up when Tony was moving on to his next career move.  (Which is why I think the relationship happened while he was in Philadelphia, when both of them were younger and more impetuous.)

Otherwise, Tony could have left her when Katie stopped shaving her legs....

Dirty, dirty girl....

BCnU!

JUST DUCKY ABOUT ILLYA

I was very happy to see the 'NCIS' episode "Meat Puzzle" although I didn't know it when it started.

Kate Todd:

"What did Ducky look like when he was young?"

Gibbs:

"Illya Kuryakin."

Kuryakin was a Russian agent working for the United Network Command for Law Enforcement (an international organization that might be connected to the United Nations.) But in the years between the end of 'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.' and the reunion movie fifteen years later, Ilya became a world famous fashion designer.

And that's the life of Ilya Kuryakin which Gibbs was familiar with. (He probably had to shell out the big bucks for several Kuryakin originals in a futile effort to placate one of his ex-wives.)

BCnU!

ZNN REPORT

At the beginning of the 'NCIS' episode "Enemy On The Hill", a TV reporter for ZNN hounded a bystander for a man-on-the-street interview until the guy stepped in front of a speeding van.

ZNN has shown up in other TV shows - '7 Days', 'Spy Game', and the parent show for 'NCIS', 'JAG'. It serves as a great link via TV networks like WNWK, but not on such a grand scale.

BCnU!

BAYLISS-WATCH 2

Several years ago, I wrote about the half brother of Detective Tim Bayliss ('Homicide: Life On The Street') who had the same name (as seen in 'Stand-Off').

So now I'd like to build a case for another relative by that last name....

Detective Tim Bayliss worked out of Baltimore in the Homicide Division. Until he was arrested for murder, that is.

Closer to the nation's capital, Bayliss may have had a cousin named Chuck who worked as a taxi dispatcher for a company that hired many drivers from Burundi. It was because of those drivers, and who one of them might be, that Bayliss got himself killed.

SHOWS CITED:

'Homicide: Life On The Street'

'NCIS' - "Designated Target"

BCnU!

PROGRAMMING NOTE

While I was down in Florida a few weeks ago to visit my godmother, Auntie Ellie and I watched a marathon of 'NCIS' episodes. (It's one of Auntie Ellie's favorites. A telephone operator who used to work at my place of business also loved that show. I guess it's the 'Matlock' of forensic procedurals....)

It must have been Fate that I caught that marathon, because on the whole I don't watch the show (unless there's a planned crossover.)   Each of those episodes had a little something Toob-worthy.  

So I'll be posting those today.....


And they're all dedicated to my Auntie Ellie - not that she has a computer to see them......

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: "BONES" BRENNAN

DR. TEMPERANCE "BONES" BRENNAN

AS SEEN IN:

'Bones'

AS PLAYED BY:

Emily Deschanel

CREATED BY:

Kathy Reichs

From Wikipedia:

Re: The TV version:

Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan, Ph.D. (born Joy Keenan), is a fictional character portrayed by Emily Deschanel in the American Fox television series Bones. A anthropologist, forensic anthropologist and kinesiologist; she is widely considered to the series as a leading authority in the field of Forensic anthropology, Brennan first appeared on television, along with other co-protagonists, in the "Pilot" episode of Bones on September 13, 2005.

While Brennan is loosely based on author Kathy Reichs, her name originates from the heroine in Reichs's crime novel series. The main similarity the two characters share is their occupation as a forensic anthropologist.

Re: the book version:
Temperance Daesee Brennan is a fictional character created by author Kathy Reichs, and is the hero of her crime novel series (which are usually referred to as the Temperance Brennan novels). She was introduced in Reichs' first novel, Déjà Dead, which was published in 1997. Like her creator, Brennan is a forensic anthropologist, who divides her time between work in North Carolina, and working in Montreal for the Laboratoire des Sciences Judiciaires et de Médecine Légale for the province of Quebec. In a number of novels it is indicated that Brennan's background lies in archaeology, rather than medicine, and throughout the novels she stresses the importance of correct crime scene processes.

The character shares the same name with the protagonist of the American television series, Bones, whose character was not based on Reichs' books or the Brennan of her books but rather on the author herself. In the TV series, Temperance Brennan is played by Emily Deschanel. Reichs herself has stated that she sees the Tempe of the television series as a younger version of the novel Tempe. Reichs is an executive producer of the show, and oversees the forensic science aspect of the series. She also wrote the fifth season episode "The Witch in the Wardrobe," which shared some plot elements with her novel Devil Bones. On the show Temperance "Bones" Brennan writes crime novels with a fictional forensic anthropologist named Kathy Reichs as the protagonist.

Temperance Brennan also appears in the Jasper Fforde novel First Among Sequels.

From the source:

My name is Temperance Deassee Brennan. I'm five-five, feisty, and forty-plus. Multidegreed. Overworked. Underpaid.

Dying.

Slashing lines through that bit of literary inspiration, I penned another opening.

I'm a forensic anthropologist. I know death. Now it stalks me. This is my story.

