TILTING AT WINDMILLS ONCE AGAIN

Here's another tooniversion of "Don Quixote". For as expansive as the magnum opus is, this story runs only about ten minutes......

BCnU!

MAGOO'S "DON QUIXOTE"

When Mr. Magoo portrayed "Don Quixote", he did so as an actor playing a role; he was not actually the errant knight. It's a conceit adopted by the book of "Man Of La Mancha" as well.....

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: DON QUIXOTE

It's been a while since I dallied in the Tooniverse......

DON QUIXOTE

CREATED BY:

Miguel de Cervantes

VOICED BY:

Fernando Fernán Gómez

AS SEEN IN:

'Don Quixote'

From Wikipedia:

The novel follows the adventures of Alonso Quijano, who reads too many chivalric novels, and sets out to revive chivalry under the name of Don Quixote. He recruits a simple farmer, Sancho Panza as his squire, who frequently deals with Don Quixote's rhetorical orations on antiquated knighthood with a unique Earthy wit. He is met by the world as it is, initiating themes like Intertextuality, Realism, Metatheatre and Literary Representation.

Published in two volumes a decade apart, in 1605 and 1615, Don Quixote is considered the most influential work of literature from the Spanish Golden Age and the entire Spanish literary canon. As a founding work of modern Western literature, and one of the earliest canonical novels, it regularly appears high on lists of the greatest works of fiction ever published. In one such list, Don Quixote was cited as the "best literary work ever written".

Don Quixote, a Spanish gentleman of La Mancha Alonso Quijano (or Quesada, or Quijada), who believes himself and acts as a knight-errant as described in various medieval books of chivalry, riding his horse Rocinante.

Alonso Quijano, the protagonist of the novel, is a retired country gentleman nearing fifty years of age, living in an unnamed section of La Mancha with his niece and housekeeper. While mostly a rational man of sound reason, his reading of books of chivalry in excess has had a profound effect on him, leading to the distortion of his perception and the wavering of his mental faculties. In essence, he believes every word of these books of chivalry to be true though, for the most part, the content of these books is clearly fiction. Otherwise, his wits, in regards to everything other than chivalry, are intact. He decides to go out as a knight-errant in search of adventure. He dons an old suit of armour, renames himself "Don Quixote de la Mancha," and names his skinny horse "Rocinante". He designates a neighboring farm girl as his lady love, renaming her Dulcinea del Toboso, while she knows nothing about this.

For more:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Quixote

BCnU!

AVENGERS, ASSEMBLE! (TAKE YOUR TIME....)

As a theoretical concept, the Toobworld Dynamic works. In practice, we've seen it in action many times - a Western crossed over with a cop show. A sitcom that gave birth to a drama series. And then there's the TV cop who appeared in about nine different series (including a cartoon), over four different networks at least.

The Toobworld Dynamic is a visual world, unlike some of the other shared universes which can look beyond such problems as recasting. But sometimes the possibilities of the crossover should be left to the mind only.

This version of the new "Avengers" movie - using the 1970's TV counterparts of the super-heroes - is a good example. On paper, it works......

Of course, once you get to Hawkeye, the Destroyer, and Loki, it does get a bit silly (although Paul Lynde does rock the horns......)

Over in some off-shoot of the Cineverse, this 1940's version of the Avengers works better:

I could see the Rocketeer fitting right in with these people....

BCnU!

SKED ALERT! "TREASURE ISLAND"

Here are some more videos about "Treasure Island". This four hour mini-series will be seen in its entirety tonight on Syfy, starting at 7:00 PM EST.

It stars Eddie Izzard, Elijah Wood, Philip Glenister, Rupert Penry-Jones, David Harewood, Daniel Mays, and Donald Sutherland.

I'm really looking forward to this!

BCnU!

"TREASURE ISLAND" - ECCE PROMO!

I know 'The Mentalist' and CBS didn't plan this, since Syfy is part of the Univeral TV platform, like NBC.  But they gave a nice shout-out to tonight's presentation of the four hour mini-series.....

"So now we go home; watch TV.

Rent 'Treasure Island' - if it's not too depressing."

Patrick Jane

'The Mentalist'

AS SEEN ON TV: LONG JOHN SILVER

"Treasure Island", a four hour miniseries, is presented in its entirety tonight on Syfy, beginning at 7 PM!

LONG JOHN SILVER

CREATED BY:

Robert Louis Stephenson

PORTRAYED BY:

Eddie Izzard

AS SEEN IN:

"Treasure Island"

From Wikipedia:

Long John Silver is a fictional character and the primary antagonist of the novel "Treasure Island", by Robert Louis Stevenson.

In "Treasure Island", Long John Silver is a pirate who was quartermaster under the notorious Captain Flint. Long John Silver had a pet parrot called Captain Flint, often seen sitting on his shoulder where she would nibble on seeds. A quartermaster on a pirate ship ranked higher than any officer except the captain himself, and could veto the captain's decisions whenever the ship was not in a battle. The quartermaster was elected by the crew and one of his tasks was to lead the boarding party from the quarterdeck during boarding attacks.

Silver claims to have served in the Royal Navy and lost his leg under "the immortal Hawke". His left leg was cut off close by the hip, and under the left shoulder he carried a crutch, which he managed with wonderful dexterity, hopping about upon it like a bird. He was very tall and strong, with a face as big as a ham - plain and pale, but intelligent and smiling." He claims to have been the only man whom Flint ever feared.

Like many of Stevenson's characters, there is more than a modicum of duality in the character; ostensibly Silver is a hardworking and likeable seaman, and it is only as the plot unfolds that his villainous nature is gradually revealed. His relationship with Jim Hawkins, the novel's protagonist, is interesting, as he serves as a mentor and eventually father-figure to Jim, creating much shock and emotion when it is discovered that he is in charge of the mutiny, and especially when Jim must confront and fight him later on.

Although willing to change sides at any time in the interests of his own survival, Silver has compensating virtues: he is wise enough to pay attention to money management, in contrast to the spendthrift ways of most pirates, and is physically courageous despite his disability; for instance, when Flint's cache is found to be empty, he coolly stands his ground against five grown men despite having only Hawkins to back him.

When Silver escapes at the end of the novel, he takes "three or four hundred guineas" of the treasure with him, thus becoming one of only two former members of Captain Flint's crew to get his hands on a portion of the recovered treasure; a separate cache of bar silver is apparently left on the island. (The repentant maroonee Ben Gunn is the other, but he spends all 1,000 pounds in nineteen days.)

Jim's own ambivalence towards Silver is reflected in the last chapter, when he speculates that the old pirate must have settled down in comfortable retirement: "It is to be hoped so, I suppose, for his chances of comfort in another world are very small."

BCnU!

HERCULES SORBO TRUSTS THE "B"

'DON'T TRUST THE B____ IN APT. 23'
"THE WEDDING"

This sitcom solidified its presence in the Toobworld Dynamic with a League of Themselves appearance by Kevin Sorbo. This comes just a few weeks after Jack Donaghy at '30 Rock' pointed out that he knew the actor.

Chloe brought Sorbo to a wedding reception (telling him that he was the keynote speaker at an MS fund-raiser) because her room-mate June had poached her "go-to" celebrity (James Van Der Beek) to be her plus one at the party.

During the explanation, Sorbo was referred to as "Hercules", which is the role Sorbo played not only in the Trueniverse but in Toobworld as well. However, the actor is also the actual Hercules, and "Kevin Sorbo" is an alias.

But within the context of this scene, I don't think any of the others actually knew this; it was just a reference to his TV role. Like calling Leonard Nimoy "Spock" to his face long after 'Star Trek' ended.....

As for Sorbo's references to his Aunt Bonnie, who died of MS and was pictured in his lapel button, she would be part of his adopted family which helped Hercules with the illusion of Sorbo's personal life. Whether the woman ever knew Sorbo made this claim that she was his aunt will most likely never be known.