Merciful God. Jack Webb and Dragnet reincarnate.

More slashes.

I glanced at the clock. Two thirty-five.

Abandoning the incipient autobiography, I began to doodle. Circles inside circles. The clock face. The conference room. The UNCC campus. Charlotte. North Carolina. North America. Earth. The Milky Way.

Around me, my colleagues argued minutiae with all the passion of religious zealots. The current debate concerned wording within a subsection of the departmental self-study. The room was stifling, the topic poke-me-in-the-eye dull. We'd been in session for over two hours, and time was not flying.

I added spiral arms to the outermost of my concentric circles. Began filling spaces with dots.

Four hundred billion stars in the galaxy. I wished I could put my chair into hyperdrive to any one of them.

Anthropology is a broad discipline, comprised of linked subspecialties. Physical. Cultural. Archaeological. Linguistic. Our department has the full quartet.

BCnU!

TV TIMELINE BY DESIGN

In the episode of 'The Mentalist' entitled "Red Is The New Black", there young designers were arrested at an "Occupy Oakland" rally and spent the night in jail. In a way, this was a good thing, because it eliminated the trio as suspects in the murder of another fashion designer.

On January 28th of this year, 400 protesters were arrested at the "Occupy Oakland" protest, so now we know when this episode took place. (It aired on February 2nd, so that was a quick connection for the Toobworld timeline!)

Others may have been arrested in the past few months, but a number as large as that makes it easier to blend in a few fictional TV characters. Precedent for that has been established by larger historical events like Custer's Last Stand, Pearl Harbor, D-Day, the sinking of the Titanic, and the World Trade Center Attack.

(My thanks to Rich Shapiro for pointing out the significance of their alibi.)

BCnU!

A COY THEORY OF RELATEEVEETY

On Sunday night, PBS presented the Christmas special for 'Downton Abbey' as the second season final for the series. And even though the American audience didn't get to see it (officially) until February, it still presented us with a Toob-worthy Christmas present.

George Murray returned to the show (having already been seen in the very first episode) as the lawyer for the Grantham family. It was early 1920 and he was advising the family (and the housemaid Anna) on the options before them now that Mr. Bates was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged. (Mr. Bates was the valet for Lord Robert Grantham but more importantly, he was married to Anna.)

Farther into the future of the Toobworld timeline, although the character was portrayed decades earlier, there was a clerk working in the chambers of Horace Rumpole by the name of Henry.

As he appeared in episodes mostly set in the 1980's, we're going to file a brief that Henry was George Murray's grandson.  And that he followed his grandfather into the family business.

We never learned what Henry's last name was in the 'Rumpole' series (from what I can remember with questionable support from the IMDb), he could easily have been Henry Murray. If he does have a recorded surname that is different, that doesn't ruin this de-Zonking. Henry could be the son of George Murray's daughter!

(Both characters were portrayed by Jonathan Coy......)

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: BLAIR AND SERENA

BLAIR WALDORF & SERENA VAN DER WOODSEN

AS SEEN IN:

'Gossip Girl'

AS PLAYED BY:

Leighton Meester (Blair)

Blair Cornelia Waldorf is the main character of Gossip Girl, introduced in the original series of novels and also appearing in their television and manga adaptations. Described as "a girl of extremes" by creator Cecily von Ziegesar, she is a comical overachiever who possesses both snobbish and sensitive sides. Due to her position as queen bee of Manhattan's social scene, Blair's actions and relations are under constant scrutiny from the mysterious Gossip Girl, a popular blogger. (Wikipedia)

&

Blake Lively (Serena)

Serena Celia van der Woodsen is a fictional character and the protagonist in the young adult novel series Gossip Girl and its television adaptation. Serena is featured on the blog of the novel series' mysterious "Gossip Girl" narrator. Serena is Blair Waldorf's best friend, and is a character that appears to easily get whatever she wants because of her good looks, energy, and charisma. (Wikipedia)

CREATED BY:

Cecily von Ziegesar

From Wikipedia:

"Gossip Girl" is an American young adult novel series written by Cecily von Ziegesar and published by Little, Brown and Company, a subsidiary of the Hachette Group. The series revolves around the lives and romances of the privileged teenagers at the Constance Billard School for Girls, an elite private school in New York City's Upper East Side. The books primarily focus on best friends Blair Waldorf and Serena van der Woodsen, whose experiences are among those chronicled by the eponymous gossip blogger. The novel series is based on von Ziegesar's experiences at Nightingale-Bamford School and on what she heard from friends.

From the source:
Luckily Blair and her friends came from the kind of families for whom drinking was as commonplace as blowing your nose. Their parents believed in the quasi-European idea that the more access kids have to alcohol, the less likely they are to abuse it. So Blair and her friends could drink whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, as long as they maintained their grades and their looks and didn't embarrass themselves or the family by puking in public, pissing their pants, or ranting in the streets. The same thing went for everything else, like sex or drugs—as long as you kept up appearances, you were all right.

But keep your panties on. That's coming later.

BCnU!