Still, Sorbo now has another title to his credit for inclusion in the TV Crossover Hall Of Fame:

'Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'

'Xena, Warrior Princess'

The "Hercules" TV movies

'30 Rock'

'Don't Trust The B In Apartment 23'

'Santa Barbara'

(Maybe the delivery man he played in one episode of the soap opera was "Kevin Sorbo" as he was just starting out as an actor......)

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: BEN GUNN

BEN GUNN

CREATED BY:

Robert Louis Stevenson

PORTRAYED BY:

Elijah Wood

AS SEEN IN:

"Treasure Island"

From Wikipedia:

(SPOILERS!)

Benjamin "Ben" Gunn is a fictional character in the "Treasure Island" novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson.

Ben Gunn is an ex-crewman of Captain Flint's who has been marooned three years on the Treasure Island by his crew mates, after his failure to find the treasure without the map. He first appears in the novel when Jim Hawkins encounters him. Ben Gunn treats Jim kindly in return for a chance of getting back to civilization.

Jim leaves Ben Gunn behind, but escapes the Hispaniola on Ben Gunn's coracle. Ben Gunn appears later making ghostly sounds to dissuade Long John Silver's rivals from continuing their search for the treasure, but Silver forges ahead and locates the place where Flint's treasure was buried. The pirates discover that a cache has been rifled and all of the treasure is gone.

The enraged pirates turn on Silver and Jim, but Ben Gunn and several others attack the pirates by surprise, killing two and dispersing the rest. Silver surrenders to Dr. Livesey, promising to return to his duty. They go to Ben Gunn's cave home, where Gunn has had the treasure hidden for some months. The treasure is divided amongst Squire Trelawney and his loyal men, including Jim and Ben Gunn, and they return to England, leaving the surviving pirates marooned on the island. Silver escapes with the help of the fearful Ben Gunn and a small part of the treasure.

Once in England, Ben Gunn manages to spend all his part of the treasure in just a few days and becomes a porter for the rest of his life.

I don't know why Syfy was chosen to host this four-hour event, but "Treasure Island" will be seen on that channel tomorrow, May 5, beginning at 7 PM.

With a cast that also includes Donald Sutherland, Rupert Penry-Jones, Philip Glenister, Daniel Mays, David Harewood, and tomorrow's featured actor in the ASOTV Gallery, Eddie Izzard, I know I'll be recording it!!!

BCnU!

"PSYCH"-CITED SIPOWICZ

'PSYCH'
"SANTA BARBARATOWN"

When former Santa Barbara detective Henry Spencer threatened to deck a "skel" for what he insinuated about Henry's deceased partner, his son Shawn held him back with a soothing "Easy, Sipowicz."

Sure, for us in the Trueniverse, this was a reference to Andy Sipowicz, a NYC detective played by Dennis Franz in the classic crime drama 'NYPD Blue'. However, I'm going to suggest to avoid a Zonk, that Henry and Shawn actually knew this coarse cop.

Of course, there is a major O'Bstacle to this theory - How would a cop and his son from Santa Barbara know a detective in the Big Apple?

That's easy. There must have been a police detective convention held near to Santa Barbara, which would be the only way Henry could justify bringing his little son along.

I'm thinking it had to have happened around 1990, give or take a year on either side. This would set the convention encounter within the parameters of the flashbacks in 'Psych', but a couple of years before 'NYPD Blue' debuted in 1993.

So as a boy of about ten years of age, Shawn may have been with his father at this cop convention - where he probably got to see this drunken, racist, belligerent detective from New York in action.

Afterwards, I wouldn't be surprised if Henry saw this as an opportunity to impart a life lesson to his son; telling Shawn: "You don't ever want to become that guy."

So when Henry was about to blow his stack twenty years later, Shawn calmed him down by whispering "Easy, Sipowicz."

It was their private code for "Don't become that guy."

BCnU!